I can’t help it. I get news alerts with keywords “parenting”, “mothering”, “children”, “baby” etc. and every time I catch a poorly behaved mother who happens to breastfeed (although the following story clearly demonstrates more than poor judgement), it catches my eye. The reason it catches my eye is because of the ridicule formula feeding mothers experience by way of self righteous internet cowards who lambaste formula feeding moms and scoff at their choices, as if breastfeeding were in and of itself a  litmus test for good mothering.

From the Houston Chronicle:

OSHKOSH, Wis. — (AP) A woman accused of smothering her infant after she drunkenly fell asleep atop the 4-month-old while breast-feeding pleaded no contest Thursday to child neglect resulting in death

Lorinda Hawkins, 28, had been scheduled for trial next week. She could face up to 21 years in prison when sentenced July 11.

Prosecutor John Jorgensen said he would recommend that she receive at least some prison time.

“We just believe she should be held accountable for the neglect,” he said.

Hawkins had been drinking at a bowling alley in February 2005, and after her husband dropped her and the child off at home, she started breast-feeding the baby but fell asleep, a criminal complaint said.

When she woke up about an hour later, the baby was pale and not breathing, the complaint said.

Obviously this tragedy cannot be blamed on breastfeeding, but rather plain and simple neglect and stupidity, however, I think it helps to drive home my continued argument against stereotyping formula feeding mothers, their competence and the overwhelming insistance to connect a causitive link between formula feeding [properly] and death. Suffice it to say, it’s better to be a dedicated guardian of your childs safety than to be a breastfeeder who puts her baby’s life in jeopardy. Sound like a no-brainer? One would think, but shockingly enough, I have witnessed these sort of absurd suggestions from the lunatic fringe on various parenting boards.

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The Washington Post reports on a mother who gets a minimal consequence after forcing her children to take turns riding in the trunk of her car. Apparently, she didn’t want to shell out the extra dough to get a car big enough for her family to take a long road trip and of course, the courts brush off the children’s rights and safety in lieu of concern for not wearing a seatfelt. Classic!

A Stafford County woman was convicted yesterday of contributing to the delinquency of a minor for making her daughters take turns riding in the trunk of a cramped four-door sedan during a long summer road trip from Alabama to Loudoun County.

Loudoun Circuit Court Judge Thomas D. Horne dismissed a felony charge of cruelty to children against Cheryl Ann Schoonmaker-Brown. But he agreed with prosecutors that Schoonmaker-Brown, 38, endangered her children — ages 8 and 10 — when she put them in the trunk and allowed others to ride in the car with improperly fastened seat belts during a more than eight-hour journey July 1.

“If we were in Alabama, I wouldn’t hesitate to find the defendant guilty of a felony,” Horne said. “I think it’s very likely that a child could die from being in a closed trunk on a summer day in Alabama.”

Couldn’t a child die anywhere in the United States from being locked in a trunk? The last time I checked, a state’s blessing for forcing a child in a car trunk wasn’t predicated on which state you live in (or is it??). Perhaps locking a child in a car trunk is common place in Virginia.

But wait, it gets better…Here’s the mother’s reaction to her child’s suffering…

Schoonmaker-Brown laughed when her 8-year-old daughter began singing what she called the “I’m so hot song,” Cassandra said. When the girl emerged from the trunk bathed in sweat, cheeks flushed and stripped down to her underwear, Schoonmaker-Brown turned up the air conditioning, then allowed her 10-year-old to crawl into the trunk crammed with luggage, a laptop and a Boston terrier pup. Later, Schoonmaker-Brown stuffed a case of wine into the trunk along with her daughter after stopping at a winery, Cassandra said.

And the voice of reason, the arguement that children should be protected from this kind of abuse is dismissed by the judge. Yet another reason to support that all judges be held accountable for their actions.

Schoonmaker-Brown’s attorney, Eric Strom, successfully argued that his client’s actions did not merit the charges originally filed against her. He said the Stafford County airline worker had not acted willfully, adding that prosecutors had not presented proof that the children would have been harmed.

Assistant Commonwealth’s Attorney Nicole Wittman tried to convince the judge otherwise.

“There is no justifiable excuse for putting a child in the trunk of a car, especially when you’re driving down the freeway,” Wittman said.

Isn’t this plain common sense?? Why have so many judges and American’s alike lost pure and simple common sense?

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citizent-times.com talks to parents that think nakie butt is blissful butt. These parents do not use diapers for their infants (or use them rarely), it’s not just disposable diapers they poo poo, they don’t even use cloth diapers. No diapers at all. We’re talkin’ bona fide butt whisperers.

When new mom Kari Richmond purchased a training potty for her 7-month-old son, Isaac, a few weeks ago, dad Matthew Richmond admitted to being a bit surprised.

“I thought she was being a little ambitious,” he said. “But then when she explained the concept to me, I thought it made perfect sense.”

The concept is reducing the amount of diapers her son uses by practicing what adherents call “elimination communication.”

Basically, baby runs around, or crawls around, butt naked and mother (and/or father?) forms a bond so gargantuan and free from any outside factors, that they instinctively know when baby has to take a piss or a dump. They set them on the crapper until they go, singing the infant’s praises because they’re so innately in tune with their offspring. After this little defiance of logic, they read a book about self enlightenment to pass the time between ongoing baby revelations and affinities.

I just have one request in light of all this, “Send me your huggies coupons! I’d be happy to take ‘em off your hands!”

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THE CBS EARLY SHOW introduces another nifty tool for the helicopter parent: 

Teachers use the computer system to input information on everything the students are doing. Parents just need a password to log on for the details. Denise Schlotthauer says she checks in regularly on her son, David. “Probably about once a week, where I go pretty thorough,” she told Bowers. “If I know something is coming up that’s important, I might check more often.”

Even at lunch, parents can monitor all their children’s choices. Students say the monitoring has made a difference in their lives. “I could get detention before and my dad wouldn’t know. But now he’ll know about it, so basically I’ve got to stop getting those,” said student Ted Woydt.

More frequent updates on my kids academic process I can get behind, but the rest? Seems excessive. Some of the parents I know would drive themselves batty, sitting in front of the screen frantically clicking the refresh button. And what about the kids? I would have been completely creeped out if I knew my parents were monitoring my every move at school, and it certainly doesn’t foster any level of trust. With the rapid advancement of technology, we need to remember that just because you can do something, doesn’t mean you should.

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Newsnet5.com reports the following Associated Press story that will have breastfeeding zealots agasp the world over:

 PRESCOTT, Mich. — A mother has been charged with involuntary manslaughter in the death of her infant daughter.

Ogemaw County prosecutors said the 5-month-old girl died after drinking breast milk containing cocaine.

Assistant Prosecutor Scott Williams said she wasn’t charged with murder because he believes the death was not intentional.

Prosecutors allege the mother used cocaine while she was breast-feeding the child.

They said the drug was passed on through her breast milk.

Record show the woman called 911 in August 2005 to report that her baby wasn’t breathing.

The mother was arrested Thursday and released on a personal recognizance bond.

She is scheduled to be arraigned May 18 in district court and could face up to 15 years in prison.

How will the breastfeeding spin doctors handle this? Denial? Accusations of further conspiracy theories? Claim that even cocaine ridden breastmilk is still better than corporate sponsored infant milk (at least there is one less person in which they can profit from)? She didn’t have enough societal support?

Who knows? Hopefully this woman will be punished for gross negligence (at the very least) resulting in the death of an infant, and those with an agenda don’t cloud, pressure or influence based on their wishes to promote breastfeeding and hide any negative outcome (no matter how rare it is). If this story proves to be true, then deadly toxic amounts of substances can allegedly be passed through breastmilk; that fact should be presented to mothers as part of infant nutrition education. Although it is a tragedy that can clearly be avoided, we have to stop presenting breastmilk as something that is impervious to human incompetence.

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Mamacita reminds me, bigger kids = bigger problems. Is this what I have to look forward to?? Even though I have boys and Ms. Joan here has daughters, it doesn’t make me feel any better, in fact, I think I’m in for even BIGGER problems.

HIPS DON’T LIE? Man, the dreaded Shakira! As far as I know, my oldest daughter, now 15, has never even been on a date. She sure as hell better have lying hips! The mere thought of it…Ah, but she does love to test me, just to see if I’m noticing. The other part of the time she’s telling me to stay out of her life.

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…or do they??

Edie.net informs us that April 24 - 30 is national “nappy week”, where parents are encouraged to use cloth diapers in effort to be the “baddest” green-mean-lean fightin’ machine! Certainly, sophisticated, smart and caring moms use cloth, don’tchyaknow? Just look at the rousing endorsement by the owner of Sam I Am, “It’s loosing it’s freakishness.” (Sign me up then!)

Kerry Newton, the owner of Sam I Am, an online store selling cotton nappies, said that Real Nappy Week was helping to bring her products into the mainstream.

“More and more people are giving them serious thought. It’s no longer got the hippy image,” she told edie. “It definitely is raising awareness. As the years go by, it’s loosing its freakishness.”

Eight million disposable nappies are thrown away every day in the UK.

 Oh, wait. Nevermind!

But not everyone is convinced that a return to cotton is the answer.

A recent Environment Agency study concluded that there was little or no difference between the damage done to the environment by disposable and re-usable nappies, and another study comparing the life cycles of disposable and reusable nappies is due to be published this autumn. A spokeswoman for the agency said it had “no specific view” on Real Nappy Week.

Back to the drawing board. I will find a way to make a difference even if doesn’t make a difference anyway, I promise you!

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A Grand Rapids, Michigan station publishes a news story that has me fuming!

HART, Mich. A 19-year-old woman whose infant son died after being left in a hot car was sentenced to two years of probation.

Sabrina McClure was sentenced Monday by an Oceana County Circuit Court judge.

 

Her three-month-old son, Michael Anthony McClure, was left inside a car for more than seven hours June 20th.

 

He died of hyperthermia.

 

McClure pleaded no contest in March to a charge of second-degree child abuse.

 

McClure was ordered to pay 120 dollars in fines and costs.

 

She must also pay a ten dollar supervision fee for each day she is on probation and attend mandatory parenting classes.

Why are we doing this?? Is it because the murderer is a woman? Does she get a special pass on behalf of the NOW organization and those who fight for the rights of the criminal and callous? It just seems like loonacy that killing or harming a child is treated so lightly, as if a dead baby is so insignificant. I find it soaked with such disregard for the victim. Are we losing our sense of what is right and wrong? Is it all politically motivated, instead of doing the right thing, sentencing comes down to soley keeping the contituents in mind? Whatever it is, society is failing infants and children in which we have a moral obligation to protect from this kind of stupidity and brutality. Probabtion is an insult to anybody who cares about how this infant died.

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From forbes.com, research supports the idea that younger moms give the gift of life–long life:

MONDAY, April 17 (HealthDay News) — Society’s oldest members are most likely to be born to its youngest mothers, new research suggests.

The odds of living to 100 and beyond double when a person is born to a woman under 25 years of age, compared to those people born to older mothers, according to one of the most rigorous studies on the subject yet conducted.

The finding may also help clear up a statistical mystery — three years ago, the same husband-and-wife team of researchers found that being the first-born child in a family also boosted longevity, although no one knew why.

“It turns out that the whole phenomenon of first-born order and longevity is driven by young maternal age,” said study co-author Leonid Gavrilov, a research associate at the Center on Aging at the University of Chicago.

In my selfish effort to wait, as I did not have my first child until 28 (and that’s probably young in todays standards), I think I am making my contribution in helping out the overburdened social security system. There’s too many old people anyway, who wants to pay out until they’re frickin’ ONE HUNDRED-plus? Just follow your careers first and do your part!

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Blogging Baby tells the tale of the withheld placenta:

From the Sun Journal/Associated Press:  Kalehua Krug and his wife, Kihapai, of Hawaii, recently gave birth to their third child.  As they had done  with their first two children, they asked the doctor if they could be given their daughter’s placenta: according to traditional Hawaiian custom, the placenta is consider a part of the child, and the Krugs planned on planting the placenta with a tree, and therefore watching the trees growth to help understand “psychological and spiritual changes” in their daughter.

Unfortunately, the law had changed:  under new Hawaiian state law, the placenta can no longer be released to the parents, but instead must be treated as medical waste and destroyed.  The reason?  Supposedly there’s no guarantee what people will actually do with the placenta, as “recipes for dishes containing human placenta are posted on the Internet.”

Nonetheless, the dispute has prompted the Hawaiian state legislature to pass a bill allowing the parents to take the placenta home.  The bill is now before Governor Linda Lingle, who is reviewing it.  If approved, it would be the first such law in the United States.

The placenta has been frozen and stored at the hospital since the Krug’s daughter’s birth.

“That’s what they don’t understand,” said Kalehua.  “This is a part of my child in essence being held captive - kidnapped.”

My first reaction is one of “ewe” and then I reason that at least with this family, it comes from an ethnic tradition and it’s not as if she’s going to make stew out of it. I suppose she does have the right to bury her placenta with a tree, on her property, much like the family gerbil who inevitably meets his maker before his time in every family rash enough to give into a childs “I want a pet gerbil” demand.

Cliffhanger:  Are the placenta stew cookin’ peeps gonna ruin this tradition for the Hawaiian people?? I guess we’ll have to stay tuned and find out. One would think that placenta stew cookin’ peeps homebirth (for the most part anyway) and have their placentas ready to marinate as soon as their linens are stripped. (Or, do they sleep in their birthing fluid? Probably. It’s probably thought of as “magical, inspiring, spirit of life” fluid in which they must bask themselves in along with their loved ones.)

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