Lithuanian babies compete in this annual race for the fastest crawling baby. The trick for parents is how to lure their babies across the finish line. Computers and tech gadgets lured babies more than plush toys.
Bristol Palin covers People magazine in a red graduation gown holding her baby, Tripp. On the cover, Bristol Palin is quoted as saying that if "girls realized the consquences of having sex, nobody would be having sex." You can see the interview here. Bristol and Bristol's mother Sarah Palin have been fueding with Tripps' father Levi lately. Perhaps, the fued can fuel a series of magazine covers. Anything with Sarah Palin is likely to stay in the news as long as she is considered a possible 2012 presidential candidate.
Apple Inc. has pulled "Baby Shaker" from the iPhone App store afte widespread outrage. The 99-cent iPhone game has people quiet a crying baby by shaking the iPhone vigorously. That's a huge no no in the real world because shaking a baby can lead to shaken baby syndrome.
A spokesman at Banner Good Samaritan Medical Center announced that Lorena Puig gave birth Wednesday to quintuplets. There were three girls and two boys. It's not as many babies as the eight babies Nadya Denise Suleman delivered but five is still a lot of babies to have at one time. The couple will be moving into a new home in Touscon when the babies are all released in about ten weeks.
LeapFrog has a new device coming out called a "Text and Learn" that's targeted at young kids. The device is larger than a Blackberry and is being dubbed the Blackberry for Babies. The device does not really let kids connect with each other or to the Internet but it is meant to help them to learn spelling and computer skills. (via Shoppingblog.com)
A CNN article says the number of men turning to surrogates for children is on the increase. Exact numbers are hard to come by but one source cited by CNN says the number of gestational surrogate births quadrupeled between 1996 and 2006.
Surrogacy experts say because the practice is not regulated, many surrogacy arrangements are handled privately by individuals. Precise figures are hard to come by, but experts say there's no doubt the United States is experiencing a surrogacy baby boom.
Celebrities like Ricky Martin and Clay Aiken announced this year they had had babies with the help of surrogates and the the Society for Assisted Reproductive Technology, representing scores of reproductive clinics, reports that the number of gestational surrogate births in the country quadrupled between 1996 and 2006.
Surrogacy experts say gestational surrogacy has increased steadily since the advent of in vitro fertilization in the early 1980s, because it provides an extra layer of emotional and legal protection for the client. The egg donor usually does not even know the client, and unlike the legally contentious "Baby M" case from the 1980s, the surrogate is not giving birth to her genetic child.
The article lists a couple surrogacy agencies that have had big increases in clients lately. It also says men are willing to spend as much $100,000 to have a baby through surrogacy.
The Washington Post has an article that says some parents are removing children from daycare because of the recession. They says daycare costs can approach $1,000 a month. The downside is that parents will take kids to work or let them stay at home or with friends where they may not be watched as closely and the environment may be less safe.
For families with young children, day-care costs can rival a rent or mortgage payment, with an average that can approach almost $1,000 a month for one infant at a child-care center. But as hard times hit home, advocates and parents worry about what children stand to lose in the scaling back, both in early education and, even more, in safety.
"Our fear is that these children are being put in places where there are literally no safety requirements and no background screens, and we just don't know what they are being exposed to," said Linda K. Smith, executive director of the National Association of Child Care Resource and Referral Agencies.
Smith said she does not blame parents for what is "mostly a choice between bad and worse." But she says, "It is terrible in America that there are national policies and state policies that force families into these decisions."
The Washington Post is not the only paper to notice the daycare trend - see also here, here and here.
A company called CodeGoo has created an iPhone app that acts like a baby monitor. The listing on CodeGoo's website for the app can be found here.
Monitor your sleeping baby with this iPhone app. Simply place the iPhone near your sleeping baby, if it detects noise, it places a phone call to the number of your choice, you can then listen in for activity from your baby. Great for when you are on the go or traveling, no need to pack your regular baby monitor. One feature that makes this application exceptional is that the monitor has unlimited range!
Even use it to monitor when older kids arrive home from school, etc. The applications are unlimited. It also will detect if your baby picks up the phone. Great for curious toddlers that wake up from their nap without making noise. A fantastic value at only $4.99 cents.
Listening is not the same as seeing but it is still a neat idea. The cost is $4.99. More discussion of this iPhone app can be found here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here and here.
Can the names celebrities select for their babies influence other parents? It sure looks that way. A recent study of New York baby names found Jayden at #2. Jayden is the name of Britney Spears second child.
As they search for the perfect name, many New Yorkers look to the stars. Pop singer Rhianna (#70), British actresses Sienna (#60) and Keira (#61) and American screen stars Scarlett (#68), Charlize (#84) and Reese (#142) all made the list. Suri (#83) and Jayden (#2), names chosen by celebrity parents Will Smith and Katie Holmes, also left an impression on New Yorkers.
Here's the top list of baby names out of New York City.
MOST POPULAR BABY NAMES NEW YORK CITY, 2007
Rank
Girls
Boys
1
Isabella/Sophia(Tied)
Daniel
2
Emily
Jayden
3
Ashley
Michael
4
Sarah
Matthew
5
Kayla
Justin
6
Mia
Joshua
7
Olivia
David
8
Samantha
Anthony
9
Rachel
Christopher
10
Madison
Joseph
Total
63,081
65,880
Gothamist has an informative article on the New York baby name report. You can find the official report here on the nyc.gov website.
Babies Being Named After Barack Obama In Kenya, U.S.
Tuesday night's victory for Barack Obama is proving to be very inspirational in Kenya. The CNN video below talkes about Kenyan mothers naming their newborns Barack, Obama or Michelle. Barack Obama is also inspiring baby names in the U.S.
The Washington Post reports that the recent recall of Delta cribs has the Consumer Product Safety Commission planning to issue new regulations dealing with crib hardware problems.
After two infant deaths triggered the recall of 1.6 million cribs Monday, federal safety regulators are moving to address a longstanding gap in crib safety regulations: durability standards.
The Consumer Product Safety Commission plans to issue new regulations that deal with the hardware problems that have been at the center of five recent crib recalls and contributed to the deaths of at least two other children.
Details of the Delta crib recall can be found here. The CSPC also has a page that provides safety tips for all cribs. Here's an AP video that talks about the recalled cribs. It explains how with these cribs the drop-side can disengage and a hazardous gap can be created where a baby can become entrapped and possibly suffocate.
Minnie Driver avoided the celebrity baby photo shoots and put a picture of her son Henry on her MySpace account instead of on the cover of a magazine. You can see the photograph here. There are hundreds of comments underneath it. It sure is a great picture. The BBC says Minnie so far has not named the baby's father.
The 38-year-old posted a photograph of one-month-old son Henry Story Driver on her page on the social networking site.
The picture shows the Good Will Hunting and The Riches star holding her sleeping child against her chest.
The Oscar-nominated actress, who revealed her pregnancy in March, has so far declined to name the baby's father.
Blog Focuses Solely on Barack Obama Holding Babies
The adorable pictures of presidential candidates holding babies always make the newspapers. Now there is a blog called Yes We Can (Hold Babies) which is dedicated to showing pictures of Barack Obama holding babies. It's a clever idea and a blog for John McCain holding babies can not be too far behind.
A company called CodeGoo has created an iPhone app that acts like a baby monitor. The listing on CodeGoo's website for the app can be found 
Can the names celebrities select for their babies influence other parents? It sure looks that way. A recent study of New York baby names found Jayden at #2. Jayden is the name of Britney Spears second child.
Minnie Driver avoided the celebrity baby photo shoots and put a picture of her son Henry on her 
