How I Stop Temper Tantrums (this trick still works very, very often!)

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Post-Birth Review of Bradley Method Natural Birth Classes

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The Case for Waiting (to find out the baby’s sex)

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Henry’s Birth Story, Part I and Part II

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Claire’s Birth Story

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Why I’m Stopping Breastfeeding Henry, Stopping Exclusively Pumping, Part I, and Stopping EP, Part II

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Breastfeeding Claire – How It Was Different

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Side note:  As we approach her one year birthday, we are still breastfeeding champs.  I have no plans to stop anytime soon.  I had a pretty rough experience with breastfeeding, pumping, and eventually switching to formula with Henry. Looking back, the transition to motherhood was hard for me (although I couldn’t really pinpoint that at the time).  I felt an immense amount of pressure to be the “perfect” mom in all sorts of ways.  That mentality sabotaged my breastfeeding efforts with Henry.  With Claire, I tried hard to accept the steep learning curve of breastfeeding, minimized stress, and took a metaphorical chill pill when it came to the rest of my life.  I gave myself permission to stop breastfeeding at any point and (ironically) that helped me continue.  This was a huge factor in having a successful breastfeeding relationship with Claire.  For anyone who wants to breastfeed subsequent children but struggled with it initially, please know that it can be completely different from child to child.  It has been different for me, and it is such a blessing – I am very thankful for our breastfeeding relationship.

 

Parenting Books I Love

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7 Concepts that Guide My Parenting

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New Mom Survival Stations

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Things I Learned About Having a Newborn

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Panic-Free Pregnancy: Round Two

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What’s your #1 pregnancy, baby, or toddler tip?

{ 6 comments }

 

  • Lekki November 5, 2015, 11:39 pm

    I loved this post! I have always loved your baby / toddler posts because you are never preachy or judgey. And they are so real. Reading these old posts was a trip down memory lane with my LOs for me. Thanks for posting.

    • Caitlin November 6, 2015, 11:10 am

      thanks 🙂

  • jen November 6, 2015, 9:31 am

    My favorite book is healthy sleep habits happy child by Marc weissbluth. We went from a midnight bedtime to a 630 bedtime for my 3 month old in 2 nights. Also a major game changer for naps. He has advice for kids all the way to teens and covers all types of sleep problems.

  • Kelsey November 6, 2015, 10:48 am

    You touched on this in your temper tantrum post about how parents are less affectionate towards boys. This reminded me a great documents I just watched called “The Mask You Live In.” It’s by the same group that made “Miss Representation” (also awesome). It was about how society shapes masculinity, and it was really enlightening and powerful.

  • marissa November 6, 2015, 6:23 pm

    just curious when you switched Henry from formula did you use cow’s milk or did you go with a non-dairy alternative. My one year old is showing signs of readiness to wean and I’m looking to supplement with a milk of some sort (but don’t do dairy myself). I love your parenting posts, thank you for sharing and always being so honest 🙂

    • Caitlin November 7, 2015, 12:34 pm

      We just didn’t do milk at all when I took him off formula – he still doesn’t drink milk. Sometimes he has almond in his cereal or whatever but they don’t really need milk for any particular reason.

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