How Much Caffeine?

Today in "Bullshit Directed at Pregnant Women," we find an article on Babble telling us that a moderate amount of caffeine is safe for pregnant women. Hooray for moderation in all things!

But, if you read the article carefully, you notice gems like this one:

It says "200 mg of caffeine per day — the equivalent of a cup of coffee or one caffeinated soda." Let's be very clear — no commercially available soda has 200mg of caffeine per serving. A 12 oz. can of Coke has 35mg. A can of Diet Coke has 45mg. Sprite and most root beers have 0mg. Even Mountain Dew has only 54mg. A regular can of Red Bull (8.3 oz.) has 76mg. Don't believe me — believe the Mayo Clinic.

So, I guess if the article/study defines "one caffeinated soda" as a 48oz. Mountain Dew, it is technically correct in its estimate of caffeine content. However, I feel driven to point out that a "Big Gulp" from 7-11 is 32 oz. and a "Super Big Gulp" is 44 oz., so you would have to find a cup larger than the Super Big Gulp cup to hold this imaginary soda (not counting ice!).

CNN Cares About Molly's Teeth

This is one of the stupider things I've read today: A CNN article fawns over a study that recommends that babies transition "off the bottle" at 9 months in order to prevent tooth decay. If you read the article carefully, you will note that the author of the article (Miriam Falco) expands this recommendation to include weaning from breastfeeding, though it is not clear to me whether the study in question makes that claim.

Forget that the WHO recommends that babies continue to breast feed for up to two years (6 months exclusively, then gradually tapering off during the transition to an all-solid diet) and the AAP recommends a full 12 months. These recommendations do not appear in the CNN article, nor does any discussion of infant nutrition. It is solely focused on tooth decay.


It just seems like another example of the trend toward cutting people up into discreet symptoms instead of treating them as whole people. This researcher set out to study tooth decay, found that tooth decay in toddlers is often linked to the way they imbibe fluids, and concludes that pediatricians should change the way toddlers drink. Nutrition is not important because that was not the focus of the study. Then, Miriam Falco at CNN writes a lazy article that does not provide any additional information, lumps in bottles of juice with breastfeeding, and publishes it. Today, 10,000 fretting grandmothers are emailing the story to new parents whose kids are perfectly happy still breastfeeding at 1 year. Hopefully, the parents have the reading comprehension skills to notice how silly this article is.

Awesome

Knife-Throwing Mom and Her Daughters

Today in Infantilizing Pregnant Women . . .

Bravado, a company that designs nursing/pregnancy bras, sometimes features pregnant models in its runway shows. Since their lingerie is designed for nursing and pregnant women, this might seem like a no-brainer.

In February, the Blush Boutique Nightclub in Las Vegas, which had agreed to host this runway show, barred a pregnant model from participating because it was at night and there was alcohol in the building!

“We did not feel it appropriate to feature a very pregnant model in a nightclub, at midnight, where alcohol was being served,” Jennifer Dunne, a Wynn spokeswoman, wrote in a statement responding to questions. “Our team made a judgment call which we feel was correct given the environment and circumstance.”

Why? Is it past her bedtime? Might she see people drinking?

Let's clarify once and for all:
Though pregnant women are carrying infants, they are not, in fact, infants themselves.

When I was an elementary school teacher, you would see this when principals and professional development people would treat teachers as they would treat the students in that teacher's grade. Are you a kindergarten teacher? Let's cover your assessment folders with stickers! I had a friend who switched from first grade to sixth and she said she was shocked to find that people started talking to her like a grown-up.

Babies in Bars

Should babies be allowed in bars?

As long as they aren't drinking or screaming and the parents aren't being obnoxious by blocking the bar area with strollers, who cares? Some of the people interviewed say that they don't want to drink with 5-year-olds staring at them — that seems a little whiny to me. Do they think that little kids (and their parents) should be hidden away until they are teenagers?

What to Expect When You're Expected

FB and I have been reading What to Expect When You're Expected: A Fetus' Guide to the First Three Trimesters. It's very funny — doubly so if you have suffered through the condescension of the original What to Expect. It uses the same format and font.

I highly recommend this book to anyone who didn't lose her sense of humor when she got pregnant.

Baby Food

The whole practice of comparing the embryo's/fetus' size to various fruits and vegetables strikes me as hilarious.

Why do people insist on making the baby sound so delicious?

I have chosen a Lilypie pregnancy counter that will keep all of my readers apprised of the tasty things my baby most closely resembles.

Lilypie

Lots of mommy blogs have those little Lilypie counters that show how long until their due dates or how old their kids are. I think they're cute. FB laughs at me, but then, he likes those little white stick figures people put on the backs of their vans, while I think they're tacky as all hell.

I checked out the Lilypie site and played around with the counters, hoping I'll have a chance to use one soon. Some of the sliders are babies dressed as flowers, which would be perfect for Snapdragon.

I didn't realize that Lilypie had other counters — some of them are a little creepier. Do people really want to publicize how long they've been waiting to adopt or trying to conceive? It seems like it would be torture to see the days and weeks ticking away if you wanted to adopt or conceive but couldn't.

One in particular made me laugh out loud. This is the icon for one of the "Trying to Conceive" counters:

I suppose if you look closely, you can see that the bunny's tail is over to the right, but at first glance, it's a little . . . on the nose. Maybe I'll get one of those counters after all, just so I can put some bunny porn on this blog.