Past Questions

I have a four-and-a-half-year-old attachment parented daughter who sometimes, when frustrated, will tell her friends "you're not my friend" or "I hate you." I don't care for this kind of talk, but feel that it's fairly normal behavior for a four-year-old. What makes matters worse is a close friend who is absolutely appalled by these phrases and tells my daughter and me that she won't have any friends if she talks to them like that, and always asks me "where did she learn that?!" Is my daughter's behavior normal? What should I do when she says these things? How should I handle my judgmental friend?

I have co-slept and night nursed both my children until they were over 2 years old. I am 6 months pregnant with our third child. My second child has 'bottle mouth' and will have his four top front teeth extracted under general anaesthetic at 34 months old. (He has never had a bottle and rarely drinks sugary drinks.) I am appalled that I let this happen to his teeth and whilst I have enjoyed and continue to enjoy being an 'attached parent', I regret immensely not getting him into his own crib and off the breast at night in the first year of his life. I had no idea that such acute tooth decay was a possible result of prolonged and frequent night-nursing. Whilst this did not occur to my first child I don't want to take the risk of this happening to my third baby. Whatever benefits my children may have gained from sharing my bed at night I can't possibly believe they outweigh the disadvantages of a general anaesthetic, surgical intervention, hospitalisation and living without incisors for four years or so. What is your view on this and any advice about how I and other mothers could avoid this situation in the future?

My general practitioner, bless his heart, is trying to convince me that sleeping with my five-month-old son is dangerous and increases the risk of SIDS. Although I have no intention of changing our sleeping arrangement, I would like to have some references to give him the next time we meet. His reference comes from what he claims to be the most recent study, which, apparently, was sent to physicians by the surgeon general. I'm in Canada, which may or may not be relevant as I'm not sure where the study took place.

My husband and I are really enjoying our 16 month old little boy. He brings us lots of joy and keeps us busy. We haven't had too many opportunities for sexual interaction as our son bed-shared with us from birth. In fact, my husband and I have had no sexual contact since the birth of our son—and it truly troubles me. I have tried a number of times to inquire why, but it seems as though he has lost all interest in me sexually. I feel a bit desperate for a number reasons. First, I miss the intimacy; secondly I feel unattractive; and third I have brought up my concerns a number of times with no change in status. I feel like we may never have sex again if we continue down this path. Do you have any suggestions for me?

I am looking for resources on bonding with twins as I am expecting twins. I don't see much in the bookstores about bonding with twins and am wondering how this may be different than with a singleton. I also have a 4 year old.

I have 10 month old twin boys. Overall they are great kids, well behaved and everything. Lately my oldest is pinching everything, including us. We know he is starting to practice using his finger and thumb and that it is an important skills, but the pinching hurts. It doesn't seem to matter how many times and how many different ways we say no, stop, tell him that it hurts us, etc, he just laughs and does it again. I know he knows what no means, because when we have said it in other situations, like when he is reaching for the plugs etc, he listens and stops. How can we get him to stop?

I have a young client due very soon, who came to me late in her pregnancy. She is a former cutter. I see no current cutting at all. I also have suspicions that she has had a previous baby—even at seven months she had a full belly of stretch marks. She says she has had no other babies. As a midwife since 1972, I have my concerns about a previous baby, but besides that, I was wondering what you think about a former cutter and labor and birthing. She has scars from her shoulders to her wrists.

I have a new 8 week old and am a first time mom. I was doing yoga and meditating pre-natal but now I can't find the time. Any suggestions or is this something I have to put off for a few months? I sure feel like I could use yoga and meditation in my life right now.

My question is about selecting a childbirth technique that will be most effective for me. At the birth of my son three years ago, I had practiced hypnobirthing as well as yoga before his birth. He was early so I didn't get as much practice with the meditation associated with hypobirthing as some moms, but I didn't find it very effective for me, even though I did give birth without pain relief. Can you recommend any questions that I should be asking myself to help clarify a birthing method (Bradley, Birthing from Within, etc.) that I might try for my next birth?

I currently have two children, ages five and two. I have experienced symptoms of light-headedness (low blood pressure), tiredness, and muscle weakness. I have been diagnosed with Adrenal Fatigue and have been treating it holistically (Vitamin C, Vitamin Bs, adrenal glandulars) for about six months. My symptoms have improved by about 60 percent. My husband and I would like to have a third child. The timing is right for us but my question is if my body is up for it. I am 34, work full-time, and I have a very helpful spouse. Is it unwise to get pregnant until my body is at 100 percent? I'm concerned that [I] might [have to wait] a while, and I prefer my children to be spaced closer together. If I get pregnant now, how will I feel during pregnancy? After pregnancy? Can I continue taking my supplements while pregnant? While breastfeeding? If my Adrenal Fatigue worsens to the point of needing to take physiological doses of hydrocortisone, is that safe during pregnancy? And during breastfeeding? Please advise.

I was shopping at a department store with my husband and our almost 22 month old daughter when she did something we just did not know how to react to. While we were shopping a little boy, who was at most 7 years old, walked by us with his father. He stopped to say hi to our daughter and waved at her. Isabel reacted by throwing a hard plastic ball at him. It ended up hitting him very hard him on the head. He started crying... I imagine it must have hurt. Our daughter didn't laugh, she looked very confused by the situation. What should we have done?

I have a 4 1/2 year old who likes to play with his food (usually more so in the evening). I don't mind that except then he won't eat it because it's "gross." Either that, or he then throws his food on the floor & then my youngest (2 years old) joins in. Yes, they have fun doing this, but we are on a very limited budget and the food we buy is either all natural or organic so it's not cheap. Some days, I can handle it, but most times I don't handle it very well and yell or go into this long winded reason of why we can't do this. I get very stressed out over this because of the money end of it. Any thoughts? Thank you, mom in michigan