In case you missed this on the news, the British Medical Journal officially declared that Andrew Wakefield's research linking the MMR vaccine to autism was fraudulent. Sadly, children's lives have been put in danger and there is much work to be done to repair the damage this man has done.
Here is a quick summary of the events of the past 13 years (as outlined in the linked article below):
1998 - Andrew Wakefield and 12 others publish a paper claiming a link between the MMR vaccine and autism and so begins the vaccine scare (note that the paper had a number of scientific limitations that were immediately evident...small sample size, dependent on parent recall, no controls).
1998-present - Research repeatedly demonstrated/continues to demonstrate no evidence of a link, but the vaccine scare continues.
2003-2004 - Vaccination rates hit an all time low (and they continue to remain lower than recommended World Heath Organization levels).
2004 - The first investigation into the research is published suggesting possible fraud and 10 co-authors retract the paper's interpretation.
2010 - Article retracted.
2011 - BMJ declares research fraudulent.
To read the full text article (British Medical Journal) click on the link below:
Wakefield’s article linking MMR vaccine and autism was fraudulent
http://www.bmj.com/content/342/bmj.c7452.full
Sunday, January 23, 2011
Baby Sign Language - The Reward Period
From a very young age, we pretty consistently signed 'milk', 'all done', and 'more' and somewhat regularly signed 'mommy' and 'daddy' with Lilah. At 12 months of age, she finally started to sign back! I was so thrilled! We were driving in the car and I was feeding her a banana (of course I wasn't driving) and she signed ‘more’! Since that time, she has been using it on occasion and we continue to work on the others. We have added 'food' which she has picked up on very quickly (after only a few days of exposure) and we are starting on 'please' and 'thank you'. I think it is just great that she is learning how to communicate with us in ways other than grunting, crying and fussing.
At one time it was believed (and still is by some) that teaching a baby to sign can delay speech. Research has shown over and over again in that this is NOT true and is, in fact, the opposite of what happens. Babies that are taught and use baby sign language speak sooner and use more complex sentences earlier. There are a number of additional benefits including a reduction in frustration and aggressive behaviours like biting.
If you are interested in signing with you baby, it is recommended that you start around the 6-9 month mark (but it is never to late to start). We started earlier than this, but for us it was more about getting into the habit of doing it (which helped because I think if I tried to start doing it later on, it would have been more difficult than it already was to be consistent).
You might be wondering when your baby will sign back to you (which I myself was wondering until a short time ago). As with most other developmental milestones, it varies widely. Generally speaking though, you can expect you baby to sign back to you sometime between 6 and 14 months of age depending on how frequently and consistently you sign.
If you want more information on baby sign language and/or would like to look up some signs just do a Google search and you will be set!
Have fun and good luck!
At one time it was believed (and still is by some) that teaching a baby to sign can delay speech. Research has shown over and over again in that this is NOT true and is, in fact, the opposite of what happens. Babies that are taught and use baby sign language speak sooner and use more complex sentences earlier. There are a number of additional benefits including a reduction in frustration and aggressive behaviours like biting.
If you are interested in signing with you baby, it is recommended that you start around the 6-9 month mark (but it is never to late to start). We started earlier than this, but for us it was more about getting into the habit of doing it (which helped because I think if I tried to start doing it later on, it would have been more difficult than it already was to be consistent).
You might be wondering when your baby will sign back to you (which I myself was wondering until a short time ago). As with most other developmental milestones, it varies widely. Generally speaking though, you can expect you baby to sign back to you sometime between 6 and 14 months of age depending on how frequently and consistently you sign.
If you want more information on baby sign language and/or would like to look up some signs just do a Google search and you will be set!
Have fun and good luck!
Sunday, January 16, 2011
Rear facing beyond age 1 and 22 pounds...IT'S SAFER!
I recently watched a video on YouTube about a young boy (18 months) that had been involved in a front impact crash while sitting in a forward-facing car seat. The boy's head, arms and legs were violently thrown forward in the crash and he suffered severe spinal cord damage as a result. It was hard to watch and prompted me to do some research of my own on the use of forward-facing car seats (as one should do before believing anything they see/read on YouTube or anywhere on the Internet for that matter)!
I bought my daughter's forward-facing seat several months ago and up until today my husband and I had planned on putting her in the seat as soon as she reached the 22lb minimum weight restriction (given that she is now a year old). That is no longer the case! I have since discovered that the the 22lb weight restriction is the ABSOLUTE MINIMUM weight at which a child should be taken out of a rear-facing seat and that the Government of Canada, Transport Canada and the American Academy of Pediatrics are but a few of the organizations that STRONGLY encourage parents to use rear-facing seats for as long as possible. Luckily, we purchased a rear-facing car seat with a maximum 32lb weight limit and as long as my daughter's head is an inch below the top of the back if the seat, she can continue to use it until she reaches the weight limit and will!
If you are not convinced that you should continue to use your rear-facing seat for as long as possible consider this:
1) The American Academy of Pediatrics (and other organizations) are working to strengthen the rules and regulations regarding car seat safety including encouraging car seat manufactures to make rear-facing seats to accommodate children up to the age of 4 years.
2) When conducting crash tests on forward-facing car seats, Transport Canada uses dummies that are similar in size to the average 3 (35lb), 6 and 10 year old child. They don't conduct tests for children under 35lbs! Translation: we don't know what happens to children under 35lbs when they are involved in a crash in a forward-facing seat. I don't know about you, but I don't want to find out what might happen.
It seems as though parents are in too big of a hurry to put their children into forward-facing seats. I really don't know what is behind this drive because it is clearly not what is in the best interests of our children as far as their safety is concerned. I have heard a number of "reasons":
-"my child is just not happy in a rear-facing seat"
-"the rear facing seat takes up too much room in the vehicle"
-"my child's feet are touching the back seat and he/she appears to be uncomfortable".
None of these (or other) reason are strong or convincing enough to justify making the switch before it is absolutely necessary.
The Take-Home Message:
You don't HAVE to put your child in a forward-facing seat just because they are one year of age and 22lbs. This the ABSOLUTE MINIMUM age/weight you can switch them and NOT the RECOMMENDED age/weight at which you should make the switch. You should keep your child in his/her rear-facing seat FOR AS LONG AS POSSIBLE. If your car seat has a low weight limit, you should consider buying another rear-facing seat that will allow you to keep your child rear-facing for a longer period of time. As parents, the safety of our children should be our number one concern, not cost, not space or any of the others "reasons" parents use to justify making the switch before it is absolutely necessary!
I bought my daughter's forward-facing seat several months ago and up until today my husband and I had planned on putting her in the seat as soon as she reached the 22lb minimum weight restriction (given that she is now a year old). That is no longer the case! I have since discovered that the the 22lb weight restriction is the ABSOLUTE MINIMUM weight at which a child should be taken out of a rear-facing seat and that the Government of Canada, Transport Canada and the American Academy of Pediatrics are but a few of the organizations that STRONGLY encourage parents to use rear-facing seats for as long as possible. Luckily, we purchased a rear-facing car seat with a maximum 32lb weight limit and as long as my daughter's head is an inch below the top of the back if the seat, she can continue to use it until she reaches the weight limit and will!
If you are not convinced that you should continue to use your rear-facing seat for as long as possible consider this:
1) The American Academy of Pediatrics (and other organizations) are working to strengthen the rules and regulations regarding car seat safety including encouraging car seat manufactures to make rear-facing seats to accommodate children up to the age of 4 years.
2) When conducting crash tests on forward-facing car seats, Transport Canada uses dummies that are similar in size to the average 3 (35lb), 6 and 10 year old child. They don't conduct tests for children under 35lbs! Translation: we don't know what happens to children under 35lbs when they are involved in a crash in a forward-facing seat. I don't know about you, but I don't want to find out what might happen.
It seems as though parents are in too big of a hurry to put their children into forward-facing seats. I really don't know what is behind this drive because it is clearly not what is in the best interests of our children as far as their safety is concerned. I have heard a number of "reasons":
-"my child is just not happy in a rear-facing seat"
-"the rear facing seat takes up too much room in the vehicle"
-"my child's feet are touching the back seat and he/she appears to be uncomfortable".
None of these (or other) reason are strong or convincing enough to justify making the switch before it is absolutely necessary.
The Take-Home Message:
You don't HAVE to put your child in a forward-facing seat just because they are one year of age and 22lbs. This the ABSOLUTE MINIMUM age/weight you can switch them and NOT the RECOMMENDED age/weight at which you should make the switch. You should keep your child in his/her rear-facing seat FOR AS LONG AS POSSIBLE. If your car seat has a low weight limit, you should consider buying another rear-facing seat that will allow you to keep your child rear-facing for a longer period of time. As parents, the safety of our children should be our number one concern, not cost, not space or any of the others "reasons" parents use to justify making the switch before it is absolutely necessary!
Saturday, January 15, 2011
The Beginning of the End of Breastfeeding
I suppose that title sounds a little more dramatic than I intended, but that doesn't negate the fact that it is a pretty big deal to me that I have dropped one of Lilah's daytime nursing sessions. As I mentioned in my last post, it seemed to make sense to drop the mid-morning feeding that she normally would have had when she woke from her morning nap given that we have eliminated said nap. She is still nursing 3 times a day (and twice in the night... but that is a separate issue altogether) so we have plenty of opportunities to strengthen our mother-daughter bond, relax, and enjoy a few quiet moments together. Even so, it makes me sad to think that I only have a few more months left to enjoy it.
I have thoroughly enjoyed the breastfeeding experience and it will be quite a transition for me when I give it up (probably more so than for Lilah). I know I don't have to give it up because many people breastfeed for much longer than I plan to, but I am going to given that I would like to have another child at some point in the not-so-distant future and don't want to be nursing two children at the same time nor do I want to be breastfeeding a child that is old enough to ask to be nursed. I do plan on continuing to nurse first thing in the morning and at night before bedtime for an indefinite period of time (most likely until I am well into my next pregnancy unless Lilah gives them up on her own), but by the time Lilah is 18 months I will most likely have given up her mid-afternoon feeding and both night feedings.
I will be spending the next few months making the most of the nursing sessions Lilah and I have left and will look forward to starting the process all over again with our next child. At this point in time, I really can't foresee myself doing much of anything differently with the next child aside from perhaps trying to reduce night feedings down to one per night earlier such that it doesn't become as much of a habit as it has with Lilah (again, a completely separate issue that I will probably discuss in another post).
I have thoroughly enjoyed the breastfeeding experience and it will be quite a transition for me when I give it up (probably more so than for Lilah). I know I don't have to give it up because many people breastfeed for much longer than I plan to, but I am going to given that I would like to have another child at some point in the not-so-distant future and don't want to be nursing two children at the same time nor do I want to be breastfeeding a child that is old enough to ask to be nursed. I do plan on continuing to nurse first thing in the morning and at night before bedtime for an indefinite period of time (most likely until I am well into my next pregnancy unless Lilah gives them up on her own), but by the time Lilah is 18 months I will most likely have given up her mid-afternoon feeding and both night feedings.
I will be spending the next few months making the most of the nursing sessions Lilah and I have left and will look forward to starting the process all over again with our next child. At this point in time, I really can't foresee myself doing much of anything differently with the next child aside from perhaps trying to reduce night feedings down to one per night earlier such that it doesn't become as much of a habit as it has with Lilah (again, a completely separate issue that I will probably discuss in another post).
Friday, January 14, 2011
One nap a day...still adjusting!
We have officially made the transition to one nap a day! Over the course of the last couple of weeks, Lilah was skipping her afternoon nap more often than she was taking one so I decided it must be time. We have been on the one-nap-a-day schedule for about 3 days now and things seem to be working themselves out. Lilah has been eating an earlier lunch at around 11:30am and then going down for her nap at about 12:00/12:15pm. Ideally, I would like her to be eating lunch closer to noon and going down for her nap at about 1:00pm. I will try to push her a little later each day and we will get there eventually. As with any transition, I need to be patient.
Of course, there are pros and cons to our new routine...
Pros:
+She has been falling asleep almost instantly because she is dead tired come nap time and she has been sleeping for about 2 hours which is about the same amount of time she was sleeping for when she was taking two naps.
+She is getting a solid chunk of sleep rather than two shorter stints which I think is more beneficial as far as sleep goes.
+We have a much longer chunk of time in the morning to get out and/or play
Cons:
-Lunch time has become a little more challenging because she is quite tired and, therefore, more fussy and less likely to eat a decent lunch (I am hoping this will change as we settle into our new routine).
-I haven't been getting through the shower and ready for the day until after noon which needs to change. I am planning on getting into the routine of showering before my husband leaves for work which should solve this particular problem.
-I am still adjusting to not having a break in the morning. The days seem much longer, but I am sure I will adjust as well.
Other notes:
-The change in nap schedule has had no effect on her nighttime wakings. I had hoped that perhaps giving up one of her naps would lead to longer stretches of sleep at night. No such luck!
-I have decided to drop her mid-morning nursing session and replace it with a snack. I am not ready to give up nursing, but because she would normally nurse when she woke from her morning nap it just seemed to make sense to drop that particular feeding along with the nap. She isn't asking to be nursed and doesn't seem to miss it. I felt as though she needed to be eating a little more solid food than she was so this should help with that as well.
This is only the beginning of a year of constant change! Hold onto your hats, hopefully it is not going to be too bumpy of a ride.
On a different note, it is becoming more challenging to find time to sit down and write these days, but stay tuned because one of my resolutions was to make more time to blog. I have a lot of ideas for posts and several in the works!
Of course, there are pros and cons to our new routine...
Pros:
+She has been falling asleep almost instantly because she is dead tired come nap time and she has been sleeping for about 2 hours which is about the same amount of time she was sleeping for when she was taking two naps.
+She is getting a solid chunk of sleep rather than two shorter stints which I think is more beneficial as far as sleep goes.
+We have a much longer chunk of time in the morning to get out and/or play
Cons:
-Lunch time has become a little more challenging because she is quite tired and, therefore, more fussy and less likely to eat a decent lunch (I am hoping this will change as we settle into our new routine).
-I haven't been getting through the shower and ready for the day until after noon which needs to change. I am planning on getting into the routine of showering before my husband leaves for work which should solve this particular problem.
-I am still adjusting to not having a break in the morning. The days seem much longer, but I am sure I will adjust as well.
Other notes:
-The change in nap schedule has had no effect on her nighttime wakings. I had hoped that perhaps giving up one of her naps would lead to longer stretches of sleep at night. No such luck!
-I have decided to drop her mid-morning nursing session and replace it with a snack. I am not ready to give up nursing, but because she would normally nurse when she woke from her morning nap it just seemed to make sense to drop that particular feeding along with the nap. She isn't asking to be nursed and doesn't seem to miss it. I felt as though she needed to be eating a little more solid food than she was so this should help with that as well.
This is only the beginning of a year of constant change! Hold onto your hats, hopefully it is not going to be too bumpy of a ride.
On a different note, it is becoming more challenging to find time to sit down and write these days, but stay tuned because one of my resolutions was to make more time to blog. I have a lot of ideas for posts and several in the works!
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