I cannot believe it’s been almost a year. In one week, my little baby will turn one. Some things haven’t changed at all (like the fact I wrote that sentence and then had to pat her back to sleep for 20 minutes). Others are radically different: she’s almost walking; she has about five clear signs and vocalises vociferously; she points at what she wants; and she now throws a mean tantrum with serious intent. Read more…
Tags: attachment parenting, baby, development, elimination communication, language, signing
Posted by rosanne on Dec 3, 2009 in
Administrivia I delivered on my first major deadlines at work in the last few weeks. And spent my evenings making a website for my Dad. And somewhere in there, I nursed and played with my little girl — although, truth be told, her Dad did most of that. And as a result, I got run down and eventually ill, but I kept on turning up to work and I kept on dragging myself out of bed in the middle of the night. Read more…
Tags: attachment parenting, breastfeeding, dream-feed, Elizabeth Pantley, No Cry Sleep Solution, sleep, working mother
Posted by rosanne on Oct 15, 2009 in
Challenges,
Educational Every single day, someone mistakes my daughter for a boy. Why? In part, because “boy” is the default category. In part, because she isn’t dressed in pink, doesn’t have pierced ears and is not sporting one of those lacy bands around her forehead (ugh). It happened again this week, at the pool, because she was wearing a lime green swimsuit that (shock, horror) only covered her bottom. All the other girls were in pink, either one-pieces or two-piece bikinis (for 8-month-old babies!!). It’s just part of a bigger story about gender, stereotypes, Caster Semenya and why she matters, girls’ toys and boys’ toys, and why it’s a big, big mess waiting to happen. Read more…
Tags: clothing, gender, gender difference, lise eliot, nurtureshock, respecting the child, sex differences, stay-at-home-dad, working mother
Posted by paula on Sep 17, 2009 in
Health Baby is not nursing nicely. Maybe there’s a rash. You’ve heard it might be something you ate. This might be so. But there’s no reason to spend the rest of your nursing relationship in chocolate-deprived misery, wondering if it really did make a difference. There are a couple of more scientific things you can do.
The food and wellness diary is my second choice of diagnostic tool. My first, is the two-day low-allergen elimination diet described in “Infant Food Sensitivity: step-by-step self-diagnosis“. The diary is more work, takes more time to get a result, and requires more knowledge (or help) to interpret than the two-day exclusion diet. However, on the plus side, it’s completely safe, easier on your eating requirements, can be used in conjunction with whatever else you are doing, and can help you come to a more detailed understanding of the situation. Read more…
Tags: allergy, Diagnostic, food diary, Infant Food Sensitivity
Posted by rosanne on Sep 13, 2009 in
Challenges,
Sustainable Parenting Apparently, up to a third of Australians think women shouldn’t breastfeed in public. I think what’s more worrying about that study is how many people think babies should be weaned at six months and that it’s the 18–24 year olds who are the most ignorant. I have a sneaking suspicion that my daughter is growing up in a more conservative, gendered world than I did, and it scares me. Read more…
Tags: attachment parenting, breastfeeding, clothing, gender, infant, nudity, socialisation
I was always the first to laugh at the idea of being “addicted to cloth nappying.” No way! No matter how many times I heard that said, I always assumed it was some kind of… …evidence of being a little unhinged? Well, here I am, five months down the track, writing a serious post about laundry. The uninitiated should find this a useful primer, and there might even be something in here for the experienced nappier too. Read more…
Tags: chemical-free, cloth nappies, diaper, laundry, line-drying, nappies
Posted by paula on Aug 18, 2009 in
Health Your baby doesn’t seem to be nursing as happily any more. You have your suspicions that it could be an infant food intolerance. Your doctor’s appointment is booked for next week. What now? Baby’s gotta eat! It’s time to do a quick home-spun low-allergen diet, and see what happens. Read more…
Tags: breastfeeding, elimination diet, food, Infant Food Intolerance, self-diagnosis
Posted by rosanne on Aug 10, 2009 in
Challenges,
Work/Life Balance Today was my first day of paid work in about seven months. My last day was December 19, conveniently just before the holiday break, so I cheated and had five weeks off before the birth rather than come back for two days in January only to leave again. My baby was six months old about two weeks ago. The timing is pretty perfect actually: the final government payment (”baby bonus”, as it’s called) went into our bank account last week. We need something to replace it as my partner is going to be the stay-at-home Dad, and I’m to be the income earner. Read more…
Tags: breastfeeding, expressing, mastitis, stay-at-home-dad, work, working mother
Babies grow so fast, they’re barely in any one item of clothing for more than three months. I shudder to think how many items of clothing one child goes through in a lifetime, but I’ll hazard a guess they’re a huge contributor to the growing piles of landfill that pollute the world. As a greenie, I try to limit unnecessary consumption, but I also want natural fibres and organics… Clothing your baby is hardly unnecessary, so it’s become one of the most angst-filled issues of my life. Read more…
Tags: clothing, consumption, environment, natural fibres, organic
Posted by paula on Aug 3, 2009 in
Health,
Product Recommendation Have you seen children’s waterproofs labelled “NO PVC” ? Or perhaps you’ve heard that you shouldn’t re-use plastic water bottles, shouldn’t microwave in plastic, or shouldn’t leave plastic in the car? You’ve probably heard the advice before and , like me, didn’t know why. Well, these thing are likely to have been suggestions to help you avoid phthalates, the potentially endocrine-disrupting plasticisers. Read more…
Tags: chemical-free, phthalates