We've moved!

Please visit us at our new web site, where you can search for articles to hundreds of pregnancy topics, ask questions about your pregnancy, baby or toddler, or visit us on Facebook and we'll post an answer for you! Our new book is out, too, and you can order it here. Thanks for visiting!

Diet Sodas: The Bad News

I admit it, I drank Coke Zero throughout my pregnancy, and I still drink way too much of it. But here's some motivation to switch to club soda:

"

Despite safety assurances from the FDA, the sweeteners found in diet sodas have been blamed for a wide variety of health concerns ranging from headaches, allergies and digestive problems to cancer and neurological disorders. A large, national study completed in 2007 showed that people who drank one or more servings of diet soda daily had raised blood glucose levels and a 67% greater chance of developing diabetes than those who did not drink them. A study presented in 2008 found an association between drinking diet soda and impaired kidney function. Of the 3,000 in the study, including 730 with diabetes, those who drank at least 2 diet sodas a day experienced twice the rate of kidney damage. Two recent, large studies have shown that drinking more or more diet sodas daily was associated with a 35% greater risk of developing metabolic syndrome -- the combination of high blood pressure, abnormal blood lipid (cholesterol and triglyceride) levels, insulin resistance and excess abdominal fat.

Reported by Mary Franz, MS, RD, LD, research dietician, the Department of Nutrition, Harvard University, in "Diet Soft Drinks, How Safe are They?" Diabetes Self-Management, March/April, 2010, p. 8-13.

All About Baby Movement

We get lots of questions from moms on HappyHealthyPregnancy.com about when they can expect to feel their babies' movement the first time. It's usually around the 20th week of pregnancy, although experienced moms usually detect it sooner. Heavyweight moms and those whose babies have implanted themselves on the front of their uterus (uteri?) may take longer to feel their babies' kicks, since the motions have to be sensed through both the uterus lining and the abdominal wall. The word "kicking" is actually a misnomer. Babies are very active during pregnancy, and what moms are actually detecting are flails, wiggles, twitches, arches and thrashes -- spontaneous movements -- since the baby is living in such tight quarters that he can't fully stretch out his legs. Baby "body torque" actually starts as early as 6 weeks of pregnancy the instant they get their primitive muscles and wiring. After that, they spend a huge amount of time moving. Once their fingers are fully formed, they make fists, and even suck their thumbs! About 2/3rds of baby hand movements before birth are directed toward their mothers' bodies, their umbilical cords, feeling the uterine wall, and their own faces and bodies. No wonder being swaddled after birth is calming and reminds them of being back "home"!

More on the Breastfeeding Controversy

So there's now more evidence that breastfeeding isn't, as the headline says, "as beneficial as once thought." It's starting to sound like the benefits of breastfeeding may have more to do with hormonal factors than with the milk itself.
Makes me wonder if the reported reduction in breast and uterine cancers associated with breastfeeding is also related to something else, like lifestyle or hormones.

Spanking is good for kids?

... you might be lead to believe that, should you have caught this story in an Australian newspaper (who knew the Aussies were such big smackers?).

I was called by the Ed Norris show to comment on this story, and when I began to look into the facts it turns out that the reporter, Cheryl Critchley, completely misrepresented what the study said. "Reports" the Herald Tribune,

The Christian Calvin College in Michigan quizzed 2600 teens and found the 75 per cent who were smacked at ages 2-6 performed better on measures such as academic and volunteer work, college aspirations, hope and confidence than those who weren't.

In reality, everything in the above paragraph is false, other than the college being in Michigan. The study was of 187 teens, not 2600. The kids were not "quizzed" but self-reported on seven questions, including if they had ever "attacked anyone," been "depressed" and if they felt they had a "close relationship with God." Teens who had been hit did not perform "better," in truth there was no significant difference in how they responded. Below is the PowerPoint that the researcher, Marji Gunnoe, sent me.


For the record, numerous studies have found associations between negative consequences and hitting kids, from lowered IQ's to higher rates of criminal behavior and sexual deviance. But note than an association is not the same as cause-and-effect, which is pretty much impossible to establish if you're using real humans as subjects.
The bottom line (har!) if you're looking for scientific support for the benefits of spanking: it doesn't exist. But if you're looking for evidence that certain people are trying to turn spanking into a political issue, there's ample evidence for that!

Breastfeeding over-rated?

"The Case Against Breastfeeding" from The Atlantic is a lot of food for thought (har!). I do think that the pros of breastfeeding have been overstated, especially by interest groups like La Leche League, and though the research I've read about childhood obesity and breastfeeding has all sounded pretty conclusive, it is hard to create a perfect study when you're using real-life human infants as subjects. In America, formula-feeding, poverty and education are all so closely correlated, it's nearly impossible to isolate the effects of each.

Q of the Day: 5-month-old refuses bottle

My baby doesn't like the bottle. I want to pump and give her the bottle since she is 5 months old and teething right now. Do you have any suggestions?

If you’ve been exclusively breastfeeding for the first five months, it might take your daughter a few days to get the hang of the whole bottle thing, because babies need to use different mouth motions to get milk from a bottle. Here are some tips: first, plan to introduce the bottle a little bit earlier than your baby’s usual feeding time, so she’s hungry but not so ravenous that she’ll get frustrated and frantic if she can’t get the hang of the bottle right away. Then, have someone else offer her the bottle for the first few feedings, preferably when you’re out of the house. Babies can smell mom’s milk from 20 feet away, and that can distract and confuse them. So hand your baby and a bottle of pumped milk to your partner or a sitter, and run an errand or take a walk! If your baby still rejects the bottle after a few tries, try experimenting with different nipple styles and shapes—your baby may prefer latex over silicone, or have an easier time with an orthodontic shape.

It's True-- Pregnancy Changes Taste!

Pregnancy really does make women more sensitive to certain flavors and odors. One really interesting study asked a group of women-- some not pregnant and others in different stages of pregnancy-- to rate the intensity and their preferences of salty, sweet, citric and bitter flavors. While the women who weren’t pregnant varied a lot in how intense they thought the various flavors were and how much they liked them, pregnant women in the first trimester were united in ranking the bitter and salty flavors as more intense and less appealing. And, the farther along the pregnant women were, the more they liked the salty and citric flavors, and the less intense they found the bitter flavor.

Researchers theorized that pickiness peaks in the first trimester to help protect the fetus from poisons at the most sensitive stage of development, then preferences change to encourage a balanced diet closer to delivery. Pretty interesting!

Crackers worse than caramels?

Researching toddler tooth care today!
According to the AAPD, crackers are actually worse for children’s teeth than caramels! The starches in crackers are just as harmful to teeth as the sugars in caramels, but the sugars in caramels actually dissolve more quickly.
Also surprised to learn that the bacteria that cause tooth decay can be spread by sharing utensils.

Bed-sharing by accident

Our new book, Baby Sleep is going off to print as I type, and in the meantime, this year's AAP convention is kicking off in DC.

As we wrote the section on bed-sharing, we really agonized over what stance to take. Bed-sharing can be very dangerous, and babies can and do die when parents roll over on them-- as shown in this horrible story from Wales the other day. A lot of the deaths that in the past had been attributed to SIDS were most likely accidental rollovers while bed-sharing.

On the other hand, bed-sharing is on the rise.
Here's the stat from Widener U in PA:

Ninety-four women were enrolled ... 70 were interviewed at 1 month and 54 at 3 months. At enrollment none of the 94 mothers were planning on sharing their bed with their infant. At 1 month 47% reported sharing their bed with their infant the prior month and 17% at 3 months.

I know we did the right thing by presenting all of the pros and cons of bed-sharing, and explicit safety information. The most dangerous scenario of all is what's going on here: parents who don't plan to, but end up bed-sharing out of exhaustion, without making the bed safe for baby.


ps. "SUIDS" is the new "SIDS" - Sudden Unexplained Infant Death Syndrome.

Breastfeeding and Flab: Good News, Bad News

First the bad news: even though breastfeeding burns a lot of calories-- 200 - 500 a day-- it does not appear to help moms lose weight any faster, or to keep it off.
The good news: Breastfeeding does help keep children from becoming obese. One study found that formula-fed babies have triple the risk of being obese at age six.
Breastfeeding does have lots of other benefits for moms, though, including lower rates of osteoporosis and breast cancer.

Snack Ads Make Kids Eat More

Another reason you shouldn't watch TV while you eat!

Sad Dad, Sad Baby

We've known there was a link between maternal depression and colic, and now researchers have found a link between depressed dads and excessive crying in newborns.
Is the link genetic, or are depressed and stressed parents are less responsive, making babies cry more to get their needs met?

BPA news gets worse

Bisphenol A has been suspected of being harmful to humans since the 1930s, and the news just keeps getting worse. In addition to impairing fertility, exposure has also been found to alter fetal DNA. Yikes!

GoodNites says...

Make the Most of Bedtime by Focusing on Special Moments With Your Child

The Weird World of Twitter

Weirdest Tweets Ever: "CircInfo", sending out daily pro-circumcision tweets about how circumcision is "Normal, traditional, All American" and will make your baby "healthy and happy"
Who writes it? Who reads it?
Bizarre!

Not Rockfish!!

Pregnant women are advised to avoid eating Atlantic rockfish, aka Striped Bass, due to the risk of contamination with PCBs.

Bugaboo stroller recall!

The swanky Dutch stroller retails for $530, but the price tag doesn't make it immune to recalls!

Pregnancy Weight Gain Guidelines

Finally, revised pregnancy weight gain guidelines!

The Institute of Medicine and the National Research Council today released a report recommending new guidelines for weight gain during pregnancy. The report updates guidelines that were last set in 1990 and takes into account changing US demographics, particularly the increase in the numbers of women of childbearing age who are overweight and obese.

The new guidelines are available on the Institute of Medicine's Web site.

"The earlier guidelines recommended weight gain that would be optimal for the baby. These new guidelines take into account the well-being of the mother as well. This is a fundamental and important change," Kathleen M. Rasmussen, ScD, professor of nutrition at Cornell University and chair of the guidelines committee, said at a press briefing where the new recommendations were announced.

The 2009 guidelines also differ from those issued 2 decades ago in 2 other ways. They are based on World Health Organization cutoff points for body mass index (BMI) categories, unlike the earlier guidelines, which were based on weight categories taken from the Metropolitan Life Insurance tables. They also recommend a more narrow range of weight gain for obese women.

The recommended weight gain for each category of prepregnancy BMI is as follows:

• Underweight (< 18.5 kg/m2); total weight gain range: 28 to 40 pounds

• Normal weight (18.5 - 24.9 kg/m2); total weight gain range: 25 to 35 pounds

• Overweight (25.0 - 29.9 kg/m2); total weight gain range: 15 to 25 pounds

• Obese (≥ 30.0 kg/m2); total weight gain range: 11 to 20 pounds

Sandy & Marcie Jones Materials Links

The pregnancy planner on Toys-R-Us

An article by Sandy Jones, published by JPMA

A New Jersey reviewer of GEPreg: "Pregnancy Books that Won't Scare You"

Slideshare.com presentation on childbirth education

Offered as a freebie to pregnant enrollees in the U of Montana healthcare system