Author Archives: Melissa

Save that macchiato for Mama, baby

When I first read about some parents in Brooklyn serving up babyccinos to their tots, I have to admit, I thought…really, do we need to be serving our tots coffee? Just like us? However, the accompanying video of the little girl enamored with her babyccino, complete with rainbow sprinkles did make me smile. It was…

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Trusting my instinct…

Mommy, how do you spell book? Okay, b, I got b. Okay o, I got o….she continues until her sentence is complete. Hey mom, I can spell…m-y, and oh yeah, t-h-e. Wait, wait…here’s our family. I can spell all of our names. And mom? Can I go to school every day? This from a little…

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Baby love: soothing your fussy and gassy baby

I recently saw a new mom in clinic. Her chief complaint was written out like this: Baby is gassy and fussy. Mom is worried. Not sleeping well. When I walked into the room, I saw a visibly tired young mother. Adorable babe nursing happily. Mom was near tears as she started to speak. Apparently, for…

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Crazy and funny truths about sleep and children

It’s Friday, and I’m in a let’s lighten up and laugh at ourselves sort of mood. Besides, we’d never make it through this parenting gig if we couldn’t find the humor in some of the stuff that we go through. Since we talked about sleep this week (lack of it, more specifically), I’ve gathered some…

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Dear parents, I support sleep…that is all

I’ve been reading and hearing about sleep issues all over the place lately; on facebook, on twitter, in my inbox, in various blog posts, and in clinic. I’ve heard and read: I feel like a failure, my 3 year still doesn’t sleep through the night. I’ve somehow failed my child, she can’t sleep unless she’s…

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Breastfeeding broke my heart

Or, rather, the inability to truly breastfeed broke my heart. “You have insufficient glandular tissue.”  These words were spoken to me by my lactation consultant after what seemed like hours as she poked and prodded my breasts. I was three weeks in to being a new mom and was an emotional wreck.  Breastfeeding was going…

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Is your carpool safe?

Now that I have school age kids, carpooling and play dates after school are common occurrences. I’ve run into a few snags when trying to arrange pick-ups and drop offs among our friends, and they consistently center around one item…the car seat or booster. Do you have an extra one? Is there space for a…

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Leaving, letting go, and irrational thoughts

So the hubs and I are planning a night away. Our first without the kids. It’s been almost 7 years, and not a night at least one of us hasn’t tucked them in, read books, sang some songs, and drifted off to sleep right by their side. I’m both incredibly excited and extremely anxious about…

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Not all pink eyes are created equal

I get so many questions from parents about “pink eye”. Mostly it goes like this: “ewww…I hope it’s not pink eye!” Pink eye is one of those afflictions that causes us to squirm, think “oh no!”, and inspire us to wash our hands a million times throughout the day. Most of us tend to hide…

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Is it ever okay to spank your child?

This was a question posed to me by a mom in clinic recently. She had her hands full with a very active and independent toddler (aren’t they all?) and was wondering how I felt about spanking. I won’t beat around the bush here…my answer was, and is, a resounding No. Not ever. Not even a…

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