Q: My doctor says I can try and get pregnant right away after stopping the pill. What’s your opinion?

A. Technically yes, you can try to get pregnant as soon as you stop taking contraceptives. Although it is possible and many women do get pregnant right away, it is a good idea to give your body a chance to detoxify the synthetic hormones you’ve been taking. Because contraceptives are synthetic hormones, they are not detoxified and eliminated from the body as quickly or efficiently as your own hormones- in essence they hang around longer and can negatively affect your reproductive health. If you get pregnant right away your baby will be exposed to these higher levels of hormones and the verdict is out as to how these affect your baby’s own hormonal and metabolic development- especially for male fetuses. It’s also a good idea to give your body some time to rebalance and normalize it’s own hormonal output so that you know you have a healthy base to start with. If you are experiencing PMS symptoms, an irregular period, heavy period, or clots these are signs you should work on hormonal rebalancing before getting pregnant. At least 3 months time is a good time frame between stopping the pill and trying to get pregnant.

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A: There are a few technicalities in the vaccination policies of Canada that make this an often asked question in my office. Vaccination policies differ across Canada and only 3 provinces (Ontario, New Brunswick, and Manitoba) have vaccination policies in place for children about to enter school. That being said, there are exemption clauses which enable you, as a parent, to decline vaccinations for your child citing religious or medical grounds, or simply for reasons of conscience.  This means no one can be forced to be vaccinated in Canada and it is not mandatory in the public school system or public day care centres to be vacinated prior to entry.  Private schools may be an exception as they have the ability to create and enforce their own policies.  For more information on vaccination exemptions please visit http://vran.org/exemptions/

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A. During roughly the first 6 months of food introduction (usually from 6-12 months of age) complementary foods to breastmilk or formula are intended more as a sensory experience than to replace the nutrition provided by milk.  The food you are introducing to your child at this impressionable stage will forever affect his/her taste preferences, appetite, and lifelong health.  Complementary foods are teaching them about new textures, tastes, and colours so it’s important to offer a variety of different finger foods in addition to the purees or solids you may have already introduced.

There are many convenience foods packaged and marketed to the parents of toddlers like yourself. Most of this packaged foods are high in sugar (disguised in rice crackers and teething biscuits), salt, and synthetic ingredients and colours that do nothing to enhance your child’s health.  Some common finger foods have the same sugar content as a can of pop!

Finger food ideas to consider:

· Any cut-up age appropriate fruit or vegetable (e.g. pomegranate seeds, kiwi, raspberries, grapes)

· Kamut puffs, organic corn puffs, millet puffs

· Dry cereal made from the above grains as well as spelt, buckwheat, and amaranth

*to make chewing easier for those without teeth, soak the cereal in a little breastmilk, water, almond milk, coconut milk before serving

· Nuts and seeds (make sure the size of the nut or seed is age appropriate to reduce choking hazards)

· Hardboiled egg or scrambled egg

· Kale chips (make your own in 10 minutes!)

· Cubed chicken or turkey breast (seasoned as desired)

· Beans (white beans, navy, beans, kidney beans etc.) cooked, rinsed, and seasoned with a little salad dressing

Using the above finger foods will provide your little one with a mouthful of vitamins, minerals, protein, and healthy fats, without the added sugar, colour, and additives that come in pre-packaged toddler snacks (and they’re easier on your budget too!)

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Kindly,
Dr. Carly Wendler BA.Sc., N.D.

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The growth and development of infants and children is complex, intricate, and most importantly, individual. Each child has a unique genetic makeup and this, combined with unique environmental and social circumstances, helps dictate how a child grows. It is too simplistic to take a child’s weight and conclusively say that that measurement alone makes for a healthy or unhealthy child. There are lots of children who plot on a chart as underweight but are otherwise perfectly healthy, just as there are children who plot on a chart as a healthy weight but have many health issues.

Firstly, make sure your health professional is using the appropriate growth chart for your child, otherwise s/he may look, falsely, under- or overweight. Your baby’s gender and type of milk consumed are large determinants of growth. We know that boys and girls grow differently and breastfed and formula fed babies grow in different ways. The World Health Organization (WHO) has developed growth charts for health professionals to use in tracking a breastfed child’s physical growth and development, yet most pediatricians use a standard formula fed chart regardless of the type of milk consumed. The WHO charts are available online and you can print them off and take them to your pediatrician if needed.

Secondly, you need to consider your child’s diet as a whole, to help determine overall health and wellness. Children who eat high sugar, high fat, processed convenience foods and drink juice tend to weight more than children who do not eat these foods. I have not only professional experience with this issue, but personal as well. My 20 month old son has consistently been in the 5^th-15^th percentile for weight (yet height and head circumference and all milestones are normal). However, he was (and still is) breastfed, does not eat dairy, wheat, or sugar, and gets outside exercise for at least 2-3 hours a day. In only considering only his weight as a number on a chart he appears underweight, but considering his lifestyle as a whole, he is strong and healthy.

If after the above two considerations you feel your child is truly underweight and this brings with it health issues and you want to supplement, consider carefully the formula and pediasure options. Formulas are not a natural food to the human digestive system and make create digestive problems or health issues for your child. They are high in sugar, chemicals, and artificially created ingredients. They can increase caloric intake because of fat and calorie content, but it’s not a healthy way to increase fat and calories to support a healthy weight gain. The same applies to supplemental drinks like pediasure. The second and third ingredients listed are sugars, closely followed by the most allergenic proteins, and unhealthy oils. Also included are synthetic vitamins and colours, some known to have a relationship to learning problems. Children are sure to gain weight drinking a supplemental beverage that contains almost as much sugar per serving as soda pop but it’s certainly not a healthy weight gain.

In summary, if your child is underweight and this lower weight brings with it health concerns, consider increasing healthy fats and calories with foods like avocado, nuts and nut butters, seeds, animal meats, and fish oil supplements. Find a qualified health professional who can create an individualized food plan for your child.

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For newborns the common signs of reflux may include vomiting (especially after meals), irritability, arching of the body, gagging, choking, food aversion, head turning, and failure to thrive. You may also want to consider reflux if your baby appears uncomfortable in a bucket car seat, especially if s/he starts screaming as soon as they are put in the seat.  When your baby is placed into the car seat it shapes the body into a c shape, increasing abdominal pressure and forcing food contents back up into the esophagus causing pain (and hence the screaming).  If your baby calms when held upright in the arms, sling, or baby carrier s/he may also have reflux, as this position decreases abdominal pressure and relieves pain associated with regurgitating food. if you have an older child they may complain of abdominal or chest pain as well as regurgitation of food.  Unfortunately, there is no definitive test for reflux and it is often a diagnosis of exclusion, meaning other conditions have been ruled out as causative factors and reflux is what is left as a diagnosis.  The above signs and symptoms taken alone can be associated with many conditions, not just reflux, so it is important to look at the whole picture or totality of your child’s health, and not just individual symptoms and signs.

There are many treatment options for reflux in both the infant and older child aside from the common prescription and over-the-counter medications.  It is important to keep in mind these medications do come with side effects and risks, especially in infants whose metabolism and detoxification systems are still immature.  Safety testing is usually done in adults and therefore we are still not sure of the safety profile of these medications in infants and small children.  Food sensitivities should be a primary area of investigation for suspected reflux. If your baby is exclusively breastfed, your diet will need to be assessed to get positive results and improvement in your baby.  Ensuring a healthy intestinal flora by supplementing with age appropriate probiotics can also help with relieving reflux.  Many herbal and homeopathic options are safe for use in infants, children, and breastfeeding women.  Herbs and homeopathics, although natural, should be used under the strict supervision of a qualified and licensed health professional.

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