Baby Poo

Today is my Maternal and Newborn Care Exam. 

In celebration of finishing this course, let's chat about baby poo and digestion:

A baby's first stool (aka poo) is thick and black. It is known as meconium. This stool has been collecting in the baby's bowels since the 16th week of the pregnancy (crazy!). Meconium is made of bile fatty acids, mucous, and sloughed off epithelial cells.

Moving on, if a baby is breastfed, his or her stool will be liquidy, mustard-colored, and odorless. Babies who are fed formula will have harder, darker, and much smellier stools! The iron contained in formula can be constipating for babies, contributing to development of these hard, dark, and smelly stools.

The newborn baby's stomach can only hold 15 to 30 mL. That's only a tablespoon or two! Amazing. This is why newborns need to be feed all.the.time! And while we adults have gastric emptying and bowel movements every 8 to 24 hours, babies empty their bowels every 2 to 3 hours, which means there is a lot of poo. The glycogen stores of babies are also very small (note: we store fuel for between meals and sleep through glycogen), also contributing to their constant need for food.

Mothers know that they need to burp their babies after a meal and that "spit-up" is a common occurrence  Babies often get this regurgitation as their cardiac sphincter of their stomach is still weak and doesn't properly seal off the stomach, allowing some milk to come back up.

Source unknown; not my picture. 

In terms of newborn food, you've probably heard that "breast is best". However, we were taught that the terminology to use when promoting breast feedings is now "formula has risks". The problem with the former phrase was that moms thought that "sure breast is best, but formula is pretty good too!". This new caption is aimed at educating moms that there are risks involved with feeding a child formula!

Tea Tricks

Tea: not just for drinking!

Three tea tricks:

1) Soothe a teething baby by dipping a wash/face cloth in cooled chamomile tea. Ring out, and let the baby suck on the cloth. Alternatively, dip in tea, ring out, place in freezer for a bit to chill, then give to baby. Chamomile is a very soothing herb. 

2) Got bleeding gums, bit your tongue, or suddenly lost a tooth? Stop oral bleeds by sucking on a black tea bag. The tannins in black tea are astringent and stop bleeding. 

3) Use green tea as a facial toner. Check out the recipe here! Green tea is also astringent, causes pores to close and the face to look more even toned.  

Beyond Botanicals

My third-year Botanical Medicine prof is a genius.  No lie.  He is super knowledgeable about all things naturopathic medicine (which I guess is no surprise because he's been practicing for twenty years as an ND, I do believe), especially herbs.  Often the judicial system calls upon him as an expert witness whenever there is a legal issue involving herbs/botany.

Anywho, I mention this smart professor because his Bot Med lectures are usually filled with so much interesting material; cool stuff that goes above and beyond the course curriculum. Here are five neat things (not necessarily related to botanicals) that we discussed in his classes over the last couple of weeks:

1) Top three causes of infantile colic in breastfeeding moms: coffee, garlic, or onions in the mom's diet. 

2) Long term consequence of Epilepsy medications: osteoporosis.

3) 90% of our melatonin receptors are in our gut. Therefore supplemental melatonin (which people normally take to help them sleep better) maybe be beneficial for those suffering from gut issues (such as irritable bowel syndrome (IBS)). 

4) Beer has estrogenic effects, so perhaps it is not the best beverage for men...

5) Three side effects of potassium depletion: Alzheimer's disease, leg cramps, and heart arrhythmias.

Kids Food Makes Me Sick... Literally.

I don't have children, but you might think that I do, given how passionate I am about feeding children well.  It all started in first year, during my first week at CCNM, when Dr. Jason Lee discussed the problems with "kids food" with our class.

The thought of "kids food" makes me sick. What is this crazy concept and where did it come from? How is it that children today eat PopTarts and Captain Crunch for breakfast, Pizza Pockets and Lunchables midday, guzzle kiddie 'juice' boxes and pop to quench their thirst, and get rewarded with Gushers, ice cream, and other kid-sized treats on a daily basis?  When and why did we decide it is OK to feed kids crap? Synthetic, sugar-laden, artificial garbage now passes as kids food.

Wait, back up a second, why do we even have kids food?  Why not just food? Children don't have compromised digestive tracks; they certainly can digest "adult foods" like asparagus and wild rice. Where did this great divide (adult vs kids) come from? Healthy food like veggies, beans, and grains go to the adults, while all the junk goes off to the kiddos.  Just take a look at a restaurant menu!  The adults have a huge variety of entree contenders while the kids' menu (why it exists at all is beyond me...) features such delicacies as chicken tenders, hot dogs, grilled cheese, and fries. Where is the fiber? The vegetables? The flavor? No wonder so many adults don't like vegetables. When are they suppose to develop a palate for vegetables; sometime between their SweetTarts and McNuggets?

I see the kid-adult food divide even within my own family. Every year at our annual family pot-luck, we always make sure that there are enough "kid dishes" at the table. And no, we're not talking about meals for toddlers (which are indeed a bit different than adult food, not in terms of content but in preparation). I remember one year we even had a separate cake for the kids, because the adult cake wasn't good enough with all its sugar and butter... it needed to have sprinkles in order to be kid-approved!

What disturbs me most of all is that society's eating philosophy should be the complete opposite.  Children, who are rapidly growing beings, need all the nutrients they can get in order to thrive and grow; therefore they should have the best quality food available! Their metabolisms are on fire and need tons vitamins and minerals to act as co-factors for the metabolic reactions that are taking place at lightening speed. Their brains need good nutrition for all the learning they are doing in school each day. Give kids wild salmon and kale, and leave us oldies with the crap! ha ha

In my Clinical Nutrition class, we've been talking a lot about the connection between poor childhood nutrition and mental disorders like ADD, ADHD, autism, bipolar, anxiety, and depression, to name a few. Other pathologies seen in children that are related to nutrition: obesity, type 2 diabetes, asthma, eczema, seasonal allergies, chronic ear infections, and many more. It is unsettling how many children are on medications for said conditions when maybe all they needed was to have their junk food replaced by a good wholesome meal. Did you know that there are cases of autistic children talking for the first time in their lives, after 4-6 years of not speaking, once gluten removed from their diet?! That to me is so, so crazy!

Furthermore, I read this last year on one of my favorite blogs. They were talking about feeding their daughter and their comments really stuck with me:

"Elsa is turning 20 months soon. She has still never had any red meat or poultry and she has never eaten any sugar, candy, cookies or ice cream. Around here that counts as something pretty spectacular, and not only in a good way. Many people seem to think that we are exaggerating about health. ”One ice-cream every now and then won’t hurt her”. You wouldn't believe how many times we heard that sentence. And sure, they are right, she eats an ice cream and life goes on. But why? Elsa has never asked for ice cream, she doesn't even know how it tastes. During a child’s first two years we as adults choose what food our children should eat. And they learn from this. It’s a responsibility. If someone wants to give Elsa an ice cream, it’s not because she wants it, it’s because they want to give it to her. Remember that."

That's right: wee little children don't ask to be fed junk!  It's just us adults thinking that giving a baby a treat is a good thing and those who "deprive" their children of treats are the bad parents. We need to change this thinking. It is backwards!

Despite all of my ranting, I have hope.  I have hope that things will change and go back to the good 'ol days of porridge for breakfast, soup or stew for lunch, and a hearty, balanced dinner for supper. Treats only on special occasions. I have several great classmates, friends (M!), and professors who are leading the way, inspiring others with their healthy, veggie loving children. Miss Kendra and Dr. Donna are also teaching kids about healthy eating. Books like Outside the Box are starting conversations. Naturopathic doctors are teaching patients about good nutrition and how it starts at birth. Times are a changin', my friends!

Nonetheless, despite all of the complaining I did in this post, I must say that a fed child is a lucky child. I recognize that for far too many children die daily due to starvation and malnutrition. This breaks my heart more than any kiddie food ever can. Food must not be taken for granted, regardless of its nutritional content.

How to Deliver Medicine to Children.

I attended the Ontario Association of Naturopathic Doctors' (OAND...however, it is now called the NDO, more on this later) Annual Conference this week.  Boy-oh-boy, what a learning opportunity it was!  Wayyy more posts about this conference to come. However, tonight since I'm totally exhausted (the conference required super early wake up times), you'll get nothing more than some pictures of a cool new concept discovered at the conference.

A compounding pharmacy present at the conference's trade-show featured a whole display case full of various administration forms in which doctors can order supplements. I doubt I am being clear, so here is an example: say a naturopathic doctor wants a baby to have a vitamin B12 supplement. The doctor can then call up this pharmacy and have them add vitamin B12 to a pacifer tip. This way whenever the baby uses the pacifier, he or she gets his or her daily dose of vitamin B12.

Vitamin Gummies!

Lolly pops and a pacifier to the right. 

Other administration methods in which NDs can order supplements: in lolly pops and as gummy bears! Very cool! Increase patient compliance by easing supplement administration... makes sense to me. My only worry is that the gummies and lollies seem to be colored and food dye is a huge concern in childhood behavioural issues today. Also, do these supplements encourage the eating of candy? Because we NDs wouldn't want to promote that ;)

Brrrrr and Babies.

Today I dug out my Winter jacket and made myself a mug of Gingerbread tea.  It felt a bit early, but it is November. I guess it is an appropriate time to start wearing Winter gear, especially since the temperature today was only 2*C. Brr, 'tis the season for warm outerwear! Anyone start listening to holiday music yet?

In my Clinical Nutrition class last week, we talked a ton about vitamin C.  One super interesting tid-bit taken from the class was that some incidents of Shaken Baby Syndrome are not necessarily due to child abuse, but are hypothesized to be due to a deficiency in vitamin C.  You can read some research on the topic here. It's obviously a very controversial hypothesis; nonetheless it was an interesting topic to have discussed in class.  

Breast Feeding Preceptoring.

Image source here.

Today I preceptored at the breast feeding clinic located at CCNM.  Boy oh boy, all I can say is that I had no idea that breast feeding was so complicated!  I don't know much about breast feeding; probably next semester in my Maternal Care course I will learn a lot more and today, of course, I learned tons. The ladies working at the clinic were extremely knowledgeable and gave the new mothers all kinds of tips, advice, and encouragement. Any new mothers out there with any breast feeding concerns: please, please, please go and see a lactation consultant!  The consultant will help you and your baby with the whole feeding experience, very likely making it a million times better.

Happy Sixty-Fifth Wedding Anniversary, Gram and Gramp!  

Lots of love from your oh-so-proud and very-happy-for-you-two, granddaughter.

Babinski.

Image source here.

The Babinski test is a fun little test I learned about in first year, during my practical physiology tutorials.  I think it is a cool concept and couldn't believe that I hadn't shared it on the blog yet! 

The Babinski test consists of someone stroking the lateral side---of the bottom of the foot, going in the direction of the heel to the toes---with a blunt but somewhat sharp object.  (If you want to try this test at home, perhaps you could use a capped pen or a smooth chopstick? Doctors often use the end of their reflex hammer to preform this test).

When the foot is stroked in this matter, the normal adult reflex is for the toes and foot to all curl downwards (a motion termed plantarflexion), as seen in image A. 

However, in people with upper motor neuron lesions of the corticospinal tract (i.e. people who have had a part of their spinal cord damaged), there response will be much different. Instead of the toes curling, they will fan outwards, and the big toe with extend backwards (a motion termed dorsiflexion), as seen in image B. If patients are experiencing neurological or motor abnormalities, the Babinski test can be preformed to potentially narrow down the location of the spinal cord problem.

The coolest part of the Babinski test is that when it is preformed on babies, their toes will fan out just like image B.  This is because their corticospinal pathways haven't fully developed yet (they are not yet myleinated). In the healthy baby, this abnormal reflex will disappear sometime before his or her second birthday.  

Any readers with babies should give the Babinski test a try.  It's a reflex that your babe will only have for so long!