We’ve been reading a lot about the importance of DHA as “brain food” for children and adults, alike, but what exactly is DHA?

DHA, or docosahexaenoic acid, is an essential Omega-3 fatty acid found naturally in foods like salmon, tuna and other coldwater fish, as well as flax and pumpkin seeds. Most children and toddlers’ diets (not to mention many adults’ diets) lack sufficient quantities of these foods, which is why trusted pediatrician Dr. Sears recommends adding a DHA supplement to your child’s diet.

When the body lacks essential Omega-3 fatty acids, the cells try to build “replacement fatty acids,” which are similar in function but may cause depression and Attention Deficit Disorder. A diet rich in DHA lowers the blood level of these replacement fatty acids and also of harmful fats such as cholesterol.

So how did DHA earn its reputation as “brain food?” According to Dr. Sears, DHA is the primary structural component of brain tissue, as well as an important part of the enzymes within cell membranes that allow the membranes to transport valuable nutrients in and out of the cells. DHA also affects the brain’s neurotransmitters, and helps brain cells communicate with each other more effectively. Simply put, a healthy brain is a smart brain!

A diet rich in DHA has been shown to improve focus, behavior and cognitive function, and even increase learning capacity in young children. Children who are more focused and can concentrate better also tend to remain in better moods longer — less tantrums and more time to play, study and learn!

DHA also helps vision development because the retina contains a high concentration of the fatty acid. Improved vision development also leads to greater learning capabilities, since the eyes are such important tools in education.

When the body has enough DHA, the brain can function at its highest capacity. This is especially important in infants and toddlers, because brains grow more rapidly in the first few years than at any other time of life. Evidence shows that the increased academic performance of breast-fed children is due, at least in part, to the DHA-rich diet breast milk provides. Breast milk contains DHA for growing infants, and most infant formula today is fortified with DHA. But toddlers don’t receive DHA from these sources, which is why a supplement is important. Dr. Sears offers a variety of vitamin products to insure that your child is getting enough of the crucial fatty acid.

Dr. Sears’ specially-developed Go Fish Brainy Kidz Omega-3 DHA natural fruit-based soft chews contain optimal levels of DHA for improved brain function. Each soft chew contains 100 mg of DHA and is certified by Safe Source ™ to be free of detectable levels of over 250 environmental contaminants, including mercury, heavy metals, dioxins, PCBs and pesticides. The pediatrician-developed, kid-approved, tasty vitamin supplements are all-natural and do not contain any high-fructose corn syrup.

When I had my daughter last October, it was the first time I’d been around a baby in nearly two decades.

While I did a lot of research on pregnancy and childbirth my nine months of pregnancy, for some reason I was so caught up in the adventure of “having” a baby that I didn’t think about what it would be like to raise a baby. Just as I turned to pregnancy books before my little one was born, I turned to parenting books in the first few weeks after her birth.

Here is a short list of the titles I would recommend, buy for close friends and keep on my bookshelf for years to come.

1. What to Expect the First Year by Heidi Murkoff – Just like What to Expect When You’re Expecting, this conversational tome is comprehensive and well-organized. While the authors recommend and rely on pediatrician’s advice more often than my personal philosophies would prefer, the book literally covers every topic a new parent could need. I turn to the book each month to see how my daughter is doing regarding milestones, and frequently throughout the month for parenting tips and tricks. I plan to build the entire library of “What to Expect” titles in the coming years.
2. No-Cry Sleep Solution by Elizabeth Pantley– This practical book outlines a gentle, effective way to start your newborn on the path of sleeping through the night. Didn’t start early? The book also offers techniques to help infants over four months old to begin falling asleep on their own and sleeping through the night. Pantley is not against co-sleeping, but does offer tips for parents who want to break that cycle of having the baby in bed with them. The book also addresses the psychological factors behind night-time feedings, asking mothers to decide if they are ready, emotionally, for their baby to sleep through the night or if they’re still craving that late-night, quiet contact.

 

3. How to Raise a Healthy Child in Spite of your Doctor by Robert Mendelsohn – For those looking for an alternative medicine/natural health approach to child-rearing, this book provides practical advice and solutions. Mendelsohn asserts that there’s rarely a reason to involve your pediatrician and gives you the knowledge to diagnose and treat many common ailments. I’ll be referring to this book in many instances before I call my baby’s doctor.

 

4. Anything by Dr. Sears – The “Dr. Spock” of our generation, Dr. Sear’s volumes are comprehensive, informative and authoritative. He advocates attachment parenting, but also teaches balance in the family and a common sense approach to parenting. As the father of eight children, including noted author and pediatrician Dr. Robert Sears, his advice can be trusted.

 

5. The Nursery Collections – or any other comprehensive volume of children’s nursery rhymes and short stories. I know the first time I was faced with singing a classic like “The Wheels on the Bus” to my daughter, I completely blanked on the words. While my sister assured me the baby doesn’t care if I’m singing the right lyrics or even in tune, it bothered me! A collection of rhymes and songs will save your sanity and give you a constant arsenal of baby entertainment.

 

6. Dr. Seuss Books – For a limited time you can receive TWO FREE Dr Seuss books and a FREE TOTE BAG from Babies Online. You can find more baby freebies right here at Babies Online including free baby & parenting magazine offers and more!

Readers, what are your favorite parenting titles?

Before I had my daughter, I never imagined I’d allow her to nurse as much as she wanted—sometimes using me as a pacifier. I was staunchly against co-sleeping, and couldn’t imagine holding her nearly every waking hour.

I’ll be honest; my perception of “attachment parenting” was that it’s a new age-y concept designed for SAHMs who would raise clingy, co-dependent children. I couldn’t have been more wrong on every level.

As I read more about attachment parenting, I learned that attachment parenting actually helps to raise more trusting, confident children who are secure in the fact that their needs will be met.

I also realized that attachment parenting is not as challenging as it may sound. After all, who wouldn’t want to keep this bundle of joy as close as possible?

I like Dr. Sears’ views on the matter. On his Web site, he states: “[AP is] actually the style that many parents use instinctively.” That is exactly what I discovered in the first few weeks of motherhood, too.

My daughter isn’t comfortable in a carrier, probably because I don’t feel secure holding her in it, so we’re not completely “attached.” But I often work with her sitting on my lap, carry her around during chores, and do anything requiring two hands while she naps. Even when she’s not in my arms, if she’s awake, I’m doing something with her: Reading, playing, or feeding her. As she grows I’m sure we’ll transition away from this arrangement or become comfortable with the carrier… obviously, I can’t carry her in my arms forever. But I’m fortunate to be able to schedule my day to spend as much time with her as possible.

And co-sleeping? After taking all the necessary safety precautions, it turns out co-sleeping in the early hours of the morning when the baby wakes up and needs to eat, is just easier. She starts the night in her bassinet, but joins us after her four o’clock feeding, when we both fall asleep. Another confession? I rather like having her cuddled up next to me.

Feeding on cue became easy once I learned her hunger signals, and it just so happens she still has a hearty appetite that needs food about every hour-and-a-half. This can be harrowing, but I get through it by reminding myself that she won’t be nursing forever, and when I start her on cereal in a short six weeks, her belly will stay full longer.

I’ve also discovered that feeding her while I eat (especially in restaurants) is a great way to keep her quiet and happy through mealtimes. It’s even kept us from having to leave restaurants mid-meal, as I will never (I don’t believe in absolutes, but there’s no room for compromise with this one) be an inconvenience to other customers by permitting a crying baby to disrupt the entire room.

I’ve often laughed that our approach to parenting would upset the “diehard” AP practitioners as well as those who believe in strict scheduling. When I’ve mentioned my refusal to let the baby “cry it out,” I’ve heard comments like, “Oh, you’re not one of those ‘attachment parent types’ are you?” And AP practitioners probably feel I’m not close enough because I sometimes supplement with formula and don’t use a sling-style carrier or keep the baby with me during her daytime naps.

But I try to avoid extremes and excesses in every area of my life… why should parenting be any different? Maybe I’ll write a book and start my own parenting philosophy. I’ll call it “Do what works for you and your baby.”

According to the renowned William Sears, M.D. and Martha Sears, R.N., there is a very good argument to support co-sleeping, or sleeping with your baby.

The pair prefer the term ?shared sleep? when it comes to parents and babies sharing beds and sleep-time. They claim that teaching or training the young baby to put herself to sleep is only a tradition in the U.S., and a recently developed one at that. In most other cultures, parents share sleep with their children. Doing so can be a very healthy and natural progression from womb to mother?s breast to beside mother during sleep.

Shared sleep is much more than a shared bed; it is shared sleep cycles. Baby learns not to resent going to sleep and instead to associate it with his favorite, most comforting people in the world (and a big warm bed!).

Some important observations regarding sleep-sharing are discussed in Dr. Sears? The Baby Book. Dr. Sears quotes Dr. James McKenna, director of the Mother-Baby Behavioral Sleep Lab at Notre Dame. Dr. McKenna studied sleep-sharing pairs for more than a decade. His conclusions show that sleep-sharing encourages synchronized sleep cycles between parent and child. Often, when one member of the pair coughs or stirs, so does the other, often without waking. Further, each member of the pair tends to often, but not always, be in the same sleep stage for longer periods when sharing sleep.

If baby is in a separate crib, he is more likely to be in a light sleep cycle when mother is in a deep cycle, and vice-versa. It is more exhausting for a mother to be woken from a deep sleep than from a light sleep. As babies wake during the light stage of sleep, it makes sense for her sleep cycle to be in sync with her mother?s.

Dr. Sears? and Dr. McKenna ?s studies show that mothers report feeling more rested after sleeping with their babies, vs. sleeping separately. I can attest to the fact that when my baby isn?t sleeping so well, it?s much more tiring to get myself out of bed than it is to only half-awaken and roll over to comfort or feed him.

Dr. Sears points out that all young children eventually outgrow wanting to sleep with their parents, and that our children are babies for such a short time. Why not be there for them during the long, dark nights to reassure them that they are safe?

This morning I found myself turning to the section I dreaded most in Dr. Sears? The Baby Book. As I walked down the stairs, with Baby propped on my left hip and some odds and ends in my right hand, the little guy decided to throw his head back and hit the post on the stair railing. He wailed. I felt terrible. Just minutes before, he was cooing and smiling, and now I’d watch to see if a bump would swell on his forehead.

I tried to apply an icepack to his head but he kept pulling away from it. He settled down fairly quickly and my mother’s intuition told me to just keep an eye on him; there was no reason to call the doctor.

I later recalled my older kids’ early boo-boos and trips to the ER. These moments often upset us, as parents, as much as they upset our children, and sometimes maybe even more.

It became a running joke in my family that my husband and I frequented the ER when our older boys were younger. At four months old, our oldest was lying on my side of our queen-sized bed, next to a clean mountain of laundry. I was just a few feet away and it seemed that the moment I turned my head, he managed to spring off his feet over the mountain of laundry, over my husband’s side of the bed, and onto the floor beside the bed. I heard a loud thud and then a scream. I was in a state of total panic.

I called the pediatrician and spoke with a nurse, who almost chuckled (How dare she!?) over my words. She told me that they usually received several calls a day from frantic parents whose babies had taken their first falls off of the bed, sofa, etc.

When our second son emerged from behind a Burger King Play area, bawling as a goose-egg swelled on his forehead, people watched in horror. Everyone told us to get him to the ER (our oldest had already had stitches at least once by then).

Fortunately, there was no need for his stitches that time, just a very big boo-boo to take care of.

Today, I read the ‘Lifesaving procedures and first aid for common emergencies’ section in my Dr. Sears book. Thank God, Baby did not exhibit any of the signs which signaled a serious head injury. The Good Doctor said that babies normally retreat into sleep after trauma. My baby did not nod off.

Scary signs to look for if baby does go to sleep are:

1. change in color from pink to pale or, even more alarming, blue
2. change in breathing and twitches on one side of the body.

It is easier to watch for signs of danger when baby stays awake: changes in balance and coordination, vomiting (which is sometimes just a reaction to falling and being upset-not to worry in this case!), and changes in his/her eyes. Eye changes include crossed or rolling eyes, one pupil larger than the other and behavior such as tripping or running into things, indicating that his eyesight is diminished.

Thankfully, my baby just has a little red mark on his forehead. I need to remember that sometimes babies behave unpredictably and are stronger than we think. I don’t want to make any trips to the ER with a screaming little boy, gushing blood, etc, this time around.

Which reminds me: we’ve got lots of baby-proofing to do by the time our little guy is on the move. We better get started!

I’ve turned to the trusty Dr. Sears, now that our perfect little 4 ? month old has stopped sleeping. He slept anywhere from between 8 and 10 hours at a stretch from 2 to 4 months of age, and now there are nights where he is up every 1-3 hours. Yikes!

I know he?s been teething or at least pre-teething from these tell-tale signs:

1. He puts everything, including his fist (and sometimes his foot!) in his mouth.
2. He drools constantly.
3. He has diarrhea and a bit of a rash-the first rash he?s had since he was just a few weeks old.
4. He?s fussier than usual (What happened to our mellow little guy?).
5. He?s not sleeping well (last night was particularly rough).

Teething remedies suggested by Dr. Sears are giving baby a chilled teething ring, frozen wash cloth, although I?ve found that a wet-not frozen-washcloth helps, too; A frozen bagel or banana, and rubbing ice on baby?s gums. I haven?t tried using ice but I will try today, when I see my baby fussing and stuffing his fist in his mouth again.

Infant?s Tylenol or Motrin (ibuprofen) can really help. I?ve given some to my little guy at night, hoping that he?ll sleep-and let us sleep-better.

Yesterday I bought some Baby Orajel to rub on his gums. Dr. Sears, however, says to use teething gels/pastes with caution. First, wipe gums with a clean, wet cloth, then apply gel only to the area where baby?s gum is bulging. The drawbacks are:

1. These gels taste terrible.
2. It is easy to use too much
3. If it spreads in baby?s mouth and into her saliva, her tongue and even lips can become numb.
4. Baby may swallow some of it (Yuck!).

Other typical teething symptoms are a cough from excess saliva, drool rash on chin, face, lips and chest (a lanolin ointment is a good treatment for this), and a fever below 101. (It?s probably a good idea to call your pediatrician if baby?s temperature runs above 101).

Good luck to everyone trying to get through the difficult days and nights of teething! (Yawn??).