TED Mamas’ Group Guidelines

We hope the TED groups will be a safe place for you to vent frustrations, share helpful resources, and ask questions. Hopefully between us all we can get some answers and help each other along the way! To help us achieve this we would like you to read and reference the following guidelines.

Please know by contributing in group you are agreeing to follow these terms: 

•  TED Mamas’ purpose is to provide peer based support for mothers embarking on more extreme elimination diets (TED, Top8+ Free, etc.) to identify their nurselings triggers. As a peer-to-peer group we are here for support, sharing things we’ve learned in our own personal journeys. This group is not a substitute for appropriate care from a qualified professional. We appreciate it can take time to find the right support for our individual journeys, and we are here to help each other along the journey. In addition to mainstream health care approaches, that generally focus on diagnosing and treatment based on symptoms displayed; many find complementary approaches, such as healing diets (GAPS, AIP, etc.), support or guidance from nutritionist, functional/integrative and alternative medicine practitioners helpful with supporting them while looking for root causes and working toward long term healing. We strongly advise all members to fully research any form of medical/alternative treatment you intend to undertake prior to doing so.
• It takes an absolute minimum of 1500-1700 calories to nurse “healthily” if you’re trying to lose weight (Kellymom), as a group we try to encourage mamas to strive for at least 2000-2500 calories a day. As you lose weight your body releases toxins, so it is recommended to not lose more than 1.5-2lb a week, otherwise you can transfer the toxins through your milk, which can cause further symptoms. To help yourself reach the calorie goal, and minimise the risk of TED impacting your supply, we recommend all mamas use a method of calorie counting (online, apps, etc.) for at least the initial weeks to help. We also encourage all TED mamas to take a multivitamin/mineral supplement and an additional teeth/bone health supplement when possible to ensure mama doesn’t get depleted, as your body will always prioritise your infant first and your health is important too.
• This rule goes without saying, show all group members the kindness and respect that you would expect to receive yourself. If you have any issues with posts or with another member please contact any of the admin team via pm or choose to keep scrolling. As a group we openly discuss things that can be confrontational such as vaccination, alternative treatments, new approaches to allergy management etc. We ask people to be respectful and share their experience but to remember we are here for support not to be told what to do. So if you can’t do that keep scrolling or this might not be the place for you. We don’t tolerate name-calling. We ask members to refrain from accusing other members of “bashing”, “judging” or prefixing posts with “don’t bash/judge”; it’s a supportive group and you shouldn’t have to ask people not to judge or criticise you when you’re asking for support.  
• We understand that alternatives to breastmilk are sometimes required. We ask members to be mindful that breastmilk is the most biologically optimal choice wherever possible. We do not endorse a “Fed is Best” philosophy. Nor do we allow formula sharing, promotion or advertisement of any kind in-group. 
• This group is not for profit so we ask people to be mindful of that not posting any kind of spam, advertising, self-promotion (blogs, etc). This includes anything a person sells or endorses independently. This include privately messaging any of our members. Any one not following this guideline may be removed from the group without prior notice. It is for this reason we ask our members not to PM members, and to keep conversations in group so others may learn from them too. The exceptions to this would be to privately message an admin. If you feel like you need to be an exception to this guideline please state *why* you want to privately message in the group and tag an admin or moderator. Most things can be discussed openly group or in our off topic group TED life.
• Picture policy – Due to the nature of the group, nappy/diaper pictures come with the territory. We just ask that pictures are kept in the comments of posts, with a clear bold disclaimer such as **** Nappy pic in comments **** to pre warn members. They can also be kept in your individual TEDjournal. When sharing pictures of your little one (especially any sensitive areas), please ensure they are suitably covered or the photos cropped. In order to safeguard yourselves and your children please respect this rule. We try our best to vet members but you always need to be cautious online. Occasionally people may want to share pictures of another nature including screen shots etc. as a group we allow these providing there are NO identifying features in the picture. – Pictures/posts not adhering to these guidelines will unfortunately have to be removed.
• A TEDjournal are a useful tool where members are able to document their own personal journey. You can use them to track your child’s progress with a timeline, keeping track of your trials, passes, fails and to keep a history of pictures (stools, rashes, etc.) for later comparison. An example Journal. To get a TEDjournal please modify a picture, that you’d like to use for your journal, imbedding your name on it, then post it in the comments in this post  you will then be given an individualised link for you to save and share.
• As a group we have ‘admin approve all posts’ turned on. This is to keep the group a safe place for everyone, while keeping the discussion on topic. We endeavour to approve posts as soon as possible. If we feel a post would be better in one of our other groups we will let you know.
• TED Mamas discussion is focused on (TED, Top 8+, etc) diets, reactions, healing, for nurslings and Mamas. 
• TED Life is our complimentary off topic group, great for any kind of off topic life rants and chat with fellow TED mamas. 
• TED Allergy Families is our next stage group for families, post weaning support for mum and children of all ages on restrictive diets.  
• Please also familiarise yourself with our resources, from our blog covering everything from our ethos and the multifaceted considerations involved in TED and allergy life; to our group files and photo albums where we pool together our members recommendations – including professionals and  recipes. 

If you have any concerns or questions, please feel free to contact one of the Admin team as listed in the group members list.

Many thanks Your Admins