The Mom Crowd

On October 12th makers of cough and cold medicines pulled their drugs targeted for babies and toddlers from store shelves. Then the following Friday an advisory panel for the Food and Drug Administration voted to ban over-the-counter cold products targeted for children under six years old. The votes to ban the over-the-counter products for 2 years of age and younger was 21-1, while the vote to ban over-the-counter products for ages 2-5 years of age was 13-9. So we most likely won’t see a ban for drugs for children over the age of 2, because the agency is likely to ignore such a close vote according the New York Times.

The ban is suggested, because all 11 studies reviewed by the panel report that the medicines don’t work and in some rare cases cause serious harm. Also, the drugs were only tested on adults and assumed to be safe in children. Researchers have since found that some medicines react differently in children than adults.

A ban might not even take place at all. Dr. John Jenkins, director of the FDA’s office of new drugs, in an Associated Press article says, “If the agency chose to restrict use in children 6 and under, that won’t necessarily lead to a ban on the products. It might lead to labeling that says ‘do not use.'”

Also a ban may not happen for a while, because of the red tape of the FDA and the manufacturers will fight the ban according to the New York Times.

The panel’s patient and family representative, Amy Celento of Nutley, N.J. in an AP article said that she fears that parents will administer adult products to their children because they work for them or feel they work for them.

In the same AP article, “the panel also recommended drug makers provide standardized droppers with their liquid cough and cold medicines. Experts had told the panel the sometimes hard-to-use dosing devices contribute to parents unwittingly overdosing their children.” I agree! It takes me about five tries to get the medicine in the dropper right at .4 or .8. Better droppers would be nice!

There is a lot of talk in the media about these medicines and the FDA is taking no action right now. The advisory panel has only made suggestions to the FDA.

If the reports claim that the medicines don’t work, then a ban is not a loss to parents. Although, I know one parent who claims the medicines work for her four children. My daughter is only five months old, so I wouldn’t consider cough and cold medicine right now. She had her first cold last week and I have given her some children’s Tylenol when she had a fever and on the nights she was extremely uncomfortable. I have also made sure to feed her often, so she gets lots of liquids to break up the mucus. If needed, we also use a warm humidifier during the night.

(more…)

I would like to welcome our new contributing author to The Mom Crowd, Amelia! I have known Amelia for nine years. I attended her going away party six months ago to say good-bye and to get birthing advice. Two weeks later I appreciated that advice during my labor and delivery. I seriously don’t think that my labor would have went as well as it did without the few tips she gave me. After my delivery, Amelia was also a big encouragement to me while Ace and I learned how to breastfeed. I am forever grateful for her support.

I am excited about what Amelia is bringing to The Mom Crowd. She enjoys knowing how the body works, she isn’t afraid to talk about anything, and loves to help people look at things from a different perspective.

About Amelia:

I am the mother of three boys: Ewan, Isaac, and Graham. When I was pregnant with Ewan, I became interested in natural childbirth. We took classes from an independent teacher who taught The Bradley Method and had a fabulous unmedicated hospital birth. 14 months after Ewan was born we had Isaac, who was born 6 weeks early and spent 2 weeks in the NICU. He was also born naturally in the hospital. That was a difficult time for our family and we learned a lot about premature babies. I spent the first 6 months of Isaac’s life struggling with postpartum depression and learning how to be a mom of two children so close together. I still had a passion for birth and decided to become a childbirth educator. I went through the affiliation process and am a certified Bradley Instructor. In September of 2007 I gave birth to my third son, Graham. He was born at a birth center and surprised us by weighing almost 12 pounds! While birth has been easy for me, breastfeeding hasn’t. I love breastfeeding but have had different issues with each baby. I am very empathetic to women who try to nurse their babies and have difficulties. I have been a stay at home mom for a little over 4 years. Before being a stay at home mom, which seems like a lifetime ago, I did full time ministry to college students for 5 years.

Please welcome our newest author!

Check out the super-cute photos of The Mom Crowd kids in our Pumpkins and Munchkins Photo Gallery.

A big thank you to everyone who submitted a photo. I love seeing all the costumes and Halloween wear! I know I had a lot of fun with Lindsay and Joshua at the pumpkin patch today.

It is not too late add your little one. Email us your photo at pictures [at] themomcrowd.com.

There has been a lot of talk in the news recently about a new online video glossary produced by Autism Speaks and First Signs. The video glossary contains over a hundred videos to help concerned parents learn more about the early warning signs of autism spectrum disorders (ASD). Autism is not diagnosed until a child is 3 or 4 years of age. If ASD can be detected sooner than 3 or 4 years of age, then treatment can begin sooner and the child will do better on the spectrum of autism.

According to the Autism Speaks website:

“The goal of the project is to help parents of children suspected of or recently diagnosed with autism better understand some of the words and terms they might hear used in association with ASD. Video clips are used to show examples of such terms as social reciprocity, joint attention, sensory defensiveness, hand flapping, and echolalia. In many cases, side-by-side video clips show behaviors that are typical in contrast with those that are red flags for ASD. “

The video glossary is a great tool for parents who are concerned about autism or if their child has recently been diagnosed. The videos explain a lot of the terms commonly used. I am afraid I would watch it and become paranoid, because a lot of the differences are very subtle. However, if I know some of the major red flags, then I would be in a better position to help an early detection.

My big complaint about the website is that the video glossary does not support Firefox and Safari web browsers. So Mac users like myself, may not actually get to view the videos. I think I can upgrade my Quicktime player, but it seemed like a hassle. Users viewing the videos in Internet Explorer should not have any problems.

Check out the online video glossary.

The new website in the news:

Video from The Early Show on CBS.com
ABC News Nightline Article
Video interview with creator Amy Wetherby on CBS.com
Article from The Associated Press

A reader asks The Mom Crowd:

“Mark and I are talking seriously about trying for our first baby and the thought of it is so overwhelming. I would love to know what other moms have been through, great resources to check out, etc. Another thing we are dealing with is different opinions on some parenting questions. I know every marriage is different, but it would be great to hear how other couples deal with differing opinions.”

My husband and I did not agree on the timing of our first child. He wanted to wait longer and I was thinking, “I’m not getting any younger.” Timing was the one thing we did not agree on. I remember praying that we would get on the same page and I just waited. About year and a half after we got married, we were at a fancy birthday/Valentines Day dinner we were talking about when to have kids. We miraculously agreed on a year and a half from that date.

Fast forward a year and a half and we still weren’t sure if we were ready. We had some concerns about not being out of debt by the time the baby came so I could quit my job to be a stay-at-home mom. There was also the larger question of “are we ready for this?” Circumstances arose that helped calm our fears. While talking with his friend who had just become a father my husband realized, “He did it and he’s still alive.” Also, our best friends were about to try to start a family. So we took the leap and started trying. Honestly, that part was super fun. Two months later we were pregnant. I was vomiting all the time and the fun stopped, but we were excited about being parents. We weren’t going to be completely out of debt by the time the baby came, but we trusted God that He would work everything out and He has!

We didn’t know how to address parenting questions until we were actually parents. We talked about parenting in our pre-marriage counseling, but had no clue about the feelings and emotions involved in these types of decisions. Each day together we are still learning how to parent Ace. The pre-marriage curriculum that we went through was called Marriage Savers. The couple that counseled us is still around and has three amazing grown children. We know that we can call them anytime we have questions about parenting. We often ask other parents what worked for them.

The decision for me to stay home came naturally for us, but I know it does not for other couples. Each couple has different opinions about staying home or working based on what their parents did. One spouse’s mom may have worked and took care of the kids, so they set that expectation on their spouse. I believe some moms are meant to work and it does not take away from their role as a mother. Ultimately, it is about trusting what God wants for your family. If God called me to go back to work I would be there and I would trust that He would work everything out. We were able to have an open dialogue about the decision and eventually came to a mutual agreement.

We did have some financial concerns, but we got lots of advice to not let finances control our decision about when to start a family. I am glad I listened to that advice. I wouldn’t trade our decision to start a family for anything.

How would you answer the reader’s questions? How did you decide to start your family? Did you and your spouse disagree on any parenting issues and how did you resolve them? Do you have any resource recommendations?

Additional Resources:

Marriage Builders on How to Resolve Conflicts
Stay at Home Calculator on Parents.com
Articles relating to staying home on Babycenter.com
Chapter 6 of Financial Peace Revisted by Dave Ramsey. This chapter talks about the finances of a second income.