New evidence on reducing infant pain for immunizations

If you missed it this week, a study in Pediatrics demonstrates the effectiveness of the 5 S's (from the Happiest Baby on the Block guy) in reducing infant pain with shots even more than a simple sugar solution.

Here's the NPR story on the findings.

I plan to do this instead of the sugar water for our new baby's first shots.

For the expectant parent

Some very helpful tips on photographing your new baby in the hospital. Not rocket science. But those of you who are pregnant, or pregnant by proxy (husbands) can likely relate to the periodic moments of panic: "will I look horrible in those hospital pictures". My take-home message from this article? Black-and-white pictures are the best-friend of blotchy-faced newly delivered mom/baby.

Dads are doing more, but moms are more stressed, study finds

This is so true....

Dads are doing more, but moms are more stressed, study finds

What's the solution for you??

Important MVA Information for our Maryland Drivers

From the NIH Parent's Listserve today... I thought it was worth posting.

Maryland's Motor Vehicle Administration (MVA) announced it has added an   
emergency contact option to Maryland driver's licenses. Maryland drivers 
can now add three emergency contacts to their driver's license so police 
will know who to call if an accident occurs. The emergency contact       
information is stored electronically on an individual's driver's license 
and will be available only to authorized law enforcement personnel.       
                                                                           
                                                                           
You can go to MVA's website at www.mva.maryland.gov and add your three   
emergency contacts in just a few minutes. Go to the website, click       
"On-line Transactions, then click "More" and then click "Emergency       
Contacts" to add your emergency contacts. The entire process takes less   
than 10 minutes.       

Or follow this direct link: https://securetransactions.mva.maryland.gov/emvastore/MustHave2.aspx?SingleUseWindowGuid=d8fd6243-c76b-44e5-88af-fc1a141283e2

                                                 
Please pass along to your family and friends as well...it's worth it!     
                                                                           
Another note: The MVA will no longer be sending out regular reminders that  your driver’s license will need to be renewed. It’s your responsibility to  keep track of when it’s due for renewal. And be careful, if you miss your  renewal date for over a year, you will have to take a driver’s test again.

Do you know about PACE?

PACE stands for Parent and Community Education. It's a new moms group that I participated in when Michael was born. Many of the women I met through my group I am still friends with today.

The organization pairs up 10 or 11 new moms (who all live in the same general area) with a trained facilitator for a 6 or 8 week discussion group.

You're supposed to sign up before the baby is born--so you can be assigned a group to begin 3 weeks post-partum. Contact information is on their site: http://www.pacemoms.org/.

It's about $250, but money WELL spent!

How to Dress While Pregnant (and other tidbits)

Another friend asked me to forward her this information today. The list was originally compiled by a friend of mine. I realized that this group may also be interested in the resources below:

Online Community/Listserv -- DC Urban Moms and Dads

This is invaluable for all things pregnancy and mommyhood. Get on the listserv and you can read other people's questions which i found educational (but sometimes annoying or off-topic) and the key is to be able to post your own questions. I found our pediatrician, info about travel with infant, found some items that people were selling (rocking chair for nursing, breastfeeding pillow, baby bjorn),etc.

Podcast for pregnancy

This is a GREAT podcast. You can either download from their website or itunes. I downloaded all the past ones and listened to them on my commute etc. Its better than reading the books in many cases.

Pregnancy Clothing
I am a huge proponent of the nice maternity clothes because it really makes a difference in how you feel and also how you look. Plus, my experienced friends told me that they didn't realize that they would not only be wearing this stuff during pregnancy but you end up wearing it for a bit after you have the baby because your body is not back to normal yet. However, let me say a few things about this:

Don't be a sucker for Pea in the Pod. Yes, they have cute stuff but everything is SUPER expensive and I found that you can often find the same stuff online for cheaper or discounted.

Some women really love something called The Bella Band which is like this tube top thing that goes around your belly and you can use it to wear your regular pants for a longer time (unbuttoned) and you can also use it with maternity pants when they still are a little big: http://www.bellaband.com/

I recommend Appleseed boutique in Old Town to go and try on some stuff to see what size you are and also what brands/styles you like and then what you can do (which is what I did) is search online for the brands and find them at lower prices. They have ALL the cool brands but they are full price - but rarely have sales. Get on their mailing list for coupons. However, I swear I found some of the very same stuff online for like 25% off! So in the dressing room I actually wrote down the names and style numbers for things I liked and then searched for them online. However, I did go back and buy a few things at these shops that I couldn't find online. FYI - they sell bella bands.

The best brands in my opinion are:
Japanese weekend - they have a website that has sale items quite often: www.japaneseweekend.com

Noppies - a UK brand that has awesome pants and jeans too. I have a pair of brown and black pants that I lived in and I wore them from the beginning and still fit in them at the end plus my jeans are from this brand and they were about $100 compared to some of the really trendy brands at pea in the pod for like 200+...

Olian - cute tops and dresses

Meet me in Miami

Chiarakruza - i love their pants - they are so stylish

Jeans -- Citizens of Humanity, Habitual, and Serfontaine are the top brands for maternity jeans with the celebrities. Here's my take on them. If you absolutely LOVE THEM on you and you think you will wear them for your entire pregnancy, see if you can find them online on sale but first try them on in the store so you can be sure of your size. I personally found that they didn't look as cute in person than they did in photos etc.

Online boutiques I love:
Tummy Style - www.tummstyle.com (my FAVE store online)

Belly Dance Maternity - Sale page http://www.bellydancematernity.com/sale-c-5.html

bellylicious maternity http://www.bellyliciousmaternity.com/belly/

Baby Style http://www.babystyle.com/content/maternity/main.asp

Also I found a few coupon codes that can be used at these stores:
babystyle.com
Description: $10 off every $30+ purchase
Code: BABYJEL
Expiration: unknown

Bellylicious Maternity
Description: 10% off on all non-sale merchandise
Code: DADDYDRAMA
Expiration: unknown

Are you subscribed to the NIH Parenting Listserve? What about DCUM?

There's a parenting listserve at NIH with posts about everything from nanny shares to free baby gear. Click here to subscribe...

Also, the DC Urban Moms and Dads Listserve and Forum are fantastic sources of information, stuff for sale, etc.

I bought a lot of maternity clothes off this list...