Babies
The Laughing Stork’s Fun Parenting Facts
Dec 10, 2009 | Filed Under: Babies,Kids | Tags: Fun Facts
The most popular month in which to have a baby is July, according to the U.S. Census Bureau. In related news, condom companies likely report their worst monthly sales in October/November.
Stay tuned for more fun facts!
Newborns’ Cries Reflect Parents’ Language (Not to Mention Status of Diaper Contents)
Nov 5, 2009 | Filed Under: Babies,In the News,Kids
The cries of infants as young as three days old already reflect the language their parents speak, according to a new study that compared the newborn cries of French-born (“Oooouuuuiiii!”) and German-born children (“Neeeeiiinnn!”).
Scales of Justice Tip in Favor of “Fat” Baby Denied Health Insurance
Oct 15, 2009 | Filed Under: Babies,In the News,Kids,Parenting News | Tags: Say What?
If there’s one thing I may love more than baby hats, it’s a chubby baby. So color me sad to hear that this beautiful, chubby, four-month-old boy was denied health insurance for “being too fat.”
Sneak Peek: The New Graco SnugRide 35 Car Seat
Oct 14, 2009 | Filed Under: Babies,Kids,Shopping | Tags: Car Seats
The "Juliette"
Save your child the embarrassment of having other babies sneer, “Your car seat is soooo 2009!” and check out Graco’s new SnugRide 35, which will be replacing the SafeSeat and Snugride 32 Platinum in January 2010. It helps protect children up to 35 lbs. and 32 inches, keeping them rear-facing longer. Not only is that safer, but it also makes it more difficult to see when your child is sticking his tongue out at you.
Graco assures parents that the 35 model will fit with the same Graco products that the SnugRide 32 does. It also has what Graco touts as an “easy-install” base design and side-impact tested construction, plus EPS energy-absorbing foam. Ooooh-la-la.
Other features include:
• Convenient, stay-in-car adjustable base
• Five-point harness with front adjustment
• Removable infant head support cushioning baby’s head and neck
• 180° rotating canopy shading your child from any direction
• Easy-to-read level indicator helping ensure correct installation
• Comfortable handle, making it easy to carry
• Removable, washable seat cushion
• LATCH equipped for easy installation (well, relatively easy)
Car seat: $119.99 (Pre-order here.)
Your child’s safety (and happiness knowing s/he’s on the leading edge of transportation fashion): priceless
Co-Sleeping with Baby Major Factor in Sudden Infant Deaths
Oct 13, 2009 | Filed Under: Babies,In the News,Kids,Parenting News | Tags: Safety First, SIDS
If you’re a new mom like I am, Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (SIDS) is probably often top-of-mind:
“Open a window before she gets too hot and dies!” (Said in 60-degree weather)
“OMG, take that blanket off the baby before she suffocates!”
“A doll?! Are you NUTS?! Get that death trap OUT OF MY DAUGHTER’S BASSINET!”
Well, better crazy-paranoid than sorry, given that 3,000 infants die of SIDS each year. Also better to be educated, despite what Paris Hilton may be teaching young girls, so I thought I’d share the latest study results regarding sudden infant deaths.
Since the launch of SIDS public awareness campaigns letting parents know they could reduce the risk of death by giving up their Marlboro Reds, having infants sleep on their backs rather than on their tummies and eliminating all objects from the baby’s bed, the incidence of SIDS has decreased significantly. But questions, and sudden deaths, still remain. To help find answers, a team of researchers led by Peter Fleming of St. Michael’s Hospital in Bristol, Britain, studied 80 unexplained SIDS cases that occurred from 2003 through 2006.
Their research revealed that co-sleeping is a key culprit; in fact, a whopping 54 percent died while sleeping in the same bed or sofa with a parent — especially, not surprisingly, when the parent is under the influence of drugs and/or alcohol.
Sleeping with a baby on a sofa or chair is especially hazardous:
“It is really important that parents should not fall asleep with their baby on a sofa as it is very, very dangerous,” Dr. Fleming said. “It is 25 times more risky than having a baby in bed with you. After parents have fed a baby, it is really important they put them back in their cot.”
The study, published in the British Medical Journal, also noted that one-fourth of the infants who died were swaddled, for whatever that’s worth, and one fifth used a pillow, a far higher percentage than in either control group.
So, folks, do NOT drink and co-sleep! (With a baby, that is. With that cute guy from IT who keeps flirting with you… well, that’s your business.)
Misguided Baby Halloween Costumes: The Cereal Killer
Oct 6, 2009 | Filed Under: Babies,Funny Baby Pictures,Kids,Other Photos | Tags: Halloween Costumes, Just Wrong
Super Glue not included
Well, that’s ONE way to recycle cardboard.
Pumped Breast Milk Like Shot of Espresso If Given at Wrong Time of Day
Oct 5, 2009 | Filed Under: Babies,Featured,In the News,Kids | Tags: Breastfeeding
Just when you thought the rules surrounding breastfeeding couldn’t get any more confusing — Drink lots of fluids! Breastfeed for six months — no, ONE YEAR! Don’t paint your nails while breastfeeding! Be sure to nurse with one hand behind your head while jumping up and down like a monkey! (Seriously, please do and send the video to me) — a new study comes out confirming that giving babies pumped milk could disrupt their sleep if given at the wrong time of day.
Say wha –?
You see, researchers from Spain have found the composition of breast milk changes throughout the day. The milk contains more nucleotides, an ingredient known to induce sleep, at night (from 8 p.m. – 8 a.m.). So if we feed the baby at night with milk that was pumped in the morning, well… we may end up with a restless Cranky Pants. In fact, it’s like giving coffee to a baby because the day-specific ingredients stimulate activity in the infant.
The bottom line: In order to ensure correct nutrition, the baby should be given milk at the same time of day that it was expressed from mama’s breast.
“It is a mistake for the mother to express the milk at a certain time and then store it and feed it to the baby at a different time,” points out the researcher.
So… if I want to get actual work done in the day, I should feed nighttime milk to Miss Skye ALL DAY LONG! Like slipping her a Mickey. Um, not that I would actually DO that or anything. Just a passing thought. *AHEM*
Your Daily Dose of “Awwww”: Four Babies Laughing
Oct 3, 2009 | Filed Under: Babies,Kids
If you’re having a less-than-stellar day this weekend — perhaps your husband is hogging the TV with college football games or, worse yet, a “Jon & Kate Plus 8″ marathon, or maybe you just found out you’re being extorted for $2 million — then just watch this video. Continue Reading »
