Rub Some Dirt On It

The hygiene hypothesis usually refers to respiratory illnesses such as asthma, but the BBC reports on new evidence that indicates when kids play outside and get dirt in their scrapes and wounds they are introduced to bacteria that prevents unnecessary swelling.

See: Dirt can be good for children, say scientists: Children should be allowed to get dirty, according to scientists who have found being too clean can impair the skin's ability to heal.

A Photo Gallery Of Baby Poop

This is exactly what is sounds like because sometimes you need a visual.

At Babycenter.com: What should baby poop look like?

[Via BB]

Some Antibiotics During Pregnancy Are Okay

Others are not.

See NPR: Study Clears Most Antibiotic Use In Pregnant Women

A study this month from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention finds that most common antibiotics — penicillins — appear to be safe. But the study raises a red flag with two types of antibiotics, sulfa drugs (brand names include Bactrim and Thiosulfil Forte) and urinary germicides (brand names Macrobid and Furadantin). These medications are typically used to treat urinary tract infections.

Morning Sickness Is Not All Bad

Via ScientificAmerican: A new study shows a correlation between nausea and vomiting during pregnancy and the long-term neurocognitive development of those kids.

According to one hypothesis, vomiting reduces caloric intake, decreasing insulin secretion. Low insulin, in turn, boosts levels of other hormones that are known to play a role in the de­velopment of a healthy placenta and a healthy blood supply to growing brains.

Toddler Days At Dennos

Via MyNorth: Toddler Program at Dennos Museum in Travese City

Stories, Scribbles and Wiggles Toddler Program

Thursday, October 29, 2009, 11:00 am – 12:00 pm, Woodland Indian Baskets and Myths
Thursday, November 19, 2009, 11:00 am – 12:00 pm, All that Glitters is Gold
Thursday, December 10, 2009, 11:00 am – 12:00 pm, Polar Bears and Narwhals

This is a good start. I only hope Dennos Museum expands the offerings to more days in 2010.

Don't Necessarily Blame Sugar

From Yahoo!Green: Food coloring can cause hyperactivity in kids

Read packages and look for questionable food dyes
Here are the specific dyes called out by the FSA and/or CSPI:

* Yellow 5, Yellow 6, Red 40 (both groups)
* Yellow 10, Carmoisine, Red 4 (FSA)
* Blue 1, Blue 2 Green 3, Orange B, Red 3 (CSPI)

Recent Studies About Television Viewing

Background TV found to have negative effect on parent-child interactions

When the TV was on, the researchers found, both the quantity and the quality of interactions between parents and children dropped. Specifically, parents spent about 20 percent less time talking to their children and the quality of the interactions declined, with parents less active, attentive, and responsive to their youngsters.

Children under 3 can't learn action words from TV - unless an adult helps

Without adult support, children under age 3 could not learn the words directly from the program, nor could they understand them when they appeared in a different context within the video.

DHA Enhanced Infant Formula Research

A new study indicates that if you have to bottle feed a baby it may be wise to use formula that has had DHA added.

See PhysOrg: Supplementing babies' formula with DHA boosts cognitive development

When Reverse Psychology Works

If, as a parent, you have hit a wall in trying to change a child's behavior, there is observational research that indicates showing disinterest in if the child does or does not do what the parent requests can be effective in producing the desired result.

See Slate: Plan B: What to do when all else has failed to change your kid's behavior

...back off almost entirely: to stop asking their child to do the desired behavior and say it's OK not to do it at all, stop offering praise or other rewards for doing it, and mask their attitude of engaged enthusiasm or frustrated rage with an appearance of bland disinterest in whether the child does it or not. What happens next, frequently, is that within a day or two the child starts doing the behavior with no prompting from parents or anyone else. If you try something similar with your own recalcitrant child, within a few days he or she may well be using the toilet, eating green beans, or bathing without dire struggles.

Security Software Spying On Your Kids

Maybe these companies are looking for help in building Funzo?

From the AP wire: Web-monitoring software gathers data on kid chats

Software sold under the Sentry and FamilySafe brands can read private chats conducted through Yahoo, MSN, AOL and other services, and send back data on what kids are saying about such things as movies, music or video games. The information is then offered to businesses seeking ways to tailor their marketing messages to kids.

Making A Base

As mentioned before on this site: Kids Need Domestic Stability

New research reinforces the idea that what kids need to thrive is a stable base to grow upon: Family stability may be more crucial than two parents for child success

The advantage that children get from living in two-parent families may actually be due to family stability more than the fact that their parents are married. A new study finds that children who who are born and grow up in stable single-parent homes generally do as well as those in married households in terms of academic abilities and behavior problems.

Chamomile Tea Can Soothe Colic

It's a fact according to the NYT: Chamomile Can Soothe a Colicky Baby

Wish I would have known about this earlier.

Smart Is As Smart Does

Via PhysOrg: Educate yourself to boost achievement in kids

"If you want your kids to do well in school, then the amount of education you get yourself is important," said Pamela Davis-Kean, a psychologist at the U-M Institute for Social Research (ISR). "This may mean that parents need to go back to school.

"A growing number of large-scale, long-term studies now show that increasing parental education beyond high school is strongly linked to increasing language ability in children. Even after controlling for parental income, marital status and a host of other factors, we find that the impact of parental education remains significant."

H1N1 Flu Shots

PhysOrg on making pregnant women a flu shot priority. See: Pregnancy likely to be swine flu shot priority

Pregnant women account for 6 percent of U.S. swine flu deaths since the pandemic began in April, even though they make up just 1 percent of the U.S. population.
On Wednesday a federal vaccine advisory panel is meeting to take up the question of who should be first to get swine flu shots when there aren't enough for everyone. At the top of the list are health care workers, who would be crucial to society during a bad pandemic.
But pregnant women may be near the top of the list because they have suffered and died from swine flu at disproportionately high rates.

It Takes Genes And An Environment

It is time to end the nurture vs nature debate. We are all products of the interaction of our genes and the environment around us.

See PhysOrg: Nature? Nurture? Scientists say neither

Babies And Dogs

I read a story at PhysOrg that was presented as demonstrating the ability of babies to pick up on behavioral cues.

See: Babies understand dogs

Infants just 6 months old can match the sounds of an angry snarl and a friendly yap to photos of dogs displaying threatening and welcoming body language.

But my takeaway of this research is that it is an example of the long history of the relationship of humans and dogs and perhaps represents co-evolution as in early tribes those infants best able to discern a friendly dog from a threatening canine would be the most likely to survive.

A Reason For Fathers

In their parenting roles, fathers (very generally speaking) are engaged in more physical play with their kids than mothers. It seems there may be a biochemical reason for this. This early physical contact may stimulate the brain of young children to be more receptive to the neurotransmitter chemicals that make people social creatures.

At least that is my intuitive leap based on this story at NewSci: Fathers aren't dispensable just yet

Recent Studies Regarding Children

PhysOrg: Being active as a preschooler pays off later in childhood

Being active at age 5 helps kids stay lean as they age even if they don't remain as active later in childhood, a new University of Iowa study shows.

NewSci: Why children paint trees blue

...children may colour trees blue or grass red because their memories can't "bind" together the colour and shape of an object.

ADHD Kids And The Speed Of Light

Einstein's theory of relativity suggests that as one approaches the speed of light time will slow down.

Boys who appear to have ADHD may actually have a similar issue in that they do not perceive time correctly.

See NewSci: Time moves too slowly for hyperactive boys

Sunscreen Safety

I'll admit to being a sunscreen skeptic. The reasons for this are that I turn tan relatively easily, some studies show the benefits of Vitamin D outweigh the risks of sun exposure, and there have been no studies showing the effects of putting all these chemicals on the body's largest organ (especially for small children who have a larger surface are to mass ratio than adults).

I have changed my mind after talking to someone who lost a 39 year old friend due to melanoma. The doctor told her it was due to sun exposure before she was 10. And now there is a report that has looked at sun screen safety. See: Healthiest sunscreens

There isn't one Coppertone product on EWG's list of recommended sunscreens and only two of the 50 Banana Boat and Neutrogena products tested met its criteria. One downside is that all of the products on EWG's list are pricier than your average sunscreen, some slightly more so and others are significantly more expensive.

Here are the most affordable sunscreens on EWG's recommended products list (calculated based on price per ounce):

Badger Balm, SPF 30
Caribbean Solutions Sol Kid Care, 25 SPF
Mexitan Sunscreen Lotion, SPF 50 or SPF 30
Tropical Sands, SPF 50 or SPF 30
Solbar Shield Sunscreen, SPF 40
Vanicream Sunscreen Sensitive Skin, SPF 60 or SPF 35 version
Goddess Garden Kids Natural Sunscreen, SPF 30
Solbar Zinc, SPF 38
Jason Natural Cosmetics, Mineral Based Sunblock, SPF 30