http://freerangekids.wordpress.com/

This is a blog entitled Free Range Kids. I read about it in Newsweek.

What do you guys think? 

With my first child I would NEVER nurse in public, then with my second we moved to a pretty progressive town and it seemed to be the norm, which made me really happy because my second child would NEVER take a bottle. It was nice to be able to nurse wherever you are without the added pressure of wondering if people are staring at you.

I too always cover up, and with my third when he was like 1 week old we were at a carnival because we had promised our older children and a lady I knew came up to me, and said oh he must be sleeping and peeked (before I could stop her) underneath the blanket which I was using because I was nursing him. Of course she quicky apologized when she realized what I was really doing, and said that she was from France and it didn't even occur to her that I would have covered him up for that reason because there it's a commonly accepted practice for women to be totally public about it.

I am kinda on the fence about this because I prefer always to cover up, but at the same time this is what our bodies were meant to do and it doesn't bother me at all to see mothers who just do it wherever, whenever. I can choose to look away, and I don't believe that any man who caught sight of a mother nursing her child would have a lingering gaze either, maybe I 'm naive.

I always go with modesty because that's who I am, but I also would never gawk at a woman who decided to throw caution to the wind and enjoy that moment with her child without another care in the world. 

One of my close friends has dealt with this more than I have, but I can remember her saying that the preschool teacher (who has been teaching preschool for like 20 years) gave her very specific rules on how to drop her child off, she was to hug her, kiss her, tell her mommy loves you and will be back to get you when school is over, and at that point turn around and leave, not looking back.

I know it was really difficult for my friend, but after a few weeks, there were no more problems. Her daughter was older at the time though. I know that's really hard.

Good luck! 

I think I feel exactly the same as MommyO2, that hits the nail on the head for me. It's also too, that I am such a creature of habit, routine is such a big part of my life and the weekends are always a little different....

Monday's are just fine by me. 

I think you guys handled that so well. I don't think it's too young (I'm sure we all want it to be too young) but all kids hear stuff at school and become curious. It may be more a curiousity about what he's heard about than an actual curiousity about sexuality.

An open discussion is the best way and it sounds like you had that!

cantaloupe

oranges

apples 

WOW! That's disturbing. We used to NEVER eat fast food, but since I've had my third child I'd say we do it three or four times a month. I was totally ignorant to how bad that stuff actually is. It just TASTES so good and it's SOOOOO much easier at 5PM when all three of them are screaming.

I guess I will be a little more careful. Thanks for the eye opener. 

It depends on the friends...I have some friends who I believe are my friends mostly because our kids get along so well, but I have also been very fortunate to meet a group of ladies who are MY friends. We initially met because our kids are the same age, but our kids don't necessarily love each other. They certainly get along, but my kids don't ask to play with their kids and vice versa.

I have one friend who it's worked out perfectly, she's the person I've become closest to since we moved to Colorado and our girls (her only and both my girls) love each other.

I think too, you shouldn't feel like your friends don't want to hear about it, they might just not know how to respond. My close friend is going through something similar right now, and she talks to me about it and I am so HAPPY that she's able to confide how she's feeling in me, but to be honest I am always praying that I have the right words for her, because I know she has a lot of emotion right now, and the last thing I want to do is say something insensitive.

I know your struggle is a difficult one, and I will keep you in my thoughts!

Hi and welcome! I think most people said it, that starting some sort of routine is the way to go. A big shift in a sleep schedule might be difficult, but really soon you should be seeing a schedule develop. There is a book called Healthy Sleep Habits, Happy Child by Marc Weissbluth, M.D. and it gives you some step-by-step ideas of how to make sure your baby is getting good, quality sleep.

According to this book, by three months old you should really be seeing the beginning of a sleep pattern (night sleep and consistent nap). By 7-8 weeks (according to the book) your baby should be getting longer periods of sleep at night (of course a man wrote this book and by night sleep I think he means 3-5 hours) and by 12-16 weeks, a consistent morning nap will start to appear. And by months 5-8, your baby should be settling into an afternoon nap pattern with a potential evening nap (as if you might be so lucky-a baby sleeping though dinner prep would have been something I would have payed a LOT of money for, but you can always hope for this).

Anyhow, I didn't agree with some of what this book had to say, but I am telling you these time tables just to let you know that there is an end in sight and with two of the three of mine I did find that around these ages they did actually START to fall into a pattern. I had one that just refused to sleep and it just took her being diagnosed with a food allergy to change her sleep patterns (I guess she was just so uncomfortable)

Anyhow, sorry I 'm rambling-the last thing your tired eyes want to do it read something this long.

My advice, is soon you should be able to expect something of a routine. Commit yourself, bedtime at 7:30. Let the baby cry for 15 minutes, if not asleep go and nurse her (I'm sure people will tell you this is a bad habit to get into, but I have always done this and eventually (before the age of 1) all my kids could get to sleep without nursing)and put her down again and repeat this process until she goes to sleep.

The other thing is a small baby really should only be awake for up to two hours at a stretch MAX (I read this in the book I mentioned-thought that's CRAZY, but I'll try it and when I got the kids to bed before that prescribed time they were not OVERTIRED and went to sleep so much easier). 

Nurse through the night like you said. Then when she gets up at 6:30am, make it a point to start the process of putting her down by 8am. Hope she'll sleep 2 hours, that puts you at around 10, by 11:30am be starting another nap...and so on. Hopefully there will be a 3rd afternoon nap and by 7:30 you'll be starting on bed again.

You'll never leave your house again while commited to this schedule, but soon, as a schedule does emerge and the baby gets bigger (which will  happen before you know it) you have a bit more flexibility.

Good luck! I hope you find something that works for you. What I have said has worked for me, I'm sure other people have had luck with totally different things, so it's really all about YOUR baby.

I hope you get some rest! 

I think it's doubtful, because don't they say it really takes some time of being off the pill before you get pregnant? Also, those changes could be a side effect of whatever missing those pills did. The pill changes your hormone levels, so I don't know how easy it would be to sort out what is and isn't a result of the pill. Either way, I hope you're feeling better!

Most welfare programs cover pregnant women and children beyond what normal welfare would cover. That is to say, even if you don't normally qualify for any government services, when you're pregnant  I KNOW they don't turn many people away, I'm betting especially if your pregnancy is a high-risk one.

Good luck! There's so much help out there!