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!

In an interesting new study, researchers found that getting cool kids to take an anti-smoking stance actually reduced the number of new smokers in the group by about twenty-five percent.

The study published in the journal Lancet took a different approach than most tobacco cessation programs aimed at youths by asking students to nominate others they viewed as influential or leaders to spread the anti-smoking message.

This would translate into a potential reduction of 43,000 14- to 15-year olds who take up smoking each year.

We already know that our kids face (or will face) peer pressure and the influence of the cool kids in school: what clothes to wear, what gadgets to pester parents for, etc. But I have to admit that I’d never quite thought about switching things around and using the status of popular kids to firm up positive, healthy mindsets in the general student populace.

Hey, whatever works, right?

Posted by Sunshine.

Furbabies help keep allergies away. Studies show that having a pet in the home can actually decrease the chances of your child developing asthma, eczema, and allergies. Apparently, having a dog in the household helps to build the child’s immune system, making it less susceptible to pollens and inhaled allergens.

Pampering the mom-to-be. Smart entrepreneurs, realizing that a lot of older women are having babies, and that these older women can tend to have more disposable income, are coming up with great luxury ways to pamper these moms-to-be. Seems that ladies these days are also seeing what celebrity moms are doing, and they want the same. So, that gives us a new markets for luxury ways to pamper the mom-to-be.

Personal pregnancy concierge (to bring you anything your little self craves in the middle of the night). Financial baby planners (that will take care of all the budgeting, financial, insurance, hospital stuff). Personal baby planners (design that dream nursery, book you for your massages and facials, book the professional photog for your belly shots). Baby chef (delivering fresh home-cooked meals to your doorstep). Wow. Is it me, of does all of this take a bit of the fun out of it? OK…maybe I am a tad bit jealous!

Less African American children can swim. Nearly 60% of African American children cannot swim. That is nearly double the figure for white children. Only 2% of America’s competitive swimmers are black. The roots of this are back to the days of segregation when most of the pools were racially segregated. Overall the study found that the ability to swim increased with parents income and education, regardless of race.

Swimming is a great sport - especially for keeping children fit and healthy. USA Swimming has programs to encourage participation of children of all races - with a focus of children who are inter-city minorities. They are also hoping that the participation of Cullen Jones in this summers Olympics will inspire children to want to learn to swim.

Cavity fighting candy? Believe it or not, it is being tested in Brazil. Researchers developed a compound that is similar to natural saliva which neutralizes the acids that erode teeth, and have put it in a candy called BasicMints (not very catchy - they need to get their marketing guys on that). The candy was given to 200 children, and after one year these kids had 61% fewer cavities. The only problem I can see is that it is only mint flavored. Personally, I would like to see it in gummy bears - I can’t ever get enough of those!

Other factors should be considered… when considering saving the life of a preemie. It is not only the gestational age that matters. Being a girl, having steroids to mature the lungs, being a single birth or having a few extra ounces of weigh all matter a lot. At this point, every week in the womb counts and any of these factors can increase the gestational age by a week. A child born at 22 weeks has a 5% chance of survival; at 23 weeks it climbs to 25%, 24 weeks 50% and 25 weeks 75%.

When a child is born between 22-25 weeks gestation, it is often a heart-wrenching decision. Statistically speaking, of the 4,200 extremely premature births, 50% died in the first two years, and an additional 25% had significant to extreme physical handicaps.

Well, it seemed like a good idea at the time… I don’t know whether to laugh or feel bad for a group of middle-aged moms in Spain. In an effort to make some money for their children’s school, they decided to pose nude for a calendar. Someone along the line gave them some bad advice, and the calendar did not sell well. They are $16,000 in debt - and stuck with a LOT of copies of the calendar. And I want to take a second to tell my elementary school kids not to worry - mommy is never going to embarrass you by posing nude to raised money for your school - I promise!

Toys ‘R’ Us toy recall. Toys ‘R’ Us are recalling two of their Imaginarium toys because the pieces may fall off. If you have either of these toys, please return the item to your nearest store.

More mumps vaccines? When there was a big mumps outbreak amongst college aged students in 2006, doctors were surprised. The 6,600 cases reported was by far the biggest outbreak since they required two doses in 1990. The concern is that the virus is outgrowing the vaccine, and now doctors are considering a third dose or changing the vaccine.

Mumps is commonly spread by saliva and respiratory secretions (which is probably why it spreads so quickly amongst college students). Why is the vaccine important? pre-vaccine, patients suffered from complications such as deafness, viral meningitis and testicle inflammation, which can cause sterility. And there were over 2 million cases reported per year, compared to current rates of only a few thousand per annum.

Celebrity mothers are not realistic. These days in the tabloids, much is said about how quickly celeb moms lose the baby weight. Resist temptation to be jealous. Most of us don’t make our living by being camera ready at all moments. Nor do we have private chefs, full time personal trainers and nannies to take our babies while we workout hours on end per day. The Today show is showing how some celeb moms got quickly back into shape. It seems that although some were a bit extreme, they all were pretty healthy about doing it.

What do I recommend? Taking the time to enjoy your newborn - being a mommy is tough enough without the additional stress of how you look. Take care of yourself and your infant, and when you have it together enough to concentrate on losing weight, join us over at the Health & Fitness board for lots of support and ideas on how “real” moms can get back into shape!

Dyslexia is different in different cultures. Studies suggest that there is a genetic link with dyslexia and that it is caused by a genetic mutilation. Further research suggests that different genes cause dyslexia in different cultures. They have been studying the differences between Chinese and English speaking children - starting from how the children learn the language.

English speaking children learn by first listening to sounds and them associating them with the words. Chinese speaking children learn their language quite differently, by first memorizing hundreds of symbols. This takes different areas of the brain to do, and leads to the conclusion that different genetic mutilations cause the similar disease in all. In understanding this, they can further develop treatment to the cultural differences.

Dyslexia is very common, affecting millions of people worldwide. Estimates project that 8-13% of the population is somehow impacted.

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.