Hello, February! Did you know this month is “I Love To Read Month”? (September is another literacy awareness month, but really—shouldn’t every month promote reading?) There is a lot of science on the importance of reading to infants, toddlers, and young children. We’ll take you through these benefits. Additionally, read on for general tips on reading to your little ones and some guidelines for picking the most age-appropriate books. The importance of reading aloud with your baby: Early reading provides building blocks for speech and language skills. When you read to your newborn, infant ..read more

Welcome to the new year, Amara readers! We are wishing you and your families a happy and healthy 2024. Speaking of happy and healthy, many of us set fitness and wellness goals this time of year, and for moms it’s no different, whether you’re a first-time parent or have had children before. Today, we bring you a run-down on postpartum fitness—why it matters; what are some realistic goals; and fun exercises to do solo, with a friend, or with your baby!   First: what are the benefits of exercise after childbirth? It promotes gradual and healthy weight loss after pregnancy. Exercis ..read more

  At Amara, we’ve written quite a few posts about how safe something is for pregnant women, breastfeeding moms, infants, and toddlers—things like caffeine, food additives, BPA, and sugar. And while each of those substances are different with unique risks, the overwhelming takeaway regarding each is: limit your exposure.  Today, we give you a deep dive into alcohol and pregnancy, with the resounding (and different from the ^) message, taken directly from medical researchers and providers: No level of alcohol exposure during pregnancy is known to be safe. But first a bit of backgr ..read more

  Did you know that when you and your baby dance, sing, and play around with music, at least eight areas of their brain are activated at the same time? Wow!  During the first three years of a baby’s life, their little bodies grow at a remarkable rate. Just one example: their brains form new connections with each new experience—700 new connections per second in the first year alone! Us parents want to encourage this phenomenal brain development—plus other growth—as best as possible. And among many other positive learning experiences, music is very helpful for this. It uses ..read more

Toddlers. And sleep. Two things that don’t seem—in many parents’ minds and experiences—to go together.  Any of this sound familiar to you? My toddler wakes up at 1am. My toddler wakes up—and expects me to too—at 5am. My toddler refuses to go to sleep. My toddler takes forever with their bedtime routine. My toddler escapes from their bed after being put to sleep. And with these experiences, many of us have created certain ‘myths’ or beliefs in our heads, like: Toddlers just don’t sleep well. Toddler bedtime is called “the witching hour” for a reason. Sleep regression is a part of “tod ..read more

We have heard it a million times: eat your veggies. And yet, so many of us fall short on this. And what about our children? If we as adults are struggling to fill our plates with lots of vegetables, then surely our kids aren’t getting enough either. Today, we dig into this topic, focusing on America’s “veggie report card.” We look at how many vegetables American children and adults are daily consuming, how that fares with government recommended intakes (hint: it’s not enough), and what we can do—as parents—to increase our own veggie count … and our children’s.   Before we dive i ..read more

  Arts and crafts are an essential part of early childhood development and education. Aside from fostering our children’s imaginations, artmaking also supports many physical, cognitive, and emotional skills. Read on for these benefits! ? Arts and crafts encourage fine motor skills. When our toddlers use their small hands and fingers to hold crayons and paint brushes, they’re developing their ability to use both hands dexterously. They’re also working on their bilateral development, where they can use both sides of the body in different ways but together. These skills are essential bu ..read more

Caffeine is addictive. Caffeine causes insomnia. Caffeine has no health benefits. Caffeine is full of health benefits. Caffeine is harmful for women trying to get pregnant. When you’re pregnant, you shouldn’t drink coffee. It’s fine to drink coffee when pregnant.    We’ve heard it all before.    There is a lot of conflicting information out there about caffeine and its health consequences, especially for pregnant women, because there are a lot of conflicting scientific studies about the topic. So, when you Google this topic, the advice is often confusing.   We have de ..read more

  Long before your baby speaks their first words, their communication skills have already been developing!  In this post, we’ll cover common speech and language milestones for the first three years of life, helping you monitor your baby’s development to make sure they’re (generally speaking) on track.   (You might ask: what’s the difference between speech and language? Well, speech means making sounds that comprise words, whereas language means using words—and eventually sentences—to express yourself.)    Strong speech and language skills, as you’ll see below, are clo ..read more

  For many breastfeeding moms, pumping is a must for a variety of reasons—to be able to bottle feed your baby (or to enable your partner to bottle feed); to store milk for when you and your baby aren’t together; to increase your supply, or even to deal with a tricky oversupply. For many of us, especially first-time moms, pumping seems daunting and brings forth a wellspring of questions. Which pump do I buy? Will my insurance cover it? How do I use this thing? When do I pump? How often? Even for seasoned mothers, pumping can be tricky.  So, we’ve prepared some tips to make it go ext ..read more