Health Nut Mama

What? My Smoke Detector is Radioactive?

2011-11-27T22:51:00.000-08:00

I think it is wonderful that California now requires Carbon Monoxide detectors to be installed in the house, I bought one as soon I heard about it. However, staring at both the carbon monoxide alarm and the smoke detector, made me want to purchase a combined one just so the house looks more simple. While trying to read the review of the rating of each product online, I was surprised to see a review that mentioned how the smoke detector uses radioactive material to work. What? My smoke detector is radioactive? That sounds horrible. I continued on to read the reviews and see how people are arguing that the amount is so minimal. However, it got me thinking if there are smoke detectors that don't use this technology at all.

Apparently, there are two types of smoke detectors: photoelectric detector and ionization detector. And it is the ionization detector that contains radioactive Americium 241 or Radium 226. Here is a link for more information:

http://iicph.org/radioactive_fire_detectors

I am actually not sure what my current smoke detector is, I never really thought about looking at it, that is probably bad, but for sure I know my next one to purchase I will look for a photoelectric type.

Another interesting note I learned about is that Carbon Monoxide detectors all have an expiration date of around 5 years, and they are meant to be replaced when they expire.

New Tri-City Area Holistic Mom Network Chapter

2011-10-06T23:44:00.000-07:00

Introduced by my chiropractor, I went to the kick off event of the new chapter of Holistic Mom Network in the Tri-City Area, CA. I am kind of glad that I get to see other crunchy mamas that are in the local area as well as learn about what local vendors are around. This is their website that explains what they are about: http://www.holisticmoms.org/
I haven't yet officially join as a member, but I am liking the idea. And lucky me today too, I won a door prize for a free haircut at a salon, I guess it is time for a new hair style.

My Daughter's First Chiropractic Adjustment

2011-10-06T23:43:00.000-07:00

I finally decided to let my chiropractor adjust my daughter as well. I found my chiropractor through http://icpa4kids.com/index.php I noticed that she is certified in the Webster Technique for turning breech babies during pregnancy and also certified in pediatric chiropractic practice. After doing several appointments for myself, I learned that she has a daughter that is the same age as mine and has been adjusting her since birth. The adjustment for babies are very different from the adults. As a matter of fact, I hardly noticed how she adjusted my daughter, felt like she only did some light pressing on her back. If I had knew that it would be this gentle, I probably would have taken my daughter in at birth also. But I kind of also wonder how the gentle adjustment would last, considering how I handle my daughter way rougher than the adjustment. I do like the idea of periodically having my daughter checked up and adjusted while she is growing up, this will ensure that everything is in line and that she will grow properly.

Raising an Emotionally Intelligent Child -- Book Review

2011-09-15T07:41:00.000-07:00

Just finished reading this book and I am impressed. This book feels like the continuation of Between Parent and Child and fills in the missing pieces in Between Parent and Child. Raising an Emotionally Intelligent Child focuses on using five key steps for Emotion Coaching. 1. Being aware of the child's emotion. 2. Recognizing the emotion as an opportunity for intimacy and teaching. 3. Listening empathetically and validating the child's feelings. 4. Helping the child verbally label emotions. 5. Setting limits while helping the child problem-solve. I learned about how to be empathetic to a child's feelings through all my previous readings, however, I have always felt a little permissive as a result, but this book fills in that gap with step 5. It teaches you how to be empathetic and understanding and yet still set limit and gives example of how to, setting limits is very important. Just being empathetic and not setting limits or helping your child to move on, is not going to help the child's emotions any better. I also love how the book does consider practicality, and list times that emotional coaching is not appropriate and how it can be delayed, like example when you are in a rush.
The book categorizes Parents into four types: 1. The dismissing parents, who disregard, ignore, or trivialize children's negative emotions. 2. The disapproving parents, who are critical of their children's displays of negative feelings and may reprimand or punish them for emotional expression. 3. The Laissez-Faire parents, who accept their children's emotions and empathize with them, but fail to offer guidance or set limits on their children's behavior. And of course the ultimate goal for me, 4. the Emotion Coach that follows the mentioned five steps above.
Another interesting point mentioned in this book is the strong influence of the father to a child. Even though for reasons unknown, their studies show that the father actually has a stronger influence on the child's emotional intelligent than the mother. So it is actually very important for the dad to get involve with emotion coaching too.

Arnica Gel for Muscle Soreness

2011-08-22T22:48:00.000-07:00

All the painting and moving furniture around the house is a real workout. My arms and legs are super sore. A friend of mine tells me to take Tylenol, but taking a pain killer just for regular workout muscle soreness goes against my crunchy philosophy. Thankfully, I learned about Arnica Gel a while ago, and this thing works. Arnica is a well known plant used in homeopathic treatments for bruises and muscle soreness. It is absorbed into the skin pretty fast also. When I rub the gel on the sore areas, it doesn't feel like Bengay or Icy Hot, as in you don't feel that minty cold and then that warm heat. It feels like you just put some regular gel on, but I immediately feel a release of my muscle. I am thinking this might come in handy when my daughter is older and gets sore muscle from hiking or something.

Painting with Zero V.O.C. Paint

2011-08-22T07:56:00.000-07:00

We finally started our project to repaint the house, we have been holding off this project mainly because of the concerns of the toxic fumes from paint. We didn't want to do it while pregnant and definitely didn't have the time to do it while my daughter was still little also. But now that she can entertain herself a little more, we decided to tackle this. I made sure that we were going to use zero or low V.O.C. paint. Luckily many major brands now make this option. One thing to pay attention to is that some of the zero or low V.O.C. paints are only zero or low V.O.C. on whites, and once you add color it doesn't matter anymore, so you will want to look for description like color is also zero or low V.O.C. The Olympic brand from Lowes is and also Kelly-Moore has it too, probably other brands have it too, but I didn't look further. We decided to go with Kelly-Moore since it has a summer deal coupon that saves you 30% off your purchase. I know there are even safer paints that are made with completely natural ingredients, but I didn't want to go to that extreme since we are on a tight budget. The zero V.O.C. paint from Kelly-Moore really is different from what I was use to about paints. There is hardly any smell while you paint, a big difference from the nostril burning experience from regular paint. I am pretty sure it is still not that great to be constantly sniffing this thing, so it is still a good idea to ventilate the area, but it sure made the painting experience a lot more pleasurable.

Avoiding Flame Retardants in Children's PJs

2011-08-13T04:16:00.000-07:00

http://www.5minutesforgoinggreen.com/299/avoiding-flame-retardants-in-cozy-childrens-pajamas/
When my daughter was 9 months old I learned about how all children's sleepwear from 9 months to 14 years are required to be flame resistant. I was shocked, I mean, really, why do I want my baby to be covered with nasty chemicals when no one in the house smokes, we never use the fireplace or candles. And if the house was really on fire, that flame retardants is not going to help me much as it is not even for that purpose (read link). I started to think well, maybe I can wash off these chemicals, but through my searching online, I realize that is naive thinking. These clothing are designed to be washed multiple times and still be flame resistant, it is impossible to get rid of them this easily. But there is still hope, I immediately returned the 9 month sized PJs I just bought and looked for ones that were snug fitting, made of cotton, and with a yellow tag that says not treated with flame retardants. And now, I don't even use PJs on my daughter anymore. I just buy her t-shirts and regular cotton pants to wear at night. But the sad thing is, flame retardant is everywhere, especially more true in California because of our tough safety standards. Chances are your furnitures, your carpet, and anything cushiony they are required to be flame resistant. It is only last year that California exempted strollers, nursing pillows and baby carriers from the flammability standard.

Recycling Made Easier

2011-08-07T22:53:00.000-07:00

I am so happy to see a big recycle bin at Lowes. They take rechargeable batteries, cell phones, plastic shopping bags, and most importantly for me, CFLs, since many other places have bins for the rest of the items. I have been trying to look for a place to conveniently recycle CFLs and finally I am able to get rid of my pile of broken CFLs. For other hazardous wastes, many city also have free recycling. Like in my city there is a center that takes all your electronics, paint, etc for free as long as you are a resident. Now the only thing I am still searching for convenient recycling is all those CDs and DVDs that I want to get rid off. So far I am just collecting them in a box and maybe once I collect enough I will mail it in to a recycling center to recycle, but if they have drop boxes in stores like Lowes, it would make things a lot easier. I didn't even know that those CD and DVD disks should be recycled in the past and have been tossing them in the trash, I feel so bad now.

Is Silicone Safe?

2011-07-28T22:42:00.000-07:00

Before my daughter was born I read up about silicone on Safbaby.com, here is the page: http://www.safbaby.com/is-silicone-safe
It kind of bothered me that there is no studies regarding it's safety, considering a lot of baby products claimed to be safe nowadays are made from silicone. But it still seemed like a safer option than plastic, so if there were a choice, I would choose silicone over plastic. But one thing about silicone products is that it tends to leave this weird chemical smell, I tried using a silicone cup to drink before, and the water just tasted awful, it really makes me think this stuff can't be good. And today I see this: http://www.safbaby.com/is-silicone-in-baby-products-and-bakeware-really-safe Now this seems pretty scary.
My daughter never took a bottle or a pacifier, so I never really had to worry much about the choice of silicone or rubber latex. But this have me thinking about then what is a good nipple to use then, silicone is made with tons of chemical, and rubber also has its chemical issue, and might cause allergy also. This pretty much leaves us with no choice besides start feeding our babies from a glass cup, well, I guess the best is still your breast, but that is definitely not practical for everyone. I guess silicone is still the safest out of all available choices so far, sigh.

18 Month Sleep Regression

2011-07-24T22:28:00.000-07:00

I am at the 18 months sleep regression now, well, actually my daughter kind of started this regression around 17 months so I have already been in this mess for a little while now and just now finally admitting it. So, according to online resources and The Wonder Weeks, your child will go through yet another sleep regression at around the 18-21 months of age period. It can last just a few weeks, or even a few months. This is horrible for my daily scheduling, but I guess something that I just have to learn to live with. My daughter is fighting her nap everyday now, and I can't predict when I can successfully put her to sleep, she was already a horrible sleeper to begin with and now it is even worse. At first I thought I just didn't tire her out enough, so I tried to add more activities in the morning, however, I am just recently learning that it has nothing to do with it. Parenting is definitely hard work, I keep on telling myself that "this too shall pass." But I'll have to say, physically it has gotten a lot easier, I still cringe at the kind of sleepless times I had before my daughter turned 5 months. Bad news is this is still not the last sleep regression, but I'll survive. :)

Eliminating Dairy, Egg, and Gluten Cured Eczema

2011-07-23T23:58:00.000-07:00

My husband has suffered from eczema on his hands for many years and it seems to be spreading and getting worse each year. The unsightliness of his hands is one thing, but the itch and pain that comes with it makes him a very grumpy person every time there is a flare up, which was getting more frequent also. He use to just put cortisone cream on it and it would relief him, but then the cortisone is not doing much for him anymore and the red and tenderness of the hand just never disappeared. I tried everything I could to rid him of the problem from the inside out. I supplemented him with fish oil, multi vitamin, vitamin E, probiotics, with not much improvement. I would also put fish oil topically on his hands when he has a flare up and coconut oil as lotion, which he says does work a bit. Then I started to cut out red meat from his diet and see if that helped, since I read something about psoriasis and eczema caused by pork consumption, well, that totally did nothing for him. Then I even put him on a chlorella and cilantro detox, thinking to eliminate some toxins might help, which also didn’t do much for the eczema. Finally, I read about cutting out major allergens like egg, soy, wheat, dairy, etc. But to eliminate all these common allergens for a long period of time and then reintroducing one by one seems like a lot of work and a very limited diet. I really don’t want to resort to this and cut out unnecessary food items. So I bought him a blood test kit for allergy test, hoping we could get some clues there. The allergy test tested for antibody Immunoglobulin G (IgG) for delayed onset food allergy, which is usually associate d to chronic immune problems like eczema. Probably many people have delayed onset food allergy and don't know, this makes me feel like getting myself a test too, but I have this extreme fear of poking myself for blood, I'll need more time to think about it. My husband ended up super high on dairy, egg, and certain other non common allergens, his was also showing moderate allergic to wheat and peanut. These were food that he love and eat every day. We thought he was eating a healthy breakfast with whole wheat toast with cheese and egg and a cup of yogurt. I immediately cut out these food items from his diet, and after 3 days, we saw significant improvement with his hands. We were shocked, thinking we definitely should have done this a lot earlier. He has had no major flare ups so far, still some little ones here and there, but that is partly because he has a hard time completely cutting out these food items. These major allergens are sneaky and in almost all of our processed food. He would eat a piece of breaded chicken thinking that it is okay since he is not that allergic to wheat, but he forgets that the coating might have egg in it too. He would eat a salad, and forget that ranch dressing has dairy. He would eat Asian food and think it is safe, but didn’t know that soy sauce has wheat. The list goes on. I am hoping that if his body takes a short break from these allergens and we start to eat more raw food, that his body would have a chance to repair and improve, and maybe he could one day eat these food again. But then again, we all know this is not an easy trip. However, I now strongly suggest anyone with eczema, psoriasis, chronic fatigue, irritable bowel, etc. to look into allergy testing.

Natural and Safe Sunscreen

2011-07-20T21:34:00.000-07:00

Ideally you don't even want to use sunscreen and just keep your baby under the shade and wear hat and sleeves, etc. However, as your baby turns into a toddler, this task gets harder and harder because they want to run around so much and a hot day also doesn't help either. There are two kinds of sunscreen, chemical and physical. Chemical sunscreen absorbs sunlight, however, creates free radical on your skin and some chemicals can absorb into your skin. Physical sunscreen deflects or blocks sunlight instead, and is less irritating to the skin, however, they tend to be greasy and not as transparent and hard to wash off. Of course I decided to go with a physical sunscreen. Then I read that there are also concerns about nanonized physical sunscreen, apparently if they are nanonized, they might get absorbed into the skin as well. So I finally decided to go with Badger Sunscreen, it is all natural and non nanonized zinc oxide (I heard that California Baby Sunscreen is also a good choice with titanium oxide instead, but I read that some people might be allergic to titanium oxide).

Let's Get Out and Play More -- It's Good for the Brain

2011-07-20T18:36:00.000-07:00

Doing a simple search online and I find bunch of information regarding infant brain growth. Apparently 85% brain growth is done by age 3 and all significant brain growth in human children is completed by the time they are six years old. This means the first 6 years of our life is probably the most important for brain stimulation. I am thinking, maybe instead of spending all the money on expensive private schools or tutoring centers, it might be best to invest more into the first 6 years of your child’s life. Provide more stimulating activities for them, buy more toys or give more items of different uses and textures for your child, and provide the best nutritional food also, and ideally even more so before age 3.

I am already watching what my daughter is eating, and I am sure she has plenty of toys and books, I am going to make it my goal to do more activities with my daughter each day and to resist the temptation to just sit at home and watch TV or use the computer. Hey, this might even improve my health and quality of life.

Drink More Water and Relief Back Pain

2011-07-15T22:36:00.000-07:00

We all know that water is good for us and we should drink more it. I notice that whenever I drink less water, I tend to encounter various problems such as clogged milk ducts in my breast (yes, I am still breastfeeding) or acne start to show up on my face, etc. However, one thing I never thought to link to dehydration was my back pain. But now I am reading more and more about how water can cure back pains. And I have to say from my personal experience, I will say there is definitely some truth in it. I really don't drink enough water a day, my husband likes to call me a camel because of this bad habit of mine, and every once in a while my lower back hurts. Afraid of it leading to sciatica again, I always run to the chiropractor to realign myself, the adjustments work and I do feel wonderful, however, I am frustrated on how short of a period I can maintain it. I usually contributed it to my improper postures or lack of exercise, which does play a role, however, I never thought it could also be related to water intake. So when I learned about this concept, the previous time my lower back started to act up again, I started to drink tons of water and surprisingly, within a couple of days, the lower back pain went away. Apparently we need adequate fluid in between our joints for it to work properly. I am a believer now, hahaha. Well, at least I know I definitely should drink more water, it also helps us detox our body of toxins. My grandmother had always drink a very big glass of water in the morning right when she wakes up and has practiced this for years, she lived close to 100 and was always moving around in good shape, I am thinking this is a practice I should do everyday too.

Natural Bug Repellent

2011-07-10T13:56:00.000-07:00

Now that it is summer time, I see a lot of bugs outdoor; my husband has gotten a few bites from who know what, and asked me to look into bug repellants for our daughter and for the whole family. All the websites say that repellants containing DEET is the most effective, but reading how it shouldn’t be apply to babies less than 2 months old, and then you should avoid face, hand area, then how the concentration should not exceed 30%, it just seems like another chemical I would just rather not use. Looking into natural alternatives, the next effective ingredient approved by CDC is lemon eucalyptus oil, however, it is not recommended for children under age of 3. Now this is getting hard, the rest of the plant oils are not approved to be effective by CDC, so I need to base this decision on product reviews and looking into the ingredients myself. I don’t necessarily need something super strong, but I wouldn’t want to buy something that just totally doesn’t work either. After more research and suggestion from forums, I decided to go with All Terrain Kids Herbal Armor. Reviews seem to all say it works, but some people can’t stand the strong smell of citronella. I personally find the smell okay, it does smell kind of flowery perfume like, but it does also have that little tint of lemon smell. I haven’t really put it on and try it out yet, so I will have to come back some day to add to that, but so far it seems pretty good and natural.

Been Busy Watching Netflix Shows Recently

2011-07-05T21:46:00.000-07:00

My household recently completely cancelled our cable television, as I find myself hardly watching any TV and not knowing many of the channels and show times, I find myself just watching shows from TLC like Say Yes to The Dress out of boredom occasionally. My husband does watch many of the History Channel shows, however, we did not give up TV completely, we signed up for Netflix instead. I find it to be a good decision, my husband gets to see his History Channel programs and more, and I find myself watching a lot more documentaries. As a matter of fact, I just finished Food Matters, and Fat, Sick, and Nearly Dead, and feel the importance of having organic raw fruits and vegetables in the diet. It is interesting how having raw fruits and veggies in the shows actually indicates a cure to autoimmune diseases and it is surprising to see how fast the body can repair itself if you really have the will power to go through with the diets. Off to the farmers market this weekend to buy organic local produces, my plan is to slowly incorporate more and more raw fruits and veggies into our diet and hopefully to see an improvement to my family's health.

Unconditional Parenting Review

2011-06-26T07:58:00.000-07:00

This book has a point, and it definitely did open up my mind. I always thought that I wouldn’t want to use spanking as punishment on my child, but I thought that time-out is a good idea, and that lots of praising is good for self esteem. Oh boy this book sure changed my view. It is true, even the gentle method of time-out and using praise is really just tactics that we parents use in trying to manipulate our children into good behavior. We withhold our love from them when they behave in ways we don’t approve, meaning we only conditionally love them (at least it appears to them in behavior), so how are they going to know they can still come to us and count on our support in the future when they are in trouble. We praise and reward them excessively when they do act according to how we want and we turn the act into solely something to please mom and dad and instead of something that is rewarding in itself, so how are we going to expect them to do good on their own once we are not around to praise them. I definitely want my child to not behave badly, but I want her to do it for the right reasons, because of empathy and knowing the harmful effect on others from their behavior, not because there is a punishment. I also want her to do good and love learning and strive for higher achievement out of the reason that it is enjoyable and rewarding to herself and not just to please others including me. I know this is definitely a method that we are not use to, but it is definitely something that I want to try to achieve for my daughter.

Reading the book has really got me to start thinking, and I start to realize the horrible effect that traditional parenting has on me. I have memories of how it felt being a child and receiving the traditional punishments, threats, praises, and rewards, etc. I remember that the threats and sarcasms never motivated me, and my gut feeling will keep on telling me to do the opposite just to prove a point, but then the fear of punishment usually stops me from rebelling my parents physically, but doesn't stop the hate inside. I remember that those direct praise, good girl, and you are such an obedient kid, never felt good. Couldn't quite figure out why as a kid, but now I know why. Why would anyone want to get that kind of praise anyway? I know how I will feel if my boss says good girl to me, I will feel like a pet, it is not even a positive attribute. Anyway, but these are just memories, and how it didn't work effectively on me as a child, even though I was extremely obedient and well behaved. But now, I am realizing the effect it has on me today. Not saying this to blame my shortcomings on my parents, I wouldn't know how to unconditionally parent if I haven't been introduced to it either, but I do feel it is related. I feel like I have no passion for a lot of things, I am still desperately trying to figure out what I am passionate about, either it is for career or just for hobby, which I have none (although this is improving now since I am studying more and being passionate about my daughter’s upbringing). I picked a major in college just because it was a well respected and money earning career choice, and because that is what my parents expected me to. Maybe all that reward and punishment system just robbed me of all my natural passion. I read books only if it is required for a test during school age and now only if I feel it is practical, I never developed the natural love for reading, so forget those novels. I also admit I lack the general consideration for others, I have dificulty "reading people", which is a skill that is vital in society. I am working hard on improving myself, and it has gotten better as I open up my mind more. But just thought I would want to share my story for others to also see that traditional parenting does have long term effects. If I didn't learn about the AP way, I would have never realized this also. I would just be saying, I grew up this way and I turned out fine.

http://www.alfiekohn.org/parenting/gj.htm

Banana Peel to Remove Splinters

2011-06-22T00:04:00.000-07:00

Letting my daughter go barefoot outdoors sometimes means getting a splinter on the bottom of her feet. It didn't bother her at all, as a matter of fact I didn't even notice it was a splinter until many days have past. I just thought it was a tiny red bump, maybe a cut or a rash, but then it just didn't go away. As I look closer, I see this tiny tiny black dot in the middle, and sure enough, a splinter. Trying to squeeze it or use a tweezer did absolutely nothing, and plus my daughter's constant kicking and fighting me and my husband, worried and telling me to stop it doesn't help either. Out of frustration I looked for other methods online, then I came across a comment about putting a banana peel on top of it overnight. At first I thought this is the most stupid thing to do, but I figure, what harm can it do, plus I am kind of out of options, so I gave it a try. The very next day, I notice the splinter does look like it is more to the surface, and so I gave it another night, the next day I was able to use a tweezer and take it out. Who knew. Apparently banana peel has some kind of enzyme that promotes healing, and it will encourage the skin to heal and push out the splinter. Now, healing property means that it will also do a lot of other things besides just splinters. I found online that banana peel can be used to treat warts, cuts, bug bites, bruises, rashes, acne, and even wrinkle reduction, now I got to try that one and see if it is true, my husband just might see me cover my face in banana peels one day.

My Daughter’s Gymboree Experience—Is Socialization Overrated in Toddlers?

2011-06-19T22:40:00.000-07:00

Being a stay at home mom with my first and only so far makes me worry about the lack of interaction with kids for my daughter. I bring her to libraries and parks, even though she is not yet at an age to play with other kids, but I figure socialization is important, right? I see my friends signing up for Gymboree classes a long time ago, but I really didn’t want to spend the money when my daughter was so young. But now, she is reaching the mobile age, and I thought I would give it a try. I signed up for one of the free class and took her in. She was in shock the moment I arrived, she is usually wary of new environment and does take about 20 minutes of observation before she will make any moves, so during this time, I just let her cling on me for dear life. I see all the other kids laughing and running around, having a good time. Then the instructor rings her bell for a start of a new activity. She explains to us how the first activity is to lead the kids up the wedge to a bridge and drop a ball into the bucket. Well, that bell and all the loud music was a little too much going on for my daughter, so she was not quite ready to let go of me yet, so I respected that and let her continue to hang onto me. Slowly she start to let go of me and started to play with the balls she sees on the side, but is no way near letting me push her to do anything, hmm… as a matter of fact, I was never able to push her to do anything in her whole life so far, so I soon realize there is no way I can participate in any of the activities. The bell continues to ring for more different activities, but my daughter was solely interested in exploring on her own. That went on for the whole class, occasionally a kid would come over and want to grab the balls my daughter is holding, but the parent soon come in to stop them. Other than that, there is not much kid or adult socialization going on; all are busy running after their kids. After the class ended, it was hard for me to tell whether or not it was good, my daughter didn’t seem to like it that much, but it was only her first day, so I decided with the first month discount, I might as well try it for a month.

The very next day, there is open gym, I decided to take her in again to see if she will enjoy it more this time, I mean this is like a park right? But strangely she is still very unwilling to come down and play, even though she usually cheers at the sight of parks. Therefore, I lead her directly to the bucket of balls, she is willing to come down and play that, but throughout the majority of the time it is still the same. Except now there are more kids and the parents are not necessarily completely focusing on them. Many would come and attempt to grab the balls from my daughter. My daughter was able to keep her hands on the ones she is holding. One kid sneakily followed her until she bounces the ball on the floor and quickly snatches it, my daughter went after the kid to grab it back but was unable to until that kid lost interest in the ball. Then a maybe 2 year old went around the room and used his hand and wacked three kids, one including my daughter. It was not a hard hit, but I find myself dumb found and not knowing how I should react, I looked around for the parent and I see the mom, busy with a younger baby, no way of being able to notice what her son is doing. This really got me started to think about the value of socialization in daycare or preschool. Is it over rated? Is it really something I want? This is what I feel like my daughter might learn from this big group of kids of similar age in a small room, how to hold on tight to your toys or how to yank it from others and how to hit other kids or get hit by other kids. Do they really learn how to interact nicely with others by being in an environment like this? Something irks me about this concept. I know when my daughter is placed with nice and mature kids or people, she will model from their behavior; I really worry if all she sees is fighting for toys then what will she learn? Will she lose her trust in kids and be more unwilling to share?
Update: Since I signed up for the first month, I decided to go to yet another open gym time, but this time there was a lot less people. With a smaller group of crowd, and third visit, my daughter is able to relax and explore around. The smaller crowd has definitely made resources more available to all the kids. I guess this is the importance of small classes.

How I Cared for My Baby's Bone Development

2011-06-16T22:29:00.000-07:00

Okay, so I am all for proper development of my baby's bones, considering my husband and I both suffer from quite a lot of back pains, I really don't want her to go through the same. We go often to chiropractors, but I am still a little concerned about taking my daughter to one yet, even though I really want to, maybe when she is just a bit older. I follow all things natural with her development, ever since my daughter was born I researched and decided to not use walkers, any crotch hanging carriers or jumpy seats as I heard they might not be good for the developing spine and pelvis. I didn't even get a Bumbo seat for her to sit up, and I never even held her hand to assist her to walk. My theory is, if you can't do it by yourself, then you are probably not ready for it yet, and it can't be good if I force you to. That, and plus I really wasn't in a rush for my baby to walk. On the side note, did you know that the crawling motion is actually more stimulating to the brain than walking? Crawling is actually an important part of brain development, so it is actually better for you to encourage your early walker that skipped crawling to do more crawling. Well, anyway, and when it came to footwear I follow the advice that barefoot is the best for babies to crawl and learn how to walk. But the down side of this is I tend a lot of comments and dirty looks about how I am not letting my baby wear socks in winter, and now about not wearing shoes when walking. Now that my daughter is walking outside more and more, I went and bought those soft sole baby shoes from Target, they are kind of like leather socks, and I intend to keep her in soft sole shoes as long as possible, I might even get her one of those FiveFingers shoes with us when she gets to that size. I really hope that by following nature that my daughter will never have to worry about back pains in her life.

Watermelon Cured My Edema (Swollen Feet) During Pregnancy

2011-06-12T22:18:00.000-07:00

Talking with my pregnant cousin recently and she mentioned about her swollen feet. This reminded me of the couple times that I had swollen feet during late pregnancy and brought back some memories about how I treated it. I heard swollen feet or edema during pregnancy is from excessive fluids accumulating in your extremities, and counter intuitively it means you should drink more water. Apparently when your body lacks water it tends to reserve more of it as back up. So when one day in my third trimester when I notice my ankle had disappeared, I started all the things I heard about to treat it. I started drinking more water, and that made me peed more than what I already am. I slept on my left side, I kept my feet raised often, cut out salty food, but the truth is it didn't really do much. Then I read about how watermelon will help. Watermelon is high in water content, vitamin C, B, folic acid, and beta carotene. This makes watermelon a natural diuretic and will help to flush toxins and excessive water out of your body. I love to drink watermelon juice, so the first thing next day, I bought a watermelon and blended it into juice and started slurping on it. And miraculously by night time, I can already see my ankle bone again, yes, it worked that fast. So every time after that, if I see any sign of edema, I immediately start my watermelon juice and I would not see swelling at all. If you are suffering from swollen feet from pregnancy, listen to me and don't suffer a day longer, go get watermelon, it works and it works fast.

Between Parent and Child Review

2011-06-10T21:52:00.000-07:00

I love this book! I am a very practical person, so I tend to like books that are straight to the point, have directions, and examples. Between Parent and Child is exactly like this. This book was written a while back, but definitely a classic that has withstood the test of time. Because it is base on one very important principle, “respect.” This was the first parenting book I read. When I first read the book, I definitely had doubts about it, won’t children run wild then? But then I reflected on my own childhood, my mom and dad pretty much did every single thing the book tells you not to, and I remember how I felt and how it affected me to today, which is definitely not good. The book teaches you very valuable social skills that I believe you can use beyond just with children.

I personally like to compare parent and child relationship with manager and worker relationship. I see a good parent like a good manager. Think about how you want to be treated by your manager at work. You want to be valued and be heard, doing work that you feel meaningful and contributing and involved, you want to be motivated, you want to be treated with respect. You don’t want a manager that is his/her way or the high way, but you don’t want a manager that is like your equal and can’t provide you guidance either. And to be a good manager/parent, definitely requires some skill, and this book helps you see this.

My favorite example in the book is when the author gives a group of women a scenario of a bad morning and a wife ended up accidentally burning a breakfast toast. The author asked them how they will feel and respond if the husband had criticized them for the burned toast. The group responded that they would not be happy and their whole day would be ruined. The author then asked if the husband sympathized with them how will they feel. The group responded that they would be so happy that they would give the husband a kiss. And finally the author asked how they would feel if the husband had say “here honey, let me show you how to properly make toast.” The group got the point, and realized that this is even worse than the first response, and that they would be furious. We as adults often use the third response with children thinking we are helping them, but with this example, we can see how unhelpful that really is.

Fluoride and Abrasives in Toothpastes

2011-06-07T22:38:00.000-07:00

My daughter went to her first dental check-up today, fortunately no cavities. The dentist was going to put some fluoride on her teeth, but I refused that for now, I don't feel quite easy about putting fluoride on her teeth yet. This got me started to research about toothpaste that I am suppose to introduce at age 2. From my research online, it seems like there is definitely benefit of fluoride in preventing cavities, however, there is so much controversy around it, from fluorisis from too much flouride in childhood to cancer causing in adults . I have heard about using xylitol instead, however, there seems to be no information that says it can completely replace fluoride. The only study I can find says that xylitol with fluoride works better than fluoride alone. Seems like there is no study that see if only xylitol will be sufficient. I will probably start my daughter off with a fluoride free toothpaste regardless, since kids tend to swallow toothpastes, but I am definitely undecided about fluoride for us adults. However, through my search, I found another issue with toothpastes, seems like the abrasives like sodium lauryl sulfate used in some toothpaste can be too abrasive and actually take off too much of your enamel and cause sensitive teeth or yellowing of your teeth, yikes! I have sensitive teeth, and now I wonder if that was caused by Colgate Total with all that whitening and tartar control thing going on, which by the way studies seem to say it doesn't really work. The purpose of toothpaste is mainly to put fluoride on to prevent cavities and to take away plague with abrasives. Fluoride has controversy, and a study I read compared brushing without toothpaste to with, and brushing without toothpaste actually removed more plague than with. I plan on using Spry xylitol tooth gel on my daughter as a first toothpaste, since it is fluoride free and abrasive free and have natural ingredients. Now, I am wondering if us adults should be using that instead too. However, I am so scared that my speculation is wrong and I will ended up ruining my already lousy teeth. I probably will first switch to a low abrasive fluoride toothpaste with xylitol, looks like Tom's of Maine has a line for sensitive teeth that is low abrasive and SLS free.

My Journey on Baby Led Weaning

2011-06-06T19:48:00.000-07:00

Before I learned about BLW, my husband and I were so ready to start making healthy puree baby food, we got a set of Magic Bullet; and while also trying to avoid plastic I bought silicon bowls and spoons. Soon after I learned about BLW, went ahead and got the one and only book by Gill Rapley, and I decided this is the best thing to do for my baby, and also the laziest way for me the parent. I quickly returned the Magic Bullet and was ready for my adventure. My husband was super excited about BLW, he has always had the image of a cute baby eating real food and making a mess. When my daughter hit 6 months we started her first foods with boiled broccoli, carrot, and chicken, and also supplemented her with chlorella. She ate a little bit, but played with it more. I was not worried since I have no plans to wean at certain time, nurse on demand, and solids under one is just for fun anyway. In the beginning, she tries to eat and play with the food a lot, it was a messy deal.

But after few months, she grew tired of this game. It has never connected to her that food is for eating and can fill her up, if she is hungry she will cry for the breast, but if she just nursed, then she will not eat at all. But then there will be those days, though not enough of them, that she will pick up food and eat again. She has gotten neater though, food no longer is all over her face and floor, and she probably ingested maybe a teaspoon at most the whole day. It is very discouraging when you have a baby that doesn’t respond to food well when you see all other people’s babies just can’t get enough of it. When you read about BLW, they always tell you about the success stories of how their babies learned to eat quicker, developed better fine motor skills, and how other parents envy them. None of that happened with my daughter, as a matter of fact, I looked like a horrible parent most of the time with BLW. “How is that enough? She needs more nutrient than breast milk? You need to feed her.” Which by the way though, she has never shown any sign of lacking nutrient at the doctors, growing well physically and reaching developmental milestones. “She is going to choke!” My daughter also happens to be a strong gagger, so she often gagged and vomited when BLWing, which doesn’t help in trying to convince others either. Soon, she started to refuse sitting in the high chair, I resorted to putting a snack tray out for her and not force her to sit during meal time, this does mean messy food everywhere, but at this point, I am willing to do anything that will make her eat something. The food most of the time just goes to waste. At her age now, I start to worry what if she has some kind of oral aversion, what if she has some kind of digestive issues that I don’t know about.

But now for some good news, one day at 16 months, I was eating some lasagna leftover from Olive Garden, my daughter climbed up the couch next to me and grabbed my fork, she shoved a tiny bite into her mouth. Afterwards, she kept on signing for more, and wanted me to feed her more. I didn’t have a lot of leftover left at that point, but she finished it all for me, I was shocked. Then the next few days she would come to me whenever I am eating dinner and want me to feed her, she would not grab the whole pieces of food I leave her, but wants what is on my spoon. I thought, maybe she wants to use utensil, but even after I give her a set, she still goes after mine and wants me to do the work for her. Happy that she is finally starting to eat, but also frustrated how she wants to be fed instead. Her food intake is roughly one tablespoon for the whole day at that point. Fast forward to today, she will grab onto some fruits and self feed while roaming around, she still wants me to do the feeding work for her, but is not blindly letting me feed her, she will actually let me know which food that she wants from my plate and ask to be fed that particular food. I am estimating her intake has increased to about 3 tablespoon for the whole day now, with most of the food eaten during the evening. But there are still days that she will eat nothing. She still nurses like a newborn, but at least now I know nothing is physically wrong with her, and I just need to continue offering until she slowly eats more. But one thing I am proud of myself for, is that I have always offered her healthy food and no processed sugar. My daughter has a pretty healthy taste bud so far, the couple times that she got her hands on sugary junk from friends, she either didn’t eat it at all, or tasted it and spat it out. So far I have convinced no one that BLW is a good approach, but I believe that even though some babies take longer to start eating, overall it is a good approach that leads to healthy eating. I will just have to wait even longer to see if it is true.

Introducing Solids and Allergies

2011-06-05T10:09:00.000-07:00

When my daughter was 5 months old, I started researching about introducing solids and allergy. As a first time parent scared of what if my child will have an allergic reaction, I have only heard about not introducing solids until 6 months and that to use the four day rule for each food. But the more I researched the more confused I became. First I see information about peanut, some information are so extreme that they would suggest you to avoid peanuts during pregnancy and breastfeeding and to not introduce it to your child until age 3 at least. But then there are information saying that in cultures that eat peanuts a lot, there is hardly any peanut allergy, and these cultures also often use peanuts as one of the first foods. Then there are information saying that early introduction of peanuts prevents peanut allergy. Well, anyway, too late for that for me. I ate peanut butter like normal during pregnancy, and right after my daughter was born I started eating peanuts in soup, a common post-partum Chinese recipe to bring in your milk. I figure it is true that we hardly hear about peanut allergies in the Chinese community. Next thing is I see a study that says introducing cow’s milk in formula to your baby during the first 15 days of life prevents against developing cow’s milk protein allergy. Hmm… again, an information too late to know, but my daughter probably did drank about 2 ounces of formula total during the first 15 days of life, due to some early breastfeeding issues, who knows if that did her good or harm. Then I see the study about introducing grains before 6 months of age prevented wheat allergies. Then there is information about how humans should really delay grain because we don’t develop the proper enzyme to digest them until 2 or 3 years old, and that eating them early causes allergy. Well, I guess this doesn’t matter that much as well, since by the time I saw this information my daughter is already 6 months old and it is really hard to avoid grains until 2 or 3 of age when it is in such abundance in our diets. During all this research, I also see information not necessarily related to allergies, but it says it is important to introduce food at 6 months so your baby doesn’t develop an oral aversion to food. Then of course there is the other end that says to delay any solids until age one. Confusing? Definitely. The conclusion is, we have no idea what causes food allergies at all, maybe it is not even related to early or late introduction at all. A general consensus seems to be that if you are going to be allergic, you are going to be regardless. But I did finally make a decision for my daughter when solid time came; I went with the Baby Led Weaning method. I offered her whatever table food we have for her, and I let her be the judge and decide what she needs. I choose to not stress about what to feed her, or how much to feed her because simply I am not feeding her at all. Also, the best thing about BLW is that it forced us parents to look at what we are eating as well, and to make healthy choices. I will talk more about our BLW adventure in my next post.