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Being pregnant doesn’t mean you have to stop breastfeeding your child. Long ago doctors believed it actually took nutrients away from the baby inside you, however that is not the case. Even today we have people that believe this and they will argue with you the entire time.  Only you can decide if you should stop breastfeeding your toddler or not. Don’t let someone else make that decision for you.

Reasons to Stop
A few reasons you might want to stop breastfeeding may be if you are feeling constantly drained of energy. Or maybe your child has started to bite. Sometimes your milk will just dry up, this is your body’s way of telling you that it has had enough and to take a break.  Mastitis could play a big role in making you stop immediately as well. Mastitis is an infection in the breast when it isn’t expressed enough and gets engorged.

Stopping or Weaning
If you do plan on stopping because you are pregnant, make sure it is for the right reasons. If your child has reached a certain age, it might be best. But never just yank it away from them.  Your child could wonder why it is being taken away. Wonder if they had done something or become discouraged about the new baby coming. Some children decide to wean themselves, which is a big help to you and you won’t feel so guilty about it. You can choose to do it cold turkey, or slowly wean him/her off. Cold turkey can have some bad results.  Try limiting his/her feeding times to certain hours and gradually as time passes take away more. Your child will quickly stop on his/her own and it won’t be a traumatic event.

At night, while parents extend their work at home under bright artificial lights, little kids also lose their sense of a relaxed home. Their stress may be expressed in the form of irritability, crying, bed wetting, and misbehavior.

Here are some tips on how to have your children get a good night’s sleep:

1. Feed your children right. Children get poor sleep with stomach discomforts. Thus, they often wake up and cry at night. To avoid this, feed them with light, easily digestible, carbohydrate-rich food before sunset. Ripe banana of any variety is suggested because it contains serotonin and potassium that induce sound sleep. Children need light stomachs to sleep comfortably. Feeding them while tired or drowsy at late night may lead to indigestion, flatulence and discomfort.

2. Dedicate an early evening time with your kids. As soon as you get home from work, spend time (between 6 and 8 p.m.) with your family. Tag this period as “family time.” Attend to their needs and play with them in a variety of creative, less active endeavors both indoor and outdoor. Make this schedule regular and consistent.

3. Establish prebedtime routines at an early age. After family time, help your kids prepare their bottles, brush their teeth, empty their bladder, wash their face and body, change to their sleep clothes, and set their beddings. Massage them or simply tap them lightly for physical and nervous relaxation. This pattern will eventually become normal and spontaneous as they grow up. Likewise, such routines cue them to get to bed right away and condition them for a comfortable peaceful sleep.

4. Pray as a family before going to bed. Train your kids to say short prayers. Praying makes them feel safe knowing they have asked God to watch over them. Praying also instills int heir young minds faith and trust in God.

Start with limiting your young girl’s television watching. Of course, this is easier said than done. Studies show television programs and advertising can have a negative effect on viewers. Television shows targeted toward children are mixed with many advertising messages. Some of these messages are very subtle, while other messages are quite clear.

Of course we cannot blame the media for everything. We can, however, realize that too much television may negatively affect our children’s self esteem and confidence. For example, children who learn at a young age that food equals happiness, may have problems with body image later in life. Television advertising and programs present ongoing messages to young children that “things” are the solutions to problems and the route to happiness. These messages only exaggerate feelings of low self worth if a child does not possess all these “things,” or the “right things.”

All toys, no matter how safe, may not be appropriate for children of all ages. Other toys may have moving parts or sharp edges that make them inappropriate for children of any age.

Here are suggestions on how to choose safe toys for your child, courtesy of the American Academy of Family Physicians:

* Don’t give your child toys with small parts that can be easily removed or broken.
* Follow safety information and age guidelines listed on toys.
* Look for toys that say “non-toxic,” or “washable/hygienic materials” on stuffed animals that can be washed.
* Make sure your child only has access to toys that are appropriate for her age.
* To prevent choking, don’t allow young children to play with marbles, or other small toys less than 1 3/4 inches diameter or 2 inches long.

Product Details
Book Publisher: Collins (13 April, 2004)
ISBN: 0060746378
Book author: Mayo Clinic
Amazon Rating: 5.0

Book Description:

This new Mayo Clinic book on pregnancy provides you with practical information and reassurance on pregnancy and childbirth. Compiled by Mayo Clinic experts in obstetrics, it offers a clear, thorough and reliable reference for this exciting and sometimes unpredictable journey. This comprehensive book includes:

• A month-by-month look at mom and baby
• In-depth “Decision Guides” to help you make informed decisions on topics such as how to select a health care provider, prenatal testing options, pain relief for childbirth, and many others
• An easy-to-use reference guide that covers topics such as morning sickness, heartburn, back pain, headaches and yeast infections, among others
• Information on pregnancy health concerns, including preterm labor, gestational diabetes and preeclampsia, along with an overview on being pregnant when you have pre-existing health conditions such as asthma, diabetes or hyperthyroidism

The American Heart Association has issued eight new recommendations to help reduce congenital heart defects in babies.

The recommendations include actions women can take before becoming pregnant.

The recommendations, printed in the journal Circulation, are as follows:

• Take a multivitamin that contains folic acid.
• Get preconception and prenatal medical care.
• Get screened for diabetes. If you have diabetes, manage it carefully during pregnancy.
• Get vaccinated against rubella and influenza (flu).

If you have an inherited disease called PKU (phenylketonuria), which affects your diet, talk to your doctor about proper nutrition during pregnancy.

The Health Blog launches its new blog feature which tackles on family planning. Basically, it will give information about the current methods of family planning, its advantages and disadvantages, etc. This is to help families to decide on which family planning methods to use.

Planning for your family basically means you love them. It means you are planning for their future. Further, you value the health of the mother. Through using contraception, a woman could avoid high-risk pregnancies thereby improving her health by making it possible for her to have children when she is physically and mentally prepared for it. Proper birth spacing allows the mother to have sufficient time to recover her health. Maternal risks related to pregnancy and child delivery are greatly reduced. At the same time, the baby is given enough care, attention, and nourishment before another child is born.

So you have just given birth and are currently nursing your newborn child when suddenly an old familiar feeling starts to creep in. It might start as a fleeting, barely noticeable craving that slowly or suddenly turns into a gnawing desire. Before you know it, your sex drive is in high gear once again. You might feel that your body is not up to it yet, but your libido surely is. So what does one hot mama do when she starts to long for some loving?

Mothers need to let their body heal after giving birth before engaging in sex whether they have given birth normally or by C-section. Medical experts suggest that new moms wait for six weeks from giving birth before having sexual intercourse again. Ultimately though, it is up to the woman to decide whether she is already ready to sex or not. If you have just given birth but feel ready to get into some bedroom action, there are smart and safe ways to have sex again.

Drowning is the second leading cause of death among American children ages 14 and younger, but a few simple measures can greatly reduce the risk of such tragedies, experts say.

Here are simple measures suggested:

1. Pools and spas should be surrounded on all four sides by a fence at least five feet high with gates that close and latch automatically. This type of isolation fencing could prevent 50 percent to 90 percent of child drownings in residential pools, studies estimate.

2. Consider a pool alarm and alarms on doors, windows and gates leading to the pool.

3. Pools and spas with a single drain should have an anti-entrapment drain cover and a safety vacuum release system to prevent children from being caught underwater in the powerful suction of the drain.

4. Don’t leave toys in or near a pool where they may attract unsupervised children.

Breastfeeding is the best gift a mother can offer her newborn baby. The benefits of breastfeeding are numerous. Among others, breastfeeding have the advantages of: contributing to baby’s brain development, is easier to digest, provides powerful antibodies and stimulates the baby’s own immune system, favors bonding with the mother, etc

Breastmilk is also very economical, always ready and has the perfect composition for the developing baby. Breastfeeding is also environmentally friendly as it does not require bottles and does not create wastes of any kind.

Breastfeeding does require a more important involvement from the mother as she is the only one who can provide the baby’s milk. New mothers are often discouraged by the amount of time breastfeeding requires from them and tend to abandon breastfeeding in the first week after birth.

Saying “I love you” to your kids as often as you can can help develop the confidence and personality of your children. But the meaning should be depicted to this phrase as well. eDiets.com lists 9 ways to say “I love you” to your kids.

1. Use Eye Contact. It is said that souls touch when meaningful eye contact is made during moments of intimacy.

2. Touch. This adds a tactile meaning to the verbal expression of love. A plain “I love you” is incomparable with one with a hug or a pat on the back.

3. Use names. The sweetest sound in any language is the sound of your own name.

4. Use the words son and daughter. This creates an emotion-filled statement that will invite an equally emotional response.