Unfortunately, in my experience, frequent illness as described in this piece
is all too often perceived as the norm, just a "natural" part of early
childhood.   In my breastfeeding classes,  I have always pointed out that
this is *not* normal, but rather the result of the acceptance of artificial
feeding in our culture, NOT what nature intended, which is breastmilk for
the first few years, and healthy babies and and young children.   What
seems so obvious to us turns out to be food for thought for many new or yet
to be educated parents.

Yael Wyshogrod IBCLC
Rechovot Israel      (Who's 3 kids have had maybe 6 to 8 colds and zero ear
infections in their combined 25 years)


> Some youngsters seem to spend the first few years of their life always
ill.
> No sooner do they recover from an ear infection then they are afflicted
with
> intestinal flu, only to be followed by a cold and yet another ear
infection.
> Their parents claim they see their pediatrician so much that they are
> thinking about asking for a "reserved parking place" at the office. Why do
> some children seem so much more susceptible to getting sick than others?
>
> In order to answer that question, parents must realize that during the
> preschool years all children average six to eight colds per year. There
are
> over 200 individual viruses responsible for these illnesses, and a young
> child's immature immune system simply makes them more prone to sickness.
> Some protective antibodies are passed from mother to child during
pregnancy
> but they slowly disappear during the first 6-12 months of life. This makes
a
> toddler "bare" from a protective immune point of view and the child is
more
> susceptible to every contagious germ encountered. In addition, young
> children cannot take care of themselves. They can't blow their nose, clear
> their throats, or remember to wash their hands. It is not until the age of
> five or so that a child develops immunity of their own to fight these
> infectious germs and begins to learn the use of a handkerchief. Next time
> you are at your child's doctor's office, look around the waiting room. You
> will notice that the age range of most of the sick children is between
nine
> months to five years.
>
> continues...
>
> Magda Sachs
> Breastfeeding Supporter, BfN, UK
>

             ***********************************************
The LACTNET mailing list is powered by L-Soft's renowned
LISTSERV(R) list management software together with L-Soft's LSMTP(TM)
mailer for lightning fast mail delivery. For more information, go to:
http://www.lsoft.com/LISTSERV-powered.html