Tender Heart Infant Massage

The International Association of Infant Massage is a great resource for finding Certified Infant Massage Instructors around the U.S. and the world. This association trains and certifies instructors who in turn teach parents and caregivers how to massage their babies.

One of these Certified Infant Massage Instructors is Cali Petitt, who introduced us to this program. She is a mompreneur (and Baby Blog Addict reader) who recently started her own business, Tender Heart Infant Massage.

"It's basically in-home infant massage instruction that can be done privately or for groups of friends who want to get together for a series of three mommy and me classes," Petitt told BBA. "Using a teaching doll, I teach parents how to properly perform infant massage. I strongly recommend learning from a certified instructor, since all of the massage strokes have been researched."

Some of the benefits of infant massage include:

• Deepens bond between parent and baby
• Promotes relaxation and can help baby sleep better
• May relieve symptoms due to gas, constipation, teething, sinus congestion
• Stimulates healthy growth and development

Cali Petitt, CCLS, CIMI, teaches in the Mandeville/Covington, Louisiana area, so if you are in that area, you can reach her at 985-502-0629. If not, you can find a Certified Infant Massage Instructor in your area by checking out the U.S. list of 7,000 instructors.

Blog: Baby, Sleep and Pillows

When can you give your baby a pillow to sleep on? When should you give your baby a pillow to sleep on? What kind of pillow can you give your baby for sleep? PickNicksBrain.com has answers.

Teen Dads and the Challenges They Face

It's tough to be a dad at any age, but teenage fathers are often faced with incredible challenges. A parenting class at a San Diego high school helps get teens ready for the parenting surprises that will appear around every corner.

Parenting Style: First Year is Important

Researchers from the University of Chicago claim that a mother's parenting style in her child's first year of life and the infant's disposition can reliably predict future behavior - good or bad. The team followed 1,800 children between the ages of four and 13 and found that children who were less fussy and were predicable infants were at a low risk of bad behavior later in life.

The Politics of Parenting

It's still hard to come to grips with the reality that Tim Russert is no longer with us, leaving that huge void on Sunday mornings. The tributes to Russert continue to pour in, but more and more they focus on his parenting instead of his TV triumphs. A newspaper columnist - and mother - says parents should not apologize for trying to stay close to their children.

Hip Parenting Boosts Mommy Businesses

In the maternity world these days, it's all about high fashion. Women no longer have to worry about sacrificing their sense of style during a pregnancy.

Products for moms and infants have more than doubled over recent years: belly belts (maternity pants extenders), nappy clutches (fashionable diaper bags), breast milk trays (for freezing breast milk), massage oil for babies, parenting magazines, etc. It’s the age of hip parenting.

"The Baby Borrowers" Premieres Wednesday

NBC's newest reality show, "The Baby Borrowers," premieres tomorrow night. When the series was first announced months ago, critics were up in arms. At least one critic says the show is not nearly as creepy as it sounds.

"It could be educational for some naive teens," wrote Jeanne Ostrow, a television critic for the Denver Post. "The Baby Borrowers," according to Ostrow, "turns out to be both more supervised and less harrowing than advertised."

Ostrow continues: "Consider the fact that the actual parents who lent their children to the producers for this project were across the street, watching on monitors, and able to enter the house to talk to the teen couples at any time. Consider, too, that nannies were on-site, although instructed not to intervene except in the case of an emergency, which happens in one episode when a baby wakes up, crying, to an empty house."

Would you turn over your child for a "social experiment?" One woman, who turned over her two children to the show, said she has no regrets.

"I didn't look at it as loaning my kid to a TV show," said Natalie Nichols, a 31-year-old mother who got married and pregnant on purpose at 17. "I looked at it as a very important teaching project. It was a way to get a message out."

Blog: Hand-Me-Down Undies: Yay or Nay?

From iVillage.com:

"Kids grow so fast, and for parents of two or more children, hand-me-down clothes are great time- and money-savers. But is it a good idea for parents to let their younger kids use their siblings' outgrown underwear?" More...

Is It Harder to Raise Boys or Girls?

Here are a few interesting nuggets from this story:

:: Boys may not listen as well as girls because their hearing isn't as good from birth

:: Girls are rigged to be people-oriented; boys are more action-oriented

:: Boys are harder to raise early on, but girls become more difficult as pre-teens

What do you think? Which is easier to parent: a boy or girl?

Go Back To Work Midweek

The idea of going back to work when your maternity leave ends can be overwhelming. If you can ease back into it by working part time for a little while, try that. If you don't have that flexibility and have to go back full time when your maternity leave is over, try to start with a short week. Instead of going back on a Monday and having to face five full days of dropping your baby off at daycare and working for eight hours a day, you should think about going back on a Wednesday or Thursday.

Consider this option. Sign up your baby to start daycare on the Monday of the week you go back to work. Drop them off for a couple of hours each day - Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday. This will give you some time alone to get things prepared at home and will ease you into the transition of being separated from your baby. When you go back to work on Wednesday or Thursday of that week (my vote is for Thursday), you can see light at the end of the short tunnel. Friday is only a day or two away. Now I'm not saying this makes going back to work after maternity leave easy, it just makes it a little bit easier.

Parenting Styles Differ

It's funny that we stumbled upon this just a couple of days after the first installment of Dad's Diary. Moms and dads do things differently - VERY differently in some cases. Here's an excerpt from a column found in a Colorado newspaper:

"I remember the first time I watched my husband change a diaper. He placed the cloth next to our newborn son and then scooched his bottom into position by sliding him side to side, his floppy little legs waving. 'Why is he doing that?' I thought to myself."

Ah, that's what makes the world go 'round. Click here for the entire column...and more differences between mom and dad.

Craigslist Babysitter Disappears, Leaves Toddler

Here's another reminder that a potential babysitter's references should always be checked. Seems a 25-year-old dad in Arizona left his 2-year-old daughter with a sitter found on the popular online listing site Craigslist. When he returned home, the sitter and toddler were gone.

Bringing Up Babies...at Work

Could that be a gurgle or - whoa - a stinky diaper in the next cubicle? Yes, "baby on board" is the latest - and the most controversial - trend in corporate day care for a small but growing number of brave employers. The twist is parents do the care, toting infants with them to the office each day and juggling bottles and wipes, conference calls and e-mail.

Controversial? You bet.

Proponents hail the idea as a workplace morale-booster, along with a needed benefit in a country lacking in affordable child care. But naysayers call parenting and working a poor mix, and say infants are an unwanted distraction for employees. More from the Boston Globe...

What do you think?

Useful Tips from Parenting Magazine

From the Chicago Tribune...

1. Get your kid in the car in a hurry. "Have her choose an animal (a bird, frog, bunny, whatever) to act like as she makes her way to the car."

2. Have ants invaded your kitchen? "Sprinkle baking soda in cracks and anywhere else they can sneak into your home," according to the authors of "A Field Guide to Household Bugs: It's a Jungle in Here."

3. Stay dry. Stick a Popsicle into a coffee filter to keep hands clean and prevent a spilling mess.

4. Snack standing up. Bonus: You'll probably consume less than when you're sitting because you'll be less likely to fall into the trap of mindless eating."

5. Make a snack necklace with a preschooler: "Have her slide Cheerios, pretzels, and dried apple rings onto waxed dental floss. Tie it around your child's neck to make it an edible accessory."

Dog Drama: Getting Ready for a REAL Baby

A lot of parents are now paying to baby-proof their dogs. A canine re-education course called Dogs & Storks, launched in 2006, now has 35 affiliated trainers in the U.S. and Canada, with hundreds of graduates.

"It's catching on because people are choosing to have kids later, and their dogs are really their first baby," says the course's creator, Jennifer Shryock of Cary, N.C., who sells it to trainers for $300.

Dogs bite about 4.7 million people a year in the U.S., the majority of them children, according to the American Veterinary Medical Association. Bonnie Beaver, a Texas vet and past president of the group, says that of the 15 to 20 people a year who die from dog bites, about 80% are children.

Ms. Shryock tells expectant parents, "When the baby comes, you are going to look at your dog for the first time as an animal. You will feel different about Fluffy."

More from the Wall Street Journal...

Parenting Books

These four books are worth your time and money, according to family psychologist John Rosemond:

~ Have a New Kid by Friday
~ Confident Parenting
~ Internet Protect Your Kids
~ How to Behave and Why

Opinion: Culture Limits 'Baby-Friendly' Options

From New Orleans City Business:

The baby haters have spoken.

I haven’t been to a movie since September. The previews at the theater have sufficiently warned us about how crying babies can disrupt the viewing experience for others. We’ve had waiters give us the stink eye for bringing our otherwise quiet infant into a white tablecloth restaurant.

And I’ve had one friend bring her baby to an outdoor food and wine tasting, only to be told by a manager as she was leaving that her child’s presence made him uncomfortable.
Since having our daughter Zoe, in July, we’ve discovered our culture isn’t very baby-friendly.

More...

Modern Day Mr. Moms

When a playgroup consisting solely of kids with their dads meets midweek in a public place, it’s usually regarded with some degree of curiosity.

“We were all at a playground and a woman came up to us and said, ‘Did I miss a holiday?’ ” recalls Ruben Koolman, who has been a member of Chicago Dads, a local social and networking group for stay-at-home dads (SAHDs), for two years.

Chicago Dads is run a little more loosely than most moms groups: The meeting time (10:30am–12:30pm), like the location, is more of an approximation than a specific. A playdate at the Museum of Science and Industry, for example, met “somewhere around the trains.”

This laid-back approach to the playdates—which have no agenda, no story time, no snack time, no obligatory anything—epitomizes the group (and probably the parenting styles of men versus women). It’s all voluntary, all free and all types of dads are welcome. “Some [of us] work full-time, part-time or work at home. Some are retired or are at-home dads,” says Cliff McIntosh, a member who returned to the workforce when his kids enrolled in school.

Check the database here for a registered dad group near you.

Eight Ways to be a Happier Mom

Ask a mom if she's happier now that she has a child, and she'll usually say yes. But psychologists who study happiness often report a different picture. Being the mom of a young child (especially one under 3) is rewarding, but also a real strain on your mood.

Here's the real eye-catcher in this story: Moms rate child care only slightly higher than housework on enjoyment scale.

Happy Mother's Day! Woman Expecting 18th

You think your house is full? Do you wish you had that one extra room to hide some stuff away? Be glad you're not this couple in Little Rock, Ark. Just in time for Mother's Day, 41-year-old Michelle Duggar, found out she was pregnant with her 18th child. The latest addition will join seven sisters and 10 brothers.

Says Duggar: "We've had three in January, three in December. Those two months are a busy time for us." The Duggars' oldest child, Josh, is 20, and the youngest, Jennifer, is nine months old.

Look for the family soon in another series on Discovery Health.