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ohiosarah's review
3.0
The book piqued my interested when I saw it on my library's new release shelf so I grabbed it, even though my children are way past the infant stage. I'll admit I was shocked by the advice on page 55, "Additionally, if your wet nurse has infected and inflamed nipples or mastitis, the bacteria causing that infection can hurt your baby". Now, I'm not sure if the authors are only recommending this for those who can hire a wet nurse, where as the families I know cannot afford that luxury, but I know I breastfed all three of mine with various levels of mastitis and mine were all fine. So while the authors may just be cautioning about the different germs available in another person's body, I would want to caution moms who breastfeed and develop mastitis it is fine and even good to continue breastfeeding, even though it can be very painful. Please consult your doctor, lactation consultant or educator, or both.
That said in regards to the use of the infant eye drops immediately after birth while the authors agree that parents should be able to chose whether or not to have them administered, they seem to be in favor of the drops. I'm very glad I don't live in New York as the authors say that hospitals there will call CPS if parents refuse the eye drops. While we did agree to our oldest getting the ointment, the hospital we used did not use drops, this was before we had studied anything and trusted the medical community implicitly. I would have liked to have the authors suggest using a few drops of colostrum from the mom instead, which is what I did with my two younger ones and the pediatrician agreed that doing so was just as good as the ointment.
"Babies and children should get their vaccines on the scheduled provided by the American Academy of Pediatrics and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention". Yes, because we all know that the AAP and CDC has the best interests of all Americans at heart. The authors also seem to believe that no traces of mercury or thimerosal are in today's vaccines - please read the actual vaccine inserts for the entire ingredient list - I did. In regards to the chicken pox vaccine, one of the author's claims his daughter is now fully vaccinated and protected against chicken pox, although studies are showing that the efficacy of the vaccine wears off and a booster is needed for those who chose to have the vaccine administered.
With all that said there is some really good information to be had within this book's covers and the reason why I didn't give it a two like I wanted too. I'm all for not throwing the baby out with the bathwater and so while I disagree with a lot of what is written, based on my own research (I'm not a doctor but I'm a mom and college student who does her own research) I will say quite a bit of the information is useful. While I disagree too with the authors that GMO foods are safe, they do say that in some regards there is still studies to be done and the verdict is out on some of the answers. I just request, as I do with any book, even my college texts, read it with an open mind, do your own research and talk with other 'experts' and people in the field before taking everything these authors say as the 100% truth.
That said in regards to the use of the infant eye drops immediately after birth while the authors agree that parents should be able to chose whether or not to have them administered, they seem to be in favor of the drops. I'm very glad I don't live in New York as the authors say that hospitals there will call CPS if parents refuse the eye drops. While we did agree to our oldest getting the ointment, the hospital we used did not use drops, this was before we had studied anything and trusted the medical community implicitly. I would have liked to have the authors suggest using a few drops of colostrum from the mom instead, which is what I did with my two younger ones and the pediatrician agreed that doing so was just as good as the ointment.
"Babies and children should get their vaccines on the scheduled provided by the American Academy of Pediatrics and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention". Yes, because we all know that the AAP and CDC has the best interests of all Americans at heart. The authors also seem to believe that no traces of mercury or thimerosal are in today's vaccines - please read the actual vaccine inserts for the entire ingredient list - I did. In regards to the chicken pox vaccine, one of the author's claims his daughter is now fully vaccinated and protected against chicken pox, although studies are showing that the efficacy of the vaccine wears off and a booster is needed for those who chose to have the vaccine administered.
With all that said there is some really good information to be had within this book's covers and the reason why I didn't give it a two like I wanted too. I'm all for not throwing the baby out with the bathwater and so while I disagree with a lot of what is written, based on my own research (I'm not a doctor but I'm a mom and college student who does her own research) I will say quite a bit of the information is useful. While I disagree too with the authors that GMO foods are safe, they do say that in some regards there is still studies to be done and the verdict is out on some of the answers. I just request, as I do with any book, even my college texts, read it with an open mind, do your own research and talk with other 'experts' and people in the field before taking everything these authors say as the 100% truth.
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