In honor of reaching my 100th blogpost, I give the stage over to you, my readers:
* Which posts of mine are your favorites? Least favorite? Is there a post format (links to interesting articles elsewhere, straight monologue, point-by-point rebuttal, Q&A) you prefer?
* What topics would you like to see more of/less of? Any new categories you feel I should cover? Any scientific/parenting current events you feel I’ve been neglecting? Post ’em here!
* Would you like to write a guest blogpost? Please contact me.
* Any comments about readability/spelling/grammar/style are also welcome.
Thank you! 🙂
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Mainstream Parenting Resources 
It’s hard to pick favorites (so much to choose from), but I’m most partial to your posts on vaccines and vaccine rejection. I happen to think it’s the most important topic you take on, and you do it so well.
Your posts on the topic should be part of the standard handout package in every pediatrician’s office. You spell it out so cogently, in language that’s easy for even this layperson to understand–thank you!
I’m relatively new to your blog but I’ll offer my two cents.
I also am partial to your vaccine posts. My husband teases me about vaccines, says that’s when I get on my soapbox but I really think they are one of the few areas of parenting where there are no shades of gray. I like how you respond to prevalent misconceptions and myths and I really was happy to see you take on the Vaccine Book by Dr. Bob- I’ve actually commented a few times on Science Based Medicine asking them to do a review of it. I think that especially is important because so many moms rely on Dr. Bob more than any other health care “authority”.
That being said, I’ve also really enjoyed your posts on breastfeeding. I had a whole lot of trouble- 1 thing after the other BF my now 8 month old son. I ended up stopping when he was 4 months old and have since then felt intermittent feelings of guilt, failure, like I was a second class mom b/c of FF him, like I would bond less to him, etc etc. What I read on so many other sites and other mom’s comments to me (I mean how many times do I have to tell the nursery workers at church why I’m not BF my son?) have reinforced these feelings. It was when I found your site and read your posts on BF that I was so encouraged by your perspective and sanity on the topic! Thank you!!
I also have read and appreciate your posts on sleeping. Seems like I’ve touch mostly “hot topics” that you cover but as a part time Nurse Practitioner I also enjoy reading your doctor posts.
OK sorry for the long response. I guess I pretty much enjoy it all. Thanks!
I really enjoy all of it. I think the things that are most practically useful for me are direct answers to questions that come up all the time. So, for instance the post about Hep b was very useful.
Other topics you might consider are:
Allergies – I keep meeting people who insist their children have allergies even though they do not test positive for them. Are there more allergies around or are we just diagnosing more? How many of these are actual allergies and how many are parents just hounding their pediatricians until they finally submit and say “okay, there’s no positive but tests can be wrong so we’ll treat them as if they are”?
Celiac Disease – this seems to be the allergy du jour. Yes, it exists but, being hard to diagnose, etc. its just ripe for all sorts of superstition
ADHD in general
“Sensory issues” What the hell are they really? Is this a real thing or like Jenny McCarthy’s ‘indigo*” children? Why are there so many kids who seem to have them now?
I could go on, but those have been bugging me.
Nancy
* My own children are “ingiGLO”. They aren’t praticularly unique or ‘gifted’ but they’re very easy to find in the dark
I LOVE your vaccine posts, and I’d love it if you addressed the Feingold diet and other diets as treatment for ADHD, and theories about food dyes and other additives causing behavior problems, inattention, hyperactivity, etc. 2 of my kids go to a Montessori school which has grown crunchier every year since the current head of school was hired on, and the last 2 weekly newsletters the school has sent home included blurbs about evil food dyes with links to dubious sources of information (all sites selling something, at that!). I’m pretty pissed about this, because I think these theories are garbage, and I worry about the quality of scientific education will get at this particular school, and I also feel that, if this were credible info, the school still shouldn’t be involved iin it. Healthcare recommedation should be provided by healthcare professional, IMO. So yeah, that’s my request. Congrats on the 100th post,!
Piggy-backing on what Nancy said, why is it that the most health conscious people are always suffering from ailments like celiac disease and lactose intolerance? I live in a CAM heavy area and the sickest people, by their report, (and their children) are the ones always drinking tinctures and stuff. Me, I eat three squares and have check up once a year and have yet to need a tincture.
Another interesting topic is introduction of solids. There’s a lot of fanaticism around this. It usually dovetails with the exclusive breastfeeding thing. I kind of get the waiting until the gag reflex is gone, but it seems the connection with allergies and introduction to solids is dicey, esp. regarding the peanut allergy. I recently heard an interesting discussion with an allergy researcher and he discussed an Israeli weaning food called bamba, which I think has peanuts. It sounds like there is a lower incidence of the allergy in Israel vs. the US where people recommend putting off peanut introduction until three or later, which is weird considering that peanut butter and jelly is such a childhood staple.
I’ve really enjoyed all of your posts. I think my favorites would have to be either the vaccine or the co-sleeping ones, though.
Co-sleeping is kind of my pet peeve, because it is portrayed as this perfectly safe thing. Honestly, common sense indicates that it’s not, plus the evidence that people have been smothering their kids that way for years, since it even made it into the Bible!
Okay, now I’m off my soapbox. 🙂 I’m curious about the introduction of solids thing, too. Someone posted a link from kellymom (which I know it dubious at best) about babies having an “open gut” until around 6 months old, and it left me wondering if there was any truth to that, or if it’s yet another theory that people like to toss around as fact.
Wow 100 post already! I like all your stuff. I like anything that addresses misinformation on healthcare. The scoville post was a particular favorite of mine since it shows how devastating misinformation and fanaticism can be. Vaccination is a good topic. Sometimes it comes down to the patient just does not believe medical science and that is it. Or the garbage they read they have taken in as gospel instead of one person’s twisted point of view. I also like anything that addresses Women and how they feel about motherhood. So I guess I just like you!
I’m personally a big fan of anything and everything about sleep issues, especially the CIO stuff!
I’d love to see someone tackle Vitamin C in a level headed and reasonable manor – when did Vitamin C take on status as some sort of miracle cure-all, anyway?
And ditto on the whole ‘open gut’ thing, and all the weirdness around solids. I’ve never been able to figure out where the whole ‘open gut’ idea comes from, and whether there’s any actual scientific merit behind it.
I love all your posts, especially the ones about breastfeeding. Due to some problems, I was not able to breastfeed for very long and, being completely addicted to the MDC boards, felt so horrible about it every day. I found your post that included the links to the Babble article on why formula isn’t poison and also the other article written by a doctor.
Everytime I started to feel bad about bottlefeeding I would go back and read those articles to remind myself that that’s not arsenic in my baby’s bottle! It’s so nice to hear from a doctor who understands that breastfeeding is valuable but if you need to use formula for any reason, your child will be okay.
I would LOVE it if you could do a post on baby-led weaning, especially the kind people delay solids until 9-12 months. I still haven’t kicked my MDC addiction and lurking on those boards, I read a lot about it. There is so little info on the concept right now, since it’s fairly new, I would love to hear a doctor’s opinion on it.
You sound like such a good doctor, I wish you could be my doc!
Open gut sounds a lot like leaky gut of dubious autism connections.
Neglected to wish a congratulations on the 100th post.
Love the suggestions…keep ’em coming! The delaying solids issue in particular is very interesting, with lots of new research.
And welcome Zoe, and thanks. I’m always glad when I can help with MDC recovery…
I benefit from learning about medical issues from a level-headed doctor. (Yes, that’s you.) Are you interested in conversing about a less scientific matter such as discipline?
Are you interested in disagreeing opinions? I usually have strong opinions on the matter or raising kids.
RedOne – I’m glad you realize that disclipline is a less scientific matter LOL!
I would love it if all of us (commenters and I) had a lively discussion on any topic. I don’t moderate comments other than obvious spam. Though I can’t say I have many hard-and-fast opinions regarding discipline – like a lot of other parents, I try out different approaches, keep what works and discard the rest. I’ll let you know how it turned out when my youngest leaves for college!
Do you have any specific ideas for topics (spanking, time outs etc.?)
Can you do a little ditty on lead poisioning. I have recently started doing stained glass and worry about the solder being 40 percent lead. And I forgot all I learned in Nursing school about lead posioning other than it is bad….Usually when something involves poisioning it is not a good thing.
Off the top of my head-
helping the child with ADHD
time-outs
spanking
punitive discipline in general
I like the AP and breastfeeding posts the best. I have liked your posts on infant sleep, too. Anything that questions the conventional wisdom or parenting “hysteria” of the day interests me.
I second RedOne’s suggestions regarding discipline. And pinky’s on lead poisoning. (What interests me about lead poisoning is how information about it trickles down to lay people and, in the process, becomes distorted. At least, I’m certain my understanding of it is distorted.)
I loved Prometheus’ post on how alt practitioners “hook” their patients. Stuff like that fascinates me. As parents, we are often in psychological “over-drive.” On the one hand, we are extra keen (extra keen consumers, extra keen multi-taskers, extra keen social animals, the list goes on) in order to safeguard our children. On the other hand, we are so besotted with our young ones, we can be all too easily deceived. This dichotomy is fascinating (and any post that plays on it), don’t you think?
Have you considered doing a post on methods for increasing breastmilk supply? I always read people swearing by fenugreek, mother’s milk tea, or steel cut oatmeal. I know that a lot of herbal remedies are useless, though, so I’ve been curious about those.