These dummies failed parenting class. Parents who were the victims of a home invasion fled their house - leaving their 8 year old child behind. Incredible.

World class mom. There is a woman in China, an officer, who has been breastfeeding nine babies to keep them alive in the aftermath of the terrible earthquake there. That just warms my heart. While the idea of breastfeeding another persons child may seem strange, the life-or-death circumstances around this situation changes that. I would like to think that I would do the same thing. Kudos to her!!!

Do you agree? A woman in Ohio just was awarded $20 million. She sued her doctor for a delivery room issue. She was told in advance she had a narrow birth canal, and they tried for 13 hours to get the baby out. She ended up with an emergency C-section. The baby was born with some birth defects - mild retardation, vision problems and issues in moving her limbs. They claim the child’s injuries were because her head was squeezed.

Boy, I would have loved to be on the jury for this one. I wonder - what was this mom’s birth plan? Was she dead set against a C-section - did she push them to delay it? Can the doctors prove that the child’s injuries came from her head being squished in the birth canal?

In any case, I think $20 million is a bit excessive. But don’t even get me started with my opinions on our legal system.

Pregnant? Put down the phone! Studies show that cell phone usage while pregnant can potentially harm your child. Using it as few as 2 or 3 times a day can increase the chances that your child could have hyperactivity or other emotional problems. On top of that, letting children under seven use cell phones can cause problems for them as well.

Researchers have not advised pregnant women to stop using them altogether, but until further research is completed moderation is a good idea. So, if you want to have a one hour chat to your best friend, do it from a land line!

More worries for pregnant gals. Wait a minute - this one is telling you NOT to worry… studies show that women who are stressed while pregnant may give birth to baby’s predisposed to allergies and asthma. So, they are considering stress as a “social pollutant” that when “breathed into the body” it can influence the immune system.

Well, with all these warnings about what a pregnant woman can not or should not do these days, no wonder they are stressed!

Don’t fret about those plastic baby bottles. At least that is what the FDA is saying. They do not see it necessary to tell consumers to stop using these products. But some groups are crying foul. They think the government is not concerned enough about the dangers, and are pressuring them to ban any children’s products with the potentially harmful chemical. So I guess the jury is still out, continue to use your best mommy judgment.

Add the “plastic or glass” choice to the ever growing list of things for pregnant women to worry about!

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.

That’s right. The glass baby bottles of yesteryear are becoming in vogue again as worried parents try to avoid plastics with bisphenol A (BPA) in them.

Bisphenol A, or BPA, is a manmade chemical used in polycarbonate plastic, the material used to make most baby bottles and other shatterproof plastic food containers. Americans are widely exposed to BPA, but opinions on its safety are mixed.

The Food and Drug Administration says current uses with food are safe. But the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says animal testing has shown that BPA has hormone-like effects on the reproductive system. The CDC says more study is needed to see if it could be harming people.

Switching to glass bottles (or using them instead of plastic ones in the first place) is one way to avoid exposing your baby to BPA, though you might have some trouble finding them. They represent less than a tenth of all baby bottle sales, but major manufacturers like Evenflo and Dr. Brown’s do make them. If you do use glass, be aware that these bottles do break (of course), and that you shouldn’t give your older baby a glass bottle to drink from without supervision.

Also, glass bottles usually cost more than plastic ones, and if you prefer plastic, you can find BPA-free plastic bottles, like these.

I love my son’s plastic baby bottles. I was pleased to find a wider-mouthed variety (easier to clean!) with a more natural grip than the ones I used with my daughter, which we threw out before we ever decided to try for a second baby.

Am I switching?

Nope. Not with less than three months to go ’til he switches to sippy cups. I figure he’s already been exposed, so any harm has already been done, as bad as that sounds. Besides, what about the BPA in all the other plastic products we use around our kids? Should I rush around trying to find alternately packaged containers of shampoo and detangler? What about my wipes dispensers? Until they can prove more objectively that BPA is harming kids, I’ll just keep on keepin’ on.

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.

Keep the clutter out of baby’s crib! And we are not only talking infants here. From 2002-2004, 241 children under age 5 died in nursery incidents - 40% attributable to beddings and toys. Beware of the bath too - during that period 36 deaths were attributed to bath seats. There are about 65,000 nursery product related accidents per year. Of course accidents do happen, just be aware to try to prevent them if at all possible.

Spanking leads to sexual deviancy? This is a survey that is probably going to get conversations going. Spanking your child. This often ends up in the “hot topics” area. There is a survey out that those who are in the “no spanking” camp may use as a reason. The survey says that children who were spanked in childhood will grow up to be more aggressive and could have sexual issues. What sexual issues are they referring to?

One stat: the 25 percent of university students who ranked highest on a corporal punishment scale insisted on sex without a condom, compared with the 12.5 percent of university students who scored lowest on the scale. Another: 75 percent of college students who’d been spanked a lot said they were sexually aroused by masochistic sex, compared with 40 percent of students who were never spanked.

Those in the “spanking is OK” camp say that in proper circumstances and done properly, it can be effective without any damaging effects. This is surely one of those things that will always be controversial and an individual parenting decision.

This baby is an amazing survivor! A pregnant woman in India was riding on the train. She went to the bathroom, started labor (prematurely) and passed out. The baby was born into the toilet and slipped out onto the train tracks. (For those who aren’t frequent train travelers, it is often the case that toilet waste is disposed that way.)

The family, worried she was gone a while, went to find her. When they realized what had happened, the pulled the emergency button, and a search was on for the baby somewhere along the tracks. Nearly 2 hours later, they found the infant on the tracks - alive! It was taken to the hospital and is under care and it is considered a miracle.

If you’re like me, you try (or tried) to eat a healthier array of foods while pregnant, for the unborn baby’s health and well-being. Did you know this, though? Pregnant women who eat a Mediterranean diet rich in fish, fresh fruits and vegetables, legumes, nuts, dairy products and olive oil may help protect their children against asthma and allergies.

So says a new study of over 400 mothers and their children. Of the seventeen percent of kids who had asthma-like symptoms, allergies, or both, most of their moms did not eat a high-quality Mediterranean diet.

Pregnant women who ate vegetables more than eight times a week, fish more than three times a week, and legumes more than once a week seemed to protect their children the most from asthma and allergies. Mothers who ate red meat more than three to four times a week seemed to increase their children’s risk.

I didn’t know that about red meat…let’s hope it doesn’t come back to haunt my kids later. The Mediterranean diet doesn’t sound like a bad idea for anyone wishing to improve his or her eating habits anyway, and with this new information, I would definitely try to follow it if I were to become pregnant again (after I fainted from shock).

Posted by Sunshine.

I’ll admit it: I love it when my kids are old enough to eat solids (I’m talking about Stage 1-3 baby food here, to be clear). It’s messy and it’s extra work compared to just preparing bottles, but it’s so much fun to introduce them to new foods and to really feel as though we’re having meals together!

At seven months, my son is firmly entrenched in Stage 2 foods. He loves almost everything, and I found that introducing him to solids was far, far easier than it was when my daughter started them. I owe that to a few tips and tricks I learned along the way (and my little future linebacker loves to eat!):

Wait until your baby is in a receptive mood to attempt introducing a new food. Twenty minutes before naptime is not the best time to break out the carrot puree and expect Junior to attack it with gusto. Try to offer solids when the baby is alert and should be moderately hungry (too full, and she won’t want anything else - too hungry, and she won’t be able to focus on accepting food from the spoon). My son also doesn’t eat well if he’s just had shots, so be mindful of cranky-making factors like that.

Come to the table with reasonable expectations. Your baby and the neighbor’s baby may not eat the same amount of food in a given day. Don’t sweat it if your little guy doesn’t finish every meal, and don’t try to force him to eat more than he wants. (He will give you cues that he’s done - spitting out food, turning his head away, or clamping his mouth shut when the spoon comes close!) If you’re tense during baby’s mealtime, he will pick up on it, and the experience will likely be miserable for both of you. I learned that the hard way.

That “Eww! Yuck!” face might not mean much. Babies tend to react to unfamiliar tastes by screwing up their faces in a classic “Blech!” expression. What your darling is actually saying might be more like “I have no idea what this is!” Don’t give up. Once she relaxes, offer her a second small spoonful. She may very well be receptive after the first few bites. My son made that super-icky face a week or so ago, when I introduced him to a new fruit combo - now it’s his favorite food!

If at first you don’t succeed… Sometimes your baby will turn his nose up at a new food and will absolutely refuse to eat it no matter how gently and consistently you coax him. In that case, don’t write the food off as “Oh, he doesn’t like peas” - just give him a few days (or weeks) and try again. Sometimes it takes several introductions for a baby to accept a new food. One rejection doesn’t mean that he’ll never eat peas!

Posted by Sunshine.

Changing advice for childrens allergies. Doctors are changing their recommendations for childrens allergies. It used to be that they thought children’s allergies could be avoided by avoiding certain foods during pregnancy, drinking soy milk, or delaying solid food until after 6 month of age. Not any more. Pretty much the only advice that still holds true is that breast feeding does appear to prevent children’s allergies. As for the others, there is no scientific evidence to prove that they work.

Another good reason to eat together as a family. Studies show that girls who regularly eat meals with their families are less likely to have eating disorders. The same does not hold true for boys. Researchers are not sure why there is a gender difference, but speculate that this could be a result of girls being more influenced by interpersonal and familial relationships present at family meals, or perhaps that they are more involved in the food preparation process.

Poor piggies! Scientists in China have successfully bred florescent green piglets. These were born from a mother who was injected with this. Scientists are all happy because they now think they can breed special pigs, and especially ones that are suitable for human organ transplants. Honestly, this kind of creeps me out. I am still not sure how I feel about all of these amazing medical advances. On one side it sees like a great thing to cure all of these strange diseases, but the other side of me wonders if we wouldn’t have all these strange diseases if we weren’t constantly destroying our environments with all of the chemicals we produce in the first place? I mean, florescent green chemically altered pigs doesn’t seem too healthy now, does it?

A new prince is born. Prince Edward and his wife Sophie, officially known as the Earl and Countess of Wessex, have announced the birth of their son. The baby, yet to be named, has been described by his parents as “small, cute, and cuddly”. In following typical monarchial (I am hoping that is a real word) tradition, the baby will probably have a bajillion names. His sister is named Lady Louise Alice Elizabeth Mary Mountbatten-Windsor. Repeat that ten times fast.

The importance of iodized salt. Last week, the United Nations announced that their 20 year effort in getting iodized salt to all households is paying off and currently 70% of all people worldwide have access to this. Their goal is to have this available 100% worldwide. Why is this important? Iodine Deficiency Disorders can cause brain damage and and IQ loss in newborns. Interestingly:

“To avoid suffering IDD, a human requires in a life time a total just one teaspoon of iodine - this can be added to salt at a cost of about 10 cents worth per year. But it is necessary to ingest micro amounts of iodine on a regular basis. Consumption of iodized salt is the best form of IDD prevention and Universal Salt Iodization (USI) is the goal. The greatest need for micro amounts of iodine is in the mother’s womb.”

There are still safe toys out there for babies and toddlers. And to help you out, here is a list of ten toys that have high safety standards. Happy (almost) last minute christmas shopping!