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Happy Mother’s Day!

Happy Mother’s Day to the wonderful moms everywhere! It’s not an easy job, but it’s the most important and rewarding job you’ll ever have! Enjoy these special quotes about mothers from QuoteGarden. Woman in the home has not yet lost her dignity, in spite of Mother’s Day, with its offensive implication that our love needs… [Continue Reading]

Dear TIME: Are you LAME enough?

The new TIME cover, featuring a beautiful blond woman standing upright and breastfeeding her almost-4-year-old son, is creating waves already. Personally, I’m tired of the whole conversation already. And not interested in reading the actual article. And a great fan of Dr. Sears and attachment parenting, for the record. What I did enjoy, however, are… [Continue Reading]

Eating Salmon is Good for Pregnant Women & their Babies

A healthy diet is important for everyone, but even more crucial during pregnancy. Fish is a great choice, and here’s another good reason to add it to your menu: Eating two servings of salmon a week during pregnancy is beneficial both for the mother and child, according to University of Granada researchers (Medical News Today).… [Continue Reading]

Photo Books: The Books Your Baby Will Love Forever

From when I was a kid until now, one of my favorite activities is looking through old family photo albums. Seeing the familiar faces of family and friends, remembering the good times we shared, and laughing over the silly photos we couldn’t bear to throw away (remember a time before digital cameras?!)… it’s a surefire… [Continue Reading]

Maternity Fashions for Spring Under $30!

Don’t Eat These Foods if you’re Pregnant!

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Everything you eat and drink while you’re expecting influences your baby’s health.  Good choices are whole grains, lean meats, lots of fresh fruits and veges, legumes, and low-fat dairy products. As for the rest… well some foods are questionable, some are OK in moderation, and some are all-out no-no’s.

Here’s some “food for thought:” consider these guidelines before indulging in every pregnancy craving:

Raw or Undercooked Animal Products

These foods may contain an array of bacteria, viruses, and parasites.  When cooking meat, chicken, and fish, it’s recommended to test the doneness with a food thermometer, cook eggs until they are no longer runny, and don’t eat raw dough. Here are some other things to watch out for:

  • rare meat
  • raw oysters
  • clams
  • sushi
  • unpasteurized eggs
  • raw cookie or cake dough
  • homemade eggnog

Hot Dogs, Cold Cuts, & Unpasteurized Dairy Foods

These foods are prone to Listeria monocytogenes, a bacteria that causes listeriosis, which may result in miscarriage, stillbirth, or other serious health problems. These include food such as:

  • hot dogs and
  • luncheon meats (deli ham or turkey, bologna, salami, etc)
  • refrigerated pates or meat spreads
  • refrigerated smoked seafood (such as salmon, trout, whitefish, cod, tuna, or mackerel)– may be labeled “nova-style,” “lox,” “kippered,” “smoked,” or “jerky.”
  • raw milk and unpasteurized dairy products such as Brie, feta, Camembert, Roquefort, blue-veined, queso blanco, queso fresco, and queso Panela.

It’s safe to eat smoked seafood, lunch meants, and franks, when it’s part of a cooked dish (like in a casserole) or if you reheat them until they are steaming hot. Always wash your hands, utensils, and cooking surfaces after handling raw meats, deli meats, etc.

Certain Seafood and Fish

Some large fish harbor high concentrations of mercury, a byproduct of coal-burning plants that interferes with the normal development of a child’s brain and nervous system.

  • Fish to avoid: swordfish, shark, tilefish, and king mackerel
  • Fish to eat in moderation (up to 12 ounces weekly, according to the FDA):  salmon (farmed and wild), shrimp, canned light tuna, pollock, sardines, tilapia, and catfish.
  • albacore (white) tuna has more mercury than canned light tuna. Limit to 6 ounces a week.
  • Fish caught for sport in rivers, lakes, ponds, and streams may also contain industrial pollutants that play havoc with a developing nervous system. Check the safety with your local health departments.

Raw Vegetable Sprouts

The FDA advises pregnant women not to eat raw sprouts — including alfalfa, clover, radish, and mung bean sprouts.   Bacteria such as E. coli and Salmonella can get into sprout seeds, posing a danger for a weaker immune system. Cooked sprouts are perfectly fine.

Drinks to Limit or Avoid

  • Alcohol (beer, wine, or spirits) robs developing cells of oxygen and nutrients, preventing normal fetal development. The effects of Fetal Alcohol Syndrome on intellectual abilities and physical growth are permanent. While some assume the motto “Everything in moderation,” there is no known “safe level” of alcohol consumption during pregnancy.
  • Unpasteurized juices, such as cider from neighborhood farms. These products may contain germs including E. coli.
  • Lead in tap water is linked to low birth weight, preterm delivery, and developmental delays in children. If you have an older home with lead pipes, it can leach into your tap water, and home filtration systems may not prevent it from reaching you.
  • Caffeine from coffee, tea, soft drinks, energy beverages, and other sources may increase the risk of miscarriage, reduced birth weight, and stillbirth, but the research is conflicting. The March of Dimes recommends limiting caffeine consumption to 200 milligrams a day. That’s about the amount found in 12 ounces of coffee.

Bisphenol A (BPA)

BPA is an industrial chemical used to make many hard plastics and the liners of many canned foods. It’s an endocrine disruptor that could disturb normal fetal development.

The FDA has not yet recommended that pregnant women avoid BPA, but they did express concern about “the potential effects of BPA on the brain, behavior, and prostate gland of fetuses, infants, and children.”

If you wish to be safe, a wide range of BPA-free plastics and glass containers are available.

Herbal Teas, Vitamins, & Supplements

There are herbs and other supplements that can be used safely to support a healthy pregnancy, but always talk to your doctor or midwife about any supplement use during pregnancy.  Herbal teas are caffeine-free, but there are definite studies on the safety of herbal preparations during pregnancy.

Duffy MacKay, ND, is the vice president of the Council for Responsible Nutrition, suggests the following guidelines during pregnancy:

  • Herbs that contain stimulants or caffeine-containing supplements, especially those that are intended to promote weight loss: guarana, kola nut, betel (Piper betle), Citrum aurantium, yohimbe, theobromine (cocoa extract), Garcinai cambogia.
  • Other botanicals to avoid include golden seal, Cascara sagrada, black walnut, wormwood, tansy, pennyroyal, senna, saw palmetto, pao d’arco.
  • Do not exceed 10,000 or more IU per day of vitamin A because of the risk of birth defects.  MacKay adds that “many newer and specialty nutrients have not been proven safe for use during pregnancy and should be avoided.”

Foods That May Cause Food Allergy

Your baby is more lifely to develop food allergies if you, your child’s father, or one of your other children has allergies.  The American Academy of Pediatrics  says that avoiding certain food allergens (such as peanuts) during pregnancy and nursing may reduce allergy in susceptible children.

If you don’t have any family history of allergies, there is little, if any, benefit to avoiding allergens during pregnancy and breastfeeding.  Before changing your diet, talk to your doctor or a registered dietitian who is knowledgeable about food allergies.

Excess Calories

Eating for two does not mean that you need twice the calories! Gaining too much weight is not just bad for your health, it may actually increase the risk of your future child being overweight.

It is important to chose healthy foods that will provide good nutrition for you and your developing baby. If you are overweight at conception or if your physical activity level declines, you may not need as many extra calories.

  • First trimester: no need to add extra calories yet.
  • Second trimester: add 340 calories a day to your pre-pregnancy calorie needs.
  • Third trimester: add 450 calories a day to your pre-pregnancy calorie needs.

It’s usually not that important to count calories, as long as you are eating a balanced diet and feel energized. If you are unsure about how many calories to consume, ask your doctor or dietitian.

Source: Web MD

feature image: mom logic

Feeding Your Baby: Birth – 24 Months

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Here are some general guidelines about feeding your baby, what ages you can try to introduce new foods to your little one’s diet, and what food-related developmental skills you can expect at various ages. For a user-friendly chart version, please visit Dr. Sear’s Feeding at a Glace.

0-6 Months: Breast milk and/or iron-fortified formula. (Note that all efforts should be made to breastfeed, with formula being second best.)

Developmental skills: Your baby’s mouth is designed to suck, not chew yet. She has a “tongue-thrust reflex” that pushes out solid foods.

6 Months: Strained, pureed starter foods. Try bananas, pears, rice cereal, or unsweetened applesauce. Some suggest starting with more bland-tasting veges so that your baby doesn’t develop an early sweet tooth.

Developmental skills: Baby can now sit up in a chair. Tongue-thrust and gag reflexes lessen, so she is now able to accepts solids. She may also begins teething!

7-9 Months: You can now begin finger foods such as teething biscuits, cheerios and small pieces of soft, cooked foods.  Add additional types of pureed and mashed foods.  Baby may also start drink from a cup.

Developmental skills: You may notice your baby begins to reach for foods and utensils. She is now able to hold a bottle or sippy cup, and begins trying to pick up small food morsels with her thumb-and-forefinger.
Beware of choking hazards, as she will taste just about everything she can get her hands on! She’s really “acting like a baby” now, and enjoys banging, dropping, and flinging things.

9-12 Months: Baby is ready to try foods with a lumpier consistency. Make sure food is cut into small enough piece so she can’t choke on them. New foods to introduce can be lamb, veal, tofu, poultry, noodles, bagel, beans, rice cakes, peas, egg yolk, yams, cheese, oatmeal, and yogurt.

Developmental skills: Your baby’s self-feeding skills are improving, although she still loves to make a mess with her food. Try to let her feed herself even if she spills much of her food (or tries to smear it into her hair!); it’s good for her development!

12-18 Months: Let your baby participates in family meals. She can eat almost any foods the rest of you eat. See how she likes papaya, cottage cheese, apricots, grapefruit, whole eggs, grape halves, beef, strawberries, tomatoes, fish (salmon, tuna), pasta, crackers, broccoli, cereal, spinach, honey, cauliflower, pancakes, melon, muffins, mango, kiwi.

Developmental skills: Baby’s  “Do it myself” desire intensifies, but luckily she can hold her spoon better and spill less when eating and drinking. It’s still normal if some of the food ends up on her lap, floor, or hair.  If baby has begun walking, you may have a hard time getting her to sit still and eat. She may prefer to stop by and pick off of your plate now and then.

18-24 Months: You toddler starts the grazing stage, often earning her the title of “picky eater.”  Try tempting her with various foods to see what she likes. Some options include sandwiches, stews, smoothies, shakes, pate, dips, toppings, spreads, soups. You can also try to make food fun by creating
fun-shaped snacks, such as avocado boats, cooked carrot wheels, cheese blocks, broccoli trees, o-shaped cereals, toast sticks, and cookie-cutter cheese melts.

Developmental skills: Molars appear, so toddler begins rotary chewing. She can mostly spoon-feeds herself without too much spilling.  She may be able to say things like “more” or “all done” or signal those meanings. However, you’ll probably need to be more persistent or creative in order to keep her at mealtime. Her eating habits may be erratic, so focus on small meals or snacks throughout the day as opposed to three set mealtimes.

Source: Dr. Sears

Note: May parents are concerned that their children get “enough” milk and dairy products, mainly because of the calcium. However, due to the increase in sensitivity to cow’s milk, you may NOT want to include too much dairy in your kids’ diets.  In fact, milk may not even be the best source of calcium after all. Other foods to try are calcium-fortified orange juice, calcium-enriched cereals or calcium-enriched soy milk, sesame seeds and sesame butter (tahini), broccoli, collards, spinach, baked beans, and supplements.

Feature image from Bella Baby Food organic, frozen baby food.

Smart Fats: Breast milk, Omega-3’s, and Baby IQ

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When it comes to proper nutrition, there’s a lot of talk lately about omega-3 fats: “smart fats” that are  found in especially high amounts in seafood, as well as some plants (like flax seed oil, canola oil, nuts, and seeds).  Growing brains, especially those of infants and small children, need omega-3 fats in order to function properly.

Human breast milk is a high-level source of omega-3 fats may explain why breast-fed babies have a higher IQ than those who are not. In the words of Dr. Sears:

Oceans of recent research show that omega-3 fats make brains healthier, especially the brains of young kids and older adults. Researchers believe that the high levels of omega-3 fats in breast milk help to explain the differences in IQ between children who received human milk in infancy and those who did not. The body uses omega-3 fats to make cell membranes. Omega-3 fats are also needed to make myelin, the insulation around nerves, and to help neurotransmitters function at the optimal levels. Omega-3 fats are known as essential fatty acids from food. Other types of fats can be manufactured in the body, but the body cannot make essential fatty acids. That is why it is important for growing brains to get adequate amounts of these smart fats from food. If there are not enough “smart” fats available to make brain cells and other key substances, the body uses lesser-quality fats and produce s lesser-quality cells. The “dumb” fats (known as replacement fatty acids), the kind that come from the trans fats in hydrogenated oils, clog the receptors in the cell membrane, and the brain cell does not function well.

Neurotransmitters, the biochemical messengers that carry information from one brain cell to another, fit into receptors on cell membranes like a key fits into a lock. The keys and the locks must match. If the cell membrane is composed of the right fats, the locks and keys match. But if the receptors are clogged with the wrong fats, the neurotransmitter keys won’t fit, and the brain-cell function suffers. Omega-3 fats keep the receptors open so the neurotransmitters fit and the brain can function optimally.

For more info on omega-3’s and children’s health, visit these links:

A.D.D. or N.D.D. (Nutritional Deficit Disorder)?

Smart Foods for the Teenage Brain

Food for Thought: Best Brain Food

Dr. Sear’s L.E.A.N. Program: Making kid nutrition fun, tasty, and easy! nutrition fun, tasty, and easy

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