Green Options

Guilt. Augh, the guilt.

Many of us practice some form of natural parenting. Many of us choose breastmilk, cosleeping, babywearing, and whole foods for our babies and families.

But lately, I’ve noticed that something is lacking with a few vocal members of the attachment parenting community. Empathy. Yep, that’s putting yourself in another’s shoes.

You don’t have to agree. You don’t have to sanction. But it’d be nice if some APs would understand that it’s not as easy as popping a baby on a breast or in your bed. Life is not the same for everyone out there. Our experiences are different. Our reactions are different.

And until the Attachment Parenting community isolates the elitists, it will be hard to gain ground.

North Dakota officials prosecuted a new mother, 26-year-old Stacey Anvarinia, for breastfeeding while intoxicated.

Police charged the Grand Forks mother after receiving a domestic disturbance call and witnessing her nursing her 6-week-old daughter. Officers say she appeared drunk, but there’s no report of her blood alcohol content. They booked her on child neglect charges.

And for some reason, she has pleaded guilty to the felony charge. But don’t worry. She won’t have to register as an offender against children.

But she now faces 5 years in jail.

So what’s worse: separating an infant from her mother for half a decade, or making the mistake of BFWD?

In a hot custody battle, every little action is scrutinized. Or in this case, every big action: the act of breastfeeding.

In Toronto, a Canadian judge ordered the mother of a 29-month-old girl to adjust her breastfeeding schedule or begin pumping so her biological father could spend time with the girl. The girl is now 34 months old.

The woman, Jennifer Johne, had allegedly been limiting time for her daughter to spend with dad, Carl Cavannah, because the girl was still breastfeeding.

But Justice Alan Ingram said that must change. The law says that mothers and fathers are equally entitled to custody of a child.

Breastfeeding can be a hardcore subject.  If you nurse your baby, for how long? If you don’t, why not? If you do breastfeed, are you allowed to do it in public?

But one thing that most breastfeeders don’t think of is this: Would you donate your breastmilk?

Breastmilk donation came in my mind again when I wrote the blog about Salma Hayek breastfeeding an infant in Sierra Leone while on a vaccination (tetanus) campaign. And when I read about Nadya Suleman breastfeeding her octuplets, I wondered: If we’re not naturally meant to give birth to this many babies, will she be able to keep her supply up? Or will she have to turn to milk donations?

Our children went back to school and brought home viruses. We have had enough sniffles, sneezes, runny noses, and earaches to fulfill our annual quota. Now Mommy has pink eye (otherwise known as conjunctivitis). Thanks kids.

Several years ago I learned that pink eye can arrive from multiple reasons. One is bacterial, which isn’t the most common, but does require antibiotics the majority of the time. A much more frequent cause is a virus. That’s right, that cold settles into your eye(s). This can easily be treated at home or just waited out. If you are like me, the discomfort requires attention.

Although PCB use has been largely banned in the United States since 1977, this persistent organic pollutant is still present in our environment. A recent report by the National Scientific Council on the Developing Child, a multidisciplinary organization created in response to the landmark report From Neurons to Neighborhoods : The Science of Early Childhood Development, found that prenatal exposure to PCBs disrupts ” brain plasticity during sensitive periods of development.” Particularly, children’s abilities to recognize sounds at different frequencies is impaired.

700,000 tons of PCBs were manufactured by Monsanto, makers of Roundup and genetically-engineered “frankenfoods“, between 1929-1977. Despite the fact that PCBs have not been made for thirty years in the US, environmental exposure is common because PCBs resist degradation. According to “The PCB in Me: Environmental PCB’s and Human Health Risks“,

Individuals may suffer exposure through the use of old fluorescent lighting fixtures, electrical devices, and appliances that were made at least 30 years ago. Food borne exposure is common when eating fish, especially sport fish caught in contaminated lakes or rivers, as well as some meats and dairy products.2 Other sources of exposure include hazardous waste sites, contaminated well water, and workplace exposure during repair and maintenance of PCB transformers, fluorescent lights, and other old electrical devices.2 An example of a common source of non-occupational exposure is a leaking power transformer on an electrical pole on a residential street.