If you ask your pediatrician, more often than not, they say yes. If you ask the growing number of families opting to forgo vaccines all together, the answer is no.
But what's the truth? Is it YES or NO? Or somewhere in between?
* Are some safe? And others not? If so, which ones?
* What schedule is safe? Can I use an alternative schedule?
* And what exactly is in the vaccines? How are they made?
There are an increasing number of mothers asking these questions and more. Unfortunately, unless you have an open-minded/open-mouthed doctor, you're not going to get anything but pharmaceutical company and government scripted responses.
So then, how are we - mothers, fathers, families - supposed to make an informed decision based on informed consent when none is being given?
I came across Dr. Sear's Vaccine Book and found freedom in its pages and unbiased approach to all the questions I have concerning vax's:
Detailed information about the ingredients in each vaccine.
How different manufactures create their vaccines.
Which vaccines have mercury. Which don't.
Alternative vaccine schedules.
Lists of questions to ask yourself and your doctor.
Pros and Cons of each vaccine.
Because, let's be honest here - there are both pros and cons when it comes vaccines.
It just depends on which vaccine your talking about, which manufacturer makes it, what ingredients are in it, and in what order it's given to your child...not to mention what other vaccines should and shouldn't be given along with it.
Everyone should educate themselves about what they are injecting into their child BEFORE they get one.
And if you have questions about the H1N1 vaccine, Dr. Sears has detailed information about the ingredients and creation process of each on his website.
Check your local library for a copy of Dr. Sear's The Vaccine Book. That's where I found mine.
Kids are interested in so many things. One of which is cooking! The preparation of the food. The chopping. The stirring. Adding spices. With all that goes on in the kitchen, what's not to get excited about!
My husband and I love involving our little sous chefs in the kitchen, whether it be breakfast, lunch, dinner, snack...you name it, they want to be in the mix ;)
My mother used have each of us kids be the cook one night a week, where we got to choose what was for dinner and be the main chef in the kitchen. I have yet to institute this tradition in my own family, as my children are 3 and 5. But very soon I think I'll have them start picking what's for dinner once in a while by flipping through cook books, picking out items at the farmer's market, and helping me in the kitchen that night. The foodies they are, I know they will think it a great treat.
And even if your children are young and you know they will loose interest quick, you can still involve them in measuring, pouring, and helping set the table. And why not make all these ordinary daily tasks special and fun, right? :)
When we cook with our children we are helping them see where their meals come from - whole healthy ingredients, made at home. So many kids think that the only place food comes from is a box, bag, or some other packaging with a multitude of unhealthy, unnatural additives. What a great lesson to teach our children that the best tasting food is made with our own two hands at home, with our families.
When my son was 14 months old, I started to have a hard time keeping him dry all night long. Even using cloth diapers with two inserts and a doubler, it still wasn't enough for my super soaker. And I felt so bad putting him to bed at night with such a huge poofy diaper. Plus we sleep as a family, so...
So I went to my favorite naturally-minded online community of mothers to ask around for some ideas on how to help keep all of us dry at night. I went straight to the diapering area of the forum and was about to post a question when I saw the Elimination Communication forum. I assumed it had to do with questions concerning elimination, right? So I entered and asked my q...
And the responses I got?
That must be uncomfortable for your baby to sleep in so much padding. Why don't you just have him potty during the night instead of using diapers?
Potty? At 14 months? No diapers?
What?
I hadn't even thought to start introducing the potty to my toddler let alone have him diaperless. What were these women thinking?
And the information I started seeing was very intriguing. Turns out Elimination Communication - EC for short - is a method of following your baby's cues, placing them on the potty when you can see that they are about to eliminate, and thus having a diaper free baby!
Diaper free baby?
Oh, boy, I thought. I've got to try this!
And we did. I still used cloth diapers on my son but instead of waiting to change him when I could tell that he had eliminated (aka: He was wet or not so sweet smelling anymore...) I started to watch for his elimination cues.
I started to take note of what his body language looked like or what he did when he was about to eliminate. I also taught him the sign for toilet that he could use when he thought he had to use the potty. Although it wasn't fail proof - hence the reason for continuing to use cloth diapers - it turned out to be quite easy to follow his cues, place him on the potty, and subsequently still have a clean diaper on his bottom!
By the time he was 15 months we were EC'ing him during the day almost flawlessly, dropping the number of diapers he soiled during the day considerably. I also got to use the potty once during the night which helped with the super soaking!
So what started as an accidental turn in an online forum turned out to be a very educational adventure!
When my daughter was born two years later, I knew I wanted to EC her too. When she was 3 months old, I started and she loved it! I'd hold her upright on the potty, she'd pee or poo (oh, aren't those newborn poos so cute!), and her diaper was still clean to use again! By the time she was 2 years old she was a potty pro, never needing a diaper at night, never having an accident at night, and learned how to use the potty on her own.
Many EC'ers don't use diapers at all, while others use woollies and very thin diapers. Every family finds their best way to EC. I loved it because it kept my kids mostly dry since they rarely used their diapers to eliminate in, AND it cut down on my water and energy usage.
If you're interested in trying EC'ing out, go for it! There is tons of support out there. Even if you are a mom who works outside the home and have your child being cared for else where, you can EC when you're with them at home and at night. And moms who EC have reported that because of it, their children have learned to use the potty all on their own at a very early age. Besides, this whole EC thing is nothing new. For eons moms have respected their baby's cues and responded to them.
So go ahead and be really green...have a diaper free baby!
Have you ever felt like you were on conservationalist's overload mode? That no matter how many plastic water bottles you save from the trash, that you use all local organic food, or that you barely used the AC all this smoldering muggy summer to conserve dollars and help with pollution...that it's never enough?
What about the crude oil industry? What about people who don't have clean water to drink? What about all those schools and companies and hospitals that trash everything on a continual, day-in-day-out, basis? What about the oceans? What about the polar bears? The wolves? The forests? My kids? My kid's kids? There is so much to do, so much to be done, I just want to...scream!Being one person against a whole world of problems can sometimes kill the very passion out of you. You start to feel as though you are drowning in the toxic waste that fills your air, water, food.
The need is so great, how on Earth can we ever do enough?
Easy...don't give up!
Even though you are just one person, you can make a difference. Just think about your kids watching you take care of Mother Earth: watching what you put into her, making sure not to add to her hurt. You're raising greenies! Little green ones that will grow up to be big powerful green movements. That is something to be proud of!
And if you have kids that go to a school or you work somewhere that doesn't recycle, why not help them implement a system so that they can? Or show them how easy it is being green by packing a lunch box using reusable containers, napkins, and water bottles.
I sometimes get so bogged down with the insurmountable task of greening my family's life and what I can't do - buy solar, get a electric car, grow all our food - that I feel like I'm not doing a good enough job. But then I go out in the real world and see that I am not alone. That my seemingly small efforts are being compounded by everyone else's greeness...
There may be a lot for us to do...but there are a lot of us...
If most of your time shopping is spent reading labels, you're not alone. More and more moms are wising up and informing themselves about the beneficial and harmful effects ingredients in everyday products have on their families.
You do your homework. You read your labels. But do you know which ones you should be avoiding and why?
Pull out some of the things you already own at home: shampoo, sunscreen, toothpaste, hand soap... You've checked them before, but check them again. You might need to rethink your choices and find more healthy alternatives for you and your family.
Here are some of the worst offenders in ingredients, along with what they may be doing to you and your family:
Sodium Lauryl Sulfate (SLS) - skin irritant with mutagenic effects
Parabens - causes breast cancer
Propylene Glycol - alters skin structure for other chemicals
Phthalates (aka: fragrance) - disrupts hormones; decreases sperm mobility; genital abnormalities in baby boys; linked to asthma and allergies
Petrolatum (aka: mineral oil, Vaseline) - banned in Europe, linked to breast cancer
Cocomide DEA/Lauramid DEA - human immune system toxicant
Diazolidinyl Urea - human carcinogen and nasopharyngeal cancer
Butyl Acetate - skin, eye, and lung irritant
Butylated Hydroxytoluene - human immune system toxicant and neurotoxin
Ethyl Acetate - linked to cancer, developmental and reproductive deformities; skin, eyes, and lung irritant
This short list, borrowed from the Environmental Working Group, is just the tip of the iceberg. To learn more about all the dangerous chemicals found in our everyday products - and why we should be avoiding them - go to www.ewg.org today.
A bean teepee creates a magical hiding spot for your children, a place to discover nature up close, allowing them to enjoy the summer months out of the sun and - maybe even for a time - out of your way while tend to your garden or attempt to read a book and relax.
Easy as 1, 2, 3...
Simply push seven to nine 6-foot bamboo poles 3 inches deep into the ground, forming a semi-circle while allowing room for an entrance.
Join the poles together at the top with some twine or old rope, about 6 inches down from the top.
Plant two beans – pole beans, runner beans, lima beans – at the base of each bamboo pole to ensure at least one plant will make it to the top.
Children can be put to task with a handful of beans and simple instructions, creating their very own hideaway. Once the beans have reached their full height, place a blanket inside to sit upon. Perfect for either the front or backyard, a Bean Teepee is a great escape, complete with its very own crunchy snacks!
"Breastmilk is one of the few foodstuffs produced and delivered to the consumer without any pollution, unnecessary packaging or waste, whereas the production, shipping, and preparation of formula and bottles requires large amounts of water, fuel, glass, plastic and rubber -- and produces significant amounts of garbage." - www.breastfeeding.com
I'm Green Mama Lia, born and raised all over this great big green-n-blue Mother Earth (military brat here!) and one of my major life's missions is to live as green as green can be! Or - in other words - as green as I am able to each day in any way I can...
I'm a mama of two growing greenies: a garden master, Mother Earth worshiping little boy; and a veggie vacuum, organic fashionista little girl. They are the love of my life and the very reasons I can't do anything ungreen: whatever I put into their little bodies better be good for them and the earth they live on!
A little about my own adventure into this green lifestyle..I'll try to make this as short as possible :)
When I was in college, I had an interesting journey with endometriosis which coincidentally does very well in a body that is stressed out by both mental and environmental toxins. While doing research for an article in the university's newspaper on my lovely 'female problem' I discovered that endometriosis can be caused by dioxins. What are dioxins, you ask? The short answer is they are practically everywhere, but mostly in bleached products, as dioxins are the by product of chlorine. A very toxic pollutant indeed, especially in the body. This discovery started me on the green journey that I continue even today, encouraging me to switch to a free from toxins lifestyle, eating a whole lot healthier, and never stopping from asking the serious questions: is this good for me? for the planet? And if not, what are the alternatives out there? Is there a greener option?
And, the short answer to those questions is, YES! :) Thankfully there are old and new green alternatives everywhere.
Which leads to how I became a Green Mama :)
I used to paint murals (still do, but with the economy n'all...yeah, you know) and I used whatever materials they had at the store. That is until I found that I was 2 months pregnant with baby #2...yikes! and I had just faux painted a huge room with possibly the most toxic crap that was ever created by man. About to hang up the paint brush for good, my dear brother Wayne of LiveGreen, a green lifestyle consulting company, informed me that there were much safer and green paint options...Duh, Lia!...So I made the switch to green paints...phew!
It's all about the little green steps, baby ;) So that's me, in a fuzzy green nutshell: I am a true toxin-a-phobe, mama to two greenies, married to conservation man-of-the-year and, although we don't have enough green to do everything perfectly eco-friendly from the start, we attempt to use green methods and materials in our everyday lives, any way we can.
It's all about being creative with your green ways!
And that's why I wanted to do this blog. There are so many different ways to go green...and what better time to start your green adventure than when your a mom or mom-to-be :)
Hope you enjoy our blog!
:)
(btw, my son took that pic of me...isn't he such a great photographer! :)
Really...are they?
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