Breast & Bottle Feeding

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,...

It started when I was 36 weeks pregnant. I was at the point in my pregnancy where I just didn't want to move. Unfortunately I had to move because life needed to be lived and bills needed to be paid, but in those moments where I could chill - I wanted to watch the most mindless trash shows on television. Around that  36th week of pregnancy, my husband was also in this super frugal phase. He decided to cut all unnecessary expenses, including cable (gasp!). Considering the cable bill was north of a hundred dollars, I was all for it. He suggested we stream television through the internet for a few bucks a month. That's how Netflix entered my life. My relationship with Netflix started...

Protecting your child's teeth from cavities can be as easy as following a few simple recommendations.  If we're successful at instilling good behavior early in life, those habits will provide them with a healthy mouth that will keep them smiling indefinitely. Dental caries (cavities) is a chronic, infectious, transmissible disease resulting from tooth-adherent specific bacteria, primarily Mutans Streptococci (MS), that metabolizes sugars to produce acid which demineralizes tooth structure over time. The disease of Early Childhood Caries (ECC) is the presence of one or more decayed, missing, or filled tooth surface in any primary (baby) tooth in a child under the age of 6. According to the CDC, this is the most common chronic childhood disease. It’s 5 times more...

In the wide world of parenting topics I don't consider myself to be an "expert" (using the term very loosely) at much, but breastfeeding/pumping/working, well I've pretty much mastered! Having nursed my daughter for a little over a year, mostly while working almost full-time, and now doing the same with my son, I've developed my own list of essential items that every pumping momma needs when away from baby. A great, electric double breast pump. Yea, they are costly but at a price tag cheaper than formula it's worth every penny. Great news, many health insurance plans are now covering the cost of breast pumps! Your pump will be your best friend for many months, and when you are finally...