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Click here, or on the picture, to feel
warm and fuzzy!
"I like Mike!" Gravel '08...
End the Corruption!
End the
war!
Save the planet!
http://www.allthingsgravel.us/
A
few of our designs available on various products at cafepress:
Do you like organic stuff? Is your baby a fan too? Get
this cute organic, hand-painted tee for your little sprout (or choose a custom
slogan of your own). Click on the pictures for more information.
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Is your baby getting enough milk?
Is your baby growing fast enough? How fat
is too fat and how skinny is too skinny? Have you ever been told "Your baby just
isn't thriving" or "For whatever reason breastfeeding just isn't working for
you. You need to feed him formula" or "You're starving him"?
The World Health Organization has studied normal human growth under optimal
feeding conditions (exclusive breastfeeding) and has created
charts to replace
whichever chart your pediatrician or family doctor may be using. Those formula
company-issued charts that you will see in most pediatricians' offices do not
represent reality of what normal growth of a human baby should look like. The
charts were designed to reflect formula feeding growth patterns and are based on
about 100 caucasian children in the Midwest U.S. back during the 1950s.
If your child has been labeled as "too skinny" then please check the
WHO
Chart, because chances are that in reality, your child is completely within the
range of normal growth for HUMAN children. If your child
is in the 25th percentile on a formula chart, he might be in the 85th percentile
on a WHO chart. If your child is in the 99th percentile on a formula chart,
chances are, your child is, in reality, OBESE.
Before you even consider listening to the weight gain requirements, print the
appropriate copy of the chart for your child and take it in and request that
your doctor use that in your child's chart, especially if you are breastfeeding.
If you are not breastfeeding, these charts will show you whether your child is
still within an acceptable range for growth or has started to become too fat.
Cow's milk is just perfect for baby cows, who must gain weight rapidly in their
first few months. It's not very great, however, for humans, especially young
infants.
See:
Length for age - percentiles (boys or
girls)
Weight for age
- percentiles (boys or
girls)
You'll have to convert your child's measurements to kilograms to use the
weight, and centimeters to use the height charts. 454 grams = 1 pound. One ounce
= 1/16 pound.
First, you must know that there are
risks to feeding your child formula, or
after a year, even cow's milk. For starters, after a year a child drinking
significant amounts of cow's milk faces risks from homogenization, exposure to
chemicals and drugs, and health risks like anemia. Additionally, ear infections,
asthma, et cetera are more likely with cow's milk. Cow's milk is not a necessary
part of a human diet even for weaned young children and adults. Human milk is
specially designed for humans, and even if you are not breastfeeding at the
breast your older child could take the milk in a cup if you wished him to. (See:
breast milk kills cancer cells!)
Formula carries its own special risks because it is generally fed to young
babies who haven't even been breastfed for very long or at all.
Before you even consider formula, read these articles:
101 Reasons to Breastfeed
Formula for Disaster
And if you do decide to feed formula, even temporarily, that does not mean
you have to stop feeding your child with love, cosleeping, or even rule out the
possibility of elimination of formula and reintroduction of
more breast milk.
See:
Relactation and inducing lactation
(including for
adopted babies)
Especially see:
Dr. Jack Newman's Protocol for Increasing Milk Intake by Baby
In general, if you are
breastfeeding, you should not use a pacifier heavily or feed lots of
supplemental foods if you aim for a responsive supply that will last through the
first year. Pacifiers are "okay" though unnatural, but heavy use can decrease
mom's supply, just as overfeeding solids can. Pacifiers may increase your
child's chance of needing braces, change the shape of the palate interfering
with latch, create nipple confusion, or introduce germs. They can also cause
recurring ear infections. Solids are meant to complement, not replace, nursing
as baby grows. Weaning is a gradual process that your child can initiate with
his own preferences for table food while gradually taking what he needs and
wants of mom's milk, and finding other activities he enjoys besides nursing and
being held. Keep in mind that children often want to nurse more when they are
about to be sick, while sick, during injuries or in stressful situations, when
they are having a growth spurt, and for nap and night time comfort.
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