• Created on 3/15/13 by Melanie Mayo

As a breastfeeding mama, having searing pains radiating throughout your breast is every mama’s worst nightmare. Unfortunately it is quite common. This type of pain is often caused by a breast inflammation from a plugged duct or milk bleb. Luckily with proper diagnosis, there are some easy and natural home remedies you can try to quickly treat the issue and relieve the pain.   When my daughter was five months old, I was working full time and exclusively breastfeeding and pumping. I began to have searing pains in my left breast and thought I had a plugged duct. I... read more

• Created on 3/15/13 by Melanie Mayo

Babywearing offers a huge amount of benefits, but choosing the right carrier isn't always easy. Recently, we started a conversation in the Mothering community to ask for baby carrier recommendations and the response was wonderful. Check it out here.   Below you will find the top five baby carrier picks from our members.    You can read more reviews, or leave your own, in our Babywearing Reviews Section. And discover everything our members have to say about babywearing in our Babywearing Forum.      Beco Butterfly II Carrier    92 Reviews | 5... read more

• Created on 3/13/13 by Marcy Axness

Author Ray Bradbury pointed out, chillingly, "You don't need to burn books to destroy a culture -- just get people to stop reading them." Similarly, you don't need to actually ban nursing to decrease the incidence of breastfeeding -- just make it more and more difficult to do.   The ways our culture makes breastfeeding ever more difficult range from the insidiously subtle (hospitals' goody-bag full of formula) to the outrageously overt (Bill Maher's infamous rant equating breastfeeding -- "a private thing" -- with "farting or masturbating or... read more

• Created on 3/6/13 by Marcy Axness

Along with a good supply of onesies, I routinely counsel expectant parents to stock up on trust. Parenting is a daunting safari into the unknown, and trust is the anxiety antidote when life outruns the reach of our techno-savvy that has us convinced we can figure out and control everything in our lives.   I define trust as “calm reliance upon processes outside of your immediate perception and control,” and it is one of the seven principles that weave through my book Parenting for Peace. For those of us weaned on the information revolution, trust is probably the... read more

• Created on 3/4/13 by JenniO11

brought to us by Tummy Calm   Parents are often told by their pediatricians to give their children gas drops to help relieve tummy aches, ease fussiness, alleviate painful bloating, gas pains and even excessive spitting up. But knowing which to give and when to give them can be confusing.   The information below may help you decide what is right for your family, explaining what different formulas are available, and also give you other ideas for treating your little ones’ tummy troubles.   Gas Drops Explained Gas drops are an over-the-counter... read more

• Created on 3/3/13 by HWBMama

By Megan Leary     I was at an event supporting midwifery legislature when I saw the Le Leche League booth and made a bee line for it.  I have been pretty fortunate in that breast feeding has gone great from the start for my daughter and me, but my issue now was that breastfeeding was going almost too well.  She was now a year old and she was nursing like a newborn again.  I was up every two hours at night nursing her and then up-and-at-em the next day for my full time job.  Needless to say, I was perpetually tired and desperate for some mama... read more

• Created on 2/8/13 by JenniO11

We know that Mothering.com moms love babywearing, so we were thrilled when we got the chance to partner with Boba to share their Carrier 3G with our community and our Mothering Mavens.  To read more about how you can join the Mothering Mavens, our private product review program, click here!   The partnership brought together 14 Mothering Mavens, each with a baby between the ages of 4 months and 2 years, in a small private focus group.  Each Maven got to pick out a brand new Boba 3G Carrier that she could test and keep and was asked to share her thoughts.... read more

• Created on 2/6/13 by Melanie Mayo

Thank you to Kate Lindello for sharing her experience with postpartum depression in the hopes that it will help other moms.   The following information was originally posted on Kate's blog where you can read more of her writing.    Find support in Mothering's forum for Postpartum Depression.      It's time. I know I mentioned awhile back that once Helen was born I was struggling with postpartum depression and anxiety and that I would be sharing my story with all of you. I knew from the moment I started feeling like myself that I wouldn't keep quiet... read more

• Created on 1/29/13 by Melanie Mayo

Being honest with women about the challenges of breastfeeding   By V.K. Harber   As a post-partum doula, breastfeeding is hands down the thing I spend the most time on with new mothers, and I love it. Supporting a mother in the first few challenging weeks of breastfeeding is enormously satisfying because I know firsthand the physical, mental, emotional, and spiritual benefits of breastfeeding for both mother and baby. I want to help any woman who wants to breastfeed to do so successfully.   Finding women who want to breastfeed is not hard. The campaign... read more

• Created on 1/27/13 by AdinaL

     When my second child was born a little over    five months ago, she latched on immediately and very well.  I was thrilled.  With my first daughter it had been a rocky start with oversupply and a very fast let down.  The ease with which my second daughter took to nursing was a huge relief.     Until we reached about 9 days old.       Suddenly, she started making a clicking noise with every nursing session, and I couldn't for the life of me, get her top lip flipped out to get her mouth in that perfect flange position. Combined with her 2 week... read more