What?? A sippy cup made from PVC!

I really can't believe I missed this, but I just realized recently that the sippy cup I was giving to my toddler to drink water out of... is made of polyvinyl chloride (PVC). Who makes sippy cups out of PVC?! Apparently, Arrow Plastic Manufacturing Company does. How could I have been fooled? The top of the sippy cup is made from polypropylene. OK. The bottom part was clear and hard -- I just assumed it was polystyrene...but if you look closely at the plastic number logo at the bottom, it says "3" which is... PVC. Not OK. The main concern with PVC is the phthalate plasticizers that are used to make PVC more flexible, since it's a brittle polymer in its unmodified form. Phthalates, which are considered to be estrogen mimics, can leach out of PVC products. Bad. According to Arrow, there are no phthalates in the hard PVC plastic used to make the sippy cups, so they are safe. And oh yeah, the sippy cups don't contain BPA either! Of course they don't. BPA isn't used to make PVC... And apparently, lots of other additives are also generally added during PVC processing, like heat stabilizers, UV stabilizers, lubricants, processing aids, impact modifiers, etc.

I'm not sure how reassured I am by that. I did some Googling, and the only thing I could find about PVC sippy cups is this article from Green & Clean MOM who seems to have gone through a similar experience of "Are you kidding me?"

I do wonder about all the PVC water pipes out there though... If those are considered safe to transport drinking water, then technically, these sippy cups should be "safe" too, right?

Tylenol reduces effectiveness of vaccines in babies?

A new study published in The Lancet, led by military and government scientists in the Czech Republic, has found that Tylenol (aka acetaminophen, paracetamol), when administered right after an immunization shot, can slightly reduce the effectiveness of vaccines in young babies (9-16 weeks old). Acetaminophen is widely recommended as an analgesic for babies, and it seems to be common practice for parents to give their babies acetaminophen right after they get their shots to prevent fever and fussiness. Fever after a vaccine is pretty common -- it's the body's immune response -- but apparently, curbing the fever also reduces the immune response and the amount of antibodies that are produced. In fact, antibody levels remained significantly lower even after the babies got their booster shots at 12-15 months old.

Doctors from the U.S. Centers For Disease Control and Prevention note that even with the use of acetaminophen, more than 90% of the babies achieved protection from the vaccines after the booster dose, but they believe that the consistency of findings from other studies suggests that routine use of fever-lowering medicines during immunization may not be recommended.

Don't drink the water at school...

According to an investigation by the Associated Press, the drinking water at public and private schools in all 50 states in the U.S. has been found to contain various contaminants, including coliform bacteria, lead, copper, arsenic, nitrates, pesticides like 1,2-dibromo-3-chloropropane (DBCP), and disinfectants. Contamination is worst at schools that use well water.

Amazingly, this problem has been mostly ignored by the federal government even as the number of violations against the Safe Drinking Water Act have increased significantly over the past 10 years. Apparently, drinking water monitoring is inefficiently spread out among too many local, state, and federal agencies, such that many risks are going unreported, and devising an effective national monitoring plan will be complicated and expensive. Right now, the EPA can only provide guidelines on environmental practices, since it doesn't have the authority to require testing for all schools.

The AP's analysis of a database of federal drinking water violations from 1998 to 2008 revealed that California (which has the most schools of any state) had the greatest number of violations (612), followed by Ohio (451), Maine (417), Connecticut (318), and Indiana (289). The most common contaminant was coliform bacteria, followed by lead, copper, arsenic, and nitrates.

I guess the good news is that the number of schools with unsafe water represents only a small percentage of the nation's 132,500 schools, but something needs to be done. Kids drink more water per pound than adults, so they are more susceptible to the effects of contaminants in water as well as food. It's probably best to give your kids (bottled, if you trust it, or filtered) water to bring to school so that they don't have to drink the school's water.

Sometimes I wonder what's in our tap water at home. We filter it, but even then, what gets through the filter? I honestly don't know, and I'm just assuming it's fine. Anyone have an atomic absorption spectrometer and GC-MS?

DNA to predict your kid's talents?

Here's an interesting yet disturbing article about using DNA tests to determine a child's genetically predisposed talents. The Chongqing Children's Palace in China is conducting such a study on 30 children aged 3-12 years, in collaboration with the Shanghai Biochip Corp. which is performing the DNA tests. Apparently, a simple saliva swab can collect enough cells to isolate 11 different genes, which can provide information about IQ, emotional control, focus, memory, athletic ability, listening ability, physical characteristics, and more. The scientists claim that this information could potentially help predict their future careers as well. The DNA test costs about $880, plus the kids are sent to a 5-day "summer camp" where they are evaluated by experts in different areas to determine what they should pursue.

The parents -- who just want the best for their (only) children -- believe that this will help them understand their children better and give them a head start, but will it? Just because a child is good at something doesn't mean that they will want to pursue it as a career. What if they have many talents? Are the parents going to choose one for them? It sounds like the parents want to control how their children turn out. What if the test shows that a child has a natural gift for athletics, so the parents push the child into sports in the hopes that they will one day become a successful athlete. Maybe the kid is happy about the choice at first, but one day they discover that they're just not good enough in the highly competitive field of sports. "But, my DNA says I should be a star!" What kind of long-term psychological damage will the parents have inflicted on their child?

What are kids searching online?

Are you curious about what your kids are looking up online? Even at 15 months old, my little toddler is already fascinated by what's on my computer screen and enjoys watching kid-friendly videos on YouTube. But what will she be doing online in a couple of years?

Computer security company Symantec has compiled a list of the top 100 searches conducted by children online, based on 3.5 million searches made by OnlineFamily.Norton service users worldwide between February and July 2009. Apparently, "YouTube" was the most popular search term, which isn't surprising, since it's an obvious starting place for entertainment and education purposes. "Google" and "Facebook" came in second and third, respectively, followed by "sex"(!), "MySpace," and "porn"(!).

I'm not looking forward to having to "spy on" or "censor" what my kid does online, but it seems like it's necessary to set "age-appropriate" rules. Symantec's OnlineFamily.Norton service apparently gives parents the tools to manage how their children use the internet. Parents can see which sites they visit, how long they're online, who they chat with, and what information they're sharing with others. I guess the nice thing is that the service doesn't "spy" on kids -- it makes its presence known on the screen -- and when they're starting to tread towards forbidden territory, animated dog characters appear on the screen to warn them (I wonder how well that will work with teenagers). A Symantec Internet Safety Advocate even claims that the service gives parents the opportunity to broach "delicate" topics, such as sex.

Me: "Oh, what are you working on?"
Kid: {desperately tries to shut down computer} "Umm..."
Me: {glances at screen} "Daaahhh!!"
Kid: "I was just...curious..."
Me: {sighs} "Okay...maybe it's time we have a little chat about..."

Jessie, please take your time growing up.

Chemtastic Designs: "OBSTiNaTe"

Here's the latest design I posted at Chemtastic Designs: "OBSTiNaTe"

Stubborn babies need to learn big words too. "OBSTiNaTe" is spelled with the chemical element symbols for Oxygen, Boron, Sulfur, Titanium, Sodium, and Tellurium.

Jessie is in an obstinate phase now. It doesn't matter what we say -- she'll still try to do what she wants. Somehow I get the feeling this isn't going to get any better, especially when she hits her teenage years...

Apparently, women are getting more beautiful...

According to Markus Jokela and researchers at the University of Helsinki, "beautiful" women had up to 16% more children than less attractive women. The study followed 1,244 women and 997 men in the U.S. over the course of 40 years, and their attractiveness was determined from photos that were taken during the study.

Satoshi Kanazawa, an evolutionary psychologist at the London School of Economics, had previously reported that good-looking parents were 36% more likely to have a daughter than a son as their first-born child, and suggested that this was due to an evolutionary strategy that has been programmed into human DNA. Kanazawa argues that since physical attractiveness is inherited, if more attractive parents have more daughters, then women will gradually become more physically attractive than men over the course of several generations. He claims that good looks benefit women more than men, hence the evolutionary bias. Men, on the other hand, don't need to be as good looking, but there's an evolutionary pressure for them to be successful, because that's what women are looking for in potential mates. Kanazawa's previous research has also suggested that scientists, mathematicians, and engineers who have "male brains" tend to have more sons than daughters. Hmm...

I can't help thinking about all the "beautiful" celebrities who have average-looking kids...

The modern maternity ward

Talk about sweet! While the last thing on a woman's mind when she's going into labor is, "Does the room have Wi-Fi?", apparently many hospitals are renovating their maternity wards to include such things as whirlpool tubs, Wi-Fi, more attractive decor and linens, and the availability of message therapists, portrait photographers, and manicurists. Why? Of course, they aren't doing it out of the goodness of their hearts because they understand what a stressful, tiring, and painful time it is for moms and moms-to-be. The bottom line is: $$$. Hospitals -- now highly competitive businesses -- are trying to capitalize on the nation's crazy obsession with pregnancy and babies, trying to win over an apparently coveted demographic: women. That's because women tend to be the ones who take charge of their children's health care and take care of a sick or aging relative.

Glad to know that hospitals have our best interests in mind...

Chemtastic Designs: Little Stinker, Little Screamer

I just posted two new designs at Chemtastic Designs.

"Little Stinker" is a contribution from my husband. The idea was his -- funny, considering that I'm the one who changes all the poo diapers -- but the design is mine. Apparently dimethyl sulfide is a main component of poo smell...

"Little Screamer" was inspired by our recent long distance plane trip with Jessie. She screamed almost the entire way... When we got off the plane, we passed by some other passengers who were on the plane with us, and I overheard them say, "Oh, look, it's the little screamer!"

What did kids play with before electronic toys existed??

Have you noticed that practically every toy has some sort of electronic component to it these days? Before I had Jessie, I had decided that I didn't want my kid to play with toys that made annoying noises, but that's pretty much impossible, unless you restrict them to playing with traditional toys like building blocks, stuffed animals, dolls, etc. But now, I'm guilty of accepting and buying (oh no!) toys for Jessie that make noise... Sigh. She has plenty of non-electronic toys as well, and she plays with them just as much, so I can't say whether "hi tech" toys are better. I just hope she grows to like LEGOs as much as I did when I was a kid. I think LEGOs are one of the simplest toys out there that will encourage kids to be creative.

Anyway, getting back to electronic toys... I never thought about this until I saw the crossed-out wheelie bin symbol on many of Jessie's toys. You think about recycling your cell phone or computer or other electronic devices, but do you think about recycling your kid's electronic toys? That crossed-out wheelie bin symbol means you can't just throw that toy in the trash, you need to recycle it with other electronic waste. Here's a great website with information about recycling and even composting.

I'm wondering how aware parents are about this and whether they're disposing of their kids' electronic toys properly...

Hilarious: 'Sleep Training - A Baby's View'

We recently came back from a trip to Taiwan, and the 12-hour time difference made it very difficult to get Jessie back to her normal sleep schedule. We basically had to sleep train her all over again... It was a painful experience... In fact, it was even more painful than the first time we sleep trained her. In any case, if you've ever tried to sleep train a baby, then you will appreciate how funny this article is. It's called "Sleep Training - A Baby's View":

OK, here's my situation. My Mommy has had me for almost 7 months. The first few months were great--I cried, she picked me up and fed me, anytime, day or night. Then something happened. Over the last few weeks, she has been trying to STTN (sleep thru the night). At first, I thought it was just a phase, but it is only getting worse. I've talked to other babies, and it seems like it's pretty common after Mommies have had us for around 6 months. Here's the thing: these Mommies don't really need to sleep. It's just a habit. Many of them have had some 30 years to sleep--they just don't need it anymore. So I am implementing a plan. I call it the Crybaby Shuffle. It goes like this:

Night 1--cry every 3 hours until you get fed. I know, it's hard. It's hard to see your Mommy upset over your crying. Just keep reminding yourself, it's for her own good.

Night 2--cry every 2 hours until you get fed.

Night 3--every hour.

Most Mommies will start to respond more quickly after about 3 nights. Some Mommies are more alert, and may resist the change longer. These Mommies may stand in your doorway for hours, shhhh-ing. Don't give in. I cannot stress this enough: CONSISTENCY IS KEY!! If you let her STTN (sleep through the night), just once, she will expect it every night. I KNOW IT'S HARD! But she really does not need the sleep, she is just resisting the change. If you have an especially alert Mommy, you can stop crying for about 10 minutes, just long enough for her to go back to bed and start to fall asleep. Then cry again. It WILL eventually work. My Mommy once stayed awake for 10 hours straight, so I know she can do it.

Last night, I cried every hour. You just have to decide to stick to it and just go for it. BE CONSISTENT! I cried for any reason I could come up with. My sleep sack tickled my foot. I felt a wrinkle under the sheet. My mobile made a shadow on the wall. I burped, and it tasted like pears. I hadn't eaten pears since lunch, what's up with that? The cat said "meow". I should know. My Mommy reminds me of this about 20 times a day. LOL. Once I cried just because I liked how it sounded when it echoed on the monitor in the other room. Too hot, too cold, just right–doesn't matter! Keep crying!! It took awhile, but it worked. She fed me at 4am. Tomorrow night, my goal is 3:30am. You need to slowly shorten the interval between feedings in order to reset your Mommies' internal clocks.

P.S. Don't let those rubber things fool you, no matter how long you suck on them, no milk will come out. Trust me.

It's very therapeutic, even for when you've just had a rough day with the kid. I already feel better. :)

The Curious Toddler and Adhesives

Jessie, aged 14 months, is a curious little monkey. Looking at things isn't good enough. She has to touch them too. Even before she discovered the kitchen cabinets, we had put locks on most of them, but there were some that had no good way of being locked. Enter the Safety 1st Adjustable Multi-Purpose Strap. Now, it's a good idea in theory, and I was excited to have found a way to secure the cabinet doors, but I was a bit skeptical about how well the straps would hold up -- since they were secured with adhesives. Well, I was right, they don't hold up. Grrr. Now I'm considering using Gorilla Glue or some other strong glue to keep them from coming off. Ironically, it's the side that sticks to the plastic lock piece that's delaminating and not the side that sticks to our wooden cabinet doors. The company should seriously think about improving their crap product.

TIP: Have you ever had to deal with stickers that just won't come off cleanly from beautiful things that you just bought at the store? Try using Vaseline (petroleum jelly) to dissolve the adhesive and then wipe it off with a paper towel. It might take a couple of tries, but the adhesive does eventually come off. Adhesives are often low molecular weight polymers that should dissolve in petroleum jelly, which is composed of a mixture of saturated hydrocarbons.