Lactation Counselor Certificate Training Program

The RI Breasfeeding Coalition is hosting the Lactation Counselor Certificate Training Program on November 10 – 14th in Warwick. This week long workshop provides technical skills and communication strategies for supporting breastfeeding mothers and is free to prenatal and postpartum health care providers employed in Rhode Island.

Registration Brochure

This doesn’t happen very often to have it here in RI, let alone in Warwick, so if it’s something you have been thinking about doing, check into it soon.
-Shannon

The new girl…

Hi everyone! If you happen to hear an unfamiliar voice when you call or see a new face when you stop by Bellani Maternity there is a good chance that it is me, Maryann. I am the newest addition to the team and I look forward to meeting lots of new people as well as learning lots of new things about moms and babies and everything in between! I am a recent graduate of URI with a bachelor’s in Biological Sciences and am returning to URI this fall to pursue my master’s in nutrition and dietetics. I love learning about science and the human body and especially how our behaviors and diet affect our overall health and well-being. My favorite thing that I have learned so far working at Bellani is how by using a simple tool like a KidCo. Food Mill you can make your own baby food at home and avoid all of the sugar and preservatives found in store bought baby food. What an awesome idea! (I know…I’m a nerd! But stuff like that gets me excited!) Anyways, I just wanted to introduce myself and I truly look forward to meeting everyone!

BellaniDad’s First Post

By now many of you have met Bellani’s smallest helper, Emilia. She’s an affable little girl who loves to coo, smile, laugh, and is just about ready to start rolling over.

I know this because I see her do these things all the time with mom. The problem is that when I have her and mom is not around she cries, no, screams for long periods of time. Considering this is our third child I thought that I would be adept at calming and entertaining a baby by now, …clearly I was mistaken. Last night, however, I may have finally found a solution; a Haba rattle. This one to be exact: She transformed from the crying baby that I know to the happy, giggly baby most of you are familiar with in an instant.
Now, I know you might be thinking “oh great, this guy is trying to sell us a rattle” but believe me, if I were going to use this post to try to sell something the preceding sentence would probably have read something like “No matter how hard I try, the only way I can truly feel connected to my daughter or get her to stop crying is to sit with her in the $700 Monarch Nursing Chair.”

I am very excited about my small victory last night for a couple of reasons. One is my sanity. The other, and much more important reason, is when I have all three children by myself (which isn’t often) and Emilia spends much of that time fussing I, unfortunately, am relegated to futilely attempting to calm her rather than engaging our other 2 children, Caden and Abriella. I am sure this situation will improve and as I said, maybe last night is the first step in that direction. We shall see.

Great award, for fabulous classes

Have you taken a Little Van Gogh class yet? If the answer is yes, chances are you will know why it won the 2008 Parents’ Pick from Nick Jr. award! It was voted the Best Artsy Class for Little Kids in Rhode Island. If you haven’t joined the Best Artsy class for Little Kids in RI, why not join us this fall for a class that is full of color, exploration and fun?

Registration is currently open for fall for Little Van Gogh Art Class. Please note if you have taken the class in the past, that this upcoming session is on Tuesdays, not Wednesdays.