Saturday Surfing + Day Three

Finds of the Week:

• Background Television in the Homes of US Children, Pediatrics — New study which found that the average US child was exposed to 232.2 minutes  (nearly 4 hours!) of background television on a typical day, which has been found to have negative consequences on child development.  I was shocked by how big that number is.
• Cash-strapped farmers feed candy to cows, CNN Money — This just terrifies me.
• Cord Blood 25-Hydroxyvitamin D3 and Allergic Disease During Infancy, Pediatrics — Another new study about the importance of Vitamin D (which most of us a deficient in) during pregnancy: “Reduced vitamin D status in pregnancy may be a risk factor for the development of eczema in the first year of life.”  The more I read about it, teh more important I realize it is.
• Healthy Home | How it All Vegan, Social Home – A great post with 10 tips for going vegan.  Not sure that I’m going to do that any time soon, but I thought they were all really good and some of them are relevant to even the most passionate dairy-lover among us.
• Mother Jones: How the industry minimized (and minimizes) the health effects of sugars, Food Politics — Marion Nestle provides a synopsis of longer pieces in Mother Jones about the evolution of sugar advertising and public policy.
• Prevention of Invasive Cronobacter Infections in Young Infants Fed Powdered Infant Formulas, Pediatrics – The take away from this is that if you cannot breastfeed, you should be feeding your newborn (until at least 2 months) a liquid infant formula rather than a reconstituted powdered formula to help protect them from this deadly bacteria.  (This study is irrelevant to breastfeeding moms whose babies are protected and not at risk.)
• The Psychology Of Facebook, All Facebook — an Infographic that compares Facebook use to trends in psychology (attention span, etc.)

This week’s Pins:

30 Days of Thanks, Day Three

Today I’m thankful for…

La Leche League!!!  Most especially, the support that it gave me when Nora and I were still figuring out breastfeeding, the amazing opportunities it provides to get to know other wonderful mamas and adorable babies, and that it enables me to support others in having beautiful relationships with their children.  I am thankful for the great turn out at two LLL events today: this morning’s meeting and this evening’s potluck (with Dads too!) and that I saw so many wonderful moms and dads supporting one another with great advice.  I feel so lucky to be a part of this community on Nantucket.

Potlucks in general, especially when people leave me leftovers so I don’t have to cook the following day.  🙂

And, finally, that Nora was in a great self-entertaining mood today so I could do all the cooking and cleaning necessary to make said potluck happen.