Unfortunately, there is no manual that teaches parenting. If there was one, the author would likely get rich very quick, because all parents face challenges at one time or another. It is just a fact of life, and it never ceases to amaze.

Truth be told, there are plenty of parenting books available today, and they are filled with excellent tips and advice. They teach techniques from A to Z, and yet they don’t seem to grasp that all answers don’t apply to all children. The parent must determine which children respond to which parenting techniques. Even if there are several children in the same household, certain things just won’t work for all of them.

I always advise parents to read everything they can about parenting. There are books, websites and online chat groups to participate in. I’ve found that interacting online with other parents often provides solutions I hadn’t thought of. The professionals can offer some valuable things, but those techniques and skills will always need to be adapted to different children and their personalities.

If you have a difficult situation with a child going on, don’t be afraid to ask questions. Get online and listen to what others have experienced in the same situation and how they’ve handled it. You can often get more useful advice than the experts provide. And the reason is because the parents are the ones out in the trenches, dealing with the children each day. They may not have the time to write a manual or book, but they still have plenty of good information to offer.

Sometimes it seems like you are all alone when faced with parenting struggles, but don’t give up. There are plenty of resources available to give you the information and support you need. Don’t be afraid to reach out for advice. All parents need it at some time in their lives. Parents learn best from other parents.

One of the most difficult things to deal with for many new parents is when their new baby has gas or colic. It is such a terrible feeling to have tried everything to comfort your screaming baby, and nothing works. Your baby may not have any obvious symptoms to let you know what is wrong. On the other hand, many babies will cry as if in pain during or immediately after a feeding, draw their legs up to their bellies which are sometimes hard and swollen, or have difficulty passing gas. Trying such things as breastfeeding (babies love to breastfeed for comfort as well as nutrition), rocking, swaddling, or diaper changing may help, but there are also a number of remedies you can try at home to relieve your baby’s discomfort.

1. Check your diet (for breastfeeding moms): cut out spicy foods, chocolate, garlic, onions, and dairy. If that does not work, cut out gas producing veggies, beans, and wheat. You will figure out what the problem is with trial and error, but if you find the culprit, you will be a much happier mama with a much more content baby.

2. Infant massage: Infant massage has many benefits, including stimulating the digestive system to help with discomforts. I am a certified newborn massage instructor and would be happy to help you with learning this wonderful and very useful skill.

3. Catnip & fennel tea or tincture: give to Mom first before giving directly to baby if breastfeeding.

4. Chamomile and/or mild peppermint tea from a dropper (NO honey or sugar).

5. Highlands brand gas tablets: these are homeopathic tablets and work great for many moms.

6. A chiropractic adjustment: Does wonders with gas/colic for many babies. 

7. Children’s Acidophilus: giving 1/2 of the recommended children’s dose may work very well when there is an upset stomach with the gas. *Note – this is not considered a “natural” remedy and should be considered only after other options have been tried. Also, a doctor should always be consulted when you are unsure of the dosage, it is very important not to give too much.

by Brenda Minica, CD (CBI)

Brenda is a certified doula and homeschooling mom of 6 children living near San Antonio, TX

http://www.doulasanantonio.com

Nowadays, women don’t need to wait for pregnancy signs to find out about a potential pregnancy, since tests have been invented and they have an accuracy of over 99%. There are basically two types of tests, categorized by the samples they use: urine tests and blood ones. Women prefer the first type generally, and that’s because it has multiple advantages, one of the most important being the possibility that it offers: finding out if they’re pregnant or not in the privacy of their own home, at a lower price and with an excellent accuracy.

All pregnancy tests are working by the same principle: they try to detect the presence and levels of hCG (human chorionic gonadotropin) in a woman’s body(which only appears if she is pregnant) – and it’s produced by placenta at least after 6 days after ovulation. So, as there is no hCG in a woman’s body before this moment, it’s useless to take a test because it will give a negative result even if pregnant.

Things are pretty simple, basically: the first day after the moment of conception that you could be getting an accurate result is the 7th day; however, doctors recommend taking a test at least 2 weeks after that moment. Most of the tests’ instructions, though, suggest that the best moment for this is the day you have missed your period.

Although they have many things in common, there are also certain features that make the difference amongst pregnancy tests, such as: the accuracy level, the easiness in use and interpretation, the results(the faster, the better), and so on. The advantage of home tests is that they’re taken in your intimacy, but the disadvantage is that they’re taken alone most of the time; however, you don’t actually need the help of a specialist, since these tests are practically designed for the need of average people, so the instruction set should be enough help. The process is very easy: after removing the cap, just hold the test’s stick under your urine stream for 5 seconds and then wait a short while before reading the result; one line means you’re not pregnant and two lines mean that you are. To avoid any confusion that could sometimes appear, you could go for a digital pregnancy test that literally spells out the result for you “Pregnant” or “Not Pregnant”.

Things have evolved, so nowadays in order to find out if you’re pregnant or not all you have to do is take a test. Most women appeal to home tests due to their high accuracy level(98-99%) combined with the fast result(2-3 minutes) and the intimacy that they provide.

Catecholamines
The Process of labor does stress an infant, resulting in a release of stress hormones (catecholamines, pronounced “cat-a-cola-means”) that are crucial for the protection and good health of the baby.
Catecholamines cause vital processes in the baby which help it survive and adapt at birth, according to researchers Hugo Lagercrantz and Theodore Slotkin. The effects of the catecholamines on a baby, which include a slowing of the heart rate, protect it from less oxygen during contractions. The baby is also put into a highly alert state that researchers believe may help in infant attachment at birth.

From: A Good Birth & A Safe Birth

What do Catecholamines do?
*Improves Breathing
*Increases lung surfactant
*Increases lung-liquid absorption
*Improves lung compliance
*Dilates bronchioles
*Protects Heart and Brain
*Increases blood flow to vital organs
*Mobilizes Fuel
*Breaks down normal fat into fatty acids
*Breaks down glycogen (in liver) to glucose
*Stimulates new production of glucose by liver
*Facilitates Bonding?
*Dilates pupils
*Appears to increase alertness

From: “The Stress of Being Born”, Lagercrantz and Slotkin

Endorphins-The Body’s Natural Narcotic
Circulating throughout your body are natural hormones that relax you when stressed and relieve pain when you hurt. Most mothers don’t even know these biologic labor assistants exist and, more important, that they can influence when and how these hormones are released. In the 1970′s researchers studying drug addiction stumbled upon the presence of specialized areas in the brain, called receptor sites, for morphine-like substances. They discovered endorphins (from, endogenous, meaning “produced in the body,” and morphine-like substances), chemical pain relievers produced in the nerve cell that attach to receptor sites on the cell blunting the sensation of pain in these cells. Here’s what we know about these natural remedies and how they can work for you.
*Endorphin levels go up during contractions in active labor (especially during the second stage of labor), are highest just after birth and return to prelabor levels two weeks postpartum.
*Endorphin levels were found to be highest during vaginal deliveries, less high in cesarean births in which the mother had also labored, and lowest in cesarean births performed before mother’s labor had begun.
*Endorphin levels are elevated in newborns who had signs of fetal distress during delivery. The baby also receives these natural pain relievers during birth.
*Endorphin levels are increased during strenuous exercise, and there is no activity in the world that is more strenuous than labor.
*As an added benefit, endorphins stimulate the secretion of prolactin, the relaxing “mothering” hormone that regulates milk production and gives a woman a boost in interacting with her baby. Researchers believe that it is a combination of these hormones that contribute to the “birth high”.
*Endorphins may account for the “high” mothers experience after a birth when sleep eludes them. Also, it seems possible that a mother having a surgical birth without going through labor may experience lower hormone levels after birth, which could account for the sometimes observed delay in milk supply after a cesarean birth.
*Like commercially produced narcotics, endorphins behave differently from woman to woman. This may be why some women are more sensitive to pain than others.
*Instead of the periodic “blast” you get with injectable narcotics (often making you groggy), your endorphins give you steady assistance throughout labor.
*Laboring mothers who are aware of these hormonal effects describe their feelings as “naturally drugged.” Set the birthing conditions that let these labor helpers work for you.

From: The Birth Book by William Sears MD & Martha Sears RN

Labor For a While Before Your Cesarean
You may think, “Why should I go through all that work and pain if I’m going to have a cesarean anyway?” While it may be inconvenient for the hospital or doctor, it is often medically beneficial for your baby if you labor as long as possible before an elective cesarean. Besides indication that baby is ready to be born, some precesarean contractions let the baby benefit from the natural hormones of labor. Studies show that babies delivered by cesarean after mothers labor a while have fewer breathing problems in the first few days after birth than babies whose mothers were not in labor. Labor prepares baby for changes that are coming rather than being snatched from his nest without warning.

From: The Birth Book by Dr. William Sears

http://www.mothersnature.com/pregnancy/info/catech.html

Somebody said if you’re a “good” mother, your child will “turn out”…
somebody thinks a child is like a bag of plaster of Paris that comes with directions, a mold and a guarantee.

Somebody said being a mother is what you do in your spare time…
Somebody doesn’t know that when you’re a mother, you’re a mother ALL the time.

Somebody said “good” mothers never raise their voices…
Somebody never came out the back door just in time to see her child wind up and hit a golf ball through the neighbor’s window.

Somebody said you don’t need an education to be a mother…
Somebody never helped a fourth grader with his math.

Somebody said you can’t love the fifth child as much as you love the first…
Somebody doesn’t have five children.

Somebody said a mother can find all the answers to her child-rearing questions in the books…
Somebody never had a child stuff beans up his nose.

Somebody said the hardest part of being a mother is labor and delivery…
somebody never watched her “baby” get on the bus for the first day of kindergarten.

Somebody said a mother can do her job with her eyes closed and one hand tied behind her back…
Somebody never organized seven giggling Brownies to sell cookies.

Somebody said a mother can stop worrying after her child gets married…
Somebody doesn’t know that marriage adds a new son or daughter-in-law to a mother’s heartstrings.

Somebody said a mother’s job is done when the last child leaves home…
Somebody never had grandchildren.

Somebody said being a mother is the side dish on the plate of life…
Somebody doesn’t know what fills you up.

Somebody said your mother knows you love her, so you don’t need to tell her…
Somebody isn’t a mother.

Have you ever been overnight at a hotel with your child and the hotel sets up a run down old crib for your baby to sleep in? Or how about when your child is having an overnight at grandma and grandpa’s home – is there a safe and comfortable place for your son or daughter to sleep? Have you thought about purchasing a travel bed for your toddler?

Safety and comfort is number 1 at all times when it comes to your child – and even more so when travelling with you son or daughter. Have you ever had that one night when your child cries all night – and you just know it is a result of them sleeping in an uncomfortable bed? How about getting to a hotel room and you see the crib they have set up for your son or daughter – and there is absolutely no way that you will be placing them in there to sleep – not clean – not safe – and so on. You may be ready for a toddler travel bed. There are many good quality beds to choose from – but how do you decide on the one that is the best option for your family. Read our 7 tips to help clarify your decision.

1. The lighter the better. All things considered – the lighter the bed the better. The bed you choose should be under 6 pounds (in metric that’s under 3 kg.). Travelling with a baby means that you have other gear as well – diaper bag, stroller, etc. Everything you buy – including your toddler travel bed should be ultra lightweight.

2. Easy to carry and load into your car. The bed you select should have its own travel case and when packed away it should be no larger than 24x8x8(in.) or 60x20x20(cm.). No matter where your travels with your child take you – on a plane on a cruise ship or to grandpa’s house you have to carry all the gear and it all has to fit into tight spaces – like your car trunk or as checked baggage on a plane. A small, compact bed will help with this.

3. Easy to set up – the last thing you want is when you get to your destination is having to fumble in setting up the bed for your child. It should be a simple process to set up and a simple process to fold it back up again when you are finished. Set up time and fold up time should take less than 1 minute, and it should be able to be done by one person.

4. Simple and quick access to your toddler. If your child needs you in the middle of the night you want to be able to easily reach into the bed to pick them up or to pat their back. The bed you decide on should have a way for you to quickly get to your child – usually with a side panel that can be lowered by a quick zip of a zipper.

5. Good air ventilation – a good bed will provide for good air flow for your child. Look for one that has mesh side panels that will allow for good air flow helping to keep your child comfortable.

6. Light and comfortable mattress. The mattress in a toddler travel bed can sometimes be heavier than the bed frame itself. Look for a travel bed that comes with a foam mattress – it will be both comfortable for your child and lightweight to carry.

7. Buy with confidence. Check to make sure that the retailer that you purchase from has a no problem return policy – you want to make sure that the bed can be returned (with no problems from the retailer) if it just isn’t right for your family. And if the bed that you purchase is a high quality one, the manufacturer should provide a life time guarantee which will protect you years from now in case there is a problem.

There are lots of essential pieces of baby gear that make life better and easier for families. We consider a toddler travel bed to be essential to our family – and maybe you feel the same way for your family. When the time is right for you to look for a bed for your toddler child use these tips to help to make the right decision for you.

Coming home from the hospital with a newborn baby has been described as feeling like ‘going on a date.” Most new parents have feelings that range from fear to awe as they cuddle, feed and care for their baby. Usually new parents have several months to prepare for their newborn; however, starting a new relationship asks much of them.
Newborn massage is a powerful, happy way to become acquainted. You can learn early communication while giving your baby gentle but potent nerve and muscle stimulation. This assists with digestion, elimination, healing, growth, and deeper sleep. Newborns have special needs to consider during massage. This class introduces supportive, protective massage while you learn early infant communication and how to respond to it in a satisfying way.

- Teresa Kirkpatrick Ramsey
Founder of “Baby’s First Massage” Program

Note from Brenda: I am a certified Baby’s First Massage Instructor and am available on a limited basis for private classes in your home.  Here is my brochure: Baby’s First Massage Brochure

Study: Fetal oxygen monitors don’t help

newborns, moms

A large government study has concluded that monitoring fetal oxygen levels during labor does not lead to healthier newborns or reduce unnecessary Caesarean deliveries.

Fetal monitoring has long been controversial. Since the 1970s, doctors have routinely listened to fetal heartbeats despite no real evidence that it did any good. In fact, some research found that it increased the number of C-sections by making doctors nervously reach for a scalpel whenever the monitor showed an abnormal blip.

New technology that measures oxygen levels in the blood of a fetus was thought to offer a better way to tell which babies were truly at risk. In 2000, the Food and Drug Administration conditionally approved one such device, but required further study before allowing it into general use.

The study, published in Thursday’s New England Journal of Medicine, was the biggest to date, involving more than 5,000 women, and was meant to be the definitive word. It was halted early because of overwhelming evidence that the technology was ineffective.

“There’s no reason to use it,” said lead author Dr. Steven Bloom, chief of obstetrics and gynecology at the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center. “We didn’t find any evidence of harm, but why should we invest valuable health care dollars in something that doesn’t have a proven benefit?”

In an accompanying editorial, Dr. Michael Greene of Massachusetts General Hospital, who had no role in the research, noted that for once, an expensive technology can be stopped before it finds its way into widespread use. Fetal oxygen monitors are not part of routine care.

“This genie has not yet escaped from the bottle,” he wrote.

In fact, Pleasanton, California-based Nellcor, which received FDA approval to market its OxiFirst devices, stopped selling them earlier this year because of a lack of demand, said company spokeswoman Kristin Garvin.

Garvin could not say how many fetal oxygen machines are installed in U.S. hospitals. In a news release 18 months after gaining FDA approval, Nellcor estimated that more than 400 devices have been used to monitor the births of about 9,000 U.S. babies.

Fetal oxygen machines are designed to be used with traditional electronic monitors, which track heart rate to determine whether the fetus is experiencing stress or lacking oxygen.

In the study, doctors monitored the fetal oxygen levels in 5,341 women pregnant for the first time at 14 university hospitals in the United States. Once a woman’s water breaks, a sensor is inserted into her uterus and placed against the fetus’ temple or cheek. The sensor provides an up-to-the-minute reading of the fetus’ oxygen levels. (The fetal oxygen monitors cost about $10,000 each and the sensors about $150 apiece.)

The women were then randomly separated into two groups. In one group, doctors could read the oxygen levels. For the other group, the information was hidden.

In each group, about 26 percent of deliveries were done by C-section. Doctors also found no difference between the two groups in stillbirths, infections or other newborn problems.

The research was funded by the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development, part of the National Institutes of Health. Researchers had planned on enrolling 10,000 women, but the study was discontinued because no benefit was seen.

In a statement, the FDA said it was reviewing the study and may revise the label on the monitors or inform hospitals about the findings. The agency said it is unlikely it would withdraw its approval of OxiFirst based on this study alone.

Source: http://edition.cnn.com/2006/HEALTH/11/22/fetal.monitors.ap/index.html?eref=yahoo

Brenda’s note: I was unable to open this link the last time I checked, I think it must be too old. I would like to give credit to the author of this article if anyone ever finds another good reference for it. Thanks!

When they are well prepared, women are inherently capable of giving birth and have a deeply rooted instinct about what they need to do to when giving birth without medical intervention. This is the essence of the philosophy of natural childbirth. In natural childbirth, there are no drugs that alter the pace or nature of the labor process. The idea is that women need to be mentally strong and physically well-nourished so they can give birth using the natural powers of their bodies, and with little risk of complication. Women who take on the challenge of a natural childbirth typically do so under the care of a midwife. San Francisco is home to a number of fantastic midwifery services. If you’re thinking about a natural childbirth, San Francisco couldn’t be a better place to live–providing easy access to many well-trained, dedicated midwives.

Many people ask, “Why would a woman want to have a natural childbirth?” Some women get a sense of empowerment from being able to endure such pain, and it makes them feel more closely bonded to the newborn. Many women also feel it’s safer and healthier for both them and their babies to experience the labor process without doctors, drugs or any sort of unnecessary medical attention. People who profess the benefits of natural birth strongly believe that through this method, babies are born into a more peaceful environment, and because their mothers aren’t recovering from the side effects of narcotics, they’re able to hold and breast feed their babies almost right away.

 Advocates of natural childbirth argue that the natural process of labor is really quite simple and efficient. After all, this is how it has been done since the beginning of mankind. Women want epidurals because of their fear of intense pain. But ultimately, that often excruciating pain that is caused by contractions is what guides a laboring woman through the moves she needs to make to facilitate delivery. How she responds to what she feels actually increases the efficiency of the contractions and encourages the baby to move down the birth canal. When the mother feels little or no pain at all, the body’s system of feedback is interrupted and labor can slow down and, well, become quite laborious. When pain increases during natural childbirth, endorphins (which are, by the way, much stronger than morphine), are released in increasing amounts. Acting as nature’s narcotic, endorphins naturally relieve some of the pain.

Not only do many women choose to give birth naturally, but some also opt to have a home birth. San Francisco, or wherever you live–there are experienced midwives all across the country–has midwives who specialize in supporting women through a safe and natural home birth. Midwives often recommend this setting to the women they support, as their experience has shown that the home provides a comfortable, warm, and safe place to bring a baby into the world. When you find the right midwife (San Francisco based or not), you will have at your disposal a compassionate source of reassurance and knowledge that is needed to get you through a safe and healthy childbirth without medical intervention.

By: David Tang

Article Directory: http://www.articledashboard.com

Written by Kacy Suther. California’s holistic midwife: San Francisco. Angelika Nugent provides natural childbirth San Francisco and services for home birth; San Francisco pre-natal and post-partum care.

Omigosh. My baby is crying and for the life of me I can’t figure out why. Why can’t you talk to me? Well, maybe its because babies don’t talk. Wrong. Babies talk all the time. They just don’t use the English language.

Don’t tell me that when your baby’s eyes are bulging out and she’s turning blue in the face from screaming so hard she can’t even catch her breath that she isn’t trying to tell you something! You’ve been there, Mom. All those baby tears are frustration (hers, not yours) directed your way, and you just don’t get it!

Ah. What we have here is a basic failure to communicate. Two entirely different languages are being spoken here, and you don’t happen to have a U.N. interpreter. You speak English and your baby speaks Bbbfflltt!

What if you both spoke the same language? Here’s a novel idea: Why don’t you teach your baby sign language?

Wow. I thought you were going somewhere with this advice. Okay. I’ll teach my baby sign language. I’ll just squeeze it in between her organic chemistry class and her Vaganova ballet class. Hey, that was a great suggestion. Have a wonderful day.

Hold on there, mom of the year. Wendy Jensen says — Yes! Yes you can teach your baby sign language! She knows because she’s done it (well, she taught her babies, not yours). And she’s taught other parents (successfully, by the way) to teach their babies, too.

You are, naturally, skeptical at this point. But Wendy did it. And so have thousands of other moms out there. And these moms didn’t all go to Yale (or even South Eastern Missouri State). Tell you the truth, these moms, on the whole, are a pretty average bunch. Good people, but not necessarily on a par with Madame Curie or Susan Sontag. In fact, probably not as bright as you! After all, you are reading this article!

And that’s not all. There are many other benefits when you teach your baby sign language.

Imagine being able to talk to your baby, who will no longer have to scream her little head off to tell you, her mother, that her toe hurts because she bit it with her new tooth when she jammed her foot in her mouth! She can just give you a sign.

And hold on there, mama, there are side benefits, too. Long lasting ones.

Sign language helps kids develop better language skills. It’s true. Even kids that have no hearing problem. Why, you ask. Because they communicate better. Turns out they are more interested in what goes on around them. Now who would have thought? But this is true.

Here’s a few reasons why it probably works this way:

Kids are mimics. They want to shave like daddy or wear high heels like mommy (hopefully gender appropriate). Sign language starts them mimicking their parents at an earlier age. Hence they do adult things at a younger age than other kids.

You see, to mimic someone, you first have to study that person. For instance, you can’t dance like Vanessa Hudgens (she’s one of the kids in “High School Musical” — I had to look it up) without first studying how Vanessa Hudgens dances. OK. That makes sense. You also have to study the signer to learn to sign. This develops attention skills. And kids keep focused because they love it! Their little mushy brains are working full speed and its exciting to them.

Your kid will think signing is a form of action game. They love it!

How does your little bundle of joy see all of this? Every kid loves to say: “Mom! Lookamee!” Because they crave parental attention. When she is being taught sign language she is the center of attention. And there’s no “hush now” or “back into the playpen with you.” Note: Kids hate being hushed, and they really hate being dumped into the playpen.

Now, are we saying if you teach your baby sign language she is guaranteed a full blown scholastic scholarship to an Ivy League school? Sure why not. Or at least she will have a jump start on everyone else. Kids that learn that learning is fun, well, now, they are set for life. So when you teach your baby sign language, it’s like the sage old advice: Give a baby a fish and she eats today. Teach a babyto fish and you feed her for a lifetime. Well, kinda like that. The point being, the benefits to your little angel are not just for right now. She will benefit for her whole life.