Grandparents Essential Tips

Grandparents Essential Tips will be helpful for all Grandparents! Please read through these suggestions and if you have additional tips, please add to the form below!

Grandparents Essential Tips:
Before the Baby Arrives

This list will include a variety of suggestions from before the baby arrives until baby is at home and you have been babysitting for a few months.

• Let the parents decide on when to "tell everyone" the news about their pregnancy
  
• Offer to host a baby shower party for friends and family
• Help parents decorate the nursery: hang curtains, paint walls or murals, or sew a wall hanging
• Purchase special items for the new grandbaby's arrival
• Offer to drive Mom if she is home bound due to doctor's orders.
  
• She may need to go to her doctor's visit or to a baby store to finish shopping.
• Never get involved in suggesting names for your grandchild. Naming the baby should be the couples decision.

Grandparents Essential Tips:
After Baby Comes Home

After the babies were home, here are a few more " Essential Tips and Techniques" that we encourage. You probably have suggestions too.

• Encourage your children in current parenting skills. Research, read, and explore all parenting suggestions. Many of us--the soon to be grandparents, only if asked, offer our opinion with related experiences and emphasize to all that will listen "that we feel that our children turned out great!"
  

• Babysitting is an honor especially for your own grandchildren. It is important to follow the routine that the parents have established.
  

Grandparents Essential Tips: After Baby Comes Home Have parents leave a feeding and nap time schedule for you to follow whenever you babysit your grandchildren.

• Remember during this babysitting time, a special relationship and bond will be formed between you and your wonderful grandchild. Words can never express how important these special times will create memories for your lifetime.
  

• Another Grandparents Essential Tips is to take photos, record videos and share these moments with your relatives that live far away. If they have access to various Social Media (Face Book, Twitter, etc.), share these special times. As we have found, distant relatives love seeing pictures (Skype, Face Time, etc.) For our new twin grandsons and time passes so quickly and they seem to change their appearance almost every day!

Grandparents Essential Tips When babies come home from the hospital, please remember to follow the routine that the parents and the hospital have established. Napping and feeding are essential to a happy baby!

Additional Grandparents Essential Tips:
Learned during the last 10 months...

This "Essential Tips" list didn't come easy! As you will learn, when you are completely responsible for babysitting your grandchildren whether it be for one day or all week, it becomes a daunting task. Since we live so close, we are given the honor of babysitting our grandsons often. Don't fight this responsibility, embrace it!

Here are a few more Grandparents Essential Tips that we feel are very important:

• Baby bag is well stocked with essentials: diapers, liquid baby Tylenol, thermometer, rattles, extra changes of clothes, etc. Hint: You may want to have a stash of diapers on hand, but don't buy too many of one size, the twins outgrew diapers quickly and we have leftovers!

• Include in the diaper bag, a copy of an emergency medical release form for each child giving grandparents the authority to authorize medical treatment for the children when parents can't be reached. (This is important to always have to ensure proper medical attention!)

Lullaby and good night..to these beautiful little ones!

• Having all important phone numbers available: daughter/son's cell numbers, location of where they are for the day or evening in case there isn't cell phone connection (in case of an emergency), pediatrician's phone number, poison control center, and our neighbor who is a physician. Also have posted the local police and fire department numbers.

• Take photos of your grandchildren while you are babysitting. You will cherish these photos! I often use my iPhone and text the picture to their parents to let them know how happy the boys are during their stay and what toys they are playing with at that time.
  

Grandparents Essential Tips:
First Sleepover!

• We have just experienced our first sleepover. Our daughter surprised her husband with a 24-hour 40th birthday celebration only an hour away from their babies, but a welcomed surprised weekend!
• As the day arrived, I didn't tell my family, but I was concerned about the twins staying overnight! Would they miss their parents during the last feeding? Would they sleep all night? Would they cry all night? Many questions, but only time would tell how successful this night will be! 
• Only healthy snacks for children or grandbabies are allowed. 
  
• Get them ready for bedtime according to parents guidelines. Change the boys into a clean diaper and put on their pajamas. Swaddle each with a Zip Me Swaddle Sac. Give them a bottle at 7:30.
• Try to follow schedule and put baby to bed before 8:00.
  

Other "Essential Tips and Techniques": Then read a book or tell them a special story from my life history. Also, we either sing or hum a special song and always say the prayer that their parents say before the boys go to bed.

• Call Mom and Dad and let them say goodnight to the boys.
  
• After these routine events, then send a text to their parents to reassure them that the babies are already in bed and resting comfortably.
  
• Our night was magical! They followed the schedule as if they were at home with their parents. No fussing, no crying, just smiles and sleepy boys who slept all night and didn't awaken until almost 7 o'clock the next morning!

We hope you will follow these Grandparenting Essential Tips to have a wonderful experience with your grandchildren! Oh, and did I mention, have a joyous time as you play, hold and love this most fabulous gift in your life, your grandchild!

So what are some of your best "Essential Tips?" I have shared mine below, now please share with others what you have found to be the best tips for babysitting your grandchild.

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