(HealthDay News) - Your baby's sleep environment should be carefully arranged to prevent injury.The National Safety Council offers these crib safety recommendations:Throw your older crib away if it has slats that are too far apart, lead paint or decorative cutouts that could harm your baby. The slats shouldn't be more than 2 3/8 inches apart.Choose a mattress that fits snugly inside the crib, with no gaps around the edges. Replace any mattress when you can insert two adult fingers between the mattress and the crib.Bumper pads should c ...

Taste of Breast Milk May Affect a Child's FeedingSpend enough time breast-feeding a new baby and that age-old question will likely pop up: Can what a mother eats affect the taste of her breast milk?Curious as to what infants can taste and when, scientists in Denmark fed various flavor capsules to 18 lactating women. They then took several milk samples throughout the day and found that what mom eats can flavor breast milk for up to 8 hours.Licorice flavor peaked strongly in breast milk two hours after the capsule, as did the caraway se ...

Nursing mothers have been shown how to produce the human equivalent of a banana milk shake from their breasts.All they have to do is munch a banana an hour or less before feeding time, scientists have discovered.Breast milk can be given other flavours the same way. In tests, women were able to make their milk taste of menthol, caraway seed and liquorice, as well as banana.Researchers believe the rich variety of flavours in breast milk may prime a child to try new foods later in life.The new Danish study at the University of Copenhagen ...

Houston County health experts are reminding parents to get their children immunized against life threatening diseases.Public Information Officer Jennifer Jones with the North Central Health District tells FOX 24 News, research shows that children who are up-to-date on recommended vaccines increase their protection against serious and life-threatening infections.Jones says with the 2008-2009 school year on the horizon, the Houston County Health Department is urging parents to set immunization appointments for their children because cer ...

ScienceDaily (July 23, 2008) - Papers delivered at three conferences in the US and Europe this summer report on new research at the University of Southern California Viterbi School of Engineering studying interactions of children with Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASD) with bubble-blowing robots.The preliminary studies, by Professor Maja Mataric and PhD student David Feil-Seifer of the USC Interaction Laboratory, confirm what has been widely reported anecdotally: that ASD children in many cases interact more easily with mechanical device ...

So often in my efforts to learn new kitchen tricks, I end up with recipes that require kitchen twine, exotic citrus and six different electric outlets. Not to mention every pot and pan I own.Enter my new niece, Olivia, and suddenly I have a need for kid-friendly, easy and straightforward recipes. I didn't know much about the art of making baby food, with the exception of a little-known fact that Pedialyte is an excellent hangover helper.Making your own baby food has replaced knitting in the mommy craze and is much easier, faster and c ...

Having a baby? Here's some advice on crying babies in the supermarket, from the book "Oh, Baby! Loving (and surviving!) Your Newborn's First Year" (Hundreds of Heads Books, www.hundredsofheads.com, $14.95), straight from people who've done it:"Keys and tic-tacs are good devices for soothing a crying baby in the supermarket. They're like little rattles. And if your baby is old enough, sit them up on the counter of the little shelf where you sign your credit card receipts - it usually surprises them so much they stop crying."---Dan Dupo ...

Canada's largest city has recommended that parents limit the cellphone use of their children, but Health Canada said in response that science does not show that cellphones are unsafe.Toronto Public Health has released a report that recommends that children cut down on their cellphone use to avoid exposure to radio frequencies, which the city says may prove to be a health risk. It recommends that children, where possible, use land lines, limit the length of cellphone calls, use headsets or hands-free options, and keep cellphones only f ...

It has been proven that when a mother breast feeds her baby, a "trust" hormone is released, enriching the mother to child bond.The BBC reports the hormone Oxytonin is released into the mother's brain, the same hormone that produces contractions during labor and allows milk to flow from the mammary glands.Studies show the hormone reduces fear and prompts feelings of trust and confidence.When the baby suckles, specialized neurons in the mother's brain release the hormone in intense bursts from the nerve endings.One professor involved in ...

DEWITT, N.Y. -- Ryder Park in DeWitt was home to a picnic Sunday. It was put on by the Central New York Chapter of the Autism Society of America.Organizers say they wanted to give something fun to the people who they help and help them out. There was music, food and games designed to raise awareness of autism."Everywhere you go, there you hear that someone is affected by autism. If it's their immediate family, their neighbor or someone their child goes to school with and we just want to promote awareness and you know it's just a part ...