Purchasing Children Toys

Learning should be fun: that's the reason why many toys are advertised as educational. Kids learn best when they are involved in their learning, when they are actively participating, doing something or trying something new.

So, how do you know which toys will be both fun and educational? The first thing to consider is the child you're buying the toy for: how old is the child? What is his or her skill level? You wouldn't want to buy a science kit for an infant. Likewise, you wouldn't want to buy an alphabet puzzle for a gifted fourth grader.

Once you have the most basic idea of the child in mind, there are five key points to consider when purchasing children’s toys.

1. Is the toy safe? Does a toy for a small child have small pieces that make it a choking hazard? Are the paints used for a craft project non-toxic? Are any chemicals used in a science kit that might be dangerous? The big thing to consider when buying any child's toy is that it is safe for the child.

2. Is the toy fun and appealing? Is the toy colorful and attention getting? Will the child want to play with it? If you are unsure, ask for recommendations or read reviews from others who have bought the toy. Regardless of how much you think the child could learn from the toy, if it's not something that he or she will want to play with, it would be better to purchase something else.

3. What is the overall quality of the product? Is it going to last? Are you getting what you pay for? A toy that breaks the first time it is played with isn't much fun. An educational toy that makes lofty promises but doesn't fulfill any of them is not worth a higher price.

4. Does the toy encourage open-ended imaginative play? Is the toy geared towards a specific educational purpose? High quality educational children’s toys encourage imagination. Puzzles and games often help to build critical thinking skills by developing a child's ability to reason and to develop strategies. Project-based toys help kids to learn to follow directions and to develop fine-motor skills.

5. Are there any lessons involved that you would not want the child to learn? Is the toy violent? Does it contribute to racism? Is it sexist? While most toy manufacturers develop products that contain only positive messages, there are some toys that may seem to deliver inappropriate messages.


By taking these questions into consideration, you will have taken the first steps towards buying an appropriate educational toy.

While buying a child's educational toy may seem complicated, there are some toys that are suggested for different age groups to give you an idea of where to begin. For pre-school aged children, consider activity mats, musical instruments, matching and memory games, and simple puzzles.

Because children learn quickly, it's important to evaluate when they have outgrown a toy so that another can be introduced. As kids grow up and begin school, look for toys that will encourage their interest in the areas where they struggle – word games for kids who need to improve their vocabulary, math games for kids who are challenged by numbers.

Of course, educational does not always mean that a toy has to have a classroom focus. Team sports encourage kids to be active, but they also help to improve hand-eye coordination and teach the value of working together to achieve a common goal.

So, which educational toy is most beneficial? The answer is any toy that makes learning fun for the child who plays with it. Fortunately, there are a wide variety of educational toys on the market, and you're bound to find one that's great for the child in your life.

Elly, Educational Toys Planet

Choosing Baby Toys

After two hours in a toy store, picking a PERFECT toy for your PERFECT baby, you finally proudly present another cute and cuddly fluffy to your little precious child only to find out, that this toy is destined to be collecting dust just like your baby’s other possessions in the toy chest. What’s wrong? According to the founder of the Institute of Achievement of Human Potential, the author of revolutionary books “How to Teach Your Baby To Read”, “How to Teach your Baby Math” and others, the child spends approximately ninety seconds playing with an average toy: a small child looks at it, feels it, tastes it, sniffs it, bangs it on a floor or shakes it in the air to see if it makes noise. All human senses have tested the new toy. Now the toy gets thrown out….

Does it mean the baby’s attention span is so short or that he is not smart enough? Quite the opposite: “…he wants desperately to learn everything he can, and as quickly as possible.” (Glenn Doman, How To Teach Your Baby To Read, The Gentle Revolution Press, 2002. P.25) The baby is smart enough to examine every object quickly, learn from it as soon as he can and move on – he has a whole world ahead of him and doesn’t have a second to waste!

So, does it mean giving him toys is useless? No. All children development researches constantly prove what every mother already knows – that her baby has a hidden genius inside, waiting to be unleashed. Or... never to be discovered… To help the inner genius to come out of hiding, we need to provide our baby the environment stimulating enough for him to learn as fast as he wants. There are dozens of books on how to interact with your baby, how to improve his strength, health, nutrition, how to teach him. This article is purely about fun time: how to select toys that your children will enjoy for longer then 90 seconds and that will help his development.

Yes, toys actually can help your child to develop, leading him to good grades, good friends, good skills. But since the selection is so vast and needs of children of different ages are so different, today we will concentrate on selecting toys for the youngest ones – for your cute little baby.

First, lets consider safety: I’ll never forget the huge bump on a head of my little boy, who figured out how to shake a rattle for the first time and the canny rattle hit him with all the great might of a happy baby hand! Check for items that can become loose and turn into chocking hazards. Check for sharp edges targeting your dearest baby’s skin, check for parts that can break while inquisitive little explorer is going to bang it against the floor, check the loose stitching that can give in to curious little fingers revealing harmful filling inside. Now, consider how you can please every one of those senses that baby will use to study her toy: every effort baby makes to understand and learn something, will result in another brain neurological connection being made. You don’t need to be an Einstein to realize, that the more neurological connections there is – the smarter your baby is going to be in the future!

The baby will feel the toy with his hand. Let’s try to pick something with variable texture: smooth, rough, soft, bumpy, slippery, and fuzzy. Plastic, fur, cloth, rubber, wood, silk, velvet – the more, the merrier! The more textures there are for the baby to explore, the longer he will stay exploring the toy. Aha, we already managed to keep his attention on the toy for longer then 90 seconds, right? Now, he will taste it. Of course you already checked the toy for safety, right? May be you want to put it into your mouth to see if there are no protruding parts, that could poke him inside? Is it comfortable for the little hands, is it convenient to grab? Time to listen to it. Luckily, our toy industry is working hard to entice the sense of hearing – most of the songs beep like a cell phone, mew like a cat, howl like a siren, play like a piano… Make sure you try ALL of those sounds. It is time to think of your own sanity: babies often become so fascinated with sounds, that they turn them on and on for hours – can you tolerate this that long?

My nephew once had a toy bus that was playing “Wheels on the bus go round and round” for hours, and hours, and hours… Nobody in a family could escape the headache. His Dad finally managed to sneak into the room and secretly take the batteries out.

My baby has got a toy car, that was singing “Are you driving, are you driving” any time anybody would walk past it. It didn’t take me long to transform the words into “Driving nuts! Driving nuts!” Homeland Security should throw these toys into the bad guys to shake up their sanity! Trust me, nobody could sustain the attack of even a few minutes of this tune. May be a variety of sounds would be better? How about an ability to make the sound level louder or softer? Once again, I urge you to listen to the tunes: babies will listen to anything you give them, so do you want your child play this silly song for hours or would you rather prefer him to get acquainted with beauty of Mozart’s pieces (“Twinkle-Twinkle little star” for the beginners in classical music, “Eine Kleine Nachtmusik” for more advanced – I am talking about you, since for baby both will sound pleasing and interesting – your baby may be small, but not dumb, so he is entitled for a good music just as you are!) If the toy is making animal sounds, think again if you want your baby to learn how the real piggy talks or the strange grumping sounds produced by some hungover dude.

Just looking at the toy is going to be one of the primary methods of examining it! Multiple bright colors will help develop his vision, variable patterns – his ability to concentrate on detail, letters, numbers, shapes – even if he doesn’t know those objects yet, he will remember them for later.

Now let’s see other developmental peculiarities of a toy: it has animal pictures all over? Do they actually look like RECOGNIZABLE animals? It is an honorable effort to introduce your baby to the abstract art, but it is better to use famous museum pieces for that amiable purpose. To make your baby learn animals, select toys with animals that you can positively identify as such, not some suspicious monsters. If you think your 7 year old would do a better job drawing the cat, then the toy’s decorator, then skip this toy and move on to something more comprehensible.

It is a good idea to keep in mind that smallest babies can’t even distinguish the details and color tunes, so for infants it is better forgo the pastels, and stick to primary colors (white, black, red, yellow, blue), shapes and textures. Wavy lines, checkerboard patterns, dots and lozenges will do a better job for a developing brain of an infant, then indistinguishable for it tiny doggies, kitties.

Ahhh, yeah – size matters.

Size of the toy matters – we have already talked about convenience of grabbing by the little hands. If the toy has any buttons, check if it is easy enough to press it for the baby of your age. The bigger – isn’t necessarily the better – at first your baby would not be able to reach from one huge button to the next. And, obviously, babies don’t develop fine motor skills until about 7 months, so if you are choosing a toy for a younger baby, make sure that buttons and controls are large and easy enough for him to pull.

Size of the pictures matters a lot more than you think. The research shows that for small kids it is easier to comprehend and remember objects displayed in large sizes. Small babies absolutely adore really huge cardboard books that you present to them and prefer just munching of the small and cute ones that inspire so many “aaaahh” and “sooooh cute” of your girlfriends. Once your baby grows at least a few years, she will be able to admire the cute Little People or her own tiny library, but now – let her enjoy large and clear images, large and clear messages, large buttons, easy to pull controls.

You like this toy since it has all the numbers, colors, letters, and shapes? Good job on selecting variety of things to help development of your baby’s visual pathways! But to ensure your baby actually learns them (not merely distinguishes them), either you, or the toy should NAME every one of those, at least once in a while. Point and name the letters, shapes, colors – even if your baby is so tiny, he will not miss this opportunity to learn and surprise you one day, confirming that your firm belief in his inner genius proved to be true! To a reasonable extent, of course.

Your baby’s sense of smell our toy industry has not indulged yet – the toys do not have different smells yet. That’s until your baby will play with it, slather it with his solid foods, saturate with his saliva, drop it into a really dusty corner. Then it is going to be the time to appeal to your sense of smell. And common sense too – since you want your baby playing with CLEAN toys, your selection should be easily washable (preferably – machine-wash or dishwasher safe, but at least – easy to wipe with a clean wet cloth).

Now, finally, what can the toy do? The larger the set of activities, the better. And by that we do not mean more buttons - instead, look for various activities: twisting, pulling, dragging, opening (kids most popular) and closing, reflecting, etc. Look for substitutes – can you change the toys around, so that it looks like a different toy? Can you add items to this toy, such as easily adding or removing toys from a baby gym, or placing something different inside opening compartment? The more activities you can come up with while playing with that toy in a store, the longer your baby will play with it at home.

Keep in mind that babies LOVE movement. My 4 months son could spent as much as an hour examining simple blue whale, that was singing and vibrating, moving across the surface: he loved to watch the whale move across the surface as it vibrated, catching him with his arms and trying to shovel into his mouth, enjoying the vibrations of the tail against his teething gums. But once the whale stops moving, my baby starts whaling for me to come up with a new entertainment – standing whale is absolutely useless for him – he already learned everything there is to learn about velvety rounded toy and can’t wait to explore the mechanics of him moving through the space. So, I turn on the whale, and the fun begins!

The last but not least: don’t be afraid of the toys aimed at larger children. Be careful and never leave your baby with such toys unattended, but babies learn amazingly fast and you would be surprised how many uses your baby will find for a more advanced toy: my tiny baby could spend hours with the saucer-like activity board for 9 month olds. Initially, he enjoyed just the lights on the buttons, later – reaching and for the buttons and banging on them, then – sucking on a wheel and rolling the ball… and every few days he surprises me with a new motion that he can accomplish in making this board produce new sounds and actions.

Finally… have fun playing! How? That’s a separate topic that we would be happy to present to you in the near future.

Elly, Educational Toys Planet

“Containerized” Infants: How Products are Affecting Our Babies’ Brains

By Rae Pica

Besides the fact that they were built to do so, there are a great many reasons why infants need to move. The truth is, even though their movement capabilities are extremely limited when compared with even those of a toddler, movement experiences may be more important for infants than for children of any other age group. And it’s not all about motor development either.

Thanks to new insights in brain research, we now know that early movement experiences are considered essential to the neural stimulation (the “use-it-or-lose-it” principle involved in the keeping or pruning of brain cells ) needed for healthy brain development.

Not long ago, neuroscientists believed that the structure of a human brain was genetically determined at birth. They now realize that although the main “circuits” are “prewired” (for such functions as breathing and the heartbeat), the experiences that fill each child’s days are what actually determine the brain’s ultimate design and the nature and extent of that child’s adult capabilities.

An infant’s brain, it turns out, is chock-full of brain cells (neurons) at birth. (In fact, a one-pound fetus already has 100 billion of them!) Over time, each of these brain cells can form as many as 15,000 connections (synapses) with other brain cells. And it is during the first three years of life that most of these connections are made. Synapses not used often enough are eliminated. On the other hand, those synapses that have been activated by repeated early experiences tend to become permanent. And it appears that physical activity and play during early childhood have a vital role in the sensory and physiological stimulation that results in more synapses.

Neurophysiologist Carla Hannaford, in her excellent book, Smart Moves: Why Learning Is Not All in Your Head, states: “Physical movement, from earliest infancy and throughout our lives, plays an important role in the creation of nerve cell networks which are actually the essence of learning.”

She then goes on to relate how movement, because it activates the neural wiring throughout the body, makes the entire body — not just the brain — the instrument of learning.

Gross and fine motor skills are learned through repetition as well — both by virtue of being practiced and because repetition lays down patterns in the brain. Although it hasn’t been clearly determined that such early movements as kicking, waving the arms, and rocking on hands and knees are “practice” for later, more advanced motor skills, it’s believed that they are indeed part of a process of neurological maturation needed for the control of motor skills. In other words, these spontaneous actions prepare the child – physically and neurologically – to later perform more complex, voluntary actions.

Then, once the child is performing voluntary actions (for example, rolling over, creeping, and walking), the circle completes itself, as these skills provide both glucose (the brain’s primary source of energy) and blood flow (“food”) to the brain, in all likelihood increasing neuronal connections.

According to Rebecca Anne Bailey and Elsie Carter Burton, authors of The Dynamic Self: Activities to Enhance Infant Development, whenever babies move any part of their bodies, there exists the potential for two different kinds of learning to occur: learning to move and moving to learn.

Still, recent evidence indicates that infants are spending upward of 60 waking hours a week in things – high chairs, carriers, car seats, and the like!

The reasons for this trend are varied. Part of the problem is that more and more infants are being placed in childcare centers, where there may not be enough space to let babies roam the floor. Or, given the number of infants enrolled, there may be little opportunity for caregivers to spend one-on-one time with each baby. This means, in the morning, an infant is typically fed, dressed, and then carried to the automobile, where she’s placed in a car seat. She’s then carried into the childcare center, where she may spend much of her time in a crib or playpen. At the end of the day, she’s picked up, placed again into the car seat, and carried back into the house, where she’s fed, bathed, and put to bed.

Even when parents are home with baby, they seem to be busier than ever these days. Who has time to get on the floor and creep around with a child? Besides, with today’s emphasis on being productive, playing with a baby would seem almost a guilty pleasure! And if the baby seems happy and safe in a seat placed conveniently in front of the TV, in a bouncer hung in a doorway, or cruising about in a walker, then what’s the harm? It’s a win/win situation, isn’t it?

In fact, it isn’t. Being confined (as one colleague says: “containerized”) affects a baby’s personality; they need to be held. It may also have serious consequences for the child’s motor – and cognitive – development.

Other trends in today’s society having an impact on infants’ opportunities to move are the inclination to restrict, rather than encourage, freedom of movement and the misguided belief that early academic instruction will result in superbabies. (In 1999, 770,000 copies of infant software – “lapware” – were sold!)

Humans are meant to move and play. The inclination – the need – is hardwired into them. Babies, in fact, spend nearly half of their waking time – 40% – doing things like kicking, bouncing, and waving their arms. And while it may appear all this activity is just for the sake of moving, it’s important to realize a baby is never “just moving” or “just playing.” Every action extends the child’s development in some way.

© Rae Pica

Rae Pica is a children’s physical activity specialist and author of Your Active Child: How to Boost Physical, Emotional, and Cognitive Development through Age-Appropriate Activity (McGraw-Hill, 2003). Rae speaks to parent and education groups throughout North America. Visit her and read more articles at http://www.movingandlearning.com.

Love and Work, Work and Love

By Julie Jordan Scott

My day started merrily today. Please read that again, with your tongue firmly entrenched in your cheek. Yes, my day started merrily today. I’ll put it in a nutshell for you. Sam, my five-year-old, is having challenges with his digestive system.

When it looked like it was a temporary challenge, I lit a candle and set it on my entry way altar. I recited my most recent quote-to-live-by, “My work is to love.” Mary Oliver said it so it must be true.

Sam made another mess which I cleaned, mopped and scrubbed up.

“My work is to love.” I said with a minor amount of vigor. “My work is to love.” In cleaning up like this, I was loving my family and myself. I walked down the hallway, past the bathroom, and there was another surprise for me. I went to fetch the mop and bucket from the kitchen. I caught Katherine’s eye and said, “I love being a Mom when you guys are sick.”

My wise fifteen-year-old daughter replied, “You love being a Mom all the time.” I trudged down the hall while she continued. “Can you imagine life without us?”

She had a valid point there. I could not imagine life without them.

Sam had followed me to the bathroom. He felt no guilt or remorse for adding to my to-do list for the day. That is how it should be. He shouldn’t feel remorseful for having digestive problems. It is a normal part of life and “my work is to love.”

I mopped it up and lifted Sam onto the counter which I disinfected before and after he sat there. I got a washcloth and warmed it with water and washed him off, too. He laughed, not at all upset at any part of his day. I smiled at my precious boy and remembered, “My work is to love.”

I returned to prior task with a smile on my face. I looked up from my writing to take a breath when I caught a glimpse of it. My altar. I can see my altar from my desk. It looks so pretty. There is a clock there, a couple candles, an assortment of pinecones, acorns, candles, a sculptured angel, a pomegranate and an empty wine bottle. The “my work is love” candle is giving me a hug from a distance.

Behind me, Sam and Katherine are high-fiving and Emma is sitting at the dining room table, drawing and writing. I can feel my work, my love, filling me. I can not imagine my life without them. I can not imagine my life without my work. Love. Love. Love. Work. Work. Work.

Kahlil Gibran said, “Work is love made visible.”

I agree with my wise friends and my daughter. My most important work, where I make the most significant contribution, is when I love.

© Julie Jordan Scott

Julie Jordan Scott is a Writer, Life Coach, Poet, Speaker, Actor, Director and Mom Extraordinaire whose deepest passion
is helping people - like you - discover and live with passion. Call 661.444.2735 to book your complimentary coaching session or visit www.5passions.com for plentiful resources to live a passion-rich life.

Prepare for Birth with Prenatal Yoga

By Karen Prior

When to Start Practicing
Women should take it easy for the first 12 weeks of pregnancy to allow their bodies to adjust to the changes of pregnancy. Prenatal yoga classes are for healthy women in their 2nd and 3rd trimesters and can be safely attended right up until you go into labor. Consult with your physician/midwife before starting any exercise program.

Women who have a history of miscarriage or who had trouble conceiving should wait until 16 weeks to give the pregnancy time to settle. Talk to your yoga instructor about some simple and safe exercises that can be practiced in the first trimester.

Guidelines for Practice
The first thing to remember is that every pregnancy is different, even for the same woman, so it is best to listen to your body at all times and only do what feels right to you. If you are new to yoga, now is not the time for over-achieving, so take it easy, especially when trying new poses.

What to wear: Wear lightweight, non-restrictive clothing. Many women wear leggings and t-shirts. Yoga is practiced with bare feet; please do not wear socks during class because this can pose a risk of slipping and falling. Some women like to put on socks and pullovers before relaxation.

Equipment: Start each class with a sticky mat, a bolster and a blanket. Check with your teacher to see if equipment is provided.
Regular Practice: Pregnant women should get regular exercise a minimum of 3 times a week. Exercising less than this or exercising sporadically can actually be harmful. If you can’t make it to yoga class three times per week, talk to your instructor about at-home exercises and prenatal yoga videos. Swimming and brisk walking are great exercise options during pregnancy.

Get off your back: The American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists cautions women about exercising on their backs after 12 weeks because reduced cardiac output coupled with the weight of the uterus which can restrict blood and oxygen flow to the fetus. Other experts give similar cautions ranging from 12 to 20 weeks depending on maternal weight gain and uterus size. Mamaste Yoga instructors do not teach supine (back-lying) postures to 2nd and 3rd trimester students.

Food & Water: Please eat a small snack of complex carbohydrates and/or protein, 30 minutes to 1 hour before class to prevent blood sugar from falling. Also bring a bottle of water to class to sip on occasionally. Normally the stomach and bladder should be empty before practicing yoga, mainly because many postures increase intra-abdominal pressure and can cause problems. We do not do these postures in prenatal classes so it is fine to eat lightly before class and drink water during class. Please do empty the bladder before class and feel free to visit the bathroom as often as needed during class.

Listen to Your Body: You must remember during any exercise, should you feel uncomfortable, discontinue the movement. You must listen to your body. If it’s tired or fatigued, do not push it. Your body is doing enough work creating your baby, be gentle with yourself. If an instructor holds a position too long, feel free to come out and rest in child’s pose. Report any pregnancy concerns to your health care provider. Stop exercising immediately and contact your physician/midwife if you experience any of the following:

• Vaginal bleeding
• Fever of 100 degrees or higher
• Uterine contractions with 20 minute or shorter intervals
• Vomiting more than a few times in 1 hour
• Sudden dimmed or blurred vision
• Sudden dizziness or faintness
• Severe persistent headache
• Leaking of fluid from vagina
• Reduced fetal activity
• Sudden swelling (edema)
• Frequent burning urination
• Pain of any kind: back, pubic bone, chest, abdominal
• Heart rhythm abnormalities
• Shortness of breath not associated with exercise

If your baby is still breech (in a head up position) after 35 weeks, your instructor can give you some gentle postures to do at home that have been known to facilitate turning. Regardless of whether your baby has turned, we do not recommend that you practice full, unsupported squats after 35 weeks; you may practice them on a bolster. When labor begins, you may return to full squats if you feel like it.

© Karen Prior

Karen Prior’s impressive breadth of knowledge in the therapeutic uses of yoga, nutrition and prenatal fitness is backed by solid credentials: she is a registered yoga teacher with the Yoga Alliance, a member of the International Association of Yoga Therapists, a clinical nutritionist and a retired La Leche League leader. Karen runs a Registered Yoga School, where she offers specialized training in prenatal yoga and yoga for children through her programs MamasteYogaLet’sPlayYoga. Karen lives in Texas with her husband and young daughter. and

Cooking for Families With Food Allergies

By Susan Palmquist

Maybe it’s an allergy to peanuts, wheat or even lactose intolerance — a food allergy in itself can be frustrating, but sometimes the biggest hurdle to overcome is serving meals that the whole family can enjoy. With some creativity and a game plan, you can make dishes sure to please everyone.

I recently spoke with Jodi Bager and Jenny Lass and asked them to share their tips on meal preparation for people with allergies. The two women are authors of The Grain-free Gourmet that contains recipes that are not only grain-free, but also refined sugar-free and low in lactose. Bager and Lass both have first-hand experience living with restrictive diets. Lass has celiac disease, while Bager has ulcerative colitis. They both follow the Specific Carbohydrate Diet and decided to team up to write a cookbook several years after they met at a potluck dinner.

Don’t make anyone feel left out

Bager says the most important thing is to never make the person, especially a child, feel like they’re different because of their allergy. “Try and feed everyone the same food,” she explains. “Don’t make it a sacrifice for the person — but at the same time, don’t deprive other family members. Make sure everyone’s getting what they want.”

Lass adds that you should select cooking methods that are easy on the cook such as a one-pot stew that freezes and reheats well that everyone likes. And while you should give everyone some choices, Bager and Lass suggest you don’t offer too many options, because you’ll never get everyone to decide on one dish.

Don’t totally discard perennial family favorites like tacos and lasagna just because someone has a food allergy. “In our cookbook, you’ll find a lasagna made with zucchini instead of pasta, and there’s also a recipe for tacos using a slice of provolone cheese instead of a taco shell,” says Bager.

Another problem that often crops up is when a child with a food allergy goes to eat at someone else’s house. “I think most parents want to be accommodating, so it’s simple enough to explain what they can and cannot eat,” Bager notes. “Another idea is to have the other child over to your house for a meal before the visit. Serve them something like the tacos, and it’s almost guaranteed that he’ll go home and ask his parents to make the same meal when your child comes to eat at his house.”

Eating out

Eating out is another challenge for people with food sensitivities. Both Lass and Bager suggest you stick with pure, whole foods. Try ethnic restaurants — places like Greek eateries, where you can order fish with just lemon and pepper as seasonings and perhaps a side of veggies.

Bager says most problems arise when people eat processed foods, so fast foods restaurants aren’t your best bet. “Don’t be afraid to ask your server what’s in the food, because you’ll be surprised what can show up,” she warns. One example she gives is breakfast fare. Many people order omelets, but sometimes they’re not made from real eggs and have milk added to them. Bager suggests going with eggs cooked over-easy or sunny-side up.

And don’t be shy about carrying things like your own salad dressing when you dine out.

Making connections

If you’re looking for other families coping with food allergies or need more resources, Lass suggests doing an internet search to find an association that deals with your particular allergy. Another idea is to talk to your family doctor, who can probably put you in touch with a local support group.

Read more about Bager and Lass and find sample recipes at Grain-Free Gourmet.

© Susan Palmquist

Susan Palmquist is a freelance writer who specializes in food, health and wellness topics. She writes a monthly column and two weekly columns, the latest called The Budget Smart Girl’s Guide to the Universe.

Local Honey: Can It Alleviate Allergies?

By Tom Ogren

As one who makes his living by writing about allergies and asthma, I am often asked about the potential health benefits of using local honey. Here I am talking about alleviating allergy symptoms, not “curing” allergies, which is far easier said than done.

Honey contains bits and pieces of pollen and honey. As an immune system booster, it is quite powerful. In talks and articles and in my books, I advocate using local honey. Frequently I’ll get e-mails from readers who want to know exactly what I mean by local honey, and how “local” should it be. This is what I usually advise.

The local honey advantage

Allergies arise from continuous overexposure to the same allergens. If, for example, you live in an area where there is a great deal of red clover growing and if in addition you often feed red clover hay to your own horses or cattle, then it likely you are exposed over and over to pollen from this same red clover. Now, red clover pollen is not especially allergenic but still, with time, a serious allergy to it can easily arise.

Another example: if you lived in a southern area where bottlebrush trees were frequently used in the landscapes or perhaps you had a bottlebrush tree growing in your own yard, your odds of overexposure to this tree’s tiny, triangular and very allergenic pollen are greatly enhanced.

In the two examples used above, both species of plants are what we call amphipilous, meaning they are pollinated by both insects and the wind. Honeybees collect pollen from each of these species, and it will be present in small amounts in honey that was gathered by bees that were working areas where these species are growing. When people living in these same areas eat honey that was produced in that environment, the honey will often act as an immune booster. The good effects of this local honey are best when the honey is taken a little bit (a couple of teaspoonsful) a day for several months prior to the pollen season.

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When I’m asked how local should the honey be for allergy prevention, I always advise to get honey that was raised closest to where you live — the closer the better, since it will have more of exactly what you’ll need.

A little bit at a time

It may seem odd that straight exposure to pollen often triggers allergies but that exposure to pollen in the honey usually has the opposite effect. But this is typically what we see. In honey, the allergens are delivered in small, manageable doses, and the effect over time is very much like that from undergoing a whole series of allergy immunology injections. The major difference, though, is that the honey is a lot easier to take, and it is certainly a lot less expensive. I am always surprised that this powerful health benefit of local honey is not more widely understood, as it is simple, easy and often surprisingly effective.

Pharmaceutical companies have huge budgets and can fund studies, but with honey, this scientific research doesn’t seem to get funded; thus, most evidence we have is what we see, anecdotal evidence. That, however, can be and often is important; sometimes or actually often, such evidence proves very useful.

Success story

Let me give you one such anecdotal example of the powers of local honey. I was asked to look over the yard of a family that had just moved to this area (central coastal California) to see if I could figure out what was triggering the allergies of their five-year-old son. The boy was experiencing classical allergic responses: runny nose, itchy eyes, persistent cough. This family had only recently moved to California from the Midwest, so a pollen allergy was surprising, as they generally take a number of years of exposure to develop.

The boy had started having these symptoms a few months after moving here. At his house, I didn’t find the usual allergy culprits of the landscape, male-cloned trees or shrubs, but I did note that next to the house was a row of towering blue gum eucalyptus trees. I knew the eucalyptus trees were shedding plenty of pollen, as you could see it on the windows of the cars parked underneath them. I checked some of this pollen with a microscope and it was indeed from these blue gum trees. Eucalyptus pollen is fairly large in size and triangular in shape, making it easy to identify. I suggested that at the local farmers market they could buy some eucalyptus honey and recommended that the boy be given several spoonfuls of this every day.

The family did as I advised and the boy ate the strongly flavored eucalyptus honey every day for four months. By the end of the first month the allergic symptoms were starting to ease up. By the end of the second month all his symptoms had disappeared. Some 10 years passed, and while in high school, this same boy again started having allergic symptoms. I visited the high school at the request of his folks and found that they had a multitude of huge eucalyptus trees growing there. I again advised the local honey and once again, it seemed to do the trick.

Now, let me be clear here: I am not suggesting that local honey will replace allergists. But what I am saying is that since visits to allergists are expensive and series of immunology shots, although generally very effective, are costly, it makes perfect sense to give the local honey a try first. Many times, as many others and I have seen firsthand, local honey will take care of the problem quickly, safely and inexpensively.

Note: To reduce the risk of botulism, honey should not be given to children under 12 months old.

© Thomas Leo Ogren

Thomas Leo Ogren is the author of five published books, including Allergy-Free Gardening and Safe Sex in the Garden. Tom consults on allergies and landscaping for, among others, the USDA urban foresters, the American Lung Association, county asthma coalitions, landscape, nursery and arborists’ associations, and for Allegra. Tom’s own web site is Allergy-Free Gardening.

Oils in Bath Products May Enlarge Boys’ Breasts… Temporarily

BOSTON - Lavender and tea tree oils found in some shampoos, soaps and lotions can temporarily leave boys with enlarged breasts in rare cases, apparently by disrupting their hormonal balance, a preliminary study suggests.

While advising parents to consider the possible risk, several hormone experts emphasized that the problem appears to happen infrequently and clears up when the oils are no longer used. None of those interviewed called for a ban on sales.

The study reported on the condition, gynecomastia, in three boys ages 4, 7 and 10. They all went back to normal when they stopped using skin lotions, hair gel, shampoo or soap with the natural oils.

It’s unclear how often this problem might crop up in other young children.

Read the rest of the article at MSNBC.com.

Are There Risks I Should Be Aware of Before Becoming a Babysitter?

Babysitting can be an extremely rewarding job, especially for a young person who is looking to earn a little extra spending cash. In addition, working with children can be a fun and exciting experience. However, there are some important and serious issues to think about before becoming a babysitter.

The biggest risk in babysitting is that something disastrous will happen while you are caring for children. While not every accident can be avoided, if you are safety-conscious and being prepared, you can avoid many of these types of disasters. Some important safety tips while babysitting include:

- Keep doors and windows shut and locked while you are babysitting. Don’t open the door to a stranger.

- Make sure that TV or musical appliances are not turned up so loud that you can’t hear a crying child.

- Keep dangerous items out of reach of children.

- Watch out for plastic bags, pillows, cushions, and other items that could cause a small child to be smothered.

- Know where exits are located.

- Know where the children are at all times. Whenever possible, try to keep them within sight. Never leave them unattended.

- Take the time and care to do things safely.

- Be prepared to administer first aid. Organizations such as the American Red Cross offer training in first aid as well as infant and child CPR. Taking these courses can also make you more marketable as a babysitter.

- If you are babysitting a small child, make sure that he is keeping small objects out of his mouth.

- Make sure that the children are playing with age-appropriate toys.

- Be prepared for an emergency. Know where the emergency numbers are located, and familiarize yourself with the familys emergency plans if they have them.

You should also try to familiarize yourself with any state or local laws regarding child care. Some states require that you be a certain age to baby-sit, and some localities may even require a license or a training course of some sort.

At What Age Does My Infant become a Toddler?

With all the stages your new child goes through, it is often difficult to pinpoint when they move from one to the next. The stages are classified by what happens to the child mentally, intellectually and socially. Certain skills are developed in each of these stages and it is important to know where your child stands. Development in the early years is very important. It is always good to know where your child stands emotionally and developmentally.

An infant becomes a toddler at the age of one. The toddler stage occurs between the ages of one and two. During this time, mobility becomes increasingly more noticeable. Independence becomes identified and defiance is normal. Toddlers begin to recognize themselves when shown pictures or placed in front of a mirror. They also begin to mimic the behavior of those around them.

During this year, children will gain approximately three to five pounds. The new mobility that babies implement during this year make their outward appearances seem more like a small child and less like a baby. Faces become less round and arms and legs become more defined. By the end of the toddler stage, most children are walking, running, and jumping. At first walking may be clumsy, but as a child ends his or her toddler stage this usually subsides.

Children in the toddler stage think they are the center of everything. They can often be grumpy when forced to do things they don’t like or want. They begin to become more interested in their surroundings and touching or getting into EVERYTHING is not abnormal. Toddlers may begin to suffer from separation, this usually coincides with walking.

The toddler stage may be somewhat difficult. Most toddlers begin to develop a strong sense of self. They can also be easily upset. Make sure to stay patient with your child. This stage is extremely important for developing spatial skills and people skills. Although it may be difficult to get your toddler to understand the concept of sharing, make sure to keep them involved with others their age. Read to your toddler and show them lots of pictures. This period in a child’s life is very important for development, make sure to stay engaged no matter how difficult it may be. This will, in turn, make it easier for them as they continue growing and maturing.

Baby Sign, the teaching of sign language to hearing babies. Why? When? How?

by Kay Green, www.MyPreciousKid.com

I have always had an interest in sign language since knowing my deaf aunt and uncle as a little girl. I myself know a little sign for worship at church. I read about the new idea of teaching sign to hearing babies and immediately knew I would like to do that with Haley. My adopted daughter will be 1 year old on Tuesday.

I admit I did not teach sign to my 3 teenagers when they were babies. However with baby number 4 in my home and with me at age 40, there are a lot of things I do differently this time around.

Sign language for babies uses a different part of the brain than speech. Studies have shown that these babies who learn sign are less frustrated because they can express their wants and needs. It also says that these babies are actually ahead, not delayed, in speech development. Babies are able to do many signs before they can speak the words.

Our babies all do some signs without us even thinking about it. They wave Hi and bye-bye. They point to things they want. They make animal signs or sounds. Haley loves to do fish lips and blows kisses, nod yes and no. When your baby starts learning to wave it is a perfect time to begin teaching other signs.

When Haley was about 8-9 months old and could wave I started showing a few signs consistently. Milk, more, kitty, all done. I remember well the day Haley got the sign for MORE (fingers tips together in front of your chest). She has always been very verbal and clear about what she wants. That usually meant yelling at you. I was working on the computer. I had a bag of baby cookies. She would have one, then come back and scream indicating she wanted another and I gave it to her. After 5 or 6 times I thought "Wow, I am teaching her to scream for what she wants." The next time she came I said "MORE?" and did the sign with my fingers. I repeated that for several times. Then the next time I did it with her fingers and said the word. We did that a couple times. Then she came up and did the sign the next time, without screaming. YEAH! Success! That was way too easy. I realize how quickly she got it and started showing her other signs.

Milk Supply

By Natural Family Online

According to the American Academy of Pediatrics, American women are not breastfeeding their babies long enough and are supplementing with unnecessary liquids.

The AAP recommends breastfeeding your baby for no less than six months, and abstaining from supplements for the same amount of time.

Many women stop nursing within the first few months or even weeks after their baby is born. Likewise, they’re supplementing with juices, water, and formula without reason.

Bosom Buddies: Why dad should know the facts about breastfeeding.

Everyone agrees that breast is best when it comes to feeding babies. But what does it take for a woman to decide to breast-feed her baby?

The biggest influence is her husband or boyfriend. But until pediatrician Gary Freed became an expectant father, no one thought to examine men's attitudes toward breast-feeding. "No one knows what dads think," declares an incredulous Freed, assistant professor of pediatrics and health policy at the University of North Carolina.

So he studied 268 men attending prenatal classes with their partners. What most distinguished the 58 percent of women who planned to breast-feed from the 42 percent who didn't was the attitude of their husbands.

"The partners of the formula moms didn't know breast-feeding was good for their kids," says Freed. And they subscribed to assorted myths and misconceptions: that breast-feeding is bad for the breasts, that it makes breasts ugly. They also thought it would interfere with sex.

Partners of the breast-feeders, by contrast, believed breast-feeding would abet mother-infant bonding, they believed it would protect their infants against disease, and they were more likely to have added respect for their partner if she breast-fed. Interestingly, Freed reports in Pediatrics, both groups of men felt breast-feeding in public was not acceptable.

"Men are not such big clods as we think they are. We demand that they be supportive -- but we exclude them from the education process" writes Freed. He speaks from experience: "My wife and I attended prenatal education classes, but only she was offered classes about breast-feeding. I signed up, too; and they all thought I was a sex pervert with a breast fixation. Even though I'm a pediatrician, I needed to know more."

Freed believes that men should be given prenatal classes in breast-feeding. "It will conquer their myths and misperceptions." And help to stem the ten-year decline in breast-feeding among American women. He would not exempt his colleagues from such an education. "Physician support is also important for breast-feeding women. No one should give women bad information."

Travel Accessories for Baby Safety

In the modern world nowadays, there is a trend of going out for the weekends with family and friends to some nearby spots. So far the grown up family members are concerned, moving out anytime at anywhere hardly matters, but if you have young baby then it is hell of a job. It is quite possible that the baby may not be comfortable during the drive to the spot or even perhaps may not adjust with the new environment and ambience etc.

Baby’s safety is the prime factor that demands active consideration, while planning for any short or long travel programs.Various essential travel accessories for maintaining baby’s safety are required to be arranged for and dragged along even for a day or two’s holiday camps. You just cannot afford avoiding such necessities and put your baby in trouble anyway. In fact, certain essential travel accessories for baby safety are so ideally designed to give your baby optimal safety while making your entire journey truly remarkable.

Traveling with baby could be indeed enjoyable if the baby relishes the environment with you as babies normally relax only if the ambience is pleasant, cozy and attuned. Make your journey rather pleasant and refreshing by carrying necessary travel accessories for the baby’s safety and health reasons, like:

Baby wipes for quick wipe-up for infants during your traveling by any mode of transport

Carry the baby travel safe seat preferably with bulkhead, especially if the baby is an infant.
Such seats are exclusively meant for the babies kept in hooded cradle

Carry scented bags enabling you to dispose off the diapers in the toilet bin after putting the used diapers in the bag

Adequate quantity of baby foods like milk, cereals etc must be carried while traveling averting food scarcity and infection through market foods as well

Feeding bottles and latex nipples should be carried if the baby is not breast feeding, besides carrying hot water in the thermos flask

Sufficient sets of baby clothing are recommended to be carried as you never know how many sets would be required for the child

If the child is being medicated, take sufficient quantity of all the concerned medicines in order to maintain the dosage and avoid unwanted consequences

Even general medications like syrups or drops for cold and cough, stomach upset etc would always prove to be helpful in emergencies