Lauren lays out the pros and cons of working from home while raising a family.  Read More…

26 Comments | Posted in Balance, Continuum Parenting, Equally Shared Parenting, Homeschooling, Natural Learning, Parenting Philosophies, Radical Unschooling, Work and Family

One potential roadblock to breastfeeding for the working mom is having access to an appropriate place to use a breast pump and/or store pumped milk. I can speak from both personal experience and on behalf of friends that finding a “lactation station” seems to be a recurring issue for nursing moms. Friends have reported being asked to pump in kitchens, …  Read More…

4 Comments | Posted in Activism, Balance, Breastfeeding, Feeding With Love, Lactivism, Work and Family

Certainly, one essential aspect of finding balance as a work-at-home parent is to establish and maintain boundaries between your professional and family life, for example by setting schedules, setting a budget, and setting aside space for your work within your home. But another essential — and overlooked — aspect of finding balance when working at home is making connections.  Read More…

8 Comments | Posted in Balance, Work and Family

A seasoned pumping mama gives handy tips for pumping success.  Read More…

12 Comments | Posted in Alternative Caregivers, Balance, Breastfeeding, Breastfeeding Alternatives, Consistent Care, Feeding With Love, Work and Family

For any mother, the decision to return to work is one that is inevitably filled with lots of unknowns. The complexity of this decision is compounded ten-fold for the breastfeeding mother. Navigating breastfeeding in the workplace is enough to leave any new mom overwhelmed and anxious. Here are some key points that will help the new Breastfeeding/Working-Mother make a smooth …  Read More…

7 Comments | Posted in Attachment Parenting, Balance, Breastfeeding, Breastfeeding Alternatives, Feeding With Love, Parenting Philosophies, Work and Family

Many parents describe their NICU experience as a rollercoaster. The highs are really high and the lows can be especially low. The wild ride can be very draining on parents, who often put their needs last as they focus on helping their new baby get well. As they juggle the needs of their hospitalized baby, jobs, the household and perhaps …  Read More…

8 Comments | Posted in Alternative Caregivers, Balance, Cleaning and Organizing, Consistent Care, Family Structure, Healthy Living, Practical Home Help, Work and Family

Today is a world of demands- our time, our energy, our focus, our money.  If we focus on all the “need to do’s, there is never time left to just be! Life shouldn’t be about making sure the dishes are done and the lunches are made. Most parents want to find more time to be present with their children. While …  Read More…

3 Comments | Posted in Attachment Parenting, Balance, Family Structure, Parenting Philosophies, Work and Family

I practice attachment parenting and I co-slept with both my boys, now aged 2 and 8 months. I loved the closeness of it, the ease with breastfeeding it gave me, and the restfulness that came with it. So I was shocked when it wasn’t working anymore. I was waking in the morning grumpy, groggy, and frustrated, and it lasted all …  Read More…

37 Comments | Posted in Balance, Consensual Living, Family Structure, Gentle Discipline, Nighttime Parenting, Parenting Philosophies, Responding With Sensitivity, Safe Sleep, Work and Family

Breastfeeding at the breast is the most normal way to feed a baby. Babies are born hard-wired to expect it and to seek it out. When that normal feeding relationship is interrupted, what’s a mom (and her baby) to do? Breastfeeding doesn’t have to be all or nothing; that includes how you get the milk from point A to point …  Read More…

7 Comments | Posted in Balance, Breastfeeding, Breastfeeding Alternatives, Feeding With Love, Work and Family

The hardest part of parenting, especially for moms — regardless of your parenting style — is finding a balance between personal and family life. With natural and/or attachment parenting, we spend so much time listening to our baby’s cues, learning about our baby, what he/she wants and needs, what is best for him/her, and generally putting our baby first, that it is easy to neglect ourselves and what we want and need — as mothers, as women, as people. But we all know that we can better care for our babies when we, ourselves, are taken care of.  Read More…

6 Comments | Posted in Balance, Healthy Living, Keeping Active, Work and Family