Totally Appalled by People Magazine (RANT!)

I was reading People Magazine this morning.

Yes, because it had a story about Katie Holme's baby. (Hey, I'm FROM Toledo - I practically have an obligation to be interested in the bizarre goings on in the life of our hometown girl hero turned TomKat zombie.)

Anyhoo, I was reading the story about baby Suri, and in a blurb at the bottom of one of the pages, it talked about "Scientology" and raising children.

This about made my hair stand on end and I wanted to spit I was so mad at the sheer stupidity of one of the items. It said something like, "Brew Your Own: While breastfeeding is fine, Scientology suggests brewing a baby formula from barley water, milk, and corn syrup."

NO I AM NOT MAKING THAT UP.

Um. HELLO!!! There are so many things wrong with that statement that I CANNOT EVEN BELIEVE that People Magazine printed it.

First, "while breastfeeding is fine" - while breastfeeding is FINE? FINE? Not, preferred? Not, recommended by pediatricians the world over??? Not, recommended by the American Medical Association and the World Health Association, but, FINE? FINE????

Pasta can be fine. Hair can be fine. The f**king weather can be FINE.

Breastfeeding, on the other hand, is simply not done justice by tossing it off casually, as "fine".

But, making this even worse, is the UBELIEVABLY STUPID SUGGESTION that a mixture of barley water, MILK, and CORN SYRUP is PREFERABLE to BREASTMILK or BABY FORMULA.

There is a REASON that babies who do not get breastmilk get baby formula.

I cannot even believe, that a national magazine would suggest that is OKAY to brew your own formula, from cow's milk and sugar and barley water (barley water???).

Babies cannot have milk. They cannot have milk until they are a year old. Now, I didn't formula feed Gabriel (he nursed for a year), so, I do not claim to be an expert on why this is - but, I do know, that the only appropriate foods for new born babies are breastmilk and baby formula. THAT'S IT.

Here's a group of Canadian doctor who DO know why. http://www.ctv.ca/servlet/ArticleNews/story/CTVNews/1065812412616_61221612?hub=Health

I've also read that most young infants cannot digest the proteins in cow's milk, and that giving them cow's milk can cause all kinds of digestive distress.

I'm so ticked that People printed this, I think I am going to have to write a letter to the editor.

That's all for now,
LM