He doesn’t like his carseat, Sam-I-Am! Usually even a short trip involves so much screaming, which starts once he realizes we’re strapping him in and terminates only after we pull him out and cuddle him a bit. But a pacifier, knitted elf hat, and warm fuzzy blanket don’t hurt, either.

We don’t use pacifiers very much; Benji can find and effectively suck his thumb/fingers/hand, with the added benefit of his hand not falling out and getting lost when he stops sucking. That’s one of many parenting things I just don’t feel strongly about.

In fact, I only really care about a few things:

– Breast milk: All breast milk, only breast milk, until six months; then solids plus breast milk to one year.
– Sleeping: Never staying awake more than two hours, and often less than that. We don’t wake him up or keep him up to play with him or show him off. Sleep is sacrosanct, serious, not-to-be-messed with. We take “never wake a sleeping baby” as a near-Biblical stricture.
– Screen time: None at all until age 3 or later. No looking at phone pictures, tablet games, baby TV shows, or any other screeny activity. Studies have strongly indicated that screen time harms very young children. Also, I’m not a fan of electronic toys, the kind that require batteries and have lots of lights and noise. Call me old-fashioned, but I like real interactions and imaginative play.

Pretty much everything else we’ll negotiate on. Babies are amazingly versatile (or cessile, as autosuggest says).