LilSugar

How Do You Co-Sleep?

babysugar — Tue, 02 Mar 2010 09:00:14 -0800

Getting a restful night's sleep with a newborn requires some work. Some mamas prefer to place their tots in their own rooms, but 51 percent of LilSugar readers kept their babe's within arm's reach. Though doctors and the CDC recommend not to sleep with your wee one, 55 percent of our co-sleeping readers said they wouldn't change their ways.

To reduce the potential for suffocation, some co-sleeping parents opt to put baby in a bassinet that attaches directly to their bed, like the new Bednest. Others go the more traditional route and keep baby on their mattress. Which did you choose?

What Do You Know About Viruses?

babysugar — Mon, 15 Feb 2010 06:00:00 -0800

It's the time of year for coughs, sniffles, fevers, and sneezes. Take the quiz to see if you know the differences between all the viruses making their way through wee ones' bodies this season.

Take the quiz

Nine Uses For Q-Tips in the Nursery

LilSugar — Sun, 14 Feb 2010 06:00:45 -0800

There are few items in a nursery as ubiquitous as the cotton swab. Invented by Leo Gerstenzang in 1923 after watching his wife twist cotton swabs around a toothpick to clean their lil one's ears, the Q-Tip is one of the top items on a mama-to-be's supply list. Whether hidden in a canister on the changing table or displayed front and center in one of the company's cute new baby packs, Q-Tips are always within a mom's arm's reach. Here are nine different uses for the baby care essential.

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Eczema: Take This Skin Rash Test

LilSugar — Mon, 08 Feb 2010 09:00:09 -0800

Don't scratch! Approximately one in five babies will be diagnosed with eczema in their first year of life. The red, itchy patches only become more inflamed when lil ones rub them and seem to appear at the most inconvenient of times. Take this quiz and see just how much you know about this skin rash.

Source

Take the quiz

Low Serotonin Levels Linked to SIDS

LilSugar — Thu, 04 Feb 2010 14:00:00 -0800

Could an end be in sight for new parents fearing Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (SIDS)? After decades of research and thousands of unexplained deaths, researchers believe to have found a definite link between low levels of serotonin in the brain and babies who died of SIDS.

In a study published in the Journal of the American Medical Association, scientists found that serotonin – a chemical in the brain that responds to carbon-dioxide levels to regulate sleep, heart rate and breathing in babies – levels were 26 percent lower in wee ones deemed to have succumbed to the syndrome. When serotonin levels are low, tots' brains do not detect high carbon dioxide levels and wake them to shift their position and get more oxygen.

Doctors are lauding the study, suggesting that a test could be performed at birth to determine serotonin levels and courses of treatment can then be determined for those babies deemed at risk. In the meantime, doctors are still reminding parents to place babies on their backs to sleep and to follow other preventative tips designed to keep carbon dioxide levels low around infants. Will the identification of a cause of SIDS allow you to rest easier at night?

Six Natural Remedies For Constipation

LilSugar — Mon, 25 Jan 2010 07:00:23 -0800

Let's get to the bottom of the situation. Constipation is no fun for babies or parents alike. Watching your lil one struggle to have a bowel movement can be heart-wrenching as you sit there and wait for it to pass. Unfortunately, when tots move from breastmilk to formula or when they start solid foods, constipation is common. Before running to the pharmacist, consider these natural remedies to get the bowels moving again.

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Dosing Card Takes the Guesswork Out of Fighting Fevers

LilSugar — Mon, 25 Jan 2010 06:00:09 -0800

Just a spoonful of sugar helps the medicine go down, but do you know how big that spoonful actually is? According to a study in the Annals of Internal Medicine, using a kitchen spoon to dose out medicine routinely results in over- and under-dosing elixirs. Researchers involved in the study found a direct correlation between the size of the spoon and the dosage that was poured.

One way to ensure that your sick one receives the right amount of medicine is with the Pediatric Fever Fighter Dosing Card ($4). The two-sided card with a sliding sleeve helps parents determine how much acetaminophen or ibuprofen to give an infant or child based on their weight. Created by an Emergency Medicine physician at The Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia, the card takes the guesswork out of dosing. The card also provides information about when to call your child's doctor and tips for reducing a fever faster.

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Breast vs. Bottle Debate Enters the Haitian Relief Efforts

LilSugar — Fri, 22 Jan 2010 09:00:00 -0800

While the images of the death and destruction in Haiti have spurred an outpouring of support for the devastated nation, they are also re-igniting the never-ending debate about the best way to feed a baby. Since the catastrophic earthquake hit, many relief agencies have sent out email, Facebook and Twitter requests for baby formula, bottles and nipples to help nourish the littlest ones affected by the disaster. With so many wee ones orphaned in the wake of the tragedy, the call for food seemed natural.

But breastfeeding advocates and disaster response experts are sending a different message – send money, not food. As new mamas can attest, formula (in particular powder formula) feeding requires clean water for both food preparation and bottle cleaning. Given the current state of the Haitian water supply, and the lack of access to electricity to boil the water that does exist, formula feeding may be more harmful to Haitian babies than expected, risking contamination, infection, diarrhea, dehydration, malnutrition and death.

Though US milk banks are collecting pumped breast milk for eventual distribution in Haiti, experts agree that sending money rather than milk, will allow relief agencies to provide mothers and wet nurses with the food and water they need to continue nursing babies, rather than having to provide them with unsafe bottles.

Have you donated to the Haiti relief efforts? If so, how?

Did Your Kids Get Sick Over the Holidays?

babysugar — Mon, 04 Jan 2010 06:00:33 -0800

Holidays don't always go the way we plan them. Instead of spending the week playing with new toys and visiting with rarely seen friends and family members, my tots were quarantined due to double illnesses. We spent one night at an emergency clinic, and the following day at a pediatrician's office thanks to a double ear infection and a horrible case of herpengina. Four days later and finally on the mend, we boarded a plane, and not 10 minutes into the air, the young boy seated in front of me put his barf bag to good use. Perhaps he suffers from motion sickness, but I'm guessing there's a fair chance we may end up back in the doctor's chambers this week. Side note to Santa, please bring health wrapped up in a pretty red bow for mommy next year.

Did your tots make it through the holidays without getting sick?

A Solid Start: 5 Foods to Avoid

LilSugar — Fri, 01 Jan 2010 08:00:26 -0800

There are many new tastes you'll be eager to have your baby try once she starts solids, but before you start dishing out the goods, check out these five foods to avoid feeding your tot before she reaches her first birthday.

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