Vulnerable babies born prematurely or with medical conditions, are born with a challenging start to their lives. Some parents have time to prepare for this with a diagnosis in utero. However, for other parents it becomes a total surprise when one’s baby is quickly whipped away at birth for lifesaving care and treatment. No matter how or what the circumstances are, any NICU mother will face difficulties.

Feeding a NICU baby may be one of the biggest challenges.

Breastfeeding, formula feeding and nasogastric feeding. All of these present their own set of challenges that a NICU mum and her baby have to face.

The road to breastfeeding your baby in the NICU can be a slow and gradual progression. It can be weeks or even months until a baby is ready to independently and exclusively breastfeed. When the time arrives, this moment becomes an exciting and memorable milestone. Some of the limitations a mother faces begins with the access to her own baby. This access can be limited since the newborn may be in an incubator, under photo therapy lights or attached to many machines and tubes. Skin to skin bonding  (which stimulates oxytocins, milk production, and a good latch) may be minimal or even non existent.

Often times, a mother is forced to find other means for bonding and breastmilk production. These may come in the form of expressing breastmilk, looking at photos and hand holding their baby.

Formula feeding a baby in the NICU may be out of a mother’s control.

Little Hannah’s first breastfeeding session at 1 month of age

A newborn baby needs calculated nutrition right at birth and in the days or weeks following. A mother may struggle with not producing enough breastmilk to sustain her baby. Formula feeding then becomes the right choice for them at the time. There can be some benefits with formula feeding a baby in the NICU.

The time and stress with breastmilk production, expressing and/or latching dissapear. This time is often replaced with bonding and recovering. If feedings are hourly or second hourly some can be attended by a partner or nursing/midwife staff. However, formula feeding can also come with some challenges, especially to a mother who was desperate to breastfeed.

Another very common means for nutrition in the NICU is nasogastric feeding. For any newborn baby, feeding are energy consuming since they must happen around the clock. Precious little ones in the NICU need all the energy they can get to fight for their health and sometimes their life.

Some babies, especially premature babies, have trouble with sucking and swallowing; this can impact on their nutrition intake and therefor their growth and wellbeing. As mentioned above, nasogastric tube feeding is a common source of feeding in the NICU, the good thing about it is that it can be done during a baby’s sleep without disturbing them to complete the feeding. Nasogastric feeding saves them energy and gets the job done. Another positive is that a mother is able to cuddle and hold her baby and even latch him/her to the breast all whilst having a nasogastric feeding. This experience for both mother and baby holds so much value on their wellbeing and recovery.

For many NICU mums, figuring out how to feed your baby and give them the best start in life, raises many questions and anxiety.

A baby requires nutrition, growth as well as around the clock, timed and measured feedings. The decisions and anxiety regarding how to best feed a baby are some worries that a mum of a full term healthy baby may not experience to the fullest. For mums, feeding is a synonym of bonding and cuddling. It’s a desire and a goal.

All mums experience the same body and breast changes after birth. Facilitating a NICU mum to have the same opportunities as any other mum is important for the baby’s and her wellbeing. Keep in mind that a mother’s mental health can be affected due to her feeling like she has failed her baby in some way.

Remember that no matter what feeding option you choose, you are doing what is best for your baby at the time given the circumstances. Don’t be hard on yourself.

What was your personal experience with feeding your baby while at the NICU?

Amanda Marsden

I am a busy mum to 3 children, I have had 3 very different pregnancies and breastfeeding journeys. I have worked in health since finishing school (20 years ago), it is all that I know and all that I love, I don’t see myself doing anything else. I have been a Registered Nurse/paramedic all this time and since having my family I became a Registered Midwife. My journey as a midwife has allowed me to promote and normalise birth and breastfeeding, my passion is in educating and empowering women through my HypnoBirthing education.

The post Challenges NICU mothers face when feeding their baby appeared first on Breastfeeding World.

Every good grandparent loves to spoil their children.  All too often I find myself reminding my own mother that Tessa has enough toys, or even that she already has a similar toy to that one she is insisting on buying her.  I understand her desire.  Everyone wants their children and grandchildren to be happy and healthy and have everything their heart could desire.  But what if their heart does not desire SO. MANY. TOYS?

If we take a look at the “typical American” family home, we usually will find a space or even a specific room cluttered (despite Mom’s best efforts) with toys and stuffed animals.

How much of the toy craze in children is brought on by their own family?  This was a question I asked myself after discovering minimalism and Montessori. The definition according to google for Montessori is “a system of education for young children that seeks to develop natural interests and activities rather than use formal teaching methods.” This means following the child’s interests, their true interests.

How often do you find a baby playing with a set of keys, a silicone spoon, or even a wrapper?

Often after my mom spends decent money on fancy toys, she is displeased with Tessa choosing something as simple as the buckle on my backpack to play with over her cool new battery-operated toy (which, might I add, I don’t permit anymore).  If you watch children’s interests, their natural interests, you will find that it’s the simple and often open-ended toys, objects, and as Maria Montessori calls it “work” to play with.  This is not only true for babies and toddlers, but older children too!  Adults have had years on the earth to figure out what things are and how to manipulate them.  Children tend to gravitate towards the most basic things because they have an innate desire to learn how they work.

Here are my top 5 benefits to limiting toys:

• Creativity and Resourcefulness

Limiting toys can help a child build their sense of creativity and teach children to become resourceful!  It helps them learn how to breakthrough “boredom” and create their own fun.   Having a limited number of toys from the beginning of life (or even now! It is never too late to minimize.) teaches that child how be resourceful and to find different ways to use, apply, and play with minimal toys.  This leads to my next point.

• Better Focus

How often do you find a child who appears to have PLENTY of toys to play with say they are bored?  It is the same concept as adults who have an entire closet of clothes and yet they “can’t find anything to wear”. When provided with too many options, children tend to lose interest in a toy faster and overlook all the potential options they truly have.  However, from personal experience, children who are provided with less toys play for longer periods of time and have a variety of different ways of playing with those sets of toys and activities.  This is where their creativity, as mentioned above, meets their natural need to focus and master certain skills and tasks.

• Cleanliness

Everyone loves a clean house, especially parents!  Although I encourage allowing “creative messes”, overall, providing your child with minimal toys keeps things more manageable! With less toys, children (and parents!) feel less overwhelmed and can better keep things tidy.  I encourage having shelves specifically for work/toys rather than toy boxes or baskets.  This means each toy/work has its own spot and children, even at a very young age, can be shown and taught how and where to put things away.  With the child being less likely to lose interest in their toys quickly, they can play with purpose and decide when to move on. With a parent or guardians guidance, they can also learn how to place items they are done with away on their shelf.

TIP: Take a photo of the work/toy/activity, laminate it, then tape it to the corresponding spot on the shelf you would like the child to return the work to.

• Not having to buy new toys all the time

By providing a limited number of toys to your child at a time, you can keep additional activities and toys stored away and rotate what is available to your kids.  This is an awesome trick for when kids do struggle with staying entertained with the same small number of toys.  Keep the ones that the child maintains interest in available, put away the ones that they have lost interest in, and add ones that have been stored away for a “new” activity.  The awesome side of this is you can keep the activity that the child has grown bored with stored for several weeks or months and then add it back to the shelves. All the sudden its brand new to the kids and you’ll be amazed at how interested they are in it again and often even find new ways to play with the same exact toy/work.

• Appreciation

I think a huge part of why I love having minimal toys for my own daughter is the ability to teach her that it is okay and normal to desire new things. How often do you as an adult pass a store and desire something new (aka any time I walk into Target)?  For me, it happens almost every time I’m in public. I see cars I would love to have, animals I would love to own, and shoes I would love to wear.  The same is for children!  When they go past new toys, naturally they will desire some of those toys!  You know you are not depriving your child of things to play with by not buying them a new toy every week just as you are not depriving yourself for not buying a new pair of shoes every week.  However, when you do get your child a new toy, they often will love and appreciate that toy way more than they would if it were an often occurrence just as you would likely adore a pair of shoes you bought after wanting them for weeks and possibly saving up to buy them.

Quick Tips

• By buying less toys, you can focus your budget on quality toys and especially ones that are open ended and can last over different developmental stages and ages.
• Focus on your child’s interests! Find what they are into at the moment or stage in their life and focus on providing them work allowing them to explore that interest. (example: Tessa at 17 months and was obsessed with buckles and lids so I made sure to provide her a variety of lids and “open/close” work to play with.  I usually give her 1 or 2 at a time to allow her to focus on mastering that specific one before I switch it out with a new one.  You would be amazed how long she sat there and did the same thing repetitively, but that is EXACTLY what she needed in that stage.)
• Don’t limit your own creativity! Just because you may have a decent budget for toys now doesn’t mean you must spend a ton! I often find the best toys for Tessa in the kitchen aisle at the store or even ones we already have. (example: her favorite right now is an empty tomato juice bottle with large round cap that was easy for her to master twisting on and off).

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Lauren P Lewis

Lauren P Lewis is a passionate, young, single, college mom. Having her daughter at the age of 19, she quickly fell in love with researching the topics of child development, breastfeeding, natural birth, baby wearing, cloth diapering, and gentle parenting styles to become the best mom she could be. She is currently in college studying Child Development. She hopes to combine her passion for growing sustainable food, raising farm animals, and in general being outdoors with her passion for children.

The post Toys: How Many is too Many? appeared first on Breastfeeding World.

I knew I wanted to breastfeed

And, to breastfeed exclusively. But, I gave little thought to the timeline. I would have said a year, because that is what tends to be the socially acceptable timeframe in our society…and I had yet to be enlightened about extended breastfeeding.

Actor Ryan Gosling September 1, 2003

Fast forward three and a half years, and this momma bear was still going strong and actively breastfeeding. It wasn’t planned, but just happened naturally.  A year came and went, then two years. By that time, it was my intention to let him decide when he was ready for our breastfeeding journey to come to an end. I had seen close mom friends do the same with much success and was going to leave it up to him. It just felt right to let him make that call.

Then life happened

Not long before his third birthday, I fell ill and only got sicker and sicker as time went by.  Before I knew it, a major surgery was on the horizon. My heart was breaking. Such a beautiful and special time in our lives, as mother and son, would be abruptly ending whether either of us was ready. This was not the ending I had planned or that I wanted. Yet it was unavoidable.

I nursed him up until the morning of my surgery. We talked at length about the whats, whys and everything in between. He knew it was coming. But, he was sad. He wasn’t ready either. Leaving him that morning, I thought that our journey was at its end and that we had closed the book on this chapter in our lives ever.  Yet, after surgery and recovery, we continued on for almost two more months, until my health and the medications would just no longer allow it. The last time wasn’t anything special or big, yet I don’t think I will ever forget it.

When I look back on how our journey ended, it reminds me of his birth

While I didn’t have a concrete birth plan, how he came was so very unexpected and unplanned. I wanted and planned on him coming when he was ready, and on his terms. Yet my body had other ideas. You know what they say about the best-laid plans….

He nursed for longer than most littles in our society. We had, had an amazing run in the breastfeeding department.  While I knew I shouldn’t, I still felt guilty.  I had to learn to give myself some grace.  I had given him so much throughout our time breastfeeding, and how it ended wouldn’t and didn’t take anything away from that.

Three and a quarter years. Thirty-eight months. One-thousand-one-hundred-and-eighty days

I will cherish every moment forever…no matter how or why it ended. From the first time he nursed to the last, every moment was special and every moment belonged to just him and I.

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Allyson Lux

I am a single mom to the most amazing little boy in the entire world. He is the light of my life! We also have the two sweetest doggies who complete our little family. I am a high school teacher and a photographer, and am very passionate about breastfeeding, babywearing, attachment parenting, and raising my son in the most natural way possible!

www.myluxphotography.wix.com/home

The post The End appeared first on Breastfeeding World.

I’ve been a masseuse for 14 years and I am honored to share my passion and knowledge about infant massage and its benefits. Plus, who doesn’t love grabbing handfuls of baby chub!? So, first…

Why Infant Massage?

• Promotion of bonding and attachment
• Verbal/non-verbal communication
• Development of trust
• Development of all of the sense

Infant Massage May Stimulate

• Circulatory and digestive systems
• Hormonal and immune systems
• Coordination and balance
• Learning and concentration
• Muscular development and growth
• Mind and body awareness

Parents May Find that Infant Massage Helps Relieve

• Gas and colic
• Constipation and elimination issues
• Growing pains and muscular tension
• Teething discomfort
• Cramps

The Massage Promotes Relaxation, Which May be Shown Through

• Improved sleep patterns
• Increased joint and muscle flexibility
• Regulation of behavioral states
• Being calm and a sort of self-soothing capability
• Reduction in stress hormones

How to use infant massage in your routine

Babies thrive on routine, if you haven’t already noticed. They start to get their own rythm to life with feeding, sleeping and wake time. It’s important to know when is the right time to massage your baby. If they are very tired, hungry or over-stimulated; it might not be the best time to try and massage. I like to do it right after a bath in the evening, before bed time. This lets them know that bed time is coming and, starts to help them find their night time sleep rythm. This is especially beneficial if your baby is having a hard time differentiating between day and night.

How to massage your infant

Start with your favorite lotion or baby oil, making sure your baby is not allergic to it. You may choose to use small amounts of essential oils, (I use lavender because, yum!). But, keep in mind that baby’s skin and sense of smell are very sensitive. I like to have a small space heater near by. Little babies can have a hard time regulating their body tempurature. Keep the space warm but not too hot.

• Start by warming up the lotion in your hands
• Apply lotion with palms to babies tummy, arms, legs and feet
• Work your hands in a clockwise motion around babies tummy, this helps promote digestion
• Using both hands grab around the ankle, twist and push down towards hips. Trade off hands, gently working the muscles. Use this same technique for arms.
• Using thumbs, gently massage babies feet in small circles.
• Turn baby over onto their tummy and apply lotion to the back. Work from tail bone up the spine and out towards the shoulders. Gently covering the whole back.

Above all, if baby gets fussy during the massage and you feel it is no longer beneficial; stop the massage and try again later or the next day. Baby will learn to relax right into the rythm and know that mom’s touch is loving and soothing for them. As baby grows, you can add more strokes. Be patient with it and enjoy the bonding that infant massage can bring. Now snuggle that yummy baby and breathe in that delicious lavender sweetness! Go try it!

So, what have you noticed in your baby when you are massaging?

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Andrea Tao

My name is Andrea Tao. I live on the surface of the sun in southern Arizona. I have been married for 13 years and have 6 (yes 6) kids. I am a massage therapist by trade and a total hippy. Hobbies include watercolor painting, fitness, gardening and mommin hard. Pregnancy and infant loss awareness advocate. Wrote a children’s book about miscarriage a few years ago after a loss and it changed my life. Love seeing the humorous side of parenting and try to be as sarcastic as I can. Laughing my way through momhood!

The post Infant Massage: The Power of Touch appeared first on Breastfeeding World.

Encouraging your children to read is very important for their development and education, especially these days when many people are more likely to watch a movie. Reading has numerous benefits for the brain. Envisioning plots and characters allows children to be creative and imaginative. It’s also a great way to expand vocabulary.

You don’t have to wait until your children learn to read before you start instilling the love of reading.

Some research studies have shown that reading to young children is highly beneficial for their language development and reading readiness. Creating a cozy reading nook is a step towards achieving this goal.

The importance of reading to your newborn

There’s nothing more pleasant than cuddling up with your baby and reading to them. Apart from boosting brain activity, reading is also a great way of bonding with your baby. Babies love the sound of a mother’s voice. It’s also a great way to establish a feeling of intimacy and strengthen the emotional connection. Babies can learn some basic emotional reactions from their parents, which helps with empathy development. Through reading, you’ll be able to use various tones and prosodic features for different characters and convey all kinds of emotions.

A research study using MRIs has found that kids that are being read to on a regular basis have more developed brain areas responsible for semantic processing. In other words, they can grasp the meaning of a word more easily and their oral skills are on a significantly higher level. There are also special books for newborns that will introduce them to colors and shapes. Show your child that reading is entertaining, not just a task for school.

How to choose the right place for a nook?

First of all, no matter how small your apartment is, you can always find a tiny spot to put a comfortable armchair and a bookshelf. The unused space under the stairs can be transformed in a wonderful reading nook, that both your kids and you will love.

A nook could also be a perfect, quiet place for breastfeeding, so try to create a snug little corner that you’ll enjoy, too. A bean bag or big, soft cushions can be a great idea for children’s room, while a colorful carpet would be a nice addition as well.

Make sure that this spot is in a way isolated from all distractions, including the TV or a computer. Lighting is important, too. It would be best to choose a room with a window that will provide natural light. If that’s not possible, you can always resort to some creative reading lamps. While your kids are still toddlers, it’s important to organize a nook in a manner that will allow you to curl up next to them with a good book.

How to decorate it?

Naturally, when decorating this space, you could also include your kids in the whole process. Color schemes should be bright and warm. Since this will be their reading corner as well, you could decorate it with their own artwork. Bookshelves should be kid-friendly. All the books should be accessible and within their reach. While your children still can’t read, it’s important to display the books so that their covers are visible. That way they will be able to recognize the book they want and easily find it.

Tents make excellent reading nooks because they’re cozy and quiet, allowing kids to read without any disturbances from the outside world. They also inspire imagination. Kids love to pretend that they’re in a castle, fortress or some magical place. Tents will easily turn into their favorite secret spots. As kids also love to play in their nooks, a creative kids’ toy basket could help you keep their toys organized, and it can be used for laundry, as well.

As you can see, a reading nook doesn’t necessarily have to be big or fancy. The point is in creating a nice place where you and your kids can read and spend some quality time together.

Where do you enjoy reading with your children?

Emma Lawson

Emma is a former teacher, constantly improving her skills both as a teacher and as a parent. She is passionate about writing and learning new things that can help you to lead a quality life. You can follow her on Twitter @EmmahLawson

Be sure to join us in our social media accounts and be up to date with the progress of our project!

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A photography project founded in late 2014 by Alexia Garcia, photographer a Alegares Photography. Breastfeeding World aims to promote breastfeeding and encourage new moms to nurse their babies through the art of photography and story telling.

The post How to Create a Lovely Reading Nook for Your Child -by Emma Lawson appeared first on Breastfeeding World.

How to survive a sleep regression – when your baby just. won’t. sleep!

The nights are long, but the years are short

Parenthood and sleepless nights go hand in hand – everyone knows that. You sort of sign up for less sleep, regular wakings and early mornings, right?

The early months of our small person’s life are a bit of a blur to me now – I vaguely remember the first night we brought him home, and falling asleep for what I thought was hours, but turned out to be about 47 seconds, and wondering if we should perhaps call the emergency services because we had no idea what we were doing. Luckily we did not call an ambulance, and slowly, over the weeks, we began to get into a bit of a rhythm. 

Sweet sleep

Every evening, we’d eat dinner and Squid would happily cluster feed until we went to bed, and I’d get about 90 minutes of sleep before he’d snuffle around and find a boob again. It was tiring, but predictable, and the sleep I did get was pretty solid. 

And we ambled along in this happy little routine for a while. Until December 2015, when Squid was nearly 4 months old, and sleep changed quite dramatically. 

The four month sleep regression had hit us 

I had heard of it, but was unsure if it was just an urban myth, or something that genuinely happened to babies. The night in question, Squid went to sleep with us as usual, and we all traipsed to bed. And then Squid woke up. I fed him back to sleep, but he woke again, and again, and again. And this continued all night long – my longest stretch of sleep was about 30 minutes. 

So, what exactly IS a sleep regression?

So many hours spent latched on and wide awake.

At certain points in the timeline of your baby’s sleep, they stop being quite so predictable with their slumber, and become much harder to settle, and more restless when they do sleep. A sleep ‘regression’ really marks a ‘progression’ for your baby – this sudden disruption to the usual sleep schedule is invariably because some major development is going on with your ray of sunshine. At 4 months, this is usually because your baby is learning to roll, starting to babble, and suddenly becoming aware that they are a separate person from you. The fourth trimester is over. At 8 months, separation anxiety sets in, and your little one is learning a new skill by the day. 12 months sparks developments such as walking and talking. At 18 months, your baby’s busy brain is concentrating on chatting away – far too busy to sleep!

This sleep regression lasted for weeks

The pattern was the same: feed, sleep ONLY in my arms, wake. Day time naps disappeared: long gone were the days of napping every few hours – this child just wanted to be awake and enjoy life! 

I didn’t sleep for more than 45 straight minutes for nearly 2 months, and then, at the point that I felt something close to insanity, Squid began to sleep for longer stretches again. It was over. 

That was, until the 8 month sleep regression hit. I was more prepared then, but it was still so very difficult. Another bout of sleeplessness hit at a year, and more recently again at 18 months, but still nothing compares to the 4 month sleep regression, where I thought my eyeballs had melted from exhaustion and I might never recover. 

My top tips for coping:

1 – call in your village. You do not have to do this alone. If someone wants to come and hold your (wide awake) baby for an hour so you can sleep, let them.

Close isn’t close enough

2 – forget the house work. Seriously, the dishes will wait. The choice between a 30 minute nap and a hoovered living room is a no brainer for me. 

3 – bed share (safely) if you can. This was a game changer for us. Before the 4 month sleep regression hit, Squid was in a ‘Snuzpod’ co-sleeper bedside crib, which worked well for us. In the midst of the sleeplessness, he needed to be even closer, and so sharing a bed worked for us. We did this safely, of course. For more information, see here, here and here.

Bed sharing safely can really buy you more sleep.

4 – ALL the chocolate (or any other sugary snack)! Sure, sugar gives you false energy, but any energy is better than none, in my opinion!

5 – go for a walk. In the day times where I’d spend such a lot of my time trying to get Squid to sleep, sometimes leaving the house and going for a walk really broke the day up. The fresh air is good for you both, and hey, who knows, maybe a brisk stroll in the sling or pram will send your little love off for a kip! 

6 – trust your baby. Know that it is normal, try and roll with it (as hard as that is!) and don’t give in to the well-meaning in-laws who insist your baby needs to learn to ‘self settle’ or that crying alone might be ‘good for their lungs’.

Snacks!

How have you coped with changes in sleep? What are your top tips for any sleep deprived and desperate parent? 

Be sure to join us in our social media accounts and be up to date with the progress of our project!

And… Don’t forget to share your brelfies using our hashtag

#BreastfeedingWorld

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Emily Lipscombe

Emily is a 20-something year old mama and teacher, living on the south coast of the UK with her husband and their toddler, balancing motherhood, family life and work (with varying degrees of success!) She writes about breastfeeding and parenting and everything else in between – check out her blog!

squidmamma.wordpress.com

The post Sleep Regression: How To Survive When Your Baby Won’t Sleep appeared first on Breastfeeding World.

They didn’t really mean that they thought that baby was having a hard life. They were saying it as a way to tell the babies that they’re okay. That it’s not that hard to be a baby. Life is easy for you. At least, that’s what I got out of it.

Babies eat, sleep, cry, poop, and lay there.

Really, that’s all they seem to do. they may kind of move around and make funny sounds and faces. Mind you, these are the thoughts of a teenager. But, now that I am a mom, I can totally see how this phrase is totally skewed.

It IS hard being a baby! And I have come up with a small list of reasons as to why:

1. They can’t communicate with you.

Crying is the only way for your baby to tell you that something is wrong, or that they are in need of something. It’s how they let you know that their butt is dirty, or they are freaking starving. Imagine your life, right now, if you had to sit and scream while someone guessed what you needed, and when? You want to eat – but you now need to wait until they go through all the possible choices. But no, adults don’t have to do that, because we can take care of ourselves. We just get up, go to the kitchen, make a sandwich, and enjoy. Babies cannot do this- and that’s why they’re usually screaming at you. And it’s hard.

2. They sit in their own urine or poo.

Unless you are a parent that does Elimination Communication with your babies – we tried it and it’s amazing but we couldn’t dedicate the time – your babies are likely to end up wearing a diaper. Diapers aren’t fun. I mean, I supposed I’ve heard people joke around about how they would love to wear a diaper so they could just go to the bathroom whenever and wherever they wanted. Yeah, a little out there, but to each their own.

Anyhow, babies don’t get a choice. They are just stuck with dirtying their diapers and sitting in it while they wait for one of us to smell it or remember to change them. Not to mention, there’s diaper rash if your grown up isn’t quick to change the diaper. Think about it, sometimes parents forget to change a diaper and the baby is sitting there a little longer than expected. Would YOU like to sit in your poo, and just hang out in it? I mean, some babies don’t actually cry when they’re dirty. But definitely don’t have a choice on whether or not they go.

3. They always get picked up, even if they don’t want to

Hey, sometimes it is pretty awesome to have someone hold you. If I was picked up and carried around all day, that might be fun. But for babies, everyone wants to hold them! They get passed around the room at family gatherings while everyone is waiting in line to hold them. This doesn’t sound bad, does it? You’re right, it’s not really all that bad, but they never get alone time. Some babies might even feel anxiety towards being around people!

An infant can get sensory overload and too much stimulation easily- and it’s not good! I always wondered why my son wouldn’t sleep well on nights that we were out with him a little later than planned. It might have something to do with the fact that he was just so excited about everything around him. But at the same time, there are babies who want completely left alone, so they’re  just “a pain” when you’re out in public. This is why. Being an introvert or an extrovert can start a lot earlier than you think.

4. They Can’t Process Their Feelings Well

Sometimes, babies experience really big emotions. This point might be a little more directed at my toddler than my 5 month old, but it still works in both cases. Their brains aren’t fully developed for a LONG time. The part of their brain where reasoning develops, doesn’t quite complete until they’re young adults. I know that with my toddler, sometimes he just gets so upset and he doesn’t understand why. It’s normal. So, I sit there with him and let him know he’s okay and mommy is there for him.

Read More about parenthood and meltdowns here: Teacher Confessions: after school meltdowns explained

Once he calms down, I’m there with a hug for him. It’s definitely one of the best things I could do for him during those moments, and I’m so glad a good friend of mine shared that tactic with me. As for babies- that’s why they cry and scream and stress us the eff out. They don’t do it in purpose- but they just don’t get it! Their brains are constantly growing and doing new things that it’s just…crazy sauce in there! And here’s where we’re tested…patience is going to be the best coat of armor we can wear during these times!

5. They Can’t Do Whatever They Want

Well, nobody can actually do whatever they want. There are rules and laws and what not. But rules are meant to be broken, right? This kind of goes with number three. If a baby wants to crawl somewhere, suddenly they find themselves picked up. Mobile infants aren’t allowed in certain rooms or on the stairs, so gates are put up. They can’t eat food until about 6 months (we start baby led weaning a little later). And of course, you aren’t allowed to stick things in outlets…okay, the last one was silly.

But seriously, parents and their kids can’t always communicate well with each other, so baby gets picked up, and then they can’t do what they want! Maybe a baby is sitting there thinking

‘I want to move from this swing to that couch and watch a movie with mom and dad.’

Too bad. You can’t move. Can’t work those arms and legs the way you want to yet. WHAT IF THIS WAS YOU?! Yeah, I’d be mad too.

I mean, these are all just simple things to think about when people just say,

“It’s so hard being a baby,” with the ever obvious eye roll
OR
“Oh, you’re okay…”

Because clearly, they are not.

Being a baby is rough. So, just cut the kid some slack and let them be exactly what they are – babies. Have you ever looked at your tiny human and realized just how hard it really is to be a baby? What are some of the toughest things your little one struggles with?

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#BreastfeedingWorld

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Abigail Dougherty

A 27 year old from Wisconsin but currently stationed in California with a happy marriage and two rainbow babies. Abigail is currently in the Navy and is also a certified personal trainer. I am a kinesiology major who plans to use her knowledge to help her do more in the fitness industry. She’s a breastfeeding, cloth diapering, essential oil using, gym freak, babywearing, kind of mom. Abigail loves empowering and encouraging women to be who they are and to take pride in that.

The post 5 Reasons Why it’s hard to be a Baby (No- It really is!) appeared first on Breastfeeding World.

“If you don’t finish your peas, no ice cream!”

I’ve been sneaky:

“No, I promise I did not just grate an apple into the cookie batter!”

I’ve bribed:

“If you just taste it I will play Candyland with you.”

I’ve sounded really convincing:

“mmm these brussel sprouts are amazing!”

But I decided to change my game plan the other night.

I was determined to get our children to eat new foods without manipulating them.

Vegetables were the only food I cooked.  I didn’t mash them or hide them in anything.  I grabbed all the produce in my fridge and pantry.

carrots, sweet potatoes, regular potatoes, fennel, onion, and garlic

I chopped it all in big chunks, threw all the pieces on an oven tray lined with waxed paper, and drizzled it with olive oil (the good kind), oregano, and salt.

chopped, seasoned, and ready to go in the oven

I also had two eggplants so I figured that they could go in the oven, too.

eggplant, garlic, pink salt, oregano, and honey on a spoon.

I sliced the eggplants in half, ran a knife through them a few times, and topped them with oregano, lemon juice, chopped garlic, and honey (toddlers love honey).

ready to join the vegetables in the oven

While the veggies baked, I threw anything that seemed like salad into a bowl.

Lettuce, avocado, corn from a can, lemon juice, and olive oil (the good kind)

When the vegetables were soft (after about 30 minutes on a medium high temperature), the end result was very colorful.

dinner is served

My toddlers did not eat everything on their plates (I’m not superwoman or magic, after all), but that’s not the point.

The point is that SEEING new food is the first step to EATING new food. All the pieces on this plate are recognizable, so even if they didn’t eat everything, they saw what each vegetable looked like and will remember them next time.  So much of picky toddler eating is about them not wanting to take risks.  They’ve got to make friends with the food first, then they’ll go out on a limb and maybe pick it up.

The other great thing about this dinner is that my toddlers could practice cutting the potato, carrot, or avocado because they were nice and soft.  Sometimes, even after saying, “Yuck I don’t want that,” my kids will help me cut my food, then accidentally get a taste somehow. Sometimes they even change their minds completely and decide they want to try it, as long as I do a really good job of acting like I don’t care (which usually requires that I actually not care.)

In the end, four-year-old Gianina ate only sweet potato.  She picked out every piece of sweet potato and mashed it with her fork, saying that she is a baby so she has to eat mashed foods.

“Only sweet potato please”

Maybe next time she’ll pick out all of the pieces of corn from the salad.  It doesn’t really matter to me, as long as she is trying new foods because she wants to explore and be brave.  I know that she is smart enough not to go hungry.

It’s my job to present a wide variety healthy food in a tasty way.  It’s their job to decide what to eat.

What about you? How do you get your toddlers to try new foods?

Be sure to join us in our social media accounts to be up to date with the progress of our project!

And… Don’t forget to share your brelfies using our hashtag

#BreastfeedingWorld

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Anne Kathryn Rice

Anne Kathryn Rice is an American mother of two strong willed children living on the Italian Riviera. She writes about motherhood and listening to your inner voice, even when cultural expectations, baby books, and impromptu advice seem to challenge your instincts. You can read more about her personal experiences on her blog.

www.lovegrowdiscover.com

The post How to get your toddler to eat new foods appeared first on Breastfeeding World.

My two year old, who I will call “Miss Spunky”, is on the Autism spectrum. She has Asperger’s and SPD- Sensory Processing Disorder. With these, there are lots of meltdowns, over-stimulation, stimming, and all sorts of adventures added to our days! But that’s all okay..because we have breastfeeding.

1. Nursing Is Her Safe Zone

With all of the overloads of stimuli and people always wanting to come up and touch my child (I’m not the only one that happens to, right??), she needs somewhere to be “safe”. She needs a place that she can run off to and take a breather to re-center herself. Cuddling up on my lap, even in a crowded place like Disney, gives her the ability to take a step away from the activities and calm her mind.

2. She Has A Way To Stim

I’m sure most of you breastfeeding mama’s out there have dealt with the “twiddling” that babies/toddlers do, but Miss Spunky does it an awful lot. I’ve attributed her excessive fiddling with me, as her just stimming. She does it an extra amount whenever she is overwhelmed. While I am not fond of her doing this all the time, I have come to accept that it is something she needs. Since it makes her feel better, I am happy to oblige.

3. She Gets More Sensory Input

With SPD, it can be very difficult to process certain textures, pressures, or even temperature changes. Because Miss Spunky is able to be squished up to me so often, her senses are always being exposed to changes in subtle ways. Therefore, creating an easier transition for her into the outside world.

4. She Gets Plenty of Nutrients

One of the lovely aspects of SPD is frequent food aversion. There will be times when Miss Spunky only wants to eat mac and cheese and popcorn. All day. For several days. Given that she is still receiving nutritional breast milk, I don’t often worry about it, as I know we will level it all out.

On top of that, if she is sick, she physically cannot stomach medicine. At all. So it’s a real perk to have the anti-bodies in my milk to pass on to her whenever she gets ill!

5. She Learns Social Cues

An unfortunate part of being on the ASD spectrum is not always understanding social cues and facial expressions. Being on the spectrum myself, I know the struggle with this. However, because Miss Spunky gets to pay such close attention to my face, vocal tones, changes of expressions, etc., I can see she is learning well how to interact with others. I am so grateful for this.

Why I Love Nursing Her.

Miss Spunky can be the sweetest little person in the world. She loves to cuddle up to me, her daddy and her sister, and I feel like our breastfeeding relationship has really encouraged that closeness. Despite her SPD (sensory processing disorder) issues, she can be so affectionate at times.

Special needs living can be really tough some days. It can bounce from hard to easy just minute-to-minute. But I am so thankful that we have this to share together and that I can provide these extra special things that she needs, and in such a beneficial way.

Be sure to join us in our social media accounts to be up to date with the progress of our project!

And… Don’t forget to share your brelfies using our HT #BreastfeedingWorld 

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Lee Moffitt

Lee is a stay at home mom who blogs in her spare time. She is a mother to two girls who breastfeed, practices attachment parenting, babywearing, bedsharing, uses cloth diapers, and homeschools. She works with her local community to help women learn how to breastfeed and how to wear their babies. Lee is currently working towards becoming a La Leche League leader and a Certified Babywearing Consultant, so that she can better serve mother’s needs.

The post 5 Reasons I Love Nursing My SPD Special Needs Toddler appeared first on Breastfeeding World.

he bit me.

“He Bit Me!”- 5 Steps to Stop Toddler Biting

And he didn’t let go.

Fortunately, It wasn’t hard enough to cause immediate , excruciating pain. Rather, it was more of an experiment on my little guy’s part. Don’t get me wrong, I’ve been nipped plenty of times. Teething is painful, and they try to adjust their latch. Or they are stuffy and have a hard time breathing, but they REALLY want the comfort and nutrition of mommy’s milk.

Photo cred: breastfeeding mama talk

This was not that. This was intentional.

“OW!” I scolded. “That hurts Mommy’s boov.”

Steady eye contact. And no release.

Instead of pulling out and creating a type of tug-of-war with my all-too-sensitive nipple, I pressed my breast into his face, pushing more into his mouth and making it uncomfortable for him. I reiterated “You are hurting your boov, Ollie. Let GO!”

Nothing.

So I fished my pinky finger into the corner of his mouth to pop the suction, as if correcting the latch on a newborn.

Enter tears

His little experiment went horribly wrong for him. It was not fun to bite his boob, and he hurt mommy. Oliver was swept up in a wave of regret. He kept putting his little chubby hands to his mouth, “boov” he cried, “boov!”

Correcting Infant Biting

For those “breastfeeding butter’s”, who say that once baby has teeth, it is too painful to nurse, are full of baloney. If your baby has a good latch, which should be established in the beginning of your nursing relationship– far before he or she starts teething, then teeth are never an issue. My son has a (late) diagnosed minor lip tie that doesn’t affect his breastfeeding, but it does tend to make nursing uncomfortable when he is teething and trying to find a latch that doesn’t hurt his poor swollen gums.

That being said, it doesn’t mean that a baby won’t experiment, much like my little man did, with biting while nursing on your poor, tender nipples. The biggest tip I can give, for any biting situation, is not to overreact. Even a negative reaction, is still a reaction. It may give some negative reinforcement, ie “Oh, mom made a loud sound when I did that, it really got her attention! I should do this more often!”.

A calm, firm, “That hurts!” or “Ouch!” lets baby know that you do not like what he is doing, and it affects you. Next, do not pull your breast out of baby’s bite. It can cause all sorts of damage, and it may not tell baby to let go. Instead, force more of your breast into his mouth so that he HAS to release and let go. It may take a couple of times of baby experimenting, but as long as your remain consistent, your baby won’t turn into a tiny chomping vampire.

Toddler Biting Troubles

Toddler biting is a whole-other ball game. As a nanny, with a smaller, one on one situation, it was something I never encountered before. Until I opened my daycare. I was horrified when one of my more non-verbal kiddos began biting. Everyone.

Every day I had to send a kid home with fresh teeth marks. So I reached out to my local Child Care Answers (The Childcare Resource and referral center for the Indianapolis Area) and they sent out a Child Inclusion Specialist to come and give me some pointers. What a Lifesaver! Over the last 4 years, I have used her advice over and over again, with several of my sweet daycare Littles.

1. Don’t Over-react

Again, I cannot stress this enough. Negative reinforcement is still reinforcement.  Do not yell or shout, spank, or bite back. Your kiddo will quickly learn that he gets attention for the behavior. It is better to remain calm, and keep it short and sweet. Show the child the bite mark.

You bit So-and so. That hurts. I won’t let you bite. Be Gentle”.

Use short sentences. The more you go on and on, the more likely you are to lost the child’s attention.

2. Replace the negative action of biting with a positive action

Signing: Our non-dominant hand is placed flat with palm up and our dominant hand hits the flat side of the non-dominant hand with hand extended, fingers together and palm visible. Imagine an ax or knife cutting something.

A lot of toddler biting stems from frustration. Not being able to communicate effectively can create a LOT of frustration. (Hence the “terrible two’s”) The impulse-control center of their brain is still developing. When you see your chomping toddler about to pounce, jaws open, firmly tell them “stop” while using the sign language for stop. Walk to your kiddo, get on their eye level. Next, calmly use the above phrase, while taking the child’s hand, and having them gently stroke the offended victim while reinforcing “Gentle”. You can model it to your child as well, but gently rubbing their arm, back, or leg, repeating “Gentle.” The idea behind it being that they will replace the biting action with the “stop” or “Gentle” action. Believe me, if you are consistent, it works!

3. Be Consistent

Children need consistency. This is probably the area of childcare where I flounder the most. My ADD and general personality is all over the place, so it’s something I really have to focus on. It is important to keep your reaction to the biting the same. Do not give up, and try resorting to other disciplines. This does work. In fact, it is so engrained in my daycare Little’s psyche that to this day when they say sorry for anything to an offended friend, they do it with a gentle pat on their friends arm or chest.

4. Be Patient

This is not an instantaneous, overnight fix. Share your calm, not their chaos. Be firm, and consistent. Eventually, you will notice the biting ease, until it is gone altogether. It took almost a month for my daily, regular biter to stop the behavior altogether. Now that I have these tools, I can correct the biting behavior more quickly, ke as long with my other Littles when the toddler biting presents itself. The first time I watched my biting Little stop herself mid-chop, step back, and gently pat her offending friend, I stood there in shock, awe, and elation. Be patient, and they WILL stop.

Toddler biting is no joke! What are some way’s you have helped your toddler overcome the urge to bite? has your baby ever bitten you while nursing? How do you react?

Be sure to join us in our social media accounts to be up to date with the progress of our project!

And… Don’t forget to share your brelfies using our HT #BreastfeedingWorld 

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Lauren Lewis

Lauren Lewis is no stranger to childcare development, having spent over 10 years as a nanny or family childcare provider. She’s the wife of a travel geek, mother of two vivacious children, and has an amazing talent for trailing lost things behind her a la Hansel and Gretel. Her passion for lifting up women and advocating for children pours out in her work as a Central Indiana Event Coordinator, Writer, and Social Media Relations Director for Breastfeeding World. Her life is full of busy, crazy and LOUD. It is full of love and hope, ups and downs. And coffee, always lots of coffee- but she wouldn’t have it any other way.

www.raisinglaurenslittle.wordpress.com

The post “He Bit Me!”- 5 Steps to Stop Toddler Biting appeared first on Breastfeeding World.

I’ve long been a believer, that involving children in the cooking, eating, or planning process opens them up to try new foods. At first, I was skeptical about the idea of attempting a homemade tortilla recipe. The time and attention involved just didn’t seem worth the money saved. I should have taken my own advice, and involved the children in the first place. We would have been making these easy homemade tortillas a long time ago!

With 7 children to feed every day, finding wholesome, home cooked (and affordable!) meals that all of my children will eat is challenging. Many times, I played with the idea of sticking to a regular routine of “kid food” options for lunch. Frozen fish sticks, chicken nuggets, butter noodles… it may be easier, but it’s not better for the kids. So I keep trying new foods, new ways. I have cooked vegetables in every way imaginable to make the more interesting and palatable to the kids. Rarely do I even mess with taco Tuesday, since my Daycare Littles are hit or miss on whether they will eat it anyway. Until I discovered this simple homemade tortilla recipe.

Best of all, it only uses 5 ingredients- ingredients you most likely already have in your home!

Homemade Tortilla Recipe

Now, I cannot take all of the credit. Pinterest is my best friend, and the recipe came from Maree Mortimer with www.childhood101.com . I think there are several varying versions for a homemade tortilla recipe, but this was just the one I landed on that I thought I’d try. (ok, and the pictures made it look easy.

The ingredient list is simple:

• 3 cups plain (all purpose) flour
• 1 tsp salt
• 1 tsp baking powder
• 1/3 cup vegetable oil (this is where ingredients vary for the homemade tortilla recipe. I think there are several who call for Crisco instead)
• 1 cup warm water

Cooking Directions

• Mix Dry ingredients.
• Mix Wet ingredients.
• Stir until the ingredients begin to pull from the sides of the bowl, forming a ball.
• Knead ball on a lightly floured surface for 3-5 minutes (the kids love this and it is a wonderful tool in building hand strength). Feel free to add more flour if the ball still feels sticky (I did).
• Shape the ball out into a long sausage, or as the Littles say, “snake” shape.
• Divide the dough in half, then again and on until you have 16.
• 
• This is a great opportunity for the kids to count and understand the concept of dividing in half.

   

• Have the children roll each portion into a ball, then spread it out to make a circle.

Shape learning and building hand strength!

I adore all the little finger prints in the haphazard circles.

• Allow the balls to sit for at LEAST 15 minutes. This allows the gluten in the dough to bond, ensuring a less flakey or breakable tortilla shell.
• Next, roll the dough out into circles. I let the kids do as many as they wanted, until they got bored. After that, I finished them off. You want them as thin as possible without tearing. (Ours were not beautiful. But there is beauty in imperfection!)

Rolling out the dough was the kids favorite part

• Set a dry, non stick skillet to medium-high. Then place the circles on, one at a time. Approximately 1 minute on one side, and 30 seconds on the other. When it starts to brown slightly and bubble, flip it!

Looks like it’s time to flip!

That’s it! Easy Peasy Lemon Squeezy!

We ate these as tacos, and the kids who generally pick at their tacos inhaled them! Involving the Littles in the food they eat gives them a sense of pride and excitement over trying new foods! Hurray!

You can also make these in bulk and freeze them wit a piece of wax or parchment paper between each one to prevent sticking and always have homemade tortillas on hand!

What are some ways you have incorporated cooking for your childen? What are some of your go-to recipes?

Be sure to join us in our social media accounts to be up to date with the progress of our project!

And… Don’t forget to share your brelfies using our HT #BreastfeedingWorld 

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Lauren Lewis

Lauren Lewis is no stranger to childcare development, having spent over 10 years as a nanny or family childcare provider. She’s the wife of a travel geek, mother of two vivacious children, and has an amazing talent for trailing lost things behind her a la Hansel and Gretel. Her passion for lifting up women and advocating for children pours out in her work as a Central Indiana Event Coordinator, Writer, and Social Media Relations Director for Breastfeeding World. Her life is full of busy, crazy and LOUD. It is full of love and hope, ups and downs. And coffee, always lots of coffee- but she wouldn’t have it any other way.

www.raisinglaurenslittle.wordpress.com

The post How to Save Money (and get kids to eat) with this Easy Homemade Tortilla Recipe appeared first on Breastfeeding World.

Recently I attended a literacy seminar by Childcare Answers for childcare providers in my home state of Indiana. While sitting in on one of the classes, they showed us this video.  As a Family Childcare Provider and Mother, I related so much to the poem, The Hundred Languages,  by Loris Malaguzzi.  Loris Malaguzzi is the founder of the Reggio Emilia approach to Early Childhood Education.

I realized, how often do we remind our children to “use your words”? Yet we forget that children communicate to us in so many ways, not just their words. Witnessing the wonder of the child, with everything new and fresh and exciting, is part of what I love so much about childcare. Frequently, in our efforts to teach and help our kids grow up into brave, kind, respectful, thinking adults, we squash the 99 different ways children communicate with the world. We steal the ninety-nine. We unintentially squash the youth and innocence, the explorer in the child, when we tell them to hurry up, be careful, listen to what I’m telling you, please follow direction.

The Hundred Languages is a wonderful reminder to slow down and embrace the 99 other ways children communicate and explore with us, and with the world.

The Hundred Languages

-Loris Malaguzzi (translated by Lella Gandini)
Founder of the Reggio Emilia Approach.

The child
is made of one hundred.
The child has
a hundred languages
a hundred hands
a hundred thoughts
a hundred ways of thinking
of playing, of speaking.

A hundred always a hundred
ways of listening
of marveling, of loving
a hundred joys
for singing and understanding
a hundred worlds
to discover
a hundred worlds
to invent
a hundred worlds
to dream.

The child has
a hundred languages
(and a hundred hundred hundred more)
but they steal ninety-nine.
The school and the culture
separate the head from the body.
They tell the child:
to think without hands
to do without head
to listen and not to speak
to understand without joy
to love and to marvel
only at Easter and at Christmas.

They tell the child:
to discover the world already there
and of the hundred
they steal ninety-nine.

They tell the child:
that work and play
reality and fantasy
science and imagination
sky and earth
reason and dream
are things
that do not belong together.

And thus they tell the child
that the hundred is not there.
The child says:
No way. The hundred is there.

Be sure to join us in our social media accounts to be up to date with the progress of our project!

And… Don’t forget to share your brelfies using our HT #BreastfeedingWorld 

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Lauren Lewis

Lauren Lewis is no stranger to childcare development, having spent over 10 years as a nanny or family childcare provider. She’s the wife of a travel geek, mother of two vivacious children, and has an amazing talent for trailing lost things behind her a la Hansel and Gretel. Her passion for lifting up women and advocating for children pours out in her work as a Central Indiana Event Coordinator, Writer, and Social Media Relations Director for Breastfeeding World. Her life is full of busy, crazy and LOUD. It is full of love and hope, ups and downs. And coffee, always lots of coffee- but she wouldn’t have it any other way.

www.raisinglaurenslittle.wordpress.com

The post We Steal the 99; The Hundred Languages appeared first on Breastfeeding World.