motherhood Archives - Page 6 of 14 - The Badass Breastfeeder

Why Would You Nurse a 4-Year-Old?

You may be expecting a snarky blog post aimed at critics of “extended” breastfeeding filled with awesome comebacks to sling around comment threads of breastfeeding posts. But I have written enough of those. A recent conversation in a thread on my own page reminded me that some people just… don’t get it. Some people just really don’t know why someone would breastfeed a toddler. They ask, “But doesn’t he eat food? Drink regular milk? Isn’t he too busy playing?” This post is dedicated to all of the people who want to know more about this. The people who ask questions, hold back judgement and have an open mind to listen to someone else’s experiences. [Read more…]

Filed Under: Breastfeeding // Tagged: benefits of breastfeeding, breast feeding, breast milk, Breastfeeding, breastfeeding beyond infancy, extended breastfeeding, motherhood, natural duration breastfeeding, natural term breastfeeding, normal duration breastfeeding, nursing aversion, weaning

11 Tips for the Newborn Days

I feel like there so many of these blogs going around but I feel moved to write my own because the newborn days with my first son were so drastically different than with my second. Like night and day. With my first I felt alone, even perpetuated that myself by pushing people away and demanding to dot it perfect and all by myself. With my second son I planned ahead of time to do pretty much everything the opposite. So here is what I think are some important tips for the newborn days so that maybe your days will be a bit brighter! [Read more…]

Filed Under: Attachment parenting // Tagged: attachment parenting, baby blues, gentle parenting, having a baby, having a new baby, help with newborn, motherhood, new baby, newborn days, newborn help, parenting styles, parenting tips, postpartum, postpartum depression, raising children, support with newborn, welcoming baby

The X-Files: A Story of a Second Child

Recently I was carrying Exley on my hip and rushing around after Jack. Suddenly I started spinning and darting my eyes around the floor.

“WHERE’S EXLEY??!!” I yelled.

It took my mom to burst out laughing for me to realize what I had done.

The Milky Way: Witness the Nature of Nurture

The Milky Way is an eye-opening documentary about breastfeeding and an expose’ of the pervasive formula marketing in America. The U.S. has one of the lowest breastfeeding rates in the world; the simple act of nursing a baby elicits a broad range of reactions, especially when done in public. We show how women can reclaim their birthright and return the nursing mother to her natural and crucial role in our society. We seek to bring back the community of mothers and change the way women support each other. More than a [Read more…]

Filed Under: Breastfeeding // Tagged: breast feeding, Breastfeeding, breastfeeding documentary, breastfeeding movie, breastfeeding story, breastmilk, formula advertising, formula marketing, motherhood, The Milky Way

Two Different Moms

I feel like 2 different mothers sometimes. Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, but not the flying into a rage part. Well, ok, sometimes the rage part. OK, OK, often the rage part! Get off my back!

But what I want to highlight here is that I feel like each child brings out a different part of me. It’s the anxiety ridden mother versus the calm, cool and collected mother. I had heard from other mothers that the second baby is easier. I didn’t know until I actually had a second baby what that meant for us. [Read more…]

Filed Under: Attachment parenting // Tagged: attachment parenting, child discipline, disciplining children, gentle parenting, instinctual parenting, motherhood, natural parenting, parenting advice, parenting blog, parenting challenges, parenting skills, parenting stress, parenting struggles, parenting styles, parenting tips, positive discipline, positive parenting, raising children, raising kids

The Exclamation Point

Jack is 3.5 years old, but it feels like he has been the closest person to me forever. He changed me in ways that no one has. He changed my purpose in life from little things to the biggest things. I always knew I wanted another child. I also knew that I would experience a heartbreaking change in my relationship with Jack. I predicted it so vividly that it made me choke with sobs. [Read more…]

Filed Under: Attachment parenting // Tagged: adjusting to second baby, adjusting to second child, attachment parenting, child discipline, disciplining children, gentle parenting, instinctual parenting, motherhood, natural parenting, parenting advice, parenting blog, parenting challenges, parenting skills, parenting stress, parenting struggles, parenting styles, parenting tips, positive discipline, positive parenting, raising children, raising kids

Full Figure Ambassador & Model Search

You know who has the perfect body? You do. Your body is yours, it is completely unique and no matter how you feel about it, it is the perfect vessel through which you are experiencing this life with right now. [Read more…]

Filed Under: Breastfeeding // Tagged: breast feeding, breast pump, Breastfeeding, breastfeeding and pumping, breastfeeding clothes, exclusive pumping, full figure ambassador and model search, hands free pumping bras, motherhood, nursing bras, pumping bras, pumping breast milk, pumping clothes, rumina

Sibling Relationships and Avoiding Rivalry

I am not any kind of parenting expert, but we have now welcomed number 2 into our home. It has been 10 months and there is one measly little thing that I can say that I feel like I am doing well. It was a concern of mine, and many parents who are adjusting to 2, that my first son, Jack, would feel left out or jealous. I knew that Jack would have complicated feelings about my second son, Exley. I wanted to be sure not to shame him for his feelings. I wanted him to feel as doted upon as always. [Read more…]

Surrender

By Melody Fetterman

A great deal of my pregnancy was spent anticipating birth. I was afraid of it for a long time, for most of the time. Luckily, my fears dissolved as I neared the end of my pregnancy and I felt peace. And though my son’s birth was not silent or simple, it was peaceful in its own way. I remember it as a storm. The lightning contractions, the thunderous moaning, the sounds so loud that the world seemed quiet. And then, just as a storm ends, it was over. My son was born. [Read more…]

Filed Under: Attachment parenting // Tagged: attachment parenting, birth, Breastfeeding, child discipline, childbirth, disciplining children, gentle parenting, instinctual parenting, motherhood, natural parenting, parenting advice, parenting blog, parenting challenges, parenting skills, parenting stress, parenting struggles, parenting styles, parenting tips, positive discipline, positive parenting, raising children, raising kids

TO AVOID EARLY WEANING, KEEP NURSING COZY

By Wendy Wisner, IBCLC

Every mom has different goals for breastfeeding. As an IBCLC, I always strive to support each mom in her specific nursing goals, whether she wants to nurse for just a few months or many more. Each mom’s life situation is different, nuanced, and complicated. As much as I know the powerful benefits of nursing a child to 12 months and beyond, I would never tell a mother she should do so if it is not something she wishes to do, or if she feels that her life circumstances don’t warrant it. [Read more…]

Filed Under: Breastfeeding // Tagged: attachment parenting, baby led weaning, breast feeding, breast milk, Breastfeeding, breastfeeding beyond infancy, exclusive breastfeeding, extended breastfeeding, motherhood, parenting styles, raising children, raising kids, weaning