Mama-Led Weaning, Sometimes It's The Best Choice, at Natural Parents Network

I have a post today at Natural Parents Network about "Mama-Led Weaning, Sometimes It's The Best Choice." I nursed my first son for 14 months, and am in the 13 month of nursing my second. And I'm finished, mamas. I'm just finished. I've had mastitis more times than I can count (I stopped counting at 12 the first time around and 6 this time), I've got systemic thrush, and I seem to be allergic to all of the treatments available to me. So I've decided it's time to wean. Don't get me wrong. I loved nursing. I love the snuggles and the knowledge that I was doing the best I could for my sons before I was able to expose them to the wide and luscious variety of "Big People Food." I loved the convenience and the oxytocin surge. I loved the immune boost. I loved the magical sleeping effects it seemed to have. I even loved vaguely scandalizing people as I nursed my sons on demand. (Honestly, though, I live in San Jose and I never got so much as a side-eye for nursing in public. I love that bubble I live in, too.) But now — chronic mastitis and even more plugged ducts, thrush, cracks, teeth, diminishing supply, and an insatiable baby…I could try more approaches, I could eat more lactation cookies (or bacon cheddar lactation muffins), I could do any number of things, but Walter eats more People food than my 3.5-year-old, and I'm pretty sure that, aside from the midnight session, nursing now is mostly for comfort. Continue reading at Natural Parents Network ››

Be Safe In The Sun!

Be Safe in the Sun! 5 Easy Ways Kids and Adults Can Protect Themselves from Skin Cancer and Wrinkles

 It's that time of year again . . . time for fabulous hats and flip flops and sunscreen. (At least, it is if you're in the Northern Hemisphere.) It also means it's time to talk about the Big C: Cancer. (And the lowercase w: wrinkles.) How can you protect yourself and your kids? I've got some fun and easy ways everyone - regardless of complexion - should be protecting themselves every day. Come check out my post on Natural Parents Network today to learn more, Be Safe in the Sun! 5 Easy Ways Kids and Adults Can Protect Themselves from Skin Cancer and Wrinkles.

Bacon Cheddar Lactation Muffins

You read that right. I made BACON CHEDDAR LACTATION MUFFINS.

At Christmas, my friend Melissa at Leche Love sent me a goodie box with the dry ingredients for her bacon maple lactation muffins. They were quite tasty (and that's the ingredient list clipped to a cookbook down there - lucky me!)

As I was eating them, however, I was thinking they needed more bacon. And cheese. Because we've got The Gourmet Toaster Oven Cookbook and it has a fabulous recipe for Bacon Cheddar Muffins. Also, almost everything is better with more bacon and more cheese, amirite?

I felt I needed to meld the two into bacony-cheddary-lactationy-goodness.

What? I'm just shredding bacon...

Ready for the oven...

Voila! YUM!

A few notes, because people keep asking me what makes them "lactation muffins" - and the answer is: Brewers Yeast, Rolled Oats, and Flaxseed meal. Not to mention the calories. Milk-making Mamas need as many calories as they can get. My research has turned up that roughly 500 calories are burned daily when an infant is exclusively breastfeeding. And when you consider that breastmilk *needs* to be fatty for brain and body development and that everything gets routed to the milk first - mamas need to basically inhale everything in sight not to just walk around as sleep and nutrient deprived zombies.

Unfiltered Wheat Beer also helps with milk production. In case you're feeling a bit thirsty after eating the dozen muffins produced by this recipe.

Bacon Cheddar Lactation Muffins

adapted from The Gourmet Toaster Oven Cookbook and Leche Love

Makes 12

1 1/2 cups AP flour
2tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1 1/2 tbs flaxseed meal
1/4cup quick cooking rolled oats
2tbs brewer's yeast (soak this in ~2tbs warm water for about 5 minutes before mixing it into the batter so the yeast has a chance to bloom)

6 slices of bacon, cooked, drained, and chopped
1 cup grated sharp cheddar (I'll add another 1/2 cup next time I make it. But I feel most things are better with more cheese.)
2 eggs
2-3tbs oil - like veg, coconut, olive, grapeseed, etc (add 2, then a 3rd if you feel the batter needs a bit more moisture.)
1 cup buttermilk

Maple syrup for dipping if so desired.


Mix using the muffin method: mix the dry ingredients - add the bacon and cheese and mix in thoroughly.
Whisk the wet ingredients in a separate bowl and then stir into the dry mix.

Pour into muffin cups/tin (if you don't use paper, make sure you butter/spray the muffin tin cups!)

Cook 10-15 at 350 (my oven is 40 years old and haunted, so take that temp and time with a grain of salt. It's a good starting place, though.)

They're done when a toothpick emerges clean from the middle muffin.

allow to cool a bit

enjoy!

10 Things *not* to do to Help Your Child Eat

Over at NPN today...

10 Things *Not* to Do to Help Your Child Eat

 

 There’s a lot of talk these days about how to get your kids to eat. But really, it’s all about approach and finesse and what not to do. With that in mind, I've come up with a list of ten things that you need to give up before your child will come around to the foodie way of doing things. From making food "fuel" to getting emotional about what your child is not eating, take a peek at what parents should stop doing to help their kids start eating in my post at Natural Parents Network: 

10 Things *Not* to Do to Help Your Child Eat.

Putting Indestructibles to the Test

A few years ago, when Baz was a baby, my mom sent us 2 books from a company called Indestructibles. They are, supposedly, immune to the abuse toddlers put books through. By the time we got them, I'd already been working with Baz to be gentle with books so he did not put them through the wringer.

 (tip: start with catalogues. If those get torn, no one cares, and they're more delicate than picture books, so by the time you introduce picture books, the bar has been set.)

Walter got them pretty early - and he's a kid who puts everything in his mouth (Baz, not so much.)

He just can't get enough of the amazing illustrations and the tasty paper. Trust me, he has been known to just gaze at the images, too.

These books have been put through the ringer. On the left - Humpty Dumpty gets some love, but Frere Jacques (about a chef who dreams of food) gets the most love. He crushes, chews, sucks, throws, peruses, and smashes. They are crumpled, but that actually makes them softer. The illustrations are not worse for the wear, either. 

Hey Diddle Diddle was Baz's - he reads it quite often. Note its near-perfect condition. I have a rather fastidious child.

I decided to put them to the ultimate test: ironing. I used the steam, a fairly high heat, and a linen napkin (you should always put something lint-free and color fast between your iron and whatever you're ironing, lest you over-heat the fabric and leave shiny spots or burns. Those are tell-tale wear signs and not acceptable at all....wonder where my 3 year old gets his fastidiousness from? ;-) )

After ironing - flat books again! 

Ok, so I found one chink in the armor of the virtually indestructible books: direct heat from the iron will melt the pages. I found this out when I was ironing and the cord of the iron pulled the napkin away. I do not recommend that. I'm pretty sure you could cut these with scissors, too, but I don't want to try because we enjoy these books!

So there you go - the perfect infant books. I want to make a point of saying these are the perfect car books - they're not hard or heavy like board books, they're not prone to tearing like paperbacks, and the pictures are colorful and inviting. We keep at least one in the seat pocket at all times.

For legal reasons I need to say that this company doesn't know who I am, that I ironed their book, or even that I own their books. They do not care that I melted Frere Jacques because they do not know that I own Frere Jacques (they may care if they ever find out, but who knows if that will happen. 12 people ready my blog.) They also would probably like to know that I HEARTILY recommend these books as gifts for the small ones in your life and that I feel the price (~$5) is well worth it. Find them at your local book store* or amazon.

*why shop local? Here's why. Seriously. Click through and read at least the cover page at the

 3/50 Project. 

You'll be amazed.

Monster Be Gone!

Do you have one of these living next door to you? A Macaw? The bird is beautiful, but its squawks are startling and jarring to an adult (when I first heard them I honestly thought something was being mauled) and they're downright scary to a small child.

Husband didn't help things when he coined it the Dinosaur Bird and made up this song: "Dinosaur Bird is gonna eat you!" Which he happily sang to Baz ONCE. 

We've been paying for it ever since.

Add to that a new fear of anything even remotely scary (scene not well lit enough in an otherwise mellow movie? TOO SCARY! Someone being snappish? SCARY! Women in a gas mask? SCARY!) and we've had a fun night pattern emerge.

Enter pinterest and co-workers.

It's not revolutionary, but kids are literal and so it's miraculously effective.

We made a sign:

It reads: NO Monsters or Dinosaur Birds ALLOWED!!!

Then we made some spray, just in case the sign isn't enough for the persistent ones: 

 

The California Baby spray bottles are the best. And the Calming Room Spray we already had has the added benefit of combating the Stinky Feet Boy Room smell that has a tendency of hanging around sometimes.

VOILA! So far, so good. Bedtimes are much easier these days. 

Unless the Dinosaur Bird has been squawking, that is. I love/hate that bird.

Whew!

Heavy Rotation: Kat Edmonson

Our new favorite lullaby around these parts...

In Praise of the Pause

Let me just preface this with acknowledging that a lot of people out there are having French Parents Are Awesome Fatigue, and I respect that.

But Y'ALL - THE PAUSE.

According to Pamela Druckerman, French parents don't sleep train - despite having children who sleep through the night early on (2 months, she says.) What they do, is pause. They just take a moment, when their child stirs, to make sure that awakening is what's happening and not just restlessness.

And I cannot stress enough how much I want to kiss her for sharing that little tidbit. It seems like such a small thing - and something that SURELY everyone knows. Well, you know what happens when you assume, right?

With Baz, the minute I heard noise I rocketed to him like he'd turned on a tractor beam. The result was a baby who never learned how to settle back down between REM cycles and parents who didn't sleep through the night for close to two years.

With Walter, the only thing that's changed is that we Pause now. The crib is still side-carred. He still winds up with his head in my armpit the second half of the night. He nurses on demand, he nurses to sleep, he sleeps on me if he's having a rough time of it (Baz hasn't figured out Quiet Time just yet) but ultimately...he's sleeping through the night and napping like a champ to boot.

Let me clarify that sleeping through the night is a 4-6 hour stretch. And it is AMAZING. The not-so-amazing part is that he goes down between 6:30 and 7:30 and then sleeps until between 11 and 1 and is then up every two is hours after that. 6:30-8:30 seems to be his I'm AWAKE time, and then we get a morning nap and - if Baz cooperates, 2 afternoon naps.

And all I do is Pause. I listen to the quality of his noises and can now (at almost 3 months) tell the difference between the Between Dreams shifting and the Awake and Rooting for Boob shifting. I am always right there and if he starts crying there is definite tractor-beam-like action, but I don't interfere. I trust him to follow the cues his body is giving him, just like he trusts me to provide milk, snuggles, a fresh diaper, or a pat on the back when he needs it.

It's some of that advice that you hear from older generations and tend to blow off until you put it into practice:

Don't Read Books - Read your Child
Don't Watch the Clock - Watch Your Child
Don't Listen to "Experts" - Listen to Your Child.

Well, I did. And everyone benefits.

Also - Husband was right: everyone should have their second child first. This baby thing is a breeze the second time around ;-)

Giveaway: Birth Announcements from TinyPrints — 2 Winners! — $75 ARV {10.6 US/CAN}

This is a joint giveaway with Embrita Blogging and Natural Parents Network. You may enter at one site only. Please find the section marked "Win it!" for the mandatory entry and optional bonus entries.

TinyPrints is offering TWO of our readers a gift certificate for Birth Announcements or other custom stationery items, a value of $75. From our reviewer, Embrita Blogging:

TinyPrints started as 3 friends filling a gap in the market: quality baby stationery. Since then, the company has expanded to offer invitations, announcements, and greeting cards for all occasions as well as gifts and decor and photo books. The process is easy: narrow down your favorites until you pick a design you like, upload your photos, fill in the blanks, and before you know it there's a happy box waiting on your porch. We were expecting our second son in early August and I spent most of July pouring over the offerings on the TinyPrints site to pick the perfect announcement. Both my husband and Baz weighed in with their opinions and we finally landed on a flat square card with a single image on the front and a single image on the back. So here's what I like about the company and the process: there are many, many options and seemingly endless configurations: season, gender, pregnancy, adoption, number of photos, flat or folded (or accordion!)...the list goes on and on. The cards are printed on heavy stock that will hold up to the abuse given by the postal system (I just went with the standard offering, though you can upgrade both paper and coating). Here's what it looks like on their site:

Here's what arrived on my porch:

(That kid is cute, but mine is clearly cuter :))

Looks awesome to me. While I stuck with the default font for this layout, you can change colors and fonts for some of their options.

We did add a photo to the back for good measure (my first choice was to pick an option with multiple images on the front, but I was out-voted). On the one hand, I'm vaguely bothered that the quality of that image is clearly of lesser quality than the one on the front. On the other hand, I don't really care because it's on the back of the card and the card is about Walter, who is so darned cute on the front!

The only thing that really bothered me about some of the card options was that the text wasn't fully customizable. The first card we all agreed on was for a Holiday season baby, even though the colors didn't indicate it as such and there was no way to remove "Happy Holidays!" from the greeting. We went with our second choice, but it would have been nice to simply alter the greeting and send out our first choice.

The final option we were offered was to upload our address book and have TinyPrints print out the envelopes as well (envelopes come free with your order - one envelope per card, with extras available for purchase). You can also have TinyPrints send them out for you. While I see the appeal for things like invitations, I'm old-fashioned enough to want to include notes and hand-sign most (if not all) of our announcements (and holiday cards, when the time comes). (Edited — I have a newborn — handwritten notes did not happen in the interest of getting them in the mail while the child could still be classified as a newborn.)

Overall, I am impressed with the product and the service and will likely use it again. If you've got a baby on the way, certainly enter for a chance to have a bit of your expense covered (babies are expensive!). And if you don't have a baby on the way...there are birthdays and holidays and parties and thank yous and photo books to be had over at their site. Definitely check it out.

BUY IT!

You can purchase your own Birth Announcements at TinyPrints, starting as low as $0.79/card. TinyPrints is also offering a $10 discount on your first order when you subscribe to their newsletter. Be sure to check out their Promotions Page for more coupon codes and deals.

WIN IT!

For your own chance to win a $75 GIFT CERTIFICATE from TinyPrints, enter by leaving a comment and using our Rafflecopter system below. The winner will receive a $75 gift certificate toward the purchase of Birth Announcements or other custom stationery from TinyPrints. Contest is open to the US & Canada.

MANDATORY ENTRY: Visit TinyPrints and tell us another item you like! You must enter your name and email address in the Rafflecopter entry system for your entry to count, after leaving a comment on this blog post.

Leave a valid email address so we can contact you if you win. Email addresses in Rafflecopter are not made publicly visible. Please leave the same valid email address in your mandatory comment so we can verify entries. This is a joint giveaway with Embrita Blogging and Natural Parents Network. You may enter at one site only, and we'll be recording IP addresses to ensure that there are no duplicate entries. That said, please do visit and enjoy both sites!   BONUS ENTRIES: See the Rafflecopter entry system for bonus entries to increase your chance of winning after completing the mandatory entry. All bonus entries are entered directly into Rafflecopter. Give it a try, and email or leave a comment if you have any questions! a Rafflecopter giveaway  

Contest closes Saturday, October 6, at 11:59 p.m. Eastern Time.

 

Disclosure: Our reviewer received a sample product for review purposes. Tiny Prints links are affiliate links. We try to seek out only products we think you would find relevant and useful to your life as a natural parent. If we don't like a product, we won't be recommending it to you. See our full disclosure policy here.

  __________________________________

  Emily just welcomed the newest member of her family and is currently existing in a newborn fog. She writes, creates, cooks, and sings (badly) in sunny Northern California.

Crib as Co-sleeper

You can already imagine why I did it, and over at NPN today, I'm telling you how I did it. 

August in a Nutshell

You guys! It's been way too long. I have a list of blogs to write but it's just been crazy 'round these parts.

First off, guess who arrived early? 

6lbs 9oz of deliciousness.

(He came July 31st instead of August 2nd, which was when the c-section was scheduled. [In case you missed it, I've done that before.] My "official" edd was August 4th. I have now officially labored and I'm here to tell you that I didn't get very far before i was *really* glad it was going to end in a morphine drip, even if it did make me itchy. Giving birth naturally is not for the faint of heart. Trust me.)

I am one lucky girl.

Then there were peaches to pick...

Cities to build...

bikes to ride...

cookies to bake...

Books to read...

school to start,

events to attend,

and plans to make.

 

I'm not making promises, because we're barely 5 weeks in, but here's hoping we find a rhythm soon. I have a list of things I miss doing, and writing is at the top!

{this moment}

From Soulemama.com:

{this moment} - A Friday ritual. A single photo - no words - capturing a moment from the week. A simple, special, extraordinary moment. A moment I want to pause, savor and remember.

If you're inspired to do the same, leave a link to your 'moment' in the comments for all to find and see.

Super Undies: A Review

***The product in question was provided by the company for the purposes of review. The opinions are purely those of mine and my family.***

(Adding pictures to the bath/bed routine also added a dimension of chaos. 

This is our best picture of the undies.)

About a month or so ago, I heard through the blogger grapevine that Super Undies was looking for testers. Since we are THROUGH with diapers (I'm more through than Baz, but that's a whole other thing) I contacted them. 

Long story short: we ended up with a pair of Nightime Undies for testing. They arrived in the mail and I could tell from the bulk that they meant business. And let me tell you, folks, this kid's bladder has always been remarkable in its production. His kidneys work just fine, thankyouverymuch.

I ran them through a pre-wash (we wash everything before we wear it) and immediately realized they were going to take twice as long to dry as our previous nighttime solution (in diapers: he was wearing a fitted with a doubler and a wool cover. Lately, he's been in night time disposable pull ups.)

So the NEXT night, we put them to the test.

Here's what we thought:

*Baz enjoys them - he's not generally a fan of disposables for non-pooping purposes, and he liked being able to pull them on by himself. 

*They're bulky without being gigantic - so they fit under his regular pajamas

*The bulk means they take forever to dry, and due to our lack of a recent cloth diaper routine, I found myself wishing we had more than one pair so that I didn't have to wash every day/supplement with pull ups. (At roughly $30/pair, though, they're certainly an investment. The real test will be how they hold up for Rerun when he's at this stage in 2-3 years.)

*Some nights he wet right through them. But, considering he's still not waking at night to potty, and he's leaked through every night diaper "solution" out there - I'm not remotely surprised, nor do I blame the Super Undies. Most nights, he did not wet through them. (He's also been sick, so the most recent wet-through could be a fluke completely related to all the fluids we've been pushing.)

*They're cute without being babyish. Let me just say that when your kid decides to be a Big Kid and not a Baby anymore - everything needs to reflect that or you'll get a lot of push-back in the form of: "Don't like dat! Dat's for baby!" The simple color blocking is appealing. (Not that we'd turn down a digger or race car pattern - he is still a boy, after all.)

*If we were at the beginning of our Potty Training endeavor, I would also pick up some of the pull-on undies for long car rides and days when we're just out running errands all day. We're a cloth diaper family and the cloth trainer options are few and far between.

All in all, a strong thumbs up from everyone. 

Go check them out! 

(Their website has helpful videos and much more information than I gave here - but I only wanted to talk about our experience, obviously.)

See? They fit under plain-ol' firetruck jammies.

A Day in the Life...an NPN Blog Blitz

It's that time again! You might remember the great post in December 2011 that highlighted the Natural Parents Network Volunteer's most popular or favorite posts from the year. Or what about March 2012 post which featured Do It Yourself projects, How To's, Tutorials, Recipes, and anything related to a step by step guide or informational how-to from the NPN Volunteers? Well, we are back and this time we are bringing you a collection of posts that focus on what our lives really look like! Yep - we are giving you a sneak peak into things like a typical day in our life, special or fun outings, or photos which show all of you what motherhood looks like for us. Basically, we are keeping it real! There are a lot of really wonderful posts here that show that even though we blog about our parenting ideals, we really are just regular moms, getting by one day at a time! So enjoy our typical day in the trenches! Laura at WaldenMommy: Life Behind the Red Front Door shares "Just Another Monday." This post appeared in March of 2012 and is a typical busy day with the Herd. You can also find Laura on Facebook. Cynthia at The Hippie Housewife shares a typical day in her life, complete with a blood test, a stop at the thrift store, and lots and lots of books. You can also find The Hippie Housewife on Facebook, Google+, and Pinterest. Melissa at Vibrant Wanderings shares A Day In The Life: Two Years Old, a photo journal commemorating her daughter's second birthday by attempting to capture a sense of the daily routine at this busy stage. You can also find Vibrant Wanderings on Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, and Networked Blogs. Laura at Pug in the Kitchen shares A Busy Day in the Life of her family. This post is a whirlwind look at life two children under the age of 3. You can also find Laura on Facebook, Twitter, and Pinterest. Momma Jorje shares Typical Visit to the Pediatric Cardiologist + Results. Read her post to see what it is like to take her infant son for regular visits to a cardiologist. You can also find Momma Jorje on Facebook. A Little Bit of All of It shares Our Last Days as a Family of Three as she, her husband and 3 year old daughter wait for baby #2. She also wrote A Day in the Life of This Mom when her daughter was 2 and she watched a 5 month old. You can also find A Little Bit of All of It on Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, and Networked Blogs. Jennifer at Hybrid Rasta Mama shares A Hot Day In The Life of Jennifer. This post appeared on a friend’s blog and is a humorous look at a typical summer day for Hybrid Rasta Mama and her sidekick Tiny. You can also find Hybrid Rasta Mama on Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, and Networked Blogs. Emily at Embrita Blogging shares an Ordinary Day with a pre-crawler from almost two years ago. You can find Emily on Facebook, Pinterest, and on Twitter.   Gretchen at That Mama Gretchen showcases A Day in the Life of her busy summer as she waddles around with a baby in her belly and a toddler in tow! You can also find That Mama Gretchen on Facebook, Twitter, and Pinterest. Shannon at Pineapples & Artichokes shares A day at the Solstice Parade, a picture post about her trip to one of the local summer parades in Seattle. You can also find Shannon on Google +, Flickr, Pinterest. Lauren at Hobo Mama shows what unschooling looks like in her house through Meetups and play dates. Far from staying indoors or isolated, you can find Lauren or Sam and their kids out at one or other fun and educational activity several times a week. You can also find Hobo Mama on Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, and Google +. Kat of Loving {Almost} Every Moment wrote this post after having One Of Those Days. She was pregnant, exhausted and had a lot of errands to do with her two older kiddos in tow. In the end she was reminded of a thing or two...especially to always keep her chocolate stash well stocked! Joella at Fine and Fair shares A Summer Sunday in Our Life. This day in the life photo project shows a busy Summer Sunday filled with gardening, friends, family, and shared parenting. You can also find Fine and Fair on Facebook and Twitter. Erica at Childorganics shares And The "Play" Goes On. This post takes a peek of what a whole day of play looks like at their house. You can also find ChildOrganics on Facebook, Twitter, and Pinterest. A day in the life of Dionna at Code Name: Mama and family in downtown Independence - from 6 month old EC'ing to the farmer's market to nursing at the Main Street Coffee House. By the way, join us for the August Carnival of Natural Parenting when our topic will be Farmer's Markets!   Amy at Anktangle shows us (through photographs) a glimpse into a typical week in her world. You can also find Amy on Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, and Google +. Mandy at Living Peacefully with Children shares The School Bus Comes Early. She speaks of how unschooling allows her family a flexibility in their lives to accommodate learning. You can also find Living Peacefully with Children on Facebook. Christine at African Babies Don't Cry shares "A Week With Jesse, in Pictures." This post is one in a collection of posts, where Christine shares the weeks happenings with her son Jesse with a picture for each day. You can also find African Babies Don't Cry on Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, and Networked Blogs.   Lyndsay at OurFeministPlayschool shares "Day in Our Life..." This post looks at her family's day and their trip to a museum. You can also find Lyndsay on Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest.