SAGE ADVICE DURING PREGNANCY
By Lianne Castelino  www.whereparentstalk.com

There seems to be a little baby boom going on among my friends and acquaintances – and
the proud parents-to-be couldn’t be more ecstatic, as they should be!

The whole magic of pregnancy complete with the morning sickness, cravings, anxiety and incessant planning is a wondrous time in a couple’s life!  And so it should be.

I loved that period — all 3 times — even though I felt like throwing up more often than not!
There is one observation though that is increasingly becoming a worrisome trend.  How prepared are expectant parents for the upcoming miracle of birth and the care of a new human being thereafter?

With families living further away from each other, a lack of access to specialized physicians or pre-natal classes, socio-economic factors that prevent proper pregnancy instruction and other obstacles, the education of a pregnant couple seems to be taking a back seat.   And that is really too bad considering “parenting doesn’t come with a manual”.

There appears to be more time spent analyzing the latest nifty baby gadget or the adorable wardrobe options than what counts – preparing to take care of a newborn.  There seems to be this false belief that learning to care for a newborn comes naturally – after giving birth.  WRONG.

Anyone who asks will always get the same answer from me:  Pregnancy is the best time to get prepared.  That time will never come back so use it wisely.  There is so much to learn and precious little time to learn it AFTER the baby arrives.

Goodness knows, despite our best intentions, giving birth is a physical and emotional event
for which no one can predict the outcome.  How will you feel, how long will the recovery take?  Will the breastfeeding work or will the bottle have to enter the mix?

NOT TO MENTION the dramatic changes that occur in the couple relationship – good and bad.   Anyone who asks will also get the same answer from me:  “you will never learn more about your spouse or partner, than after you have a baby.”  It stands to reason, doesn’t it?  Hormonal changes, sleep deprivation, added stress, crying baby, diaper-changing, visitors..the list of changes and things to cope with is endless once a baby enters your life.

What doctors should be telling pregnant women and expectant couples is to GET PREPARED.  Save yourself some of that upcoming anxiety.  Knowledge is power so empower yourself.  Try to learn as much about newborn care BEFORE the baby arrives so you and your spouse can cope together.

Sure the room, the gear, the clothes are important.   However, the single most critical thing is
to learn how to take care of that new little life.  PREpare during PREgnancy.   It’s sage advice that expectant couples should listen to – so they can navigate rather than resent the steep learning curve that comes with the arrival of a new bundle of joy.

Watch excerpts from our award-winning baby-care DVD ‘Bringing Baby Home’ Coming Soon

There are several reasons why babies cry.  They cry when they are hungry, they cry when they are tired, they cry when they are hot or cold, they cry when they are sick and sometimes they just cry for the sake of crying.  Babies can’t talk so they do the best they can to get our attention.  Crying also helps the baby to develop their lungs.  To know what to do to comfort a crying baby, you first must identify what it is that’s making them cry, if anything.  Then you can do what’s necessary to alleviate the problem and get baby calmed down.
One of the most common causes of a crying baby is hunger.  Crying is the quickest way to get your attention and get a little milk.  If the baby hasn’t eaten for a while, this should be your first guess and can be tested by offering baby a little milk.  If the crying stops, you have identified the problem.

The next most common reason for a crying baby is a dirty diaper.  Soiled diapers are as unpleasant for the baby as they are for us.  If you sometimes want to cry when changing the baby, imagine what she is thinking and feeling.
When a baby gets tired, he often becomes grumpy and needs a little help to get to sleep.  Think how grumpy you are when it gets late and you just can’t get to sleep.  By singing a little song or rocking the baby, you can usually quickly put an end to this type of crying.

Often, babies just need to know they are not alone.  Often when a baby awakes from a nap and doesn’t detect anyone’s presence, he begins to cry.  If this is the problem, a few simple words or picking the baby up will calm the crying.

The type of crying we all fear the most is that which is caused by an illness.  If you’ve tried to solve the other common causes of crying and are unsuccessful, you should look for signs of a problem.  It could be something as simple as an upset stomach or something more serious like a fever.  If nothing else seems to help a crying baby, it may indicate that the baby is sick and a visit to the doctor is in order.

When you get your newborn baby home, you’ll find that in their first few weeks of life that they are interested in two things, sleeping and eating. Well, three things actually, but you’ll learn about the third one soon enough. Though this sounds simple enough, and for them it is, it can be a twenty hour a day job for you.

Newborn babies know exactly how humans should eat and that’s small portions often. Newborn babies take this to the extreme, sometimes eating as frequently as every hour. In order to meet the needs of the baby, it is important that you get the baby used to a structured routine as soon as possible.

A structured routine in terms of eating and sleeping will be good for your baby, but it will be even better for you. Once the baby gets a routine established, they will be more predictable and you will finally be able to plan your day and hopefully allow yourself some time to relax.

Babies seem to always be hungry, but they don’t always need to eat. Often a baby will cry and then when fed, only take the bottle for a few moments. By getting the newborn on a regular feeding schedule, you can encourage them to eat full meals at each feeding and thereby give you some peace, if even for only a couple of hours. It’s sometimes hard for new moms to deny their baby when they are crying, but it’s necessary.

Once a good feeding routine is established, the sleep routine of your newborn should improve. Bedtime also needs to be an established routine. After their night’s final feeding, don’t let the baby fall right to sleep. Instead go though the routine of bathing and then a little reading, before finally putting them down to rest.

This will often buy you an extra hour or two before the early morning feeding. As baby gets used to the routine, they should sleep longer in between meals.

Newborn babies are not the same so don’t expect that the routine you developed with your first baby will work out perfectly with your second. The trick is to find the one that will work best for you and your baby and then to stick with it.

By: Dr. Joey Shulman

Every growing child requires a variety of top quality nutritional choices to ensure healthy growth and development. This is why it is so important for every parent and caretaker to become educated on the best super foods to feed a growing little tot.

What are super foods? They are nutritionally superior foods that are filled to the brim with the essential vitamins, minerals, phytochemicals (plant nutrients that fight off disease) and fats necessary for a strong immune system and healthy muscle, bone and brain development.

The top five super foods are:
Blueberries – One of the greatest indicators of a healthy food is the color. Fruits and vegetables that are green, orange, red and purple are those that offer the most nutritional benefits. Blueberries are loaded with fiber, phytochemicals, Vitamin C and are rated #1 in terms of anti-oxidant capacity.

Avocados – Avocados are filled with healthy monounsaturated fat, otherwise known as the “good fat”. In addition, avocados provide more than 25 essential nutrients such as fiber, potassium, Vitamin E, B Vitamins and folic acid.

Certified organic meat such as chicken or beef – The protein found in organic meats such as chicken and beef is important to build your baby’s iron level, and certified organic meats are free of herbicide, pesticide and fungicide residues.

Green foods such as broccoli - Broccoli is a nutritional superstar and is voted the healthiest veggie around because it contains more calcium than a glass of milk and more Vitamin C than an orange!

Orange foods such as carrots and sweet potatoes – It is no secret that the bright orange hue in carrots and sweet potatoes indicates enormous nutritional benefits as they are an excellent source of Vitamin A.

Reprinted with permission from Sweetpea Baby Food
www.sweetpeababyfood.com

New parents might often wonder… what’s making my baby upset when nothing I do stops them from crying? Or why it’s so hard to understand what children want when they are tiny infants? New parents need all the knowledge and information they can get to make their parenting job a little easier.

Most parents of young children are used to being on the receiving end of advice on how they should bring up their infant. Whether it comes from grandma, cousin Jane or the co-worker in the next cubicle, the advice is always well meaning but patchy in terms of its reliability, quality and scientific integrity.

Because every child is unique, the people best qualified to make appropriate parenting decisions are obviously parents themselves! Just Ask Baby helps parents understand the world from their child’s perspective, using online videos to present science-based child development information in a fun, accessible way – by showing how and why young children think, do, feel, say and see the things they do. Parents get a better understanding of how babies develop and are empowered with the knowledge to help support their child through the critical stages of early development.

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Breast milk is nature’s way of providing the best nutrition to a new born. The American Academy of Paediatrics recommends exclusive breastfeeding to babies for the first six months after birth. There are a number of reasons why mothers should breastfeed their babies, some more important than others. Here are 10 important reasons which should encourage non-breastfeeding moms to start breastfeeding their baby right away.
1. Breast milk is easily digestible by the baby
As opposed to formula milk, breast milk is easily digestible by the baby as it is completely natural and does not contain any synthetic or artificial nutrients like those present in formula milk. The protein content in breast milk is also as much as your baby requires, which is easily absorbed by your baby. However, in case of formula milk, more proteins are present, which cannot be absorbed by the baby’s immature digestive system. This is why the stools of formula-fed babies are bulkier than those of breast fed babies.
2. Reduce the chances of breast cancer
This is one of the most import reasons why mothers should breast feed their babies. Moms who breastfeed their new born are at a reduced risk of suffering from breast cancer at a later stage in life. Moreover, it has been researched that baby girls who are breastfed also have a reduced risk of suffering from breast cancer at a later stage in life.
3. Breast milk increases levels of IQ in children
Children who are breast fed develop higher IQ levels than bottle fed milk. This is directly related to the growth hormones which are present in breast milk and are essential for the cognitive growth of the child. Whether the baby received breast milk directly through the breast or pumped, like using Avent Breast Pump or Medela Pump, studies show that it is the consumption of human milk that causes higher levels of IQ in school going children.
4. Breast milk helps pass meconium
Meconium is the sticky, black tar-like substance that passes from the babies intestines after birth. A mothers breast naturally produce colostrum in the initial days after birth which contains natural laxatives, along with antibodies and hormones to help clean the baby’s intestines. Formula fed babies often have problems getting rid of meconium after birth.
5. Breast milk helps build the baby’s immune system
Since breast milk is naturally produced, it contains all the essential nutrients, minerals, growth hormones, antibodies and other vitamins required by the baby. These substances help the baby to build a stronger immune system, helping the baby to fight against infections, diseases and illnesses. No formula milk can provide these disease fighting antibodies. According to a research, about 80% cells found in breast milk are macrophages, which are cells that help kill bacteria, fungi and viruses. This is why beast fed babies visit the hospital less often.
6. Increases the emotional bonding between the mother and the child
Breastfeeding is a natural process and it helps the mother and the child to bond with each other by spending quality time together. This emotional bonding is essential for the baby to grow in to a good human being. Bottle fed babies who are not able to make this bond can develop feelings of “neglect” over time. Touching and holding gives a very comforting and soothing feeling to the baby.
7. Breast feeding releases hormones in the mothers body
Breast feeding is known to release the hormone oxytocin in the mothers breasts, which helps in stimulating the uterine contractions, helping the mother to recover quickly after birth. Oxytocin helps the uterus to return back to its normal size. It also helps mothers to regain their figure more quickly. Non-breastfeeding moms are never able to shrink the uterus back to its pre-pregnancy size.
8. Reduces the risk of diabetes in children
Infants that are breastfed are at a reduced risk of developing diabetes in the later stages in life. Studies show that lack of breastfeeding is directly associated with the development of Type I diabetes over time. Non breast feeding babies are usually introduced to dairy products at an early stage. This increases the level of cow’s milk antibodies in the child’s system, increasing the risk of insulin dependent diabetes. Infants that are breastfed are also known to be at a reduced risk of developing Type 2 diabetes.
9. Prevents post-partum hemorrhage in mothers
The release of oxytocin in the mothers body due to breastfeeding helps to shrink the uterus back to its pre-pregnancy size and also helps to expel the placenta. The contractions that allow this to happen also shut off the maternal blood vessels that fed the baby during pregnancy, discouraging excessive bleeding after child birth. Mothers who do not breast feed often have to take artificial oxytocin to help prevent post-partum hemorrhage.
10. Protects the baby against illnesses, infections and diseases
This reason makes breast milk the best gift for babies provided to every mother by nature. The natural antibodies present in breast milk allow the baby to fight against infections such as ear infections, infections of the respiratory system and intestinal tract, as well as reduces the risk of asthma in infants. Not only this, but breast milk also reduces diarrheal infections, vision defects, bacterial meningitis and the risk of sudden infant death syndrome, known as SIDS.

These factors are just a tiny part of more than 100 other reasons why breast milk is best for you and your child. So if you are a mother who has just given birth, or will be soon, should make every effort to give the best to yourself and to your child.