It seems like everyone I know is expecting or trying to get pregnant.

But births are at a 11-year low. And these individual decisions are having far-reaching consequences, according to Bloomberg Businessweek.

Similar decisions to postpone or forgo having babies may delay the recovery from the five-year U.S. housing slump and restrain future consumer spending on goods and services from child care to diapers, soaps and toothpaste. Expenditures associated with one child for a middle-income family are $226,920 over 17 years, with housing the biggest expense, the U.S. Department of Agriculture estimated in June.

The number of births fell to an estimated 4 million last year, the fewest since 1999, according to National Center for Health Statistics data. American families -- whose finances have been hurt by high unemployment, falling home prices and low pay raises -- lack confidence to plan for “explosions in spending” required by a new child, says Peter Francese, a demographic- trends analyst in Exeter, New Hampshire, for the MetLife Mature Market Institute. U.S. births may not recover until 2013, he predicts.

Bloomberg Businessweek also cites concern from manufacturers of diapers and other baby/kid products on the impact of low births on sales.

This is a classic chicken-or-the-egg dilemma. Families will have more kids when the economy improves, but the economy is not recovering as quickly because households are making belt-tightening decisions such as delaying parenthood.

Are you holding off having kids until your financial situation or the economy gets better?

Posted by Hanah Cho at 6:00 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)
Categories: Babies and Toddlers
        

Are you buying less diapers or trading down to cut costs?

A recent story by the Wall Street Journal points out that the volume of diapers sold in the U.S. fell 1 percent in the four weeks ending Sept. 4 from a year earlier.

Here's an excerpt:

Dollar sales fell nearly 3 percent, indicating parents are both cutting back and trading down to cheaper private labels.

Dollar sales of diapers in the four weeks fell 4 percent at Huggies maker Kimberly-Clark Corp. Procter & Gamble, maker of Pampers and Luvs, saw dollar sales drop 2.5 percent. Even generics were down, with sales of private-label diapers slipping 0.5 percent.

Consumer Edge Research analyst Javier Escalante says "this has never happened in this country before -- this is a very rare circumstance," and adds that the fact that people are having fewer babies is itself a strong indicator that the economy is influencing parental behavior. "That's a huge decision," says Escalante.

The WSJ makes an interesting connection between slowing diaper sales and the uptick in diaper rash ointment purchases. Analysts and pediatricians tell the paper that "the higher sales likely reflect either less frequent changes or a shift to lower quality diapers."

If you keep reading, you'll discover the fine print:

Still, there are reasons to approach the data cautiously. The U.S. birth rate has declined since 2007, and it isn't clear how much of the drop in diaper buying is due to penny pinching and how much results from fewer kids. Changing technology -- more absorbent diapers, for example -- also make comparisons difficult. Finally, the cohort being surveyed is always changing because parents buy diapers for a few years and then move on.

Okay. Given that the data seems squishy and the reasons for the sales decline unclear, does the story seem odd to you?

Maybe I missed it, but the story doesn't mention that parents are using cloth diapers, which could account for lesser sales.

What do you think?

Posted by Hanah Cho at 6:00 AM | Permalink | Comments (5)
Categories: Babies and Toddlers, Parenting in general
        

That state is expected today to announce the good news that the infant mortality rate has dropped to its lowest level on record.

My colleague Meredith Cohn reports:

Data from the state Department of Health and Mental Hygiene show a drop to 6.7 deaths per 1,000 live births in 2010. That's a 7 percent drop from the year before, a 16 percent drop from two years before and the lowest rate since recording began in the 1940s.

"It's definitely going in the right direction," said Frances B. Phillips, deputy secretary of the state health department. "We've got two years in a row of declines for the first time in a while."

Phillips warned that the numbers bounce up and down from year to year, and the state is not declaring "mission accomplished," especially considering the state's poor standing nationally. Maryland is a relatively wealthy state, but its pockets of poverty and racial disparities mean Baltimore City and some counties have kept the rate relatively high, Phillips said.

While the state has significantly improved its rate, Maryland is at the bottom tier nationally. The U.S. average was 6.4 deaths per 1,000 live births, according to national data for 2009, the latest year available.

Posted by Hanah Cho at 9:33 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)
Categories: Babies and Toddlers
        

Source: The Breast Milk Baby

The only dolls that I really played with growing up were Barbie. Today, there are so many different kinds; you could even customize a doll to look like your girl.

Add "The Breast Milk Baby" to the list as Berjuan Toys is working to make the toy available at retailers in the U.S., according to a company news release. Here's how the doll works, according to the company:

The Breast Milk Baby simulates the breast-feeding process by including a fashionable halter-top that a young girl can put on like a vest and when she brings the Breast Milk Baby doll’s mouth up to the pretty flower decoration on the vest the doll makes a soft, suckling sound. The two flowers on the halter are positioned where the nipples would be and when the mouth of the doll is brought close to the embedded sensors in the flower, the baby makes motions and suckling sounds.

The company says it has sold "millions" of these dolls in Europe. It acknowledges the criticism that has already been tossed at the company: That it sexualizes young girls at an early age.

Berjuan Toys feels otherwise.

Dennis Lewis, the U.S. representative for Berjuan, says in the release that "the Breast Milk Baby lets young girls imitate mothers in a natural, caring way. Acting just like ‘mommy,‘ girls can learn another natural nurturing skill about taking care of a baby. Just like changing, bathing, swaddling, singing, rocking to sleep, and cuddling for a healthy baby."

Would girls be interested in having a doll that can "breastfeed"? on some attachment made to look like a breast from what I could tell from the picture?

Not every parent agrees on what toy is appropriate for their child. Would you buy one if your child asked for one?

Updated July 20: Check out this video.

Posted by Hanah Cho at 6:00 AM | Permalink | Comments (37)
Categories: Babies and Toddlers, Parenting in general
        

Jake was born with hair, I mean his head was completely covered with straight, black hair.

As he got older, his hair turned curly around the edges and we let it grow. Almost 17 months later, I was itching to give my baby his first haircut. It was so adorable but getting unruly.

We decided on a short do.

As soon as the hair stylist start snipping, I felt a tinge of regret. And when it was all done, I was sad.

When I saw a friend's comment on Jake's after-haircut photo, it hit me. She said it perfectly: "Awww, it is amazing how much bigger they look when they get a haircut. It's super cute, but sorta sad, too. Why can't they stay babies forever?"

My baby isn't a baby anymore.

When did it hit you that your baby wasn't a baby anymore?

Posted by Hanah Cho at 6:00 AM | Permalink | Comments (7)
Categories: Babies and Toddlers
        

While 73 percent of Maryland mothers start out breast-feeding, many new moms don't continue for long, according to a new report card from the federal government.

My colleague, Meredith Cohn, explores in today's article on the reasons why the rates of breast-feeding at six months and a year and rates of exclusive breast-feeding at three and six months remain stagnant and low, according to the report card from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.  

But there are barriers, including lack of support for new mothers — in obstetricians' offices, in the hospitals where they give birth and in their offices when they return to work, according to Kim Knight, a lactation consultant and the president of the Maryland Breastfeeding Coalition, which offers support to new mothers.

Cohn reports area hospitals and workplaces such as GBMC and Under Armour offer support for moms to continue breast-feeding.

For any mom who has tried breast-feeding, it's not easy for a variety of reasons. Some moms can't or choose not to breast-feed for a number of reasons, too.

What barriers did you face in breast-feeding? What kind of support would you like to see at home, in the office and at hospitals? 

Posted by Hanah Cho at 10:05 AM | Permalink | Comments (9)
Categories: Babies and Toddlers, Parenting in general
        

Little J. has been mistaken for a girl, most recently at a restaurant earlier this week.

Most times, I laugh it off and politely say, "she's a he."

But it has happened more than a few times that I'm beginning to feel a little offended.

How did you deal with mistaken gender identification? I'm looking for some clever ways to respond.

Posted by Hanah Cho at 6:00 AM | Permalink | Comments (8)
Categories: Babies and Toddlers
        

Sinai Hospital is looking for mothers who gave birth there to share their labor stories for its Labor Day contest.

For mothers, Labor Day is that special day when they brought a new life into the world. Now, we want to hear from them in our unique Labor Day contest.

If your child was born at Sinai Hospital, whether it was 50 years ago or last week, you have a story to share. So tell us, in any format you want (video, photos or text), what made your Sinai Labor Day special.

Entries are due Sept. 30. Send your entry to eleis (at) lifebridgehealth.org. The first 25 participants will receive a Target gift card and two grand prizes will be awarded for the most creative and most moving labor stories.

For the rest of us whose children were born elsewhere, share your funny, quirky or unique birth story here. Mine involves my water breaking at Babies R Us of all places -- a week early.

Happy Labor Day!

Posted by Hanah Cho at 4:59 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)
Categories: Babies and Toddlers, Expecting
        

There seems to be a baby boom in our area. The culprit? The massive snow storms that hit the Baltimore region earlier this year.

If you recall, my colleague Jill Rosen was looking for mothers-to-be due in September or November who suspect their bundle of joy is a blizzard baby on this blog.

She writes about the snow baby boom in today's paper:

Hospitals are gearing up to prepare for an autumn boom, booking sonogram appointments has become tricky, parent education classes are full and expectant mothers are fighting for mat space at baby yoga.

OK, I know there are skeptics out there, but don't tell that to Dr. Judith Rossiter, head of obstetrics at St. Joseph Medical Center. She says women started coming in for their first-trimester sonograms in April and the hospital had trouble handing the rush.

The hospital has seen a 14 percent hike in ultrasounds since then. Rossiter attributes the baby boom to the snow storms.  

"Absolutely — no question in my mind," the doctor says. "People were stuck — and for a long time. I'm going to leave the rest to the imagination. Dot. Dot. Dot."

Continue reading "Snowpocalypse baby boom" »

Posted by Hanah Cho at 11:28 AM | Permalink | Comments (3)
Categories: Babies and Toddlers
        

Breastfeeding in public can be a tricky ordeal. But did you know that in Maryland a mother has the right to breastfeed wherever she goes with the child?

A few weeks ago, The Baltimore Sun got a call from Michael Sonn, who was visiting family in Maryland with his wife, Kathleen, 11-year-old daughter Marina and 2-year-old Martin. They are from California.

Michael was upset at what he called an infringement on his wife's breastfeeding right during a trip to Six Flags America amusement park in Prince George's County.

While Michael was taking a bathroom break, Kathleen said she was nursing Martin under a shaded area at the park when a security guard approached her and told her to cover up.

Kathleen said she objected to that idea because it was a particularly hot day and she had never had a problem breastfeeding in public.  

According to Kathleen, the guard told her that she would have to leave the park if she didn't comply.  

Continue reading "Breastfeeding in public" »

Posted by Hanah Cho at 6:00 AM | Permalink | Comments (7)
Categories: Babies and Toddlers
        

It’s coming up on nine months since the Baltimore region was socked by a series of blizzards. Some hospitals are reporting an increase in expectant mothers.

My colleague Jill Rosen is looking to talk to mothers-to-be due in September or November who suspect that their impending bundle of joy is a blizzard baby.

She'd love to talk to folks who are pretty darn sure they’ve got a blizzard baby. Or, people who think the whole blizzard/blackout baby phenomenon is an urban myth.

Contact Jill at jill.rosen@baltsun.com. She needs to speak with people by Tuesday.

Posted by Hanah Cho at 1:09 PM | Permalink | Comments (3)
Categories: Babies and Toddlers
        

I was browsing through Parenting magazine today when I noticed a babyGap ad featuring skinny jeans.

And as timing would have it, The Wall Street Journal has written about retailers introducing the fashion trend for the smallest consumers. The headline is hilarious: "Do These Jeans Make My Diaper Look Big?"

Skinny jeans are form-fitting, skim through the thighs and knees and even more so through the calves and ankles. As you could imagine, not everyone -- I'm talking adults here -- could pull off this look.

Continue reading "Skinny jeans for babies. What's next?" »

Posted by Hanah Cho at 11:54 AM | Permalink | Comments (2)
Categories: Babies and Toddlers
        

Baltimore is launching a new public awareness campaign to tell parents that babies should sleep alone on their backs in a crib, as my colleague Meredith Cohn reports today.

The B'More for Healthy Babies project will feature real moms who have lost their children. Their stories will be featured on billboards and on radio spots as well as on video to be shown in maternity wards.

One mother, Dearea Matthews, who will be involved in the project, lost Charlie on Dec. 29. He slept in bed with his parents, just as his two siblings had done and as other members of his extended family had done with their parents.

Although many moms here and elsewhere believe in co-sleeping for convenience and safety reasons, Meredith notes that 27 infant deaths last year in Baltimore were tied to unsafe sleeping practices.

Babies who are not alone in a crib can be crushed by a sleeping parent or sibling, or suffocated by blankets or toys. On their bellies they can also more easily choke. Charlie's death remains unexplained, but health officials say sudden infant death syndrome, formerly known as crib death, is far less likely to happen to babies properly positioned for sleeping.

Posted by Hanah Cho at 10:37 AM | Permalink | Comments (3)
Categories: Babies and Toddlers, Child Safety
        

Imagine this scary scenario: Your newborn baby is missing from the hospital nursery and after a frantic search, you find the infant in another woman's room. The relief, however, is later replaced by horror when you discover that your baby had been breast-fed by another woman.

This is a situation that Suzanne Libby found herself in, according to The Washington Post. Libby and her husband found out that an aide at Virginia Hospital Center in Arlington failed to match the baby's ID bands with the other woman's.

The article notes that it's hard to know how many breast-feeding mix-ups there are because states don't require hospitals to report them unless there is "serious harm." 

The incidents also point to a larger problem of accurate patient identification -- a major cause of health-care errors. That is a particular risk with newborns, and experts say sleep-deprived mothers are sometimes confused: It can be hard to recognize a swaddled infant brought by the nursing staff for feeding in the middle of the night.

Has anything like this happened to you? How can hospitals beef up its patient identification system?

Posted by Hanah Cho at 10:43 AM | Permalink | Comments (6)
Categories: Babies and Toddlers, Child Safety, Health
        

In our Picture of Health live chat on weight loss last week, Concerned Mom asked:

My daughter is 2 years old and overweight. We try to feed her healthy food, but she refuses to eat anything that doesn't look like a chicken nugget. How can I instill healthy eating habits when she is so picky?

It's a perfect subject for our Monday Consult, particularly in light of the enduring controversy over how to properly feed our kids. (Witness the recent battles over the new chocolate formula.)

Dr. Lawrence Cheskin, director of the Johns Hopkins Weight Management Center, answered the question this way:

Continue reading "Toddler eating wisdom" »

Posted by Kate Shatzkin at 9:10 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)
        

Today's Monday Consult is in answer to KMT, who wrote:

My 8 month old has her 3rd ear infection in 3 months. I'm concerned we're going down a road toward ear tube surgery. When does that become a discussion item with the pediatrician? What can be done to prevent infant ear infections? I believe they're fairly common. Thanks.

I got this reply from Mercy Medical Center family practice physician Dr. Thomas Vento:

Continue reading "Ear infections: When to consider tubes?" »

Posted by Kate Shatzkin at 6:22 AM | Permalink | Comments (1)
        

Births in the U.S. are down, possibly because of the economy, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention finds -- except in the case of mothers over 40. For women in their early 40s, births went up 4 percent in one year in 2008, according to this story.

Some experts speculate that fertility treatments for older couples may be having an impact on the numbers.

Posted by Kate Shatzkin at 2:59 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)
Categories: Babies and Toddlers
        

Today's extra guest poster is Betsy of Fluffy Windover's Diary, where this post also appears:

The art museums in Baltimore are free these days. I'm sure you DC types are thinking, "Wait, you used to pay to get into museums? Silly Baltimorons." But yes, we used to pay to get into the likes of the Walters Art Museum and the Baltimore Museum of Art. And it wasn't exactly a bargain. So now that it's free admission, taking your child to the art museum on a whim is no longer reserved for the "ladies who lunch" set.

I've taken my 18-month old, Edwin, to the Baltimore Museum of Art on a few occasions since he's learned to walk. We usually go on a Friday morning, and besides a few school groups we are often the only ones there. Edwin LOVES the contemporary art section upstairs. It has touchable sculpture, cool installations, a beaded curtain, and vast expanses of floor that he can run the length of (screeching with glee, naturally). Trust me, after being cooped up in our 1200-square foot Lauraville bungalow, it is a big treat for him.

I am under the impression that this is a kid-friendly museum. The guards have always been very tolerant, indicating that it is OK for Edwin to touch certain things, and not seeming to mind him running from room to room and being a toddler. I've even gotten a few "Aww, he's so cute!" comments from the guards. (Because he is, of course.)

Recently, however, we decided to go on a Saturday...

Continue reading "Toddlers at the BMA" »

Posted by Kate Shatzkin at 10:02 AM | Permalink | Comments (1)
Categories: Babies and Toddlers
        

On the heels of a safety alert for baby slings, which warned that slings should not be used for a child younger than four months old regardless of the brand, the government has now issued a recall of 1 million baby slings by the maker Infantino. The Consuming Interests blog has details on what to do if you have one of the slings.

Posted by Kate Shatzkin at 1:30 PM | Permalink | Comments (5)
Categories: Babies and Toddlers
        

Please, folks. Do not slide down the slide with your toddlers.

I know it looks fun. I know it sounds fun. You might even think you're keeping the child safe. But it can actually be quite dangerous, as you can see by looking at this very sad picture of what happened to two small boys from Portland, Ore., whose mothers slid with them.

Posted by Kate Shatzkin at 3:59 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)
Categories: Babies and Toddlers
        

The soft baby slings that have become so popular with celebrity and everyday moms alike may not be so safe, according to the head of the Consumer Product Safety Commission. She told the Associated Press that the government is preparing a safety warning about the slings because they pose a risk of suffocation.

There have been concerns, including some raised by Consumer Reports, about the slings in the past posing both a risk of suffocation and injury.

Will you stop using yours?

(Associated Press photo)

Posted by Kate Shatzkin at 12:33 PM | Permalink | Comments (6)
Categories: Babies and Toddlers
        

Former Ravens kicker Matt Stover -- now with the Indianapolis Colts -- is the subject of a nice piece by our Ken Murray today. In it, Stover talks about his dual life -- kicking for the Colts while still living in the Baltimore area, where he tries to carve out family time with his wife and children who are 14, 13, and 6.

The mention of the 6-year old made me smile, because in 2003, the Stovers were in a childbirth class with us at Greater Baltimore Medical Center.

It was one of those "refresher" courses -- all of us had had at least one child already -- so the class was as much about helping siblings deal with a new arrival as it was about the mechanics of childbirth.

What struck me about the Stovers, and what still strikes me, is how they didn't call attention to themselves. I remember that when we went around the room to talk about ourselves, Stover said something about "not working right now." Well, it wasn't football season, so I guess that was right.

It wasn't until the second or third session of the class that my husband figured out who Stover was. "That's Matt Stover," he whispered urgently to me as we took our seats that day.

Of course, not being a huge football fan, I was clueless. My husband had to explain to me who this was.

"Go get his autograph," I said. (I know. Stupid. Now, I plead pregnant.)

My husband took umbrage at this. "No way," he said. "We're gonna be cool."

So we treated the Stovers like all the other parents in our class, and didn't say a word. Neither, apparently, did anyone else. And then we went our separate ways to give birth to our babies.

So I'm glad for any news about 6-year-old Joe. I'm sure my 6-year-old Sam wishes his dad well on Saturday, even though he's playing for another team.

(Photo by Baltimore Sun photographer Kenneth Lam)

Posted by Kate Shatzkin at 12:26 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)
Categories: Babies and Toddlers, Expecting, Sports
        

Greater Baltimore Medical Center has released its list of most popular names for babies born at the hospital in 2009.

It's topped by William for boys and Mary for girls.

Other popular names among the 4,274 babies born at the hospital last year:

For girls: Madison, Olivia, Grace, Deborah, Sarah, Emily, Patricia.

For boys: Michael, Robert, John, James, Matthew, Thomas, David.

Check out the complete list for more.

Posted by Kate Shatzkin at 9:59 AM | Permalink | Comments (4)
Categories: Babies and Toddlers, Expecting
        

Happy New Year!

We went to Port Discovery the other day for the first time in a long while. In the coat room/lunch room, I was intrigued by this:

It's a vending machine for the desperate parent! $2.50 for a diaper, anyone?

(Frankly, I'm surprised it's not $5. 'Cause when you need one, you really need one.)

According to its Web site, the machines by Nanny Caddy -- founded by a mom, of course -- are only in a few states around the country so far. The Port Discovery machine appears to be the only one in Maryland, but there are several at destinations in Pennsylvania.

(Photo by me)

Posted by Kate Shatzkin at 7:47 AM | Permalink | Comments (3)
Categories: Babies and Toddlers
        

Contest winner Betsy asked:

My son is 15 months old. He communicates well with pointing and nodding, he can identify objects in his books, and he understands most of what we say. However, he does not have any words beyond "Mama", "Dada", and "no". He has playmates around his age who are much more verbal. Should I be concerned?

Dr. Daniel Levy, who has advised us before on subjects such as teething and hitting, had this to say:

Continue reading "When should a toddler have words?" »

Posted by Kate Shatzkin at 6:39 AM | Permalink | Comments (1)
Categories: Babies and Toddlers
        

Here's a heartwarming story from CNN: When a Michigan woman died from a rare amniotic fluid embolism after giving birth to her fourth child, 20 mothers from her community stepped in to nurse the boy.

Nearly a year later, they're still doing it.

I've got to think the bonding and love these women have provided has been as important to this baby as the breast milk itself. It also has me wondering if many of us live in communities where we'd be personal friends with enough nursing women that this would be possible.

Posted by Kate Shatzkin at 9:39 AM | Permalink | Comments (1)
Categories: Babies and Toddlers
        

As the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission announces yet another recall of a baby product -- this one targeting more than 2.1 million cribs made by Stork Craft with drop sides -- I'm starting to think it's a miracle my kids made it through their infancy and toddlerhood unscathed.

In an interview today, the chairman of the commission said she recommends against using any drop-side crib. Drop sides, which allow a parent to more easily lift a child out of a crib, can become detached, causing danger for the baby. And they often aren't installed properly.

Our kids slept in what we thought was a sturdy, well-made drop-side crib for years. They also rode around in a double Maclaren stroller -- the kind recalled just a couple of weeks ago.

I'm starting to think I was a bad mommy somehow for buying these things.

(Associated Press photo)

Posted by Kate Shatzkin at 8:36 AM | Permalink | Comments (1)
Categories: Babies and Toddlers
        

Maclaren, which makes trendy, beautiful and pricey baby strollers, has announced a massive recall of all its umbrella strollers sold in the U.S..

According to a statement on the company's web site, the affected models "include Volo, Triumph, Quest Sport, Quest Mod, Techno XT, Techno XLR, Twin Triumph, Twin Techno and Easy Traveller." Strollers sold as far back as 1999 are being recalled because children's fingers have been injured -- in some cases, the fingertips cut off -- by the stroller hinges.

The company is reportedly providing a repair kit for stroller owners.

Posted by Kate Shatzkin at 11:45 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)
Categories: Babies and Toddlers
        

Walt Disney is taking the extraordinary step of offering refunds for its Baby Einstein videos bought between June 2004 and September, in what consumer advocates say is an admission that the videos don't teach babies anything.

The videos also have long conflicted with a recommendation from the American Academy of Pediatrics that kids under 2 watch no television (including videos) at all.

Will you be seeking a refund?

Posted by Kate Shatzkin at 7:25 AM | Permalink | Comments (6)
Categories: Babies and Toddlers
        

Are you about to have a second, third, or-so-on baby? If you're delivering at a hospital in Maryland, chances are that your new bundle's older siblings won't be able to visit you and the newborn in the hospital.

As Kelly Brewington and Meredith Cohn report today, it's because of swine flu. (Isn't everything?) Hospitals want to protect their patients and the public at large, and even children who appear healthy are known spreaders of flu.

On the other side of things are moms like Kimberly Franklin, shown in the picture on the left, who would love for her 3-year-old to be by her side right after she has a scheduled C-section at St. Joseph Medical Center next week to welcome his new brother.

I would have been very sad if my daughter, then 2, hadn't been allowed into my room to see her new brother the day after he was born. I still remember how she charged into the room, newly confident in her role as big sister, and proclaimed: "I wanna pick him up."

Then again, I wouldn't have wanted to expose a vulnerable new baby to the flu.

(Baltimore Sun photo by Barbara Haddock Taylor)

Posted by Kate Shatzkin at 10:26 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)
Categories: Babies and Toddlers, Expecting
        

Just when you thought you'd heard it all comes the story of an Arkansas woman who conceived a baby...after she was already pregnant with another. No, they're not twins, but separate pregnancies 2 1/2 weeks apart.

Fortunately, as a Greater Baltimore Medical Center fertility expert tells ABC News here, it's a rare case.

Posted by Kate Shatzkin at 10:36 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)
Categories: Babies and Toddlers, Expecting, Health
        

Lord knows that on this blog, we're familiar with how people can't stand to have noisy kids in public places like restaurants. Sometimes parents are at fault, but other times, noisy kids are just a fact of life. And there's a right way and a wrong way to deal with them.

Witness, first, this woman dragging a child on a leash through a Verizon store in Georgia last month. Now comes word that a shopper at a Georgia Wal Mart (what is going on there?) slapped a 2-year-old after telling her mother: "If you don’t shut that baby up, I will shut her up for you."

Some moms around the country are pretty exercised about that, as I would be.

In both cases, criminal charges have been filed against the adults.

Posted by Kate Shatzkin at 2:48 PM | Permalink | Comments (35)
Categories: Babies and Toddlers
        

New parents are often shocked at how often complete strangers feel free to come right up and touch a tiny baby, without asking if it's OK to do so.

Even the common cold can turn dangerous for a new baby, much less swine flu. That means all the touching can drive a germ-phobic parent right up the wall.

One, a mom named Tara Williamson, decided to make the sign you see on the right, which you can hook right on to a stroller. And now she's selling them, for $7.95 apiece. (There's even one in Spanish.)

Of course, you could make one yourself for free. Or just summon your courage and tell the stranger (or, let's be honest, overly touchy acquaintance/relative/friend) to wash up first.

But something about the official-looking nature of this sign may be the ticket. It's passive-aggressive messaging at its finest, isn't it? Because after reading it, even with clean hands, who would dare to approach the baby?

Posted by Kate Shatzkin at 6:20 AM | Permalink | Comments (8)
        

MomofBeans asked: "How do you break a toddler of a biting habit, when she isn't doing it at home, but is doing it at daycare when other children get in her personal space or attempt to take a toy from her?"

I called Margo Sipes, executive director of Downtown Baltimore Child Care, who previously advised us on easing transitions from house to day care. Here's what she recommended:

--First, remember that biting, though distressing, is common among toddlers. "Toddlers are still very oral," she said. "They learn and solve problems through their mouths."

--Don't be surprised if biting happens in a center rather than at home, because the center is where peers are -- and where conflict naturally arises as young kids interact. "Oftentimes the biting happens because there is a conflict over toys or the teacher's lap or one square foot of space in the classroom."

--Have the child shadowed. The best way to solve the problem, Sipes said, is for an adult at the center to be in charge of "shadowing" the toddler -- being close by him as much as possible -- to gently intervene when a bite is about to happen. "Someone right there who can put their hand and redirect (the child) to a more socially acceptable response." It's important for the adult to validate the child's feelings, by saying something like, "I can see you want that toy. Tell him you want it. Say, 'Turn please?' Or, 'Play with this while you’re waiting.'"

--Don't punish. If you do, the child will learn only that he's "bad," but not how to be good, Sipes says. Instead, the center should work on validating feelings and teaching him better ways to express needs. Also, be low-key about the biting. A big reaction may prompt the child to see if he can get the same reaction by biting again.

--Be patient. Breaking the biting habit could take a while -- maybe 4 to 6 weeks, Sipes says.

Posted by Kate Shatzkin at 6:20 AM | Permalink | Comments (1)
Categories: Babies and Toddlers, Child Care, The Monday Consult
        

Here's a rejoinder to Joeprah's more-sex post, courtesy of the new book Momnesia, by Shannon Payette Seip and Adrienne Hedger.

It's called "Mommy Brain Haiku":

Movie date night fun

But seat more comfortable

For snoozing sans child

I'm taking submissions for your haiku take on Joeprah. Leave 'em in the comments.

Posted by Kate Shatzkin at 12:36 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)
Categories: Babies and Toddlers
        

Salma Hayek got lots of support for breastfeeding a child that wasn't hers. But have you read Hanna Rosin's piece in the upcoming Atlantic magazine, on "the case against breastfeeding"? It's in the April issue of the magazine, but the controversy is already rolling along.

In the piece, Rosin, who breast-fed her three children, questions the notion that breastfeeding delivers all the benefits that popular science and lore say it does -- and whether it's become a modern shackle of domesticity for women, something like the vacuum cleaner once was.

The backlash has started already. Here's the case against the case against breastfeeding at Strollerderby.

And here's Rosin on the Today show:

Here's my perspective: I breast-fed both my kids for their first year. After I went back to work as a reporter, after about seven months each time, I pumped during the day. Toward the end of the year I gradually tapered off pumping and supplemented with formula, breastfeeding in the morning and the evening.

It wasn't as hard for me to accomplish as Rosin portrays, but I was lucky enough to have access to a room with a lock, blinds and a phone. With a hands-free pump with a quiet motor, I could actually interview people on the phone while I was pumping. And fortunately I was never caught out at a news event when I really needed to pump.

The thing that's sad, I think, is the mother-to-mother judginess that's crept into our modern thinking about every element of parenting, from how many activities your kid should have to whether they can eat candy before dinner. Breastfeeding has become a lightning rod for that kind of judginess, and a mom can feel it from the moment she becomes a mom.

Posted by Kate Shatzkin at 11:00 AM | Permalink | Comments (13)
        

Today's Guest Dad is Tony Chen, who writes in Chicago for the web site/community Savvy Daddy. He has some observations on how life has changed now that his family includes two children.

Here's Tony:

Continue reading "Father's Day Friday: Reflections on having baby #2" »

Posted by Kate Shatzkin at 6:27 AM | Permalink | Comments (3)
        

Even though breastfeeding is the recommended way to feed your baby, women still get heat in some places for doing it in public. That's become something of a hot topic again, since Salma Hayek was shown recently on Nightline breastfeeding a hungry baby while on a goodwill trip to Sierra Leone.

Then this post from breastfeeding123.com caught my eye; it's a pretend rant/campaign against public bottle-feeding. Tongue-in-cheek, obviously, but it makes its point. (Example: "Bottlefeeding Parents might try to argue that BIP is done for the baby who needs to eat, but that baby doesn’t need to eat! Bottlefeeding Parents are just doing it for the attention!")

I'd love to know what those of you who've fed babies either way have to say about it, and about Salma Hayek's nursing of a baby that wasn't hers.

(AP Photo/Chris Pizzello)

Posted by Kate Shatzkin at 11:20 AM | Permalink | Comments (16)
        

Your infant has been crying -- a lot. That's what babies do. But how do you know if your baby actually has colic? I asked Dr. Charles Shubin, director of pediatrics at Mercy FamilyCare, a division of Family Health Centers of Baltimore, to provide today's Consult.

Colic, Shubin explained, is not a defined medical disease but a diagnosis that's made when doctors and parents have ruled out other reasons for a baby's discomfort. But here are some of the signs he said might lead you to talk to your pediatrician about colic: Your baby is 1 to 4 months of age; she cries for long periods at a time, after you've tried feeding her, burping her and changing her to help; and the extended crying has something of a daytime pattern that often occurs in the late afternoon and early evening. "They cry continuously or a lot, or they're not well consolable," Shubin said.

What can you do if the doctor can't find a physical cause of discomfort and says your child does have colic? Shubin says some parents have had success swaddling the baby -- wrapping her tightly in a blanket like a burrito, which you might have done when she was first born. Vibrating baby chairs and swings might also calm the baby, but Shubin cautions that you shouldn't prop the infant on top of a clothes dryer -- the vibrations might be soothing, but the baby could fall off.

The good news is that time is on a parent's side. Most babies stop extended crying at about the time they learn to sleep through the night, around 4 months, Shubin said. If yours is still crying for hours every day much beyond that, it's time to talk to your doctor again.

Posted by Kate Shatzkin at 6:17 AM | Permalink | Comments (1)
Categories: Babies and Toddlers, Expecting, The Monday Consult
        

Barack Obama has been president-elect only a couple of days, but already babies are being named after him and his family.

Locally, Greater Baltimore Medical Center sends word that a mother who delivered a daughter on election night has named the girl Sasha Malia, after Obama's young daughters.

What do you think about marking the moment in this way?

 (EMMANUEL DUNAND/AFP)

Posted by Kate Shatzkin at 5:52 AM | Permalink | Comments (2)
Categories: Babies and Toddlers
        

If you're expecting or just had a baby, you'll want to check out this piece from the Boston Globe that examines which is better for the environment -- disposable diapers, or cloth. The story may leave you more confused than ever, though, because it says it's far from clear that one has a better overall carbon footprint than the other.

There's a useful discussion among parents who have used both kinds of diapers here.

(Associated Press photo/Danny Johnston)

Posted by Kate Shatzkin at 7:51 AM | Permalink | Comments (2)
Categories: Babies and Toddlers, Expecting
        

With all the comments under the GBMC parent education thread this weekend, I thought I'd give a call to Dee Dee Franke, who left the hospital recently after running new moms' groups there for years.

Franke said she would like to find a way to keep ministering to new parents. When she does, she said, she'll let me know what form it's taking, and I'll let you know.

In the meantime, she said to thank the parents who have commented here -- and the others whom she worked with over the years -- for their support. "Tell them I really miss them," she said. "I learned as much from them as they did from me."

Posted by Kate Shatzkin at 12:32 PM | Permalink | Comments (3)
Categories: Babies and Toddlers
        

So the word is that Angelina Jolie's twins are due....sometime soon. She's checked into a French hospital, as we all already know, but her doctor is mum on exactly how soon she's due. So all that's left for us is to name her new babies.

Here's your chance to suggest that perfect name you never got to use for the girl you never had, or the boy's name your sister took first. Nobody seems to have a firm bead on the sex of the babies, so feel free not to let gender limit your suggestions.

Just so there's no duplication, here are the names of the four other Brangelina kids: Maddox, Pax, Zahara and Shiloh.

(AP Photo/Evan Agostini)

Posted by Kate Shatzkin at 11:22 AM | Permalink | Comments (1)
Categories: Babies and Toddlers
        

My poor expecting friend. She started her maternity leave two weeks ago today, a week before her due date, and only now is she showing signs that labor has started. I urged her to start her leave early, knowing that it would really be the last chance she had to do some of the things she likes to do, like go to big-people movies and eat in restaurants without springing for a sitter. Or just to sit and enjoy silence.

Then again, both my kids were a little bit early -- one by several days -- so I never really got that time. Now I suspect she's gotten too much. Then there's the discomfort factor of being that pregnant; how much fun can you really have? Maybe the distraction of work would have made the time go faster.

So it's time for....a Guilty-Mom poll. You have until 9 p.m. Sunday to give advice to the other expecting moms out there.

Posted by Kate Shatzkin at 7:27 AM | Permalink | Comments (6)
Categories: Babies and Toddlers, Guilty-Mom polls
        

Need dinner delivery after your own delivery? Let's Dish!, the meal-assembly company, has an offer for new moms -- free delivery of its 8-meal DishDelivery orders for up to three months after a baby is born.

Details and rules of the offer are on the Let's Dish blog.

If you know someone who's expecting, a nice group gift might be to spring for the meals, then take advantage of the offer for free delivery of them. I know that when I had babies, all I really wanted was for dinner to be taken care of (and cleanup too!).

When my first was born, one of our favorite gifts was a big spiral sliced ham with biscuits, with a tray of fresh fruit. Whenever we were hungry and had a moment to eat, we'd grab it.

What food gifts have you received in the early days of having a baby that you liked best?

Posted by Kate Shatzkin at 9:58 AM | Permalink | Comments (2)
Categories: Babies and Toddlers, Expecting, Food and Recipes
        

This ABC news piece brings some discouraging news for expecting parents: Just 16 percent of employers offer fully paid, six-week maternity leaves, according to a study by the Families and Work Institute -- compared to 27 percent a decade ago.

The study also found that despite technological advances that might make more working from home and job-sharing possible, employers aren't offering more of those options. One upside: employers are becoming more accommodating to mothers who need private spaces to breastfeed (or pump, I gather).

As our economic picture gets bleaker, I imagine it will be harder for some employees to feel they can leave their jobs for long to have a baby or care for a family member. In retrospect, I feel supremely lucky to have been able to take 6 months or so with each child. Yet I would love to have been able to take more time.

How much time did you take for your maternity leaves?

Posted by Kate Shatzkin at 11:55 AM | Permalink | Comments (7)
Categories: Babies and Toddlers, Expecting, Work-life balance
        

Thanks for all the great comments, gear recommendations and other pieces of advice for Amy and other moms (and dads) to be. I'm sure we all appreciate them, with the possible exception of Amy's friends and relatives, who will now have to deal with a supersized registry of all your suggested items.

Even with all those recommendations I found myself wanting to know more about some of the gear (Lea Orlando, what's a bumbo seat?). So I'll do a little more research and save that list for later. Meanwhile, with your comments and some advice I've been thinking about, there's more than enough for a tip sheet on Things We Wish We'd Known before that first baby came.

Here goes. (Click below for the list and see why in the world Coco Chanel is pictured in her little black dress. ...):

Continue reading "Tip Sheet Thursday: Advice for the expecting" »

Posted by Kate Shatzkin at 10:40 AM | Permalink | Comments (10)
        

It's time to suggest topics for the next Tip Sheet Thursday. This week I've been trying to come up with ways to help Amy, the mom-to-be who wrote in to the blog several weeks ago.

Here are some of my ideas for a new-mom-themed list. Let me know what you think of them, and also pass along your suggestions for what items should be on each list.

--Ten pieces of baby gear you'll actually use.

--Ten bits of most useless advice we've ever heard about having a baby.

--Ten things we wish we'd known when having our first babies.

Please vote below.

 (Photo of Scandinavian furniture collection by Babi Italia and Mod Pod bedding set from Babies "R" Us, distributed by the Associated Press)

Posted by Kate Shatzkin at 11:44 AM | Permalink | Comments (12)
Categories: Babies and Toddlers, Tip Sheet Thursdays
        

Parents have been talking today about increasing evidence that a chemical widely used in plastic baby bottles and other food and beverage containers can cause harm to humans.

Here's our story from yesterday, in which the federal National Toxicology Program reported that the compound bisphenol-a, or B.P.A., could be linked to precancerous prostate tumors, early puberty and urinary system problems in rats injected with it. The New York Times report today that Canada is about to label B.P.A. as toxic was the second most-emailed story on the Times' Web site when I checked just now.

We talked a bit earlier about glass baby bottles making a comeback, and now there's more reason for a parent to fret about this. When I saw one of my best mom pals this morning, it was at the top of her list of worries.

What do you think? Have you combed through your house to get rid of plastics you're worried about?

Posted by Kate Shatzkin at 1:32 PM | Permalink | Comments (6)
        

I've been meaning to get a chance to read the new book Parenting Inc. and tell you what I think about it. So I was glad to see this excerpt on NPR's website, which will probably be all I -- and you -- will have time to read this week. Judging from the beginning, the book looks promising, though just reading about the financial binds facing parents today is enough to make my head ache. And that's even knowing these problems quite well from my own experience.

I'm sure we'll talk more about the book in general, but there was one thing at the very beginning of the excerpt that interested me. The author, Pamela Paul, talks about anguishing over whether she should enroll her baby girl in baby sign language classes to help her communicate before she learned to talk. You'll probably remember that baby signing was all the rage a few years ago, but Paul reports that after doing lots of research, she concluded that having her daughter learn sign language wouldn't be worth the effort; some research told her it could even do more harm than good.

I've been wanting to ask about your experience with baby sign language classes. (Neither of my children took them, and fortunately both learned to speak on a normal schedule.) Did your children learn to sign, or are you considering signing up a baby? What went into your decision? Did you see benefits?

Posted by Kate Shatzkin at 1:33 PM | Permalink | Comments (9)
Categories: Babies and Toddlers, Books
        

There's an interesting story on the Los Angeles Times web site today about parents wrestling with the circumcision decision. It's interesting to read the statistics behind the debate: In 1965, the story says, 85 percent of boys born in the U.S. were circumcised. In 2005, slightly more than half were.  

How did you make this decision for your son/s? And if you're expecting a boy, is this a topic of debate in your house as birth approaches?

Posted by Kate Shatzkin at 10:51 AM | Permalink | Comments (9)
        

The Chicago Tribune reports that by tricking the body with medication, herbs, or pumping, adoptive mothers can breastfeed a child without giving birth. The newspaper included stories of mothers who made it work.

This Web site is dedicated to supporting the practice. Here's an older story about adoptive breastfeeding from the Web site of Mothering magazine.

Have any of you readers who've adopted tried to breastfeed? Were you successful? I'm interested in the pros and cons.

Posted by Kate Shatzkin at 3:46 PM | Permalink | Comments (2)
Categories: Adoption, Babies and Toddlers, Expecting
        

The Associated Press reports that because of concerns about a chemical used to make plastic baby bottles, glass bottles are making a comeback. But there are concerns about those, too -- they're breakable, for one thing, and more expensive.

Have you used glass baby bottles? Let us know the pros and cons, and if you have any local sources for them, please share in a comment below.

(Associated Press photo of Dr. Brown's Natural Flow glass bottles)

Posted by Kate Shatzkin at 8:19 AM | Permalink | Comments (2)
        

Now that the celeb mother of four has shown off another baby bump, her growing brood with Brad Pitt is the subject of more discussion, such as this one on The O'Reilly Factor the other night. A psychotherapist came on the show and said that some women having so many children close together are "trying to fill a void."

Funny, I didn't read anything in the transcript (which veers off halfway through into the Eliot Spitzer case) about whether Pitt has any voids to fill.

What do you think?

(Photo by Gabriel Bouys, AFP/Getty Images)

Posted by Kate Shatzkin at 10:20 AM | Permalink | Comments (11)
Categories: Babies and Toddlers
        

Yesterday's post about the new multimedia symptom tracker at parenting.com sent me digging into the album for this picture last night. Baby girl was just 9 months, and my parents, bless their hearts, had treated my family, my brother and his wife to a Caribbean cruise.

The first or second night, my folks had offered to babysit while the two younger couples enjoyed a rare evening out sans kids. We had just climbed into the hot tub with our little umbrella drinks when my dad ran up in a panic.

Seal cough.

We raced down and found baby barking up a storm. I'd read about croup, but to hear it, in a baby so many miles from home, was really scary. I did remember the advice I'd read about getting the child some cool night air (just as Christine mentioned in her comment).

Fortunately, my folks had sprung for a balcony. The little girl and I stayed out there all night, and in the morning, my husband snapped this picture.

For me, it captures what parenting is all about. It's an image of an exhausted mother, to be sure, but she's in a beautiful place with a child who, so sick hours before, appears miraculously healed in that way only young kids do. What could be better?

Do you have pictures you love with your kids of times that were hard -- but worth it? Please send them to me in an email and I'll post them here. And do tell us the stories that go with them, either in a comment below or with the pictures.

(Photo courtesy of me)

Posted by Kate Shatzkin at 2:09 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)
Categories: Babies and Toddlers, Health
        

Parenting.com has a great new resource for parents -- an online symptom checker, developed in cooperation with the faculties of Harvard and Dartmouth medical schools, with audio and video of children with common illnesses. You can hear what croup with stridor sounds like and watch how a child with a stiff neck (a sign of meningitis) behaves.

It's painful to watch the videos of these sick children (though they are later seen getting better). But I suspect this will be valuable for many of you, especially when a child suddenly gets sick in the middle of the night. Sometimes all the books in the world just don't really tell you what you're looking for.

Posted by Kate Shatzkin at 12:20 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)
Categories: Babies and Toddlers, Health
        

The Consumer Products Safety Commission yesterday sent out a reminder to parents about crib and play yard safety for babies. The CPSC reported that of the 97 crib deaths it recorded between 2002 and 2004, half occurred in cribs containing pillows, quilts and other bedding.

Thirty percent of the deaths involved problems with old cribs that were in bad condition, and babies becoming trapped in spaces between the sides of a crib and an ill-fitted mattress. The rest of the deaths "were associated with accessories situated in/around the crib (such as window cords or curtain tie backs), falls out of cribs, alterations made to cribs, or entrapment when the child became wedged between the crib and other furniture or a wall."

Here's a link to the full release. Also yesterday, the CPSC announced a recall of Munire Furniture wooden cribs sold at specialty juvenile product stores nationwide from November 2005 through November 2007 for between $400 and $600. They were sold under the names Majestic Curved Top and Flat Top Cribs, Essex Cribs, Brighton/Sussex Cribs and Captiva Cribs.

Those of you with children probably already know about putting baby to sleep on her back without a pillow, but the information is so important that it bears repeating. If you know somebody who's about to become a mom for the first time, please pass this on to her.

Posted by Kate Shatzkin at 10:32 AM | Permalink | Comments (1)
Categories: Babies and Toddlers
        

Newly available from eLUXURY.com -- Fendi Baby accessories. "Now, new moms can dress their tots in adorable fashions and accessories from the line fashionistas have loved for years," says a press release.

These are Fendi Baby "Memory" Shoes. (The web site doesn't explain what "memory" means, but for $150 I'd want them to come with a built-in digital recorder to preserve all the memories of the few months my baby would wear them.)

You can also purchase an $80 bib with the Fendi logo (keep the pureed sweet potatoes away from that, mister!) and a four-way convertible baby carrier for $325.

Hey, if you're invited to a shower for the latest addition to the Angelina Jolie/Brad Pitt brood, you know just what to bring.

Posted by Kate Shatzkin at 6:59 AM | Permalink | Comments (2)
Categories: Babies and Toddlers
        

The folks at MomLogic recently sent me a link to their post on naming babies, which quotes the CEO of babynames.com, Jennifer Moss. (Who knew this was so complicated?)

Here are Moss's tips, straight from the MomLogic press release:

    * "Use the 'introduction test': Look at the name from the perspective of the child. Pretend that you're introducing yourself with each possibility on your list. How does it sound?
    * "No expectations: A lot of people choose names like 'Chastity', 'Peace' or 'ESPN' (for boys), says Moss. What if the daughter you name 'Chastity' turns out to be, um, not so much?
    * "Short and sweet: if you have a long and difficult-to-spell last name you might want to stay simple with the first. Walk in the footsteps of your child with that name--don't make it impossible for a 5-year-old to write her name.
    * "Common, Weird and Transgender: If your daughter is one of 20 Avas, she may get confused, says Moss. (From KS -- I assume she means confused with other Avas.) Avoid oddball names, which might cause interesting reactions from those that hear it. And if you're looking to bend the rules, it's more accepted for a male name to be applied to a female baby than the other way around."

According to babynames.com, the most popular name for boys born in 2007 was Aidan, and it was Ava for girls.

I always liked my sister-in-law Nancy's naming rule: Pick a name your baby will feel great having his best friend call him, and that will still sound appropriate when he's running for president.

No pressure or anything.

How do you pick a baby's name?

(Photo courtesy of the Chicago Tribune)

Posted by Kate Shatzkin at 12:34 PM | Permalink | Comments (5)
Categories: Babies and Toddlers