# Oy, this crunchy mothering board is hurting my brain **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [May 16, 2011, 9:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oy-this-crunchy-mothering-board-is-hurting-my-brain/582143 "2011-05-16T21:59:51Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Guinastasia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guinastasia/32/5751_2.png) [@Guinastasia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Guinastasia)\ **Post date:** [May 16, 2011, 11:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oy-this-crunchy-mothering-board-is-hurting-my-brain/582143/21 "2011-05-16T23:39:10Z")
> [@Morgyn](#): > > So what happened to said Mom and baby? (Just how toxic is copperhead venom? Will it kill or just make you really really sick or what? Off to Google!) According to the link I posted, it seems like she accepted the anti-venom after all. What a dumbass. (It links to the original thread she posted, although some of the posts seem to be missing. Too bad, it was a hoot) ---
**Author:** ![Kolga](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/e56c9b/32.png) [@Kolga](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kolga)\ **Post date:** [May 16, 2011, 11:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oy-this-crunchy-mothering-board-is-hurting-my-brain/582143/22 "2011-05-16T23:41:49Z")
> [@Rigamarole](#): > > Are you kidding me? The difference is that some views (like ones usually seen around here) are supported by _science_. Others are supported by _the crazy_. I’m so stealing this, especially the “supported by _the crazy_” part. Do you mind? ---
**Author:** ![Rigamarole](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/77aa72/32.png) [@Rigamarole](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rigamarole)\ **Post date:** [May 16, 2011, 11:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oy-this-crunchy-mothering-board-is-hurting-my-brain/582143/23 "2011-05-16T23:42:52Z")
> [@Kolga](#): > > I’m so stealing this, especially the "supported by _the crazy_ part. Do you mind? Go for it. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Smeghead](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/f1d935/32.png) [@Smeghead](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Smeghead)\ **Post date:** [May 17, 2011, 12:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oy-this-crunchy-mothering-board-is-hurting-my-brain/582143/24 "2011-05-17T00:04:49Z")
I’ve been exposed to too much stupid today. I can’t handle another thread of it. It’s affecting my mood. ---
**Author:** ![dangermom](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e274bd/32.png) [@dangermom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dangermom)\ **Post date:** [May 17, 2011, 3:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oy-this-crunchy-mothering-board-is-hurting-my-brain/582143/25 "2011-05-17T03:22:16Z")
> [@Ca3799](#): > > LOL- I work at a hospital that delivered nearly 10,000 babies last year and I think I have seen every single permutation of possible parenting possibilities. The only one that really worries me is the religious “Baby-Wise” parenting guides. They have you ‘train the baby up’ so they will do stuff like sleep through the night at 6 weeks and whatnot. Fortunately that is out of favor right now. Well I hope it’s going out of style. If anyone ever so much as mentions the Pearls or “To Train Up A Child” to you, tell them to go look up Lydia Schatz. ---
**Author:** ![jz78817](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jz78817/32/1028_2.png) [@jz78817](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jz78817)\ **Post date:** [May 17, 2011, 9:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oy-this-crunchy-mothering-board-is-hurting-my-brain/582143/26 "2011-05-17T09:35:03Z")
> [@kanicbird](#): > > They would not say your views are equally supported. Again a mirror, and how you view this group is exactly how they view this group. The difference is that _they are wrong._ ---
**Author:** ![aruvqan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aruvqan/32/2891_2.png) [@aruvqan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aruvqan)\ **Post date:** [May 17, 2011, 10:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oy-this-crunchy-mothering-board-is-hurting-my-brain/582143/27 "2011-05-17T10:16:40Z")
> [@kanicbird](#): > > You say you are supported by science, like it’s a trump card, like you are invoking the name of God. > > You are not happy when others invoke their god(s), why should they accept yours? Because with science _in general_ results are repeatable, with the granola crunching bunnihuggy woo types when the results do not reproduce it is because you are harshing their vibe or whatever woo bullshit excuse they want to use about why _whatever_ won’t reproduce results doesn’t work. ---
**Author:** ![BigT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bigt/32/12044_2.png) [@BigT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BigT)\ **Post date:** [May 17, 2011, 10:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oy-this-crunchy-mothering-board-is-hurting-my-brain/582143/28 "2011-05-17T10:30:37Z")
> [@aruvqan](#): > > Because with science _in general_ results are repeatable, with the granola crunching bunnihuggy woo types when the results do not reproduce it is because you are harshing their vibe or whatever woo bullshit excuse they want to use about why _whatever_ won’t reproduce results doesn’t work. RTFT. Translation: I’d love to talk about this, but the OP has asked **kanicbird** not to hijack her thread. ---
**Author:** ![Unauthorized\_Cinnamon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/bc8723/32.png) [@Unauthorized\_Cinnamon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Unauthorized_Cinnamon)\ **Post date:** [May 17, 2011, 12:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oy-this-crunchy-mothering-board-is-hurting-my-brain/582143/29 "2011-05-17T12:17:56Z")
Yeah, I don’t have the strength for a full on philosophy of science debate! I will agree though, that it is maddening when the creduloids move the goalposts. The most frustrating thing is that they don’t even realize what they’re doing. It’s a fundamental disconnect of approaches to life. All these women care about is, “I tried it, and it worked for me.” They have no clue about human perceptual foibles, or the fact that science is all about trying to find out what’s really happening, by controlling for all the things we know can interfere with seeing what’s true. When another rational member and I tried to explain, we just heard repetitions of, “I don’t care what studies say, I know it works.” See above, re: facepalm. ---
**Author:** ![Mollie\_Magill](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mollie_magill/32/20882_2.png) [@Mollie\_Magill](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mollie_Magill)\ **Post date:** [May 17, 2011, 12:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oy-this-crunchy-mothering-board-is-hurting-my-brain/582143/30 "2011-05-17T12:38:43Z")
Beware the breastfeeding Nazis. When our second one was born, Mrs. Magill could not keep up with him. That child was no baby, he was an inhuman milk drinking machine. His Pediatrician told us to supplement his diet with formula. Spike and I were at Costco buying some tubs of formula, and giving my wife a break from Mr. Hungry Grumpy Pants when we were accosted by a Breastfeeding Brownshirt. “You know, you really shouldn’t give him formula. It will give him diabetes and he won’t be able to fight disease. You really need to breast feed him,” she lectured at me. I turned to her, looked her in the eyes, and told her, “That’s very good advice. I’ll keep that in mind, next time his mother doesn’t die in childbirth.” And walked away. ---
**Author:** ![Unauthorized\_Cinnamon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/bc8723/32.png) [@Unauthorized\_Cinnamon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Unauthorized_Cinnamon)\ **Post date:** [May 17, 2011, 12:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oy-this-crunchy-mothering-board-is-hurting-my-brain/582143/31 "2011-05-17T12:54:05Z")
> [@Mollie\_Magill](#): > > Beware the breastfeeding Nazis. When our second one was born, Mrs. Magill could not keep up with him. That child was no baby, he was an inhuman milk drinking machine. His Pediatrician told us to supplement his diet with formula. Spike and I were at Costco buying some tubs of formula, and giving my wife a break from Mr. Hungry Grumpy Pants when we were accosted by a Breastfeeding Brownshirt. > > “You know, you really shouldn’t give him formula. It will give him diabetes and he won’t be able to fight disease. You really need to breast feed him,” she lectured at me. > > I turned to her, looked her in the eyes, and told her, “That’s very good advice. I’ll keep that in mind, next time his mother doesn’t die in childbirth.” And walked away. Yes, I remember you had some serious problems with pro-breastfeeding idiots. That person in the store was a total asshole. (Sadly, it’s also quite probable that the pediatrician didn’t have a clue about the latest research in appropriate infant feeding. Doctors and nurses aren’t necessarily any more interested in evidence than crunchy anti-medical loons, unfortunately.) ---
**Author:** ![Azeotrope](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/0ea827/32.png) [@Azeotrope](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Azeotrope)\ **Post date:** [May 17, 2011, 12:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oy-this-crunchy-mothering-board-is-hurting-my-brain/582143/32 "2011-05-17T12:57:23Z")
> [@Unauthorized\_Cinnamon](#): > > [li]“Chemicals” are bad[/li][/LIST] When I was in college, one of the student organizations (I forget which one) had a big anti-drug rally and walked around wearing ribbons proudly announcing “I LIVE LIFE CHEMICAL FREE.” One of the chemistry professors and some of the chem club members went around with scissors snipping off the “Chemical Free” part to make the point that without chemicals, life would not exist. ---
**Author:** ![MsWhatsit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/eb8c5e/32.png) [@MsWhatsit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MsWhatsit)\ **Post date:** [May 17, 2011, 1:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oy-this-crunchy-mothering-board-is-hurting-my-brain/582143/33 "2011-05-17T13:10:42Z")
It is deeply unfortunate that it is very difficult to find an online discussion group where you can get advice on breastfeeding, cloth diapering, etc., without also getting lectures on the evils of vaccines and how obstetricians will probably try to murder your baby. I hung out on one of the crunchy-granola parenting boards for a while (it’s THE crunchy-granola parenting board, actually, and some of you probably are familiar with it) and managed OK by avoiding the anti-vax forums and so forth, but I finally had to leave when I found myself picking fights with all of the people who claimed that gestational diabetes was a myth, that all women should decline the glucose test, and that having 11-pound babies is totally normal etc. It was one of the Granola Nazis who told me, after my son was hospitalized and nearly died at age 1 month due to RSV and MRSA pneumonia, that I could have avoided it by exclusively breastfeeding. I told her that I WAS exclusively breastfeeding. My baby had never had any formula. At all. None. Her response to this was “well, sometimes maternal nutrition can mean that the breastmilk is lower quality.” And then I reached through my computer screen and strangled her to death. No but seriously, a lot of these people have confused “lowered risk” with “definite guarantee.” I.e., if a study shows that breastfeeding leads to lower risk of ear infections, then if you breastfeed your baby will definitely not get any ear infections ever, and if he does, then there was clearly something wrong with your breastmilk. There aren’t enough :rolleyes: in the world. ---
**Author:** ![irishgirl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/8edcca/32.png) [@irishgirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/irishgirl)\ **Post date:** [May 17, 2011, 1:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oy-this-crunchy-mothering-board-is-hurting-my-brain/582143/34 "2011-05-17T13:38:21Z")
My general mantra to parents is “You’re the mum/dad- if you’re worried, I’m worried”. Occasionally though I do have to say “I know you’re worried, but…” or “I know this doesn’t seem like a big deal, but…”. I work in an area where I have to worry more about parents putting sweet tea in the bottle and giving the child too much cough medicine than about anti-vaxers and hardcore vegans who don’t believe in calcium supplements. ---
**Author:** ![Smeghead](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/f1d935/32.png) [@Smeghead](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Smeghead)\ **Post date:** [May 17, 2011, 2:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oy-this-crunchy-mothering-board-is-hurting-my-brain/582143/35 "2011-05-17T14:01:11Z")
By the way, every time I see the thread title, I think the OP is trying to work on a motherboard, and is engaging in some creative swearing. ---
**Author:** ![Lynn\_Bodoni](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/e47c2d/32.png) [@Lynn\_Bodoni](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lynn_Bodoni)\ **Post date:** [May 17, 2011, 3:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oy-this-crunchy-mothering-board-is-hurting-my-brain/582143/36 "2011-05-17T15:04:40Z")
> [@](#): > > And then I reached through my computer screen and strangled her to death. I am intrigued by this ability and want to know more about it. I promise to use this power only if someone desperately needs it. I’ve found a lot of message boards that I’d like to participate in, because I’m interested in the subject. For instance, there’s a particular board that has a wonderful cooking and crafts section. However, the board in general is infested with crunchies who drink the koolaid for breakfast, lunch, and dinner, and two snacks. The antivaxxers are particularly strong, and no matter how many times I explained that the study was WRONG and FALSIFIED, they insist that Vaccines Are The Work of Satan. I gave it my best shot for a few months, and then I just quit going to the board. There’s ignorance, which can be remedied through thought and study, and then there’s willful ignorance, which is where the person has been shown information, but that person would prefer to believe in his/her own opinions rather than look at facts. Incidentally, I’m a big believer in breastfeeding. I think that it should be more common, and more accepted. But it doesn’t prevent every problem, and it doesn’t work out for all mothers and babies. We have very good formulas these days, and if that’s what the parents want to do, it’s really nobody else’s business. ---
**Author:** ![dangermom](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e274bd/32.png) [@dangermom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dangermom)\ **Post date:** [May 17, 2011, 4:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oy-this-crunchy-mothering-board-is-hurting-my-brain/582143/37 "2011-05-17T16:03:31Z")
Yeah, I have the same problem. A board that I mostly really like is infested with anti-vaxxers who simply refuse to believe that the study was falsified. They believe it’s all a big conspiracy and ol’ Wakefield is a martyr to the cause. If you try to argue, it turns into a huge, nasty flamefest with people deleting threads and spreading it all over the board. I don’t go there much any more. ---
**Author:** ![Ellen\_Cherry](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ellen_cherry/32/3600_2.png) [@Ellen\_Cherry](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ellen_Cherry)\ **Post date:** [May 17, 2011, 4:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oy-this-crunchy-mothering-board-is-hurting-my-brain/582143/38 "2011-05-17T16:22:23Z")
> [@MsWhatsit](#): > > I told her that I WAS exclusively breastfeeding. My baby had never had any formula. At all. None. Her response to this was “well, sometimes maternal nutrition can mean that the breastmilk is lower quality.” And then I reached through my computer screen and strangled her to death. These people are nuts. One of the stats about breastmilk I once read said that the milk of even malnourished women in the Third World was equal in nutrition to that of healthy American women. I was on the Mothering boards with my last pregnancy, and thankfully I had a fairly sane group. Most sheepishly admitted that they were fairly mainstream with an interest in breastfeeding and fewer interventions (as am I) and were uncomfortable with the wacko direction natural parenting had taken. ---
**Author:** ![overlyverbose](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/9dc877/32.png) [@overlyverbose](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/overlyverbose)\ **Post date:** [May 17, 2011, 4:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oy-this-crunchy-mothering-board-is-hurting-my-brain/582143/39 "2011-05-17T16:36:46Z")
Oooh! Take this opportunity to tell them that you can’t wait to use a pacifier! Seriously, I can’t believe how militant people are about parenting. Everyone wants to think they’re doing what’s best for their kid, so if they’re doing what they think is best and someone else is doing something different, that someone else _must_ be wrong. Or so the mentality goes. ---
**Author:** ![Lady\_of\_the\_Lake](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/e19adc/32.png) [@Lady\_of\_the\_Lake](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lady_of_the_Lake)\ **Post date:** [May 17, 2011, 4:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oy-this-crunchy-mothering-board-is-hurting-my-brain/582143/40 "2011-05-17T16:46:56Z")
> [@Unauthorized\_Cinnamon](#): > > I promise I’ll never cheat on the SDMB again, because after getting sucked into this “breastfeeding-friendly” group, I have developed a permanent scar due to constant facepalming. > > Now this is a private group (sorry, you can’t witness the crazy first hand), and my good friend invited me to join, telling me I would like it because “they really like research and stuff like you do.” It turns out this means they like to take their foregone anti-scientific conclusions, cherry pick “studies” that support their view, and shout down dissent as being intolerant. I hope you were able to say ‘Hi’ to my sister while you were there! Though add in ‘sunblock is evil’, ‘sun tanning erases wrinkles’, and ‘the raw food diet cures cancer’ to complete your list. > [@Unauthorized\_Cinnamon](#): > > [li]The need to consume your baby’s placenta after birth[/li] Though this one is new. Wtf. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oy-this-crunchy-mothering-board-is-hurting-my-brain/582143.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oy-this-crunchy-mothering-board-is-hurting-my-brain/582143.md?page=3)