I have a 7 month old, and I know that I am a good mother...But I feel guilty now that I did not breastfeed, and gave up after a day. I do not want to turn this into one of THOSE debates, b/c I cannot turn back time. I wish that I would have longer. Anyways, I also vaccinated up until my son was 4 months old. Now I research and I do not think i want to vaccinate at all anymore...and especially not this current flu shot.
I know the best thing I probably could have done was breastfeed, but I have been hearing that Vitamin D3 is the best for this flu season.
How much should I give my 7 month old, and where/what is best brand to get vit D3 for infants? I wil get some for myself to protect myself as much as possible to then protect him.
What else can I do that does not include a vaccine. I make sure to wipe down everything, grocery carts, doors, etc. I am careful without being to the point of paranoia.
What is everyone else doing who is not breastfeeding. I sometimes decline having people over bc I feel that my family members are really lax about this, and are in school, and wouldnt know if they were sick right away. They insist on coming around during flu season. Does anyone else worry about this and how do you handle it.
Well first off STOP feeling guilty about not breastfeeding. Yes, it is best for your baby, but your baby will be perfectly fine and healthy without it. I felt the same way when I finally stopped and looking back now I think I worried too much about that. Don't beat yourself up about it another minute.
I don't know about the D3, but you should also try and relax about the germs. People are nutso about germs. Germs are not all bad for us. Our bodies are equiped to handle them. I think drug companies and others benefit from us being terrified of germs and thinking we can actually stop ourselves from coming in contact with them. They are everywhere and you can not stop it. The best thing you can do is keep yourself healthy through healthy living, not bleaching the house daily. It is overuse of these germ killing products that is harmful. Give your child as much healthy food as you can. This includes as many veggies as you can, if you are starting table foods at this point. Get your baby outside. The sun is the best way to get vitamin D. Do not use sunblock and go outside for 10 minutes a day with your child until it is too cold. This is the best way for your body to absorb it.
Quoting LaMaisonDuMoi:
Well first off STOP feeling guilty about not breastfeeding. Yes, it is best for your baby, but your baby will be perfectly fine and healthy without it. I felt the same way when I finally stopped and looking back now I think I worried too much about that. Don't beat yourself up about it another minute.
I don't know about the D3, but you should also try and relax about the germs. People are nutso about germs. Germs are not all bad for us. Our bodies are equiped to handle them. I think drug companies and others benefit from us being terrified of germs and thinking we can actually stop ourselves from coming in contact with them. They are everywhere and you can not stop it. The best thing you can do is keep yourself healthy through healthy living, not bleaching the house daily. It is overuse of these germ killing products that is harmful. Give your child as much healthy food as you can. This includes as many veggies as you can, if you are starting table foods at this point. Get your baby outside. The sun is the best way to get vitamin D. Do not use sunblock and go outside for 10 minutes a day with your child until it is too cold. This is the best way for your body to absorb it.
You need to be 40% skin exposed to full sun for 15 - 30 minutes in order to get a decent amount of D if you live in a moderate latitude. For those of us that live farther north we can stay outside all day in the sun and get virtually no vitamin D! So it depends very much on your location.
We live very far north so adults take 8,000 - 10,000 IU vit D a day. My 2 & 5 year olds get 3,000 and 5,000 IU a day respectively.
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I didn't breastfeed, I don't vaccinate, and I've felt the same guilt you've felt. I don't have a sterile home, but I was careful about normal things like handwashing, covering coughs, NOT leaving the house while sick, and making sure I worry about prevention.
I agree with the PPs on this one.
My DD2 (now 2 years old) was formula fed, but has NEVER been severely sick except for ONE cold last year that lasted about 3 days. Even then, she was running around and playing as if she was OK.
I'm still comfortable in my decision not to vaccinate.
I did not bf either, I think if I had been better informed and had a better support system, I would have. That's another story though... My kids are very healthy.
As for the vit d3, you can get Carlson's liquid vit d3 drops. You can get them in 400, 1000, 2000IU's. For a young infant, I was told 400 units is enough, plus their multi, so that would give them about 800. The sun is the best way to get it, but you need to have at least 40% of your body exposed. We have upped our D intake in our house, bc it is so cold now and we haven't been outside much.
As for the cleaning, myhouse is clean, but not like a museum. I also make my own cleaners, so we don't have the harsh chemicals in the house.
Currently I do not give my son a multi..I had no idea that an infant would need this. I just give him formula and stage 1 foods.
I would recommend getting one only from a health food store or whole foods store that has no junk in it, no articifial flavors and stuff. My kids all take animal parade chewables, but when they were babies they took a liquid made by Twin Lab, i purchased this at my local health food store. It was about $11.95 I believe, but you 50 doses per bottle.
Quoting CurvyMommato1:
Currently I do not give my son a multi..I had no idea that an infant would need this. I just give him formula and stage 1 foods.
Don't feel guilty... I had troubles and pumped and gave my DD both. I gave my DD a powered probiotic and vit d3. Start out with a lower dose and these increase it. Check with http://www.vitacost.com/they have excellent prices and great brands and 4.99 shipping! I love it!
On another not I do not know what formula you are doing but I did Natures One Baby's Only. It is an organic formula that does NOT have the synthetic DHD & ARA. There are 3 choices. It was cheaper than the ones at the store. You can order online a case at a time with free shipping. Also if you save so many Upcs you can send them in and they give you 2 coupons for free cans..
Thanks, I am going to order both of these and start out with a small amount and increase. I told my mother that I am not vaccinating my son, but she says we should still vaccinate ourselves. I am still not sure about that either... she also said, well you can overdose on vitamin D, so be careful.
But i have been looking this up and I have not found that D3 can be overdosed on, just D2. Is this different for babies?
Also, I use enfamil formula, but I do use organic earth's best baby food.
I did not breastfeed either of my children. My labors put me in bad shape each time. Maybe it could have gone differently. But we all do the best we can in each of our individual situations. Get over the guilt! My children have both been healthy as can be! My three year old didn't have a prescription until he was 1 1/2 years old, and that was just for a rash. I really believe that stopping vaccination was what helped him stay healthy. (And what we did in the beginning was spread out and started late.)
Hang in there, your baby will be just fine!! :-)
I just talked with my ped last week and he said you cannot od on Vit D, but if you are taking too much it will give you the runs and to cut back :)
Quoting CurvyMommato1:
Thanks, I am going to order both of these and start out with a small amount and increase. I told my mother that I am not vaccinating my son, but she says we should still vaccinate ourselves. I am still not sure about that either... she also said, well you can overdose on vitamin D, so be careful.
But i have been looking this up and I have not found that D3 can be overdosed on, just D2. Is this different for babies?
Also, I use enfamil formula, but I do use organic earth's best baby food.
Head Start turned us away. Question
- CurvyMommato1
on Nov. 1, 2009 at 11:38 PM