How to be Super Mom Kids Crafts - Paper Plate Turkey

Feeling like a super mom is a state of mind. When a mother manages to finish all her chores and duties and still find the time and energy to enjoy her children she will definitely feel amazing. If a mother works hard it is to provide her family with the best, and your kids are what matters the most. Try offering them the chance to improve their skills and learning abilities by creating with them these beautiful and simple kids crafts provided by How to be Super Mom.

Paper plate crafts are based on affordable supplies in order to allow every super mom to craft with her children without spending a fortune. Left over paper plates from birthdays or holidays could do the trick. Whether you were looking for thanksgiving crafts or animal crafts this turkey will be convenient.

Supplies Needed

• 1x Paper plate
• 1x yellow construction paper
• 1x red construction paper
• 2x Googly eyes
• Brown paint
• Paint brush
• Glue
• Scissors

Directions

• Cut the paper plate in half.
• Draw 5 feathers on the yellow construction paper.
• Cut them out and repeat the process using the red construction paper.
• Glue the feathers making sure to alternate the colors.
• Cut out a yellow triangle for the beak.
• Cut out a red oval and glue it under the beak.
• Glue the goolgy eyes in place.

Your turkey is now ready. You can either hide it in a box reserved for your kids crafts or add it to the thanksgiving decoration. Enjoy our free paper plate crafts super moms!

Easter Crafts: Plastic Cup Easter Bunny

 

I love crafting with my children. I specialize fifteen minutes a day to craft with my beautiful daughters whom I love dearly. Easter is coming soon, and children would love to make bunnies, chicks and eggs. Easter bunny is adored by kids with all the chocolate eggs he offers so lets learn how to make beautiful kids crafts shaping like bunnies to provide our loved ones with the best time ever. 

This project is easy and very creative and most importantly How to be Super Mom never forgets to choose Easter crafts that are affordable and can be realized by a small number of simple supplies such as card boards, construction papers and plastic cups.

Supplies Needed

• 2 Plastic cups
• 2 construction papers, white and pink
• 3 cotton balls
• 2 Googly eyes
• 1 black pipe cleaners
• Ribbon
• Glue
• Scissors

Directions

• Glue together both tops of the plastic cups.
• Draw bunny ears, bunny paws shaping like ears and 2 hearts. Make sure that the templates drawn on the pink sheet are slightly smaller than those sketched on the white sheet.
• Cut the templates out, glue them together following the picture, and glue the bunny parts on the cups.
• Glue the eyes.
• Glue the 2 white cotton balls on the bottom of the eyes.
• Take a small part of the third cotton ball, color it with pink and glue it in the middle top of both glued cotton balls.
• Divide the black pipe into 6 equal parts.
• Glue three from each side of the white cotton balls.
• Glue the ribbon on the top side of the bottom plastic cup.
• Take two additional parts of the remaining cotton ball, glue them and color them in blue.
• Your Easter bunny craft is ready and your kids could show it off to their friends and relatives.

How to be Super Mom will keep providing you with free, easy kids crafts. Follow our Blog by registering to our mailing list to keep getting all our free recipes, crafts, tips and super mom guides starting from our free potty training guide and soon to come our complete free pregnancy guide.
Super Moms this Blog is what you all have been waiting for, like us on Facebook and visit us daily for more.

 

Easter Crafts: Paper Plate Easter Bunny

Paper plate kids crafts are very easy and extremely affordable. How to be Super Mom suggests you keep all the left over paper plates from events and holidays until you get the chance to make one of our paper plate crafts.
The Easter bunny is one of the most important symbols of Easter Sunday, maybe not as popular as Santa Claus on Christmas but  kids wait for him to bring them chocolate eggs and candies.
This Easter bunny craft will look nice if hung on the fridge or the bedroom's door.
A cute character that your children will love making with you, all you need is paper plates, glue and a marker. Ready? then get your supplies ready and lets get crafting.

Supplies Needed

• 2 white paper plates, one slightly bigger than the other
• 1 pink card board
• A small quantity of cotton
• Black, pink and blue marker
• Glue
• Scissors

Directions

• Glue the large plate over the small one like seen in the picture.
• Draw two large bunny ears on the pink card board, cut them out and glue them from the back side of the small paper plate.
• Glue the cotton in the middle of the bunny ears.
• Using the markers, drew the eyes, nose and mustaches.

See how easy that was? I know that you all love to craft with your kids but you do search for quick and easy crafts since every super mom is over loaded with house chores, errands, and she still loves to spend quality time with her children. How to be Super Mom has always insisted on the importance of a mother-child time and we will always provide you with the best kids crafts to allow you to get more creative ideas along the way.

Easter is coming soon, so why not concentrate on making your own holiday decoration. Bunnies, chicks and eggs can fill your house for a remarkable low cost. Enjoy super moms and keep following our Blog for more ideas on Easter crafts.

Easter Crafts: Easter Bunny Plastic Candy Jar

I love holidays so much and Easter is coming soon. I am looking forward to the family gatherings, warm delicious Easter meals and the best of all is the entertainment we have for the kids during those family parties. We play outside, play catch but we also need to improvise something that would make them sit and slow down for a while. Kids crafts are the best solution for your kids to calm down, quit running all around and enjoy themselves by creating something interesting which they will use to decorate their room.
Easter crafts are all about bunnies, chicks and eggs. In this kids craft we have used two fundamental elements: bunnies and Easter eggs.

Supplies Needed

• 1 empty plastic bottle
• 1 cupcake liner
• 1 ribbon
• 1 A4 white sheet
• 1 bag of candy or chocolate eggs
• Knife
• Scissors
• Glue 
• Black marker

Directions

• Cut the top of the bottle with a knife.
• Glue the cupcake liner on top of the bottle.
• Glue the ribbon on the cupcake liner.
• Print out the following templates on the A4 sheet, cut them out and glue them in place.

Have a terrific Easter super moms and always remember that How to be Super Mom will always provide you with the best tips to make your life easier.

*You can purchase your Easter candies and chocolates from How to be Super Mom.

Party Favor Prepack - Spring Bunnies These Candy you ate as a kid 10 oz party favors are prepacked with over 20 of the most popular candies. Each bag is about 9 inches high by 5 inches wide and is tied with a colorful bow. A typical candy list is below (additional info tab). Quantity discounts are available.Party Favor Prepacks: more choices >>>Not quite the right candies? Select your own candies, party favor bag and ribbon color on our Upack Party Favor page.Orders placed by midnight usually ship on the next business day.

Easter Chocolates - assorted wrapped piece These hollow chocolates come in a variety of shapes including bunnies, hens, chicks and eggs. Each piece is made with delicious milk chocolate and makes a great addition to Easter baskets and gift bags. You will receive a random shape. If you order more than one we will mix up the shapes. Each piece is hollow, measures about 2 inches tall or long and weights 0.75 to 1 ounces.Easter Candy: more choices >>> Orders placed by midnight usually ship on the next business day.

Chocolate Eggs in Easter Foil - 2 lb bulk bag These solid bite sized chocolates have a festive egg shape and are individually wrapped in pastel foil, making them the perfect addition to Easter baskets and gift bags. The egg is 1 inch tall and there are about 160 in a 2 lb bag.Easter Candy: more choices >>> Orders placed by midnight usually ship on the next business day.

Peeps Pink Marshmallow Bunnies box of 12 Soft rabbit shaped marshmallows covered in a sweet sugar coating are what you'll find in every package of these festive treats! These marshmallow bunnies are a classic treat during the spring months and Easter holiday.Easter Candy: more choices >>> Orders placed by midnight usually ship on the next business day.

Easter Crafts - Easter Bunny Bags

Make your own Easter bunny bags following simple steps-
Kids love candy, even though "How to be Super Mom" advice parents to discourage the daily intake of sugary foods but a holiday is sweeter with chocolates and lollipops. If you have the custom to set up an Eater tree then this kids craft is great to be hanged on the tree for decoration. In case you don't like trees, you can prepare these bags to offer them to children visiting your house on Easter Sunday.
Your children will be happy to prepare this Easter craft, and they will be thrilled to offer them to their friends and cousins. Take fifteen minutes out of your busy day and teach your child how to craft this easy bunny face, prepare them from now to be ready when the holiday comes.

Supplied Needed

• 2xA4 white card boards
• 1xA4 pink card board
• 1x A4 black paper sheet
• 1 white cotton ball
• Glue
• Scissors
• Black marker
• Ribbon
• Stapler

Directions

• Take 3 cm from each side (width wise).
• Draw a 3x 29.7 cm rectangle from each side, and fold the papers following the line you draw.
• After folding the edges, fold your paper in half.
• Glue the edges together to make the bag base.
• Draw four bunny ears on the white sheet if you decided to make a white kids craft.
• Cut them out.
• Draw two smaller bunny earlobes on the pink card board if your ears were white and vice versa.
• Glue the ear lobes on the front side bunny ears.
• Glue the ears in place as shown in the picture.
• Cut out two black circles from the black paper for the eyes or use googly eyes.
• Glue the cotton ball for the nose, and draw the mouth with a black marker.
• To hang your bag on a tree, staple a ribbon on both sides of the bunny bag.

Easter crafts are fun if the whole family contributes in the making. Consider inviting your husband to join in, your children will be thrilled and he will learn that spending additional time with his loved ones is a blessing.
How to be Super Mom is posting daily kids crafts that are easy and convenient for all ages, don't forget to join our site, register as a follower and become one of our fans on Facebook.

Easter Crafts: Paper Easter Chick

How to be Super Mom provides a number of Easter crafts to help you spend quality time with your children. This egg chick is a funny and simple kids craft that require 15 minutes to be done. You can either hang it on your children's bedroom door, make 10 more to form a garland that you can decorate your living room with, or decorate your child's note book with it.
A small list of supplies will do the trick. Let's get to work.

Supplies Needed

• 2x A4 yellow paper
• 1x A4 orange paper
• tacks
• Glue
• Googly eyes

Directions

• Draw a large egg for the body.
• Draw two large wings and hang them using two tacks.
• Draw 2 long legs like seen in the picutre.
• Cut out a diamond shape out of the orange paper, fold it in half, glue the top side of the diamond shape as a beak.
• Glue two googly eyes to make this Easter craft even funnier.

Your kids craft is done and ready to be used for decoration. This is an excellent craft for preschoolers, it will help them master few skills such as using the scissors, drawing and gluing.
Happy Easter Super Mom!

Make Your Own Cards- Mother's Day Cards: Garden of Flowers

Make your own cards following How to be Super Mom posts.
This is an easy and simple Mother's day card that you can craft with your children.

Supplies Needed

• 1x A4 white card board
• 1x A4 red card board
• Puncher
• Green wire
• Yellow wire

Directions

• Fold your white card in half
• Draw three flowers
• Punch the flowers as seen in the picture leaving the end of each petal hanging at the end.
• Glue the green wires forming a stem
• Using the yellow wire, form a bud and glue it in the middle of each flower.
• Glue the red card board from the inside of the white card.
• Choose a loverly Happy mother's day poem or quote.

Mother's Day is an event that honors mothers all over the world. Its celebration varies from a country to another. We celebrate it on the 21st of March in the MEA, others on the last Sunday of May, and on the second Sunday of May in the United States and many other countries. No matter when you decide to say Thank you mom it is important to say it with love and affection and nothing is better than a mother's day card to announce it to your super mom.

Make Your Own Cards: Mother's Day Cards- Flower Vase

Mother's day is getting closer and we are all busy preparing for that beautiful event. Every mother is a super mom and she deserves all the love and gratitude we can give her. A handmade card is the best way to say "Thank you mom" for all the trouble you have put yourself into since the day I was born.
How to be Super Mom is posting interesting articles offering you all the guidelines you need to make your own cards. Whether it was Mother's day or St. Patrick's day, handmade objects are always most appreciated because of the time you put into creating them to tell someone that you care.
We have always insisted on the importance of including your children in the making of the handmade projects we offer. Crafting helps a child master many skills which can be later developed into more professional qualifications. Allow them to extend their imagination by sharing a craft project with them everyday. Start by preparing this card to say Happy Mother's Day.

Supplies Needed

• 1x A4 white card board
• 1x Pink or yellow A4 card board
• Dark green marker
• Pink or yellow ribbon
• 3x small flowers of your choice
• Glue
• Scissors
• 1x Colored envelop of your choice

Directions

• Divide the white card board into 3 equal rectangles.
• Make your own card by folding the right rectangle towards the middle, and then the left one.
• Measure 5 cm from the top of the left fold, and two from the bottom.
• Draw the diagonal line, and cut.
• Draw a V shaped vase like seen in the picture.
• Glue it to form a small vase.
• Draw three flower stems with leaves.
• Glue the flowers of your choice at the end of each stem.
• Glue the ribbon on top of the vase.
• Write a beautiful poem or a nice quote on the inside.
• Write Happy Mother's Day on the vase with a white pen.

 This card is very simple and could be considered as kids crafts. Spend quality time with your loved ones and visit How to be Super Mom for daily new ideas.

Online Games for Kids: Saint Patrick's Puzzle

Besides the beautiful St Patrick day crafts for preschoolers we are posting, How to be Super Mom offers free online games for kids to enjoy.
Don't forget to surf our page for more free games to come.

Make Your Own Cards- St Patrick Day Crafts for Preschoolers:Lucky Shamrock Card

St Patrick's day is on the way and we have to be well prepared. How to be Super Mom posted a series of beautiful crafts and cards to prepare for this occasion. Our ideas don't require a fortune to be made, nor a long trip to the market to search for the supplies. You can make your own cards and crafts using two or three materials and they are simple enough to include your children in the making. Allow your kids to help you make those beautiful st Patrick day crafts for preschoolers. A puncher and a cardboard and your card is ready to be offered.

Supplies Needed

• 1x A4 green cardboard
• 1x A4 white cardboard
• 1 shamrock template
• Puncher 
• Glue

Directions

• Start by copying this template onto the center of the folded white card board.
• Using a puncher, and when I say puncher I don't mean the hole puncher but the little hand puncher used by kids in preschools, start by punching out the black lines.
• Fold the green Card board and glue it to the inside of the white folded card
• You have yourself a beautiful and easy to make card.
• If your child is three and up he will be able to help you make this card by punching out the required items. 
• Make sure he learns not to wave the puncher, or run while holding it to prevent any serious injuries.

This card is one of the easiest kids crafts that you can enjoy decorating with your loved ones. It doesn't necessarily have to be a funny leprechaun or a rainbow mobile to be considered as preschool holiday crafts but what counts is for the project to be easy, affordable and free of all hard tasks.
Make your own cards by visiting How to be Super Mom and enjoying its free

St Patrick Day Crafts for Preschoolers: Head Band

When St Patrick's Day comes you would want to have prepared something nice and original for your kids to wear on their heads. While surfing the web, I chose this cute design and decided to give you few pointers to simplify the making of this head band.
The shamrock, the rainbow, the pot of gold and the green color are the main elements that should be present in mostly all the St Patrick day crafts for preschoolers.
How to be Super Mom includes two printable coloring pages to help you finish the head band faster.

Supplied Needed

• Green card board
• 2 white A4 sheets
• Coloring pencils
• Scissors
• Glue

Directions

• Print out the golden pot on one sheet, and many small shamrocks on the other.
• Color them, and cut them out.
• Draw a 5x55cm rectangle on the green card board.
• Cut it out
• Glue the ends together
• Glue the shamrocks and the gold pot as seen on the picture.

Kids crafts offered by How to be Super Mom are easy, and don't require a lot of effort. Our main goal in choosing such simple crafts is to allow you to spend quality time crafting with your child no matter how busy your day was.
A craft like such doesn't require more than 15 minutes to be done. Your child will enjoy the time spent with you and he will get to learn a lot. Use our free crafts as a guide to help you freshen up your ideas for new kids crafts.
For questions, comments or suggestions please don't hesitate to leave your message or contact me by email. It is always a pleasure to hear from you.

St Patrick Day Crafts for Preschoolers: Rainbow Gold Pot

St Patrick day crafts for preschoolers are fun, colorful and very joyful to make. How to be Super Mom has prepared a bunch of crafts to help you enjoy this Holy holiday with your children.
The rainbow, the treasure and leprechauns go back to an old Irish legend, and since this holiday is about celebrating the arrival of the Christianity to Ireland, the Irish culture dominates all the aspects of this day.

This craft is very easy, all you need is an old flower pot, colored pipe cleaners, and you got yourself a beautiful ornament unit.





Supplies Needed

• 1x flower pot
• 5 different colored pipe cleaners
• 10 small pebbles
• Black paint
• Gold paint
• Green crepe paper

Directions

• Start by painting your flower pot in black.
• Paint the pebbles in gold and keep them all to dry for an hour or two.
• Afterwards, shred the green crepe paper into little stripes and fill the pot with both the papers and the rocks.
• Glue the five different pipes to form a rainbow.

A very easy and simple St Patrick day crafts for preschoolers offered to encourage you to spend more time with your child creating beautiful stuff.
Children are a blessing, the more you spend time with them the more you get to teach them new stuff. How to be Super Mom will always offer you free ideas to help you through the motherhood trip.

St Patrick Day Crafts for Preschoolers: Rainbow Mobile

How to be Super Mom will provide you with the best crafts for St Patrick's day. As a mother, I am always looking for easy St Patrick day crafts for preschoolers and this one was amazing, my daughter loved crafting it. We made 10 and we will hang them around the house the night we will be throwing the party. I love celebrating holidays, and even though St Patrick's day is not a popular holiday in my country but I always like to start my own family traditions.



Supplied Needed

• 1x white card board
• 1x red crepe paper
• 1x orange crepe paper
• 1x yellow crepe paper
• 1x green crepe paper
• 1x blue crepe paper
• 1x pink crepe paper
• 1x purple crepe paper
• Rainbow template
• Glue
• Scissors
• Ribbon

Directions

• Use this template to draw a rainbow on the white card board.
• Cut 1x30 cm long crepe strips.
• Glue them to the white rainbow, leaving 10 cm loose from each side.
• Tie a ribbon and hang them in your living room.

How to be Super Mom offers our lovely super moms easy St Patrick day crafts for preschoolers to enjoy. Crafting with your children is very important, and you should try to take 15 minutes out of your daily hectic routine to create something new with your child. This will help blossom his imagination, and allow him to get a better grasp of all the necessary gestures such as holding a pencil, gluing or cutting.
Spending quality time with them is a must if you are willing to have intelligent children with great potentials.
Please do not hesitate to contact me, I am always ready to answer all your questions and you can also join us on Facebook.

St Patrick Day Crafts for Preschoolers: Leprechaun Head

Leprechauns are one of the main symbols of St Patrick's day. It goes back to an old Irish legend talking about that little fairy shoemaker, hostile to people, hiding the place where the treasure is. It is said that treasure hunters are always tracking down the shoemaker hammer sound to find this little leprechaun fellow and find out about the place of the treasure. Wish that was right, then our little fairy can make us rich! With a carton plate, few cardboards and a marker you can make a cute easy to make leprechaun with How to be Super Mom.
This is one of the easiest St Patrick day crafts for preschoolers. Give it a try!

Supplies Needed

• 1x carton plate
• 1x green cardboard
• 1x black cardboard 
• 1x yellow cardboard
• Scissors
• Orange marker
• Transparent glue

Directions

• Start by making little cuts all around the plate, about 0.5 mm each.
• Color them with an orange marker.
• Cut out the shape of a hat from the green cardboard, decorate it with a black strap and a yellow belt ring.
• Glue the hat on top of the carton plate.
• Cut out two, 2 cm diameter, black circles for the eyes.
• Draw the mouth with a marker and your leprechaun is ready for decoration.

Children love holidays and funniest part is the crafts and the ornaments they get to prepare. Even if you are not Irish, it is no harm to celebrate this meaningful holiday with your family. I never did, but this year will be the first time I will throw a St Patrick's day party at home and I will prepare plenty of St Patrick day crafts for preschoolers with my beautiful daughters.
Happy holiday super mom!!!

How to be Super Mom: Interesting Facts about Saint Patrick's Day

Have you ever been amazed by this holiday and ignored its meaning? I did, until today when I decided to make a small research about it. I can honestly say that it has a beautiful meaning and even though I am not Irish, but I am definitely starting a new custom at home this year-- Saint Patrick's Day here we come!!

Saint Patrick’s Day is a religious and a national holiday celebrated on March 17^th and it is known as the Day of the Festival of Patrick. It is mostly celebrated in Irish territories because it is known as the arrival of Christianity in Ireland. The large Irish diaspora celebrates it all over the world. I was always curious to learn the interested facts about Saint Patrick’s Day and the truth behind the adopted symbols. 

Whenever we say Saint Patrick we think about the color green, leprechauns, shamrocks, the harp, the Celtic cross, and the blarney stone.
By which fact do you want me to start first?
The shamrock, the international sign of good luck is closely related to this holiday based on the legend saying that Saint Patrick used the three leaved leaf to clarify the Holy Trinity to the Irish people.
Since the Shamrock is a very important sign in this holiday, the color that represents it is closely related to that good luck leaf. At the beginning, the color blue was the one linked to Saint Patrick’s Day. Little by little the color changed from blue to green and dominated the clothes and accessories used on that holy day!
Leprechaun: Saint Patrick’s Day took a slight twist through time from a pure religious holiday to a cultural and national Irish holiday. People who celebrate it are mainly Irish and since the leprechaun, coming from the ancient Irish term “luchorpan”, is also an Irish legend talking about little shoemaker fairies, the little man was adopted as one of the main symbols of the holidays.
The drinking: Irish people drink to honor the dead, and it is said that Saint Patrick’s day is celebrated on the day of the saint’s death so this seems like the obvious thing to do.
How to be Super Mom did its best to give you few pointers about this amazing holiday, if you have any additional information please add them in the comment box, we will be honored to learn more about this holiday.
Please keep following us for more crafts and recipes related to Saint Patrick’s Day.

Stay at Home Moms Depression: Fight it Off!

Stay at home moms depression is a common situation. All your daily projects are limited to one tiny biosphere; even though it might be great to live every single minute with our loved ones and to be granted with lots of love along the way but sometimes we really need to get out of there. We need a change. We need something that will force us to look into the mirror and say : “hey I need to look nice”. Ever happened to you to forget to look into the mirror? If you are a stay at home mom reading this then you sure know what I am talking about.

Children are amazing, they are a blessing, but to raise them and teach them to be happy you have to preserve your energy and wellness—especially your mental wellness. Depression will float over your head more often if you are at home all the time driving through that routine road day after day but you have to make a change. If you are feeling depressed right now please don’t sleep it off; sometimes it doesn’t work because you will wake up with an even bigger burden.  The best way is to work on your problems. Make a list of what is bothering you the most, and do your best to find a solution to these troubles before going to bed at night. 

If you leave your troubles hanging, you will wake up with a huge load over your head, and you will have to jeopardize another day on the expense of finding solutions or a way to get out of what might be depressing you. The major reason for depression among stay at home mothers is the limited environment she lives in and her feeling of being unproductive. Sadly, yes! She is the most productive woman on earth and yet she feels the contrary and I will tell you why. 

Let’s review together a stay home mom day, hour by hour and see how depressing it could get at the end of the day. After a long night of non-sleep, she wakes up very early to get the kids ready for school or to feed her toddler/baby. She has to drive her kids to school, come back home and start her daily routine of cooking, cleaning, running behind her little ones and gathering all the effort she could get to spend 16 extra hours of non-rest after a long night of non-sleep. She sips her coffee while running around the house; at the afternoon she has to drive her kids to their activities/ study with them/ or create activities to entertain them. Later, she bathes them, gives them healthy snacks and dinner, send them off to bed after reading their favorite bed time story, turn around and find the house in a terrible mess as if she hasn’t worked her ass off all day to clean it and put it in order. And the cycle continues. It is an endless, boring cycle. Now, we didn’t mention the hubby, coming back from work tired as if he is the only one who worked all day and asking his wife to pamper him. 

Yes ladies and gentleman, this is a small sample of a regular stay at home mother’s day.  Add to that the possibility of her catching a cold, one of her children getting sick and many more spices that could be added to intensify the feeling of depression. 

Society takes us for granted. We are not appreciated. People think we are sitting down on our butt all day watching sitcoms—I wish!!!! 

You want to fight depression my dear “stay at home mom” than start by admitting that the way you run your life is not healthy. Sacrificing all your time for your family is amazing but you still have to keep the right of having a time for yourself! 

How to be Super Mom will help you fight to get more appreciation in society, to learn how to create a time for yourself and to show people that you are more productive than anyone else in the world.

Depression in New Mothers: Causes, Consequences, and Treatment Alternatives Depression is the number one cause of maternal death in developed countries and results in adverse health outcomes for both mother and child. It is vital, therefore, that health professionals are ready and able to help those women that suffer from perinatal and postpartum depression (PPD). This book provides a comprehensive approach to treating PPD in an easy-to-use format. It reviews the research and brings together the evidence-base for understanding the causes and for assessing the different treatment options, including those that are safe for use with breastfeeding mothers. It incorporates a new psychoneuroimmunology framework for understanding postpartum depression and includes chapters on: Negative birth experiences Infant characteristics Psychosocial factors Antidepressant medication Therapies such as cognitive behavioural therapy Herbal medicine and alternative therapies Suicide and infanticide Invaluable in treating the mothers who come to you for help, this helpful guide dispels the myths that hinder effective treatment and presents up-to-date information on the impact of maternal depression on the health of the mother, as well as the health and well-being of the infant.

The Ghost in the House: Real Mothers Talk about Maternal Depression, Raising Children, and How They Cope An award-winning reporter for the "Washington Post," Tracy Thompson was thirty-four when she was hospitalized and put on suicide watch during a major depressive episode. This event, the culmination of more than twenty years of silent suffering, became the point of departure for an in-depth, groundbreaking book on depression and her struggle with the disease. "The Beast" shattered stereotypes and inspired countless readers to confront their own battles with mental illness. Having written that book, and having found the security of a happy marriage, Thompson assumed that she had learned to manage her illness. But when she took on one of the most emotionally demanding jobs of all being a mother depression returned with fresh vengeance. Very quickly Thompson realized that virtually everything she had learned up to then about dealing with depression was now either inadequate or useless. In fact, maternal depression was a different beast altogether. She tackled her problem head-on, meticulously investigating the latest scientific research and collecting the stories of nearly 400 mothers with depression. What she found was startling: a problem more widespread than she or any other mother struggling alone with this affliction could have imagined. Women make up nearly 12 million of the 19 million Americans affected by depression every year, experiencing episodes at nearly twice the rate that men do. Women suffer most frequently between the ages of twenty-five and forty-four not coincidentally, the primary childbearing years. "The Ghost in the House," the result of Thompson's extensive studies, is the first book to address maternal depression as a lifelong illness that can have profound ramifications for mother and child. A striking blend of memoir and journalism, here is an invaluable resource for the millions of women who are white-knuckling their way through what should be the most satisfying years of their lives. Thompson offers her readers a concise summary of the cutting-edge research in this field, deftly written prose, and, above all, hope.

The Postpartum Effect: Deadly Depression in Mothers A Mothers Tears presents a caring and knowledgeable picture of postpartum depression. Psychologist Arlene M. Huysman explains the very real hormonal and emotional causes of what was once dismissed as the baby blues, defines who is at risk, and shows readers how to recognize the illness. She also describes proper treatment, explains how to make sure ones doctor is an ally, and discusses how family can help new mothers get well again. This primer on the causes and cures of this common but long-misunderstood illness contains a new chapter presenting the most up-to-date research and developments.