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you women seem pretty knowledgeable when it comes to nutrition and childhood illnesses. I usually lurk here but have posted a few times and I think you all seem to know what you are talking about so here goes...
This is about my niece. She is 2 1/2. I have never seen a child who seems that overall unhealthy in my life. She always has a cold and a sore throat. She supposedly has allergies but I wonder if that is really a symptom of something else. A little background info - she was never breastfed, only drank formula until she was 9 months old and then was put on cow's milk. (Forgive me if this turns into a rant about my in-laws). She was never a good eater, even as a baby on babyfood, but her diet since eating regular table food might be the worst diet I have ever seen. She only eats Kraft mac n cheese or spaghetti-o's. I have never seen her eat a fruit or vegetable. She doesn't like the taste of vitamins so she spits them out and my SIL and MIL don't press the issue. She is a terrible sleeper, definitely sleep deficient IMO. All she drinks is milk but for some reason unbeknownst to me, they have her on 2% milk so she probably doesnt get enough fat either. Of course she is fully vaxed (my in-laws think I am crazy for even questioning vaxes). Not only is she fully vaxed but I think she also got a flu vax this year.
Anyway, my SIL took her to the doctor because she seems tired all the time (I wonder why!?!) and because she looks pale and her gums are white. I haven't seen her gums so I don't know how white they really are, if they are just paler than usual or really white. So the doctor ordered a blood test, and mentioned that these are symptoms of leukemia. I didn't speak to my MIL or SIL directly, DH did and he is the type of person that freaks out about stuff like this so I don't think he asked any questions about what else she could possibly have.
I have been keeping my mouth shut about how unhealthy I feel she is because I don't need the headache. BTW, my SIL is pregnant again and has already told me she is not breastfeeding because "formula is the same exact thing as breastmilk" None of the women in DH's family ever breastfed, including his grandmother and they all believe that formula is perfectly fine. I know I am not the perfect mother, I allowed DS to receive all his vaxes up to 9 months b/c I didn't know better, but at least he eats a healthy diet (would be better if I could afford organic right now) and I didn't breastfeed as long as I should have but at least he had benefits from some breastfeeding. Now I feel terrible for not opening up my mouth. I have mentioned that she didn't look so hot the last time I saw her but they brushed it off. The differences in my son and my niece are unbelievable. I don't know if this is related but she is just a grumpy little kid and she used to be a happy smiling baby.
I am so sorry for the rant but I just want to know - how can I help her? Can you think of anything besides leukemia, maybe a vitamin deficiency that would cause those kinds of symptoms? I know that the vitamin k injection given at birth can cause leukemia, would it take this long for her to get sick if that was the case? I may be wrong but I imagine they would have tested her for anemia at her ped's office when they did the routine CBC so I would think that has been ruled out already.
Thanks in advance.
This is about my niece. She is 2 1/2. I have never seen a child who seems that overall unhealthy in my life. She always has a cold and a sore throat. She supposedly has allergies but I wonder if that is really a symptom of something else. A little background info - she was never breastfed, only drank formula until she was 9 months old and then was put on cow's milk. (Forgive me if this turns into a rant about my in-laws). She was never a good eater, even as a baby on babyfood, but her diet since eating regular table food might be the worst diet I have ever seen. She only eats Kraft mac n cheese or spaghetti-o's. I have never seen her eat a fruit or vegetable. She doesn't like the taste of vitamins so she spits them out and my SIL and MIL don't press the issue. She is a terrible sleeper, definitely sleep deficient IMO. All she drinks is milk but for some reason unbeknownst to me, they have her on 2% milk so she probably doesnt get enough fat either. Of course she is fully vaxed (my in-laws think I am crazy for even questioning vaxes). Not only is she fully vaxed but I think she also got a flu vax this year.
Anyway, my SIL took her to the doctor because she seems tired all the time (I wonder why!?!) and because she looks pale and her gums are white. I haven't seen her gums so I don't know how white they really are, if they are just paler than usual or really white. So the doctor ordered a blood test, and mentioned that these are symptoms of leukemia. I didn't speak to my MIL or SIL directly, DH did and he is the type of person that freaks out about stuff like this so I don't think he asked any questions about what else she could possibly have.
I have been keeping my mouth shut about how unhealthy I feel she is because I don't need the headache. BTW, my SIL is pregnant again and has already told me she is not breastfeeding because "formula is the same exact thing as breastmilk" None of the women in DH's family ever breastfed, including his grandmother and they all believe that formula is perfectly fine. I know I am not the perfect mother, I allowed DS to receive all his vaxes up to 9 months b/c I didn't know better, but at least he eats a healthy diet (would be better if I could afford organic right now) and I didn't breastfeed as long as I should have but at least he had benefits from some breastfeeding. Now I feel terrible for not opening up my mouth. I have mentioned that she didn't look so hot the last time I saw her but they brushed it off. The differences in my son and my niece are unbelievable. I don't know if this is related but she is just a grumpy little kid and she used to be a happy smiling baby.
I am so sorry for the rant but I just want to know - how can I help her? Can you think of anything besides leukemia, maybe a vitamin deficiency that would cause those kinds of symptoms? I know that the vitamin k injection given at birth can cause leukemia, would it take this long for her to get sick if that was the case? I may be wrong but I imagine they would have tested her for anemia at her ped's office when they did the routine CBC so I would think that has been ruled out already.
Thanks in advance.
