Lately I have had a lot of questions about bedtime.  Many of you wondering how to get your baby not to fight bedtime.  This is not a cut and dry answer, as every baby is different.  I will always recommend keeping your baby on a schedule that way he/she knows when it is bedtime.  If you do a bath and read before bed every night then your baby will catch on to this.

One of the things that I did and still do with Alex is have wind-down time, maybe listening to soft music or reading a bedtime story will help with your little one.

Another question I get a lot is: do I let my baby cry himself/herself to sleep?  Again, everyone has their own opinion, but my answer would be no.  I am not saying go every time they whimper, but let your baby know they are safe.  Sometimes all they need is one more hug and smile!

There are things that you can try, although nothing is a sure cure.  Hopefully it is just a faze of the pregnancy and as you get further along you will notice it less and less.  Until then here are somethings that you can try to ease the nausea.

• Eat more often-but smaller portions.  6-8 smaller sizes as opposed to 3 big meals.
• Try to leave out spicy or fried foods.
• Have a ginger ale between meals.
• Foods like saltines, other dry cereals can help reduce nausea.  This is an old fashioned method that seems to work, so try to keep something like this on you all the time to help when you are feeling nauseous.

Something to keep in mind with nausea is if you are vomiting a lot you need to talk to your Dr, because you could be getting dehydrated.

By the way - Congratulations on your new baby!!

When you are a parent there is nothing more rewarding than your sweet baby looking up at you and smiling!  I have some ways to keep your baby happy and hopefully keeping that smile on their face!

One of your baby's favorite things is mostly you!  One of the easiest things that you can do is just to give your baby a silly grin, or even just open your eyes up really wide with a smile on your face!  Show your baby that you are happy!  Playing peek-a-boo is also tons of fun!

We can't forget about the famous  "raspberries" this is what I call them anyway.  Where you are blowing on your baby's belly!  I know that Alex absolutely loved this!  He laughed every time!  Alex got to where if you were pretending like you were going to give him a raspberry he would grin.

There are so many ways to make your baby smile, but the key is that they all involve you.  Just showing your baby how special they are and that you love them can do the trick.  Look at them and smile!  It is the little things that mean the most!

I want to start this by telling anyone that wants to try this to please consult with your doctor and make sure you both agree that this will be safe for you and the baby.

Now, yes it is possible. It is safest if you have had only one c-section delivery and there is only one scar that is low and goes from side to side.  To be on the safe side you may want to tell the hospital to have things ready in case you will need to go in for a quick c-section.

This really depends on the reasons you had the first c-section, so I can't stress enough how important it is to talk about this with your doctor.  Just know that yes, it is possible!

There are so many flavored beverages out there that water is getting less appealing to children. Try to stay away from soda as long as you can, just for a little extra advice

As far as getting your child to drink water there are a couple of different options that I would suggest trying:

*Dilute the 100% juice with water. Do about half of each, or less of the juice if you can get by with it, this way the child gets the flavor but also gets the water.

*Go to the store and let your child pick out there very own insulated water bottle that way the water will stay cold and the child gets to have a "cool" cup!

*If you aren't for adding juice to water you could just put some drops of lemon juice in with the water to give it just a hint of flavor.

Make sure that you have the water very cool though, who wants to drink warm water on a hot day?

If your child is still not wanting to stay hydrated offer fruit snacks that have a lot of water in them, such as melons or grapes.

This is important because it will give you a chance to see what the room looks like that you will be staying in, meet some of the nurses, and see where the baby will be when the nurses are giving them baths.

More importantly,  this is a great time to tell them if you plan on using any pain medication, and who you plan on allowing in the room as you give birth.  If there is anyone in particular that you do not want to come and visit, this is the time to tell them.

It can be hard for the father to feel like they are getting the bonding time with your new baby that you are getting. He may even feel a little left out. I'm going to give you some tips to help with this.

The first and most obvious one is to pump when you have extra milk. This way you can bottle it and this will allow the daddy to do some of the feedings too!

Another way is to let your husband do the burping. This way the feeding is more of a team effort. You do the feeding and he does the burping. He will be able to rub your baby's back for about 5 minutes or so to try and get a burp, but it will also be a great bonding time for them. This will also allow you to get some rest.

The last one is when you start your baby on solids, involve dad. It could just be that you are so used to doing all of the feedings that you don't think about having that extra help.

Some dads really do want to be involved, but just don't know how to going about asking. They may feel like you are the only one that can do the feedings since you supply the milk, so it may be up to you to get that ball rolling, and in the end everyone will be happier!

This is actually a pretty common question, and there are a few different answers.  First thing is if you see any changes that your dog is going to have to make when the baby gets here start changing now.  If you wait for the baby to be born before you make those changes there is a good chance that the dog will blame the baby for these changes.

An example of some changes would be does your dog sleep in the bed with you, is he/she snappy, and does he/she jump on you?  It will be the most difficult with a dog that is used to being the center of attention.

Other things that you will need to do will be to make the baby's room off limits and slowly train your dog how to act in baby's room.  Also teach your dog the difference between baby toys and doggy toys.

Plan ahead, hire someone to come over and walk your dog for the first little while when your baby is born.  This will help you to have some alone time with your baby without worrying about your pup, and will give your pup some time to run around!

A lot of this depends on the child.  In general I would say around 18 months, but if your child tends to put things in his/her mouth, ears, or nose I would suggest waiting a little bit longer.

When you do decide to give it a try use the non-toxic brands, this way if a piece does make it to the mouth it wont be that bad.

Only allow your child to use the clay with an adult that is paying very close attention, just like with anything else you never know what could happen.

This really depends on the child.  After looking up some information I found that most babies are beginning to burp on their own anywhere from 4 to 9 months, with the majority being at around 6 months.

If you think that your baby is starting to burp on their own simply just stop trying.  If you notice that he/she starts spitting up more, or getting more gassy than normal, you may want to go back to burping your baby.

It may be that your baby is burping on their own, but if you don't think he/she is but he/she is doing fine without you burping her/him, it may be that they are just swallowing less air while eating.