Graduation Day

Twenty-one weeks ago I began a weekly tradition.  Every Monday, Baby S and I would pack up some toys for him, a lunch for me and head to the New Mom's Group run by the hospital that I delivered at.  The group is run by a fabulous woman that can only be described as a "postpartum goddess".  She is a postpartum doula, postpartum doula trainer, postnatal educator, lactation specialist, and maybe most importantly, a mom.

If you have never been to a New Mom's Group, the purpose essentially is to provide a venue for new mom's to ask questions related to their new baby, socialize with other new moms, and provide much needed support through the trying first few months of being a new parent.  Our postpartum goddess ran our group like this: each week we would sit in a circle on the floor playing with (and/or nursing/feeding) our babies while taking turns updating each other on that prior week's developments, asking any questions we may have, and if we happened to shed a tear or two (or 5 million) someone was there to hand you a tissue and tell you that you are in fact going to live through all this.  Every so often we had a presenter that would share with us a variety of baby related things.  We had visitors from Baby Boot Camp, Gymboree, a local naturopath, and a lawyer come and talk to us about wills and trusts...something all new parents need to think about.  Whether we had a presenter or not, I left every week feeling like I learned something new.

In fact, I really can't even imagine what the last several months would have been like had I not joined this group.  Sure, I could have called the pediatrician's office with my questions, but they never would have made me feel completely normal about using a breast shield like these women did, many of them telling me that they had to use one too and that they struggled with it as much as I had, nor could the ped's office commiserate with me when nursing was a struggle and my supply was diminishing.  They certainly couldn't have helped me through balancing my roles as mother and housewife or learning how to appreciate all the things I do accomplish in a day (even when it feels like I accomplished nothing).  Nor would they have been able to give me the details about Mommy Matinee or story time at the local library or where to get the best baby gear.

But sadly, today I had to graduate. Why? you ask.  Well the group is for moms with babies up to 6 months old and when your baby reaches that 6 month mark (or you have to go back to work), you graduate.  I don't like the term graduate because it doesn't really adequately explain what is happening...which is simply that you don't get to come back.  It isn't like I have some how mastered the art of parenting in the last 6 months or that I don't have any more questions left to ask...I just have a baby too old to go any more.

Thankfully one of the long lasting benefits of this group is that our postpartum goddess helps us form our first playgroup.  I now have a wonderful group of women, that have had babies between October and February, that will continue on this journey with me and for that I am extremely grateful.

TTFN,

Mommy C

Operation Deswaddle Update

If you missed the back story on this, you will want to read my last post here.

Tuesday night (bedtime):

• Put S down on his back, awake at around 8:30ish.  Within 20 minutes he was asleep. Yes, the first 5 were cooing, but the next 15 were him crying.  We persevered and it was worth it!
• He slept till about 3am and then woke up for his usual feeding. Then, instead of protesting when it was time to go back to bed, he went straight to sleep!!!! 
• He then slept till I woke him up in the morning. 

Why do I think he slept so well? Well, my fear that he was close to rolling from back to front was validated because he slept on his tummy for almost the whole night!! I think I officially have a tummy sleeper.

Wednesday naps:

• Each nap started with some tears, but he would settle down fairly quickly (read: roll over onto his tummy and fall asleep).  
• He seems to be sleeping better during his naps than he used to...less stirring and cooing mid-nap. 

Wednesday night:

• We have an expert sleeper (and roller) on our hands. He went down to sleep easily and went right back down to sleep after nursing during the night. 

I could keep going with the rest of the week, but the gist of it all is that he has been sleeping fantastically! He goes down relatively easily (sometimes there are tears, but not for very long) and seems to sleep better than he ever has.  He rolls to his belly almost as soon as I put him into the crib.  He also likes to sleep with his hands under his face which is just about the cutest thing ever.

I am so glad that we deswaddled when we did.  He was old enough to roll to get comfy and to self soothe (I think that is the biggest thing) and yet he wasn't so old that he was frustrated that we changed the system on him.  I would like to believe that it was my mommy instinct that knew that this was the right time to do it...or that S some how communicated to me that this was the right time....or maybe I just got lucky.

TTFN
 Mommy C

Operation Deswaddle!

S is a great sleeper and I am grateful for this. He goes down easily, wakes only briefly to eat, and typically in the morning, I have to wake him up so we can get going with our day.  I have it good. (Please don't hate me.)  Unfortunately, I am shaking things up right now and attempting to "deswaddle" our boy. 

Why?  He grew out of the only swaddle that he couldn't break out of...the HALO SleepSack Swaddle.  I could have ordered the small, but that would only fit for another month or so and I knew we were going to have to do it sooner anyway (I will get to that part in a minute). 

So for the last 2 weeks he has been sleeping in a woombie that is a bit too big for him (I bought it on sale long before I realized that he wouldn't be swaddled at 20 pounds).  But being the problem solver that I am, I tied a hair band at the bottom to make it shorter.  However, the fact that it is too big for him has been great.  It has allowed him to move his hands up to his mouth and learn to do some self soothing without the pacifier.  Ahh the pacifier...that has also been given to him less and less (but that is another story for another day).  He also doesn't seem to be as startled by his hands suddenly coming up to his face in his sleep.

So, S has been wiggling around in his woombie for 2 weeks and fairly early on I began to realize that he was attempting to roll from back to front.  This got me worried. He wasn't an expert roller and I wasn't sure he could roll back to his back if he wanted to, but I had been hearing stories in my mom's group about other babies that had to be immediately unswaddled in the middle of the night because they kept rolling to their bellies.  What if S rolled over in the middle of the night and we had to unswaddle him right then and there? Would he be okay? Would he scream his head off for hours? Could I avoid this?  Well the simple answers were that he would be fine, he might scream his head off for hours, and yes, I did think I could avoid this.  I was going to slowly "deswaddle him". 

Trixie and I had talked a lot when she was "deswaddling" her youngest and I knew that I needed a plan (and that there might be tears-both his and mine) and that there wasn't much "real help" out there for moms (just a lot of other moms telling their story).  It seems like there are two main schools of thought: one arm out first OR cold turkey. Since we had transitioned to the woombie and I don't have one of the uber cool new convertible woombies (they don't come out till July), doing the whole one arm out thing wasn't going to happen.  However, back when Sam was about 4 months old we had transitioned him to the one arm out with the HALO, but ended up going back to the full swaddle when he stared teething.  While he had the one arm out (prior to the teething), he did really well.  So cold turkey it was going to be.

So here is what my plan was going to be:

• Cold turkey
• Start at the afternoon nap 
• Start Monday, June 21st
• If he cried? We were going to go into the room to sooth in intervals (5, 7, 10 minutes)
• If all else failed and he was just miserable? We would give up on that night and try again the next sleep opportunity. 

Here is what has happened so far:

June 21st:

Afternoon nap:

• He cooed for most of it- I think he was silent for all of about 10 minutes of the hour. At the end of the hour he was awake and smiley so we ended the nap.

Bedtime:

• He wasn't as thrilled this time (8ish).  I went into sooth at 5 minutes, then when he cried I went in after 7 minutes, and then when he cried again I waited another 7 minutes (I couldn't bring myself to wait any longer).  Then...he fell asleep!  Actually, I realized that he wanted to be on his side so I helped him get on his side and he immediately fell asleep! 
• He woke up at about 11:30pm and decided he was hungry.  I had decided that I didn't want to impact hubby with this because he needs to go to work in the morning so sending him in to sooth wasn't an option (although he would tell you that it was).  I fed him and when I went to put him back into the crib he began to protest.  I tried soothing in the crib, tried walking around the room with him, frankly I tried all my tricks (even changed the diaper) and he was just not happy.  So I decided enough was enough for one night, I put him in the woombie and we called it a night.

June 22nd (today)

Nap #1 (put him into the crib at 11:40am)

• He cooed for about 25 minutes and then fell asleep for an hour and a half.  I finally woke him up because I didn't want to disrupt our sleep schedule.  (This is a nap schedule that he created naps typically start with me nursing him at 11 and 3 give or take 15-20 minutes.)

Nap #2 (put him into the crib at 3:15pm)

• This one started with tears.  Lots and lots of tears. But they were the protest type tears that would get loud and then he'd calm down and then he'd get loud again.  After a little less than 20 minutes he was silent (thankfully because I was beginning to get tears in my eyes at this point).  I didn't follow my interval thing that I said I was going to in my plan mostly because it was this protest crying.  I knew he was fed, clean, and not in pain.  Had there been any question or if the cry was different, I would have checked on him sooner. 
• It is now 4:45 and he is still sleeping.  If he is asleep at 5:15, I will probably wake him up.  

Will he make it the whole night without a swaddle??? I will report tomorrow how he does!


TTFN
Mommy C

Today is my wedding anniversary!

Way back on May 19th I told you my engagement story via a vlog.  So it seems only natural to tell my wedding story as well...but this time, I am going to do it with pictures and audio (ok, and some words too). The only problem is that YouTube is not cooperating due to the music that I used.  So, you will need to go to my Facebook page to view it.  You will find the link at the bottom of this post to see the video.

My husband and I got married on June 17, 2006 at a winery in Amador County, California.  The whole wedding was very personalized to us and we included our family and friends as much as possible.  One of my cousins married us, one of my best friends and hubby's uncle did readings, two other friends opened the giant doors that I came out of and some of my other cousins sang "The Song of Ruth".  Hubby and I each have one sibling so they were our maid of honor and best man.  I tend to like a little bit of whimsy so the isle was blue and covered with daisies.  We are pretty simplistic people as well so rather than doing extravagant center pieces for the tables we just used those multi-color flower pots that you can find out in front of most grocery stores in the summer.  All of these things were true to who we were and it was fabulous. 

All this being said, if I step away from the specialness of the day, and look superficially at various aspects, there is one thing that I more pleased about than others and that is the music I walked down the isle to.  The Princess Bride is by far my most favorite movies of all times and a friend mentioned that they used the theme for their wedding.  I got to playing around with the music and determined that we could get the huge doors that we were going to walk out of to open just as the music picked up. It took some coordination, but from my perspective (and several guest's perspectives) it was amazing.  I tried to incorporate it into the slide show (link below) so that you can get the same feeling. You will have to tell me if it worked. :)

There was also one thing that I would definitely change if I could do it again and that was the bustle on my dress.  We had a dance all choreographed, but we had to ditch much of it because I had to hold onto my dress the whole time.  I included of those pictures so you can see what I mean.

Well the baby is waking up so I need to hit post and run to be mommy. Wish I could talk more about how much this day means to me, but that will have to be another post.  Enjoy!

Click here for the slide show from my wedding.

TTFN
Mommy C

No Such Thing As Bad Weather...

Just the other day I was reading a post over at 365 days: 30+Mommyhood by Abby's Mommy (or @metta1313 for those of you on Twitter) about the Pacific Northwest.  It got me thinking about my dad and our "family values" when it came to weather and activity.  It also got me thinking about our decision to move to the Pacific Northwest. 

Growing up in my dad's house in upstate NY meant that you were expected to be an outdoorsy, adventure seeking soul.  There was no excuse for boredom and sitting inside on a perfectly nice day was frowned upon...I actually think this was pretty normal in my neighborhood as you would see all the neighbor kids playing together when the weather was nice.  But what about those "bad weather days"??  Well early on in my life I learned the family motto- "No such thing as bad weather, just bad equipment".  So those "bad weather days" didn't really exist in my house.  This was especially true during the winter.  I was a wearer of polypropylene fabrics and Gore Tex long before it was "cool" (yes, in my world polypropylene and Gore Tex are cool and frankly I am in love with all sorts of outdoor gear, not just those pieces that are for "bad weather"). 

So when my husband and I decided to move from sunny and very warm California to Oregon I didn't flinch when I found out that it rains a lot here.  In my mind I just needed to have a good rain coat and some waterproof shoes and I would be good.  And I am good. I don't mind the rain at all during the winter.  I have my gear and we even have gear for S so we can go on walks in the rain, but between you and me, by the time June rolls around I am praying for "good weather".  At some point it doesn't matter that I have gear that allows me to enjoy the outdoors without getting soaked on a rainy day...I want sunshine!  I want to around barefoot, open the windows in the house, and go for long (sun filled) walks in the park.

So this past weekend when the sun finally decided to join us...I was ecstatic!  We went to the farmer's market for breakfast and when we got home hubby went off for a bike ride, so S and I pulled out the cool waterproof blanket I bought, and went and played in the yard.  We laid on our backs and stared at the trees blowing in the wind and the planes flying overhead.  We felt the grass between our toes and the sun kiss our cheeks.  It...was...heaven.  I think summer has finally found us here in the Pacific Northwest!!  Now, where did I put all my summer gear????


TTFN
Mommy C

"Can't Wait" vs "Looking Forward to It"

Semantics are incredibly interesting to me...especially when I come across a phrase that I view as meaning one thing, only to find that others view it differently.  Let me back up a little bit.  For about the last 2 years I have been working as an English as Second Language (ESL) teacher in our local school district.  If you have ever learned to speak another language you may know that truly being fluent in a language goes far beyond knowing the label for a variety of objects and how to ask where the bathroom is.  Part of my role as an ESL teacher is to teach not only to teach children the labels for the objects around them and basic conversational English, but also the morphemes that can help them to predict the meaning of a new word, syntax so that they can combine these new words properly to create a sentence that adequately expresses their thoughts, and the semantics/pragmatics of the English language that will allow them to truly become fluent.  So given all of this, I have spent a lot of time in the last 2 years paying attention to how we use our language. 

So back to "can't wait" and "looking forward to it"...

I have always viewed these two phrases to mean basically the same thing, but with different levels of excitement.  If I am excited about something I might use "can't wait" and if I am mildly excited for something (or just being nice), I will use "looking forward to it".  Up until recently I thought everyone thought about these sayings the same way that I did...but then I learned that there is another layer of meaning to them.  Let me explain...

When I was pregnant with S I would say something like, "I can't wait to meet this little guy" and many people would respond with, "Enjoy being pregnant because...".   After S was born I would say things like, "I can't wait till he crawls (or insert any milestone)" and people would respond with, "don't rush him" or "cherish these moments now because they go by so fast".  It wasn't until recently that I began to realize that when you say that you "can't wait" for something, people assume that this must mean that you are somehow not cherishing the current moment and want it over as soon as possible which for me was definitely not the case.  I am loving every moment with S, but that doesn't mean I don't look ahead and think about what it will be like as he gets older.  Any way, I guess it makes sense given the word choice, but how many times have you used "can't wait" for something that you could actually wait for, you were just excited?  Exactly.

So I tried an experiment.  Instead of saying "can't wait", I began saying that I am "looking forward to ___".  Amazingly people responded to this type of statement differently.  Most frequently people would respond by agreeing that ___ is a great stage.  A few people said that they were surprised how much they loved each new stage as their child approached it, that there wasn't a bad stage in raising a baby and so much to look forward to as a parent.  It seems people didn't view my "looking forward to it" as me saying that I disliked my current stage, but that I was also happy about ___ stage too.  Crazy!

So who knew that these two little phrases would have this hidden meaning to them (at least when it comes to parenting)??  I sure didn't, but I find it fascinating that this extra layer exists.


TTFN
Mommy C

This one's for Kyron Horman

This is Kyron Horman.  Isn't he adorable?

I have never met him personally, but today the post is for him.  You see, Kyron is missing.  He disappeared from school on June 4th from his school in Portland, Oregon.  His step mom brought him to school that morning, walked around the school (looking at science fair projects) with him, and then at 8:45 said goodbye to him as he headed for class.  At this point it seems that things get a bit fuzzy (either because they are fuzzy or the police just haven't released more information).  At some point the teacher took attendance and he was marked absent. However, for some reason his step mom didn't get a call from the school regarding this.  So she waited for him at the bus stop that afternoon and when the bus pulled up, the driver told her that Kyron never got on the bus.  She drove to school only to find out that they didn't know where Kyron was and he had been missing since that morning (the school didn't realize he was missing either). 

It is my understanding that the police still have no idea if he wandered off and is just missing or if someone abducted him.  For this reason, no Amber Alert was filed.  That means it is up to media outlets and everyday citizens to do their part.  So I am asking you...no I am pleading with you to do something.  You could:

• Join the Missing Kyron Horman Facebook page: 
• Visit the FBI site that has the Endagered Missing Person page for Kyron  (the pictures in this post are from this Facebook page)
• Visit the ChildSeek Network page set up for Kyron
• Tweet about him and include the picture below. 
• Write something on your facebook page and include the picture below
• Write your own blog post or copy my post and post it on your blog
• Using whatever resources you have, direct traffic to the FBI site or the ChildSeek Network site. 

I can only imagine what the family is going through right now.  I wish I could do more to help get this little boy home, but all I have right now is this page and my voice.

My thoughts and prayers are with Kyron's family.

Mommy C

Farmer's Market time of year

I was struggling with what to write today, so I thought I would share with you one of my favorite things.  Enjoy!

I think there isn't a time of year that I don't love for one reason or another.  But since it is almost summer...I am currently in love with that season.  In Oregon the weather never gets really nice till the end of June and not consistently till mid July it seems.  So it is about this time every year that I start to get the itch for nice weather...and this year? It is raining a ton!  Fortunately there is one thing that tides over till it is nice all the time and that is the Farmer's Market. 

Prior to moving to Oregon I never went to a local farmer's market on a regular basis.  When we started going to the markets here I was so shocked to taste the difference in the foods they had compared to the grocery store.  I seriously hadn't tasted lettuce or carrots or peas like that since I was a child and we grew it in our backyard. 

I am spoiled by the markets in this area because they not only sell fruits, vegetables, and plants, but they sell meat too and this past weekend we decided to try out some grass fed beef.  We had seen Food Inc and were convinced that we needed to start buying more grass fed beef, but hadn't really done anything but talk about buying a 1/4 or 1/2 of a cow.  The farmer's market is giving us the opportunity to purchase the meat in smaller quantities which is great for us right now.  We made the meat last night and I have to say that it was pretty tasty!  It was definitely a bit tougher than I am used to, but the flavor was absolutely fabulous so I didn't mind the extra chewing I had to do.  I have heard there are ways to make it better, so we will have to look into that for next time.

Another favorite thing from my farmer's market? The crepes!  Actually there are a lot of food stands with lots of delicious food, but the crepes are currently my favorite.  They use ingredients from the market (some are not from the market though like the bananas and Nutella--YUMMY!) and are so freaking delicious that I spend the night before going dreaming about them. 

All this being the said, I have a new absolute favorite thing from the market...okay, maybe there are two things that are my new favorite(s): Strawberries and raspberries.  Seriously, they were so sweet and juicy that I was in heaven after just one bite!  We finished the raspberries before we even got home!

So there you go!  If you ever wonder what I am doing on a Saturday morning in the summer, you can probably guess that I am at the farmer's market with my family stocking up on really good (local) food!

TTFN
Mommy C

Baby Food

So here is a real quick post about baby food.  I was going to take a class on how to make but it continues to get postponed and might actually be canceled at this point.  So....I need your help!

I want to not just make baby food and freeze it, but I also want to learn how to can the food using commercial baby food jars.  Do you have a website that might help me? Do you personally know how to do it and want to help a girl out? 

Thanks!
Mommy C

My Adventures with Cloth Diapers

Update:  I recently received a question about cloth diapers from a friend today and was going to forward this link to them.  I then realized there were a few things that I wanted to add.  I figured I would take this opportunity to add those updates and re-post so I could share them with all of you!  Please leave me a comment or contact me via email if you have any questions or suggestions!

I have been meaning to do this post for a while now.  I wanted to share my take on cloth diapering now that I have been doing it for about 4 months. Curious?

• COST: Cloth diapering is definitely cheaper than regular disposables.  There is some question about the cost of washing them, but I think it was generally excepted that washing them did not bring the cost above disposables.  In fact, our water bill hasn't risen since we had the baby. 

Update: After revisiting our water bill, it has risen a little bit since we had the baby.  Of course one reason is the diapers, but I also do about 2 more loads of laundry each week (that aren't diapers) and we give him 3-4 baths a week. 

• ENVIRONMENTAL ISSUES: There seems to be a great debate about the environmental factors between throwing disposables in the landfill and using water to wash cloth diapers.  Not surprisingly, the people who use disposables tend to point out that cloth diapering wastes water and people who use cloth diapers will point out the 500 something years it will take to break down the disposable diapers.  My take? If you consider the fact that water can be treated and reused, it is not a very good argument for not using cloth.  The only counter argument I have heard about the landfill is the use of diapers that will break down, but that requires air and you won't find that at the bottom of a landfill.
• EASY OF USE: Cloth diapering is much easier than it was when I was little.  Pocket diapers, all in ones, and one size diapers are put on the baby just like a regular diaper.  (This fact was a plus for me because I was having to convince my husband that this wouldn't be more work for him.)  Yes, there were still prefolds and diaper covers, but with the invention of snappies there was no need for diaper pins and the covers are so much cuter now. 

If you decide to cloth diaper you have a couple of choices to make right up front.

• First, are you going to use a diaper service or buy and wash your own diapers.   If you use a service the cost savings compared to disposable won't be much, if anything.  However, you don't have to do any of the cleaning.  Downside to this (besides the cost) is that you have to store all the dirty diapers for a week till they come and get them (they usually pick up dirties and drop off clean ones once a week) and that can get stinky.  If you buy and wash your own you need to consider how you want to store them till you wash them. Most people use a dry bag like this one and put inside a garbage can with a lid.  Most people will tell you to buy enough diapers to last you 2-3 days because that is the longest you will really want to store them before they get stinky.  
• Second, what kind of cloth diapers do you want to actually use and if your child is going to day care, will that daycare allow them?  I have heard that daycare centers are getting better about taking cloth diapers, but it seems to depend on where you live. (Here in Portland many daycare centers allow cloth and some even hire their own diaper service.)  You could consider doing cloth at home and an eco-friendly diaper like Nature Baby Care while at daycare. 

So what do I use and why?

• I use mostly Bum Genius 3.0 (they are pocket diapers that are also one size diapers) because they grow with our baby, are easy to use, and pretty affordable given that we bought 12 at a time I got $1 off each one.  Each diaper comes with two inserts- one for when they are small and one for when they are bigger. You can use the small insert as a doubler when they get bigger.
• We also use some prefolds with these Thirsties Duo covers.  I wish they were less bulky because I totally would use them more.  I typically put S in one for his naps since all he is doing is sleeping in it.  I am hoping that as he gets bigger, it will fit better. 
• We used gDiapers with their gCloth for awhile when S was smaller.  I wish I liked the gDiapers more. They are a local company that is run by some totally cool people and they have fantastic customer service and do a lot for their gMums and gDads.  But they (the gCloth) just don't hold as much liquid as the BG 3.0 does (the owner of gDiapers told me that the industry standard is to have a diaper that is to be changed every 1-1.5 hours, but I don't have to do that with my BG 3.0s).  I would continue to use the gDiapers with the flushable inserts if they were more affordable. 

Update: I have come to love gDiapers once again!  I am using them along with the BG 3.0s to extend the time between laundry days.  I stuff them with prefolds and they fit great and hold a lot of liquid!! The only time I don't like them is first thing in the morning because that is typically the poopiest diaper of the day and poop always seems to get on the liner (I really need more liners!).  In fact, we are thinking that when Baby #2 comes around that we will diaper Superman in the gDiapers and Baby #2 in the BG3.0s.  I am so happy they are working because I love this company.  They are super cool, amazingly down to earth, and are local!  They have a new partnership with Diapers.com and currently offer free shipping and 30% off the diapers.

• I do Nature Baby Care diapers every night and whenever I want a disposable.  The link is above if you are interested in learning more about them.  

Update: We have had to switch to a night time diaper.  Unfortunately, I don't know of an environmentally friendly option.  If you know of one or have some suggestions on what we could do, please leave me a comment or send me an email. 

 So there we go. I could go on, but I really need to go be mommy now.  If you have any questions, please leave them in the comments and I promise I will get back to you!

TTFN
Mommy C

PS Many of my links will lead you to Jillian's Drawers.  This is an awesome site if you are just starting out because they have a "trial" package that you can do (it is how I tried a bunch of different types in the beginning).  This is the site where I have bought almost all of my diapers (I bought my prefolds elsewhere because of free shipping I think).  They have great customer service too.

Also, my only connection to any of these companies is with gDiapers.  I am signed up as a gMum, but haven't received anything to post my opinion on this site.

Teething leads to teeth, toothbrushes, and dentists

So I get a weekly email from the hospital where I delivered S...you know the ones, you probably got them while you were pregnant from "What to Expect" or "Baby Center" where they told you how big your bean was (compared to a variety of fruit and vegetables) and what part of their bodies were developing.  (Sorry tangent: Wouldn't it be cool if these post birth emails also compared your baby's size to something each week?  They could include pictures like the ones from this webpage.)  ANYWAY...

So I get the weekly email for the 21st week and here is the direct quote from it:

           Don’t let your baby fall asleep with a bottle of anything but water in his mouth, as tooth decay can begin even in early infancy. The American Academy of Pediatric Dentists also recommends avoiding on-demand (non-scheduled) breastfeeding after the first tooth comes in to prevent decay. (Do continue nursing, however!) If you give your child juice, give it in a sippy cup, not in a bottle.

Are you freakin' kidding me?  Who are these people at the AAPD that think my 5 month old should no longer feed on-demand?  I thought maybe the hospital was confused about this so I went and checked out the AAPD's website.  Here are two quotes from the faqs page.

What should I use to clean my baby's teeth?
          A toothbrush will remove plaque bacteria that can lead to decay. Any soft-bristled toothbrush with a small head, preferably one designed specifically for infants, should be used at least once a day at bedtime.

How can I prevent decay caused by nursing?
Avoid nursing children to sleep or putting anything other than water in their bed-time bottle. Also, learn the proper way to brush and floss your child's teeth. Take your child to a pediatric dentist regularly to have his/her teeth and gums checked. The first dental visit should be scheduled by your child's first birthday.

And here is a quote from their "baby care" page:

Q. How can I prevent tooth decay from nursing or using a bottle?

At-will breast-feeding should be avoided after the first primary (baby) teeth begin to erupt and other sources of nutrition have been introduced. Children should not fall asleep with a bottle containing anything other than water. Drinking juice from a bottle should be avoided. Fruit juice should only be offered in a cup with meals or at snack time.

Avoid nursing children to sleep? Avoid "at-will breast-feeding"?  Seriously? I will say that I try and not nurse my son to sleep because he tends to freak out if he falls asleep in my arms and then wakes up in the crib.  However, there is no way that I am going to arose my sleepy son after nursing him so that I can brush his teeth.  I mean, I am all for cleaning them once a day as recommended, but to clean them after the last feeding is ridiculous.  I cannot even begin to understand the at-will breast feeding thing.  If I am only going to brush his teeth once during the day, why does it matter if he is feeding on-demand the rest of the time?  I get that these people really only care about the kid's teeth, but don't you think they would work with pediatricians to figure out what is most realistic??  As far as I am concerned, right now the AAPD can suck it.