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.

I think of myself as a bit of a safety-obsessive, so imagine my chagrin when I happened upon an article in a recent Good Housekeeping and learned that I didn’t know squat about how to safely use nonstick pans. I didn’t even know there was an unsafe way, outside of chipping off the coating with metal spoons.

If you’re as clueless as I was, here’s the dope: Nonstick cookware is safe, experts note, so long as they’re not overheated.

“There’s a whole chemistry set of compounds that will come off when Teflon is heated high enough to decompose,” says [chemistry professor and Teflon expert Robert L.] Wolke. “Many of these are fluorine-containing compounds, which as a class are generally toxic.” But fluoropolymers, the chemicals from which these toxic compounds come, are a big part of the coating formula — and the very reason that foods don’t stick to nonstick.

If the danger begins when pans overheat, then how hot is too hot? “At temperatures above 500ºF, the breakdown begins and smaller chemical fragments are released,” explains Kurunthachalam Kannan, Ph.D., an environmental toxicologist at the New York State Department of Health’s Wadsworth Center. DuPont, inventor and manufacturer of Teflon, agrees that 500 degrees is the recommended maximum for cooking.

The problem is, it’s very easy to get your pans to the “too hot” state. In Good Housekeeping tests, a lightweight pan hit 514 degrees after 2 and 1/2 minutes of preheating two tablespoons of oil on high. And at very high temperatures, above 660 degrees, nonstick cookware can even start to give off fumes that can induce a flu-like illness in people (and can kill pet birds).

So how do you keep the chemicals out of your food and air? Some tips:

• Never preheat an empty pan (and even preheating a pan with oil in it can be risky).
• Don’t cook on high heat when using nonstick pans. Go no higher than medium.
• Ventilate your kitchen when cooking to clear fumes.
• Don’t broil or sear meats in nonstick cookware.
• When buying nonstick pans, choose heavier models, which are less likely to overheat.
• Don’t use metal utensils that can chip the nonstick surface.

I’m sticking (so to speak) with my Teflon pans for pancakes and bakeware, but I’ve decided to save up for some good quality uncoated pans for when sticking is more or less a non-issue. In the meantime, it took me about a week to break the habit of turning the burner to high when cooking with nonstick, but now I’ve got it down pretty much. It takes longer to cook on medium, but sacrificing a little convenience to keep my family safe is a no-brainer.

Happy - and safe - cooking!

Posted by MommaSteph.

Suffering from menstrual pain? Try acupuncture. A study shows that of women undergoing acupuncture treatments, 65 showed a 33% improvement in their pain levels. A few Midol tablets may cure most women’s cramps, but there are some who suffer from severe pain. I myself suffered miserably during my teen years, and going in the mini-pill seemed to finally provide some relief. If I had known about this back then I would definitely have given it a try.

Call your senator!… and tell him to vote for the new legislation that will nearly double the budget for the Consumer Product Safety Commission, with the intention of increasing programs on child toy safety.

It also would ban lead from children’s products and establish a publicly available database of information collected from consumers, hospitals and other sources about injuries, illnesses and deaths from consumer products.

Concerned parents unite and demand the safety of your children’s toys!

A little off topic… but since some of the gals on the board love hunting eggs and steering their wagons down the Oregon trail, I found it interesting today to read that Mark Zuckerberg, the person who created Facebook 4 years ago, is Forbes youngest billionaire. He is currently worth $1.5 billion. Impressive!

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.

We know that safety gates (”baby gates” to many of us) are a good way to keep small children confined to safe areas. They prevent kids from falling down stairs, having access to fireplaces, etc. - but how do you pick the best possible gate?

HealthDay passes along these tips from the Nemours Foundation:

* Choose a gate that is securely mounted to the door frame with hardware, and that doesn’t leave any openings to pinch little fingers.
* Be careful with gates that use pressure or tension to keep them secured in a doorway. Never place this type of gate in front of stairs, as it may be more easily removed by children. (We ended up throwing away a gate of this type because my two-year-old could ram it hard enough to dislodge it, despite our best efforts to make it super-tight. And if they warp at all, forget it - they’ll never fit right again.)
* Make sure that the bar on pressure gates is on the side away from the child’s access.
* Leave no more than 2 inches at the bottom of the gate to prevent a child from trying to slide underneath. (They will try if they think they can fit, which can result in wedged limbs.)
* Choose a gate that is difficult to climb on or over. (Think of little kids as monkeys - they are always capable of more than we give them credit for!)
* Only use gates that are safety approved and certified, and have no sharp or dangerous parts that could hurt a child.

It doesn’t take much extra time to select a gate that will do the job right. I would never have forgiven myself if we’d had a stairway and had used the pressure-mounted gate my daughter ended up barreling through. Can you imagine? As it was, she only crashed into the kitchen. Whew!

Posted by Sunshine.

It only takes a moment for winter fun to turn into a trip to the ER. Cold weather dangers abound, but that doesn’t mean we should spend the season indoors. It’s important to stay active year-round, so here are some tips for a safer winter play season, from HealthDay:

• Children should wear a helmet when they’re snowboarding, sledding, snowmobiling and skiing.
• Dress to keep warm and safe. Wear layers of clothing and top it off with coats that are wind- and water-resistant. When snowmobiling, make sure that scarves and any loose fabrics are tucked in.
• Parents should always supervise young children and keep them in sight. Older children should always have at least one companion.
• Don’t play on ice, which poses a serious fall risk. When skating, use ice only in areas designated for skating, and check for cracks and debris on the ice.
• When skiing, snowboarding or sledding, always make sure the path is clear of people and other obstacles.
• Only take part in winter sports in areas well-lit by sunlight or artificial light.
• No matter what the winter activity, always think about safety. For example, never pull your child in a sled behind a snowmobile or other motorized vehicle.

Posted by Sunshine.

What a year it has been!

We had some sad times - including the Utah mine disaster, the California fires, and the Virginia Tech shootings.

We also said goodbye to Harry Potter and the Sopranos.

It was not all bad though… 2007 did bring us the iPhone!

We were informed again and again that obesity is ever increasing and it is a serious threat to our future health and our medical system.

And we learned that many toys aren’t safe and it is perhaps time to make a stand to ensure the safety of our children.

Women’s health has made many advances this past year, and I wish all of us wonderful women good health!

On the entertainment side, we bid a sad farewell to Anna Nicole Smith, and we watched with our boxes of popcorn in hand how Lindsay Lohan is seemingly crawling out of her dependency hole, while Britney Spears is diving deeper down.

For sports, we saw Tom Brady pull a nice one out of somewhere to lead the Patriots to a perfect season (that’s for you Supa!), and college football was a rollercoaster ride that has sparked many passionate debates about the BCS system. But many of our favorite athletes fell to scandals - Michael Vick, Floyd Landis, Marion Jones, and a whole lotta baseball players… leaving a lot of wide-eyed kids disappointed by their heroes.

We also watched our politicians gear up for the presidential race that has us wondering if we will see the first female President next year. (BTW - this is not an endorsement!)

Over on the boards, we celebrated the births of many future squawkers, we watched our precious ones grow a year older, we supported each other through the sleepless nights, potty training, magic marker mishaps and terrible two’s. And we marvel at the strength of our guy, Mikey. We shared the good times and the bad, laughed and cried and we can’t wait to do more in 2008!

Love to you all and all the best for 2008!

Posted by Meganlux

Constipation the biggest cause of abdominal pain. Does your little one have a tummy ache? Chances are, she might be constipated. In a study of children treated for abdominal pain in one hospital, it was found that in nearly have of those cases, constipation was the culprit. Signs of constipation include fewer than three bowel movements per week, one or more episodes of stool incontinence per week, passing of stools so large that they obstruct the toilet, retentive posturing (withholding behavior) and painful defecation.

Experience matters in treating heart defects. A University of Michigan study found that infants born with certain complex heart defects were much less likely to die if they were treated in a hospital that more frequently dealt with these specific concerns. This study echoes the sentiment often expressed in the forums by MomSquawk’s resident pediatric nurse, Joannpicu1: experience matters. If your child is sick, get them to a children’s specialty hospital whenever practical.

More recalls. The Consumer Product Safety Commission has announced more recalls of note: Infantino Lion Teethers, for a choking hazard; and some Dollar Tree toys, Jo Ann Fabric Stores water globes, and Codeena Princess metal jewelry for lead paint.

What were they thinking??? Hershey’s has just released a new mint candy that looks just like street cocaine. “Anything like this … is going to give an advantage to the criminals, narcotics users, narcotics dealers,” Austin, Texas, police Sgt. Richard Stresing said of Ice Breakers Packs — tiny, blue, dissolvable packets of white mint powder that looks startlingly like heat-sealed dime bags of cocaine. Not only does this make a policeman’s job more difficult, children could mistake cocaine for candy.

Childhood cancer on the decline. The death rate for children with cancer has dropped 20% since 1990. Doctors credit better medical technology, especially for leukemia which has seen a 3% reduction each year. Doctors are optimistic that this encouraging trend will continue.

Lead - it’s not only in toys. There are dangers in the home as well that can harm children. One of the most common places to find lead is in old window paint. There has been big progress made in the past 25 years - banning lead paint and leaded gasoline has resulted in an 88% decrease child lead poisoning cases. But still over 310,000 children are harmed by lead. If you have any doubts about lead in your home, please consider getting it tested.

Just a spoonful of honey… In a three-way test between children’s cough medicine, honey or nothing, honey was the most effective at calming children’s coughs and helping them to sleep better. This is good news for parents seeking alternative remedies to help their children, following the recent warning not to give children under the age of 6 years old OTC medicines. Please note that honey is not recommended for children under the age of one due to a rare risk of contracting botulism.

Obesity risk. Half of maternal deaths occurred with overweight women. Maternal obesity was now a “major and growing risk factor for maternal death.” Nearly 40% of these deaths could have been prevented with proper diagnosis and treatment. The study encourages pre-conception awareness to help prevention.

But death is not the only problem. Obese pregnant women are more at risk of dying, suffering heart disease, miscarriage, diabetes, infections and blood clots. Related obesity issues are becoming more and more understood and confirmed. It is time to focus hard on the root cause… obesity itself.

Struggling to find lead-free toys for Christmas? You are not alone. Many charities, including the Salvation Army and Goodwill are struggling to ensure that the toys they receive and distribute are safe for children. Please, remember that this is the time to spread holiday cheer and help a child. If you are aware that a toy has been recalled, please do not “regift” it to a Christmas charity.