When you or someone you know is expecting, how many baby name lists will you admit to look at? There are so many sources to go to now for baby name inspiration. Pampers offers an impressive “Baby Name Generator Tool”, Parenting.com provides a search engine along with several sub categories (historical, unique, pop culture, etc.), not to mention the countless magazines and books that give you thousands of suggestions.
Our families at Bell Family continue to grow, and that means our list of baby names is too. Below, you can find some of the top names amongst our families from the past year. No thanks necessary for giving you another resource to help mix up your list that you (almost) narrowed down.
Top boy names:
1. William
2. Conrad
3. Sebastian
4. Bedford
5. Weston
6. Alexander
7. Luke
8. Harrison
9. Griffin
10. Colton
Top girl names:
1. Charlotte
2. Clara
3. Shannon
4. Louisa
5. Sophie
6. Eleanor
7. Lucie
8. Mia
9. Skylar
10. Annabel
Written by our Marketing & Social Media Coordinator, Taylor Bell
Perfect Your Practice with ivivva Sport Gear
ivivva stores and showrooms are community spaces that quickly transform with movable fixtures to host complimentary events like dance, yoga, run clinics, and a variety of athletic classes. They also have a dreams and goals program that facilitates workshops around the store and with teams and classes. In this workshop they encourage girls to dream big and set goals for themselves, and at the same time know that falling and getting back up again is all part of the journey.
Their products aim to create technical, beautiful athletic apparel for girls. ivivva is designed with active girls in mind, to help them perform their best in all their activities. It is co-created with girls and ivivva designers, with the girls’ sharing feedback and ideas, and ivivva designing what she needs even beyond what she can imagine!
Today, we are featuring one of ivivva’s popular products, the Perfect Your Practice Jacket, which is perfect for on the field or on the ice to get to and from practice. This is a popular item to purchase alone or to buy in bulk for a team sale (see below for product image).
To order this jacket, or do some browsing of your own, check out the ivivva website here!
Written by our Marketing & Social Media Coordinator, Taylor Bell
Get to Know Maternity Mentors
Maternity Mentors is a program designed to help parents navigate life’s greatest challenge through tailored sessions, e-communications, and classes to help mentor new parents.
We recently had the opportunity to talk to Millie Gillon, the face and creator behind Maternity Mentors. Read below to learn more about her and the impressive guidance offered by Maternity Mentors.
Q: You mentioned you spent countless hours researching online boards, articles, mom’s groups, medical journals, etc. What resources helped you the most to answer your new mom questions?
A: CDC, American Medical Association, and combining information from countless blogs, boards, and articles around topics ranging from postpartum care, cloth diapers, to first foods, educational development, and beyond. I feel like I earned a PhD. in new parenthood from all of the research I did during late night nursing sessions.
Q: Why should moms turn to Maternity Mentors as a trusted resource? What sets you apart from an expecting mom’s network?
A: Maternity Mentors is an experienced resource that works 1 on 1 with expectant moms to deliver the best resource for all maternity issues. The mom’s network is composed of mainly mothers’ first hand accounts, whereas Maternity Mentors is a combination of experiential and clinical resources to help.
Q: Why is having a mentor during pregnancy so important? Does Maternity Mentors stay with the mom throughout the entire pregnancy? Can a mom turn to their mentor after the baby is born?
A: Most new parents are focused on the labor and delivery experience, but few focus on the intricacies of parenthood beyond countless ads focused on buying merchandise that they really do not need. A mother about to go into labor is vulnerable from experience. While there are plenty of resources she can turn to (friends, family), none are directly committed to new parents and the baby/babies. The mentorship experience is about focusing on the new parent(s), and baby’s wellbeing.
Valentine's Day Crafts for Kids
What’s the best part of Valentine’s Day? It’s a guaranteed date night! If you and your other half are headed out for a romantic evening, you’ll probably want to provide your little one’s sitter with a festive Valentine’s craft. We love these heart shaped animals from personal creations for an easy and fun art fix.
Simply print out your child’s heart-shaped animal of choice, then leave them with your caregiver. When it’s time to create, they can help your child cut out and assemble the pieces to make a creature they’ll cherish long past February. There’s a color version for a quicker craft or a black and white version if your little one wants to color the animal themselves. Happy crafting!
Sherry Chen, Personal Creations
Potty Training Seminar (February 4th)
Do you have, or know anyone who has toddlers ready to be potty trained? If so, you’re in luck because this weekend, NYC Potty Training is hosting a Potty Training Seminar!
The event is hosted by Samantha Allen, founder of NYC Potty Training, who has received great praise from one of our Bell Family moms saying, “She’s incredible! I used her for my son when we were desperate for help and she got him trained in a weekend!”
If you aren’t able to attend the event this weekend, there’s still good news! You can have Samantha Allen (founder), speak to families at your child’s school about methods and strategies for seamless potty training in 1-2 days. Samantha is also available to speak at private events.
If you are interested in attending the event, you can purchase tickets here, but hurry because the event has been sold out the last two years!
3rd Annual Seminar by NYC Potty Training
Leman Manhattan Preparatory School
Saturday, February 4, 2017 from 10AM-11AM (ET)
New York, NY
Written by our Marketing & Social Media Coordinator, Taylor Bell
Meet New York Sleep Coach
It’s time to learn how to sleep train your little ones, and give parents everywhere a life with more sleep.
We had the opportunity to talk with Kylee Sallak, founder of New York Sleep Coach, and the creator of Happy Parents, Happy Child method of sleep training. Read below to find out more about her and the impressive work done by New York Sleep Coach.
Q: What experiences or motivational factors helped lead you to create New York Sleep Coach?
Creating NYSC was a culmination of 16 years of helping families and one big recent ‘ah-ha’ moment with a close friend who wasn’t able to convince her 14 month old to nap. While I have many years of sleep training behind me, it wasn’t solidified that I could create something this acutely helpful until I saw my sleep-deprived friend feeling hopeless with her toddler’s sleep. It was enormously motivating to realize that I can be of service to parents in such a short and transformative period of time. At my core, I am a nurturer and have always found myself needing to care for others. NYSC has given me the privilege to nurture parents, so they can be at their best to nurture their kids.
Q: What are the benefits of hiring a sleep coach for a child?
The primary reason parents choose to work with me is because they have tried on their own and always end up caving in at some early stage of the process out of fear, being too sleepy to keep with it, or a combination of both. Parents report that working with me helped them feel confident in their decision to sleep train and supported during the periods they would have otherwise caved in. I make sure that parents who work with me are getting accurate facts about sleep, support, encouragement and walk away feeling empowered with tools to uphold their decision to sleep train.
A lack of restorative sleep negatively affects your child’s mood, their gross and fine motor development, their appetite, short and long-term cognitive development, and their ability to handle frustration. Fewer tantrums and cheery moods are the outwardly and immediately noticeable perks for your little ones. If your child is sleeping soundly all night, and napping well during the day, you also have the opportunity to be getting quality rest. Uninterrupted time spent with your partner, both in and out of the bedroom, waking up more refreshed, having more patience when are you with your little one(s), and being more productive during your awake hours. These are the notable perks for the parents. And while it may not seem so obvious right now, there is a significant domino effect and implications of not sleep training your child that extends beyond toddler and preschool years into primary school and beyond.
Q: We like your approach on common sense sleep training, can you share a few tips for new parents?
I am happy to share the most commonly missed practices, which are also the most immediately impactful practices you can start using today. So many parents I speak to are doing only 1 or 2 of these tips, and some parents aren’t utilizing any of them. This is usually because they either hadn’t gotten around to trying, or because they didn’t believe these would work for their baby or young child. Either way, I would recommend giving these a try even if you are skeptical. These are going to make a noticeable difference if done consistently. And if you get stuck along the way and feel you need more support, I am here to help parents just like you get over this bump in the road!
Written by our Marketing & Social Media Coordinator, Taylor Bell
Meet Veestro – Healthy Eating Made Easy
Are you looking to eat healthier in 2017? Well, you are in luck, because we are introducing one of our new favorite food delivery services – Veestro.
One of our Bell Family sitters, Rebecca Wong, recently took a job with Veestro as their Marketing Manager. Below, she tells us how Veestro works, how it’s different from like-brands, and why it’s great for both sitters and families everywhere!
Q: What is Veestro and how does it work?
Veestro is a gourmet food company that delivers plant-based, chef-prepared meals directly to our customer’s doors in all 50 states. No need to stand in a store line. All meals are ordered online. There are a variety of meals for everyone, ranging from Thai noodles to quesadillas to cheesecake. Everything is made fresh then delivered frozen for extra convenience. Veestro isn’t just for vegans and vegetarians. It’s for anyone who loves food and likes to eat healthy. Veestro is gaining momentum in the media, with recent features in InStyle, GLAMOUR, Men’s Fitness, and PopSugar, as well as TV features on ABC, FOX, The Doctors, and NBC’s Harry with Harry Connick Jr.
Q: With you being a sitter yourself, why would you recommend Veestro to our other sitters? What sets it apart from like-brands?
As a sitter, Veestro makes it convenient to eat on the run, and even bring meals to appointments. You just heat and eat. Each meal is perfectly portioned and cost an average of $10. There are plenty of meal programs that make clean eating simple, and there are tons of gluten-free options. All ingredients are organic, dairy-free, cholesterol-free, preservative-free, and non-GMO. If you handle kids with allergies, this is your safest bet food-wise.
Q: Why is Veestro a great idea for families?
Veestro is perfect for families because it cuts out the prep work, and fulfills all the nutritional needs of both growing kids and adults. There are endless benefits to eating more plants, and this is a brilliant way to get kids to enjoy veggies. They especially love the pizzas and “chicken” nuggets. There are several meals that come family-sized to share, and the more you buy, the lower the costs. A family can order 12 meals for just $99, with free shipping.
Written by our Marketing & Social Media Coordinator, Taylor Bell
Development Milestones Ages 2-12 Months
Moms and Dads everywhere are snapping photos of their child’s first smile, laugh, wave, and the big one – steps! We’d call these moments milestones in a child’s life, and the same probably goes for the parents, too.
The CDC.gov website provides an impressive list of milestones for children ages two months to five years old. Below, we’ve highlighted some of the top ones focusing on children ages 2-12 months.
2 months:
Begins to smile
Coos
Can hold up own head
4 months:
Copies some movements/facial expressions
Babbles with expression
Lets you know if they’re happy or sad
6 months:
Rolls over
Responds to own name
Brings things to mouth
9 months:
Understands “no”
Crawls
Stands holding on
12 months:
Uses simple gestures (waves, shakes head)
Says “mama” or “dada”
Sits without help
For the complete list of milestones, click here.
Written by our Marketing & Social Media Coordinator, Taylor Bell
Guide to Raising a Happy, Healthy Mom
The Mother’s Matter blog recently posted an article that talks about how to raise a happy, healthy mom. One big influential factor they highlight is sleep (or lack of) amongst moms.
This post offers three tried and tested tips that can help moms and dads catch a few extra zzz’s.
1. Sleep more = Sweat more.
A study published in Annals of Behavioral Medicine, revealed that a home-based, individual aerobic exercise program can reduce fatigue (both physical and mental) in women with postpartum depression. A second study revealed that a group of postnatal women who practiced in-home Pilates, were found to have lower levels of physical and mental fatigue than their non-practicing peers.
2. Wanna sleep? Apply the pressure.
Licensed acupuncturist and owner of Four Flower Wellness in Chicago, Ashley Flores, speaks to the restorative potential of acupressure for new mothers. Instead of using needles, the treatment is administered with the fingers. Flores suggested that applying acupressure to the Pericardium 5, 6, and 7 points (found on the inside of the wrist) can be especially useful before going to sleep.
3. Eat your way to a good sleep.
The foods a new mom opts for can make a difference in helping cope with a chronic case of depleted sleep. Nutritional Consultant, Patricia Daly, BA, DipHE, NT states that one of the best ways to stave off physical and emotional fatigue is to keep blood sugar levels even throughout the day. Complex carbohydrates such as whole wheat bread, whole wheat pasta, and brown rice are preferable to their white counterparts.
For the complete article and to see more from Mother’s Matter, click here.
Written by our Marketing & Social Media Coordinator, Taylor Bell
Bell Family in Connecticut
Bell Family has been servicing the Greenwich, CT and surrounding southern CT/Westchester County areas for approximately five years. It all started when our families began to move from the city to expand their families.
Greenwich Moms.com’s founder, Layla, recently did a feature on our company and three of our super sitters in the area. Our sitters in the Greenwich area are all college educated, have valid driver’s license, and are experienced childcare providers and LOVE kids!
To read the feature, click here !
We are excited to meet more families, as well as sitters and nannies in the area! If you are interested in joining our group, please e-mail us at [email protected].
Written by our Founder & CEO, Lindsay Bell