Baby Babble

From the Better Baby Institute and beyond

Stephanie Brown over at the About.com Baby & Toddler pages has a refreshingly sane view of child development.  In her post, "Does your baby need academic instruction?", she describes the parenting style she used that she thinks resulted in a child with a pretty good vocabulary for his age.  Check out her essay here, and then click through to a recent Boston Globe story that suggests pushing babies academically too far too soon--a recent trend among some parents--can be taken to extremes. The Boston Globe article showcase one mother and child, and the program that Mom's subscribed to from the Better Baby Institute.  In that program, mom learned to show her child flashcards of the likes of Mona Lisa, Homer, Marie de Medici and Erasmus of Rotterdam--just to get those intellectual batteries charged up at, oh, 18 months. The philosophy of the Better Baby Institute?:  "We are persuaded that every child born has, at the instant of birth, a greater potential intelligence than Leonardo da Vinci ever used."

What do you think? Have you short-changed your child by reading her little kid books? Write us with your thoughts here. Use the "comments" feature just below.

Let's nip this trend right in the cashmere onesie

Marketers say they're noticing a trend: wealthier, older parents of newborns are willing to part with a lot of cash to keep the kid in cashmere. Oh, puh-leaze. A child dies, what, something like every 12 minutes in Africa and the well-clothed in this country think it's cute to have cashmere with spit-up stains all over it?!

"I don't have the time to search for discounts and bargains...I don't have time to search for that one cute thing in a really ugly store," said one silly, rich mother in this article. Well, who asked her to? But, why not just keep the shopping to a normal level? I'm thinking maybe this mother should be brought up on charges and sentenced to shop where regular people shop. Or maybe she should be sent on a trip to Africa?

Then there's the Disney Company, which is apparently selling a high-end clothing line called--ahem--"Icky Baby" ($45 for a side-snap T-shirt).  My guess is any baby growing up in Icky Baby clothing will, indeed, grow up to be an Icky Adult.

Am I wrong here? Is luxury clothing for kids simply parental perogative? Would you spend $90 on a romper?

Weigh in with your comments using the "comment" feature below.

How old is too old for having babies?

Okay, so you're 62-years-old and you've just had a baby. And, apparently, you've done this on purpose because you went through fertility treatments in order to conceive. With all due respect to the new mother (and her 60-year-old husband)--"What, are you nuts?"

According to July 9 press reports out of London, a 62-year-old woman gave birth to a baby boy and has become the oldest British woman to have a baby. (The oldest woman, ever, to have a baby was Romanian Adriana Iliescu, who gave birth in 2005 at the age of 66.)  Everyone in London is all aglow over the blessed event and, understandably, over the new child. But, really, isn't this the height of selfishness  in the midst of what should be the most self-less act a woman can perform--giving birth? In this case, Mom and Dad will be checking into a nursing home (or whatever the British equivalent is, thereof) just about the time Baby J.J. needs to be learning how to drive and get dressed for the prom.  No word on whether this happy couple has enlisted a band of relatives or friends to help them out, and possibly raise the child for them should they...well...succomb to ailments other than their dire need to have a child.

Are we wrong here? What are your thoughts on women over 60 giving birth? Use the "Comment" feature below to publish your opinion with The Baby Babble.