Talk to your boss, office manager, or supervisor before you return to work. To prepare, know your rights (visit LLLI.org to see a list of your state’s laws regarding pumping in the workplace), and be prepared to explain how supporting lactation in the workplace is good for your worksite as well as for you. When you have the talk, be up front and nice rather than starting by bringing up the law (which some bosses will consider a veiled threat)....
All parents have ideals about what life will be like after their baby arrives. In reality, every baby is perfect in some ways and challenging in others. We personally had the “rarely gassy, but addicted to a pacifier” baby and the “very smiley, but with chronic acid reflux” baby. It sounds like you may have the “very patient, but nocturnal” baby. These imperfections can be very stressful during early parenthood. However, they are a normal part of the development process and most babies outgrow them sometime during their first year of life....
Your newborn photographer knows how to perfectly position baby’s malleable little limbs for the cutest snapshots ever. But ever wonder how she gleaned those skills? Or how she knows it’s safe? Meet StandInBaby, the dummy doll helping photographers practice posing babies. Two Australian engineers designed the doll after noting first-time newborn photographers should not be getting their hands dirty on actual newborns. “Like many other professionals within the industry, I hate the thought of novice photographers learning and practicing on real babies," co-founder Sandra Moffatt tells PetaPixel....
I thought our home was relatively safe. There’s no pool in the backyard, no loaded guns lying around, and our television has a V-Chip to ensure no visitors are accidentally exposed to Here Comes Honey Boo Boo. Then Arvey Levinsohn, an Advanced Certified Professional Childproofer and owner of A & H Childproofers, paid me a visit and I suddenly found myself branded with a scarlet letter DM for DANGEROUS MOTHER. As it turns out, every single room in our condo is dripping with safety hazards, from prenatal vitamins lying in a little dish on my bedside table like an afternoon snack, to the dishtowels hanging from our stove, beckoning a curious toddler to pull them down, inevitably concussing and possibly burning herself....
Vision development? Pacifier precautions? Baby weight gain? See all newborn Q&As Your little observer Baby’s into brightly colored, three-dimensional objects these days. His eyes can now hold a steadier gaze, so you may notice he pays more attention to that rotating musical mobile above his crib. He’s increasingly sensitive to texture and loves feeling different objects, like a soft blanket or hard rattle. Just make sure any dangerous or breakable objects are out of baby’s reach, because he’ll grab for those as well....
Finding alone time (both together and apart) can be tough for new parents. Afer all, you’re dealing with a new physical and emotional experience. It’s important, however, for you both to remain a strong and intact unit for your child and your relationship. Here, some helpful tips to keep the flame alive: Have a Regular Date If possible, find a regular way to have one-on-one time. Perhaps have a sitter or family member come and watch baby every other week....
The Stats: Name: Dr. Cheryl Wu Occupation: Pediatrician at Laguardia Place Pediatrics Children: One son, Koy TB: When did you decide to breastfeed/when did you know for sure that you were going to? **CW:**Probably when I was 25. I was in medical school. TB: Were you breastfed when you were a baby? CW: No, I was not. TB: So was it something that was never really talked about in your family, then?...
We know how it is: Once the word is out that you’re trying to conceive, friends and family start offering up all kinds of unsolicited advice. And while some of it can get pretty annoying (“Just relax — it’ll happen!”), every now and then a few pearls of wisdom shine through. We asked Bumpies to spill the best advice they received while trying to get pregnant. Read on, and maybe it will become yours too....
Whether it’s for Halloween or a casual Wednesday playdate, there’s something truly magical about kids playing dress-up. “It’s not just about getting out there and playing—it’s about kids fully immersing themselves in the adventure itself so they’ll want to go back again and again,” says Lane Huerta, founder of LoveLane Designs, which offers creative, hand-sewn costumes for kids. One pretend-play persona kids keep turning to? Pirates, of course! For little ones, the only thing more fun than sailing the high seas, gathering gold and chatting with parrots is donning a homemade pirate costume while they’re at it....
Sure, you’ve heard the benefits of breastfeeding. But have you ever thought about how what you eat while breastfeeding can affect baby? Certain nutrient-packed foods can help keep your body and your milk supply nice and healthy, while other foods can lower your milk production and impact baby’s digestive system. We’re here to help you get to the bottom of all your breastfeeding diet concerns, from the best foods to eat while breastfeeding to the best vitamins to supplement your meals, plus which foods to avoid or limit while breastfeeding and why....
There’s more uncertainty involved if you’re feeding straight from the breast instead of a bottle, since you can’t exactly see those little milliliter lines. So look for cues from your babies. If you have some satisfied customers, there will be plenty of output in the diapers, and they’ll seem more content between feedings. You’ll also be seeing your pediatrician on a regular basis, and she’ll be able to tell you if they are both gaining enough weight....
Amanda Cook couldn’t shake the feeling that something was wrong with her infant son, Jackson. When she put him in his car seat, she noticed he would go limp, rather than fight or buck against the straps the way her friends’ infants did. He also got sick a lot, often heading to the pediatrician for colds, croup and sinus infections. At each appointment, the doctor said the same thing: Jackson was fine....
As an ob-gyn specializing in infertility, Mylene Yao, MD, has devoted her career to helping women try to conceive. But IVF treatments can be stressful and expensive, with many women needing more than one round of treatment to have a baby. Yao wanted to help make IVF more accessible and successful for as many families as possible. In 2005, while working at Stanford University, Yao and colleague Wing H. Wong, PhD, began developing a prediction model that uses historical data analytics from more than 150,000 IVF cycles combined with a couple’s personal information (like age, body mass index, ovarian reserve test results and semen analysis) to craft personalized fertility prognosis for patients and their doctors....
Preeclampsia can be a scary diagnosis for moms-to-be, especially now that Kim Kardashian, one of the approximately 5 percent of pregnant women who experience it, has been outspoken with less-than-glowing things to say about the condition, which she suffered from during her first pregnancy. Often caused by high blood pressure and kidney problems, it can lead to symptoms like swelling and nausea, or more serious outcomes like seizures, organ problems and preterm birth....
Most acne medications are applied to the skin. When drugs are applied to the skin, much less gets into your blood than if they are taken by mouth. Drugs that don’t get into your blood cannot get into your milk. In the vast majority of cases, the amount of drug that is absorbed into the blood from the skin is negligible, though there are exceptions. Then there are oral acne medications, such as tetracycline and erythromycin....
Babies are messy—a fact I was well aware of before getting into this whole parenting thing. I knew I’d have to bathe my child, change poopy diapers and wipe snotty noses—but still, there were a few surprises that popped up in those first months with baby. Hold on to your wipes, ladies: These are the five most unexpected things I’ve had to constantly clean since baby arrived. Lint It’s everywhere! Under babies’ nails, between their fingers and toes, and even in their itty bitty belly buttons!...
The best way to encourage development is to keep your child busy with structured learning activities and crafts all day long—right? Wrong. If you find yourself scrolling through Pinterest and Instagram searching for activity ideas to keep your little one occupied, you’re not alone. At one point or another, most of us have sifted through the countless posts about colorful sensory bins and extravagant crafts and felt completely overwhelmed trying to figure out if we have the right supplies on hand and the time to get it all set up....
At 15 months, it’s time for another well-child visit for your toddler. Like at other checkups, the pediatrician will weigh your child (most toddlers should’ve gained about one or two pounds since the first-year checkup) and measure his head and height. Your child will also have a complete physical exam. This time around, the pediatrician will pay extra attention to his eyes to look for any signs of lazy eye and to his tonsils to see if they’re too large, which could affect his breathing at night....
A new study published in the journal JAMA Neurology concluded that newborn babies’ immune systems and vitamin D levels differ depending on which month of the year they were born. The findings of the study help researchers explain why a person’s risk of developing multiple sclerosis (MS) is impacted by their birth month and also indentifies the need for further research on the potential advantages of vitamin D supplementation during the course of pregnancy, to help fight off gestational diabetes, preeclampsia and low birth weight newborns....
“I made a hot fudge sundae and put it on the couch while I let my dogs outside. I sat back down on the couch and forgot the sundae was there! I was too tired to change and forgot all about it. But when I went to go get dinner that night, everyone was laughing at me. My husband said it looked like I’d pooped my pants!” — Cassidy F. “I reached for my cell phone and put it in my son’s mouth, thinking it was a bottle....
