Winter is a good season for reading novels, roasting chestnuts and dehydrating your skin. Strip down in front of the roaring fire at the ski chalet of your dreams and you may find shins that are scaly, elbows that are flaky and the baby wrinkles around your eyes have become ravines. Ouch! Wind burn, central heating, and cold, dry air have the power to strip a girl of her natural oils as well as her sense of humor. Dehydration makes us look pasty or ashen and downright uncomfortable in our skin, clothes chafe and even hair looks ragged and dry. To arm against the ravages of the season you need to treat your whole system from within and from without. One expensive cream and a beanie worn low is not going to do it ! Tender care will. Here’s how:

1. Soak not
Long hot showers strip your skin of natural oils, can break capillaries and leave you with painful dry zones along the arms, hips and shins (where the water pressure hits hardest). Try to bathe instead in slightly more tepid water and the second you leave the shower oil yourself up with a non-perfumed body lotion. Moisture needs to be locked into the skin while pores are open. If you have a bath, sprinkle it with natural oils but don’t soak too long. If you really must marinate (to clear the mind) dunk your feet instead in an infusion of rose petals and rose oil (Weleda is the best, find it in health food stores).

2. Face the frost
Moisturizer can afford to be a little heavier in winter, especially when going outdoors. One with a built in sunscreen and gentle natural ingredients and avoid those that contain TEA (triethanolamine) a harsh ammonia derivative. Moisturizers that are made of beeswax sweet almond oil, shea butter, collagen or vegetable squalene are preferable to the cheaper alternatives that contain mineral oil and petroleum. These ingredients tend to clog the pores. For an excellent break down on the world’s best moisturizers refer to page 36 of Rona Berg’s fabulous book “Beauty”, Workman Publishing ($19.95). She also includes excellent recipes for home-made face masks.

3. Shed your skin
Sloughing off a layer of dry dead skin cells readies the skin to receive more moisture, it also helps circulation. Use a massage mitt in the tub and a light face scrub (Decleor is excellent) once a fortnight.

4. Eat oily
Unsaturated fats help the body absorb protein. If you have an urge to splatter a salad in virgin olive oil or devour a whole can of sardines go for it. There is a reason arctic people eat oily fish, they need it and in winter so do you!

5. Pucker pretty
Olive oil, sesame oil and even good old vitamin E (cracked open and rubbed onto the lips) are excellent balms for a dry kisser. Commercial lip balms that contain shea butter keep lips soft and conditioned.

6. Move about
Nutrients come to the skin when your circulation is pumping. It also lifts winter blues to exercise. How easy it is to forget the body when wrapped in a comforter, sucking on a chocolate bar.

7. Rug up
Gloves look sexy and protect the thinnest driest skin on the body, your hands. Never feel foolish dressed like a snowman in winter. I have plenty of broken capillaries to remind me of the days I went hatless in the snow.

8. Get touched up
Massage with natural oils is a sensual way to moisturize and get circulation pumping. The body needs to be touched. Skin tends to glow when the energy of human hands has graced it.

9. Mist and spritz
Spraying your face with Evian or rose water does not serve to radically moisten it but it definitely eases the tightness that comes with sitting in a heated room. Eye creams, lip balm (non petroleum-based, please) hand creams and a purse size spritzer should go everywhere with you in winter.

10. Go herbal
Red wine, coffee, hot chocolate and strong brewed tea can become obsessive comforts in winter, especially if a period is due or work is unbearable. Sadly these are the bevvies that seriously dry out your system. Try to be moderate with alcohol (taking three to four alcohol free days a week) and dilute your latte with extra milk. Experiment with herbal teas and don’t leave the office until a two liter bottle of spring water is empty. Avoiding alcohol and caffeine will also boost your immune system and fend off a flu.

11. Sleep in
Lack of sleep depletes the body’s store of vitamin B, the stuff that keeps hair glossy, skin supple and nails from snapping in two. Sleep is also a natural stress buster, giving skin a chance to bloom again. Night is a good time to give hands and feet beauty treatments, slathering on a body cream and then slipping into some squishy socks or little gloves. Single girls rejoice, you are free to be moisture monsters in sweet privacy! To keep hydrating while you sleep be sure and drink plenty of water before bedtime and to install a humidifier in stuffy or over heated boudoirs. If you happen to wake up to stare at the moon for no reason…DRINK!

12. Worship the moon
Dehydration doesn’t actually age the skin, only the sun can do that. Even weedy winter sun can burn the skin causing the dreaded “visible signs of aging” that come with UV damage. To fight back, wear a tinted moisturizer with a slightly lower SBF than in summer, say 8 to 15, and be sure to wear it every day. Measure the strength of your protection for the length of time you decide to spend out. Sun damage is gradual but the results are permanent. The day you start wearing sun screen is the day your skin gets a second chance, no matter what age you are.

It usually begins in the office, that first little tinkle of holiday cheer expressed by a receptionist in a reindeer  sweater or a jolly co-worker
dangling Christmas bells from each ear lobe. Ho, ho, oh no! Not holiday dressing, that weird time of year when grown women wear white lace tights, floppy velvet scrunchies and way too much red.

Come December, you’ll see polyester stretch velvet, tartan taffeta and little black patent leather pumps, all on the same body. Taking too many cues from the children’s department and Norman Rockwell, Christmas dressing is often an act of
sentimental regression. Suddenly we wear clothes for emotional reasons: every gold chain ever given to us by a boy, the ugly hand-knit sweater Grandma sent from Baltimore, a red ribbon for good luck, or weird church shoes with ankle straps.

With an odd mix of piety and pigging out, Christmas Day poses a challenge for chic dressing. Who can think about donning diamond drop earrings when hunched over an oven or wrestling a stack of toddlers under the tree? You don’t want to look pretentious in front of the in-laws, and yet there remains that secret urge for something special, a little reward for what a good girl you’ve been.

Let the tree be baroque and bulbous, let Dean Martin croon about snowflakes and frisky elves, but you need to glitter with more subtlety. Scan my list of the five absolute fashion faux pas for the holidays and then comfort yourself with 10 stylish solutions.

Five holiday fashion mistakes

1. Abuse of white and cherry red. White shoes, white tights, white angora sweaters with satin applique and glittery bits hanging off them, white blouses with pie-crust collars and mutton-chop sleeves. Red satin skirts, red overcoats with little black velvet buttons (a la Princess Beatrice), big fat red ribbons (a la Bakery window) worn on too-tight cavalry pony tails. Stop right there.
2. Tartan and velvet in the same outfit.
3. Clothes with Christmas motifs printed, embroidered or knitted onto them. Remember that ghastly moose sweater in Bridget Jones’s Diary?
4. Christmas accessories like look anything like tinsel or bulbs.
5. Fluffy hair.

10 tips for holiday chic

1. Limit yourself to one red accent: red cashmere shell, red lipstick, red French bra, red suede gloves. One great red dress needs very plain accessories: no paste, no patent leather; pearl or diamond stud earrings are fine.

2. Love a little white lace Edwardian blouse or angora polar neck sweater, but modernize them with a pin-stripe floor-length riding skirt or even black velvet capris. Think crisp tailoring meets romantic style. If anything you are wearing makes you think Dr. Quinn Medicine Woman or Stevie Nicks, stand back and then pare back.

3. Instead of swathing yourself with emerald green velvet, Scarlett O’Hara style, get that sensuous touch with accessories: velvet ankle boots, velvet handbag, velvet belt on a pretty knit jersey dress, or sew a little velvet ribbon to the edge of favorite beret.

4. One piece of great costume jewelry. Sweep your hair up and clip on some vintage crystal drop earrings or a pearl choker, frame them with a sweetheart neckline. Don’t forget cameos, pin a vintage button to a strip of thick velvet ribbon, then tie the knot. The holidays may be the only day you really have an occasion to wear a big gorgeous brooch, so put it somewhere cool like on the hip of a dress or at the center of a taffeta sash.

5. Choose great shoes. A pencil skirt and mules. A ballerina skirt and kitten heel boots. A little black dress, sheer stockings and satin ballet flats. I have a pair of black velvet Manolo’s waiting under the tree as pointy as an elf’s cap. (Budget tip: I bought them on sale in the middle of summer!)

6. Try a kilt. Mini kilts look adorable with long black boots and a plain black sweater.

7. For the annual Christmas party, try some big-band style: a veiled cocktail hat or a gardenia corsage on an electric blue dress. Think Liza in New York, New York.

8. Rent Dr. Zhivago, then invest in a really great coat. Snow feels glamorous in a long sweep of white wool.

9. See the New Year in with a dainty gold mesh handbag. Search online for Whiting and Davis ’20s and ’30s bags.

10. Collapse at the end of the day in silk pajamas, baggy enough for the ravages of the feasting, sexy enough to keep romance alive despite in-laws and screaming offspring.

Realistically, you don’t want to go anywhere with your newborn except straight home. She requires almost nonstop attention, feedings, and diaper changes, and the risk of infection from a stranger is too great. Besides, you’ll probably be exhausted.

But by three months or so, young babies are pretty good candidates for travel — as long as the trip’s fairly mellow. Infants aren’t as fragile as parents sometimes fear. And your baby is less likely to view travel as a disruption now than she will later on. She also can’t run around yet and get into trouble. So enjoy this period: Once she begins scampering about, travel becomes a far greater challenge.

Health and safety tips:

• Pack pacifiers and bottles, or plan on breastfeeding during airline flights to ease ear pain.
• Bring diaper-rash lotion, bags for dirty diapers, enough diapers for the trip, and baby-appropriate pain medication such as children’s acetaminophen (Tylenol) for fever or Mylicon drops for gas. Also: saline solution for a stuffy nose, a nasal aspirator bulb, and Anbesol or a similar ointment to put on sore gums if your baby is teething.
• Make sure you have the first-aid supplies you need for dealing with minor medical problems during travel with your baby, along with essential medical history.
• Bring hats and sunscreen for your baby.
• Get removable car-shade screens for the car’s side windows to shield your baby’s skin and eyes from the sun.
• If traveling by car, infants should always ride in the back seat in a rear-facing car seat — never in a front seat with a passenger air bag. Spend time before you leave to make sure the car seat is installed properly and that the belts on the car seat are threaded correctly. Make sure the harness fits your baby snugly and securely.

Food and comfort

If you aren’t breastfeeding, bring formula base and add water as needed. You can buy convenient travel-sized packs at drug and grocery stores. Bring only as much baby food as you’ll need for the ride. You can always buy what you need at your destination.

Bring a molded plastic bib for your baby. They’re invaluable for cleaning up pureed sweet potatoes and preventing several changes of clothing a day.

Bring a blanket so you can stop in a park to let the baby stretch.

Tip: If your baby sleeps in a crib, reserve one when you make your room reservation or you may be out of luck when you arrive. Another option: Bring along your own portable crib.

Entertaining your baby

Bring an amusement bag containing a few of your baby’s favorite toys, plus a couple of new objects. Possibilities include anything shiny and new, babyproof mirrors, rattles, musical toys, soft animals, pop-up toys, plastic keys, or teething rings. Limit the number to a handful to make packing easier.

Travel gear

Well-traveled parents find the following equipment indispensable, both for getting to a destination and exploring once they’ve arrived.

When should you introduce your baby to solid foods? Nutrition experts maintain that solid food should rarely be started before the fourth month. Many pediatricians go even further and suggest waiting until your baby is at least 6 months old. In fact, in 1997 the American Academy of Pediatrics changed its recommendations and now advocates exclusive breastfeeding for the first six months of your baby’s life.

There are plenty of good reasons to wait until your baby reaches the half-year mark. Breast milk and formula are still easiest for your baby to digest, providing all the calories and nutrients he needs during this six-month period. Also, the chances of developing allergies are greatest during infancy, so feeding your baby a diet of breast milk or formula for as long as possible reduces the risk of introducing allergens. As your baby’s digestive system matures, he will be better able to handle different foods without an allergic reaction.

There is another very practical reason for waiting until your baby is developmentally ready for solid foods: It will shorten the transition time between when you have to spoon-feed your baby and he begins feeding himself.

Is your baby ready?

Introducing solids should be coordinated with when he is developmentally ready. Look for the following cues. Your baby:

• Has head control. It’s important that your baby be able to maintain a steady, upright position in order to eat solids from a spoon.
• Sits well when supported. You may have to support him at first — a highchair can be pulled into action a bit later when he’s able to sit up all by himself.
• Makes chewing motions. Your baby should be able to move food to the back of his mouth and swallow. As your baby learns to swallow efficiently you may notice his drooling decrease.
• Shows significant weight gain. Most babies are ready to eat solids when they’ve doubled their birth weight, which may take place before or after their sixth month.
• Displays curiosity about what you’re eating. Your baby begins eyeing your steak or reaches for your forkful of mashed potatoes as it travels from plate to mouth.

How to begin introducing solid food

Let him first nurse or bottle-feed. After he’s satisfied, give him about one or two tablespoons of dry cereal, mixed with enough formula or breast milk to make a soupy solution. (The American Academy of Pediatrics recommends iron-enriched infant rice cereal.) Give this to your baby on a rubber-tipped spoon once a day. It doesn’t need to be the morning feeding; pick a time that’s convenient for both you and baby.

At first, your baby will seem to eat very little cereal, and it may take a while to get even that small amount into him. Be patient with your little one and remember he’s learning new eating skills.

When your baby is eating two to three tablespoons of cereal a day, add another cereal feeding. As he begins to eat and develops more of a side-to-side grinding motion, add a little less liquid so the texture becomes thicker. This allows your baby to work on chewing (gumming) and swallowing. Your baby should be able to eat about a half cup of cereal a day before you add any other solid foods.

Your baby’s appetite will vary from one feeding to the next, so watch for cues that he’s full. A baby who refuses to open up for the next bite, turns away or starts playing with his food is probably full.

Do you still need to breast-feed?

Yes. Breast milk is designed to be the perfect food for your baby’s first year. Both breast milk and formula provide important vitamins, iron and protein in an easy-to-digest form. Even though solid foods will eventually replace some of your baby’s feedings, they can’t nutritionally replace all of the nutrients that breast milk or formula provides during his first 12 months.

Help develop healthy eating habits

You can help your baby learn to eat right by following these simple rules:

• Offer a variety of foods.
• Avoid feeding your baby too much.
• Give your baby a balance of protein, carbohydrates, fruits and vegetables. Use sweets, salts and fats in moderation.
• Don’t bribe or reward your child with food. Instead, offer him plenty of hugs, kisses and attention.

Introducing other solid foods

Solid foods should be introduced slowly, one at a time. Your baby needs time to get used to each new taste and texture. Also, a methodical introduction will allow you to watch for signs of an allergic reaction, such as diarrhea , tummy aches or rashes. If your baby is interested, add one new food every three to five days. Some pediatricians recommend starting with yellow fruits and vegetables, which are easiest for babies to digest. Others advise beginning with green veggies, as babies can sometimes get stuck on the sweeter taste of fruits and yellow vegetables and won’t give peas and beans a fighting chance.

Start by offering your baby a few tablespoons of vegetables or fruit in the same meal as a cereal feeding. Good foods to debut with: sweet potatoes, squash, applesauce, bananas, carrots, peaches and pears. All food should be strained or mushy for a 6-month-old, because at this age babies eat by smushing food against the tops of their mouths and then swallowing.

If you get a negative reaction from your baby, offer the food again about seven to 10 days later. He may always turn up his nose at some foods, but you should continue to offer them in hopes that one day he’ll find them more appealing.

By the time your baby is 6 to 7 months old, he should be eating solid foods three times a day. A typical day’s diet might consist of:

• Breast milk or iron-fortified formula. Small amounts of juice (except for citrus juices).
• Iron-fortified cereal.
• Yellow and green vegetables.
• Small amounts of meats, poultry, yogurt, egg yolk, cottage cheese.
• Fruit.

Some general guidelines apply:

• Introduce each new food no sooner than three to five days after the preceding new solid food.
• Do not feed your baby raw honey before age 1 because it carries a risk of infant botulism.
• Do not introduce the most commonly allergenic foods ” cow’s milk, eggs, peanuts, other nuts, soy, fish and shellfish ” until he is a year old.
• Don’t feed your baby beets, turnips or dark green kohl vegetables such as kale and broccoli until after he’s a year old; they have too many nitrates for younger children.
• Depending on your infant’s diet, vitamin and/or fluoride drops may be recommended.

Moving on to finger foods

As your baby grows more experienced, you can increase the thickness of the foods offered to include chunkier strained and mashed foods. At about 8 months, he’s ready for finger foods cut into safe, tiny bite-size bits. Some ideal first finger foods that can be easily gummed and digested are whole-wheat bagels and breads, ripe bananas and cantaloupe, tender cooked carrots and sweet potatoes and natural soft cheeses, and whole-grain cereals (Cheerios are universally popular) and pastas.

Special equipment for feeding

There’s a dazzling array of feeding-related items you can buy, but none are essential. Nonetheless, there are a few that can make mealtime easier. A rubber-tipped spoon is important to protect your baby’s sensitive gums, and a plastic dish with suction cups can keep Junior’s meal on the tray table. To protect your floor, try a splat mat; it will make cleanup much simpler.

Where to feed the baby

Once your child is old enough to sit up on his own, feed him in a highchair or feeding chair. Handing finger foods to a crawler on the move can result in choking and leave a trail of smushed bananas across your carpet. And if a child learns to associate eating with mealtime and the dinner table, he’s less likely to develop the poor eating habits (constant snacking, eating in front of the television and so on) that contribute to obesity.

Note: You’ll find when you add solid foods to your baby’s diet that his stools change color and odor. This is normal. Rice cereal, bananas and applesauce may be constipating. If your baby’s stools are so firm that they seem to be giving him pain, then switch from those foods to other fruits and vegetables and oatmeal or barley cereal.

With a baby in tow, working at home takes on new meaning — and new challenges. Whether you’re resuming a free-lance career, starting a new one or telecommuting, you are in good company: According to Money magazine, about 13 million Americans are choosing to work from home. We talked to veteran work-at-home parents to find out their secrets for balancing work and family.

How can I set a schedule that lets me work, but also leaves me flexibility for my family?

Juggling career and family is challenging no matter where your office. But if you’re working at home, experiment to find what works best for you and your family. The big question: Will you accomplish more if you set uninterrupted weekly business hours, or can you manage a less predictable schedule?

Writer and editor Annie Barrows, of Berkeley, Calif., falls into the first camp. “If you don’t make the time to work, no one will give it to you,” Barrows says. “An external structure with deadlines helps.” To this end, she works three days a week in her sacrosanct, no-children-allowed converted garage.

But if you’re disciplined enough, you may succeed with a more flexible schedule. Chris Demarest, a children’s book author and illustrator, found that he enjoyed the flux of each day while he worked at home in New Hampshire. “I was not too strict about separating myself from the family,” he says. “I’d work for a certain amount of time each day, but I liked to play with the baby or tinker around the house.”

One point veteran work-at-home parents agree on: Child care is a must. And whether you go for a strict work schedule or a more haphazard one, do plan some transition time: It’s hard to move effortlessly from diapers to deadlines and back again. Give yourself time to make phone calls, open mail, or simply collect your thoughts. Likewise, make sure to schedule family time into your workday, perhaps feeding your baby, joining your older kids for lunch, or taking a walk together. As your children grow, include them in your work life — many work-at-home parents relish that their children see their work as part of the rhythms of family life.

I’m just starting a home-based job. Until I can afford hired help, how can I juggle child care, housework and my career?

When it comes to your house, consider lowering your standards. If you can accept living with a certain degree of chaos, you’ll have more time for work and family. If relatives or friends ask, “What can I do to help?” tell them: Prepare a meal, clean house, do the laundry, watch the baby for a few hours. They’ll probably appreciate the opportunity to do something concrete for your family — and help you launch your new career.

Meanwhile, get organized! Swap child care with other parents, and consider joining or starting a babysitting co-operative. Learn to work in the short blocks of time granted you while baby is playing in a swing, napping or sleeping at night.

Most important, set realistic goals. You’ll need to ease into working under these circumstances. Don’t try to write a novel when you are most likely good for only a few paragraphs. Agree to make that presentation in three weeks, not one. Everyone will be better off.

How do I work at home with a babysitter in the house?

You may discover you simply can’t, in which case you’ll need to make off-site child-care arrangements — or establish a home office. But if you can work with your children nearby, you’ll definitely need to go into your office and close the door to accomplish anything. Once behind that door, some parents want to be disturbed only in case of an emergency. But others, like San Francisco-based writer Susan Davis, find that some interruptions alleviate worries or tension. “If the babysitter feels free to ask me questions or to tell me when it’s time to breastfeed, I can relax knowing the baby’s needs will be met,” Davis says.

Whatever your style, resist the urge to minister to every cry. Find someone you trust and let her do her job. Take regular breaks to visit with or feed the baby. As long as you can get your work done, enjoy the proximity. This is why many people have chosen to work at home, remember?

How do I deal with the inevitable interruptions from people who know I’m home?

Discipline and communication are essential. Since therapist Christa Otter, of Montpelier, Vt., sees clients at her separate home office, she sets specific office hours. “Everyone, friends and family included, knows not to disturb me during those times,” she says. But if you’re in a profession with murkier boundaries, or you’ve set up shop on the dining-room table, you may have to work harder to stake out your territory. A separate business phone makes life much simpler; let the answering machine take care of your home line during work hours. If you use your home phone for work, ask non-business callers to ring you at a more convenient, specified time. If you’re unavailable, hang a friendly sign on your door, or ask your sitter to play sentry. Be unapologetically serious about your work. If you don’t take it seriously, neither will anyone else.

How do I deal with the potential isolation of working alone at home and taking care of children, too?

Chances are, you’ll find no shortage of human contact. But if your work doesn’t naturally involve other people, consider joining professional organizations, scheduling regular lunches with colleagues, participating in parent or play groups, and taking exercise or work-related classes.

Many work-at-home parents find isolation isn’t the problem — it’s that they have no time alone. “Make time for yourself,” suggests Irene Facciolo, an architect in Vermont. “Between work and caring for your children, it is really easy to forget about yourself — yet it is so important to do something on your own.”

It’s easy for work-at-home parents to become masters at scheduling it all in — work, family, household responsibilities — but be sure to pencil in time for yourself as well.