Booster Seats Are Safer

The journal “Pediatrics” published the results of a study, conducted by the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia and the University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia’s Center for Clinical Epidemiology and Biostatistics, confirming previous reports that it’s safer to keep children aged 4 through 8 in a booster seat during car travel.

The new study gives us solid figures: Children in belt-positioning booster seats are 45% less likely to sustain injuries in a crash than children using standard safety belts.

Booster seats protected children even better during side-impact crashes, reducing the risk of injury 68% for near-side impacts and 82 % for far-side impacts. The most common type of injury children sustain in vehicle crashes is a head injury, accounting for 65 % of all injuries regardless of the type of restraint used. The data did not show a difference in the level of protection using a high-back booster or a backless booster seat.

The good news?

The study considered injuries sustained in 21,943 crashes in which at least one child received medical attention, as well as crashes where no children were injured, and the vast majority of injuries were not fatal, whether children wore a regular seat belt or used a booster seat.

Car Seats for the Car Only

It bears repeating that parents should follow the American Academy of Pediatrics car seat guidelines to keep their children safe during road trips. But it’s equally important to note the danger that exists when parents keep infants in car seats for extended periods when they are not traveling.

In a related article, CBS News reported the results of a study presented to the AAP that shows 8,700 emergency room visits resulting from inappropriate use of a car seat/carrier.

Most of the injuries occurred when parents placed car seat/carriers on soft surfaces, like beds and sofas, or high surfaces like counters and tabletops. This causes a risk of suffocation in infants, but babies can also suffer injuries to the head or extremities if the car seat tips or falls.

If you do place your baby in a carrier:

• Place the carrier on flat ground only.

• Be aware in public places; do not place the carrier and baby in high-foot-traffic areas.

• Avoid keeping baby in the carrier for long periods of time every day; this can lead to weak muscles and flat spots on the head.

The Bottom Line on Car Seat Safety

Car seats are intended for use in motor vehicles to protect infants, toddlers and children from injury in a crash. Use a car seat or booster seat, for as long as possible with your child, for its intended purpose. But don’t leave your infant in a carrier/car seat for extended lengths of time when you’re not traveling.

More Information

How do even the tiniest babies know that your attention is not 100% on them? Telephones are fascinating to little children. The phone rings, mom drops everything to go and talk to it. Kids are curious, what is it about this little plastic object with the buttons on that has so much power over mom?

And babies and toddlers also don’t like something that mom obeys without question. After all, when a toddler has been whining for another cup of juice for twenty minutes and isn’t getting any, it seems highly unfair that the phone gets responded to immediately after it rings.

So the strategy adopted by many babies is to not take it lying down. Oh no. Baby is not going to let the phone win.

Take the last time I tried to call my bank to attempt to sort out a complicated and boring mess with my account, I’ll spare you the details. Toddler and Daycare Baby collectively object to me not looking at them.

Toddler starts a pterodactly impression, skrark skrark skrark. Daycare Baby copies Toddler, peep peep peep. Toddler starts jumping off the couch and landing with a bang on the floor. Daycare Baby eggs him on by banging blocks on the floor. Toddler starts pulling out all the bloody annoying electronic toys that play music and animal sounds and encouraging phrases. Daycare Baby loves annoying electronic toys. Daycare Baby starts trying to climb up my leg and Toddler copies her. I’m sitting on the couch and I have Toddler sitting on one foot and Daycare Baby sitting on the other foot, both chirruping away.

So I didn’t get the bank account mess cleared up and I say goodbye and hang up. Daycare Baby and Toddler instantly fall silent and look up at me with big wide innocent eyes.

Then they crawl and scamper off to play with cotton balls and socks and fluff from under the bed and other zero decibel items.

Saving important phone calls for naptime or other baby-free times is a good strategy, but that’s not always possible. And no matter how clever or engaging a distraction we can think up, it’s really hard to distract a baby or toddler that has decided that he/she needs attention from mommy NOW.

Do you have any tips or tricks for talking on the phone with babies around?

I have very little experience in putting one baby to sleep. I can’t tell you how to put three or more babies to sleep at the same time. But as a mom of twins, I sure do know how to put twin babies to sleep. At least my babies. Because every baby is different.

Here are some of my strategies.

Schedule. A regular sleeping schedule for one baby is important. Much more with two. It is important that they would be more or less on the same schedule. It’s better for the babies but also for Mommy. We always had our bedtime routine of washing, storytelling (yes, I read to them even as babies mainly our favourites Guess how much I love and Mr. Brown can moo) and lullaby singing. I also tried to have naptimes on schedule. As fellow blogger brit has written, a schedule disruption can lead to an overtired and rather crabby baby. Times two, in my case.

Separate beds. My boys were in the same room but had separate beds right from the start. I found that they were less likely to disturb each other when they woke at night. Also I had an extra bed in another room just in case. Often, when one baby woke up in the middle of the night, I would take him downstairs and put him in his playpen. He’d play and eventually fall asleep there and I’d simply cover him with a blanket and keep him there till morning. When both babies woke up at night – well, that’s another story.

Anything that swings  or rocks - Hammocks and rocking/swinging beds. I would have loved to rock my babies to sleep. But aside from the fact that the ratio of 2 babies to 1 mom makes this logistically almost impossible, there’s also the safety part to consider. Holding two babies in one go increases the chances of dropping one -or even both. Especially when you are sleep-deprived. Now, I know moms of twins who swear to baby hammocks or rocking beds. We didn’t have any of those and we didn’t want to buy them either so we improvised. I used my babies’ car seats as sleeping baskets – at least for naps. I swung them, one in each hand till my arm muscles ached. I made sure they were securely buckled up, though. Or I took one baby in my arms, while I rocked the other one in his car seat with my foot.

Pram/buggy. In the mornings, the best way to get them to nap was push them on the pram. I did this every morning, rain or shine, warm or cold. After they had fallen asleep, I would head back home and place the pram on our roofed terrace. Yes, my boys napped outdoors. And I got to exercise!

Car. Now, if everything else fails, I’d load the babies and the car seats in the car and go for a drive. Ten minutes max and they would be napping. We also tried to schedule our long drives during nap time to avoid disruption in their sleeping patterns.

Physical activity. As soon as they could walk, I kept them physically active, e.g. a walk around the block (without the buggy!) or a couple of hours at the playground. I found that they sleep/nap after exercise.

I guess I did something right along the way because my boys started sleeping through at 5 months and continued to nap till they were 4 years old, one even till he was almost 5! Or maybe they are just sleepy heads by nature. Whatever I did that worked, I found out by trial and error.  These are definitely not found in the books. As I said before, each baby is different and Mommy has to simply find out what works for her baby!

One of the delightful things about babies is that they just keep getting better and better. When my son turned one, I remember thinking how wonderful and how much fun he was, and surely this was the best it got? And then he got a little older, and I remember thinking how wonderful and how much fun he was, and this had to be the best it got? But now I still think how wonderful and how much fun he is. He just keeps getting more interesting and more amazing, and more fun to be around, Bar the odd tantrum, and his continuing quest to find perilous activities. At least it keeps me on my toes.

What’s my favorite thing about the kids in my life right now?

My toddler, almost three: he can talk. I can have a conversation with him, often a surreal conversation, and he’s adorable to listen to. He picks up random words and uses them in an interesting and totally candid way. Daycare baby is a bag of potatoes! My peas are very green indeed! Mommy stop singing you are very obnoxious! I love driving and listening to him chatter in the carseat in the back. It’s so fascinating to know what’s going on in his head.

My daycare baby, just turned one: how fascinating everything is. Take her to Target and it’s like Disneyland. Give her a box of spoons and it’s like treasure. I took her to the zoo and her eyes were round with amazement at the sea lions and the zebras. She even likes me singing.

My boyfriend’s daughter and toddler’s best friend, five: her unquenchable enthusiasm for her projects. Once she’s into something, it’s so fun to watch her involve herself and anyone else who comes nearby into it. Our whole house was full of pretend aliens a few days ago (we all had to pretend) and her art projects are a legend in their own time.

What is your favorite thing about your baby or toddler right now?

I had a few of those moments last weekend that made me remember why I wanted to have a baby, and which made me very grateful for my three-month-old daughter.

She woke up at 7 AM to eat, and I brought her into the bed with us to nurse from a side-lying position (one of our favorites at night and in the early hours of the morning.) After a bit, we both drifted off to sleep, waking up at 8:30.

My husband woke up at about the same time. He looked across our daughter, sleeping between us on her back with her arms stretched over her head and the slightest little smile on her face, and said “Good morning.” We lied there together for a few minutes watching her sleep, until I put her in her bassinet so we could get up and begin our day.

She woke up while I was cooking French toast and I asked my husband to take care of her. I still had the baby monitor clipped to my waist band, and I smiled as I heard the dialogue taking place in the bedroom. “Hey, kiddo!” he said. He must have seen her smile, then, as he commented, “Wow, you are in a good mood this morning.”

I listened as he lifted her up over his head, proclaiming, “Up, up, up. Down, down, down” (and a pause for kisses.) I listened to the whole diaper-changing routine, too, all the baby talk and sounds and games.

It’s often hard, while I leave my husband to watch my daughter so that I can work, to not get distracted listening to them together. It’s so much fun to watch them play—and even more fun when he doesn’t realize I’m doing it! (Of course, now my secret’s out.)

My husband can take my daughter, lift her over his head a lot higher than I could reach, swing her around, and play games that I’m just not brave enough to try. She feels secure in Daddy’s grasp and laughs and smiles with delight.

Meanwhile, I’m the only one who can get her to fall asleep by nursing (of course) or even singing to her. And sometimes, there’s just nothing like cuddling up in Mommy’s arms.

My husband’s mom raised three kids largely on her own, and my mom raised me alone from the age of 12. I give single moms so much credit; I simply don’t know how they do it.

When I think about how lucky I am to have my husband, who is a very active and involved father, I also realized how fortunate my daughter is to have us both around to love and nurture her in very different ways.

Moms, what activities do you love watching your husband do with the baby? Dads, what special gifts do you share with your children?

Experts recommend about 30 minutes of tummy time for infants in order to help nurture and encourage fine and gross motor skills, especially those skills that eventually lead to crawling.

Switching a baby’s position frequently also prevents a flat spot on the head, which has become a common problem since the AAP began recommending placing infants on their backs to sleep.

I got a late start on tummy time with my three month old daughter. I didn’t realize we were supposed to start it immediately, so I only started placing her on her tummy about a month ago.

However, she did spend a lot of time belly-down on my tummy while nursing in her first month of life, and her neck muscles were very well-developed right out of the womb. She was holding her head up right from the start! I imagine our inadvertent tummy time during nursing sessions also helped with her core muscle development.

Now that we’ve started a tummy time routine, my daughter hates it! I can see that she gets frustrated because she wants to do things (like crawl) that her body just isn’t ready to do. The most she will tolerate is a few minutes at a time.

Browsing various parenting forums, I discovered that this is a common problem. If your infant can only tolerate tummy time for a few minutes at a time, break it up into short sessions. Try placing her on her tummy for a few minutes at the beginning of every play session. I recommend doing it at the beginning, when she’s fresh and relaxed, rather than tired or frustrated.

There are other things you can do to make tummy time enjoyable:

• Get down on the floor with your baby. This will help her feel like she hasn’t just been left alone on the floor to struggle.

• Hold a toy in front of her, giving her incentive to lift her head and try to move forward.

• Use a Boppy pillow to prop up your baby, that way she doesn’t feel like she’s smashed flat against the floor. Also, don’t be afraid to position her arms so that she is most comfortable, until she learns how to do this herself.

• Make tummy time more fun by singing a song or saying rhymes, so your baby will look forward to this one-on-one time.

• For smaller babies, conduct tummy time on your chest, the way I did in the first month. Lie flat on your back and place baby on her tummy on top of you.

• The requisite reminder: Do not leave baby alone during tummy time, and do not leave the baby on her tummy if she falls asleep. Always place a baby to sleep on her back.

Six 5-minute sessions of tummy time a day will bring you up to the recommended 30 minutes.

But don’t worry if all your baby will do is two minutes at a time.

For instance, with just a handful of 2-minute sessions every day, my daughter is barely up to a full 10 minutes of tummy time a day. But yesterday, she reached an important mobility milestone. I placed her on her tummy for a few minutes while we were playing and I lied down on my tummy next to her. She happened to be in a very good mood.

I brought her favorite toy “Ducky” down with us, as well. Ducky cheered her on with quacks as she made swimming motions with her hands and legs. She tried to grasp the blanket she was lying on in order to pull herself forward.

After a few minutes, she leaned up on her left elbow and decided to change her situation. With a significant amount of grunting, pushing and flailing, she rolled herself over onto her back! Then she gazed up at me with a look of surprise on her face, as if to say, “How did I get into this position?”

Since then, we’ve had four more tummy time sessions, and she’s getting more frustrated than ever. She’s trying to roll over again and it’s not quite working. It’s as if she’s thinking, “I did it once, why can’t I do it now?”

I’m honestly surprised she rolled over so quickly, given how little time she’s spent on her tummy. It just goes to show, babies develop at their own pace and every baby, regardless of how much tummy time she has, will eventually learn all the skills she needs to become a fully mobile toddler.

Babies and toddlers learn a lot by copying you. That’s why they want to learn to talk and walk and play with your cellphone. I don’t know why babies want to drop cellphones in the toilet, you’ll have to ask your friendly neighborhood child development psychologist.

Babies mimic you, and it’s natural to mimic them back, and coo to babies, clap our hands together with them and stick our tongues back out at them, and apparently this is very good for making baby feel important, validated and loved, and encourages baby to keep copying you.

If only there was a way to filter what they copy and what they don’t. Once I locked myself out my house and broke in through a window with a shovel from my son’s sandbox. He spent a lot of time bashing his sand tools on the walls and windows after that, and was probably wondering why we didn’t climb in to the house through the windows more often.

I’ve also learned that I burn toast too often. I was cleaning the kitchen today with my toddler, and gave him a towel to help wipe with. He looked at it blankly. Then realization dawned! He ran to the other side of the kitchen and started  flapping it towards the smoke alarm.

Then there’s the way he talks to my daycare baby. Daycare baby was crawling on the sofa, and he shouts “Baby! Get Down! Now!” in an eerily familiar way. OK, so one day he was climbing on the back of the sofa again and again and again and trying valiantly to fall off the back and break his head on the hardwood floor and totally ignoring my polite requests to get down.

It’s amusing, interesting and sometimes humbling to see yourself mirrored like that, and a little reminder that just about everything you do in front of your child affects them, a little or a lot.

I absolutely love the holiday season and all of the decorations that come out in December, but come January 1st, I am always very eager to put these seasonal items away for another year and to get my house in a less cluttered state.

Last January, I became pregnant and went on a huge purge of items in our overly filled, unfinished basement.  I cleaned out enough junk that we were able to make a small play area for my daughter in the middle of the basement.

This January, I am struggling with the fact that we have a baby in the house again and with that comes a myriad of baby gear, furniture and toys that seem to overtake the whole house.  Once I get my holiday decorations organized and put away in their labeled bins, I look forward to organize all of our baby “stuff”.

The question that remains is, as my son outgrows these baby items, whether it be clothing, gear or toys, what do I do with it?  Do I keep it in case we decide to have another baby or do I purge  again and begin to get rid of our infant items.  I have box after box full of girl things that I kept, in hopes that we would have a second child.  Now that we have that child and he is a boy, what do I do?

Until I decide whether or not we are keeping or giving away items, I will continue to have a basket on my dresser where I dump the clothing that is too small and the infant toys that we no longer need and I will continue to put those items in the basement as they accumulate.

My goal is to keep that small play space in the basement for my daughter and eventually my son, as it is important.  In the mean time, I will have to purge more items so that I can create the space needed to store all of the baby items that are no longer needed right now.

As for the current baby clutter that has over run our house, is there really a solution other than to remember that they are temporary?  We got rid of the playpen with the bassinet in the kitchen and replaced it with our reclining high chair, but eventually we will need that playpen back again once my son becomes mobile.  I have also moved many of my daughter’s toys up to her room in order to create some space for my son’s toys.  Although he doesn’t need them right now, the day is rapidly approaching when he will appreciate having access to baby toys on the main floor.

I never realized that organizing would be so difficult with two children!  Wish me luck.

Taking your child to get their photo taken can be quite the challenge at times.? Babies can be very unpredictable, toddlers have a hard time sitting still and preschoolers can be hit or miss with their moods and cooperation.

I have a 3 1/2 year old daughter and a newborn baby boy.? I’ve experienced it all during photo shoots with our children from distractions to inconsolable meltdowns.

Here are some tricks that I have learned along the way for taking picture of baby:

Infants

Toddlers

Preschoolers

If you have more than one child and you are getting a group shot done along with individual portraits, make sure you speak up with regards to the order in which the photos will be taken.? Aim for the group shot to be taken first and then individuals in order of priority according to moods, cooperativeness and age.? Remember to remind the children to not worry about themselves and to focus on the camera, not each other.? Too often, children worry about their siblings and then get caught not looking at the camera while they are trying to help out.

Safe haven laws are good ideas?and I support the concept. Sometimes though, even a good idea can go horribly wrong.

Perhaps you have never heard the concept of ?safe haven laws?. These are laws passed by states in the United States to prevent the abandonment of infants. The idea is that a mother can anonymously turn her child in at a hospital, fire house or police station after birth and avoid a penalty or prosecution. The child is safe, and the mom is safe too. It?s a ?simple? concept, but the wording of some of the laws is where it all goes downhill.

In Pennsylvania for example, a young mother called a fire station after placing her infant at the door. In that state though, it?s only legal to anonymously turn you child in at a hospital. I simply could not believe the news story which announced that the police were asking for leads on the identity of the child?s mother. I mean, what is the goal here? Eventually they did find the mother, but I haven?t heard if they made the decision to prosecute her as they technically can do so under that version of the safe haven law.

Another poorly worded safe haven law has received much media attention recently. In Nebraska, a safe haven law was passed recently which allows parents to abandon their child at a hospital without any penalty. This law never specified an age limit for the abandoned child though. Parents have been driving from out of state to abandon their teenagers at Nebraska hospitals because it is legal to do so. In the few months that the law has been in effect, 35 children have been left at hospitals by their parents.

Some claim that this is a sign of how many parents have nowhere to turn when a teen is out of control. Some of the parents have said that they have had no other choice but to use this option because they ?had no where to turn.?

Do you think that there is a failure of social services and communities to provide resources to parents who are dealing with difficult situations with their children? Do you feel that safe haven laws are a good idea?

Most young babies dislike baths. I?ve always found this to be slightly ironic because babies spend 9 plus months in a water bubble before they are born!

When my children were a few days old, I found it was best to give them their sponge baths in sections. I?d start first with their head and face, move down to the upper body, and then their lower body. When bathing their upper body, I?d keep their lower body covered with a towel and vice versa. It seemed to make the bath more bearable for them.

When their umbilical cord fell off, and I could put them in water, I had to come up with a slightly different game plan. I found that the two most important things to keep in mind when bathing a young infant were water temperature and routine. Getting the water so that it is neither too hot nor too cold really is important! I also found that while my children didn?t like the bath at first, the key was to not give up and continue on using the same routine every day. Eventually, they began to tolerate bath time pretty well.

After the children could sit by themselves, bath time became a fun time. The colored foaming soap was always a hugely popular thing at our house. When my older children were toddlers and were learning their colors, I?d dye the water using food color! If you decide to try this, be sure to mix the color very well into the water or it can stain! Also be sure to rinse the tub well after bath time.

One thing that my older children disliked was getting their hair washed. I was never able to figure out a trick to make that part of the bath to be more tolerable, however I see now that different stores sell hair washing hats for children. The hat is shaped so that water and soap run down the back of the head instead of getting into the child?s eyes. I have never had a reason to try the product because my son doesn?t really mind having his hair washed too much?plus his hair is cut short as per his Daddy?s wishes. Perhaps this is why it isn?t such a big deal for him? My girls always had long hair which made hair washing that much more difficult.

I?ve also found that my stress levels really have an affect on my children. If I was tense or upset during their bath time, it seemed to make the whole experience much more traumatic for them. On days when I was really stressed, I would ask my husband to take over bath time duty.

After months of slogging through the nightly bath time routine, my son now loves his nightly bath time. In fact, he loves it so much so that our big issue right now is stopping the bath time fun so he can get ready for bed and go to sleep. Isn?t that ironic?

Election Day is Tuesday here in the United States. Remember to go and vote!

I have always taken my children to the polling place with me – mostly out of necessity. This year, my husband is traveling with work and I will again be taking my children to the polls to vote. Voting with children is an experience in itself! Standing in a long line with a screaming child can be very, very stressful. If you‘ll be taking your children to the polls, try to keep the experience as short and sweet as possible.

For example, you can go online before hand and see a sample ballot. Decide BEFORE you get there how you are going to vote. It‘s hard to stand there trying to keep your infant or toddler happy while you are making a decision.

When you get there, be aware that some polling places may not let your children into the booth with you. I‘ve lived in various places around the United States and I‘ve found that some polling workers were adamant that my children could NOT go into the voting booth along with me; others didn‘t care but did caution me about letting my infant touch the buttons! If your infant or toddler accidentally touches the VOTE button on the electronic machine for example, you‘ve cast your vote and there‘s nothing you can do about that! You don‘t get a second chance to fix it!

It‘s best to try to choose a time when you believe that most people will not be voting. This time should also not conflict with your young child‘s nap time! I like to go as early as possible in the day because I find that the lines are usually shorter. As the day progresses, the lines tend to be longer and children tend to get crankier. Usually, I go to the polls after I get my children up for the day. If you have the option to do so, you may also wish to wait until you can find someone to watch your baby so you can vote.

Perhaps you don‘t have child care options and you can‘t choose the time of day when you go to the polls. In that case, remember to be prepared for a long wait. It‘s important to bring along extra bottles, or make sure to nurse the baby before you go to vote. Remember to pack toys and other items to amuse your younger ones in case you have to stand in line.

I‘ve found that many places have treats for young children who are out with their parents and this is nice! Many times, the poll workers have stickers and they make a special effort to amuse the younger ones in the crowd. I appreciate that so much! In our area, children have off from school on Election Day, so there are many children standing in line along with their parents.

This Election Day will be a first for me as my son will be getting his immunizations! I‘m hoping to be able to vote BEFORE we make the trip to the doctor. I can’t imagine standing in line with my son and his 4 sisters AFTER he’s gotten his shots, although I will do it if I must.

I wish you and your family a safe and stress free Election Day!

If your family participated in the holiday celebrations, you are probably overwhelmed at the sheer amount of candy your children have gotten in a few hours!

I admit that I don’t buy candy for my kids. When Halloween arrives, they absolutely love to trick-or-treat and they actually list the different types of candy they have gotten, along with the amount of that type of candy. Yes, they construct GRAPHS based on their candy. Then, they begin to trade amongst themselves – or fight amongst themselves. Our son was just old enough to go trick-or-treating with his sisters this year, but he really isn’t old enough to eat all of the candy he received.

Perhaps your little pumpkin went trick or treating and now you are wondering what to do with all of that candy. You may? be wondering exactly what kinds of candy are appropriate for your child to eat. I’ll share our system with you, but remember to keep your child in mind when making food decisions. Each child is different, and what is ok for one child may not be for another.

Lollipops are usually a good choice
They may be sticky, but older babies (around a year) are able to enjoy lollipops. Be sure to supervise your child and to make sure that they don’t bite off a small piece, which could be a choking hazard. I only allow my son to eat ‘regular’lollipops; not the kind with the candy in the center.

Avoid sticky and chewy candy
Candy that is sticky and chewy is a bad choice as these are bad for you child’s teeth and they can pose a choking hazard.

Avoid small pieces
If your child is young, small round candy pieces can also be a chocking hazard, even if they are easy to eat.

Avoid nuts and peanut butter
Nuts of course are a choking hazard. Peanut butter can cause allergies or a reaction. In some candy, the peanut butter is chewy or sticky, and can also be a chocking hazard. I actually don’t feed my children peanut butter until they are around 2 years old anyway but I’ve heard of people who wait until their children are around 3.

Chocolate is usually a good choice
I say usually, because the chocolate may have crispy bits, nuts or peanut butter mixed with it. I find that the ’snack bar’size is perfect for my son to eat. Be forewarned however – chocolate can get VERY messy and it’s hard to remove from the carpet and paint on the walls!

Remember that this is a great opportunity to get your child to brush his teeth too! After we eat a piece of candy, we make sure to brush our toddler’s teeth. He loves every minute of it and I’m hoping that we’re creating good habits for the future! Of course, it’s best to also limit the amount of candy that your children eat for a bunch of reasons. I usually allow the children a piece of candy a day.

What happens to all of the sticky, small, chewy, and peanut butter filled candy that our son can’t eat? Well, my husband and I can eat small, chewy and peanut butter filled candy – isn’t that a good thing. I guess you could say that everyone in our house got treated this holiday!

I don’t know about you, but sometimes I get a little annoyed when people try to compare caring for their dogs or cats to what I go through caring for my kids. I particularly dislike when folks refer to their pets as kids and they aren’t kidding. It’s one thing to say jokingly, “Fido is my baby,” but to say “I would go away this weekend if it wasn’t for the kids” when “the kids” are a couple of cats…it boggles my mind.

The other day I was at a pet store to buy some cat food and I noticed one of the most bizarre things I had ever seen. I spotted a woman walking along the aisles with her small dog in her arms. She was talking to the dog like a baby – no big deal, I see people do that all the time – but then when I got closer I noticed the dog had a diaper on. I thought that was odd, but figured the dog had a medical problem.

As I passed by her cart I saw something else: She had a baby seat, but no baby. I couldn’t help but follow her around a little to see what would happen next, and sure enough when it came time for her to leave she loaded the dog into the baby seat and left for her car.

I was amazed. She was treating this dog exactly like a baby. I’d read about anthropomorphism in school, but this was strange indeed.

If she had psychological issues then I feel really bad for her. If she lost a baby and needed something to nurture then I can see this sort of thing developing. If, on the other hand, she just thought this was a grand time to dress a dog up like a baby and tote the poor thing around in a baby seat then I’m mystified.

I have a cat, and I love my cat, but it’s just a cat. Besides, if I tried to put a diaper on it I would probably wind up with claw marks across my face.

Maybe someone can explain this one to me.

It’s fun to speculate what your little one will be, isn’t it?

My son is either going to be a TV show fashion critic, or a member of the Mafia.

OK, perhaps I should explain further.

I’ve nicknamed him Carson after Carson Kresley, the fashion expert on Queer Eye for the Straight Guy and How To Look Good Naked. He’s blond, funny, cute, and has strong opinions about my fashion sense. Why, only yesterday, he insisted I took off the shirt that I picked, and he chose another one for me. It was red, and I was wearing a pink skirt, so we have different ideas of what colors go together. Or perhaps I just don’t understand his haute couture fashion style.

Now, how did I come up with the notion that he’d join the Mafia? We don’t have any Italian roots. It’s really more to do with his current love of concrete mixer trucks. He has about six, presents from grandparents and aunts and ones from the 99¢ bins at Target as a bribe for sitting in the cart while I shop. He’s fond of putting little plastic toy animals in the mixer. Just joking one day, after watching the Godfather on DVD the night before, I asked him if he was going to send the zebra to sleep with the fishes. Well, of course, he thought that was a marvelous idea (yes, I know it was a stupid thing to say) so ever since he’s been mixing up a whole zoo and singing about sleeping with fishes in a manner in which Vito Corleone would be proud.

So, in a entirely non-serious way, based on their personality, what do you think your baby or toddler might be when they grow up?

I’ve wanted a sandbox for my son to play with since he was able to sit independently. I learned with my older children that sensory integration and sensory activities are a very important part of a child’s development.

The only thing that has held up the sandbox dream: sandboxes, at least the sturdy kinds with the nice lids that fit over them, are expensive. It’s important to get a box with a lid or cover the sandbox tightly when not in use because cats or other animals can use the sandbox as a litter box. The waste material can put your child at risk for developing different ailments, some of which can be serious.

When my older children were little, we had a bunch of friends with children who were slightly older than mine. We got a lot of second hand play toys and so I’ve been spoiled. Think about it though–what DO you do with all of those outdoor toys when your kids have outgrown them? For the price of sweat equity (I had to move and cart the toys off), I landed a lot of free deals, including a swing set, merry go round, and sandbox.

While driving past a church yard sale yesterday, we sighted a Tugboat sandbox. I made DH turn the van around and we went to look at it. They were asking $5 for it! I handed my $5 over and DH and I had the task of figuring out how to get it home. You know, it’s amazing what you can fit in a vehicle when you are motivated! After making another trip to buy play sand, we went home to set it up.

The steering wheel was missing and so I checked online to see if I could purchase the part. Many times, if you inherit or buy second hand toys, you can do this and make them almost as good as new. In this case, the sandbox is now retired, so I couldn’t purchase the part, but that’s ok too.

All 5 of my children and the dog spent yesterday playing in the sand and had a wonderful time. That was $5 well spent!

I’m sure you’ve seen the “older infant formulas” available as you peruse the baby aisle while shopping. They are, according to most of the labels, for infants from 9-24 months who are eating some solid foods.

I asked a nutritionist friend of mine about these products and she told me to not waste my money on them. “Leave your child on regular formula until the doctor says he can tolerate milk and then make the switch.”

Sounds simple doesn’t it? Well, sometimes real life isn’t real simple.

The pediatrician told me that my child was old enough to tolerate milk and so I attempted to make the switch. With my 4 other children, this was not really a big deal. One child had allergies to milk and I had to switch to soy milk; another child was allergic to both cow milk and soy milk so she actually drank rice milk. Both children outgrew their food allergies within a few years and were on regular cow’s milk. So, except for those disclaimers, it was pretty easy to make that switch.

My son was not amused at all when I made the switch. He tolerated the milk fine, but he just didn’t like the taste. I tried to switch slowly, but he was not fooled by the formula/milk mix I offered to him. The child went on a strike and wouldn’t drink anything but juice, which worried me as he has other health issues and dehydrates easily.

My son also has some issues with foods that have certain textures too. He refuses to eat meat for whatever reason and also has trouble using a sippy cup, although he’s almost 17 months old. I’ve taken him to a speech therapist who assures me that he is doing fine, but just progressing a little bit slower than usual in his transition to solid foods.

I made an appointment with the doctor to discuss my concerns. She wasn’t very worried at all. “It takes some children a little bit longer to transition and some kids do have food aversions. In your son’s case, I would recommend using the older infant formula just to make sure he gets all the nutrients he needs. If he doesn’t like the milk, don’t force it upon him.”

I went out and bought the “older infant” formula on the way home from the doctor and mixed it up for my son. He drank it and handed the bottle back to me and signed “more” to me.

Well what do you know. It occurs to me that as parents, we sometimes tend to discount what our infant or toddler is trying to “tell” us. Sometimes we believe the experts who tend to generalize instead of looking for solutions geared to our individual child’s needs.

Sometimes, baby does know best.

Queen of talk Oprah Winfrey has put together a list of age appropriate kids reading books to enjoy reading with your kids, or, for older children, for them to read, based on recommendations from the American Library Association.

The books are sorted by category: infant to 2 years, 3-5 years, 6-9 years, 10-12 years, and 12 years and up. The lists include both new releases and classic stories for kids (including the current favorite in our house, “Goodnight Moon“) of all ages.

Also included are tips to get your kids interested in reading. One of my favorites: Reading isn’t only about books. Just as you’d hunker down with your favorite magazine, encourage your kids to read everything they can, including comic books and jokes; even game directions will make a difference.

This statement reminds me of when our daughter was an infant — we would read anything with words and within reach to her, such as the back of a cereal box, a magazine that might be lying around, or even the warning label on her crib. Later, we progressed to the labels on her baby food jars, telling her all the details of the nutritional information she was getting from eating a jar of pears or prunes, and the ingredients therein. The reading material may not have been the most “age appropriate” at the time (lots of big words on some of those baby food jars!), but we did find that reading out loud to her would certainly get her attention — and it was a good way to show her the importance of language.

What’s your favorite children’s book, either that you read to your own kids or from your childhood?

They keep telling us the world’s population is growing, but America isn’t part of that boom.

Three decades ago, just one woman out of ten in her forties was childless. Today, that number has doubled. Fully 20% of America’s women have never had a baby.

Of course, it’s not possible to have ‘part of’ a child, but the average woman who does bear children, has only 1.86-more than one child fewer than our 1970s counterparts. If you average America’s children over ALL households (including the ones that don’t actually have any kids), there is just .9 of a baby born to each one.

In some ways, we are becoming more responsible parents. We aren’t overpopulating the planet and stretching our limited resources even further. The highest birth level in 2006 was to educated women. Two-thirds of our babies are born into 2-parent families. And 75% are above the poverty level. (Unfortunately, the world’s statistics are much more dire. Consider that women in Rwanda have 6 children, on average.) But kids aren’t statistics. We are not being fruitful and multiplying.

I don’t get it, and I do. When I was a teenager, I thought I wanted five children. When I met my husband, we talked about having kids. He didn’t like the middle child problem, so we said maybe we’d have four, in about 6 years. After graduate school, after buying a house, after?

Hahaha.

After 7 months, I became pregnant with our first child. We were devastated, but knew that perhaps his birth wasn’t so much that it ‘my time’ to be a mother, but ‘his time’ to be born. So we raised our boy alongside our fledgling marriage. But those next three kids were out of the question for the time being.

We raised our only child, all the while saying, in a few more years we’ll be ready. But life intervened. You know what I mean, don’t you? Graduate school happened-push back those babies a few years. That house happened (and a mortgage along with it that I help pay for) – insert a few years. Injuries happened – insert more years.

Ten years later, my husband and I looked at each other and said, ‘Why do we only have one child?’ We had done all those things we said we wanted to do. My husband had recovered sufficiently from his injury to feel comfortable with the idea. We are still in our early (well, maybe mid-) thirties. Are we actually grown up enough to have a baby? I’m a planner. I like all my ducks in a row, and my finances in the black. Laugh if you want to, but my hubby and I sat down with a calculator and a piece of paper and mapped out the feasibility of supporting another baby. In the back of my mind, I was scared that it would work out. I mean, I wanted another child in theory, but life was pretty comfortable.

We decided, yes, we could do this. We should do this. With much trembling, I ditched the birth control, and two months later, I was pregnant again. So now we have two only children (an 11-year old and a 4-month old). And, if you look at the statistics – I have 0.14 more children than the average woman! We have reproduced ourselves!

I don’t think numbers three and four will ever happen. But that’s OK. I understand now why some people end up childless. I mean, if my son hadn’t been given to us when I was 22, I might have been one of those people in her mid-30s without kids. And at that point, perhaps I can imagine why you’d say, ‘Let’s not rock the boat.’ One of my sisters is 43 and childless. She and her husband are awesome people, but I ‘get’ why they kept their family to 2.

So I’ve come full-circle, almost. I wanted to make a rational, responsible decision about babies. Yet if they are truly a miracle, a blessing, should I limit that? How does a person make this decision? How did you make your decision?

Clinical trials are supposed to test drugs and therapies that can save lives and improve health care. But they can also prove fatal. And in India, no less than 49 babies died in clinical trials during the last 2.5 half years.

Drug regulatory bodies such as the US FDA and the European Medicines Agency (EMeA) are tightening regulatory requirements and require that new drugs be thoroughly tested in children before they can be approved for marketing. The question is who, where, and how? No parents in the western world would ever consent that their children be used as test subjects. As expected, more and more drug companies are moving their clinical studies to less developed countries where economic reasons and illiteracy make people easy prey.

Indian network IBN Live reports that 42 pediatric clinical trials have been conducted by All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) during the last 2.5 years involved 4,142 babies, about 3,000 of whom were younger than 1 year. And 49 of these babies died.

Big deal! 49 out of over 4000 babies. That’s only 1.18% mortality rate.

But you know what? One lost life is one too many even if it’s in the name of science. Leave our babies alone!