Dairy Not So Good

My baby had a suspected dairy sensitivity but it has morphed into a full on case of eczema now. We're doing elimination and some probiotics and I'm hoping to see a change for the better soon. My sister is allergic to cow's milk so that is a possiblity.

You might want to check out this articles about the not so good things about dairy:

Milk: Does it Really Do a Body Good?

These links are more about organic vs. regular american production of aairy:
Seven Reasons Why Kids Should Drink Organic Milk

Organic Dairy Production

This site talks about rBST and I found this:
Milk from rBST-treated cows contains higher concentrations of IGF-I. The importance of the increased amounts of IGF-I in milk from rBST-treated cows is uncertain. The amount of IGF-I ingested in 1 liter of milk approximates the amount of IGF-I in saliva swallowed daily by adults. Young children and infants already ingest IGF-I in commercially available cows' milk or in mother's milk. Whether the small additional amount of IGF-I in milk from rBST-treated cows has a significant local effect on the esophagus, stomach, or intestine is unknown. The gut of the very young infant is an immature organ that can absorb intact proteins, although in relatively small amounts. However, most infants are either breast fed or fed commercially prepared infant formulas that contain no more than trace amounts of IGF-I or growth hormone.
From: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/bv.fcgi?rid=hstat4.section.24152

So they basically don't know the affects of the hormones on very small children. Other portions of that site talk about other differences in milk between humans and cows and rBST treated cows.

When I was doing research into the affects of estrogen on cyclic breast pain (mastalgia) I came across tons of more links related to hormonal induction of milk in cows using estrogens. The residues can appear in meat and dairy products I believe. This page lists a ton of papers related to hormones in the food we eat and affects on health (beyond the topic of breast cancer)

http://envirocancer.cornell.edu/Bibliography/diet/bib.hormones.cfm

Environmental Estrogens

I gathered these links about environmental estrogens (xenestrogens) some time ago. I saw an online discussion about precocious puberty but realized that I didn't have anything up to share. Hope these are helpful for you. They are pertinent for fibroid treatment, infertility and cancer/precancerous diet clean-up as well.

Are Plastic Bowls and Plastic Wraps Microwave Safe?

The perils of plastic: your cling wrap could be leaching chemicals

Is It Unhealthy To Reuse A Plastic Water Bottle? [this is from way before the recent concerns raised about BPA]

That plastic water bottle's taste

Our Stolen Future -- companion website to the book that raises concerns about environmental contaminants and our health

Pew Charitable Trusts - Environmental Health
The Kid-Safe Chemicals Act: Protecting the Most Vulnerable

Xenoestrogens the cause of Cervical Dysplasia

Eczema - some success

My brother and sister had bad eczema when they were growing up so I was used to it and not alarmed when my baby got a little. It was barely anything and didn't itch him so I just left it alone. Then it flared up and I made an appt with our ped who is also an ND and we went last week. That wasn't helpful at all as all she did was ask me a little bit about his diet and tell me to put on a cream like Eucerin.

What I knew from my brother and sister is that eczema:
* is related to food allergies
* can be hard to treat
* oil of primrose and vitamin E can help sometimes
* hydrocortisone is often prescribed (but didn't seem to be an answer in itself)

I went home and read up all my alternative medicine books and looked at some links as well, guided in part by a report from someone on my neighborhood parenting list (elsewhere) about probiotics helping her little one with eczema.

What I learned from reading was that eczema:
* has been linked with a reaction to an overgrowth of certain bacteria in the gut
* is often found in individuals who later go on to have allergies such as hay fever (nothing more serious than that)
* can be related to zinc deficiency sometimes
* is often related to common allergies -- peanuts, eggs, milk, orange juice, etc.
* can have some improvement from increasing omega-3 intake
* that promoting good bacteria (through injesting certain strains and helper strains) can help readjust the gut flora
* can improve when you eliminate simple carbs (refined wheat products, sugar, juices)
* can benefit from diet changes similar to what one does to try to heal from yeast infections (stay away from sugar, fermented foods, etc.)

I stumbled a little with the diet, so my sitter and I started keeping a log and I helped give her more direction on what to feed him so he wasn't just eating carbs with her. We also cut back on juice and dairy some. I also bought some fish oil, probiotic meant for children 0-5 years, and sunflower seeds.

I also tried putting a lotion on his rash that he was fine with previously on winter dry skin but on the eczema it made the rash get worse. Eczema is akin to broken skin so don't make that mistake. You can use Eucerin, Aquaphor, Vasoline, or even lanolin to help keep it covered.

After a week of treatment it is finally starting to heal up. I've been thinking about what caused it to flare and I think it was related to his love of gorgonzola cheese. He had some earlier in the month and it was a particularly bloomy one and I think it threw things off in his system a little.

I just wanted to share in case this helps anyone else.

19.5 months -- a little breakthrough

I wanted to give an update on our progress, or lack thereof, as we have been in an extended potty pause.

I've been continuing to offer with no pressure just things like:

"Let me know if you need to go potty"
"Here is where the potty is. If you need to go just let me know"
"We don't pee [whereever the miss was]. We pee in the potty"
etc.

I really can't thank my local diaper-free baby group enough for the knowledge that this is just how things can progress and we're not doing anything wrong. It has been so helpful to understand that he is reorganizing himself. In some ways I wonder if I would have been as tuned in to this big developmental reorganization stages (and others prior) without practicing E.C. -- it gives such a clear view into the complex changes our little ones are going through.

So anyway, last night when he was in his bath I reminded him not to pee in the bath, and he pointed to the potty to let me know that was where to go. After I got him dried off and dressed he was passing gas and I asked him if he had to go potty, if he had to have a poo and he answered "Dat." Which meant yes, I got it spot on. I said let's go and then he headed down the hall and went to the toilet.

I helped him get the seat reducer in place and he indicated that he wanted me to help him undress (and with some urgency). I helped him on the toilet and after a few minutes he went and announced "I-doot" which for Jonah means "I did it". I double-checked and he told me he was all done. He barely let me wipe him off, almost like he thought that if he hadn't soiled himself he didn't need to be cleaned off. It was all good though. I'm so pleased but I tried not to make too much of it. He seemed pleased with himself as well.

I was reminded of our early successes which started with #2 so I'm
feeling like maybe soon we will have a bit of a renaissance.

Jonah had his fashionably late 18 month WBV on Monday and here are his stats -- 31 lbs, 35" long and 51 cm head circumference. He's around 95 percentile except for his head which is greater than. Jonah has started extending into size 3 now. I'm amazed at how much he has grown.

Even though he had a minor head cold I opted to get him his final Hib and polio shots as we are working on our very delayed schedule. I asked the nurse about giving him Tylenol after we got home as he had a bad reaction to the Hib the first time and she said no. A few hours later and it was the same deal of a baby in pain and crying for hours. Dumbass nurse. Last time I listen to her. I also asked the doc (a P.A. who is also an ND) about his touch of eczema and she told me to put Eucerin on it. Um yeah, like I could figure that out . I wasn't that impressed. I have some natural medicine books and so I'm going to try my own approach to it including fish oil supplement, some diet modifications, probiotics and yes, some topical cream (but not hydrocortisone).

We had our first day back at our class at the community college today and after a little initial hesitation, Jonah got familiar with the surroundings and toys again. Almost 75% of our class was in it last Spring so that's nice for me and for Jonah for developing friendships. Boy how the babies have changed -- there were toys everywhere. They pulled everything down off all the shelves and then some. When we started in Jan., Jonah was still crawling. This evening I can see a little change in his demeanor -- we went to a restaurant with a play area and he finally wasn't so shy about playing there around the other kids. My partner is going to take him to a music class on Monday mornings. It is more creative music rather than learning how to play.

Jonah has his own guitar, I don't know if I mentioned it. My partner got it for him in Peru last Christmas. It is a mini-guitar, a real one. He has been getting more into it lately. He hands it to me and I strum the strings and sing Old Mac Donald and Oh Susanna and he thinks it is great (even though I'm not really playing the song). I want to encourage him to explore and play. He also has his dad play for him, more fancy classical fingerwork stuff.

I took Jonah in for a check- up yesterday and it went all right. He didn't like being undressed while they measured him at all and he was ready to go before the doc even came into see us. "All done" he said emphatically while trying to push me to get up to leave, as the doc came in and sat down. I had to help her hold the stethoscope in place so she could check his heart and lungs.

I mentioned his recent eczema flare-up and she just suggested using Eucerin on it. I was hoping for something a little more thoughtful than that as she is a naturopath as well. I'm going to try some other things on my own, including consulting my ND books.

I opted to have his third and final polio and Hib shots given even though he has a cold. He did good and didn't cry or anything. Stupid Hib though, just like the first time, about four hours after he was in a lot of pain at the injection site. I asked the assistant who gave the shot about giving him some Tylenol and she said it wasn't necessary. She also went on about how Tylenol was not an anti- inflammatory, only Motron was. Whatever, it says on the label that it is a pain reliever, I checked when I gave him some.

The poor baby came into the kitchen as I was finishing dinner and gestured that he had a boo-boo, that he hurt his leg and wanted a kiss. At first I thought he bumped himself but then I realized it was his shot. He was so upset that it wouldn't stop hurting him and he kept crying and saying "all done" because he wanted it to stop hurting. It makes me sad to think of it. It was hard to get him to sleep after that as he was so agitated. I think the Tylenol did finally take the edge off some. It should feel better for him in the morning.

When we did go to bed finally be pushed for me not to lay next to him so I put a pillow on that side and got in on the opposite side of the bed. Not sure what was up with that. Now I'm up in the middle of the night and starving so I'll have to get up and grab something, perhaps a bowl of cereal.

I was thinking over the weekend about the presidential race. I was talking to someone at work about how we don't feel that Obama has really reached out for our support and that stuck with me. Why do I feel this way and what would it take to change it.

I thought about all the news and commentary I've been reading, about how in some regards Obama and McCain's policy directions and positions aren't always that far apart. So I thought some more... what did I care about as a woman? What would make me feel more excited about Obama and his "pro-woman" agenda? Here's what I came up with:

Work with Congress to pass the late Stephanie Tubbs-Jones Fibroid Research and Education Act. This has been stalled out in committee for years and yet it is so needed. Fibroids affecting between 25-80% of all women (and their families), and a disproportionate amount of women of African-American descent. This would be great for women and it would also be a nice gesture in remembrance of Tubbs-Jones legacy.

Work to better support women who want to breastfeed
Breastfeeding and working is a hard deal, not impossible but surely challenging for the best of us. Greater flexibility in working arrangements, possibly thought family leave, could help more women be able to offer their children this best start in life. Since Obama says he's for preventative health care, this is the best preventative care option around. (see the Breastfeeding Promotion Act)

Provide mandatory access to optional supplementary insurance plans to cover infertility treatments
After trying so long for my own child, I was lucky enough that my particular condition (fibroids) fell within the purview of my health insurance coverage. Also, I was able to conceive on my own after a good stint of work with alternative care providers. Many couples aren't so lucky and for them assisted reproduction is the best path towards achieving a successful pregnancy yet most health insurance plans don't cover these treatments. The plans themselves would be optional and supplementary, sort of like how you can get a catastrophic plan in case of disability/dismemberment. Since insurance is currently handled on a state by state basis, federal plans would have to be put in place to incentivize the creation of these plans. See Family Building Act of 2007

Expand support for small businesses to offer childcare benefits
I looked into it for our business and there is a federal tax break for offering a childcare benefit but it wasn't that comprehensive. Perhaps the tax break is enough but additional support for how to structure the benefits could go a long way to helping more families out. (see Employer-Supported Child Care and Starting Early Starting Right Act)

How about increasing support for HeadStart programming?

Expanding surviving widows to claim a greater portion of their deceased husband social security?

I'm going to keep thinking of other things that might fall on my women's agenda. Add your ideas as well -- what can the government do to help you meet your priorities?

The last issue of Mothering Magazine mentioned that co-sleeping and breastfeeding work together are the best combo as the mother and infant get into the same sleep rhythms.

quote:

Helen Ball, Senior Lecturer in Anthropology and director of the Parent-Infant Sleep Lab at Durham University, UK, discovered some significant differences between these two groups in research published in 2004 and 2005. Ball's observations were consistent with the observations of previous sleep-lab studies in regard to mother-infant bed-sharing behaviors. Significant differences were found, however, between formula and breastfed infants. Breastfeeding mothers shared a bed with their infants in a characteristic manner that provides several safety benefits. For example, their sleep positions are oriented to one another, and they experience synchronous arousal during sleep; that is, they wake up spontaneously at the same time for feedings. Formula-feeding mothers, on the other hand, shared a bed in a more variable and thus unpredictable manner, with possible negative consequences for infant safety.

From: Who Wants to Sleep Alone?
Issue 149 - July/August 2008
by Peggy O'Mara, Editor and Publisher

Try a search on Mothering.com for articles about "cosleep", this one is also quite good:

Breastfeeding & Bedsharing Still Useful (and Important) after All These Years
By James J. McKenna
Issue 114 September/October 2002

My little guy knows how to use the potty as we started doing EC with him from 9 weeks old. He's recently entered the next phase of cognitive development and now won't use the toilet at all. Even though he hasn't forgotten, it is as if his mind is having a hard time managing his need to have control over when he goes with his body's need to go if that makes any sense.

I've had to just back off and accept that as he continues to develop and mature that things change. I always knew that there was going to be some transistion between my offering and him being potty-trained. I still have no idea how it will play out but after 14 months of success I'm having no pottying successes and lots of poopy diapers (where I used to have one a month!) Eventually he will get there; synchronizing need, want, action, anticipation, etc. I can't make it happen for him.

Here's some info from Diaperaps about Potty Training that I reference now and again. We use their training pants on Jonah:

http://www.diaperaps.com/home/dp1/pottytips_main.html

Breastfeeding and Cavities -- AAP says no correlation

I found this a couple weeks ago and thought that it might be useful for others. One of my BG friends said her doc told her to stop night nursing to prevent cavities... but the AAP report didn't find a correlation...

Association Between Infant Breastfeeding and Early Childhood Caries in the United States
http://pediatrics.aappublications.org/cgi/content/full/120/4/e944



quote:

Conclusions
These data provide no evidence that breastfeeding or its duration are independently associated with an increased risk for ECC, S-ECC, or a greater number of decayed or filled tooth surfaces among children ages 2 to 5 years in the United States. In contrast, they corroborate that children living in poverty and Mexican American children are at increased risk for poor oral health in the early years, and they indicate that maternal smoking is another such potential risk factor. Clearly, there is a need for more research to identify specific characteristics of poverty and Mexican American ethnicity that contribute to or cause ECC, and the same applies to children prenatally or postnatally exposed to cigarette smoke. Despite the need for more understanding of how these factors may be causally related to ECC, the findings reported do not indicate any reason to delay action to improve the oral health of children. Rather, they highlight the need to target children living in poverty, those who are Mexican American, and those whose mothers smoke or smoked during pregnancy for timely caries risk assessment and regular preventive dental visits.

I've been super busy with work lately and I'm super run down. My partner and I are trying to figure out how to get me some down time as I'm absolutely bleary eyed.

Part of it is Jonah too. He's been going through some serious separation anxiety, only wanting mama and that has been making it hard for me to take a break and take care of myself. He's also thoroughly off pottying at the moment which is adding to the fun. I'm guessing its a bunch of things that aren't working for him but I'm not sure how much I can accomodate his needs right now due to work demands. I'm doing my best. He does get to nurse during the day and still sleeps with me so it isn't like he is being deprived.

Breech Delivery Notes

I saw on the Business of Being Born Facebook group that Gina was having a rough time of it with her doctor about her baby being breech at 37 weeks.

I was reminded of Coyote Medicine, Lewis Mehl-Madrona's book where he talks about breech delivery and how it requires a lot of patience but there is no reason it can't be successful much of the time.

http://www.midwiferytoday.com/enews/enews0106.asp

Last night Jonah couldn't get to sleep so finally at 10pm, just as the fireworks were about to get started (they start late here in Seattle due to it being lighter at night at our higher latitude), we decided to just go with the flow and took him to the park down the street to see his first fireworks. He had on his pajamas, slippers and a wool sweater. He snacked on cereal while we watched the exposions and kept signing "more". They were far enough away that the loug bangs didn't scare him. Finally we got him to bed at 11pm.

Here are some of his latest accomplishments:

* getting in and out of his little car by himself (facing the correct way)
* sitting on the bottom step of the stairs to have his shoes put on (he's liking sitting on anything his height right now)
* turning around in circles
* giving hugs to us and his stuffed animals, he's also started giving kisses again (he had stopped for a good long while)
* putting keys into keyholes -- he will go into our downstairs bathroom and close the door and practice putting a key into the keyhole (no chance of him locking himself in, the keyhold is huge and old and the key he is using is short and small)
* walking backwards

That's all that I can think of right now. He's becoming a total little kid now.

He's been off pottying a bit since being sick for a few weeks. If I'm able to give him more attention then I can potty him around 5 times a day. I've been way too busy to do so lately though, catching up after all that illness.

I've been super swamped at work and before that Jonah and I (and my partner) were sick for a few weeks. I just learned on Friday that we likely had Adenovirus. We are recovered finally.

The funny thing is that since he has been feeling better Jonah seems to have grown a bit and his appetite is up as well. He is working on his canines and first molars at the same time right now. I think he has gotten one little bit of one of the molars broken through. He hasn't had any new teeth in since February when he got his 8th tooth. I'm thinking in the next few weeks there should be a lot more.

I feel like I can barely keep up as I've been having to work so much and the work just keeps piling on. Jonah has just started getting into that stage where he is dragging stuff all over the house so it feels cluttered at home -- on top of any housework that needs tending to as well. I told my partner that we will just have to live with it for a few more weeks as we are smack in the middle of our busy season and we are also moving into a new office next weekend.

Sick, sick, sick

My nose is dripping as I write this. Baby and I have the flu. We had a cold last weekend and the week before that I had a sinus infection. This is no fun. I think we caught the flu from my partner who thought he had our cold but this is definately a little flu-like bug and we only had a head cold before.

Poor baby has been really feeling poorly. Diarrhea, a cough, and a bit lethargic today with a running nose. At the end of last week he had a fever that lasted a few days as well, along with vomiting and diarrhea. I'm thinking that it is just a mish-mash of viruses. I asked our sitter and she confirmed that she had not been washing his hands after they went to the park so that might be one way that we are all getting exposed. It seems as though there are a series of bugs working their way through Seattle at the moment.

The good thing is that with the continued nursing I can help my little baby both stay hydrated and fed even when he isn't really hungry for solid food. Nursing also provides him with extra cuddles and comfort when he isn't feeling good. I really see the value in nursing past a year. Honestly, my whole take on babyhood is that infancy lasts through at least the first two years.

The other thing that I think about is how the American Academy of Pediatrics says to nurse for at least a year -- that's at the minimum. The World Health Organization, not known for being a really progressive organization, advocates nursing for at least the first two years. Still so many women abandon nursing after one calendar year feeling like they put their time in. We are mammals though and isn't that what mammals do -- nurse their young? It seems crazy to me that gorillas and bears take better, more instinctive care of their young than we do as humans.

We were watching a program on cable this evening, about gorillas in captivity in comparison to the wild. The zoologists have been spending a lot of time trying to help support nature behavior and development in their captive populations. Makes me wonder what a human habitat would look like. Not our post-modern industrial homes but something that would support our natural behavior and development. I guess I would start by looking to what more simplistic societies do. Then maybe take a cue from camping. It sure as heck wouldn't involve including cribs for the babies.

References to Fertility while Breastfeeding

I was reading a bit of this book, Why Zebras Don't Get Ulcers at my BIL's while away last weekend and came across a section about fertility while breast feeding.

Apparently researchers studying hunter/gatherer groups of humans noticed 3-4 years child-spacing for mothers. At first they thought it was due to poor diet but that wasn't true. Finally they realized it was due to the extended, readily available, nursing on demand, done by the mothers of their babies until about 3yrs. It talked more about how prolactin works to prohibit progesterone from functioning properly during the LP which inhibits implantation. It also mentions that the reason BF as contraception fails for some is that Western moms try to feed on a schedule rather than on-demand which compromises the effect of the hormones released during nursing.

Makes me think I might be in for a little bit longer ride if I'm not going to wean....

That said, Jonah is almost 16 months now and recently he has shifted his nursing behavior some. He has cut back a bit and while he will reach for the girls if he wants to nurse he will equally pull my shirt down when he is finished and say "alllll done! allllll done1"


Also, another gal in a group I'm on came across a reference to a greater chance of twins for conceptions while nursing. Something like 12 times more likely to have twins. Evidently it is partly the effect of lower blood calcium levels in nursing moms as well as a higher level of FSH also due to nursing.

(The higher FSH must be our brains yelling at our ovaries over the sound of the prolactin.)

Share Your Co-sleeping Story

I came across this on the Ovusoft.com forums tonight. It seems interesting to try to counter negative comments and attitudes towards co-sleeping. I wish it was a little more scientific in its approach but it was nice to read the affirmative comments from the participants.

Fertility While Nursing

I found this a couple weeks ago and it explains rather reasonably how fertility returns post-partum, while breastfeeding:

The greatest level of suppression is not ovulating, but as your prolactin levels go up, your fertility will gradually return. First you will ovulate, but not have the proper hormone levels for fertilization; then you will ovulate and fertilization may occur, but you still may not have the proper hormone levels for implantation; finally, you may ovulate, be fertilized, and implant, but not have the proper hormone levels for continuing the pregnancy, so you have a very early miscarriage, probably along the lines of minutes or hours after implantation, so you wouldn't know you had been pregnant. It is also possible to ovulate without having the right hormonal levels in the right combinations for the uterus to have been preparing for implantation, so yes, it is possible to ovulate without menstruating. For all of these stages, there seems to be incredible individual variation between women. Some women get pregnant again the first time they ovulate, with no intervening menstrual periods. I knew a woman in Indiana years ago who had three children in six years with no menstrual periods! Her doctor couldn't figure out when to predict her due date
From: http://www.kathydettwyler.org/detfert.html

The author, Kathy Dettwyler, has studied a lot of different aspect of nursing. Her site is pretty interesting to poke around:
http://www.kathydettwyler.org/

I found her mentions about the natural ages of weaning amongst other large mammals to be affirming of what I have been observing with my little one.

I love E.C.

This morning I was getting dressed and I heard the baby walk down the hall from his room. I called to him to see where he was and then found him holding onto the toilet seat. He looked up at me and signed for "more" and then I got him undressed and set him on his seat reducer and he proceeded to have a big poop. Yeah for no poopy diapers! Yeah for baby!

The no poopy diapers is pretty commonplace but the baby initiated trips to the bathroom are still relatively new. We invested in a second toilet seat reducer and a foldable seat for use when we are out. The foldable seat has come in handy and the second seat means that we are totally ready whenever he is.

We have a sitter come help care for the baby a few afternoons a week now as I need to get more work done and baby is ready for more than just hanging with mom and dad at the office. He will potty for her as well which is super and great for her as well as no one likes to change a poopy diaper.