Saturday, August 23, 2008

Homemaking Tip o' the Day: How to Dress a Baby (or Two)

I am pleased to include this post in...


...@ Rocks in My Dryer, am AMAZING blog everyone needs to see!

In my effort to publish posts that will be interesting to myself, my posterity, and anyone else who might view my blog, I have been interested in seeking ideas from other sources. One source I searched suggested that one can write a how-to post. I don't know how to do a whole lot of things well, but one thing I really know how to do quickly is to dress a baby. I know most of you who read this post will already know how to do this, but there are some who may not, and you may be entertained by this either way. This is what "works for me"...

I chose to chronicle the one-piece sleeper. I love sleepers because you only have to find one piece of clothing and never have to worry about socks falling off wiggly feet. Plus, they always stay warm in cool weather or air-conditioned rooms. Our models are four-month-old twins, Joseph (on left) and Hyrum.

Step 1: Believe it or not, it took me many years to learn that if you lay out the sleeper in preparation for laying the baby on top of it, he can't kick it off. See picture below.



Step 2: Lay the baby in the center of the sleeper.



Step 3: Put the baby's feet in the sleeper feet.



Step 4: Button up the legs so the chances of the sleeper feet being kicked off are even more remote.



Step 5: Put the baby's arms in the sleeper sleeves. This is the most tricky part of the whole process because little fingers can be bent. I like to spread open the sleeper wrist openings with the tips of my fingers, then grab their little hands from the outside and pull them through, that way I can control what goes on with their fingers. You can see from the picture that this step was successful, as they are still happily cooperating.



Step 6: Button the top button to make sure an arm won't wiggle out.



Step 7: Button the rest of the buttons. You may start from the bottom or the top. It's your choice!



Step 8: At this point, your baby is considered dressed, but if he is teething, you may want to add a bib to make sure the sleeper won't get soaked or you will have to repeat this entire process in three minutes. Happy dressing!

13 comments:

Rachelle Vernon Jones said...

love it! those pics are just too cute! i cannot believe i am up right now. no more diet cokes for me! your cute cute babies. this is just adorable!

CJ, The Purple Diva said...

Hi Jen!
Thanks for stopping by! Your twins are ADORABLE! AND I LOVE THEIR NAMES! HOW PRECIOUS! And what stories you can tell them about their names!
LOVED this post! TOO cute!
I'm a reading! Keep bloggin'! You're doing great! Ok, off to read more of your page!

laurice. said...

You crack me up! That’s awesome!

Amanda B. said...

So fun to read... As many times as I have dressed a baby, I think I actually learned something from it. I don't know if it ever occurred to me to lay it out and then put the baby on it. Good thinking.... They are so cute!!! :)

Kelli said...

Jen, I am laughing! I NEVER dressed my babies that easily. I usually ended up with them upside down and sideways and arms going in leg holes. However I was doing ten other things at once too and wasn't paying attention. I think we should gather post like this for newly pregnant soon to be moms!Keep it up! in 3 months I want a post about HOW to catch a baby and THEN dress it!

Ames said...

Thanks for this post - I'm going to be a first time mom in November and have been having a bit of anxiety over the dressing process!!!

A happy heart at home said...

Too cute!

~Susan

Maria said...

Adorable babies!! I also dressed my little girl the same way. Thanks for posting!!

Maria

thriftywaysandideas.blogspot.com

Kama said...

Thanks for this post. I am due in 5 weeks and have a lot to learn!! :)

Anonymous said...

I am sitting here reading your blog wondering why I didn't know that to tell my brother. I'm an avid blog reader and you're the first person to write about, what I think is, the best way to put a sleeper on a baby!!

Not to mention your babies are ADORABLE!!

Thanks for sharing!!

Robyn said...

So cute!! This one I finally figured out with my second bobble-headed newborn. So much easier, and a great timesaver!

Anonymous said...

I love the step by step pictures, too cute!

mrsroberts said...

Awww! That brought back very good memories of dressing my twin babies! They are almost 5 now! :(