• Created on 9/30/12 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

• Created on 12/6/09 by Jennifer Margulis

Baby clothes that zip are so much easier than baby clothes with a gazillion snapsIt’s hard to dress a newborn. Their necks are so floppy. They seem so fragile. And even something simple—like putting an arm in a sleeve—can be so awkward. At one month old, Leone jerks her little arms and legs like a conductor to postmodern music. At night she often soaks the cloth diapers we’re using so I like to change her at least once when she wakes up to nurse. During the day changing her diaper calms her when she feels out of sorts and since she pees all the time and poops often,... read more

• Created on 4/10/12 by Melanie Mayo

With Real Diaper Week approaching, many cloth diaper users are considering ways to educate their communities about cloth diapers.  On Thursday, 4/19, one of the focuses will be on educating daycare providers about cloth diapers.  But how easy is it to use cloth diapers in daycare?  Read on to find out… Choosing the right daycare is one of the hardest decisions parents face when going back to work.  The desire to cloth diaper your baby does not have to add to the anxiety!  With modern cloth diapers, it’s just as easy to use cloth in daycare as... read more

• Created on 9/29/10 by Jennifer Margulis

Do this mom and her baby look like a security threat? A flight attendant called Memphis police officers to escort her off the airplane because she was nursing her sleeping baby in a front pack and refused to take him outWhen Delta Airlines flight #42721 landed in Memphis, Tennessee on September 17th the passengers were asked to remain seated. Two armed Memphis police officers boarded the plane. They were coming on board to deal with a dangerous security threat. That threat was Jen Starks, a 29-old mother of two who had been discreetly nursing a fussy baby during the... read more

• Created on 5/23/12 by Mothering Editorial

My Life As A Nursing Mom  By Kay Bolden Issue 119, July/August 2003 My son's first birthday loomed, and I braced myself for battle. Grandparents and aunts, in-laws and cousins, neighbors and friends-all descended upon us, all demanding to know when, when, WHEN was I finally going to stop breastfeeding this child? "He'll be spoiled," I was warned. "You know, the milk goes bad after a while." It didn't help that my son was not the sedate, quiet nurser my daughter had been. No, this child was born to lead the Olympic Breastfeeding Team to the gold. The sportscasters... read more

• Created on 5/21/12 by Cynthia Mosher

It’s the everyday decisions that can be the most difficult when it comes to being an environmentally-friendly mom/climate change activist.   Here’s one that all moms face: Should I use disposable or cloth diapers?  I’m deep into research on this question and am finding some surprising things.    For starters, here’s the answer: Use neither. You’ll waste less and save money. And as I’ll explain later, you’ll even be saving forests around the world like the Amazon rain forest.  So what should I do if I don’t use cloth or disposable diapers?... read more

• Created on 9/30/09 by Mothering Editorial

By Jennifer CoburnIssue 101, July/August 2001 Because of the strident societal and economic impact wielded by the formula industry, bottle-feeding has today become the social norm in the US. Fewer than half of all US babies are exclusively breastfed during their first day or two in the hospital.1 By the time they are six months old, only 19 percent of US babies receive any breastmilk,2 and only 2 percent of one year olds. Contrast this with the average age of weaning worldwide, which is 4.2 years. This country's societal hostility towards breastfeeding is such that... read more

• Created on 7/8/10 by Mothering Editorial

By Marsha Walker The birth of a baby is a joyous event that everyone loves to celebrate with a gift. However, some gifts come with strings attached. Visits to the obstetrician yield a changing pad wrapped around a can of formula. Boxes and cases of formula arrive on the doorstep. Hospitals present new mothers with gift bags containing formula, while pediatricians' offices give new mothers a kit containing more formula, with instructions on how to use it to supplement a breastfed baby. Which of the above "gifts" has been shown to be such an effective marketing tactic... read more

• Created on 4/12/12 by Melanie Mayo

You have heard that cloth diapers are better for the environment and for your wallets, but what about the babies themselves? Doctors recommend that babies be changed every 2-3 hours (except in the case of nap time and overnight) and even more frequently for newborns since they poop more often. A baby sitting in any diaper for a prolonged amount of time will result in a rash, though this is not the only source of rashes by any means since rashes can also be caused from food allergies and teething among other sources. Unfortunately, our society has... read more

• Created on 12/28/09 by mamazee

  This baby is a good sleeper but I'm not It’s 2:30 in the morning and I’m wide awake. A post on sleep was not in the line-up for this week’s blogging but here I am in a pitch black 50 degree house and all the other topics I had planned to write about (weird but normal in postpartum women, how Cheri Huber stuck a gun in her stomach and pulled the trigger before she found Zen Buddhism, more on the philosophy behind going diaper free) feel irrelevant right now. I remember my father having insomnia. From my room I would hear him go downstairs... read more