Wednesday, October 28, 2009
Remember THIS? How the baby product marketers want us to think we can't do it without them? How:
These tips treat parents as if we were the 2-year-olds, so wet behind the ears that we need an expert to tell us which games to play, which toys to buy, what to say to our kids and what to feed them. This talking down to parents is big business; the "mom market" has reached $1.7 trillion in annual revenue, according to the book "Parenting, Inc.," with $700 million spent on zero-to-age-2 toys alone. That's a lot of pull toys.Excuse me. Push and pull toys.The whole gestalt is enough to convince us moms that today's children -- unlike all those who came before them -- do not have their trajectory pretty well mapped out simply by being born human: cry, crawl, toddle, walk, grow up, breed and cry some more. No, this generation won't make it without a whole lot of help from specialists, safety gear and Internet searches. But why? Are our children more vulnerable -- and we less competent -- than any previous generation in history?
Well, I'm done. It's time for me to remember that most of the time, I am right on when it comes to following my instincts regarding my babies, my kids.
Here's what I've been stewing over lately...
Becca is 7 months old and I started giving her solids a little before 6 months. She's not interested. I've spent a little over a month stressed that she doesn't want them.
I'm done.
She is the chunkiest of my kids and I can see that she is healthy and happy.
Because she is due for a doctor's appointment soon and I don't know her exact weight or where she sits on her growth curve (other than my guesstimate from looking at her!), I found myself googling the situation for some "expert" advice (really just to add to my own gut instinct) and found this:
When we start solid foods at the 4 to 6 month age, we are doing so to help teach babies the skills that they need to eat. They still obtain the vast majority of their calories and nutrition from breast or formula feedings!(Good reminder. I actually made note of this a few weeks ago while reading the label on a rice cereal box...one serving was only 50 calories!)
Even after she starts solids, she will get most of her calories and nutrients from what she drinks.Thank you, Dr. Greene, for reaffirming what I already knew. Thank you for being a doctor and showing me that not all doctors are alarmists or stuck on "schedules" and that we're doing just fine. Thank you for the reminder that this is not a race and that our children come equipped to get us the message that they want solids and they know when!
As long as she is happy and growing, you can relax. Feeding will progress naturally. There is no need to force her. If she is healthy, she will let you know if she is hungry and needing to eat.
3 Comments:
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
Posts
(That makes me sound like a very heartless mother, huh? Really, I do feed my babies. It's just they all seem to prefer breast over solids and I struggled to make peace with what I thought I was suppose to be doing versus what I was really suppose to be doing - which was listening to my own children's needs. I'm thrilled you have claimed that victory and are confidently caring for your little ones as only you know best.)