Could It Be the Formula?

Here at TLC, there have been quite a few phone conversations over the years about infant formula and the effects it's believed to have on a baby's digestion.  Parents want their babies to be content and happy so when they seem to be experiencing pain, they become (understandably) worried.  Then begins the search to stop it!  Here's a good article to read before you change the formula... again....

Nap Nanny Recall

Consumer Products Safety Commission recalls Nap Nanny after Infant Death

Crib Information Center

Sadly we are faced with too many crib, play yard, walker, bassinet, stroller, high chair recalls to keep track of by ourselves.  Fortunately The Consumer Products Safety Commission has it all organized for us.  Please check their website for an up to date, organized presentation of baby equipment recalls.  Names, manufacturers, model numbers, pictures - it's all there.  Check on the equipment your baby is using at your house, Grandma's house, day care or church to see if any of it has been recalled because of questions about its safety.

Fish For Your Health

                                      

Pregnant or nursing women who eat fish that is high in omega-3 fatty acids will pass these nutrients to their babies and support healthy brain and eye development.

How Much Fish to Eat?

Health experts recommend that women eat 8-12 ounces per week and children (ages 2-6) eat 2 ounces per week. Three ounces of fish is about the size of a deck of cards.

Best Choices (Lowest in Mercury and Highest in Fats)

Eating as little as 6 ounces per week of these fish provides the recommended amount of healthy omega-3 fatty acids.
anchovy, herring, mackerel (Atlantic, jack, chub), rainbow trout (farm raised), salmon (wild or farm raised), sardine, shad (American), whitefish.

Excessive mercury can pass through the placenta or mother's milk and harm your baby.  Do not eat fish from the high mercury category.  If you eat 4 ounces from the moderate category, don't eat any more fish from this category until the next week.

Lowest Mercury Contamination (12 ounces per week)

catfish (farm raised), clam, cod, crab, flatfish (flounder, plaice, sole), haddock, herring, mackerel (Atlantic, jack, chub), mullet, oyseter (cooked), pollock, rainbow trout (farm raised), salmon (wild or farm raised), sardine, scallop, shrimp, squid, tilapia, tuna (canned Skipjack or Light), whitefish. 

Moderate Mercury Contamination (4 ounces per week)

bass (saltwater, black), buffalo fish, carp, grouper, halibut, lobster (northern, Maine, Atlantic), mahi mahi (Dolphin-fish), perch (freshwater), Pompano (Florida), sablefish, sea trout (weakfish), snapper, Spanish mackerel (S. Atlantic), tilefish (Atlantic), tuna (canned Albacore, Yellowfin, or White), white croaker (Pacific).

High Mercury/PCB Contamination (Do Not Eat)

bass (striped), bluefish, Chilean sea bass, golden snapper, jack (Amberjack, Crevalle), king mackerel, marlin, orange roughy, sea lamprey, shark, Spanish mackerel (Gulf of Mexico), swordfish, tilefish (Gulf of Mexico), tuna (all fresh or frozen), walleye (Great Lakes)

Before Eating Fish that You Catch

Do Not Eat Raw Fish

When pregnant, avoid eating raw oysters, raw fish (sushi) or refrigerated smoked fish.  Do not feed raw fish to infants or children.

Sum-Sum-Summertime Sunscreen Tips

In Florida, we may use sunscreen throughout the year, but now it's a must.  Summer is coming quickly and carrying a bottle of sunscreen everywhere just follows along with the air conditioners kicking on full-time. 

Having fun in the sun with baby is a wonderful experience... but the joy quickly diminishes when a baby suffers with sunburn.  Older children need to be protected too... and don't forget about yourself!

The American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) has okayed the use of sunscreen for babies under 6 months in minimal amounts on the face and neck and back of hands BUT advises that these young ones be kept in the shade instead if at all possible.  Their skin is thinner and the protective tanning response hasn't kicked in yet.

Here's a couple of links for quick reading to be sunscreen savvy this summer:

Testing Your Sun-Safety IQ

Safety and Prevention

Now go have fun!

Why Is Breast Milk Best?

It's All in the Genes!

How Much TV Watching Is Your Toddler Doing?

Children who are exposed to more hours of TV at 29 months of age appear to have more problems in school and poorer health behaviors in 4th grade according to a JAMA article released May 3, 2010.

Simplicity Cribs Recalled - Is Your Crib One of Them?

Mattress Support Collapse

Can Cause Suffocation or Strangulation

Camp Chrysalis

Mother's Day Coffee

Attention First Time Moms!

TLC Newborn Invites You!

It's a Mother's Day Celebration

honoring first time mothers. 

All TLC Family Associates will be there. 

Bring your baby and join us Saturday, May 1. 

Space is limited so call TLC at 772-794-7484

to reserve your spot.  Can't wait to see you there!

Breastfeeding Saves Lives

READ ALL ABOUT IT

Rethink Using A Baby Walker?

What makes mobile baby walkers dangerous?  Experts say their very design helps kids move easily - often much too easily.  About three million baby walkers are sold in the US each year and thousands of babies have ended up in emergency departments as a result of injuries that are directly related to their use.  They are generally used in the 2-4 month period after a child can sit up and before he can walk without assistance.  But by giving a child added height, a walker suddenly brings him within reach of hazards such as boiling pots, electric irons and unprotected electrical cords.  And kids in walkers travel so fast - three or four feet a second - that even the most attentive parents may not be able to avert disaster.

The length of time your baby spends in a walker determines how prone he or she is to accidents. In general, the risk of accidents increases in kids who spend an hour or more a day in them.  Babies in walkers plummet down stairs, turn over in walkers that are snagged by cords, door thresholds and carpet edges, roll themselves against hot wood stoves and heaters, fall over concrete curbs or tumble into swimming pools.  Parents should be particularly wary of old style x-frame walkers that are still being sold in garage sales.  these designs have been responsible for many injuries, including a finger amputation when a baby's hand got caught in the closing x-joint of the frame - such models should be discarded.

Parents often purchase a walker in the belief that it will help their child walk sooner.  50% of walker buyers had this impression but the facts say otherwise.  As it turns out, walkers interfere with learning to walk. In addition to decreasing the desire to walk by providing an easier alternative, walkers strengthen the wrong muscles. The lower legs are strengthened, but the upper legs and hips become relatively weak. and it is the upper legs and hips that are most important for walking. 

The American Academy of Pediatrics discourages anyone from using a mobile baby walker and has even gone so far as to call for a ban on their sale in the US.

Who Knew?

Cavity causing bacteria can pass from mom to baby through the transfer of saliva, such as sharing utensils, blowing on food, and yes even kissing that sweet little bundle of joy on the mouth.

Spring is Heading Our Way...

... and I don't know about you but it always makes me think I need to get busy with spring cleaning!  It seems the feeling is valid and stems from age old customs and traditions.  There's a Jewish custom of a complete cleaning with the coming of Passover.  It was forbidden for them to have any foods in the house that were leavened so a thorough cleansing was done in preparation.  In Orthodox nations it was traditional to clean before Easter, cleaning homes along with a cleansing of souls.  March was a good month during previous centuries in European and North American countries to open windows without the onslaught of bugs.  It stands to reason it was the best time to thoroughly dust and take things outside to get rid of the winter ashes and smells... a freshening. 

Well, ready or not, here it comes!  And here is a website that will help... Marla Cilley started FlyLady.net after getting help with home organizational skills and has been expanding on and teaching others how ever since.  Some of us need a lot of help and some of us just a bit of tweaking.  Whether you have a newborn, older children, work an outside job, are on your own, the information freely given on this website will help whether you dive in or begin with baby steps.  It's hard finding time in our busy schedules, but do this for yourself... get this part of your life organized and begin to enjoy the benefits of spring year round!