Choosing Baby Names

Before choosing a name for your baby, there are several things that you need to consider and by the way you can take your time. Don’t feel you have to name your baby right away especially if he or she arrives early. This is a matter that does deserve some careful thought.

The first thing you need to consider is the baby’s ancestry. Usually it is nice to give your baby a first or a middle name that refers somehow to a relative in your family tree or at the very least a name that relates to a respected figure in that culture. This goes back to an ancient belief that maintains that the guardian spirit of the person the baby is named after will always watch over the child.

Before you give your child a name, be sure to look up it’s meaning on a site like ThisName.com to make sure that it does not have unflattering connotations. For instance, the name Luxton, might sound very elegant and mean “elegance” in English, but if your child is Jewish, the name will translate to mean “limp noodle.”

Another example? The name Kali might sound cute and pretty for a little girl, but in India it is the name of a Goddess of Death. Before naming your baby you should also do the “call it out loud test.”

Realize that during the first decade and a half of the child’s life that you will be calling (and maybe even yelling) this name out frequently. This is where choosing a name with a good casual short form is a good idea. The best names are those that also grant the child a versatile shorter name. For instance the name Delilah could allow a child to be called Lilly, Lilah, Dee and Del.

Yet another thing is to consider if other children will make fun of your name. Remember Gaylord Focker in “Meet the Parents.” You want to avoid a scenario like that for your child. I once had a friend named Dorcas who was the daughter of an admiral. This had great significance for her father because the name meant “Sea Goddess.” However she was cursed by the nickname Dorcas her entire life. Is the name really difficult to spell?

You can save your child a lot of grief later in life if you avoid names that don’t sound like they are spelt or that can be spelt several different ways. A classic example is Sharmain or Sharmaine or Charmain or Charmaign or Charmaine.) These can get misspelled on government and insurance forms.

You should also not give your child a name that might be shared by too many other people in the world. For instance if your last name is Smith try for a more exotic name for your child than Susan, Tom, or John. This could also cause them problems with government forms and identity theft later in life as these names are really all too common. Now that you know the ground rules when it comes to naming your child, you are ready to choose a name. The rest of the course is really just a matter of your good taste!

Do You Have a Fire Safety Plan?

During the formative years of your child it is important to bear in mind fire safety in his her bedroom. To this end here are a few tips that you should keep in mind.

Avoid synthetics. That goes for everything from toys to clothing to decor. Synthetics burn faster, hotter and produce much higher quantities of toxic fumes than natural materials.

First and foremost consult with your local hardware store to acquire as class 'A' fire retardant paint. This will help stop the spread of fire on the wall surfaces. Also avoid the use of carpet, they are all synthetic in nature and produce copious amounts of toxic gases under fire conditions. Natural hard-wood floors are preferred.

The baby’s clothing is also important to consider. Choose natural cotton fibers and avoid synthetics. Synthetic fibers will actually melt and fuse to the skin under fire conditions.

Keep plastic toys outside the baby’s bedroom for this same reason. In general make certain that anything in the baby’s room is made of natural fiber or wood.

Install inter-connected smoke alarms with one in your baby’s room and one every else. The current fire code requires one working smoke alarm on each level of the home and one outside each sleeping area. However, there is no such thing as too many smoke alarms.

Have interconnected smoke alarms. That means that if one goes off they all go off. They make these in a wireless format now and they are CSA listed and inexpensive. This doubles the effectiveness of your safety plan.

I know this sounds mundane and repetitive but PRACTICE A HOME ESCAPE PLAN! Have two ways out of every room, have a plan about who mom is going to get and who dad is going to get, how you will get out and where you will meet in the event of a fire.

If bedrooms are on the second floor consider rope ladders as means of escape. Make sure your windows open to allow you to get out. Train your children to leave pets and toys and just get out.

Unless you live in an urban core you must realize this…… it will take the fire department seven minutes to arrive…… you have three minutes to get out.

Plan, plan, plan, practice, practice, practice. The key is early fire detection, a well planned escape route, a meeting place and a way to survive.