All of us who are parents know that our children can really push us to the limit sometimes – usually when we’re at our weakest and lowest points in our own lives. But shaken baby syndrome is something that can be prevented – and we, as a society, need to find ways to do that. We need to find ways to reach the parents who may be most likely to do this and to show them there are other ways.

The National Center on Shaken Baby Syndrome in Ogden, Utah, has developed the Period of PURPLE Crying program, an 11-page booklet and DVD. This program was developed to help parents learn about child behavior and how to cope.

A Canadian study looked at 1,279 mothers in Vancouver, BC who had given birth within the previous two weeks. During routine public health nurse visits, half the group was given material from the Period of PURPLE Crying program, the other half received the standard parent safety tips and guidelines regarding safe sleeping positions.

The results of the study were published in the most recent issue of the Canadian Medical Association Journal. The results showed that "Mothers who received the PURPLE materials scored 5% higher in knowledge about crying compared with mothers who received the control materials. The PURPLE recipients walked away 1.7 times more frequently from inconsolable infant crying. They were 13% more likely to warn about the danger of shaking infants and to share advice about walking away if frustrated."

To read more about the study, either click on the link above for the full study or on this press release link: Educational materials for new mothers may prevent shaken baby syndrome, CMAJ study shows.

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Image: iStock

Tags: pregnancy blog, shaken baby syndrome, preventing shaken baby syndrome

Post from: Blisstree

Helping prevent shaken baby syndrome

According to this press release from the American Academy of Neurology, "Women who have multiple sclerosis may reduce their risk of relapses after pregnancy if they breastfeed their babies, according to a study released today."

What’s particularly interesting about this study is that that more women with MS chose not to breastfeed because they wanted to begin taking their MS medications again after giving birth. Yet it is precisely that group of women who ended up relapsing more quickly.

To read the article, go to Can Breastfeeding Reduce Multiple Sclerosis Relapses?

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Image: Newscom

Tags: pregnancy blog, breastfeeding, multiple sclerosis and breastfeeding

Post from: Blisstree

Breastfeeding delaying MS relapses?

I was very lucky. I had these concerns too. I worried about my oldest son, who was 22 months when his sister was born, would feel pushed aside and unloved. I prepared him as best I could by reading sibling books, talking to him and just loving him as I did. I needn’t have worried. My daughter’s introduction into the family was seamless. My son accepted her and loved her and the sibling rivalry only began later on when they could start irritating the you-know-what out of each other.

Then, I became pregnant a third time. I, again, worried about how it would work. Again, I needn’t have worried. It all came together so easily. I was so lucky, so blessed. Of course, as with the first two, sibling rivalry did kick in big time at some point, but the infant introduction was very easy in our family.

Last month, Jennifer Shakeel, who blogs at More4Kids, wrote about helping older siblings adjust. Her post, Helping Older Siblings Adjust to the New Arrival, has some good advice in it. If you have any concerns about bringing baby home to older siblings, you may want to go read it.

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Tags: sibling rivalry, older siblings, pregnancy blog

Post from: Blisstree

Adding on to the family when you already have a child (or more)

These gates were only sold in Canada and may pose a hazard if they’re used at the top of a staircase.

You can read more about the recall in this article, Dorel baby gates being recalled in Canada

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Tags: pregnancy blog, baby gate recall, dorel baby gates

Post from: Blisstree

Dorel baby gates recalled in Canada

According to a study that was recently published in the Archives of General Psychiatry, 16 women out of 100 in the study developed postpartum depression. The researchers found that if they’d been looking for it before delivery, they’d have been able to identify about 75% of the women by a hormone they were releasing, corticotropin-releasing hormone. These women had higher level of a hormone that is produced by the placenta than did the women who didn’t have PPD symptoms.

It’s a small study, but it’s a start.

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Image: iStock

Tags: pregnancy blog, pregnancy hormone, postpartum depression, PPD, corticotropin-releasing hormone, baby blues

Post from: Blisstree

Pregnancy hormone may help identify moms at risk for PPD

One of the most obvious potential dangers is the electrical outlet. Go into just about any store, from the dollar store to the more upmarket ones, and you can buy outlet plugs. You can buy plain ordinary plastic ones that just go into the socket (we had those) or fancier ones. The whole idea is to keep it so baby couldn’t pry off the cover and try to discover the joys of electricity.

In Canada, a new Canadian Electrical Code has come into being and the code now requires that new homes have tamper-resistant sockets. The built-in shutter system won’t all for one thing to be inserted into one slot. You must be using a plug and both prongs will press against the socket and will be allowed in.

Of course, older children, who know they shouldn’t play with sockets could figure it out and place two objects in at the same time, but to be that coordinated would take some doing.

If you have an older home, you may buy the sockets to apply yourself, but the don’t come cheap, apparently.

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Tags: pregnancy blog, babyproofing

Post from: Blisstree

If you’re babyproofing, you may be interested in this news

The cribs, made by Stork Craft Manufacturing Inc., were sold between May 2000 and January 2009 at major retailers such as J.C. Penney, Kmart and Wal-Mart.

There is a chance that one of the brackets that support the mattress can crack and break, causing the mattress to drop, making it dangerous if the baby is in the crib at the time.

According to a company press release,

Out of approximately 4 million brackets in the field the CPSC is aware of 10 incidents of cracked or broken brackets (one similar incident reported to Health Canada). The consensus of the experts and Stork Craft is that if the brackets are subject to extraordinary stress during inappropriate assembly, such as bending brackets back and forth, metal fatigue can occur and weaken the brackets. The experts conducted additional testing whereupon they deliberately did not follow the assembly instructions, abused the brackets by bending them back and forth under significant pressure then tested the crib
brackets to ASTM standards. The crib (brackets) still passed, in fact to 4 times the ASTM standards.

Even though the cribs meet or exceed the ASTM standards Stork Craft has
made a design change (December 2008) to heavier brackets to make the product
the best it can be. Replacement bracket kits have been made available to consumers at no
charge.

To find out if your crib is affected and how to get a replacement part if it is, you can contact Stork Craft at 1-866-361-3321 or visit their website at www.storkcraft.com.

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Tags: pregnancy blog, crib recall, storkcraft cribs, storkcraft crib recall

Post from: Blisstree

Storkcraft crib voluntary recall

In my opinion, you really shouldn’t over buy when you’re expecting a child. Some children grow too quickly and others are too big already for the newborn things. My oldest son was well over 9 lbs and any newborn clothes were outgrown with days, not even weeks. He almost went straight into size 3 months.

To counter the issue of how fast a child may grow, some people buy bigger sizes to anticipate when the clothing will be worn. That backfired with my second one, my daughter. She was born in February, two weeks early and just shy of 8 pounds. A friend of mine gave me a bag full of beautiful and really cute sun dresses, sized 9 to 12 months. The problem was, she didn’t grow as quickly as my oldest son did and by the time she fit those pretty dresses, it was winter. I remember feeling so badly about her not being able to wear them.

So, what should you buy?

The basics:

• You’ll need diapers. If you are going to use disposables, get only one package of newborn size until you know how large your baby will be. If you’re using cloth, don’t go overboard on the tiny sizes. Often the next largest size can be made to fit a newborn.
• Linen: You will need sheets for your crib and those you can rarely have too many of but not all sheets are made the same. Perhaps buy a few to see if you like the fabric and the brand before you buy more. You don’t need blankets or anything to cover the baby in the first year of life. No pillows either.
• Clothing: T-shirts, all-in-ones, sleepers, you’ll need a few, but again, be careful of how many you buy in the smaller sizes.
• Socks.
• Wash cloths and hooded towels.
• Burp cloths for over your shoulder.
• Breast pump: If you’re breast feeding, you will likely need a breast pump.
• Nursing bras and breast pads: If you’re breast feeding, you may leak milk and the best protection are breast pads, either disposable or fabric, reusable ones.
• Bottles, if you’re bottle feeding or if you think you’ll be supplementing.
• Thermometer – either rectal or an ear thermometer.
• Baby bath.
• Diaper pail.
• Bulb syringe to help suction your baby’s nose if he or she catches a cold.

What will you need in the hospital?

• Diapers
• Undershirt
• Outfit
• Receiving blanket or something warmer if you’re in a cold climate
• Socks
• Car seat

Do you have anything to add?

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Tags: pregnancy blog, bringing baby home

Post from: Blisstree

The baby list

Feel like watching a cute video? Makes me smile.

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Tags: pregnancy blog, babies, babies video

Post from: Blisstree

“Charlie bit me”

While it’s not a scientific poll, over at aolHealth, they have an on-going survey of dads and sex. One of the questions is if they see their wife as sexy after they gave birth. According to the current results, 51% of dads are as attracted to their wife after their baby was born as before, 31% were *more* attracted to their wife, and only 18% were less attracted.

So ladies, if you’re worried, maybe you shouldn’t be.

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Image: iStock

Tags: pregnancy blog, sex after pregnancy, sexuality

Post from: Blisstree

Are you worried about post-baby sexuality?