Plan a Dedicated Birthday Party Are your weekends filled with holiday concerts at school, family dinner parties, and never-ending holiday shopping trips? You’re not alone. Chat with key family members and friends well in advance to find a mutual time that works for everyone to gather for a family birthday party. Don’t piggy-back the birthday celebration onto a seasonal event. The child should have an afternoon or evening dedicated to feeling special and celebrated....

Researchers from the University of Oxford released a groundbreaking study in June, published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, that found that the brain chemical gamma-aminobutyric acid is significant to developing a brain region that impacts memory, learning, reasoning, cognitive functioning, and more. Even more importantly, the chemical levels they found could predict math attainment 19 months later, suggesting they impact the brain’s neuroplasticity. Why Teen Brains Need Math Psychologist Raquel Libbin, PhD, explains that the crucial chemical the study is analyzing will help teens in their future in ways we haven’t even fully understood yet....

Happy Meal Options Kids can choose either the chain’s classic hamburger or chicken McNuggets (four or six-piece) for their Happy Meal entrée. If your kid wants a cheeseburger rather than a plain hamburger, just ask. While it is no longer advertised as a meal option, a cheeseburger can be substituted at a customer’s request. The child-sized meal comes with a small side of fries, but kids can also choose to add a Yoplait Go-GURT Low-Fat Strawberry Yogurt or apple slices....

Depending on the size of the mirror, stand or sit in front of one with your child beside you. You can pretend you are on TV. First, start dancing with the face and head, moving eyes, noses, and eyelashes. Then add the shoulders and neck. Continue to dance with other body parts, watching how you both look in the mirror. You might like to try a duet with both of you doing the same thing while looking in the mirror....

The physical experience of miscarriage, on the other hand, is fairly predictable, depending on in which stage of the pregnancy it took place. If you’ve recently lost a pregnancy, you may get some small comfort from having an understanding of what is happening in your body. How Much Cramping Is Normal? If you have a miscarriage very early in your pregnancy—within the first several weeks—it will feel as if you’re having a heavy period with cramps that are more intense and painful than usual....

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The first bath I gave my daughter It was short and scary, barely a few minutes before her screams and tears got the best of me. She wasn’t used to it. The floating feeling and the change in temperature were too awkward and weird. To this day, she’s still a bit cautious when it comes to new experiences. For me, the warnings about how an infant can drown in as little as an inch of water took over my thoughts....

If you have a milk bleb, it might look like a smooth, shiny, singular white or yellow dot (similar to a whitehead pimple). Milk blisters are often associated with a plugged milk duct, but they can also cause plugged ducts. Sometimes they are painful, other times they don’t hurt at all. A nipple bleb will typically go away on its own, particularly with continued breastfeeding, or various remedies may be used to help it resolve more quickly....

What Are Nitrates? Vegetables pick up nitrates from the soil they are grown in. Synthetic fertilizers can introduce nitrates into the soil, and some nitrates are produced naturally when bacteria in the soil break down certain components. While organic veggies might have lower traces of nitrates from synthetic fertilizer, they will still contain naturally occurring nitrates from the bacterial breakdown in the soil. Nitrates are also sometimes added to foods like bacon to preserve them....

From one new mama to another, can we talk about baby sleep? Or more like LACK of baby sleep. We can all agree that we would do just about anything for a solid stretch of night sleep and a few good naps during the day to get a workout and a load of laundry in or let’s be real, scroll our Instagram feeds and finish that cold cup of coffee from early this morning....

If you’re considering adoption, you’ll want to compare the different arrangements and understand the risks involved. Be honest with yourself about what you want, don’t want, and what exceptions you’d be willing to make as you undergo the adoption process. Just know that adoption is a lifelong arrangement and no situation is exactly the same. Types of Adoptions While there are many different ways to adopt, each has its own short-term and long-term challenges....

The test checks for abnormal cervical cells, which could mean cervical cancer. It’s a good idea to get regular Pap smears even when you’re not pregnant. Your doctor will likely recommend getting your first Pap test by age 21—or three years after first having sexual intercourse—and then every three years until age 29. What Happens During a Pap Smear During a Pap smear, you undress from the waist down and lie on your back on an examining table, where you will spread your legs and put your feet into stirrups....

How Will You React? Whether it’s As, Ds, or grades in between – what’s the best way to react to your child’s report card? Read on to find your situation and a custom list of tips, along with ideas to help your child improve. My Child Works Very Hard, But Her Grades are Low. Tips for Talking with Your Child If you work with your child every night and she’s still not getting the material, be gentle with her....

Or does “team” make you think of game-playing and competition? Jockeying for position and advantage, trash talking, or rivalries over leadership and playing time? Your dealings with the “team” that plans your child’s Individualized Education Plan (IEP) may reflect one or both of those visions, and there may be times you’ll wish you could load up on protective padding before heading in to be tackled again. Other times, you may feel that you and your teammates are actually on the same side, trying to score on behalf of your child and not against one another....

What is Dysmenorrhea? Dysmenorrhea is the fancy word for menstrual pain. This can range from mild to extreme discomfort. Unfortunately, painful periods are a stereotypical part of a woman’s monthly cycle. Nonetheless, it is important to note that there are two categories of this condition. Primary dysmenorrhea begins when an adolescent female starts menstruating. This level of pain continues throughout her reproductive years with no drastic changes over time. These cramps can be intense, but usually only occur right before and during her period....

Phocomelia is a rare defect. This wasn’t always the case, however. In the 1960s, thalidomide—a drug intended to treat anxiety and morning sickness—was recalled for being unsafe for use in pregnancy. This discovery came at the expense of over 10,000 children born with birth defects around the world, phocomelia being a prominent anomaly caused by this drug. The 1960s also saw an uptick in reports of miscarriages. However, despite being strictly regulated worldwide, incidents of thalidomide-induced phocomelia may arise in underdeveloped countries where this drug is still used as a treatment for leprosy....

Fairly stiff white paper (lamp shade paper works well; get it white on one side, colored on the other)Red construction paper (or other kind of paper)A sharp needle or piercer (like a small skewer) glue (optional)

In some of the nation’s sunbelt, drowning has been the leading cause of accidental death in the home of children under 5 years old. The information below can help parents and caregivers provide young children with the protection they deserve. Each year, nationwide, more than 300 children under 5 years old drown in residential swimming pools, usually a pool owned by their family. In addition, more than 2,000 children in that age group are treated in hospital emergency rooms for submersion injures....