Who are the Experts?
Why I Demand Feed
When to Start Solids
Ways to Promote Breastfeeding
What would you like to hear about?
Posted in parental ponderings
For the third year, we are going to be observing World Breastfeeding Week here at the blog. I checked the latest statistics and there’s still a lot of room to grow towards exclusive breastfeeding for 6 months and continuing breastfeeding as primary nutrition for the first year, which is the minimal recommendation of the American Academy of Pediatrics. Did you see the statistics for my sweet home state? Only 52% of babies are ever breastfed, and less than one in 20 makes it to six months of exclusive breastfeeding. Tomorrow, I’ll post some links to old WBW posts and solicit your ideas for topics for this year, so please start gathering your ideas!
Posted in parental ponderings
A few days ago, I took that personality test and was surprised to find myself an ENFP. In college I was always an ENTJ. So, I took another test, and got ENFP again. Learning that Jeannette had a similar transformation (INTJ to INFP) made the pieces start to come together. I’d always heard that motherhood changes you. It changed me, for sure. Leader to Advocate: that sounds about right…
Posted in parental ponderings
My dear friend Tulipgirl has just finished her fourth annual Ezzo week. As a veteran of Ezzo’s materials, she’s a great source of information about them.
Posted in parental ponderings
I am really a very infrequent contributor, but sometimes I post at the new Magic City Slingers blog. Susie, kind commenter and friend, rocks the posts over there. If you are interested in babywearing, subscribe today!
Posted in parental ponderings
Kate had an accident today. She tried to climb up the dresser that has our TV on it and pulled the dresser and TV over. She knocked out one of her front teeth and the other is loose.
It was scary. I watched it as I walked into the room from doing laundry, and rushed to lift the heavy TV off her face as she squirmed out from under the dresser. If our bedroom was larger and the fall had been cleaner, she would have suffered very severe injuries, and very likely could have died. Our bookshelves and some of the dressers are bolted securely to the wall, this dresser is not flush with the wall (it forms a 45-45-90 triangle with the corner) and was not secured, for lack of creativity. I was able to remain calm and Kate was very calm and brave throughout the ordeal and was perfect at the pediatric dentist’s office. Our sweet neighbor helped me get the kids ready and followed me down so she could watch Lexi in the lobby while I stayed with Kate for her exam and x-rays.
I am very thankful that her injuries weren’t worse, but I mourn the loss of her front teeth. A piece of her childhood is gone forever, and the vanity motherhood brings will miss them, forever. I will tear up as I prepare her soft food and clean her bruised and bloodied face. I will cringe when people ask me about them. But I know that she is beautiful and life goes on.
Posted in parental ponderings, photo love
Infantino has recalled 100,000 SlingRider slings sold at Babies R Us, Target, and other stores. The plastic clips that allow the fabric to slide can break, and several babies have been dropped. (This is why real sling manufacturers and not mainstream companies use sling rings, aluminum and nylon rings that have been weight tested and able to support up to 200 pounds.) I have also been concerned when I saw these slings in public that there was a danger of positional asphyxia.
The slings look like this and can be returned for a FULL refund, which can be used to purchase a safer and more comfortable sling!
Posted in in the news, parental ponderings
Consumer Reports did some extensive testing of infant car seats with alarming results using a 35-mph frontal crash test and in a 38-mph side crash test, which is still not *that* fast. Car seats flew off their bases, rotated too far and would have caused grave injuries as measured by the test dummy.You can read their report here: it won’t be free for long.
Here’s a quick summary for shoppers: only two performed well in all tests: the Baby Trend Flex-Loc and the Graco SnugRide with EPS. The Chicco KeyFit, Compass I410, Evenflo Embrace and Peg Perego Primo Viaggio SIP passed if used with vehicle safety belts but not with LATCH. Three seats outright failed – the Evenflo Discovery, the Graco SafeSeat, and the Britax Companion, the Evenflo being the worst as it did not even pass the 30-mph retest, which is the federal safety standard. Consumer Reports is pushing for a recall. If you own that seat, I would call Evenflo and demand they recall it so you can go buy a better seat!
UPDATE: They recalled their report. http://www.consumerreports.org/cro/cu-press-room/pressroom/2007/2/0702_eng0702ccs.htm
Posted in in the news, parental ponderings
We’re about to travel for the holiday, which reminded me that I’ve been meaning to post about this video which made the rounds a few weeks ago.
It frustrates me to no end that manufacturers, doctors and others promote the MINIMUM safety standards in regards to car seats. Children are safest rear facing and in five point harnesses as long as possible. Why do we as a society race to flip them around at 1 year old and then stick our preschoolers in belt-positioning boosters, that are cheaper than carseats and not as safe? There are a number of carseats that allow for children up to 65 pounds in a five-point harness and one that goes up to 80 pounds but I don’t think doctors or manufacturers promote them nearly as much as they ought to. In most European countries, they sit rear facing for much longer and then in five point harnesses for longer as well. They get it. Why don’t we? It can really be the difference between life and death for a child in a car accident.
Posted in parental ponderings
Carol tipped me off to Oprah’s show yesterday about crying. I’m a firm believer that babies cry for a reason (not just to exercise their lungs) so I’d be interested to hear any parents of newborns experiences trying this out. I missed the show, but here are the basics, via Carol. Apparently, listening closely to the first letter is key.
neh = hungry
owh = sleepy
heh = discomfort
eair = lower gas
eh = burp
Posted in in the news, parental ponderings
We vaccinate our children on a delayed (and somewhat selective) schedule. We do this because we think it is the right thing to do, for our children and for society at large. Continue reading
Posted in general, parental ponderings
Lately, Kate has been into singing, and so I’ve started teaching her things I want her to know in the form of songs. This week, the first three catechism answers: “God made me / God made me / God made me / and He made all things / for His own glory.” She’s already mastered the Gloria Patri, the Doxology and the Sanctus. Hearing her sing praise to God in the form of these things, and her own songs that she makes up, sends shivers down my spine. What a joy it is to raise children to be worshippers of God!
This is my entry to win a camera in the “Capture the Educational Moment” Contest sponsored by Spunky and Academic Superstore.
Posted in family life, parental ponderings