The Doctors are Coming! July 16, 2008

I am very pleased to announce that I’ve just agreed to appear on an upcoming episode of THE DOCTORS, a new show from CBS!

I will be discussing early potty training and demonstrating communication through sign language with my 14-month-old son, Noah. I will also share my experiences of potty-training my three-year-old, Joseph, using the conventional “pull-ups” method. 

You can read about our journey using the  Baby Signs Potty Training Kit in these blog entries: 
1. Potty-Training at 13 Months
2. Potty-Training = Green Baby
3. Early Potty-Training Success
4. June is Potty-Training Awareness Month!
5. Infant Potty-Training–Er, Mommy-Training
6. Potty-Baby: Almost Trained at 14 Months

Want to know more about this new television show? They say it best:

From the creative team behind the long-running hit series “Dr. Phil” comes THE DOCTORS, a new, one-hour syndicated daytime talk show. For the first time on daytime television, viewers will have a source of reliable and fascinating medical and health advice, dispensed daily by a distinguished panel of five “on-call” professionals. THE DOCTORS will premiere nationwide in September 2008 (Check local listings for station and time). 

Story-driven, dynamic and interactive, THE DOCTORS does for health care what DR. PHIL has done for down-to-earth discussions of emotional and psychological issues. The series’ experts will focus on the compelling, real-life experiences of the show’s guests and then weigh in, disseminating valuable information about health, medical care and drugs in a compelling, informal, easy-to-understand and entertaining format. 

The team of doctors are five top practicing professionals, each with a different specialty — ER physician (and former ABC “Bachelor” in Paris) Dr. Travis Stork; psychologist Dr. Tara Fields, Ph.D., M.F.P.; obstetrician and gynecologist Dr. Lisa Masterson; plastic surgeon and reconstructive surgery expert Dr. Andrew Ordon; and pediatrician Dr. James Sears. 

Viewers are also encouraged to “Ask the Doctors” by submitting their questions and experiences to the show’s website about the health care issues that matter the most to them. Answers may be delivered on-air, or become the basis for a larger, produced segment. With its fluid format, THE DOCTORS covers a broad range of subjects, especially news-breaking, topical issues. The show features on-set medical procedures, either directly in front of the studio audience or in its backstage examining room, and off-site “house calls.”  This medical dream team will be the “must-go-to” source for information on the latest medical breakthroughs and cutting-edge practices and procedures, providing a valuable resource for viewers who might not have access to the most updated medical advances.

Five medical practitioners, with five different specialties, five days a week, discuss what people need to know to live their best lives. If it matters to you, it matters to THE DOCTORS.

THE DOCTORS, taped in front of a live audience in Hollywood, is produced by Stage 29 Productions and distributed by CBS Television Distribution. Jay McGraw, Carla Pennington and Dr. Phil McGraw are executive producers.  CBS Television Distribution is a unit of CBS Corp.

If you are willing to teach your little one to become diaper-free (and help the environment by decreasing the impact of disposable diapers on landfills!) please purchase your Baby Signs Potty Training Kit through my Amazon store. The wee kickback I get pays for the environmentally-friendly cleaning supplies I use for cleaning up Noah’s “accidents” along the way. Thank you!
If you have attempted (or succeeded!) at early potty-training, I would love to hear from you!

Potty Baby — Almost Trained at 14 Months July 5, 2008

Sixty percent of the time, my baby uses the potty every time.
(–with a nod to Anchorman, The Legend of Ron Burgundy, for all you now questioning my logic.)

Frankly, it’s as true as it can be. Everywhere I go, women smile admirably at me, gasping in wonder at my infant in big-boy undies (He has ones with the Superman “S” emblazoned on his booty), and while Noah does use the potty about 60% of the time, these admiring gaspers already consider him ”potty-trained.” Why? He is not entirely out of dipes, but he is able to go out of the house in honest-to-goodness underwear—and that’s a whole lot more than most mothers training 2- and 3-year-old preschoolers can say. Trust me, I’ve been there. Earlier this year, in fact.

We just completed our 2-week bare-bottom adventure. Noah absolutely loves the freedom; putting him in a diaper for bedtime is now met with much protest. (When he is able to stay dry through the night, I will gladly give our diapers away.) Because I must always be on the lookout for Noah’s signals, and women are always approaching me about my baby’s lack of diaper-age, the topic of early training is always on the tip of my tongue. This formerly quiet writer who generally keeps to herself has become quite the passionate advocate: My mommy’s group has asked me to speak on the topic; I was recently toasted for my efforts at a baby shower; and I can’t count how many times in the last 14 days I’ve commented, ”it’s a HUNDRED times easier to do it with a baby,” combined with, “do you realize the average baby uses 5000 diapers? Consider the impact on the environment!” (My husband Joseph, burdened with the unpleasant task of changing the diaper pail, would also like me to add how relieved he is.) I’m fanatical, and if you’re a SAHM with little one still in diapers and zero time to chat with adults, early training may be all the conversation-starter you’ll need at the checkout.

The Baby Signs Potty Training kit is only 40 bucks–less than the price of a case of diapers. Actually, I think Amazon has it on sale right now… yes! $26.37! Consider how much you spend on diapers and wipes, then calculate that by 5,000 (that’s if your baby uses 5 diapers a day and is trained by 2.75 years.) Let’s see, Amazon has cases of 140 Pampers Cruisers Size 4 for 39.99. You would spend $1,400.00 by the time your baby was trained. Wouldn’t you rather take 2 weeks and $26.37, and open the lines of communication through sign language with your little cherub, put the extra cash in savings, help the environment, and facilitate your child’s confidence and independence by using the toilet? And I won’t even ask what could be cuter than seeing your own child’s bare butt wriggling about every day for 2 weeks?

Here is our Progress Report: The first few days were not unlike the first 3 months of new motherhood–getting out of the house was a logistical feat involving the potty, multiple outfits, a cover for the car seat, diapers in case I chickened out, wipes, and toys to keep him interested during potty breaks. We soon figured out what we needed and what we didn’t. I got into the practice of putting Noah on the potty in the back of my SUV when we arrived and departed from our destination, and he got the message quickly to wait or do the potty sign on the road.

This is a really important point because, as my husband points out, the “potty-training relationship” we’ve built with our son is not the traditional concept of self-control (at this point) so much as taking turns telling each other when potty time has arrived. For instance, Noah knows he will use his potty when he gets up in the morning and grunts his word for it and does the sign until I place him on it. After breakfast, he will point at it from his highchair, or I will simply place him on it, knowing what will come next. Our day goes along as such, with Noah holding for potty visits he knows are imminent from experience, or with me putting him on and entertaining him until he goes. We are so very pleased with his success, and of course as parents we make note of our son’s uncommonly superior intellect.

This experience has created a bond of trust, love and communication I never thought possible. Teaching only a few sign language words has also opened the door to my son’s vocabulary; he is an enthusiastic repeater of words and phrases, and we are just as enthusiastically encouraging him. Can I draw a connection between my son’s toilet habits and his ability to say letters and make their sounds at 14 months? I am willing to say that when you become as engaged to your child as early training requires, your baby will certainly surprise you.

If you are willing to teach your little one to become diaper-free (and help the environment by decreasing the impact of disposable diapers on landfills!) please purchase your Baby Signs Potty Training Kit through my Amazon store. The wee kickback I get pays for the environmentally-friendly cleaning supplies I use for cleaning up Noah’s “accidents” along the way. Thank you!
If you have attempted (or succeeded!) at early potty-training, I would love to hear from you!

Infant Potty Training—Er, Mommy Training June 25, 2008

Today was the toughest day yet in our effort to become a diaper-free household. It has been exactly 20 days since we started, and if you’ve been reading along, you know how thrilled I’ve been with our success with the Baby Signs Potty Training Kit. Noah has taken quite easily to the potty and while I was nervous about embarking on a two-week “bare-bottom” period last Thursday, we said a prayer and leaped. And boy, have we learned, oh how we’ve learned.

It is important that I reiterate that this adventure is coinciding with weaning. I cannot imagine a more powerful and dramatic substitute for the inherent bonding breastfeeding allows. And for all you mommies who weren’t able or chose not to breastfeed for whatever reason, I absolutely must impress upon you that if you’d like a taste of the fairytale bonding of which nursing mothers always sing the praises, by all means try early potty training. It is bonding to the nth degree, my lovelies. And the end result may be comparable in the long run, especially at school; I argue that babies who are extremely well-tended-to are more confident and comfortable with themselves and their immediate world, and therefore more willing and eager to be open to new challenges, socializing and learning experiences.

Perhaps that’s why I’m so exhausted today (the “extremely well-tended-to” part), or it could be the hormonal roller-coaster I’ve been on since I stopped breastfeeding. I’m also wrestling with some recent comments from my neighbor and the pediatrician I mentioned in June is Potty-Training Awareness Month.  My neighbor is a good and trusted friend who has two kids roughly the same ages as Noah and Joseph. She is eager and excited to hear all the details about how to potty train her 9-month-old infant, but she wants to wait to see if “it’s really worth all the trouble.” An environmentalist, she does use cloth diapers, and is happy to do so until her little guy gets old enough to pull down his own pants to use the potty. So I keep asking myself: is it worth it? (and my answer remains the same. Yes! It took 15 months to complete potty-training with my toddler Joseph and never once was it easy. Training Noah, for the most part, is as simple as putting him on the potty when it’s time to go.) The pediatrician, on the other hand, insists on calling early training an “alternative to diapering.” What she means, in general, is that an infant is too young to understand the concept of potty training and so it is actually the caretaker who is trained, watching the baby’s cues and offering the potty at the appropriate time. However, there is a hole in her theory; Noah is holding his number two’s until he can get to the potty! Maybe it’s time for a Potty-Training Report Card:

• The obvious worry about going bare-bottom is cleaning up accidents. What I was amazed to find is that Noah is already aware when his diaper is off and will stay dry for an hour or longer. I make sure to place him on the potty about 2 or 3 times an hour, and he will sit there as long as we are engaged in something fun: a song with hand gestures, reading a book, practicing our American sign language, playing with stacking cups, etc., usually 3-5 minutes is all that’s necessary.
• As I mentioned, Noah is holding his poops until he gets to the potty. This is the heart-breaking part for me—there have been two times (and two is plenty, I can assure you) when I misread his cries for something else (e.g.: he was tired or hungry) when really he was desperate to get to the potty. When I finally figured it out and placed him on it, he did his business successfully, but I felt horrible for not understanding. Looking back, he had been frantically gesturing a crude interpretation of the ASL sign for potty and I didn’t recognize it. The child is working so hard to communicate with me, he is trying to put his two’s in the right place, and I’m this blind dolt. The worst-case scenario is that he becomes afraid of not having his potty needs met and becomes a chronic “holder.” Bad mommy!
• To repeat myself, yes, he is now doing more signs. He really likes “more”, especially as it applies to milk. He also does the “milk” sign, and–ta da!–the “potty” sign! He is saying the word potty, too. Oh, and “choo choo!” like in the kit’s DVD. However, he also has a special cry for having to use the potty, thanks to those two occasions listed above. But I know it now and I promise to do better!
• I must never leave the house without the potty. He is not interested in using a big toilet. If I have the potty with me, he will stay dry through the car/stroller ride; I take him to the bathroom as soon as we arrive at our destination.
• He has not yet stayed dry during naps or overnight, and the resulting laundry is nothing short of depressing. It doesn’t help that he likes to have a bottle just before bed, either. At this point, we are keeping him in a diaper for sleep. I don’t want to confuse him, but I also want him/us to get some sleep!

I have to say again that the closeness between my son and I as a result of this program is awe-inspiring. To be successful, I really must be at his side at all times. I watch his cues, listening to his sounds, interpreting his hand gestures, keeping tabs on what and when he eats and drinks—we are connected at every level. He depends on me in a way he never has; as a newborn, he nursed for all his sustenance and we were inseparable. This is so much more intense bonding because our trust is already established and now he communicates with me, he seeks my help to accomplish a shared goal. We are partners, yet I am his guide. During our many, many potty visits throughout the day (he uses the potty about 4-10x daily), those visits are periods of complete and uninterrupted interaction. He has more quality time with me than I even thought humanly possible.

So, as I began, today was our hardest day yet. For whatever reason, little Noah wet himself (and the floor) all day long. Typically, we might (might!) have one accident a day. What happened? It could have been the pesky hormones, but in the middle of the afternoon, I actually cried because I just wanted to put him in a diaper for the rest of the day and start again tomorrow. He was miserable being wet, I was miserable cleaning it up. He still did all his number two’s in the potty, however. We’d been making such wonderful progress, getting better and better every day, I really hadn’t seen this coming. I wonder if it was just a random blip? Tomorrow, we will start fresh.

If you are willing to teach your little one to become diaper-free (and help the environment by decreasing the impact of disposable diapers on landfills!) please purchase your Baby Signs Potty Training Kit through my Amazon store. The wee kickback I get pays for the environmentally-friendly cleaning supplies I use for cleaning up Noah’s “accidents” along the way. Thank you!
If you have attempted (or succeeded!) at early potty-training, I would love to hear from you!

Curious about how we’re doing? Read about it in the next installment: Potty Baby–Almost Trained at 14 Months

Is There a Fungus Among Us? June 21, 2008

My sister-in-law and her new husband are building a new addition to their Kansas City home. Along the dusty path to home renovation, they have encountered a possible mold issue. I wrote this piece a few years ago for San Diego Family magazine; This one’s for you, sista!

When Linda Coffman developed hay fever-like symptoms including sneezing, runny nose, red eyes, and skin rash (dermatitis), she treated her symptoms like any allergy. During a renovation of the Coffman family’s out-dated bathroom, the contractor discovered hidden water damage on the back side of the bathroom’s wallpaper, dry wall and paneling, and advised the family to seek medical attention for any cases of irritated eyes, skin, nose, throat, and lungs which are commonly a result of exposure to mold.

Household mold, a type of fungi similar to mushrooms and yeasts, is no laughing matter. After floods or major leaks, mold spores may land on a damp spot indoors and begin growing and digesting whatever they are growing on in order to survive. There are at least 1,000 species of mold in the United States which grow on wood, paper, carpet, tile grout, and foods. Molds have the potential to cause health problems by producing allergens (substances that can cause allergic reactions), irritants, and in some cases, potentially toxic substances.

“There’s one reason why someone should be concerned about mold,” Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) engineer Bob Thompson says, “and you can sum it up in one word: damage.”

Thompson sees firsthand what mold can do to both your home and your health; “Mold can grow on most of the materials that are used in building a home the top side of ceiling tiles, the underside of carpets and pads, or areas inside walls around pipes (with leaking or condensing pipes), the surface of walls behind furniture (where condensation forms), inside ductwork, and in roof materials above ceiling tiles (due to roof leaks or insufficient insulation). It can use it as a food source,” he reports. “Mold will actually cause a physical change and sometimes chemical changes in these materials, rendering them worthless.”

The EPA advises that investigating hidden mold problems may be difficult and will require caution when the investigation involves disturbing potential sites of mold growth. The removal of wallpaper can lead to a massive release of spores if there is mold growing on the underside. If you believe you may have a hidden mold problem, an experienced professional can help.

Where Are Most of the Common Moisture Spots in a Home? Blame it on Moisture!
Molds can be found on virtually any substance, providing moisture is present. This list is courtesy www.HGTV.com:

• Bathrooms—This room is a major source for moisture in any home, which is why ventilation is vital. Without a vent and fan, the moisture can’t be pulled up and out of the room.
• Windows—Most windows sweat, so it’s important to wipe the moisture from the windows with a mixture of detergent and water.
• Attics—Dark patches of mold can spread under the insulation in an attic when humidity is high outside the home.
• Kitchens—Steam from cooking can produce excessive moisture.
• Soffit Vents—These vents attract moisture from outside the home.
• Small Holes in Walls—Outside moisture can reach the inside of your home through small holes in the walls.
• Light Fixtures—If your ceiling light fixtures aren’t sealed well, moisture and humidity can penetrate your home.
• Vinyl Wallpaper—This type of wallpaper will not let moisture come through the wall as it should normally. It traps the moisture in the coldest part of the wall, which is the surface. This is where the moist air condenses, fueling the growth of mold.
• Leaking Air-Conditioner Systems—A typical air-conditioning system is only designed to do 30 percent of the work in moisture removal. Air conditioners can harbor dirt and moisture, which can lead to mold problems. Tip: Be sure to have your air-conditioning system serviced twice a year—in fall and spring.
• Roofs—If the structure of your roofing system doesn’t eliminate moisture and rain properly, you cannot only see major damage to your roof, but the excessive moisture can lead to mold problems.
• Crawl Spaces—If you have missing downspouts nearby, a crawl space can develop a major moisture and mold problem. Faulty duct work can be the culprit here. This can become a breeding ground for problems right under your house.
• Basements—Usually the most damp room in the house.

How do I get rid of mold?
The EPA recommends that homeowners don’t attempt to clean a mold problem larger than a three-foot by three-foot patch (just less than 10 square feet). Anything larger requires professional assistance.

The key to mold control is moisture control. Mold can grow on wet or damp surfaces within 24-48 hours—dry water-damaged areas immediately to prevent mold growth. If mold is a problem in your home, you must clean up the mold and eliminate sources of moisture. There is no practical way to eliminate all mold and mold spores in the indoor environment; the way to control indoor mold growth is to control moisture. Fix leaky plumbing or other sources of water. Absorbent materials (such as ceiling tiles and carpet) that become moldy may have to be replaced. Wash mold off hard surfaces with detergent and water, and dry completely. Clean and dry all damp or wet building materials and furnishings within two days to prevent mold growth.

The use of a chemical or biocide (such as chlorine bleach) to kill mold organisms is not recommended because bleach can be dangerous when mixed with some other chemicals, and potentially harmful to the environment. The EPA now recommends a mixture of mild detergent and water. The EPA also notes that dead mold may still cause allergic reactions in some people. If you or a family members suffers from an allergy, it is not enough to simply kill the mold, it must be removed.

Tools–And Important Safety Information!

• Rubber gloves that extend to the middle of the forearm (select gloves made from natural rubber, neoprene, nitrile, polyurethane or PVC)—It’s important to have sturdy gloves that have no rips because even the smallest amount of exposure to mold can cause skin irritations or rashes. And be sure to throw the gloves away once you’re through. Don’t reuse!
• Goggles without air holes—The EPA suggests wearing sealed goggles without holes to guard against mold spores coming in contact with your eyes.
• Filter mask (rated N-95 or higher)—To keep from inhaling the spores, it’s vital that you wear a filter mask. The rating of N-95 stands for the percentage of particles that will be captured and stopped from coming through the mask. For example, with the N-95 filter mask, it will capture 95 percent of the particles released when removing the mold. Make sure the mask is comfortable but tight enough to eliminate any air leakage.
• Scraper or sponge—To clean mold from a hard surface such as metal, the EPA recommends a scraper or sponge and a mixture of water and detergent.
• Small drywall saw for removing material that can’t be cleaned—For a porous surface such as drywall or wood, there’s no easy cleanup method. Cut away and replace the material.

If you suspect a larger mold problem lurking behind your cleanup, call a professional. Avoid household mold by reducing indoor humidity (to 30-60%) to decrease mold growth. Use air conditioners and de-humidifiers, increase ventilation in the bathroom, and use exhaust fans when cooking, dishwashing, or cleaning. In areas where there is a perpetual moisture problem, do not install carpeting. Simply put, anything you can do to help prevent moisture in and around you home, the better chance you’ll have to eliminate mold problem.

Who should do the cleanup?
According to the EPA, if there has been a lot of water damage, and/or mold growth covers more than 10 square feet:

1. Consult the Mold Remediation in Schools and Commercial Buildings guide. Although focused on schools and commercial buildings, this document is applicable to other building types.
2. If you choose to hire a contractor (or other professional service provider) to do the cleanup, make sure the contractor has experience cleaning up mold. Check references and ask the contractor to follow the recommendations in EPA’s Mold Remediation in Schools and Commercial Buildings, the guidelines of the American Conference of Governmental Industrial Hygenists (ACGIH), or other guidelines from professional or government organizations.
3. If you suspect that the heating/ventilation/air conditioning (HVAC) system may be contaminated with mold (it is part of an identified moisture problem, for instance, or there is mold near the intake to the system), consult EPA’s guide Should You Have the Air Ducts in Your Home Cleaned? before taking further action. Do not run the HVAC system if you know or suspect that it is contaminated with mold.
4. If the water and/or mold damage was caused by sewage or other contaminated water, then call in a professional who has experience cleaning and fixing buildings damaged by contaminated water.
5. If you have health concerns, consult a health professional before starting cleanup.

Additional Resources:
Get Mold Tips from the National Association of Home Builders

For more information on mold related issues including mold cleanup and moisture control/condensation/humidity issues, write to:
U.S. EPA, Office of Air and Radiation
Indoor Environments Division (6609J)
1200 Pennsylvania Ave., NW, Washington, DC  20460

Ask for EPA Publication #402-K-02-003. This Guide provides information and guidance for homeowners and renters on how to clean up residential mold problems and how to prevent mold growth. 

June is Potty-Training Awareness Month! June 17, 2008

The potty party keeps on rolling! My 13-Month-Old Noah is now on Day 10 of his potty-training adventure with  Baby Signs Potty Training Kit. He has happily made a “deposit” in his potty between 1-5 times each day from the first day. (If you would like to read about our auspicious start, please refer to 1. Potty-Training at 13 Months; 2. Potty-Training = Green Baby; and 3. Early Potty-Training Success.) I believe he would do it more frequently if we were more diligent during outings.

Co-creator of the Baby Signs program, Dr. Linda Acredolo, Professor Emeritus, UC Davis, has kindly lent her expertise to our efforts.

Rebecca: Currently, I’m offering the potty at times when I know or can guess when Noah will need it (after meals, etc.) Should I transition to offering it at regular intervals, gently teaching him when he can expect it? My goal is that he will hold it until the time he knows he can relieve himself. He is entering an age where he is learning to anticipate routines; it seems like that would be the appropriate thing to do. 

Linda Acredolo, PhD:You make an excellent point about the increasing salience of routines at this age. What I might suggest is a compromise between the two approaches; That is, by maintaining the most obvious times (upon waking, after meals)—but perhaps gradually lengthening the time span a bit before you take him, and adding visits at other times that make sense in another way (e.g.: for your convenience, such as before leaving the house and before bed.)

Rebecca: I’ve still got him in disposable diapers, and my landfill guilt is mounting. Would it speed the process if I put him in cloth diapers, so he can feel when he is wet and be impelled to use the potty to ease his discomfort? 

Linda Acredolo, PhD:  Yes, that’s an excellent idea. Now that the weather’s warm, you might try even letting him spend some time naked. That’s one reason children train more easily in the summertime.

For Noah, the process of potty-training has produced a disdain for diapers. He will gladly cruise about in his birthday-suit and puts up quite a fuss when I try to diaper him after a potty visit. So far, however, this has meant that mommy has to remain on standby with the environmentally-friendly disinfectant. I’ve begun to wonder if and when Noah will begin to “hold it” between visits. He hasn’t yet performed the American Sign Language gesture for potty, so I don’t get a lot of fore-warning. It’s really amazing; the child can say a handful of words and phrases including “good morning”, “backpack”, and “garden”—but he won’t say or sign ”potty” even once?! I guess I’ll just have to wait.

*We were recently playing at a local learning center for children aged 0-5 years when I questioned the teaching staff about early training. They were startled to hear that little Noah is potty-training (which I chalk up to a limited “Western” view), suggesting it may be a hopeless venture—a point I politely ignored. The proof is in the potty, after all. Interestingly, they also assured me that it is “physiologically impossible” for a child Noah’s age to hold or control his ones and twos.* I brought it up with Linda, and this is what she offered:

Linda Acredolo, PhD: The fact that before the invention of the disposable diaper in the 1960s, children in the United States were routinely potty trained by 18 months is clear evidence that these abilities are available at least by early in the second year. Moreover, even today, parents in over 50 other countries seem to have no trouble figuring out how to potty-train their children by 18 months. American children simply can’t be that biologically immature in comparison to children from other countries. Of course, there’s great variability in when children develop the ability to hold their pee for a reasonable length of time, but, like any physical skill, acquiring a sense of what muscles are involved helps—and that’s what gradually happens as children use the potty. They begin to assume that pee belongs in the potty and the stronger that assumption, the more automatic it becomes to work on holding in the pee until they are in the right place. It’s clear that there’s still a very strong prejudice out there against early training. It will probably take word of mouth between successful parents (via blogs these days!) to gradually shake those old assumptions. You’re certainly doing your part!

*At our next visit to the learning center, the head teacher had discussed the topic with the learning program’s pediatrician. The pediatrician made it clear that we should call this an “alternative to diapering”, not potty-training, because kids under two “can’t” potty train. (Sheesh! Come to my house already!) What I find ironic is that the pediatrician also noted that her friend recently adopted a baby from China who is already potty-trained (or shall we say, chooses a “diaper-alternative lifestyle”), noting that the window for potty-training in China is between 0-6 months. Even more puzzling, the adopting mother has opted to put the infant in diapers rather than continue with using the potty. (Even as I write this, I feel saddened; a) the baby now has to sit in her own pee and poo for the first time in her life, and b) she’ll have to potty-train all over again with someone who isn’t willing to learn how to manage a child’s toilet habits.) Is this progress?

Read the next installment, Early Potty Ttaining—Er, Mommy Training, click here.

If you are willing to teach your little one to become diaper-free (and help the environment by decreasing the impact of disposable diapers on landfills!) please purchase your Baby Signs Potty Training Kit through my Amazon store. The wee kickback I get pays for the environmentally-friendly cleaning supplies I use for cleaning up Noah’s “accidents” along the way. Thank you!
If you have attempted (or succeeded!) at early potty-training, I would love to hear from you!

A Few of My Best Recipes June 10, 2008

My other blog, Unassuming Foodie, is really coming together! My husband has been kind enough to photograph some of the dishes I’ve been coming up with, and I hope the photos help encourage people to give these recipes a try. Honestly, I am only posting the most wonderful dishes I come across or create from scratch–but if I were to whittle it down to just a few spectacular ones, it might be these:

Three Pepper Salad: This fresh, inspiring salad is an unusual fusion of flavors. Rice vinegar and sesame oil is unexpectedly paired with Mediterranean staples of fresh basil and goat cheese. I found a beautiful organic goat cheese with roasted portobello mushrooms at my local Mother’s Market, but I’ve located a few nice ones for you, which are available through my Amazon store.

Crusty Herbed Chicken: While this gluten-free recipe calls for baking skinless chicken thighs, the result is similar to a breaded and spiced, fried chicken dish—without the fat and flour! The idea for this flavorful recipe came when I was first exploring food-pairing and the low-glycemic diet. Newly married, my husband was so enraptured by this dish, he pronounced it our “House Special” and I felt very encouraged in our burgeoning roles as food-experimenter and appreciative-tester.

Roast Chicken with Smoked Paprika and Fresh Thyme: This recipe is fast becoming a favorite at our house. It is the one dish that my one-year-old Noah and preschooler Joseph actually eat in silence, their pleasure whisking words of whining far, far away. But make no mistake–this is no kiddie recipe. I’ve served this deceptively easy and elegant dish at dinner parties with great success. The flavor is exceptional.

 

Early Potty-Training Success! June 10, 2008

We are on Day 6 of using the Baby Signs Potty Training Kit, and my 13-month-old son has used his potty faithfully at least once every single day from the day we received it. Today, in fact, he used it four times! Over the weekend, he even did his twosies on the full-size toilet, supported by my husband. I am not just typing this post, I am gushing it. Honestly, I can’t stop talking about it. (You can read my first impressions in these posts: Potty-Training at 13 Months, Early Potty-Training = Green Baby.)

The reason I’m so thrilled is because we just finished training my older son, and this new experience is roughly, oh, 100x easier. Beginning a few months shy of his second birthday, Joseph was trained in the “generally-accepted” method (pull-ups until the child shows signs of being “ready”, then stickers and rewards). He only used his potty sporadically for nine whole months, and wasn’t out of pull-ups until a few months past his THIRD birthday. Consider the expense and landfill impact of that potty-training experience–let alone the frustration for all parties involved. We consistently smiled and cheered him on, however, and I believe I am a better mommy for this extended lesson in patience. 

There are several reasons why the Baby Signs program is working so well for us:

• While we have always showered Noah with love and attention, our baby is glowing from all the additional interaction and praise
• Learning when to offer the potty was similar to learning when my baby is hungry, or how  he likes to be put to sleep
• I’m weaning him right now, and potty-training seems to be replacing nursing as a bonding activity between us. We are very interconnected: watching each other’s signals and making plenty of eye-contact and cuddling. Potty-training is most assuredly a trust-building activity.
• He isn’t frustrated by unmanageable emotions, like a two-year-old who typically reacts with tantrums 
• He loves to mimic whatever we say and do
• When I say, “where is the pee-pee?” and look into the potty, Noah smiles at me and climbs on the potty, finishes, and then looks back in and then at me, as if to say, “there it is!”
• There is no need for stickers or other rewards. Hugs, cheers and dancing about together are prize enough for him.
• While he hasn’t yet made the recommended sign language gestures, he does try to speak the related words (”potty” (Noah says “paw-ee”), “all done”, etc.)

The consistent success of this adventure has motivated me to try to complete the process as quickly—yet painlessly—as possible. I cannot wait to have my little guy in big-kid undies–he’ll be the toast of the playground! (Sippycup toast, that is.) In order to do this, I have a few questions:

• Currently, I’m offering the potty at times when I know or can guess when he’ll need it (after meals, etc.) Should I transition to offering it at regular intervals, gently teaching him when he can expect it? My goal is that he will hold it until the time he knows he can relieve himself. He is entering an age where he is learning to anticipate routines; it seems like that would be the appropriate thing to do.
• I’ve still got him in disposable diapers, and my landfill guilt is mounting. Would it speed the process if I put him in cloth diapers, so he can feel when he is wet and be impelled to use the potty to ease his discomfort?Want to see answers to these questions and read more about our early-training adventure? Read the next installment at June is Potty-Training Awareness Month!

If you are willing to teach your little one to become diaper-free (and help the environment by decreasing the impact of disposable diapers on landfills!) please purchase your Baby Signs Potty Training Kit through my Amazon store. The wee kickback I get pays for the environmentally-friendly cleaning supplies I use for cleaning up Noah’s “accidents” along the way. Thank you!
If you have attempted (or succeeded!) at early potty-training, I would love to hear from you!

Early Potty Training = Green Baby June 6, 2008

The funny thing about potty-training: either a lot happens very quickly, or nothing happens for days… weeks… or months, sadly.

We are only on Day 3 of our adventure with the Baby Signs Potty Training Kit, (read about our triumphs and struggles of day 1 and 2 here!) and I’ll admit it’s been an eye-opening experience.

Yes, Noah used the potty again today, and while good parents don’t compare their children, our success rate this time around is, ahem, noticeable. I’ll give the credit to Baby Signs for even convincing me to start at 13 months, and also to Big Brother Joseph’s help. Not only has Joseph asserted himself as household spokesmodel for potty-training, he is poised and ready to demonstrate the American sign language taught on the kit’s DVD. While only yesterday he was determined not to share his old potty with Noah, today he insists Noah use it.

As you can see, toilet activities are on everyone’s mind at our house. In my previous blog entry, I nicknamed this program, “antique potty-training” because never in history have mothers trained their children so late. With many countries beginning the first month, and several others completing the process by 18 months, it would seem the biggest obstacle barring cherub’s little tushie from big-kid underwear was the advent of disposable diapers. This, in turn, causes me to ponder whether the whole process might go faster if Baby Noah were wearing old-fashioned cloth diapers: the discomfort of wetting himself would encourage his use of the potty, and the poopy laundry would keep me consistent with my support of him.  

I can confidently say we are greener than most households, yet I’m embarrassed to admit we’ve always used disposables. This potty program has made it glaringly clear to me that the sooner Noah is out of diapers, the less impact we’ll make on landfills. According to John A. Shiffert, executive director of the National Association of Diaper Services, the average baby goes through 5,000 diapers before being potty-trained. The EPA reported nearly 3.4 million tons of diaper waste, or 2.1 percent of U.S. garbage, in landfills in 1998. Diapers in landfills in underdeveloped countries are especially problematic because they often aren’t properly disposed, and excrement leaks into the local water supply. 

However, no one can say definitively whether cloth diapers are better for the environment. A new study released in England by London-based Environmental Agency concluded that disposable diapers have the same environmental impact as reusable diapers when the effect of laundering cloth diapers is taken into account. (Not to mention washing extra outfits, and laundering bedding more frequently.) 

Before I calculate wasted water, environmentally-friendly detergent, and electricity from using cloth diapers, I still have to wonder if it might be the right path. My son uses approximately 5 diapers a day currently. That’s 35 a week, or 1820 yearly. If he finishes training by 2.75 years old, he will have used 5,000 diapers. Gasp!

If I can complete his training by 18 months, as Baby Signs contends is possible, we would only use 700. (That still seems outrageous.) Perhaps it would be worth it? Is our biggest obstacle to getting him out of diapers merely the comfort of a stay-dry lining?

Read more about our adventure: Early Potty-Training Success!
If you are willing to teach your little one to become diaper-free (and help the environment by decreasing the impact of disposable diapers on landfills!) please purchase your Baby Signs Potty Training Kit through my Amazon store. The wee kickback I get pays for the environmentally-friendly cleaning supplies I use for cleaning up Noah’s “accidents” along the way. Thank you!
If you have attempted (or succeeded!) at early potty-training, I would love to hear from you!

Baby’s Nutrition Needs, Part II May 19, 2008

As I mentioned in Balancing Baby’s Nutrition, Part I, I’ve come to a crossroads with Noah’s nutrition needs. At age one, he’s an unpredictable, finicky eater who will only regularly accept edamame and whole-milk yogurt. I became especially concerned when Noah’s blood test results came back indicating anemia. This was a big surprise to me; not only is he breastfed, but I consume enough vegetables every day to feed a small village, in addition to lean, organic proteins.

Yogurt in and of itself makes a wonderful baby-food. Whole milk yogurt contains necessary  calories, brain-building fat, and nutrients. But most importantly, it contains conjugated linoleic acid, which has antioxidant and antitumor properties (the lowfat variety does not). According to blogger Spinach and Honey “while lowfat yogurt has less calories, whole milk yogurt contains fatty acids that help trim fat—specifically in the abdominal area! Most new mommies, who are carrying around a few extra pounds, love this.” 

Considering the limitations little Noah has when it comes to food selection, I supplement his yogurt occasionally, just to be sure he’s getting enough greens in his diet. My answer? Spirulina. An interesting study published in 1995 (Author: Sevulla) showed an 81% improvement in the academic scores of children who took one gram of spirulina daily for six months.

According to Mike Adams, author of Superfoods For Optimum Health: Chlorella and Spirulina, “Certainly the GLA content of spirulina is another important factor. Nerve tissues in the brain need “healthy” fats in order to function properly, and GLA is one of the healthiest fats you can consume. That’s why human breast milk contains high quantities of GLA. In fact, breast milk is the number one source of GLA on the planet, and spirulina is number two.”

Spirulina is richly supplied with the blue pigment phycocyanin, which is a major biliprotein of the blue-green algae and has been shown to inhibit cancer-colony formation. Predominant blue pigmentation in food is rare. In Healing With Whole Foods, Paul Pitchford reports how  phycocyanin helps draw together amino acids for neurotransmitter formation, which increases mental capacity.

When Noah refused his prescribed iron supplement, I was relieved to discover a study published in Nutrition Research (Vol 6, 85-94, 1986), where P. Johnson and E. Shubert reported, “Spirulina contains a highly available form of of iron. It is unusual to find plant-derived iron that is highly available,” and continues to give evidence that when test subjects received a supplement of ferrous sulfate, it was only half as effective as spirulina.

I’ve also learned that in Seattle there is a history walk along Alki Beach with brass markers which tell the story of early settlers in the area. One particular story tells of how some settlers couldn’t breastfeed their children because of breast infections, and were worried their children would get sick or worse. The natives took clams and seaweed, ground them up to a pulp and made a warm drink for the babies. Not only did they not reject it, but they thrived and were able to nurse this until the mothers got well.  

This website has a long list of excellent home-made infant formula recipes. Every last one contains some kind of green, be it spirulina or otherwise. Most of the recipes call for maple syrup as a sweetener; It is important to remember that honey and Karo syrup are big no-no’s for babies under age one.

Balancing Baby’s Nutrition Needs, Part 1 May 19, 2008

I’ve come to a crossroads with Noah’s nutrition needs. Now that he is one year old and sitting in a high-chair eating finger-foods and able to drink from a small cup, I am faced with a dilemma I really hadn’t expected. Noah is an unpredictable, finicky eater.

None of us saw this coming. Born 8 lbs., 12 oz., my little boy took immediately (and hungrily) to breastfeeding, and his voracious appetite lead my pediatrician’s staff to suspect I may be raising the next Jolly Green Giant. He was just HUGE.

Then, when the time came for solids, my giant baby surprised me. He didn’t like infant staples like bananas or apple sauce. To this day, he refuses fruit. The only thing that he’ll eat that is sweet is whole-milk yogurt. Sometimes he will devour garbanzo, kidney or pinto beans, and other days he will flit them, one by one, over the side of the high-chair. Same goes for cheese, tiny pieces of diced chicken, or pasta. At a year, he is a healthy 25 lbs., but 3 times each day I’m at a loss for what to place in front of him and I do a lot of after-meal floor clean-up. A lot.

I’ve narrowed it down to those items he’ll eat most regularly: soybeans (edamame) and yogurt. Soybeans seem my best bet since they contain all three of the macro-nutrients required for good nutrition: complete protein, carbohydrate and fat, as well as vitamins and minerals, including calcium, folic acid and iron. The amino acid profile of soy protein is nearly equivalent in quality to meat, milk and egg protein. Most bang for my buck, it would seem, but I felt I’d better double-check because I am popping them out of their pods at increasingly more and more mealtimes.

Soy formula, tofu and edamame (fresh soybean pods) contain genistein, a plant estrogen found in soy products. A few years ago, questions arose about the effect of the plant estrogens on human development (particularly sexual development) since genistein, which can mimic the effect of estrogen in humans. Soy has been used in formula more than 35 years, so when Penn researchers decided to research the long-term safety of soy use in babies they looked up participants in a landmark study at the University of Iowa, which first started looking at the effects of soy formula on infants beginning in 1965 and lasting until 1978.

“We have found that, in terms of sexual development, there is very little difference between children who, as infants, were fed cow milk formula and those fed soy formula,” said Brian L. Strom, MD, MPH, director of the Penn Department of Biostatistics and Epidemiology. Their results, published in the August 2001 Journal of the American Medical Association, reaffirm the safety of soy infant formula and offer evidence against the harmful effects of soy that have been presented in the popular media.

Read Part II of this story here. I discuss whole milk yogurt supplemented with spirulina!