Mississippi voters are deciding today on whether a fertilized egg should be legally considered a “person.” They’ll be choosing to reject or support Initiative 26, which was until weeks ago expected to pass easily but is now …
Baby
Family MattersInfancy
New Guidelines: How to Put Baby Safely to Bed
Sleeping like a baby is now more regimented than ever, in light of updated guidelines by the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) about how best to put baby to bed to reduce the risk of SIDS, or sudden infant death syndrome.
Family MattersPregnancy
Is It a Bad Idea to Run a Marathon While Pregnant?
Few moms would deny that pregnancy, with its 40 long weeks of growing a baby, feels like a marathon. But Amber Miller of Westchester, Ill., gave that simile a literal twist: on Sunday, with a little more than a week to go before …
Spock at 65: Five Ideas That Changed American Parenting
Sixty-five years ago today, one of the most revolutionary books in American history was published. True, Dr. Benjamin Spock’s Common Sense Book of Baby and Child Care probably didn’t look like much when it first came out in 1946 — just in time for the baby boom. But with his conversational tone and his concise, practical tips on …
Family MattersPregnancy
A 21-Week-Old Baby Survives and Doctors Ask, How Young is Too Young to Save?
Last month, a baby girl widely considered the most premature European baby ever to survive left a German hospital and headed home. Frieda Mangold was born more than four months early, at 21 weeks and five days. She weighed a …
Family MattersParenting
Gender-Free Baby: Is it O.K. for Parents to Keep Their Child’s Sex a Secret?
If pregnancy were a musical composition, finding out whether you’re having a boy or a girl would be the coda. Indeed, “Do you know what you’re having?” is probably the question lobbed most frequently at pregnant women, right up …
Babies on the Bottle: How Long Is Too Long?
When it is time to wean your baby off the bottle? This can be difficult for new parents to gauge, but a new study encourages families not to wait too long.
Family MattersParenting
Did Homeopathic Medicine, Breast-Feeding and Veganism Kill a Baby?
Alternative medicine is far more commonplace today than it was in the past. Herbs and natural remedies can, in many cases, be effective at soothing colds and addressing muscle aches and plenty of other ailments. But a verdict
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Family MattersPregnancy
Women Grieve Miscarriage for Years, Even After Having a Healthy Baby
When a woman miscarries, it’s typically far more hurtful than helpful to say something like, “At least you have other children.” Now, new research backs that up and goes a step further, finding that even women who go on to …
Family MattersParenting
Babies Who Start Solids Too Early More Likely To Be Obese
Ideally, babies are exclusively breast-fed for the first six months of their lives. Then, solid food — really, a misnomer since “solids” consist initially of soupy rice or barley cereal — is introduced. But a quarter of …
Family MattersPregnancy
Having an Abortion Doesn’t Lead to Depression
Having an abortion has got to be an excruciating decision, no matter where you fall on the abortion-rights spectrum, but a new study shows it does not increase the likelihood of mental-health problems.
Family MattersPregnancy
Are Crib Bumpers a Nursery Necessity? CPSC Vets their Safety Record
For nine months of pregnancy, babies-to-be are cushioned in watery darkness. Once they’re sprung, few parents are eager for them to bang their noggins on hard crib rails, hence the indispensable crib bumper.
Baby Getting Heavy? The Culprit May Be in the Bottle
There are many contributors to childhood weight gain — diet, inactivity, genes — but a study released on Dec. 27 in Pediatrics identifies another potential cause: certain types of baby formula.
