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I hope everyone enjoys a wonderful Thanksgiving with their family. You can’t beat a day of wonderful food and wonderful company.
We are having a nice, quiet Thanksgiving. We’ll start the day by watching the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day parade, probably head to the zoo (a little tradition of ours), and then have a very yummy dinner.
Happy Thanksgiving!
Before babies learn to use language to tell us what they want or what is wrong it can be very difficult to understand your little one. When babies are very little they will use variations of crying to get their message across. After a few weeks with you’re little one and you’ll figure out what each cry means and be able to met their needs based on responding to those cries. However, that useful tool disappears as your baby gets older. You’ll need to figure out new ways to decipher what your baby is trying to tell you. Sign language is a great way to teach your baby a way to communicate with you before they can use words.
Sign language can be taught to babies very early on. They may not be able to sign back to you before they are 9-12 months old, however, by using the signs from the beginning your baby will better be able to figure out the act, object, etc associated with each sign. When your baby final figures out how to manipulate their hands into the different signs you’ll be amazed how easy it is to communicate with your little one.
There are many different books and videos out there with different signing techniques. Some encourage using the traditional American Sign Language while others encourage you to make up your own signs. You may need to do a little research to determine what works best for you.
Here are a few of the different books and videos available:
Amazing Baby: A First Guide to Baby Signing
Baby Signs Complete Starter Kit
Sign with Your Baby Starter Kit
Baby Talk
My Baby Can Talk: First Signs
I purchased the Sign with Your Baby Starter Kit
Using sign language can be so helpful in communicating with your little one and is fun to learn as well. It is so wonderful to see your child repeat back a sign that you have been working on teaching them.
Have you taught your baby to sign? What book, video, etc did you use? Has signing been helpful?
It is something all pregnant moms wait to hear, that first sound of life, the confirmation that there really is a little person growing inside of them; the heartbeat. The heart begins to develop very early in pregnancy and by the 5th week of gestation will begin to beat. Since it is so tiny you can often see it on an ultrasound before you can actually hear it with a doppler device.
Many women will have an early ultrasound, sometime during the 7th to 9th week of pregnancy to confirm the pregnancy is progressing normally and that the fetus is developing. One of the key aspects of this ultrasound is seeing the heart and the heartbeat. Your doctor will be looking to make sure the heart is developing properly, doesn’t appear to have any defects, and is beating at a normal rate. Seeing that tiny heartbeat can be an amazing bonding experience with that tiny little life growing inside of you. Up until this point the pregnancy may have seemed a little surreal, but seeing that little heart beating, well it isn’t so little, it takes up most of the mid-section of the fetus at this point, can make it all see real for the first time.
Hearing the heartbeat is the next big milestone. Usually around the 10th week of pregnancy your doctor will be able to pick up your baby’s heartbeat using a doppler device. Each prenatal visit going forward will include a listen to the heartbeat. Your doctor is looking first to make sure there is a heartbeat, confirmation that the baby is still developing, and listening to the rate of the heartbeat to make sure there doesn’t appear to be any noticeable problems. A normal heart rate for a developing fetus is 120 to 160 beats per minute. When you hear for the first time it will sound like it is beating away at a mile a minute!
Be sure to ask your doctor if you have any questions or concerns about your pregnancy or your developing baby. Your doctor can talk to you about fetal development, what to expect, and what to look for as your pregnancy progresses.
If you haven’t done so already this is a great time to begin teaching your children about money. With the economy on questionable ground we are all saving more, spending less, spending more consciously and revisiting our budgets. Children have a hard time grasping the concept of money and the value of things unless their parents take the time to teach them. As you revisit your budget, put a little more in savings and shop more carefully talk to your children about what you are doing. The more they learn now the better of they will be in the future when they are managing their own household.
How you approach teaching your children about money will depend on your child’s learning style and most importantly your child’s age. It is never too early to begin talking to your children about money. Even little toddlers can learn a few things about money. The older your child is the more you can get into.
Here are a few suggestions on things you can do to teach your children about money:
- Most importantly start a savings account for them. Consider taking them to the bank with you as there will be a lot for them to learn. Make sure they go with you anytime you are putting money into their savings account, as they will feel more connected to it.
- For your younger children, get them a piggy bank and encourage them to save coins. Give them the change from your pocket or purse to save in their piggy bank.
- Encourage your child to save at least some of their allowance, gift money and any other money they receive.
- Get your child to pick out something that they really want and have them save up to buy it for themselves. If they pick what they are saving for they are more likely to be excited about saving for it. As they put money away for the special item talk to them about how much they have saved and how much more they have to go. Explain to them that the more they spend the longer it will take to save for their special item.
- Talk to your children about the family expenses. You can do this while paying the bills, while at the grocery store, or while working on the family budget. This one works best with older children, but younger children can learn a few things too.
- Get your child to help you clip coupons and explain to them about how important it is to save money on the things you buy.
- Purchase a book about money for your child, like “The Berenstain Bears’ Trouble with Money
- For your older children, start to teach them the difference between a checking and savings account. You can do this with teens by getting them to pay a few of their own bills, like gas, car insurance, or buying their own back to school clothes.
- Most importantly talk about money as a family. Be open about your family finances and use every opportunity you can to teach your children about money.
The more your children know about money, including how to save it and how to spend it wisely, the better off they will be as they go out into the world and begin managing their own money. Teaching your children about money is a great gift you can give them.
How do you teach your children about money? Have you found something that works really well for your family?
Extended breastfeeding is breastfeeding beyond the first year. It is a very common practice in other countries but is still a little taboo here in the United States (and much of the western world for that matter). There is a lot of pressure on women to wean their babies by their first birthday. Women often face disapproval from family, friends and strangers if they choose to breastfeed beyond their child’s first birthday.
Choosing extended breastfeeding is a personal decision that you need to make based on what is right for your child and you. The American Academy of Pediatrics recommends continued breastfeeding beyond the first year as long as it is mutually acceptable to both mother and child. If you are considering extended breastfeeding but have questions about what to expect or what is best for your baby talk to your child’s pediatrician.
So what are some of the advantages and disadvantages to extended breastfeeding:
Advantages:
- Provides your child with additional calories, nutrients and valuable immunities. Although most of their nutrition will come from solid food after their first year breastmilk is a great addition to that nutrition and can be particularly important if your child is lacking nutrients in their solid food diet.
- Provides reassurance and support for your child as they go out and explore their world more and become more independent.
- If your child is sick breastmilk may be the only thing they can keep down providing very necessary nutrition to help them get better, and has been found to help avoid dehydration.
- Continues the bond you have built with your child through breastfeeding during the first year.
Disadvantages:
- You may have to deal with negative comments and stares from family, friends and strangers. Always having to explain yourself may get a little tiresome.
- Some people believe that trying to wean a stubborn 2 year old is much harder than weaning a 1 year old. Depending on your child you may run into this if you breastfeed beyond the first year.
- If you have another baby it can be difficult to tandem nurse, or try to wean your toddler during this already difficult transition for them.
- If you become pregnant while still breastfeeding your toddler you may find a decrease in your milk supply.
As I stated before, the decision on whether or not to breastfeed beyond the first year is one only you and your family can make. You will need to look at your own personal situation and make a decision that is best for you and your baby. Talk to your doctor, your local La Leche League, or other moms who have chosen extended breastfeeding for support and advice.
On a personal note, my daughter just turned 1 and I am still breastfeeding her. I didn’t originally think that extended breastfeeding was for me, but now I see it differently. My plan is to wean her from a few of her middle of the day feedings over the next couple of months but to continue breastfeeding her in the morning and at bedtime (and probably naptime) until about 18 months or so. I may let her self-wean, particularly from the nighttime feeding so the transition is easier for her. We’ll see!
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