Organic Baby Atlanta
You don't have to be a hippie mom to raise your baby green
how to potty your kid in public without being a jerk
Several friends sent this story to me last week. If you didn't hear about it, here's the deal: last week, a woman brought her potty training twins to a Utah restaurant. Where she proceeded to potty them. In the restaurant. At the table. Using little portable potties....
how to choose the best cloth diaper
People often ask me which cloth diaper is best. Which is a reasonable question. But like many "best" questions, it has no answer. It all depends on what you're looking for. The trouble is figuring out what you're looking for. And most people don't want to put this...
what not to do when your preschooler is on school break
My four year old is on break from preschool right now. Which is awesome. Really. I love being with her all day. She's fun and clever and interesting. Except when she's crazy and impossible and wants to climb all over me while I'm holding the baby and wants to nurse...
New York breastfeeding initiative: more control or more choice?
On September 3, some New York City hospitals will implement a new policy. Formula will no longer be given to newborns for free. In fact, it won't be given without a doctor's order. Instead of being readily available in nurseries, it will be kept locked in a cabinet,...
the real dangers of cosleeping
Cosleeping is a controversial practice these days. You've probably heard the warnings: it will ruin your sleep, destroy your marriage, prevent your child from developing independence, and give your baby an oedipal complex. Not to mention...
5 eco-friendly substitutes for your beauty products
Do you ever worry that the products you put on your body are giving you cancer, destroying the planet, and stealing your soul? No? Just me, then. I've been thinking a lot about the hidden dangers of beauty products. Not that I use beauty products, unless deodorant...
these 5 baby brands are not as awesome as you think they are
Have you ever noticed that there are a lot of baby things that everybody has that aren't really that great? I've been noticing this a lot lately. Probably because deep down, I'm a sucker for peer pressure. I like to pretend I'm a trendsetter. But really, I want what...
what to do instead of kegels
So. Kegels. They are weird. I have never been a fan. People just make such a big deal of them. They're up there with mammograms and Pap smears on the list of things that women are supposed to do. But it doesn't make sense to me. It seems like if something were so...
how to breastfeed a teething baby
Being a mother is painful. There's pregnancy, for starters, which is awful, and labor, which is sometimes worse. And then there are long sleepless nights and the awful postpartum body and the constant worry that you're doing everything wrong. But there's something...
5 great summer shoes for preschoolers (and moms)
I'm far from an expert on fashion. Or shoes. But I've been thinking about shoes a lot lately, for two reasons. First, my daughter fell on the sidewalk and got huge scrapes on her knee and her elbow. This is a daily occurrence for most kids, but for my daughter, it's a...
frozen breast milk teethers
My baby has started solids, and I'm realizing now why it's hard for some families to maintain breastfeeding for a year. Both the AAP and the WHO recommend that breast milk or formula be the primary source of nutrition till age one, with solids serving only as a...
5 eco-friendly things you should do with your kids on the fourth of july
Happy Fourth of July! Independence Day is not my favorite holiday. For one thing, it's not Christmas. (Hard for any holiday to compare to Christmas.) For another, it's ridiculously hot in Georgia. And fireworks are loud and scary to babies. And if you go anywhere...
do you have to go naked to do elimination communication?
Most people, when they first hear about elimination communication, are intimidated -- terrified, even -- at the thought of diaperless babies. I find this hard to picture, because I know so many people who leave diapers off a lot of the time. But I have come to realize...
5 reasons moms love to get sick
You may have noticed I didn't post on Monday. Or last Friday. As you can guess from this post's title, I was sick. Remember when getting sick was awful? It meant you felt horrible and had to stay in bed. Now that I'm a mom, getting sick isn't so bad. It means my...
the stress of buying baby clothes
Buying baby clothes. It's supposed to be fun, right? They're so cute and colorful and tiny. And buying them is one of my scariest jobs as a parent. Don't get me wrong--I love baby clothes. I just agonize over buying them. Sure, it's nothing like the really hard...
the worst things no one will tell you about your postpartum recovery
One of the oft-proclaimed benefits of natural childbirth is that you recover faster. This may very well be true. It's definitely true of vaginal birth as opposed to c-section. But do you really recover faster and easier after a drug-free birth than one with an...
how safe is your toddler from peer pressure?
Toddlers and peer pressure. Are you thinking you read that wrong? These things have nothing to do with each other, right? Wrong. Assuming that kids are still considered toddlers at age three (that's fair, right?), they have everything to do with peer pressure. Peer...
a secret to healthy toddler dips: amazingly auspicious advice
This is an idea that I observed a friend of mine doing. At first I thought it was kind of crazy. And then I realized it was brilliant. Most toddlers are really picky eaters, right? But they will eat inordinate amounts of weird, unhealthy foods like ketchup. Most...