Mom Life According To Elisa

  Wondering what your baby's blood type will be? Blood type is inherited from both biological parents. There's no way to be sure what your baby's blood type is without a blood test, but you can narrow down the possibilities if you know your blood type and your partner's. Red blood cells have substances on their surfaces that vary from person to person. The particular substance on your own blood cells determines your blood type. There are two blood group classifications: the ABO system and the Rh system.  Continue Reading

 Do you ever wonder if your child's cognitive ability was inherited or if it's based on environmental factors? In fact, human intelligence is a fairly equal mix of genetics and environmental influences. Genetic differences in cognition are more likely to be passed on from mother to child than from father to child (so all you moms reading this, you were right all along). Read More   

  My family used to joke that I couldn't hear directions in the same room but I could hear the sound of a chocolate bar unwrapping all the way across the house with the TV blaring. Clearly, the issue wasn't hearing loss , but rather a disconnect when it came to dividing my attention between different speakers (or in my case, between a speaker and a candy wrapper!) Concerned about hearing loss? It could be selective hearing. Selective hearing is the natural process by which we filter out background noise, picking up the auditory information that is important to us. Selective hearing is a helpful phenomenon, but it can become problematic if the brain filters out what it should be paying attention to. Read More   

  Will your baby’s blue eyes stay that way? It’s possible, but not guaranteed. Babies born with blue or grey-colored eyes may end up with a different eye color later on. This is because of the pigmentation process, which continues to develop after a baby is born.  Caucasion babies are generally born with blue or grey eyes, but much of the time, their eyes darken to green, hazel, or brown by age one. Some babies won’t settle into a final eye color until closer to age two. Read More   

 Can you predict your new arrival’s weight? There are a few clues that can help you guess. But there’s no way to fill in the weight on the birth announcement until the nurse places your bundle of joy onto the scale.  Read More  

  Blue is one of the rarest eye colors worldwide. The genetic mutation behind blue eyes actually switches off the gene that colors eyes brown and leaves them blue.  Everyone with blue eyes is related to a single, common ancestor. This ancestor most likely lived close to the Baltic Sea between six and ten thousand years ago.  What color eyes will your baby have? When a new addition is on the way, it’s only natural to wonder about their appearance. Will your baby have blue eyes? There is no way to be totally sure, but you can make a good guess.  Read More  

 You may have heard about genetic testing for Down Syndrome during pregnancy. But what exactly is Down Syndrome? What are your chances of birthing a baby with this condition? Researchers do not know a lot about what causes Down Syndrome, but they do know a lot about how it works. There is also a lot of knowledge out there about some specific risk factors that increase your chances of having a baby with Down Syndrome.  Read More  

  Cleft palate is one of the most common birth defects in the United States. A cleft palate occurs when the tissue of the roof of the mouth does not join up. This causes a separation.  There are different types of cleft. It can be split in the front, back, or all the way across the roof of the mouth. It can accompany a cleft lip, which happens when the tissue around the mouth does not join up. This leaves an opening on the top lift that sometimes extends up through the nose. A cleft lip can occur with or without a cleft palate. Read More

    Wondering if your baby could be a redhead? Red hair is the rarest natural hair color in the world. Just 1-2% of all humans have red or orange hair. However, in Ireland and Scotland, about 20% of the population are redheads.  Could your little one be born a carrot top? The chances are slim for most people. They are even slimmer if neither parent has red hair, but it can happen. Read More    

 What will your baby look like? Hair color and eye color are the most common things expecting parents wonder about. While there is no sure bet, you can make some good guesses with the right information.  Read more

  Autism may be linked to the consumption of processed foods during pregnancy, according to a new study . Dr. Selah Naser of the University of Central Florida has investigated the relationship between an acid added to packaged foods and fetal brain development. He believes that this acid may contribute to autism.  Read More

I don't use rewards like toys, candy, or money to  motivate my child . I find that without treats and prizes, she  gains more self-confidence  and  better values her personal achievements . But I didn't always feel this way.  Read the rest here on POPSUGAR

Breastfeeding on a schedule worked best for my baby, but I quickly learned not to talk about it.  Breastfeeding mothers  often rely on babies' hunger cues and shun schedules. But the clock's guidance actually transformed  my colicky infant  into one who was happy, alert, and even  met her milestones  more quickly. Read the rest here on POPSUGAR

Finding the best nipple cream may have saved my  breastfeeding journey  from ending within weeks. I had no idea how  painful nursing  would be for me, especially since my baby had a poor latch. In the end, I made it through and ended up  nursing for two years and four months . I came to love and cherish breastfeeding, but I almost didn't make it past the first month. Read the rest here on POPSUGAR

“Have you been depressed or thought of suicide?” The question rolled off the doctor’s tongue, and I smiled and shook my head on cue. I had heard it about seven times over six weeks after having my baby girl — from NICU nurses, our pediatrician, my lactation consultant, and now from my OB at my 6-week checkup.  They all rattled the question off, and I always smiled and said no. Depression has never been much of a friend of mine, and after having my first child, I was on the other end of that spectrum. I was so happy I felt a constant sense of bliss and euphoria. Between the postpartum and breastfeeding hormones flooding my system with oxytocin and soaking in the concept that I did this—I had a baby, my life’s goal complete—there was no depression. None. But there was anxiety. No one ever asked me about that.  I never even asked myself. It’s very difficult, for me at least, to reflect upon my emotional or mental state while I’m in the middle of experiencing it. I can...

I learn all my best baby sleep tips from the amazing consultants at Sleep Wise Consulting. For our sensitive little girl, paying attention to what she ate helped so much with her sleep. Check it out:  Eating the right foods (and avoiding the wrong ones) can significantly impact how well your toddler sleeps. After age one, babies’ nutritional needs shift, and it’s easy to unwittingly cause sleep problems by offering the wrong foods at the wrong times. There are two major changes in a baby’s dietary needs after her first birthday. To begin, milk is no longer the primary source of nutrition, but rather solid foods are now more important. Secondly, cow’s milk can be introduced. When you start cow’s milk, you’ll wean formula. But cow’s milk is not simply a replacement for formula. It plays a very different role in a toddler’s diet, and it needs to be offered in a new context. Read the full post over at Sleep Wise's page

I highly recommend Sleep Wise Consulting by Katie Pitts when it comes to sleep. The ladies on her team seriously make magic! Check this article out on why good naps beget good night sleep: Babies who take good naps will sleep better overnight. It may sound counterintuitive, but we promise it’s true. Keeping a baby up longer during the day will not tire them out for a good night’s rest. In fact, one of the most important factors in sleeping through the night is a well-rested baby. What Happens When a Baby is Sleep Deprived? To understand why this is true, let’s take a look at what happens when a baby is not well-rested. Have you ever stayed up later than usual and experienced a second wind? That surge of energy is from the stress hormones, cortisol, and adrenaline. Your body produces them because it senses that something is wrong. You did not go to sleep when your body clock said it was time. This is what happens to a baby who misses the right time to go down for a nap. The di...

Short naps are so frustrating but they CAN be fixed! Read about it here !

Toddlers get upset very easily. Their frustration tolerance is low because, well, their general capabilities are low. Imagine for a second that it took you five minutes to do one button on your sweater. Now apply that to a billion other things and you have a window into what life is like for a three-year-old. There are  many things a toddler struggles with , but one of their greatest limitations is their language ability. They cannot always properly explain what’s bothering them nor do they have the words to handle conflicts. Lacking both the words and the abstract thinking required to express complex (or even not so complex) feelings causes problems. Toddlers will attempt to handle situations with yelling, crying, pushing, and grabbing. Since all these are generally frowned upon, they usually end up  punished  while the original issue remains unsolved. Poor things. Continue Reading

Read it Here!