By Kelly Gough 

Breastfeeding can be a very rewarding yet challenging experience for many new mothers. In the early days with your baby, it is important to look after yourself to help establish successful breastfeeding. After all, you are the most important person to your baby at this time, so it makes sense to take care of you!

1. Don’t be superwoman – accept all offers of help and food that come your way.
2. The housework can wait and it is much more important to catch up on sleep and rest while you can.
3. If you can afford it, hire a cleaner or ask a relative to help out with the cleaning for the first few weeks. This will give you time to catch up on missed sleep during the day.
4. Eat a well balanced diet including plenty of fresh fruit and vegetables, carbohydrates, protein and calcium to give you extra energy while breastfeeding.
5. Drink plenty of fluids to make sure you stay hydrated while breastfeeding. It’s a good idea to have a glass of water every time you feed and try to avoid too much alcohol and caffeine.
6. Take some time out – a short walk around the block or an occasional short break away from your baby will help recharge your batteries and give you more energy to care for your baby.
7. Build a support network that can help encourage and support you while you are breastfeeding. You might like to join a mother’s group or have a relative you can turn to for advice.
8. Regular gentle exercise will help you feel better about yourself and is good for your health too. Why not join a postnatal exercise class, which is also great for meeting other mums.
9. Spend time with your partner everyday, even if it is just a quick cup of tea. Your partner’s support and encouragement is crucial at this time.
10. Reward yourself for making a commitment to breastfeed. You might like to have a facial, take a long bath or buy a new outfit. If you look good, you feel good and just think of all the money you are saving by not having to buy formula!

Kelly Gough is a business mum who manages online boutique Nuvo Maternity while also caring for her two small boys. Nuvo Maternity specialises in stylish nursing wear and breastfeeding clothes. She is also the co-founder of Mum Knows Breast a free, friendly online breastfeeding support group.

Popularity: 13% [?]

By
Rhonda Schlumpberger
Independent Consultant and Manager with Arbonne International
With exerpts from Success From Home magazine, predated Jun 07

We all want beautiful, healthy-looking skin, the kind that resembles a child’s—smooth, fresh, pure—before the environment and the effects of time have had a chance to do their damage. 

The Sun and the Passing of Time…

The damage to our skin begins early in life with our first exposure to the sun.  Did you know that 90 percent of the visible signs of aging come as a result of exposure to our environment?  That’s right!  That means only 10 percent of the visible signs of aging occur as a result of the passing of time and our personal genetics.  We want our skin to stay young, but unfortunately, even the best researchers in the world have been unable to prevent a single part of us from aging.  So we do the next best thing:  we decide to live a healthy life style and we find top-notch products to help renew our skin daily.

Arbonne is a Leader in the Quest to Turn Back Time

Introducing Arbonne International, herbal and botanical products that combine the best of nature with science to achieve amazing results.  Arbonne takes great pride in the fact they use proprietary Swiss formulations of dye- and fragrance-free ingredients that care for the skin.  Using skin care lines containing nature’s ingredients, the face and body become infused with vitamins and minerals that promote and maintain healthy skin. 

Arbonne’s Tailor-made Skin Care

So why do Arbonne products work so well?  Simply put, their philosophy is to offer products that are pure, safe, and beneficial.  They are pure because they contain only the purest forms of herbs and botanicals to gently nourish and moisturize the skin.  Arbonne products are safe, and are proven so in testing by independent dermatologists and voluntary human panels. That means the greatest majority of people can use Arbonne’s formulas.  Last, Arbonne products are beneficial because they deliver vitamins, minerals, and other elements that our skin needs to continue producing fresh, healthy skin.  The results are right on target!

The Arbonne Intelligence line—our basic line for teens through 30s—features a self-adjusting 5-step system for the face, as well as complete body and hair care.  Arbonne Intelligence makes it easy to cleanse and hydrate the skin, replenish lost emollients and soothe with exclusive botanical blends.  Your skin will be soft, smooth, and vibrant with daily use of Arbonne Intelligence. 

Arbonne’s NutriMinC RE9 anti-aging system contains products that are the first of its kind to address the “after” effects of sun exposure and aging with the passing of time.  Formulated for women and men, the RE9 systems contain nine key anti-aging elements delivered in nanosphere technology that is patent-pending in both the US and Switzerland.  These products have changed the face of anti-aging skin care!

Arbonne Baby Care…aahhhh.  That’s what your baby will say when he or she is nourished with gentle hair and body wash that makes bath time fun.  This line offers diaper rash cream featuring zinc oxide, avocado, and peach to help relieve sore skin, and a baby oil and moisturizer that beings essential moisture to baby’s tender skin.  Sunscreen products with SPF 30 protect baby’s delicate skin and features oat, aloe and shea butter oils.  Even adults love the gentle formulas of “ABC,” Arbonne Baby Care. 

Drink water, eat your veggies, and feed your skin with daily helpings of Arbonne

Our skin is the largest organ of our bodies, so it makes sense to help it function at it’s best.  If you’d like to see changes in your skin, then drink your water, eat your veggies, and feed your skin with daily helpings of Arbonne.  Visit my web site today at www.beautifulinsideandout.myarbonne.com and request a free sample of Arbonne Intelligence or the Arbonne NutriMinC RE9 anti-aging system for women or men.  My direct e-mail is re94faces@yahoo.com. 

Popularity: 10% [?]

Once your doctor has discovered and dealt with the cause of your baby’s diarrhea, there are certain foods you can offer that may help “bind” your baby as his delicate intestines recover - and some other foods that you should definitely avoid!

Remember -  You should always discuss any episodes of diarrhea with your child’s doctor, as diarrhea can quickly lead to dehydration in young babies.

FOODS THAT CAN HELP STOP BABY’S DIARRHEA

• Infant rice cereal
• bananas
• breast milk/formula
• cooked carrots
• dry toast
• pasta
• cooked, white potato
• white grape juice
• yogurt (bio yogurt in particular, which contains the “gut-friendly” bacteria Lactobacillus. Research has shown that Lactobacillus can be effective in stopping diarrhea. Some paediatricians may also recommend acidophilus supplements, which are available from most vitamin stores)
• applesauce

FOODS TO AVOID WHEN BABY HAS DIARRHEA

• Cow’s milk-based formula - some doctors will suggest switching to soy formula for a couple of weeks, because your baby’s intestines may have trouble digesting cow’s milk following a nasty bout of diarrhea
• dairy products, with the exception of yogurt (for the reasons given above)
• cherry juice
• apple juice (it may seem confusing, but applesauce firms your baby’s stools  whereas apple juice loosens them. This is because applesauce is made from the whole fruit and therefore contains the pectin and fibre that firm stools. Apple juice, on the other hand, contains a natural sugar - sorbitol - which is known to cause or aggravate diarrhea)
• pear juice
• peaches
• apricots
• pears
• plums
• peas
• apricots
• prunes

BREASTFEEDING

Don’t stop breastfeeding if your baby has diarrhea - it actually helps hasten your baby’s recovery. But consider avoiding things like coffee and cola, which may pass through your milk and make your baby’s diarrhea worse!

A good rule to follow is to feed your baby little and often as he recovers from diarrhea. Babies’ intestines heal relatively slowly, so it may take a while for his stools to firm up completely. If you are at all concerned about persistent diarrhea in your baby, then you should discuss your concerns with your child’s doctor.
Christine Albury is the author of http://www.homemade-baby-food-recipes.com/index.html, a site providing a range of recipes for baby’s first year, plus information, tips and advice for successful infant feeding.

Popularity: 11% [?]

Lets get organised
 Orgnaising the whole house sounds like and is a huge task for most of us.
It even sounds unrealistic, such a big task and no time!
One of our favourite lines at, A good sort, is, “sit down with a cup of tea”, read this article and you will see how easy it really is to get organised once and for all.
 
Do not look at it as one huge task, break it up into little bite size pieces.
Of course in the beginning there will be a little more to do, but once everything is in its right place and the routine has been set you will be amazed at how organised you stay without even thinking about it.
If everyone in the household is on the same page and everyone knows the rules things will be kept reasonably organised and a huge time consuming effort will not have to ever take place again.
 

Here we go:-
 

First we have to declutter every room,if we don’t do this we will just be trying to organise things that you don’t need and are just taking valuable space.
Now, find a place for everything, homeless items get lost causing stress and unhappiness. Everything in your home, no matter what, should have a home–a consistent and appropriate place where that object is normally kept.
It might seem silly setting up a “present wrapping box” but everything to do with wrapping gifts can go in there and stored away till it is needed. Just label it clearly and it can go next to the “present box”(little gifts you find on sale during the year that you think would come in handy as a last minute gift.).
 

Now that everything is how and where you want it, let’s get into a rountine  to keep it that way. Of course there are all the regular household duties, washing, ironing, cleaning etc. Add one of these extra tasks to your daily rountine and things will stay organised.
 

Monday is “menu Monday” sort out a menu for the week and write it in my.org®aniser. Work out your shopping list and do it.
Tuesday is tidy day :-anything hanging around and not in its spot, tidy a bench, tidy a cupboard, clean up the shoes at the back door.
Wednesday is “one draw Wednesday” Clean out one draw (or two) every Wednesday, a cutlery draw, undies draw or games draw etc.
Thursday is “throw out Thursday” Everyone in the family must throw something out. It might be as small as a sock or as big as the broken outdoor setting.
Friday is “finish off day” Finish off some unfinished tasks eg. Hem those jeans, take the thrown out items to St Vincents, finish off that book you are reading, up load you photos from your camera.
(Friday can also be Fridge Friday. )

 

Apart from the obvious of what you can do in each room etc. a big part of organising a family starts in the kitchen.
This is where the paper starts to build up, on the bench and your table, not to mention the fridge, resulting in many Australian families eating on TV trays because they have lost the kitchen table and bench under paperwork . This is where our family organiser comes in.

my.org®aniser  the smartest family

organiser ever!!

Designed for mums by mums, my.org®aniser, is a combined 2007 diary and filing system for use in the home.  It will totally organise the mass of paper around your kitchen and with everything in one easily accessible place, you’ll wonder how you ever survived without it!
my.org®aniser is designed to manage and schedule the myriad of tasks that family life encounters. Its not only an organisational tool for busy mums, it also acts as an information hub for the whole family – conveniently collated in a hard-bound A4 ring binder with an easy-to-use tab system. my.org®aniser has thought of everything – all you have to do is add the information that is integral to the complex business of running your family.
 

My.org®aniser includes

• A 2007 Week to View Diary plus monthly budget calendar. Monitor and schedule your finances, appointments and family commitments.
• Comprehensive guides to national holidays, school holidays and term dates, including special days such as Valentines Day, Mothers Days and Daylight Saving changeover.
• Three ‘due this week’ pockets, a ‘receipts/Tax pocket’ and a ‘Holidays’ pocket – mini filing cabinets where you can keep all your loose receipts, bills and pamphlets. More importantly… the ‘Dream’ pocket – a special place to keep your hobby ideas, lottery tickets, recipes and personal interest items.

 

Businesses have personal assistants who organise everything to ensure they run smoothly and efficiently, organising your life or family’s life is also a business!

 

Popularity: 10% [?]