Monday, 13 August 2012
If my baby was a cave baby...
... 'mommy wars' would be mothers fighting to protect their offspring, not Internet judging.
Monday, 6 August 2012
Monday, 30 July 2012
Wednesday, 25 July 2012
Top 6.5 reasons to breastfeed that baby like the mammal he/she is!
1. You're mammals. Sounds over simplified, and it is, but really, you're a mammal, baby's a mammal. Mammals by definition breastfeed.
2. No bleeding in the pants area! This one is gross I guess (because we all know something natural that happens to all women is soo gross! *sigh) But seriously, you probably won't get your period when you are breastfeeding. Mine didn't come back for a few months after stopping feeding as well. This is your body preventing itself from making more babies than you can handle!
3. Health benefits. You and baby get tons of benefits. There has been research into breastfeeding preventing lady-cancers. I over simplify this one to something like : if you use all your plumbing it won't get gunked up, aka cancer. That make sense?
The baby gets tons of health benefits too. A more natural growth pattern. No processed milk products. He gets some immunity protection from you. Lots of things to brag about at your play dates.
4. Baby bonding. This one is told in every hospital and is on the lips of every breast feeder and lactation consultant out there. I didn't really get it. Even when I was feeding. But now my cave baby doesn't cuddle at all or give kisses. So I miss forcing him to cuddle with me for nourishment. It is also nice to not get out of bed in the middle of the night to mix formula.
5. Diaper duty. If you have ever changed the diaper of a formula fed, baby or baby starting solids, and then changed a exclusive breast feed baby, you know what I'm talking about. Breastfed babies literally (and I mean literally in the metaphoric way) shit rainbows and sunshine. If you are cloth diapering you don't even have to dump the poo, just toss it all in the washer.
6. Money. Buying processed cow's milk to feed your baby, $$$. Buying all the bottles and whatnot to mix formula, $$$. Feeding baby straight from the tap, priceless.
6.5. Convenience. This only gets a half because it can be used to formula as well. If you are breastfeeding and have to go out, when baby gets hungry, you have everything he needs. If he eats lots, you got it, if he eats less, nothing is wasted.
There are many more reasons why breastfeeding is amazing and should be tried by everyone.
If you are going to raise your baby as a cave baby you definitely need to get some mother's milk in there!
If you can think of any other good reasons leave me a comment or shoot me an email, ramarshall2012@gmail.com
2. No bleeding in the pants area! This one is gross I guess (because we all know something natural that happens to all women is soo gross! *sigh) But seriously, you probably won't get your period when you are breastfeeding. Mine didn't come back for a few months after stopping feeding as well. This is your body preventing itself from making more babies than you can handle!
3. Health benefits. You and baby get tons of benefits. There has been research into breastfeeding preventing lady-cancers. I over simplify this one to something like : if you use all your plumbing it won't get gunked up, aka cancer. That make sense?
The baby gets tons of health benefits too. A more natural growth pattern. No processed milk products. He gets some immunity protection from you. Lots of things to brag about at your play dates.
4. Baby bonding. This one is told in every hospital and is on the lips of every breast feeder and lactation consultant out there. I didn't really get it. Even when I was feeding. But now my cave baby doesn't cuddle at all or give kisses. So I miss forcing him to cuddle with me for nourishment. It is also nice to not get out of bed in the middle of the night to mix formula.
5. Diaper duty. If you have ever changed the diaper of a formula fed, baby or baby starting solids, and then changed a exclusive breast feed baby, you know what I'm talking about. Breastfed babies literally (and I mean literally in the metaphoric way) shit rainbows and sunshine. If you are cloth diapering you don't even have to dump the poo, just toss it all in the washer.
6. Money. Buying processed cow's milk to feed your baby, $$$. Buying all the bottles and whatnot to mix formula, $$$. Feeding baby straight from the tap, priceless.
6.5. Convenience. This only gets a half because it can be used to formula as well. If you are breastfeeding and have to go out, when baby gets hungry, you have everything he needs. If he eats lots, you got it, if he eats less, nothing is wasted.
There are many more reasons why breastfeeding is amazing and should be tried by everyone.
If you are going to raise your baby as a cave baby you definitely need to get some mother's milk in there!
If you can think of any other good reasons leave me a comment or shoot me an email, ramarshall2012@gmail.com
Monday, 23 July 2012
Wednesday, 18 July 2012
Cave Baby Caffeine High
If you wish to wander the internet and have enough time on your hands you can find enough studies to support the fact that consuming caffeine while pregnant will, with out a doubt, cause hyperactivity in a child/development delays/miscarriage and still birth/absolutely no measurable effect on a fetus/alertness in the mother/everything in between.
Caffeine was first found in natural plants in the forms of the coffee berry, the tea leaf, the cocoa bean and a few other lesser known plants. People in early cultures would chew leaves of certain plants or drink concocted beverages before they knew it was caffeine they were consuming. They noticed certain leaves or berries gave them more energy and vitality (wings, as it were).
When these early cultures consumed caffeine it was either as a luxury item or as a social ceremony. There weren't any coffee shops or tea houses. It is safe to assume cave babies had other things to worry about than how much caffeine they were exposed to in vitro.
We now live in a coffee fuelled world. Some woman have a two, or three, or six coffee-a-day habit before they become pregnant. They have to weigh the caffeine addiction and benefits against possible risk to their baby.
If you ate a pound of dirt it would be bad for you, if you got dust in your mouth it would not harm you. As with most things in life, practise moderation, don't eat a pound of coffee.
Caffeine was first found in natural plants in the forms of the coffee berry, the tea leaf, the cocoa bean and a few other lesser known plants. People in early cultures would chew leaves of certain plants or drink concocted beverages before they knew it was caffeine they were consuming. They noticed certain leaves or berries gave them more energy and vitality (wings, as it were).
When these early cultures consumed caffeine it was either as a luxury item or as a social ceremony. There weren't any coffee shops or tea houses. It is safe to assume cave babies had other things to worry about than how much caffeine they were exposed to in vitro.
We now live in a coffee fuelled world. Some woman have a two, or three, or six coffee-a-day habit before they become pregnant. They have to weigh the caffeine addiction and benefits against possible risk to their baby.
If you ate a pound of dirt it would be bad for you, if you got dust in your mouth it would not harm you. As with most things in life, practise moderation, don't eat a pound of coffee.
Monday, 16 July 2012
Friday, 13 July 2012
Baby Traditions, Silvering a baby
My cave baby is a Scottish cave baby. One of the customs my extended family wanted to practise with him is called silvering the baby.
Silvering a baby is the tradition of placing a silver coin in a baby's hand, or under a pillow or sheet, the first time you meet him.
The most common interpretation of this ceremony is wishing the baby luck, prosperity and hope that the child never wants for money. Another opinion is that it is a polite way of giving the the family money without embarrassing them, though this doesn't really apply in the age of baby showers and cash gifts.
This tradition shows up in our consumerist culture in the form of silver piggy banks, silver spoons and rattles (Charlotte in New York with a Tiffany's box) and mints offering collector sets of coins for each year.
I think this tradition has a nice, sentimental place in our times. We can openly give money and other helpful gifts to new families without embarrassment, but it is always nice to wish the best for a new baby in a tangible way.
My cave baby now has a brand new coin of his birth year that was handed to him by his great-grandparents, and a collector set of coins from the same year. Something to remind him of a loving family that wants the best for him when he is old enough to understand.
Does your family have any special traditions you had never heard of before you had a baby?
Silvering a baby is the tradition of placing a silver coin in a baby's hand, or under a pillow or sheet, the first time you meet him.
The most common interpretation of this ceremony is wishing the baby luck, prosperity and hope that the child never wants for money. Another opinion is that it is a polite way of giving the the family money without embarrassing them, though this doesn't really apply in the age of baby showers and cash gifts.
This tradition shows up in our consumerist culture in the form of silver piggy banks, silver spoons and rattles (Charlotte in New York with a Tiffany's box) and mints offering collector sets of coins for each year.
I think this tradition has a nice, sentimental place in our times. We can openly give money and other helpful gifts to new families without embarrassment, but it is always nice to wish the best for a new baby in a tangible way.
My cave baby now has a brand new coin of his birth year that was handed to him by his great-grandparents, and a collector set of coins from the same year. Something to remind him of a loving family that wants the best for him when he is old enough to understand.
Does your family have any special traditions you had never heard of before you had a baby?
Wednesday, 11 July 2012
Cave baby takes a bath.
If you have or had a baby, you probably noticed the how much fun his first bath was. My baby screamed the whole time that nurse tortured him. For the next few weeks we avoided bath time as much as we could, putting it off for days sometimes (we'll save that for another post).
We would feed baby, he would be fine. We would undress baby, he would fine. We would get his diaper off, he would be fine. We would gently place him in a perfectly warm, cosy bath tub and... total freak out!
Babies spend 9 months in a perfectly warm, cosy little womb. Why is a bath soo scary?
When a cave baby is born, there are no furnaces, space heaters or running water. Being wet from head to toe means only one thing: that cave baby has been left out in the rain for the Saber tooth tigers.
That wet cave baby thinks he has been dropped into a river, been sent out to sea or has been forgotten in a storm. Newborns love being held, if they are getting wet, cave momma isn't holding him.
Of course cave baby is screaming! He thinks something terrible is happening. He is trying to get attention so cave momma will come and save him.
So pick up your cave baby, dry him off, cuddle him, and give him sponge baths... at least until he starts getting really dirty.
We would feed baby, he would be fine. We would undress baby, he would fine. We would get his diaper off, he would be fine. We would gently place him in a perfectly warm, cosy bath tub and... total freak out!
Babies spend 9 months in a perfectly warm, cosy little womb. Why is a bath soo scary?
When a cave baby is born, there are no furnaces, space heaters or running water. Being wet from head to toe means only one thing: that cave baby has been left out in the rain for the Saber tooth tigers.
That wet cave baby thinks he has been dropped into a river, been sent out to sea or has been forgotten in a storm. Newborns love being held, if they are getting wet, cave momma isn't holding him.
Of course cave baby is screaming! He thinks something terrible is happening. He is trying to get attention so cave momma will come and save him.
So pick up your cave baby, dry him off, cuddle him, and give him sponge baths... at least until he starts getting really dirty.
Monday, 9 July 2012
Saturday, 7 July 2012
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