Babies development for the first 12 months

Company name: 4little1s.com

Company website: http://www.4little1s.com/

Company contact: sales@4little1s.com
Description: Baby gifts website 4little1s.com goes through the first twelve months of your babies’ development after birth

Speaking from experience here with two children, these are some of the phases our babies went through over the first year. These stages are not written in stone as all babies are different and these notes are only as a general guideline. Hopefully friends, family and work collegues have sent you new baby gifts, baby hampers, baby bouquets etc and you now have your nursery ready to go.

Month one: Baby has just arrived and starts to experiment with reflex and walking movements. Putting the babies feet on the ground will usually prompt a walking type of motion, amazing really. Mostly babies hands are closed but putting your little finger in babies hand will usually cause a grasping and holding motion. Baby will watch you when you talk and also try to imitate your facial expression. When baby cries, it’s a sign that baby is in need of something and letting you know. Baby will recognize you by your smell.

Month two: Babies eyes start to focus better and can recognize you by sight, legs and arms start to kick when baby gets excited, this is movement preparation for walking. Baby sounds such as gurgling and cooing starts and smiling when awake begins. While doing one of the many nappy changes, give baby some ‘time out’ of them to explore and feel the air on the skin that is normally covered up. Keeping baby stimulated is important, so sing, talk and carry baby as well as showing baby different scenery.

Month three: Baby will enjoy splashing in the bath and you may well hear the first laugh and see the first broad smile as the month nears the end. Female voices appear to get more of response than the lower tones of the male voice. As your babies muscles develop you might see baby hold his / her head up for a short time. Talk to baby and have a one to one conversation, even if the response to your questions are a gurgle. Holding baby up and putting feet on the floor to get used to the feel helps. Baby will try to copy your mouth shapes and movements and be responsive to noise. You will start to notice baby will have different cries depending on what they need.

Month four: Baby now likes to play and reach / grab for items, anything bright is attractive and baby loves to put them in their mouths. Babies hands are open and very curious about everything. Baby will probably smile at you as a mechanism to get a response. Toys are a fascination, particularly bright colored and anything with different texture. See our baby toys range at our website http://www.4little1s.com/ under the Toys and mobiles section.

Month five: Baby grabs and holds onto things, but usually without the thumb. Babies head can be held and sometimes pushes into the sitting position. Muscles are strengthening and might start to be clingy. Hand / eye coordination develops as does the ability to grasp toys and other things. Some of our baby toy ranges are excellent to help baby with playing, bright colours and some with noises all help baby develop

Month six: Start to think about moving to solids / liquid foods…. this is where the fun begins ! Baby may become frustrated with communication to you, baby will say gaggy goo goo and might not understand that you don’t know that means ‘I am thirsty, can you get me one ‘! Baby will be conscious of new people and may miss you when you are not around. Using objects such as low level coffee tables, chairs etc maybe used to pull baby up and also the understanding if you drop a toy it will be on the floor.

Month seven: Try giving baby a pea to eat, most will probably end up in babies hair, face or on the floor etc, but its good for baby to hold food. Larger toys suddenly become more interesting as they can be held with both hands and balance improving all the time. Baby may start to understand and recognize names.

Month eight: If baby starts to crawl now, make sure low lying items and things that break are out of range ! Baby may grab them and see what happens when you throw or bang it on the floor. Baby is still wary of new people and needs lots of cuddles and affection to feel safe and secure.

Month nine: Play games with baby and sing songs, baby will love it. While still wary of strangers baby will recognize places and people much more. Names of people may also be familiar at this stage and the first word may not be too far away. Note: Do not worry about this if it does not happen at this stage, all babies are unique and develop at their own pace.

Month ten: Baby will really enjoy playgroups or other situations where there are other babies around. Baby will inform you when its time for something to eat by behavior such as spoon or toy banging ! Keep baby stimulated by talking and singing to baby as well as pointing to objects you are talking about.

Month eleven: Baby will be responsive to moods and your feelings, usually tugging at your clothes when needing to be picked up. Baby will be anxious when you are not around. A blanket, favorite toy become extremely important by way of comfort. See our range of soft toys and snuggles for ideas. Baby will want things around that are familiar.

Month twelve: Having other babies around is important and builds on the social skills. Baby will be able to point at an object and show you things. Baby may be able to feed himself / herself without ‘too much mess’ and hold objects like forks and spoons. Lots of encouragement is key at this stage as baby has now completed the first 12 months.

Terms: 4little1s.com is a leading online baby gifts, baby slings, Swaddle Pods, baby clothes, baby hampers and Izziwotnot Nursery furniture retailer. See our unique childrens wall plaques baby gifts in the Handmade for you range for something really special. For all your baby gift needs and items for the early years, visit http://www.4little1s.com
This article may be reproduced as long as the links stay in tact – 4little1s.com

Funky baby gift hampers

Funky new baby hamper - medium

Each hamper contains:

Organic Swaddle Pod, designed to encourage new babies to sleep better. (See under Bedtime section for more information.)
Handmade counting sheep mobile, perfect for a little ones bedroom
Babies comfort toy, suitable from birth (supersoft to the touch and a perfect friend to cuddle ... his name is baby Molos)
Cream wooden birth certificate holder
'Baby in the house' wooden gift heart
Approximate basket dimensions - 31cm x 20cm x 15cm


A real treat for newly arrived little ones, these lovely baby gift hampers are made to order, a perfect gift for any new mum. Each hamper is a wicker basket lined with cream cotton containing baby gifts, gift wrapped in cellophane, tied up with a ribbon and decorated with a gift tag. Great baby gift ideas for your little ones, baby gifts from http://www.4little1s.com

Champagne baby hamper

Each hamper contains:

Bottle of Moet & Chandon
Handmade linen new baby photo album with pockets for up to 48 photographs 10x15 cm (6"x4")
Cream wooden birth certificate holder
Set of four bath sparklers presented in a gift box. Perfect for any new mum
Approximate basket dimensions - 31cm x 20cm x 15cm

A real treat for newly arrived little ones & their parents! Suitable for boys or girls, these lovely baby gift hampers are made to order, a perfect gift for any new mum. Each hamper is a wicker basket lined with cream cotton containing baby gifts, gift wrapped in cellophane, tied up with a ribbon and decorated with a gift tag.

Baby hampers make excellent baby gifts and can bought from http://www.4little1s.com/

Baby hampers for little ones

New baby hamper (cream) - medium

Each hamper contains:

- Organic Swaddle Pod, designed to encourage new babies to sleep better.

- Linen new baby photo album with pockets for up to 48 photographs

- Cream wooden birth certificate holder
- Set of four bath sparklers presented in a gift box. Perfect for any new mum
- Approximate basket dimensions - 31cm x 20cm x 15cm

A real treat for newly arrived little ones, suitable for boys or girls, these lovely baby gift hampers are made to order, a perfect baby gift for any new mum. Each hamper is a wicker basket lined with cream cotton containing baby gifts, gift wrapped in cellophane, tied up with a ribbon and decorated with a gift tag.

These make super baby gifts and can be found at http://www.4little1s.com/

UK Business forum spotlight

UKBF user name: 4little1sReal name: Christianne James
Company name: 4little1s.com
Company website: www.4little1s.com
Company contact: sales@4littles.com

How did you start your business?

I set up 4little1s.com to juggle a busy home life with children and pay school fees. I looked at some part time jobs but just could not work out a good home/work balance. Starting a business seemed a good idea and thought I should at least work in an area I know about from experience

What products or services does your business offer?

We offer a wide range baby gifts for new parents, ranging from a little keepsake box, wooden and soft toys as well as our very popular baby hampers. One of our favourites are the baby clothing bouquets, a wonderful bunch of flowers with baby clothes in them. Finally, we have recently added a range of modern and contemporary nursery furniture which is proofing to be very successful.

What were the main challenges you faced when setting up your business?

The main challenges were along the lines of finding a web designer that we felt comfortable with in terms of price but also understanding of what we were looking to achieve. Also refining the behind the scenes processes such as Terms and Conditions and the delivery process took a lot longer than we initially thought

How would you rate the success you've achieved?

When we look back at the sheer volume of work completed in such a short space of time we can hardly believe it. We are very proud to have achieved the point we are currently at and continue to strive towards the future. I don’t think any business can afford to stand still

Why should customers and clients use your services?

We are competitively priced, knowledgeable of our products and reliable. Our ‘handmade for you’ products are made exclusively for us in California and we ship them to your door in the UK. If you are looking for a unique product, this range offers it.

How has UK Business Forums benefited your business?

UK Business Forums has benefited us in a number of ways. It has been an excellent area to learn and find out about new ideas, get people’s opinions and share information with a community of like minded people. Finally, a number of contacts and networking opportunities have been used.

What are your plans for the future?

We would like to build the business further and negotiate some better deals to buy at wholesale. I would like to get out more to source products and attend more trade fairs to see what is available. Designing our own brand and range of baby bedding is another idea.

What are your three tips for business success?

I guess to pinch a well know sports trainers strap line, ‘Just do it’ would have to be my first, don’t underestimate the sheer volume of work to get going would be the second. Finally, the third would probably be to do something you enjoy.

Baby Stuff

Baby Bedding and other baby stuff for little ones...

4little1s.com SEO notes II

Search engines and Robots

Starting at the beginning

Robots are pieces of software that explore the Internet to discover, review and index what they find. You have very little control over them and are also known as trawlers, crawlers, spiders, wanderers and worms.Robots come in 3 varieties, the good, the bad and the ugly. The good ones search and index the Internet and register the information it finds. The most common being the search engines such as Google or Yahoo which sends them out to explore. These then go through your website to assist in classifying and applying a rank to your site. Other robots simply check your web site for errors and report back on omissions, errors on links and any content that has been updated – there are others but the list goes on and on. That’s it for the goodies, what about the baddies…….Bad and ugly ones look to cause havoc by searching for weaknesses in your code and then extract information from you without your knowledge. The most common occurrence of this being to spam you or 'harvest' your email address to then sell on to other people….very annoying. As per the goodies there are others and the list goes on and on.Very interesting, but so what ?

Well, in order to get listed in the search engines naturally and get as much targeted traffic to you as possible, you need to know this, so read on…..
Most indexing is done automatically with the notable exception of two really important directories, DMOZ and the Yahoo Directory. Believe it or not, these are reviewed by humans and as a result, take longer. Note: The DMOZ submission is free but it can take many months to get listed. Robots are a good thing so make your site available for them

What should you do?

On the assumption you do want a robot to visit your site, you must encourage them and make it easy for them to trawl your site. Finally see below for the top must do points:
Add your URL to the Search Engines
Submit to DMOZ (it free! But takes months)
Submit to the Yahoo Directory (Not free but can be listed in a couple of weeks)
Make a site map (search for Xml sitemaps)
Link it to your Home Page
………wait

Remember that robots like to see

· Links (internal and external)
· Text (lots of it)
· ALT Tags on your pictures
· Site Maps (on your pages + uploaded to the search engines)
· Page titles
· Meta descriptions
· Meta keywords

Robots don’t like to see

· Java script
· FLASH
· Most animations
· Images (for the moment)

I’m scared of spiders and don’t want them

Probably not the best thing in the world, but you can prevent spiders coming to see you. If you create a file called robots.txt, you have the ability to tell the robots what not to spider. This does have its uses, for example, if you have a telephone list on your site that you didn’t realize was suddenly going to made public once the spiders came to town, add the exclusion to this file.
How do I know if they have been?
The easiest way is to look at your server logs, certain IP addresses can even tell you what type of spider came to visit. There are third party utilities that can extract your logs and make them more readable and friendly.

Author: 4little1s.com
Terms: This document can be copied as long as the links below stay intact.
4little1s.com is an online UK baby gifts, baby clothes and Izziwotnot nursery furniture web site located at http://www.4little1s.com

4little1s.com - 6 months in

A ex city banker and now a busy mum of 2 living in Surrey explains how she has started up a small online web business called 4little1s.com, the initial intention being to pay for school fees:-

I decided to start up a home based online web business to provide an income to cover school fees. Being a mum at home and looking after 2 small children means that during the day, while they are at school I have a few hours that can be used to work. Trying to get a part time job proved difficult. I want to be around for my children, to take them to school and to pick them up at the end of the day and be there when they are not well. A home based part time business seemed the ideal opportunity and would fit in around my available time.

I decided to start a business that I had hands on experience of at home. Initially the plan was to create some really lovely gift sets for newly arrived little ones. I wanted to make it easy to do, providing baby gifts, clothes, shoes, cards and also matching gifts for siblings too. I am now working on including pampering items and furniture all for new mums and babies on our website www.4little1s.com

I will be offering a wide variety of products, some handmade and sourced locally in the UK, some specifically hand crafted and made to order for us in California, others being more unusual items from around the world. I have been attending trade shows and am continually on the look out for new innovative and inspiring products. Where I can support fair-trade and organic produce I will do and I am also conscious of the volume of unnecessary packaging, so I aim to manage this well.

So where am I now? Well, it is 6 months since the idea was born and we are trading and sales are coming as our name gets known. Marketing has been via Google Ad words and MS Ad Centre which is working well. Suppliers are in place and established, as are all the banking and company registration information. We decided on using a web design company and a well know product for E commerce called Actinic to build the site with us managing the day to day running of it with product uploads etc. Maintenance of the website, general paperwork administration and orders keep me busy for around 4 hours a day, which fits in around my day just right. We have a number of interesting opportunities and ideas and can’t wait to pursue them!

Top tips:

Select easy to use Ecommerce shopping cart software
Just do it! Taking the first step is the hardest part
Enthusiasm for your business is catching!
Set objectives for your business

Looking back and I think as to how much we have achieved in a relatively short amount of time I still cannot believe it as to how much we have achieved and it has been extremely rewarding.

Please feel to visit us at www.4little1s.com. We would love to hear from you!

UK Baby gift

Pink mouse push along

Pink mouse push along
Features:
Stunning push along toy
Makes a great clacking noise as it moves
A unique gift for your little one
UK designed
Handcrafted
Suitable from 12 months

Approximate length of handle 48cm

This uk baby gift range of children's wooden toys offers a bright, bold, colourful and cleverly designed approach to play for your little ones. They are created to stimulate your child's imagination while ensuring your little one has fun. This range of uk wooden toys are made under the guidance of the CE mark, meaning they have gone through safety testing and comply with BS5665 and EN71 1,2, and 3. The uk wooden toy range uses non toxic paint and natural fibre in the range, each wooden toy is handcrafted and as a result, no two are identical. Looking for a UK baby gift ? look no further

Site submission info

In the constant battle to get higher PageRank I came across these links that you can submit your site to

DMOZ - (8)
Jayde - (6)
My Green Corner - (6)
The Living Link - (6)
Can Links - (5)
Search Sight - (5)
Free Website Directory - (5)
Miri Black - (5)
Niche Listings - (5)
Esearch Research - (5)
Master Moz Directory - (5)
Domaining - (5)
Londovor - (5)
The Shoppings - (5)
Ldmstudio Directory - (5)
Directory Dice - (5)
SEO Court - (5)
Publimix Directory - (5)
Arakne Links - (4)
Dir Submission - (4)
Websites Promo Directory - (4)
Environment Page Directory - (4)
Directory Vault - (4)
Little Web Directory - (4)
Directory 365 - (4)
123 Hit Links - (4)
A List Sites - (4)
Sam’s Directory - (4)
Creative Agency - (4)
Prolink Directory - (4)
All Link Directory - (4)
Zunch Directory - (4)
One Mission - (4)
Wiki Web - (4)
Xakami Directory - (4)
Anaximander Directory - (4)
Invo Website Link Collection - (4)
Making Money Library - (4)
474 Directory - (4)
Name Directory - (4)
YHAY Directory - (4)
Ask Bee Directory - (4)
Monster Directory - (4)
Spongy Web Directory - (No Longer Free)
PakAd Trader - (4)
Treshella - (4)
Dream Submitting Directory - (4)
Exo Spy Directory - (4)
Nick’s Year Directory - (4)
Name Directory - (4)

I know this is a bit of a random post, but I found them useful

4little1s.com sells UK baby gifts and Izziwotnot nursery furniture for your little ones...

Baby market update

Baby Nursery Market Overview

I always look forward to my copy of Nursery Today to arrive through the post, and the August 08 edition was no exception. A quick flick through and I always seem to end up at the excellent Nursery Retail Tracking Service section. It comments, an interesting month with no signs of a downturn in the Nursery market in spite of the rest of the retail sector suffering. As of May 08 the market was up 14% in value and +19% in volume compared to the same time last year.

Parents appear to still be spending to ensure their little ones have the necessary equipment to be safe and sound and as a result, the following areas are up:

Wheeled goods
Car seats
Travel cots
Safety devices
Seats
Electrics
Bathroom

However, suffering this month were:

Carriers

As the summer holidays are upon us, the travel cots help drive up the market as people decide to get away for a few days, something I am thinking about as I write this !

4little1s.com is an online baby gifts and Izziwotnot Nursery Furniture retailer found at http://www.4little1s.com

Baby sling guide

Quick Baby carrying guide

Pouches / baby slings

A pouch is generally a circle or material tube, folded and worn across the body from shoulder to hip rather like a sash. Your baby is laid down or sat up in the pouch that is created at the seam.
You need to make sure that the pouch is the correct size for you, to be comfortable and to safely hold baby. I have used these many times and are ideal when you are out and about, stopping and starting on visits, like in the car. I had one that was a front version but there are also back and hip versions. Breast feeding was fairly easy with one of these.

Ring-slings
A ring-sling is a length of fabric with two rings at one end and the other end loops up through the rings to form a pouch with a tail. Baby lies or sits in the pouch bit, and the tail is used to adjust the pouch to the correct height and tightness around the baby.
Adjustable carrier, it will fit different sized people. Great for multi-stop trips, and breastfeeding in. Weight is spread across one shoulder and back.

Wrap slings
A wraparound is a length of fabric that you tie around yourself and baby- finished with a double knot. A long wrap is very versatile and you can carry baby on the front, back or hip with it, and will fit all sizes of people. A short wrap can be used for hip and back and some smaller people may be able to use it for front carries too. One or two shoulder carrier spreading the weight across shoulders, back/front and hips, depending on which way you tie it. It is possible to breastfeed in a wrap with practise.
We stock……The Liberty Fleece Pouch baby sling is made from luxury anti-pil fleece. It stretches one way around your shoulder and baby's bottom providing unique support for your baby's head and neck, and your back. These baby slings are ideal from birth to toddler years (35lbs). The baby slings are easy to use and there are no belts buckles or clips to get caught on. Simply slide the baby sling over your shoulder, like a sash, and slip baby in or out in seconds. These pouch baby slings are machine washable at 60 degrees and should be dired naturally. The baby sling fit is important, for correct size measure around your chest, literally under your armpits.Ideal baby gifts.... looking for a baby gift ? look no further

We stock…..carriers that are a one size fits all sling. It is the ultimate in baby sling comfort with padding in the shoulder and down the rails, which are independently adjustable. The baby sling rings are nickel plated steel and tested to 422Kgs. The baby slings are crafted in the UK by experienced seamstresses from the finest 100% cotton. The slings fanned shoulder distributes your baby's weight in the sling, and there is a handy pocket in the tail. This baby sling is the perfect baby carrier for newborn babies through to toddlers (35lbs). The sling makes breast feeding simple, convenient and discreet in the carrier. As you know, babies are messy and therefore these baby slings are washable at 60 degrees and come with written and photographic instructions. Baby slings are very practical and an ideal baby gift.... looking for baby gifts, look no further.

We stock…..The Liberty baby sling is a padded ring sling, a one size fits all sling and would make a very practical baby gift. The baby sling rails are independently adjustable and the rings are nickel plated steel, tested to 422Kgs. The baby sling's fanned shoulder distributes your baby's weight in the baby sling evenly across your shoulder and back. The Liberty unpadded baby sling is perfect for newborns through to toddler (35lbs). The baby slings are machine washable at 60 degrees and come with written and photographic instructions. Baby slings are very practical and very cosy for your little ones as a baby gift. Looking for baby gifts ? Look no further...

Visit 4little1s.com to see our range of baby carriers and baby slings

Mum baby gift

Bath melt (pink cupcake)

Small pink gift box with bath melt inside
Decorative 'With love' emblem on lid of gift box lid
Remove lid to reveal a single cupcake bath melt
Approximate dimensions: 6 x 6 x 4cm
Lie back in soft silky water, relax and enjoy the gift!

This range of gifts gives you something special that we love at 4little1s.com. Each gift has been hand-made or hand-finished using traditional methods and natural materials from skilled artists from all around the world. These gifts are lovingly made and no two are exactly the same as a result.

Great new mum baby gift

SEO - An hour a day book

Search Engine Optimization – An hour a day

As you may or may not know, I run an online baby gifts website called 4little1s.com which can be found at http://www.4little1s.com/. As part of setting this online business up, I needed to understand more about how to get my site noticed by the major search engines. Having contacted a number of Search Engine Optimisation companies it became quite apparent that the costs for me upfront were not possible until I started to get some sales in and making some money.

Therefore I decided to visit that well known Brazilian river online book store and purchased a number of books on the matter. The latest book I have finished is called Search Engine Optimisation – an hour a day, and below I summarise my thoughts and notes.

I guess the ultimate proof is in the pudding for us, has been that after 3 months of reading up on SEO tips and advice, our website has gone from Page rank of 0 to a Page rank of 3. Not that Page rank is ‘be and end all’, I’m sure it does help…..

The two authors of the book offer a really interesting angle in that they offer the right and left brain view on the subject. Obviously experienced in the subject they outline the various stages of putting together a plan of action, putting it into place and then the constant tweaking to keep the campaign going. Interestingly out of all the books I have read so far on SEO, all broadly say the same things, which are:

- Submit it to the engines - Surprising some people don’t !
- Links – Acquire links, inc Directories
- Content – Updated and keep fresh
- Maintain – Housekeeping tasks, broken links, Tags etc
- PageRank – Get one and the higher the better
- PR – Write articles, Blogs etc
- Measure – Where were you last month vs this month
- PPC pay per click campaigns
- Consider paying for worthwhile directory listing
- Wait and wait – 3 – 6 months +

While all good and solid points to help you on your pathway to optimisation and getting seen by the world, this book offers something a little more ‘non technical’ and business oriented, almost like having your own Marketing and PR department at hand.

The book is broken down into 10 chapters of which I broadly detail below:

Clarify your Goal – Like all good business thinking, what it is you are trying to achieve?….how do you know if you have achieved it and how can you measure success / failure if you don’t know what you are trying to aim at. Failing to plan is planning to fail

Customise - As with all projects (SEO included) you need to customise what you are doing and fine tune to your exact expectations, The section talks about which market you are in and who are you aiming at
SEO truths – Brief overview of the various methods Search engines use, importance of keyword selection and the tricks NOT to do !

How search engines work – Discusses how the main players currently work (Google, MSN, AOL and ASK) as well as trend spotting

Teams – You will be surprised how much teamwork there is in the project. While you may not have the resources of many departments, this chapter makes a good point, you either have to wear many hats or outsource various elements.

Baselines and Keywords – Good section on the importance of keyword selection and research. Touches as earlier on the whole idea of having a baseline in which to measure your performance. Finally, as with all businesses, keep an eye out on the competition.

Month one – This now starts to get to the detail of how to do it and tags to optimise on the site.

Month two – Establishing the habit talks about the site structure (spiders view etc) and some good thoughts on R&D as well as Visibility and reporting

Month three – Again talks about visibility and quarterly reporting as well as the very important area of your content. Gives some good troubleshooting tips worth checking out.

Extra credits – If you buy this book and do nothing else, read this section. It gives all the key items you should do if nothing else. I like this book if for nothing else, this chapter.


Author and terms:

4little1s.com is an online baby gifts website located at http://www.4little1s.com
This article can be copied as long as the links stay intact