Author Archives: Heather Ouida

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Baby Proofing During the Holidays

Lights, camera, action. Baby proofing is hard enough on a good day, but during the holidays in a New York City apartment, it can be totally overwhelming! Here are some tips By Rene Appelbaum, co-owner & founder of Baby Proofers Plus on how to baby proof this holiday season: Never leave candles unattended. Be sure candles are not near curtains, drapes or blankets. Keep matches and lighters locked out of reach of children. You may want to consider flameless, real wax, battery operated... read more

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Does Money Buy Happiness?

I heard the old saying, “Money can't buy happiness” the other day and it reminded me of a very interesting Blog Talk Radio show that we hosted a while back on “Advantaged Children." Our guests were Dr. Karen Rancourt (from ask our Ask Dr. Gramma Karen column) and Dr. Christine Fernandez. Here is an overview of this very interesting - and at times shocking - show.  1) Why the focus on parents of advantaged children? Karen: You would think that in homes with financial comfort, this... read more

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Explaining Natural Disasters to Your Children

In light of Hurricane Sandy, we thought we would share this article from NY Family Magazine with you that we wrote a few months ago that provides ways to talk with your children about severe weather conditions. With ever-increasing incidents of severe weather occurrences come questions - questions that are, for many parents, not so easy to answer. To get some guidance, I spoke with social work professional, Marsha Greenberg. Do you have a general phrase that you find useful when talking to... read more

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Halloween Coming Soon: Common Dentist Questions

As a chocolate lover, I love Halloween. I especially love Halloween in NYC. Unlike the 'burbs where I grew up - where I often walked half a mile between houses - here in the city, you can fill a Halloween bag in no time! That’s the good news. The bad news is - now that I have children - not only do I stress about monitoring their sugar intake, but I also stress about what all that sugar can do to their teeth! In honor of Halloween, here is a blog post that was written for us a while back on... read more

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Local Yokel: Beehives & Buzzcuts

Welcome to our Local Yokel blog! Each month, we will be highlighting a local New York business that we know you will find inspirational. You'll learn tidbits such as how they support the local community and economy, their advice and reflections on being business owners, tips on work-life balance, and even what some of their favorite products are. We hope you will enjoy getting to know them as much as we have! This month, we are excited to highlight Karolyn Massey and Beehives &... read more

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How to Handle Your Toddler’s Tantrums

Toddler tantrums are stressful enough without the added pressure of dealing with loud, dramatic meltdowns on the crowded streets of New York! Luckily, Dr. Sarah Klagsbrun offered Mommybites some wonderful tips on how to deal with Toddler Tantrums in her amazing video. Here are some highlights from that video. That is a tantrum? A tantrum is an explosion of feelings, but is also a communication by your child. Children typically express their feelings through behavior Toddlers... read more

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Strengthening Your Post-Baby Marriage

Having a baby is hard on a marriage! There I said it. OK, we’ve all heard the latest research that - counter to popular belief - having a baby often decreases marital satisfaction (at least for the first few years anyway). Lack of sleep, finding balance and feeling overwhelmed, all while living in the often chaotic city of New York, can affect even the most rock-solid of marriages. So now what? Claudia Heilbrunn of Significant Self Coaching offers some great tips to strengthening your... read more

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Expectant Moms’ Night Out

Last Thursday, Mommybites held an expectant mom event held at COCO-MAT on Mercer Street.  The party was generously sponsored by Motorola, so over 30 expectant moms were able to come and enjoy the evening at no cost! Rebecca (of Mommybites) and I ran the event, and when we walked into COCO-MAT we were floored by how beautiful the store was. The front area was a display of their mattresses and then as we moved towards the back, candles were lit everywhere. There was an open island kitchen,... read more

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FAQs About Toddler Sleep

Getting a toddler to sleep can be so tricky! The thing that no one warns us new parents about is - that once we finally get our infants to sleep through the night, that does not mean that our sleepless nights are over. New Yorkers who live in apartment buildings know that toddler bedrooms are sometimes made out of big closets and are often very close to parents’ bedrooms. This, in fact, makes getting our toddlers to sleep often more challenging than getting out infants to sleep!  In one of... read more

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Frequently Asked Questions About Infant Sleep

In addition to being stressed about, well, pretty much everything when I was a new mom, nothing stressed me out more than sleep. My baby not sleeping, my husband not sleeping and certainly me not sleeping! Adding to this stress was the fact that I lived in a NYC city apartment building and was certain that everyone in the building could hear my baby crying at night and that absolutely everyone thought I was, therefore, the worst mom on the planet. It was at about this time that I luckily met... read more

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