I am learning everyday with my young daughters how to a better parent, homemaker and person. I believe in respectful, gentle parenting, being good to the earth, good to yourself, others and family and instilling good values in my child.
Showing posts with label babywearing. Show all posts
Showing posts with label babywearing. Show all posts
Saturday, March 10, 2012
Walking with Children
One my favorite forms of exercise is walking in a wooded area. Maybe because I did this so often as a child, but I really enjoy nice country walks.
We are lucky to live in a rural area. Just out my door and a short walk down the road are some woods, then an old church and a small farm with cows and some chickens.
I strap Eve in the ergo and put Liv in a jogging stroller I got from my neighbors for $5. After about 5 minutes Liv wants to get out and explore. I try to time it with Eve's nap so she can just sleep and enjoy being nice a close to momma. She usually passes out in 5-10 min.
Now comes the patience. Most people want to walk, move, get going, keep their blood pumping. But with a toddler this is hard to do. She wants to explore. I let her as much as possible.
Her new thing is looking for nuts. I am no expert so I'm not sure what kind of nuts she is picking up, she calls them acorns. Liv collects them for our backyard squirrel she lovingly named Jumpy. She is a big Curious George fan.
In the spring and summer she collects flowers.
We stop to look at the cows, talk with them and moo at them.
We listen, to roosters, the wind, a train whistle or maybe a tractor in a near by field.
We feel the sun on our face, the wind blowing.
We may cloud gaze or look at the blue sky.
Sometimes we sit on the steps at an old church and have a sip of water.
Occasionally we will look at a small creek, if we are lucky we will see a frog.
We might talk with a neighbor, but since we have only a few that is rare.
We just listen, look, explore and relax.
It is not much of a work out, but having Ev in the ergo helps.
Eventually Liv tires and wants to go back in the stroller.
This is where I can work out. Its a pretty nice work out up and down small hills with a baby strapped to your chest and pushing another one.
In the spring we will do this twice a week.
Liv never bores with this. There is so much for her to see and discover on our walks. She is learning so much about nature, animals, weather, sounds, and much more while getting some exercise too.
When she wants to explore we walk at a very slow pace. I also have some rules since we do not have a sidewalk. She must always stay to the inside of the stroller and when a car comes she must hold my hand. But other then that I give her the freedom to learn as much as she can.
I carve out up to a 2 hours slot in our day. Our walks usually take 1 to 1 1/2 hours. I do not want to rush this. We go in the late morning and have a snack when we get home.
This is a lovely way to start our day, gets our blood flowing and gets us in nature.
I sometimes through in an impromptu lesson about nuts, cows, clouds, colors, corn, tractors, trains, whatever we see. And often we will go to the library in the afternoon and get a book about what ever lesson I "taught."
I don't spend too much time on this, I don't want it to become to school like. We might talk about th
e nuts for the squirrels, maybe I will point out they are round or brown, or which tree they fell from. I might tell her what squirrels eat and how they hid their nuts. She gets excited and brought the nuts home and left them in our yard for Jumpy to eat.
This is our little nature walk, preschool study time.
I love these simple things and the simple way I get to teach her about nature and more.
Wednesday, December 14, 2011
Dangers of CIO
I have never been a huge Cry It Out fan (CIO) something in my heart just never felt right about leaving my baby to cry in the dark to "teach" her to sleep on her own. Believe me there were nights with my first I was so exhausted and frustrated I wanted to, but I never did. I might of left her crying for a few minutes to compose myself and get some energy and relax so I could better soothe my baby, but never left her long and never did this to teach her to sleep.
In an ideal world babies would not be left to cry, but we do not live in an ideal world. Parenting has become increasing isolating and lonely, which is why so many of us SAHM come to the internet for support and advice.
Moms and Dads have to get up for work, grandparents are miles away, siblings, aunts, uncles are not around to help give mom and dad a break, a high needs baby, a baby with other young children, there are many reasons why parents turn to CIO. One big one is the idea that your baby should be sleeping through the night. Once you get over all the shoulds that come with parenting life will be much easier. Baby should be sleeping 5 hours by 3 months, no more night nursing after 9 months. All these rules and suggestions about parenting drive us nuts. Baby needs to sleep in his back, in his own crib, on a hard mattress with nothing, and to top it all off baby needs to learn to fall asleep on his own around 4 months. If not let him cry. To me what is the worst part about all these recommendations is that if your baby doesn't sleep through the night is that you feel like you failed or did something wrong.
This is how I felt during a lot of the first few months with my first.
Liv would only sleep with me, only nurse to sleep. I heard it all, that is dangerous to co-sleep (this is a myth and many studies show that co-sleeping prevents SIDS) that they will never leave your bed, that I am creating a bad habit.
I just have to say that I am lucky that my Aunts and mom did their own thing and nursed us, slept with us and rocked us to sleep. Once I heard that and found attachment parenting I decided to ignore the should of and lead with my heart.
I often saw blogs and post about the physical and emotional dangers of CIO, but most of it was on attachment parenting forums or blogs. I was surprised to see an article about it on WWW.psychologytoday.com a resource I used often in college and several times when I was working on my masters degree in Social Work.
Here is a great article about how crying it and leaving a baby to cry goes against our natural instincts and there is a reason for it.
As I stated about I don't want people who are struggling with a colic or high needs baby to think they are failing or bad. Or just someone who needs to take 5 from a screaming baby, like I admit to having done.
I just want to expose people to other ideas and science other then what the American Pediatrics suggests and almost orders us to do, or according to them, we are not doing our jobs as parents right.
Parenting is not an exact science, but more and more science has been showing us that what we feel in our hearts is most often what is best for your baby.
So feel free and confident to nurse your baby, "spoil" them, hold them tight, kiss them, sleep with them, attend to all their cries, and dote on them and love them as you feel is best.
In an ideal world babies would not be left to cry, but we do not live in an ideal world. Parenting has become increasing isolating and lonely, which is why so many of us SAHM come to the internet for support and advice.
Moms and Dads have to get up for work, grandparents are miles away, siblings, aunts, uncles are not around to help give mom and dad a break, a high needs baby, a baby with other young children, there are many reasons why parents turn to CIO. One big one is the idea that your baby should be sleeping through the night. Once you get over all the shoulds that come with parenting life will be much easier. Baby should be sleeping 5 hours by 3 months, no more night nursing after 9 months. All these rules and suggestions about parenting drive us nuts. Baby needs to sleep in his back, in his own crib, on a hard mattress with nothing, and to top it all off baby needs to learn to fall asleep on his own around 4 months. If not let him cry. To me what is the worst part about all these recommendations is that if your baby doesn't sleep through the night is that you feel like you failed or did something wrong.
This is how I felt during a lot of the first few months with my first.
Liv would only sleep with me, only nurse to sleep. I heard it all, that is dangerous to co-sleep (this is a myth and many studies show that co-sleeping prevents SIDS) that they will never leave your bed, that I am creating a bad habit.
I just have to say that I am lucky that my Aunts and mom did their own thing and nursed us, slept with us and rocked us to sleep. Once I heard that and found attachment parenting I decided to ignore the should of and lead with my heart.
I often saw blogs and post about the physical and emotional dangers of CIO, but most of it was on attachment parenting forums or blogs. I was surprised to see an article about it on WWW.psychologytoday.com a resource I used often in college and several times when I was working on my masters degree in Social Work.
Here is a great article about how crying it and leaving a baby to cry goes against our natural instincts and there is a reason for it.
As I stated about I don't want people who are struggling with a colic or high needs baby to think they are failing or bad. Or just someone who needs to take 5 from a screaming baby, like I admit to having done.
I just want to expose people to other ideas and science other then what the American Pediatrics suggests and almost orders us to do, or according to them, we are not doing our jobs as parents right.
Parenting is not an exact science, but more and more science has been showing us that what we feel in our hearts is most often what is best for your baby.
So feel free and confident to nurse your baby, "spoil" them, hold them tight, kiss them, sleep with them, attend to all their cries, and dote on them and love them as you feel is best.
Wednesday, October 13, 2010
Daily Rhythm
Ergo Baby Carrier Black with Camel Lining
Wake up-cuddle time. When Liv wakes up we nurse in bed and relax. I am not a morning person so this gives me some time to wake up and gives her some time too.
Breakfast-I need my morning green tea and morning news. This is the only time of the day I usually watch any tv. Liv plays for a little bit while I enjoy my tea. Then after my tea we both sit down to breakfast. This space between wake up is good since nursing first thing seems to fill her up for a bit.
Get dressed- this is not always get dressed for the day for me, but for Liv it is. I dress in sweats at this point most days.
Walk-on every day its not raining or freezing we go for a nice long walk or if I feel up to it a jog/walk. We walk to a farm take a break there and look at the cows.
Free play- After our walk Liv does some free play while I clean up the kitchen and get ready for lunch.
Lunch- we eat an early lunch since she has no morning snack and her nap is usually around noon
Nap- after lunch we go upstairs, get cleaned up and get ready for a nap. She may "read" books for a bit alone if she isn't ready yet while I do some cleaning up upstairs. Then we read some books together, sing a song and its her nap time.
My time- durning her nap is my time. I usually take a 10-20 min catnap then often take a shower and get really if I didn't squeeze that in earlier in the day. I usually try to do something for myself and 1/2 of chores that are hard to do when Liv is around.
Wake up- When Liv wakes up this is our playtime. We might sing songs, do some fingerplays, or just other playtime together.
Afternoon snack
Outside play-after the afternoon snack we try to do some outdoor play if possible. If not we might bake or clean or do other household chores.
Dinner prep-Usually my DH is home and he will play with Liv if not she plays in the kitchen while I get dinner ready.
Dinner- most nights we all eat together.
Bedtime- Right after dinner is bedtime. We go upstairs, some nights she will get a bath. We have a nice nighttime routine that lasts about 20 min of so. If she is not ready for bed right after dinner we still go upstairs and she will do some independent play in her room while I do more upstairs chores.
I try to give Liv a nice balance of free play and playing with me. She has more time set for playing with herself, which I think is very important for her. This is an ideal day, but more often it changes a little or a lot. Liv is a very attached baby (she is still not walking alone yet) so she often wants to be involved in what I am doing, which is very hard at this age. She is heavy so when she I am doing chores that involve going upstairs and down or in and out I put her in my Ergo on my back.
This routine or rhythm helps me get stuff done in my day and brings a sense of consistency for Liv.
Image by moonbird via Flickr
Wake up-cuddle time. When Liv wakes up we nurse in bed and relax. I am not a morning person so this gives me some time to wake up and gives her some time too.
Breakfast-I need my morning green tea and morning news. This is the only time of the day I usually watch any tv. Liv plays for a little bit while I enjoy my tea. Then after my tea we both sit down to breakfast. This space between wake up is good since nursing first thing seems to fill her up for a bit.
Get dressed- this is not always get dressed for the day for me, but for Liv it is. I dress in sweats at this point most days.
Walk-on every day its not raining or freezing we go for a nice long walk or if I feel up to it a jog/walk. We walk to a farm take a break there and look at the cows.
Free play- After our walk Liv does some free play while I clean up the kitchen and get ready for lunch.
Lunch- we eat an early lunch since she has no morning snack and her nap is usually around noon
Nap- after lunch we go upstairs, get cleaned up and get ready for a nap. She may "read" books for a bit alone if she isn't ready yet while I do some cleaning up upstairs. Then we read some books together, sing a song and its her nap time.
My time- durning her nap is my time. I usually take a 10-20 min catnap then often take a shower and get really if I didn't squeeze that in earlier in the day. I usually try to do something for myself and 1/2 of chores that are hard to do when Liv is around.
Wake up- When Liv wakes up this is our playtime. We might sing songs, do some fingerplays, or just other playtime together.
Afternoon snack
Outside play-after the afternoon snack we try to do some outdoor play if possible. If not we might bake or clean or do other household chores.
Dinner prep-Usually my DH is home and he will play with Liv if not she plays in the kitchen while I get dinner ready.
Dinner- most nights we all eat together.
Bedtime- Right after dinner is bedtime. We go upstairs, some nights she will get a bath. We have a nice nighttime routine that lasts about 20 min of so. If she is not ready for bed right after dinner we still go upstairs and she will do some independent play in her room while I do more upstairs chores.
I try to give Liv a nice balance of free play and playing with me. She has more time set for playing with herself, which I think is very important for her. This is an ideal day, but more often it changes a little or a lot. Liv is a very attached baby (she is still not walking alone yet) so she often wants to be involved in what I am doing, which is very hard at this age. She is heavy so when she I am doing chores that involve going upstairs and down or in and out I put her in my Ergo on my back.
This routine or rhythm helps me get stuff done in my day and brings a sense of consistency for Liv.
Friday, October 8, 2010
Babywearing Week
Image by katirae via Flickr
Babywearing is a wonderful thing. It can help calm a colicky baby, soothe your LO to sleep, and best of all keeps your baby close to your heart. It is wonderful for newborns and younger babies who should be carried often. Babies feel safe and secure. Babywearing can help promote attachment. It is also a great way to do things with your arms free. When Liv was younger I could cook with her in the sling, do laundry, dishes and clean. Now she wants to particate more, but sometimes she still wants to be held when I am doing these things, so on my back she goes. That is why babywearing is great for toddlers. It keeps Liv happy and we can do more with her on my back and go places that a stroller could never go.
There are so many other benefits to wearing your baby. Mommas everywhere have been wearing their babies for centuries. It keeps the baby safe, warm, babies can often nurse with ease in many holds and kangaroo care has even more benefits for preemies. It even brought one back to life!
I always feel for the moms in the mall pushing an empty stroller while carrying their crying child. While I am wearing Liv and am shopping with no problems because she is content to watch and observe while being so close to her momma. Babywearing is a wonderful thing and a wonderful way to express your love.
I hope more momma's discovery the wonderful benefits of babywearing.
Tuesday, July 27, 2010
my new babywearing love, the ergo
Image by ceejayoz via Flickr
I love my ergo. It totally replaces the bijorn. Liv and I go for morning walks with her in the front and occasionally we go for hikes with her in the back position. I havent figured out the hip hold yet, but I think she'll like that. I sometimes strap her on my back when I am trying to clean or cook and she is not wanting to be put down.
The ergo is a great purchase and replaces all the babywearing stuff I've ever bought. Liv now weighs 22lbs and its still so comfortable.
Keep wearing your baby!
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