For centuries giving birth was strictly an affair between the pregnant woman and a midwife. Though not always present, a mid-wife would frequently aid in the birthing process. The role was often performed by an older woman who had previously experienced birth herself. She gave comfort, medical knowledge based on real experience and a second pair of hands at a critical time.
With the rise of obstetrics in the 19th century, midwifery became much less common, almost disappearing from birthing practice in the U.S., except in circumstances of deep poverty or geographic isolation. In recent decades, it has risen again in a new form in which midwives are often licensed nurses with considerable traditional medical experience.
Don’t Go It Alone - Join a support group. Being around other mothers, especially those that have breast fed before, will provide a lifetime of knowledge in just a few meetings. The technical advice (how to latch on, how to deal with nipple pain) and emotional support areindispensable.
Don’t Forget About Your Friends - Invite over a friend who’s breast-fed successfully and show her your attempts at nursing. It might be embarrassing to reveal all to your friend, but, we lay down our dignity during labor, so go ahead and lay down your dignity when it comes to the health of your baby.
“At 18 months most children have the ability to understand that with a time-out you’re removing them from a particular situation,” says Howard Reinstein, a pediatrician in Encino, California and a spokesperson for the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP). But that doesn’t mean it’s an effective discipline technique. Reinstein worries that the original concept of “time out” has been lost, and that parents and caregivers overuse it, especially for children under 3. “Originally a time-out simply meant not responding to a child’s negative behavior,” says Reinstein. Now it usually involves making the child sit alone in his room or a certain chair for a prescribed amount of time (often one minute for each year of age). But, says Reinstein, “there’s no evidence that using the one-minute per year marker works, or that time-outs themselves work, so I would caution parents to use this method of discipline sparingly.”
Here are our picks for some of the best child development books on the market.
Complete Guide to Your Children’s Health, by the American Medical Association
This straightforward, comprehensive reference comes from the American Medical Association, so you know it’s good material. The book features helpful pictures, charts, and diagrams on everything from childproofing to teething, as well as easy-to-read symptom charts and an A to Z health encyclopedia. The developmental information, including lists of physical and cognitive milestones and warning signs of potential problems, is divided by age group and includes simple activities and games designed to help your baby learn.
Like carbohydrates in recent years, fats have been wrongly accused of being “bad.” Although some are definitely better than others, certain kinds of fat are actually good for you and your child and are an important part of a healthy diet.
What Is Fat?
Fats, or lipids, are nutrients in food that your body uses to build nerve tissue (like the brain) and hormones. Your body also uses fat as fuel. If fats that you’ve eaten aren’t burned as energy or used as building blocks, they’re stored by the body in fat cells. This is your body’s way of thinking ahead: By saving fat for future use, your body plans for times when food might be scarce.
