Articles by Category

Pregnancy

  • A Painless Way To Turn a Breech Baby

    Pregnant Mum on Lawn

    Who would have thought that a tiny pill that you can get off the shelf at your local chemist or health-food store could probably turn your breech baby into the right position for birth in just three days? Well it’s true! If your baby is lying in the breech position by the 36th week of ...

  • Voices from the Womb – Four Mothers Tell About Prebirth Communication

    Pregnant Woman

    We know that the unborn baby is a conscious being long before birth. But when does this consciousness begin? Mothers (and sometimes fathers) can also feel deeply connected to their babies before birth. Here four mothers share their experiences of communicating with their babies, sometimes as far back as conception and the effect that it had ...

Birth

  • Home Birth, Water Birth — are they for You?

    Home waterbirth -- Photo: Tara Garner (www.mynovabirth.com)

    Would you like to give birth in the warm waters of a secluded bay in the Black Sea surrounded by caring friends, family and friendly dolphins? Don’t worry if it’s not your cup of tea – ‘conscious childbirth’ pioneer Elena Tonetti-Vladimirova, says that the Black Sea and

  • Natural Birth can be Blissful Orgasmic Birth

    Amber Hartnell

    If someone told you that you could have one of the most physically, emotionally and spiritually transcendent experiences of your life, and then gave you the map to get there, would you say no? Yet the fact that birth can be ecstatic and even orgasmic seems to be

  • Kangaroo Mother Care — the Magic of a Mother’s Touch

    Skin to skin baby and mother

    Kangaroo Mother Care (KMC) is for every mother; every baby. The mother’s skin is the baby’s natural environment, and both physically and emotionally the healthiest place for the baby to be, says KMC researcher, Dr Nils Bergman, of Cape Town. When Krisanne Collard’s ‘tiny miracle’ was born at 24 weeks, she weighed only 795 grams. To ...

Babies

  • Healing Birth Trauma

    This one goes at the top of the article.

    “Research has proven that babies born without trauma enjoy an intact capacity to love and trust”, says midwife Robin Lim. The way a baby is born can create physical and emotional patterns that may affect him for the rest of his life in both positive and negative ways. The way each baby is born gives ...

  • How do babies learn to love?

    How babies learn to love by being loved

    Have you ever wondered what it is that you can do to help your baby feel loved, safe and good about themselves in a way that will last them for the rest of their lives? Here’s what parenting expert, Naomi Aldort has to say about it.

  • Bonding with Your Baby

    Bonding Family

    Parenting in today’s world can often be hard work, but when a mother and baby are ‘securely bonded’ from the beginning, both of them have inner resources that make it easier for them to work through any problems that may arise later. By now we are all familiar with the importance of

  • Help for Moms with Crying Babies

    “Have you ever felt anxious, powerless, frustrated, or angry when your baby cries and you can’t find the reason?” Parents who experience this can start to feel desperate. If all your baby’s physical and emotional needs have been met and she is still crying, Dr Aletha Solter’s…

  • Does Sleep-training Work?

    It is almost nine o’clock on a week night and my two children are in bed. Julia, who is five, has been asleep for two hours. Oliver, who is eight, has also been in bed for two hours, reading, listening to music and finally staring at the ceiling. The sleep he so desperately needs…

  • Breastfeeding an Adopted Baby

    “I was so excited when I massaged my breast and the first drops of milk came out”, says Caroline, a mother with an adopted baby. “It was only a few drops but my body had made them!” Caroline is one of an increasing number of adoptive mothers who are breastfeeding their babies. There are many ...

  • Soothing Your Crying Baby the CALMS Way

    Mom Rocking Baby

    It’s nearly suppertime and your baby has being niggling and crying for several hours. Now he is crying inconsolably and your nerves are jangled. You are tense, upset and exhausted. The only thing you can think of is how to get him to stop for just a few minutes so you can have a break. ...

Toddlers

  • Do ‘time-outs’ make children behave better?

    For many years we have been told that time-outs are the kindest and most constructive way to discipline or teach children and sort out problems with them. But are they? Today many parenting experts and psychologists say that create more problems

  • Discipline and Loving Guidance

    Discipline is probably one of the most misunderstood words in the parenting vocabulary. When parents talk of discipline they often think of punishments like time-outs, consequences, confiscating toys or even smacking children. So when Elizabeth Pantley’s book, The No-Cry Discipline Solution was…

  • The Birth of a New Baby – Helping Your Toddler Cope

    You are pregnant for the second time. Your first child is told about it and he is excited at the thought of having a little brother or sister, though he probably doesn’t quite understand what it is going to feel like not to be an only child anymore. You may wonder how to prepare him ...

  • Toddlers and Tantrums

    Bouncing Castle Smiles

    We’ve all heard of the ‘terrible twos’. Many parents with young babies wonder if they will cope when their baby reaches his second birthday, and not far behind it, the sadly misnamed terrible twos. But the good news is that two-year-olds are

Confident Kids

  • Raising non-violent children

    Thumbnail for index

    There are two basic reasons why children become violent according to developmental psychologist, Aletha Solter. “A child who hurts others is usually a child who has been hurt himself. A child who is

  • Raising Confident Children — the Early School Years

    The family

    While you weren’t looking your baby has grown up into a child. You realise she is old enough to start school and wonder if she will cope… Up to 6 years of age, children are working on issues of basic trust with a primary caregiver, who is usually their

  • Raising a Polite Child

    Christmas Child

    Every parent wants to have polite, respectful children. Fortunately nature is on our side. Children learn by copying what we do and love to do everything ‘just like mommy and daddy do’, as it makes them feel they are being ‘big’. I was having tea with Melissa and two-year-old, André when

  • Make it Fun – Get it Done

    Mom Makes it Fun

    Happily, children are very social little people who want to please us, and have us love them. That can be a huge asset when it comes to getting things done that we need to get done, without resistance, trauma or tears. We can make everyday tasks pleasurable for children, develop their skills and build up ...

From the Editor

  • The Philosophy of Parenting with Love

    Daughter Piggy-backing

    We are living in very exciting times with regard to childrearing. For the first time in history we now have ways to study children’s behaviour and understand how they think and what they feel. We are learning how much they are able to understand at various stages in their development, and how we can communicate ...