This isn’t exactly an easy question, or at least not one that lends itself to a universal answer. The fact of the matter is that it can vary greatly from one preschool to the next. Some preschools will absolutely demand that your child is already potty trained before he starts. Most preschools fall into this category. (Fortunately, most day care centers do not have the same requirement, or working parents might find themselves with very few options for child care during the day!)

There are a number of reasons why a given preschool might want your little one to already be potty trained before she starts at that preschool. For example:

• It can be unsanitary and unhealthy for the preschool staff and for the other children in the preschool if accidents happen frequently.
• Preschool is more focused on academic and social needs, rather than with other types of developmental needs such as potty training.
• The amount of time that the preschool has with your child is much more limited than what a daycare facility might have. This means that handling potty training or accidents will possibly take away some from your child’s educational pursuits.

There are plenty of opinions out there on when the best time to potty train your toddler might be. The fact of the matter is that, if you want your toddler to enter preschool, she probably needs to be potty trained. That doesn’t mean you should force potty training on your child. If your child isn’t ready, she’s better off waiting for preschool than she is having you force potty training on her.

For the most part, the benefits that an extra year of preschool might present for your child can easily be outweighed by the possible detrimental effects of rushing your child through the potty training process.

There are some preschools out there that are more accommodating. Many will accept children who are potty trained for bowel movements, but who may still have frequent urination accidents. Other preschools are beginning to relax their rules altogether, recognizing that allowing the child to determine when he will potty train is often better, developmentally, for the child.

While it may seem obvious to some folks, it’s most definitely worth stating: it’s not recommended that you diet during pregnancy. Your pregnancy is an important time for both you and for your baby. When you are pregnant, you need to pay serious attention to both nutrition and diet. Planning your diet in such a way as to lose weight or to not gain weight isn’t healthy for either one of you. During pregnancy, your focus should be on getting the right nutrients into your system so your baby can grow and develop properly.

During your pregnancy, you are supposed to gain weight. Pregnancy dieting ignores this basic fact. A woman who is in a normal weight range should expect to gain between 25 and 35 pounds when she is pregnant. Even an overweight woman should plan on gaining weight during pregnancy. Healthy weight gain for an overweight woman is in the 12 to 25 pound range. Women who are underweight should expect to gain significantly more, perhaps as much as 30 to 40 pounds over the course of their pregnancy.

All of that in mind, it’s important not to overdo it in terms of eating, either. You don’t need to consume twice as many calories when you’re pregnant. You only need about an additional 300 calories each day compared to what you would normally take in. Eating for two is more about the nutritional choices you make than it is about the volume of food you eat.

In terms of your pregnancy diet, you will want to make sure there are things that you are getting enough of. You should take in around three to five servings of fruits and vegetables each day. At least one of these vegetables should be a dark orange vegetable, and two of them should be leafy dark green vegetables. During pregnancy, your diet should include two servings of fish, chicken, extra-lean meats, or cooked peas or dried beans. You should make sure to have at least 8 glasses of water during pregnancy to avoid becoming dehydrated. You should also have around six servings of grains, and three servings of either low fat or nonfat milk products.

Technically speaking, you may begin to have Braxton-hicks contractions starting well before the second trimester.  Braxton-Hicks contractions can start as early as somewhere around your sixth week of pregnancy.  Having said that, these early Braxton-Hicks contractions are generally so mild that you aren’t even going to be able to notice them.  Typically, it is sometime much further into pregnancy, often somewhere in the middle of the second trimester, before you start to be able to feel and to recognize Braxton-Hicks contractions.

Just about every pregnant woman is going to feel Braxton-Hicks contractions start in the second trimester.  However, Braxton-Hicks contractions can indeed be so mild for some women that they won’t feel them at all.  If you haven’t started having Braxton-Hicks contractions some time in the second trimester, or even if you are not having any Braxton-Hicks contractions later on in pregnancy, there is not necessarily anything to worry about.  There has not been any research that suggests any sort of connection between Braxton-Hicks contractions that start in the second trimester, or not having them, and any sort of problems with pregnancy, labor, or birth.

Braxton-Hicks contractions can be a little bit unnerving at first.  A woman may be well into her second trimester when Braxton-Hicks contractions start.  She may think, at first, that she is going into labor.  However, Braxton-Hicks contractions differ from labor contractions in that Braxton-Hicks contractions are irregular and vary in intensity.  Labor contractions are rhythmic, and they will continue to increase in intensity as well as frequency from the time that they start until labor occurs.  If you are unable to tell if the particular contractions that you are feeling are Braxton-Hicks contractions or if they are indeed genuine labor contractions, you should call your health care provider.  If you are indeed having labor contractions in your second trimester, you will want to immediately get to the hospital and get under the care of your physician so as to prevent a situation of preterm labor and birth.

It’s not entirely uncommon for a woman to feel like she may be in labor long before she actually is. Many new moms will make at least one trip to the hospital, thinking that today is the day, only to find that they’re sent back home. Knowing when labor has begun means not only watching for labor signs, but also knowing whether or not those signs are really indicative that labor has begun.

Here are some of the earliest signs of labor, which can tip you off to the fact that your baby may be coming within the next couple of days or even sooner:

• Nesting. This doesn’t necessarily happen for every woman, and it’s no reason to rush to the hospital. That being said, many women experience a rush of energy just before labor, and they start to prepare their home for the new baby.
• Lightening. In the later part of pregnancy, your baby is going to settle down into the birthing position. This will reduce pressure on your lungs, and you’ll be able to breathe a good bit easier. This usually will happen within a week or two prior to labor.
• Cervical changes. These are hard to detect on your own, of course. Your cervix is going to change in two ways: dilation and effacement. The cervix will thin or “ripen”, which is referred to as “effacement.” It will also open, which is known as “dilation.” Your doctor will be able to tell when these things are happening.
• Water breaking. The rupture of your membranes is the process whereby the amniotic sac ruptures. It will then leak, and this is what’s known as your water “breaking.” This usually means labor isn’t too far away. You should always talk with your doctor, as having your membranes rupture can pose a risk of infection if labor doesn’t start soon.
• Bloody show. There is a thick plug of mucus that blocks the opening of your cervix. During dilation and effacement, this plug usually is discharged. This comes out as a stringy brown mucus, and it can mean that labor is coming soon.
• Contractions. The best sign you’re going into labor is consistent contractions that become closer together and become longer and stronger.

Part of getting through labor is understanding exactly what to expect. Labor is divided into four specific stages. These stages aren’t hard and fast, and many women may not realize when they’re transitioning from one stage to another. And, because every woman and every pregnancy is different, you may not spend very much time in one stage, while you may spend a lot of time in another stage.

Here are labor’s four stages, and what you can expect to happen during each of them:

• First stage.  This is typically the longest part of labor.  For most first-time moms, the first stage of labor will last for around ten to fourteen hours.  The First stage is broken up further into three phases.  During the early phase, contractions are very light and are 20 minutes or more apart, becoming closer to 5 minutes apart.  The active phase is next.  During the active phase, contractions are about four to five minutes apart, and may last for a minute each time.  This is the point at which you should head to the hospital:  after this is the transition phase.  During the transition phase, your contractions will narrow to 2 or 3 minutes between them, and will last for about a minute and a half.
• Second stage.  This is the stage where you push.  The pushing stage can last as long as three hours or more, but for most women it is shorter.  A variety of factors, such as the position of the mom, the position of the baby, and medications used can affect the duration of the second stage.  Contractions space out somewhat, and will be about 4 minutes apart.  The second stage ends when your baby is born.
• Third Stage.  The third stage of labor is when it is time to deliver the placenta.  You will be asked to push again, and the placenta will come out much easier than the baby.  This usually comes a few minutes after birth, and usually within no more than an hour.
• The postpartum stage is considered a fourth stage of labor.  This is the time that your body sort of snaps back into place, and you recover so that you are able to take up your new duty of parenting.

From the beginning of the first stage until the end of the fourth stage is typically between 10 and 20 hours.  For first-time mothers, this time lasts much longer; for some moms with subsequent pregnancies, this can occur much faster.  Check with your health care provider as to when exactly you should head to the hospital, as she may be aware of specific needs for your situation.

Labor is painful. It’s a simple fact of life. Even if you have a tremendously high pain tolerance, the fact of the matter is that you’re not going to feel good. There’s nothing wrong with feeling like you need some pain relief during labor. Today, it’s often assumed, however, that you’re going to want medical pain relief during labor. That being said, for some women, medical intervention for pain may take away from the experience of birth. These women may turn to natural pain relief options during labor.

Understanding what your options for natural pain relief during labor can help you to make an informed decision when the time actually comes. Here are some of the most common methods that women have used for pain relief during labor:

• Mental exercises. The breathing exercises that you learn in your childbirth class are, in many ways, designed to help you get a handle on the pain of labor. There are a number of different mind-over-matter techniques you can use for natural pain relief during labor. Spend some time learning some of these and you’ll find labor may go more smoothly..
• Herbal remedies. Some of the herbal remedies for labor pain relief might include creams or lotions, for example, that contain a variety of ingredients that can not only provide a natural alternative labor pain relief, but can actually help to move labor along.  These creams use a variety of herbs and ingredients such as Vitamin E, vanilla oil, kukui nut, lavender, and blue and black cohosh.  In some cases, these lotions or creams are also designed to be used for perineal massage, which can help avoid tearing of the perineum or an episiotomy.
• Relaxation techniques. Hypnosis or other relaxation techniques may help with pain during labor. There are even CDs designed to help you enter a more relaxed state of mind when you’re in the delivery process.

Even if you’re going to use natural pain relief during labor, you should spend some time learning about other pain relief options. Research the kinds of medications that the hospital is likely to offer, and learn what the possible side effects as well as the procedures for use are going to be.

One of the questions that expecting parents (and, in cases when you don’t know whether you’re having a boy or a girl, new parents) have to deal with is whether or not to circumcise a baby boy. There are a number of factors that go into making that decision, and there are people who have strong opinions about the matter. Understanding some of the basic ideas about what circumcision is and the issues surrounding it will help you to make an informed decision.

For some families, whether or not to circumcise will be easy. It will be a matter of what’s commonly practiced in their culture, or perhaps their religion. For other families, it’s not quite so easy.

What is circumcision?

When a boy is born, he has a portion of skin, called the “foreskin,” that covers the head of the penis. Circumcision removes that foreskin, which then exposes the head of the penis. In many cases, circumcision is done because of religious beliefs, cultural factors, social factors, or concern about hygiene. In other cases, families simply have a desire that their sons look like the other men in the family.

How common is circumcision?

In the United States, somewhere between 55 percent and 65 percent of all newborn baby boys will be circumcised each year. Circumcision is least common in states in the western US, but it’s more common in the north central United States. Worldwide, circumcision is more common in the US, Canada, and the Middle East. It’s not nearly as common in Asia, Central and South America, and Europe.

When is circumcision performed?

Circumcision is routinely done during the first 10 days of your baby boy’s life. In some cases, it may be done within the first couple of days. Usually, circumcision takes place in the hospital. In other cases, usually for religious rituals, circumcision will take place in the home. Generally speaking you can have your son circumcised at the hospital. This can be done by a family doctor, pediatrician or an obstetrician. If circumcision is done later on, it poses greater risks and also requires a general anesthetic.

One of the more frustrating experiences that can come along with breastfeeding is that of clogged milk ducts. Clogged milk ducts are especially common during those early days of breastfeeding, although they can happen at any time. Understanding what causes clogged milk ducts and, more importantly, knowing how to go about dealing with clogged milk ducts can help relieve some of the pain, discomfort, and stress of breastfeeding.

During those early weeks of breastfeeding, it’s not entirely uncommon for your breasts to become engorged. When this happens, your nipples will often become cracked. In addition, your milk ducts are likely to become clogged. This can be painful, and it can also make further breastfeeding somewhat difficult, to say the least.

When you have clogged milk ducts, you have a number of different options. Here are some of the ways that women tend to address the situation:

• Lotions. There are a number of different types of herbal-based butters, creams, and ointments meant for giving comfort during breastfeeding. These are designed to help you with your clogged milk ducts. Most often, they’ll include ingredients such as calendula, marshmallow root, and plantain.
• Herbal compresses. Some women may experience relief from clogged milk ducts via herbal compresses. These may be made of tea leaves or cabbage leaves. In fact, women have used compresses made from cabbage leaves or tea leaves for centuries to provide relief and comfort when breastfeeding. In addition, breast compresses may contain some of those herbs that you’re likely to find in the herbal lotions mentioned previously. Some compresses are meant for warm use and others for cold use, but the ones meant for warm use seem to give the best results in terms of clogged milk ducts.
• Gel compresses. A nursing mother can also use a gel breast compress to give some relief when she has clogged milk duct. There are gel-like compresses that are actually all natural and use flax seed, rather than gel materials.

If you have pain or severely cracked nipples, or if you have signs of infection, you should most certainly speak with your doctor about the problem.

Menopause is something that most women look toward with at least a little bit of trepidation. One of the biggest concerns, of course, is that menopause signals the shift to a later stage of life. Fortunately, with advances in medical science, it doesn’t mean that life is over. In fact, it is far from over. Today, many women live 30 or even 40 years after menopause fully sets in.

Still, there are some things you can do now in order to help prepare for menopause. Doing these things will help make that transition easier, and will improve your health after menopause as well.

Here are some of the best ways to prepare for menopause:

• Get educated. Learn about how exactly your body is going to change, and why. Learn about women’s health issues after the age of 50. Find out what kinds of particular health risks women face. Talk about these concerns with your doctor, and talk with her about the best strategy for maintaining your long term health and preparing for menopause.
• Start a wellness plan now. This should include things like a moderate exercise program, a balanced diet, and regular health checkups.
• There are three major things you want to avoid to insure your health in the postmenopausal years: excess weight, smoking, and excessive alcohol use. Avoiding these things can greatly increase your cardiovascular system health, and will help reduce the risk of osteoporosis.
• Do some things to strengthen your bones and hold off osteoporosis. You can do strength-training exercises to help with bone strength and to help prevent fractures. You should probably consider taking a calcium/Vitamin D supplement, especially as menopause approaches.
• Eat smart. Limit the amount of salt that you get, and keep alcohol consumption to a moderate level. Try to eat foods that are high in antioxidant vitamins. If possible, eat fish a couple of times a week in order to get a sufficient amount of Omega-3 fatty acids.

Just because menopause is approaching rapidly doesn’t mean that your health has to deteriorate rapidly. By taking some steps now and preparing for menopause, you can prolong your life and increase the quality of your life for decades to come.