• Last updated 10/5/12 by Mothering Editorial

By Aimee Campbell Aug 17, 2012 If you're a mom that breastfeeds you know how important the timing to said breastfeeding is. Before a trip to the store? Check. Before bed? Check. Before dinner? Check. Before breathing/eating/bathing? Check. Check. Check. So when I traveled out to the beach with my nine-month-old nursing machine in tow I anticipated a day full of sand and surf and snuggled up boobie time. This trip turned out to be more of an “extended family” sort of deal, and so included: Me, the baby, the sixteen year old cousin, the seventeen year old brother, the... read more

• Last updated 10/5/12 by Mothering Editorial

by Kelly Griffith Issue 97, November/December 1999 Breastmilk is by far the best nutrition for human babies. The reams of scientific data supporting that fact would impress even the most unenlightened skeptic. If a pharmaceutical company had made the stuff, everyone in America would know that it helps babies fight infection,1 hastens a mother’s postpartum recovery,2 and provides countless other benefits to both mom and baby.3 But when does all that good stuff end? Scientific research and the slowly changing attitudes of an often-traditional medical... read more

• Last updated 10/18/12 by Melanie Mayo

October is Attachment Parenting Month and Mothering is once again teaming up with Attachment Parenting International (API) for some exciting events!  This year’s theme is Relax, Relate, Rejuvenate, and API has developed some great ways to bring this focus into your life. In addition to tips and resources, they are holding a blog carnival, an online auction, and a photo event–plus some great ways to connect with local moms. Find more information on AP Month below, and don’t forget to check out all of the helpful articles on Attachment Parenting on... read more

• Last updated 9/26/12 by Melanie Mayo

A national nurse-in will take place on Sept 29th in response to the harassment of a breastfeeding mom at an Applebee’s in Convington, Georgia. On Sept 15th Dawn Holland was told by the manager at the Applebee’s that she must either nurse her child in the bathroom or leave. When she refused to move, stating her right to breastfeed in accordance with Georgia law, the police were called. The nurse-in is being organized by Mother’s Right to Choose and will take place at Applebee’s across the US at 1pm local time. This peaceful demonstration will attempt to raise awareness... read more

• Last updated 9/25/12 by Beth Berry

Negligence? Hardly. You know how it goes – one minute they’re playing quietly and the next, too quietly… (By the way, the lid was pried from the paint can with TEETH.) It’s been a long time coming — nearly eighteen years, in fact. The kids are finally all in school, the house is quiet and I have a full day to work, uninterrupted. And while it’s achingly bittersweet — the letting go of my babies, the acceptance that that phase is really over – it’s also easy to forget just how intense those first years were (or what I did with my days). In honor of all of you still in... read more

• Last updated 10/22/12 by Melanie Mayo

I gave birth to my second daughter, Olive, at home in January 2012.  It was a beautiful, quick birth, that rocked my very core.  My husband caught her, and laid our 7lb 5oz blonde beauty on my chest.  Immediately after I delivered the placenta, I got myself situated in bed and offered her my breast.  I held my breath…preparing for a struggle, as I had with her sister.  I held her to my breast, gave her perfect button nose a tickle with my nipple, and instinctively, she opened wide and started vigorously suckling with such enthusiasm that my husband and I looked at... read more

• Last updated 10/19/12 by Melanie Mayo

By Stephanie Nakhleh   Cosleeping was no fun at first. Instead of the nighttime bliss I'd been promised by attachment-parenting enthusiasts, my baby often acted like a nocturnal animal—prowling the sheets in the wee hours, howling for no clear reason. I felt cheated. Where was the state of harmony everyone had told me about: those sweetly synchronous sleep patterns, the magical ability to sleep through midnight nursings? Almost everyone else in the world did this, right? Why was it so hard? In exasperation, I talked my reluctant husband into trying to train our... read more

• Last updated 9/18/12 by Melanie Mayo

A new study at the University of Wisconsin-Madison suggests that heavy use of pacifiers by boys may stunt their emotional development throughout life. Experiments performed by researchers at the University showed that six- and seven-year-old boys who spent large amounts of time with pacifiers in their mouths as young children were less able to mimic emotions presented to them on video. The issue does not seem to end in childhood either, college-age men whose parents reported that they used pacifiers as children scored lower on tests of empathy than their peers. Pacifiers... read more

• Last updated 10/18/12 by capnsmak

By Mary Brune Web Exclusive July 17, 2012 news update: FDA Bans BPA from Bottles and Sippy Cups Before the birth of my daughter three years ago, I was pretty sure I had everything I would ever need: Cloth diapers? Check. Sling? Check. Cute little onesies? Check. Those were the easy things, the ones on nearly everyone's list. But what about phthalate-free teething rings? Or baby bottles made without bisphenol A? Back then, they certainly weren't on my radar, let alone my checklist. But in light of recent reports about the dangers of two chemicals widely used in... read more

• Last updated 10/19/12 by Melanie Mayo

Seven babies have died after being fed a formula or breastmilk additive called SimplyThick–designed to help premature babies swallow and keep down liquids. Although the FDA has warned against the use of the product for premature infants, SimplyThick is widely available. Continued use of the thickener led to twenty-one infants developing inflamed intestines, seven of whom died. The [FDA] first warned in May 2011 against feeding SimplyThick to premature babies because it may cause a tissue inflammation known as necrotizing enterocolitis. The FDA is... read more