A new mother is facing criminal charges including possible jail time after her baby was born drunk.

UK’s The Mirror reports that a 24-year-old new mother had a baby born drunk after she collapsed during an apparent binge drinking marathon very late in her pregnancy. It gets better. She had passed out drunk at an off-license in Tomaszow, Poland, while she was trying to buy more booze.

Surgeons were then forced to perform an emergency caesarean to save the baby, and the mother’s life.

The poor baby was born clinging to life. It had several alcohol poisoning due to the excess levels of the intoxicant in the mother’s blood. In fact, the blood alcohol level of the Polish baby born drunk was 23 times the legal limit.

“The unborn baby was in severe danger of being poisoned to death,” said hospital spokesman Wojciech Zawalski. ”When he came out his heart was barely beating and he had 4.5g of alcohol in his blood.”

You don’t really need us to tell you how bad 23 times the legal BAC is for normal people, but for clarification, the driving limit in Poland is 0.2g.

The baby was also two weeks premature, and is recovering in an intensive care incubator. He is also being weened off alcohol.

Police and other authorities are currently thinking of pursuing charges against the mother for endangerment of an unborn child.

“The matter is under investigation,” said a police spokesman.

So far as we know right now, the mother has nothing to say for herself, but we’ll let you know if that changes.

What do you think should happen to the mother of the Polish baby born drunk?

[Image via: Ljupco Smokovski, Shutterstock]

Polish Baby Born Drunk, Blood Alcohol Content Was 23 Times Legal Limit is a post from: The Inquisitr

A new study shows children as young as six are watching online porn. Another disturbing takeaway from the report? Children are also flirting online at the age of eight.

The study was published by Bitdefender, the creator of some of the internet’s best antivirus software. The company correlated their results of an online survey of parents, along with data compiled from its parental control services.

The Bucharest-based antivirus firm looked at what sites parents choose to block, as well as what sites children access regularly. The results showed that almost a quarter of kids in the study had at least one social network account by the age of 12. Seventeen percent had social media accounts by the age of 10.

Bitdefender’s study shows that children will lie about their age when they create a social network profile. On Facebook, they must be at least 13 to sign up. The company’s Chief Security Strategist Catalin Cosoi, stated:

“Kids nowadays are acting like young adults online — just give them an internet-connected device and they will find a way to things parents would like to ban forever.”

Those things include watching porn online, even for children as young as six. Cosoi added:

“Knowing that online dangers go beyond pornography, to hacking and suicide websites may help parents protect their kids’ life on- and offline.”

Along with online porn, the study showed that the age of kids accessing instant messaging and computer games is decreasing. About 3.45 percent of kids chaffing with friends on instant messenger are five. Also, two percent of computer game addicts are also five-year-olds.

The company also found that teenagers leave instant messaging for younger kids. Meanwhile, teens prefer to access “hate” websites, which allow children to share what they hate, as well as use inappropriate language. More than 17 percent of children who read or post hateful messages online ate 14-year-olds. They are followed by 15-year-olds at 16.52 percent, then kids aged 16 at 12.05 percent.

Do you allow your children to access the internet unsupervised? What parental blocks do you place on the computers they use?

[Image via ShutterStock]

Six-Year-Olds Now Watching Online Porn [Study] is a post from: The Inquisitr

In recent years, “Tiger Moms” were at issue when a book written by New Yorker Amy Chua explained a rigorous, culturally different method of parenting unlike the type favored by most Western moms and dads.

Chua’s book, Battle Hymn of the Tiger Mother, hit first in an article titled “Why Chinese Mothers Are Superior,” describing some of the key elements of the tome. And in one of the book’s passages, Chua describes enforcing strict measures to ensure daughter Lulu learned a piano piece to perfection by the following day:

“… I hauled Lulu’s dollhouse to the car and told her I’d donate it to the Salvation Army piece by piece if she didn’t have ‘The Little White Donkey’ perfect by the next day. When Lulu said, ‘I thought you were going to the Salvation Army, why are you still here?’ I threatened her with no lunch, no dinner, no Christmas or Hanukkah presents, no birthday parties for two, three, four years. When she still kept playing it wrong, I told her she was purposely working herself into a frenzy because she was secretly afraid she couldn’t do it. I told her to stop being lazy, cowardly, self-indulgent and pathetic.”

Controversy raged over the Tiger Mom method of parenting, but, as it continued, a study was underway to measure the effects of the school of thought on kids.

Su Yeong Kim is an associate professor of human development and family sciences at the University of Texas, and her report, “Does Tiger Parenting Exist? Parenting Profiles of Chinese Americans and Adolescent Developmental Outcomes,” appeared in a recent issue of Asian American Journal of Psychology.

Kim’s report says Tiger Moms may inadvertently crush their children with pressure, and she writes:

“Compared with the supportive parenting profile, a tiger parenting profile was associated with lower GPA and educational attainment, as well as less of a sense of family obligation … It was also associated with more academic pressure, more depressive symptoms, and a greater sense of alienation.”

Do you agree with the Tiger Mom philosophy that kids need rigorous discipline and harsh consequences?

‘Tiger Moms’ Study Suggests Hovering May Bring Negative Consequences is a post from: The Inquisitr

Over 7,000 US mothers were polled in April by Today.com and asked to scale their stress level from one to 10 – 10 being the most stressed. The average mother registered an 8.5 – worrying over finances, meeting both work and home demands, and expressing frustration over their husband acting like another big kid – wanting equal attention and making mommy feel added pressure to be the responsible one.

Of the 7,164 participants, 46 percent admitted their spouse/partner generated more frustration than their kids. What do you do with a father who acts like one of the kids? Experts suggest not parenting your spouse/partner – i.e. don’t treat him like a child and nag him over every playful thing he does with his kids. Indulgence is fine when it’s appropriate.

Having said that, he is an adult and a role model and needs to be reminded of such if he’s not behaving in accordance with the title of father. Treat your spouse/partner like a man and he’ll act like one. If not, you may have to address it parent-to-parent later after the kids have gone to bed. Better to express the problem than to bottle it up.

Around 72 percent stressed about the stress, which caused more stress – a vicious cycle. Your mind races as you lay in bed at night trying to sleep, churning over the intricate details that can’t be forgotten. But you can only be so prepared and at some point you have to get some sleep in order to accomplish the errands, play dates, school and extracurricular activities, and still get to work. After a while you have to calm down, take a break, take a breath, and assess the priorities within your control.

Nearly 60 percent admitted it was harder to raise girls than boys. Every child is an individual and little boys and girls brains are wired differently. Girls have been accused of being messier and creating excessive drama – as parents contend with a fussier fashion sense and a greater capacity to hold a grudge versus boys who will wear just about anything but will destroy your furniture, incur at least one broken limb, permanent chin scar, or chipped tooth from flying off the roof, and will set something ablaze within their childhood.

Another 60 percent of moms felt they lacked enough time to get everything necessary done in a day. Overbooking yourself and your children takes a toll on the overall productivity of the household and the mood of the occupants. This can also result in failing to permit a little necessary “me” time for mothers to read a book, exercise, or engage in other personal hobbies. Limit extracurricular activities for kids as too many can actually backfire – causing a child’s grades and self-esteem to suffer. They need play time too to relax and unwind from the day.

Also, take help when it is offered. Often the mechanism to control every aspect can create a sense of having little time to accomplish it all. If your spouse/partner offers a helping hand, take it. Just try not to tell them how to do the task unless they ask – adults don’t like to be micromanaged.

Nine out of 10 mothers felt pressure to stay fit and attractive. The invention of airbrushing and the trim, svelte appearance of most celebrities who appear on television post-baby, literally mere weeks after giving birth, is incredible. But consider what Hollywood mothers endure to achieve it.

Celebrities have teams of people invested in their success and appearance – trainers, nutritionists, personal chefs, access to expensive and exclusive treatments, and undergo extreme regimens to be picture perfect. Recently, Jessica Alba confessed to wearing a double-corset in order to curb her post-baby weight. She wore the device day and night for three months – admitting it was brutal and not for everyone.

The majority of mothers, by 75 percent, felt excessively overwhelmed with an assumed expectation, feeling they had to be “perfect” or else face criticism from the other mothers.

The mommy survey also revealed three was the most stressful number of children for mothers to have. Although mothers of one or two were encumbered with similar levels of anxiety, juggling a third seemed physically impossible, “with only two hands.”

Yet lower levels of stress, equal to mothers with one or two were reported in survey takers who had four – something the poll playfully referred as “The Duggar Effect,” where somehow the transition from three to four or even more kids thereafter was somehow easier.

By the fourth you’ve mastered the mommy craft of baby proofing, what all you really need in the diaper or day-bag, and have solved the mysteries of why the pooh is different colors when they are infants. Plus the other children are often eager to help with the new addition.

[Image via Shutterstock]

Three Is The Most Stressful Number Of Kids To Have is a post from: The Inquisitr

Spanking your child won’t hurt them in the long run — as long as they feel loved. The information comes from a new study of teenagers published in the journal Parenting: Science and Practice.

The study showed that the painful effects of stern discipline, like verbal threats and spanking, can be offset by the child’s feeling of being loved by his or her parents.

Parenting groups and charities were upset with the study’s results, saying that a child can suffer long term damage from physical discipline like smacking and spanking.

However, the researchers stated that their findings showed being punished won’t likely result in antisocial behavior later on in life, as long as the child believes that the punishment is coming from a “good place.”

Physical punishment has been controversial, as some studies show it can carry a greater risk of the child showing symptoms of aggression, delinquency, and hyperactivity later on. But the study’s authors claim that the reactions can be moderated.

The team, from the Albert Einstein College of Medicine in New York, studied a group of Mexican American teens. They discovered that, as long as the teens had a loving mother when they were younger, they would be protected against antisocial behavior later on. Dr. Miguelina German, the study’s author, also noted that strict discipline is common in Latino culture.

The team noted that “perception of maternal warmth” was able to show a positive relationship between harsh discipline and how the child dealt with issues later on in life. Despite the latest study, however, a spokesperson for the NSPCC, who campaigns to outlaw spanking and smacking, stated:

“Smacking is not an effective form of punishment and undermines the trusting relationship between a child and their carer. And it just teaches children to be violent. Young people tell us smacking leaves them feeling upset but often doesn’t deter them from doing what they were smacked for.”

Previous research has also found that children are more likely to become well adjusted adults if their parents are firm with discipline.

Do you believe that spanking or smacking is an acceptable form of punishment?

[Image via ShutterStock]

Spanking Your Child Won’t Hurt, As Long As They Feel Loved [Study] is a post from: The Inquisitr

Right around age two or three, children begin a unique window in their cognitive development wherein they become knowledge sponges, absorbing language and skills at an alarming rate. Unfortunately, this means that they pick up everything their exposed to, including swear words, long before they even learn their ABCs.

A new book titled Holy Sh*t: A Brief History of Swearing features an argument by author Mellissa Mohr that suggests most kids utter their first expletives before they learn their ABCs. Mohr blames parents and most other adults for this trend, saying that English-speakers casually use an expletive at least once every 140 words.

This, as Mohr points out, makes swear words as common as first person plural pronouns like “our,” “us,” and “we.”

But wait, there’s more.

Mohr’s tome also points out that children begin cursing around age three or four, and that roughly 0.7 percent of all English spoken words each day are swear words (that actually doesn’t sounds so bad).

Also, the middle class uses swear words less than the wealthy do. As Mohr puts it, the avoidance of curse words ”indicates that you are a proper, good person and this is a sign of your morality and awareness of social rules.”

“Aristocrats have a secure position in society, so they can say whatever they want—and may even make a show of doing so,” she adds.

The reasons we curse are simple, usually. Swearing can be a valuable way to relieve us of pain (stubbing your toe, for instance) or helping us forge relationships with others (think complaining, et al).

Also, cursing is as old as the sandal. Romans used to insult people with expletives related to sexuality. Our most common expletives (sh*t, for instance) date back to Anglo-Saxons who spoke in Old English.

Do you swear? More importantly, do you have children who picked up the habit? Sound off!

[Image via: Gladskikh Tatiana, Shutterstock.com]

Most Kids Learn To Swear Before Their ABCs, And It’s Probably Your Fault is a post from: The Inquisitr

Earlier this month, a list of “hot baby names” for 2013 was released, leading many Americans to wonder if we’ve started putting hallucinogens in prenatal vitamins.

Outside the realm of mommy blogs and message boards, the topic is thankfully rarely discussed — but the list of hot baby names in 2013 was shared a fair bit because all the names on it were really freaking weird, distracting, and, with the exception of Christian (inspired by the BDSM-loving “Dom” in Fifty Shades Of Grey, natch), uncommon for a reason.

An earlier list released by Nameberry and posted on The Inquisitr included Marnie, Marlow, Severine, Severus, Phaedra, and of course, Thor as well as the aforementioned Christian. But are these really the most common “hot” baby names in 2013?

Depends on who you ask. Earlier, TIME took a crack at predicting what parents would be naming their brats in the coming year, saying that “Jacob, Max and Liam joined Isabelle, Millie and Sookie as the six most common name searches by expectant parents last year,” in 2012. But the mag added:

“But aside from the apparent inclusion of the True Blood–inspired Sookie — a statistical outlier, we think, if ever there was one — the overall trend of this year’s baby names is retro. Ann, Betty and Ellie are making a comeback for girls, while Ted, Bertie and Gus are newly hot names for boys.”

We supposed a case could be made for Severus, Phaedra and Thor being “retro,” but the Nameberry stats and the predictions of what amount to grandma/grandpa names didn’t seem to jive. So we checked over at the popular BabyCenter hub for expectant and current parents. and their list diverges a lot from Nameberry.

Hot baby names in 2013 there included Liam, Noah, Mason, Ethan, Jacob, Jack, Jackson, Lucas, Aiden, and Logan for boys. Girls names in the top ten were the far more reasonable Emma, Olivia, Sophia, Isabella, Ava, Mia, Emily, Charlotte, Amelia, and Ella.

Have you observed any hot baby name 2013 trends popping up, or do you stay away from baby-pinners on Pinterest?

Hot Baby Names For 2013, Did Thor Really Make The List? is a post from: The Inquisitr

This just in: “Apple” is no longer the weirdest thing you can name your kid.

According to Nameberry statistics, some of the most popular baby names so far in 2013 include some pretty strange entries. Most of the names are pretty obvious shout-outs to pop culture, particularly critically acclaimed shows like Girls or reality TV programs like The Real Housewives of Atlanta. 

We’re not here to judge, so we’ll just give you some of the top 13 names of 2013′s first quarter and where their popularity probably came from.

Marnie – This nickname is short for “Marina,” or possibly “Margaret.” It has Hebrew and Latin roots, and countless derivations. But why so many little girls are being named “Marnie” right now might have more to do with the HBO show Girls than anything else. On Girls, a character named Marnie is played by Allison Williams. The name was also chosen pop singer Lily Allen for her younger daughter. Nameberry reports a sevenfold increase in the name’s popularity on their site in 2013.

Marlowe  – Nameberry says that the name “Marlowe” is enjoying a huge surge in 2013 thanks to a handful of celebrity babies being named as such over the past several months. You’ve got:  Sienna Miller’s Marlowe Ottoline, Nathan Followill’s Violet Marlowe, and Jason Schwartzman’s Marlowe, as well as designer Phoebe Philo’s Marlow, the only boy in the bunch. Yes, Marlowe is a popular name for girls right now. Nothing wrong with that, of course. Except that it means “driftwood!”

Christian – The boy’s name has always been a hit, but Nameberry reports a three-fold increase as of 2013. Why? Fifty Shades of Grey. Yup.

Phaedra - This name actually hails from ancient mythological tragedy, but the name’s popularity has risen by almost 200 percent this year, probably due to the RHOA star of the same name.

Severine/Severus - Both mean “severe” or “stern,” the first going to girls, the second going to boys, and both seeing a huge boom in 2013. You certainly recognize “Severus” from Harry Potter, and “Severine” most recently comes from Skyfall, the latest Bond film.

Thor – Yes, this is a popular boy name in 2013. You know exactly why.

You can check out the rest of 2013′s top baby names (so far) here. What do you think? Innovative or ridiculous? Sound off!

[Image via: Assira, Wikimedia Commons]

Top Baby Names Of 2013 Include Phaedra, Severine, Thor is a post from: The Inquisitr

A Spongebob Squarepants “wanted” poster  is accusing Nickelodeon of purposefully marketing junk food and obesity to children.

As previously reported by The Inquisitr, a Spongebob Squarepants Russian drill song became viral recently, giving the cartoon theme song a scary and intimidating twist that ends with an evil, maniacal laugh. A Spongebob Squarepants app was being evil for a completely different reason, this time invading the privacy of children. Spongebob Squarepants even got flack from the DJs who say that Kill Paris’s SXSW set was messed up by a giant yellow blowup that ended up crowd surfing.

The Center for Science in the Public Interest (CSPI) purchased a full-page ad that displays a unshaven and disheveled version of the popular cartoon character Spongebob Squarepants in mug shot poses. The ad claims that Spongebob Squarepants should be “approached with caution: he may be armed with nutritionally dangerous foods.”

CSPI nutrition policy director Margo G. Wootan says that Nickelodeon has purposefully used its advertising might to put on display unhealthy products such as Cocoa Puffs, Air Heads candies, Chuck E. Cheese’s restaurants, and Fruit Roll-Ups. Kids under the age of 12 are regularly tempted by an average of 13 food ads per day.

The CSPI calls upon Nickelodeon to change its unhealthy ways, saying, “Nickelodeon prides itself on responsible programming for children, but what about its advertising? Nickelodeon is lagging behind companies like Disney when it comes to supporting parents and protecting kids from junk-food marketing.”

The reason that the CSPI praises Disney is because the company updated its policy to no longer accept ads for the unhealthiest foods on its children’s television, radio, and Websites. Instead, Disney characters are limited to advertising healthy choices, like Goofy representing a snack pack that includes cherry tomatoes, carrots, celery sticks, and dip.

What do you think about the Spongebob Squarepants wanted poster?

Spongebob Squarepants Wanted Poster Accuses Nickelodeon Of Marketing Obesity To Children is a post from: The Inquisitr

Sexting can ruin a teenager’s life, and Vancouver-based Children of the Street Society has created an ad that explains why the practice can lead to horrendous outcomes.

The sexting ad titled “Just One Photo” was created as part of the annual Stop the Sexual Exploitation of Children and Youth Awareness Week. The group created outdoor media, poster handsets and ultimately a sexting ad as part of its efforts.

On its YouTube page, the group writes:

“Children of the Street Society’s Just One Photo campaign features the story of a young girl who shared a private photo online with someone she trusted. Her tale, presented in parts on various cell phone screens, highlights the increasing power new technologies have in the distribution of potentially harmful content. Touchpoints include resto-bar and school posters, transit shelter advertisements, and a video which hopes to draw the attention of parents and children alike.”

Posted on March 11, 2013, the video has received more than 53,000 views.

The video uses large white cards with words written across them to display the groups message, a popular delivery platform for some of 2012′s biggest viral hits.

Here is the “I Shared A Photo” ad:

Do you think more awareness should be raised in response to teenager sexting?

Sexting Ad Illustrates How It Can Ruin A Teenagers Life [Video] is a post from: The Inquisitr

A group of concerned people surrounded a locked car in New Zealand Saturday to read a note pinned to the blanket of a baby sleeping inside.

The newborn was sleeping soundly, tucked into a car seat , with a note pinned to the baby blanket. “My mum’s in doing the shopping, call her if I need anything,” the note said, along with the mother’s cellphone number. Bystanders were shocked by the scene, but decided to call the mother instead of the authorities.

“We had gone in [to the Pak'nSave] before the mother had come out because we had a baby ourselves that was in a hurry,” said one of the bystanders.

“As parents ourselves we know it is hard to get a baby to sleep, and once you start moving them they can wake up … we thought it was just a silly decision by a tired mother,” said another.

Leaving a young child or a baby alone in a car is extremely dangerous. By locking a child inside a car, even the most well-intentioned parent is potentially exposing their child to a variety of dangers, up to and including death in some cases (as we saw several times over the summer of 2012).

“Babies can dehydrate quickly and become very distressed. So for a newborn that’s one of the key issues. Plus there’s a security issue – a small baby is unable to defend itself if need be, or call for help, or anything like that,” said Plunket national child safety adviser Sue Campbell.

She continued that the mother in question may have felt overwhelmed due to a potential lack of family support.

“There are numerous support groups out there for parents … if they are in a place where there is a Plunket Family Centre, there’s the opportunity to take your baby in and get some support, and perhaps a few hours sleep while somebody’s watching your baby for you.”

In New Zealand, it is illegal for a parent or guardian to leave a child under the age of 14 alone in a car for an unreasonable amount of time in unreasonable conditions. It is punishable by a fine of up to $2,000.

All parents would know how trying looking after a baby could be, Campbell concluded. “If a mother is having difficulty coping, there is concern for the mother as well.”

Do you think it’s “okay” for a mother to leave her baby in the car … if she leaves a note with her number on it?

Woman Leaves Baby In Car To Shop, But With A Note, So It’s ‘Okay’ is a post from: The Inquisitr

Florida parents fed up with their daughter’s behavior and made her hold a sign near a busy intersection to announce her shortcoming’s to the world. Gentry and Renee Nickell felt their 13-year-old daughter’s disrespectful behavior was increasing while her academic performance decreased.

The sign the Florida teenager was forced to read: “I’m a self-entitled teenager w/no respect for authority. I’m also super smart, yet I have 3 Ds because I DON’T care.”

While some think the now viral photo of the Florida teenager holding the sign depicted too harsh a punishment, others herald the creative attitude adjustment project. The Nickell’s stand by their sign-holding punishment decision.

The Florida girl held the sign for about 90 minutes, prompting at least one driver to snap a photo and post it to Facebook. During an interview with a local newspaper, the parent’s said they had been going through a very rough year. Renee Nickell’s brother was killed in Afghanistan and her daughter was having a particularly difficult time coping with the loss.

The mother said they felt like the teenager had just given up. When grounding did not curb the disrespectful behavior and grade woes, the parents utilized a bit of advice from a Christian counselor.

Gentry Nickell stood with his daughter the entire time that she held the sign at the intersection. A person who thought the self-entitled sign holding punishment was excessive called the police. The officer, possibly a parent himself, checked out the situation and decided that the teenager was not in any harm.

Renee Nickell has this to say about all the publicity surrounding the parenting tactic:

“I wasn’t even thinking about what the public was going to think. I was thinking about our daughter. It was for her to be in public and recognize what she had done wrong.”

When the mother asked the daughter is the sign holding at the intersection had traumatized or scarred her emotionally, the daughter said no and added that she knew it was coming. The Florida mom penned a letter to the newspaper to respond to comments from critics.

Renee Nickell said that parents spend so much time focusing on how to not a hurt a child’s self-esteem that nothing is ever really done about the problem. She believes that a child will feel secure when they know they are loved. The mother called the sign punishment a desperate attempt to make sure that the teenager knew they were not going to just let her go. Nickell added that they would not allow their daughter to “look like the rest of the world.”

When the punishment was over, the girl hugged her mother and apologized for her recent behavior. The self-entitled and disrespectful behavior which landed the girl in the intersection holding a sign is reportedly much improved.

What do you think about the parents who made their daughter hold a sign detailing her undesirable behavior?

[Image Source: Northwest Florida News]

‘Self-Entitled’ Teen Forced To Hold Sign Near Intersection is a post from: The Inquisitr

Texas Democratic State Representative Jessica Farrar re-introduced a bill last month that has since stirred up proponents on both sides of the issue. HB 1706 introduces a number of provisions that would make it a crime to harass women who choose to breastfeed in public.

“These provisions would ensure that a mother’s right to be in a location may not be revoked solely because she begins to breastfeed,” Farrar said in a press release. “Further, it would generally prevent a person from interfering with a woman’s right to breastfeed.”

Texas Republican State Representative Debbie Riddle is one of the bill’s more outspoken critics. She has stated that she will not vote in favor of the bill. Riddle is 64 years old and is married but has never had children.

“Now, I am all in favor of breast feeding – however it is important for women to be modest while feeding their baby – and most women are modest and respectful,” Riddle wrote on her Facebook page last week. “But, a bill that would allow for law suits if one ‘interfered’ with a woman breast feeding is really going a bit far.”

Riddle contended that any business owner who objects to a woman breastfeeding would then be fearful of a lawsuit. She was met with sharp criticism and has since deleted the post from her page. Despite being deleted, the post, which attracted over 1,000 comments, can still be read.

“Let me get this straight,” wrote a commenter in Arlington, Texas. “Some people may object to a breastfeeder, but instead of just NOT LOOKING, they can’t control themselves and may be offended, you won’t support the bill because they have the right to be offended for something that doesn’t affect them in any way? Say what?”

Farrar told the Texas Tribune that Riddle’s post illustrates the problem she hopes to address.

“Lingerie commercials reveal more than women actually trying to do good for their children and their families,” she said. “… Some people think that breastfeeding is somehow obscene.”

Texas law already allows mothers to breastfeed in any location in which they are authorized to be in, but many do not know about this right. Some have still faced persecution. A Houston mom made national news last year when a US district judge ruled that her employer had not discriminated against her by firing her when she requested a space to breastfeed at work.

HB 1706 offers mothers a number of protections. The bill aims to:

• Ensure that the mother’s right to breastfeed is known and protected
• Provide the public with notice of the right to breastfeed and prohibit interference with that right
• Provide redress to a person whose right has been infringed upon through a private civil cause of action
• Require state agencies, to the extent practicable, to develop a “Mother-Friendly” worksite policy supporting the practice of worksite breastfeeding.

Farrar’s breastfeeding bill is currently pending in committee.

Images: ShutterStock, ShutterStock

Texas Breastfeeding Bill Protects Mothers Who Breastfeed In Public is a post from: The Inquisitr

More mothers dream of working full-time than during the height of the feminist movement, and sheer economics may be the reason why.

A new study from the Pew Research Center shows that women now make up nearly half of America’s workforce. Roughly 70 percent of working age women are either employed or looking for work versus 80 percent for men. The gaps between the sexes are shrinking. Women now increasingly view motherhood the way men view fatherhood, as part of their identity but not the sum total of their life’s purpose.

The growth of women in the workforce has not been steady. While today’s number is greater than the 38 percent that worked in 1970, the number of women working now has not changed all that much since the 1990s.

The increase in working mothers, on the other hand, is much more drastic, and it is only going up. Today 71 percent of mothers take part in in the labor force. In 2000? 65 percent. In 1975? 39 percent.

Compared with 2007, more mothers now say working full-time is ideal for them. This number has fluctuated over the past few decades. Between 1997 and 2007, the number of mothers who felt full-time work was ideal dropped by 10 percent. This suggests that, during the good times, mothers feel less of a desire to go out and work. During the bad times? Well, things have not been so hot since 2007, and the number of mothers who idealize working full-time has shot up to 32 percent.

More than half of both men and women in the workforce experienced a work-related hardship during the past five years, whether that be a loss of work, a cut in pay, or a reduction in hours. More people today want to just be able to make a comfortable living after such uncomfortable times.

There has been a sizable drop in mothers who idealize staying at home. The number hovered just under 30 percent before 2007. Now it is only 20 percent. Far fewer mothers would prefer not to work at all.

Either way, women still bear more of the burden of child-rearing. The percentage of mothers in the workplace is lower among women with younger children than women whose kids are between the ages of 6 and 17.

The economy may have pushed more mothers into demanding greater hours, but the trend has been growing for a long-time now: women are now less satisfied by just raising kids.

[Images via ShutterStock]

Mothers Dream Of Working Full-Time, But Why? is a post from: The Inquisitr

Infants are a cruel and biased people according to a new study. The research shows that babies as young as nine months are cruel and horrible to other babies dissimilar to them, but biased and kind toward people similar to them.

As previously reported by The Inquisitr, parents who are controlling and bossy during playtime can suppress a child’s creativity. Better television programming can also improve behavior in kids.

Kiley Hamlin and Karen Wynn, researchers from the University of British Columbia, explains how they came to the conclusion that infant babies can be cruel:

“Like adults, infants incorporate information about not only what people do (e.g., acting nicely or meanly) but also whom they do it to (e.g., a person who is liked or disliked) when they make social evaluations.”

The research was published in the journal Psychological Science. Hamlin and Wynn examined two groups of infants aged nine months and 14 months. They used puppets to try and determine the type of food they preferred, either green beans or graham crackers.

They found that babies preferred the puppets who harmed the puppet with the opposite food preferences. The study also showed that the older babies tended to be more biased and more likely to mistreat others who were different.

Kiley Hamlin said that the results that infant babies are a cruel and biased people were shocking:

“We wanted to see if we could tell whether infants had that same kind of judgment. It was shocking how robust the results were. The fact that infants show these social biases before they can even speak suggests that the biases aren’t solely the result of experiencing a divided social world, but are based in part on basic aspects of human social evaluation. Or perhaps they recognize the alliances that are implied by social interactions, identifying an ‘enemy of their enemy’ as their friend.”

Do you agree with the implications of the research that infant babies are inherently a cruel and biased people from birth?

Infant Babies Are A Cruel And Biased People Says Study is a post from: The Inquisitr

A wave of teen driving deaths this week has brought attention back to the fact that car accidents kill more teenagers in the US each year than any other cause of death.

As The Inquisitr previously reported, five teenagers died in a crash with a tanker truck in Texas this weekend, the same day that six teenagers died after flipping an SUV over a guard rail in Ohio. Four teenagers died in Illinois the next day when a vehicle flipped over a guard rail into a nearby creek, drowning those inside.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reports that motor vehicle accidents remain the largest killer of teenage youth. Teen drivers aged 16 – 19 are three times more likely to die in a fatal crash than drivers 20-years-old and older. Around 2,700 teens aged 16 – 19 died in motor vehicle accidents in 2010, while nearly 282,000 sustained injuries.

Motor vehicle deaths kill faster than gun violence, a subject that has flooded national discourse in the wake of gun tragedies in Arizona, Colorado, and Connecticut over the past two years. Car crashes have also resulted in more teenage deaths than suicide, another highly-visible threat that has entered the national spotlight after several high profile suicides took place in response to bullying.

In 2010, 3,115 teenagers aged 13 – 19 died in motor vehicle crashes, compared to 1,927 who were murdered and the 1,863 who committed suicide. Homicides and suicides combined resulted in more teenage deaths than motor vehicles, a shift from years prior.

In 2006, 5,159 teenagers aged 13 – 19 died in crashes, more than the 2,443 who were murdered and the 1,718 who committed suicide combined.

The number of teenage deaths caused by motor vehicle accidents has dropped by over half since the late 1970s, where just under 10,000 teenagers died in accidents each year.

Twice as many teenage males died in motor vehicle crashes than females in 2010. Among males, speeding and drinking were the two largest causes of fatal crashes. Teenagers also wear seat belts less often than other age groups, with only 54 percent of high school students reporting that they always wear a seat belt when riding with someone else. Over half of all teen deaths from fatal crashes occur on Friday, Saturday, and Sunday.

Gun violence and suicide are no less threatening to teenagers because of the prevalence of teen driving deaths, but parents are wise to remember what is at stake every time they hand their teens the keys or trust them to ride home with a friend.

[Image via ShutterStock]

Teen Driving Kills Faster Than Gun Violence, Suicide is a post from: The Inquisitr

Last week, The Inquisitr covered a story about a mom who had agreed to let the Internet choose her baby’s name, to the tune of $5,000. The story seemed unbelievable to readers who thought no one would ever let someone pay them for the rights to name their own child. Turns out, they were right.

The “mom” who claimed to be the winner of the Belly Ballot contest was actually a paid actress, according to recent reports. The Los Angeles website LAist initially questioned the validity of the contest, saying that the mother, Natasha Hill, looked remarkably like 26-year-old actress Natasha Lloyd. The hoax was eventually admitted by Belly Ballot’s co-founder, Lacy Moler.

Belly Ballot is a website that allows friends and family members of expecting parents to vote on their favorite baby names. Belly Ballot recently came to the press with news of a contest that allowed women to “sell” their baby-naming rights to the Internet. In exchange for $5,000, the winner would sign a contract giving up rights to name their child. The baby would then be named by Internet users who could vote on their favorite baby name.

The winner claimed to be three-month-pregnant Natasha Hill, a single mother who would use the prize money to pay off debt and start a college fund for her unborn baby. She was reportedly rooting for the name James.

But after the LAist began poking holes in Hill’s credibility, Moler admitted to Today Moms that the story was all a hoax, meant to bring in publicity.

“We came up with the idea for the contest and we knew it would be controversial … But we’re a startup and we wanted to control the situation,” Moler told Today.

Moler stated that after receiving no applications for the baby-naming contest, Belly Ballot decided to hire an actress to play the winner. Moler would not disclose how much Lloyd was being paid, or any details of their contract. After posting Lloyd as the fake winner, however, Moler notes that applications for future contests of the same nature cam flooding in.

Do you think a contest like this one could happen in the future? Would you take $5,000 in exchange for baby-naming rights?

[Image via Shutterstock]

$5,000 Online Baby-Naming Contest Revealed As Hoax, ‘Pregnant Mom’ An Actress is a post from: The Inquisitr

What’s in a name? Or rather, what’s in a parent’s responsibility to bestow a name? One mother has sold her rights to name her child for $5,000 as part of an online contest. One conservative group is calling the contest “irresponsible parenting,” stating that giving up parental rights to name a child is destructive to traditional family values.

The contest, sponsored by the baby-name website Belly Ballot, offered $5,000 to a parent who would sign a contract giving their baby-naming rights to the website. The site will then post a variety of names for the public to poll. The poll winner will be the contest winner’s new baby name.

The 27-year-old mom who won the contest says that she’s excited about the opportunity to set aside some money for her unborn child. Natasha Hill, a children’s art teacher in Los Angeles, told Today Moms, “Especially now with people all around me trying to pay their mortgages and get by, I have $5,000 I can put towards my baby’s future, and $5,000 makes a difference in my life.”

As a single mom, Hill adds, “Here’s the chance for me to do something really positive for my unborn son or daughter.”

Hill’s baby is due in September. Hill stated that she’s rooting for the names James if the baby is a boy. She has yet to discern the sex of her baby.

Belly Ballot’s founder, Lacey Moler, made sure to note that the names in the poll are nothing extraordinary. “Nothing crazy or a brand name or anything.” Moler is mother to three young children.

But the conservative group Rosa Cee is criticizing the contest, saying that it decries traditional family values to leave naming a child up to strangers. “This is irresponsible parenting, plain and simple,” said Rosa Cee spokesperson and co-founder Kasey Candela.

“A baby’s name isn’t like a baseball stadium, up for the highest bidder,” Candela adds. “Certain elements of our family and children must be off limits to advertisers for capitalistic opportunity. If it becomes socially acceptable to commercialize your children even in difficult economic times as these, where will it stop?”

Hill says that critics are missing the point. Even her own parents are on board with what she’s deemed the “creative name process.”

“But they know that I’m going to be a loving and nurturing mom, which is the most important part of parenting,” Hill maintains.

Moler rebuts Rosa Cee’s concerns, stating that there is a “misunderstanding” regarding the purpose of the contest: “This is a misunderstanding of what we are trying to achieve. This is supposed to be a fun contest to raise awareness of growing social baby naming trends which thousands of expecting parents have participated in on our site. We have no intention of violating traditional family values.”

Would you let stranger name your baby for money?

[Image via Shutterstock]

Mom Sells Right To Name Her Baby For $5,000, Critics Cite ‘Irresponsible Parenting’ is a post from: The Inquisitr

A blind mom heard her son’s first smile. Wait, what?

Kristen Witucki was a new mother, learning the ropes alongside her husband, with an added twist; both of them were blind. Nurses at the hospital had been skeptical of their ability to care for a baby, but Kristen and husband James kept enough friends and family rotating through her room to make them confident that the baby was in good hands.

The baby boy’s name was Langston, and his parents, James and Kristen Witucki, were determined to be the best parents possible in spite of their disability.

According to the Huffington Post, James and Kristen had taken Langston home, and she had to teach her husband how to feel his way through changing a diaper:

“When you put the diaper on. the two pieces of tape always need to be under the baby so that you can close the diaper from the back.”

Kristen’s mother had taken a picture of the event, and, as much as Kristen wanted her her to stay, Kristen knew that it was her turn to be the mom and had to deal with it. Her mom offered words of encouragement after taking the picture:

“…don’t worry, I won’t post it on Facebook. I’m going to head home now. You two seem like you’ll be okay on your own.”

Kristen Witucki’s mother leaving was just the beginning of her immersion into the isolation of privacy. Kristen spent days with the knowledge that screaming down the hall would only gain echoed answers.

Langston had been born at the end of November, and, thanks to the holiday season, family and friends were often too busy to help Kristen more than taking pictures of her son and posting them on Facebook for her. Kristen was grateful for that much.

James had gone back to work after Langston was seven weeks old, and the isolation grew.   Knowing she was a blind mom only made her feel less adequate.  Kristen had taken refuge in the advice and aid of BabyCenter.com, which had informed her that the first positive results of her determination and insomnia were paying off.

An email from the website had announced that Langston’s smiles were about to come.

Kristen felt her loneliness seeping into Langston and had to do something. She grabbed a video recorder and started singing to him, at which point, Langston started singing back, mostly in vowels, but it was enough. During the recording session, apparently Langston had smiled for the first time. Posting it on Facebook, she now had a recording of her son smiling that she could listen to any time.

And with that, her journey to motherhood felt that much closer to complete.

Did the story of a blind mom hearing her son’s first smile inspire you?

Tears down my face RT @huffingtonpost: How a blind mom heard her son’s first smile huff.to/145DN2Q

— Michael Gobo (@michaelgobo) March 1, 2013

Blind Mom Heard Son Smile: What? is a post from: The Inquisitr

Parents should not admit past drug use to their children, according to research released on Friday, February 22. The study first appeared in the journal Human Communication Research and was reported by UPI.

In the study conducted by researchers Jennifer A. Kam and Ashley V. Middleton, children whose parents did not reveal their past drug use but conveyed an anti-drug message “were more likely to exhibit anti-drug attitudes.”

Kam, a representative from University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, and Middleton of MSO Health Information Management, used surveys from “253 Latino and 308 European-American students,” added John Paul Gutierrez of the International Communication Association on the site EurekAlert.

The findings contradict past studies in which teens reported they would be less likely to use drugs if their parents revealed past drug use.

“Parents may want to reconsider whether they should talk to their kids about times when they used substances in the past and not volunteer such information,” Kam said.

In addition to identifying past drug use admissions as a bad idea, Gutierrez pointed out that the study reveals some positive solutions.

“For example, parents may talk to their kids about the negative consequences of using substances, how to avoid substances, that they disapprove of substance use, the family rules against substance use, and stories about others who have gotten in trouble from using substances,” Gutierrez said.

In other words, you may be harming your kids with unintended consequences by being honest with them, similar to how smoking in front of your children might negatively affect them.

With recent reports of a shocking number of teens admitting their peers do drugs at school, the new study could be a valuable tool for parents looking for ways to approach the drug talk with their children.

Do you agree with hiding past drug use from your children?

[Image via ShutterStock]

Parents, Do Not Admit Past Drug Use To Child, Study Says is a post from: The Inquisitr

In an anonymous survey, one in 12 British parents confessed to having a child they like more than their other offspring. Sixty-two percent of parents admitted that they do not give their children equal attention.

The poll surveyed 1,237 parents with at least two children older than the age of three, according to the Daily Mail. The poll also asked children who had siblings about how their parents treated them, and about half said they felt their parent had a favorite child.

Mark Pearson of MyVoucherCodes.co.uk, the website that conducted the survey, said, “Most parents agree with the fact that you can’t necessarily give the same amount of attention to all children, only because every child is different.”

Pearson added, “It will always sound insensitive to admit that you have a ‘favorite child,’ but I guess it’s more about sharing more with one than the other.”

Pearson’s theory is corroborated by a 2009 study of 14,000 families in the Bristol area which found that each child after the firstborn received “markedly” less attention and care from their parents than their older siblings. The study also found that older children were better fed and had higher IQs than their younger siblings because their parents gave them their undivided attention early in life. That amount of attention decreases with each subsequent child.

Of course, admitting to having a favorite child isn’t something that parents should advertise, which is exactly what one Canadian father did. Blogger Buzz Bishop unabashedly confessed to liking one of his sons better than the other.

“Yes, I have a favorite son, and I’m not ashamed to admit it,” Bishop said. He then told Good Morning America, “If I were to be absolutely honest, my older son is my favorite of the two.” Bishop was quickly criticized for his comments, but he tried to defend himself by saying, “I don’t play favourites with my children. I don’t … shun my younger son. I may say I like Zacharie a little more, but it doesn’t mean I love Charlie any less.”

The fact that Bishop and others parents have a favorite child shouldn’t necessarily come as a surprise. Psychologists have long believed that parents tend to favor the firstborn child because they have invested so much time and energy into raising them. But actually admitting to it? That’s a different story.

Do you believe your parents had a favorite child? Do you have a favorite?

One In 12 Parents Admit To Having A Favorite Child is a post from: The Inquisitr

COMMENTARY | If you have installed a car seat in the last 12 years, you have likely taken advantage of the LATCH (Lower Anchors and Tethers for Children) system. The LATCH system is a set of anchors located directly inside your seat’s base. Newer car seats allow you to simply thread through an included car seat belt and attach it to those latches (pictured above).

What many parents fail to realize is that the LATCH system has come under fire by various parenting and child safety groups over the last several years.

In 2001, the LATCH system was federally required to hold a child and car seat with a combined weight of 65 pounds. The law requires that car seat manufacturers make parents aware of those weight guidelines.

The problem is that many parents do not realize that their child’s car seat can weigh upwards of 15 to 33 pounds. That means a child weighing only 32 pounds can push the threshold of the LATCH system.

Unfortunately, many car seat manufacturers do not clearly label the constraints of their car seats and the LATCH system, instead focusing on a child’s age and height alongside weight requirements. The confusing mess of car seat requirements often leaves parents unaware that they are violating the car seats safety capabilities.

While the federal government acknowledged the problem way back in early 2012, they decided not to federally regulate car seat warnings until early 2014. The ruling suggests that car seat manufacturers need time to warn customers, although a simple sticker on the side of boxes could handle that warning much more quickly.

The Alliance of Automobile Manufacturers sought the change in federal law, claiming that car manufactures couldn’t guarantee the safety of heavier kids. In the meantime, child safety advocates have long questioned why the latch system isn’t redesigned to support more weight.

The biggest problem is the complete lack of awareness to the problem.

A study reported on by USA Today in June of 2012 found that 30 percent of parents use the top tether straps to secure their car seats, even though the top tether straps are more adept at preventing head injury. The study found that parents continue to use the LATCH system well after the weight limit for their child and car seat combined has been breached.

Misinformation also appears to be causing mounting issues. For example, a quick Google search for “LATCH system” brought me to The Car Seat Lady website. Under the website LATCH system information page, it reads:

“There is no agreement between vehicle and child safety seat manufacturers as to the weight limit for lower anchors. If the child safety seat manufacturer’s instructions, the vehicle owners manual, or this table do not discuss the issue, it is best to stop using the lower anchors after the child is 40 pounds. In this case, you should use the vehicle safety belt instead of the lower anchors to secure the child safety seat to the vehicle.”

Based on 2012′s new guidelines, a car seat weighing 33 pounds would invalidate the Car Seat Lady’s recommendation of 40 pounds. This isn’t the fault of the website but instead, as she states, a result of arguments over weight limits between car manufacturers and federal regulators.

The one area that all experts have agreed upon is that, regardless of the system used, a car seat must be properly installed and checked for loose harnesses on a regular basis.

Unlike health care mandates and other laws that take time to enact, it seems ridiculous that this new mandate will go into effect nearly two years after the issue was raised.

When the new law does go into affect, parents with children ages 3 and up will be warned against using the LATCH system. Once again, the “age” requirement could take attention away from the weight requirement, which is where LATCH system focus should be placed.

Easy To Install Car Seat LATCH Systems Could Kill Your Child is a post from: The Inquisitr

A 1-year-old child called 911 so many times that police eventually arrested the toddler’s mom. The baby called 911 sixteen times from her mom’s mobile phone.

Police in Astoria, Oregon eventually became so frustrated with Jessica May’s lack of control over her baby that they put the mother under arrest.

May was charged with improper use of the emergency reporting system.

Police warned Jessica that she would be arrested if she continued to allow her child to play with her phone. Despite a stern warning from officers, Jessica continue to hand over her mobile phone to her baby.

Following the police warning, the baby’s 911 calls continued, seven more times in fact.

Police had no choice but to arrest the mother for the sake of public safety.

Inappropriate 911 calls and “butt dials” have become a major talking point for many cities. As I reported in May 2012, New York City faces nearly 4 million “accidental” or “butt dials” every single year.

When an 911 dispatch operator is forced to answer a fake call, it can put a real callers life in danger. Every second longer it takes for the fire department or an EMT officer to reach their destination is another second that someone could be killed or die of a medical-related problem.

Jessica May has not responded to her arrest at this time. Perhaps she should have learned how to use the lock feature on her phone if she wasn’t going to take it away.

Do you think the mother deserved to be arrested after she failed to control her baby’s 911 calls?

Baby Calls 911 Multiple Times, Police Arrest Mom is a post from: The Inquisitr

Children who watch less-violent television have better behavior, according to a new study. While the results were modest, they could help find new ways to help young children avoid aggression.

The study focused on preschoolers’ behavior and their interaction with violent and non-violent television, according to The Associated Press.

Lead author Dr. Dimitri Christakis, a pediatrician and researcher at Seattle Children’s Research Institute, stated of the study:

“It’s not just about turning off the television. It’s about changing the channel. What children watch is as important as how much they watch.”

The study involved 565 parents in Seattle who filled out television-watching diaries and questionnaires that measured their child’s behavior.

Half of the parents were instructed for six months on how to get their children to watch shows like Sesame Street and Dora the Explorer instead of shows like Power Rangers. The other half of the group received tips on healthy eating instead.

Children in both groups showed improved behavior after six months, though the group coached on television watching showed a little bit more. The New York Times notes that Dr. Thomas N. Robinson, a professor of pediatrics at Stanford who wasn’t involved in the study, stated:

“Here we have an experiment that proposes a potential solution. Giving this intervention — exposing kids to less adult television, less aggression on television and more prosocial television — will have an effect on behavior.”

The researchers noted that low-income boys saw the most improvement in behavior, though they did not say why. Does the study about behavior in children and the television shows they watch have an impact on you? Do you monitor the television shows your child watches?

[Image via ShutterStock]

Better Television Improves Behavior In Kids [Study] is a post from: The Inquisitr

Nathan Lane can be proud of his quick texting skills. The 15-year-old sent a text message from a locked bathroom that ultimately saved his family from a possibly armed robber — and a girl from a potentially dangerous sex offender.

Nathan Lane and his family were visiting Chicago when they decided to stop at a smoothie shop. When Lane’s father, Craig, noticed the menu didn’t offer decaf coffee, he headed out to find some. Nathan settled at a table with his mother, Jagoda, and 10-year-old sister Rebecca.

Suddenly, a bearded man entered the coffee shop and grabbed the female cashier. According to the Lane family, Rebecca burst into tears. Nathan thought, “This can’t be happening.”

“Nobody move,” the man allegedly said. According to the police reports, he had his hand in his coat as if he had a gun. “I don’t want to hurt anyone. I just want the money.” He told the waitress to open the register. When he saw only a few hundred dollars, he reportedly became angry. “That’s it?” he shouted.

The alleged robber then told the Lane family to get to the back of the store. A calm Nathan led his mother and sister to the bathroom, where the robber locked the door. Jagoda insisted that Nathan call his father, but Nathan took her phone and began texting.

Down the street, Craig was waiting in line for coffee when his phone alerted him to the message. He read: Don’t come robber in here call 911.

Something about the text made Craig take it seriously, and he called 911 and alerted police.

Back at the smoothie shop, Nathan deleted the sent message. The alleged robber came to the bathroom and demanded their phones, looking to see if they’d called the police. No outgoing calls had been made.

“I’ll give you 10 minutes. If the cops show up, I’ll shoot each one of you,” the robber told the family, according to the police report.

He then told the cashier to shut the security gate and turn off the lights. From inside the bathroom, the family heard him begin to assault the girl.

“No! You can’t touch me like that!” she screamed, according to a police report. He pushed her against a wall, and she started to cry.

“No crying,” he said. “If you make any more noise, I’m going to choke you.”

He dragged her to the back of the store.

The family then heard police arrive, and the man was arrested. Police told quick-thinking Nathan that he should apply to the police department, and that his calm, quick thinking could have saved his family’s life.

The robber was arrested. William Castle, 43, was a convicted sex offender whose record, according to prosecutors, included a 1993 conviction for attempted rape and other crimes. He was charged with aggravated robbery, unlawful restraint, kidnapping and attempted robbery and held on $1 million bail at the Cook County Jail.

Do you feel better when your kids have cell phones on them?

[Image via Shutterstock]

Teen’s Quick Texting Saves Family From Sex Offender is a post from: The Inquisitr

The inevitable new is that teens are still having sex. But the good news is that teen pregnancy has hit an all-time low.

New research indicates that, while only slightly fewer teens are sexually active, more and more teens are waiting until they are older to engage in sex. They are also more likely to use contraception. With the struggles teen parents face, the drop in pregnancies among girls ages 15 to 19 is remarkable.

The teenage birth rate fell eight percent in a single year — from 2010 to 2011 — the newest reports from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention show. That means they are now down 25 percent since 2007 and an astounding 49 percent since 1991.

The new rate of teen pregnancy is 31 births in every 1,000 girls ages 15 to 19.

“There is lots of good news in the report,” said Brady Hamilton, a statistician at the National Center for Health Statistics who led the study.

This decrease is good news and not just because teenaged parents are rarely ready to cope with the responsibilities of raising a child. Young teens are more prone to certain pregnancy-related health risks such as underweight birth weight and stillborn babies.

While the study doesn’t look at teen behavior, other research suggests that the reason for the drop is two-fold. One, more teens are waiting until they are older to have sex. Two, more teens are using some form of contraceptive. But other than some educated guesses, no one really knows why the sudden drop in teen pregnancies.

Laura Lindberg, a senior researcher at the Guttmacher Institute, says, “If anyone tells you they know exactly why this has happened, they are lying. We don’t have all the research and behavioral data in place up to 2011.”

“We have gone from a social norm where you don’t use contraception at first sex to where you do,” she said. “Lots of study shows that using contraception at first sex begins a pattern of using it down the road.”

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has changed its guidelines on contraception and now recommends long-acting birth control methods such as IUDs, which are devices implanted in the uterus, and hormonal birth control drug implants, as the first-line contraceptives offered to teens. “The reason that is important is failure rates are much lower,” Lindberg said.

Lindberg suggests that the IUD is particularly effective for young teens who may not remember to take a pill every day. “Especially for teens,” she notes, “Once an IUD is there, there’s nothing to remember. You don’t have to do it every morning.”

While teens are still having sex, pregnancies could be at an all-time low thanks to the Obama administration. New government rules now require health insurers to provide birth control care for free, without even a co-pay.

Perhaps another clue is that girls no longer have to have a full pelvic exam before they receive a prescription for the pill. While guidelines used to mandate that a woman receive a full pelvic exam either when she becomes sexually active or after the age of 21, new federal guidelines allow for girls to wait until they are 21 to be examined.

“We think that’s lowered what we call the psychic barrier to getting prescription contraception methods,” Lindberg said. “For teenaged girls that first (exam) can be frightening.”

Noting that there is probably no “one state policy” that caused the change, it is remarkable to note that the pregnancy rate has dropped among all ethnic groups and states.

So does the drop in pregnancies really make that much of a difference? Brady Hamilton wanted to find out, and made some calculations.

“If the rates in 1991 had remained the same, there would have been 3.6 million additional births to moms aged 15-19,” he said. More than a million fewer babies came into the world between 2008 and 2011. “This has had a real impact,” he said.

Even with the substantial drop, teen births in the United States are still far higher than any other developed country. In 2010, while the U.S. had a teen birth rate of 37.9 births per 1,000 teenaged women, Switzerland had a mere 4.3 births per 1,000 teens. Russia had 30.2 per 1,000, and Britain it was 25 per 1,000.

Why do you think the teenaged pregnancy rate has dropped?

[Image via Shutterstock]

Teens Are Still Having Sex, But Pregnancy Rate Hits All Time Low is a post from: The Inquisitr

Researchers at the University of Missouri say mothers who are excessively controlling and bossy during playtime stifle a child’s creativity. The study found, the more a mother was direct and structured over every aspect of playtime, including the content and pace, the less their children engaged and, over time, built up a negative emotional association.

No one is advocating a free-for-all childhood without boundaries. It’s been shown children without established guidelines often grow up to be fairly spoiled and unruly. However, moderate stress free playtime for a child is essential for healthy emotional and psychological development.

How can you mature artistically and experiment with ideas if someone is telling you how to do something all the time a certain way? Instructing your child on sharing and playing fair is understandable as children require rules with the essential cautioning of dangers. Interrupting a child’s make-believe to correct them on how you would play with a toy is what stifles their imaginative process necessary to build resourceful coping and problem solving skills.

The study, “Patterns of Maternal Directiveness by Ethnicity among Early Head Start Research Participants,” was published in Parenting: Science and Practice and co-authored by Jean Ispa and Duane Rudy. Researchers used pre-recorded videos to analyze pairs of mothers and children from varying ethnicities, interacting in play environments when the children were 1, 2, 3, and 5 years old.

The participates in the study also contributed in the Early Head Start Research and Evaluation project, a federal study of Early Head Start (EHS), a nationwide program designed to assist in the overall development of children from low-income families.

Ispa, a professor of Human Development and Family Studies with a PhD from Cornell University, urged:

“Children flourish when they have opportunities to make choices about what they do, particularly in play situations … Mothers who are highly directive do not allow that kind of choice. In our study, the children were playing with some toys, and the very directive mothers were making the decisions about how to play, what to play, and how quickly to play.”

Along with reviewing how the role of an overbearing mother figure impacted a child’s imagination , researchers studied affection. It was determined, the warmer and more reassuring a mother was to her child, the less the negative effects of her domineering lingered.

According to Ispa:

“Even if mothers were very directive, if they were also warm, the negative effects of high directiveness lessened in every one of the ethnic groups we studied. If mothers were negative or seemed critical of their kids, then the negative effects of directiveness increased … We know that children, regardless of culture, need to feel loved. Children take in the meaning of what their mothers are trying to do, so if a mom is being very directive and is generally a very warm person, I think the child feels, ‘My mom is doing this because she cares about me, and she’s trying to do the best for me.’ If that warmth is missing, then the child might feel, ‘My mom is trying to control me, and I don’t like it.’”

Ispa points out that parents overlook that even children have a need to feel autonomous from time to time. This is their natural drive to experiment, calculate decisions, and problem solve. If they are unable to cultivate and practice these skills, it can predict a fairly stressful teen and adulthood.

[Image via Shutterstock]

A Study Suggests Mothers Who Are Controlling And Bossy During Playtime Suppress Children’s Creativity is a post from: The Inquisitr

Commentary — Going out to eat with kids can be downright intimidating. First, you have to make sure that everyone is dressed and looking remotely presentable and buckled in the car in one piece. Then you have to make sure you look presentable, after shuffling the kids around for an hour trying to get ready to go. If you’re anything like me, my energy is usually completely depleted by the time I turn the car’s key in the ignition. But for one exceptional family who took the risk of eating out with their three small children, the work paid off.

The family received a “well-behaved kids” discount, along with a bowl of ice cream for the little cherubs — ages 2, 3, and 8 — to share.

When Kingston, Washington residents Laura King and her husband took their family out to an Italian eatery to enjoy dinner, she expected her children to be on good behavior. They are no strangers to eating out. In fact, Laura King’s blog suggests that family meals are important at that families should take their kids to restaurants frequently. She even gives some pointers as to how to do this successfully.

The family chose Sogno di Vino, a cozy restaurant in the nearby town of Poulsbo. The restaurant is not necessarily family un-friendly, but the fireplace and romantic atmosphere give it a date-night feel. The King family, however, enjoyed their meal together.

The Kings feasted on pizza and pasta at the Italian eatery. The kids tucked quietly into their meals, making the occasional comment about the atmosphere (“Wine is grape juice, Papa,” the 8-year-old declared. “It tastes gross to kids”). At the end of the peaceful dining experience, the servers apparently exclaimed over how well-behaved the children were, and gave the King’s their receipt. On it, a “well-behaved kids” discount was taken from the tab.

One of King’s friend posted the receipt online, and it quickly went viral.

“They were just being their normal selves,” King told TODAY.com. “Our server came to our table and just really thanked us for having exceptionally behaved children.”

The King family has received much media attention since their night out on the town. On her blog, King responds to the discount drama: “We don’t expect handouts for acting respectful of the folks who bring us our food. But it certainly makes you feel good when someone else notices your kids in a positive light.” As a mother, I certainly agree with that sentiment.

Rob Scott, the owner of Sogno di Vino, says he’s given out good-kids discounts before. But this was the first time he noted it on the receipt. When speaking with Today.com, he “fondly recalled the King family, describing the children as the epitome of good behavior: they were very polite, didn’t neglect to say ‘please’ and ‘thank you,’ and stayed seated during their visit.” Scott goes on to note that is often not the case when families visit.

Many children, he said, end up shouting and running around the restaurant un-checked.

“So we go to the parents and say, ‘I’m sorry but we really need little Johnny to sit down and not run around and yell and scream… because he’s bothering some of the patrons.’ And parents will take an attitude to the point where we’re almost afraid to say something,” Scott said.

“Sogno di Vino means ‘to dream of wine,’ it doesn’t mean Chuck E. Cheese. We love Chuck E. Cheese, they do a great job. That’s why you go to Chuck E. Cheese, so the kids can play.”

While many parents feel they should be able to take their kids to any restaurant they choose, some parents look forward to a night off. Hillary Almond, fellow Kingston resident, told The Inquisitr, “We’re not leaving our kids with a sitter so we can go out and eat with other people’s kids.” Almond, mother of 5-year-old Billy and 1-year-old Molly, says that just because a restaurant is “under 21 and provides a high chair” doesn’t mean its family friendly. It is difficult to predict how kids will behave in public, and some would say that it’s better to stick with more family friendly eateries then risk offending other diners.

Almond has been to Sogno di Vino on a date with her husband, and said it would be a difficult environment for small children, especially toddlers.

But King says that her kids know how to eat in public, and the family enjoys eating out together.

Maybe that is the crux of the issue: When I take my kids out to eat, I must admit that I want to enjoy adult conversation with my husband. Too many times, I am trying to shush my 11-month-old or keep my 3-year-old occupied so that I can relax. But King says that when they go out to eat as a family, they are prepared to “engage with their kids.” King suggests noticing “the people, art, music, food in the room and talk about it.” She writes, “Encourage your kids to talk with you just like you would talk with another adult. Enjoy the time you’ve carved out to be with them.”

Maybe if parents — including myself — spent more time engaging with our children when we are out to eat, they wouldn’t be grasping for our attention by throwing french fries at our heads or crawling under the table (true story).

On the other hand, maybe I’ll just engage with them at home. Then I can throw french fries back.

Do you take your kids out to eat at nice restaurants?

[Image via Shutterstock]

‘Well-Behaved Kids’ Discount Debate: Should We All Take Our Kids To Nice Restaurants? is a post from: The Inquisitr

After reportedly becoming pregnant at age eight, a nine-year-old girl in Mexico has given birth to a baby daughter. The baby was apparently born last Sunday.

According to multiple news accounts out of the UK that reported on the nine-year-old having a baby, the 17-year-old presumed father of the newborn has gone missing, and authorities are hunting for him.

The nine-year-old mother’s name is Dafne, according to The Mirror of London, and “she is being helped to look after the 5lb 15 oz tot by her mother after being released from hospital at the weekend.” The birth occurred in the Zoquipan Hospital in the Mexican state of Jalisco.

The Independent of London reports that local Mexican authorities are not taking this situation lightly, especially since the father apparently bailed after he learned of the eight-year-old girl’s pregnancy:

“The state prosecutor, Jorge Villasenor, told Mexican newspaper Milenio: .’We want to find the young man who was responsible to know his version, because she is not able to understand the significance of their actions. This is a case of rape or child sexual abuse.’ ”

“Although mother and baby have both been discharged, the hospital has said it will closely monitor the situation, due to the mother’s age.”

The Mirror of London provides an additional report on the nine-year-old having a baby: “A spokesman for Zoquipan Hospital, where the baby was born on January 27, said both mother and child were in good health. But medics have also launched an investigation into the circumstances of her pregnancy.”

[Image credit: Shutterstock]

9-Year-Old Reportedly Gives Birth To Daughter In Mexico is a post from: The Inquisitr

A grandmother in Merced County, California accidentally killed her 2-your-old grandson after giving him a water bottle that contained cleaning fluid.

Authorities have determined that the grandmother did not intentionally provide the cleaning fluid to the toddler but instead thought the bottle was full of water.

The accident occurred on Friday afternoon. The boy was playing around his grandparents’ automotive shop when his grandma found the bottle on the floorboard of her husband’s truck.

Instead of water, the bottle contained a powerful cleaning solution used to clean aluminum rims.

After drinking from the bottle, the boy began to choke and convulse. According to the Merced Sun-Star, the grandfather realized what the grandmother had given to the toddler and immediately called 911. Before emergency services could arrive, the grandparents rushed their grandson to the hospital.

The small child, identified as Jack Shearer, was pronounced dead upon arrival.

An official autopsy is expected for Tuesday; however, authorities do not plan to change their initial findings.

Detectives tell the Daily Mail that the case was a “tragic accident.”

Do you think the grandma should be charged with the toddler’s death after providing him with a water bottle from the back of a truck bed?

Grandma Accidentally Gives Toddler Water Bottle Full Of Cleaning Fluid is a post from: The Inquisitr

UK government proposals to make it easier for would-be parents to adopt children from different cultural or racial backgrounds, have been substantively challenged by a new report which says such differences can have a profoundly negative impact on ethnic children who are then adopted by white parents.

A three year study by the British Association for Adoption and Fostering (BAAF), examined the experiences of 72 Chinese orphans who arrived from Hong Kong in the 1960s and were adopted by mainly white British parents.

In the study, which is the first to look at the  long-term impact of  interracial adoption in Britain, former orphans were asked to talk about their experiences from childhood through to middle age.

According to The Guardian, common feedback included “varying levels of racism, prejudice and feelings of belonging and difference within their adoptive families and wider communities.”

Many of the women also, “felt alienated” and “struggled with conflicts of dual/multiple identities and had experienced race-based mistreatment.”

For some, childhood and adolescence were particularly traumatic, with 54% saying they “felt uncomfortable” after comments about how different they looked from their adoptive family were made.

Around three-quarters of those studied said they had wanted to look less Chinese as they grew up, while a smaller figure said “race-based bullying” and discrimination “had a substantial negative impact on their well-being.”

The common thread running throughout the study was the issue of ethnicity, and how much race and culture impacted the former orphans’ lives.

Other findings identified the part played by the adoptive family’s sensitivity and ability to help the orphans cope with the issues of difference.

The present conservative UK government is committed to reforming the adoption process, with Education secretary Michael Gove saying he hopes to put an end to what he describes as the “misguided” belief that all children must be matched with parents of the same race. [Full speech at PoliticsHome]

As a result, campaigners who applaud the government’s attempts to speed up the adoption process, remain deeply concerned about what they perceive as attempts to ignore the importance of race and culture in mixed race adoption.

John Simmonds, director of policy, research and development at the BAAF, said the findings suggested that the government should apply the brakes on any planned adoption legislation that ignores racial/cultural considerations.

Simmonds also worries that present moves to sideline race stem from the UK prime minister David Cameron’s criticism of “state multiculturalism.”

In response, Simmonds says:

“The emphasis is on being British, that multiculturalism is dead. It would be quite wrong to ignore these issues of difference and the way people experience difference in society, the positive recognition of the importance of identity in a richer way.”

“If the government has the view that a child being adopted from a different country, religion, culture, language is a marginal issue that becomes an irrelevance over the course of time given the benefits of adoption, then that is not what this study has said.”

Professor Alan Rushton of King’s College London added:

“The government needs to take notice of these findings on the significance of ethnicity, so that the wording of the proposed adoption legislation does not seem to downplay its importance.”

Some believe, the government’s plans to dilute ethnicity as part of the adoption process might, in part, be guided by politics.

Gove — who was himself adopted at four months, has accused social workers of condemning black and Asian children to a life in care rather than let white couples adopt them — claims “leftwing prescriptions are denying children the love they need.”

But Julia Feast, the BAAF’s policy, research and development consultant, said it was crucial that the study was analyzed objectively away from politics.

“They [the government] are basing it on adopters saying there are all these children languishing in care and rather than think about what research has been done in this country regarding the outcomes of trans-racial adoption they are going by the voice of prospective parents who think that love will be enough.”

Ash Chand of the NSPCC said: “Ethnicity, culture, language and religion help to fully form a child’s identity. These aspects of identity should be considered when matching suitable adoptive parents with children in care.”

The UK Department for Education‘s stated position is as follows:

“We are changing the law to ensure black and minority ethnic children – who take on average a year longer to be adopted than white children – are not left waiting in care any longer than necessary. We want them to be with adoptive families where they can thrive and realise their full potential.”

Mixed Race Adoption Plans In UK Could Be Challenged By Devastating Report is a post from: The Inquisitr

A 15-year-old girl named Laurel baked an “I’m Gay” cake to announce here coming out to her parents. The teen posted photos of the “Gayke” on her Tumblr page. She wrote a rather light-hearted message to her parents explaining that she is a lesbian, and left it next to the sweet treat.

The teen’s coming out approach went viral after photos and letter details were published on January 27. The young woman used a lot of cake puns during her unique coming out message. An excerpt from the Gayke letter reads:

“Good morning parents,“I’m gay. I’ve wanted to tell you for a long time. I thought doing it this way would be a piece of cake. I hope you still love me. i mean, it’s hard not to love someone who baked you a cake. All my friends know and still love me. Your acceptance would be the icing on the cake. I hope you, much like this cake, are not in tiers. I hope we can look back on this and say “boy, this one really takes the cake. It gets batter.”

Laurel noted in a subsequent Tumblr post that her parents did accept and support her after she came out as a lesbian, according to The Blaze. The teen stated her mom “cried of happiness” and the pair hugged and cried some more together. After all the talking about the coming out announcement was finished, they all ate cake.

The I’m Gay cake-maker states in her Tumblr “About” section that she created the page as an Ellen DeGeneres fan project. She also notes that she now frequently gives LGBT advice and cake.

[Image Via The Blaze]

Teen Bakes A ‘Gayke’ For Parents When She Comes Out As A Lesbian is a post from: The Inquisitr

While many women want to give birth with a trusted confidant by their side — be it a spouse, mother, or best friend — one woman in England took it one step further, opting to have her dog, Barney, accompany her to the delivery room.

The Bristol woman requested that her certified therapy dog be present in the maternity ward to “provide a calming presence for her” while she went through labor. Sarah Windfield, head of midwifery at St. Michael’s Hospital, told Today, 

“Barney is a certified Pets as Therapy (PAT) dog and, with his owner, regularly attends to patients in hospital.  PAT dogs are examined and passed on health, temperament, suitability and stability grounds and patients can benefit from their calming presence.  His owner made the request to us at St Michael’s Hospital for Barney to be present when she gave birth, as a therapy dog, not as a pet. Having first sought the approval of our infection control experts, we agreed to Barney sitting nearby in the delivery room.”

Windfield notes that a “thorough cleaning was done after the birth as is usual practice at the hospital.” While The Sun reports an anonymous source claiming that “nurses and doctors were appalled that someone at the hospital had given the woman permission” for her Labrador to be present, The Stir blogger Kiri Blakeley doesn’t see what the big deal is: “The world would be a better place if dogs were allowed everywhere. Let ‘em inside the cockpit of planes, I say. How about standing by during open heart surgery? Why not?”

Comments on Today‘s Facebook page commented on the proceedings:

“That’s beyond unsanitary,” writes one commenter.

Anther came to the dog’s defense, noting, “That is a rude assumption Alyssa. Dogs carry less germs than YOU do. Unless they sit in a kennel all day full of their feces which is against the law an considered neglect.”

Still, others used the article to make a case for more “natural” birthing experiences: “Dogs are not automatically unsanitary. It depends on how they’re taken care of and groomed. And a woman does not have to give birth in a STERILE environment!”

Yet another adds, “I’m not sure what the fuss is about. It’s not surgery and they sterilize everything once you leave. women give birth in less than ideal places every moment of the day. Good for her and the facility for allowing it.”

What do you think about a therapy dog in the labor and delivery room?

[Image via Shutterstock]

Dog In The Delivery Room: Mom Has Her ‘Best Friend’ Accompany Her In Baby’s Delivery is a post from: The Inquisitr

Do you want to enhance your little ones new baby smell? Thanks to a new Dolce & Gabbana baby perfume your child’s natural smell can now be enhanced.

In a company press release Dolce & Gabbana writes:

“This perfume is also inspired by the smell of a baby and is ‘designed to cuddle and pamper every little boy and girl’, which means it’s fine for delicate skin, is unisex, but ultimately, mimics the smell of a baby’s skin.”

Believe it or not Dolce & Gabbana isn’t the first company to try such a tactic, back in the 1980s Love’s Baby Soft also released a baby product to enhance a little one’s smell. In 2010 a ton of “Eau de Enfant” products reached market, including several by design houses Burberry and Bvlgari. In this case Dolce & Gabban refers to its product as “scented water” and not perfume.

While the product is alcohol free, a full list of ingredients has not been released which could cause many cautious parents to shy away from the baby perfume product.

It is unclear at this time how the perfume “enhances” a babies smell while keeping their natural newborn baby scent.

Because the baby perfume is made by Dolce & Gabbana it is not cheap at $45 per bottle.

The biggest sell for Dolce & Gabbana at this time appears to be its hopes that parents who already associated themselves with the brand will attempt to carry that association over to their children.

Will you be purchased the company’s “scented water” product for use on your child?

Dolce & Gabbana Baby Perfume Now Available For Sale is a post from: The Inquisitr

A mother of twin boys was formally charged with their deaths on Thursday after she repeatedly left the small children home alone. 32-year-old Dalawna Berran-Lett left her twin boys at home this week so she could hunt down her teen daughter after she stole her moms pot stash.

Dalawna returned home after what she claimed was “20 minutes” to discover the house on fire and her babies dead.

Police have charged Dalawna with involuntary manslaughter over the deaths of boys, Ky’heir and Dy’heir.

Officers believe that the 3-year-old boys attempted to use the oven to cook a meal, but instead started a fire.

Police claim that Dalawna also left her boys home alone months ago. During the first incident the boys also tried to use the stove to cook food, nearly burning down the house at that time. According to the original report the 3-year-olds were attempting to cook ribs.

While many of us are likely enraged by this story TheStir writer Kiri Blakeley partially defends the Dalawna:

“…There comes a time when you choose your kids over your pot. However, I hope she’s given some leniency and doesn’t spend the rest of her life in jail, because she must realize the enormity of the mistake she made. Especially when you consider that women who deliberately kill their children often get off with much less.”

I would say “off with her head” but that seems a bit dramatic, not to mention nowhere near as painful as the death her three-year-old boys suffered while being burned to death in an easily avoidable house fire.

Where do you stand on this side of the argument? Should Dalawna Berran-Lett be sentenced to life in prison or do you agree with Blakeley’s assessment?

Mom Charged With Twins’ Death, Left Them Alone To Find Marijuana is a post from: The Inquisitr

A Target pajama recall has affected kids’ PJs, and the mass retailer has warned of a risk of burn injuries due to material flammability.

Although the Target pajama recall affects more than half a million units of the item currently in circulation, no injuries have been reported in relation to it.

The Target pajama recall affects 560,000 Circo and Xhilaration children’s two-piece pajama sets and 42,000 Circo girls’ fleece blanket sleepers and was announced after it was discovered the items do not meet federal standards of flame resistance.

According to Consumer Reports, the PJs in the Target pajama recall sold in the second half of last year and were primarily for small children and toddlers. The mag explains:

“The recalled Circo and Xhilaration two-piece pajama sets were sold at Target from August through November 2012 for $8 to $13. The cotton or cotton/fleece sets came in infant and toddler sizes 12M, 2T, 3T, 4T, and 5T, and in girls and boys sizes XS, S, M, L, and XL. There are a variety of colors and designs, including stars, dots, skulls, peace signs, cats, owls, footballs and camouflage.”

The consumer advocacy site lists the identification codes on tags of sets in the Target pajama recall, including the following colors and designs:

Purple Owl:
075084972, 075084973, 075084974, 075084975, 075084976
243271104, 243271105, 243271062, 243271063, 243271064

Pink Leopard:
075085338, 075085339, 075085340, 075085341, 075085342
243271052, 243271065, 243271066, 243271067, 243271068

Blue Doodle:
075085388, 075085389, 075085390, 075085391, 075085392
243271047, 243271048, 243271049, 243271050, 243271053

If you believe you may own items affected by the Target pajama recall, you can go to Target’s website for more information.

Parents and caregivers are advised to stop using the clothing in the Target pajama recall immediately and to return them to their nearest Target for a full refund.

Target Pajama Recall Affects Kids Sleepwear, Risk Of Flammability Cited is a post from: The Inquisitr

·Weighing Range: 0-55 lbs
·Accuracy: 10g (0.02lb)
·Connectivity: WiFi, Bluetooth, Bluetooth Smart
·Display: Large graphical screen (120×58 pixels)
·Power Supply: 4 x AAA Batteries
·Dimensions: 11” x 9.1” x 1” (without baby basket) / 22” x 10” x 3.7” (with baby basket)
·Weight: 3.3 lbs
·Cost: $179.95

Will you be taking advantage of the Withings Smart Kid Scale.

Withings Smart Kid Scale Now Available For Sale is a post from: The Inquisitr

Bugaboo is recalling more than 50,000 of its Donkey and Cameleon model strollers. The company issued the recall after finding out the the handle poses a falling and choking hazard to children.

Bugaboo is famous for introducing $1,000 strollers to the world. Founded in the Netherlands, the company stated that a button on the stroller’s carrycot can disengage, causing the handle to detach.

The detached handle can injure tots. The Los Angeles Times reports that the recall affects 46,300 strollers in the United States and about 4,440 in Canada.

The recall comes after the company received 58 reports of handles detaching, though there were no reported injuries. Customers are advised to remove the handle from the strollers immediately and contact Bugaboo, which will issue a free replacement handle.

The pricey strollers are sold at retailers like Neiman Marcus, Nordstrom, Toys R Us, and online retailers, including the company’s website. They came with a base, sun canopy, and other accessories in various colors, according to Consumer Reports. A fabric tag on the side of the stroller identifies it as Bugaboo and the model’s name.

The Bugaboo Donkey is included in the recall. The stroller is probably best known for its ability to convert from a single-occupancy stroller into a side-by-side double. It was sold between January 2011 and December 2012 and retailed for $1,200 to $1,600. The Cameleon was sold between September 2009 and June 2012. It retailed for a more reasonable $980.

Bugaboo has said that the strollers are safe to use with the handle removed while you wait for a replacement. For more information, consumers are urged to call Bugaboo International at (800) 460-2922. Their service hours are Monday through Friday 7 am until 4 pm PT. Consumers can also visit their website and click “Important Quality Initiative,” or email serviceus@bugaboo.com.

Bugaboo Recalls Over 50,000 Donkey And Cameleon Strollers is a post from: The Inquisitr

Dara-Lynn Weiss was thrust into the national spotlight last year when she put her 7-year-old daughter on strict diet — and wrote an article for Vogue about it.

The Manhattan mother of two caused an uproar when the controversial article was published, detailing the diet plan that Weiss had her elementary-school daughter on and her methods for keeping her on the path to a healthy weight. Now, Weiss’ daughter is nine and at a healthy weight.

Weiss spoke with NBC Todayabout Bea’s (not her real name) progress. “She’s doing fantastically well,” Weiss told Matt Lauer on Tuesday. “We’re very happy to report she’s maintained a healthy weight. She’s really made positive changes in how she approached this issue.”

For Bea, however, the change is “bittersweet.” Weiss notes that when asked if she likes how she looks now, she says yes. “Even so,” says Weiss, “the person she used to be still weighs on her. Tears of pain fill her eyes when she reflects on her yearlong journey.”

” ‘That’s still me,’ she says of her former self. ‘I’m not a different person just because I lost 16 pounds.’ ” Weiss continues, “I protest that, indeed, she is different … that fat girl is a thing of the past. ‘Just because it’s in the past,’ Bea says, ‘doesn’t mean it didn’t happen.’ ”

“’That’s still me,’ she says of her former self,” her mother continues. “’I’m not a different person just because I lost sixteen pounds.’ I protest that, indeed, she is different. At this moment, that fat girl is a thing of the past. A tear rolls down her beautiful cheek…’Just because it’s in the past,’ she says, ‘doesn’t mean it didn’t happen.’”

Weiss admits to publicly shaming Bea. The 41-year-old mother writes of having “heated discussions” with Bea at parties because the child wanted cake and a cookie. She admits to “deriding” her daughter for eating “an inappropriate snack” at a friend’s house. Weiss even admits to depriving Bea of meals when she made poor food choices throughout the day, once denying the 7-year-old dinner because she ate 800 calories worth of Brie, chocolate, bread, and filet mignon at her school’s “French Heritage Day.”

Once, Weiss recalls, a Starbuck barista couldn’t clarify the caloric count of a kids’ hot chocolate. The “calories are listed as ’120-210,’” Weiss writes, “Well, which is it? When he couldn’t provide an answer, I dramatically grabbed the drink out of my daughter’s hands, poured it into the garbage, and stormed out.”

A doctor’s visit — and the comments of a boy at Bea’s school — allegedly started the journey in which Bea lost 16 pounds and was rewarded with a photo shoot in Vogue and lots of new dresses. At 7 years old, Bea was 4 feet, 4 inches, and weight 93 pounds, putting her in the 99th percentile for weight in her age group. By the next year, she had grown two inches and lost 16 pounds, putting her back into a healthy weight range.

Since then, Bea has gained an appropriate amount of weight, says Weiss. “It was interesting,” says the mother, “after spending a year trying to always lose weight to have a year where it was healthy to gain weight.”

Weiss chalks all the criticism up to the “damned if you do/damned if you don’t” approach, knowing that for many parents of obese children, the struggle is always there. How do you help a child lose weight without damaging their self-esteem?

“I didn’t come to this situation saying, ‘Well, we’re just going to police this in every public situation,’ but as the parent of an obese child you become aware of how frequently they’re presented with challenges,” Weiss said. “And at age 7, they can’t necessarily be responsible for responding appropriately.”

Now, Weiss says, she doesn’t have to monitor Bea as much.

Weiss landed a book deal out of the whole experience. In her novel, The Heavy: A Mother, A Daughter, A Diet, she chronicles their journey to a healthy weight for Bea, admitting that she has always struggled with her relationship with food.

While her book is coming at a time when about one-third of the nation’s children are overweight or obese, experts are uncertain that Weiss’ method was wise.

“When a child’s weight is compromising their health, a parent is going to go into action, but we need to be very careful with what we say and what we do,” child development specialist Robyn Silverman told TODAY. “We don’t want a child to look at food as the enemy.”

In an interview with USA Today, Weiss notes that Bea’s problems with food started early on.

“She was in preschool when we realized she approached food differently. She had an unusual relationship with the snack table, more ardent than the other children’s. At her checkups, her weight was heavy but not unhealthy. But age 6, the doctor said there was a problem. We could no longer think she would grow out of it or see what happens. It wasn’t getting better.”

Weiss’ advice for parent’s struggling with kids’ obesity?

“It is such a challenge, so much more complicated than conventional wisdom would you have believe. Don’t be rendered silent or ignore the issue hoping it will go away. Having love for your child sometimes mean being the heavy and doing unpopular things that you know are right.”

What do you think of Weiss’ methods? Do you think that her daughter have a healthy relationship with food and fitness as a result of these strict years?

Controversial Mom Who Put 7-Year-Old Daughter On Strict Diet: ‘She’s Doing Fantastically Well’ [Video] is a post from: The Inquisitr

A smile from an unborn baby made parents in England rethink their plans for abortion. Katyia Rowe and her partner of four years, Shane Johnson, were planning on following their doctors warnings and choose to abort their baby. But when they saw the 3D ultrasound they decided not to go through with their plans.

Unfortunately, baby Lucian only lived nine hours after being born. According to The Sun, Katyia has no regrets in deciding not to abort Lucian:

“I may only have been Lucian’s mummy for nine hours but it was worth all we went through.”

Their ordeal started after a 20-week scan revealed complications with  Lucian’s brain development. Doctors expected the baby would be severely disabled, and they warned the parents that the child would never walk or talk and would be 24 hour care. The Birmingham Children’s Hospital thus a advised them that the best option would be to abort the baby.

The couple was planning on following the doctor’s advice until they saw the results of a 3D ultrasound. A 3D ultrasound  is different from a normal sonogram because the sound waves are sent in from multiple angles in order to produce a more realistic rendition of what is inside the womb. A 4D ultrasound adds the component of time, and allows prospective parents to see their unborn baby in action.

This technology is becoming much more common at pregnancy clinics. When these parents had the chance to see the results they were amazed to see Lucian smiling, blowing bubbles, kicking and waving his arms. These results immediately changed Katyia’s mind on the abortion according to Daily Mail:

“Despite all the awful things I was being told, while he was inside me his quality of life looked to be wonderful — he was a joy to watch. I was told he would never walk or talk yet the scans showed him constantly wriggling and moving. As I watched I knew that while I was carrying him he still had a quality of life and it was my duty as a mother to protect that no matter how long he had left. He deserved to live.”

Lucian was born on October 23 at Royal Shrewsbury Hospital, Shrops, and rushed into special baby care. The baby was placed in her mother’s arms and even met his grandparents before passing away. Katyia is sad but tells The Sun she still remembers those moments fondly:

“My son was dying but I couldn’t stop smiling because I felt so blessed, honored and privileged to have the chance to cuddle him, thank him and say goodbye properly after all we had been through together. Of course it is hard without him. I miss him every minute.”

Unborn Baby Smile From 3D Ultrasound Made Parents Rethink Abortion is a post from: The Inquisitr

A young mother was reportedly unable to abort her severely disabled son despite doctors’ warning after seeing her baby’s smile in a 3D sonogram.

Katyia Rowe, 26, and her partner were expecting their first child when Rowe was told that her developing baby’s brain had not properly formed. Doctors urged her to terminate the pregnancy, but after seeing her unborn baby in a 3D scan, Rowe decided to continue with the pregnancy, regardless of the outcome.

The real-life moving 3D scan reportedly showed the baby boy smiling, blowing bubbles, kicking, and waving his arms in utero. Upon seeing the scan, Rowe reportedly decided to go through with the pregnancy and birth.

Despite doctor’s warnings that the baby would never walk or talk, the British mother made her decision: “As long as he was pain free, I vowed to let him enjoy life both while inside me and outside, no matter how long that be.”

Lucian, who was born in October, died a mere nine hours after he was born.

Despite all the the couple went through, Rowe maintains that she has no regrets since she was “able to cuddle her baby son.”

Rowe noted, “We were devastated to be told our son’s brain abnormalities were so severe [that] we should consider a termination. Further scans were arranged to asses the extent of his disabilities but when I saw him smiling and playing inside me I knew I couldn’t end his life.”

The 26-year-old training administrator recalls: “If he could smile and play and feel then despite his disabilities he deserved to enjoy whatever life he had left, no matter how short. Just because his life would be shorter or different, didn’t mean he didn’t deserve to experience it.”

Rowe and her partner of four years, Shane Johnson, were reportedly overjoyed with the prospect of raising a child.

“It was a shock but we were thrilled. Shane and I were so excited and looking forward to the birth. We had so many plans for the future and could not wait to meet our baby,” notes Rowe.

Then their 20-week ultrasound showed complications to what had been previously considered a healthy pregnancy. Doctors told the couple that the baby’s brain was not developing properly, and that the child would never walk or talk, and would need 24-hour care. He was given a life expectancy of up to five years. Doctors recommended terminating the pregnancy at 24-weeks.

Rowe then underwent a 3D real-time scan to determine the extent of the baby’s disabilities. Rowe recalls:

“Despite all the awful things I was being told, while he was inside me his quality of life looked to be wonderful and no different to any other baby’s, he was a joy to watch. I was told he would never walk or talk yet the scans showed him constantly wriggling and moving. As I watched I knew that while I was carrying him he still had a quality of life and it was my duty as a mother to protect that no matter how long he had left, he deserved to live.”

Rowe reports that not knowing how long they had with him, she and Johnson were “determined to enjoy him for as long as we could.” They learned little things about their son, that he would “kick when I sprayed water on my tummy.”

For the last nine weeks of her pregnancy, Rowe had to undergo painful procedures in which excess amniotic fluid was drained from her abdomen, since Lucian could not swallow the fluid the way babies generally do in utero. When others questioned Rowe’s resolve to undergo painful treatments for a baby who may not live, she was adamant.

“As a mother you will do anything for your child and for me I became a mother as soon as I fell pregnant, that job had started already.”

Lucian was delivered in October, and died peacefully nine hours later, in his mother’s arms. He was able to meet his grandparents in his brief life.

Mother Says Seeing Unborn Baby Smile Made Her Rethink Abortion, Despite Doctors Recommendation is a post from: The Inquisitr

The last thing a parent wants to hear while desperately asking the pediatrician why their baby won’t stop crying is this: “Well, maybe he’s just colicky.” Ugh. Colic is a term dreaded by parents. It feels like a blow-off, a well-that-just-the-way-your-baby-is. Your doctor gives you a sympathetic smile, like he has no idea he’s sending you home to a life of standing in front of the washing machine, while you hold your baby in their car seat on the vibrating machine because it is the only thing that will make them stop screaming. And that you’ve learned how to sleep standing up as a result.

Doctors don’t know why some babies are “colicky,” why some babies cry randomly and excessively (or, like my firstborn son, every night from 4 pm to 6 pm for the first two months of his sweet little life.) But, a new study shows that there may be an answer.

Your baby’s abnormal gut bacteria may be to blame. Yes, gut bacteria.

The new research identifies a distinct bacterial “signature” in the guts of infants with colic. Colic, of course, is a term that described babies who cry for more than three hours a day without a medical reason. In other words, babies who seem to cry just because they know they can.

In the first weeks of life, the research found, colicky babies had a higher number of bacteria from a group called Proteobacteria in their guts compared to babies without colic. These bacteria are known to produce gas, which may cause pain in little ones who are just learning how to work out their new digestive systems. The pain leads, of course, to inconsolable crying.

Study researcher Carolina de Weerth, a developmental psychologist at Radboud University Nijmegen in the Netherlands, notes, “For a long time, many researchers and professionals have believed that colic could just be one extreme of the normal crying curve in young infants.” She adds, “This study shows how, at least in some cases of colic, abnormalities in early colonization of the infant intestines may lead to colic behavior.”

Babies are born with sterile bowels, so various bacteria have the chance to form and grow within the gut a few hours after birth. Colicky babies also had lower numbers of anti-inflammatory bacteria, which may reduce gut inflammation and pain, de Weerth said.

But fear not, gut bacteria or no, there is light at the end of the loud, tear-filled tunnel: Abnormalities in gut bacteria appear to disappear after the first few months, suggesting they are temporary.

Other studies have suggested that colicky infants are experiencing headaches or migraines (funny, so are the parents!) While no one cause has been determined, these new studies do give parents and doctors more insight into what causes colic.

Gut Bacteria May Be To Blame For Babies’ Colic is a post from: The Inquisitr

California-based iBaby Labs debuted several mobile, easy-to-use baby products at CES in 2013. One of them, first introduced at Pepcom, was the iBaby HeartSense, which allows parents to hear their baby’s heartbeat instantly through their iPhone.

The iBaby HeartSense is a small, egg-shaped sensor which allows expecting parents to listen to their baby’s heartbeat instantly through the use of an iPhone, iPod touch, or iPad. To use, remove the top portion of the egg-shaped fetal doppler and place it on the expectant mother’s stomach. Within seconds, parents can check their baby’s heartbeat on their mobile device or tablet using the free iBaby app.

An iBaby spokesperson said that the HeartSense helps to provide a sense of comfort throughout pregnancy, and connectedness to a couple’s new or first child.

“These new products are compelling, easy to use and what parents are asking for,” said Adam Lin, iHealth Labs general manager. “The iBaby Monitor M2 and iBaby HeartSense provide parents with a sense of confidence in their baby’s health by tracking their heart rate and providing a mobile window on their child’s life using their iPhone or iPad.”

Families can also use the iBaby HeartSense to record their baby’s heartbeat so that they can share their excitement with their loved ones.

Parents today are demanding mobile, real-time information about their baby, so that they can keep up with their child’s progress anywhere throughout the day. New iBaby Labs devices help keep parents and loved ones informed on-the-go regarding their new baby by combining simple, easy-to-use tech with their mobile iOS app.

Here are some pictures of the iBaby HeartSense:

CES 2013: iBaby Labs Introduces HeartSense, Allowing Parents To Listen To Baby’s Heartbeat is a post from: The Inquisitr

California-based iBaby Labs debuted several mobile, easy-to-use baby products at CES in 2013. One of them, first introduced at Pepcom, was the iBaby Monitor M2, a baby monitor thank links up to an iOS app and features a sleek, futuristic design.

The iBaby Monitor M2 is an updated version of iBaby Labs’ first baby monitor. The new device adds a rechargeable battery and an interesting design (pics below). The iBaby Monitor M2 allows parents to hear and monitor their child through a free downloadable app on their iOS device.

The rechargeable battery in the iBaby Monitor M2 helps parents move the camera freely from room to room without needing to plug the camera in. This helps parents keep up with the child no matter where they’re at with the ease of mobile.

Additionally, a two-way audio feature helps parents hear and even speak to their baby without the aid of an external speaker system. This is an improvement over the original iBaby monitor.

“These new products are compelling, easy to use and what parents are asking for,” said Adam Lin, iHealth Labs general manager. “The iBaby Monitor M2 and iBaby HeartSense provide parents with a sense of confidence in their baby’s health by tracking their heart rate and providing a mobile window on their child’s life using their iPhone or iPad.”

You can check out a small gallery of images of the iBaby Monitor M2 below, but let us know what you think: Does this seem like a useful device for parents out there?

CES 2013: iBaby Labs Introduces Baby Monitor M2, Exactly What ‘Parents Are Asking For’ is a post from: The Inquisitr

A dad’s time-lapse video for his son’s mom has soared into the hearts of YouTube lovers and fans of men who love bonding with their kids.

The video shows the father and son throughout the day as they play with toys, each other, and generally make the house into a disaster.

They then clean the disaster up and the father whisks his son off to bed. The Daily Mail reports that Emio Tomeoni, 30, created the film for his wife, Stephanie Ramos, to show her what happens when she goes to work.

Tomeoni works in the film production industry. He made the time-lapse video for Ramos to prove to her how much of a disaster he and his son create while she is away. He explained:

“Me and him alone, progressively, I got obsessed with getting him toys. So I kept telling her how our days went, saying, ‘This place was a wreck, a disaster. We played all day.’ And then she’d walk in and it would be spotless.”

He often makes videos for his wife, but this particular one he thought she would enjoy. However, he didn’t predict the online success of the video. Yahoo! News notes that some viewers who saw the dad’s time-lapse video for his wife even took to call Tomeoni “father of the year,” just for the simple video created of him enjoying time with his son.

He believes now that the video has received so much attention because of the universal thoughts surrounding it and the feelings that it evokes. Tomeoni explained:

“All you ever want to do is show people who you really are. You can’t do that with words. You can’t tell people who you are. You have to show them. And it takes time. I wanted to show my wife what she already knows, but now she’s seen.”

Check out the dad’s time-lapse video for mom below and let us know what you think: should Emio Tomeoni be a candidate for father of the year?

Dad’s Time-Lapse Video For Mom Shows Adorable Father-Son Bonding [Watch] is a post from: The Inquisitr

The Woman’s Hospital of Texas had a banner year in 2012, delivering more than 10,000 babies for the first time in a single year. According to hospital officials, Becky and Chris Kiser welcomed their daughter Moriah into the world at 1:08 am on Friday, December 28.

Speaking of the milestone setting birth, Becky Kiser said:

“We have been tracking the birth of the 10,000th baby for a couple of months and can’t believe it’s our baby. We love The Woman’s Hospital of Texas.”

The baby was delivered by Dr. Mark Cone , a physician with a long-standing history with the Woman’s Hospital of Texas.

According to hospital officials, the facility delivers the most babies in Houston and the second most in Texas each year.

Following the birth of little baby Kiser, the family was presented with a commemorative bassinette along with other gifts.

To celebrate the birth of the 10,000th child of the year, the hospital is holding a Babies Are Beautiful contest on its website.

The hospital prepared for the birth of its 10,000 yearly child in digital fashion. For example, real-time delivery information was posted on digital screens throughout the hospitals West and East Tower Entrances and throughout other areas of the hospital.

The Woman’s Hospital of Texas has been delivering children for more than 35 years.

Texas Hospital Delivers 10,000 Babies In One Year, Tracked Births With Real-Time Public Updates is a post from: The Inquisitr

As 2013 approaches, it won’t just be celebrities and sports stars choosing to name their children Apple, Orange Juice, and whatever other stupid names will place more attention on the parent. In fact, many popular names could come to life thanks to tech trends, the want to use last names as first names, and more.

The team at Belly Ballot has compiled some of the trends they are already beginning to see, and it looks like names that were never considered “normal” could end up in the spotlight, while some naming conventions we would never have thought up will also come to pass.

The naming data was compiled from a list of more than 1,000 parents on the company’s website along with their friends and family members.

The first trend will be towards tech inspired names such as the little baby Hashtag, who will forever be teased 10 years down the road when Twitter is irrelevant and internet users have moved on. Predicted for 2013 are Tweet, Android, and Kindle.

Another big trend is multiple names. No longer is “John Smith” good enough. Instead, thanks to Uma Thurman naming her baby girl Rosalind Arusha Arkadina Altalune Florence Thurman-Busson, parents might be looking for extremely long and pointless names.

For older citizens, they may appreciate some classic name returns including the always sexy Pearl and Eleanor along with Albert and Bertha.

Dyslexic parents may appreciate the use of last names as first names. From Drake and Hayes to Brick, parents may end up playing a 180 on naming conventions in 2013.

Finally, parents may look for strange spellings for their child’s name, for example, Braedyn and Josilyn.

According to Belly Ballot cofounder Lacey Moler:

“We can’t wait to see what happens for 2013. No matter what though, it appears that it will be the most interesting and diverse year for naming trends ever.”

Do you think baby names are becoming more about attention than anything else?

[Image via ShutterStock]

Belly Ballot Makes Baby Name Predictions For 2013, Some Are Just Strange is a post from: The Inquisitr

In recent months, mass shooting have become far too frequent: West Webster firefighters, the Aurora movie theater, and Sandy Hook Elementary have left dozens dead and thousands wondering what is to be done. As the nation grieves the various compounding tragedies, gun control has been a topic of passionate debate.

But what about toy gun control?

Parents seem to be split on the issue of toy guns. While some parents are taking guns away from their kids in lights of recent mass shootings, other believes that it is the child — not to toy — that needs to be the focus of concern.

The Inquisitr reported earlier that a previous California gun ban is back in full swing, and other parents are taking matters into their own hands.

According to Today, some mothers are taking away guns from their kids. Anupy Singla, mother of two daughters, reportedly has been debating for months whether or not to confiscate the toy guns in her active household. Singla’s daughters, ages 7 and 10, enjoy playing with Nerf revolver-style blasters, but when Singla watched the December 14 news footage of the Sandy Hook shooting, her “indecision ended abruptly.”

“It was just something that inside me really snapped,” Singla, 44, told Today. 

“It’s me making a decision that this is not something that’s right in our house,” she added. “We don’t believe in playing with something that represents something that could be potentially so dangerous.”

Eileen Zyko Wolter took about a dozen toy guns belonging to her 4- and 7-year-old sons and stored them on a high closet shelf, noting, “I felt like they needed to understand that play guns could lead to real-life consequences.” The 41-year-old mother added, “If you’re aiming a play gun and shooting it, you’re practicing shooting at people.”

But experts say that toy guns — generally favored by boys — don’t make a child violent. Constance Katz, co-founder of the child and adolescent psychotherapy training program at the William Alanson White Institute of Psychiatry, Psychoanalysis & Psychology in New York, notes: “Playing with a toy gun is not necessarily a worrisome sign. The focus should not be on playing with guns, it should be on the total emotional life of the child.”

If a child plays only with toy guns, or “becomes obsessed with gun play,” or “shows signs of alienation, withdrawal, depression or a loss of control over aggression,” then there is reason for concern, Katz tells Today. “Those are the real risk factors,” Katz adds.

Daniel Stauber, who specializes in treating children and adolescents at Community Psychological Consultants in Indianapolis, IN, agrees.

“There is nothing inherently good or bad about kids playing with toy guns,” Stauber tells USA Today.

“It all depends on the child.”

“Guns aren’t the problem, people are,” said mom Anne Lewis, who has 10 children with her husband, Jon. “If you teach your children a respect for life and others, then guns are only toys to kids at this age.”

Lewis admits that her 3-year-old twin boys shoot Lego guns they construct themselves. The couple also takes their 9- and 10-year-old sons to shoot paintball guns.

“But our sons will come running at the drop of a hat if they see a friend hurt or in pain,” said Lewis. The mother adds that she “strives to instill Christian values” in all her children. “It’s not a gun that objectifies a human life. It’s the person whose needs come in front of the life and needs of others.”

What do you think about kids playing with guns?

Are Toy Guns Bad? After Newtown, Parents Are Still Split On Toy Gun Control is a post from: The Inquisitr

Need some help teaching your children how to brush their teeth? A Japanese company is using characters from a popular anime to show kids the proper way to maintain a healthy smile.

According to Kotaku, popular characters among Japanese children have recently been outfitted with a set of chompers in order to teach kids the ways of proper oral hygiene. While the dolls are likely to assist parents in their endeavors, they are a little unsettling to look at head-on.

Doraemon and Dorami, two characters who are reportedly adored by Japanese youngsters, are now available with brushable teeth. If children weren’t terrified of the plush dolls beforehand, then there’s a slight chance they could walk away from the experience with plenty of unpleasant mental scars.

DannyChoo explains Japanese children are occasionally freaked out by brushing their teeth. In order to calm their fears, companies often insert teeth into the mouths of otherwise adorable plush toys.

Another like-minded aid resembles a puppet sporting one seriously demented smile. Even creepier is that the doll’s gaping maw is stuffed with a complete set of teeth.

“The teeth are inside this smiling head so that the kids don’t need to be scared while listening to how to brush their teeth,” the product’s tagline reads.

While there are a number of visual aids and books available to help children master the art at an early age, some kids may benefit from having something more hands-on to work with before tackling the technique themselves.

Some kids and adults suffer from an unusual phobia called Odontarrupophobia, which is defined as a fear of brushing one’s teeth. The term is also used to describe the fear of toothbrushes.

A handful of images featuring weird blush dolls and their unsettling teeth have been included below.

Do you think these toys help teach children how to brush their teeth?

Weird Plush Dolls Teach Japanese Children How To Brush Their Teeth [Photo] is a post from: The Inquisitr

After the tragic shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Connecticut, many parents are probably wondering what they say to their own children to help them understand.

The Portsmouth Patch reports that Lauren Hutchinson, a child and family therapist and parenting consultant, says that the first is to “turn off the TV”.

Hutchinson said:

“We don’t want to have the TV playing in the background all the time. It isn’t helpful and the news is traumatizing for kids to watch.”

She said, for children ages 7 and younger, “you want to shield them from the media coverage completely and parents should not initiate a conversation about the event because kids this age cannot make sense of what has happened.”

“Kids don’t need to know the specific details of the event, like that the shooter was dressed all in black, they hold tight to those kinds of negative images,” she added.

For children ages 7 to 12, she said:

You might provide them with basic information and reassure them. The most important thing for kids this age is to know that they are safe. Talk about how parents and school teachers and staff work hard to protect kids and do tell them that the police ‘got the bad guy’”

Hutchinson said that parents should be open and that they need to “read the child’s cues and let them bring up what he or she wants to talk about.”

Hutchinson, who is a mother of two herself, said that she would talk in a different way to each of them because of their ages. She said:

“My 7th grader will have access to friends with smart phones and may have already heard about the event. With him I’m going to answer questions, not rehash the event, and respond to specific questions and concerns he has. With adolescents, there is an opportunity to talk in greater depth and have an actual conversation about what happened, what might make someone do something like this, etc. With my ten-year-old, I will tell him what happened in brief, non-descriptive language. ‘Something really terrible happened at a school in Connecticut today.  A gunman shot some students and adults.  Many families and the community are heartbroken over the senselessness of this act.’ Then I am going to hone in on him and his response.  This may be enough information for him; other kids may seek greater detail.  Either is okay.  Be honest and direct without too many details.”

Hutchinson also said that it is important for parents to “not invalidate feelings and remember kids will take their cue from your responses. While we may be feeling weepy or mesmerized by the TV coverage, we need to remember our kids are watching us.”

According to Hutchinson, one of the most helpful things a parent can do during this time is “take action.” She said, “They need a meaningful way to express their emotions and process what happened.”

These actions could be as simple as a candle lit ceremony, praying together, or just sitting down and talking with them about it.

“Rituals are important, especially during times like these, for comfort and healing,” Hutchinson added.

How To Talk To Your Children About The Connecticut Shooting is a post from: The Inquisitr