•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
Cutting Grocery Costs without Cutting Nutrition
Simple, healthy, and affordable ways to weather the rising price of food
by Karen Collins, R.D., American Institute of Cancer Research
Grocery prices are projected to increase again in 2008 – that’s following 2007’s highest annual increase in 17 years. But surviving these tough economic times doesn’t have to mean sacrificing good nutrition. Some simple strategies can help you cut food costs and eat more healthfully, too.
read more...
Wellness Workbook
How to Achieve Enduring Health and Vitality
by John W. Travis, M.D., Regina Sara R
For more than 30 years, John W. Travis, M.D., and Regina Sara Ryan have introduced thousands to the concept of wellness, a practical whole-self approach to healthy living. From how you breathe to how you view the world, the 12 interconnected elements of the Wellness Energy System affect all aspects of your life: your disposition toward injury and illness, your relationships, your general level of happiness, and beyond. In an optimal state of wellness, you are less prone to disease, stress, and other life-depleting factors. Thoroughly revised, THE NEW WELLNESS WORKBOOK presents a comprehensive self-assessment and hundreds of exercises and ideas to help you take control of your health and happiness.
Top 10 Food Mistakes
Food Mistake #1: You reach for multigrain bread or cereal
Foods labeled 7-grain or multigrain may seem like the healthiest choices—especially with new findings showing that a diet rich in whole grains protects against heart disease, cancer, and other ills.
The famed Nurses' Health Study documented lower rates of heart disease and stroke among whole grain eaters. Experts don't know all the reasons behind the benefits, but they do know that intact grains are rich in fiber and nutrients—including vitamin E, B vitamins, and magnesium—that are stripped away when grains are refined into flour.
read more...
My wellness center – a free and personalized weight-loss and fitness tool
read more...
|
The New Mom's Manual: Over 800 Tips and Advice from Hundreds of Moms for Baby's First Year
by Mary Jeanne Menna
 
The Best Advice from the Best Experts -- Other Moms!
Who better to give you the real low-down on baby's first year than hundreds of other moms who have been there, changed that. Here are more than 800 tips from experienced moms who've contributed their favorite, most effective, and inventive solutions to help you cope with diapering, feeding, nursing and bottle-feeding, bathing, traveling, sleeping, crying, teething, playing, baby-proofing, postpartum adjustment, new-parent stress, spousal issues, and more. These mom-tested tips, amusing anecdotes, money- and time-saving ideas, safety hints, and heartfelt words of encouragement -- all approved by a Harvard Medical School pediatrician -- give you the real-life answers to all your baby-care questions.
Here are just a few of the gems you'll find in this book:
• To soothe colic, drape a warm towel over a large gym ball, put baby tummy-down, and roll her gently back and forth.
• Revive your Crock-Pot to warm bottles by your bedside.
• Toss a piece of coal into your diaper pail to eliminate odors.
• Use a paste of Kaopectate and cornstarch to clear up diaper rash.
• To soothe swollen breasts, try bags of frozen peas, warm tea bags, or disposable diapers filled with warm water.
• Make your own nonskid socks with 3-D fabric paint.
• Schedule wellness checkups for 1 p.m. so you get the first appointment after the lunch break -- less waiting!
and more...
It Gets Easier! . . . And Other Lies We Tell New Mothers: A Fun, Practical Guide to Becoming a Mom
by Claudine Wolk
There is no question that being a mother is challenging, but this fun, frank, and prescriptive guide tries to do the impossible and make new motherhood easier. Featuring interviews with hundreds of moms and candid stories from author Claudine Wolk's own experiences as a mother, "It Gets Easier!...and Other Lies We Tell New Mothers" mixes humor, honesty, and insider strategies that will give new moms a 'leg-up'. This upbeat and entertaining book drives home the point that new moms are not alone and that there are things they can do to make motherhood a little more controllable and lot more enjoyable. Complete with resources for further exploration and a helpful glossary, this funny, irreverent book will help ease every new mother's frustration.
The Diaper Diaries: The Real Poop on a New Mom's First Year
by Cynthia L. Copeland
 
She's hilarious. She's also wise and full of empathy. And she helps new mothers maintain the one thing they can't survive without-a sense of humor. Cynthia Copeland, a mother of three (and author of Really Important Stuff My Kids Have Taught Me, with 325,000 copies in print), knows the real poop-figuratively and literally-on being a new mother, and she has the wit, skill, and generosity to share it.
Illustrated throughout with the author's wonderful cartoons, THE DIAPER DIARIES chronicles the first year of motherhood, from the hospital stay (nominees for the world's worst labor coach anyone?) to baby's first birthday and contemplating the unimaginable-having another. There are lists, quizzes, timelines, charts, and real-life stories. Birth announcement faux pas. Names and nicknames and what they really mean. Pacifier tales. A guide to Nana-speak. How a 4-mile car trip can take 2 hours. Why it's impossible to get to work without finding spit-up or rice cereal somewhere on your clothing. Ten reasons to be happy you're up at 3:15 a.m.
Managing Your Energy After Childbirth
by Sylvia Brown, author of The Post-Pregnancy Handbook: The Only Book that Tells What the First Year After Childbirth is Really All About -- Physically, Emotionally, Sexually
|
Unfortunately, fatigue is part of the postnatal period. Although sleep deprivation is almost inevitable, utter exhaustion is avoidable. Here are a few tips and recommendations on how to manage your energy levels in the weeks and months after childbirth.
While some mothers feel “back on their feet” after just a few days home from the hospital, medical studies show that fatigue generally reaches its peak two to four days after you return home. Many women also go through a slump between the eighth and tenth week after childbirth when the accumulated lack of sleep really begins to cause damage. Only 50 percent of women feel that they have regained their usual energy levels within six weeks postpartum...
|
read more...
Rules of Thumb for Choosing a Baby Name
by Laura Wattenberg, author of
The Baby Name Wizard: A Magical Method for Finding the Perfect Name for Your Baby
|
From Aaliyah to Zvi, the range of name choices is dazzling. If you're a sleepless parent-to-be, it can look like a vast landscape with no roadmap. To make sure you keep your bearings, here are some basic principles for understanding names -- and finding that one perfect name that speaks to your heart.
Rule #1: Personal taste isn’t so personal
Not long ago, I heard an expectant mother beside herself with outrage. She had just learned that another woman in her small town had “stolen” her baby name! No, she admitted, she had never met the woman. But for years now she had been planning to name a baby Keaton, a name she had personally invented, and now there was another little Keaton right across town. Someone must have told that other mother her own secret, special name. Thief!
|
read more...
Cloth Diapering 101
by Amy Allen Clark
|
If you think of diaper pins and plastic pants, when you think of cloth diapering, you have not seen the cloth diapers for today’s mom. Cloth diapers are a far cry from this image, and cloth diapering is definitely something to explore when you are a frugal mother. The days of origami, accidentally sticking your child with pins, and sloshing diapers in the toilet to rinse them are the diapering days of our mothers. I am here to tell you that cloth diapering is easy, affordable, and is worth every moment of your time and dollar investment. You will not believe how easy it is or how rewarding the process of cloth diapering is- both financially and environmentally.
|
read more...
Diaper Bag Essentials
by Amy Allen Clark
|
There was a time in my life when I could hop in the car, carrying only a purse, and head out the door with absolutely no planning. Ah, those were the days! Upon having our son though, I realized that any trip out the door had to be a well-executed one and it often took hours just to get ready for our destination. As he has gotten older, I can now stash the essential items he needs conveniently in my gigantic mommy purse, but those days of enormous diaper bags are definitely not far from my memory. Here is a list of my own essential diaper bag items…
|
read more...
What is postpartum depression?
by Amanda Bach
|
Postpartum depression is a treatable medical illness characterized by feelings of sadness, indifference, blue, unhappy, miserable, or down in the dumps, exhaustion and anxiety following the birth of your baby. Most of us feel this way at one time or another for short periods. But true clinical depression is a mood disorder in which feelings of sadness, loss, anger, or frustration interfere with everyday life for an extended time. Depression can be mild, moderate, or severe. The degree of depression, which your doctor can determine, influences how you are treated.
|
read more...
Surviving Colic, and all the advice comes with it
by Cecily Harrison
|
Single, with eggs that weren’t getting any younger, I decided it was now or never to have a child and plunked down real cash to get my wish. I had waited so long, I wanted the entire experience of motherhood to be instinctive, natural. I pictured my little angel smiling sweetly when she wanted to nurse, and afterwards, drifting to sleep in her Moses basket as I floated from one bohemian setting to another. “Women have been doing this for thousands of years,” I kept repeating, and each time someone with children suggested being a parent was the hardest job around, I’d say, “Bring it on.” Then somewhere around five weeks, all hell broke loose. My sweet little lamb with the heart-shaped mouth started crying. And crying. She cried each time I put her down. She cried when she nursed, tormented by gas. “Colic,” said the pediatrician, and prescribed Mylicon ‘round the clock.
|
read more...
Suddenly single mom
by Rebecca from Stretcher.com
I became a single mother in 1994 when I chose to leave an abusive marriage. We had our share of problems including our different opinions about money. My ex was a compulsive spender and was usually at any given time half a year's income in debt. I on the other hand have always been a saver. I do not know if this was a learned behavior, perhaps, since my mother required me to save 10% of my allowance and later my income and tithe another 10%. On my own, these numbers have increased to 30/10. I live off of 60% of my income. This is not easy but it is do-able.
Here are the steps I recommend taking:
read more...
Planning Ahead: Preplanned Versus Unplanned C-Sections
by Rita Rubin
|
The following is an excerpt from the book What If I Have a C-Section?: How to Prepare, How to Decide, How to Recover Quickly by Rita Rubin.
You might be thinking of going ahead and scheduling a cesarean because you figure it's got to be safer than undergoing one at the last minute after hours of labor. That sounds logical, but few studies distinguish between the two. As a result, what appear to be complications of cesareans may actually be related to protracted labor or the factors leading to it. Such complications might have been prevented if the C-section had been planned instead of an emergency. "We've saved their lives by doing a C-section," Walters says. "When they have a complication, we blame the C-section."
|
read more...
Could fat babies mean fat toddlers?
CNNhealth.com
A new study from Harvard Medical School found that babies who gained weight quickly had a sharply higher risk of obesity. The study followed close to 600 babies and found those in the top quarter of weight for their length at 6 months had a 40 percent higher risk of obesity by age 3 than smaller babies.
Question: Should I be alarmed if my baby is very large?
The best course of action is to speak with your child's pediatrician. Your child may be large for her age, but not overweight when taken in the context of her height. Also, some babies may grow rapidly at first, and their growth starts to slow as they get older. What does that mean? Your child may be overweight at 6 months, and be at a perfectly healthy weight by age 3. A pediatrician can put your individual questions in the context of your toddler's specific measurements.
Question: If my baby is growing too quickly, what can I do?
First, take a look at your child's feeding habits. Does he push the bottle away before he's finished? If so, do you encourage him to finish it? Experts say babies are often the best judge of when they've had enough, so don't force them to take in more food. Also, are you blending solid foods in with formula or breast milk? Your best bet is to keep them separate.
read more...
The SingleMom.com™ site provides information to help advance women's health research, services, and public and health professional education. The materials contained here are not intended to be used for the diagnosis or treatment of a health problem or as a substitute for consulting a licensed medical professional. References to any non-governmental entity, product, service, or source of information that may be contained in this site should not be considered an endorsement, either direct or implied, by the SingleMom.com™ in the U.S. SingleMom.com™ is not responsible for the content of any non-Federal web pages referenced in this web site.
• Join the SingleMom.com forums. Share your tips, resources and experience with other single moms
|
9 Cash-Saving Tips That Pay Big Bucks
complaintsboard.com
The expression "a penny saved is a penny earned" doesn't cut it these days. But saving a few dollars here and there can add up...
read
more...
Try out these Thanksgiving recipes from tasteofhome
You May Have Too Much Debt But You Also Have Options
How Life Works
If you feel like you're in over your head with personal debt, you're not alone. Millions of Americans have become overextended, many as a result of easy credit and the recessions. Credit cards, medical bills, personal loans and raising interest rates do not make a good financial mix.
read more...
Suze Orman's Recession Rescue Plan - helps you survive in times of financial crisis
OPRAH.com
Do you know what your family would do if you lost your job - or worse, your home? Financial expert Suze Orman is ready to help you
devise a recession rescue plan to survive - and possibly thrive - during this deepening financial crisis...
read more...
Could fat babies mean fat toddlers?
A new study from Harvard Medical School found that babies who gained weight quickly had a sharply higher risk of obesity. The study
followed close to 600 babies and found those in the top quarter of weight for their length at 6 months had a 40 percent higher risk of
obesity by age 3 than smaller babies.
read
more...
The 10-Ingredient Shopping Trip
By Tara Parker-Pope and Mark Bittman
... In his latest “How to Cook Everything” segment on the Today Show, New York Times food writer Mark Bittman makes it
surprisingly easy to cook a week’s worth of dinners with just a 10-ingredient shopping trip.
read
more...
Finding last-minute tuition money
There's still time to find funds for this semester's college tuition. But you'll have to move quickly.
By Gerri Willis
It's only a couple of weeks or even days until school begins. And if you don't think you'll be able to get a handle on your college
tuition bill, here with your guide to last minute money.
read more...
Short-term Payday Loans
econ4u.org
...Which are more expensive, late fees or short-term loans?...
A short-term payday loan can be a better option than overdraft fees, reconnect fees, late payment fees or a damaged credit rating when
the loan is repaid promptly. However, these loans are not suited for longer repayment periods...
Being realistic about budgeting can help avoid the need for short-term borrowing.
read more...
Your Just-in-Case Emergency Plan
by RealSimple
Who do you call if you can't make it home in time to meet the kids' bus? Who do
you trust to take in your mail when you're on vacation? Who do you trust with
the extra set of keys to your house?
read
more...
How to save $10,000 in 2009
By Liz Pulliam Weston
If you were hoping for a list of small tweaks you could make in your spending to save $10,000 a year, sorry. The reality is that
$10,000 is a lot of money. And saving big money usually means making big changes in the areas where we spend the most, such as:
Housing, Transportation, Food.
read
more...
The Super, Sexy, Single Mom on a Budget
by Renee Rayles
A quick reference guide designed for the busy, single mom who has
little time to read while running the mom taxi, cooking dinner, helping with homework, and trying to fit in a date night every now and
then.
32 and Counting? Finding Your Happily Ever After Today
by Gi Gi
The author talks about the struggles a single mom goes through and the discovery that you can have HEAT (Happily Ever After Today) just
as you are, being single, taking care of your kids...
read more...
Single Mothers &
Male Role-Models / Mentors
Single mothers carry an enormous load of responsibility, especially those having sole and/or primary custody of minor children. They
nourish, they nurture, they teach, they discipline, they shelter, they protect, and they provide… all without the assistance of another
equally-invested adult.
read more...
Your 5-minute guide to protecting your identity
20 steps to protect yourself from identity theft, and seven ways to clean up things if you become a victim.
read more...
TheOnlineMom.com offers parents and consumers a guide to the top-rated, age-appropriate, kid-tested and parent-approved tech toys and gifts.
read more...
Diary of a Wimpy Kid: The Last Straw
by Jeff Kinney
For those wondering why tween boys don’t read very much, the answer is that more books aren’t like this...
read more...
10 Superfoods That Should Be in Your Daily Diet
Supercharge your diet with these doctor-approved upgrades
As Told to Max Alexander, Best Life
My interest in what is now known as integrative medicine began many years ago when I was a teenager and witnessed my grandmother battle a breast-cancer recurrence. In those days, it was typical for patients receiving chemotherapy to be confined to a hospital bed. Nothing was done to stop her decline—not nutritionally, not physically, not really medically—and she eventually wasted away and died in her bed.
read more...
The Twenty Healthiest Foods for Under $1
By: Brie Cadman
Food prices are climbing, and some might be looking to fast foods and packaged foods for their cheap bites.
But low cost doesn’t have to mean low quality. In fact, some of the most inexpensive things you can buy are the best things for you. At the grocery store, getting the most nutrition for the least amount of money means hanging out on the peripheries—near the fruits and veggies, the meat and dairy, and the bulk grains—while avoiding the expensive packaged interior. By doing so, not only will your kitchen be stocked with excellent foods, your wallet won’t be empty.
Read more about the great nutritional value of these twenty healthiest foods under $1: Oats, Eggs, Kale, Potatoes, Apples, Nuts, Bananas, Garbanzo Beans, Brocolli, Watermelon, Wild Rice, Beets, Butternut Squash, Whole Grain Pasta, Sardines, Spinach, Tofu, Lowfat Milk, Pumpkin Seeks, Coffee...
|
