Cow vs Mother

This post is a spin-off of the post about cow's milk a few days ago.

Come on Moms/Moms to be.... can you honestly tell me that it makes ANY sense to wean a child at 12 months and begin feeding him/her milk from a mammal that weighs approx 400-1600lbs, is fed primarily corn, given antibiotics & steroids to "thrive", and is mistreated in a slaughter house? If you can honestly tell me how this makes any sense I would love to hear about what you have to say.

When I was pregnant with my 1st, I could not wait to experience breastfeeding. The first 4 months were great, but as she became more aware, distracted, and I became pregnant our breastfeeding relationship came to an end at 6 mos. I could not wait until she turned a year so she could start drinking milk... yummy, it does a body good! 7 months later we eliminated milk because of night terrors.

When I was pregnant with my 2nd, I was determined to make breastfeeding work (at least to a year). It's been a completely different experience this time around. Lucy is a boobie girl. She starts jumping up and down when I enter the room, smiling and giggling and cannot wait to come and eat. Too cute and melts my heart.

In the past 2 years, I've realized a lot about what I want for my family and myself. I've researched and learned so much about what I can do to benefit my children and I believe that breastfeeding is pretty high up on the list. I will not wean Lucy at 1 year because that is what the AAP says is acceptable. I will wean her when she is ready or if I have a strong desire to wean her. I have no idea when this will be.

I know friends, family, and strangers will criticize and judge me for this decision of extended breastfeeding because for whatever reason it is not widely accepted in our country. Will I let that bother me or sway my decision? Absolutely not.
If anyone can tell me how it makes any sense to wean a child and start feeding him/her cow's milk I will listen, but until then please keep your comments / feelings to yourself.

Come on people.... this is the natural thing to do!!!!!!!!!!!!!

ETA- I hope this didn't come off as a rant post..that was not my intention. What really triggered it is my curiosity as to why and how nursing your child for an extended period of time has become so "strange & gross" in this country. I really am curious as to why that is.

Milk, it does a body "good"

We've all heard the campaign "Milk, it does a body good" and I have to say I've probably always believed that, but now I'm not so sure.

About 2 months ago, Lila was having night terrors at least 2x a week. It involved about 3 hours of her waking & crying, us rocking and cuddling, sleeping with her etc. It was getting ridiculous. Chris and I would go to bed wondering if tonight was going to be another sleepless night. My best friend told me her son had night terrors also around Lila's age and suggested I try giving up cow's milk and eliminating other dairy products after 2pm. I was willing to try anything. So I switched Lila to almond milk (same calcium & vit D as cow's milk) and eliminated all cheese & yogurt after 2pm.

She has not had a night terror in 2 months!!!!!!!! Can you believe that? I absolutely HAVE to believe that it really was the cow's milk that was causing these horrible sleepless nights. Ironically, about 3 weeks ago we were eating sausage and pepper sandwiches for dinner. Lila begged for a piece of provolone so I gave it to her. That night she had a night terror. Unbelievable.

Honestly, I have to say that Lila has been in a much happier mood in general since giving up the milk. It's really unbelievable.

For us, this was the only problem I found with cow's milk, but I know others that give up cow's milk find they have less congestion, less ear infections, skin rashes disappear, and in general just feel better! We all like the almond milk (I actually like it better) so I think we will just stick with it.

Here is a quote from an article I read online. Kind of grosses me out and definitely turns me off of milk.

Rense.com defines cow’s milk as, "An unhealthy fluid from diseased animals that contain a wide range of dangerous and disease-causing substances that have a cumulative negative effect on all who consume it." All cow’s milk contains fifty-nine active hormones, scores of allergens, fat, cholesterol, and measurable quantities of pesticides, herbicides, blood, pus, bacteria, and viruses. You also have to consider that the milk you drink contains trace amounts of whatever the cow had eaten previously. Your milk also may have been from a diseased cow, which you could easily get sick from. Diseases such as diabetes, influenza, bronchitis, emphysema, asthma, heart disease, and cerebro-vascular condition have all been linked to the consumption of cow’s milk.

All I can say is do your research and if you find that you or your child has allergies, congestion, upset stomach, etc consider giving up dairy and see how it improves. You may find a world of difference!

This discussion will lead me to my next post... check back in a few days!