Baby Holders ~ Links

Wear your baby comfortably close to your heart

Below are various links to local and national organizations and publications which promote natural family living, including some local sites of Kalamazoo area families. If you know of an organization which would fit well on this list, please contact me and I'll add them. Also, if you notice any broken links on this page, please let me know. Thanks!

Local ~ National ~ Magazines ~ Baby Sign Language

Local Kalamazoo Area Organizations

Birthing Choices ~ Labor Support Doula Services in the greater Kalamazoo area. Erin West is a certified doula with DONA International, and a mother of three children. She has been providing childbirth assistance since 2002, and has been certified in 2004.

Bradley Childbirth Educators ~ The Bradley Method® classes stress the importance of Healthy Baby, Healthy Mother and Healthy Families, and they attract families who are willing to take the responsibility needed for preparation and birth. Local Bradley Method® educators are Jennifer Starr-Reivitt and Dawn Maynard of Birth Partners of Kalamazoo (www.birthpartnersofkalamazoo.com), and Jessica English (www.kcha.com/bradleymethod).

Diapers Unlimited DyDee Service ~ Cloth diaper service serving parts of SW MI and northern Indiana, and located in Kalamazoo.

Hope's Creations ~ Local WAHM photographer, Amanda Hope Horein, provides family photography services in the southwest Michigan area. She can also create a custom slideshow or collage using photos of your choice, and can even include background music, to celebration and memorialize special your family's special times

JoShoes ~ More and more studies show that barefoot is best... Moms know that isn't always an option. Soft sole shoes are the perfect answer. Double sole construction offers superior protection, comfort and flexibility for babies and toddlers. Quality, hand made shoes at an affordable price. Made locally in the greater Kalamazoo area!

Kalamazoo Birth and Doula Services ~ Jessica English and Kendra Brooks provide doula services throughout Southwest Michigan. They serve moms with physical, emotional and informational support for their birth journeys. Jessica also teaches Bradley Method Natural Childbirth classes.

La Leche League of Kalamazoo ~ International non-profit group helps mothers worldwide to breastfeed through mother-to-mother support, encouragement, information, and education and to promote a better understanding of breastfeeding as an important element in the healthy development of the baby and mother.

Miracle Diapers ~ This organization provides information, education and support for low income families wanting to choose to cloth diaper their babies. This Michigan chapter was started by our own member, Amanda Horein!

Step-N-Tyme Farm ~ Scott & Carmen Bartholomew founded this farm in 2000 near Kalamazoo in order to provide healthy, organic grass-fed, pastured animal products to local families. Products include beef, pork, poultry, eggs, and dairy products, plus a cow-share program which provides families with all the health benefits of real milk.

WhizKidz ~ Lori Saunders lives in Whitmore Lake, MI, and recently started an informative website on Elimination Communication. She is trying to help spread the word about using EC as an alternative option to traditional western potty training which typically begins after age two. This technique is beneficial to our environment as well as providing a more natural response to our children's elimination needs.

National organizations

Families for Natural Living ~ This organization was part of Kristi's motivation for starting this local Natural Families of Kalamazoo parenting support group back in November of 2004. Please visit their website for wonderful information and resources, and consider making a donation to support their cause of helping to create natural family community groups all over the country.

Attachment Parenting International ~ The mission of Attachment Parenting International (API) is to promote parenting practices that create strong, healthy emotional bonds between children and their parents. These practices nurture and fulfill a child's need for trust, empathy, and affection, providing a lifelong foundation for healthy, enduring relationships.

Alliance for Transforming the Lives of Children ~ Their mission is to champion a culture of compassionate individuals, families, and communities who have fun with, learn from, and responsively and lovingly interact with children. They accomplish this by providing guidance about consciously conceiving, birthing, and nurturing children.

birthNETWORK ~ A non-profit, consumer-advocacy group promoting awareness of the benefits and availability of healthy, normal pregnancy and childbirth through information and support.

Birth With Sol ~ Offers an amazing selection of fabulous products for all of those wonderful women in your life, all in one location. Not only do they carry gift items to pamper and spoil but also those that are practical. Located in Richland.

Campaign For A Commercial-Free Childhood ~ Campaign For A Commercial-Free Childhood is a national coalition of health care professionals, educators, advocacy groups and concerned parents who counter the harmful effects of marketing to children through action, advocacy, education, research, and collaboration. We support the rights of children to grow up – and the rights of parents to raise them – without being undermined by rampant commercialism.

Center for Nonviolent Communication ~ A global organization helping people connect compassionately with themselves and one another through Nonviolent Communication language, created by Marshall B. Rosenberg, Ph.D., which awakens empathy and honesty, and is sometimes described as “the language of the heart.”

Center for a New American Dream ~ Helps Americans consume responsibly to protect the environment, enhance quality of life, and promote social justice. They offer resources that make it easier to live consciously, buy wisely, and join with others in the New Dream Community trying to make a difference.

Co-op America ~ A not-for-profit membership organization founded in 1982. Their mission is to harness economic power—the strength of consumers, investors, businesses, and the marketplace—to create a socially just and environmentally sustainable society.

Frontier Natural Products Co-op ~ Start your own buyer's club with Frontier with a co-op membership fee of just $10. Then get some friends together and order the Frontier lines of herbs and spices and body-care products, or any number of other brand's products as well. Orders over $250 get free shipping!

Holistic Pediatric Association ~ The HPA is a non-profit, educational organization that unites parents and health professionals in the common goal of improving and transforming pediatric medicine into a safe, nurturing, and sensible holistic health care system for children.

Laptop Lunches ~ Laptop Lunches are American-style bento boxes designed to help families pack nutritious, environment-friendly lunches for school, work, and travel. Our sustainable lunch containers--which come with a book of healthy lunch ideas and lunchmaking recipes--are reusable, recyclable, and dishwasher safe. And all of our lunchboxes are lead-free. They offer an online or e-newsletter, lunch ideas, and a school fundraiser program.

The Natural Child Project ~ Their vision is a world in which all children are treated with dignity, respect, understanding, and compassion. In such a world, every child can grow into adulthood with a generous capacity for love and trust. Our society has no more urgent task.

Organic Consumers Association ~ (OCA) An online and grassroots non-profit public interest organization campaigning for health, justice, and sustainability. The OCA deals with crucial issues of food safety, industrial agriculture, genetic engineering, children's health, corporate accountability, Fair Trade, environmental sustainability and other key topics.

Touch the Future ~ Athletes call it the Zone, researchers call it Flow, children call it Play. Our mission is to help adults, parents, educators, childcare providers and amateur athletic coaches rediscover this Optimum Learning Relationship and apply it to parenting and to education. Our objective is to optimize learning, performance and well-being by cultivating an awareness of the way "states of relationship" impact human development, at any age, in any field. We accomplish this by designing and developing appropriate learning opportunities which target the needs of different populations. Our goal is to bring about a deep change in the way adults view and relate to the developmental needs of children. Change adult perceptions and behaviors and all of childhood changes with it. Focus only on the child and we remain right where we are.

Two Angry Moms ~ Are you sick and tired of packing your kids’ lunch box everyday because the cafeteria food is unfit for human consumption? Do you feel guilty when your kids “buy”? Are you annoyed at all the junk being handed out and sold at school? Are you angry enough to do something about it? Two Angry Moms is a documentary that asks the question: What happens when two “fed-up” moms try to change the school lunch program? Please join them in their fight for the health of America’s children.

Whole Children Whole Planet Expo ~ This is the First Natural Parenting and Family Expo of its kind! The Whole Children, Whole Planet Expo will provide the answers that a fast-growing group of socially and environmentally conscious parents are looking for to keep the planet and their families naturally safe and healthy. The next expo is scheduled for May 17-18, 2008 in Northridge, CA. They have many more links to national organizations on their website, too, as their expo sponsors.

Magazines

Mothering: Natural Family Living ~ Mothering magazine is an amazing resource for parents from pre-pregnancy through the teenage years of childhood, with articles about topics such as breastfeeding, natural birth, healthy living, homeschooling, recipes, and much more. Their online resources include a shopping guide, articles from backissues that are searchable by topic, book reviews, and a huge online forum where parents can discuss most parenting topics under the sun.

Purchase a discounted subscription or renewal of Mothering Magazine through a special program offered by Mothering to WAHM's. You can also purchase gift subscriptions this way! If ordering a renewal, please include your customer number (from the label on your magazine) in the comments section when checking out. Thank you!

Mothering Subscription ~ 1 year = $20
Mothering Subscription ~ 2 years = $35
Mothering Subscription ~ 3 years = $50