The U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission has announced the recall of about 10,000 Taggies Strollin' Along Stroller Activity Bars due to a choking hazard. The importer has received three reports of the shiny material on the ear of the elephant detaching and children putting it in their mouths. Fortunately, no injuries have been reported.

Made in Hong Kong and imported by International Playthings Inc., of Parsippany, N.J., the activity bars were sold in specialty stores nationwide and online from February 2007 through July 2008 for about $23 each.

The recall involves multicolored, fabric and plastic stroller activity bars featuring a yellow giraffe, a purple hippo and a blue elephant attached to a 12" long elliptical base with straps that attach to a stroller. The Taggies and Earlyears® logo labels can be found sewn into the seam on the lower left front of the activity bar.

If you have one of these stroller bars, you should immediately stop using it and contact International Playthings for a free replacement toy. You can reach them by calling (800) 445-8347 or by visiting their Web site.

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I love being pregnant, and I love having kids. I love breastfeeding. But I hate, and hate is really not a strong word compared to how I actually feel, nursing bras. They're all terrible. First of all, they're gigantic. Breasts become fuller with milk, of course, so they get bigger...and bigger, and bigger and bigger until they feel like they're going to burst. Hence, once needs a giant bra for the giant breasts. I can get behind that--it's rational and makes sense.

What I don't understand is why they have to be so hideously ugly and not actually provide the support required to tote around said enormous breasts. And while I may be funny, I'm also being dead serious. I have three or four (I think I banished one it was so awful) nursing bras from various manufacturers that were clearly designed with someone who either has never had breasts swollen with milk or who never wanted to look even remotely attractive without her shirt on. Those with underwires are uncomfortable. Those without lack any real support.

There's also the issue of the bras never quite managing to hold onto the breastpads placed in them to keep them from getting covered with milk leakage. I have had, however, quite a bit of success with Lily Pads, which are technically designed to be worn under things with which one can wear no bra or at night when one doesn't want to wear a bra to bed. Some women have reverted to wearing regular bras in larger sizes or just going braless all together.

What about you? Do you hate nursing bras, or have you found one that answers your prayers? Do you have a trick for making them more comfortable, or at least more tolerable?

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Once upon a time, families traveling with small children got to board first, to give them time to get their little ones settled in, put away their luggage, toys, and snacks, and do whatever else they needed to do, without blocking the rest of the passengers from getting on the plane. Instead of standing in the aisle getting angry at the parents, the other passengers could sit comfortably in the terminal, getting annoyed with the airline.

Not so anymore, according to the St. Petersburg Times. Southwest, American, Delta, and United have all dropped the practice, although you can still ask to board early on American and Delta; it's up to the gate attendants. The reason isn't corporate hatred of families; studies have shown that boarding everyone together -- including the little ones -- saves ten to twelve minutes, on average.

"If you're bringing on people who need assistance -- younger kids -- all at once, you potentially create a bottleneck on the front end, as opposed to randomly dispersing them based on where people are sitting in the aircraft," says Anthony Black, a spokesman for Delta. "The best process is to board the aircraft normally." I imagine, too, that parents move a little quicker when they feel the stares of other passengers beating down on them and saving time is clearly more important than saving a parent's sanity.

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Every state in the U.S. now has what is called a "safe haven" law. Intended to prevent unwanted babies from being abandoned just any old place, the law allows desperate parents to leave their babies at hospitals with no questions asked.

Until recently, Nebraska was the only state without a safe haven law. But about a month ago, they passed their own version and added a unique twist. Unlike other states who are trying to protect newborn babies with the law, Nebraska wants to protect all unwanted children and therefore allows a minor of any age to be abandoned at a safe haven hospital. What's more, the law doesn't even specify that it must be a parent who abandons the child. Which means the babysitter, the neighbor or anyone else can surrender custody of a child.

Adam Pertman, a frequent critic of safe-haven laws is especially critical of this one. "Whether the kid is disabled or unruly or just being a hormonal teenager, the state is saying: 'Hey, we have a really easy option for you,'" he says.

So far, there has been no reports of children of any age being abandoned at Nebraska hospitals since the law went into effect.

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Before I was a mom, there were a lot of things I was never going to do as a parent. I was never going to let my kids watch TV, I was only going to feed them homemade, organic food. I was never going to let them play with plastic toys adorned with licensed characters. And I was certainly going to make sure that most of the toys in our house were gender neutral.

Then I gave birth and became a real parent, and all of that (or at least a lot of it) went out the window. So when my girls, at around 12 to 18 months, embraced the baby dolls and princesses kind of girlhood, I figured it was because I hadn't given them enough trucks and tools to play with when they were babies.

But according a psychologist at CNN, many of the differences we see between boys and girls is actually hardwired at birth. Boys are more likely to enjoy watching mechanical motion, walk sooner, and are more fearless. Girls enjoy looking at human faces, are good listeners, and talk earlier than boys. Do these differences eventually lead to different interests in toys? She says that in one study, when toddlers were shown photos of dolls and vehicles, the girls tended to opt for the dolls, while the boys chose the trucks.

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At sixty-one years old, she wasn't the world's oldest woman to give birth, but she was, apparently, the oldest surrogate mother in a country where surrogacy is banned by the Japan Society of Obstetrics and Gynecology, the group that oversees such matters. The clinic where she gave birth refused to provide details such as the baby's gender or exact date of birth, but the clinic's spokeswoman, Chihiro Netsu, did say that "both surrogate mother and baby were fine."

As if her age weren't notable enough, it turns out that the surrogate mother is also the child's real grandmother. According to the clinic, they agreed to the procedure because the woman's daughter has no uterus. The grandmother was implanted with one of her daughter's fertilized eggs and, well, the rest is history, as they say.

I have to say that I was surprised to learn, when I did some research on this, that surrogacy is not universally accepted. There are even six states here in the US where it is illegal and four more where contracts for surrogacy are unenforceable. It seems to me that, for those who are otherwise unable to carry a baby to term, it is a perfectly acceptable path to parenthood. For this Japanese family, it sounds like it worked out famously.

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What parent hasn't handed over the car keys to a fussy baby in order to distract and entertain them? A shake or two of the magic keys is usually all it takes for most babies to become enthralled and forget what they were fussing about in the first place. Keys as a makeshift rattle are a tried and true baby distracter, but after a while baby loses interest, right? You start digging into your purse and handing over any non-toxic items you can find. What about your cell-phone? Do you ever let the baby play with that?

Disney suspects that you do and is looking to create cell-phone applications specifically for the preschool set. Like a digital pacifier, you could hand over your phone to keep baby busy on the go. No word on the specifics of these baby cell-phone games, but I imagine they would involve lots of button pushing and annoying sounds. Which, to me, is only slightly more appealing than the sound of baby fussing.

But If they really are going to make cell phone applications for babies, they may need to rethink the design of the phone itself. Babies might actually push a few buttons on the phone, but they will also try to eat it. And unless the phone is drool-proof, it is going to end up in the junk drawer like the remote clicker for my last car.

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When I gave birth twenty-something years ago, nobody really prepared me for what breastfeeding would be like. I have every intention of doing it, but was shocked to find out just how much it hurt. I ended up giving up pretty quickly because of that pain.

These days, mothers are better informed than I was, but a new study finds that many who give up on breastfeeding do so for the same reason I did. The study, from Brigham Young University, finds that while three out of four new moms start out breastfeeding, 36 percent of them have quit by the time baby is six months old.

Renata Forste, a professor in the sociology department at BYU, says the discomfort that comes with breastfeeding is a common reason for women giving up. "A lot of women don't understand the discomfort,'' says Dr. Forste. "They aren't necessarily prepared for that. There is sort of an expectation that it's a very natural process - bring the baby to your breast and it's very simple. But it's not. I think it's much more complicated than that. It requires a lot more support.''

She also notes that even though more women are being encouraged to breastfeed than ever before, the social support really isn't there. Returning to work or just trying to have a life outside of the home is difficult when you are trying to breastfeed. Especially when so many people seem to find feeding a baby in public to be unacceptable behavior.

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In some families, the original isn't always the best when it comes to fathers. For 'fragile families', described as low-income urban families prone to non marital births, mothers say that stepfathers are often more engaged, cooperative and willing to share responsibilities than married biological fathers.

A new study finds that while married biological fathers and stepfathers may be almost equally engaged with the children themselves, it is their interaction with mom that often makes stepfathers better parents. The mothers surveyed reported that stepfathers shared their parental views and were more open to talking about their parental wants than natural fathers. Rebekah Levine Coley, a developmental psychologist at Boston College, says this is probably because stepfathers "have to work harder to fit in and to have a useful productive role."

Coley says the findings contradict the popular view among social workers and experts that dads are more invested if the child is of their own flesh and blood. "I think this research does, to some extent, call some of those assumptions into question," she said.

The conclusions were made after interviewing 2,098 urban mothers from the The Fragile Families and Child Wellbeing study and will be published in the Journal of Marriage and Family.

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Yes, he does. The action movie star recently divulged that he wants a large family to Ok! magazine. Diesel, real name Mark Sinclair Vincent, a native New Yorker, says he wants twelve kids!

Diesel recently became a father to a daughter, and apparently the experience has been a good one! Diesel and girlfriend Paloma Jimenez welcomed the tot, whose name has not been revealed, four months ago.

The actor says being in the movie The Pacifier solidified his desire for children. Being around all the babies awakened his paternal instincts. Yes, even the star of such movies as The Fast and The Furious has paternal instincts!

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Who knew that former party girl Nicole Richie was such a giving and charitable person? I think that the way she has turned her life around and started giving back to those less fortunate is wonderful and I applaud her efforts. And apparently she has only just begun helping children - here and around the world.

Through the Richie-Madden Children's Foundation, Nicole is launching an online gift registry that will help needy mothers and their children. Families in need can sign up through local social service agencies and submit a list of the things they need for their children. Asked-for items could include cribs, blankets and other essentials. Donors could then look at the registry and choose what they want to contribute. Initially, the registry will benefit families in New York and Los Angeles, but the hope is to take it nationally and then internationally.

I think this is fantastic idea and love the idea of being able to choose a family to give to and personally pick out what they receive. Way to go Nicole!

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In a draft report recently issued, the Federal Drug Administration has concluded that Bisphenol A is safe --at least when used in food containers. Commonly known as BPA to consumers, the chemical can be found in all sorts of children's products as well as cars, plastic food containers and lining aluminum cans.

This most recent study was one of two funded by the industry itself. Gee, of course any study funded by the industry that stands to make money off it is going to come out with data supporting a chemical's safety. There rationale is that people are exposed to so little of it that it won't do them harm. In other studies BPA has been found in 93% of testees' urine and has been known to cause cancer and behavioral disorders in lab animals. The EPA (Environmental Protection Agency) supports the findings as well.

Opponents of the decision say the study agencies don't have enough data to support their findings that BPA is safe. The country of Canada has banned the use of BPA and products containing the chemical, and national retail chain giants Wal-Mart and Toys R Us are set to remove all children's merchandise containing the chemical from their shelves as of January 2009.

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These days, traveling by air can be an extreme test of patience and restraint. Herded like cattle and crammed into tiny seats, most of us suffer quietly and try to make the best of the situation. Most of us adults do, anyway. Kids are often a little short on patience and restraint and being cooped up for hours in an airplane can be pure torture for them. And for those who sit anywhere near them.

What if there were a separate section on the plane where families traveling with children could sit? Wouldn't that make things a lot easier for everyone involved, including the frustrated parent who can't seem to get junior to sit still or use his inside voice? Airfare Watchdog asked that question and a whopping 85% of respondents said that airlines should have a section of the plane reserved for parents with babies and smaller children.

I wish there had been a kid section the first time I flew with a baby in tow. I thought I was being very considerate of my fellow passengers by keeping her quiet with bottle after bottle of apple juice plugged into her mouth. It kept her quiet alright. After about the fifth bottle, she quietly had a massive apple juice-induced blowout in her diaper, causing everyone in our immediate area to reach for their barf bags. I am sure each and every one of those passengers who caught a whiff and glimpse of that mess wished there were a separate section for kids. And I would have been happy to sit there.

But, as 27% of those polled agree, having a section just for babies and small kids will probably never happen and wouldn't work anyway. Airlines want to fill each and every seat and telling non-family traveling passengers that they have to sit in the loud, stinky section probably wouldn't go over too well.

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Nineteen-month-old Aidan DeBeck is the latest child to beat the odds by surviving a scary fall. He fell 25 to 30 feet, the equivalent of three stories, from his playroom window and walked away with only bruises. His mom. Sara DeBeck, tells of how she left him in the third floor room to take a nap. "I put him in the playpen, which he's just started climbing out of," she said. "He wasn't really sleepy, so I gave him some books, put the gate up and turned on the monitor."

She went back downstairs to tend to her three-year-old but could hear Aidan quietly playing through the monitor. Then she heard a thump. She was confused as to the source of the sound until she noticed the playroom curtain laying on the ground outside.

She rushed out and found her son crying but seemingly unhurt. She called 911 and Aiden was transported via LifeFlight to the hospital. Aidan checked out okay and was released the next day. "In the end, he had no injuries at all," Sara DeBeck said. "It was just amazing."

She says that Aidan will no longer be allowed to be in that room alone when the window is open. That is all well and good, but I hope that isn't her entire plan for child-proofing her windows. Give a curious kid like Aidan enough time and he will be able to open that window by himself. Preventing window falls is as easy as installing window stops or guards. I hope the DeBecks do that very soon. It is a very small price to pay for peace of mind.

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Last week, a group of breastfeeding mothers and their supporters gathered in an H&M clothing store in downtown Vancouver for a nurse-in. The protest was prompted by the experience of Manuela Valle, who recently attempted to breastfeed her two-week-old child in that store, only to be told that she could not. The store clerk told Valle it was their policy to prevent customers from being offended and suggested that Valle feed her baby in a special fitting room, out of the sight of others. Valle was not happy. "I told them I would publicly campaign against their policy because it is wrong and discriminatory. It punished me for breastfeeding by putting me in seclusion and thus confirmed the idea that public breastfeeding is offensive and shameful."

Valle kept her word and on Thursday, a group of women, children and fathers packed the store to draw attention to the situation. One of the organizers of the event, Veronica Polanska, says the protest wasn't specifically aimed at H&M, but at any business that would suggest that nursing a child in public is shameful and should be hidden.

"It's about every business, whether it's an airline or whether it's a restaurant, whether it's a pool ... it doesn't matter where it happens, it's not acceptable.

Considering that an estimated 90 to 95 percent of Canadian mothers breastfeed their babies, it is no wonder that the issue has been officially addressed by the British Columbia Human Rights Commission. In 2000, they issued a policy and procedure manual that says public facilities are to accommodate lactating women and specifies that mothers are allowed to breastfeed or express milk in public places.

I guess it is going to take a more than a policy and procedure manual to convince certain people that breastfeeding is not sexual, offensive or in any way inappropriate. Just what will it take?

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