5 Tips to Help You Prepare for Future Children

When you're expecting additional children, there are all kinds of things that you need to keep in mind for preparation. Your previous experience can help you grow your confidence. While there's no way that you'll be able to prepare for every possible scenario, you can definitely start off on a strong note. These tips can be useful for helping you prepare for your future children.

Store the Baby Items from Your First Child

Having a second baby can be difficult, particularly if your firstborn is still toddler age or younger. However, it can be easier in many regards. One advantage is that you can save money by reusing items from your firstborn. You should only keep things that you know are worth holding onto. All explains, get rid of damaged items, like toys with broken or missing parts, books with tears, and clothing with stains. You may be able to donate or recycle some of these. You'll want to keep the best quality items.” Store your baby items in a secure location that won't cause any sorts of damage. If necessary, you might consider renting out a storage unit.

Figure out Childcare

If you work full-time, you'll be able to at least get a few weeks of maternity leave. However, you will need to factor in childcare options. If you're already using the services of a trusted daycare for another child, you can continue doing so. However, you might consider looking elsewhere. Ask around for as much advice as possible. There are several options for people who are flexible. If your child is over the age of three years old, then you may be able to enroll your child in a preschool program. This is a great way to prepare your child for kindergarten while creating free time in the day for you to work.

Assemble Your Postpartum Kit

From pads to numbing spray to peri bottles, there are many things you will need. It’s a lot easier to have all that put together and ready to go before your second baby is born. Amazon has almost everything you need. You can read another experienced mom’s ideas on what she had in her recovery kit. Be sure to talk to your doctor about what to expect, again, for postpartum healing. You can also see the ultimate list of everything you will need for your recovery here. You will be so much happier if you do not have to drag yourself around CVS just hours after you get home.

Talk to Your Toddler

Be sure to spend time talking to your first baby about what is about to happen. They may seem fine, but it is good to see what kinds of questions they ask you. It is important to let them lead the discussion to a point. The questions they ask will tell you what they are ready to begin processing. If major changes in room assignment or babysitting are going to happen right away, it is good to explain that to them. Reading books can help too. Of course, nothing will become totally real to them until the baby is actually here. You can try to foreshadow all the phone calls, pictures, gifts for the new baby, people visiting, emails and the myriad of activity that will happen when the baby is born. Be sure to explain to your toddler that these same things happened when they were born. Creating a secret word, or handshake that only you two know can be soothing. Then, when it is crazy busy, you can use it to connect with your toddler so they know they are loved.

Plan a Photoshoot

Ushering in the arrival of a new baby with a photoshoot is something seriously worth considering. Even if you're not yet pregnant, it can still be good to keep this in mind so that you can reserve a desirable photographer as soon as possible. There are all kinds of shoots you can consider, like one of your newborn and their older sibling, one of the whole family together, or one of the baby by themselves. While professional photoshoots might be more expensive than just snapping photos with your smartphone, the investment can be absolutely worth it when you see the finished product. Order extra copies from the photographer so that you can send them to friends and relatives.

Being a parent is all about showing how responsible you can be. This happens over time, and it starts with making good decisions today. Use these tips to help smooth the process. There's no scenario that can't be improved by preparation, and you can enjoy parenthood all the more this way.

Family Fun at the Huntington Library

The Huntington Library in San Marino, CA is a fantastic place to take your kids. The trick is to become a member. Members gain entrance to the facilities free. This place is truly amazing. It has several themed gardens, including a children’s garden. There will be a lot of walking, so if you have kids who are not in a stroller anymore, it is a great way to get exercise in a safe environment. There are several lakes and ponds, wildlife to enjoy and wonderful statues and architecture everywhere you look.

OVERALL PROS

Beautiful, clean, safe, full of learning opportunities, kid friendly high tea service

OVERALL CONS

No picnics allowed, pricey if you are not a member.

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When I visited recently, I kept in mind activities that families could do while they visit the grounds.

1. “Book” a Garden: There are 16 gardens to choose from. Each is spectacular. For toddlers, you may want to give special preference to the Children’s Garden, The Chinese Garden and the Jungle Garden. Bring a book that you read to your child often and matches a garden theme. Then, as you visit, you can look in the book and try to find examples of some of the plants. Kids can imagine dinosaurs or other characters as they amble along.

2. Count Your Steps: It is very easy to trek over 2 miles in a leisurely walk around one garden. This is a great way to help kids get generate healthy habits. I recommend using the Chinese Garden for this. You can walk around a stunning lake, look at Koi fish and other wildlife. The architecture there transports you into another world. It is so rich and vibrant, no one will realize they have walked 2 miles! There is also a Chinese food place there to grab a bite. It’s convenient and has outside seating.

3. Portrait Extravaganza: The collection of portraits in the museum is mesmerizing. There are so many to see, it probably can’t be done in one or even two days. The collection has several portraits of older kids, so that makes it more relevant and easy to start a discussion with your own kids about what they see in the painting.

4. Find a Hobby: One of the best things a parent can do for kids is to help them find a hobby; something they can do throughout their schooling years. This teaches coping strategies and skills that so many of us lack. The Japanese Garden has the most extensive Bonsai display around. These are world class examples of how beautiful they are and how it is possible to make a 50 foot Oak tree grow into a 1 foot miniature.

   The Rose Garden, when in bloom, is a great way to introduce kids to the art of rose care and development. There must be 100 different rose varieties there.

   The Rose Garden Tea room offers an experience in high tea. Older kids can see how food can be taken to an art form in detail and presentation. Finger sandwiches and small baked sweets are things kids can learn to make at home.

5. Geocaches: If you geocache as a family, there may be one or two that are hidden around with the permission of the owners. That can add to your days of fun too.

Panos Productions Photography: We create showpiece images for modern moms who want to remember everything they love about their kids, forever. See our packages for Maternity, baby, kids, teens.

Why Isn't My Child Talking Yet?

As a parent, it can be frustrating and scary to realize that your child is not hitting their speech development milestones. Before you start to panic, it is important to understand some of the reasons why your child is not talking yet and what you can do to encourage this development. Here are three of the most common reasons why your child might not be talking yet:

Not Being Talked to Enough

This source recommends, “although many parents might feel silly constantly talking to a person who cannot yet talk back, the regular and persistent verbal communication that you share with your infant is imperative to their speech development. Infants respond to any kind of verbal communication, regardless of whether it is baby talk or more adult vocabulary and inflections.” Young impressionable brains are wired to soak up all of the sounds, tones, and words so that they are able to process those into a vocabulary. By being intentional about speaking with your infant from its first days of life, you will be encouraging it to develop its own language skills when the time comes.

Hearing Issues

This source explains, “one baby in a thousand is born profoundly deaf. Another two to three are born with partial hearing loss. Hearing loss is the No. 1 birth defect in America. Many studies have shown that early diagnosis of hearing loss is crucial to the development of speech, language, cognitive, and psychosocial abilities. Treatment is most successful if hearing loss is identified early, preferably within the first month of life. That's why 39 states require some type of hearing test before the baby leaves the hospital.” Common hearing problems can be negated with proper intervention, making it important to ensure that your child is tested.

Older Siblings

Oftentimes, children with older siblings are delayed in their speech capabilities. This source reports, “babies and toddlers with siblings are more likely to let the older kids speak for them, rather than talking for themselves. After a while, they will start to become dependent on the sibling to speak for them out of habit.” If your baby appears to be delayed in speech acquisition, it is a good idea to instruct any older siblings to encourage their younger brother or sister to speak up for themselves.

Take care to remove any obstacles out of your child's way when it comes to language development. By doing so, you can do your part to encourage normal patterns of speech development from a young age.

Life with children just seems to go by so fast. They may be dealing with these challenges now, but it could feel like this is only a passing second. That’s why it’s so important to take photos of your children, especially in their first couple years of life!

How to Get Started in Newborn Photography: Part 1 Safety

If you are familiar at all with newborn photos, you know that they can be super cute. I know that is what attracted me so many years ago when I began thinking about becoming a newborn photographer. There are a few things, however, that I wish people had pointed out to me early on. It would have made things a bit easier for me. So here, I am going to tell you those things. I hope that these insights from a working Los Angeles newborn photographer help you in your endeavor. This is Part One of a series. Here, I talk about newborn safety.

Getting Started in Newborn Photography: Safety

Before you even think about grabbing a camera and snapping photos, the first thing you need to do is learn as much as you can about newborn photography safety. When you see adorable newborn pictures, what you are looking at, if it is done safely, is an image that has been heavily produced after the fact. In other words, the image you see and the one that was originally taken by the camera are two very different things. There are a few different ways you can learn about newborn photography safety.

• Kelly Brown Kelly Brown is one of about 4 or 5 world renowned newborn photographers. She offers a free class that covers the very basics in newborn safety. This class is a start, but it is NOT enough. She also offers extensive training on the 9 or 10 common newborn poses. Safety for each pose is included. I cannot emphasize how critical it is that you watch, listen and observe from Kelly Brown. In my opinion, she is the best there is. She is conservative, meaning there are certain poses she won’t do, and she is so careful while handling newborns. This is not true with many of the videos on newborn posing on YouTube, where the baby is jiggled and jolted around like a rag doll. These kinds of photographers are not the ones you want to emulated yourself after. The other great thing about Kelly Brown is, she does NOT use an assistant. So if you are new to the field and do not have money to pay someone, Kelly shows you that it is possible to do newborn posing alone. It is very difficult, but it is possible.

• Julia Kelleher Julia Kelleher is another of the world famous newborn photographers. She is an inspiration on many levels. She offers an extensive class on newborn posing that also talks a lot about safety. In her case, she works with an assistant. So you can see what a different experience it is to have a helper next to you. It can mean you are able to do more poses, or even more than one newborn session a day. She covers the same 9 or 10 basic poses that are the standard today.

• American Association for Newborn Photography Safety As of this writing, there is no governmental or industry standard for what constitutes safe newborn posing. There are general guidelines based on experienced photographers and some pediatricians who have chimed in on the matter. However, there is a grass roots attempt to try and create some kind of minimum standard for newborn posing safety. That is what this organization is trying to do. It is operated by a couple of experienced newborn photographers and a pediatrician. They offer an online class you can take. You then pass an exam, and you get a certification. At the very least, it is an attempt to hold people accountable. And if you get certified, more parents will feel safer about using you.

• Newborn Care Specialist Training I do not know if any other newborn photographers have completed newborn care training. But I did. I took the training online. This particular class is taught by an experienced newborn care specialist. For me, I learned so much about what newborns can do, how they behave, how to soothe them and so much more. The training is about 40 hours, and there is a ton of information. But it will help you feel more confident around newborns. It is one thing to have experience with your OWN kids, but when you are handling other peoples’ newborns, most of that goes out the window. Almost every bit of information in this class will help you be a better newborn photographer.

• Observe an experienced photographer. Nothing comes close to observing one or more experienced newborn photographers. By experienced, I mean someone who has at least 150 successful newborn sessions under their belt. Fewer that this, in my opinion, is not experienced enough. When I was training, I went and worked with 4 or 5 different newborn photographers. Some I mentored with online, others I went and spent 2 days or more and observed as many sessions as I could. I recommend clocking at least 10 hours observing experienced photographers, before you try photographing newborns on your own.

  Before you can do anything about photographing newborns, you have to know a lot about them. You have to understand what their joints and muscles are able to do, how posing is done slowly and in stages and how to move safely from one pose to the next.

  Katie is a newborn photographer at Panos Productions Photography. We create showpiece images for modern moms who want to remember everything they love about their kids, forever.

Earn Cash and Perks With Our Ambassador Program

What is a Brand Ambassador?

Have you ever thought about being a brand ambassador? A brand ambassador is someone who is paid to represent a business or company and to promote their services or products. The tasks can be simple to very complex depending on the size of the company. This can mean going to exhibitions, trade shows, concerts or other large events. Or it can mean promoting them on social media or passing out flyers. Or it can be a combination of these kinds of things. These days, there are many full time highly paid positions for “brand ambassadors”, but to land these permanent jobs usually requires a college education and some experience. But there are other kinds of brand ambassadors; ones that do not require a formal education or experience. In exchange for your work promoting a business, you may get perks, like free products or services. And some businesses actually pay a cash bonus for paid referrals. To see some examples of brand ambassador programs you can look at My Street Team and Jobble .

What is the Panos Productions Photography Brand?

Panos Productions Photography is a family owned small business in Los Angeles. We specialize in fine art studio portraits with a boutique, highly customized experience. We offer 4 main services: maternity portrait photography, baby portrait photography, child portrait photography, and mother and child portrait photography. We also offer commissioned, original art pieces.

Our portrait sessions are what are called “boutique-style”, or highly customized and personalized experiences. Clients who are photographed at Panos Productions Photography come because they want the experience of being styled, posed and photographed just as much as they want showpiece images. All clients receive a consultation with the photographer who will be photographing them. Clients receive guidance each step of the way throughout the portrait making process. At no time, are clients left wondering what to do or what happens next.

The studio owns a substantial wardrobe for maternity, baby and Mother/Child clients. Clients get a styling and fitting session before their portraits begin. Further, the studio owns dozens of props that can be used to create vintage, rustic, classic and even modern looks.

Our one line elevator pitch is: “We create showpiece images for modern moms who want to remember everything they love about their kids, forever”.

What is the Panos Productions Photography Brand Ambassador Program?

Our brand ambassador program is a cash payout and perk based program. Ambassadors get paid cash for referrals that meet certain requirements and they also get perks, such as complimentary portrait services, being featured on our blog and more. A few times per year, we accept a select few ambassadors to promote our services to the local communities in and around Los Angeles. Most brand ambassadors continue for about 3 to 6 months. The average ambassador can take home between $100 and $140 per month. Motivated ambassadors can take home as much as $250 or more. This is good money. If you were to get paid minimum wage ($11 per hour in Los Angeles), it would take you just under 2 hours to earn $20. With this program, you can get a client to buy a maternity portrait package, for example and earn $20 in just a few minutes.

Probably the easiest money to earn is from our commissioned painting services. Everyone has a favorite photo. And almost everyone would love to have a personal artist turn it into a family heirloom to hang on their wall. You could earn a lot of extra cash per week just by getting people to look at their favorite images on their phone and deciding to make it a showpiece art display for their home.

If you are someone who knows people who have kids or are expecting moms, or if you know young people who need personal branding photos, there is potential to put some nice cash in your pocket with our Ambassador Program. Why work several hours for what you can make in just a few minutes? The experience of being a brand ambassador will translate to many other jobs such as customer service, sales, marketing, content writing, and more. Having been a successful brand ambassador looks impressive on any resume.

4 Biggest Hidden Dangers to a Child's Health

As a parent, you want your child to have the best possible upbringing. This means protecting your son or daughter from hazards that your son or daughter might encounter both at home and in the outside world. Let's take a look at a few of these potential hazards and the steps that you can take to mitigate them.

Peanuts and Seafood

Many children develop allergies at a young age, and you don’t find out until they are exposed to the allergens and they get sick. In some cases, your child could suffer negative health consequences from merely touching a surface that is contaminated by peanuts. The same could be true if your child eats, smells or touches fish or other seafood. If your child shows any signs of an allergy, take your son or daughter to the doctor immediately. It can also be a good idea to have medication handy in case of an emergency.

Mold

According to Behind the S, mold most often affects children, pregnant women, and people with breathing problems. The most common kinds of mold form in damp conditions usually present in a basement, attic or bathroom. If you see black mold, be sure to call a professional right away. It can have an adverse impact on your child's life, and it can also put your own life in danger.

Falling Objects

A blow to the head can cause significant injury to a small child because its skull and brain are not fully developed. This can be true even if the object falls from a relatively low height. To prevent your child from being hit by a falling object at home, keep items on shelves secured with zip ties or similar objects. You can also keep potentially dangerous objects in a shed or other space the child won't occupy.

The Family Pet

You should never leave your child unsupervised when feeding, playing with or otherwise interacting with a cat or dog. This is because even a friendly animal can get scared or angry in an instant, and it could lead to your child being bitten or experiencing other injuries in an attack. According to American Family Physician, dog bites account for 1% of all injury-related emergency department visits in the United States and more than $50 million in inpatient costs per year. Immediate treatment will be necessary to stop the spread of bacteria throughout the child's body.

Children are often curious about the world around them and can be oblivious to the potential consequences of their actions. Therefore, it is important that they are properly supervised to ensure that they don't get hurt. Taking proactive steps to mitigate hazards can also make it easier to keep your kids safe when you can't watch them.

Panos Productions creates showpiece images for modern moms who want to remember everything they love about their kids forever. Book a beautiful photo session with us today.