International Babywearing Week, from November 12-18, is a wonderful opportunity to celebrate the bonding adventure that is babywearing. As part of the celebrations, Babywearing International is accepting nominations to recognize babywearing advocates. Do you know anyone who is passionate about babywearing who should be nominated? If so, why not nominate this person or organization? To learn more about the available awards and how to nominate your candidate, please visit Babywearing Week Awards.

Meanwhile, I thought that I would share my top 5 reasons for wearing my toddler:

1. Continual Contact = Great Self Confidence. According to Sharon Heller, the author of The Vital Touch, holding our babies close against our bodies provides babies with the security and stability that they need in order to thrive. She explains that continual contact between mother and child can help offset problems of self-esteem and detachment from one’s own body later in the child’s life.

2. Makes breastfeeding easy. Many mothers consider their baby carrier or sling a nursing aid since the fabric from carriers offers potential coverage (for self-conscious mothers or children) and allows mothers to nurse their children while working, shopping, folding laundry, etc. Norma Jane Bumgarner, author of Mothering Your Nursing Toddler, lists the many benefits of breastfeeding: intimacy between mother and child, convenient way to comfort a child, natural teething analgesic, natural tranquilizer for putting children to bed, helps young children overcome illness . . . the list goes on and on.

3. Ergonomics. In the first weeks of my daughter’s life, my husband and I had not yet discovered baby carriers.  Our primary mode for transporting our daughter from place to place was in her carseat and stroller;unfortunately, I learned the physical downsides of relying on heavy plastic baby seats and strollers to transport my baby from place to place.  During my pregnancy I developed severe back pain and needed chiropractic treatment; once I delivered my baby, my back pain began to subside until I began to venture out with baby in tow.  On these outings, to get my daughter out of the car,  I would practically hoist her and the carseat out of the car and into the stroller.  On other occasions, I carried the car seat from our car to our destination without using the stroller.  My back pain returned and I eventually learned that I needed to be gentler with my post pregnancy body.  At first I borrowed fabric baby carriers and eventually tried and purchased several of my own.  A great way to find the right baby carrier for your family is to attend a babywearers’ meeting or an attachment parenting meeting, many of which loan slings from a members’ sling library.

4. Increased Mobility. Have you ever tried to navigate the narrow aisles of retail stores with a large stroller?  I have, and let me tell you, it wasn’t pretty.  I have knocked over stacks of shelved items, pushed aside clothing racks, and gotten stuck.  Meanwhile, riding the metro with a stroller is no cup of tea either, and I shudder to think about bringing a stroller on the metro during rush hour.   My husband gladly wears our daughter in our Ergo for long hikes that we take together on the weekends (pushing, even, a jogging stroller over rocky paths and across streams isn’t as much fun as off roading with a mountain bike).  Once we discovered baby carriers, getting around from place to place with our daughter became smoother and more enjoyable for everyone (my apologies to anyone whose toes I have rolled over with my stroller in days past).

5. Mamma’s Got 2 Hands. As any parent knows, the art that is parenting is sometimes handicapped by the loss of one’s arm and a hand, which is primarily used for the holding and carrying of a small child.  Add a baby carrier to the equation and all of a sudden, mom and dad have 2 of their very own hands.   Again, not only can mom breastfeed her baby or toddler when the child is in a  carrier, but mom is free to go about her business with her child right there with her.  Plus, the baby or child has a great view of what’s going on in the world too.

What do you love most about babywearing?  My list can go on and on, but I’d really like to hear what you all think.

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The month of October, which is already one of my favorite months, has officially been declared the first official Attachment Parenting Month! To celebrate the month, parents and AP minded adults everywhere are being encouraged to “Give Our Children Presence,” that is to focus our attention on our children rather than getting caught up in the day to day and coming hubbub that is the holiday season.

Coincidentally, I am working to complete my application to become a leader for Attachment Parenting International; hopefully I will be able to submit and begin the application process during the first ever AP Month!

Meanwhile, our family is going through a transition, adapting to the possibility of welcoming another little one into our lives (no, I am not pregnant! But there is some hope . . .), and as is the norm around here, coping with frequent night wakings (and sometimes a mom who is lying wide awake in the middle of the night for no reason other than she is used to being awake). So, when I reviewed my reading list for the AP leadership application and saw that I needed to reread and review a nighttime parenting book, I gladly headed for my bookcase, flipped open my book and began reading to see what more I could learn about this topic.

I selected Dr. Sears’ Nighttime Parenting, a book that I added to my parenting library several months ago. What I love about Dr. Sears’ approach to gentle nighttime parenting is that he advocates shared sleep and the family bed, but in his explanation of why sharing sleep is beneficial for our children and parents too, he acknowledges that sometimes, some families benefit from parents and children sleeping in separate beds because the parents must do so in order to parent more effectively during the day. That said, Dr. Sears notes that an infant’s cry is “more than just a sound” (74) and is a signal needed to influence his caretakers, and that when caretakers/parents do respond to their crying baby, they allow themselves to develop their “responding instinct” (76).

Isn’t it amazing how a book you read once before becomes another book the second and third times around? With my first reading of Nighttime Parenting, I had focused on sections devoted to “high need” babies since my daughter was not often mellow, loved to be held, and loved to sleep on her mamma’s chest (and still loves to sleep there, I might add). Let’s just say that attachment parenting worked naturally for our family because our daughter needed us to parent with A.P. principals in mind.

Months later with frequent night wakings due to teething and other developmental marks (like talking, counting, singing, and seeking play with other children), I found myself hoping to find a few pointers in Nighttime Parenting that would apply to parents of older toddlers like my own. While Dr. Sears describes ways to help baby sleep better, there is no distinct section on helping older infants, toddlers, and pre-schoolers sleep better; however, I did find that several of his suggestions worked well for our family. Below are a few tips from Nighttime Parenting that are working for us right now:

• Keep baby (your child) gentle and relaxed during the day. I am paying special attention to this suggestion since my daughter is sensitive and tantrum prone. By removing tantrum triggers and trying to stay connected and in tune with her feelings, energy levels, etc., I am noticing that sleep comes easier too.
• Include bedtime cues and rituals to signal that is time for sleep. Up until now I never appreciated the power of a warm bath combined with nursing as a sleep aid. I don’t remember our daughter ever responding to baths like this before; perhaps as she grows older and is more aware of her surroundings and feels more vulnerable too, getting to spend that special one on one time with mom or dad in the bathtub and combining such relaxation with nursing is just what she needs to settle in for sleep.
• A predictable bedtime. We’re not always successful with getting to bed at the same time; I find that it does help though . . .
• Nursing, rocking, and patting to sleep. After enduring several reoccurring courses of thrush (my daughter will often sleep with the nipple in her mouth because she is teething), I have made a simple change to our nursing routine. I nurse her before sleep and explain that once she falls to sleep, I will rub her back when she wakes up and give her water, but I will not nurse her because my “nummies” are asleep. So far, this explanation is working and my thrush is clearing up (thank goodness!).
• Dad laying his hands on baby’s back. For some reason, this just works. She loves the touch of her dad’s big hands rubbing her back.

What nighttime suggestions do you have for a family with a child (or children) who wake frequently? Also, what books have helped your family? I am always a student first, especially since parenting means so much to me. I appreciate hearing from you.

Jessica

my snuggly sleep sharer; how can I resist?

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Happy Monday folks! This weekend we were kept busy with a happy visit with both of our mothers, a date, and a visit to our local farm. I just wanted to remind everyone that I am still running the Duraban Green Cleaning Giveaway this week and the winner will be announced on Friday. Just leave a comment on the post and enter for your chance to win, clean green and manage the spread of cold and flu viruses this winter.

On another note, I am rereading Norma Jane Bumgarner’s Mothering Your Nursing Toddler, a wonderfully helpful book for mothers who practice extended nursing, pregnant mothers who breastfeed, and mothers who are tandem nursing. In addition to benefiting from Bumgarner’s helpful tips and advice on how nursing can help comfort a teething and tantruming toddler, I am also reminded of why I chose to nurse my daughter beyond her first year of life:

1. Nursing helps children feel good and happy. What parent doesn’t want their child to feel good, especially if a child is tantrum prone or easily frustrated during the terrible/terrific twos?

2. Nursing establishes intimacy between mom and child. No one but mom and baby understand the special one on one time had during nursing, nor the play, the laughter, and well, the naps had too.

3. Nursing is the easiest way to comfort a child. Our children are busy growing, encountering new experiences, overcoming their fears, getting hurt, and winding up plumb tired during this stage of the game. Sometimes I wonder what I would do to ease my daughter’s discomfort were I not nursing her.

4. Breastfeeding is a natural analgesic for the pains of teething (why rely on children’s aspirin, teehters, etc. when mother nature gives mom the tools she needs to ease her child’s pain?).

5. Nursing is a natural sleep inducer. Need I say more? After a long day with a baby on wheels, a breastfeeding mother can be rewarded by helping her little one drift off to sleep.

6. Nursing can help our little ones overcome illnesses (breastmilk helps build our nursing toddler’s immune system).

7. Breastfeeding may help allergy prone children.

8. Breastfeeding minimizes skin disorders in nursing children.

9. Nursing is one way to participate in natural family planning.

10. Nursing enhances mothering and allows a tired mother to rest and have patience and compassion for her child.

Bumgarner’s Mothering Your Nursing Toddler includes many, many more chapters (and reasons) about the benefits of nursing a toddler and older child. As a nursing mamma for amost 2 years now, I have to say that most everything that Bumgarner lists as the benefits of nursing (for mother, child, and family too) resonates with what I value most as a mother.

What is your primary reason for nursing your toddler? Why did you choose to continue nursing your baby beyond the first year of life? Do you consider breastfeeding your child to be a rewarding part of mothering? What do you love about nursing your child?

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What’s your family’s bath time ritual?   Are you a go-it-aloner or do you love to share shower time with your kiddos?  To read more about my family’s bath time bonding, stop on over at API Speaks to read my cobathing post.

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Happy Friday green readers! As an alternative to my weekly green friend of the week post, I am introducing a quick green linky post where I direct green folks like yourself to green goodies around the web. This week, I am asking folks to think about topics ranging from fish manging on dead skin to using honey as an alternative medicine for wounds. So, here we go:

1. Fish Pedicures. As a follow up to my post about giving yourself a good karma pedicure, I thought I’d see what folks think about the new fish spa pedicure in which people pay for Garra Rufa, or Doctor Fish, to nibble away at the dead skin on their feet. Spas that employ Garra Rufa to eat customer’s foot skin have been open in Turkey, Japan, Umag, Croatia, China, Hainan, South Korea, Singapore, and Malaysia for several years; recently John Ho started offering a fish spa treatment at his salon Yvonne Hair and Nail Salon here in Northern Virginia. According to Ho, the hot water in which Garra Rufa thrive does not support plant life so the fish learned to thrive on available food sources, like dead skin. As someone who cares about animal rights, I feel somewhat weary about the idea of a fish pedicure becoming a widespread trend; at the same time, I am curious as to what the pedicure feels like, how sanitary it is, and whether or not the fish are happy to feast on all that dead skin. What is your opinion on fish pedicures? Would you consider a fish pedicure?

2. Hollywood Vaccination Debate. Amanda Peet apologized on Good Morning America for her negative comments in Cookie Magazine, in which she called parents who choose not to vaccinate their children “parasites.” On GMA, Peet emphasized that she is not an expert, that she is an actor, and that the public should “go to the experts” for advice regarding vaccinations. GMA covered Amanda Peet’s comments and stance regarding vaccinations by juxtaposing her with footage from an interview with Jenny McCarthy, who spoke with GMA for her Green Our Vaccines rally, which she lead in Washington, D.C. Whether or not you agree with Peet or McCarthy, based on Peet’s interview on GMA, I agree with her stance regarding whether or not parents and other guardians should vaccinate based on the opinions of celebrities. Many parents consider their child’s pediatrician the most qualified expert to help them determine their child’s medical care; at the same time, other parents are not convinced that their pediatrician is the most qualified individual to make choices in their child’s life (especially those in which an unknown x-factor, like mercury, can be life changing). A great read for any parent hoping to learn more about vaccinations and vaccine schedules is The Vaccine Book by Robert Sears. What I love about The Vaccine Book is that Sears offers a course of action for all parents based on their concerns with vaccinations; our family is following Sears’ alternative vaccine schedule.

3. World Breastfeeding Week. Last week I ran this post highlighting awesome boob coverage around the net. This week, I recommend that folks check out Creative Kismet’s boob cookies and breastfeeding art. She is an especially talented artist, and if you can’t tell, I’m among her fans. Go on over and see for yourself.

4. Save at the Pump. Check out Jenn’s post about surprising ways to save cash at the pump. My favorite tip is that keeping your car clean and light will help cut costs each time you fuel up (a perfect excuse for me to indulge my habit of cleaning my car each week). I love being green and clean, and an added bonus is being able to save dollars!

5. Bee Alternative to Antibiotics. Laura over at We Don’t Buy it just shared this post about how her son’s leg wound (from a biking collision with a fire hydrant) is being cared for with a honey treatment. To read more about her research on honey and its healing abilities, go here.

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If you’re a busy mamma or lady like I am, devoting time to personal care isn’t at the top of your list. Lately, my morning beauty routine adds up to pulling my hair into a ponytail and, if I’m lucky, sweeping bronzer onto my cheeks. For me, choosing between a happy toddler with a messy mamma versus a fussy toddler with a well groomed mamma, I tend to take the former unless there’s another set of hands around to help me out.

Since my beauty care regiment is just about nil, I sometimes feel like I a) look the neighbor’s teenage daughter (without makeup on, people think I am 16), or b) look like I haven’t slept in days (months, years, who’s counting?). And when it comes to my hands and feet, I usually ignore the idea that they’re intended to be attractive and that my hands are better suited for changing diapers and writing and that my feet are wonderful resources for getting me and my entourage from point A to point B.

Still, I am a woman, and every now and again, I pray for pretty feet. With a toddler in tow, getting to the nail salon for a pedicure isn’t as easy as it used to be. And beyond any logistic issues I have in finding the time and money for a pedicure, popular nail care products are not among the healthiest of personal care items; in fact, pre-natal care professionals usually recommend that pregnant and breastfeeding mothers avoid receiving manicures and pedicures because of the alarming chemical ingredients in nail care products. According to Christey Hadley, a staff writer for Babyfit.com, pregnant mothers should take precautions when selecting nail care products and salons. She writes:

Many nail products contain formaldehyde and toluene, which in small doses can cause moms to feel dizzy or nauseous, but in large repeated exposures have been linked to birth defects. There are many polishes and products available which are both formaldehyde and toluene free. Ensure that either your salon or room where you paint your nails is well-ventilated or that you wear a mask to defuse the fumes.

Nail equipment that is not properly sterilized is another cause for concern for anyone thinking about prettying their feet with a salon pedicure. Since unclean nail equipment can lead to infection, ladies (and gents too) may think twice about walking into a salon to pamper their feet. The International Pedicure Association provides the following suggestions to ensure pedicure safety:

• The pedicure area, whirpools, and salon/spa looks clean
• Your feet are examined and health questions asked before the pedicure
• Instruments look clean and are disinfected
• Items that cannot be disinfected are disposed of after the pedicure
• Proper tools are used (most states do not allow a credo blade)
• Drill bits (if used) are disinfected (cleaned)
• Salon/spa has proper ventilation
• A laundered towel or new disposable towel is used on each client

A healthy and green alternative to salon nailcare is to do your own manicure and pedicure at home. Not only can a home pedicure be accomplished while your child is in the bathtub, but you can ensure that you are receiving a clean, green, and healthy pedicure that rivals any salon. Here’s how to pretty your feet at home.

1. Research healthy, cruelty free, and eco-friendly nail care products. While I do have my favorites, the best route for selecting personal care products is to learn what ingredients are in products you like to use or are willing to purchase. Awesome databases for researching personal care products and that provide information about ingredient concerns, whether or not ingredients are linked to cancer or other diseases, toxicity, sensitivity, and whether or not the company uses animal testing include the Environmental Working Group’s Skin Deep Cosmetic Database and SafeMama.com. Once you feel comfortable that a product is healthy for you, your child, the environment, and your budget, bring it home and get ready for your home pedicure.

Recommended Materials:

foot bathing tub (a deep dish tub will do)

t.p. or cotton balls

2 towels

polish remover

nail file and clippers

forest friendly nail brush

environmentally friendly: polish remover, foot scrub, foot moisturizer, and nail polish

2. Get ready. Set up your pedicure space. Make sure that all supplies and materials are on hand. I referenced Marie Claire’s perfect pedicure guide to help me prepare for my good karma home pedi, but feel free to adjust their recipe to your tastes. To begin my pedicure, I filled a 5” deep dish bucket with warm water and placed a hand towel at the bottom of the bucket. While Marie Claire suggests that you add epsom salt to the water, I chose to soak with water only.

3. Clean up your feet. Before soaking my tootsies, I removed the old nail polish with one of those green nail polish removers (remember, you researched yours) and some t.p., and then I clipped and filed my toenails.

4. Soak your tootsies. I soaked my feet for between 5 and 10 minutes. Meanwhile, I invited my 19 month old into the foot bath and let her soak her tootsies too. A shared foot bath with your kiddo can add up to a lot of fun and a few inches of water on your floor. Soak wisely.

5. Smooth ‘em and dry ‘em. If possible, select an earth friendly foot file to sand the soles of your feet. Since I am a daily runner, callouses build up on the balls and heels of my feet, as well as on my big toes. After you sand your feet, dry them. If you are interested in cuticle control, you may want to use the edge of a nail file to gently push the cuticles back. Exfoliate with an eco-friendly scrub and use a nail brush to clean the bases of your nails. I love the feel of exfoliating scrubs on my skin so I opted to scrub my rough ankles as well as my lower calves. Once you’re done exfoliating, rinse, rinse, rinse.

6. Moisturize. Remember that you did your research to find green and healthy nail care products? Now, pull out your clean, green, and healthy foot moisturizer and take a few minutes to rub it into your feet and calves. Let your skin soak up the moisturizer. Then, rinse away the lotion and dry your feet.

7. Polish it off. I am not a personal fan of polished nails because, as I said before, I really really dislike having to maintain pretty hands and feet. I consider the au natural look to be prettiest. That said, I know that after having done all that work, you’ll probably want to complete your pedicure with some color. Lucky for you, Marie Claire has a few wonderful tips on how to put polish on with ease and no mess. Read on!

Now that you have given yourself a home pedicure that is full of good karma, pat yourself on the back and brag to your husband and anyone else who will listen about your clean, green and healthy pedicure and all the money you saved yourself by staying out of the salon. Go ahead, you deserve it!

If you have clean, green, and healthy beauty tips, please share. You know I love to hear your thoughts.

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Breastfeeding is one of my passions, as anyone might tell based on the number of breasts visible each week on my blog. =) So I am excited that today marks the first day of World Breastfeeding Week, an event celebrated in 120 countries worldwide. The goals for World Breastfeeding Week and for La Leche League International include achieving a gold standard of exclusive infant breastfeeding for the first 6 months of life and providing appropriate complementary foods while continuing to breastfeed for the first 2 years of life. Looking for ways to honor the occasion and help raise awareness about breastfeeding in your community? Great! Because there’s much to be done . . .

Julie over at API Speaks posted an awesome list created by the La Leche League about how to support breastfeeding mothers. Other bonuses to her post include a personal story about her breastfeeding journey over the past 4 years as well a chance to win a free copy of The Womanly Art of Breastfeeding.

Also, check out La Leche League in the U.S.A. World Breastfeeding Week pages to find out where you can celebrate and support breastfeeding in your state and local communities. Here in Virginia, there will be several breastfeeding awareness walks, auctions, picnics, fund raisers, and discussions on personal care.

Who else is taking action to mobilize a supportive breastfeeding culture? Check out:

Crunchy Domestic Goddess blogging about World Breastfeeding Week and pointing folks in the direction of some exciting contests.

Kelly at Nuvo Maternity Blog posting a tribute video for World Breastfeeding Week.

and

Motherwear’s Breastfeeding blog is hosting a free gift certificate contest to celebrate.

So, how will you celebrate World Breastfeeding Week? Will you pen a letter to your legislator on behalf of breastfeeding mothers? Maybe you’ll encourage a new breastfeeding mother to hang in there? To share your breastfeeding story or how you plan to take action for a supportive breastfeeding culture, please drop a comment.

Happy World Breastfeeding Week!

——

Top image courtesy of Breastfeeding.com

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This morning Annabelle and I made our weekly stop at the local library. I love to browse the new titles sections, check out the used magazines that the library sells (these are the only magazines I allow our family to purchase because of the monetary and environmental costs), and peak into the children’s section with Annabelle.

Today when we sat down, Annabelle ran over to the board book shelves, which are centrally located and easily accessible to small children, picked out a book, and ran back back to me to find a place on my lap. We read through an ABC book and color book before Annabelle decided that book time on Mamma’s lap is a wonderful opportunity for nyum-nyum time (or nursing).

I scanned our surroundings to see whether other parents and children were around to observe Annabelle breastfeeding. While I do not mind nursing in front of other people, I also want others to feel comfortable (and sometimes other parents do not want their older children to see a breastfeeding mother). I approached the page volunteer to ask whether or not I might nurse in the children’s activity room.  She was unsure about the program schedule and suggested I check with the children’s desk.  There, the librarian told me I could nurse in the activity room but that it is a public space and that I should expect other patrons to come into the room.  I thanked her and headed for the room where I comfortably nursed Annabelle and read to her.

Navigating the library and finding a safe space to nurse is usually an easy task, however, there are places and times of day where breastfeeding in public is not only challenging but sometimes uncomfortable.  Sadly I have felt a neighbor’s disapproving eyes on me when I nursed Annabelle in front of her (although I am unsure what her anxiety is about a mother breastfeeding her child).

Luckily, there are many breastfeeding mothers and pro-breastfeeding women and men out there who encourage nursing mothers to nurse their children.   While I was thinking about my own concerns about breastfeeding in public, I came across Baby Maternity’s tips about this very subject.    These tips remind breastfeeding mothers what their rights are for nursing in public and includes helpful hints for safe and comfortable nursing.

So the next time your child asks or signals that he or she would like to nurse in a public space, I hope that you will feel empowered to do so.  How do you handle nursing in public?  What are your ideas about discreetly nursing or openly nursing?  Have you ever had a breastfeeding experience in public that surprised you?  I’d love to hear others’ thoughts.

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Having read a good deal of breastfeeding literature, including titles by Dr. Sears, I have learned that breastfeeding, as an aspect of mothering, is an activity that encourages and enhances a mother’s ability to mother.  In my own experiences as a breastfeeding mother, I have found that this theory holds up  (although I must be honest and admit that while  breastfeeding is a wonderful bonding activity for mother and child, during those most difficult nights of marathon nursing with little or no sleep, a mother is at the mercy of her spouse, partner, or whoever is available to help her stay positive, breastfeed her baby, and get some sleep).

Now there is more scientific proof that breastfeeding encourages a positive relationship between mother and child.   According to a study conducted by a team at Warwick University and published in the journal PLoS Computational Biology,

“[S]pecialised neurons in the mothers’ brain start to release the hormone [oxytocin] from the nerve endings.  [In addition] [b]ut surprisingly oxytocin is also released from the part of the cell called the dendrite which is usually the part of a neurone which receives, rather than transmits information.  Using a mathematical model, the researchers worked out that this release from the dendrites allows a massive increase in communication between the neurons, co-ordinating a “swarm” of oxytocin factories producing intense bursts of the hormone.”

Because oxytocin encourages feelings of trust and confidence, and helps to reduce fear, a mother who breastfeeds benefits from experiencing a greater maternal urge to love and care for her baby.

For breastfeeding mothers, this study only confirms what many lactating mammas already know to be true.  What I wonder is whether or not oxytocin can benefit women who have trouble breastfeeding but who feed their babies formula while positioning their bottle feeding child against a bare breast.  Perhaps mothers who bottle feed can benefit from the release of oxytocin too, even if they experience a slow milk letdown or none at all?  I am curious and eager to learn more about this aspect of mothering.  I would encourage anyone who has more knowledge about breastfeeding as well as bottle feeding to please enlighten me [us--as in all who are interested in this topic] by please leaving a comment to share your thoughts and wisdom.

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