Posts by: Rita Brhel
I normally don’t let my baby cry. I detest the practice of crying-it-out. I think it’s cruel, both to the baby and to the mother. I believe that babies cry for a reason, and that reason is usually because they need to eat, they just got poked at the doctor’s office, or they’re separated from [...]
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I’m really glad that, while her childbirth left much to be desired, my breastfeeding experience with my second child was as smooth and easy as it was. With this third baby, while the childbirth experience was wonderful and all I had ever hoped for, breastfeeding has had more than its fair share of obstacles from [...]
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Do you schedule naps for your children? I go back and forth with whether this is appropriate for a family practicing Attachment Parenting (AP). When my children are babies, I don’t schedule naps at all. Babies sleep when they need to sleep. But as my children get older, they usually go through a phase where [...]
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As a nursing mother, I am slightly offended when a doctor recommends that I give my baby a multivitamin. It’s like I’m being told, your milk’s not good enough. Most of us, especially more natural-minded mothers, likely have adequate nutrition in our breast milk. But for some mothers, there is a grain of truth to [...]
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My family doesn’t watch a lot of TV, but I admit that in the cold, wintry months, a couple hours of viewing is part of the day. However, cartoons are limited. Rather, I like shows that invite an element of interaction. Tonight, we’re watching the ultimate challenge in the culinary arts – “Iron Chef” on [...]
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I have a plea to all grandmotherly types out there who love to hold babies: Give the baby back to the mother! Everyone loves babies. Research has even shown, with images of the brain, that people’s happy centers light up on MRI when a baby smiles at them. And it’s long been proven that skin-on-skin [...]
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The Brhel Family Christmas celebration, extended family version, was this past weekend. It was a lot of fun, and I’m glad we live close enough to attend every year, but in some ways, it can be too much fun. All three of my kids come home so wound up that it takes them a couple [...]
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The first few months of my son’s life, I knew what every sound he made meant. I knew when he was hungry, tired, frustrated, bored, needed to burp, gassy, startled, in pain. Now that he’s almost four months old, I’m finding myself often at a loss. What used to mean “I’m hungry, Mama!” apparently doesn’t [...]
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Who’s teaching your children about food and nutrition? As much as parents hope the answer is them, children are barraged by food messages from sources you might not have even considered. The amount of advertising we receive on a daily basis is staggering: television, Internet, radio, billboards, newspapers, magazines, cell phones, in supermarkets, food packaging, [...]
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If mental health was as important as physical health in Western society, everyone would be practicing Attachment Parenting. There would be no crying-it-out and no sleep training. Everyone would be holding their babies, in a sling or otherwise, and not because it was a fashion trend. Everyone would be striving for a natural, unmedicated birth. [...]
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Overall, I’m quite happy with the steps forward that modern parenting advice has taken these past few years. It is now well-established that the breast is best when it comes to feeding your baby, and that on-demand feedings trump scheduled nursing sessions. Infant massage and baby signing are becoming increasingly popular, and babywearing is no [...]
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My baby boy, my third child, is now two months old. The “golden period” has begun – the time between the harder first months when you’re trying to get breastfeeding established and the later months when the baby learns to walk. This period is a time of happy babydom, when baby is content to be [...]
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