AAP Urges Increased Attention to Nutrition For Young Children

While it has always been well known that good nutrition on both the macro and micronutrient level is a vital part of healthy development, emerging research is showing just how important this factor is, especially for infants and toddlers. In response, the Committee on Nutrition from the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) recently issued a new […]

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Parental Bed Sharing with Infants More Popular

Parents co-sleeping with their infants is a common and accepted practice worldwide.  In response to data linking co-sleeping with an increased rate of sudden infant death syndrome, however, the American Academy of Pediatrics since 1992 has recommended that infants share a room but not a bed with their infants.    This recent study from the […]

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Baby Sign Shown Not to Accelerate Language Development

An increasingly popular activity for parents of infants and early childhood education centers is to demonstrate to babies and encourage the use of basic sign language or “baby sign” for words such as “milk” or “hot.”  One touted benefit of the practice is the possibility that such activities foster accelerated language development, although this finding […]

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Prenatal Folic Acid Linked to Lower Rate of Autism

(NOTE:  This study has received a lot of press and coverage today but read on to gain new insights into important details of the study that may have influenced the results and interpretation) The usefulness of folic acid supplication to reduce the risk of neural tube defects is well known.  A new study from Norway […]

Can Pacifiers Stunt Emotional Growth?

The debate about pacifiers as useful aides to soothe crying infants versus developmentally stunting crutches has been with us for decades. This group of researchers from the University of Wisconsin and elsewhere set out to test the possibility that pacifier use was associated with a delay in emotional development. Their hypothesis was that increased pacifier […]

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Let them Cry? Pick them Up? Does it Matter?

The practice of letting infants cry it out on their own when they wake up at night versus picking them up and soothing them has been an ageless parenting dilemma, especially since sleep expert Ferber popularized his technique.   While there are many strong opinions on the subject, there is surprisingly little long-term data.  Approximately half […]

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