All over the news and the internet is the alarming news that babies have died in slings.  More specifically, babies have died from poor positioning in the poorly designed Infantino bag sling.  Long story short:  1)  The Infantino forces the baby into a chin-to-chest position, restricting air intake and potentially cutting off the airway entirely (dangerous for an unconscious adult and dangerous for a baby, whose neck muscles and asleep/awake control are both still not well-developed); and 2) the Infantino holds the baby away from the adult, restricting communication between adult and baby. 

 

For thousands of years, mothers and other caregivers have been wearing their babies.  But just as we need to pay due care and attention to the way we feed, clean, and speak to our children, so too do we need to pay due care and attention to the way that we hold them.  Carrying them close to you so that your body and brain aids in regulating theirs is beneficial and important for proper development.  Touch stimulates dendrite formation in the brain.  The rhythms of your breathing helps to regulate theirs.  Your reaction to the stimulus of the outer world gives them the first clues to what that outer world is all about.  Babies really are “born to be worn.”  As long as they are worn safely.

 

More on this topic:  http://poebaby.blogspot.com/2010/03/what-you-need-to-know-about-your.html

The latest pottying challenges inspired me to create “Diapers Are For the Birds” as, well, inspiration, which we all need from time to time through our parenting lives.  Although my son has been pottied pratically since day one, his signals have always been more difficult to read than his sister’s and his motivations more baffling.  I am still pleased than he comes and tells me when he has wet a diaper or when he has begun a poop.  At the same time, I can’t help but remember his sister was done with dipes before age two.  It’s all about giving opportunity and sharing communication. It’s all about giving opportunity and sharing communication.  It’s all about giving opportunity and sharing communication.

  

 

 Although most of the world practices E.C., here in North America it seems pretty radical.  How do we get along in a society where training babies into diapers and then training out of them is the norm?  Check out this informative article.   Or read all about elimination communication (a.k.a. infant potty training and natural infant hygiene) with Ingrid Bauer’s Diaper Free! The Gentle Wisdom of Natural Infant Hygiene

Nothing makes math practice a happier occurence than when you’re in the groove.  At least, that’s what my students tell me.  Once things click, they can jam for hours.