• Created on 4/9/13 by Melanie Mayo

Mothering recently ran a fun reviews contest in our Diapering category and the response from the community was HUGE. It is clear that our mamas love cloth diapers!    So which diapers received the best reviews? We've pulled out 10 of the most highly rated cloth diapers to share with you here.   Check them out and then head over to our Diapering reviews section to find a ton of additional feedback on a wide range of diapers and supplies!      Charlie Banana 2 in 1 Size Diaper   9 Reviews | 5 Stars   Review from member "mummamal"   Pros:... read more

• Created on 11/16/12 by Beth Berry

By Beth Berry     Before you begin your holiday baking, I thought you might want to know about the existence of a product I stumbled upon a few months ago in a Mexican grocery. Passing the jellies and pancake mix on my way to the dried beans, a small glass bottle with a familiar label caught my eye. It was Karo corn syrup – the kind your grandmother uses in her pecan pie – only there was something markedly different about this particular bottle. Above the familiar Karo font was a single word that I never imagined I'd see in conjunction with a brand name of... read more

• Created on 8/28/10 by mamazee

In the world of natural parenting, we are often blessed with the sciences to prove that certain stances we take are adhered to for the long-lasting benefit of our children.  For instance, no matter how many “experts” have written books claiming that cry-it-out methods work & are harmless, we know that the opposite is true: these methods often fail & are harmful.  Still, parents make choices.  To bed-share, room-share, or not?  To employ the use of “time-outs” or find another, more communicative way?  To vaccinate, delayed-vaccinate, or not?  While I do... read more

• Created on 10/10/12 by Melanie Mayo

The Question of Routine Swaddling By Gussie Fauntleroy Nov 09, 2011 Please see the Special Report: Swaddling Reconsidered for more information and resources on routine swaddling.  Remember the bumper sticker, “What Would Jesus Do?” Here’s a variation on that query: What would Jesus’ mommy do? We are told his mother wrapped her newborn in swaddling clothes. So if it’s good enough for baby Jesus…? Yet simply because a practice has been widespread in various cultures and time periods doesn’t mean it is best for babies. Likewise, even though routine swaddling... read more

• Created on 12/30/11 by Bunmi Laditan

Two days ago thousands of mothers flocked to Targets across the nation like they do every day but this time, with breasts full & nipples poised to launch a milk attack against the retail giant. The demonstration or “nurse-in” was in response to a lactating female being asked to feed her child in a changing room, away from public view, rather than in a corner of the store days earlier. Upon hearing this news, leaking women from all over the United States descended upon their local Tar-zhays with babies and proceeded to feed them from their private parts as a way of saying... 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 3/20/13 by Melanie Mayo

  Originally published at MotherWiseLife.org   On our MotherWise Facebook page, we often post breastfeeding photos as part of our effort to normalize nursing, and the reaction is always the same: lots of support and celebration, lots of oohs and ahhs, but also a plethora of insulting, attacking, disgusting comments.  No matter how many times this happens, I am always stunned by the ugly reactions people have to a mother feeding her child.  Our society has received some strong social conditioning, and apparently the message is that one of the worst, most... read more

• Created on 9/19/10 by Jennifer Margulis

Thrush. Even writing that 6-letter word gives me shivers. Thrush—which is a yeast infection in a baby’s mouth that can spread to a mother’s nipples—can be as painful as it is difficult to diagnose. If you feel shooting pain when your baby latches on to nurse (and sometimes throughout the entire feeding), you may have thrush. Your nipple, depending on your skin tone, may look a little red. Or it may not look any different. You can sometimes tell if the baby has thrush by looking at his tongue: if it is coated in a white substance that looks like milk but doesn’t come off... read more

• Created on 5/7/12 by Melanie Mayo

By Aletha Solter Issue 122 January/February 2004 The term “cry it out” refers to the practice of leaving babies in their cribs without picking them up, and letting them cry themselves to sleep. A modified version of this approach is to go to the baby every few minutes to pat her on the back or reassure her verbally (but not pick the baby up), and to increase the length of time gradually so that the baby eventually “learns” to fall asleep alone. But there is no doubt that repeated lack of responsiveness to a baby’s cries—even for only five minutes at a time—is... 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