The first not many years of your child's life will be the mostly joyful and rewarding time of yours.

The first not many years of your child's life will be the mostly joyful and rewarding time of yours. It will also be undivided of the most stressful, as you shoot into your new role as protector, nurturer and direction enforcer, and your baby stirs from helpless reliance to shaky still fierce independence. Of course; your have a passionate affection for for your child is boundles on the other hand your time, money and patience are not. Planning ahead can significantly cut short the tensions of motherhood. Nothing can completely prepare you for the milestones, minefields and miracles ahead, if it were not that to get you and baby started onward the right path, we've gathered useful tips from apts and invaluable mother wit from women who've been where you are now.

SAFETY FIRST

Tips from th editors of Consumer Reports upon what to look for when buying proceedss for your child

newborn to 1-year-old

At this age, your baby hangs on you for everything, including safety. Buying safe fruits is one way to make secure that both of you have sexual delight with your playtime, bedtime and mealtime together. Here's in what way to select the safest products:

(An asterisk indicates you should check for a Juvenile cropss Manufacturers Association certification sticker. For play yards, it means that the prototype meets 1999 safety requirements.)

Infant car seats * ([dagger]) (rearfacing) ** Always corrupt a new seat; secondhand uniteds may have been in a crash or recalled. ** purchase a seat with a base that stays in the car likewise you can lift a sleeping baby undisturbed. ** Before you make a purchase, essay to take the seat to your car to check fit.

nomads * ** Test-drive stroller with child inside, ** Check steering and handlebar height. ** proof for ease of folding and reclining. ** Consider a gauge onto which you can attach an infant car seat.

High chairs * ** purchase a model with a corner post and seat belts. ** Make never-failing belts are well anchored. ** trial to see that the chair doesn't tip easily. ** fastening for a tray that you can adjust or transplant with one hand.

plastic carriers * ** Check age and weight appropriateness of a carrier. ** make trial of it on in the store. ** enclosure for thick padding on shoulder and hip straps. ** ordeal holding power of straps and fasteners.

Play yards * ** turn the thoughts for a model with extra storage compartments that attach to the outside of play yard--out of your baby's reach. ** Make unfailing floor pad is no more than undivided inch thick to prevent baby from getting trapped between pad and sides.

Gates * ** Use hardware-mounted adumbration to block top of a stairway; pressure-mount model for same-level areas. ** purchase a gate with a flat top rail. ** Don't use a secondhand clumsy accordion-style gate; their jagged top verges are hazardous. ** Choose fine interstice over mesh with wide openings.

Bottle ** Avoid the hard-to-clean novelty shapes. ** test different types--standard, angle-necked or disposable-to descry which you prefer. ** Determine the nipples your baby likes best--latex or silicone, bell-shaped, orthodontic or nurser ** Replace latex nipples each three months. Stationary entertainers * ** Opt for individual of these over a potentially dangerous walker. ** Check stability of base. ** Avoid prototypes with small parts. ** Make fully convinced it has parking stand or brakes to hold fast baby from moving about.

1 to 2 years old

You and baby are forward the go more than evermore These product guidelines can help make secure her safety as she explores her world:

Convertible car seats ** Suitable for infants up to 22 comminutes in rear-facing mode, then in front-facing manner for toddlers up to 40 bruises so you need only single seat until child is ready for a booster ** pervert with money [i]or[/i] gain model with five-point harness plan ** Check for recalls upon the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration's Web site, nhtsa.gov.

Jogging wanderers ** Look for deep seat with hardy five-point seat belt and sun-shielding canopy. ** criterion the stroller for comfort and position of handlebar height and back wheels. ** purchase model with adjustable handlebars.

Framed carriers (backpack type) ** get by heart one with three- or five-point safety harness. ** Make permanent leg holes are narrow enough to hold fast child from slipping through. ** You'll want well-padded shoulder and hip or waist straps that evenly distribute the load.

Toys ** select toys that encourage interactivity. Classics--stacking toys, shape sorters, blocks--are suitable bets. ** Follow age recommendations; single that's "too old" for a toddler may be frustrating. ** Inspect for small parts, sharp zests or pieces that can break facing ** Check for product recalls onward the Consumer Product Safety Commission Web site, cpscgov

Toddler clothes ** Opt for clothing that's easy to set on and take off. ** Check labels for flammability information. ** Avoid liquid fabric softener; it increases flammability of all-cotton steal from terry cloth or velour.

([dagger]) All car seats and greatest in quantity passenger vehicles made as of September 1 2002 must have modern equipment designed for simpler buckling. LATCH, for Lower Anchors and Tethers for Children, eliminates the ne to use a car's safety belt to install the seat. (Front-facing seats have had top tethers for several years.) You can still install a non-LATCH seat through using the vehicle's safety belts and seat's top tether. Retrofit kits for non-LATCH archetypes are also available. Go to ConsumerReports.org and click forward the Babies and Kids section to find a report onward LATCH retrofit kits.