Our Smart Baby

When a baby becomes a toddler, many parents begin to wonder when their toddler will start using a spoon. Using a spoon is an important developmental milestone that will start anywhere from 13 months up until around 20 months. All children are different and will start using a spoon when they are ready and comfortable. As your toddler develops, they will begin learning how to do more things for themselves and will probably want to feed themselves.

You can encourage your toddler to use a spoon by offering a spoon around 12 or 13 months and showing them how to use it. Your toddler will model your behavior and soon after will develop this important milestone. Just remember that all toddlers develop at different times. Be encouraging and patient with your growing toddler.

You can also do pretend play with your toddler and have your toddler pretend to feed herself or a toy doll. Parents may also want to find a fork & spoon set that has characters or objects on them that their child likes to make eating even more fun for their child!
Parents feel free to drop by our message boards and post your questions regarding your toddler using a spoon today.

Easter is coming and parents everywhere are running around trying to find the perfect Easter dress for their toddler girls.
Parents will be out buying all different types of dresses. Some will be buying expensive dresses and some will be buying not so expensive dresses.

If you want any expensive toddler Easter dress then there are several available in online toddler boutiques such as tinytotdressshop.com , ThinkAboutYou.com and Jack & Jill Boutique

If you want something cute, stylish and cheap then you can find it at OldNavy.com

Below are some additional resources for Toddler Easter Dresses:

Toddler Easter Dresses $12-20 range

Todddler Easter Dresses $30-$40 range

Toddler Easter Dresses $50-$70 range

Whatever you decide to purchase for your toddler make sure its fun and comfortable so they will enjoy a wonderful Easter celebration.

We all want our toddlers to be happy and let's face it toddlers are not always the happiest children. We need to learn to understand our toddlers more so that they can be happier. One of the most important things to making a toddler happy is playing with them and giving them your time.

A book I recently came across looks to be a very helpful resource for those parents wanting a good solution for their toddlers. Doctors are calling it the smartest parenting book ever! You can read more about the book and purchase it below.

I was surfing the Internet today and came across a great product for toddler moms by a mom.

At MomAgenda.com, you can get the most stylish and modern day planners in a variety of colors. According to momagenda.com, this stylish and functional planner helps eliminate chaos and restore order to the scheduling challenges that go with parenting.This planner helps moms manage multiple children's schedules with ease. The day planner comes in six cute colors.

There are lots of free software floating around the web for toddlers. I came across a few freebies today that you can download and let your toddler play with. The free software really is lots of fun and can be a great learning experience for your toddler. Some of the free software is even suitable for pre-k age children and kindergarten age children.

20 Free Kids Educational Games

ABC Kid Genius 2

Free Dance Lessons download for Toddlers

While browsing again for free downloads for my toddler, I came across an additional 50 free downloads at kidsdomains.com for kids ages 2-5.

My toddler and I saw a preview of the Adventures of Brer Rabbit DVD a few days ago on tv and it looked really entertaining and cute. It would be a great DVD movie to pick up around Easter. It also has a great cast including the hilariously funny Wayne Brady. I think it would be a good Spring/Easter movie for the whole family to enjoy. I'm sure we will pick one up this week!

If you don't want to buy it then I'm sure Blockbuster or your local video store may have it available for rent. Either way I think it's a must-see movie for toddlers and beyond.

Before each holiday I find a book for my toddler and kindergarten age child that relates to that specific holiday. Since Easter is almost upon us, we ventured to our local book store and my 5 year old picked out The Berenstain Bears and The Real Easter Eggs. This is a delightful appropriate book for toddlers, pre-k age, and above. It is a lesson about the true meaning of the spring season as well as Easter. It is also a religion-neutral Easter book and focuses more on the miracle of new life. This would make a perfect addition to your Easter collection and a nice gift for the child in your life.

We have been discussing bedtime routines over at the Mom Forums

So while we are on that subject I'd love to know what your bedtime routines are for your children. Do they go to bed early or late? Do you read books everynight before bedtime?

We are still looking for photos of your baby, toddler or preschool age child to feature as our weekly photo. If you want your child's photo here then look at the themes in the link below and send them in. We will choose one photo per week for the theme. REMINDER: This is not a contest! It's for fun to show of your little ones.

CLICK HERE FOR MORE INFORMATION

If your toddlers are going to have bunk beds then you need to be aware of the dangers involved in using bunk beds.

Our 5 year old has bunk beds and I didnt really think of the dangers of bunk beds until after he started sleeping on the bottom bunk. I knew he wasn't old enough to sleep on the top bunk yet but I wasn't aware of all the dangers involved.

After some research, I found out that bunk beds pose several dangers for children. These bunk bed dangers are as follows:

1.) A toddler could fall out of the bunk bed. I think almost all parents already know this one.

2.) The child on the bottom bunk could be injured if the top bunk collapses.

3.) The mattress could trap or suffocate your child.

If you still decide to purchase bunk beds for your child you can prevent these bunk bed dangers by taking the following precautions:

1.) First of all, do not allow children under 6 to sleep on the top bunk bed.
2.) Make sure the bunk beds are put together properly and securly.
3.) If the bunk beds do not come with a guardrail then install one.
4.) Do not let children jump on either of the bunk beds.

I hope these safety tips will help you.