Thursday, July 24, 2008

"NEW MOM CENTRAL" HAS MOVED!!!!

WE HAVE MOVED TO A NEW LOCATION AND HAVE A NEW NAME!!!!

PLEASE CLICK ON THE LINK BELOW TO BE TAKEN TO OUR NEW, SWANKIER SITE!!!



Original post on New Mom Central.

Monday, July 14, 2008

"Real Live" Advice from Experienced Moms

"Do not be afraid to ask for help or advice. All moms know exactly how you are feeling and how hard motherhood can be."

Michele, mother of 1


"Time frames for development, umbilical cord healing, and circumcision healing are guesses. They are not exact and don't ring true for every child."

Stephanie, mother of 2


"You should hold your baby as much as you want. I have been told repeatedly that it is NOT possible to spoil an infant. You cannot spoil them until they are old enough to manipulate situations."

Sarah, mother of 2


Original post on New Mom Central.

Friday, July 4, 2008

GUEST POST: Nicole Crowley on "Listen to Your Baby"



The months and weeks leading up to delivering a baby are exciting...and tiring, too. Then the whole world changes in the instant you give birth and any thoughts of those nine
 long months of pregnancy vanish and you redirect all of your attention to your newborn child.

It quickly sinks in that you are completely responsible for the well-being of another human being, and this human being can't even hold his head up yet.

I remember looking down at my son as we drove away from the hospital; we had him elaborately hooked into his car seat and all I could think of was how small he looked in the middle of that big contraption.

And then I thought, "I can't believe they're letting us leave."

I had never taken care of a baby before...I hadn't really even babysat. And then it occurred to me that I had been so busy reading all my pregnancy books that I hadn't read any parenting books. ARGH!

And then we got home and I thought, "Where's the band?"

Where was the band to welcome us home? There was no band...and there was no instructor waiting inside our home to tell me about feed
ing, or changing diapers, or burping, or appropriate winter outwear for babies, or preschool, or kindergartens in the area, or college funds.

But I did it...and everyone does.

Every baby is different...so, if your friend tells you to get a certain brand of bottle and it doesn't seem to work for you and your baby--try another type of bottle. It doesn't mean your baby is difficult or wierd. Don't worry--every baby is just different.

LISTEN to your baby.

The best advice my pediatrician has ever given me was this, "Relax. Babies let you know when something is wrong."

He's right. Babies do let you know.

Babies cry if they want their diaper changed, need to be burped, or helped to sleep, but mostly it means they are hungry. YOU can take care of that.

It's nice how motherhood works out: You're new at it, but the baby is too. You will learn together.



Nicole Crowley likes to concentrate on the good stuff over at her blog "BananaBlueberry.com."






Original post on New Mom Central.