So everyone knows that infants can’t have honey right? As we know, it’s because the honey could contain botulism spores and could be dangerous for the infant.
I was watching Good Eats last night and Alton Brown did a show about honey. He mentioned not giving it to infants and stated that in an older child or an adult, the stomach is acidic enough that the botulism isn’t dangerous, but in the infant this is not the case and it should be avoided.
So that got me thinking… I know from Marsha Walker’s article “Just One Bottle Won’t Hurt” --- or Will It? that the breastfed infant has a gut pH of about 5.1-5.4 which is acidic ( the lower the number the more acidic it is). Babies who are fed formula have a gut pH of 5.9-7.3. The breastfed baby also has his or her gut populated by healthy disease-fighting bacteria where the formula fed baby’s gut is populated by less-desirable bacteria. So I’m wondering, is the botulism in honey really that dangerous for a breastfed infant?
Now I’m not recommending that everyone runs out and feeds their infant honey. I don’t know the answer to the question. I’m just speculating that perhaps the recommendation to not feed an infant honey came at a time when formula-feeding was the norm. Any thought?
Edited Note: (This from my DH) Just researched your botulism thing. Botulism spores do not grow at pH below 4.6. Human adult gut pH is around 2. The lowest number you cited for breastfed infants was 5.1. In this case the breast is better, but not good enough for raw honey.
Tuesday, November 3, 2009
Bottle 7, Breast 3
I have been keeping track of how often I see bottle-feeding portrayed or mentioned in the media vs. how often I see breastfeeding portrayed or mentioned in the media.
The kids were watching Mickey Mouse Clubhouse on the Disney Channel today. Some how Goofy was changed into a baby and he was crying so they gave him a bottle.
The kids were watching Mickey Mouse Clubhouse on the Disney Channel today. Some how Goofy was changed into a baby and he was crying so they gave him a bottle.
Wednesday, October 21, 2009
New Website
I’ve started working on a new website: http://www.naturalbirthmama.com/. It will have information on natural approaches to pregnancy, childbirth, breastfeeding, baby care and more. Check it out! It’s still very much under construction – it actually only has only article posted to it at the moment in the childbirth section, but I plan to add to it weekly. I’m going to start moving some of the information that has been contained on my blog to this website as well as adding new information. It will be organized a little better than the blog so parents should be able to easily find the information they need.
I plan to continue to blog about portrayals of breastfeeding and childbirth I see in the media, and to post opinion pieces, but most of my informative articles will be housed in this new website. Sign up for the newsletter if you’re interested, I plan to write newsletters every 2 months which will feature new content of the website.
I hope you find it helpful! -Melissa
I plan to continue to blog about portrayals of breastfeeding and childbirth I see in the media, and to post opinion pieces, but most of my informative articles will be housed in this new website. Sign up for the newsletter if you’re interested, I plan to write newsletters every 2 months which will feature new content of the website.
I hope you find it helpful! -Melissa
Thursday, October 8, 2009
Affirmation 1
Repeat this out loud to yourself daily until you believe it to be true.
My body works. My body was designed perfectly to grow and birth a baby.
My uterus works. My uterus is healthy and strong. It is the perfect home for my baby during the first nine months of life. My baby is getting everything he or she needs inside my uterus. When my baby decides he or she is ready to be born, my uterus will work to open up and ease my baby into the outside world.
My vagina works. My vagina is the passageway for my baby to get from my uterus to the outside world. My baby will pass through my vagina and I will see him or her for the first time.
My body works. My body was designed perfectly to grow and birth a baby.
My body works. My body was designed perfectly to grow and birth a baby.
My uterus works. My uterus is healthy and strong. It is the perfect home for my baby during the first nine months of life. My baby is getting everything he or she needs inside my uterus. When my baby decides he or she is ready to be born, my uterus will work to open up and ease my baby into the outside world.
My vagina works. My vagina is the passageway for my baby to get from my uterus to the outside world. My baby will pass through my vagina and I will see him or her for the first time.
My body works. My body was designed perfectly to grow and birth a baby.
Saturday, September 19, 2009
3 kids under 2 - How I did it.
My son and my twin daughters are 14.5 months apart. I often get comments such as, “I don’t know how you did it; you must be supermom!” While I appreciate the compliment, I am certainly not a supermom. I adapted to my situation just as any other mother would do and found things that worked for us. Here are a few things that I found helpful when they were little:
The twins were born on Aug 23 at 32 weeks gestation and they spent 4 weeks in the NICU, these four weeks were very difficult but that can be a different blog entry. The girls came home Sept 19 and from that day until Christmas we had help. We made a schedule and asked relatives who wanted to help out to pick a week, that way we had help for as many weeks as we could without any overlap. Getting the first person to commit to a week took some persuasion, but after that people started signing up. I should add that my husband travels for work so it was particularly helpful for me to have someone here when he was out of town. My helper would typically entertain Marc while I sat and nursed the babies and help with meal preparation.
After Christmas, my husband ask me, “What are you going to do without any help?” I told him we’d make it work and we did. After about a month I started drinking coffee in the morning and I found that this really helped improve my mood. I was still nursing the girls but the amount of caffeine I was consuming didn’t seem to affect them.
I also discovered that we were all a lot happier when we got out of the house regularly. Sitting at home, my son Marc would get bored and start stirring up trouble or get cranky. In the mornings we’d go to a playground, to an indoor play area, I got zoo and aquarium passes and we’d go there sometimes. I joined some moms’ groups and started meeting other mothers and getting together with them for playdates. I found that when we were out, Marc was entertained and I could nurse the twins or put them in the stroller or a sling and they’d be pretty content too. I made it a point to have an activity to do at least 4 out of 5 week-day mornings.
I also started going in the backyard every afternoon around 4:00. I’d put the twins each in a bouncy chair and give them a spatula to chew on, and I’d let Marc get into absolutely anything he wanted as long as it wasn’t dangerous. He’d play with the sprinklers, a watering can, a kiddie pool, a sandbox, whatever. And I would sit and just RELAX! Sometimes I even enjoyed a beer during this time.
Another thing that made it easier when my husband was away was having frozen meals in the deep freeze. I didn’t like buying frozen meals from the grocery story because they didn’t seem all that healthy, but I started going to a meal preparation kitchen and making my own. This way I could see just what I was putting in them. I would also try to make some of my own at home, if I was making a casserole one night, I’d double the recipe and bake one and freeze one. I used to have bags of frozen vegetables on hand too as side dishes which worked well, but then I joined an organic vegetable co-op and that worked even better. Every two weeks I’d pick up a big basket of organic fruits and vegetables.
My husband and I often comment that things keep getting easier. Even adding a fourth child to the mix didn’t seem that big a deal, but I guess after having two babies, one seems easy. I’m sure her mellow personality helped a lot too. They are now ages 5, 4, 4, and almost 2 and I may not be supermom but I sure do have super kids.
The twins were born on Aug 23 at 32 weeks gestation and they spent 4 weeks in the NICU, these four weeks were very difficult but that can be a different blog entry. The girls came home Sept 19 and from that day until Christmas we had help. We made a schedule and asked relatives who wanted to help out to pick a week, that way we had help for as many weeks as we could without any overlap. Getting the first person to commit to a week took some persuasion, but after that people started signing up. I should add that my husband travels for work so it was particularly helpful for me to have someone here when he was out of town. My helper would typically entertain Marc while I sat and nursed the babies and help with meal preparation.
After Christmas, my husband ask me, “What are you going to do without any help?” I told him we’d make it work and we did. After about a month I started drinking coffee in the morning and I found that this really helped improve my mood. I was still nursing the girls but the amount of caffeine I was consuming didn’t seem to affect them.
I also discovered that we were all a lot happier when we got out of the house regularly. Sitting at home, my son Marc would get bored and start stirring up trouble or get cranky. In the mornings we’d go to a playground, to an indoor play area, I got zoo and aquarium passes and we’d go there sometimes. I joined some moms’ groups and started meeting other mothers and getting together with them for playdates. I found that when we were out, Marc was entertained and I could nurse the twins or put them in the stroller or a sling and they’d be pretty content too. I made it a point to have an activity to do at least 4 out of 5 week-day mornings.
I also started going in the backyard every afternoon around 4:00. I’d put the twins each in a bouncy chair and give them a spatula to chew on, and I’d let Marc get into absolutely anything he wanted as long as it wasn’t dangerous. He’d play with the sprinklers, a watering can, a kiddie pool, a sandbox, whatever. And I would sit and just RELAX! Sometimes I even enjoyed a beer during this time.
Another thing that made it easier when my husband was away was having frozen meals in the deep freeze. I didn’t like buying frozen meals from the grocery story because they didn’t seem all that healthy, but I started going to a meal preparation kitchen and making my own. This way I could see just what I was putting in them. I would also try to make some of my own at home, if I was making a casserole one night, I’d double the recipe and bake one and freeze one. I used to have bags of frozen vegetables on hand too as side dishes which worked well, but then I joined an organic vegetable co-op and that worked even better. Every two weeks I’d pick up a big basket of organic fruits and vegetables.
My husband and I often comment that things keep getting easier. Even adding a fourth child to the mix didn’t seem that big a deal, but I guess after having two babies, one seems easy. I’m sure her mellow personality helped a lot too. They are now ages 5, 4, 4, and almost 2 and I may not be supermom but I sure do have super kids.
Wednesday, September 2, 2009
Cartoon 1
Here's my first attempt at a cartoon. Click on the image to see a larger version.
I've listed the text from the cartoon below so you can read it easier and so search engines can see it:
Girl 1: Oh, what a beautiful baby!
Girl 2: Thanks! Yours too. Mine was just born a week ago today at General Regional Hospital!
Girl 1: Oh my gosh! You are so brave! I'd be so scared to have my baby at a hospital! I considered a hospital but I'm such a wimp and I thought to myself, "I don't have to be a martyr. It's not like they give out medals for people who give birth at a hospital." So I decided to birth at home where I felt safest and most comfortable.
Girl 1: And of course I was worried, what if something went wrong? I wanted to be sure I was with a midwife so I'd get the best possible care with someone who understands the birth process and could get me through it. Yeah, the thought of going to a hospital where more than 1 in 3 women give birth through major abdominal surgery just scared the bejeezes out of me.
Girl 2: Can I get the name of your midwife for next time?
Feedback is always welcome!!!
I've listed the text from the cartoon below so you can read it easier and so search engines can see it:
Girl 1: Oh, what a beautiful baby!
Girl 2: Thanks! Yours too. Mine was just born a week ago today at General Regional Hospital!
Girl 1: Oh my gosh! You are so brave! I'd be so scared to have my baby at a hospital! I considered a hospital but I'm such a wimp and I thought to myself, "I don't have to be a martyr. It's not like they give out medals for people who give birth at a hospital." So I decided to birth at home where I felt safest and most comfortable.
Girl 1: And of course I was worried, what if something went wrong? I wanted to be sure I was with a midwife so I'd get the best possible care with someone who understands the birth process and could get me through it. Yeah, the thought of going to a hospital where more than 1 in 3 women give birth through major abdominal surgery just scared the bejeezes out of me.
Girl 2: Can I get the name of your midwife for next time?
Feedback is always welcome!!!
Monday, August 31, 2009
Realistic Expectations
Sometimes when we prepare for a new baby we get so caught up in preparing for the birth that we don’t stop to think about what it will be like once the baby is born. This is also something that is seldom discussed, but it’s very important that parents have realistic expectations of what the first few weeks and few months postpartum will be like. Having realistic expectations will lessen the likelihood of experiencing the baby blues or postpartum depression and will allow for an easier transition into life as parents.
Different mammals have different strategies for taking care of their young and from an evolutionary standpoint, humans are in the carrying group which means our newborns expect to be carried and held and this is what makes them feel calm and happy. Being held skin to skin also helps our babies to have less stress hormones in their bodies, and helps them to regulates their body temperature, heartbeat and respiration. When humans first evolved, if a mother set her baby down, the baby was in danger of being eaten by a predator, so babies have evolved to let parents know that they do not want to be set down. Babies like to be held and be close to their mother day and night. Because our babies expect continuous contact with their mothers, our breastmilk is lower in fat and protein and higher in carbohydrates and digests quickly. This means when babies drink our milk, it starts delivering nutrients to them almost immediately, but it also means that our babies need to feed frequently.
So what does this mean for the new parent? It means that you will be spending most of your day holding and feeding your new baby. It’s not usually for babies to fall asleep in a parents arm and to wake up the second they are laid in crib. It’s not unusual for babies to nurse every couple hours, and for part of the day even every 20 minutes. It’s not unusual, even for older babies, to still nurse at night. And it’s not usual for a baby to nurse until the fall asleep at the breast. Mothers should expect that there is going to be something that they want to do, whether it be send an email, go to the bathroom, whatever, but something that mom wants to do right then and at that exact same moment the baby will decide it’s time to nurse. Moms will either learn to wait or to nurse their baby WHILE doing whatever it was they wanted to do. Baby carriers can be especially helpful to new parents as they keep babies happy – they’re being held – and keeps moms happy because they have their hands free to get some things done. Some are also designed so babies can nurse while being worn which makes multitasking easier.
If a mom does feel the baby blues, it’s okay. Her life has changed drastically, she is now a mother and, although she’s still the same person she was, she will be forever different. Her old life of not having kids is gone and she will never be that person again. Even though she may be happy with her new life, it’s normal to mourn the loss of her old life and she shouldn’t feel guilty about that.
Postpartum depression can also affect any woman so it’s something to be aware of. If mom feels like she’s not able to take care of herself or her baby, she should tell someone and get help. We need to take care of ourselves so we can be good parents to our children.
The newborn period goes by fast but sometimes that is hard to remember when you’re in it. Babies will start to go longer in-between feedings, and feeding will become second nature and easy. As baby gets older they will want more time to explore and won’t want to be held as much. It is sometimes helpful to step back and look at the big picture and to remind yourself what things will be like in 1 year, or in 5 years, and how quickly it goes. Enjoy the newborn time to hold and love your baby.
Different mammals have different strategies for taking care of their young and from an evolutionary standpoint, humans are in the carrying group which means our newborns expect to be carried and held and this is what makes them feel calm and happy. Being held skin to skin also helps our babies to have less stress hormones in their bodies, and helps them to regulates their body temperature, heartbeat and respiration. When humans first evolved, if a mother set her baby down, the baby was in danger of being eaten by a predator, so babies have evolved to let parents know that they do not want to be set down. Babies like to be held and be close to their mother day and night. Because our babies expect continuous contact with their mothers, our breastmilk is lower in fat and protein and higher in carbohydrates and digests quickly. This means when babies drink our milk, it starts delivering nutrients to them almost immediately, but it also means that our babies need to feed frequently.
So what does this mean for the new parent? It means that you will be spending most of your day holding and feeding your new baby. It’s not usually for babies to fall asleep in a parents arm and to wake up the second they are laid in crib. It’s not unusual for babies to nurse every couple hours, and for part of the day even every 20 minutes. It’s not unusual, even for older babies, to still nurse at night. And it’s not usual for a baby to nurse until the fall asleep at the breast. Mothers should expect that there is going to be something that they want to do, whether it be send an email, go to the bathroom, whatever, but something that mom wants to do right then and at that exact same moment the baby will decide it’s time to nurse. Moms will either learn to wait or to nurse their baby WHILE doing whatever it was they wanted to do. Baby carriers can be especially helpful to new parents as they keep babies happy – they’re being held – and keeps moms happy because they have their hands free to get some things done. Some are also designed so babies can nurse while being worn which makes multitasking easier.
If a mom does feel the baby blues, it’s okay. Her life has changed drastically, she is now a mother and, although she’s still the same person she was, she will be forever different. Her old life of not having kids is gone and she will never be that person again. Even though she may be happy with her new life, it’s normal to mourn the loss of her old life and she shouldn’t feel guilty about that.
Postpartum depression can also affect any woman so it’s something to be aware of. If mom feels like she’s not able to take care of herself or her baby, she should tell someone and get help. We need to take care of ourselves so we can be good parents to our children.
The newborn period goes by fast but sometimes that is hard to remember when you’re in it. Babies will start to go longer in-between feedings, and feeding will become second nature and easy. As baby gets older they will want more time to explore and won’t want to be held as much. It is sometimes helpful to step back and look at the big picture and to remind yourself what things will be like in 1 year, or in 5 years, and how quickly it goes. Enjoy the newborn time to hold and love your baby.
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