• Created on 9/19/12 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

• Created on 9/17/12 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

• Created on 11/19/12 by Marcy Axness

For anyone who becomes a mother within nine months of a major holiday season (and, taking into account all of the holidays within every faith and cultural tradition, that means almost everybody!) I have a radical idea for you:  Simplify your idea of how the holidays will look this year. Better yet, let yourself let someone ELSE handle everything. That way, your holidays with a new baby can be marked by joy, connection and peace -- just as they're meant to be!   This doesn’t mean that I don’t think you are up to the task of balancing the needs of your infant with... read more

• Created on 10/2/12 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

• Created on 11/29/09 by Jennifer Margulis

Note the baby's puffy eyes, spit up stain on shirt, floppy head, funny ears, and scowlAt the library this afternoon, the children’s librarian cooed at newborn Leone, who was fast asleep in the frontpack on my chest. “She’s beautiful,” the librarian said. Actually, I think Leone is funny looking. She has my husband’s ears (they stick out), a broad nose, and a rather pronounced crease in her upper lip. “She looks so much like a he but I know it’s a she,” her 6-year-old brother–who was hoping she’d be a boy–lamented to me a few days after she was born. Beautiful or... read more

• Created on 10/3/12 by Melanie Mayo

I write a lot about the central role of healthy attachment for child wellbeing. But what IS attachment and how do you get it?? It can be easy for someone like me who is steeped daily in the topic to take it for granted that people know what we mean when we say “attachment.” And as Gordon Neufeld points out*, attachment is not an intuitive word — in other words a word whose meaning is naturally and easily understood. Author of an excellent book on attachment, Hold On to Your Kids, Neufeld points out that the word attachment was invented as a way to have a... read more

• Created on 3/8/12 by Hoyamum

When my eldest was a newborn, it was pretty much a sure thing that from 4pm until 10pm I’d be sitting in my chair nursing her.  She’d have one side, then seem to finish.  I’d lift her up, pat her back, hold her against my chest… maybe daddy might come to have a little cuddle with her since he’d been at work all day.  But soon enough she was fussing again and the only thing that satisfied her was to have the other side.  Back and forth we’d go from one side then the other.  I felt tired from a long day of baby care and a broken night’s sleep; my breasts felt soft like all... read more

• Created on 9/10/12 by Lindsay Karns

This past week I have been doing some online research on mothers from around the world. How mothering is done the same, and how mothering is done differently. Perusing images of mothers from all corners of the globe. Why? I guess I have been yearning for some sort of connection. It is very grounding to think that I would have anything in common with say, and African woman who lives in a small village with no running water or electricity, for example. But our commonalities are vast. We both use our clothes to mop up spit up. We both wear our babies close throughout the... read more

• Created on 8/5/12 by LisaCoffee

Yes, I’m talking about pumping breast milk. In public. Well not really in public, but in a public place. This week my days are spent at a professional development conference at the Marriott Marquis in Atlanta, which means I’m away from my nursling for many hours every day. This also means I need a private place to pump so that Nana has milk for my daughter while I’m away. I began querying the organization hosting my conference on Monday. The three reps I spoke with looked at me like I was a crazy woman, as I inquired about “a private place to pump breast milk”, and all... read more

• Created on 10/2/12 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