The gentlebirth.org website is provided courtesy of
Ronnie Falcao, LM MS,
a homebirth midwife in Mountain View, CA
The gentlebirth.org website is provided courtesy of
Ronnie Falcao, LM MS,
a homebirth midwife in Mountain View, CA
|
If you know any birth attendants who are still practicing premature clamping and cutting of the cord, encourage them to watch this video of a grand rounds with Dr. Nicholas Fogelson at USC. It's got lots of research and an open-minded perspective. |
See also: Chiropractic Care
for Babies and Children
What
Your Pediatrician Doesn't Know Can Hurt Your Child encourages mothers
to take a more natural approach to parenting, and to trust our instincts
when it comes to raising emotionally and physically healthy children.
Dr. Susan Markel (an American Board Certified Pediatrician) is dedicated
to helping parents and children empower themselves to have a healthier
and happier lifestyle. Children
come into the world ready to Love, Learn and Play...
Attachment
Parenting Counseling with Jan Hunt by phone or email - 877-593-1547
Science
shows up Supernanny - A mental health expert warns that fashionable advice
to ignore your child's tears may cause lifelong harm
Amelia Hill, education correspondent
Sunday November 7, 2004
"Living Joyfully With Children" by Win and Bill Sweet
I think it's a great book to give to new parents. It is easy to
read and written in short bits with plenty of anecdotes to give you an
idea of how to apply the principles presented. It does deal with
toddlers and older children primarily, not much on infants. The best
thing it has to offer is to help people be conscious and present in their
parenting. So much of actual parenting seems to be reactive in nature
and replaying old scripts from our own childhood experiences. The
other really useful thing is that it gets both parents on the same page.
The Sweets recommend sitting down and forming principles to govern your
family by. This allows you to talk it out between yourselves and
determine if your parenting goals are the same. Then as your children get
older they begin to participate in this process. This allows them
to feel a part of making the family work, instead of just being told what
to do. There is also a huge emphasis on letting children have as
much unstructured play as possible, even and especially as they approach
and enter adolescence. All around I think it is a very good choice
to give to new parents. It's easy to read, broken down in small digestible
bits, and very practical.
Attachment Parenting Blog:
- "A fun and opinionated web site written by an attachment parenting couple
raising three children in our modern times."
The Holistic Moms Network is
for moms who are interested in natural health and holistic therapies, follow
an "alternative" parenting style, or are looking to connect with other
moms who share their perspective?
Marcy Axness is the author of PARENTING
FOR PEACE: RAISING THE NEXT GENERATION OF PEACEMAKERS (due out in 2011?)
Mindful Mama - Good News
for Mom, Baby and the Planet
Hooked on Nature is an educational
campaign to inspire communities to develop an infrastructure that provides
youth of all ages with an opportunity to develop a relationship with the
natural world - based in Palo Alto, CA.
Is
Nature Deficit Disorder Real?
AstrasScouts: Help Us Reinvent
Scouting for Tomorrow. AstrasScouts Values and Goals: Ending All
Prejudice, Honoring of all Cultures, Pursuit of Knowledge, Personal Responsibility,
Individual Excellence, Teamwork/Friendship, Justice brings Peace, Global
Awareness
America Serves is a student-driven,
student-focused service project opportunity for high school students interested
in learning about the challenges faced by children in other parts of the
world, and doing something about them. The goal of each AMERICA SERVES
project is to design, plan, and execute an educational fundraising event
for an overseas relief organization chosen by the students. This
excellent resource is now available from Amazon.com.
Seeds of Compassion
- from a conference Apr. 11-15, 2008, with the participation of the Dalai
Lama. When we look across secular and religious wisdom traditions, and
across human history and cultures, compassion may well be the virtue that
is valued most highly and most broadly. The resources below seek to expand
our conversation about what compassion looks like in action and how best
to nurture it in future generations.
The Natural Child Project
- Our vision is a world in which all children are treated with dignity,
respect, understanding, and compassion. In such a world, every child can
grow into adulthood with a generous capacity for love and trust. Our society
has no more urgent task.
Healthy Child Online - the parenting
website and E-Newsletter that gives you reliable information about natural
health and holistic medicine for children. In addition, we offer you insights
on encouraging and fostering in children the following qualities: self-love,
compassion for others, joy, contentment, and vibrant health and vitality
on all levels - physical, mental, emotional, and spiritual.
New
Method For Parents Helps Children Clear Negative Emotions Early from
mercola.com
Building a Foundation for Compassionate Intelligence
by Diane Gordon
Children
and Nature - A Relationship of Primary Importance - Discusses crucial
elements in raising a healthy child.
Children of the New
Earth magazine - the first, and currently only, international magazine
to bring together all the latest information on everything pertaining to
the extraordinary phenomena collectively known as the “Children of the
New Earth.”
Why Wear Your Baby?
By Sharon Reuven - "Although babywearing is an old concept, researchers
in the past fifty years have confirmed the wisdom of this timeless practice.
Studies have revealed that our children's social, emotional, and physical
development are all significantly affected by early exposure to motion
and human contact."
Spiral Scouts - an alternative
scouting structure - Many families who choose homebirth or midwifery care
may be uncomfortable with the intolerance exhibited by some of our national
scouting organizations. Spiral Scouts is a response that provides
a structure for scouting groups where different belief systems can plug
in their own belief system modules. I think this is a neat idea!
Get Mothering Advice From Your Pet--Not Your
Doctor
Reading Magical Child by Joseph Chilton Pearce is an essential eye-opening experience for a conscious, conscientious parent. [ Reaching Beyond Magical Child - six, one-Hour videos, is now available from Touch The Future .]
Here's the transcription of an interview on educating and birthing children.
One of his most important messages is that for very young children,
the problem with television isn't the content of the shows. In fact,
the problem is that images on television are a level of abstraction that
is inappropriate for such young children. It forces their brain to
develop this prematurely, at the expense of more developmentally appropriate
skills. It's a sobering thought that watching television can lead
to Sensory Palsy.
Mothering Magazine celebrates the experience of parenthood as worthy of one’s best efforts and fosters awareness of the immense importance and value of parenthood and family life in the development of the full human potential. As a readers’ magazine, we recognize parents as the experts and wish to provide truly helpful information upon which parents can base informed choices.
They maintain a nice index of articles from their archives.
Pathways
magazine for thought provoking articles for your family's health.
This magazine is from the Holistic Pediatric
Association and the Alliance for Holistic Family Health and Wellness
NursingFamilyMagazine -
The Instinctive/Attachment Parenting Newsletter - Our goal at Nursing Family
Magazine is to bring encouragement, support, enlightenment, information,
and empowerment to families everywhere. This is a publication about creating
strong family bonds by following your heart! Breastfeeding, baby wearing,
co-sleeping, gentle birth, simpler living and more! Celebrate Motherhood!
The Compleat Mother Magazine Forum - Bulletin Board from The Compleat Mother - The Magazine of Pregnancy, Childbirth and Breastfeeding
The Kindred
Spirits Mothering Forum
Attachment Parenting
- API's
Eight Principles of Parenting
Aware Parenting is a philosophy
of child-rearing that has the potential to change the world. Based on cutting-edge
research and insights in child development, Aware Parenting questions most
traditional assumptions about children, and proposes a new approach that
can profoundly shift a parent's relationship with his or her child. Parents
who follow this approach raise children who are bright, compassionate,
competent, non-violent, and drug-free.
Empathic Parenting
, Journal of the Canadian Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children.
Many articles from the journal can be found at the Home
of Empathic Parenting .
The Natural Child Project
- Our multiple-award-winning site on empathic parenting, homeschooling,
and child advocacy has a parenting advice column, personal stories, and
articles by Jan Hunt, Alice Miller, Naomi Aldort, Joseph Chilton Pearce,
and others.
Alliance for Transforming the Lives of
Children: Creating a Culture for Compassionate Parenting
Harvard Researchers Say Children Need Touching and Attention
America's "let them cry" attitude toward children may lead to more fears and tears among adults, according to two Harvard Medical School researchers.Instead of letting infants cry, American parents should keep their babies close, console them when they cry, and bring them to bed with them, where they'll feel safe, according to Michael Commons and Patrice Miller, researchers at the Medical School's Department of Psychiatry.
Nurtured.Com : A meeting
place for those who follow less traditional methods of raising children.
Birth Bonding as the Foundation for
Attachment Parenting
For a wonderful set of links to natural products for babies and children,
. Better yet, simply subscribe
yourself .
Nursing Family Magazine
maintains a very large list of resources.
What does Child-Friendly Mean? A quiet place to nurse or
feed your child. A little extra time to board the bus. The
warmth and support of the entire community. A place for children
in daily life. Contact www.childfriendly.org
800-500-5234 - Ask for a How-To Kit and start transforming your neighborhood
into a place that supports and respects children.
Mothering Magazine (Jan/Feb
2005 issue, p. 25) has a list of 24 groups that help moms do their job
well.
Empowered Motherhood LLC
helps moms-to-be successfully transition into motherhood.
Sometimes you find yourself becoming a parent without feeling like you're completely grown up yourself.
If you feel like you're not completely grown up, responsible and
mature, pregnancy is a great time to put the finishing touches on your
growing up process.
The first step is to GROW UP
"To be a master lover, first become a masterful man. Work on yourself
and don’t indulge in petty excuses or complaints. Live your life with
purpose. If you don’t know what it is, find it, then live it with
gusto. Live with integrity. Be a clear communicator. Learn to be
vulnerable. "
What does it mean to be a modern, mature man?
They've got some great intro resources, incl. video, podcasts
Straight Talk - Boys and Men Need Support
The Good Men Project -
Recognizing changing roles in work and family life—and the absence of
thoughtful media aimed at men—the Good Men Project Magazine set out to
revolutionize what a men’s magazine can be.
Some wonderful articles by Sarah J. Buckley, MD, from the section on Mothering - Care of the Newborn at Women of Spirit
Research on Infant Sleep and Parenting
Advice
The
Humanity Sleeper from Humanity Family Bed has a bolster to keep baby
from rolling off the bed and has an extra thick absorbent pad to absorb
breastmilk leaks. People love it!
Cosleeping
& SIDS Fact Sheet from Linda Folden Palmer, DC, author of Baby
Matters
From Primates to Late Nights: One Researcher’s Path to Sleep Studies - Interview with James McKenna, Ph.D., Professor of Anthropology and Director of the Mother-Baby Behavioral Sleep Laboratory at the University of Notre Dame.
This is an excellent article about the way in which co-sleeping helps
to regulate the baby's physiological functions and reduces the SIDS risk.
Why
babies should never sleep alone: a review of the co-sleeping controversy
in relation to SIDS, bedsharing and breast feeding.
McKenna JJ, McDade T.
Paediatr Respir Rev. 2005 Jun;6(2):134-52.
" . . . co-sleeping at least in the form of roomsharing especially with
an actively breast feeding mother saves lives . . . "
Shunning
the Family Bed. Who Benefits Most? from Dr. Mercola
Babies:
Not Designed to Sleep Alone by Dr. Jay Gordon
And
Baby Makes Three in One Bed from the NYTimes 12/29/05
Bedtime
Story by James J. McKenna contains amazing information about just how
beneficial cosleeping really is. [This article is available at birthlove.com,
a subscription site that is well worth the small cost!]
Sharing
a bed with your baby from UNICEF UK.
If your child's sleep problems are severe enough, you may consider trying
some of the tips from sleep
and crystal children. Children love crystals for their jewel
quality, and a protective bedtime ritual is likely to be very reassuring
for them.
Elizabeth Pantley has tons of information about gentle parenting at http:
The No-Cry Sleep Solution: Gentle Ways to Help Your Baby Sleep Through the Night by Elizabeth Pantley. Professionals who work with parents of babies may request a set of 4 newsletters, which are also available online: Newborn Babies and Sleep, What is Preventing Your Baby from Sleeping Through the Night?, Regular Naps Improve Nighttime Sleep, Early Bedtime Means Better Baby Sleep.
Checklist for Safe Co-Sleeping
She also has a new book out called Gentle Baby Care : No-cry, No-fuss, No-worry--Essential Tips for Raising Your Baby. Some excerpts are available online: Going Visiting with Your Baby, Crying in the Car Seat, Handling Unwanted Advice, Stop Diaper Changing Battles
Professionals can request a set of one-page articles from my books - for use on your website, as handouts, or in your newsletter. I provide these to many professionals who work with parents of babies and young children. I will be happy to send you the newsletter set at no charge. The titles are:
Newborn Babies and Sleep
Colic –What Can You Do About It?
Toddler Cooperation
Wonderful Sounds for Sleep
Going Visiting with Your Baby
Crying in the Car Seat
Baby Tantrums
Hitting, Kicking, Biting & Hair Pulling
The Baby Blues: Do You Have Them? & What to Do
Stop Diaper Changing Battles
Help Your Crying Baby
Eight Sleep Tips for Every Child
Solving Naptime Problems
Tantrums, Fussing and Whining
What Triggers Your Anger?
Stop the Interrupting
Moving from Crib to Bed
Should Babies & Toddlers Watch Television?
Handling Unwanted Advice
Quick Facts About Potty Training
The Potty Training Readiness Quiz
Potty Training – Get Ready, Get Set, Go!
First Born Jealousy
How to Have a Happy Marriage When You’re Busy Being Parents
All titles are available in Microsoft word text files by email. (Some
are in PDF reproducible format.)
Spanish versions of some titles are also available upon request.
Tim Seldin, President, The Montessori Foundation and Chair, The International Montessori Council wrote the forward to my newest book, The No-Cry Discipline Solution. He has graciously provided four articles for this set:
Children are Little Scientists
Learning How to Pour
Learning to Observe your Child
Children Love to Work and Play
Sign with Your Baby by Joseph
Garcia - How to communicate with hearing infants before they can speak
Translating
Newborn by Sonia Shah - You know your baby’s trying to tell you something,
but what is it?
American
Sign Language Browser
Music Together - The Joy of
Family Music! - Music and movement for newborns - preschoolers and
the adults who love them!
Fam Jam! Music Together®
is a registered Music Together® center based in Eldorado and in Santa
Fe, run by a friend of mine.
see also: Father's Hormones
see also: Postpartum Depression and Maternal
Birth Trauma
Support
for Postpartum Dads when mom has a postpartum mood disorder.
Birth Navigators - Teaching Men About Childbirth. Their book looks excellent! It's Men At Birth (or through Amazon.com)
Internet Resources for Fathers
Just for Dads from
betterbirth.com
I have seen workshops offered with the title, "The Daddy Shift" to help
expectant fathers prepare.
The Fathers-To-Be Initiative is bringing you a newsletter to update you on our progress in the field of fathering education. Fathers-To-Be provides opportunities for parents, birthcare professionals and educators to learn about the importance of fathers and how they can beneficially contribute to pregnancy, birth and early parenthood.
Fathers-To-Be Handbook - A Road Map for the Transition to Fatherhood by Patrick M. Houser
One Baby Two Parents - Supporting Early Parenthood Campaign
The Evolution of Dad : A Documentary-In-Progress about the Evolving American Father by Dana H. Glazer
As a father and a filmmaker, I want to share why it's as important to get fathers involved in this movement as it for moms.
Most dads aren't aware of what's really going on in our culture. They think the issues promoted on MomsRising.org have nothing to do with them - that these are just women's issues. At the beginning of this past year I started work on a documentary film project about the changing role of fatherhood, titled The Evolution of Dad. (www.evolutionofdad.com)
Before embarking on the project, I figured that, being a fairly involved dad of two young sons, I must know something about fatherhood. However, looking back, it's amazing how little I really did understand, especially regarding all the different cultural assumptions and messages we're given about what defines a good father. The bottom line is that while our society might say that fatherhood is important, the real underlying message is that dads are better off spending more time at work and less at home.
From my perspective, the only way we're going to create any serious change is by getting dads more aware and more involved in the process. That's why I'm making my film and that's why I'm doing all I can to support Moms and FamiliesRising. These are issues that affect every one of us.
What I'm asking from you is to include the men in your life in the conversation about work/family balance as much as possible. Tell them why you became a member of MomsRising.org, why they should become a member of FamiliesRising.org (at http:
Only together, moms and dads united, can change really happen.
Happy Father of Home
Born Babies - This is designed to be a forum for fathers who have homebirthed
their children or for fathers who are contemplating the homebirth experience.
BREAST
IS STILL BEST, EVEN IF IT IS DAD'S by Alexandra Frean - Times Online
- June 13, 2005
This is a fabulous article from Mothering Magazine:
Labor
Union: The Story of a Bradley Dad
By Dimitri Kaasan
Issue 119 - July/August 2003
Birthrites: Healing After
Caesarean has a new section on Men's Experiences [Here men can
contribute their own stories and read other stories about cesarean and
VBAC experiences. I find that many men don't understand the impact
that it has on a woman to have her body cut open, her baby extracted, and
her uterus brought outside her body for repair, after which she is expected
to recover from her pregnancy and her surgery while nursing a newborn baby
and looking radiant for the photos.]
THE
TRAUMATIC BIRTH EXPERIENCE: A FATHER’S PERSPECTIVE
STRESS
AND WEIGHT GAIN OBSERVED IN MEN DURING PARTNER'S PREGNANCY -
First-time fathers are more likely to put on weight and drink excessively
during their partner's pregnancy than after the baby is born, according
to the findings of a study by Australian researchers. [Medscape registration
is free.]
New
dads can get postpartum depression, too
I Will Support
- A Father's Affirmation by Patricia Blomme
I Will Support - Father's
Affirmation - by Patricia Blomme
[I received a report that this magazine was defunct.]
FirstTime Dad.com - "answers
your questions about being a new dad and talks about issues important to
you, in your language."
Home School Dads - Geared
specifically for the fathers who homeschool. Get the latest homeschooling
news, articles, organizations, events, Homeschool Mall, and much, much
more!
The National Center for Fathering
- 1(800) 593-DADS
The research, which involved 8431 fathers and 11,833 mothers, found that 4 percent of men scored higher than 12 on the Edinburgh postnatal depression scale at 8 weeks postpartum, indicating major depressive disorder, compared with 10 percent of women. This paternal depression was found to be predictive of adverse emotional and behavioral outcomes in the children at age 3.5 years, even after adjusting for maternal and later paternal depression.
"Although largely neglected to date, paternal depression in the postnatal
period should be recognized and treated by health professionals in order
to lessen any adverse effects on the child," the researchers, led by Paul
Ramchandani from the University of Oxford in the UK, advise.
Paternal
depression in the postnatal period and child development: a prospective
population study.
Ramchandani P, Stein A, Evans J, O'Connor TG; ALSPAC study team.
Lancet. 2005 Jun 25-Jul 1;365(9478):2201-5.
FINDINGS: Information was available for 8431 fathers, 11,833 mothers,
and 10,024 children. Depression in fathers during the postnatal period
was associated with adverse emotional and behavioural outcomes in children
aged 3.5 years (adjusted odds ratio 2.09, 95% CI 1.42-3.08), and an increased
risk of conduct problems in boys (2.66, 1.67-4.25). These effects remained
even after controlling for maternal postnatal depression and later paternal
depression. INTERPRETATION: Our findings indicate that paternal depression
has a specific and persisting detrimental effect on their children's early
behavioural and emotional development.
One of my clients is concerned that when she gives birth to her second
child, her son (who will be a month shy of two years old on the estimated
arrival date of his little sister) will be upset by her lack of availability
for his needs because the baby will require so much of her time & attention.
My first two are 20 months apart. I was concerned about two things; That I wouldn't love the second one as much as I loved the first, and how my daughter would still feel loved, important & valued even as I spent time meeting the needs of the new baby.
I read books in advance about bringing home baby, being a big sister etc.
I made sure to spend time with her when baby was sleeping.
I included the older one in my arms (arm) while breastfeeding the baby.
I asked for and appreciated daddy's extra help with the older one.
I asked for help.
We all survived.
buy a gift for her first child from the baby....works like a charm.
We did a gift from the baby to big brother also - he still talks about
how <baby> left the hospital to go get him a gift LOL!!!
And books, and spending special time with the older child, and have
the older child help with the baby (bring diaper, pick out an outfit, etc).
There will be ups and downs, but everyone will survive!
One way to facilitate a special bond with the newborn is to arrange to have the siblings brought to the mother and newborn as soon as the placenta is out and most of the blood is out of view, or as soon after that as practical. It is especially meaningful for siblings to see the baby still attached to the placenta and perhaps to participate in cutting the cord. The newborn will still have bonding hormones for about 60-90 minutes after the birth, and there will still be bonding hormones "in the air" that the older sibling will absorb.
If the older sibling doesn’t see the newborn for some hours after the birth, then it helps to have the newborn lying on the bed alone; this way the sibling doesn't first see the newborn in the mother's arms, as if the newborn has taken the place of the older child. Then, allow the sibling to discover the newborn on their own.
In The Experience of Childbirth (p. 56), Sheila Kitzinger writes,
"The baby should be in a cot[1] and not in the mother's arms when he
sees it for the first time, and the mother should avoid any elaborate displays
of affection for the new baby. She can point out the tiny nails and
eyelashes and how little and helpless the baby is - which will almost certainly
invoke a response of tenderness on the part of the older child - but should
allow the first expression of joy in the baby's birth to come from the
child himself. If a doll or some other special present is waiting
to celebrate the birthday, the advent of the baby is made even more welcome.
The toddler can sit on the bed and can be cuddled at the same time as the
baby, and if a special store of biscuits[2] or fruit is kept by the mother's
bed for feeding times, and toys and other materials for quiet occupations
are in her room, they can be very pleasant and looked forward to rather
than resented by the displaced child. By no word or action should
the mother suggest that the older child intends to hurt the baby, and she
should instead be given positive encouragement and help to hold him correctly.
"When grandparents, relations and other visitors arrive, a toddler who enjoys it can be the person who takes them to the new baby and shows him to them. In this way the new baby belongs to her too and is not simply a rival."
[Notes about the British words:
1. The British use the word cot instead of crib or bassinet.
I personally would recommend having the baby simply lying on the bed or
sofa next to the mother.
2. The British use the word biscuits instead of cookies. I might
suggest a more nutritious snack.]
Brainy kids' brains develop slowly - [3/29/06] - Very smart children, despite their reputation for being ahead of their peers mentally, actually lag behind other kids in development of the "thinking" part of the brain, a new study says. . . .
"Intellectual
ability and cortical development in children and adolescents.
" Shaw P, Greenstein D, Lerch J, Clasen L, Lenroot R, Gogtay N, Evans
A, Rapoport J, Giedd J.
Nature. 2006 Mar 30;440(7084):676-9.
"Children who are adept at any one of the three academic 'R's (reading,
writing and arithmetic) tend to be good at the others, and grow into adults
who are similarly skilled at diverse intellectually demanding activities.
Determining the neuroanatomical correlates of this relatively stable individual
trait of general intelligence has proved difficult, particularly in the
rapidly developing brains of children and adolescents. Here we demonstrate
that the trajectory of change in the thickness of the cerebral cortex,
rather than cortical thickness itself, is most closely related to level
of intelligence. Using a longitudinal design, we find a marked developmental
shift from a predominantly negative correlation between intelligence and
cortical thickness in early childhood to a positive correlation in late
childhood and beyond. Additionally, level of intelligence is associated
with the trajectory of cortical development, primarily in frontal regions
implicated in the maturation of intelligent activity. More intelligent
children demonstrate a particularly plastic cortex, with an initial accelerated
and prolonged phase of cortical increase, which yields to equally vigorous
cortical thinning by early adolescence. This study indicates that the neuroanatomical
expression of intelligence in children is dynamic."
Delicate newborn skin can react with rashes to all sorts of minor irritants,
especially dry cleaning fluid and laundry detergents!
Fabric softener can be amazingly irritating to sensitive skin.
Some alternatives include using natural fabrics, using a lot less detergent,
drying on low heat and not overdrying your clothes.
THE SOAP THAT GROWS ON TREES!TM - Maggie’s
Soap NutsTM are the only laundry soap that grows on trees!
Truly effective, 100% natural and safe for your most sensitive skin.
Soap NutsTM are the dried fruit of the Chinese Soapberry tree.
They contain saponin, a natural cleaner used for thousands of years to
clean clothes, just like the plants used by Native Americans for washing.
I'll add my vote for Charlie's Soap, which is dye- and perfume-free. It cleans well and rinses clean - here's some detailed info.
My son had eczema and I have pretty allergic skin, and it made a big
difference for us.
I'm also very sensitive to the issue of laundry detergents, since I'm laundering and sterilizing linens for use on newborn babies at birth, and I also have very sensitive skin.
I used those discs for a while, and they didn't seem to do much. I poked around online and found some interesting information about them. The most interesting thing was that they may seem to work the first few times you use them because there is usually so much residual detergent in our laundered clothes and linens that they bring their own detergent to the next laundry cycle.
Here's a webpage that calls those laundry discs a hoax.
What I learned from all this was that you can actually wash your clothes
without any laundry detergent at all. Apparently water and mechanical
agitation get clothes pretty clean without any added cleaning agent.
Now, I just use a very small amount of fragrance-free Seventh Generation
laundry liquid in my regular laundry and do a separate load if there's
anything that needs extra cleaning.
The Sling Station has helpful information on how to choose a sling or baby carrier.
How
to Deal with Child Protection Workers in Unassisted Births by Capper,
a former child protection worker (called Child Protective Services in the
US) and now police officer. [As of spring, 2002, the BirthLove site is
by subscription only - it's well worth the $10 membership fee; you can
get a "sampler" by reading BirthLove's
Top Twenty- For Free! .]
Happy Baby - fresh frozen organic
baby meals
Wholesome Baby
Food - Easy Homemade Baby Food & Baby Food Recipes - Tasty, Nutritious
& Full of Love for your Baby
Dressing for sexes by Jo Paoletti
- A fascinating romp through some of the history of the pink/blue color
coding of children. In 1918, it was written that "the generally accepted
rule is pink for the boy and blue for the girl. The reason
is that pink, being a more decided and stronger color, is more suitable
for a boy, while blue, which is more delicate and dainty, is prettier for
the girl."
Popular Baby Names from
the Social Security Administration
Strollers and baby carriages are being introduced into Africa, but the
pediatricians there are concerned that they may damage the mother/child
relationship. In contrast to current practices of carrying their
babies in wraps or slings, the strollers are seen as "the ultimate in pushing
the baby away from you", according to Nairobi child psychiatrist Frank
Njenga. "The baby on the back is actually following the mother in
warmth and comfort. The baby feels safer, and safer people are happier
people." [from San Francisco Chronicle, 5/20/04, quoted in the APPPAH newsletter,
Spring? 2005]
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