I guess I have the WTF for today

[Shawn]

http://www.guardian.co.uk/international/story/0,3604,922557,00.html
A couple who fed their premature daughter a strict vegetarian, dairy-free diet are on trial in New York, accused of endangering her life. The case is seen as a test case for parents who put their children on non-conventional diets.

Joseph and Silva Swinton, both 32, from Queens, New York, are technically charged with assault, although it is not alleged that they intended to harm their daughter, Ice. She weighed only 3lb (1.4kg) at birth and her parents fed her on organic produce and vitamins.

When she was 15 months old, an anonymous call led to an examination of the child, who was found to be near death and was taken into care. A second child, a son, has also since been taken into care.

The prosecution alleges that Ms Silva did not breast feed Ice or give her a baby formula but instead imposed a diet of fruit juice, ground nuts and pureed vegetables. It is alleged that the couple ignored obvious signs of illness and did not seek medical help. Ice was found to be suffering from rickets and malnourishment and weighed only 10lb (4.5kg) at the age of 15 months.

The defence, which opened its case yesterday, will argue that the child was not in imminent danger and that the Silvas were caring parents who do not deserve punishment. You know, it's all nice and well that you may think drinking milk is unhealthy and cruel to the cows, but when you won't even breastfeed your own child... well, a little common sense should come into play. Just another example of parents trying to force their lifestyle on their children before they even have a chance to choose.

[ReaperFett]

Plants live. How can they not mind slaughtering and eating them?

[Shawn]

Well, whenever a vegetarian tells me that we're not supposed to kill animals for food, I ask them why we have teeth specifically made for tearing and grinding meat. (shrugs)

But that's not really the point. You really shouldn't be forcing your kid to adhere to a diet that is obviously unhealthy for them. Their daughter was nearly a year and a half old and only 10 pounds?

I personally hope they take the children away from them, because they obviously don't know how to take care of them.

[Droo]

People that uninformed/stupid shouldn't be allowed to have children.

[Leeloo Mina]

Holy..$#@#@^$# Only 10 lbs? What the heck were those people thinking??

Yeah it's nice and all that they're worried about the animals. but their own children's health should mean more to them.

[Commander Zemil Vymes]

Haha...stupid vegetarian hippies.

[Sorreessa Tarrineezi]

"if we aren't supposed to eat animals, why are they made of meat?"-random radio quote

honestly tis stupid the lot of it, for the most part in about seven years or so, the person's body can't handle the lack of meat if they aren't eating the right balance of certain vegetables...I forget exactly what happens but my anthropology teacher was telling it....

[Marcus Telcontar]

Would not breast feed her own child??????

-_-

[Commander Zemil Vymes]

You know, it would be decidedly Hammurabic to have these parents punished by cannibalism :)

[Ryla Relvinian]

Well, some women don't for various reasons, but it's a bad idea all around. Breast-fed children are smarter than non-breast fed ones... But that's beside the point. Lack of meat must have seriously stunted the PARENTS' brains. That's just sick.

[Shawn]

If you don't want to breast feed the child, try baby formula. But don't malnourish it.

[Jason Dreggs]

Originally posted by Ryla Relvinian
Well, some women don't for various reasons, but it's a bad idea all around. Breast-fed children are smarter than non-breast fed ones... But that's beside the point. Lack of meat must have seriously stunted the PARENTS' brains. That's just sick.

Actaully new research has disproven that theory just thought you would like to know. :)

[Morgan Evanar]

It is healthier tho. This is a reason women have breasts, aside from bedroom fun. ^_^

[Kelt Simoson]

Breat feeding a baby is supposed to form a closer bond between child and mother also.

[Jason Dreggs]

Kelts is very true. Morgan in most respects yours is right but in my own personal case I'm healther then most of my breast fed cousins. :)

[Commander Zemil Vymes]

That isn't a very scientific comparison tho

[Leeloo Mina]

I wouldn't want to breast feed a kid... :x but then again I'm not having kids.

[Jason Dreggs]

True but Like I said morgan is right it just didn't happen for some reason in my case. :\

[Marcus Telcontar]

For the first 60 hours, after birth, the milk expressed is vastly different. It is chok full of antibodies and other disease fighters that give the baby a chance to survive the first few days out in the open. It's vital a child gets this first milk.

Breast milk is the safest method of feeding an infant, milk formula should only be used if breast feeding is not working out.

I understand babies fed on the breast are in the main healtier and bgger. Breast milk is simply the best thing for a child until they begin to get teeth.

[Destiny Stormrider]

I doubt it was the case here, but sometimes the baby wants WAY too much milk, more than the mom can give (or so a mother told me...)

Anywho! Wasn't the baby's pediatrician supposed to notice that 10 pounds is kinda not normal?!

[Daiquiri Van-Derveld]

Some mothers dont produce enough milk, thats true. Generally though given enough time (and some supplements for the baby) the production of milk is built up enough to the point that the supply is more than adequat.

I nursed the girls for the first couple of months but got to the place where it was more of a chore than a pleasure.......I couldnt stand to be touched......an overload of tactile sensations. I felt like I should have been wearing a bell around my neck and my name should be changed to 'Bessie' :\

One of the girls didnt mind the bottle at all, so she was switched and the other was kept on the breast until she was about 6 months old.

[Dae Jinn]

My mum bled when she tried to breast feed me, so ew, nasty :x If you can, I guess you can, but if you cant for reasons beyond your control, you cant.

Those parents have issues though. Anyone who could do that to their own child have serious mental problems.

[Commander Zemil Vymes]

I felt like is should have been wearing a bell around my neck and my name should be changed to 'Bessie' :\

:lol!

[Shawn]

Originally posted by Dae Jinn
If you can, I guess you can, but if you cant for reasons beyond your control, you cant.Of course. If you can't or don't want to, you should just find a healthy alternative.

[Wei Wu Wei]

Originally posted by Shawn
Of course. If you can't or don't want to, you should just find a healthy alternative.

I agree about the can't part, but the don't want to part, I cannot agree with. Children are not a chore, or an obligation. They aren't like little objects that require a certain amount of upkeep in order for them to keep on functioning. They are people.

If a mother does not breast feed her children because she does not want to, it makes me think she doesn't really love her child as much as she would like to think she does.

Love isn't just caring about someone and being involved in his or her life. Love is also the willingness to be inconvenienced in exchange for another person's well being.

Love is patient; love is kind; love is not envious or boastful or arrogant or rude. It does not insist on its own way/[I]; itis not irritable or resentful; it does not rejoice in wrongdoing, but rejoincs in truth. [I]It bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, and endures all things.

1 Corinthians 13:4-7 Emphasis added.

If you are not ready and willing to give up everything you have for someone, and go through vast amounts of hardship and discomfort to see that person happy, then you're not feeling love. I have no tolerance for people who say that they love somebody, and yet won't lay down their life for that person.

If I have offended anyone with my quotation of the Bible, I apologize. The Bible is something I believe very strongly in, and 1 Corinthians 13:4-7 is one that I feel especially passionate about. I have no tolerance for people like that baby's parents, who won't even give up their own way to see their child healthy. This story makes me very very angry indeed.

[Daiquiri Van-Derveld]

I think a lot of it is due to the American culture. We dont view breasts as a nursing or motherly tool. They are seen as something for pleasure.

From that pov, I can understand why some women would feel uncomfortable about nursing.

[Wei Wu Wei]

Point made, Daiq, point well made. It's sad to see how sick people's values have become due to popular culture today. But you know what's funny? As messed up as the world is today concerning sex, we got nothing on Soddom and Gammorha. Although it gets a little difficult to believe that sometimes.

[Leeloo Mina]

I think a lot of it is due to the American culture. We dont view breasts as a nursing or motherly tool. They are seen as something for pleasure.

From that pov, I can understand why some women would feel uncomfortable about nursing.


I think that's why the idea of nursing a kid makes me feel sick.. because I think of breasts as a sexual thing not something I want a baby sucking on.

[Shawn]

I included "Don't want to" because of what Daiquiri mentioned. I'm sure it can be painful/uncomfortable for the mother at times. Baby formula is a perfectly acceptable alternative, to me. If I had a child, I'd prefer it if my wife breast fed it but I'm not going to force her to if she doesn't want to.

[Daiquiri Van-Derveld]

Unless a female 'prepares' her body, nursing can be painful. Certain 'protrusions' can crack, split and bleed until accustomed to being used in such manner. (Hope that wasnt too vague..? I wanted to keep it within certain boundaries)