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October, 2000 1) What's Happening at the Babies Community 1) What's Happening We've had some great articles this month written by experienced Moms who care on topics from cloth diapering, to starting your baby on solids.
Check out the ones you might have missed: Info Alley and the Diapering Resource page
CONGRATULATIONS to Mom2b for winning the Baby Food Tips & Recipes contest!! She will be receiving a Baby Gift set from Nurslings-www.nurslings.com that includes a Baby Hemp Hat & Shirt, Baby Soap & Diaper Balm. Scroll down for her Baby Food Tip and other great advice and ideas.
Check the main page for the new feature: Baby Activities. Scroll down for one you might have missed! Look often for new and fun things to do with your baby!
Feel free to email me with any questions, comments, articles, or baby-care tips!
The book of the month is "Infant Massage". Click on the cover featured on the main page to learn more about the book. Be sure to check out the Reading List for more great books.
As always, email me at: babies@mothersnature.com with articles, info, questions, stories or comments. I love to hear from you and am always looking for articles or tips to share with the Babies Community. 2) Baby Food Tips & Recipes
TIP from Mom2b:
Em (6 months) loved to grab the spoon when I'm feeding her. I gave her her
own spoon and the problem is solved.
Thanks to Pheebert for sending in this Baby Food Tip!
My tip is- Don't spend a bunch of money on "special" baby foods in little jars that are a little bit of food and a lot of water, filler, etc. My 10 month old son's favorite breakfast is oatmeal. I just buy organic quick oats at the health food store, put 'em in a bowl with apple juice and/or water, stick it in the microwave for less than a minute and voila! He loves it, and it's easy and good for him.
My personal favorite recipe when starting solid foods is for rice cereal. It's not too time consuming, and it's so much more appealing than the deydrated boxed version of baby rice cereal, that even I eat it! I use brown rice for it's superior nutritional value, and spread the rice on a cookie sheet. I don't measure it out, just use about what I think my baby will eat up in two weeks time. I bake the rice at around 350 degrees for 15 minutes or so. I don't really keep track of the time, but when I start to smell that nutty aroma the rice gives off I check on it. If it's nicely browned I take it out to let it cool.
*Put the rice in an airtight container to be used later. At feeding time, measure a couple tablespoons of the rice into a coffee grinder that you only use for baby food. *Grind it up so that its almost powdery, but it's ok if there are a few little chunks.
*Put the ground up rice in a pot and add 2 cups of water, bring to a quick boil, cover and reduce heat to low. Let the rice cook for about 15 minutes or until it absorbs the water and is a nice consistency for baby. If you over cook, the rice will be too thick. *It tastes great and you can add some mashed banana too if you like!
From the Baby Food Message Board:
Spookymom33 writes:
Hi there! When I've given my son avacado, I've simply mashed it up and given it to him. I was making guacamole for the family and just took some of the plain avacado and put it aside. It is really good, but high in fat if that's a concern for you.
MissNoel writes:
Avacados are wonderful! A good source of protein and fat which is needed for the developing brain tissue. After rice cereal, that was my baby's first food. They are really easy, and don't really take much preparation. All I did was slice in in half, remove the pit, and scoop it into the baby food grinder. I mushed it through that and then put it into icecube trays and froze them. Our baby will eat one cube mixed with cereal and it's still one of her favorite meals! Hope this helps! 3) Teething Tip Reprinted with permission from the GetAttached! Newsletter Spring, 1999 4) Family Bed
Ten Reasons to Sleep Next to Your Child at Night
by Jan Hunt
1. Family co-sleeping takes full advantage of the ease of breastfeeding, as there is no need to go to another room to get the child. A breastfeeding mother in a "family bed" can easily feed her child without having to wake fully, and can continue to get the important rest she needs. Thus co-sleeping encourages mothers to extend breastfeeding and all of its numerous benefits for a longer time.
2. Gaps in breathing are normal during the early months of infancy, and if not prevented or attended to, can lead to Sudden Infant Death syndrome (SIDS). Recent research suggests that shared sleep can help prevent this heart-breaking event, in two ways. First, recent research has shown that the mother's breathing provides important cues to her infant, reminding him to take a breath following exhalation, preventing a SIDS situation from developing. Second, even if this reminder system fails, the mother is nearby to help by arousing the infant. A breastfeeding mother and baby tend to have coordinated sleeping and dreaming cycles, making her keenly sensitive to her baby. If she is sleeping close by, she will automatically awaken if there is a long breathing gap. But if the baby is alone, this life-saving intervention cannot take place.
3. Suffocation is often listed as a danger of family co-sleeping. However, this is a real danger in only two situations: a young infant sleeping on a water-bed, thus unable to push himself up when needed, or a parent who is too intoxicated by alcohol or drugs to attend to a child's needs. Obviously, a child who is suffocating for any reason (such as a ribbon on sleepwear getting around her neck, vomiting during sleep, asthmatic attacks) is far more likely to rouse a parent who is sleeping nearby than one sleeping in a different room.
4. Any night-time danger to a child is reduced if there is an adult close by. Babies and children have perished in fires, have been sexually abused by visiting relatives, have been abducted from their bed, have been attacked by pets, have suffocated after vomiting, and have died or been injured in various ways which could have been prevented had a parent been nearby to help.
5. Family co-sleeping is often misunderstood as facilitating sexual abuse of children by a parent. However, the opposite is true. Parents who develop deep emotional bonds with their children by remaining close by and responsive at night, as well as during the day, are far less likely to turn to abusive behavior of any kind toward the children they love and cherish. Conversely, the fact that a child sleeps alone has never been adequate protection against a parent who intends sexual trespass, and may even make it easier for one parent to keep such activity secret from the other.
6. Shared sleep can further prevent child abuse by helping all family members to obtain the rest they need, especially if the child is breastfeeding. The child does not have to suffer needlessly nor cry to bring his mother, and the mother can nurse half-asleep. The entire family awakes refreshed, with no lingering resentment toward the baby for having disturbed their sleep the night before. An exhausted parent is far more likely to abuse a child than a well-rested mother or father who has enjoyed the presence of a happily resting child through the night.
7. Crying is a signal provided by nature that is meant to disturb the parents so that the baby's needs will be met. But prolonged crying is stressful to all the family members. The sooner the baby's needs are met, the more rest the baby and the entire family can have, and the more energy they will have for the next day. A mother sleeping next to her baby can utilize the instinctive response a new mother has to her baby's first whimper, thus preventing the need for the hard crying that is so stressful to the baby and to all other members of the family.
8. A deeper sense of love and trust often develops between siblings who sleep near each other, lessening sibling rivalry during waking hours. Siblings who share the night as well as the day have a greater opportunity to build a deep and lasting relationship. Babies and children who are separated from other family members during the day (parents at work, siblings at school) can partially make up for these absences and reestablish important emotional bonds by spending time at night together, and by the delightful early morning family time that is otherwise often missed. Of course, home businesses and unschooling can minimize separations and deepen family bonds during the day, just as co-sleeping does at night.
9. Studies of adults in coma have shown that the presence of another person in the room significantly improves heart rate, heart rhythm, and blood pressure. It seems reasonable to assume that infants and children derive similar health benefits to having others in the same room with them.
10. A child who is cared for during the night as well as the day receives constant reassurance of love and support, instead of having to cope with feelings of fear, anger, and abandonment night after night. Children who have felt safe through the night as well as the day with a loving parent close by become adults who cope better with the inevitable stresses life brings. As John Holt put it so eloquently, having feelings of love and safety in early life, far from "spoiling" a child, is like "money in the bank": a fund of trust, self-esteem and inner security which the child can draw on throughout life's challenges.
Reprinted with permission of the author. Originally published on the Natural Child Project Internet site at www.naturalchild.com . Copyright 2000.
Jan Hunt, B.A. Psychology (Magna cum Laude), M.Sc. counseling Psychology, is the Director of the Natural Child Project, the B.C. Coordinator for the CSPCC (Canadian Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children), a member of the CSPCC Board of Directors, and Editorial Assistant of the Society's quarterly journal Empathic Parenting. She is also a member of the Board of Directors for Attachment Parenting International and the Advisory Board of The Child-Friendly Initiative. Jan has published articles in that journal, The Times-Colonist, Monday Magazine, Nelson Daily News, Growing Without Schooling, Reader's Digest, Compleat Mother, and other periodicals in Canada and the U.S.
Reprinted with permission from the GetAttached! Newsletter Spring, 2000 5) Baby Activity Baby Activities 6-12 months This "toy" is great for giving baby practice at getting a hold of objects and learning to manipulate them. Every so often change the objects on the board to keep your baby interested. Have Fun!
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