The Birth Lounge Blog

If you came here thinking you were going to have to wade through bottle-shaming propaganda to get to the good stuff, you’re in the wrong place! This community LOVES bottle feeding! There are so many positives that come to mind when we think about supporting parents in introducing a bottle like giving both parents the ability to feed and granting the gestational parent some newfound freedom. It also allows for other people to help care for your baby for instances like overnight care (one of our most requested services) and for a much needed date night. Another positive with bottle feeding that you don’t get from breastfeeding is knowing (and seeing!) exactly how much your baby is eating. This can be so relieving to some parents and worth it all in itself!  If I’ve said it once, I’ve said it a million times...and I’ll continue to remind you--we don’t care how you feed your baby. We care that your mental health is being protected and that your baby is being fed. The rest can b...

Clogged ducts are no fun, but rest assured, we’ve got the key to getting you over this road block and back on track! We are so committed to helping you have a healthy feeding journey! This is HeHe’s secret sauce to releasing blocked ducts, plus at the bottom, you will find a few tips on preventing clogged ducts in the future! Time Commitment : 20-60 Minutes What you need: Bowl that is deep enough to submerge your breast Hot water  Epsom Salt  LaVie massager or traditional vibrator Hand Pump (NOT a haakaa , you need one with a manual lever) Possibly an electric pump  *We’ve put all the necessary supplies in our Amazon Storefront to make it easy peasy for you to round-up everything you need! Instructions: Fill the bowl with warm water. The water should be as warm as you can stand it! Think the temperature of a hot bath or shower. The goal is to have it warmer than your body temperature so that it relaxes the tissues, blood vessels, and mammary glands...

(HeHe's article is published for Mama Goose HERE in its entirety.) Traveling over the holidays can be a struggle when you have tiny humans. Kids seem to add so many new layers to traveling…more than I even knew was possible. I am an avid traveler and have been supporting families with small children for nearly a decade. Through this, I have learned many tricks to making life simpler and smoother for parents. One of my favorite “life hacks” to share with parents of little ones is how to travel light.  There’s no doubt that traveling with kids with inevitably create the need to travel with more stuff, but it doesn’t have to be a painful as many of us would image. I have put together a packing list for new parents that will help make traveling with kids much less of a headache! This podcast lays out tricks to make traveling with young children easier! Here is a list of clothing to pack for your baby, sleep necessities and helpful hints to minimize the “stuff” you have to b...

(HeHe's article is published for Family Education HERE in its entirety.) Earlier this week, Carly Clark, a mother, posted a very violent and aggressive attack on breastfeeding mothers everywhere. In her post, she threatens to punch breastfeeding mothers and their babies if she sees anymore.  “I’m not sorry – the next female that tries to whip her boob out to breastfeed in front of my kids will get a black eye, move that baby [because] I’ll punch it too #zerocare #why #inpublicletsjustshowkidsboobs #notmine.”  As soon as I read it, my heart sank... yours did, too, didn’t it? It’s no wonder it’s going viral. Her reaction tells me that we have a bunch of adults who have zero emotional intelligence. It lets me know that as a society we struggle to understand that everyone gets to make their own choices and you don’t get a say in that. I encourage this mom to look deep inside herself, identify why she is feeling unworthy and unhappy with herself, and then deal with her...

(This is a two part series! Check last week for Part One: birth to 6 months!) Toys have so many great benefits! They bring joy, concentration, and education for children of all ages. Even adults can’t resist a good toy, like a new high-tech blender for the kitchen or a cool solar powered lawn mower for the yard. But when it comes time to build that baby registry and fill that nursery with toys for your expected baby, parents find it so difficult to choose the “right” ones from the thousands of toys out there on the market today. But it really doesn’t need to be that hard! You don’t need the newest addition of baby toys. Knowing what stage of development your baby is in and how to use the toys you have is the key to success when playing with your child during their first year. We are going to help you navigate that! I am going to break down the major developmental milestones of your baby’s first year of life and a few toys that can help foster that development. Playtime is going t...

(This is a two part series! Check back for part two 6 months to 12 months next week!) Toys have so many great benefits! They bring joy, concentration, and education for children of all ages. Even adults can’t resist a good toy, like a new high-tech blender for the kitchen or a cool solar powered lawn mower for the yard. But when it comes time to build that baby registry and fill that nursery with toys for your expected baby, parents find it so difficult to choose the “right” ones from the thousands of toys out there on the market today. But it really doesn’t need to be that hard! You don’t need the newest addition of baby toys. Knowing what stage of development your baby is in and how to use the toys you have is the key to success when playing with your child during their first year. We are going to help you navigate that! I am going to break down the major developmental milestones of your baby’s first year of life and a few toys that can help foster that development. Playtime i...

(HeHe's article is published for Birch Baby  HERE  in its entirety.) When someone says something is bigger than you, a natural instinct is to be bigger than whatever is bigger than you, right? Wrong. That will only lead to a vicious and very unhealthy cycle. However, there are a few things you can do. I wish I could say, "take this magic pill and all your troubles will go away." (*cue my wanting to save the whole world complex*) I don't have a special pill, but I do have a few words of advice about what I've learned to do.  Remind Yourself. Constantly remind yourself of what you have learned and why this is bigger than you. Whether that look like, "They are not a good person and no matter how nice I am to them, they won't change," or "This person needs more help than I can provide them and they aren't open to speaking with anyone new," or maybe even a little self-preservation of "I just can't continue to support t...

Our TOP Nutrition Posts You've requested it - here is our TBH round up for all things nutrition! Eating for the Trimesters with Lainey Younkin  - Lainey Younkin, whose nickname is “the dietician who doesn’t put people on diets”, is a nutritionist in Boston who takes an honest and realistic approach to helping her clients live a healthy lifestyle. Rather than putting clients on diets that often only yield the desired results in the short-term and can make you feel guilty about eating, Lainey helps her clients make gradual, more sustainable adjustments that allow them to live healthier lives in the long-term. Sugar Detox and Fueling Your Body with Food  - Hehe talks to sisters and business partners, Erika and Tiffany Brown, about their passion for food and the major impacts that what you eat can have on your life.The foods that you eat can affect countless aspects of your life, from your weight to your energy level to your skin and even your susceptibility ...

 (HeHe's article is published for Birch Baby HERE in its entirety.) The time immediately following your birth is crucial to the well being of your child. Research says that respecting what is called “The Golden Hour” can help give your child the best possible start.  If it is possible, requesting that your medical staff and birth team respect this time can help your baby adjust to life on the outside before they are poked and prodded with newborn test and passed from person to person for birth stats.  The way in which the golden hour mentality is carried out varies from culture to culture. In some cultures an extended golden hour called “lying in” is a practice in which women are waited upon and only allowed to do minimal tasks such as getting up to use the bathroom, but not to shower.  It is said to be supportive of postpartum healing and mother-child attachment. However, in some cultures, parents aren’t afforded any paid time off of work to re...

(This post is a piece HeHe wrote for JDEducational.  This article can be read in it's entirety by clicking HERE .) Bringing home a baby can be an exciting time for the whole family. However, it can also be challenging to navigate. Introducing Child #1 to Child #2 can cause new emotions to arise for your older child and disrupt any sense of normalcy you may have. Keeping these helpful hints in mind when preparing this transition can help for a smoother change in family dynamics . Tip #1: Prepare in Advance with Language, Books, Songs, Pretend Play Tip #2: Help your child settle into their new role. Tip #3: Involve your older child(ren) Tip #4: Routines (vs schedules) Tip #5: Carve out alone time for each child. Tip #6: Capture casual snapshots Tip #7: Ask for help (Read more about these tips by clicking HERE to read the full article!) The relationship between siblings is an unbreakable bond. However, your interaction and support as a parent is...

Hey Tranquility Tribe! There seems to be about a million and one decisions that the world throws at you when you’re becoming a parent, and if you’re expecting a baby boy, there’s yet another one to add to the list: to circumcise or not to circumcise? This week, we’re going to learn all about circumcision and the pros and cons of the procedure to help you out with making the best informed decision that you can! As always, let’s get started with the basics - what exactly is circumcision? It’s a surgical procedure to remove the foreskin (the hood of skin that covers the head of the penis), done typically within a few days after birth. The procedure itself is relatively quick and simple. The penis is numbed via injection or topical cream, a clamp is attached to the penis and the foreskin is removed - all in the span of about ten minutes. It then takes about seven to ten days to heal, during which the bandage should be changed upon every d...