Babywise and scheduling… after 2 babies!

Baby #2, moving to a new city, starting a new job, and the beginnings of raising our first 2-year-old required a brief hiatus from blogging. While this time has been devoid of blogging, it has been very rich in personal experiences to blog about. Today I am covering the idea of putting your baby on a schedule, which is the focus of most of the controversy when it comes to Read more

Peak Fussiness

I am happy to report that we are at the 5-week mark with baby #2. In virtually every way baby #2 has been much easier than baby #1. Mostly we attribute this to less trial and error parenting on our part rather than any major difference Read more

Babywise and the Infant Sling?

In the ongoing debate between Attachment parenting and Babywise parenting it seems that the infant sling is viewed as a tool for attachment parenting only and has no role in a Parent-Directed (Babywise) approach.  However, now that we have two children, my wife decided to test out the sling as a matter of necessity (better to have two free hands to chase our 2-year old around the house). Read more

Iron Drops for Babies?

I am often asked about the need to supplement newborn babies with Iron while breastfeeding.  What seems like a simple question is actually a rather complex issue.  This post is meant to provide parents with the information they need to intelligently discuss this concept with their pediatrician.  Then you, the parent, should decide whether Iron Supplements are appropriate for your baby. Read more

Scare Tactics: Understanding the 1976 Flu

If you have not already run across this anti-flu vaccine scare tactic, you almost certainly will soon. The other day I got a handout while walking around my local farmer’s market.  It was full of scare tactics and loads of mis-information about the the risks of the swine flu vaccine. While I agree there are risks with virtually any medical therapy, you must understand those risks and put them in perspective. That is my hope with this post. Read more

Pregnancy in 1918 and 1957

There is a great deal of talk in the media about the Influenza pandemic of 1918 ( Some call it the Spanish Flu).  Others talk about the horrors of the pandemic of 1957.  Below is an excerpt from Medical History which depicts the FACTS associated with the 1918 and 1957 pandemic as they relate to child and maternal mortality.  I must admit Read more

H1N1 and Pregnancy

Since we are currently expecting our second child and my wife will be pregnant pretty much the entirety of this year’s Flu season, I have taken a special interest in H1N1 and pregnancy.  While I cannot tell you what to do or what is best for your family,  I thought I would make a series of posts on the most up-to-date info I find regarding the Swine Flu and pregnancy. Read more

Ask the Doctor: Sleeping Through the Night

Jennifer Asks:

I’m a first time babywise parent and me and my daughter have pretty much relaxed into the routine. She is now two months and goes down for her naps with under 10 minutes of what I call “whiny crying” and often with only a minute or two of fussing. She is still on a 2.5 hour feeding schedule and sleeps 6-7 hours straight at night. When should I start extending time between feedings and what’s the best way to do it?

Babywise seems to imply that my baby should be sleeping 8-9 hours if I were doing it right but my daughter seems to be following the same schedule your son did… we’re almost through the night! Read more

Babywise 101

There are many myths and facts surrounding this fairly controversial parenting style.  On the whole, many pediatricians frown at the idea of using the parent-directed feeding (PDF) approach described in Babywise.  However, when I look into the matter I find very little evidence to suggest that it is in anyway harmful.  In fact, Read more

Hard to Make the Pro-Choice Argument

This is truly a medical miracle and an inspiring story.  I try to avoid too much political rhetorhic on this blog but consider this story to be a triumph of the good that can be done with medicine and surgery.  Make sure you take note of the tiny little hand.  This picture was taken at 21-weeks.  I am not sure how to justify any choice that does not involve life for this baby.

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