August, BF'ing Rant, Coco?

How can you be anything but happy on a beautiful day like today? Is it beautiful there? It is simply amazing outside today. I dread August all year because it's usually so hot and muggy, like someone wrapped a hot, wet towel around you whenever you open the door to go outside but this August of the year 2008 has been so nice! Could it have anything to do with carbon and greenhouse gases?!?! If so, buddy, let's go joyriding! No, wait...Hurricane Katrina was in August and it was related to climate changes. We'll just be lucky and thankful for this reprieve.
(actually, it rained cats & dogs earlier in the week, which is when this photo was snapped. we got home from the library, I pulled her out of the car and she immediately ran out into the rain...she loves it)


It's going to the playground weather again. I should take Charlotte. I'm trying out a new nickname for Charlotte, 'Coco'. I was looking through my notebook of when I was pregnant and all the notes I took on names. I actually researched and researched and RESEARCHED names, trying to pick the best one for our daughter. On one page of notes I noticed I made a list of possible nicknames for Charlotte. One of which was 'Coco' and I forgot about it until this morning. I'm going to give it a shot this week. I shouldn't say that - Adam has been calling her 'Coco-Ro' forever but I've just kind of tuned it out, I guess.

We found a new pediatrician. She concurs with pathologist diagnosis: Interstitial Granuloma Annulare. No cure, treat the symptoms, go see pediatric dermatologist at Emory. We liked her, we liked the office. I'm switching pediatricians. Primarilly because the pediatrician we were seeing sent me some red flags. (1) She had no idea what Charlotte's rash was; (2) Could not get me into see the dermatologist here in Columbus; (3) Lectured me for 20 minutes a week ago about weaning Charlotte.

Let me clarify some of the main reasons I am continuing to nurse Charlotte:

"Parents and health professionals need to recognize that the benefits of breastfeeding (nutritional, immunological, cognitive, emotional) continue as long as breastfeeding itself does, and that there never comes a point when you can replace breast milk with infant formula, cows' milk or any other food, or breastfeeding with a pacifier or teddy bear, without some costs to the child."
-- KA Dettwyler, "Beauty and the Breast" from Breastfeeding: Biocultural Perspectives, 1995, p. 204.

In the second year (12-23 months), 448 mL of breastmilk provides:

• 29% of energy requirements


• 43% of protein requirements


• 36% of calcium requirements


• 75% of vitamin A requirements


• 76% of folate requirements


• 94% of vitamin B12 requirements


• 60% of vitamin C requirements
  

--Dewey 2001

The American Academy of Family Physicians notes that children weaned before two years of age are at increased risk of illness (AAFP 2001).

Nursing toddlers between the ages of 16 and 30 months have been found to have fewer illnesses and illnesses of shorter duration than their non-nursing peers (Gulick 1986).

Extensive research on the relationship between cognitive achievement (IQ scores, grades in school) and breastfeeding has shown the greatest gains for those children breastfed the longest.

"Meeting a child's dependency needs is the key to helping that child achieve independence. And children outgrow these needs according to their own unique timetable."

Children who achieve independence at their own pace are more secure in that independence then children forced into independence prematurely.

A US Surgeon General has stated that it is a lucky baby who continues to nurse until age two. (Novello 1990)

The World Health Organization emphasizes the importance of nursing up to two years of age or beyond (WHO 1992, WHO 2002).

• Breastfeeding reduces the risk of breast cancer (References).


• Studies have found a significant inverse association between duration of lactation and breast cancer risk.


• Breastfeeding reduces the risk of ovarian cancer (References).


• Breastfeeding reduces the risk of uterine cancer (References).


• Breastfeeding reduces the risk of endometrial cancer (References).


• Breastfeeding protects against osteoporosis.
  

The most fascinating studies show that the longer and more frequently a mom nurses her baby, the smarter her child is likely to become. The brain grows more during the first two years of life than any other time, nearly tripling in size from birth to two years of age. It's clearly a crucial time for brain development, and the intellectual advantage breastfed babies enjoy is attributed to the "smart fats" unique to mom's breast milk (namely, omega-3 fatty acid, also known as DHA). From head to toe, babies who breastfeed for extended periods of time are healthier overall. --Sears 2008

(see http://www.kellymom.com/)

But really, the main reason I'm continuing to nurse Charlotte is because it works for us. I think that every mother should follow her own instincts with regards to something as special as how she chooses to feed her baby. I'm an advocate of breastfeeding my baby because it worked so well for me but that's not to say that it works like that for everyone. I do not, nor will I ever, pass judgement on a mother that chooses not to nurse. I say, follow your instincts and do what's right for you. What all babies need most is a happy, well-rested, secure mommy. But I am happy to share my experience! easy as it has been...

I still say the bottle intimidates me and seems so much harder.

Speaking of which, Coco loves to feed her baby dolls bottles. She saw a bottle at the house, we washed it for her and gave it to her and she gets a kick out of carrying it around and drinking water out of it...just like her babies. She's never seen another baby nurse...she saw some piglets nursing their mommy on National Geographic last night...made me feel weird...

We were at Pottery Barn Kids last week and she found a dolly stroller with a dolly in it. Coco pushed it all around the store until we got to the Big Boy rooms and she saw some stuffed doggies. She threw that baby on the floor and plopped that jack russell terrier dog in there instead.

Coco has finally grasped 'first-and-then'. Hooray! Now I can say with success, first eat potatoes, then you can have ice and it works. I can say, first sit in the shopping car, then you can have ball. And then I add something else. If you stand up in cart, then ball is finished. It is working beautifully! Ah, the loveliness of reason.

Noni calls and Charlotte talks on the phone. It will ring and she'll say, heyo? But it has to ring first. If you just hand her the phone with Noni on it, she just listens. Noni got tired of just talking on the phone so she & Popi drove down. Coco was so excited to see them when she woke up from her nap. Gone are the days she wouldn't play with Popi! She is all about Popi now. She completely monopolized her grandparents, wouldn't have a thing to do with mommy and Adam and I got to go to the grocery store...alone! I never could have imagined there'd come a day where going grocery shopping was considered an 'event'.

Charlotte can do her puzzles. AND shape sorter, eventhough for most shapes she just takes off the lid and sticks it in. That counts though, right?

Coco sounds ridiculous. I don't think it's a good nickname.