Author

About the Author

Dr. Linda Folden Palmer

Science is Dr. Palmer’s first love and continuing inspiration. Her undergraduate degree from the University of Illinois was in chemistry with a minor in biology. While attending the National College of Chiropractic, Palmer received a Bachelor of Science in human biology as she received her Doctor of Chiropractic.

 

Prior the birth of her son, Dr. Palmer ran a successful chiropractic practice for eleven years, focusing on nutrition and women’s health issues. Her practice emphasized diagnosis and patient education.

With the birth of Dr. Palmer’s son in 1995, she was confronted with his severe health complications and astounded by the extreme lack of accurate or helpful information from doctors or books. Her usual passion for research turned toward infant health and parenting. Her extensive reviews of science and medical research revealed huge conflicts between what is found scientifically and what is standard protocol in pediatric offices. Her research in this area led to writing BABY MATTERS. After an IPPY award-winning 2nd edition, the BabyMatters3rdEdFRONT.5-5'15 copy3rd updated edition was released by Sourcebooks as THE BABY BOND. After a print-run sell-out, BABY MATTERS has returned, as the 3rd revised edition (same as The Baby Bond).

 

Palmer also co-authored another infant health book with pediatrician Susan Markel:  WHAT YOUR PEDIATRICIAN DOESN’T KNOW CAN HURT YOUR CHILD.

 

FRONT-COVERwStickerPalmer found the greatest number of questions and concerns posed to her by parents revolved around infant colic, reflux, green stools, and constipation. She discovered that infant digestive problems are strongly connected to other chronic health issues further down the line, and these all are chiefly problems in industrialized nations. While infectious disease is the burden in poorly nourished children in less developed parts of the world, chronic disease is the scourge of industrialized nations. Diabetes, asthma, autism, arthritis, obesity, and other auto-immune diseases are spiraling out of control. She yearned to delve deeper into the research and provide solid answers to parents; hence BABY POOP was born.

 

Dr. Palmer led attachment parenting support groups for five years, also coordinating the various groups throughout San Diego County.She has also served as an instructor in anatomy and physiology and a research associate for drugless cancer therapy research. She currently spends her time consulting in infant nutrition and attachment parenting, writing parenting articles and books, speaking to family and professional audiences, and being a wife and mother.

 

A message from Dr. Palmer:

Many of the problems that today’s parents face while raising their babies are associated with the new parenting and feeding practices that have encroached upon our culture over the last century. These practices have been promoted for several reasons, mostly linked to industry profits. (Colic, for instance, is far more common in the US than in many other parts of the world. It is generally treated with drugs or lactose-free formula, and with little success.)

 

Few will tell you the research findings and the feeding and parenting solutions that work. Infant constipation, colic, and reflux are more pervasive than ever today. Science shows that cow’s milk proteins and other proteins in formula or mother’s diet are chief links, and that antibiotics, C-section births, and early introduction of formula damage baby’s flora, allowing these symptoms to develop. Diabetes, bowel disease, arthritis, and cancers, on the rise in both children and adults, are also strongly linked to infant birthing, medication, and feeding options.

 

In the psychological realm, parents have been encouraged to ignore their babies’ cries and their own very strong urges to respond, but I have found no sound research to support any long-term benefits of this kind of detached parenting. In fact, a mountain of psychology studies suggest that responsive parenting is best.

 

Email Dr. Palmer at: [email protected]. She’d love to hear from you.

 

Infant Nutrition and Healthy Parenting Speaker for Lactation Consultants, Midwives and Natural Family Audiences

Dr. Palmer is available to speak by invitation.

 

Palmer has these two-hour PowerPoint presentations available:

 

The Chemistry of Attachment

CERP 90 – 150 minutes
When un-hampered by imposed fears of spoiling or hindering maturation, the biochemical interplays of frequent, close contact between parent and child create positive life-long brain alterations in all who participate.

Linda Palmer will discuss the various hormonal and neuronal involvements in creating a parent and in parent-infant interactions leading to bonding. She will present the varied lifelong repercussions of different levels of attachment or detachment experienced during infancy in reaction to parenting behaviors. The interplay of breastmilk, breastfeeding, and bottle nursing in these processes will be portrayed. 

 

Beyond Breastmilk

CERP 90 – 150 minutes
Linda Palmer discusses the health and nutritional aspects of starting solid foods and developing positive lifetime eating habits in children. Common infant feeding information is often based more on dairy, formula & baby food industry advice and does not encompass the wide spectrum of the healthiest options.

 

Palmer explores the optimal introduction of solids in terms of age and kind and presents archeological studies of weaning. The ramifications of early supplementation in breastfed infants and the nutrition and potential consequences of homemade formulas, goat’s milk, cow’s milk, raw milk and soy will be presented, along with the evidence behind food allergies in breastfeeding babies and the truth about calcium needs in children. 

 

Palmer reviews the evidence in terms of timing of solids, covering calorie, protein, iron, zinc, fatty acid needs and more, and fnds no evidence of a need to begin any kind of supplementation to the average exclusive breastmilk diet in the first year of life after term birth, and beyond. She contents that solid food introduction for formula-fed babies is a very different situation than that for breastfed children and presents these variations.

 

SOME PAST 1 HOUR LECTURES:

When it Has to be Formula:  Formula Feeding Issues
Time: 30 to 60 minutes

Linda Palmer consults regularly in infant nutrition and bonding and receives numerous pleas from mothers who, due to breast surgeries, chemotherapy needs, and other physiological abnormalities are simply unable to provide adequate breastmilk to their babies. So many mothers are simply told to feed commercial formula and are given no more information about the health consequences of various choices available and possible means to improve upon standard artificial feeding. Many report the topic to be taboo for their consultants and outside the scope of most pediatricians. Palmer provides information about alternative feeding methods and means of optimizing the health, development and bonding potentials of artificially fed babies. Beyond finding donor breastmilk for the early weeks, there are ways of improving upon a formula supplemented or total standard infant formula diet for babies.

Palmer explores options (beyond donor milk) when breastfeeding fails, either partly or completely. Compensatory parenting behaviors, food tolerance issues, and various supplements are discussed. She additionally critiques a variety of homemade formula recipes mothers are using today and suggests the best attempts to optimize nutrition and immunity in the artificially fed baby.

Is CERP-applicable and speaker will assist in CERP process.

 

Considering Healthy Parenting Concepts
Dr. Palmer will discuss how and why we have drifted away from many natural and healthy child care practices, and the movement to return to providing healthier childhoods for optimal adult outcomes, both emotionally and physically.

 

 

Questions and Requests to [email protected]

 

 

7 Comments

  • Beatrice October 28, 2015 at 9:04 pm

    My biggest piftall has always been my inability to take care of the kiddos and keep the house in a serviceable manor… One of the first things that we (Mrs. Jacks and I) noticed, was that the house was much cleaner when I went back to work in an office. But then again, trying to work from home and take care of children leaves little time for house keeping!

    Reply
  • Amanda July 16, 2016 at 10:49 am

    Based on your research and writing I can see you are have significant views on the use of breastmilk to nuture a newborn. What do you suggest for mother’s who have had double mastectomy’s and cannot produce milk. How long is breast milk able to be frozen for from a donor before it goes bad?

    Reply
    • Linda F. Palmer July 22, 2016 at 2:07 pm

      Hi. Yes, donor milk is a super option when mom’s is not available. I’m not the best person to tell you how long it can be frozen. A rather long time though, if done well. Giving 100% human milk products turns out to be greatly superior to any artificial supplementation, but ANY human milk is definitely better than none. If you can keep donor milk up for several weeks past term gestation age, that’d be an awesome boost for baby. Of course, the longer, the better, but knowing how difficult it can be to maintain donor milk supplies, know that those pre-gestation-age weeks are super-important, and some more weeks beyond that would still provide a quite measurable/remarkable difference.

      Reply
  • Alan Phillips April 11, 2020 at 5:42 am

    I am writing a book in which one chapter is about loving our children. I argue that we need to turn the clock back to a time when it was natural for both parents (though especially the mother) to spend a lot of time over the first years with the baby. Your article ‘The chemistry of attachment’ has helped a lot, though it focuses largely on the parents. In a nutshell, what do you see as the main advantages for the baby – chemically and therefore psychologically – of long hours and years in contact with parent(s)? Thank you.

    Reply
  • Morella Yepez-Millon June 11, 2021 at 11:20 am

    Hi Dr. Folden Palmer,
    I am trying to quote you and your book “Baby Matters..” and was wondering about the publisher of your book. I read an article from The Natural Child Project and understand that the quote is from the above book. Would you please let me know? Thank you, mym

    Reply
    • Linda Palmer June 12, 2021 at 12:23 pm

      Hi Morella, thank you for quoting my book. It’s had a few publishers, actually. If you’re giving a page number in the quote, then we need to determine which edition you are using (I think the Natural Child Project article used the 1st edition), as the paginating changed as more info was added. It’d be best, though, to represent the most recent (3rd) edition. That one is published by Baby Reference.

      Reply
  • How to Know When Your Baby Is Full: Tips for Bottle and Breastfeeding – dadventures.io October 21, 2022 at 7:45 am

    […] so they can feed the baby faster, which can overwhelm babies and make them briefly full,” says Linda Palmer, a Doctor of Chiropractic and author of the book Baby Poop. This temporary fullness leaves babies […]

    Reply

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