Leche, Baby!

We have done quite a bit of traveling with our son. When he was 10 months we took him to Vancouver, British Columbia, which is about a 6 hour flight for us. On top of all the stuff that you need to bring for toddlers (extra clothes for unpredictable weather, toys, diaper bag, cameras, etc…) I really didn’t want to bring a stroller and a car seat as well. At some point, all the “stuff” starts to take away from the pleaure of the trip. I much prefer to travel ‘light’.

I wound up buying the Sit’n'Stroll by Lilly Gold, it is one of the only products on the market that attempts to combine a car seat and stroller. It isn’t a great car seat and it isn’t a great stroller, but it’s light, fairly easy to use and did its intended job.

But when my son was old enough to face forward (1 year or over 20 pounds) he did not fit in the seat anymore even though it is supposed to be for up to 40 pounds. My car is a 2001, the year before they started making the latch system. If I had the latch system I think it would of worked. I wound up returning it for store credit.

Our next big family trip was to Mongolia. This time we brought his regular car seat, due to the incredibly poor state of the roads in the countryside and the amount of car time we would have, and a Go Go Kidz TravelMate. The product converts your car seat into a fairly effective stroller. This worked out very well, and I would recommend it.

Check back for a list of travel tips for families. Particularly if you are interested in traveling in developing nations!

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PBS NOW did a piece on chemicals in infant, toddler and children’s toys. Of particular concern is toys for infants that will wind up in their mouths. In past posts I wrote a few blogs about chemicals (bisphenol A) in sippy cups, the negative health implications, and some safer alternatives that are available to buy (read about Toxic Sippy Cup Here). NOW makes it clear that this is a much bigger problem and that toys that your kids chew on and play with are often full of these same questionable chemicals. Even though these chemicals are banned in the European Union (and soon to be California) in toys meant for children, ‘there is powerful resistance from the chemical and toy industries to doing the same here.’

Phthalates help make plastic toys like some rubber ducks and teething rings soft and pliable. But scientific evidence suggests that exposure to phthalates (which are also used in dozens of other consumer items like, makeup, shampoos and shower curtains) may interfere with the sexual development of boys.

Watch the full video “Toxic Toys?” here. Just click on the picture of ducks.

Here is a useful factsheet on bisphenol A (BPA) and phthalates (THAL ates) from University of California’s Pediatric Environmental Health Specialty Unit.

The NOW web site also has a resource page to help you find non-toxic toys.

Leche, Baby! also has a post chock-full of toy recommendations.

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I had no idea that there was a correlation between breast-fed babies and vitamin D deficiency, which can lead to a softening of bones, or rickets. If I had known that I would have been more vigilant about multi-vitamins for both myself and my son. My son was breast-fed for 2 years, although he started eating other foods around 6 month, which may have caused him to be inadvertently deficient in Vitamin D.

Physicians have known for more than a century that exclusive breast-feeding may be associated with vitamin D deficiency and rickets, and that the condition is easily prevented and treated with inexpensive vitamin drops or cod liver oil. But doctors are reluctant to say anything that might discourage breast-feeding.

Read the full article from the New York Times here.

A friend of mine, a school nurse and an avid holistic care practitioner, recommends Designs for Health’s Vitavescence powdered multi-vitamins for my toddler. You could also try a liquid vitamin supplement from your local health food store.

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Slate has a post on the use and misuse of the timeout by parents.

A reliable body of scientific research accruing over decades has given us a clear idea of how to use timeout most effectively. The technique’s full name, “timeout from reinforcement,” provides the key. Timeout has nothing to do with justice, repentance, or authority. Rather, it follows a simple logic: Attention feeds a behavior, and a timeout is nothing more than a brief break from attention in any form—demands, threats, explanations, rewards, hugs … everything.

The article goes on to suggest ways to admisiter the timeout: use it sparingly, keep it brief, and do it calmly, not in anger. Read the rest of the article here.

Our boy is 2 1/2 years old, and we as parents are just getting into this new “disciplining” phase. He received his first timeout last month, in fact. He thought it was a game at first, to sit in a corner and not play with any of his toys or interact with us. After his second one in the same week, he got the idea and protested quite loudly.

We strive to be judicious, fair, patient parents, careful to use prohibition as the last resort, preferring distraction as a way to redirect disobedience or mischief. But some moments call for quick, nonnegotiable orders, ones with consequences. Our son running toward the street, for example, or walking out the front door without waiting for us. During these moments, what we say, goes. There’s no discussion, no redirect. He will have to come to grips, I suppose, to the notion of an Ultimate Authority. His first timeout was a milestone of sorts, and I felt a twinge of sadness. He lost something.

First weaning, and now this. It’s a wonder how most of us ever turn out stable!

-Papá

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I haven’t had much time to post lately, but recently came across these articles that are too important to pass over.

It seems that some popular baby shampoos have an ingredient (not listed in the ingredient label) called 1,4-dioxane–a known animal carcinogen.

Channel 10 News did a piece on baby wash:

Although 1,4-dioxane is not listed on the label, there are some clues that it’s there.

Look for the words sodium laureth sulfate, or peg.

There are manufacturers that don’t use 1,4-dioxane, among them, California Baby and Aubrey Organics.

Popular dish soaps have also been found to contain 1,4-dioxane, the biggest offenders are the “natural” dish detergents- including the very popular brand, Seventh Generation.
Read 7th Generation response.

Brands found not to contain 1,4-dioxane include Burt’s Bees, Clorox Green Works, Avalon Organics and Dr. Bronner’s.

Babyherbs products are recommended as a safe alternative, and also California Baby and Aubrey Organics (thank goodness! I wash my son with CB and have since he was an infant)

The Environmental News Network has the full story here.

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Are you considering herbal remedies for your child, or are you currently giving your child an herbal remedy? If so, it’s worth it to do a little research to determine whether or not the treatment has been shown to work and that it’s not harmful. Just because something is labeled “natural” doesn’t necessarily mean it is safe.

A 2003 paper by Dr. A. D. Woolf published in the Journal of Pediatrics reviews the use of herbal products to treat children’s health conditions.

Here are some things to keep in mind if you are considering using herbal remedies:

Not much is known about how herbal remedies affect children. Most have not been subjected to rigorous clinical trials; the U.S. Food and Drug Administration labels herbal remedies as “foods,” which means they don’t have to meet the same standards as do drugs and over-the-counter medications for proof of safety, effectiveness, and what the FDA calls “Good Manufacturing Practices.”

The contents of an herbal remedy aren’t always clear. One study reported that high levels of contaminants were found in imported herbal remedies from China. (cont’d)

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A great rule of thumb to ask yourself before eating is:

“Does this food give my baby and me nutrients or just calories?”

If your answer is the latter, then eat something else!

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) recommends that pregnant women in their second and third trimesters should eat 300 extra calories a day and nursing mothers should add about 500.

It isn’t as much as you might think…

Three hundred extra calories is roughly equal to one cup of whole-milk yogurt plus an apple. Add two slices of whole-wheat bread to that and the total jumps to 500 calories.

For great information about nutrition during pregnancy, read this articlepublished by the University of Rhode Island’s Expanded Food and Nutrition Education Program.

To learn more about children’s nutritional needs, visit the Children’s Nutrition Research Center. Look under “consumer news” and nutrition on the web site. They have a great electronic newsletter that you can sign up for too.

Photo credit: James Gathany/CDC

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I admit, it’s embarrassing to make the noise, and I was embarrassed for our birth-education teacher, Vicki, when she performed it in class. But it was the single most important thing that occured during my labor. It reassured me that my body was getting ready and capable of birthing a baby naturally.

My labor had already gone on for 20+ hours, and I wasn’t much more than 5 centimeters dilated (although I was fully effaced, which is often overlooked). With each passing hour, everyone, except for my husband and doula, including me, was steadily losing confidence that I was strong enough to deliver my baby naturally.

We felt very prepared for birth. My husband and I are both researchers by profession, so we had read all the books, watched a lot of birth videos, taken birth classes and felt comfortable with the hospital and midwife practice we had chosen. What I didn’t expect was that my midwife would be busy with another patient who had to have an emergency c-section. Her backup was a hospital doctor I had never met and who was clearly not supportive of natural childbirth. All this happened in the throes of a very long labor that had left me weakened and feeling unconfident, scared and vulnerable. I felt like I was slowly succumbing to the doctor’s pressure on getting epidural, pitocin and the possibility of c-section. It is very difficult to continue with a natural (I chose to do unmedicated) birth if the staff is not supportive. When my midwife came in to introduce me to the new doctor, my labor pretty much shut down.

Women who are in labor make a very characteristic moaning sound, as if they are half delirious. I was sitting upright on the toilet moaning, feeling sorry for myself. when I started to notice an involuntary guttural sound punctuating the end of each moan. This pushing sound is what Vicki heard, time and again, during the many births she attended. It’s a signal to her, she told us, that a woman is getting ready to push the baby out. “Your body knows it’s time, whether or not you do,” she said.

Play this recording of my silly attempt to recreate the moan and the push noise!

There I was on the toilet. At first the noise was faint, and I didn’t really notice it. But with every contraction it got a little stronger. I remember telling everyone,”Wait! I’m making that pushy noise!”

Whether it was true or not, I felt like all talk of a c-section ended. My body had taken so long to dilate that I thought the end would never come (or the begining, depending on how you look at it!), yet here I was making the pushy-noise that seemed so ridiculous in class.

Active and intense labor followed for maybe another hour before my son was born. But making the noise alone was enough to re-assure me I was built for birth. How lucky I was that Vicky was observant enough to pick up on this sublte and overlooked clue.

Did you make the pushy noise? Or was there something else that gave you confidence to have a natural childbirth? Let us know. Leave a comment. It is valuable information for many women.
Thanks
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I have completely weaned my two-year old toddler and the transition was surprisingly gentle!

For the past 6 months or so I have nursed my son only for his afternoon nap. I was very reluctant to try to completely wean him because I was afraid he would stop napping altogether (his nap lasts a good 2 hours and during this time I get a lot of my work done).

Last week, we unexpectedly weaned. He skipped his nap, and nursing time, on Monday because I had to be away from him in the afternoon. The next day, at nap, I said, “let’s just pretend to nurse”, so he did. He curled up into my arms and pretended to nurse over my shirt. He is familiar with pretending: we often pretend to cook or eat, or pretend to swim, etc. He was surprisingly agreeable to pretend to nurse. After all, I wasn’t saying “no” and we still got to cuddle. But after about 40 minutes of him doing flips and tossing and turning in bed, I gave up trying to get him down that day.

The next day we did the same thing. We pretended to nurse and this time he did fall asleep, after about 30 minutes. I was shocked! I probably shouldn’t have been (kids need to sleep), but for the past two years I (or more accurately, my nipples) have been the only thing to get him to nap. If he was going to wean, I reckoned, then the best way was going to be to spend a few days apart. I never imagined it possible to wean him the way I did.

It has now been almost two weeks. Other than having an engorged breast, things have gone smoothly. He still asks to nurse and I let him (pretend) whenever he wants. He has been asking to pretend nurse more often and I let him–I don’t see the harm. It’s now much easier for my husband, my mother and his babysitter to get him to take a nap, which I am very thankful for.

Ending nursing brings mixed emotions. I am sad because this beautiful part of our relationship has come to an end. And yet it’s a milestone, a necessary and inevitable part of my son growing up.

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Welcome, Carnival of Breastfeeding readers! The topic for this carnival is “Beginnings and endings”. My post is about the process of weaning a toddler.

I found myself wondering, after reading Tara’s post, Weaning a toddler while pregnant, how many women need advice like this? What percentage of women are still breastfeeding a toddler and what percentage of those toddler nursing moms are willing to endure the pain of nursing, due to sore nipples from pregnancy, in order to continue breastfeeding? I would guess very few.

When my son was nearing a year, friends and family started asking me how long I planned to nurse. They also tried to convince me that my son didn’t need the breastmilk anymore. A very good friend of mine even told me that I had to “cut the cord” and that breastfeeding “had no nutritional value” after a year. The funny thing is that at one point of my life (prior to having a child) I believed that.

It is true that breastmilk comprises less of a baby’s overall diet as it grows and begins to eat a variety of foods, but it is certainly not true that breastmilk loses its nutritional value.

“Breast milk continues to provide substantial amounts of key nutrients well beyond the first year of life, especially protein, fat, and most vitamins.” (Dewey 2001)

Kellymom put out a fantastic fact sheet about the value of
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For the past year or so, I’ve been buying Seventh Generation Chlorine Free Diapers for my son through Amazon’s ’subscription’ service.

I pay about $8.40 a pack (I’ve seen them for as much as $16.50 in health food stores in my area.)

Beside having the lowest price,
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My friend Nik, whose fab blog this is, asked me to blog about toys since she loves to ’shop’ at my house when our sons are playing together. I have a big family and people are always asking me what they can buy for my son. I give specific suggestions, since it’s kind of rude to say “please, no big, plastic, battery-powered crap from China that makes me want to jump out a window.” I’ve been trying to keep plastic out of my house (and my son’s mouth) since he was born. His pediatrician had warned me not to let him teethe on plastic. What?!? We live in a plastic world! I do the best I can on toys, and what follows is my list of favorites.
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Technorati Tags:
home birth, child birth, epidural, caesarian

While watching “The Business of Being Born” film, I found myself feeling defensive of the medical establishment. Much of it was cast in a poor light, and yes, much of it rang true for me. But I don’t believe that obstetricians are all “Cesearean Samurais” anxious to rush women to the operating room.

Unfortunately, similar to the environmental movement, showing the worst problems or scariest issues in order to make a point and get attention on these incredibly important issues can be quite effective. Perhaps very balanced reporting of the issue would be too boring to garner worldwide attention. But the downside is that they (the makers of BOBB and extreme environmentalists) lose credibility; or it may have the opposite of the intended effect: such a one-sided view can make the viewer reject the premises all together, which is pointed out by Slate’s Dana Stevens in a recent review of the film.

Unfortunately, Stevens is so caught up in describing weaknesses of the film (admittedly, there are many), that she doesn’t explore the simple notion that there really might be an institutionalized, growing problem in hospitalized birth.

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The Department of Health and Human Services has released a report about the potential toxicity of bisphenol A. Marion Nestle, the author of What to Eat has a nice summary and a link to the report on her blog.

For pregnant women, infants, and children, the panel has some concern about effects on the nervous system and behavior, but minimal concern about accelerated puberty. Mostly, the panel thinks more research is needed. The report is now open for comment.

Bisphenol A is the controversial chemical used in many plastic products, including childrens sippy cups. I have written about this before here and here.

Technorati Tags:
breastfeeding, bisphenol A

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A new guest blog from tara..

I’m 20 weeks pregnant, and am still nursing my son, who turned two last month. The pain is unbelievable! It started almost as soon as I got pregnant, and worsened. At the time I became pregnant, he was still nursing seven to ten times a day–with at least three of those being at night.

The “not sleeping” was really putting my sunny disposition in a bad place. I tried all kinds of tactics to get him to nurse less and it just wasn’t working. Also, he’s not a “sleeper”: nothing in his 25 months of life has put him to sleep except me, the backpack or the car.

What’s a knocked-up girl to do?

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