13 Months: Advice

Advice for new parents



When setting up your changing area, two things:

• Reposition any mirrors that may be hanging within reach of the child. Within the first 8-10 months (or as soon as he/she can reach it), your child will likely start kicking at the mirror, so vigorously and violently that you may fear the mirror will come crashing down onto the fancy dresser your parents gave you.
• If you plan to always position the baby's head on one side vs. another, choose the side that doesn't have the light switch. At some point the child will learn to operate the light switch, creating a lights-on/lights-off disco strobe effect that can be quite distracting during changing time. It's not a problem unless you've spent 11 or so months getting accustomed to changing the baby with his/her head always in the same direction, because switching to the opposite side—although not particularly challenging—is surprisingly awkward.