Yoga Mommies

(Do you have a simple solution to a common problem not listed here? Please share with me…. rebecca at yogamommies dot com)

I can’t even get a shower in?

It is easy to feel icky when you don’t have your daily shower. All moms know that showers are not to be taken for granted and a nice long hot one can do wonders for the body and mind amidst a hectic day. Every now and then, I have Dad take Morgan so that I can have an “alone shower” but most days, Morgan just showers with me. Some may say it is unsafe, blah, blah, blah, but there is no reason why it cannot be safe, fun, and healthy!

Here is how it works for us…

I place Morgan on the floor on a spongy thingy that my mom got from Babies R Us. We also have a bathtub insert that works well. A folded towel will also work, basically something soft for baby to lay on. I always point the water spray away from his face and be sure that I am standing in the water stream directly (which is nice for me anyway!). I place a wet cloth diaper or hand towel on him. This keeps him from getting cold from any drafts. Every few minutes, I shift the shower spray onto his body so that he will stay warm. I always keep the syringe/nasal bulb in the shower. It is much easier and more comfortable for baby to suck the snot out when it has already been loosened by the steam. I soap up first in order of importance (if I want to shave that day… I do that last), that way if we have to cut the shower short, at least my underarms get cleaned. After I soap up, “wash the baby” while singing “washin’ the baby in the shower” songs that I make up when as we go…. then “we’re washin’ the arm, washin’ the leg, washin’ the baby in the shower” and so on… It is a lot of fun and I shower every day! Morgan is so comfortable with the shower. There are some times when it is not meant to be, so we cut the shower short or sometimes, just feed in the shower (shielding his face from the spray).

How much milk do I give the baby? How do I know if it is enough?

I often see mom’s try to measure breast milk in ounces. I really could not tell you how much Morgan eats. At 4 1/2 months, I tried to pump seriously for the first time so that I could substitute the prenatal yoga class and I had no idea how much I should collect. What I can say is that when Morgan has had enough, he will let me know just as sure as he will let me know when he needs more. I cannot stress the importance of “listening to your body and listening to your baby”. Think with your instinct, not with your mind. This was the most important lesson of my pregnancy and what I believe helps to make me such a great mother.

I cannot breastfeed.

Why? Is it a real medical problem or are you not confident or motivated enough? Be sure to contact the La Leche League. The moms there are so helpful, supportive and non judgmental. It is worth giving a call before giving in.

For me, I was so determined that I was going to breastfeed that there was no giving in. I do remember that after a couple of weeks, I was thinking “how long will I be doing this for?”. I remember reading that you should not give up before 3 weeks so I kept that in mind as a measuring point for when it may become more comfortable. By the time that 3 weeks came, it was a cake walk! Yes, I did have sore nipples (really do try Lansinoh, it works… I used it preventively rather than waiting for my nipples to crack first), I was engorged, I had a plugged duct. It was so worth it for my baby to continue to grow from my body. Now, I do not know what I would do without it! I rest so well feeding him in bed at night. I enjoy not having additional dishes/bottles to clean after dinner. Morgan and I do have a bond that is unlike any other relationship I have or will ever know!

My back is killing me!

Poor posture is expected with a new baby. Whether it is the hunched back from breastfeeding or caring the baby, we all know the pain that I am referring to. The key is to improve your posture. Too often, we stand with our hips so far forward that our bellies become a shelf for our babies to rest on. This feels like less effort at the time, but our backs really take the brunt of the pressure. When we stand tall, we may work our arms more, but we also put more balance into our spines which will leave us less tired by the end of the day. Here are a few yoga exercises to help relieve that mid-upper tension in our backs as well as encourage healthy breasts and breastfeeding.

Sit tall in simple crossed legged position, be sure that your sits bones are both on the ground
Inhale and raise your right arm over your head and slightly behind you, look up at your hand as you slightly arch
Exhale and curl your chest under
Inhale the left arm up and open your chest
Repeat with your breath for 3 minutes and work up more as needed.

Sit tall in simple crossed legged position, be sure that your sits bones are both on the ground
Cross your fingers together behind your neck so that your elbows are pointing out parallel with the ground
Inhale as you turn your upper body (head/arms/torso) to the left
Exhale as you turn to the right
Repeat with your breath for 3 minutes and work up as needed.

Neck Stretches
Drop you right ear to you right shoulder.
Allow you head to hang.
Don’t force the stretch, allow the weight of your head to be the stretch.
Hold for several breaths or as long as feels comfortable/good.
Repeat on the left side.

Baby’s nose is stuffy…

I have found the hot steamy shower as described above to be the best thing for a stuffy nose. If the baby has been fussy all day, the hot shower will do mom some good too.

There was a middle of the night occasion when I did not feel up to getting wet and I just closed ourselves into the inner bathroom door of another bathroom and allowed the hot steam of the shower to “unstuff” us. As my sinuses began to open, I knew that his were too. I used the nasal bulb to suck out the icky and we were back to bed in no time. (Full story on 4.15.04 of my postnatal journal).

My nose is stuffy…

You can treat your stuffy nose in the same way as for baby. If you have more serious problems such has sinusitis, allergies or colds, nasal washing (Jala Neti) may be an effective treatment for your problem. Here is my story: I had terrible allergies and recurring sinus infections. I took antibiotics, Allegra and Claritin to treat my infections. One day my doctor (who is originally from India) suggested rinsing my sinuses with salt water. At first, this was pretty strange to me but worth a try. I mentioned it to a friend who told me about a special pot designed especially for nasal washing; Jala Neti is an ancient yoga ritual for clearing the breathing passage prior to yoga practice. I started mixing my own salt water and using the pot that I had purchased. I have been using it ever since. When I say “ever since” I literally mean, that I use it everyday for more than 3 years. It actually works better than Allegra and Claritin. I only get a sinus infection about once every couple of years verses one per quarter. I rarely take antihistamines. It has completely changed my health!
Read more info about Jala Neti.

Don’t have money to buy a special pot? Here is a solution that I have used on many occasions.

What you need:
1 16 oz sport top water bottle
1 tsp salt (I personally prefer kosher flake salt due to its purity. If you use table salt use non-iodized version.)
16 oz of warm water

Mix ingredients in bottle. Tilt you head to your right and put sport cap to your left nostril. Squeeze bottle allowing the salty water to flow into your nose. Don’t be scared; it feels strange at first. Breathe through your mouth naturally. The water will flow in one nostril and out the other. Use about 8 oz then blow your nose over the sink. Watch what comes out… yes, all that was stuck in there! :) Repeat on your left side. When complete, dry your nose by first tilting you head down to allow extra water to flow out then breathe/blowing heavy from each nostril individually then from both together to push out any excess water.

If you need help/support, email me. I am so passionate about this because it really works!

Diapering

We use EC, Elimination Communication/Natural Infant Hygiene here. Most people do not know that babies can control their elimination muscles from birth. EC is tuning into your babies needs so that you are able to understand when they need to go to the bathroom. In our home, we still use diapers as I am not comfortable with the idea of misses without any diaper or barrier. We use cloth diapers at home and disposable diapers when we are out and about or traveling. I have found that the cloth diapers are comfortable for Morgan and very easy to care for. My opinion is that it is easier than lugging the huge diaper pack from the grocery store or taking out tons of trash. It is also much better for the environment. I have heard the argument that cloth uses more water/electricity which is not true. Most people don’t consider the energy that goes into creating a disposable diaper before it ever makes it to your home. Wild Oats and Whole Foods Markets both have quality alternatives for disposable diapers too. Personally, the smell of Luvs makes my nauseous so we had to find an alternative for our disposable needs.

Here is how we clean our diapers… it is so easy it is amazing!

First, when we first got home from the hospital, I was so sore that I was not up to any additional housework. Even though I had everything I needed for cloth diapering, we used disposables for the first 3 weeks. This was for sheer convenience. By the time I was able to get up and around, we started using our cloth supplies. We have the basic prefolded cloth diapers (from Sears in our case because we had a gift certificate left over from Christmas) and some diaper covers purchased online (notes… don’t buy the Gerber EZ Covers… they work well and we still use them for swimming, but the velcro is rough and both Morgan and I had lots of scratches on our bellies from using them). I purchased the Proraps diaper covers in the next size to replace the Gerbers. They are soft and good quality and very affordable. I would not recommend the all in one diapers because they are quite expensive and you will need so many and the baby will outgrow them. While Morgan outgrows the covers, the inner prefold diapers can still be used for different growth phases. My mom offered to purchase us a diaper service but we declined because I felt that it was too expensive even though it was her money. We have been happily laundering our own diapers from the beginning.

For laundry, we spray “BacOut” from Bi-o-klean (available from Wild Oats or Whole Foods). It kills any odors and helps prevent stains. Don’t clean diapers on your main laundry day… it can be too overwhelming. It is easier if you have the whole day so that you don’t have to tend to them at any particular time (assuming that you have private access to a washer/dryer). I first run a full cycle on cold with soap and baking soda. The idea is to remove the layer of poop. I found the full cycle to be more effective than the “prewash”. The cold is supposed to help prevent stains from setting in. Without removing the diapers from the washer, I run a second cycle on hot/warm with additional soap and a half scoop of OxoBrite (also available at Wild Oats or Whole Foods and even Trader Joes). Don’t use fabric softeners as they decrease the absorption of the diapers. I then stick them in the dryer on hot. Don’t worry if they just sit in there when they are done. No need to get them out hot. I fold them while watching TV or worst case, they sit in the laundry basket unfolded next to the changing table.

I have not found a way to avoid stains all together, but I have found out how to remove them. I do this about once every couple of months or as needed… I soak them in soap and 3 scoops of OxoBrite for 6 hours (yes, really). I just start the washer and turn it off then start it maybe once an hour so that it will tumble a few times. After several hours, it is clean. I manually put the washer through an additional rinse. See OxoBrite directions for more detail.

By using EC, we went from doing laundry every 2 days to every 4-5 days (We have 4 dozen diapers - cost aprox $13 per dozen; covers aprox $5 per cover and we have 6 of them. Wet covers hang dry in between uses and are reused, poopie covers go directly into the diaper pale.). We started ECing when Morgan was 2 months old. Had I realized how well it works and easy it was, I would have started earlier. My friend who EC’s her baby told me just to try to catch one pee per day. After trying just one time, I realized that Morgan could indeed hold his pee and poop (within reason) and I then just could not ignore it. Now if we are traveling and I cannot take him to the bathroom, he has this look that he gives me that says… “Mom, you know I have to go”. It is so amazing. I try to explain that he can go in the diaper and then I will change him. We do use a queuing sound of “sssssss” (for pee pee) and “errrrr” (for poopie). I highly recommend reading more on this. I read Ingrid Bauer’s book Diaper Free which was extremely helpful and included info about the history of diapers in our culture and the lack of diapers in many other cultures.

Sleep

“Are you sleeping through the night?” is by far the most commonly asked question by strangers. I think it is an icebreaker for many people. Yep, we have been sleeping through the night for quite some time. Not that we don’t wake up or even get up to change a diaper, but for the most part we are sleeping. I had heard of cosleeping from many people and read it in books. I was not sure how I felt about having a baby in our bed but I did want to have him near by. For the first week, Morgan slept 12 inches from us in a bassinette. After the first week after being woken to ear piercing crying for food or diaper change, I decided to put him in bed with us. Since then, he rarely wakes up screaming during the night. He is nestled right next to me so when he starts squirming, I know that he needs to feed or be changed. Based on time, I usually know which is which and since he has gotten older (human bodies secrete a hormone that decreases the need to go to the bathroom during the night) and we use EC, he rarely goes potty during the night. He feeds on average between 3-7 times during the night (more towards the morning). Each time, I just lift one of my arms and breast feed. Often, I will wake with one of my breast hanging out as I have fallen asleep feeding him. Together, we get so much more rest. Morgan has been in our bed since that first week. I don’t have a plan as for when or if we will wean him from our bed. For now, this works best for us and I just love all the extra time that we get together.

The next most common question I get associated with sleeping is “aren’t you afraid that you will roll over on him”? No, not even a little bit. I am a “present” mom and I know where my baby is at all times without even trying. It seems impossible for me to squash him. In fact, I have learned to sleep with much less room just to be sure that Morgan has enough. I always know where he is at all times. It is just instinct. A note to add is that from what I have read, it is not a good idea to use drugs or drink when cosleeping, but personally those would interfere with parenting in general though sometimes prescription drugs are required for other reasons.

Skin Care

For us, I find that I enjoy using just raw grapeseed oil found at the healthfood store. I started using oil on my skin when we moved from Southern California to Las Vegas. My skin was so dry and I really disliked using lotion (cold and sticky to me). I use a few drops of various oils (depending on my mood) on each limb after showering while still wet. When Morgan was born, I just used oils on his skin too. It works very well for us both. Grapeseed oil is recommended over nut oils due to lower allergy occurrence. Avoid aromatherapy oils as they are too strong for little babies. Oils can be used over the whole body including the face and scalp. The oils are especially helpful for the cradle cap (dry patch of skin on the head). Most importantly, the ingredients are pure and simple, sometimes that is just better. Other oils I enjoy include almond oil and jojoba oil. :) I also recommend learning about baby massage either from a class or a book.