Well, my sister in law was taken to the hospital last night.  My brother is not doing well.  Carol’s cancer is in her brain and is causing swelling.  It’s very possible she’ll never go home again.  All they can do is make her comfortable.  I cringe every time the phone rings today. 

Sigh.  Okay, on to cheerier things.  Ayla thoroughly enjoyed my bean soup yesterday.  I’m glad there’s at least one other person here that will eat it, no one else does!  Daddy also made some great steaks over the weekend, and Ayla mastered those now too.  I think now there’s nothing that she hasn’t enjoyed.  This is wonderful!  I wonder why some people go through so much trouble and thought to feed their baby – it’s frankly one of the easiest things in parenting.  Make dinner, feed them.  No steaming/baking/ pureeing/freezing/thawing/feeding.  Eh, whatever.  Right now there’s so many more important things in life to debate, more power to those that have the time to do all those steps.  I like my two-steps!

Autumn is having a blast with Justus’ old LeapPad.  I didn’t even know this thing still worked!  It has reading, math, songs, and more, and she’s really quite adept at using it.  She especially enjoys singing along with Mother Goose’s nursery rhymes.

Two more “sleeps” (as we explain to Autumn) until my boys come home.  I’m so anxious I can’t stand it.  I hope they call today to solidify the plans.  I guess Jim’s wife is flying them into Boston, and she’s going on to Arizona from there, leaving the boys to fly on their own to Columbus.  How exciting for them!  They’ll have the flight attendants wrapped around their fingers, I’m sure.  We haven’t thought much about what special “welcome home” thing we’re going to do – Carol’s situation throws a bit of a shadow over the celebration, we just can’t make solid plans until closer to the time they get here.

Hmm… I found a fun fun site yesterday while playing around – worth1000.com – it’s amateur and professional artists manipulating photographs – sooo much fun to browse – take a look!

Okay, I think that’s my rants for today.  Not too ranting, I know.

 

I see.  It’s not just not acknowledging that your information is WRONG, you simply don’t want to admit it.

I’m guessing your baby doesn’t rearface in a carseat at all, right?  After all, an old study showed your baby in a carseat forward facing was safe.   A new study reversed the old study and said it’s better… but since new studies are all crap, you’re fine with your baby forward facing.  You know it’s okay for her to be in the front seat too?  10 years ago, airbags weren’t around.  Let’s ignore the fact that they’re in your car now.  Just ignore the airbag – that makes it not exist.  That’s fantastic!

WAIT A MINUTE!!! You insisted your baby back-sleep because a new study reversed the old one that said tummy sleeping was okay?  Now I’m really confused – you liked that revised study…

Ignoring the new VALID studies just makes you ignorant.  Especially when you attack another mother. 

Get it thru your thick flucking skull - it’s perfectly fine for a 4-6 month old baby, whose family has no history of food allergies, to EAT ANYTHING THEY WANT.

But if you still live in 1990 and want to ignore that, it’s fine.  But never EVER tell someone they’re wrong for giving their baby peanut butter at 6 months.  MOST IMPORTANTLY – QUIT QUOTING THE OLD STUDY!!!  IT’S CHANGED!  IT’S DIFFERENT!!!!!  You just look ridiculous every time you give information from the wrong study. 

*bang bang bang*  That’s the sound of my head banging against the wall.

I’m over this issue.  The absolute facts are there.  I can’t make you smarter, genetics did the damage already.  I guess I’ll just have to hope you shut your mouth in the future.  Ha.  A girl can dream.

 

For those who must be thick-headed, I will try to make it clear:

THERE
IS
NO
REASON
MOST
BABIES
AT
SIX
MONTHS
CAN’T
EAT
ANYTHING
AT
ALL
INCLUDING
SHELLFISH
AND
PEANUT
PRODUCTS!

(from the AAP): Although solid foods should not be introduced before 4 to 6 months of age, there is no current convincing evidence that delaying their introduction beyond this period has a significant protective effect on the development of atopic disease regardless of whether infants are fed cow milk protein formula or human milk. This includes delaying the introduction of foods that are considered to be highly allergic, such as fish, eggs, and foods containing peanut protein.

Is that easier to understand?  You see, you want to keep believing and quoting something that has been revoked/reversed/erased/changed/doesn’t exist anymore/is WRONG.  About a decade ago the AAP, who most people think is the be-all-end-all of infant and child raising, said it may be a good idea to not feed a six month old (and older) infant peanut products, shellfish, strawberries, and other ”Big 8″ allergens.

But you see, T H A T    C H A N G E D .  FORGET what you learned.  It’s different.  Studies prove if your family has no history of food allergies, more power to you.  Enjoy.  It’s normal.  Seafood is healthy.  Peanut products are full of protein.  Strawberries are a healthy fruit.  It’s wonderful that my babies can eat so healthy so early.

YAY.  Stanford University published a study in 2005, but the AAP confirmed it in 2008.  Your doc should be up on the latest study.  Make sure he gets a copy of the AAP one – it’s the “biggie”.  Talk to him about your family history.

And you know what?  If you don’t want to feed them healthy foods like crab or strawberries, more power to you.  But do not attack me for doing it my way, the right way, for us.

I hope I spelled it out well enough for you.  I typed slow so you could keep up.

 

 

For those who are interested, here are my favorite feeding links:

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/9646449

 That’s right, rice cereal may not be the best first food. Peanut butter doesn’t have to wait until after the first birthday. Offering fruits before vegetables won’t breed a sweet tooth. And strong spices? Bring ‘em on.

http://www.borstvoeding.com/voedselintroductie/vast-voedsel/rapley-guidelines.html

http://www.mothering.com/discussions/showthread.php?t=799563&highlight=self-feed&page=27

http://kidshealth.org/research/aap_changes.html

The long and short of the report: Avoiding certain food allergens from the get-go has been proven to help only those babies with a high risk of food allergies (that is, those with a parent or sibling with allergies). But for everyone else, avoiding known allergens — during pregnancy, breastfeeding, and when introducing foods in the infant and toddler years — hasn’t been shown to have much effect on preventing allergies.

http://www.babycentre.co.uk/baby/startingsolids/babyledweaning/

…babies who are allowed to feed themselves by being offered a selection of nutritious finger foods can easily join in with family meals from the start, and are less likely to refuse foods or become fussy eaters as they grow older. She considers that many childhood feeding problems stem from a child’s unwillingness or inability to accept foods which require chewing, and that these problems become apparent when babies move from purées to “second-stage” foods which contain lumps. She also suggests that the baby food industry puts unnecessary pressure on parents to introduce puréed foods into their babies’ diets at an early age.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/society/2007/jun/17/health.medicineandhealth

Feeding babies on pureed food is unnatural and unnecessary, according to one of Unicef’s leading child care experts, who says they should be fed exclusively with breast milk and formula milk for the first six months, then weaned immediately on to solids.

Gill Rapley, deputy director of Unicef’s Baby Friendly Initiative and a health visitor for 25 years, said spoon-feeding pureed food to children can cause health problems later in life

She blames the multimillion-pound baby food industry for persuading parents that they need to give their babies pureed food. ‘Sound scientific research and government advice now agree there is no longer any window of a baby’s development in which they need something more than milk and less than solids,’ Rapley said.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/health/6762795.stm

http://aappolicy.aappublications.org/cgi/content/full/pediatrics;121/1/183

 

Ah, America.  The land of the free.  You do it your way, I do it mine.  But never tell me my way is WRONG.  Cuz it sure isn’t- by any definition.

Infants, solids, and allergies

 

My babies have always started solids around 6 months.  And they started table foods – we skipped “cereals” (nothing but carbs – sugars – and inhibits iron absorption) and it always seemed silly to feed my baby bland tasteless carrots from an expensive jar when I was serving the rest of the family wonderful spiced flavorful carrots.  Autumn’s first food was crablegs, and she LOVED it!

Anyways, I have always done this, I have always let people know about it when asked.  My doctors have supported it.  With no family history of allergies, there was also no reason to withhold any foods.  I found an article in 2005 written by a Stanford University professor that supported what I, my docs, and many other moms believed:

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/9646449/

…That’s right, rice cereal may not be the best first food. Peanut butter doesn’t have to wait until after the first birthday. Offering fruits before vegetables won’t breed a sweet tooth. And strong spices? Bring ‘em on…

But I have been ridiculed for this belief – told I am giving life-threatening ideas to others.  As a chuckle at this comment, my children and the millions of others are all fine and healthy.  Since an infant (or child, or adult) can be allergic to ANYTHING, not just the “big eight”, you’re not safe feeding them at all.  Right?

The AAP has now formally rewritten their recommendations on solids and allergies.  They still support waiting for six months, but now they find no evidence to support any benefit to delaying foods like peanuts, shellfish, etc.  Since some look at the AAP as the God of All that is Right and Holy in Childraising, I thought I would pass this tidbit along:

http://aappolicy.aappublications.org/cgi/content/full/pediatrics;121/1/183

Although solid foods should not be introduced before 4 to 6 months of age, there is no current convincing evidence that delaying their introduction beyond this period has a significant protective effect on the development of atopic disease regardless of whether infants are fed cow milk protein formula or human milk. This includes delaying the introduction of foods that are considered to be highly allergic, such as fish, eggs, and foods containing peanut protein.

So now that the AAP has changed their ideals, perhaps more moms can quit wasting money on jars of foods and enjoy stress-free and easy meals at home, simply opening the cupboard and giving their baby whatever is in there, whatever the rest of the family is enjoying.  This is still a personal choice – there is evidence to support that if there is an allergy in the family, your baby’s chance of having one increases, so decide what will work for you. 

Personally, I can’t imagine not having PB&J sandwiches, fish sticks, strawberries, eggs, and more on the lunch menu for my infants and toddlers!