So Hannah is almost 15 months old now. She got her first teeth right as she turned 4 months. I've been told when you get your teeth is determined by genetics. If you were an early teether, chances are your baby will be too. My mom says I cut my first teeth at 3 months! Anyway, we are now awaiting the arrival of Hannah's first year molars....all 4 at once! And she has literally been teething for MONTHS! One finally came all the way through last week but the other three are just cutting. As with everytime she gets a new tooth, we've had all kinds of teething "side effects":
runny nose
mild fever
irritable
loss of appetite
increase in sleeping and nursing
super clingy
We have our good days and our not so good days. Sometimes it's like my happy silly little baby has turned into a monsterous mega brat and I wonder if she will ever turn back to her sweet self. I have to remind myself that she is dealing with something new and difficult and she is not trying to drive her mama crazy. Here are a few natural teething suggestions that I have heard. Some I have tried, others I just am passing on...
Homeopathic teething medicine-I'm not sure how well the medicine actually works, but the disraction of giving it to Hannah helps for sure
Clove Oil-rub a little on baby's gums to help numb them
Vanilla Extract-also a distractor and supposed to help numb gums if you rub a little on them
Frozen Beans-We tried this recently and she seemed to enjoy chewing on the beans, she really likes beans in general. Make sure to supervise of course!
Center of a pineapple or Mango-Haven't tried this but would give baby a sweet, hard thing to chew on.
Pita bread-I've given Hannah a smaller peice of chewy pita bread and she gummed it up for quite a while. And I have heard niacin (which is in bread) helps with teething. Has anybody else heard this? Couldn't find any info about it.
Amber teething necklace-Haven't tried it but apparently, amber is a natural analgesic and if worn in close contact with the baby's skin, the natural oils from the amber have a calming effect. Has anybody had any luck with these?
Anybody got any others to add?? What has worked for you?
Wednesday, January 26, 2011
It takes a Village...to grow a baby
So you're gonna have a baby...
Having a baby is a unique experience for each family and individual. Some people plan every aspect from conception to possible universities their child will attend. Others, not so much. I had always thought that someday I might have kids, but had never really planned when. So when I found out I was pregnant, there was a certain period of adjustment that I had to go through in order to get used to the idea of "someday" coming so soon. Although my pregnancy was unplanned, it was not unwanted. I decided right away that if I was going to welcome a child into my life I would make it a positive experience from the start. I also decided that I would make the most of my last nine months of baby-free life. I would visit friends, go to festivals and parties, and treat myself to delicious, healthy food to nourish my body and the little life it was growing. It was great! I was lucky to have an easy pregnancy which made all of these things possible. My belly was like having a special V.I.P. pass. People offered me seats, insisted I move ahead of them in line ups, brought me food and drinks, and were eager to share well wishes and pass on love for the baby. I know some people prefer to maintain a certain bubble of personal space around them through pregnancy, and this should be respected. However, if you are open to recieving attention (sometimes of the hands on variety) from friends and even strangers, go for it. For me, the positive encouragement I recieved helped me get more excited about welcoming the baby. And honestly, I think Hannah felt all the love that was passed onto her in utero because she was such a gentle mellow soul when she arrived. I believe children don't just belong to their immediate family. There's the old saying, "It takes a village to raise a child." All of us, the greater human family, play a part in each others lives. If you are lucky enough to be in the role of a mother or a father you have the special task of caring for, and guiding a new soul to find their own place in the world. Of course you should respect parents and their wishes for their children, but as parents, we should recognize the important role others play in our children's lives. And this role can begin before a child is born by welcoming the sharing of love and positive energy from others.
Having a baby is a unique experience for each family and individual. Some people plan every aspect from conception to possible universities their child will attend. Others, not so much. I had always thought that someday I might have kids, but had never really planned when. So when I found out I was pregnant, there was a certain period of adjustment that I had to go through in order to get used to the idea of "someday" coming so soon. Although my pregnancy was unplanned, it was not unwanted. I decided right away that if I was going to welcome a child into my life I would make it a positive experience from the start. I also decided that I would make the most of my last nine months of baby-free life. I would visit friends, go to festivals and parties, and treat myself to delicious, healthy food to nourish my body and the little life it was growing. It was great! I was lucky to have an easy pregnancy which made all of these things possible. My belly was like having a special V.I.P. pass. People offered me seats, insisted I move ahead of them in line ups, brought me food and drinks, and were eager to share well wishes and pass on love for the baby. I know some people prefer to maintain a certain bubble of personal space around them through pregnancy, and this should be respected. However, if you are open to recieving attention (sometimes of the hands on variety) from friends and even strangers, go for it. For me, the positive encouragement I recieved helped me get more excited about welcoming the baby. And honestly, I think Hannah felt all the love that was passed onto her in utero because she was such a gentle mellow soul when she arrived. I believe children don't just belong to their immediate family. There's the old saying, "It takes a village to raise a child." All of us, the greater human family, play a part in each others lives. If you are lucky enough to be in the role of a mother or a father you have the special task of caring for, and guiding a new soul to find their own place in the world. Of course you should respect parents and their wishes for their children, but as parents, we should recognize the important role others play in our children's lives. And this role can begin before a child is born by welcoming the sharing of love and positive energy from others.
Monday, January 24, 2011
A neat idea for taking your cloth diapers to the next level...
Don't get rid of those cloth diapers just yet! Here's a great idea for having them converted into training pants.
Peeing the baby, Diaper Free, Elimination Communication-Taking care of Potty business!
The first time I ever encountered someone practicing "elimination communication" was back in 2008. A friend of mine, Amber, had a little girl who had never worn diapers! Like most people, when I heard this I couldn't really wrap my head around it. What do you do if your kid doesn't wear diapers? Then you think about how long diapers have been around and realise people did fine without diapers for hundreds of years. And as Amber pointed out, most of the babies in the world are not wearing diapers. While I was pregnant I started thinking more about what I would do about diapers when the baby was barn. My partner and I live in an old school bus that has been converted to a cabin of sorts. We live completely off-grid, no electricity or running water. I definitely didn't want to be using disposable diapers so we were looking at cloth diapers. I wasn't super stoked at the idea of washing diapers by hand, especially poopy diapers. I saw Amber in town one day and asked her some more about how she managed going diaper free. She recommended I read, "Diaper Free: the Gentle Wisdom of Natural Infant Hygiene", by Ingrid Bauer. She also noted that I should read it while I was pregnant...good suggestion Amber! The book is very informative and convinced me that with determination and patience, I could give my baby a more natural and aware approach to its elimination needs. In retrospect, I was a little overly optomistic about my abilities. When Hannah was born I was pretty overwhelmed from the whole birth experience, my body needing to rest and heal, and of course taking care of this tiny and precious new being was completely new and consuming. However, I was determined to try taking Hannah to pee as often as I could. I kept a cloth diaper on her, but took her to pee after naps and if she was still dry after an hour or so. She didn't always go when I took her, and we still had a lot of wet diapers but I figured even if I only saved one diaper a day, that was better than nothing. Now that she is 15 months, she pees on her own potty and is pretty good about signalling when she needs to go. I still keep a diaper on her sometimes if we've had a series of misses or if we are going on longer outings. The closeness you will experience for taking the time to tune into your baby's needs is well worth the effort. Not to mention the number of diapers you will save from the wash pile!
My suggestions to anyone who is thinking of trying to go diaper free:
-Read Ingrid Bauer's book "Diaper Free, The Gentle Wisdom of Natural Infant Hygiene", preferably before your baby is born.
-Be patient, keep practicing! Don't expect to not have accidents. As you tune into your baby's needs and how their body works, things will get easier and your intuition will get better.
-Don't put pressure on yourself or your baby! You want this to be a positive experience for you both.
-A good place to start is to take the baby to pee first thing in the morning when they wake up, and as soon as they wake up after a nap.
-If you are worried about accidents, keep a cloth diaper on the baby to absorb most of the mess.
-In the summer, leaving the baby diaper free and spending lots of time outside go really well together!
-Start using some sort of sound cue with the baby right away, even if you have a miss and they pee in their diaper make the cue so they will assosiate it with peeing.
-Have a sign or signal for the baby to use to tell you when they have to go.
-You will have good periods where you have few or no misses, but also periods of regression. Just remember it will pass. Stay consistent and don't get frustrated.
My suggestions to anyone who is thinking of trying to go diaper free:
-Read Ingrid Bauer's book "Diaper Free, The Gentle Wisdom of Natural Infant Hygiene", preferably before your baby is born.
-Be patient, keep practicing! Don't expect to not have accidents. As you tune into your baby's needs and how their body works, things will get easier and your intuition will get better.
-Don't put pressure on yourself or your baby! You want this to be a positive experience for you both.
-A good place to start is to take the baby to pee first thing in the morning when they wake up, and as soon as they wake up after a nap.
-If you are worried about accidents, keep a cloth diaper on the baby to absorb most of the mess.
-In the summer, leaving the baby diaper free and spending lots of time outside go really well together!
-Start using some sort of sound cue with the baby right away, even if you have a miss and they pee in their diaper make the cue so they will assosiate it with peeing.
-Have a sign or signal for the baby to use to tell you when they have to go.
-You will have good periods where you have few or no misses, but also periods of regression. Just remember it will pass. Stay consistent and don't get frustrated.
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