The journey continues...

As I write this, I am sat here in my pj's and my dressing gown with fluffy pink slippers on. So you can imagine, I'm still not fully awake yet, but I couldn't wait any longer to tell you the news.

http://www.bits4babies.com has had a make-over. We have spent hours and hours trying to get the site up to scratch again.... yes, we did get complacent, but now we are focused again and things are running nicely again. Bits 4 Babies was established on 6 January 2006 and has gone through many transformations, then we hit a stumbling block. We were teetering, we knew that now was the time when we would either slide back or go full steam ahead. We did the latter.

Over the past 2 weeks we have been consulting with other professionals and we have done the work necessary to give it that one last push. We got rid of all the old product pages, search pages etc and it is slowly correcting itself on the search engines. Kev and I are exhausted, but we keep going on, because we know we have to.

I have learnt a great deal more about web-design and put that into action, I put in what I already knew and added a little more. With advertising and marketing, it was just getting the right mix. We are now on our way up again and it feels great.

Bits 4 Babies US & CA now has a new look. We are planning on putting a community in place for those of you that like to share your experiences with parenting, pregnancy and child care. We hope to have a place where you can blog about your little angels and their antics. Show pictures and just share general information on pregnancy and toddler issues. This will most probably be our next move, but ummmmm, I need to figure out how to use the program. hehehe.

We have a newsletter in place now, so if you would like to know what is happening before anyone else does... Sign up. We would love to have you on board. We were invited onto a e-commerce course via Joel Comm's business associates. He is an expert in his field to say the least. You've seen him on tv, twitter and generally all over the net. He has an interesting out look on business and how it works for him. I can honestly say he has inspired us.

Although we cannot brag figures just yet, I'm sure that in the near future we will be able to give you a little background on how much our business is growing. We're on a plateau at the moment, so as soon as we've hit that next hurdle we'll let you know. The next update will be in a few weeks. So see you all then.

The Road ahead for bits4babies.com

I'm thinking to myself that life has taken us through many twists and turns, but never have I been on a roller coaster ride like this one. Recently we were approached by some pretty big people to be educated in the ecommerce industry.

All sorts of things are going through our minds at the moment, but we have attempted to keep level headed about it all, because on knowing what our site http://www.bits4babies.com is all about and how big it is, we know that we have a hell of a job ahead of us. We hope that during this year where we will be making some massive changes in the way that we have put the site across, that you will all join us on this journey. A screen shot will be added soon.

See you all on the other side of all of this and hope you will enjoy all the updates that we make to our site. To keep posted on what's happening, why not join our newsletter which can be found on our front page of http://www.bits4babies.com We will update you with all the new things that we have done to the site and at the end of the year we will show you a now and then image of the site.

Baby And Your Dog - How To Keep Peace At Home

Author: Gerald Njuguna

Wondering how your dog will get along with your baby? Worried about the safety of your baby and are probably thinking of getting rid of your dog? These are legitimate questions that are asked by dog owners when they are expecting a new born baby in the family.

The good thing is that, done in a careful manner, its possible to introduce your pet to your new member of the family. With proper planning, its possible to train your dog to interact with your baby and the baby to love your dog

How to Get the Dog Used to the Baby
Expecting a new baby at home brings a time time of change, discovery and joy in the home. If you own a dog, you may have fears of your baby will interact with your new baby. Don't worry though. If you prepare early in advance, you should be able to minimize any situations that might arise.

For example, if the dog likes to roam freely in the house and all the rooms, start teaching him not to enter particular rooms that serve as the nursery. Keep the doors closed so that the dog realizes that the room is not part of his. Afterwards, get the pet used to being in the room without you.

Keep the nursery door closed when assembling the baby furniture. When you do this, the dog learns that even though there is activity in the room, he is not welcomed.

Have you ever taken your dog to obedience training school? If he's never been to one, this is the opportune time for you and him to attend. The advantage is that not only does it allow you to spend quality time with the dog, it also equips you with the appropriate tools required to control the behavior of your dog.

It also helps the dog relax in rooms full of activity including dogs and children.

There are other methods you can teach your dog to get used to the baby. One is buying tapes recorded with voices of babies crying!

You can start by playing the tapes at low volume until the dog gets used to the sound. With time, gradually increase the noise to realistic levels over a period of weeks. With this exercise, it will help your dog not to be alarmed when the baby finally arrives.

When the baby comes home, keep the dog away from the baby for a few days. By now he has already gotten used to the baby noises. You can get him used to the baby smell by letting him sniff the baby's blanket or let it lie on his sleeping area.

When you are comfortable introducing the baby to the dog, keep the dog on a short leash & give him a reward afterwards.

By rewarding the dog, you are showing him that the baby is a good thing to have around. Please make sure you watch the dog closely when they are in the same room. Do not assume anything! The reason is that it teaches the dog to stop seeing the baby as a threat or something that is out to replace him.

Be alert also when the baby starts to crawl and walk. The dog might get terrified by the baby's movements or might see your baby as prey. The dog needs to get used to the baby moving around apart from being carried also. When the baby is crawling, have the dog next to you and reward him for being still. Over time, the dog will get used to the child moving around.

How to Teach the Child to Safely Interact with the Dog

It's important to teach your child how to interact with the family dog as the child grows. Your child needs to be taught how to play safely with the dog. For example, teach the child not to strike the dog or pull at the dog's fur.

You also need to teach your child not to follow or chase the dog when its runs away from them. Also teach your child not to disturb the dog when it is eating or sleeping.

About the Author:
Visit http://www.dogperfection.com/forum, a forum featuring questions and news for people that own dogs. Also learn how to clean and brush dog teeth.

Article Source: http://www.articlesbase.com/pets-articles/baby-and-your-dog-how-to-keep-peace-at-home-242638.html

Natural Baby Products: a Natural Way to Promote Health and Safety of Your Child

Author: Phillips Theresa

Due to worry about the effects of chemicals on babies and concern about the environment, many parents have chosen to use organic baby products for their children. Natural baby items and eco-friendly products are easy for the earth, easy for the skin and do not contain any toxins which are found in a large number of chemical based baby products.

There are growing debates regarding potential health related effects of chemicals which seep from some kinds of plastics, especially their effects on the delicate babies. Recent headlines have raised concerns about soft vinyl teethers, bottles and toys which infants use to chew or suck. Experts have recommended the parents to dispose any such plastic or chemical based products they have bought for their child and start using natural baby products such as organic baby t-shirts. It is a fact that skin of babies is very delicate and is more prone to develop effects like rashes from chemicals which are included in the baby’s skin care products. Therefore, keeping in view the delicate skin of the babies, an extensive array of organic baby skin care products have been made available in the market. Researches show that most of the non-organic baby skin care products are not safety tested and thus using them upon your baby’s skin contains potential risks. Studies have suggested that many non-organic baby skin care products contain anti-freeze which is strong enough to kill an animal upon ingestion. So, it is not at all wise to put your baby at such a great risk.

There is a wide array of organic baby products which range from clothing and cribs to diapers and food products. All these eco-friendly products are not only risk-free for your baby but also helpful in saving the environment. Products made of plastic and other chemical based products are responsible for causing harm to your child as well as to the environment as a whole.

One of the most accepted and popular natural baby products is the organic baby bedding. These are ideal for people who want to avoid the ill-effects caused by harmful chemical based products used on the cotton farms. Most of such organic baby bedding products makes use of naturally grown cotton which do not utilize chemicals used in traditional cotton farms. Organic baby bedding is also perfect for people whose children have asthma or certain allergies. This is due to the fact that lots of chemicals are used in making non-organic bedding and sheets which encourage asthma and cause allergies in the delicate babies.

Organic clothing is also one of the most popular organic baby products available in the market. These organic clothing items such as organic baby t-shirts are extremely useful for babies who have problems related to skin sensitivity. A large number of people have noticed that these skin allergy and asthma related problems have completely disappeared after starting use of organic clothing. Whatever the eco-friendly products you choose, these products are become necessary for people who want to shop in an environmentally aware fashion. So, whenever you go out shopping for your baby, make sure to consider buying some of these organic baby t-shirts and see the difference.

About the Author:

I am Phillips Theresa. I am offering all types of organic baby products, eco-friendly products, organic baby bedding, organic baby skin care, organic clothing, Natural Baby, organic baby T-shirts at affordable prices.

Article Source: http://www.articlesbase.com/clothing-articles/natural-baby-products-a-natural-way-to-promote-health-and-safety-of-your-child-662119.html

Questions about Babies

I've heard them all and I've even asked a few myself but what I can't understand is. Why isn't this subject dealt with in schools. I mean, most of us do end up having children or we look after them. I personally think that a few pointers given before we actually have children, can't do any harm.

This subject should probably be dealt with in guidance classes. When a new baby is born you are more or less thrown in at the deep end and you're automatically expected to know what to do. It isn't all natural instinct. Sometimes you need a helping hand. Midwives, health visitors can usually only give you what they've experienced or the more likely one, what they've read in text books.

Every baby is different, every baby has his/her own personality and you'll probably find that if you are a strong willed person, your baby has also gained that from you. So when you think that they are being naughty or just won't stop crying or winging. Put yourself in their shoes and you'll more than likely find that you will be able to cope better with their personality and quirks.

This is just a random thought really as I run a baby related website and the questions asked are things that could easily have been taught in a guidance class.

I do believe our parents should help us and guide us, but even they would struggle with the more technical questions. So, what I'm saying is: We need to be more educated on this subject as this is part of OUR life cycle. We don't have a gene in our bodies that lets us automatically know the procedure of having babies and letting them grow up to be decent human beings. We have to be educated first.