Oh, yes. It’s that time again. Time to take a peek at some of the bizarre kid-related products and services out there that are looking to take your hard-earned parental money.

iPhone Cry Translator Application
According to the company’s web site, “The Cry Translator is an easy to use iPhone app that quickly identifies the five distinct cries made by infants: hungry, sleepy, annoyed, stressed or bored. These five cries are universal to all babies regardless of culture or language.”

It’s basically the Dunstan Baby Language system for your iPhone. We already talked about this on Rational Moms. Not much (if any) science, all marketing. Save your $9.99.

» Continue reading “More Products to Waste Your Money On”

You might think this is a Saturday Night Live sketch, but it’s really an Australian ad for diapers.

It’s pretty hilarious, and appeals to my love of scatological humor. Anyone who is grossed out by this must not have kids. While this is exaggerated, every parent has experienced a “poop out.” But, can you imagine the uproar this ad would cause here in the U.S.?

What’s the resale value on this car now?

[Via Adfreak]

So cute, but who would buy their baby the red shirt?

Star Trek Onesies

Pretty cute, huh?

I’ve been hearing a lot about Baltic Amber Teething Necklaces, and here’s a little photo of one from this site, which is just one place you can buy them.  The idea is that the succinic acid in the amber is released by the warmth of the baby’s skin and is a natural analgesic.

I couldn’t find any studies about this at all and I think I’ll stick to Infant Tylenol.  The obvious drawbacks of a baby wearing a necklace seem to have been noticed on this particular site, which states in a disclaimer:

Although we have never had any any incidents that have resulted in harm to infants, there is always a chance they will break the necklace apart and perhaps swallow one of the beads.

Um, duh.

If anyone does have any reliable information about how this necklace might actually work, I’m curious to read it. But since many of the sites selling these things also claim that the necklace will align my baby’s energy, I just have to be extremely skeptical about this one.

As we’ve discussed on Rational Moms before, companies aren’t just out there to help expecting parents; they’re also out there to flim-flam expecting parents. Some products are presented as the perfect way to make one’s baby smarter. However, many of these products do not have any science to back up their claims. The Washington Post had a great article on the newest craze: pregnancy audio belts.

» Continue reading “Pregnancy Audio Belts”

Today we took the lad to Descanso Gardens, a lovely little place nearby where we walked around and looked at all kinds of plants and rode an adorable little train.  Fun stuff.

Anytime we go to a museum or botanical garden we have to hit the gift shop.  So while looking around at all the pretty cards, fun toys, candles, and other cute stuff, I found this book, Green Baby. As a person who’s always interested in reading about sustainability, I started flipping the pages, and when I got to the chapter on vaccinations, I was a bit stunned. » Continue reading “Conflating Green And Anti-Vaccine”

Are we finally about to see the end of the it’s-the-latest-most-expensive-therefore-gotta-have-it baby item competition? The New York Times had an article yesterday discussing the new frugality in the world of parenting. Garage sales, thrift stores, .99 stores, CraigsList, and hand-me-downs are now all the rage. It appears that the recession has caused many parents to wise up about the cost of baby things.

Some thrifty parents were watching costs even before the recession. Yes, it’s great that Bugaboos are now being re-gifted and resold to others, but some parents always knew that most any stroller will do when you need to get from point A to point B.

To show how out of control it was before the crash, read this excerpt from the article:

“Three years ago, in the heyday of the moment, someone would come into the shop and say, ‘I want the most expensive thing you have,’” said Ms. Mahar, a designer of educational toys and the owner of Kid O, a toy shop in Manhattan.

But now, she said: “People are much more discreet how they shop. Large orders are placed on the phone. And at birthday parties I see a difference. No one will bring a $300 LikeaBike anymore. Culturally, it’s just not acceptable anymore. Even for those who can afford a $200 toy.”

If someone brought a $300 bike to my kid’s birthday party, I think I would have heart failure. (But, please, if you must, her birthday is at the end of July.)

It’s good to see a little bit of sanity come back to the expense of parenting. I don’t want to be cheap, but I also want my kids to value their possessions and know the value of a dollar. Buying such extravagant toys and doo-dads doesn’t make a lot of sense, especially considering how long they use them. (Seriously, my daughter’s favorite toy for a year and a half has been a batch of plastic eggs. Cost: $.99 at CVS.)

Besides, with the way college tuition is these days, we’ll need every penny we can get later on.

I have been doing some moderate research into the car seat vs. booster seat issue. Just when I thought I could move my three-year old to a booster seat, a report in the British Medical Journal announced that children would be better protected in rear-facing car seats through the age of four. So, not only should I not move her out of a convertible car seat, she should face backwards. (Normally, children are switched to forward-facing car seats around the age of one year or twenty pounds.)

The study looked at U.S. NHTSA data of children involved in crashes between 1998 and 2003. The reason for the recommendation:

Watson and Monteiro note that in contrast to forward-facing seats, rear-facing seats provide full alignment of the head, neck, and spine, so that crash forces are dispersed over these areas rather than centered on one site.

Most convertible rear-facing car seats have a weight limit of thirty-five pounds. This would offer additional protection for most kids until they reach the age of two. Beyond that, I’m not sure how many manufacturers offer a rear-facing option for bigger kids. I couldn’t find any in a quick Web search.

I’m interested to hear what other parents think about this report. My oldest daughter hated facing backwards. And, she can make a lot more noise now then she could then. But, there’s no question kids are safer in rear-facing seats. I do plan on keeping my youngest daughter facing backwards at least until two. But four?! How practical is that, especially when you can’t find a seat to accommodate your child?

There’s an app for that.

Somehow while surfing around tonight, I came across an ad for a software program called Trixie Tracker.

Trixie Tracker was invented by stay-at-home-dad Ben MacNeill to so he could take better care of his new daughter. He knew there was a daily schedule and wanted to understand it, but it was too difficult to keep track of all the little baby care details.

That’s where Trixie Tracker software comes in. It keeps track of the details for you and connects the dots in ways that reveal incredibly helpful patterns over time.

» Continue reading “Want to know your baby’s total lifetime number of diaper changes?”

Trevor Butterworth from STATS.org sent us a link to this article he wrote a while back, and I’m just getting around to posting it now. He dissects “an alarming new report by the Campaign for Safe Cosmetics” that claims baby bath products are full of carcinogens. The media latched on to the study, and USA Today headlined a piece: “Group finds carcinogens in kids bath products.” Trevor Butterworth goes into detail about why this study isn’t very good. The basics: the study was published by an activist group, wasn’t peer reviewed, and well, it wasn’t um, whatchacall, scientific.

This is a great piece to read if you’re interested in how the media reports science, or how the media reports bad studies that aren’t science:

We need real science. And we need the media to be able to distinguish what counts as real science and what is merely self-serving activism.

Yay, science. Boo, self-serving activism. Oh, and also, boo, babies getting cancer from bath products.