|
|
More Moms Seeking Safer Plastic Baby Bottles  (ARA) - Moms across the country are raising concerns and tossing away baby bottles in response to a recent report issued by an arm of the National Institutes for Health. The report indicated that bisphenol-A (BPA), a chemical found in many plastic baby bottles, could pose health risks.
Breastfeeding moms have even more to consider when it comes to BPA and feeding their babies. Public health studies show that more than 70 percent of mothers nationwide begin breastfeeding in the hospital and 93 percent purchase breastpumps. Moms concerned about BPA who are pumping must also consider the breastpump kit they use. When a mother pumps (so that breast milk can later be fed to her baby) the breast milk actually flows through several components before it is collected into a bottle or storage container.
Every part of a Medela breastpump or kit that comes in contact with breast milk is BPA-free. Unfortunately for mom, that is not true of all breastpump kits currently on the market," says Carolin Archibald, vice president of Medela. To learn more, go to www.medelabpa-free.com. | More Moms Ditch Disposables Diapers for Cloth  (ARA) - When Janeé Pedersen gave birth to a beautiful baby girl, Noelle, last year, she was certain that cloth diapers were the right thing for her.
“I knew I would use cloth before I was even pregnant with my daughter. I did a lot of research online and by the time we came home from the hospital, I had my stash ready to go!” she says.
Pedersen, like many of today’s eco-minded new moms, is part of a growing number of women who are ditching disposable diapers for more environmentally-friendly diapering options. The influx of moms going green has been a key contributing factor to the booming resurgence of cloth diapering.
The good news is that there are many cloth diapering systems for a mom to choose from, however, this plethora of options can be overwhelming. Here is advice from three veteran cloth diapering moms on how to get started -- and stick with -- cloth diapering.
Get Educated
“The first thing a mom needs to do is become educated on the different types of cloth diapering systems, from pockets to all-in-ones to fitteds,” advises Kelly Wels, who is expecting her third baby and is the founder of KellysCloset.com, a popular cloth diapering boutique. “After a little research, moms will realize that cloth diapering has nothing to do with pins, rubber pants or soaking and swirling dirty diapers.”
Wels also recommends that moms turn to the Internet, specifically the DiaperPin.com, to learn the cloth diapering lingo and read about the different cloth diaper brands.
Try Different Types and Brands
New mom Jesi Josten from Denver concedes that figuring out what type of cloth diaper to choose can be overwhelming. “I always suggest that you buy a couple of each kind of diaper, then sell off the ones that don't work and go with the ones that do. Sometimes what sounds great on paper doesn't really work for you in real life,” she counsels.
Go With the Tried and True
With new diaper brands popping up every day, Wels advises that you can’t go wrong using the tried and true brands. “I usually recommend new moms use Fuzzi Bunz pocket diapers because they are so easy-to-use and wash at home,” she says. In fact, Wels has dedicated an entire online boutique, FuzziBunzOnline.com, to exclusively selling this type of diapers and accessories.
Other tried and true brands include BumGenius and Happy Heinys, which are popular one-sized pocket diaper brands available online at OneSizeDiaperStore.com. These diapers allow parents to squeeze maximum value from their investment because the same diaper fits most babies from newborn to toddler.
Josten says when she first started cloth diapering her 16-month-old daughter, Violet, pocket cloth diapers were all the rage. However, these diapers just didn’t work for her daughter so she switched to Thirties fitted diapers. Josten is happy she made the switch rather than give up on cloth diapering altogether.
“I’ve learned that there is no such thing as one-kind-fits-all. There are literally hundreds of different brands and styles to choose from, so even if you have a hard-to-fit baby you can find something that works for you,” she says.
Follow Your Heart
Josten believes that it’s important to make decisions that mean something to the world-at-large. “My husband and I try really hard to follow the ‘reduce, reuse, recycle’ motto in our daily life, and I just couldn't see throwing away literally dozens of diapers a day into landfills. My research into cloth confirmed my beliefs that this was the best way to go.”
Don’t Give Up
Josten also advises that moms shouldn’t give up if cloth diapering doesn’t seem to be working for them right away. She suggests getting support from a local mom who uses cloth diapers too. “It would have been great to have a mentor to meet with where I could actually touch and feel the diapers and ask questions about cloth diapers in real-life.”
Wels says that cloth diapering is so much easier than most people think and tells moms that they should at least give cloth diapering a chance if they are even remotely curious about it. “Give it a shot. You might just surprise yourself and become a fellow mom of the cloth.”
Courtesy of ARAcontent | Secrets of Safe, Successful Slumber for Your Baby  (ARA) – It’s easy to become sleep-obsessed when you’re a new parent. Not only are you dealing with your own sleep deprivation and trying to help your baby develop a sleep routine, there’s the compelling question of just where your bundle of joy will bed down.
Do you put her in a bassinet? Does he sleep best in his bouncer or car seat? Can she fall asleep on her own in a crib? Or do you co-sleep? No matter where you choose to put your baby to sleep, safety and success must be your main concerns. Your decision will be easier if you know a few basic facts about infants’ sleep habits, safe sleeping practices and bedding options.
First, says Dr. William Sears, a renowned infant sleep expert, don’t be confused or frightened by recent headlines of safety recalls for a specific brand of bassinet. The Consumer Product Safety Commission issued a safety warning regarding a type of convertible bassinet manufactured by the now-defunct Simplicity Inc. of Reading, Pa. The warning applies only to those products, not to all bedside sleepers and definitely not to those produced by Arm’s Reach Concepts, makers of the acclaimed Co-Sleeper brand.
A safe co-sleeping bassinet is designed to attach snugly to an adult bed, leaving no gaps, bars or openings that could potentially entrap an infant. The Arm’s Reach Co-Sleeper bassinet safely allow mothers to have quick, easy access to their infants, and enjoy the closeness of a co-sleeping arrangement, without actually having the baby in bed with them, Sears points out.
Studies show that at least 50 percent of all American parents co-sleep with their infants at some point. Research by Dr. James J. McKenna of the University of Notre Dame’s Mother-Baby Behavioral Sleep Laboratory, shows that safe co-sleeping helps reduce the risk of SIDS and other sleep-related problems.
Co-sleeping may not always be what your little dreamer has in mind, however. Plenty of babies prefer to nap in a car seat or bassinet. While many will happily fall asleep on top of a willing parent, others prefer the quiet of their own crib. Wherever your baby sleeps best, be sure to follow basic safety when putting her down.
* Always put babies to sleep on their backs, per the American Academy of Pediatrics’ recommendation. Since its launch, the “Back to Sleep Initiative,” which taught parents that babies are safest sleeping on their backs, has helped reduce SIDS deaths by more than 50 percent.
* Babies sleeping in a car seat should never be left alone – in the car or in the house. If your little one dozes off on a drive and you don’t want to disturb her, use the kind of car seat that easily detaches from the base. Bring the seat and baby inside the house and place them on the floor where you can easily see them and keep a close watch.
* Choose bassinets, cribs and bedside sleepers that meet the CPSC’s high safety standards. Cribs or bassinets with bars should have no more than 2 3/8 inches between bars or slats, according to federal standards.
* Wherever your baby sleeps, don’t put anything in the bed with her. That means no stuffed animals, blankets or pillows. These and other items may cover her face and obstruct her breathing.
* Never put your baby to sleep in an adult bed alone. If you choose to co-sleep, opt for a Co-Sleeper bassinet, a small, separate bed with one open side that fits up snugly against your bed. “The Arm’s Reach Concepts Co-Sleeper bassinet is a safe product which I fully endorse and which I recommend to patients in my pediatric practice,” Sears says.
To learn more about Arms Reach Co-Sleeper Bassinets, visit www.armsreach.com or call (800) 954-9353.
Courtesy of ARA Content
|
|