Infants

Disclosure :: this post is sponsored by Children's Hospital. My oldest child is now 11 years old. I vividly remember the food-allergy challenges our family faced during my son’s preschool years. Times have changed, and the approach to infant feeding has changed drastically. Only a decade ago, the medical community recommended to delay the introduction of highly allergenic foods. We now know that those old recommendations, by which I raised my son, are not the best action to take. Introduce peanut early Regarding early food introduction, the most convincing research comes from a large study conducted by leading experts in the field of allergy: Learning Early About Peanut Allergy (LEAP) study. The study showed that introducing peanut at 4 months of age...

You never imagine it won’t go exactly how you plan -- no matter how many times people tell you or how many books try to inform you that all pregnancies and deliveries are different. You never really believe that yours won’t be the way you see it in your dreams. I mean really, if you think about it you spend 9 (really 10) months planning and imagining all the possibilities of how it will be when you birth this new bundle of joy into the world.  For me, my last pregnancy and delivery was everything I never thought possible. I had heard of postpartum depression, but had never had any personal experience with it. I was too strong, too busy,...

While 2016 wasn't without some challenges, we are looking forward to a bright future in 2017 with Red Stick Moms Blog! We truly appreciate each and every one of you and the community we’ve built together. Over the course of 2016, in addition to launching our community neighborhood groups, Red Stick Moms Blog had over 760,000 page views, reached 470,000+ unique readers and hosted six successful events. To cap off 2016, we wanted to share our 10 most popular blog posts from the past year. They are stories of faith, humor, loss, marriage, motherhood and so much more. We hope you enjoy re-visiting them as much as we did.  Top 10 Blog Posts on Red Stick Moms Blog in 2016 1. 10 Things NOT to Say to...

Disclosure :: World Breastfeeding Week is recognized August 1 – 7, 2016. This year, the World Breastfeeding Week theme is about how breastfeeding is a key element in getting us to think about how to value our wellbeing from the start of life, how to respect each other and care for the world we share. Our World Breastfeeding Week is sponsored by Woman’s Hospital. I have always wanted to breastfeed. There was never a doubt in my mind. Sure I would casually say to my friends and family before the birth of my first, "I mean, I'm going to try. If it doesn't work out, it doesn't work out." But in my head I was saying, "Oh, it's going to work out. It.will.work.out." I took...

Disclosure :: World Breastfeeding Week is recognized August 1 – 7, 2016. This year, the World Breastfeeding Week theme is about how breastfeeding is a key element in getting us to think about how to value our wellbeing from the start of life, how to respect each other and care for the world we share. Our World Breastfeeding Week is sponsored by Woman’s Hospital. Congratulations to all expectant parents! This is such an exciting time in your life. There is so much to do while you await your baby’s arrival. There are also so many decisions to make. Have you thought about how you will feed your child? Breastfeeding is the optimal nutrition for newborns. August 1-7  is World Breastfeeding Week, and we celebrate your...