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  • Mum Ordered To Allow Formula Feeding

    Mum Ordered To Allow Formula For Her Exclusively Breastfed Infant

    An American judge in Maryland  has ordered a mum to allow her six-month-old son to have formula when he is with his father and so rages the debate between the rights of a mother, father, and child. 


    Amber Brown and Corey Lewis separated not long after their now 6-month-old son was born. Brown’s plan was to follow World Health Organization guidelines that cite recommendations for babies to be fed breast milk exclusively for the first six months, but the baby’s father took her to court, asking a judge to order that the baby be given formula. It seems Brown, like many mothers, had a hard enough time supplying milk as she nursed, and she simply couldn’t pump enough to supply Lewis with milk for night-time feedings. 

    Lewis argued in front of two magistrates in Charles County, Maryland, that he should be able to give the baby formula overnight, because Brown’s desire to exclusively breast feed prevents him from his rights of overnight visitation as the baby’s father. Magistrate Monise Brown agreed with Lewis in July, saying that the mother’s insistence to breastfeed was not a valid reason to withhold visitation, and in fact, could be purposed alienation toward Lewis. 


    Brown filed for an exception, based on her pediatrician’s recommendation that the baby remains nursed, as he could not tolerate formula. The follow-up hearing was just held and Magistrate Mitsy Metzgar concurred with the first ruling that if formula was what was needed for dad to have overnight visits, it should be done.


    And so…this is where it gets so, so sticky.


    While WHO recommends nursing for the first six months, the fact is that the baby has been nursed for six months, with Lewis saying he allowed that to happen. He says that he should now have the overnight visits with his son he is entitled to. Yet, a licensed pediatrician has gone on record saying the baby cannot tolerate formula, and no one seems to be taking that into account. Do judges have the medical experience that licensed clinicians do? Is it normal for them to turn away the advice of certified medical professionals?


    Interestingly, Maryland is one of the states with strong legal wording when it comes to breastfeeding. The law (MD 20-801) states that no person can restrict or limit the right of a mother to breastfeed her child. It would seem that we now are looking at the issue of whose rights trump whose — the right of the mom to breastfeed, or the right of the dad to overnight visitation?

    What about the baby’s rights? If his mother is not able to protect him from possible gastrointestinal issues due to formula intolerance because judges deem that an excuse for her keeping him from his father, who can? Who will?

    What’s your thoughts?

  • I Lie To My Kids, Do You?

    I’m a good parent and I lie to my kids. Lying isn’t what makes me a good parent, but it doesn’t mean that I’m a bad one either.

    The truth is, everybody lies. Toddlers, teenagers and adults – we all lie. Think about it, you even lie to your own kids you know you do. If you say you don’t, you’re lying!


    We lie to our children for a multitude of reasons; we want to protect them, or we don’t always know the right answer, or we’re just lazy or we’re just having some fun. The latter backfired on me recently.


    Obviously, there’s a difference between little white lies and lying to kids specifically to hurt them. The former is the result of taking care of the small people we love but who inevitably drive you to your breaking point and threaten to send you over the edge. [The latter, we don’t even go there.]


    So, with that mind, here are some common lies Reddit and Pinterest users have heard parents tell their kids. Feel free to add your own in the comments section.


    1.”The ice cream van only plays music when he runs out of ice cream.”


    2. “My dad told me the rumble strips on the highway were for blind drivers.”


    3. “Your mom and I were just…em, wrestling.”

    4. “If you don’t behave in the drive-thru you’ll get a Sad Meal.”


    5. “Smoke detectors are actually Santa-cams.”


    6. “My dad told me people only get 10,000 words per month. If you reach the limit, you can’t physically speak until the new month begins. Anytime I was especially talkative, dad would say, ‘Careful, you’re over 9,000 by now.’”


    Little white lies…

    Little white lies…

    7. “If you pee in a pool, there’s a special dye that will turn it red so that everybody knows.”


    8. “If you lie a red dot appears on your forehead that only parents can see. It only goes away when you tell the truth.”


     9. “They don’t sell replacement batteries for that toy.”

    10. “When I was a kid my parents warned me that if I pressed the ‘reset’ button on the power outlet the house would explode.”


    11. “You’ll have to drive a little Smart car if you don’t eat your vegetables because you’ll be too little for a big car.”


    12. “We’re not French so we can’t eat the French Fries in McDonalds.”  


    13. “The tooth fairy won’t come if your room is messy.”


    14. “If I didn’t sit still during a haircut, the barber would cut my ear off. The worst part was that the barber would play along.”


    15. “We have to leave the zoo now. The zookeeper called my cellphone and your crying is upsetting the animals.”

    16. “We’re going to bed now, too.”


    17. “I’m leaving without you.”



    18. “When I was little my Dad told me that toys grew under the weeds in the yard and if I pulled them, eventually a toy would pop out. And I believed it for a long time…”


    19. “The car won’t start unless everyone is buckled in.”


    20. “We’re almost there.”


    21. “I want to carry you but the doctor said your legs would stop growing if you didn’t walk.”

    22. “Our fish went to live with their friends in the ocean.”


    23. “My father always said the animals on the side of the road were just taking a nap because the road was warm.”




    24. “My son was 8 before he knew that football games on school nights had a second half. I always sent him to bed at halftime.”


    25. “When we go on a road trip I’m going to tell my kids, ‘If you go to sleep, we’ll take the shortcut.’”


    26. “We got our daughter to eat fish by calling it ‘Argentinian Chicken’. That worked for a long time until grandma came along and messed it up.”


    27. “Parents used to tell my only brother and I that we used to have another brother who turned into a mushroom from not taking a bath. Even added him to the family albums.”

    28. “My dad said if I could look after a special growing rock, and watered it each day until it stopped growing I could get a dog. I’d water it and every week, while I was at school he’d replace it with a slightly bigger rock.”


    29. “The funniest one I heard was a father who was asked about coconuts in a store by his son. He said: ‘Don’t go near those son…those are bear eggs…’”


    30. “That drawing is fantastic.”


    31. “I’ve got eyes on the back of my head.”


    32. “We’ll come back later and buy it.”  

    33. “If you have the lights on in the car at night, the police will pull us over.”


    34. “If you don’t wipe your bum properly, it’ll close up and you’ll have to spit out your poop.”


    35. “My dad told me oil stains on the street were little kids that got run over because they didn’t hold anyone’s hand while crossing the street.”


    36. “To keep my sister and I busy my mom would tell us if we could kiss our elbow we would turn into the opposite sex..”


    37. “Burger King is for royalty.”

    Have you any funny lies that you were told when you were young? Do you tell lies to your kids? Comment below.




    Credit :DigitalDad


  • Mum Used Her Last Breathe To Save Her Baby

    Wyoming, Illinois, is a small town with only about 1,400 residents.
     This small tight-knit community was where 21-year-old Shelby Ann Carter wanted to have a family.

    She and her fiancé lived with her mum. Shelby worked as a beautician and had started studying to become a pharmacy technician. Then, in January 2017, she gave birth to her daughter Keana Davis. Shelby was so happy to be a mum and was looking forward to watching her daughter grow.


    But unfortunately, her happiness was about to come to tragic end.

    “She was making her mark in town,” said the town’s mayor”

     But on January 30th  only one day after her 21st birthday — tragedy struck.

     Shelby was at home with her baby when a fire broke out. 

    She called the emergency services  for help and told them that she was having trouble breathing. She hadn’t said anything about her baby which led to some confusion when firefighters finally reached the scene.
    Emergency responders found Shelby on the 2nd floor of her house, but it was too late — she had died of carbon monoxide poisoning. But when they finally put out the flames and looked at the scene, they found something truly astonishing: Shelby’s 12-day-old daughter! What had happened?

    Although the house was engulfed in flames, Shelby didn’t let that stop her from doing all she could to save her baby. 
    Finding herself and her daughter trapped on the 2nd floor, she quickly came up with an ingenious idea and rescued Keana Davis by strapping her into a car seat and dropping her out of the window. Shelby had obviously used her last ounce of strength to make sure that her precious baby girl survived.

    “I guess it’s the motherly instinct to take care of their young. We’re all wondering why she didn’t go out after the baby,” explained the chief of the local volunteer fire department.

    Keana Davis was rushed to the hospital where it was determined that she was completely unharmed. She was released to the custody of her family. 

    Keana Davis will never have the chance to know her mum, but at least she can be proud of her. Shelby is a true hero and will be dearly missed by all who knew her, her local community banded together to raise funds to help Shelbys family.

  • Man Ends Up In Court Over Viral Photo

    When Heather Whitten’s son Fox was sick, her husband Thomas brought his son into the shower to help give Fox some relief.  The photo was taken by Whitten, who is a professional photographer.

    “I snapped a couple of pictures,” she said. “It was just beautiful. It was not surprising or anything out of the ordinary; it’s how he has always been with the kids.”
    She likes the image because it shows that “it is okay to get naked with your son and nurture him … the important thing is really taking care of your kiddos.”

    While many loved the photograph of a loving moment with father and son and were upset when the photo was removed, not everyone agreed, and a single individual sent a letter of complaint to the local authorities.

    The Whittens, who have four children — Lillian 7, Leena 4, and   2-year-old twins Fox and Persephone — were then investigated by Arizona’s Department of Child Safety and the Sahuarita Police Department for a number of claims that the person made in their letter.

    While the police said they wouldn’t take action and the case would be closed, a DCS investigator spent the next few months working to portray Whitten as “an immodest, neglectful and abusive mother based on the single interview she had with me.”

    Whitten detailed the whole ordeal on the GoFundMe page she made to help raise funds for her civil case.



    She said the investigator’s negative opinion of her was largely based on the fact that she had chosen to openly breastfeed one of her twins during the interview.

    The claim against the Whittens could be substantiated against Heather in that she “neglected to supervise our children by allowing their images to be online and so put them at an unreasonable risk of harm.”


    If this claim turns out to hold weight in court, Whitten will be added to Arizona’s Central Registry for 25 years, and her right to foster or adopt children will be taken away.

  • My Child’s Stepmother Is A Gift

    To all of the mothers out there who throw a fit when another woman treats your child as her own: why isn’t that exactly what you want?

    I prayed one night for the type of woman my daughter’s father would be with, knowing that she would be raised in two homes.


    Kayla has been a gift of so much more than I could have hoped for. She started nursing school and Payton has been infatuated ever since. So Kayla ordered a pair of mini scrubs for her to match.


    Let me tell you, I’m raising a strong girl, a smart girl and a sweet girl. And I want nothing more than for her to be surrounded with role models who are exactly that. 

    Thank you Kayla for showing Payton how to chase her dreams, how to work hard and stay up late to study for a test. Thank you for still making time to ride her bike with her and make her mac and cheese even in one of the stressful times of your life. 

    You’re a true role model and an amazing bonus mom and we are so proud of you!


    If you’re co-parenting, and seeing your child doing things like this doesn’t bring a smile to your face, reconsider what’s truly best for your child. Payton has more people to love her this way, and what more could a mother ever want for her child? Being best friends with me AND being best friends with Kayla, is exactly where P deserves to be.


    It takes a village, and I happen to love mine.

  • Things Only A Parent Would Say

    Things only a parent would say!!!How many have you ever said?

    Mum what’s for tea?                    “Shit with sugar!!!”


    I’ve told you for the hundredth time.


    Pack it in


    The wind will change and your face will stay like that 


    Close the door, you weren’t born in a barn.


    Do you want some butter with that roll? Walk properly


    What do you want, a medal?


    That’s it I’ve had enough 


    Can’t you see I’m busy 


    How many times do I have to tell you?


    I’m gonna flip my lid in a minute 


    Can you flush the damn toilet in future 


    Am I talking to myself?


    What’s in your mouth?


    Yeah, because I have a spare hand don’t I!!!


    What’s the magic word?


    Erhhh excuse me, who the hell do you think you are?


    Can you just play nicely for 5 minutes?


    You’re just like your mum/dad


    Wait til your father/mother gets home 


    I’m going to count to 3… 1,2, 2 and half, 2 and three quarters, I MEAN IT!


    No means no.


    I didn’t raise you like this.


    Leave your bits alone 


    We don’t wipe bogeys on our sister


    I’m calling grandma 


    You better behave in here or else.


    Why do you always do this 


    Tidy your room now


    Do I have to come up there?


    Give it a rest


    Money doesn’t grow on trees


    Just give me 5 minutes peace


    Manners cost nothing  


    Where are you shoes!!!


    Fine then starve


    Why don’t you use your imagination 


    Don’t even think about it 


    Carry on and I’ll give you something to cry about 


    You’re like 2 peas in a pod 


    Just 5 more mouthfuls


    Don’t drink the bath water 


    I’m not a bloody Mind reader am I.


    Do I look like I was born yesterday? 


    Don’t touch the dandelions you’ll piss the bed 


    Go to your room and stay there 


    I don’t care what they said, I’m telling you no 


    Well if you had listened to me in the first place 


    No shit Sherlock 


    Just because your friends did it doesn’t mean you have to would you jump of a bridge if they did?


    What did I just tell you? 


    Did I say you could? 


    Don’t pick at it you’ll make it worse.


    You won’t know unless you try


    It’ll put hairs on your chest


    Turn that down


    What do you have to say for yourself?


    Wind your neck in


    I’ve had it up to here


    Use your indoor voice

    Can you add anymore to the list?





  • Before I Had Children

    Now you’ve all heard the saying before I had children, I never stopped to smell  flowers, I never pulled over to look at horses…

    But we have compiled the real version… the version no one tells you about  before you have children the truth .

    Sometimes with bare hands
    Or talking dogs or creatures in the night garden
    We all need chocolate
    I’m sorry for being such a bad child
    Ok maybe not
    God damn you tiny creatures
    Every bump, every cough
    Sniff test
    They weren’t really friends anyway
    My child loses a shoe every morning
    Especially if you have more than one child
    They do hold in the tummy though
    About everything!!!!
    Trampolines are a no go
    PACK IT IN!!!
    So tired!!!
    Constantly
    Please let me sleep
    Yep that’s poop
    Well a lot more often than I do now
    Boys have terrible aim
    Please baby stay on your back
    More than once

    Finger painting
    Sometimes on purpose

    Share to any mums to be 

  • What All Carers Wish They Could Say

    Yes I am a carer, yes this is my job. Don’t come in here and shout at me because your mums not out of bed, I know you want her up at 7 but we have others who need us to.

    I’ll get to her as quick as I can but shouting will not do.


    I haven’t had a break but I won’t let your mother wait.

    I’m sorry she isn’t wearing the new pink dress she didn’t want it on, don’t tell me I am stupid and I don’t understand.


    Yes I know you want what’s best for mum, but so do I, you want her to make the appointment to have those tests done,but your mum is dead against it she has a say you know.


    Don’t complain about me I’m doing the best I can, I can’t go any faster and can’t always stick to the plan, I know you want to leave at 8 but I can’t rush your mum.


    When your mum Is crying in the night it’s me who holds her hand. Your mum is so lovely and makes my day so bright, I wish you saw me daughter and all that I do, so stop the constant digs and realise I am human to.


    Don’t come here once a month and tell me what to do, this is not just a job I really do care, I worry when your mum is ill or hasn’t finished all her meal.


    Your mum is well cared for, I don’t want constant thanks but please get off my back and let me do my job.


    Please family member come see what we do, most carers do their very best and will always try to listen to what you want, but speak to us kindly and ask us why, don’t assume we are lazy or just don’t really care. 







  • God Picks Special Parents

    At 15 I found out I was pregnant. Too scared to tell my parents so I left it a while.

    I decided to change doctors so my parents wouldn’t find out. This was 1988 the doctor I had was Dr Carlyon I’ll never forget him he asked me to lay on the bed and felt my stomach he said your around 18 weeks I can feel the head. He then said you’ll obviously want it terminated, I said no straight away.

    I missed the 16 week triple bloods as I was further gone. I went home and cried not because I was pregnant but because I was too scared to tell my mum and dad. I told my partners sister she told her mum then my partner at the time dad went round and told my mum.

    My mum was devastated but soon came to terms with the idea of being a nanny. Anyway my baby was due Christmas but I had a planned c section for the 18th December as my pelvis was too small to pass a baby.

    12th December I started with a tummy ache so tried to sleep for a bit which I did but when I woke pains were still there. Mum rung the hospital and they told her to take me in to be checked. Mum and dad were both at work so my 14 yr old sister came with me. I was 5cm dilated so had to be rushed down for c section. I didn’t get to see my baby until the next morning a beautiful healthy 7lb 14oz baby boy.

    Back then you had to stay in hospital for a week after a c section. Couldn’t believe this baby was mine. During our stay in hospital my son stopped breathing and was trying to gasp for breath the nurse there took him off me and put a suction tube down his throat and sucked up, he was ok she said it was mucus. The next day the pediatric doctor came round to check his limbs and soft spot and said he was perfect.

    Time for us to go home. By this time i was now 16 with a new born and was loving it. Things were about to change 26th December my boy was fussy taking his feeds and going slightly blue around his mouth, dad said it’s probably where he’s sucking hard on his dummy, he said see how he is on next feed if no change we’ll call the doctor. Next feed came and he took 2oz so I thought he’s ok. He was very fussy during the night so mum said get some sleep I’ll put him in my room.

    The next morning mum said she never had much sleep. I started to top and tail him when I put him on the bed he went blue when I picked him up he went back to pink. My mum called the doctors and they sent out the midwife remember this was 1988 so the midwife never had a phone and we didn’t either. She came up stairs took one look at my baby and said he’s really poorly he needs an ambulance. Running up and down our street trying to find someone with a house phone whilst I was holding my dying baby at the front door.

    Finally a lady let her in to use the phone in the meantime my baby had stopped breathing in my sister’s arms. The midwife grabbed him off her run to her car put him in her boot and resuscitated him. 2 ambulances turned up. We got in the back of one and I couldn’t look at my grey little boy.

    They took him straight into resus. It seemed like a lifetime wait. They brought him out inside this little tank which was giving him oxygen they shaved the side of his hair and placed a drip. My poor baby I sobbed. He was then transferred to intensive care. I was asked to wait in the family room until he was ready. They called me in and I was in shock this tiny baby was in an adult bed wrapped in foil with a heat lamp over the top. He had pneumonia his lung had collapsed. Sobbing like a baby a doctor pulled me a side and said were doing tests as we think your son has down syndrome ok I said…down syndrome never heard of it.

    I had to wait for results but the midwife told me she could see the downs in him when he was blue. I stayed in that hospital day and night praying for him to pull through. This will sound a bit weird now but I think I was put to the test to see how much I wanted this child only being 16 myself with a 2 week old baby with downs and pneumonia to fight and pull through this. I didn’t care he had down syndrome he was my baby. They asked me if I wanted him put up for adoption. No I said. I kept asking the nurses will he pull through they just told me it’s 50/50. As each day went by the better he was getting.

    I often questioned why me but I’m glad it was me I was told once. God picks special parents for these babies which made me feel good at 16.

    He was certainly a little fighter he pulled through. 2 weeks later we were allowed home to start a new journey with a baby that had down syndrome. I had a social worker who was fab and she helped me get in touch with other mums.

    Looking back over the years the first 5 yrs were the hardest as he didn’t walk until he was 3 and in nappies until he was 5. He has taught us so much in life he’s fun, loving, really helpful at home.              Does everything at home us mums do ie Hoover dishwasher, change beds and the good thing is he really enjoys doing it. He’s nearly 28 and has more of a social life than us lol. He lives at home still but is out 4 days plus 2 evenings a week.

    He has 2 sisters 25 and 26 and 2 brothers 21 and 4. He has really helped raise awareness with my kid’s their friends and our family members which I think is so important I think children should be educated at school that were not all the same and some people are different.

    It’s not as bad now as it used to be but it’s not as great as it should be.

    With all the good stuff he can still be hard work and challenging especially if he does understand something x

  • PND Had A Grip On Me

    How having a baby changed my world From my perspective
    Before pregnancy:

    • Nurse
    • Partner
    • Friend

    Avid gym goer

    • Happy

    Able to sleep
    After child :

    I lost all of the above. Except my partner, he was still there. And by god am I glad of it. He makes me carry on when I want to roll over and let my post natal depression take over

    I could no longer go to work (maternity leave), arranging childcare was an absolute nightmare so I lost my status of friend for the most part, could no longer go to the gym as again childcare constraints (HELLO WEIGHT GAIN)

    Depressed, anxious, fearful, paranoid
    Post natal depression had got its hold on me, and by god what a grip it had!

    I lost who I was, I was no longer the nurse, partner, friend or avid gym goer anymore

    Instead, I was “mum” I had lost everything I worked hard for, for one word “mum”
    Now, don’t get me wrong being a mum is fantastic. Amazing. Beautiful

    But hard. Oh so hard. Battling with a crying baby, battling with post natal depression and every side effect that came along with it.

    But I feel like I lost my identity. I couldn’t identify who I was anymore

    My life now revolves around this child…

    I need to teach this child EVERYTHING.. shit, that is a massive expectation! I need to know all the answers, like mums do, I need to become a grown up, I need to be a role model, a friend, a saviour and a discipliner like all other mums.

    So while “mum” may just be one word.. the expectation that comes with it is sooooo much bigger
    I love my kids more than anything in this world, and I will do my damned hardest to keep them out of harms way. I now ADORE being “mum” and realised it’s not as bad as it first seemed.

    PND is a nasty evil illness, but with the right support, help and mental attitude YOU can overcome it