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    babblestrollerderby

    babblestrollerderby

  • What Dads Need to Tell Their Daughters

    As young girls grow older and enter adolescence, fathers often begin to feel a little left out. Suddenly, daddy's little girl isn't so little anymore. She's likely to be less interested in toys and games and more interested in bodies, boys and other big girl stuff.

  • No Costume, No Candy?

    Young kids don't always enjoy Halloween the way we think they should. Some get frightened by the scary costumes while others are uncomfortable approaching the front door of an unfamiliar house. Still others, like Redbook editor Ellen Seidman's 7-year-old son, Max, find the loud noises and big crowds

  • Most 2-Year-Olds Already Have a Digital Footprint

    A new survey finds that while many of us claim to be concerned about our privacy online, we clearly aren't that concerned about the privacy of our little children.

  • Why Olde Salty's "No Screaming Children" Policy is a Total Joke

    In case you haven't heard, a little restaurant on the Carolina shore is making waves in parenting circles all across the country. The Olde Salty restaurant in Carolina Beach, NC put a sign in its window (pictured) that reads, "Screaming Children Will NOT Be Tolerated." However, given the sea-faring

  • Worst Idea Ever: "Pavement Patty" Driver Safety FAIL

    Imagine driving through the parking garage of your child's school. (Honestly, I should probably just stop there, because I've never in my life seen an elementary school with a parking garage, so even that's hard for me to imagine.) You're cruising around slowly, looking for a space so you can go in

  • Why Are Couples with Daughters More Likely to Divorce?

    "Do Daughters Cause Divorce?" asks the headline of The New York Times latest Motherlode column. It's a provocative question and nobody seems to agree on the answer.

  • No More Lap Children on Airplanes?

    With all the added expenses babies bring, it's nice to know that you can fly them across the country to see grandma and grandpa without having to pay $350 for them to have their own seat. If they were to have their own seat, you'd have to travel with the car seat, which is another thing to carry and

  • Babies are Made of Sugar, Spice, Ice Cream and Soda

    <img src="http://media.zenfs.com/en-US/blogs/partner/ori_0f40284a7bdc14.jpg" align="left" height="250" width="250" alt="" >Whether you breast or formula feed your baby, at some point you are going to have to introduce solid foods. There is no magic age at which this should happen, but the American Academy of Pediatrics recommends waiting at least until your baby can sit independently and grab for things to put in her mouth. This usually occurs between the ages of four and seven months. <p> In addition, the AAP suggests starting baby off with simple and healthy foods like rice cereal and oatmeal. Once that has been established, it is recommended that you add vegetables and then fruits to the menu. </p> <p> Of course, we all do things a little bit differently and there's no reason to judge a parent who introduces solids at a slightly earlier or later age or serves fruits before vegetables. </p> <p> But what about parents who skip the healthy stuff altogether and start their infants off on cookies, juice and chips? According to recent Australian research, many parents are doing just that. <span id="more-37909"></span> </p> <p> The researchers, who tracked 587 new mothers for a period of 12 months via regular phone interviews, found that one in four <a rel="nofollow" href="http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2010/09/100906084815.htm" target="_blank">babies had been introduced to fruit juice, biscuits and cake</a> by the time they were six months old. In some cases, babies as young as one-month-old were being fed junk food that was high in sugar, salt and fat. </p> <p> Professor Clare Collins, spokesperson for Dietitians Association of Australia, says that this disregard for proper nutrition at such a young age is putting those children at risk for a lifetime of unhealthy eating habits and consequential weight problems. </p> <span> <p> "Infants and children are dependent on adults to choose the foods that will be best for them. Both eating habits and body weight track from childhood into adulthood, so getting off to the right start is crucial." </p> </span> <p> I am kind of horrified to imagine itty bitty babies drinking soda and eating ice cream. But judging by the number little kids I've seen toddling around with a bag of chips in hand, I guess it shouldn't be surprising. </p> <p> But while Professor Collins goes on to suggest that this research indicates that parents need more support to "optimize breastfeeding initiation and duration rates," I hardly think non-breastfeeders are the only guilty parties here. </p> <p> What about you? <a rel="nofollow" target="_blank" href="http://blogs.babble.com/strollerderby/2010/09/06/babies-are-made-of-sugar-spice-ice-cream-and-soda/">When did your kids get their first taste of junk food</a>? And did you breastfeed first? </p> <p> <i>Image: <a rel="nofollow" href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/pinksherbet/3915351851/" target="_blank">pinksherbet</a>/Flickr</i> </p>

  • Back to School: Mistakes Were Made

    But minor ones...Let me first say, as an aside, that Blueberry Shrub, a drink I made after reading a wildly enthusiastic description of it in the NYT magazine, tastes very much like something you would make Easter Eggs in. I don't know why I'm surprised...I think I will try using it in salad dressin

  • "Schoolbus Kids" Being Tracked by GPS. Seriously?

    To allay nervous (or paranoid) parents, a suburban school district in Chicago has begun using global position system (GPS) to track school children who take the bus to and from school. The Palos Heights School District had already been using ZPass, a GPS technology, to track the school buses. But n

  • Should Dads Be in the Delivery Room?

    I certainly wasn't planning on going through labor without my husband by my side. After all, it wasn't just my baby I was having. It was ours and I wanted him to be part of the experience. But I was admittedly, a bit nervous that he would be grossed out by the actual event.

  • Do You Think Playing Kid Games is Boring?

    I love hanging out with my daughter, running errands, talking to her, reading books with her and going swimming together. But when I hear her sweet little high-pitched voice cry, "Wanna color with me?," I cringe. I don't know what it is about coloring that irks me so much. I used to love coloring, b

  • Depression and Anxiety During Pregnancy Can Lead to Infant Mortality

    A fascinating study of mothers in rural Bangladesh has found that "clinical depression and anxiety during pregnancy can result in smaller babies who are more likely to die in infancy." Researchers suggest that poor maternal mental health, more so than poverty, malnutrition or low socioeconomic statu

  • Are Twinkies "All-Natural?" Sort Of.

    Do you really want to know what's in a Twinkie?

  • Should Men Be Allowed to Sit Next to Children Flying Solo?

    Most of us, if we were seated next to an unaccompanied minor on a airplane and were asked to move, would likely consider it our lucky day. After all, polls show the majority of flyers want nothing to do with children, going so far as demanding child-free sections on planes.

  • Baby Carrots Are the New Potato Chip

    Packing school lunches yet? If not, you will be soon. Baby carrots have been a lunchtime staple for years now, but if your kids have resisted eating them, you're in luck. In a bit of marketing genius, the baby carrot industry has taken "a page out of junk food's playbook" and designed a serving-size

  • Would You Spend $5,000 on Your Kid's 1st Birthday Party?

    More than seven years ago, when my older daughter, Jesse, turned one, my husband and I rented a party room at the local community center and invited our close friends and family to celebrate. The whole affair cost about $500, but we felt that we wanted to commemorate the day in a big way. Of course

  • When It's Good to Be Bored at School

    "It is ok to be bored sometimes. Those of us that work for a living know that boredom happens and part of character building is dealing with it."Those are the words of the blogging California social studies teacher known as "Coach Brown," which came to me via the Washington Post's "Class Struggle" c

  • The Welcome Death of 3-D

    If you ask me, 3-D can't die to soon. Slate's Daniel Engbar is predicting the death of 3-D movies based on decreasing box office numbers for 3-D versus 2-D versions of the same movies (like Avatar and Despicable Me) and even Toy Story 3--which actually made more on 2-D screens than in 3-D. But it wo

  • Babies Remember Moments of Neglect

    In what has got to be the saddest-sounding experiment I've heard about in a long time, psychologists at the University of Tocredit: bbaunach/Flickrronto Scarborough have determined that very young babies remember when they've been emotionally deprived - even if that neglect lasts only a few minutes.