I was reading through the American Academy of Family Physicians’ Position Paper on doctors supporting breastfeeding.  I hear many times a week, unfortunately, from patients whose doctors are not informed on the benefits of breastfeeding.  And, sadly, these doctors do not know how to educate and support their parents so that their pediatric patients get the best health benefits from nursing. 

I have always been an advocate of breastfeeding, but my passion toward the subject has grown tremendously after nursing Harper all of these months.  As I was preparing to have Harper, I remember anticipating our breastfeeding relationship with much excitement.  Oh, I couldn’t wait to grin at my child in the wee hours of the morning, as he lay gently on my lap being satisfied by my incredible ability to feed him.  Nursing, like pregnancy, is one of those miracles that just amazes me!  However, fast forward one year and several months later, and I would definitely confess that my little daydreams of wonderful nursing experiences definitely haven’t been reality.  I can understand why moms give up.  It is not easy and definitely not always pleasant!  I think this is especially true with an extremely hungry, agile little boy.  And, although I can’t say I enjoy it, Harper will be 2 years old in a few months, and our breastfeeding relationship is still going strong.  I take it day by day, but I am not planning on weaning him soon.  Why do I stick with it since I don’t particularly enjoy it?  Or, the other question/statement I get all of the time, “You’ve made it past six months, and you’ve made it past 1 year, why are you still nursing?  Isn’t he too old for that?!  When are you going to quit?”  Just like everything else, breastfeeding is a choice with made strongly backed by research.  In these next few posts, I will explain what the research says, and why I choose to do something for so long that I don’t necessarily enjoy.  The position paper put out by medical doctors made me grin:

For the child- “In 2007, a systematic review of the effects of breastfeeding on maternal and infant health found that for infants in developed countries, notbreastfeeding is associated with increased risks of common conditions including acute otitis media, gastroenteritis, atopic dermatitis, and life-threatening conditions including severe lower respiratory infections, necrotizing enterocolitis, and sudden infant death syndrome.  The health effects of breastfeeding persist beyond the period of breastfeeding. Children who were not breastfed are at increased risk of obesity, type 1 and 2 diabetes, asthma, and childhood leukemia.  The evidence base also supports the importance of six months of exclusive breastfeeding(when compared with four months) as protective against gastrointestinal tract and respiratory tract infection, including otitis media and pneumonia.”

For the mother- “Not breastfeeding is associated with an increased risk of postpartum depression.  In the longer term, for women in developed countries, not breastfeeding is associated with increased risks of type 2 diabetes, breast cancer, and ovarian cancer.^“

“As recommended by the WHO, breastfeeding should ideally continue beyond infancy, but this is not the cultural norm in the United States and requires ongoing support and encouragement.  It has been estimated that a natural weaning age for humans is between two and seven years.  Family physicians should be knowledgeable regarding the ongoing benefits to the child of extended breastfeeding, including continued immune protection, better social adjustment, and having a sustainable food source in times of emergency. The longer women breastfeed, the greater the decrease in their risk of breast cancer.  Mothers who have immigrated from cultures in which breastfeeding beyond infancy is routine should be encouraged to continue this tradition. There is no evidence that extended breastfeeding is harmful to mother or child. Breastfeeding during a subsequent pregnancy is not unusual. If the pregnancy is normal and the mother is healthy, breastfeeding during pregnancy is the woman’s personal decision. If the child is younger than two years, the child is at increased risk of illness if weaned. Breastfeeding the nursing child after delivery of the next child (tandem nursing) may help provide a smooth transition psychologically for the older child.^“

“Weaning is the time of gradually transitioning infants from mother’s milk to complementary foods or an older child’s diet. In this sense, weaning begins with the introduction of solids at the middle of the first year. Complete weaning, or complete cessation of breastfeeding, ideally should be a gradual process accomplished over a long period. There is no evidence that a specific age of weaning is necessary or mandated. Like other developmental milestones, children wean when they are ready, physically and psychologically. There are several weaning techniques that can be recommended when a mother wishes to encourage the process. Medications to decrease or stop milk production are not necessary and should be avoided. Sudden abrupt complete weaning is rarely necessary, and can place the mother at risk for engorgement, plugged ducts, galactoceles, mastitis, and breast abscesses. The child may be placed at risk for infectious illnesses, dehydration, malnutrition, and psychological trauma such as feelings of abandonment.  In cases in which abrupt weaning is necessary, the advice of a lactation consultant should be sought to minimize the risks.”

It’s sad to me that when you are on a trip like Haiti, you look for the miracles in everything.  Do you realize how many miracles happen on a daily basis that we loose sight of or simply ignore?  I’ll share the latest pictures, but NBC provided my dad’s team with cases of water today.  A total miracle, and yes, they noticed it as such.  Also, the navy came in.  Say what you want about our country, but God bless America!  Seriously.  They brought in enough meals to feed 20,000 people for 3-4 days.  And, they gave them to dad’s team to distribute.  Can you imagine the joy of handing out food to hungry families who haven’t eaten in days?  I bet the Bible story of the disciples feeding the crowd fish now has an entirely new meaning to dad.  Dad also said they got the water filters up and running.  You should have heard his voice (I could hear him even though he was talking to my mom- yelling with excitement, rather).  “There is nothing better than the site of clean water!”  He said the people were so happy about the water, that they were jumping up and down with excitement.

Something that makes me laugh, dad keeps showing all of the Haitians Harper’s picture.  I guess the proud grandfather in him doesn’t change no matter where he goes.  He says they keep saying, “Il est tres beau!”  Which translates:  He is so handsome!  Isn’t that precious?  By the way, how amazing is God that my family went to language school 21 years ago to learn French?  Who would have ever guessed how handy dad’s French would be for such a time as this.  God is so good!

Here are the latest pictures.  Please keep all the comments coming, dad (and my whole family) is reading them and is so encouraged!

Water filtration system up and running- 6,000 gallons cleaned a day.

The water NBC donated to dad's team- 2 cases!

Does this break your heart, or what? One of the many, many orphans.

They gave the guards their Texas Baptist Men's chaplain vest. They wear them proudly!

Navy and Marines releasing food at port to dad's group. What a blessing!

3 truckloads of food from the Navy

Haiti boy proudly wearing his vest. The little things become the biggest blessings, look at his smile!

I love my job, and I love that I am surrounded by precious little kids all day long.  They make life so fun!  I don’t know how people go through life and only surround themselves with adults, how boring!  Kids say and do things on a constant basis, which continuously keep us entertained and smiling.  Today, I am still laughing about a funny kid story that happened just a little while ago.  All of you nursing moms will appreciate this.

This Christmas, we went to celebrate with Jim Bob’s family, like we do every year.  At lunch, I went in his cousin’s bedroom- since everyone else was in the living room- to have some quiet, down time and nurse Harper.  His 4 and 2 year old cousins quickly followed us into the bedroom.  Shortly, their mom came running around the corner, “Girls, let’s give Cindy some privacy.”  I told her, “I don’t care if you don’t mind.”  To which she responded, “Well, she (pointing to the 2 year old) won’t notice anything, but this one (pointing to the 4 year old) is about to have a lot of questions.”  Then, she walked back out of the room, leaving the girls behind.  Harper was happily eating at this point, with only the back of his head visible, as he covered his face in my shirt.  “When will he be done?” asked the 4 year old.  “I often wonder the same thing!”  I responded to her.  She stood there intently watching him eat for a little while longer, and then quickly replied, with a precious, deep Southern accent, “He sure does like your shirt!”

Did you know that the acronym for the “Standard American Diet” spells out “SAD”?  The majority of households in America, on a daily basis in and outside of their homes, are eating food that makes their bodies very sad.  Therefore, should I be surprised that when I start to educate people in my office on changing their diet, they have a lot of questions?  Gone are the generations that taught the next generation how to eat real food.  When people want to change over their diet, get back to what God intended for us to eat and get healthier, there is a lot of teaching that has to be done.  It can be exhausting, but it is so worth it!

Yesterday, as I sat in a mall food court, feeding my 14 month old Harper, I was saddened and amazed when I looked around.  Directly behind me, a grandfather was commenting with laughter about how long it took his grandson to eat a french fry.  Yes, he was feeding a french fry to a baby who couldn’t have been older than 5 months.  The table to my right had two children- probably 2 and 5 years old- both happily munching down on their McDonald’s Happy Meals.  Funny name, as those meals are setting them up for anything but happy.  And, the people at the table in front of me were giving their toddlers sips of Coke.  Lovely!  Have these people not seen Supersize Me?  Probably not, and the worst part is, they think nothing of eating this way and worse yet of feeding their children this way.

It took Jim Bob and I several years to change over our diet to something we were pleased with, after learning all we learned about food in school and from our classmates.  Our diet is something we put a lot of thought, effort and work into.  And, we are very proud of it.  I love the quote that says, “Either pay the farmer now or pay the doctor later.”  This is definitely something we apply to our food choices; but, don’t get me wrong, food doesn’t have to be pricey to be healthy.  As much pride as I take in preparing food for Jim Bob and me, I take even more pride in what I feed Harper.  Why?  I think one of the ways I show Harper how much I love him and I invest in his future is through food.  I love that Jim Bob and I have a clean slate with Harper.  He hasn’t, and will never, grown up on McDonald’s, so as an adult that is a horrible habit he will never have to break.  We are so blessed to be given the opportunity to shape and mold children, shouldn’t their eating habits be included in this process?  Absolutely!  And, whether or not parents realize it, they are shaping and molding their children’s eating habits (and a lot more behind the scenes of that too- like taste buds, and health).

When parents realize this, I get a lot of questions about what to feed their children.  And, the easiest place for me to speak from on that question, is to give them examples of what we do at home.  A good friend of mine who is a lactation consultant and dietician gave me one of the best pieces of advice when we started solids with Harper.  She said when it comes to eating you have choices:  What to eat, how much to eat, where to eat and when to eat.  As a parent, you are responsible and choose the what, when and where.  The only choice the child gets is how much.  I love that!  I get a lot of parents when trying healthy and/or different foods with their kids who will report back to me, “Susie just won’t eat that.”  Really?  See, in our house, Harper doesn’t get a choice.  We decide what he eats, when he eats and where, and he tells us how much.  This rule really does cut down on him being a picky eater.  And, I promise, if they are hungry enough, they will try it.  You, as a parent, want them to try it because you know it’s good for them, their taste buds are constantly developing and changing, and the more tastes/textures they are exposed to at an earlier age, the more variety they will like as they age.

I know, I know…  Because I hear it on a daily basis, you are yelling at your computer screen, “Stop talking and give me some specific ideas…  What does Harper eat?!”  Well, we never started him out on formula and/or rice cereal and/or dairy, and I’d recommend you don’t start your children out on that either.  In fact, I know you will gasp when I say this, but babies/toddlers never have to have any of those things.  Yes, my mother still ask me on a daily basis, ”Don’t you think a little rice cereal would help him sleep and feel him up?”  Rice cereal is a big deal in our society, part of the way we start out on that SAD diet adventure.  It’s a standard for babies, and it shouldn’t be…  Another post for another day.

So, here is Harper’s menu.  I say “menu” because I am trying to think of all the things we choose from to feed him.  Another words, this is the list we choose from, not what he eats in one setting.  Although as he grows, I feel like he eats the entire list in one setting.  My gosh, how do people afford more than one boy?!  I am getting a little worried!  Also, remember that when possible, we try to feed him as much organic and local produce as possible.  But, like you, we simply strive to do the best we can (sometimes that is simply not an option).

Harper’s Breakfast Menu:

Fruit: Banana or Pear or Grapefruit or Apple or Grapes or Orange

Steel Cut Oats (these only take 10minutes to cook, or you can CrockPot them).  I add sea salt and cinnamon to them.  Sometimes, I will also add extra virgin coconut oil or nut butters for added taste and good fats.  This is a favorite of Harper’s.

Apple Sauce.  Again, enhance the flavor with cinnamon, if you want.  Cinnamon is great for blood sugar!

Scrambled Eggs

Brown Rice

Harper’s Lunch/Dinner Menu:

Brown Rice

Lentils (check my blog for different recipes)

Nori Sheets (one of Harper’s absolute favorites)

Black Beans

Vegetables:  Sweet Potatoes, Green Beans, Squash, Pumpkin, Green Beans, Kale (he really likes kale chips, check my blog for recipe), Butternut Squash, Cucumbers, Carrots, Peas, Avocado (I know it’s a fruit!), Acorn Squash, Brocoli, Brussel Sprouts, Bell Peppers

Chicken Stock (Nourishing Tradition’s recipe.  We are not doing meat until he has molars, but this provides him good minerals.  It’s messy to feed, but he LOVES it)

Harper’s Snack Menu:

Vegetables and/or Fruit from Just Tomatoes (I adore this company, they have made my life so easy!  We do not do wheat or processed sugars with Harper, so this is my easy snack, our answer to “Puffs”)

Raisins (usually Newman’s Organic)

Brown Rice Crackers (they have nothing in them but brown rice)

Dried coconut

If it is available in your area, I highly recommend an organic co-op, like this one.  They make eating organic, fresh possible and cheap.  Many times, our organic groceries from them, are cheaper than the same non-organic ones in the store.  Not to mention, there is a whole community to help walk with you and teach you that comes with these co-ops.  We are so thankful to the Brownsfor our awesome co-op (can’t say enough here)!  Also, our BabiesRUs and WholeFoods/Central Markets are carrying a new product which really helps when we are on the go (a must for car rides):  squeezable packets of baby food.  We have tried ones from this company and this one and this one and this one.

Occasionally, we will give Harper some coconut water in his water (I used to mix it with his breastmilk bottles to make them go further too) because it provides great nutrition.  However, we don’t give him any juice (too much sugar).  He drinks water and breastmilk, that’s it.  Things like applesauce and oatmeal and some baby foods are great though because we use them to mix in his supplements.  He will take his fish oil by itself because he loves the taste, but we mix in his Standard Process supplements and probiotic with his food.

What about you?  I would love to hear some great ideas that you have fed your kids, please share!