Here’s a roundup of parenting-related articles we are digging from around the Web.

Did you know that 95% of babies suck their thumbs? If you need to break the habit: How to Prevent Your Child From Thumb Sucking

Science kits for kids designed by a boy when he was a fourth grader (he’s now 15): Connor’s Kits for Kids
(Bonus! See a video of the kits being used in the classroom.)

Think gun violence only affects kids in big cities? Wrong. A
new study finds that kids in rural areas are as likely to die from gunshots as those living in urban areas.

Sometimes we forget that new dads can struggle with depression, too.
New research now suggests that 1 in 10 dads struggle with postpartum depression, most frequently three to six months after the birth.

What the WHAT?! A Minnesota woman gives birth while driving herself the hospital. Talk about a mom who can bring home the bacon AND fry it up in a pan!

And, just for a laugh:

Every school kid’s dream! A bus driver picked up the wrong students, and took them to Six Flags instead of class.

We got this email today and I think it’s pretty cool.

Dear rational moms,

I am writing to you from Hamburg, Germany, where I live and work as a molecular biologist and have two kids age 2 and 5.  When I found out that even educated women turn off their brains once they get pregnant and start doing all kinds of weird things (like holding incense near their toes to make the unborn baby turn into the right position), I was at first surprised and amused, but after a while just angry and feeling helpless.

About a year and a half ago I discovered your blog, which I read regularly.  Since, unfortunately, there is no German website with infomation on what makes sense and what doesn’t concerning all this stuff, I decided to write a blog myself. Thanks for inspiring me to do that!

It went online yesterday: www.scienceblogs.de/mutterwitz.

Off course I put your page on my blogroll!

I will have a look at your blog regularly to get some ideas in the future, and I am glad that at least some problems you have to cope with are virtually non existent in Germany, like Christian fundamentalism.

But on the other hand, in Germany you are considered to be quite exotic when you do not trust homeopathy.

When I mentioned your website to two other mothers I met at the Skeptics Organisation here in Germany, one of them shouted out: “Hooray! We’re not alone! ” But there are still to few!

All the best and if any of you are able to understand German, you might want to have a look at my blog.

Best regards,
Julia Offe

Jamie Bernstein went to an anti-vaccination rally in Chicago and wrote about it on Friendly Atheist.

My favorite part was when she got her picture taken with Andrew Wakefield and slipped him this note, asking him to read it later:

Dear Andrew Wakefield,

I know that you truly believe that what you are doing is helping people and that the ends justify the means, but I just want you to know that the things you are doing –- the actions you have taken in the past have hurt people –- killed people. Your work has scared and manipulated parents into not vaccinating their children, putting them and their entire community at risk, all in the name of safety. Children have died because of you. I just want to make sure that you fully understand that.

Sincerely,
Jamie

Great post, lots of amazing details, just a stunning (and disturbing) read.  Wow, Jamie.  Well done!

Did you catch Dr. Wakefield on NBC’s Today Show this morning? Here’s a video of the segment with Matt Lauer:

Wakefield is appearing to promote his new book and to attempt to defend his name, as he was just stripped of his license to practice medicine in the UK.

» Continue reading “Wakefield on Today; New Study on Multiple Vaccines”

In March, Rotarix, GlaxoSmithKline’s rotavirus vaccine, was suspended for “pig virus contamination.” Naturally, the way I’ve heard about this story is from concerned parents who see this as more evidence that Big Pharma is out to take our dollars away and load our kids up with poison.

So, I wanted to look at this story from the beginning and see if there really is any evidence here that the bastards are out to kill our kids.
» Continue reading “Rotavirus Vaccine With a Side of Pork”

Here’s a roundup of parenting articles we are digging from around the Web. Some of these are a few weeks old, but we’ll try to stay more current as we continue on next week.

Do we make our children superstitious?
http://parenting.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/11/13/superstitions-and-kids/

Are you the favored parent?
http://parenting.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/04/20/are-you-the-favored-parent/

Shaking the family tree: Neandertals in our DNA
http://blogs.consumerreports.org/health/2010/05/shaking-the-family-tree-neandertal-dna-.html

Social media parenting: Raising the digital generation
http://mashable.com/2010/05/13/parenting-social-media/

And, just for a laugh:

Latest wacky baby product: Diaper jeans
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/05/19/babies-in-diaper-jeans-st_n_582035.html

America is behind the times on some things. We still haven’t adopted the metric system. We insist on driving everywhere instead of using efficient, fast mass transit. And, unlike many other countries, we’ve never had a national science festival.

Until now!! The nation’s inaugural USA Science & Engineering Festival is coming to Washington, DC, this fall. Picture this: on October 23 and 24, the National Mall will be covered with booths sponsored by over 500 science and engineering corporations, and each will feature a fun, hands-on, science activity for kids.

(I’m such a nerd, this sounds so freaking awesome to me!)

I’m posting about this now to give you plenty of time to plan your vacations. If a trip to DC isn’t in the cards for you, they are planning to have many satellite events. Perhaps one will occur near you, or better yet, you could host one!

I’m really hoping my family can swing a quick trip to DC that weekend, since I am so crazy for science education. Besides, my musician friend Monty Harper is hosting a booth focusing on science music for kids, and we don’t want to miss it!

Another reason to go? They call themselves the “Woodstock of Science”!

I grew up in a Catholic household. My mother was raised Baptist but converted to Catholicism shortly after marrying my father. If the term “Holy Roller” could be applied to Catholics, this would describe my parents. They volunteer at the church, participate in the mass, bring communion to the housebound, and never miss a weekend mass.

In my mid-20s, I came out as an atheist. My family isn’t known for it’s tolerance, so my skepticism and loathing for religion doesn’t go over well at holiday reunions. Usually I’m the butt of jokes (my dad gave me a “I LOVE GOD” yo-yo one Christmas), or the subject of “her soul is going to hell” head shaking.

So, all of this backstory is leading to an exchange that took place not too long ago.

» Continue reading “Religious Grandparents”

Foundation Beyond Belief is an organization founded by Dale McGowan to help secular folks direct their charitable giving. Dale saw how much churches direct the funds of their congregations and was inspired to help humanists do the same, minus the religion. FBB also sponsors Podcast Beyond Belief, which features our very own Laurie Tarr.

Help FBB meet their summer goals! Here’s a great NY Times article on FBB.

We tried to not show any TV to our son, but there were a few times he required a nebulizer, and TV was just such a fantastic way to get him to sit still while we gave him albuterol.  And then we found Elmo.  And then we found Ni Ho Kai Lan.  We sort of skipped right over Dora, although she’s okay enough.  Yo Gabba Gabba just freaks me out.

So now our son can say hello in Chinese, and all my smugness about my plans to keep him away from the TV have evaporated.  TV is a tool.  Example:  Daddy had to go to class tonight, and goodbyes are tough.  The answer?  Latest Ni Ho Kai Lan episode.  And a couple animal cookies.  Totally eases the pain.

Sure, you can judge me, but ask yourself:  wouldn’t that ease your pain?  Cookies and TV.  Does it get any better?  No!  Don’t even try to lie.

So here’s a study (found via Stats.org) that shows what the negative effects of TV on toddlers.  We try to limit it to thirty minutes.  But who am I kidding?  We fail.  Often.  This study has shown up in a few places, including the LA Times:

A large-scale, long-running Canadian study of children found that for every extra hour of TV time a toddler watches weekly, she is likely in fourth grade to have lower levels of classroom engagement and poorer performance in math, is more likely to be the victim of bullying, to be sedentary and to have a higher body-mass index.

Dangit.  How do I rectify this with my firm belief that TV is awesome?

We’re not really sedentary people.  We get the boy to the park daily.  Twice a day on weekends.  We play with him.  We build Duplo stuff with him.  And we also hang out with him while he watches his shows, and we chat.  I feel like somehow, we must be the exception here.  We’re just so amazing that TV can’t hurt our giant brains, right?

But I guess I’ll scale it back a bit.  Thirty minutes a day.  Fine.  I mean for the kid, not me.