Skinship

Homeopathy for babies and children

Many of my friends are using homeopathic remedies and after hearing about their great experience we started using homeopathy two years ago. It works perfectly for us so I though some of you might benefit from reading more about the method.

Summing up from the Society of Homeopaths...

Homeopathy is a gentle, holistic system of healing. It focuses on you as an individual, concentrating on treating specific physical and emotional symptoms. The therapy is based on the theory of treating “like with like”, which means that if homepathic medicine is given to a healthy person, it would produce the symptoms the medicine is prescribed for. Homeopathic remedies are a unique, potentised energy medicine, drawn from the plant, mineral and animal worlds. They work by gently boosting the natural energy of the body, and are very safe, even for pregnant and sensitive patients. Homeopaths take into account the range of physical, emotional and lifestyle factors in order to prescribe the right medicine(s).  Homeopathy has a wide application, from acute fevers, sore throats and toothache, to chronic illnesses such as arthritis, eczema, asthma, anxiety, mild depression and chronic fatigue syndrome. There has been some very good research evidence to support this. You can find more facts and figures about homeopathy here.

Here are some quotes about homeopathy for babies and children (from Society of Homeopaths web page):

»Homeopathy is ideal for babies and children as it is a gentle yet highly effective system of medicine. The mildly sweet pills, powders or liquids are easy to dispense and are more palatable than many conventional medicines. The highly diluted natural substances that form homeopathic remedies mean that they are safe to use in the very young, including newborn babies. More than that, homeopathy can raise the immunity of your children to help deal with illness throughout their childhood. homeopathy not only helps when your child is ill. It can also help prevent illness and give support through difficult periods of their life.«

 

»Homeopathy works fast with children because they are usually full of vitality. Acute conditions such as ear infections, tonsillitis and flu, can be resolved rapidly using the right remedies, often avoiding the need for conventional medicines. Babies also tend to respond quickly to homeopathic treatment – there are remedies for colic, teething and nappy rash, for example.«

You can also safely use it during pregnancy and chilbirth. More infor can be found here.

I will post more about our experience, where to buy homeopathic remedies and which books are worth reading in my next posts.

Early childhood caries

Recently I have been reading a lot about the causes of early childhood caries. Jun's upper teeth have the signs of early caries, which made me quite upset.  He hardly eats any sugar and we are trying to clean his teeth as much as possible. He is quite a challenge when it comes to cleaning teeth and we have tried virtually everything in the last 14months (his first tooth came out at 6 months) to clean it at least in the evening. But we are obviously not very successful.

 

In our dentist's opinion the reason for his caries is breastfeeding and according to her I should immediately stop breastfeeding. I was quite shocked to hear that and I did some more research to find some relevant studies on this topic. Here are the results of one study published in the Pediatrics journal.

 

The objective of this study by Iida et al. (2007) was to assess the potential association of breastfeeding and other factors with the risk for early childhood caries among young children in the  U.S. Based on more than 1500 children between 2 and 5 years of age the researchers investigated the association of breastfeeding and its duration, as well as other factors that previous research has found associated with early childhood caries. The results show that breastfeeding and its duration were not associated with the risk for early childhood caries. The data provide no evidence to suggest that reastfeeding or its duration are independent risk factors for early childhood caries, severe early childhood caries, or decayed and filled surfaces on primary teeth.

 

You can read the whole paper here.

 

Soft-soled shoes

When chosing baby's shoes we have to be aware that babies' and children's feet should be left alone as much as possible. Accordingly, shoes should be chosen for protection, not correction.

I quote the Canadian Pediatric Society: "The Community Paediatrics Committee no longer accepts the old belief that a baby must wear shoes soon after birth. Keeping a baby out of shoes in warm, dry conditions is a good idea because walking barefoot develops good toe gripping and muscular strength. Indeed, there is increasing evidence to suggest that wearing shoes in early childhood may be detrimental to the development of a normal longitudinal arch. Until toddlers have been walking for at least a few months, the only purpose of footwear is to protect the child’s feet and to offer some grip on a smooth surface. For prewalkers, shoes are not necessary... Shoes must fit the foot properly at the heel and allow enough room for the toes, leaving about 1.25 cm between the longest toe and the tip of the shoe, measured standing up. This allows for sufficient movement of the toes and reasonable room for growth. Never buy shoes unless the child is present to try them on. Soft-sole footwear for protection and warmth is appropriate."

In line with the studies (see the list of references), we can conclude that when children can not be left bare feet, the soft-soled shoes are the best choice for young developing feet. Here are the most common and widely available brands that vary in shape and prices. However, they are all made from quality natural materials and have been extensively tested by my little boy or his friends :-)

• Robeez
• Platypaws
• ShooShoos (in Slovenia you can order them here)
• Cute Baby Shoes
• Starchild (in Slovenia you can order them here)

For more references about the benefits of being bare foot or in soft shoes look at Canadian Pediatrics Society. Pediatrics and Child Health 1998; 3(5): 373, Reference No. CP98-02

Scientific American on children

The Scientific Amrecian has recently dedicated two special issues to children:

• Scintific American REPORTS offers a special edition on child development
• Scientific American MIND offers a special on-line edition on child's mind

They are both fantastic and worth reading...with top researchers in the field presenting their scientific studies. Great papers.

In the next posts I will share with you some of the most interesting findings and ideas.

Skinship groups

Dear readers,

I would like to invite you to join us at Mother's click. I've created two goups for parents who believe in attachment parenting, want to share their ideas, ask for advice or just have a chat with similarly minded parents.

First group is called Skinship and can be found here. It is open for all English speaking readers who share passion for connected and respectful parenting, breastfeeding, co-sleeping, babywearing, cloth diapers or elimination communication and much more.

Since many of Skinship readers come from Slovenia and feel more comfortable communicating in Slovenian I've created a Slovene group called "Moja Mami". You can join us at MojaMami web page.

To join any of the groups you have to register here. You can also upload your picture. The web platform used at Mother's click enables us to use several services from posting notes, activities, managing group calendar, posting photos, posting reviews, and much more.

I wish you a great fun using the service and hope to meet you online soon.

Anja

Vaccination- reading list

Vaccination- more resources

Here are more useful resources for those who want to be informed on vaccinations:

Vaccination Risk Awareness Network has a comprehensive web site covering all the main issues that parents face when deciding upon vaccination of our children. I really like the detailed list of the ingrediants in each vaccination given to children together with a direct link to the producer of that vaccination and their original description of indications, contraindications, warings, adverse reactions observed during the controlled clinical trials and much more.

I also like the Canadian Immunisation Guide which covers everything from the list and description of all vaccinations, description of adverse effects following the vaccinations, description of active immunizing agents and passive immunizations. At the end it provides a descriptive table comparing each disease with the effects of the immunization against it.

I hope those resources will help you make informed decision.

Vaccination: how to make informed decision?

There is no issue in parenting that would raise so much controversy as vaccination does. And there is no issue where it is so hard to find sources against the conventional way.

When I face decisions in life I usually collect information from both sides (pros and cons) and carefully study them.

In the case of vaccinations I soon discovered that it is quite easy to find the literature advocating vaccination but much more difficult to find scientific studies that argue against it. I was trying to think why is that?

First of all, such studies are quite expensive and someone who has interest in results has to sponsor them. From this point of view there are definitely more companies out there that want to prove that vaccinations are safe than those who want to prove against it.

Secondly, the vaccination side effects (especially long tem) can hardly be proven. It is hard to attribute any long term chronic disease (like allergies, diabetes or other diseases, disorders like autism and not to mention cancer) to the vaccination given during the childhood. There are so many variables (genetic predispositions, life style, social situation and many more) that can not be controlled for in scientific research. Additionally longitudinal studies that would follow children through their life are very expensive, time consuming and hard to conduct. Even in cases when children die shortly after vaccination there is almost impossible to prove the causal relationship.

This is why anti-vaccine debates usually come down to the vaccine ingredients (like mercury, animal proteins, etc.) and their direct side-effects. But there is always very little debate on long term effects of vaccination or even death.

And that it is why it is so hard to decide. I researched most of the available literature and I really tried to rely only on credible sources. There is so much manipulation out there theta you really have to be careful what you are reading.

One page that really covers many aspects of vaccination is The Think Twice Institute . What I liked the most is the list of scientific articles on the effects of vaccination. You will find it here.

And there is a great blog on vaccination by Barbara Loe Fisher. She is the co-founder and president of National Vaccine Information Center. You will find many interesting information on this site. She is also expert on vaccination at the Mothering Magazine. Her blog Vaccine awakening is a great resource and I am sure you will find something useful.

Later this week I will add the reading list on this topic. I will also list the pros and cons that we are going true before making informed decision about vaccinations.

Nursing is more than breastfeeding

Take couple o minutes to read this beautiful article by dr. Linda Folden Palmer. She explains why there is a lot more to breastfeeding than nutrition and immunity.

Breastfeeding advocates mainly focus on the importance its nutritive and immune support roles but breastfeeding is designed to be much more than just providing food. "It is a time for nursing, a time for comfort and nurturing. This is a time for studying and memorizing each other’s faces, for speaking or singing to your baby and developing her trust and nonverbal communication."

The article is based on several scientific studies but what gives it the real value is the human warmth and understanding of the most basic baby’s needs for nourishment and comfort. And responding to those needs can give you and your baby a wonderful beginning.

“In your arms or snuggled alongside you, your baby is nurtured by the snuggly warmth of your body and comforted by your familiar scent (pheromones). He hears the beat of your heart and the sound of your voice. His neurons and hormones program him to desire and flourish in this environment — a means of ensuring his protection, survival and optimal development.”

Continue reading the article here!

More great articles by dr. Linda Folden Palmer and presentation of her book “Baby Matters: What Your Doctor May Not Tell You About Caring for Your Baby” can be found on her web page.

The article also stresses an important point that I often miss in breastfeeding literature; nursing, cuddling and skinship are not only for breastfeeding babies. Bottlefeeding children can also enjoy this truly peaceful time with their mothers!

Cancer-causing chemicals in baby cosmetics

The results from an independent California chemical-testing laboratory found a probable human carcinogen, 1,4-dioxane (also known as paradioxane) in children’s shampoos. A hidden cancer-causing petrochemical has been found in dozens of children’s bath products such as Hello Kitty Bubble Bath, Huggies Baby, Johnson’s Baby Wash, Scooby-Doo Bubble Bath and Sesame Street Bubble Bath. The tests also found the carcinogen in Clairol Herbal Essences shampoo, Olay Complete Body Wash and many other personal care products. In some cases at levels that are more than twice the U.S. Food and Drug Administration’s lenient recommended maximum.

It is very important to understand that the total of person's exposure to all the little amount of cancerous agents in the environment may be just as harmful as big doses of few well-known carcinogens. Our chances of getting cancer reflect the full amount of carcinogens we are exposed each day including those in the air, water and food pollution, not to mention contaminants in cleaners, cosmetics, clothing, furniture, tobacco smoke and many others.

And as Devra Davis says in her article from the Newsweek Magazine (5th March 2007, p.49) »chilfdren are not simply young adults. With their quick heartbeats, fast-growing organs and enviable metabolisms, the young absorbs proportionally more pollutants than those who are older«. Knowing this parents have to take the responsibility to protect them form an unnecessary exposure to dangerous chemicals. But how can we know if paradioxane and other contaminants are present in products we use?

1,4-Dioxane is a petroleum-derived contaminant considered a probable human carcinogen by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and a clear-cut animal carcinogen by the National Toxicology Program. It is also on

California

’s Proposition 65 list of chemicals known or suspected by the state to cause cancer or birth defects. Because it is a contaminant produced during manufacturing, the FDA does not require it to be listed as an ingredient on product labels.

Some information on how safe is our cosmetics can be found on “The campaign for safe cosmetics” web page.

A complete list of contaminated products can be found here.

It seems it's time to start making our own cosmetics, personal-care and household cleaners.