LONDON — Should your baby be fed according to a schedule or on demand? A new study suggests that demand-feeding is associated with higher IQ scores, but a casual link can not be decided so far.

Researchers at the University of Essex and University of Oxford reported that they investigated data of more than 10,000 children born in the early 1990s in the Bristol area in Britain.

The IQ scores of eight-year-old children who had been demand-fed as babies were between four and five points higher than the scores of schedule-fed children, says the study published in the European Journal of Public Health.

This difference is also evident in the results of tests at ages five, seven, 11 and 14 when the children were in school.

Lead researcher Maria Iacovou, at University of Essex, said: “The difference between schedule and demand-fed children is found both in breastfed and in bottle-fed babies.”

“To give a sense of the kind of difference that four or five higher IQ points might make, in a class of 30 children, for example, a child who is right in the middle of the class, ranked at 15th, might be, with an improvement of four or five IQ points, ranked higher, at about 11th or 12th in the class.”

However, she stressed that at this stage, it should be very cautious about claiming a casual link between feeding patterns and IQ.

“This is the first and only study of its kind, and further research is needed before we can say categorically that how you feed your baby has a long-term impact on his or her IQ and academic attainment, and before we can say definitively what the mechanisms are by which this relationship comes about,” she added. (Xinhua)

The American Academy of Pediatric (AAP) is urging parents and crib manufacturers to do away with using bumpers on their baby’s cribs. The organization has just released new guidelines on baby safety, which includes this recommendation as a way to preventing SIDS.

According to the reports, this is the first time the group has openly recognized the dangers of the bumpers, which were first added to the cribs to protect the babies from injury. The AAP says, there is no such evidence to the claim that a bumper-less crib is dangerous. However, the crib bumpers themselves bring about more danger as this can strangle, suffocate and entrap infants, leading to their death. There have been lots of reported cases about this, hence the AAP has already taken a stand.

Their last recommendation, published in 2005, suggested using crib bumpers that are thinner and hardly pillow-like. But recent turn of events have made the AAP change their stand.

According to one of its chairpersons:

“In 2005, when we last published a policy statement and recommendations, we had some concerns about bumper pads, but we didn’t really have a lot of evidence that this was a real problem. Since then, there have been some published studies looking at bumper pads, and we concluded that if there’s no reason for them to be in the crib, it’s better to just have them out of there, particularly in light of the deaths that have been reported, that have been associated with the bumper pads.”

Chicago has outlawed crib bumpers inspite a lot of objections from the industry which makes these. Bumper pads, in recent years, have the reason for many SID or suffucation among babies. Babies, who still do not have the motor skills to turn or move their head away from bumper pads that are wrapped around their sleeping area, are prone to such dangers. The banning of this item has been necessary because of it.

According to a report from the Chicago Tribune, the ban will take effect in seven months time.

The city’s Department of Business Affairs and Consumer Protection will enforce the ordinance, responding to complaints and checking for products during inspections of stores. Retailers who violate the ordinance can face fines up to $500 for each violation.

Stores like Babies R Us have already expressed they will follow the local ordinance, even as the company sells bumper pads nationwide.

Meanwhile, baby bedding companies have already started redesigning bumper pads so that it becomes more compliant and save around babies. The addition of a mesh and zip features supposedly make this less dangerous. The local ruling in Chicago doesn’t say if these improved bumper pads are also included in the ban.

The trade group have been against the passing of the ordinance since the beginning claiming that there is no evidence linking SIDS to bumper pads. The Chicago Tribune, however, reports otherwise as there have been documented deaths were doctors have ruled that bumper pads is the cause.

One of my dearest girlfriends’ babies have learned to crawl and we’ve been helping her with baby proofing her house. This is a safety requirement that must be put in all houses with very curious babies and toddlers, to avoid accidents. You don’t want to find your baby with a bump in her head, or a cut in her arms, or worse, suffocating or falling down something hurting her seriously.

Here are the things you need to take note of when it comes to baby proofing:

1. Survey the house for lower cabinets and drawers that babies may reach and try to pry open. These need child locks so that they won’t be able to open this and get their hands or themselves caught on the door or drawer.

2. Toddlers can already reach oven or stove knobs. When they see Mommy doing this, they wanna try and do the same thing and sometimes do this when Mom isn’t looking. Buy stove cover knobs to prevent any untoward incident like fire burning down the property or your child.

3. A toilet lid lock was one of the first baby proofing product I got for our house. And this is also great with keeping dogs from drinking onto the bowl, which is unsanitary.

4. Of all the baby proofing products to get, a corner guard one is a real life saver. Corner guards are those things you place on the edge of coffe tables. They tend to be sharp and can really hurt the baby. Adults can benefit from this too. I noticed that I bruise less with corner guards around.

A group of friends, all of whom are also both actors and new moms, have joined together out in LA to raise funds for the March of Dimes.  The March of Dimes advocates for all aspects of babyhood, from conception to early infancy, and is perhaps best known for its work fighting to prevent birth defects. 

I think this is so great.  Not only are these moms supporting each other through pregnancies and the young babyhood of their kids, but they’re reaching beyond themselves to help make life better for other parents, other kids. 

And it’s not like these ladies are any less busy than the rest of us.  So, how about it, moms?  What can we be doing to help support other moms, and make life better for babies we might never meet?  Kudos to you, Elizabeth Rohm, Melissa Joan Hart, Nancy O’Dell, Julie Bowen, Garcelle Beauvais-Nilon, Jenny Garth, Diane Farr, Kellie Martin, and Nancy O’Dell.