As my son will turn a year old this weekend, I’ve found myself reflecting back over this past year (what a year it was!). I think I learned at least as much from having two children as I did when I went through my first year with my daughter! So I thought that other moms of two might get a smile from some of the lessons I’ve learned so far, and hopefully they won’t scare any moms expecting their second child soon!

1. The tips and tricks you learned with your first child might not work at all with the second one. With my daughter, all I ever had to do to get her to stop doing something was to look sternly at her. My son has to be bodily removed from the situation. Things like that can be not-so-fun surprises, but it’s ok — you just invent new strategies, and then you have twice as many options for dealing with each kid!

2. Multitasking is your best friend. Don’t refill the sippy cup for one kid and then pop lunch for the second in the microwave. Get the microwave going, then fill the sippy in that 20-30 second window. It sounds stupid, but little timesavers like that can add up (and leave you not feeling quite so stressed by all of the little things that crop up when all you want to do is sit down and eat too).

3. The timing of milestones is just going to be different. There are a lot of factors at work. Boys and girls tend to mature differently and reach certain milestones at different times, for one thing. I also had to keep in mind, as my son did most things noticeably earlier than my daughter, that there was a month’s difference in their gestational ages at birth. He was born stronger.

4. You might have a favorite kid at any given moment — but it changes. I’m sorry to say it, but there are moments when I vastly prefer the company of one of my children over the other. Usually it’s whoever isn’t screaming or whining in my ear! It’s normal and it passes.

5. Yes, you can love each child as much as you loved your first when you only had one kid. And watching them interact (when they’re not trying to kill each other) is more than worth the rough moments.

Posted by Sunshine.

I have red hair and pasty white skin. I can walk to the mail room and back (it’s really not far!) and get sunburned. So when I take my kids out, given my long history of painful experiences, I probably go a little overboard with protection.

Inevitably, though, at some point my daughter will get a mild sunburn this summer as she runs around at the park or at the lake. It just happens anyway sometimes. But what’s the best way to treat a child’s sunburn? I don’t want to hurt her more than it already does, but I have to do something!

Well, according to the Lucile Packard Children’s Hospital, I have several options for her:

* Put a cool compress on the sunburned area.
* Give her a cool bath.
* Apply hydrocortisone cream, a moisturizer, or aloe product. (I’m a huge fan of the green Aloe Vera gel! It’s the only thing I’d ever let my mom use on me when I was sunburned badly as a kid.) Stay away from products with Benadryl/benzocaine, as these are more likely to cause reactions.

If she’s in a lot of pain, I can also give her Tylenol or Motrin to ease her discomfort (particularly handy before bed, when I need for her to feel alright so she — and therefore I — can get some sleep!). If the sunburn blisters, I should leave them alone, and I should keep her out of the sun as much as possible until her sunburn gets better.

The best thing, of course, would be to not let it happen in the first place. Sunscreen designed for kids comes in sprays and all kinds of impressively high-looking SPFs. I’ve started keeping a bottle of it in my diaper bag, for those impromptu park runs after errands and those other times when I might forget to pack sunscreen and need it (oh, and moms? We shouldn’t forget ourselves with the sun protection, either!).

Posted by Sunshine.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) just released findings that show that new mothers are choosing to breastfeed (at least briefly) in greater numbers than at any point since the mid-1980s (according to CDC surveys).

Experts attributed the rise to education campaigns that emphasize that breast milk is better than formula at protecting babies against disease and childhood obesity. A changing culture that accommodates nursing mothers may also be a factor.

Well, I can definitely assure you that the health department in my county has a strong pro-breastfeeding bent in the mandatory class for expecting mothers. I’m sure it wasn’t always that way, but they spend quite a bit of time covering the ins and outs of breastfeeding, pumping, what to expect, etc. — and they provide what seems like reams of papers on why you should consider breastfeeding your infant. I’m all for that, even if breastfeeding didn’t work for me with either kid.

And I’m happy if we really do have a more nursing-friendly community. I know my kids’ pediatric group has a “Please feel free to nurse your baby anywhere on our premises”-type sign in English and Spanish on their front doors. I think it does make a difference to moms caught between what they might do in an ideal situation and what they feel they have to do to get by in everyday life. (A big hats-off to moms who work full-time and EBF their infants!)

It’s good to see progress here. I know that for some mothers, breastfeeding just doesn’t work out or isn’t their personal choice, but it’s good for everyone when we can help people make an educated, informed decision about something so important, and to arm them with the knowledge, if they do choose to breastfeed, to have the most potentially successful experience possible. And our “helps” seem to be working.

Posted by Sunshine.

My daughter was a decent teether. She was a little cranky when new teeth were coming in, but it wasn’t too hard to handle. A bit of Baby Orajel on her gums, and she’d be a happy camper again. My son, on the other hand, is a little monster when he’s teething. He’s not nearly so easy to soothe.

So what’s a mom to do? If you don’t like the idea of topical teething gels or medicine, like Tylenol, Miss Poppy offers these natural alternatives:

For a do-it-yourself ointment for sore gums, try the old-fashioned remedy of a spot of clove oil diluted down with safflower oil. Rub it on their swollen gums for slight relief. (Slight relief? That doesn’t sound too encouraging…not to mention I don’t keep either of those oils around that I’m aware of.)

Other natural teething aids:

* Ice-cold carrot and celery sticks
* A whole, chilled peeled apple (lots of fun to hold and drop on the floor)
* A gel teething toy, frozen first in the fridge
* A clean, cold, damp face cloth straight from the fridge (This has proved to be my son’s best option during the day - I hide an ice cube in the cloth for further relief)
* Hard teething biscuits
* Crusts of bread, served chilled
* Your finger, served chilled (Okay, I know what she means, but that sounded like something you’d find in a horror flick)
* A cold drink of water or diluted fruit juice
* A cold yogurt or chilled puree of fruit

As always, you’ll want to supervise your child with any of the foods mentioned above.

Have other tips for frazzled moms like me? Squawk back and share your best stuff!

Posted by Sunshine.

We’ve been advocating for stronger lead safety practices for children’s toys for a while now (sign our petition here!), but toys aren’t the only source of lead that can harm our kids. Lead-based paint used in houses and public buildings built before the 1978 ban can sicken children, too. Small kids eat paint chips or inhale dust from these paints during repairs and renovations.

The United States government has taken new steps toward eliminating children’s exposure to lead during renovations and repairs.

Starting in 2010, construction workers must follow “lead-safe work practice standards” that are designed to reduce potential exposure to dangerous levels of lead while renovating houses, child-care facilities and schools built before 1978, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency said Monday.

“We are serious about eliminating childhood lead poisoning,” James Gulliford, the EPA’s assistant administrator for Prevention, Pesticides and Toxic Substances, said during a Monday teleconference. “Exposure to lead-contaminated dust is the most common way children get lead poisoning,” he added.

The two-year delay until the new rules take effect is to give contractors and states time to come within compliance.

Lead poisoning in children under six years old can interfere with normal nervous system development, which can lead to various developmental and cognitive delays. In 2002, over 300,000 children had elevated lead levels in their blood, and nearly 40 million homes in the U.S. are thought to still contain lead-based paint. This is a serious problem, and I’m glad to see the government step up to the plate.

Posted by Sunshine.

Childbirth classes may seem like a silly waste of time (how can anyone truly be taught how to give birth, right?), but they may be worth more to you than you think. The American Pregnancy Association gives these reasons why you should consider attending classes before the birth of your first (or next) baby:

* You will learn about options and methods to help control pain, including medications, massage, breathing and relaxation techniques.
* The information and experiences you share can help you feel more confident about your body being able to handle childbirth.
* Talking about your fears, questions and expectations with other participants can help relieve anxiety and better prepare you.
* The shared experience can help create a stronger bond between you and your partner.
* Taking a tour of the hospital where you plan to have your baby (often where the class is offered) allows you to become familiar with the environment, observe the staff and ask questions.

I didn’t take a childbirth class with my first baby, and if I had it to do over again, I just might attend. Although no amount of coaching/teaching can ever fully prepare you for your individual birthing reality, what you learn might be worth your time anyway, so that you go into the experience with a more realistic idea of what lies ahead.

Posted by Sunshine.

Soft stuffed animals, warm knitted blankets from Grandma, pint-sized pillows…they all seem attractive compared to a plain, fitted sheet and little else — but as mentioned in today’s NewsSquawk, the Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) has issued yet another warning against placing these items in your baby’s crib.

We’ve all probably heard these warnings a hundred times, but babies are still dying from preventable accidents. According to the CPSC, from 2002 to 2004, 241 children under age 5 died in incidents involving nursery products. About 40 percent of the deaths involved cribs, with soft bedding cited as the leading contributing factor. Many of the children suffocated when lying face down on pillows or other bedding, the agency said.

Bath accidents also received extra attention in the CPSC’s statements. The agency said there were 36 deaths over the same period relating to baby baths and bath seats. All occurred when caregivers left the baby unattended. In many instances, babies slipped out of bath seats, fell out of baby seats or tipped forward or sideways into the water. (Never leave a child unattended in the tub!)

Other advice included making certain that your baby’s crib is properly assembled, that the mattress fits securely (babies can get their heads stuck between the crib and mattress if it doesn’t fit properly - allow no more than two fingers’ width between crib and mattress at any point), that broken cribs are replaced or repaired promptly, and yes, that you place your baby on his or her back to sleep. We can’t stop every death - SIDS can occur even when parents do everything “right” - but we can take steps to reduce the hazards to our infants.

These tips aren’t new, but if the CPSC felt the need to get them out there again, then so do I.

Posted by Sunshine.

Say what?

A new study shows that kids who were given proper nutrition during the first two years of life out-earned their nutritionally-deprived peers by 50 percent as adults. That’s surprising, even though earlier studies reported that kids who ate better early on were more productive in adulthood.

This is the first direct evidence that eating well as an infant and toddler translates into greater earning potential as an adult, according to the study, published in the British medical journal The Lancet.

Iron and iodine deficiencies, for example, can lead to stunted growth, poor cognitive development and energy-sapping anaemia. Such handicaps prevents children from realising their full potential.

This study was conducted in Guatemala, and the results only seemed to apply for men - but consider that there aren’t as many economic opportunities for women in that area. Also, the men with better nutrition as young children didn’t outscore their peers academically as adults, so nutrition didn’t seem to play as large a role in actual cognitive ability. I just thought this study was interesting, and I’d love to hear your thoughts on it.

Posted by Sunshine.

Yesterday, a friend (who doesn’t yet have kids) asked me if there was a particular moment when I felt like a mom for the first time - did it just “happen” as soon as I got the double lines on the pregnancy test, or what?

Of course there was a particular moment - and it was one of the most defining moments of my life.

I miscarried my first (unplanned) pregnancy around ten weeks. I had barely gotten my mind around the fact that I was pregnant, so I didn’t feel like a parent at all. I felt the loss, but not the motherhood I’d already walked into in some ways.

With my daughter, I didn’t feel very maternal for a long time. I loved this new little person growing inside me, but on some level it was still an abstract concept to me. That changed when we were sent for an ultrasound to measure my amniotic fluid levels, and the tech freaked us out by running for the doctor, who sent us straight to the hospital. We didn’t really understand until he told us that, among other things, if she rolled on her cord, she didn’t have enough room to get off of it, and she could die if she didn’t get out of there now.

Suddenly it wasn’t “the baby is” anything - it was “my child is in danger.” Over the next 22 hours, I went from passive observer of my pregnancy to mama bear mode, and when she finally cried that first ticked off cry, all was right with the world. My daughter was safe, and I was firmly entrenched in motherhood in every possible sense of the word.

Was there an equally defining moment for you, when you realized “Wow - I’m a parent!” for the first time? Squawk back and share!

Posted by Sunshine.

More news on the Children’s Health bill. Last week there was another vote to try to overrule George Bush’s veto of the proposed Children’s Health bill. The 260 to 152 result was not quite enough for it to pass.

At the moment in the USA there is a kind of no-man’s-land. There are families who cannot afford private health insurance, but do not qualify for Medicaid because they are not poor enough. The program is aimed at these very people.

Bush is vetoing the bill because he believes that it is too close to a “state-run” system similar to Canada and Western Europe. Currently in the US, our government spends 16% of our economy on healthcare, compared to Western Europe who spends about 8%. There are currently 50 million Americans without health insurance, comparatively all persons in Western Europe are covered.

As an American living in Europe, I have a view to both systems and there are pros and cons to each. I can see why the “European” system as it is probably would not work in America. I think what is bugging me here is that if this bill helps improve things in America, so what if it bears a similarity to the European system? It’s not the European system - so what is there to be afraid of if in the end this piece will work for America and it will help millions of children? I would be interested in understanding in a bit more detail why Bush decided to veto it, there surely is a better reason than that. And I am even more interested in hearing what the presidential candidates have to say on the issue.

What would you do? In a sad story (a warning to any weepy preggos out there) at four months pregnant, a woman in the UK found out that she had bowel cancer and she made the difficult decision to delay her cancer treatment until after her child was born. The baby was born at 25 weeks, and she began treatment immediately after the birth yet died two months later.

I would like to say that I would make the same decision, but to be honest I don’t know if I would be strong enough of a person. Her cancer was at an advanced stage, it would have been a difficult battle in any case. A tragic story all around. My condolences go out to her family. (And little baby Liam does look adorable in the last picture at the bottom of the article.)

Is she or isn’t she? After wearing a very flowy gown to yesterday’s SAG awards, the tabloids are yet again abuzz with rumors that Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt are expecting their second biological child. Some are even saying that she is pregnant with twins! Keep in mind, it was only a few short months ago that the same rumor was going around about Jennifer Lopez…