Tag Archives: feeding

Outdated Pieces of Baby Assvice

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A friend of mine sent me a link last week to a list of the “Most Outdated Pieces of Baby Advice”. A couple of the myths I hadn’t heard of, but most, for anyone who has taken a recent caring for baby class are very obviously myths. No real shockers here. What I find amusing are the comments that follow the article.

1. Myth: Infants need to be bathed every day.
I know a few people that bathed their babies every day, but I had never heard it as a piece of handed down advice. Unless my baby has a blowout, was slathered in sunscreen, or just needs to be cooled down after a hot day, I only bath the kids once a week. In the cases where the baby just needs to be cooled down I just use water.

I love the comment thread for this one though. One person said, “a person that poops and pees on themselves all day needs a bath”. Another reminds them that there are these things called wipes and it’s not like the baby is sitting in the same filth all day. Then there was a comment about wipes leaving a film. I’ve never seen this “film”. Another comment referring to the people that don’t bathe their kids or themselves daily, said what she was learning on the thread was that some have “dubious hygiene”. I think dubious hygiene would be not washing hands not refraining from daily bathing.

I actually think this is a non-issue. The kids I know/knew that were bathed daily are just fine and hove no skin issues that I know of. I simply prefer not to bathe my kids so frequently, and Lukas has sensitive skin, so bathing him more often would cause his baby eczema to be worse.

2. Myth: Babies sleep best in a room that’s silent and dark.
In my experience that is true, or should I say, for my two kids that is true. I’ve tried to get Lukas used to sleeping with noise. It just won’t happen. If his sister is home and awake. That boy won’t sleep. At. All. A lot of people say kids will get used to anything. I believe that’s true for the kids of a lot of people. Not mine.

3. Myth: When infants are running a high temperature, rub them down with alcohol to lower their fever.
I’ve never heard this one, but I imagine doing that would dry out the baby skin worse than bathing every day.

4. Myth: Letting your little one stand or bounce in your lap can cause bowlegs later on.
I have heard this one and when I did it was hard to not laugh in the face of the person that told me this and sincerely believed it. I honestly can’t understand how anyone could believe it.

Me causing my two-month old daughter to become bowlegged *scoff*

Picture taken 11/24/2007. Me causing my two-month old daughter to become bowlegged *scoff*

5. Myth: Listening to classical music will raise your baby’s IQ.
One comment on this one had me cracking up. “What I’d like to say is that while classical music may not increase anyone’s IQ, it IS scientifically proven that it does in fact access and grow higher function parts of the brain. They use it for something called musical therapy, with other types of music, but generally classical music is used because of what it does neurologically. We had to go through this with our child because of some significant learning issues – and I’ll say, it really, really works well!”

Any boost classical music gives is temporary, and the study was only done on adults, not children. “Rauscher et. al. show that the enhancing effect of the music condition is only temporary: no student had effects extending beyond the 15-minute period in which they were tested. The study makes no statement of an increase in IQ in general, but in participants’ spatial intelligence scores.” Marketers just took the results and ran with it.

6. Myth: Let your baby cry it out; if you pick her up whenever she’s wailing, you’ll spoil her.
I like the answer given, “Babies under 4 months of age have few self-soothing strategies; they know how to suck to soothe and like being swaddled, but that’s about it. Picking infants up when they cry helps them learn that parents will always be there to take care of them.”

Of course, the myth and the answer invoked a lot of back and forth about the “cry it out” method, which is a method for sleep, not daytime pick-up-the-baby “spoiling”. I used the “cry it out” sleep method on Sophia when she was four months and it worked beautify. I’ve tried it several times with Lukas and it has failed miserably.

There was one commented that said, “fact actually, I have seen babies older then the age you list, constantly cry when someone wasn’t holding him/her. The mother would basically have the kid on her hip all the time, so that trained the child.” Really? I think it depends on the kid. I think believe are born with their basic personality already installed, but the way some of these people comment it seems they think babies are born as blank slates.

Sophia has been clingy from the very beginning. Whereas Lukas I could leave to amuse himself for long periods, also from the beginning. When he cries I still go get him just as I did for Sophia. I don’t believe an infant can be spoiled especially not one under four months. I just don’t. Also somewhere between six months and nine months infants go through a clingy phase because they recognize some people as strangers, so they’ll want to be held by their caregivers more. Maybe that’s what the commenter saw. Because not every baby is looks at new people simply as, friends they just haven’t met yet. My first child sure as hell didn’t.

7. Myth: Babies should be woken up in the night to have a wet diaper changed.
I have never in my life heard anyone ever recommend waking up a baby for any reason. Ever. When the little shit finally passes out you just don’t wake them up. Don’t do it.

Actually, that’s not true, in the hospital I was told to wake the newborn up to feed them every two to three hours. I never woke up either kid to do that after coming home from the hospital. I figure that if the baby is hungry, their little tummy will tell them to wake up. I want my damn sleep. Changing a poor sleep pattern might be another reason to wake baby. Emergencies aside, I can’t think of another valid reason to wake up a baby.

8. Myth: It’s dangerous to immunize your infant if he has a cold or a low-grade fever.
I don’t think I’ve ever asked or gone in for a baby wellness check while either baby was sick so I don’t know what our doctor says about it, but whatever his response is, I’ll just go with that over the assvice from some random Yahoo parenting blog. I’m just sayin’.

9. Myth: Never apply sunscreen to an infant under 6 months of age.
In the article, it says that the risk of skin damage from the sun is worse than risk from chemicals in sunscreen. I don’t know about that. I’m thinking it just better to keep the baby out of the sun especially during the more sun intense hours of the day. Personally, I think if you’re going to be out in the sun with a baby under six months a baby hat and umbrella should be added to the baby baggage instead of sunscreen. If needed sunscreen used sparingly as the second line of defense, not the first.

10. Myth: During the first month of a baby’s life, it’s critical that all baby bottles and nipples be sterilized.
I don’t know about this one either. I wasn’t bottle feeding the first month so it wasn’t something I concerned myself with. I’d ask a doctor or take a baby feeding class through the hospital prior to having the baby. Really, I don’t see anything wrong with playing it safe. I don’t understand why this made the list.

11. Myth: The safest way to put an infant to sleep is on her stomach.
I’ve seen the statistics. It’s much safer for a baby to sleep on their back. The comments against the back-to-sleep campaign sort of boggle the mind. One commenter believes it’s “baloney” and that the major cause of SIDS was from parents using puffy blanks, pillows, and inappropriate sleep surfaces. It’s true that the majority of crib-death incidents were more likely to been found with the nose or mouth completely covered by bedding, and those of us born before the 90’s were most likely put to sleep on our stomachs and lived to tell about it. So no, it’s not an absolute guaranteed death trap to place a baby on their stomach, but why take the chance when studies show that the rate of SIDS dropped more than 50% since the back-to-sleep campaign started? I haven’t seen any stats showing the rate of SIDS cases with babies sleeping on their backs verses stomach without cushy bedding, So I can’t say without doubt that putting a baby on their back to sleep is overkill.

The same commenter said, “Another thing about back to sleep- it gets taken too far. After a while, when even the most paranoid mother thinks it’s “safe” to let their baby nap on their tummy the baby is used to sleeping on their back and prefers it. Take a look around the next time you’re around a group of toddlers and babies…. there’s a lot of kids with flat and misshapen heads nowadays. I even know a woman who had to get a helmet to reshape the baby’s head b/c of this. It’s ridiculous.”

First I’d like to say that I’d rather have a baby with a misshapen head than risk having a dead one, but that’s just me. I’m odd that way. I’ll agree that in reading the comments of others, some people appear to take it too far. I was told that once a baby rolls from back to front at night it’s fine to leave them that way. I’ve never woken my child for sleeping in a different position than the one I laid them down in (see my comments on Myth 7).

Many people keep their kids in strollers and car seats in addition to sleeping on their back and *maybe* don’t allow enough daytime “tummy-time”. That can cause the flat heads. For the helmet child, I believe that is from a genetic trait highlighted by following the back-to-sleep program and it doesn’t mean that the parents took the back-to-sleep too far or kept the baby in car seats or strollers all the time. The child would probably have a perfectly round head if he or she had slept on his/her tummy, however, again, I personally would rather risk a misshapen head than risk having a dead baby. Odd, I know.

Other information on SIDS:
Study: Babies’ low serotonin levels cause SIDS

12. Myth: Putting rice cereal in your infant’s bottle will help him sleep.
In the article they say not to do that for babies under four months because they’re more likely to be worse sleepers. I don’t know how any of that can even be measured. Both of my kids were breastfed only for the first four months. From birth, Sophia only ever woke up once or twice at night. Lukas wakes up anywhere from three to seven times a night even now at ten months. At my son’s four-month baby wellness checkup the doctor suggested we give him some rice cereal before bedtime. It didn’t help him sleep, but his sleep pattern isn’t any worse than it was before.

They also say in the article that feeding before four months has been linked to increased obesity later in life. Seriously? Tell that to the older and thinner generation that, as babies, were fed solids much sooner than we’re doing for the current generation. I’m guessing it has a lot more to do with how the whole family deals with eating and if food and eating are a constant topic at home, as in everything revolves around food. I swear they make child rearing seem like an exact science. If it were, and each misstep had lasting affects into adulthood we’d all be fucked. Each. And. Everyone. Of. Us.

13. Myth: It’s critical to keep your baby on a strict feeding schedule.
Seriously? Wow. You know, if someone were to hand me assvice like this I like this one I’d ask…and how do you think people kept such a schedule prior to the invention of the clock? I mean if it’s “critical” to regiment the schedule of an infant it would have had to be done even in times prior to everyone having a wristwatch or wall clock. I’ll just feed by the demand of the baby, thanks.

A commenter to the article that said babies with jaundice need a strict feeding schedule. I’d like to call bullshit to that one as well. I’ve had two babies with jaundice. They were both fed by their own demand. If a baby has jaundice it’s important to make sure they’re eating well so that the liver can do it’s job and process the bilirubin, but not necessary to set a timer. (Assuming the baby’s doctor hasn’t prescribed lights or given other instruction)

14. Myth: Infants need hard-soled shoes to protect their delicate toes and keep their feet properly aligned.
Much like the previous myth (number 13)…What do you think humans do prior to the invention of the shoe? If we needed hard-soled shoes to keep our feet properly aligned, I don’t think we would all be born with bendy feet and monkey toes.

nablopomo

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Sleep, My Elusive Old Friend

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I’ll start with a preemptive apology for and worse than normal grammatical errors and any worse than normal rambling and overall incoherence. I haven’t had a whole lot of sleep in the last few months. It began in the middle of pregnancy, though in those days I could still catch the occasional nap. Lukas started out as a very strong sleeper at birth, but the majority of his sleep took place during the day. It took us about two to two and a half months to switch him from sleeping those nice four hour stretches during the day to night time and even then there were a few nights where he quite literally woke up every thirty minutes needing the pacifier to plug the screaming hole in his face.

After two particularly crappy weeks of sleepless nights, I threw in the towel. After one midnight feeding, the next time he cried out, I simply closed the door to his room and then ours and I crashed for four hours. Kurt remarked how well I slept through the crying. I thought Lukas had eventually given in and that I had woken up to the sound of him starting up again. I had no idea the baby cried the entire time. This surely must be a sign of the stubbornness to come.

In the days leading up to Lukas’ four month birthday we were on a routine of him falling asleep at about ten at night, waking up three to four times a night, waking up for the day at about eight to eight thirty in the morning, and then only taking about three naps which lasted fifteen to thirty minutes. I didn’t feed him every time he woke up during the night, but still at four months old he should be able to sleep “through the night” without a feeding at all.

Lukas’ four-month baby wellness appointment was on Friday. The Boy weighs in at sixteen pounds. He is twenty-five and half inches tall/long, and his head circumference is sixteen and a half inches. He’s in the seventy fifth percentile across the board. He is currently wearing nine-month clothes because I can’t fit his melon head in six month clothes. He has reached all the milestones except the ability to roll over. He can recognize Kurt and I, which he has been able to do since he was two and half months old, he coos, smiles and laughs, and reaches for things. He can also self soothe. We can and do put him down for naps while he’s still awake. The boy just doesn’t sleep for very long, and will sometimes simply refuse to take a nap.

The doctor said it was absolutely fine to add some rice cereal to The Boy’s diet and that giving it to him just before bedtime should help reduce the number of times he interrupts my sleep with his nagging. That night we did just that and we put The Boy to bed at the same time Sophia goes to bed, eight. He didn’t like the cereal much and liked the bedtime even less. He only cried for half an hour but then started up again at nine or nine thirty. That lasted another hour before he finally got the hint. The next night he was quiet until nine but only cried for about fifteen minutes. Both nights he still woke three to four times. On the third night he went to bed without a fuss and only woke once. I wasn’t so lucky the fourth night. Putting him to bed isn’t an issue. Keeping him asleep for more than two hours is. I’m going to need tea that is a lot more caffeinated if this continues.

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Literary Girl’s Fish Smarts

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One of the books that Sophia has had me read several times in a row at bedtime is “A Fish Out Of Water” by Helen Palmer. In the book, a boy buys a fish and is instructed by the store owner to never feed the fish too much, “When you feed a fish, never feed him a lot. So much and no more! Never more than a spot, or something may happen!” The boy winds up feeding the fish too much and the fish keeps outgrowing the various bowls and pots the boy uses to contain him. After the fish outgrows a swimming pool, the boy calls the store owner to help him.

Yesterday morning I was downstairs in the gliding/rocking chair with my feet up on the matching autumn nursing Lukas. Sophia was busy buckling her blue sock monkey in Lukas’ swing just in front of me when she told me, “Momma, no Lukas in swing.”

“I won’t put Lukas in the swing. I’m feeding him.”

“Momma, feed Lukas.” She said. Then she added, “So much no more!”

Maybe I should stop talking about how big the boy is. I shouldn’t routinely point out that he has rolls everywhere, and I should probably skip the part about even his rolls have rolls.

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Scratchy Pumpkin Pie

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Our dog sitters usually get compensated with tamales, and they did again for watching the dogs while we were in Hawaii, but this time I also left them a little something else. I always leave a note on the freezer with instructions for how many scoops of kibble goes to which dog and who gets how much of what medication.

The friend that would be feeding the dogs for us on this occasion is similar to me in our cooking methods. We feel spending three hours in the kitchen to create a meal similar to those served by a farmer’s wife in the 1940’s is more satisfying and nutritious than the “Hungry Man” in the freezer section that takes five minutes in the microwave. Neither of us even owns a microwave. I know, it’s sacrilege. At the bottom of the dog feeding instructions I left the following note:

The half a pumpkin pie in the refrigerator is for you and your hubby. Don’t worry, we didn’t touch that half. I made it all myself from scratch, including the crust. Well, actually I didn’t grow the pumpkins from seedlings with time, love, and bedtime stories. I didn’t even buy pre-nurtured pumpkins from the store to use. They were all out. I guess this year was a bad one for pumpkin growing. I did however use two very nice undented cans of pumpkin puree. Oh, I also didn’t milk the cows for the cream I used, or raise the chickens for the eggs. *hanging my head in shame* I didn’t even grow the spices. Damn, I guess it’s not as scratchy as I made it out. But it’s still really good pie. I hope you enjoy it.

scratchy pumpkin pie

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Over-sexualizing our girls: breast-feeding doll

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Normally when a friend sends me a link to a news article it’s done knowing full well what side of the given news issue I will fall on and generally they just want to see me go stark raving mad into a rant complete with foaming at the mouth. On Friday I got an email request to blog about a certain news article and at the bottom it said, “I don’t care which side you take. I just want to see you tackle this.”

“If you don’t care what side I take, why do you want to see me blog about it?”

“Really, because I’m curious to see your reaction to it. Now dance, Monkey!”

I looked at the title and my eyes rolled into the back of my head, “Breast-Feeding Doll Too Real for Comfort?” I read the whole article from end to end. I have no strong feelings about a doll for children that simulates breast-feeding either way. It was the controversy about ‘over-sexualizing’ young girls that made my ass twitch.

However, a viral video demonstration on YouTube has been met with remarks that the doll is over-sexualizing young girls, or forcing girls to grow up too quickly, or teaching young girls about a natural part of motherhood.

Yes, breast-feeding requires breasts. In our Puritanical culture those evil things, which shall not be mentioned, are generally viewed as naughty pillows. They should be covered at all times for all reasons least the men folk go stir crazy at the sight and send young children screaming with blood streaming from the eyes. But breasts are also used by women to feed infants and though stimulating the milk to flow can have a very similar bodily response there is nothing sexual about it. Nothing! It would be like saying a job interview is the same as sex because your heart rate goes up and you sweat a little during both. Unless you’re a porn star or regularly date people seeking a sugar-daddy/sugar-mamma, sex and job interviews are not on the same playing field. And I hope you’re not sweating that much during interviews. By overreacting to anything remotely connected to sexual things in their twisted adult head these stupid dolts are just making sex a more forbidden fruit in the future and a much more enticing one at that.

“I heard people talking about it but, honestly, I thought it was a joke,” said Ilina Ewen, a writer for the Deep South Moms and her own blog Dirt and Noise.

“There are just things that I think kids are too little to understand,” she said.

Ewen worried that if her two boys, ages 4 and 6, saw the toy, they would be confused because neither had been breast-fed.

Yet Ewen admits she has seen many young girls mimic the behavior after watching their mothers nurse their infant siblings.

“They don’t understand they just see other moms doing that. Let kids use their imagination and play with a doll and not deal with what it can do,” Ewen said. “There’s no need to turn it into something that’s anatomically correct. Not at this age.”

The doll itself is as anatomically correct as any other on the market. This doll only works when the girl puts on a shirt that has flowers where her nipples are located. Unlike other dolls that girls pretending to breast-feed might actually put under their own shirt, this method is hardly anatomically correct. I have never in my live met a woman with flower nipples. Nor have I ever heard of a woman successfully breast-feeding a baby with flowers over her nipples.

I doubt it matters if children were breast-fed themselves or not. I stopped breast-feeding Sophia completely at about sixteen months. I seriously doubt she’ll remember if she was bottle-fed or breast-fed when she’s playing with dolls as a four to six year-old and to say a child doesn’t understand is a cop-out for ones own sensitivities to anything perceived as loosely connected to sex. Children do understand. They know A LOT, and trying to protect innocents really doesn’t serve the child well. It creates a category of information the child will learn never to ask questions about in order to not upset the ‘innocent child’ view of their stupidly sensitive parent.

Psychologist Jay Reeve, CEO of the Apalachee Center in Tallahassee, Fla., said Bebe Gloton’s realism goes too far.

Of course, children have played ‘parent’ with dolls for centuries, but this new twist seems to focus not on what babies are like as much as jumpstarting a focus on breast-feeding,” Reeve said. “I’m always a little disturbed by toys, games, or products that have the impact of accelerating childhood identification with being a full-blown adult.”

Is this a child psychologist? How can he not see the irony in his own response? That is exactly what role playing is all about! It’s moving into adulthood. Dumb-ass. I think giving an actual infant to a little girl and expecting her to give 100% of the care that would be accelerating adulthood to being a full-blown adult. It’s the perceived sex-thing about the doll isn’t it? I wonder what Freud would say about this?

Though I don’t care about the breast-feeding non-issue I still wouldn’t buy this doll for Sophia. I agree with the professor at the end of the article.

…toy expert, professor and author Diane Levin, said the problem with Bebe Gloton isn’t the breast-feeding. Levin has a problem with any toy that limits the play to a single activity.

“It’s not good for children to have everything structured for them,” said Levin…

… “As kids get used to instructive toys, they need more structured toys,” Levin said. “We take the creativity away.”

This is one of the reasons why I limit the battery operated toys Sophia has. The other reason is that I don’t want to have to buy millions of batteries, and third and most importantly I think any doll with any mechanical movements are fuckin’ creepy! Think Chucky.

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55 Flash Fiction Friday: Finicky Toddler Feeding

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I try not to point out what she’s not eating or say, “You’re so skinny, why you no eat?” I try staying positive, “That’s really yummy, isn’t it?” She finally eats something other than bread, Cheerios, and cheese. After offering sliced zucchini omelet for a week, she finally tried it, and ate the whole thing.

November, 30 posts in 30 days nablopomo.com

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Bisphenol A and the FDA

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From the executive summary of an FDA report on Bisphenol A (BPA):

Coupling together the available qualitative and quantitative information (including application of uncertainty factors) provides a sufficient scientific basis to conclude that the Margins of Safety defined by FDA as “adequate” are, in fact, inadequate.

The FDA has gone from their April 14, 2008 view of BPA levels are too low to cause any health effects

Based on our ongoing review, we believe there is a large body of evidence that indicates that FDA-regulated products containing BPA currently on the market are safe and that exposure levels to BPA from food contact materials, including for infants and children, are below those that may cause health effects.

to their new and, depending on your point of view, improved October 28, 2008 statement that BPA won’t hurt you right away.

Consumers should know that, based on all available evidence, the present consensus among regulatory agencies in the United States, Canada, Europe, and Japan is that current levels of exposure to BPA through food packaging do not pose an immediate health risk to the general population, including infants and babies.

Apparently the FDA based their original BPA is safe view based on three studies industry funded studies and just ignored those Henny-Penny-The-Sky-Is-Falling independent reports. Thanks for doing your job and looking out for us little guys FDA! But don’t worry, they aren’t swayed by money, big business, lobbyists…

NIH reaffirms BPA concerns
08 September 2008
The ACC (American Chemistry Council) has launched a major campaign to defend BPA, including one effort that helped killed a California state bill aiming to ban all but trace amounts of BPA from the food and beverage containers of babies and young children.

The trade association publicly suggested that any ban on BPA would threaten food safety and increase grocery costs. On 29 August, the California State Assembly rejected the bill by a 35-30 vote. Fifteen of the state legislators were absent or didn’t vote.

‘California’s legislators made the right decision for their consumers,’ said ACC’s Steven Hentges. ‘Products targeted by this bill have been affirmed to be safe by government bodies around the world based on the science, most recently by the FDA’.

There was some criticism, however, of industry efforts to defeat the bill. ‘It is a very powerful lobby,’ says Scott Belcher, a University of Cincinnati pharmacologist. ‘With the worldwide production capacity at over 6.4 billion pounds per year, BPA is an important chemical and an important money maker.’ The US chemical industry produces roughly 2.3 billion pounds of BPA annually, and the chemical’s global market is estimated at $6 billion

Whatever kickbacks were being passed around must have stopped or no longer covered the cost of gas for FDA scientists to drive to work, or maybe the severely underfunded agency is finally able to properly address BPA.

FDA ignored evidence when calling BPA safe
Updated 10/29/2008 11:55 PM
By Liz Szabo, USA TODAY

The scientists took the FDA to task for basing its safety decision in August on three industry-funded studies. Another government agency, the National Toxicology Program, decided many other independent studies deserved consideration. The toxicology program concluded last month there is “some concern” that BPA alters development of the brain, prostate and behavior in children and fetuses.

The expert panel also found the FDA underestimated how much BPA babies ingest on several counts. For one, the agency failed to consider the cumulative effect of being exposed to BPA from dozens of products, a fundamental error that “severely limits the usefulness” of the FDA’s safety estimate.

An advocacy group, the Natural Resources Defense Council, believes BPA is too toxic to use in baby products at all. The group formally has asked the FDA to remove BPA from food and beverage containers.

This report from Chemistry World talks about the effects of BPA:

BPA linked to heart disease and diabetes
16 September 2008
Animal studies have long suggested that low-level chronic exposure to BPA can lead to reproductive and developmental problems, such as breast and prostate cancers, as well as the early onset of puberty. A report from the National Institutes of Health found ‘some concern’ about the effects of BPA on foetuses and children. But the FDA says it has not been proven that typical human exposures pose a safety risk. And in July the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) concluded that the chemical appears safe at current dosages since humans metabolise and eliminate it more rapidly than do the rats used in scientific research.

Although it is complicated to work out a ‘safe’ level of BPA exposure, Galloway says her paper raises doubt about whether the current guidelines set by US and European governments are adequately protective. ‘We are seeing the effect of concentrations lower than the level currently recommended by the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA),’ she told Chemistry World. The EPA’s safety limit is 50 micrograms/kg bodyweight per day, which is also the tolerable daily intake according to the EFSA.

When will we get results?

FDA criticised by its own experts over bisphenol A
04 November 2008

The FDA is unlikely to resolve the BPA safety issue quickly. The agency doesn’t have to officially respond to the Science Board report until February, by which time a new president will occupy the White House and a new Congress will be installed. The agency says its reply could include anything from a call for specific research proposals to the implementation of some type of BPA ban.

Consumer tips to avoid BPA exposure from the Environmental Working Group.

I’ve seen a lot of chatter about BPA in baby formula and found this information through the Environmental Working Group stating that powdered formula does not appear to contain BPA even if the can may be lined with BPA.

BPA does not appear to leach into powdered formula. The Canadian government recently published testing results showing no BPA in any of 56 powdered formulas sampled, and the tests include the same companies that make the formula sold in the United States (Cao 2008). Previously little was known about BPA in powdered formula. Three of the 4 major formula companies had told EWG that they used BPA in powdered formula containers or gave us conflicting answers. FDA recently analyzed 2 types of powdered formula containers and concluded that there was no BPA epoxy lining the metal portions of cans.

More on safer products for feeding your baby from the Environmental Working Group:

EWG’s Guide to Infant Formula and Baby Bottles: Guide to Baby-Safe Bottles & Formula

November, 30 posts in 30 days nablopomo.com

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Defiant big girl and self-feeding

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Three or so weeks ago, Sophia and I were on a roll with baby food feeding. She was finally taking to consuming something other than booby milk and formula. I usually had to hold her hands so that she wouldn’t wave it off the spoon and use heat seeking missile technologies to align the spoon with a spoon size gap in her face for the first bite, but after that, she would readily take the peach banana oatmeal, sweet potato, or vegetable turkey dinner baby jar food. Those days are over. She is so over baby food with exception to booby juice or formula of course. I’m trying to wean her off formula, but so far won’t accept whole milk without banana in it.

She insists that whatever she eats she must be able to feed herself, so her diet now consists of bread (any kind of bread including but not limited to carrot cake), cheddar cheese, animal crackers, chicken, Cheerios, and rice one grain at a time. Apples and sweet potato feels funny to her so she won’t even pick it up. I’m not sure if her “I’m a big girl” mutiny extends to the banana “milk shakes” I make for her with whole milk since I ran out of bananas a few days ago. I hope she’ll still accept them because I’m sure that banana would fall under the “feels funny in my hands” category.

I tried to get her to eat some guacamole the other day; I figured that since I was eating it she might actually demand some. She didn’t fall for it. I even put a bit on a spoon. It plummeted to the floor nicely spoon and all. She actually leaned over the side of her chair, looked at the spot on the floor where it should land and then dropped it. Yep, that gravity seems to work every time.

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First food feeding frenzy

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Yesterday was the first time we’ve fed Sophia solid food in the form of watery Baby Rice Cereal since Kurt’s series of ER visits.  She did really well and even opened her mouth as I brought the spoon up her unlike the first time we fed her solid in which she stared curiously at the spoon with her mouth permanently hung open like a dazed mini zombie baby.  This morning Kurt fed her and not only did she open her mouth when the spoon came near she also leaned forward as if it couldn’t be shoveled in fast enough.  After she finished this morning’s cereal Kurt gave her pumped milk from a tippy cup.  Sophia absolutely refuses to drink from a bottle so I was told by the facilitator in the “living with baby” class to try a tippy cup and it works!  Hurray for the tippy cup!  We’re using a tippy cup made by Avent.  We actually took out the stopper piece that makes it “spill proof” and Kurt just poured tiny sips into her mouth.  It worked and now I’m not the only one that can feed baby monkey butt.

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Fuzzy sleep deprived logic

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I’ve decided that if I stay up really late I won’t have to wake up as many times in the “middle of the night” to feed the baby. Today is Kurt’s first day back to work, so last night we went to bed at ten instead of popping a movie in to watch. I was staying up anywhere from eleven to one am, so I only had to feed Sophia once in the “middle of the night”. – three am. Now, if I keep with Kurt’s bed time schedule it’ll be two to three times a night.

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