Disease-Proof Your Child!

Parents -- if I can recommend any must-read book that will absolutely alter the way you feed and raise your kids, this book is it.  Wanna know why cow milk leads to Type 1 diabetes and ear infections (not to mention other diseases) and is actually not a great source of calcium?  Check.  Wanna know why antibiotics are actually harmful to your child?  Check.  Wanna know why animal proteins lead to degenerative diseases?  Check.  And so much more critically important information.

Having said that much, I'll be the first to admit that it is nearly impossible for me to be strict about the diet he proposes.  Sometimes, your kid won't eat anything but a damn pizza.  And sometimes it's a hot summer day, and, dangnabbit, your kid wants chocolate ice cream (or donuts or cupcakes or whatever the treat du jour may be that day).  But this book at least provides you with a framework by which to make your daily dietary decisions.

The recipes he provides at the end of the book are somewhat...er...optimistic ("carob-avocado cream pie"), but I haven't tried them yet so will have to update this post down the road with the kids' reactions.

Get the book here.  NOW!
 http://www.amazon.com/Disease-Proof-Your-Child-Feeding-Right/dp/0312338082   

Summertime and the Drowning Panic...

So now that it's almost summertime, the post about drowning not looking like drowning is making its rounds again.  Posted a link this last year, but here it is again:  http://mamanuggets.blogspot.com/2012_07_01_archive.html

But to strike fear in parents' hearts even further, now there's a story about a kid "drowning" hours after having gone swimming.  What the WHAT?
http://www.today.com/id/24982210/ns/today-today_health/t/boys-death-highlights-hidden-danger-dry-drowning/#.UbNt63DR3zJ

Having said that much, the kid didn't technically die of "dry drowning," apparently.  He died of "delayed drowning" (which means that he had water in his lungs).  Here's a link that describes the difference and how to prevent actual "dry drowning."  Thought it was important enough to share.
http://www.snopes.com/medical/disease/drydrowning.asp

As for us, I think we're just going to stick with sprinklers, thankyouverymuch.

ADHD: France vs. America

As with most things, the Europeans have it right and the Americans have it backwards.  Imagine, looking to nutritional input as a potential cause!  Those crazy Frenchies.

http://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/suffer-the-children/201203/why-french-kids-dont-have-adhd 

Infant Swimming Resource

Has anyone else ever heard of this?  Teaching your baby survival skills in the water?  This video had my mouth agape.  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nI_XzNfxjlY

So it seems like the founder, Dr. Harvey Barnett, is a grade-A ass, suing instructors who branch off using his methods when his purported mission is "Not One More Chid Drowns" (http://articles.orlandosentinel.com/2001-07-07/lifestyle/0107060404_1_barnett-infant-swimming-swimming-research), but does that detract from the method?  I'm seriously tempted to give it a try, except for the fact that I have no ready access to a pool.

Here's the website, for anyone interested, though.  http://www.infantswim.com

I'd love some feedback if anyone's tried this!

Pinkeye

I like pink.  And I like eyes.  I just don't like the two things together.  But, given my kids' ages (3 and 1), we are unfortunately prone to picking up the dreaded conjunctivitis at least once or twice every winter season.

This last round had me shooting steam out of my ears.  $102 for 3 mLs of C's eyedrops (see photo above)!  No generic available.  "Your deductible has not been met," by way of explanation.  This, despite the fact that we pay a $1200 monthly insurance premium.  Argh, don't get me started!

Luckily, my friend Rosina saved the day, at least when I woke up the next morning with the telltale pink and oozy eye.  Chamomile tea bags.  Soak in hot water, let cool, and place over eyes for 5-10 minutes.  "Every 90 minutes," she suggested, but I could only manage every 3-4 hours.  But, oh miracles or miracles!  By that same evening, my eyes had cleared up, and I woke up the next morning bright- and white-eyed!

Which got me thinking...kids don't have the patience to sit there with tea bags over their eyes.  What if we were to treat one eye at a time, using a pirate patch to hold the tea bag in place?  Toy sword and hook optional.

Mmmm....Horseburgers..

Guys, if I ate meat, I'd be hard-pressed to express a logic that would favor cow meat over horse meat.  Until this article, that is.

Stomach-churning stuff, really.  The next time you're thinking of taking your kids out for burgers, I'd encourage you to read this article.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/vickery-eckhoff/burger-king-horse-meat_b_2605982.html

Seriously, where do all the dead horses go????

Ingredients Banned Everywhere but the U.S.

Seriously?  What the hell is wrong with the FDA?  Protecting the consumer, my a**.  Protecting Big Food and Big Pharma, more likely.  But I'm not here to rant on my soapbox.  I'd rather use my wallet to protest.  Hopefully, this will help you as well as you make your shopping choices.  Read this before you reach for that mac-and-cheese or the gallon of milk or that chicken breast for the kids.  

• http://www.shape.com/blogs/shape-your-life/13-banned-foods-still-allowed-us

Plastics

Sweet Jebus, it's been a while since I last posted something.  I keep finding things that I want to post about, but by the end of the day -- after kids have been fed, bathed, and put to bed, and dishes have been washed, toys picked up, and apartment arranged -- I usually find that I have just enough energy to play a couple of Words With Friends moves on my iPhone and then I'm kaput.   Must.  Be.  Disciplined.

So this is one of things I wanted to post.  It seems that I store EVERYTHING in plastic...usually to assuage my guilt over ordering takeout (the amount of waste that NYC takeout generates is scandalous, really).  But what bothers me most is that all my kids' food and drinks are stored and transported in plastic.  I should know better than to trust that the "BPA-free" claims on baby container packaging absolve me of asking the obvious question:  "But what else does it contain?"  Well, this handy chart answers the question neatly.