It’s not easy finding fun music for kids that parents can enjoy as well. As the first-time mother of an infant, it took me exactly three months before I started cringing when I hear the repetitive electronic tones of Bach or Beethoven coming from a swing or mobile. And don’t even get me started on Brahms’ Lullaby.

That’s why the newest CD from Milkshake, titled “Play,” has been getting quite a workout in our house. The companion DVD, “Screenplay,” rocks too! The Baltimore-based band has a simple mission: To create great rock music for kids.

The band is made up of singer Lisa Mathews and guitarist Mikel Gehl, along with drummer Tom Moon, Michael Sheppard on electric guitar, and Brian Simms playing accordion and keyboard. Lisa and Mikel began their musical careers together with the indie rock group Love Riot. Milkshake’s sound is deeply rooted in sounds from the 70s and 80s pop. That’s why today’s parents love it so much; it reminds us of songs from our childhood and especially our teen years.

I first heard a clip from the song Superhero online, a song with great lyrics and a positive message, hailing firefighters and teachers right next to Batman and Spider-man. Lisa’s throaty vocals called to mind Melissa Etheridge. That sound is prevalent, too, in the oh-so-catchy We Got a Band. That’s the track I find myself humming in the car, in the shower, while washing dishes. It has the easy-to-sing vocals and catchy chorus of an 80s rock anthem, and a great message for kids. “I’m not gonna just sit around / Wondering what to do / Gonna call my friends, get together and play a few new tunes.”

The CD contains 12 songs plus three bonus tracks. Play is the band’s third CD.

The real fun begins when you hit play on the band’s new—and long-awaited–DVD. “Screenplay” incorporates concert performances with fun, animated music videos. There’s even behind-the-scenes segments called Backstage with the Band. Eleven musical numbers and six bonus videos make this DVD a real bargain that will keep your kids entertained for hours. It also promotes movement; kids will want to get up and dance and sing along with the DVD. They won’t just sit like couch potatoes and stare at the television. That’s a big plus for me. In fact, I spend about a half hour a day dancing around with my daughter and singing along to this DVD.

My infant can’t keep her eyes off the screen during the song Bluebird, which shows animations of flowers, greenery, bluebirds and other living things. The simple melody is more like child’s music than many of the other tracks, but there’s still something very likeable about it. She also loves the animation in Fingers & Toes, a catchy and repetitive counting song. I like that it’s teaching numbers.

As a writer, I love what is perhaps the most creative alphabet song I’ve ever heard: ABC of Me. Lisa and Mikel, who wrote most of the songs on both Play and Screenplay are talented wordsmiths. Too many children’s songs feature trite lyrics with no surprises or fun phrases. Not so with Milkshake, who put real thought into not only the tunes, but the lyrics, as well.

Milkshake is currently supporting the release of their DVD with a concert tour, and have appearances scheduled up and down the East Coast through May. If the live performances on the DVD are any indication, seeing Milkshake live is a real treat for tots (and their parents).

I have to admit, from the opening chords of the first track on Play, I became a fan. Now, Babies Online is offering you a chance to discover this great kids’ rock band. We’re giving away FREE Milkshake media sets, which include the CD Play, the DVD Screenplay and the first ever Milkshake comic book. We have three CD/DVD/Comic sets to give away. (This contest is over – Congratulations to the winners! )

Simply go to www.milkshakemusic.com, then come back to this post and tell us WHERE the band is playing on Sunday, February 22. List the city OR the venue (or both) in the comments section of this post here at Babies Online.

While you’re at it, feel free to add your thoughts on children’s music. The contest ends Thursday, February 12 at Midnight (Eastern Time), so be sure to post your comments before then.

We’ll pick three winners at random and notify you by email to get your mailing address to send your FREE Milkshake set!

I’m a relatively liberal mom, but there was one thing I was never willing to do: allow my baby to try soda. It’s probably easier because I don’t really drink soda at all, so it wasn’t much of an issue. I will admit, though, that there were plenty of times when I was horrified watching a friend share soda with babies who hadn’t even hit a year old yet.

It wasn’t just soda that horrified me, but pretty much anything caffeinated was left out of my baby’s drink repertoire. I remember going out to eat with one of the Grandmas who reached over to offer my baby a sip of caffeinated iced tea, and I leaped into action so quickly you would think Grandma had offered her poison.

I guess I’m just afraid my babies would get one taste of that stuff and then relentlessly demand it forevermore. My daughter was over two years old when she finally got a taste of soda, and if I remember right it was decaffeinated root beer. She’s four now, and I think she has had her own soda once. My son is two and still has never had his own soda before.

I don’t know…something about giving babies soda really creeps me out.

It’s not like I tell my kids, “No sodas!” but instead we just don’t really have these drinks available in our house. I hope this doesn’t eventually backfire on me and when my kids head to school they go a little crazy with soda consumption. I just don’t want them to think that every time we sit down to eat it merits a drink of soda.

How do the rest of you deal with this issue?

On the heels of a Mount Sinai School of Medicine research which concludes that moderate coffee intake during pregnancy is safe and does not increase the risk of miscarriage, here’s another research saying otherwise. I have written before about confusing research, and here’s another proof.

So here’s the puzzle. The snag on earlier studies ,which concluded that even moderate caffeine intake during pregnancy is risky was this: researchers focused on high intake; researchers included women who had nausea and morning sickness — long associated with a reduced miscarriage risk in the first place — who were forced to cut back on coffee or soda consumption.

Dr. De-Kun Li of Kaiser Permanente conducted his study taking morning sickness into account, the first researcher to ever do so. The scary conclusion is that drinking 200 mg of caffeine a day, usually the amount found in two cups of coffee, significantly increases the risk of miscarriage. The stats reveal that 25% of women who consumed any caffeine suffered a miscarriage, compared to just 12% of women who didn’t.

The study interviewed 1,063 women who were pregnant between 1996 and 1998. The source of caffeine, whether teas, sodas, coffees, didn’t matter.

My baby is nice and healthy but now I really quake at those green teas I was having while pregnant. Just in moderation, but still… I’ve always said to chuck expert advice out the window, but with such serious implications of caffeine intake during pregnancy, I’d say err on the side of caution and ditch the caffeine completely when pregnant.