IBW 2014, day 2: Size 4 Woven Wrap

International BabyWearing week day 2: This is a rucksack carry tied in a knotless Tibetan finish with a size 4 Little Frog woven wrap in Pyrope.

This carry is great for quick ups where I need Nae up out of the way so I can do something like chopping vegetables for dinner without having to worry about her grabbing the knife or getting underfoot in the kitchen.

A size 4 (3.6 meter) wrap is short enough that I can get it wrapped without dragging it on the ground if I'm out somewhere and it isn't too bulky to carry around or unwieldy to wrap, but is still long enough that I can do an extra pass or more involved tie-off for my comfort or run a pass under/over her legs to securely reinforce the carry so she can't push out of it by seat -popping/leg- straightening/excessive leaning.

This particular carry is one that I use only for relatively short periods of time because it puts more strain on my shoulders than some other carries I do with a longer wrap. But it's quick and convenient, keeps little hands out of whatever I'm doing, and Nae loves it because it puts her up high where she can see over my shoulder and feel like she's involved in what I'm doing.

This size wrap also works great for a number of quick hip and front carries that are fast to tie and easy to pop baby in and out of for quick errands, when she needs to nurse, when we're out somewhere and I know she's going to be in and out of the wrap a lot, when she just wants a quick cuddle, or I need her contained for a few minutes; but I'm not planning to have her up for long periods of time.

Someone with less sensitive shoulders would likely be able to use this size of wrap for longer - term carries as well. The thickness, weave and fiber content will also affect how comfortable a given wrap is for particular carries or lengths of time for different people.

I've been on the search for a size 4 wrap that I can wear in a single-layer carry for more than about 3 minutes at a time before it starts hurting my shoulders so much that I have to take it down quickly. The thinner Little Frog wraps at 190-210 g/m2 aren't going to be that wrap for me, but they aren't really intended to be. These lighter-weight Little Frog wraps are designed more for younger babies and will shine best in a multi-pass carry with a wee one. I do really love the colorways they have, and they are great low-budget wraps for people with younger babies,  although some people like them with older babies too.
 
The thicker Little Frog colorways such as Agate, Opal and Flourite are slightly more substantial and have a bit more cush at 240 g/m2, and the heavier cotton lines as well as the linen and wool blends will be more toddler-worthy (although the linen blends take a long time to break in well). The lightest-weight Little Frog line and the wool blends are the softest feeling of the Little Frog wraps I've had the opportunity to play with.

I had a linen-blend Little Frog Choco Agate II for a while. It was easily my favorite rainbow in appearance, but it felt somewhat harsh and unyielding in shoulder feel to me even after several weeks of breaking in. I didn't find it nearly as comfortable as some of my other wraps to wear. The new owner loves how supportive it is with her larger toddler, though, and reports that it continues to soften and break in with continued washing and use.

Both weights of the 100% cotton Little Frog wraps I've tried were pretty soft and easy to wrap with right off the bat, and I felt they were significantly faster and easier to break in enough to enjoy using than several other types of wraps I've tried.

I feel that Little Frog's broken twill is a bit denser and lays a tad bit flatter than Lenny Lamb's similarly priced basic broken twill line, so some people may prefer the feel and wrapping qualities of one over the other. (See this post for more on Lenny Lamb wraps and another comparison shot of the Little Frog and Lenny Lamb broken twill weaves: http://purplekangaroopuzzle.blogspot.com/2014/10/international-babywearing-week-2014-day.html )

If you look closely at the weaves, Little Frog almost seems to have a bit more interconnectedness between stitches, which gives me an impression of the fabric seeming very sturdy for its weight,  and makes it feel flatter and denser to me.  The Lenny Lamb weave is fluffier and a bit airier, with straighter lines in the pattern. The Little Frog stitches look like alternating S-shapes to me, rather than Vs or straight lines.

To me personally,  Little Frog's all - cotton broken twill is not quite as comfortable as Lenny Lamb's.  I prefer wraps with some fluff and cush to them over thinner,  denser wraps. But someone else may prefer the way Little Frog broken twill wraps and feels. The Little Frog wool blend, on the other hand, is one of my favorites--I have a wool blend ring sling and it is so comfy, with the cushy shoulder feel that I like.

Little Frog has also recently come out with a new jacquard-weave line that are in the 250-260 g/m2 weight range. I haven't seen any reviews on these yet, but am looking forward to hearing about and hopefully getting to play with these sometime. (Edit: So far the reviews on these have been good! One person compared the feel and wrapping qualities to the fabric of the mahogany tablecloths beloved by many in the wrapping community, but available in much longer lengths.)

One thing I really like about Little Frog is the colors, and the fact that some of their striped patterns (such as the agates) have different colored top and bottom rails. Wraps that have either different colored rails, a directional print or the front and back different colors are good for learning wrappers because they can help you tell more easily if you've unintentionally gotten the wrap twisted. Stripes also help you know which part of the wrap to pull on if you need to tighten out some slack. Little Frog also has middle markers on both the top and bottom rails, which I find very helpful; and their tails are tapered.

Wrap tastes are very much a matter of personal preference, so what you like or dislike may vary from what I or someone else thinks.  If you can go to a babywearing meetup and try things in person that's always ideal. :)

Little Frog is a great low-budget basic wrap brand that will work well for many people. They are made in Poland, but their website has the option to show text and pricing in English and US dollars as well as Polish and Russian, as well as showing the currency in these and in Euros, depending on what you select in the drop-down menu on the top right corner of the web page.

I also love that we have a Little Frog vendor here in the USA who is someone I met through the local babywearing community here. Her prices are pretty comparable to what you would pay directly from Little Frog after shipping and currency conversion/foreign transaction fees, and with free shipping in the USA you'll have it faster, with no worries about customs fees or clearance delays:  http://www.simplycarried.com/ They carry other brands too!

International Babywearing Week 2014, Day 1: Hands-Free Comfort

To celebrate International Babywearing Week, and to get back into the habit of posting on my blog, I plan to make a series of posts about various aspects of babywearing. I started off doing this on Facebook, but I thought why not post on the blog too? So this is Sunday's post, with some additional fleshing-out. :)

Having EDS (and the other health issues that go along with it) makes holding and carrying Baby Nae for any length of time difficult and often painful for me. I'm so thankful for the wraps and other babywearing devices that allow me to hold her as needed without undue strain and damage to my back, shoulders and other joints. It's taken some trial and error to figure out which carriers and methods of wrapping work well for me and distribute the weight without causing pressure points or extra pain, but they make life so much more manageable.

Tonight babywearing worked to get a sick, fussy, restless baby finally soothed to sleep by being wrapped up. She's cutting multiple teeth and has a cold, poor thing. And was wide awake for several hours after a brief nap in the car on the way home this evening. Often being wrapped will soothe Nae and get her to sleep when nothing else will. I think being comfortably and gently restrained with even body pressure from the wrap is calming for babies and helps them relax and fall asleep.

In the above photo I'm wearing the wrap in a carry called the Kangaroo carry, which is my favorite front carry because it's easy for me to get snug and secure, it is a fairly simple carry to tie (once you get the shoulder flip down), you don't have to put the baby down to tie it, it's not too hot with only one layer of fabric over baby, and it's relatively easy to get a sleeping baby in and out of without waking her. I can't find a video that shows how to do it in the way I personally find easiest, so I might have to make one. :)

This wrap is a size Medium (4.6 meter, equivalent to size 6) Lenny Lamb jacquard woven wrap in the colorway (name for the color and pattern) called Eclipse Black & Yellow. This is a substantial, 100% cotton wrap that is on the heavier side at about 280 g/m2 . . . it's workable new, but would definitely benefit from some breaking in. I'm not finding it too hard to wrap and tie with after a wash, line dry and steam iron, but I think it will soften and improve more from where it is now, as I haven't used it much yet.

It feels very substantial and supportive, and is a fairly dense and tapestry-like weave. If you prefer a more dense and solid feel without too much "give" or bounce in a wrap and like solid support, this may be the wrap for you. I really love the look of it, and it looks lovely in a carry that shows the pattern in reverse colors on the back side. (This was my very first attempt at a Jordan's back carry with a ring finish, so please excuse the sloppy wrap job.) Eclipse seems about midrange to me as far as how long it seems to be taking to break in compared to the other brands such as Didymos and Natibaby wraps I've bought new. I can definitely tell it's getting softer with each use.

The Eclipse pattern seems to be mostly sold out, but as of this writing they do still have it at a discount in the outlet in both black and yellow, and also in a turquoise and white version.

Lenny Lamb is a newer brand, and they have gorgeous wraps that for the most part fall into the budget category--you can get a LL wrap in their basic broken twill weave with shipping from Poland included for well under $100, and at approximately 220 g/m2 their basic twill weave wraps are a nice weight, with a bit more beefiness and cush than similarly-priced broken twill wraps I've tried from other companies.  

Their patterns are absolutely gorgeous and I've been impressed with the quality and feel of even the "grade B" discounted items I've purchased from their outlet (which have some sort of cosmetic flaw such as a weaver's knot or small pull that doesn't affect the safety or use of the wrap at all). 

They regularly have a coupon code for up to a 15% discount, linked from the Discount Area of their website (look for the "special coupon" link at the top of the page). And, once you make a purchase you automatically get an affiliate link (for instance, my affiliate link to their homepage would be http://en.lennylamb.com?rid=19435 ) that gives you a credit toward a future purchase for a percentage of purchases made through your link. As of this writing, they even give you a percentage of your current purchase as an automatic credit you can use on your next purchase.

Do note that the prices are in Polish Zloty (PLN) rather than dollars. You can find out what the equivalent to US currency is at today's conversion rates by typing "convert PLN to USD" into Google. A little conversion widget will pop up, accompanied by a graph showing the conversion rate over the past several years. Just put the amount you want to convert in and it will tell you that, for instance, today 200 Polish Zloty equals approximately $60.47 in U.S. Dollars.

I found my Lenny Lamb Autumn 100% cotton broken twill wrap soft and easy to break in (it was pretty soft and easy to wrap with after the initial wash/dry/iron), with decent cush for the weight. I felt it had a good balance of density and texture--grippy enough to hold a knot well without being difficult to pull passes across, and was easy to wrap without being as diggy as thinner wraps can be. It was still a bit lighter-weight than I prefer (I like really thick marshmallowy wraps), but I would recommend it as a basic budget wrap and an excellent beginner wrap.


I've tried several Little Frog wraps for comparison, and in general I personally prefer Lenny Lamb's broken twill over Little Frog's at a similar price point.

Lenny Lamb's basic twill is thicker and beefier than Little Frog's thinnest line, and feels a bit softer and more comfortable to me than LF's heavier 100% cotton broken twill wraps while having fairly comparable substance. Little Frog's lowest price tier wraps are geared more toward younger babies, and are excellent for that--soft, beautiful, easy to break in and easy to tie. But at 190-210 g/m2 the thinner LFs are not as toddler-worthy as a slightly heavier wrap would be, and tend to be more diggy with an older baby. (For more of my take on Little Frog wraps, see here: http://purplekangaroopuzzle.blogspot.com/2014/10/ibw-2014-day-2-size-4-woven-wrap.html ) 

The photo below shows Lenny Lamb's basic broken twill on the left,  and Little Frog's heavier weight broken twill on the right. There's another close-up of the weaves from a different angle in my Little Frog post.

There's generally a bit of a tradeoff in finding the balance between factors like cush and moldability, support and softness, firmess and bounce, grippiness and ease of wrapping. Different people will find their own sweet spot in different wraps, with much variation even within a brand in how a given wrap combines the various characteristics that determine how it feels, looks and wraps. One person's favorite wrap may be one someone else doesn't like at all, so going to a babywearing meetup to try them out for yourself is always helpful. :)

One thing I do like better about Little Frog is that their wraps have middle markers on both top and bottom rails, whereas at least some of Lenny Lamb's designs have a middle marker on only one rail. However, Lenny Lamb does have excellent customer service and said they could send me an extra middle marker to sew on along with my next order. 

Another thing to take note of is that, as of this writing, many of the Lenny Lamb striped wraps are the same color on both rails, as are some of the Little Frog colorways. While the stripes still help learning wrappers in knowing which part to pull on to tighten out slack, many beginners will find it helpful to have either different colored rails, or a pattern which is a different color on the back of the wrap than the front. 

So that's something to watch for when choosing a wrap from any company.  Both Little Frog and Lenny Lamb have some colorways that have different color rails, directional prints, and/or different colors on the front and back of the wrap, and I find this immensely helpful in knowing whether I have the rails twisted or not. :) 

Both brands have tapered tails, which I also find helpful.

I think Lenny Lamb Autumn feels similar to the approximately 240 g/m2 all-cotton Little Frog Flourite, but slightly softer and less dense. Although it's supposedly lighter weight than Flourite, Lenny Lamb's Autumn just looks and feels somehow a little fluffier to me. I have a size 7 Autumn and find it decently comfortable for 30 minutes or more with my 10-month-old in a double hammock, though my thicker cotton wraps (Inda Jani Binni Rayado and Lenny Lamb Galleons, both in the 290-300 g/m2 range) and my size 7 hemp-blend Natibaby  pink Reflection wrap (which I  usually wear in a double hammock) are my favorites for the most long-term comfort with my picky shoulders.

Their all-cotton wraps are generally going to be best for bigger babies and toddlers, but Lenny Lamb also makes bamboo blend wraps which I hear are amazingly soft and buttery and cuddly for a newborn. I have one of those on my "want" list if we ever have another baby. :) I hear very good things also about their ergonomic carriers, which seem to be very popular.

Lenny Lamb's limited-edition jacquard wraps are heavier and more detailed in the weave, but still fall into a very moderately priced range. They range from fairly thin and dense, such as the Twisted Leaves patterns, to at least as thick as 290-300 g/m2, such as Galleons. 

In a jacquard weave, the patterns are not printed on the fabric, but rather created by weaving threads of different colors together to make a pattern that is visible on both sides of the fabric (though the colors are reversed on the back). Lenny Lamb has taken this technique to a whole new level with the amazingly detailed artistry of their patterns. They have even started reproducing works of art such as this beautiful Rennaisance painting, Man of War Between Two Galleys by Pieter Breugel the Elder, on wraps. 

I got the opportunity to try someone else's Lenny Lamb Galleons wrap that had only been through its first wash and worn maybe a couple of times. Even though it's on the heavier side, with its slightly looser weave I found it quite comfy and easy to wrap with right off the bat. The cushy shoulder feel and ease of wrapping were quite surprising in a wrap that new in a more substantial weight range like that--the owner said she was impressed with how it wrapped without much breaking in, too. 

I ended up buying a Galleons of my own, and after using it for a while I'm blown away by the way it feels and wraps. I like my other Lenny Lamb wraps too but I like Galleons the best of nearly any 100% cotton wrap in any brand that I've had the opportunity to try . . . it is just such a nice balance of supportive and cushy, not too hard to wrap or terribly pull-prone without being super dense. It's one of the cushiest all-cotton wraps I've felt, and it is surprisingly moldable and easy to wrap and tie for its weight of 290-300g/m2. 

To me Galleons seems less dense than Eclipse, with longer stitches and thicker thread with more airiness in the weave, which makes it feel softer and gives it more flexibility and a spongier texture even before breaking in. As I use it more, it is definitely softening and getting floppier and even better--I am looking forward to seeing what it's like when it's totally broken in.
 
I admittedly have very little experience and am somewhat of a wrapping newbie, but Galleons reminds me in feel and wrapping quality a bit of the handwoven wraps I've had the opportunity to try, more than any of the other machine-woven wraps I've tried so far. It has almost as much cush and shoulder comfort as my budget handwoven Inda Jani Binni Rayado which is about the same weight in g/m2, but without so much bulk and grip, which in combination with the tapered tails makes it easier to wrap and tie.

I am able to tolerate single-layer and one-shoulder carries in Galleons for much longer than most other wraps I've tried, and I can actually wear it in usually-problematic-for-me carries such as a ruck tied knotless Tibetan and Poppins for about as long if not longer as my softest hemp-blend Natibaby wrap, and definitely longer than some of my other hemp blends that aren't yet as broken in. I usually have trouble with one-layer and one-shoulder carries for any length of time, so this is pretty significant for me.

My Galleons is turquoise and navy in a size XS (size 4, which is 3.6 meters) and it's really more of a sky blue or bright turquoise as opposed to the deeper teal color I was expecting, but it's really beautiful and the fabric has a sheen that makes it almost luminous when the light hits it. Here's a comparison photo of the Galleons Navy Blue & Ecru next to Galleons Navy Blue & Turquoise in indoor light without camera flash.

It's a directional wrap, with a definite right-side-up way to wear it, but the colors and textures still look neat even on the reverse side and if you accidentally wrap it upside-down, as I'm sure to do occasionally:
 

Lenny Lamb has also recently released another new wrap based on a piece of artwork, called Horizon's Verge. Since it's close to the same weight at 280 g/m2, is the same type of artistic piece, and the same price as the Galleons wraps, my best guess would be that it might be similar in type and wrapping qualities. I talked to someone who bought one, and she said that it was so soft and floppy even in loom state that she literally gasped when she took it out of the bag.

Here's where I found the weight and also some more closeup photos of the fabric: en.lennylamb.com/products/show/2031_horizons-verge-jacquard-weave-fabric-100-cotton-width-140-cm-weight-280-gm²?rid=19435

Having a wrap that is beautiful and collectible as well as practical isn't necessary to carry your baby, but it's sure enjoyable. :) And with a wrap like Galleons, the wrapping quality for the price is in my opinion very good.

Disclosure: I was not asked or paid to write about Lenny Lamb products on my blog; I just chose to do so because I like them. I do get a credit toward a future purchase if someone uses the links here to buy something. :)

Dressing Your Truth

Today is the last day to sign up for the Dressing Your Truth special promotion to get full access to the Dressing Your Truth course to try it out for 5 days for only $1.00

So far I've watched the Energy Profiling Class and am just starting into the actual Dressing Your Truth class, but what I've learned and gleaned already is already well worth more than $1.

The Energy Profiling stuff does have some hints of philosophy I don't personally agree with, but overall I'm highly impressed with the materials. It's not completely unique in that people have divided up personality traits and connected them with different elements, shapes, colors, parts of nature, etc. for generations.

But Carol Tuttle presents it in a unique and highly accessible way, that pulls parts of different ideas together with her own twist to make a rather unusual approach to understanding both the physical and personality traits that are inherent to you, and working with rather than against them in the way you live and even the way you dress.

She really encourages you to enjoy and appreciate who you are, and that what you might view as your weaknesses may actually be your strengths when used appropriately. She also teaches women how to dress and wear colors, lines and textures that convey and support their personality and natural beauty rather than fighting against it.

The 4 types are Type 1, the bright animated person; Type 2, the soft subtle person; Type 3, the rich, dynamic person; and Type 4, the bold, striking person.

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I'm a Type 3, but for most of my life I've dressed (and often tried to act) like a Type 2 or Type 4, which gives people a mistaken impression of who I am and doesn't always predispose them to respond as well when my true personality unexpectedly pops out. When I dress like a soft, subtle woman, people often get surprised, taken aback and maybe even a little unsettled when they suddenly get jolted by the fact that I'm actually quite a fiery, active, high-energy, intense person.

I'm also already finding that learning more about my kids' personalities is helping me parent better and helping the kids understand and get along with each other. There are also some great free videos on marriage relationships between the different types on Carol's Blog (they can also be found on YouTube). DH and I laughed all the way through the two videos on Type 2/Type 3 combos since they described us so well (he's a Type 2).

There are also some videos with great tips on parenting and motivating children of different types, also available free online.

Carol also has a couple of books out on the energy profiling and personality components of her ideas.

But the actual information about colors, lines, textures, and even hair and makeup techniques that flatter and complement each type is only available in the Dressing Your Truth course. This is really valuable information especially for someone like me who is style-challenged. :)

There is also extensive information (available only through the course) on learning facial profiling and being able to tell what Types others are likely to be by their features, body language, habits, and even things like how they doodle. If you take the course, the videos with further resources on learning facial profiling in the extra resources section give a lot more in-depth information than the basic course video. There are lots of extra resources available, including access to previous club nights talking about things like how to bring your secondary type into the way you dress, also.

I'm really excited about this special offer, because I think it's well worth more than the $1.

Full Disclosure: This is a sponsored post in the sense that if you click through the links in this post, http://purplekangaroo.dressingyourtruth.com/coursetrial#main_navigation

I do get a kickback from whatever you buy now or in the future . . . they do that as a thank-you and incentive for anyone who has bought something who wants to share with others about their products. It is not a multi-level-marketing type of thing or something they heavily promote, but I thought in the interest of full disclosure I should mention that I do receive some benefit if you purchase through these links. You can also bypass that by going directly to the Dress Your Truth website without using my links if you prefer.

Inside Voice Indicator

I accidentally discovered a great tool for indicating to the kids that they've forgotten to use their inside voices. I bought a "key finder" that beeps when you whistle.

It never did make it onto my keyring. We discovered quickly that a high-pitched loud child's voice will set it off. So now it lives in the family room.

It's great because it's completely non-judgmental, impartial, and it turns itself off after a few beeps so it's not terribly annoying. It's just an indicator to the kids that they have allowed their voice to get too loud and high, and need to tone it down.

Now often they shriek or yell, it beeps, and they say "Ooops, sorry," and tone it down without my having to say anything at all.

FMS/IBS Study

I'm writing this post from a conference room in Excellent Teaching/Research Hospital. For the past 6 weeks I've been involved in a dietary study for people with fibromyalgia and IBS.

For 4 weeks I had to completely avoid MSG, glutamates, and all other excitotoxins. Then last week and this week I came in on Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday for the challenge. Each day I drink a glass of juice and then wait 2 hours at the hospital. One week the juice is just juice. The other week it is laced with a dose of MSG equal to the amount in a Chinese meal.

I'm pretty sure I am getting the control this week and the MSG last week. After a month of feeling pretty good, shortly after drinking the juice each time I felt extremely ill.

Not only did I have severe fatigue and an increase in pain, but I even got to scare the researcher as she watched me quickly deteriorate neurologically. I got the whole brain fog, dizziness, muscle weakness, headache, loss of short-term memory, having difficulty finding words for common objects, and even starting to slur my speech. It came on quickly, with a definite difference between the before and after states.

What a relief to know that the unnerving symptoms I've been getting seemingly randomly may actually be some kind of reaction to excitotoxins. It would be wonderful if it turned out to be something I could just avoid eating, and cut down significantly a lot of those symptoms.

I'm so glad I took part in this study. Not only am I helping further knowledge for health care professionals and scientists working on treatments for fibromyalgia and chronic fatigue syndrome, but I'm also learning information that will be immediately helpful for myself.

Clicker Training

Sue Ailsby's Training Levels Site is the best resource I've found for training a dog. Whether you are teaching your dog to work, show, compete, or just be a great family pet, working through Sue's training levels will give you an excellent foundation.

Mira and I are currently working at level 2 or 3 on most tasks, with a few on level 1 or 4. The levels go up to 7. Even at this stage of training, Mira has a level of behavior and training that most people in the general public find impressive.

By the time we get to level 7, she will be close to rock solid and nearly 100% reliable with tasks and basic obedience on and off leash, with and without distractions. By that point the goal is to have such good communication, good teamwork and eagerness to learn that Mira should be able to learn basically any task and do it reliably with just a few minutes' work.

The best part is that clicker training is fun for both the handler and the dog.

PSA: Blog Browser-Crashing Issues

Is your blog shutting down your browser? If you're getting a page won't load--abort error message on your blog, it seems to be an issue with SiteMeter and Internet Explorer.

If you remove the SiteMeter counter script, then it works fine. Apparently using Firefox also helps, but it doesn't help everyone else who is still running IE.

Or you can try some of the other fixes in the comments on this post. There are instructions for fixing the IE7 bug, and also for moving the SiteMeter script to a different part of your template so it won't cause problems.

Communicating, not Manipulating

This is a follow-up post to Can Infants Lie?

This article discusses a study that supposedly showed that babies as young as 6 months have the capability to lie:

Dr Reddy said: "Fake crying is one of the earliest forms of deception to emerge, and infants use it to get attention even though nothing is wrong. You can tell, as they will then pause while they wait to hear if their mother is responding, before crying again.

"It demonstrates they're clearly able to distinguish that what they are doing will have an effect. This is essentially all adults do when they tell lies, except in adults it becomes more morally loaded."

To me, this says that the baby is beginning to develop an understanding of cause and effect, not that they're lying. The fact that they listen to see if you're coming in answer to their cry doesn't have anything to do with deceitfulness, IMHO.

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The fact that a baby may sometimes cry more when they have an audience doesn't necessarily mean they are faking it, either. This blog post by Carrie had a great take on this idea, I think. The whole post is very much worth the read, but I'll quote a sentence or two:

If a friend who is upset calls me and I answer the phone, she will likely tell me what’s on her mind. But what if she gets my machine? Will she pour out her heart and cry into the voicemail? Likely not. That means she’s “lying” if she cries on my shoulder in person, right?

Another article about Dr. Reddy says,

The researcher defines "fake" crying as being more calculated than the usual "I'm tired/hungry/wet/hurt/lonely" cries. . . .

"If crying is normally closely connected to some discomfort or distress, and this is its typical use, then disconnecting it from that typical use and using it more deliberately or instrumentally to get attention constitutes its fakeness."

That's what I was responding to with the comment that if your baby just wants Mommy, what do you expect them to do--send a telegram? Why decide that a cry is "fake" just because they don't have an easily-determinable "discomfort or distress"?

The article also mentioned that there was a different quality to the cries they judged as "fake". To me, that's not the baby "fake crying" . . . that's the baby using a different type of cry to communicate different things. The fact that the pitch and intensity of the baby's cries varies with different circumstances seems an argument against lying, not proof of dishonesty.

Babies live very much in the moment. They have no concept of time, and they know very little beyond the fact that they are uncomfortable. To them, it seems as though they've been hungry forever and will continue to be hungry forever. So they often cry with great urgency when they have a need.

But I don't think "selfishness" is the best way to describe this. Webster's dictionary defines selfishness this way:

"Caring supremely or unduly for one's self; regarding one's own comfort, advantage, etc., in disregard, or at the expense, of those of others."

The baby isn't taking someone else's food and eating it, or forcing the parent to feed it right now. It's just crying. It has no ability to deprive anyone else of anything--the parent could just as easily choose not to meet the baby's needs and let it cry. A baby has no way of knowing that it might be inconveniencing anyone.

It's not caring "unduly" for itself, because it has no ability to do otherwise. That level of concern for its own needs is necessary and appropriate for an infant. An infant who waited until it wouldn't be inconveniencing anyone before it cried might die of hunger. So I wouldn't connect the baby's crying with a motivation of selfishness.

Someone else made this comparison, which I thought was apt: What if you were in a terrible accident and you couldn't talk or move your body? Would it be selfish or manipulative of you to use the nurse's call button when you were hungry or needed to go to the bathroom, or the sun from the window was in your eyes, or you wanted the channel changed on the television?

As we discussed a bit in the comments of the last post, babies might be egocentric in the sense that they have no concept of time or of anyone else's needs, but they are not "selfish" in the sense that they are disregarding someone else's known needs in favor of their own or caring "unduly" for themselves. They are doing exactly what they are designed to do.

I've seen many people recommend that if a baby has been recently fed and changed, then the parent should not feel it necessary to pick them up when they cry. I definitely think there's a place for prioritizing other needs over that of the baby at times when the need does not seem urgent, but I think this should be done with caution and forethought, and I don't think it's a preferable method for teaching a baby anything. I can't picture leaving a baby crying alone for hours, as is done in the extreme cry-it-out methods.

Dr. Luther Emmett Holt, the first major promoter of the cry-it-out approach in the USA with his book, The Care and Feeding of Children, wrote,

"How is an infant to be managed that cries from temper, habit, or to be indulged?"

"It should simply be allowed to 'cry it out.' This often requires an hour, and, in some cases, two or three hours. A second struggle will seldom last more than ten or fifteen minutes, and a third will rarely be necessary."

On Becoming Babywise, which puts great emphasis on not allowing the baby to run the household with their selfish demands, says,

"When your baby awakens, give him a chance to resettle. You really do not need to rush right in right away. Any crying will be temporary, lasting from five to possibly forty-five minutes. Remember, this will be temporary!" ( pp 124-125 in 2001 edition, p. 123 in 1998 edition [the '98 edition is the one I have here]; emphasis mine) and, "Just remember, sometimes the best action is no action at all." (p. 151, 1998 edition)

One problem with this is that it necessarily requires an assumption on the part of the parent that they know what the child's needs are and that the baby doesn't need anything at a given moment. I think it's important to consider is that a baby's needs are not always obvious or easy to determine.

There were a number of times when one of my babies would wake up crying in the middle of the night and I would go pick them up, only to have them let out a huge burp and then settle back to sleep. Simply picking them up relieved their pain almost instantly. The "don't pick the baby up because then they won't learn to sleep on their own" school of thought would have let the baby continue to cry in pain for many minutes, or perhaps hours, alone in her crib.

I remember when AJ was still quite a tiny baby, and she began screaming and screaming, the intensity of her cries escalating as we tried to figure out what was wrong. It wasn't hunger or need of a diaper change, and picking her up and holding her didn't lessen the cries. It seemed that "there was nothing wrong."

Then I noticed a hair in her mouth and removed it rather absentmindedly, still trying to figure out the reason for her cries. Immediately, she stopped crying.

She was crying because of the hair in her mouth. She had no other way of telling us what was wrong or asking for help.

I don't believe that babies cry for no reason. Sometimes we can't figure out what the reason is, or sometimes we can't fix it. They might have an earache, or an itch they can't scratch, or just need emotional comfort and want to be held. Sometimes they may even just need to blow off steam by crying. But that doesn't mean there is no reason for their cries, or that they're "lying" or being "manipulative" or "selfish" by crying.

How can we as adults just decide that because we can't figure out and fix whatever is making the baby cry, it must not be important?

In my experience and opinion, when a baby cries a lot, nurses constantly, and is difficult to put down, it is likely to be the result of a physical issue such as reflux, tummy pain, inadequate food intake, an allergy or food intolerance, teething, ear infection, or some other type of health issue rather than the result of a "spoiled" baby.

Many complaints, including ear infections, sinus infections, and reflux, cause direct and specific discomfort when a baby is laid flat. A baby who cries when put down may actually be in pain. Being held can literally ease an infant's pain. The fact that a baby cries when put down and stops crying when picked up is not, as some writers would have us believe, instant proof that the baby is being manipulative.

I found that my children were actually more content and happier to be put down for longer periods of time when they were not in pain, had all their needs met consistently, and were as a rule promptly picked up when they cried. This fits with what other parents have shared, and a number of studies have shown. Being held and cuddled--not just when they "need" something--is an actual physical need. Babies cannot thrive without this nurturing.

In Preparation for Parenting, Gary and Anne Marie Ezzo discourage parents' spending too much time holding and interacting with their babies. They do encourage parents to interact with the babies while giving basic care, but otherwise the baby is expected to spend much of the day (while not sleeping) playing alone ("playpen time" is very important in the GKGW program):

"One thing is certain: Your baby doesn't need to be carried or entertained by you all day long" (page 130) . . . "In addition to feeding, changing, and bathing your baby, you might have at least one playtime a day when the baby has your full attention for 15 minutes or so." (page 132)

I'm certainly not saying that everyone should hold their baby all the time. There's a large range of variations between holding the baby constantly and limiting them to 15 minutes a day of interaction beyond basic care.

I do think that there are times when it may be necessary for a parent to put a baby down in a safe place and let them cry for a short time. A parent should never feel guilty about doing this if they are at the end of their patience and have been unable to soothe the baby (it's always better to put the baby down in a safe place for a few minutes than to punish or yell at it), or if they need to do something they cannot safely do while holding the baby.

When Baby E would scream for hours or days at a time, there were times when I had to put her down and let her cry while I helped another child with the potty, cooked dinner, or took a couple of minutes to calm my nerves in another room.

But I never saw it as teaching her not to be selfish. I saw it as balancing everyone's needs the best I could.

Quite possibly there are some babies and/or some times when babies do need to cry, and parents can be sensitive to that. I loved Moxie's theory about there being at least two different kinds of babies: those who release tension by crying, and those who increase tension by crying.

Some kids may just need to fuss a bit before falling asleep, and will do that even if they're being held. Some kids may be fine being put into the crib and allowed to blow off steam for a few minutes. Others will work themselves into a frenzy and end up traumatized if left to cry. There is no "one size fits all" method that works perfectly for every baby.

All in all, I think the bottom line comes down to figuring out the baby's needs and what works for the family--while, hopefully, treating the needs and desires of everyone in the family with value and respect.

One thing that really impacted my parenting was something my sister-in-law shared with me after her beautiful 3-month-old son died of SIDS.

SIL said that an older mother had encouraged her to relax and enjoy the time her baby was small, and just enjoy all the cuddling. Babies grew up quickly, she said, and the time for holding and cuddling them is short. Relish that time that they want to be held in your arms, and are small enough to carry around. Enjoy their babyhood before it's gone.

She never knew how precious that advice would be.

My sister-in-law shared with me that she was so thankful this more experienced mother had given this advice, and that SIL had followed it. He was a baby who liked to be held a lot, and SIL felt the freedom to hold her baby as much as she wanted to without worrying that she was going to "spoil" him.

In the three months that little William was on this earth, his mother lavished love and affection on him--holding him, playing with him, loving and cuddling him, often carrying him while she tended to her other children and tasks.

He responded by pouring out more exuberant love and connection than I think I'd ever seen from a baby that young. His entire body convulsed with joy when his mother walked into the room; his eyes lit up and his gaze followed her with delight. He was an exceptionally happy and interactive infant. I loved holding him because he would look straight into my eyes and smile and coo with such joy and enthusiasm.

When he died, SIL had so many wonderful memories. There were no regrets about how she'd chosen to spend those three months with her baby.

I think that was one of many things God used in my life to prepare me to mother Baby E, with her health issues and constant crying. Somehow, after that, I simply could not resent having a baby who needed to be held almost constantly.

Call for reader advice--buying mattresses?

We need to buy new mattresses for the kids . . . the ones the older girls have been sleeping on are some my family had when I was a kid, that my parents have let us use. They're getting pretty old and uncomfortable. Baby E is wanting to sleep in a big bed like the older girls, too.

DH and I don't know much about buying new mattresses. I was wondering if anyone had any good tips for buying mattresses--what to look for, where to shop, etc.

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We want to get the mattresses new, although eventually we'd like to get some nice frames or headboards too, and would be open to getting those used. (We really like the bunkbeds with bookcases in the headboards that can be converted to single beds, and the railing would be nice for the 2yo even if we didn't have it set up as a bunkbed, so I'll be keeping an eye out for something like that in good used condition.) Most likely we're looking at just twin size mattresses for all three girls.

Anyway, I've seen new mattresses at the Goodwill . . . I imagine they are donated from stores that have overstock and don't sell them all, or something like that. Has anyone ever bought one of those?

Does anyone have a particular brand of mattress to recommend that's good quality but not too expensive?

Also, do we need a new box spring too, or would the new top mattress be sufficient? How do I tell if the box spring is wearing out and needs to be replaced?

Another consideration is that I have dust mite allergies, so I'm thinking it might help minimize allergens in the house to just get new box springs too, and put dust mite covers on everything before we use any of the new stuff.

TIA if anyone has any experience to share!

Shampooless

I've always had thick, curly, hair with a tendency to get frizzy, and a scalp prone to flaking and itching. After I had kids, my hair got thinner and flatter, but it was still frizzy a lot.

I've tried tons of different shampoos and conditioners over the years, and even expensive special frizz-control treatments. Some hair products and dyes caused hives on my scalp. Others just irritated my skin or didn't do a good job balancing the moisture and control in my hair.

Even when I found a product that worked, it would only work well for a while. I eventually ended up keeping at least 2 or 3 brands of shampoo and conditioner in the shower. I'd have to rotate them to keep my hair looking relatively decent and keep my head from itching so much.

When we discovered the severity of Baby E's corn and soy intolerances, I decided to try finding a shampoo with no corn or soy in it. I had trouble finding one, so I started out trying a baking soda and vinegar treatment, then switched to just using our corn-free bar soap on my hair.

My hair was awful for the first week or so of using bar soap to wash it. After that, my hair seemed to adjust and now it looks and feels better than it ever did when using shampoo. Adding a few drops of essential oils to my vinegar rinse makes a huge difference for me.

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I wet my hair and shampoo with Kiss my Face Olive Oil bar soap. I just rub the bar on my head or rub it on my hands to get a lather and then work that into my hair.

Then I rinse with water.

Then I put about a tablespoon or two of apple cider vinegar in the bottom of a drinking glass. I add several drops of essential oils (maybe 5 drops lavendar and 3 drops sweet orange) and fill up the glass with about 6 oz. water. I rinse this lightly with water.

For some reason, the essential oils make a big difference. My hair not only smells good (not like vinegar!) but the texture is much better. It doesn't feel dry, soap-scummy or greasy.

I had to experiment with the correct amounts of essential oils for my head, and I'm still playing around with the proportions, but so far I'm very happy with the results. My hair is looking thicker, silkier and less frizzy than ever. My scalp isn't itchy or flaky (unless I eat foods that cause these symptoms for me). There are no split ends (a first for me, with hair this length). It starts out smooth and then curls into these amazing waves and little riglets at the ends, and sweeps when I move my head. I love it. (So does DH.)

All without shampoo.

It makes me wonder how all these shampoo and conditioner manufacturers convinced us that we really needed those expensive products with a gazillion unpronounceable ingredients.

(BTW, I have noticed that adding a few drops of the same essential oils makes a big difference in my homemade laundry soap, too--it's almost like it homogenizes it and keeps it from separating. I hear EOs can eat away at plastic, though, so I'm wondering if I should store the soap in a glass container when I add the oils.)

What is Kosher for Passover, and why Kitniot-Free?

Friday morning I got an e-mail from someone at the Orthodox Union, the largest organization that does Kosher certification in the USA.

I had e-mailed saying:

Hello! I was just reading on your website that the OU sometimes certifies chometz-free corn syrup to be used in the manufacture of substances such as Kosher for Passover citric acid and xanthan gum.

I was wondering if the Kosher for Passover products such as candies which use the citric acid and xanthan gum grown on the chometz-free corn syrup would then be labeled OU-P or OU chometz-free?

The reason I ask is that my daughter has severe corn allergies. She reacts to even highly refined products such as citric acid and xanthan gum that are cultured on any kind of corn derivative. Even citric acid cultured on chometz-free corn syrup would be a problem for her.

Thank you very much,

[my name and contact info]

The reply from the OU said, in part:

We are very sorry, but yes, it would be labeled as OU-P (Kosher for Passover).

So I guess that answers that question. :(

Morning pointed out to me that I just suddenly started talking about Kosher for Passover food and kitniot-free status on my blog without really explaining what that means. So here's my feeble attempt at explaining. Those who are more knowledgeable, please feel free to correct me if I get any of the details wrong.

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When the nation of Israel was in captivity in Egypt, God sent Moses to lead them to freedom. Most people are probably familiar with the story of the plagues God sent when Pharaoh refused to allow the Children of Israel to leave.

The last and most serious of these plagues involved the death of all the firstborn in Egypt--even the firstborn of the livestock.

God told Moses to have the people kill a male lamb (sheep or goat) without blemish and put its blood around the door. When the Angel of Death came through Egypt, He would pass over the homes with blood on the doorposts and lintel. The firstborn of that household would be spared.

They were to roast the lamb and eat it with bitter herbs. They must eat hurriedly with their traveling clothes on, ready to leave at a moment's notice. Because there would be no time for bread to rise, God told them to bake unleavened bread.

It all happened just as God said. When all the Egyptian firstborn died in the night, Pharaoh drove the Israelites out of Egypt. They left in haste, taking their unrisen bread with them, and baked it on the way.

The book of Exodus in the Bible records the series of events, and God's instructions for commemorating it every year with the Feast of Unleavened Bread and the Passover Supper.

Exodus 12:14-28 (NIV)

"This is a day you are to commemorate; for the generations to come you shall celebrate it as a festival to the LORD -a lasting ordinance. For seven days you are to eat bread made without yeast. On the first day remove the yeast from your houses, for whoever eats anything with yeast in it from the first day through the seventh must be cut off from Israel. On the first day hold a sacred assembly, and another one on the seventh day. Do no work at all on these days, except to prepare food for everyone to eat—that is all you may do.

"Celebrate the Feast of Unleavened Bread, because it was on this very day that I brought your divisions out of Egypt. Celebrate this day as a lasting ordinance for the generations to come. In the first month you are to eat bread made without yeast, from the evening of the fourteenth day until the evening of the twenty-first day. For seven days no yeast is to be found in your houses. And whoever eats anything with yeast in it must be cut off from the community of Israel, whether he is an alien or native-born. Eat nothing made with yeast. Wherever you live, you must eat unleavened bread."

Then Moses summoned all the elders of Israel and said to them, "Go at once and select the animals for your families and slaughter the Passover lamb. Take a bunch of hyssop, dip it into the blood in the basin and put some of the blood on the top and on both sides of the doorframe. Not one of you shall go out the door of his house until morning. When the LORD goes through the land to strike down the Egyptians, he will see the blood on the top and sides of the doorframe and will pass over that doorway, and he will not permit the destroyer to enter your houses and strike you down.

"Obey these instructions as a lasting ordinance for you and your descendants. When you enter the land that the LORD will give you as he promised, observe this ceremony. And when your children ask you, 'What does this ceremony mean to you?' then tell them, 'It is the Passover sacrifice to the LORD, who passed over the houses of the Israelites in Egypt and spared our homes when he struck down the Egyptians.' " Then the people bowed down and worshiped. The Israelites did just what the LORD commanded Moses and Aaron. "

God reiterated his instructions for the Feast of Unleavened Bread and the Passover celebration a number of times, both when giving the Law and the Ten Commandments to Moses on Mount Sinai, and later when people had stopped following God's commandments and had to be instructed to begin again.

The avoidance of yeast became very important at Passover time. God's instructions were to remove all leaven from the house, and even from the entire land of Israel. Anyone who ate anything with leavening in it would be essentially excommunicated from the nation of Israel.

The week of Passover and the Feast of Unleavened Bread holds great significance for Jewish people. Many Jews who don't keep Kosher the rest of the year will even keep Kosher for Passover at this time of year.

The Passover is significant to Christians and Messianic Jews also, for additional reasons.

Passover figures heavily in the life of Jesus. He was a Jew, of course, and went with his family went to Jerusalem each year to celebrate the Passover when he was growing up.

The very important Last Supper that Jesus had with his disciples just before his death was a Passover Supper. Christians celebrate it with a ceremony we call Communion, with unleavened bread and wine commemorating both Passover and the death of Christ. The New Testament speaks of Jesus Christ as our Passover Lamb, the blameless and pure sacrifice to atone for the sins of the world, and compares leaven to sin in that context:

I Corinthians 5:6-8

"Your boasting is not good. Don't you know that a little yeast works through the whole batch of dough? Get rid of the old yeast that you may be a new batch without yeast—as you really are. For Christ, our Passover lamb, has been sacrificed. Therefore let us keep the Festival, not with the old yeast, the yeast of malice and wickedness, but with bread without yeast, the bread of sincerity and truth.

Most Gentile Christians don't celebrate Passover in the same way the Jewish people do, because we consider that Jesus was the fulfillment of that feast and of all the Law. We see ourselves as now under a new law since Jesus has fulfilled all the Old Testament and paid the penalty for our sins, instituting a new era of grace.

When we do celebrate the Old Testament feasts, it is generally with a strong emphasis on the Messianic symbolism, such as the lamb representing Christ's sacrifice on the cross. We do still see the Jewish feasts as holy and significant.

Today, the Jewish interpretation of the law for the Feast of Unleavened bread requires that they not be in possession of or receive any benefit from baker's yeast or any grain that might have leavening in it.

Since most bread grains begin to ferment and grow yeast soon after being moistened with water, they take great precautions with these grains. No wheat, barley, rye, oats or spelt that have touched water long enough to be tainted with yeast organisms before baking is allowed. As with sourdough bread, the grain captures and incubates yeast spores from the air when moist. The generally-accepted Jewish rule is that yeast may be present in the grain 18 minutes after contact with water.

Since grain is generally soaked before being ground into flour, using any normal flour or grain product is out of the question. Matzos (the traditional flat bread of Passover) and Matzo meal (a flour substitute) are made under strict supervision so that from the moment the grain touches water until it finished baking is no more than 18 minutes. Any product made from one of the 5 grains without this precaution is considered Chametz, and is forbidden during Passover.

The Jewish people have a tradition of going above and beyond the basic requirements of the law, drawing extra boundaries around it to make sure they don't come close to breaking the rules. This explains many of their traditions, including that of avoiding kitniot on Passover.

For some Jewish people, mainly those of Sefardic and Yemenite descent, they avoid only the five grains during Passover. But Ashkenazic Jews (from Europe) also avoid foods classified as kitniot, sometimes translated "small things" or legumes. Kitniot (qit'niyyoth [קִטְנִיּוֹת ,קטניות , קיטניות] also spelled kitniyot, kitnyot or kiniot) includes small grains and seeds that swell when immersed in water and can be used to make flour. These grains are often grown with the 5 grains and may be frequently contaminated with them. Corn, soy, rice, beans, anise and many other items are considered kitniot.

Jews who follow the tradition of avoiding kitniot need to be aware of which kosher-certifying agencies follow this practice since Sephardic agencies may certify something kosher for Passover which would not be K-P to an Ashkenazic Jew. The Orthodox Union (OU), Star-K, and many other certifying agencies follow Ashkenazi practices.

The actual kitniot list varies depending upon different authorities, but always includes soy and corn. That, of course, is important to us because of Baby E's adverse reactions to those foods.

However, since the avoidance of Kitniot is a minhag (tradition or custom passed down from the rabbis) rather than a law or commandment directly from God, there is much more leniency with the Kitniot rules than with the Chametz rules.

Basically, a Jewish person may not own or derive any benefit from Chametz during Passover. It's all right to own or derive benefit from Kitniot during Passover, but generally Ashkenazi Jews are forbidden to eat Kitniot. There are exceptions to this, though, especially for the very young, old or ill.

As I've recently learned, there is also a tradition of allowing the use of Kitniot as a raw material in things like fermentation processes. There's a rule of nishtaneh ha’teva (changed nature) that holds that if the kitniot has been completely changed both in chemistry and in taste, then it is no longer forbidden to use in a food. Some authorities hold that it must become inedible at some point during the process to qualify as nishtaneh, while others don't. There are certain rules about very trace amounts or accidental inclusion of kitniot in foods being allowed, too.

There is no such leniency for chametz. Nothing that has ever been in any way contaminated with chametz (or with any inherently unkosher foods) can be used, no matter how refined or changed, how tiny the amount or accidental the exposure.

That's why foods such as xanthan gum grown on corn syrup can be used in some products certified Kosher for Passover. The fermentation and refining process is considered to change the corn enough that it's no longer really kitniot.

Unfortunately, nishtaneh ha’teva doesn't change the corn enough to keep Baby E from having a reaction after eating it.

Just a normal day of research and reactions

Last night I bought some Florida's Natural grapefruit juice with calcium.

Since Baby E does well with the unenriched orange juice and the OJ with calcium is on the corn-free list, it seemed pretty safe. We've been drinking Florida Naturals orange juice for a long time with no adverse effects. Finding a safe source of calcium has been getting more urgent, since we aren't eating dairy products and I'm having more and more issues with my teeth.

I drank a glass of the juice before bed. It was good.

When Baby E nursed this morning, she got a spotty rash on her face. Then she had mild diarrhea. I was itchy and having the same kind of intestinal symptoms by then, too (hmmm--interesting!).

When I called the company, after quite a lot of runaround and being initially told it was corn-free, I finally got a straight answer.

The calcium citrate is a byproduct of citric acid production, made by a fermentation process. It may be grown on corn, they said, but it certainly wouldn't contain any corn protein and couldn't cause an allergic reaction.

Of course we know otherwise. It could be from the mold used in the process, from the corn, or both, but Baby E definitely reacts to citric acid derived that way.

The rash faded after an hour or two. When it was mostly gone I gave Baby E a dose of reflux medicine from the new bottle of Omeprazole.

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She's so uncomfortable without the reflux medicine that I felt it was important to, if at all possible, get her back on it as soon as possible. If I wait until she's not having any reactions to try it again, it could be days or weeks of unecessary discomfort for her.

2 hours after giving her the omeprazole, I still wasn't seeing a clear reaction. That was encouraging, since she had reacted within an hour or 90 minutes before.

After 3 hours her cheeks were moderately red and she was getting a bit fussy and gassy, and saying "ow" occasionally. But it was well within the range of normal, and nothing that couldn't be from some other cause (running around roughhousing with her sisters, being overdue for a nap, etc.)

Of course, her earlier reaction today could complicate things or make it harder to discern a reaction from the medicine. Now that I'm nursing her again before her nap, I won't be able to tell which trigger causes any new symptoms.

If she did have a reaction to the medicine at all, it was much milder than the reactions she was having before. But I don't think she actually reacted to it. Of course, I'll be watching her carefully after each dose for the next few days.

It does seem likely that she may not actually be allergic to the omeprazole and that the last batch just somehow got contaminated with traces of her allergens. The fact that she was taking it for months with no ill effects and then started having problems with the recent refill would seem to point that direction. I really hope that turns out to be the case.

Before I went to bed last night, I set up a suprise for AJ and M&M. I made breakfast plates for them with banana bread, rice cakes with sunflower butter, and sliced kiwi fruit. Those went into the refrigerator on a low shelf. I set out art supplies and paper. Then I wrote a note telling them that breakfast was in the refrigerator, and that when they had finished their chores they could make Valentines.

They were so excited to get a letter. They loved having breakfast artfully arranged and ready for them to eat, and couldn't wait to do the craft. I've rarely seen them do their chores so quickly and cheerfully.

While the girls were doing art projects I let Baby E draw with colored pencils. I'd heard on the avoiding corn forum that Crayola colored pencils were corn-free, so they seemed the safest option for her to use. I've let her use them several times under close supervision, and she seemed to be okay with them.

All three girls had a great time coloring.

Then I noticed that Baby E had red raised welts wherever the tips of the colored pencils had bumped her skin. They seemed awfully big, raised and red for just pressure marks, so I called the company.

It turned out that the colored pencils do not contain corn, but they do contain soy.

There's no coconut/palm oil in anything other than the oil pastels.

The crayons contain cornstarch in the glue that fastens the paper wrappers. The crayons themselves do not contain corn, soy or coconut/palm oil. They are made in a paraffin base, not vegetable or beeswax.

I am going to try taking off the wrappers and washing the crayons, and then letting Baby E use them. I'm excited that the crayons will probably be safe once washed. She greatly prefers crayons to colored pencils, and she's always begging to use the girls' crayons.

The welts faded pretty quickly, so I'm not absolutely sure they were really from the soy in the pencils. Then again, her rashes are often short-lived even when they are definitely and reproduceably a reaction. She does still have a few red marks where the welts were, hours later.

Anyway, it's nice to know which Crayola products do and don't contain her allergens.

I took some pictures of the welts. I kept telling her to "look!" and pointing different directions to get her to move her head so I could get a good shot.

She figured out pretty quickly what I was doing. She thought it was pretty silly that I was telling her to look at the ceiling or across the room when there was nothing there.

A little while later, I was trying to get her to at least taste a bite of her lunch. As I was holding a piece of meat and trying to get her to open her mouth, Baby E suddenly got a glint in her eye.

She pointed to the window. "Ook!"

As I turned to see what she was pointing at, she snapped her mouth shut, turned her head and batted the piece of meat away. Then she laughed.

This kid picks up on everything.

Airborne Cold Remedy: Helpful, Dangerous, or Both?

I've recommended Airborne Formula on this blog before, so I thought I'd share my recent research about it.

Using Airborne as directed on the label can result in a potentially serious overdose of several substances.

[Updated 13 Jan 2006 at bottom of post--look for the **** asterisks.]



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Airborne is a combination of vitamins and herbs intended to prevent and shorten the duration of common illnesses like colds and flus. It's become amazingly popular in a short period of time--to the extent that stores often have trouble keeping it on the shelves.

The airborne website can be found at http://www.airbornehealth.com/ (Warning, annoying noise on the homepage, so if you're at work turn off your speakers.)

Anecdotal evidence as well as my own experience seems to suggest that, if taken at the first sign of illness, it does work. Even Oprah is talking about it.

Generic versions are now appearing on the market with the same ingredients in different packaging. One example is Health Smart dietary supplement, which is in swallowable capsules instead of Airborne's effervescent dissolve-in-water tablets.

This particular supplement is unusual in that it was not developed by a pharmaceutical company or a dietary supplement manufacturer. It was invented by a second-grade schoolteacher who was tired of catching illnesses from her young students.

When my friend the doctor was here, I showed her a bottle. She mentioned that it has a full day's dose of Vitamin A in one tablet and recommended caution in using it for that reason. The issue with this is that an excess of vitamin A can cause liver damage and other serious problems, including--in severe cases--death.

The instructions on the bottle say "repeat every three hours as necessary."

Well, every three hours could result in as many as 8 doses in a 24-hour period. There's no warning on the Airborne packaging not to exceed a certain number of doses in any specific time frame. But 8 doses of Airborne would give you eight times the recommended daily allowance of Vitamin A--and would be at least 4 times the amount to start causing damage.

Multiply that by a week or so (the duration of a cold?) and it would result in a colossal overdose of Vitamin A.

So I started wondering whether taking it as directed would lead to an overdose of other vitamins as well.

I worked up a spreadsheet comparing the amounts of the various vitamins and minerals with the recommended daily amounts and the amount of overdose required to cause ill effects.

My figures compare the current recommended Daily Values (the newer version of the RDAs) with the amount present in one and eight doses of Airborne, respectively. I also included for comparison the UL for each nutrient. UL stands for Upper Limit--it is the FDA's figure of the maximum amount that can be consumed per day without hurting a person.

Here are the column headers:
1: Nutrient name
2: Amount in 1 dose of Airborne
3: Unit of Measure
4: % of DV in 1 Dose Airborne
5: DV (U.S. recommended daily value based on a 2,000 calorie diet)
6: UL (Upper limit that can be taken without ill effects)
7: Amount in 8 doses Airborne

Here is the table as a .gif file. Click the image to see it full size.



As you can see, the amounts of several nutrients reach or exceed the UL with only 2 doses of Airborne. 8 doses exceeds the UL for at least 4 different nutrients. There is no established UL for several of the nutrients, but this does not mean that excesses cannot be harmful. For instance, an excess of one B vitamin can cause symptoms of deficiency of the other B vitamins. A severe potassium overdose can result in heart and muscle problems, among other things.

Here are some of the symptoms of overdose for the 4 nutrients which would be in excess:

Vitamin A:
What are the health risks of too much vitamin A?
Hypervitaminosis A refers to high storage levels of vitamin A in the body that can lead to toxic symptoms. There are four major adverse effects of hypervitaminosis A: birth defects, liver abnormalities, reduced bone mineral density that may result in osteoporosis (see previous section), and central-nervous-system disorders [1,48-49].

Toxic symptoms can also arise after consuming very-large amounts of preformed vitamin A over a short period of time. Signs of acute toxicity include nausea and vomiting, headache, dizziness, blurred vision, and muscular uncoordination [1,48-49]. Although hypervitaminosis A can occur when large amounts of liver are regularly consumed, most cases result from taking excess amounts of the nutrient in supplements.

Vitamin C:
Vitamin C is one of the safest supplements you can take. The main symptom of overdose is diarrhea, but it can cause other problems in very large amounts. (i.e. a gram-sized dose).

Manganese:
The critical adverse effects are elevated blood magnesium concentration and neurotoxicity.

(Magnesium:
Signs of excess magnesium can be similar to magnesium deficiency and include changes in mental status, nausea, diarrhea, appetite loss, muscle weakness, difficulty breathing, extremely low blood pressure, and irregular heartbeat [5,57-60].)

Zinc:
The critical adverse effect is the influence of excess zinc on copper metabolism. Other effects include epigastric pain, nausea, vomiting, loss of appetite, abdominal cramps, diarrhea, headaches, and immune response impairment.

Most of this information about various nutrients is from government sources: two excellent ones are the FDA's Center for Food Safety and Applied Nutrition website and the National Institute of Health's Office of Dietary Supplements website (be sure to check out their Dietary Supplement Fact Sheets). These sites deal with everything from herbs and nutritional supplements to dietary recommendations, and there's a lot of interesting information there. There's also a great site at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln with various articles, including this one: Upper Safe Levels of Intake for Adults: Vitamins, Macrominerals, and Trace Minerals.

Please also note that, while the Airborne package says it contains 350 MG of a blend of other substances, mostly herbs (Maltodextrin, Lonicera, Forsythia, Schizonepeta, Ginger, Chinese Vitex, Isatis Root, Echinacea), it does not give amounts for the individual herbs. So you don't really know how much you are getting. It is worth mentioning that most sources agree that Echinacea should not be taken daily over a long period of time, so that would be something to be careful of also.

I haven't stopped using Airborne completely, but I have become much more cautious about it. I'll take it if I feel a cold coming on, but only one dose per day on a very occasional basis. I'm also very careful what other vitamins and supplements I take along with it.

If you do use Airborne, I would recommend checking any other supplements you are taking and limiting your doses so that you are not exceeding the ULs for the various nutrients.

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[Update:] I wrote a note to the Airborne company about these concerns, and received this e-mail in reply:

Thank you for your inquiry. Take Airborne at the first sign of a cold symptom or a day or two before entering crowded places like airplanes, movie theatres or offices. People use it as a preventative, and some take it daily. Plop an Airborne tablet into a glass of water, let it effervesce, and drink up!

The recommended dosage for Airborne is every 3 hours or as needed, not to exceed 5 doses in a day. Discontinue use when cold symptoms subside.

Airborne is meant to be taken in short duration. If used properly there is no concern of the higher dose vitamins. For further guidance, please consult with your family physician.

Have a great day and stay healthy!

I scoured every bit of the packaging my bottle of Airborne came in, the package itself, and the Airborne website. I could find absolutely no information saying anything remotely similar to "not to exceed 5 doses in a day. Discontinue use when cold symptoms subside." or "Airborne is meant to be taken in short duration." Wouldn't that be rather important information to put on the packaging and website? Also, those statements seem directly contradictory to the earlier statement in the letter that "people use it as a preventative, and some take it daily."

The only warning I can find on the package and the website is this: "As with all dietary supplements, pregnant women or people on medication should consult physician before taking."

The generic version I bought (with exactly the same ingredients) had a warning not to take the product if you have kidney disease, but the Airborne packaging does not share this caution. The reason for the caution, I'm told by a doctor, is that several of the listed nutrients are eliminated by the kidneys and could easily build up to toxic levels if these organs are not working properly. The threshold for permament damage with Vitamin A is much lower in patients with renal failure.

Vitamins and herbs can be contraindicated if you have certain conditions or if you are taking other drugs that can cause interactions. That's just one more thing to be aware of.

Here's the Airborne analysis table reworked with 5 doses instead of 8 doses in the last column. As you can see, 5 doses still meets or exceeds the UL for all four of the nutrients mentioned earlier.



Airborne, Inc. publicizes a double-blind placebo clinical trial that they funded, saying that there were no adverse affects noted. I'm trying to find more information about this trial, conducted by a GNG Pharmaceutical company.

So far I've found information that the participants took Airborne for 5 days, but nothing saying how much they took. We also don't know if tests were run to check kidney and liver function, etc. or if they just went by externally observable signs to determine adverse effects.

Again, I'm not saying that everyone should stop taking Airborne. But I would be cautious about taking it more than once a day or taking it over an extended period of time.

The bottom line is this: Vitamins and herbal supplements don't have to meet safety and efficacy requirements like drugs do. But being made of vitamins and herbs doesn't make a supplement safe. You can't trust the ingredient levels or the dosage instructions to be safe, either. It's always best to check things out for yourself, and it's usually a good idea to talk to your doctor before taking a supplement.

****Update 2007: By early 2007, about a year after this post was written, the company did start printing a warning not to exceed 3 doses per day on the packaging. The package also now contains a warning not to take the product if pregnant or nursing.****