Leche, Baby! » baby health

Toxic Toys… More to be concerned about

nkd5 — Thu, 28 Aug 2008 15:11:44 +0000

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.

Possible vitamin D deficiency in breast-fed babies

nkd5 — Tue, 26 Aug 2008 16:00:25 +0000

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.

Harmful Chemicals in Baby wash and dish soap

nkd5 — Wed, 19 Mar 2008 00:57:59 +0000

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.

How Effective are Herbal Remedies for Children?

nkd5 — Mon, 18 Feb 2008 16:05:46 +0000

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)

Children may be particularly susceptible to variations in the dose of remedies and to herbal toxicity. Some herbal remedies contain 10 or more different plants, vitamins, minerals, etc. Interactions of these ingredients are unclear.

Herbs can concentrate in breastmilk and be inadvertently transferred to infants.

Dr. Woolf advises:

Seek expert advise when considering herbal remedies and avoid self-medication.
Herbal remedies may have beneficial effects (similar to drugs), but they may also have unanticipated toxicity.
Herbal products have not been regulated by the FDA (unlike drugs). Concentration and ingredients can be variable or even contain contaminants (which would of particularly concern for children).
Discuss herbal remedies that you are using or considering with your pediatrician (whether or not he or is supportive),

More information about herbal remedies and complementary and alternative medicine can be found on these websites:

National Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine

Dr. Duke Phytochemical and Ethnobotanical Databases

Quackwatch

National Council Against Health Fraud

Nutrition during pregnancy

nkd5 — Fri, 15 Feb 2008 23:26:13 +0000

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

Weaning a toddler by playing pretend

nkd5 — Sat, 09 Feb 2008 15:50:40 +0000

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 wasnâ€™t saying â€œnoâ€ 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. Itâ€™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 itâ€™s a milestone, a necessary and inevitable part of my son growing up.

Weaning a toddler

nkd5 — Mon, 28 Jan 2008 03:55:34 +0000

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

extended breastfeeding, including information on nutritional value, and there is also a list of references if you would like to read the the actual studies.

Now my son is two, and I am breastfeeding once a day, just at nap time. For us, the best way to get down to one nursing session a day was to have my husband take over putting our son to bed, reading him a lot of good books, and always having a sippy cup full of water ready. We also found that just talking to our toddler about when he can and can’t nurse was also very helpful to him.

I would tell him that we were not going to nurse as much any more and that he could nurse at nap time, but not at bed time. So at night when he asked to nurse I would say (in a very upbeat and confident manner) “we already nursed today, you can nurse tomorrow at nap”. He seemed surprisingly agreeable for the most part. Although there were definitely times where it was hard to “stick to my guns” and not nurse him. Occasional tears were shed. The first few days were the toughest.

As a first-time mother, I am also learning the importance of consistency. I tried to night wean several times when he was about one and a half. But I was not always consistent about it. In general, the inconsistencies left him confused and frustrated more than anything. Now I make more of an effort to be consistent and I see that he can adjust much better when I do.

I would like to stop nursing completely soon, although I find it very difficult to just “let go“. I keep changing my mind about whether or not we are ready to completely wean… It has been such a wonderful bond between us. I am also concerned that my son will stop napping altogether if I do wean. He naps 2-3 hours a day and this time has become very precious to me as I am trying to finish my doctorate degree. Friends tell me he will wean when he is ready. I am not so sure- but have vowed to wean when I get pregnant again. Hopefully sooner than later!

Since writing this post I have completely weaned my toddler. Read the “Pretending to nurseâ€¦ to wean” post here.

Be sure to read the other bloggers posts.

Badass Dad writes about his experience as a breastfeeding father.

Naturemoms Breastfed three children and reviews a book about breastfeeding.

Adventures of Pip and Squeak Breastfeeding an infant and weaning a toddler.

Breastfeeding Mums Reflects on her time as a breastfeeding mother of three.

A mama Knows Breast Deals with a low milk supply.

Motherwear Breastfeeding Blog Gently encourages weaning.

Crunchy Domestic Goddess Inauspicious breastfeeding beginnings.

blog.reidelizabeth Found support in La Leche League, a lactation consultant and family and resisted supplementing her breast milk.

Breastfeeding 123 It’s about weaning during pregnancy.

Potential toxicity of bisphenol A: Report

nkd5 — Mon, 14 Jan 2008 15:30:13 +0000

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.

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Business of Being Born documentary

nkd5 — Sat, 08 Dec 2007 17:42:29 +0000

My friend Tara and I went to see a screening of a new documentary called “The Business of Being Born” at my local art center, which was packed full of dulas and midwives. It was an amazing movie that shows how the culture of birth, in the United States, is based on mis-information. Tara sent out an email (see below) urging friends and family to see it. It will be released nationally in January at limited locations and will be available on Netflix in March.

=====

Hello Friends,

If you are a woman, are having a baby, thinking someday you might, have had babies and now have a daughter, I think you would enjoy this movie to learn more about birth and well woman care in our culture and it’s future. Or maybe all of them! Or you have a practice where you can spread this news around.

Anyway I wanted to share this great film with you all. It is called The Business of Being Born and it is a documentary that Ricki Lake (yes remember her? weirdoes and makeovers??) made about the culture of birth in our country. Largely inspired by the different birth experiences she had with her two children, one at a hospital and one at home. I was privileged to attend a screening of this film last month, along with a panel discussion that included Ricki Lake (producer/actress) and Abby Epstein (filmmaker) and it was fabulous. It was not all about homebirth or being judgmental about the choices woman make and it is not a film that attacks modern medicine or hospitals. Quite the contrary, it is about educating the modern American woman about her choices for birth in this country. It is about true informed consent being made by educated consumers. And it was beautifully done. You have nothing to lose seeing this movie and everything to gain if it helps you make a more informed decision in your personal health future or that of your daughter, niece, sister…

The movie is yet to be released nationally, that will happen in January in NYC, LA & San Fransciso. In March, it will be released on Netflicks. But you are lucky enough to be invited to a screening in Nyack, NY at the Riverspace Theater on THURSDAY DECEMBER 13th at 7:30PM. Tickets are $10, parent/child tickets are $15.

Please take a look at the website and consider coming out to see this film. I felt as I was watching it like this movie was one small step for woman and one giant step for womankind. Come out and support the sisterhood of woman in this country demanding whole woman care for ourselves and our daughters. I wouldn’t be asking you to come see this movie if I didn’t think it was worth every second of your time, trust me I have a toddler who doesn’t nap I know how precious free time is! So please spread the word, tell your friends, call your aunties, heck even grab your gramma and I hope to see you all in Nyack on the 13th.

Peace to you all,
Tara

Klean Kanteen Coupon code- 20% off

nkd5 — Mon, 21 May 2007 02:44:25 +0000

Voucher Code: VC1218B

Click on the images below to see amazon’s latest sale price.

Do you have other coupon codes to share? Please submit them in the comments!

You might consider Sigg bottles as well, though I can’t find a coupon code for them. The company makes a range of child-themed bottles:

Update: Toxic sippy cups

nkd5 — Mon, 21 May 2007 02:15:31 +0000

I received my Klean Kanteen sippy and I think it is a good solution to the Bisphenol-A leaching sippy cups. The Klean Kanteen comes with an adapter and a toddler spout by Advent that is made from non-leaching polypropylene plastic.

Pollution in People is an informative website that has a section on Safer Consumer Products for children and babies. There is a section on baby bottles and sippers where they recommend more alternatives that are not made from polycarbonate plastic, which can leach Bishenol-A:

“Choose bottles made of tempered glass, polypropylene plastic, or polyethylene plastic, such as Evenflo glass or pastel bottles, Gerber opaque bottles, or Medela bottles. Choose sippy cups made of polypropylene or polyethylene, such as Avent Magic Cup, First Years Take & Toss, Gerber Color Change, and Playtex Sipster. “

Toxic sippy cups?

nkd5 — Mon, 12 Mar 2007 01:21:36 +0000

An article came out recently about the health impacts of Bisphenol A, a chemical used in the plastic of certain popular-brand bottles and sippy cups. Apparently, the chemical is leeching out of the plastic and into the fluid in the container.

The NIH said studies have indicated the chemical may mimic a natural female sex hormone, and the upcoming review comes in part due to its widespread human exposure and evidence of reproductive toxicity in animal studies.

Although there is controversy about whether or not the amount of chemical consumed by babies is enough to cause damage, why take a chance? But are the alternatives any better?Based on this article and a tip from a friend, I bought an expensive ($11, BornFree- Bisphenol A free) sippy cup from Whole Foods. But, after using it a few times I have decided to return it. The water in the sippy cup tastes like plastic, no matter how many times I cleaned it. It also didn’t hold the water in very well.

I am going to try the Klean Kanteen, the have a stainless steel bottle that is non-leaching. I’ll try one for myself too since found out that Nalgene bottles contain Bisphenol A. They address it on their website here.
Any recommendations are welcome.

Cabbage leaves for clogged ducts

nkd5 — Sun, 04 Mar 2007 14:39:42 +0000

I thought my friend who suggested it was crazyâ€“so much so that the first time I had a clogged duct I politely ignored her advice. The second time I got a clogged duct I was so afraid of getting an infection that I would have tried anything. Hot compress, gental massage and a cabbage leaf tucked in my bra, over the area that was clogged. For me, it worked like magic! After an hour or two the clogged ducted was completely gone. If I have I could tell a nursing mother only one piece of advice, it would be to use a cabbage leaf when you have a clogged ducts

More information can be found here:

Leche, Baby! » baby health

Toxic Toys… More to be concerned about

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