Plastic baby bottles and water bottles are safe, a federal health official said Tuesday, seeking to ease public concerns about the health hazards of a chemical used in the products.
The National Toxicology Program said in a recent draft report that there is "some concern" that bisphenol A can cause changes in behavior and the brain, as well as reduce survival and birthweight in fetuses. It drew its conclusions from animal studies.
Sounds like a story out of The Inquirer, but it's not. This is an amazing true story highlighting advances in medical technology and the miracle of life. Here's a clipping of the begninng of the story. It's definitely worth a click through to read the rest.
Four months into Keri McCartney's pregnancy, doctors reportedly noticed a tumor growing on the baby's tailbone.
Doctors discovered that the tumor was stealing blood from the fetus and weakening her heart. So, at 25 weeks, surgeons at Texas Children's Fetal Center cut into McCartney's abdomen in an effort to remove the life-threatening mass, according to a CBS News report. For the rest of the story...
Click here for photos including one incredible picture from the operation. I was going to post it here, but even FoxNews.com has a warning that it's graphic, so I figured I'd put the link instead.
The 27-year-old actress gave birth to a healthy baby girl — Honor Marie Warren — on Saturday.
When asked what kind of mother she will be, Alba recently told Fit Pregnancy magazine, "I don't want to be my child's best friend. I want to be a mom. But I do want my child to come to me when they have problems and need to talk, so it's going to be about treading that line."
Making a few changes can help ease your grocery bill, experts say. Find out how to feed a family on $100 a week in "How to Save $400 a Month on Groceries".
Featured websites include:
We're working on a project about Baby Blogs and how they've grown over the past few years. We want to hear your thoughts on the Baby Blog phenomenon -- write as much or as little as you'd like.
Tell us when you started your baby blog and why, how many baby blogs you usually visit on a daily basis, how many strangers' blogs you stalk and what you get out of the whole experience. What surprises you? What disappoints you? What will it be like to let your children read your blog about them one day? And explain why you're a Baby Blog Addict.
We'd like to use your first name (and last if you'd like to include it) and your home state. Send us an e-mail or leave a comment here with your response in paragraph form. Thanks in advance for your help!
Hospital pictures right after the baby arrives are not necessarily the most flattering, yet they are usually the first pictures that go out to family and friends; they are posted on your blog for everyone to see; and they are at the beginning of your baby's scrapbook (if they have scrapbooks these days).
Here are a couple of suggestions (no make-up necessary) to make the photos of yourself easier to look at when you are feeling like yourself again.
1) Bring a pretty pillowcase from home. The pillowcase that you are leaning against makes it into all of the pictures, right? Instead of the stark, white one that the hospital provides, bring your own from home. Maybe a pretty blue one or pink one if you know you are going to have a boy or a girl or a neutral one if you will be surprised. These pictured above are from the Martha Stewart "Trousseau" Luxury Bedding Collection sold at Macy's.
2) Now onto that ugly gown that doesn't fit well, is dull and has probably been worn before. There is an alternative! Rachel Zinny is the founder of dearjohnnies "special gowns for special people".
She says, "Like most new parents-to-be, my husband and I planned to take photos right after the birth to share with family and friends. But then I realized that a prominent feature in the photos would be the generic, unattractive pattern of a hospital gown. Did it have to be this way? Why couldn't I be wearing something less institutional and more attractive? Besides, wearing a “used” gown worn by who knows how many other patients wasn't appealing." So she founded dearjohnnies.
dearjohnnies gowns are $65 each and robes are $70. It might be a little pricey for something you can get for free, but after forty weeks of pregnancy, we think you deserve to feel pretty and comfortable. These are also great shower gifts or maybe even a surprise gift from the father-to-be to the mother-to-be...hint, hint to all of you guys out there who are expecting soon.
All this being said, you do realize that no one else is looking at you in the pictures, right? It's all about the baby now!
From the Chicago Tribune...
1. Get your kid in the car in a hurry. "Have her choose an animal (a bird, frog, bunny, whatever) to act like as she makes her way to the car."
2. Have ants invaded your kitchen? "Sprinkle baking soda in cracks and anywhere else they can sneak into your home," according to the authors of "A Field Guide to Household Bugs: It's a Jungle in Here."
3. Stay dry. Stick a Popsicle into a coffee filter to keep hands clean and prevent a spilling mess.
4. Snack standing up. Bonus: You'll probably consume less than when you're sitting because you'll be less likely to fall into the trap of mindless eating."
5. Make a snack necklace with a preschooler: "Have her slide Cheerios, pretzels, and dried apple rings onto waxed dental floss. Tie it around your child's neck to make it an edible accessory."
Tip Junkie is a site that compiles great tips and creative ideas from people like you! Fun activities for the kids, delicious recipes and creative decorating tips are just of few of the tips you'll get from Tip Junkie. Your own blog posts can even be added as tips on Tip Junkie. Just check out the Submit a Tip link in her blog's sidebar.
My favorite post and a great one for all of you Baby Blog Addicts is Blogger Questions & Tips. From "Is it worth putting advertising on my blog?" to "Do you like music on blogs", this is a great list of 18 blogger tips that you don't want to miss.
A lot of parents are now paying to baby-proof their dogs. A canine re-education course called Dogs & Storks, launched in 2006, now has 35 affiliated trainers in the U.S. and Canada, with hundreds of graduates.
"It's catching on because people are choosing to have kids later, and their dogs are really their first baby," says the course's creator, Jennifer Shryock of Cary, N.C., who sells it to trainers for $300.
Dogs bite about 4.7 million people a year in the U.S., the majority of them children, according to the American Veterinary Medical Association. Bonnie Beaver, a Texas vet and past president of the group, says that of the 15 to 20 people a year who die from dog bites, about 80% are children.
Ms. Shryock tells expectant parents, "When the baby comes, you are going to look at your dog for the first time as an animal. You will feel different about Fluffy."
More from the Wall Street Journal...
These four books are worth your time and money, according to family psychologist John Rosemond:
~ Have a New Kid by Friday
~ Confident Parenting
~ Internet Protect Your Kids
~ How to Behave and Why
From New Orleans City Business:
The baby haters have spoken.
I haven’t been to a movie since September. The previews at the theater have sufficiently warned us about how crying babies can disrupt the viewing experience for others. We’ve had waiters give us the stink eye for bringing our otherwise quiet infant into a white tablecloth restaurant.
And I’ve had one friend bring her baby to an outdoor food and wine tasting, only to be told by a manager as she was leaving that her child’s presence made him uncomfortable.
Since having our daughter Zoe, in July, we’ve discovered our culture isn’t very baby-friendly.
More...
Check out these adorable Sweet Cupcake shoes from the Robeez Luxury Collection. They are perfect for any little girl to attend a birthday party and for her very own first birthday! A little pricey at $39.95, but oh so sweet and special.
When a playgroup consisting solely of kids with their dads meets midweek in a public place, it’s usually regarded with some degree of curiosity.
“We were all at a playground and a woman came up to us and said, ‘Did I miss a holiday?’ ” recalls Ruben Koolman, who has been a member of Chicago Dads, a local social and networking group for stay-at-home dads (SAHDs), for two years.
Chicago Dads is run a little more loosely than most moms groups: The meeting time (10:30am–12:30pm), like the location, is more of an approximation than a specific. A playdate at the Museum of Science and Industry, for example, met “somewhere around the trains.”
This laid-back approach to the playdates—which have no agenda, no story time, no snack time, no obligatory anything—epitomizes the group (and probably the parenting styles of men versus women). It’s all voluntary, all free and all types of dads are welcome. “Some [of us] work full-time, part-time or work at home. Some are retired or are at-home dads,” says Cliff McIntosh, a member who returned to the workforce when his kids enrolled in school.
Check the database here for a registered dad group near you.
Ask a mom if she's happier now that she has a child, and she'll usually say yes. But psychologists who study happiness often report a different picture. Being the mom of a young child (especially one under 3) is rewarding, but also a real strain on your mood.
Here's the real eye-catcher in this story: Moms rate child care only slightly higher than housework on enjoyment scale.
Congratulations to (drum roll, please...) THE BERGER FAMILY who is the winner of our first anniversary contest. They will receive the Jackaroos' bib and burp cloth in the turquoise d
amask pattern.
We had 92 comments on the BBA Blogiversary Contest post! We ran numbers 1-92 on the random sequence generator on random.org and #16 came out on top. Here are the results:
Are you okay with finding a babysitter (or care for seniors, pets and your home) online? If so, Sittercity may be for you. It's as easy as paying a fee and punching in your zip code to tap into a database of caregivers who do everything from walk your dog, to water your plants, to tutor and put your children to bed.
The Chicago Sun-Times has a short write up about the seven-year-old website in today's edition.
Helpful hints for getting your toddler to brush and actually enjoy it: do it together, use an electronic toohbrush, brush in the bath tub and establish a reward system.
Looking to "add some spice to your blog"? Check out The Trendy Mommy Blog Design. You can choose from Jen's premade headers for just $8 or get a custom design, still at very reasonable rates.
For just $28, you can get a custom design that includes a custom header, coordinating background, signature, one sidebar & up to 4 category headers! And for just $5 more, add a second sidebar to the custom design.
Plus, installation of your blog design and color coordination of your blog text is included in every purchase.
See Jen's Portfolio to see if her trendy designs are right for your blog style. Then head over to her Order Info to see how to get started.
