I can’t imagine losing our stroller. I can’t remember how I used to carry everthing around before I had one. I admit to being slightly apprehensive about how I will cope once our kids completely grow out of the stroller. (Will I really have to carry bags of groceries?)
And yet according to the Vancouver 2010 Lost and Found center a few people out there are missing their strollers. Not surprisingly there are thousands of lonely mittens in the lost and found warehouse as well as more valuable items such as cameras and jewellery. So what happens to it all once the fun and games are over?
Any unclaimed items left over by the time the March Para-Olympics is finished will be donated to the Network of Inner City Community Services (NICCS) a coalition of community groups serving children and families in Vancouver. Some items, I’m guessing the strollers will come in handy here, will be donated directly to families in need. Remaining items will be sold, along with other equipment donated by the olympic committee such as furniture from the olympic village, to raise money for early childhood programs in the inner city. Seems like a good plan to me!
How would you cope without your stroller?
I am certainly no literacy expert. But I loved stories when I was little and I love reading to my babies. I’ve read to them both since the day they were born, everyday and usually several times a day.
I am certain that when we read together there is far more going on than the simple decoding of text. I point to words and pictures as I read, I help them to make connections with what is on the page and other experiences in their lives, both real and fictional. But the alchemy is greater than that even, we feel safe and happy together snuggled on the couch, we are sharing our experiences and we are enjoying belonging to the common culture of our family and the wider community.
Both my children love been read to and are clearly very positive about books. Holly is beginning to recognize her first words by sight and I feel confident that she will be ready for school. I don’t feel the need to do any more than I already do. We mostly just have fun.
It was with some interest that I stumbled upon this article from My Suncoast, which featured a mother and child who are using a reading product called ‘Your Baby Can Read’ involving watching a DVD and then doing follow up ‘work’ with books and cards. The child at fourteen months can recognize and read some words already. ( My Will is just about saying some words.) Wow! This mom puts in a lot of time and effort and is clearly devoted to helping her little one develop.
Is there a ‘but’ coming? To be honest I don’t know, reading it made me feel that just maybe something is missing, the alchemy that is so much more than words on paper. Childcare expert Dr Graves had this to say, ‘If they are pushed too early, they might not get all those connections made. They may not get the understanding or the deep knowledge of a task like reading, and reading is complex.” I guess complex is the technical term for alchemy!
What are your views on this?
Eating a variety of fruit and vegetables whilst pregnant could lower the risk of your baby suffering from allergies.
According to the latest research in Japan increasing your intake of fruit and vegetables high in beta-carotene (generally those that are orange and red fleshed) as well as green and yellow vegetables during pregnancy may lessen the risk of a baby developing eczema.
Dr. Yoshihiro Miyake from Fukuoka University in Japan and his colleagues also found that foods high in Vitamin E may also decrease the risk of having a wheezy infant.
The study, published in the journal Allergy, followed no less than 763 women through their pregnancies and into the first year of their infants’ lives. The researchers evaluated food intakes during pregnancy and infant health during the first year.
Miyake’s finding support previous studies carried out in both the US and the UK. So for healthy, peachy babies get stuck into a peach. (And some spinach, citrus, carrots, pumpkin – ok, you get the picture!)
What do you do when your baby or toddler takes a nap? Sometimes I use it as an opportunity to do something special with my older child, say like baking cookies. I might try and clean out the car, sweep and wash floors or get some of the prep done for an evening meal. I might possibly even take a break myself.
While naps are handy for adults to get some hassle-free chores done they are also a powerful aid to your baby’s learning. According to Lynn Nadel, professor of psychology at the University of Arizona, nap time is when babies transform specific learning experiences into general abstract principles. In other words it means they can apply what they have learnt in one situation to new experiences.
Nadel presented her research, which centred around 48 babies, this weekend to the annual meeting of the American Association for the Advancement of Science held in San Diego. However, she said that parents shouldn’t worry if occasional naps are missed as learning opportunities for babies are constant. The research was originally published in the Novemeber issue of Developmental Psychology.
So, what do you do while your baby is improving her brain? I love to hear from you!
(Source: Arizona Star)
New research has linked gum disease during pregnancy with still births. The research carried out by Yiping Han of the Department of Periodontics at the Case Western School of Dental Medicine, was featured in the February issue of Obstetrics and Gynecology.
Han’s research is certainly gaining attention. She has been called by women who for many years have been trying to understand why their children were stillborn. She said that some now recall bad episodes of pregnancy related gum disease. It is estimated that about three quarters of women during pregnancy experience some gum bleeding due to hormonal changes. In most cases extra care with brushing and flossing and the mother’s immune defences should prevent the spread of bacteria through the bloodstream. However it is possible infections compromising immune function could cause complications.
The research was carried out using mice. It showed that oral bacteria from pregnant mice could spread from the blood through to the placenta causing premature births and still births.
The research in still in the process of being peer-reviewed, nevertheless, good oral hygiene should form part of every pregnant woman’s prenatal care.
(Source: Las Vegas Review Journal)
Inez Tenenbaum, the new chair of the Consumer Product Safety Commission will leave no stone unturned in her quest for a safer America, I think she really is dynamite.
Tenenbaum has made it abundantly clear that manufacturers of faulty children and baby products will have no where to hide. She may be small, she may have genteel Southern manners but the former SC schools chief is a fierce defender of family’s rights. She has been quoted as saying, ‘We are a new commission that has new powers – and we are not afraid to use them.’ She takes a dim view of the press and manufacturers when they blame parents for misuse of products, especially when the products have involved infant mortalities.
Tenenbaum is now overseeing the largest crib recall in U.S. history – over 2 million drop-side baby beds made by Canada-based Stork Craft will either be returned or repaired. She is bringing new life to the somewhat drained federal consumer agency which suffered many cuts under the Bush Administration. Nancy Cowles the director of consumer advocacy agency Kids in Danger is delighted with the new chairman of the commission.
What else has she been up to in her first eight months on the job? She has made two visits to China to negotiate with officials over defective drywall and toys containing lead. She has overseen the opening of a new office for her agency in Beijing, the first overseas bureau of its kind. She has brought forward by 18 months the implementation of new crib safety standards. Tenenbaum is not afraid to be where it’s at, she visited homes across the nation where occupants’ health was compromised by defective drywall and has spearheaded investigations involving the EPA and the Centers for Disease Control. She has been paving the way for a new $7m test-lab which should give the commission greater independence in assessing product safety. She has imposed not insignificant fines upon Fisher-Price, Mattel, RC2, Target and other companies involved in the lead-toy recalls.
Now she is turning her attention to the first federal online database of recalls, defective goods and consumer complaints - www.saferproducts.gov should be live in March 2011. In addition to this she embarked upon a social media campaign utilizing Twitter and Facebook to disseminate consumer safety information.
Inez Tenenbaum was sworn into office on June 23 2009, after her nomination by the president to serve as the ninth Chairman of the US Consumer Product Safety Commission. Her term will expire in 2013, who knows what she will have achieved by then?
(Source: Charlotte Observer)
