Babies

Read to Your Baby – The Importance of Books, Audiobooks, and the Spoken Word

Guest Post by Shellie Braeuner of Kids Audiobook Reviews

Read and speak aloud – Your baby is listening.

Newborn babies have been listening to the sound of human voices from the time they are in the womb and prefer that sound to any other. (In fact, newborn babies automatically recognize the sound of their mother’s voice minutes after birth, and they can distinguish it from other voices around them.)

There is an important developmental reason for why babies enjoy the sound of human voices – they need to listen to hundreds of thousands of words before they are able to utter even one.

Talking to your baby is vital. Eye contact while holding and talking to a newborn helps them bond and learn the importance of language between people. [Read more…] about Read to Your Baby – The Importance of Books, Audiobooks, and the Spoken Word

Childhood Cancer Survivors Benefit from Breastfeeding their Kids

by DP Nguyen 17 Comments

Breastfeeding isn’t just great for baby. For childhood cancer survivors who grow up and become mothers, they can also benefit from breastfeeding, according to new research from St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital.

Thanks to the amazing advances in early detection and cancer treatment, children who are diagnosed with cancer have a 5-year survival rate of nearly 80 percent. (The National Cancer Institute reports that survival rate of childhood cancer has increased from only 58.1 percent in 1975-77 to the 79.6 percent today due to the significant advances in treatment.)

Unfortunately, childhood cancer survivors end up facing a price for their medical treatment. They are at higher risk for heart disease, obesity, and weak bones. For female childhood cancer survivors, breastfeeding may alleviate some of this risk. [Read more…] about Childhood Cancer Survivors Benefit from Breastfeeding their Kids

OMG! Baby Swinging Yoga Video is Real

by DP Nguyen 7 Comments

Holy moly! Do you remember the baby swinging yoga video I posted about two weeks ago? “Baby Yoga with Lena Fokina,” which showed a woman tossing and swinging a little naked baby around, had been circulating on the net. No one knew whether it was a big hoax or if it was for real.

It was too graphic to believe. The extreme acrobatics of those babies seemed impossible. There’s no way that a baby is that flexible, and the woman held the infant by her ankles and arms. There was no way it was real – but sadly it is.

The baby swinging yoga video is REAL!

Infant Botulism – Why Babies Can’t Eat Honey

by DP Nguyen 11 Comments

You’ve probably heard that feeding an infant honey is a no-no. Have you ever wondered why it’s not safe to feed babies honey? The reason is infant botulism – a rare but serious illness that may cause constipation, weakness and loss of muscle tone, a weak cry, weak suckling, and respiratory distress. In rare cases, babies with botulism can suffer from paralysis and even death.

Infant botulism is no laughing matter, and it’s caused by spores of the bacterium Clostridium botulinum. Botulism spores are found in honey products, soil, untreated water, and on the unwashed surfaces of fruits and veggies that are unpeeled. Unfortunately, these spores are hard to kill, because they are resistant to heat and some spores can survive boiling. [Read more…] about Infant Botulism – Why Babies Can’t Eat Honey

Baby-Swinging Yoga Video: Real or Fake?

by DP Nguyen 3 Comments

I am disturbed on many, many levels. There’s a bizarre YouTube video that’s been getting a lot of attention today. “Baby Yoga with Lena Fokina” shows a woman casually swinging and tossing a baby around, holding the infant by its arms and ankles.

Here’s a screenshot from the YouTube Video:

The real video is truly disturbing…

Who’s Your Daddy? Twins in Poland Have Two Different Fathers

by DP Nguyen 8 Comments

A word to the wise – don’t have sex with more than one guy when you’re ovulating. You could end up with twins; each with a different daddy.

That’s what happened to one woman in north Poland. She was having sex with her husband, and having an extramarital affair on the side. She ended up giving birth to fraternal twins – a little boy and a little girl. After paternity tests were performed, it was discovered that the baby boy was fathered by her husband, and the baby girl was her lover’s child. [Read more…] about Who’s Your Daddy? Twins in Poland Have Two Different Fathers