Infants

I was one of the lucky ones for whom breastfeeding happened pretty naturally with my son. My milk came in just fine, we had no problems with latching, and once I got past the initial raw-ness it was painless. My little man had a great appetite and was gaining weight, but he certainly wasn't a chunk either. I went back to work after 8 weeks of maternity leave and struggled with the breast pump, but I had committed to myself and my son to breastfeed as long as I could, so I pushed on. I had been back at work less than a week when I got a text from the family member caring for my son. It was of...

Before my son was born, when the question came up as to whether or not I would breastfeed him, the answer was always a resounding YES! Breastfeeding was something I very much wanted to do for him. (Ha! Parenting is SO easy before you actually have a baby.) Our son surprised us by coming almost six weeks early. I was still reading the pregnancy books and hadn't yet moved onto the "now-I-have-a-baby-what-the-heck-do-I-do?" books. Fortunately, he didn't have to spend any time in the NICU but as I worked through the shock that my baby was actually here, I also struggled to breastfeed. The nurses and the lactation consultants kept telling me "He's a preemie; it will take him a little longer to figure it out,...

We are expecting our second child in November and couldn't be more thrilled!! And a little terrified, let's be honest. I am blessed, honored and grateful to have this little life inside of me. But bringing another person into the fold will be a major adjustment for us all, perhaps for my 2-year-old more than anyone else. In addition to speaking to her about all things Baby, we've also been reading her story books about becoming an older sister and I think it's been truly beneficial. I've probably read about 40 of these types of books for children over the past 7 months, which is a significant amount...BUT there are probably at least 100 on the topic, so I can't say I've read them...

My son is almost 14 months old, and he's finally sleeping through the night (11 hours) and taking 2 one-hour naps a day! Our road was a long one, fraught with uncertainty, guilt and exhaustion but looking back on it I don't have any regrets and I really don't think I made too many mistakes. Maybe that's just my optimistic predesposition, but I know my son and through it all I did what was best for him. Here's our sleep story. I hope my personal experience can encourage someone else because I believe the biggest mistake I made was to second guess myself. Before he was born, I read Babywise and I knew that's what I wanted for my child. I wholeheartedly agreed...

The other day my husband and I were at lunch with my son, who happened to be sleeping, so we had a chance to actually speak uninterrupted. We chatted for a few minutes about everyday things, and then he looked at me and asked, “What do you want to do differently with this baby?” We are expecting our second child in December. Our kids will be 23 months apart, and our experiences with our son as a newborn are still fairly fresh in our minds. This time, when we bring our newborn home, we won’t be first-time parents, and we will at least be more confident that we know what we’re doing. We have learned many lessons from our son,...