Urge President-Elect Obama to support breastfeeding!

President-Elect Obama has affirmed his commitment to tackling the health care crisis, and the United States Breastfeeding Committee (USBC) is ready to tell him one great way to do so: support breastfeeding!

Citing the numerous studies on the benefits of breastfeeding, USBC states:

Excess health care costs totaling more than $4 billion must be paid by the U.S. health care system each year to treat otitis media, gastroenteritis, and necrotizing enterocolitis–childhood diseases and conditions preventable or reduced by breastfeeding. When prevention of obesity, diabetes, and other chronic conditions is factored in, the potential economic benefits of breastfeeding are significantly greater.

They go on to urge the President-Elect to take the following steps during his administration: Continue reading “Urge President-Elect Obama to support breastfeeding!”

Share The Milk

When she was about 14 months old, my daughter decided to give up the bottle, thereby relieving me of the responsibility of pumping milk for her to drink while we were apart . . . and just in time, since my supply had dipped sufficiently in recent months that I was only pumping about half of what she drank in a day. She had been eating away at my freezer stash all summer, but when she decided she was done with the bottle, and she wasn’t interested in imbibing my milk from a cup either, I was left with a little over 100 ounces of frozen breastmilk and no baby to drink it. Until I found MilkShare. Continue reading “Share The Milk”

Nighttime parenting

My daughter is almost two years old. I still nurse her to sleep in the sling.Once in the afternoon for a nap and once in the evening.This process takes at least 30 minutes if I’m very lucky,if not more than that. When she falls into deep sleep,I transfer her to the bed.

If you had told me this when I was a mom of a 3 month old,I wouldn’t believe it.Back then I didn’t know that most of the babies need some kind of parenting to sleep. Continue reading “Nighttime parenting”

Natural process of weaning

I really believe in child led weaning when it comes to extended breastfeeding however I personally would not like to nurse past 3-years of age. I know that many women do with great success and that’s wonderful and I fully support that. I just know my limitations and 3 years of age is about the age for me.

Our children have both been bigger for their age so I’m used to the looks outside of home when I’m nursing a 2-year old that looks like a 4-year old and I just smile. I’m forever grateful for our pediatrician Dr. William Sears for opening my eyes and educating me about extended breastfeeding and child-led weaning. It has been especially helpful at times when friends and relatives wonder why I’m still nursing and how long will I continue. It’s not always easy to stand your ground especially as a  first time mom so it’s important to have the knowledge to deal with criticism etc because you sure need that so that you don’t start to doubt yourself because of all the “advice” that is being given to you by mainstream parents and friends.

Continue reading “Natural process of weaning”

AP while on vacation

We have just returned from a holiday which lasted 4 weeks. We have been to 4 countries, visited our extended families, went to the beach and stayed at 7 different places.
I was a bit anxious that it would be too much for our 20 month old daughter but she handled it very well.
We don’t need many things to keep our baby secure and content, even in unfamiliar places. Attachment parenting allows us to travel lightly. We never need to carry a travel cot or think about where our baby will sleep. We don’t need to take a stroller with us, our baby carrier does the job, all we need to worry about is having insurance, luckily, now a days you can even find travel insurance for seniors, which is great because we travel with our parents most of the time.

During the first 2 weeks, we were in Belgium visiting my sister. While we were there, we decided to go to Paris for a day trip. One morning we took the train from Brussels and within one hour we were there.

We visited all those well known places and around six o’clock we headed to the Eiffel Tower. We would just have a look and leave. We were already tired and hungry and we were reckoning that there would be a long queue of people who wanted to go up. However there wasn’t and suddenly we decided to go up and see what it is all about. So our visit took longer than we anticipated. Poor Daphne was very hungry and wanted to breastfeed. She was in the carrier, so most people didn’t notice it but a few women smiled at us. Who would have thought that I’d breastfeed her at the top of the Eiffel Tower?  Well, it was a lovely moment that I’ll never forget.

Isil writes about attachment parenting and vegan cooking at Veggie Way.

Shouldn’t We Invest More Thought In Our Parenting Than Planning Our Next Vacation?

The decisions we make for our daughter today may affect her for a lifetime in more ways than one, which, in my opinion, makes them some of the most important and far-reaching we will ever be faced with. And yet, it seems that many people are willing to put more time into researching vacation destinations or what car to buy than into questions like what to feed their children (and why) or whether or not to vaccinate them, and if so how (selectively? delayed? or according to the standard schedule?).

Continue reading “Shouldn’t We Invest More Thought In Our Parenting Than Planning Our Next Vacation?”

Food and healthy eating

The common question I hear from moms is how to get their child to eat and eat the right foods. As finding remedies for magnesium deficiencies among many other essential nutrients later in life might not be able to help in the same way they could during the growth. The truth is that, the answer to such situation is complicated and every child is different but after having 2 children, I think I’ve seen a pattern of behavior when it comes to eating, if you are looking to start working on healthy diets for your family check these Nutrisystem vs jenny craig reviews.

The best thing that can help moms give birth to a healthy baby, is that they should be involved to fitness, see appropriate fitness guides for pregnant women. It makes me sad to think that some parents use food as a power struggle. They pick the foods for the children and if the children don’t want to eat it, they are forced to eat it and sit at the table until the food is gone. When I hear stories like this from other moms how they treat their children, it just makes me ill to think that these children have to suffer like that and they might never have a normal relationship with food and proper nutrition. Many times I’ve heard in the same breath a comment about the child not eating any vegetables and forcing/punishing is the only way to get them down. Steroids have been illegal for some time now and everyone knows the potency of the real thing but legal steroids and their alternatives are quickly catching up as a viable alternative to the black market illegal steroids. Over the last few years the serious body builders have been using the alternative legal steroids and achieving amazing results. Legal steroids like Androstenedione ( andro), 1-AD,1-test and 4-Androstenedione are the closest thing to real steroids and these are available legally. These alternative steroids when used correctly are both a safe and effective way to enhance and boost strength, energy and muscle recovery. The best legal steroid in the market today is D-Bal. This supplement is a great legal alternative to the famous but troublesome anabolic steroid called Dianabol. The supplement has done an incredible job in replicating the insane results that Dianabol is so famous for while remaining extremely friendly to the body. The other best legal steroids such as DecaDuro, D-Bal, Clenbuterol, Winsol, Testo-Max, and Anadrol. As bodybuilders, we are always on the lookout for something more, something that will give us that competitive edge over others. Whether that be a hidden new technique, a different way of approaching the rack or imbuing the hottest and newest chemical straight from the lab, we’re there to give it a shot. You can find here the lots of good info about the SARMs reviews.  Enter the world of SARMs, a promising new synthetic drug meant to enhance the performance of athletes all around the world. In this SARMs review, we’ll talk about the most popular SARMs, about the best SARMs stack for bulking, cutting, fat loss and strength. You will also learn about their subtypes and their way of administration.

I’m sure we can all remember some times from our childhood and what it was like when we were told to eat something that we didn’t like. Or we were told to finish our plate because other children in the world are suffering and food was not intended to be wasted. I’m sure everyone who was forced to eat a certain food they didn’t like as a child, will not eat that same food today as an adult. The impact of the forcing food, can be so severe that it carries through adulthood and affects the way we view food in general which can lead to bad nutrition, wrong portion sizes and weight gain. Try using a good supplement, and eating a fresh bread without gluten, also the keto protein powder you will find it and you will feel so much different within the first weeks of usage. One of the best organic protein powders for athletes and active gym-goers organic protein powder  just happens to also be plant-based. In your body, protein is crucial for muscle formation, the health and function of skin and other tissues, digestion, blood clotting, hormone synthesis, bone and ligament strength, and the balance of your blood pH, among other functions.

If you are also thinking to reduce weight which will not effect you and your baby, you can defiantly go for a Keto Diet.

The keto diet. what’s the keto diet and where can I find the best keto diet? In simple terms it’s once you trick your body into using your own BODYFAT as it’s main energy source rather than carbohydrates. The keto diet is extremely popular method of losing fat quickly and efficiently but if you have a proper diet chart from expert as Keto Balanced, it would be beneficial only by then.

The Science Behind It

To get your body into a ketogenic state you want to eat a high fat diet and low protein with NO carbs or hardly any. The ratio should be around 80% fat and 20% protein. this may the rule for the primary 2 days. Once during a ketogenic state you’ll need to increase protein intake and lower fat, ratio are going to be around 65% fat, 30% protein and 5% carbs. Protein is increased to spare muscle tissue. When your body intakes carbohydrates it causes an insulin spike which suggests the pancreas releases insulin ( helps store glycogen, amino acids and excess calories as fat ) so sense tells us that if we eliminate carbs then the insulin won’t store excess calories as fat. Perfect.

A child’s body is naturally made to know when it’s full and what foods to eat to get a balanced nutrition. If the only foods offered at home are nutritious and healthy, then the child naturally gravitates towards those foods especially if he is allowed to listen to his body and its needs by not forcing to finish the plate or a certain food group.

Dr. Williams Sears advises to shoot for a balanced week of nutrition when it comes to toddlers instead of a day. One day a toddler might be extremely picky and only eat a little bit and yet the next day the same child might eat what might seem huge portions for a child. This is all common behavior in children. One reason why toddlers, for example, have a hard time sitting still and eating a plate of food, is because they are too busy to eat. Playing with toys is so much more fun than sitting down at the table and eating. The best way to help with that is to provide a snack tray with healthy foods on it that the toddler can refer to as he is playing without forcing him to sit and eat when he is not ready. Vertigo is one of the most common forms of dizziness The sensation of feeling off balance or feeling like you or the world around you is spinning are common symptoms of vertigo. For some a vertigo may cause spinning and unsteadiness, but for some it can result into nausea, headache, excessive sweating, vomiting, temporary hearing loss, or abnormal rapid eye movements (nystagma) . The symptoms can last a few minutes or take place in regular spells. Vertigo can also range from being objective, subjective or pseudo in nature. Objective vertigo is when a person senses the world moving around him, subjective vertigo can be described as a feeling when the person feels he is spinning, pseudo vertigo is a strong sense of internal rotation inside a person’s head.  Vertigo is mostly induced by problems caused in the inner ear which could probably be due to minute calcium particles fastening in the canals of the inner, causing an internal inflammation hindering the inner ear to send appropriate signals to the brain connected to gravity. These signals are essential to keep your balance. A vertigo can arise out of a stroke, tumour or severe head and neck injuries. bppv vertigo is one of the most common causes of vertigo — the sudden sensation that you’re spinning or that the inside of your head is spinning.Benign paroxysmal positional vertigo causes brief episodes of mild to intense dizziness. Benign paroxysmal positional vertigo is usually triggered by specific changes in the position of your head. This might occur when you tip your head up or down, when you lie down, or when you turn over or sit up in bed.

In our family, we only buy organic and healthy food for home. When we are out and about, we don’t worry about it as much but at home we want to create a safe haven for food so that the children’s growing bodies and our bodies stay healthy and strong.

I pack our son’s lunch for school every day because he has requested me to do so and I’m glad that my years of trying to show him the right way to eat are paying off. Our son is in 2nd grade now and last year he wanted to buy school lunch every now and then. I let him do that because I wanted him to have a variety and I also wanted him to tell me which foods he liked and make his decision on what to eat for lunch each day. This year he told me that he didn’t want to buy and preferred I made his lunch.

I don’t feel like eating the same thing or a certain food for lunch every day so I don’t expect my child to eat whatever I choose for him either because he might not feel like eating a specific food on that day. When he was a toddler and a preschooler, we used to allow him to eat his dessert before eating his main food if dessert was available and he wanted it. After taking few bites of his dessert he came back and ate his main food every time and actually forgot about the dessert. He never learned to be obsessive about desserts or sweets because we never made them a big deal. I learned this trick from Dr. William Sears. I feel fortunate that I’ve listened to his advice and my own heart and my children over the years so that I’ve been able to make better decisions when it comes to food.

Our son’s favorite foods are fruits and vegetables and I contribute that to the fact that we never pushed him to eat them. They were just always offered and available in case he wanted to have them. We also have taught him that we eat until our bellies feel full not until the plate is empty. Our son tells us all the time that so and so of his friends have to eat their whole plate empty or they don’t get a dessert. These are also children who have major sweet tooth and trouble eating fruits and vegetables on their own. I wonder if there is a correlation there.

Our daughter (2-years-old) is now being “taught” the same way about food. We offer her fruits and vegetables and many times she wants them more than any other food group. Some times she hardly eats any and that’s fine too. I don’t worry about it because I know that once the next meal comes around she might want them again. She also nurses and many times she prefers nursing over food. I’ll sometimes nurse her first because she wants to and then offer her food in case she is still hungry.

Our daughter is what someone might consider overweight but she is not considered overweight because of the nursing. Our pediatrician, Dr. William Sears, noted that if she was this weight with getting formula or cows milk and/or bad nutrition (cakes, candy, soda chips etc) perhaps then it would be a concern but because bulk of her nutrition is nursing, her body will use up all the healthy fats stored because they’re from breastmilk which is stored differently than normal fat coming from excessive eating or bad nutrition. I’m fortunate again to have Dr. Sears instead of some mainstream pediatrician who has very little knowledge or information about nursing and its benefits let alone knowledge about extended breastfeeding.

What I’ve learned over the years as a parent is not to obsess about my children and their eating habits as long as I offer them healthy foods to eat most of the time. Our children also get occasionally junk food at other people’s houses and at birthday parties, from grandparents etc and I don’t worry about it because I believe in moderation and not denying yourself or your child of certain foods that can become a huge problem later on. You can eat pretty much anything in moderation as long as bulk of your diet is healthy combined with exercise.

Reija Eden – www.attachedmom.com

Babywearing Ambassador

“Is that a baby in your purse?”

The question startles me as I check out of the grocery store with my newborn daughter tucked close to my body in a baby sling. I glance up at the woman ringing up my purchases, who is looking at me with nothing but friendly interest.

“Well,” I stammer, “Yes, she is my baby, but no, this is not my purse. This is a sling, a baby carrier.”

“Well honey, she looks real happy in there,” she says gently.

“Yes,” I agree. “I never go anywhere without my sling. My baby is so content in the sling that I am able to get out and get things done. She loves the sling and I love that she is peaceful.”

We both seem pleased with the conversation and exchange a smile. She chuckles and adds warmly, “That spoilt little thing. She knows a good thing when she sees it.”

Indeed.

I love hearing people’s feedback when I am out and about with my little ones in tow. Over the past eight years, I have worn each of our four children in a soft baby carrier as I go about the business of life, a practice coined “babywearing” by Dr. William Sears. I do not “wear” my babies on principle, even though as an MD I do know of the benefits of wearing a baby in a soft carrier (for example: reduced crying, improved breastfeeding rates, improved sleep, better attachment and improved parental responsiveness).

No, I wear my baby because it makes her happy like nothing else in the world (except maybe nursing) and when baby is happy, I can feel that she is sorted out and I can focus on other things. This is a sanity saver.

Inadvertently, I have become an unofficial ambassador for babywearing. By merely appearing in public with my baby contentedly riding in a sling, I have received many curious stares and many generous comments. Mostly, people notice first how happy my baby seems and how she never cries. Sometimes they wonder aloud if I am spoiling her.

Comments from folks who are either expecting or juggling small babies of their own are often frankly envious. “Wow,” they say, “your baby is so happy. You are so lucky. Did you make that? Where can I get one?” I am always happy to take a moment and talk shop. Yes, she is happy. Yes, I am lucky. But you can be, too. I tell them how having a sling has made my life easier and I show them how to use it and where to get one.

But I also value the interactions with folks who are not necessarily currently tending an infant of their own. They often sigh wistfully and say “I wish they had those around when I had my own babies.” Or a favorite of grown men, “I wish someone would carry me around like that!” Um. OK. The comments are always positive, they notice how happy and easy my baby is and they remark on it. But they also usually want to know: Why use a sling instead of a car seat? (simple, she hates the car seat) and Gosh, isn’t she squashed? (Well, not as much as she was in her previous living situation) and Gee, aren’t you worried about spoiling her? (see below).

As it turns out, babies are some kind of clever creatures. Yes, babies want to be held, but it goes deeper than that. Studies show that biologically, babies need to be held in order to thrive. A review of current randomized controlled trials suggest that the benefits of holding for preterm babies include shortened hospital stay, decreased illness, higher exclusive breastfeeding rates/longer breastfeeding duration, increased weight gain, improved temperature regulation, and improved maternal sense of competence. Evidence-based benefits for full term babies include improved state organization and motor system modulation; improved temperature regulation; and an analgesic effect, reduced crying, improved maternal responsiveness, and babies who were more securely attached.

In our arrogance, we assume that we have created the need to be held by holding our babies, when in fact babies are born hardwired to seek out that which they need to thrive: food, warmth and human touch. We cannot spoil a baby by meeting their basic needs.

So the next time you see a “lady with a baby in her purse,” smile at her and know that she is doing what she can to keep her baby happy, meet her baby’s needs and tend to her own in the process. She is busy mothering in the best way she knows how. She is the next babywearing ambassador.

This article was written to encourage community support for babywearing in preparation for International Babywearing Week this November 12-18.