pediatric dentist

[Guest guest]

Hello,

 

This is an odd question, but I was wondering if anyone knew of a good

pediatric dentist for our son in either the Sarasota/Bradenton area or in the

Central Florida (greater Orlando) area?

 

Thanks so much!

Stephanie Aubry

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Guest guest]

No but hi from Ellen on Anna Maria (close to Bradenton).

 

_____

 

On

Behalf Of Stephanie Aubry

Tuesday, June 06, 2006 8:21 PM

 

pediatric dentist

 

 

 

Hello,

 

This is an odd question, but I was wondering if anyone knew of a good

pediatric dentist for our son in either the Sarasota/Bradenton area or in

the Central Florida (greater Orlando) area?

 

Thanks so much!

Stephanie Aubry

 

 

 

 

http://mail. <>

 

 

[Guest guest]

i am not in your area, but this is something i was just thinking about the

other day...

 

at what age do we need to start taking our kids to the dentist? my son is

15 months old and he has plenty of teeth, but when i try to imagine him

getting a teeth cleaning, it doesn't seem very practical. someone told me

at a year, but i wasn't sure. we do brush his teeth twice a day. any tips?

 

chandelle'

 

 

 

[Guest guest]

Most people wait until their children are at least 2 years old. We waited a

while longer.. I think our daughter was about 4 when she starting going to the

dentist though and she has had no problems with her teeth.

Renee

 

earthmother <earthmother213 wrote: i am

not in your area, but this is something i was just thinking about the

other day...

 

at what age do we need to start taking our kids to the dentist? my son is

15 months old and he has plenty of teeth, but when i try to imagine him

getting a teeth cleaning, it doesn't seem very practical. someone told me

at a year, but i wasn't sure. we do brush his teeth twice a day. any tips?

 

chandelle'

 

[Guest guest]

I have heard that once your child has 20 teeth, they should see a dentist. My

son recently turned 2 and does have 20 teeth, so we'll be bringing him in this

summer or fall for his first visit.

 

As I understand, a 2- or 3-year old child will not actually have a cleaning.

The dentist will get the child comfortable with the sights and sounds in the

dentist's office, talk about what they do, and look in the child's mouth for

signs or decay or other issues that the parent needs to be aware of. They also

make sure that the parents are helping the child to brush and floss regularly

(my dentist even said that as soon as the child has TWO teeth that they need to

be flossing. I thought that was nuts! But, as it turns out, now my son

actually asks for floss and likes to do it, because we started early.)

 

What I'm going to try for my son's first visit is to have him watch me during my

check-up and cleaning before he has his exam. Hopefully it'll be easier after

he watches Mom go through it. But, we won't be going to a pediatric dentist,

we'll be going to my regular dentist.

 

I've actually heard through my dentist that each year (in MN) a few cases are

reported of infants losing their teeth, and toddlers being fitted for dentures

- which is happening because their parents let them drink soda and eat candy

all the time. Yikes - I can't believe that actually exists!

 

Regards,

Heather in MN

 

Quoting earthmother <earthmother213:

 

> i am not in your area, but this is something i was just thinking about the

> other day...

>

> at what age do we need to start taking our kids to the dentist? my son is

> 15 months old and he has plenty of teeth, but when i try to imagine him

> getting a teeth cleaning, it doesn't seem very practical. someone told me

> at a year, but i wasn't sure. we do brush his teeth twice a day. any tips?

>

> chandelle'

>

>

>

[Guest guest]

i read this article yesterday in time that said that most children by the

age of 2 are having candy and soda every day. i would have thought candy

was still a choking hazard? i was with the WIC program for a while after my

son was born, and i had to go to these completely insulting mandatory

parenting classes. when my son was 6 months old the topic for almost the

entire hour was how we shouldn't give our kids cola in a sippy cup because

of their teeth, and they shouldn't have hot dogs until they're 9 mos. old

because of the risk of choking. i was like, those are the only reasons to

NOT give your kids soda and hot dogs?! the world is just not designed for

vegan families.

 

 

 

[Guest guest]

its the sugar in the cola that is the problem that 'they' have with it. Sugar

is in everything we drink except water. I don't let my daughter have caffeine

so no colas for her. She gets much more juice than what is recommended. I send

her to school with 2 juice boxes for the day - lunch and snacktime. She drinks

either orange juice or silk with breakfast. And occasionally has silk or juice

with dinner. The tally puts her at about 16-24 ounces of juice and 8-16 ounces

of soy milk a day. Over the course of a whole day it doesn't seem like a lot to

me. And when she says she is thirsty outside of meal time I say you know where

the water is. I don't let people who think juice is bad and rBGH is good - tell

me what to give my child to drink though;-)

Renee

 

earthmother <earthmother213 wrote: i

read this article yesterday in time that said that most children by the

age of 2 are having candy and soda every day. i would have thought candy

was still a choking hazard? i was with the WIC program for a while after my

son was born, and i had to go to these completely insulting mandatory

parenting classes. when my son was 6 months old the topic for almost the

entire hour was how we shouldn't give our kids cola in a sippy cup because

of their teeth, and they shouldn't have hot dogs until they're 9 mos. old

because of the risk of choking. i was like, those are the only reasons to

NOT give your kids soda and hot dogs?! the world is just not designed for

vegan families.

 

[Guest guest]

My eva will be two in a couple weeks and her

first appt is in september. It depends on the

personality of the child and how many teeth they

have. My dentist said the first visit is more

about getting acclimated.They don't actually

expect to do much...

 

Angel A

 

>i am not in your area, but this is something i was just thinking about the

>other day...

>

>at what age do we need to start taking our kids to the dentist? my son is

>15 months old and he has plenty of teeth, but when i try to imagine him

>getting a teeth cleaning, it doesn't seem very practical. someone told me

>at a year, but i wasn't sure. we do brush his teeth twice a day. any tips?

>

>chandelle'

>

>

>

[Guest guest]

yeah, no kidding. my son only has juice from an actual fruit. so he has a

juiced orange in the morning and i make my own sorbets made out of fruit and

limes, and that's about it. he drinks tons of the silk enhanced

stuff...about 16-24 oz. a day. i'm afraid i've really perpetuated the habit

in him to use the bottle...he's at 15 months right now and he gets soymilk

in a bottle twice a day and goes to bed with a bottle of water. i don't

know if this is bad or not but i'm pretty paranoid about it and wish i could

break him of it. i don't know how to put him to bed anymore without a

water bottle. at least it's not soymilk or anything else in there, right?

i'm so confused about it. i'm so careful about everything else but i've

totally gotten stuck on that.

 

 

 

[Guest guest]

my point from that comment was just to point out that they weren't

saying, don't give your 6-9 month old soda...they were only saying,

don't give it to them in a bottle or sippy cup. what?!

[Guest guest]

<<at what age do we need to start taking our kids to

the dentist?>>

 

Believe it or not, our pediatric dentist says: as

soon as they have teeth. I took my first child to the

dentist at 2 years old, patting myself on the back for

being so on-top-of-things, only to hear that! At only

a year old (or less), it's likely to just be a

60-second feel to check that everything is OK. That's

what we do now, every 6 months, with the

orthodontist....we're in and out in minutes, and no

charge(!). This way, when it's time, the orthodontist

has a history to work from.

 

We have friends with bad teeth genes, and despite

their best efforts both of their children had multiple

cavities by age 2, so it's not as far-fetched as it

sounds to start them as babies.

 

Liz

[Guest guest]

I get a drink called vruit-it comes in juice boxes, but it is an organic mix of

vegetable and fruit juice. My son loves it- Just a thought

 

Renee Carroll <renecarol25 wrote: its the sugar in the cola

that is the problem that 'they' have with it. Sugar is in everything we drink

except water. I don't let my daughter have caffeine so no colas for her. She

gets much more juice than what is recommended. I send her to school with 2 juice

boxes for the day - lunch and snacktime. She drinks either orange juice or silk

with breakfast. And occasionally has silk or juice with dinner. The tally puts

her at about 16-24 ounces of juice and 8-16 ounces of soy milk a day. Over the

course of a whole day it doesn't seem like a lot to me. And when she says she is

thirsty outside of meal time I say you know where the water is. I don't let

people who think juice is bad and rBGH is good - tell me what to give my child

to drink though;-)

Renee

 

earthmother <earthmother213 wrote: i read this article yesterday in

time that said that most children by the

age of 2 are having candy and soda every day. i would have thought candy

was still a choking hazard? i was with the WIC program for a while after my

son was born, and i had to go to these completely insulting mandatory

parenting classes. when my son was 6 months old the topic for almost the

entire hour was how we shouldn't give our kids cola in a sippy cup because

of their teeth, and they shouldn't have hot dogs until they're 9 mos. old

because of the risk of choking. i was like, those are the only reasons to

NOT give your kids soda and hot dogs?! the world is just not designed for

vegan families.

 

 

[Guest guest]

Just feel the need to chime in here.... Earth Mama- don't you worry too

much about the bottle. Although I packed all the bottles up when Maddie was

14 mo (because I was sick of dealing with them) and she was fine, we still

put her to bed (after teeth brushing) with a cup of milk. Is it what we are

Supposed to do?? NO, but if that is the worse thing we do to our child, then

I say let her have her milk and enjoy the comfort. People get too hung up

on the small things and what all the books say. Just do what is right for

you and your sons personality. If you think he can go cold turkey, then try

it- if not, maybe wait until he is older and actually is part of the

" break-up " process (which is how I am afraid my daughters nighttime pacifier

break up will have to be!!). It sounds like you are doing a lot of stuff

right, so give yourself a pat on your back, trust that you know your son

best and don't sweat the small stuff! Just love every minute you get with

him!!

 

Melissa

 

 

On

Behalf Of earthmother

Wednesday, June 07, 2006 4:15 PM

 

Re: pediatric dentist

 

 

 

yeah, no kidding. my son only has juice from an actual fruit. so he has a

juiced orange in the morning and i make my own sorbets made out of fruit and

limes, and that's about it. he drinks tons of the silk enhanced

stuff...about 16-24 oz. a day. i'm afraid i've really perpetuated the habit

in him to use the bottle...he's at 15 months right now and he gets soymilk

in a bottle twice a day and goes to bed with a bottle of water. i don't

know if this is bad or not but i'm pretty paranoid about it and wish i could

break him of it. i don't know how to put him to bed anymore without a

water bottle. at least it's not soymilk or anything else in there, right?

i'm so confused about it. i'm so careful about everything else but i've

totally gotten stuck on that.

 

 

[Guest guest]

i'm chiming too...after seeing stuff about bottles etc. i'm a former La

Leche League leader...so you may want to check out their website for info

about all this. it is the best organization for so many issues like this.

but just wanted to say for those of you who can still think about or do this

for future children, the best thing you can do for you and your children's

health is to breastfeed as long as possible. There are too many hundreds of

reasons why this is so...but juice is completely unnecessary and long-term

breastfeeding addresses many issues you've mentioned. I'll just close with

this thought...the average age of weaning worldwide is 4 years...in the US

it is 6 months. That means in many cultures of the world, it's much longer

than 4 years. My dentist, upon seeing that none of my 3 girls would need

braces, said he'd never seen an entire family where no one needed braces.

How sad. It wasn't genetics, but long-term breastfeeding that correctly

develops the palate. In answering all these questions, my favorite mantra

is always, what did mother nature intend? When you mess with mother nature,

it bites you every time... I try not to be judgmental and accept folks

where they are, but like with vegan eating, breastfeeding suffers from a

lack of correct information. When you understand that like broccoli, there

is no corporation that stands to make a profit from breastfeeding, it all

starts to make sense.

 

Good luck on your journey.

Ellen

FL

 

_____

 

On

Behalf Of Melissa

Wednesday, June 07, 2006 8:54 PM

 

RE: pediatric dentist

 

 

 

Just feel the need to chime in here.... Earth Mama- don't you worry too

much about the bottle. Although I packed all the bottles up when Maddie was

14 mo (because I was sick of dealing with them) and she was fine, we still

put her to bed (after teeth brushing) with a cup of milk. Is it what we are

Supposed to do?? NO, but if that is the worse thing we do to our child, then

I say let her have her milk and enjoy the comfort. People get too hung up

on the small things and what all the books say. Just do what is right for

you and your sons personality. If you think he can go cold turkey, then try

it- if not, maybe wait until he is older and actually is part of the

" break-up " process (which is how I am afraid my daughters nighttime pacifier

break up will have to be!!). It sounds like you are doing a lot of stuff

right, so give yourself a pat on your back, trust that you know your son

best and don't sweat the small stuff! Just love every minute you get with

him!!

 

Melissa

 

 

@gro <%40> ups.com

[@gro <%40> ups.com]

On

Behalf Of earthmother

Wednesday, June 07, 2006 4:15 PM

@gro <%40> ups.com

Re: pediatric dentist

 

yeah, no kidding. my son only has juice from an actual fruit. so he has a

juiced orange in the morning and i make my own sorbets made out of fruit and

limes, and that's about it. he drinks tons of the silk enhanced

stuff...about 16-24 oz. a day. i'm afraid i've really perpetuated the habit

in him to use the bottle...he's at 15 months right now and he gets soymilk

in a bottle twice a day and goes to bed with a bottle of water. i don't

know if this is bad or not but i'm pretty paranoid about it and wish i could

break him of it. i don't know how to put him to bed anymore without a

water bottle. at least it's not soymilk or anything else in there, right?

i'm so confused about it. i'm so careful about everything else but i've

totally gotten stuck on that.

 

 

[Guest guest]

ah...the pacifier. i never wanted to use it but my son had such a strong

sucking urge my midwife practically begged me to put him on it. i hated

that ugly thing and was thrilled when he gave it up at 7 months.

 

someone told me once that God gives us children just to hear us say the

words " never " and " always, " because he gets such a great laugh out of

proving us wrong. ain't that the truth. " i will never yell at my child, or

give him a pacifier, or let him watch tv... " how often have we

conscientious mamas said these things??? sigh.

 

as soon as they have teeth, huh? my son had 2 teeth at 2 mos. and at 14

mos. he already has molars. i can't imagine taking him in at 2 mos. his

teeth are nice and straight and we brush them twice a day, which he loves.

i do worry about them because my husband had 8 teeth pulled from having too

many. he had braces and i never did; we've already agreed to never have

braces on our kids for aesthetic reasons, only if there's a medical cause.

but there's that word " never " again!!!

 

 

 

[Guest guest]

Dear Melissa,

 

Please don't take this the wrong way, I knew someone who needed full teeth

replacements in elementary school. They claimed it was from the milk at bedtime.

It's just a story that has stuck with me all this time. Maybe you can switch

Maddie to water instead? I don't like to be negative. Sorry, to piggyback when

you are giving such positive advice.

 

Janeen

 

Melissa <melissathill wrote:

Just feel the need to chime in here.... Earth Mama- don't you worry

too

much about the bottle. Although I packed all the bottles up when Maddie was

14 mo (because I was sick of dealing with them) and she was fine, we still

put her to bed (after teeth brushing) with a cup of milk. Is it what we are

Supposed to do?? NO, but if that is the worse thing we do to our child, then

I say let her have her milk and enjoy the comfort. People get too hung up

on the small things and what all the books say. Just do what is right for

you and your sons personality. If you think he can go cold turkey, then try

it- if not, maybe wait until he is older and actually is part of the

" break-up " process (which is how I am afraid my daughters nighttime pacifier

break up will have to be!!). It sounds like you are doing a lot of stuff

right, so give yourself a pat on your back, trust that you know your son

best and don't sweat the small stuff! Just love every minute you get with

him!!

 

Melissa

 

 

On

Behalf Of earthmother

Wednesday, June 07, 2006 4:15 PM

 

Re: pediatric dentist

 

yeah, no kidding. my son only has juice from an actual fruit. so he has a

juiced orange in the morning and i make my own sorbets made out of fruit and

limes, and that's about it. he drinks tons of the silk enhanced

stuff...about 16-24 oz. a day. i'm afraid i've really perpetuated the habit

in him to use the bottle...he's at 15 months right now and he gets soymilk

in a bottle twice a day and goes to bed with a bottle of water. i don't

know if this is bad or not but i'm pretty paranoid about it and wish i could

break him of it. i don't know how to put him to bed anymore without a

water bottle. at least it's not soymilk or anything else in there, right?

i'm so confused about it. i'm so careful about everything else but i've

totally gotten stuck on that.

 

 

[Guest guest]

<<someone told me once that God gives us children just

to hear us say the words " never " and " always, " because

he gets such a great laugh out of proving us wrong.

ain't that the truth.>>

 

Word!

 

Liz

[Guest guest]

ellen....i'm a student midwife and also studying to become a board-certified

lactation consultant and holistic nutritionist. so i am well-aware of all

of the activism for BFing and agree with it whole-heartedly. the

cornerstone of every good diet for children should be extended

breastfeeding. however, i myself was not able to breastfeed. i had a

breast abnormality and just could not do it no matter how hard i tried, no

matter the hell i put myself through (and it was hell; i still have the

scars to prove it). i know how rare this is so please just trust me that i

did everything i could and saw everyone i could and the problem could not be

corrected. my son had donated breastmilk for the first year of life and

after that we couldn't get it any more. i would have been pleased as punch

if an artificial nipple had never passed my son's lips. but i did the best

i could with the resources i had and i was as committed as any mother has

ever been and yet it seems like i can never escape the lactivists! i

know you couldn't have known any better when you posted that, and i hope

other mamas take your words to heart. but for me it seems like every time i

think i've healed a bit emotionally from the trauma of failed nursing, i

turn around and there's another reminder that my mothering was lacking in

some way! anyway, we all just do the best we can in this world but yes,

breastfeeding, and extended breastfeeding in particular, are the best hopes

for all children to maintain good health throughout their lives.

 

janeen, the condition you are talking about, that results from sending a

baby to bed with milk, is called bottle rot. when a baby goes to bed with a

bottle, the milk settles in the back of their mouths while they sleep and

since saliva production is decreased in sleep, it never gets completely

washed away. so that sugar just sits there night after night eating into

the teeth enamel. this is why we're told not to prop bottles or send them

to bed with anything but water, blah blah blah. i won't say my son doesn't

sometimes pass out on the floor during the day with a bottle of silk, but he

definitely goes to bed at night with water; i am way too freaked out about

bottle rot. as for juice, it's true that juice itself is not really

needed. they don't really need the extra nutrients, especially when you

compound it with the high-fructose corn syrup and other additives in many

fruit juices that babies and kids do not need. in fact, it's recommended

for everyone -- not just kids, but adults too -- that all juices be diluted

with water 1:1, in order to decrease that massive sugar intake that comes

even with concentrated 100% juices. but fruit is definitely ok. most of

the nutrients in fruit come from the pulp or rind, which is of course lost

when a fruit is commercially juiced, especially when it's then pasteurized

and processed and concentrated and then put into plastic packages for

massive sale. i give my son an orange a day for iron absorption especially,

since i've struggled with anemia all my life myself. and he gets lots of

other fruit like mangos, berries, other citrus, and bananas especially,

which he is OBSESSED with. and every night we have a smoothie with soymilk,

soy yogurt, fruit, and flax seed meal in it...this has helped me stop

worrying about his calcium intake (and mine). he pretty much gets all of

his calcium, fruit, omega, and much of his protein needs in one shot. i

know it's better to split it up throughout the day, but we do the best we

can!

 

sorry to lecture everyone. just my .02!

 

 

 

[Guest guest]

Aesthetic reasons are pretty strong reasons sometimes. I had very crooked

teeth with a bad overbite. My daughter (who was breastfed well into

toddlerhood) also had an overbite and had teeth that came in and looked very

large. The kids teased her and called her horse teeth. After braces she

has a lovely smile where before she would not smile and she is no longer

teased.

 

 

 

Jacqueline

 

 

 

http://adhdnme.blogspot.com

 

_____

 

On

Behalf Of earthmother

June 8, 2006 12:46 AM

 

Re: pediatric dentist

 

 

 

ah...the pacifier. i never wanted to use it but my son had such a strong

sucking urge my midwife practically begged me to put him on it. i hated

that ugly thing and was thrilled when he gave it up at 7 months.

 

someone told me once that God gives us children just to hear us say the

words " never " and " always, " because he gets such a great laugh out of

proving us wrong. ain't that the truth. " i will never yell at my child, or

give him a pacifier, or let him watch tv... " how often have we

conscientious mamas said these things??? sigh.

 

as soon as they have teeth, huh? my son had 2 teeth at 2 mos. and at 14

mos. he already has molars. i can't imagine taking him in at 2 mos. his

teeth are nice and straight and we brush them twice a day, which he loves.

i do worry about them because my husband had 8 teeth pulled from having too

many. he had braces and i never did; we've already agreed to never have

braces on our kids for aesthetic reasons, only if there's a medical cause.

but there's that word " never " again!!!

 

 

[Guest guest]

>ah...the pacifier. i never wanted to use it but my son had such a strong

>sucking urge my midwife practically begged me to put him on it. i hated

>that ugly thing and was thrilled when he gave it up at 7 months.

 

My in-laws started my daughter on the pacifier. But she gave it up easily

[Guest guest]

This issue comes up regularly here and once again I have to guess that the

people who make up this group are mostly very well informed about the benefits

of breastfeeding and for whatever reason some were unable to or chose not to

(for me, the former). I would have preferred to breastfeed, but I did the best

I could and do not feel any guilt about not having done so. If I had been able

to, I would never have continued it until my son was four years or even older,

which is what I think you are advocating.

 

-

Ellen Jaffe Jones

Wednesday, June 07, 2006 11:42 PM

RE: pediatric dentist

 

 

i'm chiming too...after seeing stuff about bottles etc. i'm a former La

Leche League leader...so you may want to check out their website for info

about all this. it is the best organization for so many issues like this.

but just wanted to say for those of you who can still think about or do this

for future children, the best thing you can do for you and your children's

health is to breastfeed as long as possible. There are too many hundreds of

reasons why this is so...but juice is completely unnecessary and long-term

breastfeeding addresses many issues you've mentioned. I'll just close with

this thought...the average age of weaning worldwide is 4 years...in the US

it is 6 months. That means in many cultures of the world, it's much longer

than 4 years. My dentist, upon seeing that none of my 3 girls would need

braces, said he'd never seen an entire family where no one needed braces.

How sad. It wasn't genetics, but long-term breastfeeding that correctly

develops the palate. In answering all these questions, my favorite mantra

is always, what did mother nature intend? When you mess with mother nature,

it bites you every time... I try not to be judgmental and accept folks

where they are, but like with vegan eating, breastfeeding suffers from a

lack of correct information. When you understand that like broccoli, there

is no corporation that stands to make a profit from breastfeeding, it all

starts to make sense.

 

Good luck on your journey.

Ellen

FL

 

_____

 

On

Behalf Of Melissa

Wednesday, June 07, 2006 8:54 PM

RE: pediatric dentist

 

Just feel the need to chime in here.... Earth Mama- don't you worry too

much about the bottle. Although I packed all the bottles up when Maddie was

14 mo (because I was sick of dealing with them) and she was fine, we still

put her to bed (after teeth brushing) with a cup of milk. Is it what we are

Supposed to do?? NO, but if that is the worse thing we do to our child, then

I say let her have her milk and enjoy the comfort. People get too hung up

on the small things and what all the books say. Just do what is right for

you and your sons personality. If you think he can go cold turkey, then try

it- if not, maybe wait until he is older and actually is part of the

" break-up " process (which is how I am afraid my daughters nighttime pacifier

break up will have to be!!). It sounds like you are doing a lot of stuff

right, so give yourself a pat on your back, trust that you know your son

best and don't sweat the small stuff! Just love every minute you get with

him!!

 

Melissa

 

@gro <%40> ups.com

[@gro <%40> ups.com]

On

Behalf Of earthmother

Wednesday, June 07, 2006 4:15 PM

@gro <%40> ups.com

Re: pediatric dentist

 

yeah, no kidding. my son only has juice from an actual fruit. so he has a

juiced orange in the morning and i make my own sorbets made out of fruit and

limes, and that's about it. he drinks tons of the silk enhanced

stuff...about 16-24 oz. a day. i'm afraid i've really perpetuated the habit

in him to use the bottle...he's at 15 months right now and he gets soymilk

in a bottle twice a day and goes to bed with a bottle of water. i don't

know if this is bad or not but i'm pretty paranoid about it and wish i could

break him of it. i don't know how to put him to bed anymore without a

water bottle. at least it's not soymilk or anything else in there, right?

i'm so confused about it. i'm so careful about everything else but i've

totally gotten stuck on that.

 

[Guest guest]

I really didn't mean to upset several of you. All I " advocate " is that you

do your own research and homework and discover what is right for you. The

information is much more available now that when it was 20+ years ago when I

began on this journey.

 

Thought I was clear that everyone makes the best choices they can with the

information

they have at the time. I had an early childhood memory of my aunt dying of

breast cancer in our home, my sister getting it twice, as well as my mom.

If you watch a friend or relative go through chemo and cancer up close and

personal, then you are highly motivated to do what you can to try to ensure

that you'll be around for your children and grandchildren.

 

Early on, I had the chief of surgery of a well known hospital, among many

other doctors who emphatically told me at an early age, breastfeed as long

as you possibly can for your health, and the health of your children. (The

idea was to suppress the production of estrogen throughout your life, given

that much cancer is estrogen/hormone receptive. As a vegan, you may know

that research suggests reducing your intake of fat also may have the same

effect. In third world countries, where exposure to animal fat, pesticides

and animal-fed-hormones are limited, girls don't go through puberty until

17-18. Recommend " The China Study " as my favorite current book on this and

vegan eating, if you haven't read it.)

 

As a former reporter, I did/do a great deal of research and felt incredibly

grateful that these doctors

referred me to La Leche League, a non-profit organization that has many

volunteer moms who take time away for their children, at no pay, to counsel

thousands of struggling moms every day to successfully breastfeed. There is

a ton of research, not crazed folks that support this, if you care to

explore it. I had the pleasure of seeing many women who couldn't breastfeed

first children succeed in subsequent children. I don't blame my mom or

anyone else for not breastfeeding...mom was a wonderful person and did the

best she could. It is important for our health to set blame aside and learn

what we can for the sake of our children.

 

To give back to my community, I became a leader myself and have wonderful

letters from moms who

also appreciated that I took their calls....the most common being... " baby

won't nurse. " I lived in a city where the mama elephant captive in a zoo

had to be trained by

a lactation consultant to nurse because the elephant had never seen another

elephant breastfeed. And so it goes with humans. I am so sorry for all you

obstacles.

I only meant to offer the recommendation of some very valuable and free

resources for those who are interested or know others who might be. Many

mainstream, traditional doctors who have observed my incredible health in a

very large extended family where I am the only one who does not have cancer,

heart disease, osteoporosis, diabetes and obesity, are resolute that this is

so because I breastfed and have eaten vegan most of my adult life. My

current OB put it plainly, " You may have saved your life. " I paid big bucks

for this medical advice. I offer it to you for those whose shoes fit. For

those who it doesn't...on to the next e-mail.

 

I'm outta here. Have a nice day!

 

_____

 

On

Behalf Of Terry Somerson

Thursday, June 08, 2006 8:32 PM

 

Re: pediatric dentist

 

 

 

This issue comes up regularly here and once again I have to guess that the

people who make up this group are mostly very well informed about the

benefits of breastfeeding and for whatever reason some were unable to or

chose not to (for me, the former). I would have preferred to breastfeed, but

I did the best I could and do not feel any guilt about not having done so.

If I had been able to, I would never have continued it until my son was four

years or even older, which is what I think you are advocating.

 

-

Ellen Jaffe Jones

@gro <%40> ups.com

Wednesday, June 07, 2006 11:42 PM

RE: pediatric dentist

 

i'm chiming too...after seeing stuff about bottles etc. i'm a former La

Leche League leader...so you may want to check out their website for info

about all this. it is the best organization for so many issues like this.

but just wanted to say for those of you who can still think about or do this

for future children, the best thing you can do for you and your children's

health is to breastfeed as long as possible. There are too many hundreds of

reasons why this is so...but juice is completely unnecessary and long-term

breastfeeding addresses many issues you've mentioned. I'll just close with

this thought...the average age of weaning worldwide is 4 years...in the US

it is 6 months. That means in many cultures of the world, it's much longer

than 4 years. My dentist, upon seeing that none of my 3 girls would need

braces, said he'd never seen an entire family where no one needed braces.

How sad. It wasn't genetics, but long-term breastfeeding that correctly

develops the palate. In answering all these questions, my favorite mantra

is always, what did mother nature intend? When you mess with mother nature,

it bites you every time... I try not to be judgmental and accept folks

where they are, but like with vegan eating, breastfeeding suffers from a

lack of correct information. When you understand that like broccoli, there

is no corporation that stands to make a profit from breastfeeding, it all

starts to make sense.

 

Good luck on your journey.

Ellen

FL

 

_____

 

@gro <%40> ups.com

[@gro <%40> ups.com]

On

Behalf Of Melissa

Wednesday, June 07, 2006 8:54 PM

@gro <%40> ups.com

RE: pediatric dentist

 

Just feel the need to chime in here.... Earth Mama- don't you worry too

much about the bottle. Although I packed all the bottles up when Maddie was

14 mo (because I was sick of dealing with them) and she was fine, we still

put her to bed (after teeth brushing) with a cup of milk. Is it what we are

Supposed to do?? NO, but if that is the worse thing we do to our child, then

I say let her have her milk and enjoy the comfort. People get too hung up

on the small things and what all the books say. Just do what is right for

you and your sons personality. If you think he can go cold turkey, then try

it- if not, maybe wait until he is older and actually is part of the

" break-up " process (which is how I am afraid my daughters nighttime pacifier

break up will have to be!!). It sounds like you are doing a lot of stuff

right, so give yourself a pat on your back, trust that you know your son

best and don't sweat the small stuff! Just love every minute you get with

him!!

 

Melissa

 

 

@gro <%40> ups.com

[@gro <%40> ups.com]

On

Behalf Of earthmother

Wednesday, June 07, 2006 4:15 PM

@gro <%40> ups.com

Re: pediatric dentist

 

yeah, no kidding. my son only has juice from an actual fruit. so he has a

juiced orange in the morning and i make my own sorbets made out of fruit and

limes, and that's about it. he drinks tons of the silk enhanced

stuff...about 16-24 oz. a day. i'm afraid i've really perpetuated the habit

in him to use the bottle...he's at 15 months right now and he gets soymilk

in a bottle twice a day and goes to bed with a bottle of water. i don't

know if this is bad or not but i'm pretty paranoid about it and wish i could

break him of it. i don't know how to put him to bed anymore without a

water bottle. at least it's not soymilk or anything else in there, right?

i'm so confused about it. i'm so careful about everything else but i've

totally gotten stuck on that.

 

 

[Guest guest]

ellen,

 

i wasn't offended by anything you said and i agree with everything you

said. i was well-acquainted with my local LLL leaders both as a student and

as a client and i had many of those wonderful women tell me that it just

broke their hearts to have me be the first woman that they really just

couldn't help, no matter what they tried. i am working in close correlation

with IBCLC's as well as LLL leaders again this time around to improve my

chances of nursing.

 

i know that many lactivists become angered by the low nursing rate in our

country, especially with all of the very factual information that is out

there about how valuable, important, and necessary it really is. so i've

met women who were very disdainful of me, without knowing anything about me,

claiming that i must not have tried hard enough or was just like those other

women who have a little trouble and skip right to the bottle because of the

" hassle. " in our country, breastfeeding is phrased this way: you choose

to, or you choose not. i just wanted to make sure that you understand that

there is a grey area there of women who are completely committed to nursing,

and try very hard to do so, but are not able to, and whose hearts break

because of this.

 

i respect your opinion and agree with it whole-heartedly! the leche league

should certainly be credited for bringing nursing back into our culture at

all, and for the enormous success rate they've had in helping women all over

the world. i am entirely indebted to them for the support i received after

my son was born, even if there was nothing they, or anyone else, could do

for me at the time.

 

thanks for your feedback,

chandelle'

 

 

 

 

--

see of pictures of isaiah at www.futurerevolutionary.blogspot.com.

 

see more pictures at www.namesanddatesandtimes.blogspot.com.

 

 

 

[Guest guest]

goes to bed with a bottle of water.

 

Everything I've read was concerned about liquids such as fruit juice

and milk at bedtime - if they drink during sleep time the liquid just

pools in their mouth and sits on their teeth causing decay. Water is

the best thing you can give!

 

I have a question about juices. I started out giving daughter (now 2)

water with a splash of juice. That worked fine until hubby got her

hooked on carrot juice. Now, other than a cup or two of milk (we're

ovo-lacto) she won't drink anything else. Is carrot juice as bad as

apple in the terms of sugars?

 

Phyllis

[Guest guest]

Just wanted to chime in about breastfeeding. I, too, had an

abnormality that made it impossible to breastfeed. I was lucky enough

to be able to at least pump. And I did so for a year. I am very

proud of having done this much work. I would feed her then pump for

another 30 minutes to an hour to get enough for the next feeding,

getting 2 hours of sleep and repeat - for months on end. The studies

on increased IQ is what kept me going. I think each mother needs to

make the best choice she can - without being made to feel guilty (I

had some of that from nurses and LLL and felt much better when I

struck out on my own and just did what I felt was best).