Newborn Care

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“[We] are very concerned about the welfare and health of your unborn child…”

Wednesday, October 21st, 2009

no Bradley births

This sign speaks for itself about the biases of natural childbirth, home births, etc.  And what is it based on?

What I don’t get is how a medical center wants to deny a woman to exercise, get good nutrition, relax during labor, breathe normally and educate themselves?  Those are the tools that a Bradley Method® delivery utilizes so what “method” don’t they want to be a part of?

Oh, hmm, maybe the education side of it?  Do the doctors really want women in the dark about their own care?  They don’t want us to be advocates for ourselves or our babies?  Can’t we challenge what we are being told?  I 100% support medical professionals and all the good they can do in emergency care and with the furthering of life and quality of life but we must remember pregnancy is not a disease, you are not sick and unless there are complications, your body does all the work, not a baby catcher.

Please show me a doctor who is not human, who doesn’t make mistakes, who has undivided attention and time for me and I will do whatever they tell me without question…

Additionally, if you ever see a sign like this (it was in a Utah office), run quickly out of there, do not pass go, do not let them “arrange for the transfer of your care” and tell everyone you know not to go their for medical care.

Posted in In the News, Newborn Care | 2 Responses »
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Baby foods: incorporating wheat germ and flax

Tuesday, September 29th, 2009

As requested, here are some ways to incorporate wheat germ and flax into homemade baby foods.  See also these additional posts: making baby food and baby cereals.  If you would like some specific recipes, please contact me or refer to the resources in my additional posts.

Wheat Germ:

  • Doctors recommend to wait until baby is 8-9 months old for wheat.
  • Wheat germ is very healthy and contains many vitamins and minerals.
  • Sprinkle it on anything you give to the baby.
  • Good on baby cereals, yogurt, applesauce, in smoothies, in baked crackers or cookies.

Flax:

  • Doctors recommend to wait until baby is 7-8 months old for flax.
  • Flax contains omega 3 oils as well as and soluble and insoluble fiber.
  • Start by using flax meal (finely ground flax seeds) or flax oil.
  • Since flax is a natural laxative, it is suggested to keep flax to less than 1 Tablespoon a day.
  • Add it to baby cereals, sprinkle on yogurt, mix it in fruit, veggie or meat purees, incorporate it into any recipe and baked goods.
  • Make sure you are properly storing flax (ground or oil should be kept in the refrigerator, seeds can be kept for 2 years in a dry, sealed container).

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Homemade baby cereal recipes

Monday, August 10th, 2009

As requested, here is some information and recipes on homemade baby cereals.  Also, check out this previous post on making your own baby foods.

A few things to note about making your own baby cereal:

  • You will not be able to “fortify” homemade cereals like the commercial brands.  However, you can add things to give homemade cereal a boost such as: iron from breastmilk, wheat germ or brewer’s yeast; Vitamin C from fruits and vegetables (if already introduced).
  • The easiest way to make cereals are to grind up the whole grains on your own into a powder, cooking it with water until it is a thin, soupy consistency.
  • Homemade baby cereal must be cooked.
  • Cinnamon or other mild spices may be added.
  • Quick cook grains are processed with enzymes that give them the ability to be quick cooked.  You do not want to use this variety when first introducing cereals to baby.
  • You can store the uncooked, ground grains in an air tight container in a cool, dry place (or refrigerator is your home is warm) and use as you go.
  • Homemade baby cereal may be frozen (ice cube tray method works great) but when thawing, it sometimes becomes rubbery and reconstituting might work better with adding breastmilk.  I always found mixing the cereal cubes with mashed banana made a great consistency and texture.
  • Short-grain brown rice is the ideal type of rice to use when making rice cereal.  Short-grain rice cooks up softer than medium-grain rice but also sometimes becomes sticky or pasty when pureed (if cooking rice whole and not using ground grains).
  • Also try brown jasmine , plain brown and basmati (or combinations) for different varieties of rice cereal.
  • If cereal is cooking up too sticky or too thick, add water while cooking.
  • You can also puree the cooked ground grain cereals for a smoother consistency.

Barley Cereal

1/4 cup ground barley

1 cup water

Bring liquid to a boil.  Add the barley powder and simmer for 10 minutes, whisking constantly.  Mix in breastmilk or juice and add fruits if desired.  Serve warm.

Rice Cereal

1/4 cup rice powder

1 cup water

Bring liquid to a boil.  Add the rice powder while stirring constantly.  Simmer for 10 minutes, whisking constantly.  Mix in breastmilk or juice and add fruits if desired.  Serve warm.

Oat Cereal

1/4 cup ground oats (do NOT use instant or quick cooking)

3/4 cup water

Bring liquid to a boil.  Add the oat powder while stirring constantly.  Simmer for 10 minutes, whisking constantly.  Mix in breastmilk or juice and add fruits if desired.  Serve warm.

Posted in Newborn Care | 4 Responses »
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The Marquette wet nurses

Sunday, August 2nd, 2009

In support of day 2 of World Breastfeeding Week (August 1-7), here is my second blog post on breastfeeding for the week (2 down, 5 to go).

You cannot deny the power of this article with it’s compelling tale of the love of a father, the tribute to a mother and the dedication of a community.

God Bless these women who have gone against the norm here in America and God Bless the father who truly is an activist for helping to spread the word of the benefits of breastfeeding for a child.

Breastfeeding is best feeding.

Posted in Breastfeeding, Dads, In the News, Newborn Care | No Responses »
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Wait! Put down that spoon and back away from the baby.

Thursday, July 30th, 2009

Okay, another pet peeve of mine regarding sabotaging the breastfeeding relationship, is introducing solids too soon.

Breastmilk is the perfect food for a baby.  There is little bi-product to breastmilk since it is the perfect food and almost everything is digested and used by baby which makes a breastfed baby’s waste less and definitely less smelly.  Also since it is so easily digestible, breastfed babies do eat more often than formula fed babies and when I say eat, I mean breastmilk, not solids.

The age old advice for a baby who wasn’t sleeping through the night was to give a bottle to them mixed with milk (formula) and cereal.  The thought line being that it filled their tummies better so parents could get a better night sleep.  What is the cost of this quick fix solution?  It our job as parents to feed and nurture our children, not try to compete with the Joneses on how soon your little one slept through the night.

First of all, the American Academy of Pediatrics recommends breastfeeding EXCLUSIVELY for the first six months.  However, it does recommend introducing solids between 4 and 6 months as well BUT there are some signs that you need to look for in your baby, too.  Can he keep his head in the upright position?  Has he lost the extrusion reflex (pushing food out of mouth with tongue)?  Does he sit well when supported?  Can he move food to the back of his mouth and swallow?  Has he doubled his birth weight?  Is he hungry after 8 to 10 feedings of breastmilk a day?  Does he show an interest in what you are eating?

Some breastfed babies don’t even get solids added until they are near the nine month mark and they are not hindered and in fact, they thrive according to those horrible formula based doctor weight charts.  Do what is right for your baby and don’t let grandmother’s or professional’s opinions alter what you’ve found to be the best for your baby.

Posted in Breastfeeding, Newborn Care | 4 Responses »
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Homemade with love

Monday, July 13th, 2009

misc 1222PIC_3278Did you know making your own baby food is actually really easy and it can save you a lot of money?

On a related side note, have you ever tasted jarred baby food?  I see a lot of crinkled up noses and looks of disgust when I see parents taste testing for temperature and I think, why are you feeding that to your baby then?!?!

 Some other advantages of making your baby’s food yourself are: 

  • it gives you control over what’s put into your baby’s food
  • it’s free of additives, it ensures that no foods that are allergenic are hidden
  • only high quality foods are selected for your baby
  • your baby is exposed to a greater variety of tastes and textures which makes the transition to table foods less stressful
  • you feed your baby according to his/her needs and cues
  • you know what foods are best suited for your baby
  • healthy eating habits develop earlier as your involvement is dedicated to making only high quality, healthy baby foods and snacks

 I was sold on making food for the savings.  You can find a lot of cost comparisons online but what I found was 1-16 oz. bag of frozen vegetables that I can get for $1.00 would make about 18-1 oz. servings using the ice cube tray which works out to be $0.06 per ounce whereas a commercially jarred vegetable would work out to be $0.23 per ounce, almost 4X as more.  Beyond, just the monetary reward, I found it very satisfying to be making my own food.  I mean, it’s what we used to do all the time anyway, we just gave into the convenience of commercially prepared things but then we have to sacrifice the content. 

Making baby food can be just using a food mill or even a fork to mash up whatever food you are eating yourself but you then need to watch for spices or extra ingredients that the baby has not been introduced to yet.  I found the ice cube tray method in which you puree the steamed fruit or vegetable and put it into an ice cube tray covered with plastic wrap, freeze and then transfer to labeled freezer bags for the perfect 1 ounce portion to be so easy and it worked great.  You spend an hour a two at a time preparing different varieties ahead of time and then just take out the food (and defrost for 4 hours in the fridge or use the microwave) when you want to give it to baby.

So, what do you need to make your own baby food?  A food processor or blender, fork or potato masher, food mill, fine-meshed strainer, hand-cranked baby-food grinder, vegetable brush and peeler, vegetable steamer, sharp paring knife, ice-cube trays, freezer bags, plastic wrap, marking pen and cutting board.  You probably have all the equipment already in your kitchen but even if you need to get some tools or gadgets, the savings from jarred baby food will offset that.  Also, any good kitchen guru can improvise with what they already have.

Now, there are some ”disadvantages” too, to preparing your own baby food.  Cleanliness should be a high priority to avoid contamination.  Since there are no preservatives, the food can spoil faster.  You need to be knowledgeable in nitrates in food(risk of poisoning is very, very low).  It’s not as convenient as commercially jarred baby food.  There are no vitamin and mineral enrichment like in commercially made baby cereals.

There are a lot of baby cookbooks out there to refer to but in my opinion, they aren’t worth the time or money.  I felt the recipes were not likely something anyone else in my family would eat and they take a lot of time to prepare.  I was also in the mindset of simple foods to give my babies the pure taste of the food.  I always get comments on how good my kids eat and I attribute that to the variety of foods they were introduced to and to the purity of the foods.  The first time my son had a frosted cookie at a party, he didn’t eat it – it was too sweet!

I primarily used two resources when making my baby food.  The first was Fresh Start Cworkbook by Joan Ahlers and Cheryl Tallman.  It is more like a workbook that provides an easy-to-follow, personalized guide to making baby food at home.   It has “recipes” for over 40 fruits, vegetables and protein sources and is organized by age of introduction.  There are also tips on selecting fresh produce, cooking with herbs and spices, and making tasty meals and the information is consistent with the American Academy of Pediatrics.  The second was an e-book called The Book of Infant Solid Foods & Making Homemade Baby Food from wholesomebabyfood.com.  It is packed full of useful information like: solid foods & your baby, food allergies, first foods for babies, baby’s digestion, cost benefit of homemade baby food, preparing homemade baby food, homemade baby food recipe collection, FAQ on preparing foods for baby,fruits, vegetables, meats, grains and baby food instructions.  It was $4.95 to download and well worth it.  I printed it out and put it into a 3-ring binder for easy reference.  Their website also has a lot of helpful information and other downloads for free.  I guess I will throw one more resource out there.  It’s Super Baby Food by Ruth Yaron.  I like this one because it breaks things down month by month and then there are a lot of kitchen tips in it and even play dough recipes!

Posted in Newborn Care, Nutrition & Exercise | 1 Response »
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Prods and pokes to the little folks

Monday, June 15th, 2009

So you’ve prepared for your natural birth and have been a good medical consumer researching all your care for the pregnancy and birth of your baby but there are still many more informed decisions to make after your baby is born in regards to his care.  Depending on what location you give birth at or in which state you live, there are a variety of procedures, tests and shots that may/will be given/offered.

Peggy O’Mara in Having a Baby, Naturally suggests the following before making a decision about newborn care:

  • Weigh the pros and cons of each procedure or test.  Gather information from both sides.  Do this as early as possible.
  • Involve your partner in the process.
  • Ask if there are alternatives to the accepted treatment.
  • Seek medical providers who are sympathetic to your needs and wishes.
  • Consider the implications of both sides of the decision.
  • Consider delaying procedures, if that is an option.
  • Do one procedure at a time.
  • Hold your baby during each procedure, if you can.
  • Make peace with your decision and live with it, knowing you’ve tried your best to safeguard your baby’s health.

The first assessment to baby will be the APGAR rating at one minute and five minutes after delivery.  Baby will be given 2 points for each category of: appearance or color, pulse, grimace or responsiveness, activity and respiration.  Most babies score higher than a 7 and higher on the second assessment.  This test can be done with baby right at your side.  Keep in mind it is subjective.

In the first few minutes of your baby’s birth, hospitals will want to administer vitamin K.  Vitamin K promotes blood-clotting since babies are born with very low levels.  You can deny (you have the right to refuse any medical procedure) this treatment that can prevent a rare hemorrhagic disease.  An eye treatment of erythromycin or tetracycline ointment is often times a state law which is an antibiotic used to prevent the effects (blindness) of gonorrhea to baby.  Delaying this for an hour or two will aid in allowing for some visual family bonding (the ointment does cause temporary blurred vision in baby).

In the first first hours through the first few days, baby will also be assessed for jaundice.  Doctors will note the skin and whites of the eyes for yellowing due to hyperbilirubinemia.  There are three types of jaundice: jaundice of early onset – might indicate a serious problem, normal physiologic jaundice – occurs around 3rd day and is normal and jaundice of late onset – peaks at 10 to 15 days and is caused my a hormone in women.  Most jaundice cases are normal and require no medical treatment.  Normal jaundice is “treated” with breastfeeding and exposure to sunshine.  Your doctor may do blood draws to monitor the rise in the bilirubin levels and baby’s treatment could go to phototherapy lights or blood transfusions depending on the severity.  The occurrence of jaundice may be increased if drugs were used during childbirth, if labor was induced, if mom took birth control pills or mega vitamins or if it’s a male or Asian child.

After 24 hours, most states require the PKU test.  It is a heel prick for blood samples to test for a group of genetic conditions including phenylketonuria (inborn error of metabolism to digest phenylalanine), galactosemia and genital hypothyroidism.  The state will notify you if there are any positive results.  If baby is left untreated, some degree of retardation will occur.

Two other newborn procedures that are very large topics to be covered in other posts are: circumcision and immunizations.  If baby is a boy, circumcision may be chosen to be performed.  This is a very personal choice as nothing medical supports the removal of the foreskin of the penis.  Immunizations are highly controversial and sometimes required by schools.  The concern over some of the additives of vaccines is still an issue even though they are not in the immunizations anymore.  Another of the big issues is the schedule of the vaccines and the quantity given to the child at one visit.

Posted in Complications, Medical Procedures, Newborn Care | No Responses »
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