Natural Tips & Tricks to Battle the Cold Season

I am a big advocate for Attachment Parenting, natural medicine and breastfeeding and along my path I realized I did more natural things to me to battle my little one's recent colds and fevers and then asked some midwives if what I was doing was, well, "medically proven" for lack of a better word and of course Mommy's instincts know best and like always I feel the need to share! So, here are some natural attachment parenting ways to battle those nasty little colds and the wonders of the always important breast milk.

1. Skin to skin. Just because you're little one isn't a newborn anymore doesn't mean they won't benefit from some skin to skin contact to help regulate their body temperature and help break those fevers fast. When little one is too hot, your body becomes cooler, helping bring down little's fever. Granted, all you Mommy's might get a little sweaty but isn't it worth it if your little one feels better? Skin to skin will come up more throughout the next few topics.
2. Breastfeed. Mommy's milk does a baby good and give it in no short supply! Breast milk is the best form of hydration during a sickness for your little one. Pedialyte is not my favorite but it is always the first thing recommended for a sick baby.and really all they need is breast milk. We are on demand feeders, which is the best way to feed your baby, but if you're not used to that whenever you notice your little one getting fussy or giving normal cues of hunger offer the breast first. Now, this will be quite often which is good your little one is getting comfort and your antibodies. As soon as baby comes into contact with Mommy's breast, baby's saliva actually influences the content of the breastmilk. Another one of nature's wonders and why breast is best! If baby is having a hard time nursing from the breast try a dropper, spoon or cup. I found my little one did great with a cup and remember to keep baby upright. Bottles will be just as difficult and also in younger ones you want to avoid nipple confusion.
3. Co-sleeping. This can also go along with skin to skin and helps with on demand feeding. Personally, I feel best sleeping shirtless with little one just in a diaper, this all night temperature regulation is great for working through a fever. This also helps both little one and Mommy get better rest for recovery since little one is able to feed before ever becoming fully awake and waking you with a crying unhappy baby. You can also sleep upright with baby sleeping against your chest. I usually end up on the couch or with a massive wall of pillows in bed to help keep us upright through the night.
4. Nurse Upright. I found Kelly Mom has a few good photos and descriptions on their page for nursing upright. The ones to pay attention to that I have found most convenient are the holds with mom leaning back, the elevated football hold, and the "down under" position are great for sick ones. Nursing upright helps mucous drain out the nose to help relieve coughing from mucous draining down the back of the throat.
5. Babywearing. Babywearing is probably one of my favorite things to do in general and it is the greatest thing for a sick baby. First of all, you know when baby is sick all they want to do is snuggle with Mommy and are inconsolable most of the time you're not in eye sight and so babywearing solves that one. Another great thing, I find it super easy when baby falls asleep to just sit on the couch and take a little cat nap myself. Again you want to use holds that keep baby upright just like with breastfeeding it helps mucous drain. The Baby Wearer has a few good descriptions of some good holds. It also helps skin to skin, it is too easy to put baby in a wrap without a shirt or with a tank top and be comfortable and no need to fret about baby over heating in the wrap because your body again will regulate baby's temperature.
6. Other Natural Wonders of Breastmilk.  Now these may seem a little strange to some moms but I promise they work because of breastmilk's antimicrobial properties and because I've used them myself! Take this very literally if your little one is very congested and nothing else is working squirt some breastmilk into baby's nose. This helps to loosen up the mucous just like a saline spray and if you want you can use a nasal sucker but steer clear of the ones that require you to insert anything into baby's nose. Another great use for breastmilk is for ear infections. I found a nice little how to at eHow Mom and we used a 3-3-3 method, 3 drops 3 times a day for 3 days, and it worked really well. After each set of drops I put a warm cloth around her ear and it seemed very comforting. I've also used breastmilk topically on rashes and it clears them up quick and even expressed some on a finger and rubbed it over her eyes to get rid of the eye yuckies they develop with colds. She had it so bad one day she could barely open her eyes and breastmilk cleared her eyes up by the end of the day and it didn't return throughout her cold.
7. Honey.  I always try to first battle a cough with honey and most of the time it helps cut down on the rough night time coughs. I'm not a fan of child/infant cold medicine and most nowadays are not recommended for children under the age of 6 anyway, just in case you didn't know. I do about a teaspoon at a time and since you can't overdose on honey I redose as often as needed. Honey is a natural source of energy as well so make sure you watch out for the hypers but usually it just makes my kids feel good. From Ian Paul, M.D. who did a study on honey in the Archives of Pediatric and Adolescent Medicine; honey's thick syrup coats and soothes the back of the throat, while the sweet taste causes salvation, which thins mucous and reduces the urge to cough. Honey's antioxidants may even help the body fend of nasty cold bugs, thereby alleviating cold symptoms. I have read on a few parenting sites not to give honey to children under 1 because it is a known source of a bacterial spore that can cause the very rare infantile botulism which is caused by the baby ingesting a bacteria that produces toxins in the body. So for those under 1 breastmilk breastmilk breastmilk!

General disclaimer, most of these are considered homeopathic remedies or alternative medicine and aren't "medically" backed. So, like always consult your pediatrician, midwife or doctor. If baby appears to be in severe pain or inconsolable it's always best to have them checked by a medical professional because there may be more going on than you realize.

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The "New" World of Cloth Diapers

I'll admit, cloth diapers intimidated the pants off of me. They still kind of do but we are venturing into that world for cost and practicality. There are so many options out there today it can scare anyone. Thanks to a class I attended at Midwives Rising!, and taught by a consultant friend with Diaper Parties and another who owns her own company Hookin' For Rent and makes woolies and other nifty things, I learned a lot of really good information that I thought I would share and kind of organize my thoughts for myself. Information was also collected mostly from talking to my Grama, who must have had a nice little flash back about cloth diapering me, was very helpful as well especially since she's always bought me pre-folds for my babies and I just used them as burp clothes and such. Now I might finally get to use them for what they were intended for!

So, the main types I remember; All in Ones, Pocket Diapers, Diaper Covers, Pre-folds and Fitteds.

• Diaper Covers explain themselves. They're just the outer cover that helps to prevent leaks from the absorbent part of the pre-fold or fitted diaper.
• Pre-folds are what we, not so sure about cloth diapering because that looks difficult, parents are used to seeing from when our grandparents changed our butts and tried to give us and said don't forget the rubber pants! So when we get them they're usually used as burp cloths and nursery rags.
• Fitteds are really nice it takes a lot of the hassle out of pre-folds because the diaper fits and snaps nicely around baby. It has to be a nice fabric that won't irritate baby's skin like anything else and requires a cover, since it is all just fabric, to prevent leaks.
• All in Ones, pretty self explanatory, they have the absorbent part of the diaper built into the cover. So it's the closest to disposables. Take it off, clean baby and put a new one on. No assembly required, very convenient and a little pricey.
• Pocket Diapers, honestly seems to be my favorite for a middle ground in ease and affordability. The cover has a nice little pocket built into it by a cloth inner lining. You get inserts and can adjust the level of absorbency by how many and what kind of inserts you put in the pocket between the cover and inner lining. Again you take the whole diaper off but you have to separate the inserts before washing. If you pre-stuff the diapers you can just grab another and put it on or stuff as you go.

So many different kinds of fabric go into and are a part of every cloth diaper but which does what and is best for baby and parents and absorbancy?

• Cotton is the most common fabric when you think of cloth diapers. Cotton is generally mixed in with one of the many other fabrics of diapers for durability.
• Microfiber absorbs quickly and pulls the moisture away from baby's bottom. It is not ideal for the interior of the diaper against baby's skin but is great as an insert.
• Hemp is organic and the most absorbent fiber. It's not the softest so it's not best for use against baby's skin but again ideal as an insert.
• Bamboo is the most desirable. It's super soft and pulls moisture away from baby's bottom. It is naturally anti-fungal, microbial and bacterial. Bamboo is naturally organic and in most diapers it is mixed with another fabric for durability. It's also pretty pricey from what I've found.
• Fleece is the very absorbent and very thin which helps keep baby's diaper trimmer looking because a lot of others make baby's diaper bulky.
• Wool is what is used for heavy leakers since wool usually absorbs and locks in wetness. It's pretty desirable and expensive but it's a good natural fiber to use.
• Polyurethane is what is usually used for diaper covers as opposed to the old time rubber pants (love you Gram).

Personally right now my favorites are pocket diapers and pre-folds and covers. I'm very excited to take this new adventure. I was prepared to do it before for one I had a lack of the "new" and pre-existing information, honey wasn't very supportive of cloth diapering even when I was briefly thinking of trying it before but he rarely changes diapers anyways so that's not really a factor anymore. Hopefully this is helpful to others!

Brightest Blessings!

Reflecting during International Babywearing Week 2012

A couple months ago, I was walking through the gun show with my husband, brother and 5 month old and of course I was wearing her in my Didymos wrap. As I walked around I saw so many strollers and infants in carry-alls and looking at them they looked so unaware and dettached from their babies. The babies just sat there and were mostly ignored unless they got fussy. I thought about my baby and how she would feel and how I would feel if we had that kind of relationship and realized I am am so glad my sister in law introduced me to babywearing. Eventually a woman came up to me and said, "Awe how cute you're babywearing. It's the newest fashion statement." She continued on about how she used to babywear until her child was too big for her to carry but she really seemed to love it and have happy memories of it and was very interactive with my daughter. It was a great moment. I had to "Ha" in my husbands face because he sometimes doesn't get my love of babywearing and sometimes thinks I'm exaggerating over the number of babywearers. Anyways, she made me think about babywearing a little more. Babywearing isn't just a fashion statement, it's so much more. In my honest opinion it's a loving way of life.

Like I said earlier, my sister in law introduced me to babywearing and I'm so greatful she did. She gave me my first two ring slings and I was just hooked. The first was a linen sling her son had out grown and she passed it along to me to see if I liked it. Obviously I loved it. Shortly after that she bought me a mesh water ring sling, for when I was going to the beach with my family, as a welcome baby gift. I have used them so much it is unreal and I never thought I would love it so much. I love being close to her, having her involved with all the the things that I'm doing, being able to practice on demand breastfeeding and how comfortable and aware of everything it has seemed to make her. Later my sister in law added me to a babywearing swap and introduced me to wraps and my husband ended up buying me two of those that arebso functional and give me so much more support wearing her all the time. Now a good woven wrap is about the same price of a higher end stroller and I can do everything any parent with a stroller can do and more and be closer and more interactive with my baby. These early months and years are so important and precious and I don't want to miss out on one sleepless moment.

Honestly, I get a lot more negative reactions to babywearing than I do positive. It doesn't bother me and it doesn't change my mind about it and I'm sure many parents around the world get the same thing. There are times when I want to just clean or do something and not wear her and she doesn't agree. My husband argues that I bring it on myself and that I shouldn't wear her so much and she's not going to want to walk or crawl because she doesn't have to since I wear her everywhere. Well she's 7 months old crawling well and standing and walking along edges. My mother thinks it has it's purpose as something that has a function and for a small window of time and after the newborn/infant phase it's time to move into a stroller to get more aquainted with the world. She sees more an interacts with more when she is being worn, I believe. Every debate and conversation makes me more aware of the benefits to me and my baby. It makes me learn more and become stronger in my beliefs of babywearing and attachment parenting.

I wear my baby when I coach my older daughters soccer team, I've worn and nursed her through airports across the nation. I've encountered many that have let me wear her through security and some that wouldn't. I wrap her close to me when I walk my older daughter to school, which she frequently falls asleep during and sleeps snuggled in her wrap quite frequently. Sometimes it's the only way she'll go to sleep! She gets worn at home and cleaning and while I'm out at my nursing mothers group. Wearing her had significantly helped since birth when she had an immature esophagus and it was hard to keep her milk down when she laid down or was any way other than straight up and against my chest, even during feedings helping me hold her. I have no idea what I would do if I didn't wear her. She knows her wraps so well she will get excited as soon as she sees the fabric and she loves cuddling and rolling around on them when we play on the floor. It means as much to her, I believe, as it does to me.

Babywearing led me to a whole new world and life. When I started babywearing it led me to researching about it more and more especially on the benefits and how to's of wrapping and wearing. When I was looking I stumbled upon attachment parenting and all it entailed. I was already co-sleeping and breastfeeding and knowing all that was a big packaged deal made it feel all the more right. Attachment parenting then led me to a woman that also provided child birth education and was a doula. I began looking more into it and found out my sister in law was as well. We began a journey together and took classes and read so many books on child birth, attachment parenting and gentle birth and becoming a labor coach. It became so clear that this is where I was meant to be in life. My doula studies led me to DONA which then led me to CAPPA for their pregnancy fitness instructor training since I've always been a health and fitness junkie, my in laws actually poke fun at me about that all the time. So that was the creation of Nurtured Beginnings. Now I've found Dancing for Birth which also incorporates babywearing into their workouts and I have always loved danced as well and I've been venturing into learning more about Midwifery. So I'm excited to see this grow, to see myself grow and to see my children and families grow.

And it all started with one simple green linen ring sling..