OPINION and NEWS: Kids' Lunches Harboring Bacteria--So What?

I was watching CNN this morning when I saw this bit on kids' lunches and how they are too hot and harboring bacteria by lunch time. CNN's chief medical correspondent, Elizabeth Cohen, reported on how the University of Texas in Austin conducted a study and found 98 percent of the lunches tested were too warm by lunch time. The study was done on 700 packed lunches of 3- to 5-year-olds attending day care.

CNN.com in this article quotes Dr. Steve Abrams, member of the American Academy of Pediatrics Committee on Nutrition as saying, "This is a red flag. This means that the recommendations for food safety are not being followed."

Simple recommendation is to pack more ice-packs into the lunch-bag, and one pack may not be enough.

What the article fails to show, and the blurb on TV for the most part, is to say why should we care if our kids eat a little bacteria? Isn't it good for them to eat a little bacteria now and then to get their bellies used to things not being 100 clean? If my daughter is encouraged to eat dirt once in a while, what's a little warm turkey sandwich going to do? Make her burp a little? Maybe boost her immune system so that if she visits Mexico one day she doesn't automatically have to run to the bathroom after the first piece of unfiltered ice chip slides down her throat?

Aren't we getting a little too sterile and scared of a little not-so-fatal bacteria? Ok, I wouldn't be giving sushi to my kid for lunch without tons of ice-packs being involved in their lunchbox, but I probably wouldn't waste sushi on a child's palette anyway.

In my unmedically sound opinion parents are way too concerned about bacteria and a little dirt: hand sanitizer in every corner of every library, classroom, and playzone and anti-bacterial soap in every bathroom. I know superbugs are not a real concern just yet in this country, but it seems to me they will be one day and we're doing all we can to create them. Let the kids eat some warm sandwiches once in a while, let you kids play on the ground and get a little dirt under their nails, let them eat some bread that fell off their highchair from lunch, their kids they're supposed to be growing an immune system not living in a bubble.

NEWS: NASA Has Fed Thousands of Babies

I thought this was a cute tidbit I found in the news about babies this week, the space shuttle program has helped developed a number of things one never thinks about, including today's baby formula recipes.

After researching algae as a recycling agent for space travel, scientists at NASA found one algae nutrient only found in human breast milk. Today, 95 percent of the infant formula out there is made with this algae-based additive called Formulaid. This ingredient is thought to be highly beneficial to infant mental and visual development, read NASA's press release.


“Millions of babies have been fed (by) NASA; that beats Tang,” Dan Lockney, NASA's spinoff technology manager, said to the Associated Press.

Read the full AP article here.

PERSONAL: Baby Talk

This is my kid trying to break it down as to why she refuses to eat her whole wheat, ham and cheese sandwich.

She also reviewed the video with me a few hours later and decided that she had something to say...it was pretty much the same thing, repeated, to herself on camera, finger-wagging and all. :)

PERSONAL: Sippy Cup Woes and Tips

I started trying to give juice and water, sporadically, to my daughter in a sippy cup when she was around eight to 10 months old. I was not successful and, sadly, my woes continue. I now am trying milk and still am not successful. Usually the sippy cup becomes a ball which she tosses around. Sometimes she loves to just squeeze the nipple and watch the liquid come out, which for some reason always makes me shudder (probably cause I remember how much she loved to torture my nipples too).

Yesterday I went to a sing-along at the Pottery Barns Kids store in Burlington Mall and then to lunch with three other great mommas and their babies. All their babies, younger or older, were drinking from a sippy cup and I felt like the biggest loser mom for feeding my near-13-month old a bottle. Why can't I get this kid on a sippy cup? I'm not sure, but drastic changes are coming for this little one now.

I have been Googling and here are some tips as to getting your kid on a sippy cup (like I said I've failed in this aspect so far so maybe these work, maybe they don't):

1) start super young, about 6 months by introducing a soft-tipped sippy cup
2) Try lots of styles (we have four different types here and so far the straw is winning as it actually did a couple sips taken out of it the other day).
3) Buy an extra sippy cup for yourself and whenever your baby is set to drink from the cup, you do it too to show her.
4) Try juice or water if milk isn't working. Sometimes the association of milk with the bottle or breast won't compute over to the cup.
5) Remove the lid and put a little bit of water in the cup. Show your baby how to drink from it without any lid and skip the whole sippy process all together (that one from our pediatrician).

There are lots more tips at BabyCenter.com and WebMD.com.

Today is the start, for us, of not offering her a bottle anymore except at bedtime. We'll see if this does the trick. Good luck to us and all the other parents out there trying this!

NEWS: Target Recalls TWO Circo-Brand Items

Target announced a new Circo-brand recall today, add this to the Circo Booster Seat recall from June 15, this one on their Aloma Infant Girls Sandals. No injuries have been reported yet.

The sandals have decorative white plastic flowers attached to the toes and side areas. The flowers can be detached and pose a choking hazard. For a full refund, bring the shoes into any Target.

An additional 10 injuries have been reported since Target's 2009 recall of the Circo Child Booster Seats, bringing the total number of injuries to 18. The additional injuries prompted Target to expand the recall of the product from those seats sold between Dec. 2008 and June 2009, to all seats sold as far back as 2005. The constant issue is the restraint buckle or safety buckle can suddenly detach and allow the child to topple out. This could pose some serious consequences depending on the circumstances, so Target's pretty lucky there haven't been any permanent disabling or fatal injuries.

Visit the Consumer Safety Product Commission for more information on these and all recalls.

NEWS: Never Too Young To Be On A Diet

The Institute of Medicine warn parents and pediatricians alike that obese infants and toddlers can lead to adult obesity. Today, the IOM published in a report today, 10 percent of infants and toddlers are already obese. Childhood obesity can lead to adult obesity and so, the IOM is advising less TV and video time and making sure the kids are getting enough sleep and eating properly.

Interesting! I'd agree it's weird to see a baby who is already obese at only a few months old, and it's probably not the healthiest, but I'm not seeing anything earth shattering in this press release. Don't we all already know to limit TV and video time and be sure our kids are getting the right amount of sleep and veggies/fruits?

NEWS: Breastfeeding Linked to Lower Risk of SIDS

As if you moms needed another reason to breastfeed, here's yet another benefit of giving babies the boob over a bottle at first--a possible lower risk of Sudden Infant Death Syndrome--the most common cause of death for infants, about 8.1 percent of all infant deaths, in 2006 according to the American Lung Association.

Breastfeeding has been linked to babies having better immune systems, less gas, linked to a lower rate of diabetes and a host of other diseases as well as possible higher IQs.

In this study from one of my alma maters, The University of Virginia, the researchers combined data from 18 studies asking mothers about SIDS and feeding methods. Those babies breastfed appeared to have a 60 percent lower chance of SIDS than those babies not breastfed. The study was published in the journal Pediatrics on June 13, 2011.

The researchers did note they needed more data to link the two conclusively. Read the abstract on the study here.

GUIDELINES: Safe Bottle and Formula Guide

So apparently I'm the only mom in the world (probably not which is why I'm posting this) who didn't know BPA isn't just leaking from plastics, but also http://www.blogger.com/img/blank.giffromhttp://www.blogger.com/img/blank.http://www.blogger.com/img/blank.gifgif cans into food. All these years I've been thinking that making pasta sauce was so super beneficial to my health, even if I make it 99 percent of the time with canned tomatoes (sorry but most tomatohttp://www.blogger.com/img/blank.gifes in America taste like water really) and now I have rethink the whole process.

So this study from the Environmental Working Group back in 2007 is the main one talking about how BPA (Read on BPA here) was leaking into ready-made liquid formula containers into the food. I only use powdered formula but I know that I have been tempted sometimes to buy a couple of these ready-made cans when out and about. Now I'll probably never even consider it!

Here are some safe baby feeding guidelines from the same group. The group is a non-profit company that deals pretty exclusively with nutritional, agricultural and food industry issues. They also have a sister lobbying organization that helps push their cause.