A Divergent View

Why I'm a Sleep Nazi

2008-11-04T13:15:00.000-08:00

In my family, I am called the "sleep nazi." It has always been very important to me that my child gets enough sleep. So much so that I admit I can sometimes go overboard. (for example, my daughter never missed a nap a single day in her life until she was well over two years old). It drives me nuts when parents don't have bed times and just let their children stay up until they "crash."

My daughter never falls asleep in the car. At first I thought this was a problem, then I learned that always falling alseep in the car means your child is OVERTIRED. Really? Wow. So many kids I know fall asleep in the car...

So, when an article like this comes along, I find great joy in posting it and feeling that small bit of vindication that everyone enjoys once in awhile. Hey, at least I'm not a nazi for nothing!

The Connection Between Sleep and Growth

Getting enough sleep is important for a young child for many reasons, from restoring energy to building brain connections (not to mention giving Mom and Dad a needed break). But science is showing that sleep also fuels physical growth.

The science of growing
Growth is a complex process that requires several hormones to stimulate various biological events in the blood, organs, muscles, and bones.

A protein hormone secreted by the pituitary gland called growth hormone (or "human growth hormone") is a key player in these events. Several factors affect its production, including nutrition, stress, and exercise. In young children, though, the most important factor is sleep.

Growth hormone is released throughout the day. But for kids, the most intense period of release is shortly after the beginning of deep sleep.

How much sleep do they need?
Two- and 3-year-olds need 12 to 14 hours of sleep every 24 hours (a combination of about 12 hours of night sleep and 1 ½ to 3 hours of naps), 4-year-olds about 11 to 13 hours (with about 11 of the hours at night). (Sleep needs are somewhat individual, with some kids requiring slightly less or more than their peers.)

Without adequate sleep, growth problems — mainly slow or stunted growth — can result. Growth hormone production can also be disrupted in kids with certain physical sleep problems, such as obstructive sleep apnea.

Kids who don't get enough sleep show other changes in the levels of hormones circulating in their body, too. Hormones that regulate hunger and appetite can be affected, causing a child to overeat and have a preference for high-calorie carbs. What's more, a shortage of sleep can affect the way the body metabolizes these foods, triggering insulin resistance, which is linked to type 2 diabetes.

A lack of sleep at night can also affect motor skills and concentration during the day, leading to more accidents and behavioral problems, and poor performance at school.

Ensuring a good night's sleep
Most kids need more sleep than their parents think.

Signs that your child may not be getting enough rest include crankiness or lethargy by day, always falling asleep in the car, and being hard to wake up. If your child is hyper at bedtime or tired before it's time to go to bed, that's another clue his schedule may not be consistent enough.

To help your child get plenty of zzz's:
- Establish consistent daily sleep times and stick to them.
- Have a regular bedtime routine, which helps signal to your child's body that it's time to wind down. This might include giving him a bath or snack, reading a bedtime story, and talking or singing softly to him while tucking him in.
- Make sure your child's room is conducive to sleep. It should be dark and quiet.
- Avoid roughhousing before bedtime. It's stimulating instead of sleep-inducing.
- Stick to the same timetable and routines for bed on weekends and vacations that you normally have. A variation once in a while won't cause long-term disruptions, but erratic bedtimes can lead to poor sleep habits and sleep deprivation.

Former Abortionist: "All I Saw Was Someone's Son or Daughter"

2008-09-24T08:46:00.000-07:00

Did you know that in an abortion, they rip the baby out piece by piece?

I didn't either.

Read this article. It might change your mind.

Former Abortionist: ‘All I Could See Was Somebody’s Son or Daughter’
Wednesday, September 24, 2008
By Penny Starr, Senior Staff Writer

Priests for Life, a Catholic advocacy group that wants to end abortion and euthanasia, brought its message to Capitol Hill last week by letting Dr. Anthony Levatino share the graphic details of a procedure he performed hundreds of times -- before a personal tragedy led him to become a pro-life activist.

“Imagine for a moment you are a pro-choice obstetrician-gynecologist like I once was,” Levatino said at press conference. “Your patient today is 17 years old and she is 20 weeks pregnant. At 20 weeks, she has been feeling her baby kick for the last two weeks. If you could see her baby, she would be as long as your hand from the top of her head to the bottom of her rump, not counting the legs. Your patient is now asleep on an operating room table and you are there to help her with her problem pregnancy.”

Levatino went on to describe how he used a 13-inch instrument for “grasping” inside the uterus to remove the baby, piece by piece.

“The toughest part of a D&E [dilation and evacuation] abortion is extracting the baby’s head,” Levatino said. “If you have a really bad day, like I often did, a little face may come out and stare back at you.”

Frank Pavone, national director of Priests for Life, wants Americans and Congress to know exactly what abortion entails. (Photo by Penny Starr/CNSNews.com)“We urge our fellow citizens to face the reality of what abortion is: an act of violence that kills a child,” said Rev. Frank Pavone, national director of Priests for Life, at the press conference. Rev. Pavone added that the group also wants the men and women in the U.S. Congress who support abortion to hear their message.

“In these weeks before our national elections, we are asking all of those who believe abortion should be legal to answer a simple question. We present you with the words of the abortionists themselves and then ask, “When you say abortion, is this what you mean?”

Levatino, who still practices as an obstetrician and gynecologist, stood next to scale models of unborn babies at different stages of development. Charts detailed how the two most common second-trimester abortions are performed. He demonstrated with surgical tools how babies are taken apart as they are removed from the uterus.

But, he told CNSNews.com, it wasn’t until he faced a different kind of death that he decided he could no longer perform abortions.

“My wife and I had an infertility problem,” Levatino said. “We were unable to have children, and after several years of effort, we were very, very fortunate in being able to adopt a little girl whom we named Heather. As sometimes happens, after years of effort -- and I mean three surgeries on my wife’s part and everything else -- we finally adopted a child, and my wife got pregnant the very next month. We ended up with two children just 10 months apart. We were very blessed that way.

“On June 23, 1984, my son was trying to cross the street, and my daughter, who was always the little mother, was running after him to tell him not to do that, and she was struck and killed by a car.

“If you haven’t gone through that kind of tragedy, you don’t have a clue. You may think you can imagine it, but trust me: You have no idea what it’s like to lose a child, in any way.

“What do you do after a tragedy? You mourn for a while and you try to get back into your routine. I don’t know how long after her death I had to do my first D&E abortion. I remember reaching in and literally ripping out an arm or a leg and looking at it in the clamp and I got sick. When you start an abortion you can’t stop. If you leave anything behind, you [can] bet your patient is going to come back infected, bleeding or worse.

“I soldiered on and I finished that abortion.”

But, Levatino said, something had changed.

“For the first time in my life I really looked at that pile of goo at the side of the table, and all of a sudden I didn’t see her wonderful right to choose, and I didn’t see the $600 wad of cash that I made in 15 minutes, and I couldn’t think about what a great doctor I was because I took care of her problem. All I could see was somebody’s son or daughter.”

Levatino is now a medical adviser for Priests for Life and last week, he helped members of the group canvas the halls of Congress to show pro-abortion legislators medical charts and models and to ask them the question, “When you say the word ‘abortion,’ is this what you mean?”

“The last thing abortion supporters want to talk about is abortion,” Pavone said. “But this campaign puts the words of the abortionists before the public, so that those who vote in favor of abortion can no longer hide from its violent reality.”

Several other advisers with Priest for Life were at the press conference, including Alveda King, pastor, pro-life activist and niece of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.

To Spank or Not to Spank...

2008-06-08T21:17:00.000-07:00

A few weeks ago, my husband was discussing spanking with a family member of ours and later shared with me a comment they had made. I found it profound because it summarizes why so many people don’t spank their children. This is what they said,

“I don’t think it’s fair that my kids get spanked a lot because I have a bad day.”

That’s it! I said to myself. That’s exactly the misconception that makes people think spanking is wrong. And they’re right! If you spank your child more when you’re having a bad day, then you ARE wrong!

Spanking correctly is not spanking out of anger, frustration, or because you’ve had it up to here with your kids. You spank your child when they are disobedient and for their own good (not to make yourself feel better).

When our daughter disobeys, we say to her very calmly, “I’m sorry that you chose to disobey and [fill in the blank]. Now you are going to get [insert #] spankings.” Then we pull her pants down and spank her the number of times we said, on her bottom or upper thigh. When we are done, we pull up her pants and sit her on our lap. We ask, “Why did you get a spanking?” She always knows and tells us what she did wrong. Then we explain that she must obey mommy and daddy and she may not do [whatever the offense was]. Then we pray with her and ask God for help. At the end we kiss where we spanked and hug. By this time she’s smiling and happy again.

Then, depending on the offense, we PRACTICE the correct way she should have handled the situation. She loves this practice time and enjoys the praise we offer when she does it right. In this way we offer not only discipline, but also instruction.

We have never spanked our daughter without telling her first she is going to get one. Not only does this put ourselves in check (and gives us a second to calm down if we are angry), but it also dissociates spanking from anger for her. Because we speak calmly and talk to her first, she does not associate us yelling in anger and then hauling off and slapping/spanking her.

Her disobedience and when we spank has nothing to do with the kind of day we’re having or the mood we’re in. There are certain boundaries and rules in our house that she is very aware of. If she breaks these rules, she gets spanked, period. If she doesn’t know about a rule, we never spank the first time (or even second time) but we make sure she understands the rule and how to be obedient. Once we are certain she understands, if she chooses to disobey again, then we spank her.

I feel that if this method of spanking was presented to parents today, instead of the violence and abuse angel so many modern philosophies take, many people would be able to reap the benefits that spanking offers.

We have been told many times that our two year old is a pleasure to be around, and indeed, she is. She’s happy, well adjusted, smart, loving, and…obedient (most of the time). :) I am confident that it is largely due to this method and the consistency with which we carry it out.

Well put...

2008-03-24T08:38:00.000-07:00

Since the Pledge of Allegiance and The Lord's Prayer are not allowed in most public schools anymore because the word "God" is mentioned.... A kid in Arizona wrote the NEW School prayer :

Now I sit me down in school
Where praying is against the rule
For this great nation under God
Finds mention of Him very odd.

If Scripture now the class recites,
It violates the Bill of Rights.
And anytime my head I bow
Becomes a Federal matter now.

Our hair can be purple, orange or green,
That's no offense; it's a freedom scene.
The law is specific, the law is precise.
Prayers spoken aloud are a serious vice.

For praying in a public hall
Might offend someone with no faith at all.
In silence alone we must meditate,
God's name is prohibited by the state.

We're allowed to cuss and dress like freaks,
And pierce our noses, tongues and cheeks.
They've outlawed guns, but FIRST the Bible.
To quote the Good Book makes me liable.

We can elect a pregnant Senior Queen,
And the 'unwed daddy,' our Senior King.
It's "inappropriate" to teach right from wrong,
We're taught that such "judgments" do not belong.

We can get our condoms and birth controls,
Study witchcraft, vampires and totem poles.
But the Ten Commandments are not allowed,
No word of God must reach this crowd.

It's scary here I must confess,
When chaos reigns the school's a mess.
So, Lord, this silent plea I make:
Should I be shot; My soul please take!
Amen

Autism and DIET link!!!!

2008-03-10T18:41:00.000-07:00

I've been saying this for YEARS after studying and selling nutritional supplements from Manatech Inc. They have many studies that say diet and nutrition is linked to autism and that supplementation can HELP. I've read studies of kids fully recovering!

Finally, a celebrity is speaking out about it, saying how the medical community isn't listening. Maybe now that SHE is saying it, people will listen. Here is the imdb.com posting:

McCarthy Urges Doctors To Accept Diet Can Ease Autism

Actress/model Jenny McCarthy has called on the U.S. medical community to recognize that diet and vitamins can help ease the symptoms of autism. McCarthy, whose five-year-old son Evan suffers from the disorder, travels around America giving talks about the alleged benefits of natural medicines. But the blonde, who is dating Jim Carrey, wishes doctors would acknowledge how diets and vitamins can be used to treat autism. She says, "I've been speaking to moms across the country who are all shouting out the same thing: 'This (diet and supplement intake) is working.' It's so heartbreaking to see the medical community not support something called diet and vitamins. And it pains us, city after city after city. I see this heartbreak on these mom's faces. Autism isn't covered by (medical) insurance. If things like diets and supplements are working, then why not support it? These kids are getting better and I will not shut up and will not stop fighting about it."

I haven't looked into what products she's promoting, but I do know that the supplements that Manatech (www.manatech.com) offers DO and CAN help. Spread this news to those you know with Austistic kids!

Planned Parenthood Promotes Pornography

2008-02-28T08:05:00.000-08:00

This is worth knowing and reading!! So many people support Planned Parenthood blindly, thinking they are helping families. This is more proof that this is false.

Congressmen Call for Defunding Planned Parenthood
By Penny Starr CNSNews.com Senior Staff Writer
February 28, 2008
(CNSNews.com) -

After reviewing materials posted on Planned Parenthood's teenwire.com Web site at the request of Cybercast News Service, three House Republicans are calling for the termination of Planned Parenthood's federal funding. Among other things, teenwire promotes the use of pornography by teenagers.

Rep. Doug Lamborn (R.-Colo.) said teenwire "is another reason we should pull all federal funding from Planned Parenthood," a group that also performs abortions.

"There should be no money that goes to any Internet site that promotes promiscuity or sexual license in any way," Rep. Steve King (R.-Iowa) told Cybercast News Service.

"I don't believe taxpayer funding should be going to groups that put sexually explicit material on the Internet targeted at minors," Rep. Joseph Pitts (R.-Pa.), chairman of the House Values Action Team, said.

The congressmen spoke to Cybercast News Service after reviewing materials from Planned Parenthood's teenwire.com, which says its mission is to provide "medically accurate" information about sex to teenagers.

As Cybercast News Service reported on Feb. 26, teenwire.com recommends viewing "sexy pictures or movies" as a way for young couples to enjoy "safer sex.

"The Web site notes that federal law prohibits porn viewing by anyone under 18. "However," it says, "not everyone follows the rules, and you may run across some porn before you turn 18."

It goes on to say that "many people enjoy pornography alone or with a partner as part of sex play. People have different ideas of what is arousing, and there are many different kinds of porn that appeal to people's different interests.

"The lawmakers reviewed other content from the site, including graphic illustrations from "Behind the Fig Leaf," a slide show depicting the differing "styles" of male and female genitalia.

Rep. King told Cybercast News Service that he had heard of teenwire.com promoting safer sex. "What you've shown me brings it to my attention in a serious way," he said. "You go back to Margaret Sanger and in the beginning of (Planned Parenthood), she is advocating promiscuity. (Teenwire.com) is advocating promiscuity.

"We should shut off all federal dollars to any organization that provides abortion services or counseling," King added. "There should be no money that goes to any Internet site that promotes promiscuity or sexual license in any way. If there is going to be sexual license promoted, let that happen some place else. But the federal government should not be subsidizing it," he said.

"(Teenwire.com) is another reason we should pull all federal funding from Planned Parenthood," Rep. Lamborn (R-Colo.) agreed. "Time and time again this organization has used taxpayer dollars to promote interests that are not in step with the values of the American people."

"I don't believe taxpayer funding should be going to groups that put sexually explicit material on the Internet targeted at minors," Rep. Pitts (R-Pa.) told Cybercast News Service. "Parents today already have their work cut out for them trying to keep their kids from viewing smut on the Internet.

"The federal government shouldn't be funding groups that produce this sort of material under the pretense that it is educational," he said.Rep. King said he thinks teenwire.com is evidence of the continued moral decline in America, a decline boosted during the Clinton administration, he said.

"This is a progression of the kind of activity that came from President Clinton's surgeon general (Jocelyn Elders), who advocated masturbation, and Bill Clinton himself, who argued what sex 'wasn't,' and that has permeated our college campuses and our society. There are now probably millions of people who think [that] what went on between Bill Clinton and Monica Lewinski was not sex."

King added that teenwire.com is part of Planned Parenthood's wider agenda, which he believes is damaging American culture. "I think it's part of its strategic plan to break down the moral order of our society so that the people on the other side of morality and integrity can take power in this country."

Planned Parenthood and other family planning organizations get federal tax dollars under Title X of the Public Service Health Act.

In its 2005-2006 annual report, Planned Parenthood Federation of America reported that $305.3 million, or 34 percent of its annual income, came from government grants and contracts.

Less sleep = More Fat?

2007-11-05T15:36:00.000-08:00

Recent Fox News Article. Although not completely conclusive, it's still another plug for the importance of sleep.

Lack of Sleep Seen as Possible Cause of Fatter Children
Monday, November 05, 2007

CHICAGO — Here's another reason to get the kids to bed early: More sleep may lower their risk of becoming obese.

Researchers have found that every additional hour per night a third-grader spends sleeping reduces the child's chances of being obese in sixth grade by 40 percent.

The less sleep they got, the more likely the children were to be obese in sixth grade, no matter what the child's weight was in third grade, said Dr. Julie Lumeng of the University of Michigan, who led the research.

If there was a magic number for the third-graders, it was nine hours, 45 minutes of sleep. Sleeping more than that lowered the risk significantly.

The study gives parents one more reason to enforce bedtimes, restrict caffeine and yank the TV from the bedroom. The study appears in the November issue of the journal Pediatrics.

Lack of sleep plays havoc with two hormones that are the "yin and yang of appetite regulation," said endocrinologist Eve Van Cauter of the University of Chicago, who was not involved in the new study.

In experiments by Van Cauter and others, sleep-deprived adults produced more ghrelin, a hormone that promotes hunger, and less leptin, a hormone that signals fullness.

Another explanation: Tired kids are less likely to exercise and more likely to sit on the couch and eat cookies, Lumeng said.

Dr. Stephen Sheldon, director of sleep medicine at Chicago's Children's Memorial Hospital, praised the study and called for more research. He said children's sleep may be disturbed by breathing problems — some caused by overweight, such as sleep apnea, and some caused by enlarged tonsils and adenoids.

"I'm not so sure we have enough information yet on cause and effect," said Sheldon, who was not involved in the study.

Researchers used data from an existing federal study and focused on 785 children with complete information on sleep, and height and weight in the third grade and sixth grade. The children lived in 10 U.S. cities.

Mothers were asked: "How much sleep does your child get each day (including naps)?" On average, the third-graders got about 9 1/2 hours sleep, but some slept as little as seven hours and others as much as 12 hours.

Of the children who slept 10 to 12 hours a day, about 12 percent were obese by sixth grade. Many more — 22 percent — were obese in sixth grade of those who slept less than nine hours a day.

The researchers took into account other risk factors for obesity, such as the children's body mass index in third grade, and still found the link between less sleep in third grade and obesity in sixth grade. They acknowledged that factors they did not account for, such as parents' weight or behavior, may have contributed to the risk.

Jodi Mindell of the Children's Hospital of Philadelphia's Sleep Center noted there are plenty of other reasons for encouraging good sleep habits, such as success in school.

"I don't want parents to think, 'If I get her to sleep, she's not going to be overweight,'" Mindell said. "I think this is a small piece in the picture."

Fantastic Article on Signing

2007-08-13T08:58:00.000-07:00

Baby Sign Language

When the baby sign language phenomenon burst onto the scene, I could only think of one thing:

What took so long?

Actually, research on this fascinating topic has been going on since the 1980's. But for whatever reason, it seems that only recently has it exploded in popularity (Robert DeNiro's shenanigans with his signing grandson in Meet the Fockers probably had something to do with it).

Regardless, I'm here to share with you a very important message about baby sign language:

It works.

I don't work for any of the booming baby sign language businesses that are out there. Rather, I kind of have my own little family business: my wife and I are deaf, and naturally we sign with our three kids. Likewise, having personally witnessed numerous CODAs (Children of Deaf Adults) signing full phrases at ridiculously early ages--well before they were able to speak their first words--we've known all along that sign language gives babies a remarkable head start on language acquisition. So if you're looking into baby sign language for your child, congratulations! I can promise you that you've made an excellent decision.

Loquacious Lacey

My daughter Lacey is a regular chatterbox. Here's a partial list of her favorite quotes:

"There's the kitty cat." "I want milk." "I want a cookie." "More cookies." "Look, it's Elmo!" "I want a bath."

This is only the tip of the iceberg. She also has an extended vocabulary including words such as daddy, mommy, Darren, Brandon, grandmom, funny, water, baby, The Wiggles, finished, all gone, yes, no, bye-bye, ball, dog, eat, sleep, potty, and more. She also has the ability, with her repeated exposure to American Sign Language (ASL), to put these words together in multiple-word sentences.

All of this... at eleven months.

According to The Baby Book: Everything You Need to Know About Your Baby--From Birth to Age Two (by William Sears, M.D. & Marsha Sears, R.N., 1993), here's what's considered normal language development for (non-signing) babies between 9 and 12 months of age:

Can make two-syllable sounds such as "ma-ma" and "da-da"
Associates sounds with the right person
Understands "no"
Can imitate sounds
Understands gestures (such as waving bye-bye)

Wow! Can you see the difference baby sign language makes? According to The Baby Book, eleven-month-old Lacey has language ability that's typical for a toddler between the ages of 18 to 24 months. Although of course I'm a proud papa, I'm not bragging; this isn't really extraordinary. It's the norm. There are so many other babies experiencing similar or even better results. The bottom line: baby sign language easily allows babies to build their vocabularies well before they're developmentally ready to speak.

Other Benefits

In my opinion, the ability to communicate with your baby as early as possible is the biggest benefit of them all. Come on, we're all human; as adorable as babies are, there are times when it can be tiring. Even the most devoted parents have wilted under the repetitious strain of "eat, poop, sleep... eat, poop, sleep." What better way to break the monotony than communicating--and connecting--with your baby way earlier than if you had waited for verbal skills to emerge? It's very rewarding and further enhances the bond between you and your baby. Baby sign language is truly a gift.

But wait, there's more.

Research indicates there are other benefits with long-lasting impact. Among them are:

Higher IQ. According to researchers Linda Acredolo and Susan Goodwyn, signing babies tend to develop higher IQs than babies who do not sign (scroll down to the links below to access their research findings).

A boost in vocabulary... and later, literacy. Look at it this way: when your pre-verbal baby is exposed to baby sign language, his brain is being "wired" for language. You are stimulating your baby's brain in areas that normally would not be stimulated until several months later. When the time comes for learning more language, be it spoken or written (or in ASL, should you choose to continue learning sign language), your child will pick up words much faster than if he hadn't had a head start with baby sign language. This proven fact, incidentally, busts the erroneous myth that baby sign language may cause delays in speech and language acquisition.

Clear communication... and reduced frustration. Have you ever been jolted out of your sleep by your baby's crying, only to stumble around looking for the source of his angst? It could be a yucky diaper, hunger, thirst, illness, a boo-boo, teething pain, or who knows what else. Wouldn't it be less frustrating (and scary!) for all of you if, through baby sign language, your baby could tell you exactly what was wrong? Could you imagine if, instead of having to lift your baby and sniff his rear end, he could simply sign "potty?" Baby sign language is a wonderful (and time-saving) tool for breaking down communication barriers.

Minimize the effects of "The Terrible Twos." I don't think it's possible to completely eliminate the terrible twos. But when lines of communication are open and your baby is able to effectively tell you what's bothering him, many a tantrum can be avoided.

Fun! This is probably the biggest benefit of them all. High IQs and all are nice, but Harvard can wait. The important thing is your connection with your baby. It's so much fun to be able to communicate via baby sign language.Your baby's eyes light up when he realizes hey, mommy understands me! There's an exciting sense of discovery when your baby picks up new words. It's also fun to watch the transition from gross motor skills to fine motor skills as your baby's signing improves (for example, a baby may initially sign "water" with one finger tapping the chin, and then later do the correct sign with a three-finger "W" handshape; this is the same thing as toddlers initially saying "I'm firsty!" and then later saying "I'm thirsty!" as their speech becomes more refined).

Confidence and self-esteem. "Wow, mommy and daddy are actually listening to what I say!"

Allows deaf babies to stay on course for age-appropriate language acquisition. Baby sign language is for everyone... including (and especially!) deaf babies. In fact, it's even more important for deaf babies because it helps them overcome a potentially devastating language delay.

Recommended Resources

There are numerous resources out there if you're interested in learning more about baby sign language. As Deaf Culture Online expands, we will list several of them. For now, we're just going to list a couple of research findings that may be of interest to you.

However, before we close this topic, I have one last suggestion: when searching for an ideal baby sign language program, I highly recommend you choose one that's based on ASL. (One such example is the SIGN with your BABY® Complete Learning Kit DVD.) The reason I recommend it is because ASL is a real language with its own grammar.

No, you do not have to put in the 5-10 years it takes to become fluent in ASL--just 100 or so signs will be enough for your baby. Nonetheless, it's best if those signs come from an actual language. ASL has so much more to offer than any system of made-up baby signs.

First of all, if your baby sign language program incorporates ASL, you'll be on the same page as countless other parents and their babies. You'll be able to sign with them and they'll be able to sign with you. Second, this is a wonderful opportunity to expose your baby to another language and a culture. We all know that the younger you are, the easier it is for you to master more languages, musical instruments, and so on (there is indeed some truth to the old saying "You can't teach an old dog new tricks"). This is an exciting, stimulating way to engage your baby's mind. Would you rather do so with a made-up set of baby signs, or an actual language, ASL? If you wanted your child to learn Spanish, would you settle for a mix of broken English and a smattering of Spanish, or would you want him to say beautiful phrases entirely in Spanish? Same thing.

Although most hearing babies eventually jettison baby sign language once their verbal skills take off, there will always be some who, for whatever reason, feel attracted to ASL. Should they choose to continue learning this beautiful language even after they no longer need it, the opportunity for enriching experiences in the Deaf community will always be there for them. Also, as mentioned in the ASL page of Deaf Culture Online, ASL is now offered for foreign language credit in numerous high schools and colleges. So why not start now?

I hope you found this information on baby sign language to be helpful. It's a whole lot of fun, and it opens a whole new world for you and your baby. Enjoy!

Don't get bit

2007-03-14T14:04:00.000-07:00

I’m sensing a trend here…responding to articles from Parent magazines; but perhaps it will become one of the better venues for challenging the “norm” as Parent magazine is about as watered down, status quo as you can get.

This time the article was about a mother who supposedly became a better parent because her daughter was a biter. The general idea: no matter what she did, her daughter continued to bite everyone around her for two years. At the end, she realized that you never know what kind of kid you’re going to get and you just have to roll with the punches and accept them for who they are.

Bologna. Let me ask you to consider something. Have you ever seen a baby poke itself in the eye more than a couple times? Does a toddler bite their tongue (on purpose)? Newborns gag on their hands for a couple months, and then stop. Why? It is because of pain. Even the youngest babies can learn the relationship between an action and the pain it causes; that’s why they’re not still gagging themselves at one years old.

Here is what this mother wrote about her response to the biting:

“My husband and I didn’t stand idly by. We used time-outs. We tried rewards for not biting. We offered teething toys as an alternative. We read her stories about biting children who learn the error of their ways. We had gentle, reasoned discussions about how much biting hurts and why we can’t do it. We screamed and yelled. And once, when the victim was our newborn and I was out of my head from sleep deprivation, I spanked her. None of it worked.”

Now keep in mind that this little girl started biting when she was still nursing at NINE months old, and continued until she was two and a half. So they were having time outs and reasoned discussions with an 18 month old? Notice that spanking was done “once” and was only because the mother was sleep deprived? She did mention that people advised her to bite her back and she “in her darker hours wondered if she should have.”

Should she have bitten her back? No. What she should have done is caused that baby pain every time she bit. Maybe not the first time, but definitely the second. How? She could have pinched her hand, or her leg. I poked my daughter’s cheek with my fingernail when she bit me. It made her cry pretty hard, but she’s never bitten me again.

I’m not denying that some children might have the propensity to bite more than others, but what I am saying is that ALL children respond to pain and ALL children will eventually learn that when they do “A” and they immediately feel pain, to stop doing “A”. It’s a natural response even seen in animals.

Consistency is also extremely key. Every single time they bite, they should feel a small amount of pain. You don’t have to bruise your kid to get the point across. You shouldn’t pinch, flick, poke, or spank very hard when they’re young but you do need to cause enough pain, EVERY time, to make the connection in their brain than when they bite, it hurts. I guarantee that it will stop. I challenge you to prove me otherwise.

What's breaking your kids bones?

2007-03-07T13:06:00.000-08:00

Could you imagine if your nine your old broke his arm, and upon visiting the doctor you found out he had osteoporosis? Impossible, you say. Osteoporosis only affects older adults. Not anymore.

Calcium deficiency in US kids as at an all-time high. A study comparing the residents of Rochester, Minnesota from 1999-2001 with those of 1969 to 1971, found a 42 percent increase in broken arms, and the biggest jump was among kids ages 8-14. “Kids are more calcium-deficient than ever before,” says Sundeep Khosla, M.D., professor of medicine at the Mayo Clinic College of Medicine, in Rochester, and the study’s lead researcher. (Parents Mag, pg 42, March 2007).

The article continues to give reasons why this is happening: too much soda and juice, not as much exercise, lactose intolerance. Good theories, and all probably do contribute to the problem. But there is one MAJOR cause that is glaringly overlooked.

Soy.

Tucked neatly away on the third page, the article mentions that when children are lactose intolerant, parents will often supplement with soy, which has no calcium. They recommend giving calcium supplements if this is the case with your child. What amazes me is that soy isn’t on the first page; heck, in the title, as the main cause of this disease!

To me, it’s so obvious that the recent popularity and huge increase in soy consumption is the number cause of calcium-deficient kids! Parents are duped into thinking that soy is healthier, so they give soy formula, soy yogurt, soy ice cream, the list goes on. Lactose intolerance is also on the rise, and instead of finding other milk alternatives, (i.e. goat’s milk) like people used to do, soy becomes the easy solution.

Did you know the FDA has never approved soy for human consumption? Did you also know that soy contains very harmful toxins and has been linked to a number of life threatening diseases? Please check out www.soyonlineservice.co.nz to read the truth about soy and what it can do to you and your children. Don’t blow this off as some silly conspiracy theory until you read this site. It’s worth the 15 minutes.

It saddens me that this research in Rochester didn’t include soy, and I wonder why it didn’t, especially when it seems so obvious. Was it intentionally left out? Check out the website above and decide for yourself. Most parents will read the magazine article, maybe cut down on soda, and never think twice about that organic Silk Soymilk in their fridge. What a shame.

The truth about SIDS

2007-03-01T14:17:00.000-08:00

Those astute or concerned readers will have noticed that recently, a new study on SIDS has been released that link a brain defect with the cause of Sudden Infant Death Syndrome. It was because of this article that I researched and wrote the following article on SIDS.

It was a hot topic in my mom’s group; so much in fact that I almost lost a few friends over it. I had no idea it would be so controversial. I still stand by my opinion and even when presented with other ideas and research, have not found any of it to be as convincing as the book I read called “The Cot Death Cover-Up” by Jim Sprott.

Here is a (long) excerpt from the letter I wrote to my mom friends:

…Before I divulge the gist of the book, let me share some interesting facts about SIDS that you may not know.
We are told before our babies are born to put them on their back so they don’t suffocate and die of SIDS. Oh, and don’t smoke cause that will increase the risk. That’s about as much as we’re told. There are SO many other known facts about SIDS that the SIDS alliance itself has posted on it’s website, but aren’t made common knowledge.

Here are just a FEW of the facts that if you think about, don’t make sense when combined with this recent brain defect research (or any medical condition, for that matter):

The risk of SIDS rise from one baby in a family to the next, increasingly higher with each child (so for example, 3rd children are much more likely to die than the first born.)
SIDS is much more common in winter
SIDS happens more frequently when children are over-dressed (too warm)
SIDS is much more common with single parents
SIDS rarely kills babies under one month of age
SIDS is more common with colored minority population, including African Americans (whereas the recent research says it may not apply to them)

Now, if this recent theory were true, none of these points make sense. If it was truly genetic and medical, why on earth is it more common for single parents? Or more common in the winter? Would being too warm suddenly make you get this disease? Why would all 2nd, 3rd, or 4th children have the defect more often than first-born children? Why would this disease wait to kick in for a month? It makes no sense.

As I’m sure most of you know, SIDS is given as a diagnosis when there is NO other evidence or reason for death. Right there this rules out suffocation because if someone suffocates, an autopsy can reveal this. So right there we are already misled by most of what we hear (take away all blankets, animals, bumpers, sleep on a hard mattress, etc so your baby won’t suffocate and die of SIDS! How many times have you heard this?) SIDS is not suffocation. And I would argue that it’s not a medical condition, either. The suffocation theory also doesn’t work with most of the points above.

So what causes SIDS, you ask? While the SIDS alliance claims there is no known reason, I believe there is and if you spend some time looking into it, I believe you will agree.

I won’t go into it too much here, but I will put forth the idea and let you explore it on your own. There is TONS of research and proven evidence that says that SIDS is caused by toxic gases that are given off by the baby’s mattress. If you’ve heard of this theory and also heard that it was “supposedly” disproved, I beg you to look into that deeper. It has never been disproved.

Quickly, here are a few facts. A New Zealand study studied 100,000 babies (a LOT more than this current study did) that slept on wrapped mattresses (so no gases could get through). NONE of them died. If 7 out of 10,000 babies die of SIDS, then at least 70 babies should have died in this study. NONE did. That is significant. And that is just the beginning.

Here’s the short theory: SIDS is caused by gaseous poisoning (three specific gases). These gases are commonly found in mattresses and become toxic when they react with common household fungi.

Here’s the longer one (for those more scientific minds): SIDS is caused by gaseous poisoning, the gases being phosphine, arsine and stibine. These toxic gases can be generated from the mattress on which the baby sleeps. The gases are formed by the action of common household fungi (e.g. Scopulariopsis brevicaulis) on compounds or (respectively) the elements phosphorus, arsenic and antimony within the mattress.

If you think about that cause and apply it to the points above (and ALL of the facts they know about SIDS), every single one plays out.

The risk increases with each child because parents commonly reuse mattresses from one child to the next. The older the mattress, the more fungus has been established in the mattress from sweat, spit up, urine, etc. (even the waterproof ones)
Babies are more bundled up in winter, and therefore sweat more. This would cause the fungus to build up more and therefore react quicker with the gases.
See number 2.
Single parents are much more likely to buy used mattresses because of finances
A significant number of babies sleep on new mattresses, and it takes around one month for fungi capable of gas generation to become established in a mattress. However, a baby less than one month old can die of cot death if he or she is placed on a mattress which has recently been used by another baby and is already capable of generating toxic gas.
Minority populations are more likely to use second hand items.
The reason “back to sleep” has helped is because gases are heavier than air. Gases are more likely to accumulate near the surface of the mattress and even under the mattress (near the floor) When a baby sleeps on their stomachs, if there are gases present, their mouths are much closer to the gases then if they’re on their backs. This is why side sleeping didn’t degrease the risk, either.

How do you prevent SIDS? Wrap your mattresses. You can buy a mattress wrap for $25. They are not only sold by the guy who did this research, so he’s not just trying to make a buck. Oh, and you might be asking why this research isn’t well known or on the news? Well, that’s a whole other email, but the long and the short of is that the SIDS alliance is a multi-million dollar company that would lose all its’ funding once a solution (especially this cheap) was found. Secondly, it is the government that requires flame-retardants be put in all mattresses. These poisonous gases are mainly present because of these flame-retardants. Can you imagine the lawsuits that would ensue if the public found out it was a government mandated chemical that was killing their children? It makes sense why this research has been denied and kept “hidden” for all this time.

Without making this any longer, I’ll just tell all you moms that I was very skeptical about this when I first read it. I thought of all the questions there were and wrote them down. Then I emailed the man who wrote this book and helped come up with this theory. Not only did he write me back, he wrote me back several times and answered all my questions, as well as gave case by case proof of why the evidence out there supposedly disproving this theory was false. After these emails and reading his book, I’m completely convinced of this theory. My baby sleeps on a wrapped mattress, on her tummy, and I sleep well at night.

Here’s the website: http://www.cotlife2000.com/ and http://www.prevent-sids.org/
Here’s where you can buy the book (HIGHLY recommended) : http://www.eves-%20best.com/the-cot-death-cover-up.htm
Here’s just one of many sites you can buy the covers from: http://www.eves-best.com/babesafe-mattress-covers.htm

Don’t take my word for it. Research it yourself, but don’t stop on the surface level. I found many persuasive arguments against this theory that had I stopped there, I wouldn’t have believed it. Most importantly, read the book before you make your final judgment call. It’s amazing to me how many mom’s fervently disagreed without reading one page.

Do it for yourself, your sanity, and mostly, do it for your baby.

Why all the fuss about sleep?

2007-02-28T14:35:00.000-08:00

As a new mom, sleep was the hottest topic, one worth obsessing over, for about four months. Everyone had their problems, their theories, their ideas, solutions, tricks, gadgets, slings, miracle remedies, you name it. I must have read almost a dozen books on the subject. (38 more and I’d be an expert!) Many emails were exchanged in my moms group from sleep-deprived parents begging for help.

I gave birth to a horrible sleeper. She not only had her days and nights mixed up for seven weeks straight, but once that was sorted out she would take three hours every night to fall asleep and wake up minimum of 3-4 times a night. I was miserable and determined to find a solution. Before I had a baby, I was an advocate of the cry-it-out method. Once my precious baby girl stole my heart, I couldn’t imagine enforcing it.

As the weeks dragged on and on, it was with impending dread that I knew crying it out was all that was left. I fought it all the way till the end. Then, even when it was only option left (that or never sleep for the next two years), I still had to hire a professional sleep consultant to help me through it.

But let me tell you; it worked. It worked well, and it worked fast, and while it was very hard, it was very, very worth it. From 4.5 months on, my baby has slept 12 hours every night, even while sick and teething. She was put in her own crib, and went to sleep. Yes, she has her occasional bad nights, but I can count them on both hands and she’s now approaching her first birthday.

It was because of this battle and eventual victory that I became the “sleep expert” amongst my peers. In response to many pleas (and answers), I wrote the following letter about sleep. If you are sleep deprived and your baby is over 4 months old, this one’s for you.

Dear Moms,

Well, here I am as usual, giving my two (or three) cents. I know what I’m about to say will probably offend most of you, but since everyone else is offering their thoughts, then I will too. I hope this message will be taken the right way; I'm not criticizing anyone's parenting or saying I know everything. I'm just offering up what I've learned. I’m not going to say the popular thing, which is “do what works for you.” I realize that every mom and baby is different, and we do have to find our own way. But the ‘do what works for you' philosophy can only go so far. If your baby cries when they fall down while learning to walk, are you going to stop them from walking because hearing them cry doesn’t work for you? No, you know they have to learn the skill, no matter how many times they fall down and cry. What I’m going to propose in this letter is that learning the skill of falling asleep is the same.

I’m amazed (but not surprised) at how many of us are going through the same exact thing at the same time. I know some have been dealing with night wakings longer than others, but it seems that in general, when our babies hit the 5 to 6 months mark, suddenly all the good sleep habits flew out the window. Is this a coincidence? No. The reason this is happening is because at this age, our babies get a lot smarter. They become aware that they are not part of you, and therefore understand your absence better. Because of this, they decide they want to see you throughout the night, too. They now have the ability to learn cause and effect. They cry, you respond. It becomes a game.

While it’s true that babies are always changing and going through stages, it’s actually studied and proven that not all sleep problems will simply disappear. Some will, some won’t. It depends on your child. I’ve talked to many parents who say their kid didn’t sleep through the night until they were three years old. This is NOT the problem going away. If your baby wakes up every night for three years, that is a problem – not a phase.

My purpose of this letter is not to argue about which parenting philosophy is best. I know I would be out numbered in my opinion. What I want to point out is this: when your baby wakes up 5 to 6 times a night, they are losing the precious sleep that they need to grow and develop. We all know that interrupted sleep cycles make us tired and grumpy during the day. Our babies are no different.

Dr. Marc Weissbluth, in his book “Healthy Sleep Habits, Happy Child” said the most profound thing about sleep that I’ve read. He pointed out that sleep is food for the brain, just like milk is food for the body. In this day and age, we would never dream about not feeding our children when they are hungry. In fact, the current fad is demand feeding – feed your baby every time they cry! And yet, sleep – which is just as important – is mostly ignored. How many specialists came in your room at the hospital to teach you how much sleep your baby needed?

In his book, Dr. Weissbluth relays study after study about the effects of LACK of sleep on young children. I won’t take the time to type it all out, but the list of adverse effects that lack of sleep have on kids, their behavior, their intelligence, adaptability, concentration, social skills – the list goes on – is long and mind blowing.

By responding to your baby five to six (or more) times a night, patting, rocking, walking – whatever it is that you have to do – you are depriving your child of sleep. They are waking up anyway, I realize that. But by responding that way, you are prolonging and perpetuating the problem. Yes, you are providing temporary comfort. But are you really doing what’s best for your baby? Or what’s easiest for you?

It’s extremely hard to hear your baby cry. I know that from personal experience. That’s why I tried every single method out there to get my baby to sleep. I didn’t want to let her cry. But in the end I realized that I wasn’t letting her cry because it was hard on ME, not because it was hard on her. I was sacrificing her sleep because I didn’t want to have to deal with the discomfort of hearing her cry. That was the bottom line. I knew that letting her cry wasn’t going to kill her. But I did feel like it was going to kill me. When my baby cried, I felt like a bad parent – and that wasn’t something I wanted to feel like.

I finally realized, with some help from a professional, that babies cry because it’s all they can do. It doesn’t necessarily mean they’re scared, hurting, mad, sad, or hating me. They cry (when going to sleep) because they are “protesting” learning a new skill.

Learning how to put yourself to sleep is a skill. When our kids learn to walk or read I’m sure there will be some crying, frustration, tears, etc. But we will still teach them until they learn. We’ll do this because we know they can’t go through life without learning these skills. And yet, when it comes to the skill of falling to sleep unassisted, we decide they don’t need to learn this skill and we help them every time.

Our babies need to learn this skill, and the only way they will learn it is if we give them space to do so. This means that they will cry, and they will “protest” the difficulty of learning this new skill. If they could talk, they’d say, “Mom, I don’t like this. It’s too hard.” But instead, they cry. If you rush to their rescue, they will either never learn it, or simply take months (or years) to outgrow it.

I knew I was doing my child a disservice by not letting her learn this skill. I decided that no matter how hard it was on ME, I was going to give her the gift of sleep. Most babies only take 3-5 nights. Mine took a week and a half. But now, she has a skill she will never forget. And at 6 months, she sleeps 12 hours straight with no wakings. She goes to sleep awake every night with no crying. And she takes consistent naps. And she's a very happy baby. Please don’t think I’m bragging; cause I’m not. I simply helped her learn something that every baby is capable of learning. It was hard, but it was worth it – for both of us.

I know that the philosophy of the age is “do whatever works for you.” And that’s fine. But I think doing what’s best for your baby is better. There is no scientific evidence, proof, or research that proves letting your baby cry is emotionally damaging. That theory stems from an Austrian psychoanalyst Otto Rank in 1929. He claimed that the birthing process interrupts the mother-child in-utero harmony and the only way to reestablish this harmony is constant day and night presence and availability of the mother. By 1949, this theory, lacking verifiable data, was dismissed – only to resurface many years later disguised under a new name – attachment parenting. It’s this philosophy that claims letting your baby cry is traumatizing to the child, and yet, they offer no actual proof for this claim (I’ve read the book, and there is none).

I know that I won’t change your minds and I’m sure I’ve offended many of you – and for that I apologize – it wasn’t my intention. But with all the things I’ve learned about sleep (I’ve read 8 or 9 books on it now), I really wanted to share how important sleep is for our children. If you let the numerous amount of night wakings continue, you are keeping your baby from getting they sleep they need. I feel that that fact is more important than how WE ‘feel’ about the issue. If you let your baby learn to fall asleep on his/her own (i.e. cry), you will give them a new skill, they will get the sleep they need to grow and be healthy, and you will restore rest and sanity to the rest of your household!

A Brief Introduction

2007-02-27T15:55:00.000-08:00

Instead of writing a long post about who I am, what I believe, and why I’m starting this blog, I will just briefly explain that this blog will mostly be my response to common, every day ideas, news, articles, research, etc. Since I am a mother, much of it will focus on issues confronting parents today. It won’t be limited to those topics, however. It mainly depends on what I read and what moves me to rant.

The reason I feel my ideas are worth reading is because they are usually opposite of common opinion. With the media being very unified in voice these days, there aren’t many avenues one has to read a different view; thus, the Divergent View is born.