Family Values

There are thousands of names to choose from. Help!

Picking the right name for your child is a daunting task. It will stick with them for life, so the pressure’s on! And while some countries have strict rosters of appropriate names you can choose from, in America almost anything goes. With all the options, it can be extremely overwhelming.

And of course, you’ll regularly be fending off suggestions from family, friends, and strangers. While it doesn’t hurt to be open to ideas, the decision is up to you and your partner. Don’t be afraid to say thanks, but no thanks! [Read more →]

Tags: Mom & Kids by siska
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Children that are breastfed have a higher IQ than children that are fed formula? Is this some sort of unsupported statement by radical breastfeeding supporters?  Has our support of breastfeeding outstripped the facts?

Nothing could be further from the truth.  Perhaps one of the most important stories that hasn’t made your local paper (but has been on the newsfeeds) is that there is a demonstrated direct relation between a child’s intelligence and cognitive ability and how long that child was breastfed.  Some studies show an increase in intelligence for each additional month the child was breastfed.

Could you give your child a more important gift than a better brain?  The findings are hardly surprising when we consider that the brain is only 1/3 formed at birth, and that breastmilk has been evolutionarily honed over millions of years to complete building the brain during the first two years of life.  Cow’s milk has been evolutionarily honed to.., hmm.., maybe build big bones?  Whoever heard of a smart cow?  [Read more →]

Tags: Mom & Kids by siska
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Are changes in mood common after childbirth?

After having a baby, many women have mood swings. One minute they feel happy, the next minute they start to cry. They may feel a little depressed, have a hard time concentrating, lose their appetite or find that they can’t sleep well even when the baby is asleep. These symptoms usually start about three to four days after delivery and may last several days.

If you’re a new mother and have any of these symptoms, you have what is called the “baby blues.” “The blues” are considered a normal part of early motherhood and usually go away within 10 days after delivery. However, some women have worse symptoms or symptoms last longer. This is called “postpartum depression.”   [Read more →]

Tags: Mom & Kids by siska
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For decades, classical music has been universally believed to have great impact to make babies become smarter. Due to such believe, many of expectant mother spend their time to regularly listen to certain kinds of classical music – commonly with headphones on their ears – hopefully that their unborn child would be safely born with a higher intelligence. But, some people say that such believe is only a fiction rather than a fact. How would you response to such pros and cons on this?  [Read more →]

Tags: Mom & Kids by siska
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It seems like a simple enough question. Unfortunately, the simplest answer sometimes isn’t useful.

A more practical answer is that your baby may need to take a vitamin supplement if:

• he was born premature, and a vitamin was recommended by your pediatrician
• you are breastfeeding, in which case he likely needs a vitamin D supplement
• your pediatrician recommended vitamins for another reason such as a low iron level

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Hanna Rosin and three friends discuss the science and culture of breastfeeding

One afternoon at the playground last summer, shortly after the birth of my third child, I made the mistake of idly musing about breast-feeding to a group of new mothers I’d just met. This time around, I said, I was considering cutting it off after a month or so. At this remark, the air of insta-friendship we had established cooled into an icy politeness, and the mothers shortly wandered away to chase little Emma or Liam onto the slide. Just to be perverse, over the next few weeks I tried this experiment again several more times.

The reaction was always the same: circles were redrawn such that I ended up in the class of mom who, in a pinch, might feed her baby mashed-up Chicken McNuggets. [Read more →]

Tags: Mom & Kids by siska
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