It's been a REALLY long time since I've paid any attention to the baby food aisle. My son is twelve, and my daughter got homemade baby food, so it's been about ten years or so. I needed jarred prunes for ketchup (remember when it used to be spelled "catsup"?) recipe, so I made my way down the aisle, only to be horrified by what I discovered.
Nursery Water.
If you're not aware of this product, it's basically fluoridated water for babies. The problem is, the CDC decided back in 2007 that baby formula should not be mixed with fluoridated water. And there it was, six years later, right next to the powdered formula, obviously for that purpose. I don't have babies anymore. But I could not just let it sit. So I sent an email to Kroger letting them know of this problem. Perhaps you shop at Wal-mart; I think they sell it, too. I will see if they remove the Nursery Water or not. Here is what I sent, in case you would like to use any part of this to notify your local Kroger or Wal-mart store of this problem:
While shopping for jarred prunes in the baby aisle for a ketchup recipe recently, I was horrified to see that "Nursery Water" is still being sold in your stores. In 2007, the CDC warned against using fluoridated water to make baby formula. When you place this product right next to the formula and baby food, it's implied that this water is safe for babies, including reconstituting formula. While I would not use it either, a safer alternative is reverse osmosis water that you sell in the bottled water aisle. Please look into this and remove "Nursery Water" from your shelves. Thank you.
I will report back if I see the product removed...
Tuesday, June 25, 2013
Thursday, March 28, 2013
Baby's First Food Choices
Recently I visited the baby food aisle looking for "just prunes" to try a new catsup recipe. It's been quite a while since I've paid much attention to this aisle. My "baby" is ten, and she never ate jarred baby food, so I haven't shopped on this aisle for quite a while.
The first thing that appalled me was that the store still stocks "Nursery Water" on this aisle. In 2007, the CDC said that baby formula should not be made with fluoridated water. So why is this water still marketed to parents of babies?
The second thing I noticed is the lack of organic baby food. Most of the food available was not organic. (And I wondered how much of it was genetically modified?)
The third thing I noticed was the lack of variety.
My two kids were born 19 months apart, but my first got jarred baby food and my second got homemade baby food. I don't think it's a coincidence that my second child has a much better diet now than my first. My first child got cereal for his first food, and now he is a carb addict. My second child got avocado for her first food, and she also loved plain yogurt. I cringe when I think about what I fed my son. But I simply didn't know any better at the time. Now I cringe to imagine how parents are still feeding their babies...nothing has changed on those shelves and that is just sad.
I've imagined putting together flyers to leave on the baby aisle so parents know there are options and why these options are better than picking up those jars. If parents realized it was as easy as mashing up some avocado and feeding it to their baby, I bet they would jump on it. Same thing with banana.
I think I'm going to do something about that water. And maybe come up with a project for my kids to work on with me on educating parents about baby food. But hey, while I'm working on that, share this page with your friends with babies and remind them there is another way!
The first thing that appalled me was that the store still stocks "Nursery Water" on this aisle. In 2007, the CDC said that baby formula should not be made with fluoridated water. So why is this water still marketed to parents of babies?
The second thing I noticed is the lack of organic baby food. Most of the food available was not organic. (And I wondered how much of it was genetically modified?)
The third thing I noticed was the lack of variety.
My two kids were born 19 months apart, but my first got jarred baby food and my second got homemade baby food. I don't think it's a coincidence that my second child has a much better diet now than my first. My first child got cereal for his first food, and now he is a carb addict. My second child got avocado for her first food, and she also loved plain yogurt. I cringe when I think about what I fed my son. But I simply didn't know any better at the time. Now I cringe to imagine how parents are still feeding their babies...nothing has changed on those shelves and that is just sad.
I've imagined putting together flyers to leave on the baby aisle so parents know there are options and why these options are better than picking up those jars. If parents realized it was as easy as mashing up some avocado and feeding it to their baby, I bet they would jump on it. Same thing with banana.
I think I'm going to do something about that water. And maybe come up with a project for my kids to work on with me on educating parents about baby food. But hey, while I'm working on that, share this page with your friends with babies and remind them there is another way!
Thursday, January 10, 2013
Research on Parenting
I just came across this article at the perfect time. It's funny how things come into your life in a sense of order, like it wasn't an accident. But everything I'd learned in college or by experience about brain development, came together when I learned specifically about Grown Wounded Children, and then this article fell into my lap...er...laptop. First, the article is here. It's pretty common sense, and if you consider yourself a natural parent or practice attachment parenting, you probably already know what the article says (that you are right :)
Now, you may not have heard about Grown Wounded Children (GWC) before and maybe you are asking "whaaaat?" Watch the video below, but in a nutshell, it describes the problems one may have as an adult when he has grown up in a low nurturance environment. "Low nurturance" can range from not getting enough attention, to being abused. Peter Gerlach below discusses the symptoms of many GWC, but even more importantly, he provides information on how to recover from having a low nurturance childhood. I'm discussing this here because not only do we want to make sure to provide a nurturing environment for our babies and kids, some people may not know how because of their own wounds, or because they are unable to bond with their own kids. This might open a door for you. Here you are...
Now, you may not have heard about Grown Wounded Children (GWC) before and maybe you are asking "whaaaat?" Watch the video below, but in a nutshell, it describes the problems one may have as an adult when he has grown up in a low nurturance environment. "Low nurturance" can range from not getting enough attention, to being abused. Peter Gerlach below discusses the symptoms of many GWC, but even more importantly, he provides information on how to recover from having a low nurturance childhood. I'm discussing this here because not only do we want to make sure to provide a nurturing environment for our babies and kids, some people may not know how because of their own wounds, or because they are unable to bond with their own kids. This might open a door for you. Here you are...
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