Mark-n-Sylva... Sylva-n-Mark... - Kids

The Use of Fans May Reduce Risk of SIDS

Sylva — Tue, 7 Oct 2008 20:37:44 -0400

I was sent this via email this morning:
Study Suggests Fan Use Cuts SIDS Risk in Babies

... and it's not just a small decrease, it's a SEVENTY-TWO PERCENT drop in risk. If the room is over 69 degrees Fahrenheit the drop is 94%! (Of course, you already have a higher risk of SIDS if your room is warmer)

That's really wild and awesome.

Pre-Mommy Brain

Sylva — Mon, 6 Oct 2008 11:26:32 -0400

Courtesy of today's Stone Soup:
.... now where did it go??
Pre-Mommy Brain?

Ezra's Got More Videos!

Sylva — Tue, 30 Sep 2008 23:14:47 -0400

This one is from today:

Enjoy!

It's Official - Ezra LOVES the Ocean

Sylva — Tue, 30 Sep 2008 22:19:52 -0400

We headed out together to Quincy, MA the day after Mark arrived home from his 10-day motorcycle adventure and business trip (North Carolina, Cherokee, Deal's Gap.... good times with Al and Moose!).

Sunday we drove all the way to Quincy, MA and visited the Adams' Family Home - which was awesome, by the way! And then we continued on to see the ocean in Hull, MA. How wonderful a visit that was.

Capital District/Troy - Kid-Friendly and Fun Things To Do

Sylva — Mon, 15 Sep 2008 10:12:09 -0400

Guilderland Public Library (or any public library!)
http://www.guilderlandpublic.info/
Has story times throughout the week, to include an evening story
time, usually Mon at 6:30pm. Free movies on some weekends. Book clubs
etc. They have a good Parent-teacher section, lots of homeschooling
books.

Guilderland YMCA - this can get expensive, as I talked about
yesterday, for us, it's worth the cost as there are anywhere between
2-6 children in my house at any time. Full membership entitles full
use of the facility, to include a good share of yoga/aerobics/water
fitness classes, childcare for 1.5 hours per day per child, pool,

LOLBABIES!!!

Sylva — Mon, 18 Aug 2008 22:13:19 -0400

You've seen LOLcats, but this is better!

LOLbabies.

Well-Child Visits (Pediatricians and Parenting Advice)

Sylva — Wed, 13 Aug 2008 12:15:31 -0400

Follow-up to the beginning of the last post (Train of thought):

Pediatricians are usually required to take ONE nutrition course, a couple developmental courses, and a briefing on breast feeding. The whole well-child visits idea came from the need to ensure all children in the US were receiving on-time vaccinations. The well-visits correspond with a schedule of vaccinations.

The health promotion/preventive medicine aspect of the visits is after-the-fact, and pediatricians are asked to provide parenting advice and preventive medicine care, when their education has largely been based on ILLNESS and disease. Western medicine is non-holistic and based on treatment rather than prevention. Yet MDs trained in treatment are being asked to provide all sorts of recommendations that end up being largely anecdotal and rarely evidence-based.

Breast Feeding and Pediatricans

Sylva — Wed, 13 Aug 2008 12:04:34 -0400

In one of my online discussion forums, the topic of pediatricians and parenting advice comes up over and over again. Every day there's another mom saying, "My pediatrician said ______!! But from everything I read and researched, speaking with other professionals, and following my mom instincts, I should be doing something else! What do I do?!"

It ranges from breastfeeding/nutrition advice to ... more breastfeeding and nutrition advice! Sleeping and schedules also come up often.

After reading yet another post and reassuring yet another mom that she doesn't have to start cereal RIGHT NOW with her four-month old, that he WILL learn to swallow food (what neurologically intact baby doesn't develop that ability once their extrusion reflex goes away later on!), that she shouldn't limit breastfeeding (since that's his main source of nutrition for the first year), that solids are more about practice and experimentation, not particularly nutrition, I decided to write this post.

Dangerous Car Seats, Unethical Rental Companies

Sylva — Fri, 8 Aug 2008 18:02:00 -0400

I just found some disturbing information, given that when Mark and I traveled with Ezra to Madison, WI, we were considering renting a car seat from Hertz when we rented the car, though we ultimately bought Ezra his own seat on the plane and brought his car seat with us.

Evidently, in the past 9 months, several parents have attempted to rent car seats from Advantage Car Rentals with absolutely miserable experiences... unsafe, extremely expired seats (at least 12-22 year-old seats!!), dirty, missing parts, and worse.

Check out one traveling family's experience in December 2007 at the San Diego airport Advantage Rent-A-Car, and then.. the follow-up.

Troy Playground Rehab

Sylva — Mon, 21 Jul 2008 17:52:27 -0400

Troy kids take on park rehabilitation