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Feeding a baby is not shocking, but necessary. Unfortunately in some cultures, particularly in the Western world, feeding a baby at the breast IS seen as something shocking, even vulgar by some. To be fair, many people are simply unaccustomed to seeing a woman breastfeeding and so feel some discomfort around a nursing mother. For others, breast feeding is an activity that belongs behind closed doors.
On the other hand, some proponents of breastfeeding feel that the only way to normalize the activity and affect a change in the collective consciousness is to proceed normally, and not behave as if nursing is something that needs to be hidden away.
Others feel that they can’t do much to change the opinions of uninformed individuals. They may decide to avoid offending others by using some sort of nursing cover up when feeding their baby. No approach is right, it depends on the situation and the feelings of the mother.
A large blanket tossed over breastfeeding mothers shoulder screams “we’re nursing under here!” A better choice would be a lightweight receiving blanket that, instead of being worn over the shoulder, is placed behind the baby’s back and pulled up over his head so that mom is covered. There are also specially designed, lightweight nursing covers that attach to mom’s neck. These are available in a lot of cute fabrics and designs and fold up easily in a diaper bag or purse. Some of these are stiff at the top so that mom can see baby’s face while nursing, preserving some of the closeness and communication between mom and baby.
Many moms find that using a baby sling, which is a soft cloth baby carrier that the mother wears on her body, is even more effective as a nursing cover up. A ring sling like the Maya Wrap can easily accommodate a nursing infant. The piece of fabric that holds the baby – the pouch – can be pulled up to cover baby’s head easily. The tail of the sling can also be used to cover the baby’s head or any exposed breast.
Young babies are often easy to nurse discreetly, but older babies sometimes develop habits that make discreet nursing harder. For instance, some babies refuse to be covered up. Others begin playing with mom’s other nipple. If your baby begins doing this, you might want to discourage it strongly if discreet nursing is important to you.
It’s very difficult to get him to stop once this habit is deeply entrenched.
Nursing cover ups can also be helpful in the case of babies who are easily distracted at the breast, which is common when babies reach around 8 or 9 months of age. Sometimes mom has such a hard time getting baby settled down to nurse that she gets uncomfortably full, which can lead to problems with plugged ducts or mastitis.
Breastfeeding is gaining more acceptance as more people become aware of its benefits, but we may still be a couple of generations before it is common to see women nursing in public. Until then, nursing cover ups can prove to be helpful in keeping moms and babies breastfeeding longer.
What do you think? Please leave your comment below….
A Tribute to Fred Rosen - Not the Final Tribute! Douglas McArthur once said that "Old soldiers never die; they just fade away." But the general never met my dad, who this week begins his own process of fading away after serving on the front lines of wine and spirits retailing for three generations. Recently, my family gave up......
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There is a lot of Thumbs up and Thumbs down controversy out about the Teen Pregnancy Video in the UK.
Not sure if you have seen this video but it’s extremely explicit and the way I understand it’s to scare teenage girls out of getting pregnant. It realistically shows a school girl at her school on the playground giving birth to her baby.
Would really like to know what you think about the video so leave us a comment.
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There seems to be a lot of questions going around lately about mom’s being concerned about their toddler’s toileting problems. I know…I know who wants to talk about toddler poop but lets be fair. For some reason parents worry about everything that happens during all the poop alerts. I really didn’t think to mush about it until my daughter was asking me what she could do about her baby being constipated and then she was asking about the color of her babies poop and then a question about training I could go on and on.
So far all that’s concerned about the poop alerts here is some good information that I hope will help.
bluepuppybites [+]. 3/5 you think after having a baby I would know more…but I guess I never had problems with poop with my kid so I didn’t talk or read about it either. 3. Tue, 04/07/2009 – 10:01am Report Comment · kikidawn’s picture …
It’s been a long couple of months for us health wise. Em has been sick on and off since December. Earaches, asthma and constipation have had Toby Joe and I at a.
Toddler Buzz features advice and information for moms of toddlers and preschoolers including, potty training, tantrums, and tips for picky eaters. CafeMom Daily Buzz, discover the best of what moms are talking about on CafeMom and …
While both babies and toddlers tend to urinate frequently, a toddler may poop as little as once a day. “With an infant we usually say you’ll need five or ten diapers a day,” Altmann tells WebMD, “but with a toddler, several daily is …
Because I know I’m not the only mama who stays up half the night scouring The Baby Book by Dr. Sears in hopes of finding answers about how best to treat a toddler’s newest cut from reenacting a tight-rope walk across the dog kennel or …
my son had big poop and i realized as i was changing him, that there were no diapers in the bag. i scooped out the poop, lined the diaper w/ paper towels, and closed him back up… 6. Fri, 04/03/2009 – 6:55pm Report Comment …
“Did you see the color of my newborn’s poop?” “I just love the smell of a new baby’s poop.” And when they are toddlers… “I can’t believe how much my toddler’s poop has changed since they were a newborn!” …
Suddenly I remembered hearing that you’re not supposed to embarrass or call attention to your toddler’s poop or smell. “It will make them feel bad and make them not want to go.” I have no idea where I heard it, but I can only assume it …
Refusal to recognize the urge to poop because they are quite engaged in play and socialization – Their play area/facility or classroom does not have a clean bathroom – A negative experience in the past that they associate with the use …
So I hope this helped and please leave your comments and let me know some of your concerns about today’s toddler’s poop sccop.
Different diapers for different times of the day Before I delivered, we bought about 4 dozens of cloth nappies and one bag of Mamy Poko Newborn diaper. When baby arrived, we thought we'd first use the Mamy Poko diaper instead of the cloth nappy because Mamy Poko Newborn diaper comes with a naval protector. By the time he......
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This past weekend we went to visit my daughter who just had our first grandchild which is now six weeks old. We were talking about her baby sleeping schedule that she was working on and how hard it was to get any sleep herself.
One big change a family has with a newborn is the big problem of “baby sleeping” or a lack of. When we had our third child we were not thinking that we would have any baby sleep pattern problems because we had already gone through it twice before. Then we found out that first we were wrong and second we found out that all kids are different. There are babies that will start off keeping you up all night and not sleeping at all and others will sleep through the night.
I’m sure you’ve heard before that the best time to sleep is when your baby sleeps. Well, this is partly true and sometimes completely impossible. Sometimes when your infant sleeps this is considered your work time, to get thing done around the house. Where this causes a problem is if you aren’t well rested you won’t enjoy the time you normally spend with your baby when he/she is awake and wanting you to give them all your attention.
If you think about it when babies are born they have an entirely different clock from any other baby and wanting to sleep at different times. When the baby was in the mother’s womb the baby would sleep during the day when mom was “rocking the baby to sleep” with the her movements. Now when mom settles down for the night the baby thinks it’s time to rock and roll. Anyway, what happens is… it just takes time for the baby to adjust to the new routine.
You know what’s normal for one family just might not be for the next family and at first when you are thinking about your baby sleeping you have to realize that it’s difficult at first and things will settle down to a normal routine. One thing will help with your baby sleep problems and the transition is to find out what works for your baby and establish a good nap and bedtime routine.
So if you have a newborn sleep problem and your baby seems to be a night owl, try adjusting the time a little every day. You might want to try maybe when it gets close to their bedtime dim the lights, this could help both of you relax. Then after your baby is asleep take a little time to pamper yourself and then get a good nights sleep.
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We all know that smoking in pregnancy carries a lot of risk for having pregnancy complications. Some of the well known are preterm birth which is the second most common cause of infant death. Newborns are born below the ideal birth weight, smoking can increase rates in ectopic pregnancy, miscarriage, as well as neonatal death and stillbirth.
SOME GOOD NEWS
A press release just came out from the Faculty of Medical and Health Sciences at the University of Auckland today saying that giving up smoking early in pregnancy reverses risk of complications. The lead researcher Associate Professor Lesley McCowan says “for the first time we have shown that pregnant women who stop smoking during this window of opportunity can prevent serious late pregnancy complication.
Associate Professor Lesley McCowan also says “The findings are significant because they show that maternity care providers should see women early in pregnancy and emphasize the importance of giving up smoking before fifteen weeks, with the goal of becoming smoke free as early as possible in pregnancy“.
The women in the research that do not stop smoking with in that window of opportunity (before 15 weeks) are three times more likely to have a premature birth than non-smokers.
It has always been said that when you stop smoking this could lead to stress and a lot of women believe this.
Well, they also found that women that stop smoking before that 15 week period ARE NOT more stressed than the women that do not quick smoking. Dr McCowan says “This challenges the widely-held assumption that giving up smoking leads to increased stress and it’s an important message for women who are daunted by the idea of trying to quit“.
The participation of 2,500 women in the study were surveyed at fifteen weeks of gestatin. The study was the landmark SCOPE (Screening of Pregnancy Endpoints) in New Zealand and Australia.
At the Auckland meeting of The Royal Australian and New Zealand College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists the findings were presented and the finding were published in the British Medical Journal.
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