Thursday, April 17, 2008

BabyLegs for Earth Day

BabyLegs is donating 10% of their sales from April 1st- 22nd to The Nature Conservancy in support of the Costa Rican rain forest.

BabyLegs is a company dedicated to local and global aid, and recognizes Earth Day as an opportunity to give back to Mother Nature. We pride ourselves in our organic line as we strive to become a sustainable business. Visit www.babylegs.net for more information.

Another Voice for Postpartum Depression

In May’s Vogue, Gwyneth Paltrow speaks about having postpartum depression after the birth of her son Moses. I applaud her and Brook Shields, who also spoke and wrote about her postpartum depression experience. It is a very common ailment and something that is not to be ashamed of.

From Vogue:
“I didn’t know I had it until after it was over,” the actress, 35, says. “I just didn’t know what was wrong with me.” She suspects her depression stemmed from scaling back on her usual pre-baby treatments like acupuncture. “I felt really out of my body,” Paltrow says after giving birth. “I felt really disconnected. I felt really down … I felt pessimistic.”



For more information on PPD, check out BabyCenter's page, Health and Human Services' Women's Health page, and NIH's MedLinePlus page.

Wednesday, April 16, 2008

Bad Message Overall...

My attention was recently drawn to a book titled My Beautiful Mommy. The synopsis:

"My Beautiful Mommy” is aimed at kids ages four to seven and features a plastic surgeon named Dr. Michael and a girl whose mother gets a tummy tuck, a nose job and breast implants. Before her surgery the mom explains that she is getting a smaller tummy: “You see, as I got older, my body stretched and I couldn’t fit into my clothes anymore. Dr. Michael is going to help fix that and make me feel better.” Mom comes home looking like a slightly bruised Barbie doll with demure bandages on her nose and around her waist.

The book doesn’t explain exactly why the mother is redoing her nose post-pregnancy. Nonetheless, Mom reassures her little girl that the new nose won’t just look “different, my dear—prettier!”


Dr. Michael Salzhauer
, a board-certified plastic surgeon in Bal Harbour, Fla. says he got the idea for the book after seeing his patients bring their small children with them to appointments. "Parents generally tend to go into this denial thing. They just try to ignore the kids' questions completely." He is concerned that children "fill in the blanks in their imagination" and worry when they see "mommy with bandages".

So what is the message here?
1. don't worry kids Mom will be fine after her operation- ok, that's fair, but unfortunately you can not separate it from point number two.
2. Mom wasn't happy with her appearance and felt she needed to change it. Women need to look pretty.

I guess since we can't stop people from feeling they need to surgically enhance themselves, we can't condone a book that is just trying to ease the inevitable questions that follow...?

Tuesday, April 15, 2008

Reveiw: Mott's Tots

Mott's has introduced a new line of juice boxes and juices that are getting great reveiws. Instead of lugging around a sippy cup, juice and water and diluting the 100% juice yourself- Motts has done it for you. You and your doctor knows they don't need all that straight juice- this juice box has 40% less sugar than regular 100% juice boxes. No artifical additives to boot!




Mott's for Tots is a great-tasting juice drink that has 40% less sugar than regular apple juice and no artificial sweeteners. We've blended delicious juice with purified water and 100% vitamin C in a variety of flavors, conveniently packaged in single-serve juice boxes, nine to a pack. We've even added 64-oz multi-serve bottles to our product mix. Mott's for Tots contains 100% juice mixed with purified water, making it easier than ever to make a healthy choice for your kids – and it's pediatrician approved.

Monday, April 14, 2008

National Poetry Month

April has been National Poetry Month since 1996. The American Academy of Poets hopes to increase awareness and appreciation of poetry. So do something fun with the kiddies today and have them write a poem.

A very simple one to do is a Haiku, it does have to rhyme and it is rather short. They all follow a simple pattern- 3 lines, the first is 5 syllables, the second line is 7 and the last line is 5.


Or check out these books:


Sing A Song Of Popcorn- this book even I read as a child and is fantastic.


The Random House Book of Poetry for Children includes many great classics from, Emily Dickinson, Robert Frost, Shel Silverstein.


The Kingfisher Book of Children's Poetry a wide variety from ballads, limericks, riddles, and to the widely popular nonsense verse.


Sunday, April 13, 2008

Got Milk Worries? Just Drink It

Wal-mart announced recently that it would be adding milk that comes exclusively from cows free of artificial growth hormones. This sparked a big debate.

The argument against:
- Some believe that it causes early sexual maturity in girls, though the scientific research here is not necessarily clear.

The argument to keep on trucking:
- Americans routinely don't get enough in their diet and drinking any brand is more important than drinking a specific kind
- Milk is still the top dietary source of calcium, which we all need all day. You can only adsorb 500 mcg at a time, so getting it all at once doesn't help as much as spreading it out through the day.
- All milk has vitamin D, which helps you absorb calcium and it is one of the few places you can easily find vitamin D.

What can you do?
- Drink skim! The hormones in milk reside mostly in the milk fat, drinking skim would greatly reduce the amount of exposure

Monday, April 7, 2008

Hush Little Baby, Get Your Rest!

A new study out finds a connection between quantity of infant sleep and likelihood of being obese at age three. While many studies have confirmed the link of lack of sleep and lbs gained in adults, this is the first study to link the two in infants.

The study came out today in The Archives of Pediatrics and Adolescent Medicine. Researchers report that infants who got less than 12 hours of sleep had a doubled increase of being obese at age three, and the effect was even stronger in infants who watched two or more hours of television daily. The researches took into account birth weight, the mother’s age and body mass, breast feeding duration and other variables.

So what can you do? Many experts agree on the following:
1. No TV in the bedroom
2. Establish a good nighttime routine (bottle, book, bed)
3. Have a consistent schedule and bedtime
4. White noise such as a fan, humidifier may help

Remember that babies sleep habits are determined more by individual temperment and you can' t always get them to sleep when and as long as you'd like. Technically 'sleeping through the night' is 5 hours of continuous sleep, so if they are getting naps, they can easily reach the 12 hour mark.

Thursday, April 3, 2008

National Child Abuse Prevention Month

April is National Child Abuse Prevention Month. The first federal child protection legislation was passed 34 year ago in the Child Abuse Prevention and Treatment Act, and has been updated several times since, but children out there still need help and protection.

Four children die each day in the US from child abuse. If you worry about a child you know don't hesitate to call.


The Childhelp National Child Abuse Hotline, 1-800-4-A-CHILD®, operates 24 hours a day, seven days a week. For more information about Childhelp call 480-922-8212 or visit www.childhelp.org.

Tuesday, April 1, 2008

Celebabies

Keri Russell has got to be one of the cutest Hollywood moms. Here she walking from the farmer's market with her reusable bag and her son River in a sling.





Style note: favorite sling found here, favorite reusable bag found here.

EPA Ruling on Lead Paint

The EPA announced a new ruling that will take effect April 2010 that will require contractors to take special precaution when renovating homes built before 1978, child-care facilities and schools occupied by children under 6 or pregnant women.

James Gulliford, the EPA's assistant administrator for prevention said, "Our goal is to eliminate childhood lead poisoning as a major health concern by the year 2010".

But lead paint is found in more than an estimated 38 million homes and is not easy to deal with- the dust that is made from removing the paint is a major concern and when removing paint off the outside of the house, lead getting into the soil is another issue that must be handled very carefully. To properly deal with this tedious messy task, builders, painters, electricians and others will have to be trained and certified in lead abatement procedures.

Contractors will be prohibited from using sandblasters, torches or other power tools that stir up lead dust. Warning signs to keep residents out of the area until all dust and debris is cleaned up will also be required.

If you have lead paint in your own home consider removing it before you have children. If you are going to remove it yourself, read up on ways to reduce your own exposure. Try to avoid sanding at all costs and always always wear a mask.

The IR paint stripper is a wonderful tool to use in removing lead paint. It heats up and the paint softens and can easily be scrapped off without producing dust and without the use of chemical strippers. The solid lead paint chips are easily swept up and can be disposed of properly. Also look for HEPA vacuums for when you are cleaning any areas that could be affected with lead dust.

Check out The Silent Paint Remover.com for the IR paint stripper and attachments as well as HEPA vacuums, organic paint and organic cleaning products.