Titles shmitles
I have been catching a lot of flack lately about what I feed my daughter and the time I spend looking for better, safer things for her. Seriously? In my opinion, it’s just too weird that anyone would find fault in me trying to do what I think is best for my daughter. I suppose it’s always something, but sometimes it makes me question myself and I really hate that when I feel like I’m doing the right thing.
I don’t believe I’m a paranoid, freaky person who thinks the government is hiding aliens and secretly listening to every word I say. But, I do think that the government has become too big and they have their hands in so many things now that they can’t possibly know the best of everything. I think that’s clearly evident, but that’s just me. Personally, I do believe that the FDA and the USDA may have good intentions, but they miss the boat a lot of the time and they don’t necessarily have the best interests of the people in mind. I could go on and on about horror stories I’ve heard, read about, seen, experienced, but I won’t.
I try to give my daughter only organic foods. I’d love to have her wear only organic clothing, but that’s a little too unrealistic at this point. She has some organic clothing, but there’s just not a lot of it out there and some of it is too darned expensive when she’ll only wear it a few times.
It actually surprises me how many people think I’m doing a disservice to my daughter by not subjecting her to pesticides, hormones, preservatives, etc. One woman I know, who doesn’t even have children and who tries to live an organic life herself, told me that I shouldn’t do that to my daughter because she won’t build up immunities and tolerance against the pesticides, etc., and someday she’s bound to eat something non-organic and it will make her really sick. A girl I know who smoked and drank during both pregnancies told me that she was raised on regular old food and it was good enough for her, so why do I think it’s not good enough for my kids. She went off on a tangent about how stupid I am and that I’m no better than anyone else so I should just stop pretending. Others have told me that it’s just ridiculous and the whole “organic, natural, healthy-living” thing is just a trend and it will pass and then I’ll be screwed because I won’t be able to find the foods my daughter likes to eat.
I don’t even solicit advice from people on this subject (well, until now). It’s not like I wander around espousing an organic lifestyle for everyone and try to cram it down people’s throats. I’m just not the type. It’s a choice I’ve made and it’s usually other people who strike up a conversation about it when they see what I’m feeding my daughter. The girl I mentioned above saw my caregiver feeding Eibhleann the lunch I had packed for her and when I went to pick her up, I got an earful of this person’s opinions. I had not even said a word to her! I’m not usually the one who brings it up. I do now because I’m frustrated and hoping others out there will tell me I’m not losing my mind. I had no idea I was doing something so controversial.
I get it that organic foods are more expensive and not everyone can afford it. Sometimes I think about buying the non-organic versions of some things because of the price difference. But I am a coupon whore and I have a special email address I use to sign up for coupons so all the junk mail is contained there and I can still get my coupons without having to deal with a ton of spam. I also shop around. Whole Foods is super expensive and way too proud of themselves. Actually, surprisingly, the best place I have found to buy organic baby products is Target. They have even more selection than our regular grocery store (King Soopers) and it is so much cheaper it’s silly!
I get it that you can’t find an organic version of everything. A lot of the things you can’t find are things I don’t want my daughter to have anyway! An organic Pop Tart would still be a Pop Tart. Organic pizza; still pizza. Just because it would be a better choice doesn’t mean it’s GOOD for her. I’d love it if Snickers had an organic version, but hey. My daughter is 14 months old. She has two teeth.
When Eibhleann turned one her doctor told us to stop using formula (I had to stop breastfeeding at 10-months for medical reasons) and start giving her whole milk. We still had some formula left, so we mixed the whole milk with the formula until it was gone. Then it was straight whole milk all the way. As soon as we started giving her straight whole milk she got sick. She was throwing up constantly and had horrible diarrhea and stomach pains. We took her to the doctor who said it was probably just the flu or something. For that I shelled out a $25 copay. Her symptoms continued for almost two weeks! It was awful, my heart was breaking for her and enough was enough.
I had a suspicion that perhaps Eibhleann is mildly lactose intolerant. Her daddy is. It seems to be just milk, though. He is able to eat cheese and ice cream, etc, within reason. And Eibhleann eats yogurt every day without problem. Nonetheless, I thought I might try something. So, I bought some lactose-free milk. Unfortunately, I cannot find lactose-free whole milk. I don’t know why that is…maybe the lactose is in the milk fat and if you take out the lactose it can’t be whole milk anymore? I don’t know.
Anyway, as soon as I started giving her the lactose-free milk her symptoms went away. Her doctor thinks I’m being unreasonable and Eibhleann really needs whole milk and that I need to just give it to her. I disagree. Maybe she isn’t lactose intolerant and she just happened to be getting over whatever was wrong with her at the same time I switched milk, but I don’t feel like experimenting on my baby girl to find out. From everything I’ve read, the lactose doesn’t do anything positive for you anyway. She still gets the calcium, some of the fat, and vitamin D. Why is it such a big deal? What if the doctor had been the one to determine she was lactose intolerant? What would she have prescribed me to do then? Are there any mothers out there with lactose intolerant children? What do you do?
I guess this is probably a ridiculous blog topic. It seems like it to me only because I think the whole thing is ridiculous. It’s not like I’m torturing my child and telling everyone it’s good for her. Sweet mother! I just feel like I’m living on a different planet than all the healthy, green-livin’ people I read about in glossy magazines. Say it ain’t so!
I don’t believe I’m a paranoid, freaky person who thinks the government is hiding aliens and secretly listening to every word I say. But, I do think that the government has become too big and they have their hands in so many things now that they can’t possibly know the best of everything. I think that’s clearly evident, but that’s just me. Personally, I do believe that the FDA and the USDA may have good intentions, but they miss the boat a lot of the time and they don’t necessarily have the best interests of the people in mind. I could go on and on about horror stories I’ve heard, read about, seen, experienced, but I won’t.
I try to give my daughter only organic foods. I’d love to have her wear only organic clothing, but that’s a little too unrealistic at this point. She has some organic clothing, but there’s just not a lot of it out there and some of it is too darned expensive when she’ll only wear it a few times.
It actually surprises me how many people think I’m doing a disservice to my daughter by not subjecting her to pesticides, hormones, preservatives, etc. One woman I know, who doesn’t even have children and who tries to live an organic life herself, told me that I shouldn’t do that to my daughter because she won’t build up immunities and tolerance against the pesticides, etc., and someday she’s bound to eat something non-organic and it will make her really sick. A girl I know who smoked and drank during both pregnancies told me that she was raised on regular old food and it was good enough for her, so why do I think it’s not good enough for my kids. She went off on a tangent about how stupid I am and that I’m no better than anyone else so I should just stop pretending. Others have told me that it’s just ridiculous and the whole “organic, natural, healthy-living” thing is just a trend and it will pass and then I’ll be screwed because I won’t be able to find the foods my daughter likes to eat.
I don’t even solicit advice from people on this subject (well, until now). It’s not like I wander around espousing an organic lifestyle for everyone and try to cram it down people’s throats. I’m just not the type. It’s a choice I’ve made and it’s usually other people who strike up a conversation about it when they see what I’m feeding my daughter. The girl I mentioned above saw my caregiver feeding Eibhleann the lunch I had packed for her and when I went to pick her up, I got an earful of this person’s opinions. I had not even said a word to her! I’m not usually the one who brings it up. I do now because I’m frustrated and hoping others out there will tell me I’m not losing my mind. I had no idea I was doing something so controversial.
I get it that organic foods are more expensive and not everyone can afford it. Sometimes I think about buying the non-organic versions of some things because of the price difference. But I am a coupon whore and I have a special email address I use to sign up for coupons so all the junk mail is contained there and I can still get my coupons without having to deal with a ton of spam. I also shop around. Whole Foods is super expensive and way too proud of themselves. Actually, surprisingly, the best place I have found to buy organic baby products is Target. They have even more selection than our regular grocery store (King Soopers) and it is so much cheaper it’s silly!
I get it that you can’t find an organic version of everything. A lot of the things you can’t find are things I don’t want my daughter to have anyway! An organic Pop Tart would still be a Pop Tart. Organic pizza; still pizza. Just because it would be a better choice doesn’t mean it’s GOOD for her. I’d love it if Snickers had an organic version, but hey. My daughter is 14 months old. She has two teeth.
When Eibhleann turned one her doctor told us to stop using formula (I had to stop breastfeeding at 10-months for medical reasons) and start giving her whole milk. We still had some formula left, so we mixed the whole milk with the formula until it was gone. Then it was straight whole milk all the way. As soon as we started giving her straight whole milk she got sick. She was throwing up constantly and had horrible diarrhea and stomach pains. We took her to the doctor who said it was probably just the flu or something. For that I shelled out a $25 copay. Her symptoms continued for almost two weeks! It was awful, my heart was breaking for her and enough was enough.
I had a suspicion that perhaps Eibhleann is mildly lactose intolerant. Her daddy is. It seems to be just milk, though. He is able to eat cheese and ice cream, etc, within reason. And Eibhleann eats yogurt every day without problem. Nonetheless, I thought I might try something. So, I bought some lactose-free milk. Unfortunately, I cannot find lactose-free whole milk. I don’t know why that is…maybe the lactose is in the milk fat and if you take out the lactose it can’t be whole milk anymore? I don’t know.
Anyway, as soon as I started giving her the lactose-free milk her symptoms went away. Her doctor thinks I’m being unreasonable and Eibhleann really needs whole milk and that I need to just give it to her. I disagree. Maybe she isn’t lactose intolerant and she just happened to be getting over whatever was wrong with her at the same time I switched milk, but I don’t feel like experimenting on my baby girl to find out. From everything I’ve read, the lactose doesn’t do anything positive for you anyway. She still gets the calcium, some of the fat, and vitamin D. Why is it such a big deal? What if the doctor had been the one to determine she was lactose intolerant? What would she have prescribed me to do then? Are there any mothers out there with lactose intolerant children? What do you do?
I guess this is probably a ridiculous blog topic. It seems like it to me only because I think the whole thing is ridiculous. It’s not like I’m torturing my child and telling everyone it’s good for her. Sweet mother! I just feel like I’m living on a different planet than all the healthy, green-livin’ people I read about in glossy magazines. Say it ain’t so!
Comment
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Comment by Anci on September 27, 2008 at 12:58pm -
I agree with you in absolutely everything you say and do!!! You're not losing your mind, and you are doing the right thing!!! I make my daughter's food, but when I can't I buy organic ( although my hubby doesn't believe in ''the organic crap'' ). When I was pregnant and I told him and everyone else I will be making my own baby food they looked at me like I was crazy or something, he even tried to convince me to buy baby food jars. But I was adamant. And now , after he saw how much money we save and after he realized it's much healthier ( without any preservatives and who knows what other stuff they put in there) he's happy. The same happened with the formula. (I breastfed till she was 9 months). He insisted to buy similac...well, everytime she had it she would throw up. I switched her to Enfamil and she's doing great, but he insists similac is the best formula ever. Well I don't care!!! I also had people telling me not to buy formula, when I stopped breastfeeding, to just give her regular milk. I asked her ped ans she said no milk till 1 year. So I said no, my daughter won't have milk till she'll be 1 year. The answer I got was; why?? I gave my daughter milk since 4 or 5 months, and it's a lot cheaper. Well, again, I don't care!!! She is not your child so shut up!!
I say just ignore everyone who tells you you're wrong. You're the mom and you are doing the best for your child. Just be adamant and tell them straight to their faces that you did not ask for their opinion and besides she's your kid and you're doing as you think it's best for her.
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