New York Nanny Center » new moms

Yoga Workout for New Moms

Lindsay Bell — Fri, 21 Feb 2014 19:32:59 +0000

Once you have the green light to exercise again after delivery, here’s some great yoga and core moves you can do to ease yourself back in to shape. Remember your body has gone through quite a bit of stress during pregnancy and labor. If you’ve taken the recommended 4 to 6 weeks off after vaginal delivery, you need to allow your body to gently get back to working out.

When your baby is napping or you have an extra 20 minutes, I recommend rolling out your yoga mat or a towel and doing these moves. I personally started doing yoga again around 3.5 weeks post delivery. This routine has helped me work out the kinks in my body from breastfeeding and carrying Timothy Grayson. I also feel more energized after many sleepless nights when I can find some time to stretch my body. Performing these postures will help to strengthen the pelvic floor muscles, core, legs and arms as well.

Rounded Cat:

Rounded Cat

Start on all fours, with your hands under your shoulders and your knees under your hips. Find a neutral spine and take an inhalation. On an exhalation engage your pelvic floor muscles and tuck your tailbone under as you round your back and bring your chin towards your chest. Draw your lower abdominals deep in to your spine. Come back to neutral then repeat 3 to 5 more times. This move will help you reconnect to your core and pelvic floor muscles, while stretching out the spine and back.

Knee To Nose:

knee to nose part 1

Knee to nose part 2

Stay in a rounded cat position. On an inhale draw your right knee towards your nose, then exhale extend the right leg straight back behind you. Repeat 5 times then switch to the other leg. This exercise builds strength in the shoulders, core muscles, hips, thighs and lower back.

Bird Dog:

Bird Dog

From all fours, extend your right arm in front of you at shoulder level and your left leg behind you at hip height. Try and imagine you are balancing a glass of water between your shoulders and on your lower back and keep your body completely steady as you switch sides. Alternate sides 5 more times each and on the last one you can hold each side for 5 to 8 breaths as you engage your core and feel the length from fingers to toes. Bird dog works the core, stabilizes the lower back, and tones your arms and legs.

Kneeling Bow:

Kneeling Bow

I love this next pose to open up my shoulders and chest since I’m breastfeeding all the time. Even new moms who opt to bottle-feed can suffer from rounded shoulders from carrying their newborns. Extend your right arm forward and your left leg straight back. Once you feel steady reach around with your right hand as you bend your left knee and catch the ankle or foot. Bow the leg back as you lift your chest open and breathe deeply. Hold for 5 to 8 breaths then repeat on the other side.

Pigeon Prep and Pigeon:

Pigeon Prep & Pigeon

Pigeon Prep & Pigeon part 2

Pigeon is one of my favorite postures and it’s perfect for new moms. Tension and stress as a mother as well as inactivity can lead to stiff hips and a tight lower back. From all fours slide your right shin forward and parallel to the front of the mat as you lengthen your left leg long behind. Lift your chest and open your heart then move your chest forward and rest on your forearms of forehead. Hold the pose for 8-10 deep breaths and repeat on the left side.

Half Bridge:

Half Bridge

From pigeon on your left side, you can swing your back leg around and lie down. Place both feet flat on the mat hip width apart and lift your hips up. Interlace your hands under your lower back and lengthen the shoulders down away from the ears as you bring your shoulder blades towards each other. Engage your hamstrings, buttock and lower abs. Lower your butt down then lift back up 2 to 3 more times. Each time you lift up, engage your pelvic floor as well.

Try this routine 2 to 3 times a week when you can fit some time in for yourself. Your body, mind and baby will appreciate it!

-Kristin McGee is a fitness professional here in NYC; she a certified yoga and Pilates instructor as well as an ACE certified personal trainer. She is a new mom and loves sharing her fitness and health expertise with the NYC community!

Best Burping Methods

Alison Gore — Fri, 29 Mar 2013 14:39:04 +0000

Dear Ask-A-Sitter,

What are the best burping techniques? I have heard so many. I just want to communicate the best one to my sitter when I leave her with my infant. What do you recommend?

-Tooty Twins

Dear Tooty Twins,

Yes that is true, everyone seems to have their own method, which makes sense because every baby is different. What works for your lil’ one may not work for another. Try out a few different positions & see which one seems to mesh with your infant the best. Sometimes I also find switching from one burping position to to the other helps the baby release gas. Here are my top 3 burping positions that seem to work best with an infant:

Hold your baby with their chin near your shoulder, support the baby with one hand and gently pat/rub their back with the other to sooth them while allowing their body to stretch out
Sit your baby on your lap with one hand supporting their chin and pat/rub their back
Lay your baby at a slight angle (with their head higher then their chest) on your lap facing you, rub their belly to sooth them while they stretch out their body. I use this method as a last resort after trying the first two above

Right after burping. The twins are as happy as can be.

Remember to support your lil’ ones head and pat/rub gently. Your baby doesn’t always need to be burped, if he or she seems happy, they’re probably comfortable. And don’t forget to use a burp cloth regardless of the method you choose.

-LB

eco-friendly baby shower & birthday party invitations

Lindsay Bell — Mon, 05 Mar 2012 14:55:00 +0000

Since we are on the topic of baby showers and birthday parties,when you are ready to be the hostess, where do you start?

The invitations of course!

I came across PaperCulture from one of my LLD member moms. Paper Culture is a modern eco-friendly stationary company that brings a uniquetwist to boring stuff that reads like a resume. They pride themselves on providing clean, fresh modern aesthetic.Developed by parents themselves they truly care about the environment and thefuture state of the planet for our children.

Click herefor eco baby shower invitations; girl, boy and gender neutral.

Click herefor birthday party invitations; kids birthdays, girl or boy, photo birthdayinvites or adult parties.

Hear what Parenting Magazine, Cool Mom Picks and Daily Candyhas to say about Paper Culture here!

5 Tips for Balancing Hormones Naturally

Lindsay Bell — Wed, 18 Jan 2012 21:32:00 +0000

Nicole Jardim is acertified women’s holistic health coach specializing in the treatment ofhormonal imbalances that cause conditions like PMS, fibroids, infertility andendometriosis.

1. Avoid caffeine(coffee, soda and other “energy” drinks):

Caffeine increases estrogenlevels. Studies have shown that drinking just two cups of coffee a day boostslevels of estradiol, a natural estrogen. Every woman has anatural, individualized ratio of estrogen and progesterone that surges andrecedes to make up her unique menstrual cycle. When estrogen is too high andprogesterone is too low, it tends to irritate the nervous system causinganxiety, irritability and insomnia. On theflip side, progesterone is a natural diuretic, sleep aid, anti-anxietycompound, and metabolism stimulator. It acts like Valium.

2. Avoid dairyproducts: Sohere’s the scoop – most dairy in the US comes from factory farms, where cowsare fed products not natural to their diet, such as grain, corn and soy. Someare injected with bioengineered hormones that forces the cows to produce moremilk than their bodies normally would. This over-stimulation of the cow’s uddercauses it to become infected, thus requiring antibiotics. As a result, theseadded hormones and antibiotics reside in the milk, which interfere with thefemale hormonal system – most notably changing the way hormones are metabolizedin the bowel and ultimately changing our hormonal levels.

Nicole & her God child

3. Choose organicfish and meat when possible: Non-organic animalsare fed estrogenic steroids to fatten them up. When we eat these foods, theestrogenic compounds are passed into our blood stream causing a rise inestrogen levels. This ultimately leads to estrogen dominance. Estrogendominance has been linked to some unpleasant conditions such asmigraines, PMS, fibroids, ovarian cysts, infertility, weight gain and irregularperiods.

4. Eat full fatproducts (skip fat-free products): Low-fat diets are one of the main reasonsso many women have hormonal imbalances. We know this may sound crazy sincewe’ve been told for years to cut out fat but fat is yourfriend! We’renot condoning over-consumption of fat or cholesterol by any means but guesswhat? Your hormones aremade out of cholesterol. If you don’t eat enough cholesterol,your body can’t make hormones. If you are not eating sufficient amounts of fat andcholesterol, you could be exacerbating your hormonal imbalance. Natural, healthy fats include olive oil, coconut oil, butter, avocados,nuts, seeds, and fish.

5. Stop the stress: Okay, we know thatthis isn’t entirely possible but you sure need to try. Here’s why: studies haveshown that stress affects the endocrine system in such a way that it throws offour hormonal balance, which can literally stop ovulation from happening.Therefore, it is important to find ways to lessen the load and start havingsome FUN! Try yoga, guided meditations or an exercise routine that you actuallylike.

Nicole is a women’sholistic health counselor specializing in the treatment of hormonal imbalancesthrough food and lifestyle modification. Her latest program is called Fix YourPeriod – 8 Weeks to Better Periods in 2012. Go to www.fixyourperiod.comfor all the details. You can contact herat nicole@thehealthyelements.comor visit her website at www.thehealthyelements.com.

Bedtime Routine Tips from the Experts!

Lindsay Bell — Tue, 10 Jan 2012 18:15:00 +0000

Big City Moms always supporting LLD, invited us to their Sleep Experts Lunch to speak about the importance of communicating bedtime routines to your sitter. Here are a few important tips!
1. Give your sitter a tour of your home. Show your sitter the kids rooms, point out dangerous areas you want the kids to stay away from and give specific instructions on how things work.

2. Bedtime Rules. Talk to your sitter about your bedtime routine with the kids i.e. What time do you begin to wind down the night? What is your child’s favorite story and/or bedtime song? What time should they be asleep by?

3. Special Instructions. Are there any special rules you have? Do your kids have any allergies the sitter should know about? Are the kid’s sick and need medicine?

4. Exchange Contact Info. Be sure to leave your sitter with your cell phone and an emergency contact numbers. Be sure to get her cell phone number so that you can text her throughout the night if you have any questions or to check in.

5. Anything else? Sitters are happy to lend a helping hand. If you’d like them to unload the dishwasher or change the laundry most sitters won’t mind. Especially once they have been at your home a few times and you feel connected to them. They will be happy to help!

I stayed to listen to Kira Ryan, mom, sleep lover and co-founder of Dream Team speak about her infant& toddler sleep tips. Here are a few!

Newborns should get 15-18 hours of sleep per day (24hrs)
A good bedtime for an infant is between 6-8pm
Signs of a sleepy infant: the cry is different, no engagement or eye contact, fussy
What is normal?
- Up to 6 mo infants take naps every1 ½ -2 hours
- At 6mo infants usually take 2 naps per day
- 15-18 mo 1 long nap in the afternoon
- Naps or ‘quiet time’ is recommended up to 3-4 years
- White noise machines are great especially for city noise
- Crib should be a sleep sanctuary, anything that screams party or playground should be removed
- Check the nursery temperature! It should be between 68-72 F.
- Is the room dark enough? Get blackout shades!

For more info on Dream Team click here