Come read us on Babble

We are currently blogging every day on babble.com on a blog called "Being Pregnant" so come read us over there...

posted by kanarick at 1:21 PM | Comments (0)

in glass we trust

A new solution to the poison-leaching plastic baby bottle problem: it's glass, but kid safe. We've been trying to phase out the dr.brown's ourselves. But we're finding that a lot of the less toxic options have other problems, like leaking out large quantities of milk on a regular basis. This new option sounds kind of appealing in an old school/new kind of way. Any other suggestions?

(found this bottle via the new Dwell magazine kitchen blog, which I'm reading even though I'm feeling somewhat disillusioned with their evolving brand message.)

posted by rebecca at 10:46 AM | Comments (2)

things that made me sick, part 1 and 2

1. making homemade paneer cheese: a bad idea for people with frequent exposure to spit-up.

2. Burt's Bees peppermint foot lotion. My relaxing Good Wife Foot Massage backfired into a group gag session. What the hell do they put in that stuff?

posted by rebecca at 10:41 PM | Comments (0)

mom's honor

These things have been floating around the baby product blogosphere for the past few days and I have to say, I find them pretty cute. I love the nod to the actual efforts of mothering. Plus I'm a sucker for an embroidered nipple.

Good presents after various insane accomplishments (that 11 hour plane trip with a screaming baby?) Or buy them yourself to trick out your sling/stroller/bra.

posted by rebecca at 6:16 PM | Comments (2)

father's day for moms

Here's a sassy little piece by the right wing commentator Heather MacDonald about Father's Day cards for kids who have no dads to celebrate. The cards are for "my mom on Father's Day." It's actually an interesting piece about how Hallmark is marketing to fatherless kids-- the cards are in the African American section only. She wonders if the gay and lesbian community will get their cards one day, too. Well, we certainly hope so. And don't share her reaction to the scandal of parenting out of wedlock or really any of her opinions. Nevertheless amazing that Hallmark can figure out how to sell a card when there is no recipient.

posted by ceridwen at 9:56 AM | Comments (0)

from the hips on sale today!!

After three long years of intensive study, outreach, debate and pumping we are so thrilled to be able to say our book, From the Hips, is finally on the shelves! We're really happy with the way the book turned out, and we hope you like it, too. Also, if you ever filled out a survey at thenewmom.com check the book for your own words-- we used tons of real quotes from real parents to show the many ways pregnancy, birth and having a baby can go down.

Check back here for press info, we'll be coming to an ivory leather couch near you sometime very soon.

posted by rebecca and ceridwen at 6:44 PM | Comments (7)

keep your pants on

I've never been one for a snapping, pinching garter, but these pregnancy pants suspenders seem like a decent idea. Also available from these manufacturers are ultra-sized swaddling blankets which I would recommend (they are not always easy to find).

posted by ceridwen at 11:17 AM | Comments (0)

pregnant paper dolls

These are pretty cute. But the first trimester wardrobe should have been entirely comprised of sweatpants. A belly shirt? I think not.

posted by rebecca at 9:12 PM | Comments (0)

a voice of reason?

Points for Liv Tyler for calling bullsh*t on the epidemic of postpartum celebrity insta-weight-loss. It's a nice counterpoint, for example, to the terrifying baby-as-accessory spread in this month's Vogue. We can't find a link but in case you miss it, there are lots of pictures of a sterile, dominatrix-style super (model) mom spoon-feeding and transporting her baby around town (and suburbs) in platform heels, huge sunglasses and the odd trench-coat. The fantasy of impossible shoes and motherhood is certainly an interesting one--a blatant rejection of safety precautions?? But there is one pair of platform mules that should probably be given a once over by The Consumer Product Safety Commission.

posted by thenewmoms at 6:23 PM | Comments (0)

the pregnant look

Maybe it's because all the celebrity muses are pregnant. This spring's fashion is looking remarkably belly-friendly. From Daryl K's 'Love Is A Battlefield' haute schleppiness to everything by Ella Moss to the pregnant bridesmaid look from Marc by Marc Jacobs, a lot of what's currently in the stores could easily hide at least five months worth. Before, or after.

posted by rebecca at 8:54 AM | Comments (0)

wipes... they're not just for baby butts

I know it's been said before: "baby products are great for mom, too!" But maybe not specifically regarding the flu. This last week I've been able to surf the waves of influenza with the help of my two year-old's medicine cabinet.

Here's what I've discovered:

Wiping your sore nose with Seventh Generation Wipes: WAY better than tissues.

Using Lansinoh Breast Cream for a red and scaly dry nose: Immediate relief!

Taking children's Advil cold medicine: gives a nice buzz without the full-on vibrating coma feeling. (The grape is not THAT bad, but...)

The cool mist humidifier we bought for our stuffed-up infant last year has been on steady blast next to my bed.

And if the cough keeps up I'm going to hit the Vicks Baby Rub.

posted by ceridwen at 10:38 AM | Comments (0)

the sippy cup: a useful but highly flawed invention

Why must they leak? Perhaps I should just expect them to, instead of treating them as if they were some kind of hermetically sealed package of liquid my child could throw around like a football. In truth, we do have some cups that don't leak. If you put them together correctly. But who can master that kind of science while providing a drink before the breeze of the child’s whim blows by? Do they really have to be so complicated? I have a few that are not so complicated. They just leak whether you put them together right or not.

Secondly, how long is a child supposed to use a sippy cup? I see people give them to kids who look too old sometimes. I can see how it happens. if you've got a safety catch, why not use it? It seems like it could be a slippery slope to middle school. Is a five year old too old for a sippy cup? Seven? Eleven? I have no idea. Hell, I spill a lot, should I be drinking my wine out of a sippy cup? Oh, that's depressing.

In the meantime, my 2.5 is staining all of the Fonda del Sol pillows with his evening Ovaltine. (He brushes his teeth afterwards, if anyone’s wondering) I’m also taking suggestions regarding successful sippy cups. I’m guessing we’re going to be in this game a while.

posted by rebecca at 10:08 PM | Comments (5)

D'you think it will work with a dustbuster?

The hot new postpartum fat solution involves a vacuum and a wetsuit, according to british tabloid fodder. Actress Anna Friel used this contraption to get herself back to pre-pregnancy size (8). The machines work by increasing blood flow to the ab area (seems a bit questionable what with the whole blood already flowing out of the uterus situation, but what do we know.) Ms. Friel was loaned the machine to use in her home, which saved her the several thousand pounds (money) she would have had to spend to get similar results at a studio. That's size 8 British, in case you were wondering. No word on when we'll be seeing these money and fat sucking machines in this part of the world, but apparently, they're all the rage in the United Arab Emirates.

posted by thenewmoms at 1:30 PM | Comments (0)

baby Kim Gordons

I just got my first "Mini Boden" catalog in the mail and flipped. The clothes are beautiful and the suntanned, surfer children wearing them are very sexy. I'm just going to have to have a girl and spend all our money on seductive Velour Bootlegs. Thing is, a funny feeling came over me as I perved the flowery tights... I made it go away by deciding that it's not that weird to dress your kid in the same clothes you wore when you were 22, fucked up, and trying to get laid.

posted by ceridwen at 11:16 AM | Comments (3)

doula action figure not included

I can't really tell you how I got onto this ridiculous web-traipsing tangent but imagine my delight when I discovered you can actually play with the mommy from the cover of What To Expect. Maybe pregnant dolls help older kids feel good about a sibling on the way, or a changing mommy, but the sight of Midge was just too much for Wal-Mart shoppers. Apparently, Midge was planting naughty ideas in little girls' heads, (not to mention the fact that she's grotesquely anatomically incorrect). So, I found a more PC version. But I have to say that even with the stringy yarn hair this one may be a little too close to the real thing. You can also educate your children with an idealized pregnant American housewife who "comes with baby and special key to unlock Mama's girth." Or try this modern day Madonna and child .

This takes the cake for me -- you can actually genetically engineer and then "adopt" your own "reborn" baby doll.

posted by ceridwen at 6:58 AM | Comments (1)

things I thought I needed (before I knew better)

I used to think this was the coolest high chair ever. And, in fact, it may be. But I'm damn glad that those hours spent scouring the internet and cursing the international shipping mess did not produce one of these groovy little gadgets in my home...because it now seems like a thoroughly bad idea. Lovely, for sure. But here's why it sucks:

1. it's too tall. how can you even reach your kids mouth from your seat, especially if you've got low-riding modern furniture?

2. pins and needles are not an appetite booster. who wants to dangle your feet at meals until you're four?

3. there are two camps in the world of baby feeding... high chairs and booster seats. We joined the second camp by necessity (must conserve every square inch of space in our NYC apartment). But now I'd recommend it to anyone, and here's why. Using a booster helped our kid understand from day one (or day 185, which was around when he started eating solids) that eating was a family affair. He was at the table with us from the get-go, start to finish. Yes, it's true that we had to cover our fine, hand-crafted walnut table with a far less fine piece of fluorescent pink vinyl. And while I can't say with any authority that his seating had anything to do with it, our kid, so far, has been eating up a storm with a minimum of food-based home decoration. (Of course, tonight may be the night he grinds his soup into the couch.) But in this house, meals are a social event, and I think putting your kid on a pedestal, even if it's an ultra-cool Jacobsen-egg inspired one, goes against that grain.

So, a word of thanks to the red tape I encountered a year and a half ago. I'm so glad we got this instead!

posted by rebecca at 9:53 AM | Comments (0)

the toy problem

I'm as happy as anyone about the new crop of baby stuff that looks like it came from Kartell. But it's not just the seamless integration of kid items into the well-designed home that I'm after, it's stuff that looks good and that kids like (almost) as much as the rococo plastic monstrosities. In some ways, this streamlining of the kid's environment feels like a futile attempt to shoe-horn a child into a parents' universe. I'm still waiting for my kid to play with the design-award winners that are cluttering our shelves, along with all the plastic. I mean, these things look fabulous and all, but they don't exactly inspire play.

What I really wish is that there were some glimmer of good design in the mainstream American toy world...some balance to counter the seven-layer-cake wrought by the dueling mandates for branding and enrichment. Has anyone studied the effects of "educational" slot machines on 6 month olds? Why does it seem like all the other countries in the world maintain reverence for the good old days of hand-hewn wooden playthings? Perhaps they just don't export their embarrassments? Or are all toy boxes in Scandinavia really neatly stacked with this stuff instead of overflowing with this stuff?

posted by rebecca at 8:56 AM | Comments (0)