Babies

Once your baby's umbilical stump falls off you have the green light for giving him his first bath. This exciting and very memorable experience is also fraught with uncertainty.

When your family leaves or your partner heads back to work, it's unfortunate and even possibly cruel, but they tend to take their arms with them, leaving you and your two arms alone with the baby. Now, you won't be the first or the last mom to wish she had three or four arms. Nor will you be the first or last mom to assume that the bouncer/swing/bassinet/car seat will be sufficient to keep the baby happy while you do the dishes/take a shower/get dressed/cook dinner/do any other task that requires those hands. But little babies don't always like to be put down. In fact they usually like to be held. In your arms. The arms that you need to use.

It could be a stuffed doggy, a scruffy blanket, or even a toy car, there's no rhyme or reason to why one object will become your child's favorite lovey, or transitional object, over another. You might try to get your baby to fall in love with the gorgeous blanket that grandma hand knit only to find that he starts carrying around your holey sock instead. You can't really control what object he'll chose, and, trust me, I'm saying that from experience, but here are a few tips that you might find helpful along the way.