Hi!
I should have started on the intro board, but I'm knee deep in TNI/MSB+ etc, research and figured I'd start here. My little gal, Chloe is just about 6 mos. Development wise she's pretty much right on 'schedule'- her PT and OT rave about how well she is doing. I'm assuming that is true, and not just to make me feel better....

I've been reading all this info about nutritional supplements and wondering if I should try them w/Chloe, but I'm afraid to 'rock the boat' if things are going so well as they are (she's only had a cold or two that cleared right up, and is also a great sleeper/pleasant- alert, etc). I feel blessed to have the opportunity to breastfeed Chloe and would like to think that it has helped her health wise (although she's had other issues that I'll save for another post).

So, I'm wondering, did those who started their children on supplements do so because they noticed a decline in health/development- or always saw their child struggling in those areas? I'm wondering if that is what I should expect as she gets older. My current belief has been that if we keep things simple like they are, she's going to do just fine (I'm reading all of these wonderful stories about how our kids are exceeding expectations). But I'm wondering if that belief will be challenged because I'll eventually start to see her 'slow down' and more health issues pop up; so I should consider supplementing for preventative reasons.

We've been through enough to know that there isn't always smooth sailing on this adventure of ours and wonder if we need to be a little better prepared and not take such and idealistic attitude.

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Jeanie
Wife to Tim
Mom to Riley 14, Liam 5, and Chloe 9/06 (DS)
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I started Kayla on MSB+ at 3 months because several moms in the area were raving about it, so I figured what the heck.

Developmentally, Kayla was at age level until about 6 months and then her scores have been consistently declining. Who knows why? Right now she is 35 months and consistently testing at 18 months. Her development progresses in weird jumps, she'll plateau for a while and then all of a sudden do a bunch of new stuff. And then she'll lose skills only to have them reappear months later.

I don't really use the MSB+ very consistently. Don't really notice any correlation in development one way or the other when I stop for a while. As far as health, she's had a couple bouts of pneumonia but otherwise, pretty healthy.

Anyway, it's just hard to guess the future of our kids, DS or not, as to development. Every kid's different, I just try to go with the flow. I can't beat myself up on stuff I maybe could have done or should have done, or compare my kid's development to others' or I'll go out of my mind.

OK, sorry to get off subject here, hope it helps a little, at least!

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Ecki



MomMom of Kayla (Ds/Autism 4/5/04) and Laurie (PDD-NOS 7/12/01)

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We started because my mother-in-law sent for free samples of MSB+.

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Tom

Dad to Beth (17) and Mikey (13 - Ds and PDD-NOS)
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Thanks for the responses so far. I think what I'm struggling with is similar to the issue we had with Chloe's heart surgery. We were told that her ASD and VSD were severe enough that they needed to be repaired w/in the first few months of life. Her cardiologist wanted to do it before we noticed any decline so she would be at her strongest- and insisted a decline would be inevitable. So her surgery was done at 10 weeks (they also found her PDA and repaired).

She was gaining about 1/2 oz a day before the surgery- and now- after the surgery- she is gaining about 1/2 oz a day. And I honestly don't feel like she has any more 'energy' than she did before the surgery that wouldn't have normally happened as any healthy baby grows (although we did notice how pink she became!) I'm not doubting that she needed the surgery- but I guess I feel like I'm in a similar situation with taking supplements..... do we act before we see any change- assuming there eventually will be? or do we wait and see? I suppose I'm kind of comparing apples to oranges....

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Jeanie
Wife to Tim
Mom to Riley 14, Liam 5, and Chloe 9/06 (DS)
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Well all kids with DS are different and it is hard to say if your daughter will decline in her progress.
But my son Kai was doing extremely well (he was diagnosed with DS at almost 5 mths old) untill about 8 mnth ,but now he is 16 mths old and I can see that he is delayed.
I am also thinking on starting him on nutritional supplements.

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Mom to Nel 20.06.03 and Kai 28.11.05 (DS)

We started our daughter at 3 months of age, and it wasn't because she was falling behind. If anything, she has always done pretty well. I guess we did it early for sort of preventative reasons, but also because there is some research that shows that these supplements lessen the effects of alzheimers on our kids in the future. Essentially, kids who have been on supplements have been seen to not even have alzheimers set in when it typically would as an adult. That is pretty important to me.

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Bethany, Mommy to Mason (6), Payton (4, DS) and Addison (3, DS)



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lilpayton wrote:

We started our daughter at 3 months of age, and it wasn't because she was falling behind. If anything, she has always done pretty well. I guess we did it early for sort of preventative reasons, but also because there is some research that shows that these supplements lessen the effects of alzheimers on our kids in the future. Essentially, kids who have been on supplements have been seen to not even have alzheimers set in when it typically would as an adult. That is pretty important to me.

I could use Bethany's post and just insert "our son" instead of daughter. My primary reason for using the NVD is hoping to prevent Alzheimer's in the future. If he benefits from it now that is just an added bonus for us.
Good luck with your decision. You will find people adamant either way about them, but make your own decision.

Kayla

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