» Things I’ve Learned About Parenting a Boy

Things I’ve Learned About Parenting a Boy – Part I

March 7, 2007

Xander in Snow Lisa recently metioned in a comment that she is having a boy, and although she has 2 girls, she doesn’t really know much about raising a boy. Well, I owuldn’t call myself an expert by any stretch of the imagination, but I have learned a few things (mostly through trial and error) along the way. So, here are a few suggestions I have so far, and I’m sure Xander will teach me some more as we get older.

- setting aside a baby washcloth as a “pee-pee cloth” can save you and your baby quite a few outfit changes.

- keeping your baby’s chest (and pee-pee) covered in the bathtub can save you lots of time rewashing your baby after he pees in the tub (or in his eye…)

- there are lots of cute clothes for boys, but sometimes you have to look harder for them – particularly in stores like WalMart where there are 5 or 6 racks of girl clothes and 1 or 2 racks of boy clothes…

- it’s ok for boys to smell like lavendar and chamomille – and the flowery scent doesn’t make them any less “manly”

- pacifiers may be a “crutch”, but it’s a crutch I’m willing to live with. If you’re going to use a pacifier, the ribbons made to clip them to baby’s clothes can be a huge time saver in searching for and cleaning dropped pacifiers.

- if you’re going to give your baby a bottle, try giving him a cold bottle first. He may surprise you and drink it just fine – thus saving you countless hours in heating up bottles.

- avoid diapers that have an absorbant strip near the top of the diaper (where it would rest against a belly button) (like Luvs) – if you forget to pull the diaper up high enough, you’ll get leaks every time.

- not everything has to be blue – in fact, it’s quite nice to have some yellow, green, orange, red, brown, etc. I do stay away from pinks and purples.

So far, raising a baby boy hasn’t been so much different than I would imagine raising a baby girl would be. However, as they grow, they become more and more different. I’m sure Part II of this series will have some very different suggestions.

baby, babies, infant, infants, parent, parenting, parents, baby boy, male baby, child rearing, raising a baby

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5 comments

Interesting timing, I checked in here recently for the first time in months, and a couple days later I’m reading an old Science News magazine (DCYF and weather web work has gotten me far behind in reading) that has information you should be aware of.

A July 1, 2006 abstract links to a subscriber-only article about estrogenic and antiandrogenic effects of lavender and tea tree oils.

Excerpts from the full article:

Enlarged male breasts, or gynecomastia, result from an imbalance between the activity of estrogens, which stimulate breast growth, and estrogen-inhibiting androgens. The condition is extremely rare before puberty, says Denver-area pediatric endocrinologist Clifford Bloch.

From the youngsters and their parents, Bloch learned that at least five boys had been using a shampoo, hair gel, soap, or another topical product that listed lavender oil among its ingredients. One of the products also contained tea tree oil. “A couple of patients were putting pure lavender oil on their skin,” he says.

Bloch recommended that the boys stop using lavender-containing products. When they followed his advice, gynecomastia disappeared within a few months.

… investigators exposed human-breast cells to lavender oil and, separately, to tea tree oil. They found that each oil turned on estrogen-regulated genes and inhibited an androgen-regulated gene.

Perhaps there are good reasons behind the traditional differences in how boys and girls are raised. The article speculates that these chemicals may be involved with early breast development in girls too.
by Ric Werme March 11, 2007 at 1:59 pm
if lavender makes boys have breasts then why has johnsons developed a moisturiser with lavender and chamomile im sure that johnsons has a scientist or some sort working for them that knows all this so why have they still made this??
maybe the lavender theory is wrong
by Christie April 6, 2007 at 2:02 am
Hi Ric – my mother-in-law also mentioned something about this. It did make me nervous about using lavender scented products for a while. However this research also indicates that this is a very rare condition. That article states that “at least 5 boys” were using lavender scented products. It sounds as though there were more than 5 boys that the doctor was treating. I think it’s a good idea to be aware of this condition, and it’s symptoms, but I also think Christie has a good point – if anyone was able to directly link the condition to lavender on boys, then it would seem like there would be more public knowledge about the issue. I will be interested to hear if there are any follow up studies.
by Sara April 13, 2007 at 8:45 am
http://www.babycenter.com/204_lavender-oil-linked-to-breast-growth-in-boys_4849105.bc

that is a link to an article about the study.

And to reply to the previous poster, just because a major company makes it, doesn’t make it good. They make formula don’t they?
by Jen September 10, 2007 at 2:01 am
The report about lavender seems like an irresponsible panic starter to me. They were trying to determine after the fact if these boys had any similar environmental factors. Lavender is an extremely common component in a vast number of body products for both adults and children based on it’s astringent qualities for cleaning and it’s healing and calming properties as well in balms, ointments, and aromatherapy products.there are probably a number of other common everyday things that these boys had in common as well. Without a controlled study with a broader cross section, this study is only going to suffice on taking away the public trust even more. Aren’t we already enough of an alarmist society as it is?!??!!!
by Barb February 12, 2010 at 12:22 am