Tips for Working at Home With A Baby

Family Work Balance

Thanks to 4moms for providing these tips; post contains affiliate links 

6 Tips for Parents Working at Home with Young Kids 

Working from home with your kids in the house sounds great in theory, but in reality, it’s very hard to juggle the two at the same time. We have no doubt that you are a supermom or dad who’s capable of anything, but if you are feeling overwhelmed at all from having your kids as coworkers, you’re not alone. Luckily, there are plenty of tried-and-true tips that can help working parents make it through the day with their kids in tow.

Peaceful Home Workspace Inspo for Parents

There’s no need to do a full schedule overhaul; some small changes can get you in a better place as an employee and a parent during this work from home period. Here are some simple steps that can make your life easier. 

Create a Stress-Free Workspace 

If you’ve been working from your living room sofa or kitchen table, you know how easily distractions can pop up. From people walking through the room to the TV, there are endless forms of noise that can make getting work done even harder. Treat yourself to a dedicated home work space which calms you and helps you focus, even if it is small. This way, you can cut down on distractions and set yourself up for being more productive. Invest in an ergonomic chair and desk that will support your body instead of leaving you feeling exhausted and in pain at the end of day.

Image Credit: Pavel Danilyuk, Pexels

Ask Your Partner to Share Responsibilities 

It takes a village, both to raise children and to be successful in business. While you can of course go it alone, it’s so much less stressful to share responsibilities in both capacities. If you haven’t already, make a list of all the tasks you and your partner share with the kids and split them in a way that makes sense for both of you. You could also try dividing up childcare by hours in the day, so that you each can have at least a few hours without the kids each day to focus on work.

Set Expectations with Your Work 

Working from home creates some barriers to communication between you and your office as it’s not as easy to stay in constant contact when you aren’t all together in the same place. To avoid misunderstandings, make sure to set crystal clear expectations about when you will be able to answer the phone and emails and when you won’t. Let them know that even with the best laid plans, your kids come first and sometimes that might mean missing a Zoom call or needing an extension on a deadline.

Image Credit: 4moms

Use a Baby Swing or Carrier

If you have an infant at home, it’s obviously not possible to hold them all day while you’re doing work. You can make the most of their nap times by working at your computer, but while they are awake you will need to put them somewhere safe where you can watch them. An infant baby swing is a popular choice to keep your little one occupied as you can strap them in and watch as they are gently rocked in the swing. 

Put Your Phone on Vibrate 

Unless you know an important call is about to happen, set your phone ringtone on vibrate and keep it close by. The sudden sound of a loud ringtone can affect your cortisol levels, which are likely always on edge with all that you are balancing in terms of stress. Try to eliminate as many loud sounds as possible to maintain a more peaceful state of being. For any times where you really don’t need your phone at all, try leaving it in a separate room where you can forget about it and focus on other things. 

Image Credit: Ekaterina Bolovtsova, Pexels

Eat Healthy 

Finally, take care of yourself. Make time on the weekends to meal prep healthy dishes and snacks that you can easily grab during the week when you are hungry. If you let yourself eat a poor diet all week, it can have a negative impact on your productivity, your health, and your overall mood.

About 4moms

Founded in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania in 2005, 4moms strives to create practical user-centered baby gear designed with technology that elevates the modern parenting experience. Among the brand's flagship products are the 4moms mamaRoo4 Baby Swing Bluetooth Rocker with Bluetooth which replicates mom's and dad's soothing hand-held bouncing and swaying motions; the 4moms Breeze Portable Play Yard that opens/closes in a single step with one hand; and the 4moms Magnetic Baby Toddler High Chair to make mealtime simpler. These and other 4moms products are available on Amazon, Best Buy, Target, and Walmart, as well as from specialty retailers and direct from the 4moms website. Learn more by following the brand on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, Pinterest, and YouTube.

DISCLOSURE: Mommy Blog Expert participates in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program that allows our site to earn compensation -- at no extra cost to our audience -- for including referral links within our posts to Amazon.com and affiliated sites.

PAW Patrol Dino Rescue Movie Review Giveaway

Movies

MBE partnered with Paramount for this campaign; post contains affiliate links

PAW Patrol: Dino Rescue Roar to the Rescue Review + Giveaway

Lots of little PAW Patrol fans are similarly fascinated with the prehistoric world of dinosaurs which is why I'm pleased to announce that PAW Patrol: Dino Rescue Roar to the Rescue (Paramount 2021) is now available on DVD. This is the latest family-friendly PAW Patrol home entertainment release based on the popular preschool kids animated series seen on Nickelodeon and produced by Spin Master Entertainment.

The all-new title invites youngsters to return to the Dino Wilds for some exciting (and rip roaring) new rescues. Included on the DVD are the remaining episodes from the Dino Rescue story arc as well as six Dino Rescue original shorts. 

PAW Patrol nemesis Mayor Humdinger is stuck on a runaway Brachiosaurus and a T-Rex is noshing on just about everything in sight. What will happen next? From performing dino dentistry to saving a Pterodactyl egg and celebrating a Tyrannosaurus' birthday, the PAW Patrol pups reunite with their prehistoric buddies for all kinds of exciting new challenges and adventures.

PAW Patrol: Dino Rescue Roar to the Rescue Episodes

• Dino Rescue: Pups Save a Hum-Dino
• Dino Rescue: Pups Save a Sore Dino
• Dino Rescue: Pups Save the Triceraptops Tag-Alongs
• Pups Save a Waiter Bot
• Pups Save a Pie-Clone
• Pups Save the Big Bad Bird Crew
• Pups Save a Soapbox Derby

PAW Patrol: Dino Rescue Roar to the Rescue Special Features

• Pups Ave a Tromping Triceratops
• Pups Save a Baby Stegosaurus
• Pups Save a Dino Christmas
• Pups Save a Pterodactyl Egg
• Pups Save the Baby Raptors
• Pups Save a Tyrannosaurus' Birthday

As we've done before to celebrate new PAW Patrols releases, we are thrilled to be hosting another fabulous giveaway. Up for grabs this time around is the new PAW Patrol: Dino Rescue Roar to Rescue DVD. Read on to find out how easy it is for you to enter for your chance to win this recently new home entertainment title for the little PAW Patrol lover in your life.

GIVEAWAY

PAW Patrol: Dino Rescue 

Roar to the Rescue DVD

MBE Giveaway

On Instagram

Thanks to Paramount Home Entertainment, ONE (1) MBE giveaway participant will win the new PAW Patrol: Dino Rescue Roar to the Rescue DVD to watch at home. To enter this movie giveaway Mommy Blog Expert is hosting, visit this MBE Instagram post. Contest is open to US residents only and qualifying winner will be selected at random. Hurry, this giveaway ends Sunday, April 18, 2021 at 11:59 pm ET. Paramount Home Entertainment is providing the prize and is responsible for delivery to the winner.

PAW PATROL: Dino Rescue

Roar to the Rescue DVD 

Buy It Now

About PAW Patrol: Dino Rescue Roar to the Rescue

PAW Patrol: Dino Rescue Roar to the Rescue DVD (Released: March 23, 2021) is now available on Amazon and elsewhere. From Paramount Home Entertainment and Nickelodeon Home Entertainment and produced by Spin Master Entertainment,the DVD has a run time of 1 hour 36 minutes. Learn more aboutPAW Patrol;and follow this popular entertainment enterprise on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.

  

DISCLOSURE: We participate in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program that allows our site to earn compensation for including referral links within our posts to Amazon.com and affiliated sites.

A Baby Boomer’s Encounters with Hip Pain

Zimmer Biomet Sponsored Post 
For MommyBlog Expert.com 

By Janis Brett Elspas

Mommy Blog Expert 

Note: Readers should consider this post for informational purposes only. Always consult with your own doctor and healthcare team as this is not intended as a substitute for professional medical advice. 

A Personal Journey

This is the story of my personal journey with osteoarthritis and chronic hip pain. Several years after learning my orthopedic surgeon’s diagnosis, I am still in shock, struggling to come to terms with the fact that I have severe bone-on-bone osteoarthritis in my hip with eroded cartilage and bone spurs. With no family history of arthritis, joint replacements, nor any other major health issues, and now approaching my mid-60s --- how could this be?

This post is sponsored by Zimmer Biomet. All opinions expressed in this post are my own and not those of Zimmer Biomet. 

I thrive on adventure, enjoy staying active, and love to travel with my family. In fact, up until recently, I was in denial trying to convince myself that I’m still too young and too physically fit to slow down. In recent months, my joint pain seems to just be getting worse, without a day going by when I don’t think about it consciously. I’ve discovered there is a wealth of supplementary resources I can also tap into via Don’t Let Pain Gain on You, an educational campaign hosted by Zimmer Biomet with helpful resources about joint health and joint replacement that can help inform conversations that I have with my doctor about joint replacement surgery. 

I decided it was time to do a reality check, to open my mind to doing something more proactive about the pain, to change my mindset and dig deeper. The next thing I did was talk at length with several of my female friends who are the exact same age as I am, and who both have had successful hip replacement surgery within the last few years. While hip replacement surgery undoubtedly involves surgical pain and at times a difficult post-surgery rehab process, neither of these friends of mine have any regrets about the procedures they underwent, and both have encouraged me to keep an open mind about following suit.  Still, I did not want to rush into making such a serious decision about my body just because a few friends I know are doing it. What I have realized from listening to their stories is that one thing is crystal clear: each individual’s lifestyle and physical condition is unique. Just like there are no two people with identical fingerprints, my own physical and mental situation is different as night and day from everyone else’s. 

My hope is that by sharing my own hip pain challenges, thoughts, decision making processes, resources and insights publicly, we can stand on a common ground together. That I can inspire others who find themselves facing a similar decision to the one I’m now making; that you and I both have the vision, tools and energy at our disposals to take action that positively impacts, rather than detracts from, living the best life either you or I might live.

In retrospect, I realize now that I first noticed signs of joint trouble when I was in my late 40s which probably had little to do with breaking my leg at 8-years old – which I often attributed it to, and more likely caused by aging and heredity. Thinking back to all the multi-week summer road trips taken with my kids and hubbie, I vaguely remember my hip feeling a little stiff, numb and sore off-and-on when climbing in and out of our SUV after several hours of driving and sitting while exploring America’s back roads and national parks. 

As my range of motion became more limited and I wasn’t able to, for example, sit cross-legged on the floor, my physical therapist sent me for re-evaluation by an orthopedist. After the MRI results came back, my bone specialist gave me the bad news: I had osteoarthritis and was potentially a candidate for a complete hip replacement rather than simply hip cartilage repair due to my age and the extent of the damage.

As soon as I returned home from my most recent ski trip, where I suffered from joint pain taking over my days, I decided to face the music. To sit down, take inventory and make a deeper, honest assessment of my true condition. This resulted in a long list of all the ways I was compensating for the hip pain I have endured for years. I was faced with a lengthy list of the many lifestyle modifications I’ve made in recent years and months and realized that these changes were only the tip of the iceberg. Most importantly, I didn’t want hip pain to prevent me from being able to participate in the ceremony as mother of the bride, but also wanted to be able to dance with my daughter at the wedding reception. While the wedding was incredible, in retrospect my hip pain prevented me from moving comfortably and dancing as I wished I could have.

Looking at that list, I ask myself with all these adaptations I’ve made in the past few years, how I can I keep ignoring all that inconvenience and long-term suffering from my chronic joint pain? Joint pain is not only affecting my daytime activities, it’s also seeping into my ability to wake up well-rested each morning. I’ve always been a heavy sleeper, but now I often have major trouble sleeping at night because of the nearly constant aches and sharp pains keeping me awake, leading to fatigue and a much lower energy level during the day. 

Today I’m at the crossroads, still on the fence about going ahead with a complete hip replacement. To make an informed decision, I still want to know more, to completely educate myself about joint replacement surgery. Not only that, I also want to understand more about what to expect when proceeding with an elective surgery in the age of the COVID-19 pandemic, as well as take a glimpse into what the intricacies of the rehabilitation process might involve.

To get answers to these and many other questions, of course, like you, I will consult my doctor and healthcare team first and continue to educate myself with resources from Don’t Let Pain Gain on You. As I start looking into my options to take the next step in my joint pain journey, I feel optimistic for what is to come. 

About Don’t Let Pain Gain on You 

If you are contemplating joint replacement like I am --  or even have already decided on this type of orthopedic surgery in the near future -- after meeting with your healthcare team, I encourage you to check this free and useful site out to enhance what you’ve learned and to educate and empower yourself to make the best-informed decisions possible. Not only will you find more general information here, you’ll discover digital resources which may help you gain confidence to alleviate your worries related to the COVID-19 pandemic about hospital safety and rehabilitation. 

Important: Remember, this post is for informational purposes only and it is not intended as a substitute for professional medical advice. Any questions or concerns should be directed to your own doctor and healthcare team. Depending on COVID-19 restrictions in your area, your healthcare provider can confirm whether elective surgeries are actively taking place where you live or if they may be temporarily paused. 

This post is sponsored by Zimmer Biomet. All opinions expressed in this post are my own and not those of Zimmer Biomet.