Charm City Moms

Breast-feeding support for Maryland moms

2012-02-15T11:00:00Z

Moms around the world can probably tell hundreds of stories about trying to breastfeed their babies for the first time. As much as some people say it's "natural," it's not always that easy. Maryland healthcare providers are trying to make the breastfeeding process easier for new moms. My colleague Andrea K. Walker reports:

Officials hope that improving support for breast-feeding inside and outside the hospital will not leave mothers to figure out it for themselves. Recommendations include requiring lactation nurses at hospitals, promoting exclusive breast-feeding and encouraging immediate bonding between baby and mother. The state also wants hospitals to stop giving out free formula samples that they say may entice mothers to give up on breast-feeding in a moment of desperation.

I was lucky that Jake -- who is now 2! -- latched on pretty easily though there were moments where things did not go as smoothly. If a mom wants to breastfeed her baby, it's important that family, friends and spouse or partner provide support and encouragement. While healthcare providers, doctors and hospitals try to encourage new moms to breastfeed, they are also sending mixed messages. In my situation, I had access to lactation nurses at the hospital, but I was sent home with free samples of formula. What kind of support and services should doctors and hospitals provide? Should the state push efforts to stop free formula samples?

Too much alcohol in Super Bowl ads?

2012-02-14T14:53:06Z

Here's Liz Atwood with this week's Tween Tuesday: Folks are still talking about the Super Bowl commercials. While the Clint Eastwood car commercial appears to be the most controversial ad this year, the Center on Alcohol Marketing and Youth (CAMY) is more concerned with the 14 million kids under age 21 who watched the Super Bowl and saw the alcohol ads. Dr. David Jernigan, a professor at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health who heads the center, opposes the tactics companies such as Budweiser use to market their products. Their ads often feature dogs and horses, making them appealing to kids, his group says. This year, one of the most popular commercials aired during the Super Bowl included Weego, a rescue dog who fetched beer for his owner. Budweiser is even donating money to rescue shelters for folks who click on the Facebook page and vote for the commercial. My boys were among the millions who sat through all the Super Bowl ads. Did they have an impact? I don’t know. My kids seemed to like the car and Doritos commercials more than the beer commercials And while I’ve never drunk a Budweiser in my life, I’ll have to say it wouldn’t seem like the Super Bowl to me if I didn’t see one commercial with the Clydesdales. I missed the Weego ad, but Budweiser’s Prohibition ad gave me the chance to tell my 15 year old about the failed Eighteenth Amendment. It was one of those teachable moments. What about you? Did your kids seem to notice the alcohol ads?

Backseat safety

2012-02-07T11:00:00Z

Here's Liz Atwood with this week's Tween Tuesday: I noticed a few days ago that the Maryland General Assembly is considering legislation that would require kids under age 13 to sit in the back seat of the car. Currently, the state recommends kids under 13 sit in the back, but doesn’t require it. I don’t know about you, but I think it’s a great idea. The Maryland State Medical Society, also known as MedChi, supports the measure as a way to reduce the chance of kids being seriously hurt in car crashes. That’s good, of course, but I have more selfish reasons for supporting the plan. If the law passes, I won’t have to play referee with my kids about who gets to sit up front. One boy is 10, the other 15. The matter will be settled. The younger one will complain of course, but I’ll be able to say, “Sorry, honey, that’s the law.” I already use that answer when he moans about going to school. “Sorry, you can’t stay home from school. That’s the law.” So I’m asking the legislature on behalf of parents throughout the state—pass this law so I’ll have one less argument to settle. And maybe while you’re at it, pass a law that settles which kid has control over the car radio.

Push for home births in Maryland

2012-02-02T15:55:06Z

As mothers, we talk about having and wanting choices on how we raise our children. Some moms in Maryland want to have the option of delivering their babies at home and want the state to ease standards to do so. Supporters say the state places too many restrictions on obtaining a midwife. In Maryland, more than 500 moms delivered their babies at home last year. My colleague Andrea K. Walker reports on this grass roots effort:

They are working with a Montgomery County delegate to introduce legislation that would open the door to more midwives delivering babies at home. ... Heather Brown, 35, of Pikesville, delivered two of her babies at home, including a daughter born seven weeks ago. She said state officials need to be more open-minded about home births. "It should be a valid choice for women who want to do it," she said. "It should be a woman's choice and not the doctor's and the medical establishment. It's not fair for the government to make it so difficult."

State health officials oppose loosening the restrictions, citing safety concerns. Currently, certified nurses or doctors must be present during home births. But as the story points out, the majority of home births around the country are performed by other types of midwives, including certified professional midwives, who Maryland does not allow to deliver babies at home. It's a fascinating debate, and I'm interested in hearing from moms who have delivered at home. Why did you choose a home birth vs. a hospital birth?

Tween Tuesday: Getting face time with kids despite technology

2012-01-31T11:00:11Z

Here's Liz Atwood with this week's Tween Tuesday: Do your kids look at you when you talk with them? With all the cell phones, iPods, computers and other digital devices, it seems to get harder to get kids’ attention. My older son nearly always has the cell phone in one hand and the iPod in the other. The younger is glued to the laptop playing games. But researchers at Stanford University found that tween girls who spend a lot of time watching videos and using online communication may feel less social success, sleep less and have less desirable friends. On the other hand, kids who spent more time in face-to-face communication seemed to have greater social success, greater feelings of normalcy and more sleep. Kids need to spend time in face-to-face conversations in order to learn the visual cues of facial expressions, the researchers point out. As we know, it’s hard to read expressions when your eyes are glued to a screen.

Helping children cope with deployment

2012-01-24T11:00:00Z

Here's Liz Atwood with this week's Tween Tuesday: An estimated 2 million kids have had to say good-bye to a military parent who was deployed overseas since 2001, including many in Maryland. Last week, the Department of Defense launched a website to help kids cope with the stress of parents who are stationed abroad. Militarykidsconnect.org, created by psychologist at the defense department, includes message boards, games, videos and educational resources for kids 6 to 17. The site also has features to help parents and educators understand the challenges military families face as they go through the deployment cycle. The site includes information on how parents and teachers should address the sadness, worry and outbursts kids may experience when a parent is deployed overseas. For military families out there: How have you helped the kids adjust to a deployment?

24-hour daycare

2012-01-18T15:53:53Z

There are 24-hour gyms, 24-hour diners and everything in between. Now some daycare centers are joining the mix. The New York Times reports on the trend:

Day care is slowly becoming night care in today’s economy, as parents work ever longer days, take on second jobs and accept odd shifts to make ends meet. ... About 40 percent of the American labor force now works some form of nonstandard hours, including evenings, nights, weekends and early mornings, according to Harriet B. Presser, a professor of sociology at the University of Maryland. That share is expected to grow with the projected expansion of jobs in industries like nursing, retail and food service, which tend to require after-hours work.

When I was looking for daycare for Jake, one of the first things I wanted to know was the center's hours. Most centers in this region close between 6 p.m. and 6:30 p.m. My job can be pretty crazy sometimes with long hours, so it was an important factor for me. Imagine the stress of finding childcare when you have to work odd or overnight hours. The article features one daycare center in Ohio where the providers help children with homework, feed them dinner and get them ready for bed. Of course, there are downsides. For one thing, the parents interviewed for the story said they rather have their children be watched in their own homes, but child care center "offered the best compromise." Do you think there is a need for 24-hour centers, or at least those that have evening hours?

Sinai to give away money to Ravens baby

2012-01-18T11:00:00Z

Everyone is getting into the business of celebrating the Baltimore Ravens. My colleague Andrea Walker at Picture of Health reports that Sinai Hospital will give away a $3,000 savings bond to the first baby born after the kick off at the AFC Championship game against the New England Patriots. Good luck to all expected mothers who are due this weekend at the Northwest Baltimore hospital.

To or not to give an allowance

2012-01-17T11:00:00Z

Here's Liz Atwood with this week's Tween Tuesday: I’ve always been a bit perplexed over the issue of giving a kid an allowance. Baltimore Sun financial columnist Eileen Ambrose gives me even more to think about. In her column Sunday, she quotes Lewis Mandell, professor emeritus of finance and former dean of business at the State University of New York in Buffalo, who has found that that giving kids allowances without requiring them to do chores makes kids less motivated to get a job or go to college. While we’ve been told for years that giving kids allowances helps them better understand finances, the professor found that high school students who didn’t get an allowance performed better on financial literacy tests than those who did. Allowances have come and gone in my house. At one time, I gave the kids $5 a week, but when finances became tight, the allowances went away. I also had second thoughts about paying kids to do chores around the house. I want them to learn that they must help just because they should, not because they will be paid for it. For my older son, that means mowing the lawn and taking out the trash. Both kids must walk the dog and clean their rooms. Mandell says it’s important to talk with kids about finances and I do a lot of that. I pull out that oldie but goodie “Money doesn’t go on trees” and “I’m not a bank” and simply “We can’t afford it.” I tell them how much the mortgage and utility bills cost and what I earn. I’ve quizzed them on gas prices and phone bills. I hope these lessons will sink in now so the bill collector doesn’t come knocking at their door later. What do you think is the best approach on allowances?

Free weight-loss programs for Baltimore mothers

2012-01-11T11:00:00Z

Weight loss is one of top New Year resolutions for many people. If you're a mother in Baltimore, you could take advantage of a free program called B'more Fit for Healthy Babies. The program is part of a larger citywide initiative to reduce the rate of infant mortality. What does weight have to do with infant mortality? According to the program, overweight women face increased risks during pregnancy and delivery, and their babies are more likely to have poor birth outcomes and are also at risk for childhood obesity. B'more Fit begins registering eligible women Saturday at an event featuring Baltimore Mayor Stephanie Rawlings-Blake. Mothers enrolled in the program will attend group sessions, have access to healthy food and learn proper exercise. Women of childbearing age who live in Patterson Park (for Spanish speaking mothers), Park Heights and Upton/Druid Heights neighborhoods are eligible for the program. B'more Fit is a joint project between the Baltimore City Health Department and the Family League of Baltimore. Here are contact numbers for the program: DRUM for Healthy Families (Upton Druid Heights) 410-225-3555 Park Heights Community Health Alliance 410-542-8190 Patterson Park BMS, Highlandtown Healthy Living Center 443-703-3676

Teaching teens to cook

2012-01-10T11:00:00Z

Here's Liz Atwood with this week's Tween Tuesday: Is it too late for New Year’s resolutions? My diet is floundering, but I have another idea. I should teach the boys to cook. I enjoy cooking, especially holiday meals and desserts. I like to shoo everyone from the kitchen and get to work. But cooking day in and day out gets tiring and monotonous. I need to enlist the troops. Truthfully, the weeknight fare I make after I come home from work isn’t hard—burgers, pasta, grilled chicken, etc. I throw in a starch and at least one vegetable or salad and I’m done. I’m sure the kids could do it, with minimal supervision. The problem is getting them to do it. It isn’t unusual for my 15-year-old to pull a frozen dinner out of the freezer and ask me to cook it. Really! So my new New Year’s resolution is to teach the boys to make a few simple dishes without cutting off their fingers or burning down the house. If I can succeed in that, I’ll have taught the boys a valuable life skill. If I can’t, well, I guess my diet will be safe at least.

Best apps for kids

2012-01-03T14:01:48Z

Here's Liz Atwood with this week's Tween Tuesday:

My kids have never met a screen they didn't like. TV, computer, smart phone, iPad, iPod. They love them. But if you're like me, you wonder if all that screen time might be put to better use. So I started looking around for educational game apps.

There are thousands, but the good news is there are websites out there to help sort through them.

One is Bestkidsapps, which reviews apps for iPhone, iPad and Droid and organizes the apps by age and objective. You can get reviews on the most popular as well as discover new games.

Now not everything here is educational, unless you believe Angry Birds and Paper Toss develop geometry skills. But I did find some new ones that I plan to try let my 10-year-old try.

Another site I found, appolicious, lists apps that teachers use in the classroom. These are more expensive, but seem a bit more educational, to my mind.

A third, funeducationalapps, reviews and lists apps by age and subject. It includes clips from the games so you can get a better idea if you’ll like them before you download them.

What are your favorite apps for kids? As long as it doesn't have a gun or sword, I'm interested.

No Facebook for Sasha and Malia Obama

2011-12-27T13:22:43Z

Here's Liz Atwood with this week's Tween Tuesday:

Sasha and Malia Obama may get to meet Justin Bieber at a Christmas concert, but they won't be gushing about it on Facebook. That's because Dad won't let them on the social network site. "Why would we want to have a whole bunch of people who we don't know knowing our business?" the president said in an interview with People magazine. "That doesn't make much sense."

Although only 13-year-old Sasha is old enough to join Facebook, parents and older siblings often help children as young as 10-year-old Malia sign up for accounts. It's not surprising that there are secrets Dad would prefer his daughters not blab to the world. Most families don't have the paparazzi and political enemies trying to gather up any tidbit of gossip. Still, how many of us would like our tweens to publish to the world everything that goes on in their lives?

My tween was interested in Facebook for a while, but that seems to have been a passing fad. Now that he has discovered he can talk to friends on his iPod and play with them on his Xbox Live, Facebook seems a little old fashioned, I guess.

London

2011-12-20T11:00:00Z

Here's Liz Atwood with this week's Tween Tuesday: This week education will take a back seat to celebration in most schools. There will be holiday parties, concerts and sing-alongs. But most of us don’t have to worry about what the kids will wear. A Santa hat or reindeer antlers will do if the kids want to wear them. Braver tweens might even agree to a Christmas sweater. But across the pond, it apparently is different. I came across a press release from a London department store that said British parents are going crazy over dressing their kids in expensive costumes for the traditional nativity plays that are performed in elementary schools. Some parents will dress their kids in bed sheets and towels, but others are springing for ready-made star, shepherd and Mary costumes. While prices vary, a Mary costume can cost $40. I love Christmas and all its traditions, but personally I’m glad that I only have to worry about finding a costume for my kid once a year on Halloween.

Salon days for pre-teens

2011-12-13T14:27:42Z

Here's Liz Atwood with this week's Tween Tuesday: As a mother of boys, I’ve missed out on some things. One of those apparently is the new trend toward young girls visiting day spas. I’d heard of girls having birthday parties that included manicures and facials, but a recent report on ABC shows that it goes farther than that. Girls as young as 11 are going to salons for the full treatment, including bikini waxes. One salon owner in the report says it’s simply a matter of hygiene and the younger girls start the better. But the report raises concerns as well about messages we are sending to vulnerable girls about their appearance. Are we putting too much emphasis on the way our tween and teen girls look? The report says parents can set the tone. That is true to a certain extent, but peer pressure on these girls is tremendous. Do you think tween girls are too young for these kind of spa treatments?