Synopsis
Eat, sleep, and poop. That’s what babies do. Every parent has challenges and questions about these activities and there is an abundance of information on eating and sleeping, but poop? The appearance and behavior of a child’s stools can give more information about the child’s health than any other factor, but we just don’t seem to like to talk about it. From an award-winning, three-time author—and a mother—Baby Poop brings the hard-to-find facts that equip parents to help their babies be happier and healthier, head off the occasional dire situation, and to optimize their child’s lifelong health. Yes—poop. Parents spend inordinate amounts of time worrying about what goes into their babies. All the while, what shows up in baby’s diapers provides tremendous cues about baby’s digestion, immune functioning, and overall wellness. We don’t get explanations or even pointing fingers from babies: We get smiles or tears, and we get poop. Baby Poop is about child health dilemmas faced in industrialized nations. These are distinctly different from the challenges in less developed countries, as most of these challenges are caused directly by modernization. Infectious disease rates are high in many less developed parts of the world, with high infant and child mortality rates—but industrialization, medicine, and money are not the end-all answers to optimal child survival. Baby Poop illuminates how a much larger portion of children in developed nations suffer from colic, reflux, food allergies, asthma, autism, and diabetes than those in the developing world—and how modern practices are encouraging these. Baby Poop presents evidence from science and medical studies—accented by the collective wisdoms of mothers, midwives, lactation consultants, and other infant care specialists—and provides options that are shown to optimize children’s health. Written with new parents in mind, even the most experienced lactation, birthing, or pediatric professional will find many new pearls of information throughout the text. Fifteen to twenty-five percent of U.S. babies suffer from colic and/or reflux. Contrary to common medical lore, a large portion of babies don’t just “grow out” of colic and reflux; rather, they “grow in” to new symptoms that can haunt them into adulthood when not addressed early.Baby Poop encourages parents to take charge of their own child’s health while keeping healthcare professionals in the loop. You think of a baby as one organism, but actually trillions of organisms, chiefly bacteria, have powerful influences over a child’s immune protection and nutrient absorption. Strongly measurable differences in long-term disease risks have been correlated to a child’s floral beginnings. Early diet, and even place and mode of birth, have been shown to have great impacts on a child’s long-term microbiome. Antibiotic drug treatments create the greatest assault on baby’s flora. When out of balance, the flora plays a role in generating syndromes such as inflammatory bowel disease, celiac disease, allergies, autism, diabetes, and even obesity. The stage for all of these can be set during infancy. Because the majority of pediatricians find many poop symptoms unimportant or simply are not enlightened as to how easily they can be resolved, many chances to relieve a child’s uncomfortable conditions are lost. A large portion of troublesome intestinal conditions in infants are quickly written off by doctors as “common” complaints that will go away with time. Many extra hours of crying and discomfort in babies, and of worry and lost sleep in parents, take place because of the taboo of poo. A great number of these health challenges carry on or return as the child becomes an adult, and entire lives are hampered by missed diagnoses and opportunities to heal. Food reactions are largely the cause of early colic, reflux, constipation, diarrhea, sleeplessness, rashes, and many more symptoms. Challenges to infant gut health are at the root of such food reactions.
About the Author
Linda Folden Palmer is a widely recognized author and speaker specializing in nutrition of childhood and in infant health and bonding. She is dedicated to raising awareness about how powerfully early parenting and healthcare choices can influence a child's mental and physical outcomes. Having run a successful chiropractic practice for over a decade, focused on nutrition and women's health, Palmer's life became transformed in 1995 by the health challenges of her newborn son. Perplexed by the lack of appropriate advice from pediatric sources, her extensive literature research led to her first book, Baby Matters, What Your Doctor May Not Tell You About Caring for Your Baby. After an IPPY Award-winning updated 2nd edition, the 3rd updated edition was released as The Baby Bond. Palmer also co-authored What Your Pediatrician Doesn’t Know Can Hurt Your Child with pediatrician Susan Markel, MD. Extensively documented, her healthy parenting books present the scientific evidence behind attachment parenting practices, supporting baby's immune system, and sparing drug usage. She reveals important considerations in infant nutrition and discusses the seldom-recognized frequency of food intolerance symptoms, even in breastfed infants. Palmer stays an active advocate of the natural parenting principles she supports, often addressing the motives and actions of big industries. She has served as one of Mothering’s “Ask The Experts” since 2001. Palmer has instructed in physiology, pathology, and pediatric nutrition, is certified in natural childbirth education, and guest lectures in infant health, breastfeeding, and the biochemistry of parenting. She lives in San Diego with her son and physicist husband. You can find an assortment of infant health articles at her website BabyReference.com and her blogs on Facebook at The Baby Bond and Baby Poop.
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