lmilbrand

Melamine: Good for sturdy plastic plates, bad to ingest. And I'm very worried that my two daughters have been exposed to huge doses of it, courtesy of tainted formula in China. So I've been spending a lot of time bugging my pediatrician, trolling boards and contacting international adoption physicians (this is actually a specialty) to see what we should do.  Read more >

Halloween's just slightly below my daughter's birthday and Christmas in terms of big deals in our house. And so, we're already starting to plot out our holiday plans. Here's how we celebrate it: 1. We take the day off. Otherwise, we tend to miss giving out candy to the early-bird trick-or-treaters (i.e. the cutest little ones). 2. We give out the good stuff. No Bit-o-Honey or Smarties from us. It's mini candy bars all the way, and several of them for each trick-or-treater.  Read more >

If you're planning a party for a wee one (preschooler and under), I have one word for you: brunch. We've done this two years in a row for our daughter, and both times, it was a smashing success. Here's what you have going for you: 1. Most kids are morning people. My little one and her troupe of friends were all bright eyed and crank free at 10 a.m. And since the parents are now well used to being up at the break of dawn, they were reasonably awake then as well. (The coffee helped.)  Read more >

My article, "Can You Build a Better Baby?" made it into the current issue of Parents magazine--it's an interesting look at how the media twist research studies into political statements--and make a whole lot of moms feel guilty in the process. But the best part of the piece ended up on the cutting room floor: a sidebar that helps you suss out what a research study really says. Here's the scoop: Research studies make big news every day—but it can be hard to tell the difference between solid findings and junk science from a headline. Here’s how to separate fact from fiction.  Read more >