Are you guilty of slapping on a smile when speaking to a baby and letting loose on nauseatingly annoying phrases like: “Coochie, coochie coo you cutesy wootsey cutie patootie! Does my little poopsie woopsie need a fresh diapey wipey?” Baby talk. For some parents it’s their best friend, while other moms and dads view the high-pitched, jibber jabber as their worst enemy. If you do a lot of baby-talking in public places, you might end up with more enemies than friends, but that’s no reason to tone down your shrill sentences, at least according to some pediatric speech and language … Continue reading →

Is there any better Christmas gift than a healthy baby born just hours before the most celebrated day of the year? How about two healthy babies born to the same family just a few hours apart during the height of the holiday season? In what’s being called one of the most incredible Christmas surprises since the Immaculate Conception, a mother and daughter, plus twin sisters are marveling at the timing of their respective labors. In Chicago, 35-year-old Jessica Rotter was lending moral support to her 17-year-old daughter, Briana Guerrero, as the teen prepared to give birth at a suburban hospital … Continue reading →

You can’t control when a child is born. Or can you? This week, thousands of pregnant women are doing whatever it takes to score a designer birthday for their son or daughter-to-be. The anxious moms want to give birth on 11/11/11, and many are clamoring for their doctors to perform C-sections on them this Friday in order for their newborn to hold claim to a date that rolls around once every 100 years. Many moms-to-be like the idea of being in control of when their child will enter the world. Hence, the increasing number of C-sections performed in the United … Continue reading →

Forget about a safe and loving home, extra-soft blankets, a warm bottle and doting parents, it seems the key to your baby’s happiness is all in his name. According to the moms behind the uber-popular baby naming website, Namberry.com, an optimistic, peppy moniker goes a long way to insure that your newborn will project a positive aura in a society that drips of doom and gloom. If you are about to bring an innocent child into this world filled with headlines featuring mass murderers, a dismal economy, international terrorism and cheating politicians, consider choosing a name which connotes happiness, hope … Continue reading →

Imagine if your little bun in the oven came out as a whopping loaf of bread. That’s sort of what Janet Johnson experienced a few days ago. The Lone Star State mom got a Texas-sized surprise last Friday morning when she delivered a 16-pound, 1-ounce baby boy measuring two feet long. Within hours of her son’s birth, the mom of three older children (ages 10 to 18) became an instant celebrity. According to news reports, Johnson’s fourth child landed in the record books as the largest baby ever born in the state of Texas. Baby JaMichael was born at 9:05 … Continue reading →

If you are planning to jet off on a summer vacation with young children, then you know to be prepared for unwelcome stares and more than a few evil looks as you make your way down the airplane’s cramped aisle, right? Of course, you do. Unless you are one of those parents. You know; the clueless types that think their toddler is going to sit like an angel in his seat the entire flight without a single toy, coloring book, iPad, or bag of Cheerios to distract him from screaming his head off once he figures out that he can’t … Continue reading →

One of my former colleagues gave birth to a baby girl in December. She named her Summer. Interestingly, her oldest daughter is named Autumn. She was born in March. She also has a son. His name is Ben. Go figure. I thought of Summer and Autumn after reading that actress Gretchen Mol just delivered her second child, a daughter, she named Winter. I don’t know many Winters. Then again, Mol’s 3-year-old son is named Ptolemy. Don’t know many people named Ptolemy either. According to baby name “experts,” seasonal names are “hot” right now. Still, I couldn’t find a single “expert” … Continue reading →

For all you ladies out there looking to give birth on 11-11-11, you’d better get conceiving, pronto. If the romance of Valentine’s Day is not enough incentive to get the room rockin’, then consider the fact that ddisgraced figure skater and convicted felon Tonya Harding will be joining the ranks of motherhood in a few short months. Really. The 40-year-old shamed skater, who masterminded the attack on fellow Olympian Nancy Kerrigan, recently announced that she is “super excited” about her first child. According to tabloids, Harding’s baby daddy is a 42-year-old Portland, Oregon, repairman. If you are looking to send … Continue reading →

“Today” show host Natalie Morales seemed a bit too enthusiastic to reveal the Top 100 Baby Names for 2010 this morning. Apparently, she was eager to see if her two sons’ names landed near the top of the list. Not quite. My daughter’s wasn’t up there either. So, which baby names are the hottest of the hot? I’ll give you a hint: think popular TV shows. “Glee”-inspired names such as Finn and Quinn are pretty hot, as is Betty from “Mad Men.” In addition, famous athletes turned celebrities also inspired some of the trendiest baby names of 2010, including Bode, … Continue reading →