May 12th, 2010 04:19pm
The worst age
Kids are capaple of driving even the most dedicated parent insane. Every age has its drawbacks. But which one’s the worst? (read the post…)
One of the most difficult decisions a new mother can make is to rejoin the workforce. Not only are you leaving your infant with a caregiver for several hours a day, but, when you are a nursing mother, you are potentially being forced into a decision to change your baby’s breastfeeding routine. Fortunately, there are now laws in many states (including California) which specifically state that an employer is to allow reasonable break time and an adequate private room for a nursing mother to express milk or breastfeed during their child’s first year of life. And while it is law that employers provide these conditions for their nursing employees, some workplaces shine when it comes to helping mothers in their transition from home to their career.
My son was born with moderate jaundice, which I did learn was fairly common among newborn boys. I had planned on breastfeeding him, and the Dr let me know that while breast milk was best for babies, it would not have enough Vitamin D to help with my son’s deficiency. In fact, 9 out of 10 babies who are breastfed are not getting enough Vitamin D, as a liter of breast milk only holds 20-40 IUs of Vitamin D. From babies to adults, we should be receiving no less than 200 IUs. He told me to just give him enough indirect sunlight to help ease the jaundice symptoms. So I would make sure to stay near windows with plenty of sunshine so that he could soak up some sunrays and not be in danger of skin cancer. But now that we know even more about the dangers of sun exposure, I question if that could have been too dangerous as well.