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Do I need to avoid certain foods when I’m breastfeeding?

Thursday, April 1st, 2010

That’s a good question from Haylie, a new-mom-to-be from Chicago. She wonders if she’ll need to continue to avoid soft cheeses, raw fish, caffeine, and alcohol when she begins breastfeeding just like she’s doing now, when she’s pregnant.

For the answer, I consulted with Mary Rose Tully, MPH, IBCLC, director of Lactation Services at NC Women’s and Children’s Hospitals at UNC Health Care in Chapel Hill, North Carolina.

Rose Tully says: If you’re a nursing mom, you should continue to limit your exposure to mercury by avoiding certain types of fish. Those include shark, swordfish, king mackerel and tilefish. For more information, visit http://www.fda.gov/Food/ResourcesForYou/Consumers/ucm110591.htm.

But you don’ t need to stay away from soft cheeses or raw fish when you’re lactating, because the “bad” bacteria that may be in these foods, listeria monocytogenes, which can cause a bacterial infection known as listeriosis, doesn’t pass through breast milk to your baby. So go ahead and get your brie and sushi/sashimi fix.

As for caffeine, “most physicians will say 2-4 cups of coffee a day when you’re lactating is usually not problem for full-term babies,” Rose Tully says. But check with your doctor. And your baby. For some babies, it might be. With alcohol, “one to two servings of alcohol in 24-hours time when you’re lactating is considered safe,” Rose Tully says. But again, check with your doctor. Check, check, check.

In general, if you like to have a glass of wine with dinner, you can minimize your baby’s exposure to alcohol by nursing your baby first, then having dinner. Alcohol transfers into human milk quickly. It’s metabolized out of the milk rapidly, too, in about two hours. So by the time, your baby is ready to eat again, your breast milk will be close to alcohol free, Rose Tully says.

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Eating Habits to Delete from Your Baby’s Diet

Monday, March 29th, 2010

To save time or your sanity, these little habits can easily sneak into your baby’s eating routine. Don’t let them. They can put your baby at risk.

Don’t:

 –Let your baby be a backseat diner. Don’t give him food while he’s in his car seat, which can be a blind spot, especially if he’s still facing rearward. (Radar: Choking hazard.) In other words, always supervise your baby when he’s eating.

Solution: Feed your baby before leaving home or stop for a snack if he gets hungry.

 Don’t:

–Feed your baby from the jar (or yogurt container) and then put the uneaten portion in the refrigerator. Harm­ful bacteria from your baby’s mouth can multiply in the jar. When my first daughter was a baby and I questioned whether it was safe to put a half-eaten-from-the-jar back in the fridge, I remember my mother saying, “But they’re her germs,” as if that made them safe. They’re not.

Solution: If your baby is likely to eat less than a full jar, spoon a portion into a bowl and put the jar in the refrigerator for later. You generally can keep opened jars in the fridge for up to three days in the case of fruits and vegetables, one day for meats, and two days for meat and vegetable combos. Date open jars with a permanent marker. If you feed your baby from the jar and she doesn’t eat it all, toss it.

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Give your baby a shot against disease

Tuesday, January 19th, 2010

Is your child up to date with her immunizations? According to a new study led by researchers at Columbia Univeristy Medical Cener and NewYork Presbyterian Hospital in New York City, 20 percent of young children in the U.S. are under-immunized. Not having insurance is a factor, but the study didn’t investigate that. Rather, it focused on 705 children of parents with health insurance. Here’s what causes such parents to get off track:

–Scheduling issues: You’re four times as likely to be off schedule with your child’s immunizations if you have to reschedule a pediatrician appointment or have problems scheduling an appointment in the first place.

–Vacillating about vaccines: You’re three times as likely to miss your child’s immunization appointment if you doubt the importance of vaccines, according to the study.

–You can’t talk to your child’s pediatrician. You’re also three times as likely to miss your child’s scheduled shot(s) if you find it difficult to communicate with your child’s pediatrician.

Once you miss a scheduled visit or a visit that should have been scheduled at a specific time, your child is 2.5 times more likely to be under-immunized. To find out if you’re on track, visit the CDC’s 2010 immunization recommendations for children: http://www.cdc.gov/vaccines/recs/schedules/child-schedule.htm#printable.

If you miss a vaccination, your child can catch up, so don’t let that stop you from getting your child fully immunized.

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Fall-out from the economy: Changing diapers less often

Friday, October 9th, 2009

Members Mark diapersThe economy has affected us in all sorts of ways and a notice for a diaper drive in the restroom of my nearby public libary caught my attention recently. The notice about the drive, sponsored by the United Way, mentioned that babies in families struggling to make ends meet often spend the entire day or longer in a single diaper. Infants need up to 12 diapers a day and toddlers up to 8 a day. If you don’t change a diaper that often, it can lead to diaper rash. The notice mentioned that it can also increase the risk of hepatitis, even child abuse from the constant crying that can result when a child is left in a dirty diaper too long.

You can’t use food stamps or the WIC Federal Program to purchase diapers. That’s where the diaper drive comes in. Turns out anybody can organize a diaper drive in his/her neighborhood or workplace. If you’d like to help, contact the United Way. Here’s the link:

 http://volunteer.united-e-way.org/uwoci/org/opp/10243089539.html?return_url=%252fuwoci%252forg%252fopp%252fmedallions%252f%253fmedallion%255fid%253d10277321974

Meanwhile, to save on diapers in general, my best advice is to go with store-brand disposable diapers. Although Consumer Reports’ tests show that the name brands are the top-rated disposable diapers, because overall they tend to be more absorbent and fit better, you may find store brands more than adequate—and a cost cutter. You’ll save about 3 cents per diaper if, for example, you compare the cost of size 1 Par­ent’s Choice, Wal-Mart’s store-brand diapers, with Pampers, also size 1. Saving pennies per diaper may not seem like much, but with 10 changes per day (which is reasonable with an infant), you’d bank about $9 per month and $108 per year using the size 1 store brand diapers.

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“Mommy, I have to go!”

Thursday, September 24th, 2009

You can change a diaper anywhere, but when your little one no longer wears diapers and you’re out and about, finding the nearest restroom can suddenly become a potty emergency. Thank goodness for the plethora of Starbucks and Barnes and Noble retailers. (Before these folks arrived, there seemed to be no public restrooms in New York City, where I worked in a previous life.)  Anyway, if you’re not near a Starbucks or B&N, it’s peace of mind to know that you can use your smart phone to log onto http://www.tena.us/en/General/Bathroom-Finder2/. There, you’ll find a U.S. bathroom locator sponsored by the incontinence drug manufacturer, Tena.

This I learned from a press event I attended yesterday on yes, incontinence. And though the bathroom finder may be geared for grown-ups who’ve gotta go, it’s great for parents of small children, too. Just plug in your city and state and the bathroom finder will give you the address of nearest the restroom.

If you’re so inclined, you can even map out the restrooms so you know where your child can go ahead of time. Yes, it’s just one more thing to think about and add to your travel to-do list. But it may save your sanity later.

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Scammed at the rental car dealer

Saturday, June 27th, 2009

For my daughter’s 10th birthday party, I recently rented a mini van from Enterprise car rental at 653 Post Road in Fairfield, CT (http://www.enterprise.com/car_rental/deeplinkmap.do?gpbr=243C&bid=004&cnty=US), so I could drive my daughter and five of her friends to a restaurant eight miles from our house, with my husband following in our SUV with the rest of the party. I’m about writing that experience now to warn you about the scam I found myself in. When I rented the car, Brendan, a college intern, showed me some previous damage on the mini van’s front fender. “I’m going to make a note of that on the contract so you don’t get charged for it when you return the van,” he said. Turns out that was a cue to inspect the van thoroughly that I didn’t pick up on. I should have walked around the van and taken photos of its exterior with my iPhone. That’s what I’ve since learned, having just read about rental-car scams on the Internet. Instead, I simply initialed the contract, hopped in the van with my daughters and merrily drove off. Since the van wasn’t ready until 2:30 PM that day, we had minutes to get home before the guests arrived. The next day, however, when I returned the van, the manager pointed out some damage to the right side door–a section of chipped paint that looks like it resulted from wear and tear, and a light scratch. That so didn’t happen on my watch. I purposely parked the mini van away from other cars at the restaurant to avoid any possibility of damage. But now, it’s my word against this Enterprise dealership’s. I’m entitled to see a copy of the contract from the person who rented the mini van just before I did, to see if that damage was notated. But Enterprise is trying to pin this damage on me and get my insurance company or my credit card to pay. None of that applies to me because I used my debit card to book the purchase and my deductible is too high to cover this expense, so I’m not filing a claim. They’ll have to come after me for the money, and I’m not paying!
Bottomline line is that I should have known better, especially since I write for Consumer Reports. I haven’t rented a vehicle in years. I was just a mom who was in the midst of executing a birthday party for 11 10-year-olds. I’m kicking myself about this consumer experience, but I’ve learned the hard way and it’s safe to say that that’ll never happen to me again.

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