The introduction of chocolate flavored Enfagrow Toddler formula has many parents and nutritionists up in arms. Is chocolate formula a gateway beverage that can lead to a harder sugar addiction and obesity?
Introduced by Glenview-based Mead Johnson Nutrition Co. in February as a beverage for toddlers who are making a transition from infant formula or breast milk, Enfagrow Premium's toddler chocolate and vanilla formulas are milk-based but contain more sugar than milk -- 19 grams of sugar per 7-ounce serving.
The company said product is no sweeter than other things toddlers may drink, such as chocolate milk or orange juice, and contains added nutrients that milk lacks, such as Omega-3 DHA and prebiotics.
"The toddlers years can be particularly challenging since food preferences may be erratic and unpredictable," said Mead Johnson spokesman Chris Perille. "Products such as Enfagrow Premium can play a role in helping children achieve a more balanced, healthy daily diet."
Perille said the idea is to get a toddler to consume milk, even flavored milk, because it will lead to a healthier lifestyle.
Marion Nestle, professor of nutrition, food studies and public health at New York University, disagreed.
"Milk is not an essential food," said Nestle, who purchased a 29-ounce package of Enfagrow recently for $18.99 (22 servings) and says she disagrees with the way the product is being marketed.
When children are toddlers, she said, they are developing a taste for foods. Products such as Enfagrow, she said, will lead those children to crave sugary beverages.
Do you have small children? Are you planning on visiting Disneyland this summer? You might want to check out Mouse Planet's Happiest Potties on Earth bathroom guide. It will tell you everything you need to know about Disneyland Bathrooms.
This started over a couple of years ago when my wife, Adrienne, was pregnant and found herself visiting the restrooms with greater-than-normal frequency. Quickly, with other folks from the alt.disney.disneyland USENET newsgroup, we began rating the restrooms. Let's face it: When you visit Disneyland as often as we do, you start to notice these things.
Thus the idea for the site was born. It was to be an opportunity to have fun with our Disney obsession as well as to contribute to the information available for other Disney enthusiasts and tourists planning a trip (children can sometimes be VERY picky about where they go to the restroom).
For the true Disney buff, we've hidden a link to a little known “secret” restroom (and it is not the one in Club 33! - you just have to be a little adventureous). So, if you're wondering where Daddy should change the baby, which restrooms to avoid, what the ratio of men's to women's facilities is, or even which restrooms have the best theming, it's all here!
I found the automatic flush information very useful. My 3 1/2 year old is super frightened of automatic flush toilets.
Is your little girl bald. Not worry there is Baby Bangs to the rescue.
Our patent pending HAIR+band accessory combination allows baby girl's (with little or no hair at all) the opportunity to have a beautifully realistic HAIR style in a SNAP!! It's quick, easy and baby barely knows it's there. Each Baby Bangs! HAIR+band has been made using only the finest ribbons and fabrics, PLUS our Baby Bangs! come to you pre-customized & size appropriate, cut, styled and ready for immediate wear. The wispy hair strands have been arranged in the cutest most adorable elfish coiffure!.
I love this! I wish I had seen this when my little one still didn't have hair http://www.babybangshairband.com/index2.php
The new Pampers with Dry Max diapers are currently under investigation by the Consumer Product Safety Commission. Some parents have claimed that the diapers with Dry Max technology have caused rashes and chemical burns.
Pampers recently updated its Swaddlers and Cruisers diapers with a thinner, more absorbent technology in what the company has called its biggest diaper innovation in 25 years.
Several parents have said that their children developed diaper rashes and some claim to have seen chemical burns on their children after they started using the products, which P&G said went through extensive testing.
Are you having trouble coming up with new and interesting ideas for show and tell? NeatoBamino's Show and Tell series is here to offer some fun (and slightly crazy) suggestions.
This week we start with the letter A.
A is for: Anthrax
Anthrax was once a common disease. It is caused by spore-forming bacterium known as Bacillus anthracis. Anthrax mostly affects livestock (horses, goats, sheep, and cattle) because it is often found in soil. It is non-contagious.
Anthrax has been made into a biological weapon. The good news is that manufacturing lots of it is very difficult and dangerous.
There is an anthrax vaccine, but this is generally only available to military personal and veterinarians. Treatment with the antibiotic ciprofloxacin might also help.
(This cute Anthrax plushy is available at the Netoshop) Link
Caveat: You might want to make sure that your teacher has a good sense of humor before embarking on our suggestion.
This super cute car seat cover is made by BabbaCo. This is a truly brilliant idea. Draping a blanket over an infant car seat is a nightmare. I have woken several sleeping babies trying to keep them all covered up.
We are about 3 weeks and counting till the new school semester starts. That means lots of little ones will be venturing off to preschool for the first time. If you have a toddler about to hit the books you might be wondering what wonderful pearls of wisdom they can expect to learn over the next year or so. Below is a list of the top 17 things your child should be learning in preschool. These are the things they are now expected to know before they start kindergarten.
1. Naming colors: red, orange, yellow, blue, green, purple, pink, brown, black, and white. My pediatrician actually suggesting practicing in the morning or at snack time by using colored cereal. For the longest time my son called every color green. Finally, one day it all clicked.
2. Countingto at least 10. In my house we actually sing numbers. At night we sing 1 to 100. I know it sounds strange, but it works.
3. Recognizing numbers in writing : 1 through 10. A fun way to assist them with learning what the numbers look like is a good old fashioned game of hopscotch. The added benefit is a little exercise. Oh, and let's not forget the pure enjoyment you get from watching them hop. Toddler hops are super cute.
4. Counting Objects: 1 up to about 5. Stacking games are perfect for this. You don't need anything special. Toddlers are content to stack anything.
5. Recognizing the difference between numbers and letters. Let your child help you dial the phone or punch in the numbers on the remote control. This helps with number recognition.
6. Saying the ABC's. Sing the ABC's!The best part about this is that it's one children's song that doesn't tend to become an annoying ear worm.
7. Recognizing their own first name in print. Consider putting their name up in the house some where so they can see it everyday.
8. The sounds letters make. Leapfrog has a video called the Letter Factory. Talk about an ear worm. The whole family will be singing the songs from that video for weeks. If you think I am kidding you should check out the YouTube clip below. This little guy is just one of several kids you will finding singing that catchy song.
9. Recognizing upper case letters. You can make your own flashcards out of a stack of index cards or you can buy pre-made alphabet cards at pretty much any office supply store.
10. Recognizing lower case letters. Matching games that have you draw a line from the upper case letter to its corresponding lower case letter are available for free online. Of course, you can always just make your own.
11. Recognizing shapes: circle, square, oval, triangle, crescent, rectangle. Play the name that shape game in the car. Objects everywhere are made up of shapes.
12. Holding a crayon or pencil correctly. Get out the art supply and let them doodle.This is skill that just requires practice, practice and more practice.
13. Writing upper case letters. Print out traceable letters. Just make sure they are pretty large sized font. Toddlers don't generally have the manual dexterity to trace things that are small.
14. Writing lower case letters. Lower case letters are a lot harder for kids to master.
15. Writing their first name. Get them into the habit of signing their artwork. At first you will have to help them write their name, but after a while they will master the task and start to write their name on their own.
16. Using scissors. Cutting with scissors requires a lot of hand strength and little hands need lots of practice to master this skill. My daughter's preschool teacher taught me a great trick for this one. Let them help cut coupons. Coupons generally have little lines to follow. This worked like a charm for me. Plus, let's face it kids at this age love helping out Mom and Dad.
17. Listening to a story being read aloud. They say you should read to your child for at least 20 minutes a day. Twenty minutes may seem like nothing, but it's funny how life with a toddler can steal time from you. One minute it's lunch time the next minute you are shuffling everyone off to bed. The best way to make sure you read for 20 minutes every day is to just schedule it in and make it as much a priority as brushing their teeth.
Now that you have successfully gone through all 17 things I say it's time for a nap.
Yes, you read that right. A 29-year old Peruvian woman's breasts grew to the size of an N cup after giving birth to her third child. Julia Manihuari's breasts were so heavy that she would actually faint if she tried to get up:
The pint-sized farmer's wife, who lives in northern Peru, was finally helped when local media paid for her to take a three-day boat trip to the nearest town for medical help.
Doctors diagnosed an extreme form of Bilateral Gynecomastia - an illness where the mammary gland keeps growing. They had to cut TWO AND HALF STONE of flesh from Julia's boobs fearing they could squash her lungs and kill her.
Julia emerged a 34B cup after the six-hour op.
That's 35 lb. of breast tissue excised by doctors: Link
Oklahoma has become the first state to allow pregnant women access to handicapped parking placards.
"This is a welcome change to the law governing handicapped parking in Oklahoma, one which will make life a little easier and a little safer for women in the third trimester of pregnancy," commented Sen. Susan Paddack, D-Ada. "It's not often that we get the opportunity to really help some of our fellow Oklahomans without incurring any actual cost, but this is just such a bill, and we are delighted that Governor Henry has signed it into law."
Morgan, the leader of the House Democratic Caucus, said the idea for the legislation came during the recent ice storms when he witnessed a pregnant woman having to cross an icy parking lot on foot.
"The consequences of a fall at such a late stage in a woman's pregnancy could be very serious," Morgan said. "If that woman had been allowed to use the handicap spot near the entrance, she would have been at much less risk of an injury."
HugaMonkey created this awesome flow chart of all the baby gear recalls of 2009 and the first part of 2010. How come no one thought of this before? This is a much easier way of searching through to see if you have any tainted items.
Charles Long's 100 Pounds of Clay at the Orange County Museum of Art encourages everyone to become part of the exhibit and provides interactive fun for the whole family.
This spring, the Orange County Museum of Art presents 100 Pounds of Clay, an interactive installation by sculptor Charles Long (b. 1958). Originally presented at OCMA in 2001 and brought back again in 2006, this popular artwork begins its life as a minimalist sculpture made up of 100 one-pound blocks of perfectly formed, brightly-hued modeling clay, and subsequently evolves through sculptures created by museum visitors. Visitors are invited to mold, sculpt, and play with the blocks of clay, obliterating the “don’t touch” taboo of museum artwork.
If you are looking for something to do with the kids and happen to be in Southern California this summer the exhibit is on display until September of 2010.
Sharing a room just got a whole lot cooler. This Tropical Surf Shack bunk bed is the perfect set up for any little surfer(s). It comes with a thatched roof, ladder, and slide.
Yes, you read that right. Chef Daniel Angerer has come up with a recipe for you to turn that liquid gold into something yummy you can spread on a cracker and serve up to your friends.
If you dare to try it yourself he lists a step by step guide to making the cheese on his website. It should be noted that he used both cow's milk and human milk to make the cheese so you will only have to give up 2 cups of the good stuff for the recipe.
I came about mother’s milk when our daughter celebrated her 4th week birthday -- my spouse is feeding our baby with breast milk. We are fortunate to have plenty of pumped mommy’s milk on hand and we even freeze a good amount of it – my spouse actually thinks of donating some to an infant milk bank which could help little babies in Haiti and such but for the meantime (the milk bank requires check-ups which takes a little while) our small freezer ran out of space. To throw it out would be like wasting gold.
Taga is a crazy cool urban vehicle designed to function as both a bike and a stroller. Supposedly the bike can convert to a stroller in 20 seconds. Now you can ride around the neighborhood and still be able to pop into your favorite shop for a little retail therapy. Or maybe not, this fabulous little contraption retails for about $1400.
Welcome to NeatoBamino where we focus on the neat (and sometimes not so neat) side of parenting. NeatoBambino encourages you to embrace your inner geek as we set forth together to mold the future nerds of the world.
