By Carol Gray, LMT, CST, RPYT, ERYT-200 Parents ask me about solid food introduction all the time. Here’s my take on it. Babies Need Iron Babies store iron in their bodies while they gestate. Milk has next to no iron in it. At some point after birth, babies’ iron stores begin to diminish. This is often when they show signs of interest in iron-rich solid food. Hopefully, this occurs around
Cry Baby
August 31, 2021
By Carol Gray, LMT, CST, RPYT, ERYT-200 I recently had a conversation with parents about crying babies and toddlers. They were apartment dwellers who were concerned about disturbing the neighbors. CRYING! It is, after all, a distress call. It’s disturbing — like having a shrieking smoke alarm in your living room. It’s supposed to attract parental attention. Crying is one of the baby’s main survival skills. It helps a baby
More About Epidurals
August 24, 2021
By Carol Gray, LMT, CST, RPYT, ERYT-200 I have been thinking a lot about epidural anesthesia for childbirth. Among those who have experienced it, birth is almost universally described as painful. Who wouldn’t want a drug or procedure that takes away the pain? Clearly, most pregnant people in America want this. It is by far the mainstream way to give birth. When Did It All Begin? What I’m wondering about
How Fetal Constraint Affects Babies: Things We Notice After Birth
August 3, 2021
By Carol Gray, LMT, CST, RPYT, ERYT-200 This is part six of the six-part Stuck Baby Series. In part one, My Baby Dropped!, I explain why engagement is pathology. In part two, Why Did My Baby Get Stuck?, I describe the maternal factors that cause babies to get stuck. Part three is Fetal Factors: How Babies Get Themselves Stuck. Part four explores Fetal Constraint: How Culture Immobilizes Babies. Last week,
Interview With Carol Gray
February 9, 2021
We hope you enjoy this interview with Carol Gray on Born to Be Breastfed. It’s about Craniosacral Therapy and breastfeeding. Carol has dedicated her professional life to supporting expectant and new families by promoting gentle aware birth. She has attended births for over 35 years – at first as a doula and from 2000 to 2012 as a midwife. She has since retired from attending births in order to focus
Baby Yoga and Developmental Movement
February 2, 2021
By Guest Blogger, Ellynne Skove, LCAT, BC-DMT, NCC, E-RYT Baby Spines Babies are born with their spines in a “c” curve. They have been furled into fetal position, not unlike a fiddlehead fern in the spring. The fiddlehead unfurls with time and growth, turning into a lovely full, upright, and open fern leaf. The human baby, with time, and an innate blueprint of movement patterns that involve pushing, pulling, and
Finding Your Question
January 26, 2021
By Carol Gray, LMT, CST, RPYT, ERYT-200 Finding Your Question is a process I have been introducing to groups for over 20 years. I have lead this activity with more than a thousand people – usually in small groups. I never tire of it. I guide ALL of my Craniosacral Therapy students to find their deepest questions at the beginning of any class series. It has been a daily practice
10 Ways to Prioritize Your Relationship During Pregnancy/New Parenthood
January 19, 2021
By Guest Blogger, Jacqueline Holden, MA, NCC, PMH-C The New Parent Checklist When preparing to welcome a new baby, parents often make long lists of things to buy and classes to take. Most prenatal checklists look the same: -find a provider -take a childbirth class -schedule maternity pictures -decorate the nursery -write a birth plan Preparing Your Relationship Unfortunately, what’s missing from most lists is anything about preparing your relationship
Your Village Built By You
January 12, 2021
By Guest Blogger, Olivia Spitzer We have all heard the adage, “It takes a village to raise a child.” As new parents, a big piece of your work is identifying who will be included in your child’s village. During (and even before) pregnancy, you are already thinking about which grandparents will be available to you for support. You know which friends will serve as aunties or uncles. You find a
6 Tips for Bringing Home Baby Number Two
January 5, 2021
By Guest Blogger, Krystle Gard When you bring your first baby home time stops. Your whole life is now all about them. You feed on demand, sleep when you can, and stare at that sweet baby for hours. Life is relatively simple. And by ‘simple,’ I mean you have one sweet baby to care for. Enter baby number two and everything shifts. Now you need to navigate how to feed
