Raising a Kid that Loves to Read

Reading is something that has been a huge part of my life for as long as I can remember. I have so many memories of reading book series like The Baby-Sitters's Club, Boxcar Children, American Girls, Goosebumps, and Fear Street when I was growing up. Combine the facts that we didn't have a lot of extra money when I was a kid and I was a fast reader, my parents rarely bought me brand new books. Building my collections required a lot of work visiting used book stores, libraries, and yard sales to find the books I was missing. As I got older I continued to read anything I could get my hands on. I eventually allowed my love of reading to guide me into the wonderful liberal arts program at Boston College where I completed an English degree alongside my science core for medical school.

My husband on the other hand, well, he just doesn't read. I don't think he ever completely read a single book we were assigned in high school or college. After years of begging him, he did finally read the HP series and a few biographies about Walt Disney, but that's about it.

Keeping both of our book backgrounds in mind, I really, really wanted to raise our kids to love reading the way I did. Below you'll find some tips on how I've made literature a big part of my kids' lives...

1. Build a collection early. If you have any say in your baby shower, ask your friends/family to do what mine did for me - encourage guests to forgo cards and sign a book for the baby instead. After two showers I had a great beginning library for my bug with many classics.
2. Start reading to your kids as early as possible. I really don't think there is any time that is too early. With my first I was spending SO much time working on breast-feeding that I decided to start reading the first HP book out loud to her while she was nursing. Reading one chapter was just about the perfect length of time for her to eat.
3. Make a daily routine that includes reading. When my bug was a few months old I started this routine - each morning I would choose a new book (and toy to coordinate if we had one) and place it on the changing table. After each diaper change I would read her the book and play with the toy for a few minutes.
4. Books at bedtime! We probably didn't really start reading at bedtime until bug was a little older (I want to guess 18 months or so), but now that we have two kids, baby bear has been part of our nighttime reading since she was born. The bug gets to pick out 3-5 books and we snuggle in bed and read them together. Daddy and I swap this routine so we are both involved in reading to them.
5. Have books in every room that your kid spends time for easy assess. We kept a bookshelf in the bug's bedroom, added a bookshelf organizer to the playroom ,and have a bin under the sofa table in the living room.
6. Start the tradition early that books are gifts. Encourage family to buy their favorite books to pass on - my bug always asks who gave her which books when we read them so it's a nice way for her to remember different family members.
7. Visit bookstores and libraries regularly. We try to go to the local library at least once a month and I let bug pick out any books that grab her eye.

Mommy Tips: Breast-feeding basics

I skipped a week of mommy tips, but now I'm back again! Before I start a post like this I want to remind any readers that although I am a pediatrician and some of this advice inevitably comes from my medical knowledge and experience (it's impossible to separate mommy and MD when it comes to some issues), nothing you read on the internet should ever serve as a substitute to discussion with your own pediatrician! I offer these tips as mommy sharing, not medical advice.

1. If you know you want to nurse your baby, try to read up on it or meet with a lactation consultant ahead of time to give yourself some background. An easy book I read was put out by the American Academy of Pediatrics and had a lot of basic info. I also spent time with a hospital based lactation nurse learning about proper latch.
2. Let your delivery room nurse know you plan to breast feed and that you want to try to nurse your newborn as soon as possible after birth. Don't be afraid to remind them when the time comes. For both my deliveries the nurses were great advocates.
3. It will take time for your milk to come in (72 hours or more is normal!), but colostrum (early, yellow, fat amd calorie rich milk) is there right away. Keep trying to nurse every 2-3 hours to get your body stimulated to make more.
4. Make sure you drink plenty of water and eat enough food, breast-feeding places a lot of demands your body! I didn't do so well with this the first time around and my supply dropped because of it.
5. If you need to supplement formula in the beginning because of jaundice, excessive weight loss, or your baby is too hungry, it's OK. Don't beat yourself up! You can still catch up with the baby and get rid of the bottles in no time.
6. Be prepared for pain. Even if you have the perfect latch, it takes time for your nipples to "toughen up" and you will have to deal with soreness, cracking, and potentially bleeding. Have some lanolin on hand!
7. Even if you have a long maternity leave (or will be staying home), its a good idea to get the hang of breast pumping early so you have milk available if you need to be away (or want your partner to give the baby a bottle overnight so you can get a little more sleep!). I've used only Medela pumps (hospital grade, Pump in Style, and Freestyle), but hear good things about Avent brand as well. To save money, check with your local hospitals about pump rental and with your insurance company to see if a pump purchase is covered.
8. Pumping can be a lifesaver in the beginning once your milk comes in if you are becoming engorged or if you are lucky enough to have an awesome baby like mine who goes to bed at 8pm and doesn't wake up until at least 3am. I made the mistake of not pumping excess with my first, went back to work at 3 months, and ran through all of my excess milk by the time she was 5 months old. Living day to day with only what I pumped the day before was super stressful and pushed me to start solids sooner than I planned. This time I started pumping excess within the first week after birth and now have a stockpile of 40 bags (3-4oz per day) of frozen milk.
9. Use pumping to try and mimic the baby's feeding schedule to keep your supply up - if your baby nurses every 2-3 hours, pump that often too! If you have a job that makes that difficult (residency made it IMPOSSIBLE), do the best you can and try not to stress. The more you stress, the harder it will be to let down while pumping.
10. My safety tips for using pumped milk are as follows: use or freeze anything you store in the fridge within 72 hours, frozen milk is good for 3 months in a regular fridge/freezer or 6 months in a dedicated freezer, and thawed milk is only good for 24 hours.
11. When my supply dipped with my first baby (I tried the progestin birth control pills and was in residency which means I was not pumping nearly enough, was always tired, and wasn't staying well fed/hydrated), I took the herbal supplement called Fenugreek to boost my production. This stuff comes as a tea or as a capsule - I took the capsules and really thought it helped. I've also heard of drinking ONE very hoppy beer (IPAs work well) per day.
12. The best tip I can give overall is to be calm and enjoy yourself! Trust your body and your instincts about what is working for you and your baby. Breast-feeding is awesome nutrition for your baby and will definitely help you loose the baby weight and get yourself back into shape.

OK, I definitely have more tips, but I think this post is too long already. I am going to break this topic down and come back with breast-feeding tips that are more targeted (pain, pumping, weaning, supplies, etc) soon. Happy feeding for now!

Mommy Tips: Dealing with Picky Eaters

You might be one of those lucky moms like I was (in the beginning) who has an infant who seems to love trying and eating anything. I would brag all the time about how much she loved her fruits and veggies above all else, how she preferred seafood to boring "kid friendly meats" like hamburger, and that her favorite food was shrimp in coconut curry sauce. I felt like a rock star of motherhood getting my kid to eat such a wide variety of healthy foods. 

Then, in a matter of days, she changed. Some days she refused EVERYTHING and I was convinced she was going to starve. One day she would love bananas and eat three, the next she would wail at the sight of one. And the requests for junk food instead of real food started coming more and more frequently. It is from this daily (and ongoing) struggle that I present these tips to help you maintain your sanity and get that monster sweetie of yours to eat!

1. Serve your kid's food on a plate with well defined sections. For some mysterious reason one food touching another food (even if they like each food separately) can set a toddler off on a rage like you would not believe. Having sections will also prompt you to make sure you are offering a variety of foods (including a fruit and veggie) at each meal.
2. Pastas are great for making a meal "fun" because they come in so many different shapes (stars, wagon wheels, twists, shells, bow ties, etc). Your kid might refuse spaghetti and meatballs, but he/she will probably love bows from Minnie's Bowtique or Lightening McQueen's wheels from Cars - you need to be creative if you want to win this battle!
3. Become a food sculptor. This might sound crazy, but if I give my kid half a banana she will almost always refuse to eat it. If I stick a few mini chocolate chips in it for eyes and a mouth and call it a ghost or attach mini pretzel twists to either side for wings and call it a butterfly she actually eats it. Give your mind a workout and see what kind of masterpieces you can come up with.
4. Never let your kid see you cut food. For completely reasonable reasons kids want their food to be entirely intact and will FREAK OUT if you break a cereal bar in half or chop up a cheese stick in front of them. Decide before serving your kid if things need to be cut and do it out of their line of vision. If they ask, adamantly insist that it came that way.
5. When all else fails, serve it on a stick. Yup, that's right. Kids love to eat things on a stick. Either buy some lollipop sticks from a craft store or use pretzel sticks to spear items your kid might normally refuse and you will be amazed how much more they eat.
6. For the older kids, let them help you cook. My kid loves the ownership of saying she made something and will eat more of it that way. This is easy to do with crockpot meals or baked goods because you can let your kid help with the pouring and mixing.
7. As infuriating as my kid can be when it comes to meal time, she has never not yet refused vegetables. For the kids that do, get creative with hiding those veggies in unexpected ways. Interestingly, I've found a lot of great ways to do this by following Weight Watcher's recipes for myself because the veggies bulk up meals in a points free way. Two of my kid's favorite WW meals that are packed with veggies are this Turkey Veggie Meatloaf and these Sloppy Joe's.
8. Don't fall into the trap of letting your kid eat snacks whenever he/she wants because you are afraid they aren't eating enough overall. This will just backfire on you because they won't be as hungry for meals and be more apt to refuse the healthier, more substantial meals you want them to eat. Offering organic yogurt (drinkable or "tube" varieties go over especially well), low fat cheese sticks, or pre-portioned baggies of pretzels/graham crackers/cheese crackers are good for snacks. If you are super ambitious, try the homemade recipes linked above to cut out the amount of processed food your kid eats.
9. No matter how insane your kid goes on you for offering something different, try your hardest to make them stick to the one bite rule. No matter how weird something looks, they have to try just one little, teeny, tiny bite. You would not believe how often this leads to a completely shocked declaration of, "Hey! I like it!"

I probably have more tips and this might require a follow-up post some day, but I think this is a start. Good luck and happy meal planning for your own picky critics.

Addendum: Minutes after finishing this post my bug asked me to make her, "breakfast that is all different shapes." My husband started to tell her no, but I decided to follow my own advice and accepted the challenge...

Star cantaloupe and strawberries, whole wheat heart toast bites with a dab of strawberry jelly, ham and cheese omelet squares with bacon sprinkles, and turkey bacon hearts

Her response, pure glee!
And, yes she is wearing skeleton jammies in February. She's also eating off of a Thanksgiving plate. Is that a problem?

Mommy of 2!

Today I'm previewing a new "segment"  called "Mommy Tips" to try and stop myself from only posting recipes...we'll see how it goes!

I can not believe this, but my little bear is already three months old!  As much as we wanted to have another one, I have to be honest and say that reverting back to the newborn days was a little intimidating. I wasn't looking forward to getting back into a nursing schedule and being up every 3 hours or to changing diapers 24/7, but what I was really worried about was how the bug was going to adjust to the new baby. My bug is beautiful, wonderfully pleasant, and so smart you forget she's only three 75% of the time - the other 25% she is a stubborn, spoiled rotten tantrum machine. I feared the new baby would tip the scales and reverse the equation.

Three months later I'm pleased to report that the transition from a three to a four person household was MUCH easier than I expected. Thanks to a wonderfully mellow infant and some careful planning on our part, we slipped easily into a new routine. I can not understate how much the bear being a good baby helped this process, but here are the details my husband and I tweaked to keep things on track...

1. Celebrate the big brother/big sister - right away! Pack a special gift for your older child right into your hospital bag so you have something to give him/her when he/she comes to the hospital to visit the baby. For our bug we told her the gift was from her baby sister, but for an older child the gift could be from mommy and daddy. Our gift was a small backpack from Hobby Lobby personalized with a "Big Sister" iron-on and filled with a Disney princess baby doll, some craft activities, and a few edible treats (yogurt raisins, cheese crackers, and something chocolate).
2. Set aside alone time early on. When I say alone time, I really mean it - physically have the baby in a different room and devote all of your attention to the big brother/big sister to remind them that you are still there for them 100% too. We put the baby down for a nap in her swing in the living room and then made a fun dessert treat in the kitchen together while we listened to bug's favorite music. A few other times we did the same thing and had a "dance party" where daddy played music while the bug and I dressed up in her princess dress-up clothes and made up silly dances. *For the dessert I used a muffin tin and filled each hole with a different dip-able item (strawberries, pineapples, pretzel sticks, marshmallows, etc) and melted some chocolate chips for dipping.*
3. Involve the big sister/big brother in caring for the baby. Help the older siblings create a bond early on by giving out small tasks they can do to help you care for the baby. Asking the older sibling to bring you a diaper/wipes, pick out pajamas or clothes for the baby, sing the baby to sleep, or wash the baby's toes/tummy in the bathtub (avoid the eyes!) can help ease the transition.
4. Avoid saying you can't do something because of the baby. Let's be honest, there are going to be many times when your older child wants you to do something that you can't do because of the new baby. Even when it's something obvious like the baby is nursing so you can't make pancakes that second, it is going to sound much different to your child if you say, "Mommy would love to make you pancakes, but I need to be sitting down right now. Can you bring me the "If You Give a Pig a Pancake..." book? We can read that first, talk about what kind of pancakes you want, and then I'll be ready to make them!" instead of, "Mommy is feeding the baby, I can't right now," It takes a bit more effort, but is very worth it!
5. Give THEM alone time. Before you think I've lost it telling you to leave your baby alone with another child, hear me out. My kids are 3 1/2 years apart. They clearly need supervision, but I like to think of it as "indirect supervision." Not when the baby was a newborn, but now that she's a few months old I will put them in the crib together or let them lay on the carpet in their room together and pretend not to be paying attention while they play together. Sometimes I stay in the room and read a book, other times (like right now) I sit right outside the room so they can't see me, but all I have to do is move my head and I can see them. I try not to interrupt their play unless the bear starts to cry or the bug is about to do something potentially dangerous.
6. Arrange activities for the big brother/big sister. With all the visitors coming to see the baby, your older child may start to think they aren't important to everyone else anymore. Although you never want them to feel like you are trying to "get rid of them", it can be a great idea to set up little trips for the older siblings to remind them how special they are to other family members. A sleepover at grandma and grandpa's house, a trip to the mall with an older cousin, or a movie date with an aunt/uncle are all potential ideas.

I really hope these tips help someone out there!