Childcare

While you’d love to believe your sitter morphs into Mary Poppins while in charge of the kids, chances are you spend more time worrying that she’s tweeting, texting or talking on the phone while your DCs are camped in front of the TV.

To engage them in the arts while you’re gone, look into Creative Sitters, which matches NYC families to the babysitter that best suits their interests, whether it’s art, music or other fun activities. After years as a child arts educator for the likes of El Museo del Bario, City Lights Youth Theater and other local institutions, founder Renee Pena started Creative Sitters with the belief that kids should explore, imagine and create through customized childcare. All sitters undergo background and reference checks, interviews, first aid and CPR training and educational workshops, and you can also check them out beforehand at monthly sitter meet-and-greet events (the next one is 11/20 in Manhattan).

Visit creativesitters.org.

Though your little one has developed a taste for homemade organic baby food, you’ve been surviving on greasy takeout for months. But sleep-deprived parents adjusting to life with an infant need not give up their once-refined paletes.

New York Times writer, father and foodie Keith Dixon tackles new parenthood in his kitchen-centric memoir, Cooking For Gracie: The Making of a Parent from Scratch. On sale today, the book speaks to NYC moms and dads who are dealing with the upheaval a baby brings to their lives and their stomachs. As he navigates from infant reflux to first words, Dixon (an enthusiastic home cook) peppers his personal stories with more than 40 simple but delicious recipes he cooks for both his wife and young daughter, from short ribs with carrot-rosemary puree to farfalle with marinated tomatoes and mint oil. To keep you on track, many of his healthy how-tos are arranged in pre- and post-bedtime steps; others (like sole with poached veggies) instruct how to prepare for adults vs. baby.

Slice, chop and saute your way back to sanity.

Available at randomhouse.com.

Whether you’ve downsized the cleaning staff or want to get your home in tip-top shape for the holidays, good winter cleaning requires a system. And your routine of Swiffer and Clorox wipes could use a revamp.

Enter Gisela Lowenstein. This Martha Stewart of Miami has introduced her time-saving home management solution, called The Glow System, to NYC clean freaks. Comprised of an instructional DVD and flashcards (in English and Spanish), the program walks you through everything you need to know about proper home cleaning, from daily straightening up to the deep clean (hint: it works whether you’ve got the biggest duplex or a 1BR). Lowenstein, a wife and mom with a background in hotel management, shares her expertise in eight short sections of easy-to-use methodology for the kitchen, kids’ rooms, bathroom and more. Instead of waiting for inspiration to strike, you’ll be able to set up a schedule, and (shocker!) even get the DH and kids invoived.

Go for the glow.

Visit theglowsystem.com.  

Autumn in New York is nesting season, which for expectant parents (and judging by the explosion of pregnant women on the city streets in August, there are plenty out there) means it’s time to decorate the nursery.

September is Baby Safety Month, a program sponsored by the JPMA (Juvenile Products Manufacturers Association) to promote awareness — this year the focus is on safe sleeping. So before you outfit the baby’s new digs (or convert the walk-in closet into a bedroom), check out these helpful tips.

Your crib should be placed away from windows, draperies, blinds or wall-mounted decorative accessories with long cords.

Toys and other pillow-like items should not be placed in the crib with babies under 1 year of age. These items can cause suffocation risks.

Products such as fluffy blankets, comforters, pillows, pillow-like bumpers and stuffed animals should be removed from the crib and should be used for decoration only.

If you choose to use bumper pads, avoid those that are pillow-like and once baby can stand, remove them from the crib.

Remove quilts and other bedding before putting baby to bed. Consider hanging your quilt or decorative blanket on the wall as art.

For more JPMA safety tips, visit babysafetymonth.org.

NYC is a great place to have a baby. We’ve got incredible doctors, classes, pre- and post-natal services, (not to mention scores of fellow new moms on the streets pushing strollers). But with all of these choices, navigating urbanbabyhood can be a hell of a lot of work.

Time to get Mommywise, a high-end concierge service for expectant and new moms. Mommywise offers fully customizable packages of services and can help with just about anything. The company can assist you in finding health care providers, including OB/GYNs, midwives, pediatricians and psychologists, plus other members to round out your bambino team- baby nurses, doulas, massage therapists, fitness experts, acupuncture specialists, lactation and sleep consultants, personal chefs, green house cleaners, etc. Mommywise will create reading lists and tag-team with you when you register. Better yet, their consultants can lend a hand in baby product assembly. And they’ll even demystify the strange new world of mommy-and-me classes.

So you can de-stress, decompress and go about the business of being a mom.

Visit mommywise.com. Package prices range from $490 t0 $1,250, and concierge services are available at an hourly rate of $120. A 20% off summer promotion is available through August 31st.

Europe constantly seems to one-up us when it comes to high-end strollers (Bugaboo, Maclaren, Mutsy, Peg Perego, etc). and maternity leave (Sweden leads with 40 weeks of full-pay). Here in the States, we’re also behind when it comes to professionalizing the nanny industry. But we’re working on it. The only two nanny schools to be licensed by the New York State Education Department (NYSED) are right here in NYC.

Absolute Best Care Nanny Learning Center: Recently opened by one of the city’s top-rated placement agencies, the Absolute Best Care Nanny Learning Center teaches the basics such as infant care, CPR and First Aid plus Nanny Management. The latter covers potentially thorny issues that can creep up between employer and employee (and we’re not just talking about personality clashes). The Nanny Manager component focuses on how a nanny can effectively communicate with employers regarding the family’s culture (casual or formal? detail-oriented?), values, discipline methods and means of providing feedback. ABC co-founder Doug Kozinn says that without these discussions, “The nanny doesn’t know what the family expects, and the family doesn’t necessarily know what they’re looking for in a nanny, especially if it’s their first child.” He adds that while “families are looking for a higher level of service … nannies are craving a training system.”In keeping with the times, this nanny school also teaches students how to cook and clean using green techniques and products. The ABC Nanny Learning Center course is 50 hours. Take advantage of the grand opening sale until early 2010.
absolutebestcarenannylearningcenter.com.

The International Resource for Parenting: Uptown on West 215th Street, Claudia Williams’ nanny course is in its seventh year. Williams is a Licensed Clinical Social Worker with a Ph.D. in International Education. A smaller operation, the International Resource for Parenting doesn’t run classes as frequently, with sessions only in March and October, but Williams does customized nanny training for individuals year-round. Her program is 300 hours over the course of 10 weeks and even involves an internship at a daycare center or preschool! Williams’ class also includes CPR and First Aid instruction as well as NY State training to identify instances of child abuse. There are also units on how to teach kids music and movement and how to support language and literacy development. (212) 304-2192.

Because we’re competitive.

Pumping and dumping, latching, proper positioning — you’re learning all the techniques, but breastfeeding is not going so swimmingly.

Stop by Yummy Mummy, a just-opened uptown boutique that focuses on everything related to breastfeeding. This full-service, one-stop-shop for new and expectant parents focuses on nursing products and resources, as well as classes on lactation-related topics taught by Certified Lactation Consultants. From nursing bras and pads to books and DVDs, the specialty store run by an UES native and mother is all about making the breastfeeding experience a little easier.

1201 Lexington Ave. (bet. 81st & 82nd St.), 212-87-YUMMY, yummymummystore.com.

When it comes to gaining entree into the city’s best schools, it’s a toddler-eat-toddler world.

Nursery University, a documentary on the competitive and uniquely NYC world of preschool admissions, opens today. The film follows five families with different backgrounds through the process of placing their kids in pricey and prestigious Manhattan nursery schools. Preschool directors weigh in on the mass hysteria about getting into Harvard, while parents wrestle with the social conundrums that ensue. Anyone who has felt the day-after-Labor Day crunch will relate.

Call it stranger than fiction.

Visit nurseryuniversitythemovie.com.

Your first NYC apartment had a bathtub in the kitchen. But even if the living arrangements have improved post-baby, not everyone’s getting a good night’s sleep (forget it if you’ve got twins sharing what used to be, literally, a closet).

Dream Team Baby’s infant and toddler sleep consultancy will give your new family a little snooze support. For little ones up to 2 years old, they will come to your home and stay overnight to work through a child’s “sleep challenges” — including that 2am crying fit. And if your walk-up doesn’t have room for an extra body, a phone consultation may be enough (the advisory board includes a pediatrician and psychotherapist).

You’ll rest easier.

Visit dreamteambaby.com.

You can’t help but describe your in-laws with a lot of “o” words — overbearing, over-involved, overwhelming. Throw those endearing qualities into the mix once your baby is born and the postpartum chaos escalates.

UB spoke with NY-area psychotherapist and parenting coach Tammy Gold about tips for preemptively (and politely) clamping down on the in-laws before bringing baby home from the hospital:

• During the pregnancy, or soon thereafter, design as a couple a “parental plan” and “parental philosophy” to navigate the postpartum period and beyond. The plan covers who is going to do what when (night feedings, grocery shopping, greeting visitors). The philosophy deals with all the emotional stuff such as family issues and house rules.
• Respectfully communicate your rules on everything from naps and pacifiers to bottle feedings to your in-laws. Perhaps even give them a written list.
• Be clear about when they’ll visit, whether they’ll bunk in your 700-square-foot apartment and what they’ll be doing (caring for the baby? running errands?).
• Outline your philosophy on baby presents and the fact that you don’t want weekly deliveries from FAO.
• Get on the same page regarding the bris/baby naming/christening and your preferences for the size and tone of the event.
• Have a response ready for any unsolicited (translation: undermining) parenting advice they may hurl your way. Verbalize your opinion and explain that you’re trying to figure out things on your own.
• Decide on a secret password to use with your sig-o when you want to bid adieu to your in-laws (or any other guests overstaying their welcome).

We told you so.

For more information, visit goldparentcoaching.com.