As I prepare for the birth of my second child I have come to realize that there is really nothing at all that is the same as the first time around. Morning sickness, yeah, ok, that’s pretty much the same, but everything else is different. Everything. I think there are a couple of reasons for this. First, it’s the second time around. I have a better idea of what I need and want for my child. [Read more…]
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Badass Baby Registry
TRIPLETS AND SLEEP…YES WE ARE FINALLY GETTING SOME!!
By Davina Wright
My first goal when we found out we were having three babies was to lower my expectation of sleep! I figured you couldn’t get upset with what you didn’t expect to have in the first place! When we brought our triplets (Willow, Connor and Summer) home after 3 weeks in NICU, it was a creative challenge to figure out how we would all sleep. Lots of people suggested keeping them on the NICU schedule, but it was a ridiculous schedule meant for a single nurse to be able to feed one baby at a time in a constant rotation and totally wouldn’t work in a real life home setting. Others suggested putting them on a 3 hourly schedule where we would just wake them all up at 3 hourly intervals, feed them all and put them back to sleep. This is what the majority of triplet parents do…they will tell you it is all about the schedule. Unfortunately, most triplets aren’t breastfed, and mine were, which to me meant supply and demand, day and night, so no schedule.
Notes from a Lousy Photographer (MommyCon Los Angeles, 2013)
By Josh Wilker
In my defense, it’s not very easy to take good pictures or videos while holding a wriggling human megaphone.
“Too youd!” yelled this human megaphone, also known as my two-year-old son, Jack. I was aiming my phone at his mom. You can’t tell in the resulting blurry photo, but Abby was up on a stage at the Los Angeles Convention Center, speaking through a microphone to a large room full of mothers and babies (and a few stunned fathers). Jack was right, it was pretty youd. The sound hit me as a good thing, the wide, warm buzz of people coming together, but Jack disagreed.
“Go! This! Way!” he yelled. He spiked each syllable with a jerking full-body wiggle in the direction of the closest exit. (He views me primarily as a mule he can steer with his wiggles.) I tried to stand my ground for a moment and took a four-second video of my sneakers.
Attachment Parenting by Accident
My son, Jack, was about a month old when my husband and I walked to a nearby restaurant to have lunch on the outdoor patio. We walked Jack in the stroller that we had chosen for our baby registry. I had seen so many families eat lunch while their babies slept in the stroller next to the table. We could do this too. We could be those people! We sat down and Jack slept for about 10 minutes and then woke up. Well, that wasn’t part of the plan, but OK, I picked him up and nursed him while we ate.
Gentle Parenting is Not Anti-Spanking
Gentle parenting is PRO-gentle discipline.
Gentle parenting is not about what we don’t do. It’s about what we DO.
I recently overheard someone telling another person about gentle parenting. She said “we don’t spank, we don’t do leave our babies to cry.” I hear too much about what we don’t do as gentle parents. To me this misses the point entirely. [Read more…]
Media
The Badass Breastfeeder is a blog written by Abby Theuring, a writer, public speaker, activist, wife and mother of 2 who lives in Chicago, IL. The blog empowers mothers to breastfeed in public, to breastfeed beyond infancy and practice gentle parenting (natural childbirth, babywearing, co-sleeping and gentle discipline) . It encourages moms and dads to trust their parenting instincts and helps parents develop the confidence to make important decision for their families. It’s also the personal story of one family’s struggles through the ups and downs of attachment parenting. Unlike many parenting blogs, it paints an honest, authentic picture of the stressful and challenging moments that come along with being a parent. The Badass Breastfeeder is a global community of moms and dads who share their experiences so that we know we are not alone. The Badass Breastfeeder has been featured on WGN TV and several other media outlets. The blog reaches hundreds of thousands of parents each month.
So what qualifies me to advocate for you? I AM you! I am a mother who was given an overload of inaccurate information and little support upon the birth of my first son, Jack, in July 2011. It led to many complications with getting started with breastfeeding and making the transition to motherhood. This is a problem that is so easily avoided when people are given access to accurate and supportive information!
My mission is grounded in the conviction that the foundation of civilization is mothers nurturing their children. The simple act of seeing mothers breastfeeding promotes a gentler and more connected approach to parenting than can be seen in most mainstream outlets. As a social worker who worked for 14 years with abused and neglected teenagers I have always been compelled to advocate for the rights of children and have first-hand experience with how vital gentle parenting is for future generations.
Thank you for visiting and taking part in the movement to take parenting back to where it belongs—to the pure and untainted hearts of parents.
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For inquiries related to interviews, speaking engagements, advertising and the blog please contact Abby at [email protected].
Here Are a Few of Our Favorite Things
Yes, it is preferable to go outside and explore the world, but let’s face it, sometimes it is just too cold or too hot or too tornado warning or you just plain can’t get out of the door because your babe is having a bad day. Or you are having a bad day! There are days when simply putting a diaper on is the most difficult task. When I want to give him and me a break here are a few of our favorite things to do.
The number 1 favorite thing in our house is oats in a bin. Click here for our full story on that!
Baseball cards are another favorite. We have so many that we could carpet the entire house. We pour them out onto the floor and dance in them or swim in them.
Crawling through those tunnels is fun, but Jack likes it better when we get in it while standing up. Sometimes I put it over him and make him disappear and then reappear like a magician.
Wagons are for outside only. Not! And what a sweet ride with stuffed friends and favorite shoes.
Here’s another sweet ride.
Stair ball. Jack stands at the top behind the safety gate and my husband stands at the bottom of the stairs. Jack throws the ball over, my husband throws it back and Jack chases it down to start all over again.
Jack likes to empty the silverware drawer. We have 2 drawers. One for the sharp stuff and one for the safe stuff.
Get naked!
Play with DVDs. If you don’t want your DVDs scratched then take them out!
Dance party! Catch it in motion!
Competition to see how messy we can get the house.
Dump truck rides.
Various materials on the floor that all make different sounds. Run on them or drive trucks on them!
My friend and Admin, Kristin, showed us how to ride on a jet ski. Here we are going over some BIG WAVES!
Spin in circles over the world.
Sometimes we just hop in the bath for no reason at all and bring half the kitchen with us.
Have lunch at the window and watch construction.
Let’s face it, my husband will never be in a band. Jack loves strumming the guitar or throwing things into it or standing on it.
Hop in the sink when we get a bit fussy waiting for dinner!
Share your favorite indoor activities in the comments!
Abby Theuring, MSW
30 Days of Gratitude
A few months ago my husband and I decided to do 30 Days of Gratitude. For a couple of people who tend to whine and complain a lot it was much needed yet quite challenging. It ended up taking us about 2 months. There were some nights we forgot and some night where I was wound so tight I couldn’t bring myself to come up with something. In the end it was an exercise in allowing myself to let go of the negativity in a moment and find something about my life that should be celebrated.
1.Being healthy; as a social worker I was often involved in therapy groups or other activities where we would discuss things we are grateful for. Health is always number 1 to me.
2.Jack; my 18 month old son who change my world.
3.Beer; I really love beer.
4.Hot bubble baths; I take one every evening after my bath with Jack while my husband puts Jack’s pajamas on and plays with him in the other room.
5.An AP husband; I have too many flaws, weaknesses, short-comings, etc. to do any of this parenting thing by myself. My husband has been on board with and even led many of the changes that we have gone through as a family during our transformation to Attachment Parenting.
6.My wavering yet still intact sanity; even when I feel like I am about to completely snap and never return to the real world I find myself being able to hang on and make it through even the worst of times. Not that anything has been that bad for us, but you know those moments when life seems harder than it is.
7.My mom; she will do anything for me, my husband and son.
8.Water; I really get thirsty sometimes.
9.New friends; I have a Mama Tribe. I can turn to them for anything.
10.Dance parties; before Jack was even planned my husband and I had dance parties by ourselves in our apartment. When I became pregnant we used to fantasize about dancing with our child the same way. For well over a year Jack wanted to be held while we danced. Recently he has started dancing on his own. We now dance in a circle like high school girls at a dance in the gym. Dreams can come true.
11.Food; I really get hungry sometimes.
12.Parks; I never really appreciated parks until Jack came along. Now they are one of my favorite places to go.
13.Pepperoni pizza; have you ever had the pizza from the Whole Foods deli? It’s not cooked, you bring it home and put it in the oven. Sweet Pizza Gods, I thank you.
14.Chocolate; I suppose this is a love/hate relationship.
15.Wine; Pinot Grigio and I are long-time lovers.
16.Josh; my husband. He’s my biggest fan.
17.Fans; yes, you.
18.Babywearing; I never knew I would enjoy such intimacy with another person.
19.Being alive; I wrote this after the Sandy Hook school shooting.
20.Bedhsaring; something I never thought I would do and now something I love so much it has become a part of who I am.
21.Jack’s feet; there have never been a cuter pair of anything on the planet.
22.Mail; seriously, isn’t it amazing that you can put something in a mailbox on your corner and it ends up on the other side of the planet a few days later?
23.Sam; my sister. One cool chick.
24.Funny people; thank goodness for you!
25.My Dad; the most generous man I know.
26.Radicalism; after I wrote my post on nurse-ins people accused me of being radical. Although I find nurse-ins to be anything but radical I found this to be a great compliment (although that is not how it was intended).
27.Breastfeeding; always wanted to, almost didn’t. It taught me how strong I am. In fact, it taught me who I am.
28.Tea; Rose Hips is my current favorite, but it has been a long time since I have had a hot cup of it.
29.Trucks; anything that makes Jack smile that big is a favorite in my book.
30.Endings; I was truly grateful when this was over. It was difficult! Difficult changes in definition for me from day to day. Lately I feel like I have not even tasted how difficult life can be. And for that I am grateful too.
Abby Theuring, MSW
