Breast may be best as far as the World Health Organization is concerned, but not according to Facebook. The social networking site has removed portraits of breastfeeding women created by a British Columbia artist.

The iPad may look like the latest enticing gadget designed to separate you from your wallet. But beyond the hype, the device is proving to have some very useful applications for autistic children.

Is your child heading into full-day JK this fall? Ontario has unveiled their curriculum for their full-day kindergarten program, which will be launched in 600 schools this September. So what's coming? A lot more playtime.

When it comes to adoption, older children are often overlooked. A Canadian portrait series is aiming to change that, and help erase the stigma that keeps older kids from finding homes.

Last fall's H1N1 scare had many parents debating whether to give their children the vaccine, some because they feared it could cause guillain-barre syndrome. But a new study has shown the incidence of the neurological disorder among those who got the shot was low -- Lower, in fact, than those who got the regular seasonal flu vaccine.

Is your kid a movie buff or a budding filmmaker? Starting this weekend, the Toronto International Film Festival presents Sprockets, a film festival for children.

For all those mouth-breathers out there, new research shows that if left untreated, mouth breathing can affect sleep patterns and even cause dental and facial abnormalities.

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It can be tempting to turn couch-potato once your belly starts expanding. But there's a new reason to exercise during pregnancy, and it could have far-reaching benefits for your unborn child. A new study, out of the University of Auckland in New Zealand, shows that regular aerobic activity during pregnancy can lead to a reduction in the birth weight of a baby.

"Given that large birth size is associated with an increased risk of obesity, a modest reduction in birth weight may have long-term health benefits for offspring by lowering this risk in later life," said the study's authors.

But how can you incorporate exercise during your pregnancy safely and enjoyably?

Eva Redpath is a certified group fitness expert and personal trainer based in Toronto. A specialist in women's fitness, she says that exercise during pregnancy can be a way to both keep your body healthy and help you feel beautiful while your body changes.

"Not only does exercising release powerful endorphins to boost your energy, self-esteem and create that healthy glow, the benefits of exercise during your pregnancy can positively prepare you and your body for birth," she says.

Continue reading Exercise During Pregnancy May Prevent Obesity in Baby

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Continue reading Catherine MacLellan Talks Parenting, Divorce and Cool Kids' Tunes

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Continue reading Top Five Movies About Babies

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Minnow Hamilton is the co-founder of SavvyMom, a website for time-crunched Canadian moms looking for answers to their daily dilemmas, "from diapers to dinner parties and everything in between". Hamilton went from stay-at-home mom to managing editor in 2004 when she and her former university roommate, Sarah Morgenstern, came up with the idea for SavvyMom over lattes. In addition to her duties with the website, she's a busy parent to Ryan, 12, and Michael, 10. Hamilton spoke with ParentDish about family dinners, doling out discipline and taming our inner control freaks.

Q: What was the best piece of parenting advice you received before you became a mom?

A: When the children were very young, I was told to nap when the kids napped. Sleep is so important to new parents and I would recommend getting rest before doing laundry any day, especially if it makes you a happier mom.

Q: What advice would you give a new mom, perhaps something you learned along the way?

A: I usually tell them about napping and I also encourage them to make sure they are not shy to ask for help, whether it's from their husband, sister, neighbour or nanny. Everyone needs a break once in a while. Look at anyone who you think is a 'supermom' and it's likely they are not doing everything on their own!

Q: What do you find the most challenging aspect of being a parent?

Continue reading Savvy Mom Minnow Hamilton on Napping, Discipline and Daycare Frustration

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I can truly say that the most shocking aspect of being a new mom, for me, was when I realized what it was going to mean for my sleeping patterns. I still have the journals in which I recorded the feeding times of my newborn twins, and the nighttime notations look quite horrifying in retrospect: 9:20 PM, 10:30 PM, 12:15 AM, 2:05 AM, 3:30 AM, 5:45 AM, 6:00 AM...

One morning at around 5:30 AM, my husband (who had been trying to catch a few winks on the couch in order to function properly at work) came in to see how I was doing. I was a mess. I had barely slept the entire night. It seemed that almost every minute had been spent rocking, soothing or feeding one twin while the other one slept, and then as soon as one finally settled, the other one would wake up for some attention. I was in an absolute state, I felt shell-shocked, and it really did seem like a nightmare from which I'd never wake up.

Quite obviously, I wasn't the only one faced with this problem. A study recently printed in the the Canwest newspapers revealed that most Canadian famillies with children six to 24 months of age aren't sleeping through the night. Seventy-three percent of the parents surveyed said their child wakes one or more nights a week. Of all the issues parents of young children have to be concerned with, lack of sleep is often the most troublesome...

Continue reading Suffering Through Sleepless Nights? You're Not Alone!

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Each Friday, we dish out the best news stories of the week to help keep you in the loop.

As seems to be the trend in recent weeks, Canadian parents have been faced with more recalls on popular baby products. Infantino recalled their SlingRider and Wendy Bellissimo baby slings after they were linked to three infant deaths in the U.S. And Evenflo recalled their Top-of-Stair Plus baby gates after 142 reports of broken slats.

Meanwhile, a warning has been issued about some older toys that might be hanging around at the cottage or grandma's house. Fisher-Price "Little People" figurines manufactured before 1991 should be thrown out. They are significantly smaller than the new ones and could be a choking hazard.

Because of the high number of recalls in the past couple of weeks,this article asks some interesting questions: Is recall overload causing parents to tune out? Is product quality going out the window to cut costs? Or are some of these recalls overblown?

It worked for Justin Bieber, but is it good for your child? The Globe and Mail reported on a 14-year-old Sarnia girl who has become a Youtube sensation, but also asks whether this kind of online exposure good for young kids.

Continue reading Sling Recalls, YouTube Stars, Super Spellers and More

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Continue reading Tracy Moore: Host of CityLine on Sleep Deprivation and Kicking Parenting Books to the Curb

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Each Friday, we dish out the best news stories of the week to help keep you in the loop.

Your child's slapshot may be wicked, but his stick could be deadly. Bauer has announced they will replace 13 models of junior hockey sticks that have been recalled because of high lead content.

Is your child a budding environmentalist? A school bus manufacturer is holding an essay contest to find "Canada's Greenest School." The prize includes a hybrid school bus, a "green" audit and a $3000 scholarship.

Ikea pulls the "Len" crib pillow off shelves after a Calgary mom complained that an unravelled thread nearly strangled her toddler.

Think Craigslist is just for shopping and job hunting? It can also help you fight crime! A Toronto dad recently used Craigslist to sting a stroller thief.

The Conservatives have introduced a bill that would toughen Canada's sex offender laws, making it mandatory for anyone convicted of a sex crime to be put on the registry, and submit a DNA sample.

The generation gap may not be as wide as you think. A new study has shown that today's teens have viewpoints that are very similar to youth born in the seventies.

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For people struggling with infertility issues, the stress and emotional upheaval can be overwhelming. When you add to that the financial burden of fertility treatments, which can run to tens of thousands of dollars, the dream of a family might seem out of reach for some Canadians. But for the citizens of one province at least, fertility treatments will soon become much more financially feasible.

As reported on cbc.ca, Quebec has become the first province in Canada to offer full funding for in vitro fertility treatments. Health Minister Yves Bolduc announced in a news conference last week that the province will fund up to three cycles of IVF by the end of spring. The move has prompted some to ask whether other provinces will follow suit.

Continue reading Quebec Government Will Fund IVF Treatments

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Toronto's Medical Officer of Health has a message for Toronto hospitals: Stop giving out free formula.

According to a new study by Toronto Public Health, hospitals that provide free formula to new moms reduce the likelihood that women will exclusively breastfeed to six months. The study surveyed 1500 first-time mothers in 2007 and 2008, and found that 39 percent of mothers in the study were given formula at discharge. Women who didn't receive the free samples were 3.5 times more likely to be breastfeeding exclusively after 2 weeks.

The study, entitled "Breastfeeding In Toronto, Promoting Supportive Environments," found that although almost all new mothers tried breastfeeding in hospital, the rate of exclusive breastfeeding (breast milk only -- no formula) was only 63 percent by the time they were discharged from hospital. And the rate of exclusive breastfeeding dropped to only 17.5 percent, six months later.

Continue reading Are Hospitals That Give Out Free Formula Sabotaging Breastfeeding?

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A diagnosis of cancer is devastating to a person of any age. But for teenagers and young adults with the disease, it can be particularly lonely and isolating.

As reported on CBC.ca, a group of adolescent and young adult cancer patients and survivors, along with cancer specialists, met this past weekend in Toronto to discuss the issues and challenges facing young people with cancer. And they concluded that young Canadians with cancer are falling through the cracks of a system not designed for them.

Young people are more unlikely to seek medical help if they suspect a problem, and doctors may be less familiar with cancer symptoms in the young, said the workshop participants. Plus, young people with cancer lack peer support, because they are either in wards with young children, or once they turn 18, in facilities with much older adults they just can't relate to.

Continue reading Young Cancer Patients at Risk for Loneliness and Isolation

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Sheila McCarthy is one of Canada's most accomplished actors. She's won the trifecta of Canadian commendation: Two Genies, two Geminis and two Doras (for film, TV and theatre, respectively). From her celebrated performance in the 1987 film I've Heard The Mermaids Singing, to her tenure on the much-loved TV series and L. M. Montgomery adaptation Emily Of New Moon, to her current role on CBC's hit comedy Little Mosque On The Prairie, McCarthy has built a successful career on Canadian soil without sacrificing family. Her husband is actor Peter Donaldson (of the acclaimed Soulpepper theatre troupe), and she has two daughters, Mackenzie (21) and Drew (17).

A: To bend down and look at kids eye to eye. It makes them feel equal instead of being talked down to. It also helps you see from their perspective.

A: My parents are great, and their mantra was always, 'You know how we feel about it, but use your own judgment'. When we were teenagers we would think, 'Oh, great.' But you know, they really let us fall and pick ourselves up instead of micro-managing us. And I've really tried to do that with our kids, offer the advice and then say, off you go. It gives them support but it lets them make up their own minds at the same time.

Continue reading 'Little Mosque' Star Dishes on Life With Teens, Hyper Parenting and Shiloh Jolie-Pitt

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Continue reading Are Canadians More Open to Babies in Bars?

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Since having kids, it seems like the amount of toxic chemicals in my world has increased exponentially.

Every week, there's a new and terrible danger to children's health being trumpeted in the media, from plastics to preservatives. At times I wonder, as I suspect many parents do, whether everyone's just being a tad too paranoid: Can all this stuff really be so hazardous to our kids? A generation ago, no parent would have thought twice about such concerns. And keeping up with the latest news on these potential perils is next to impossible. Maybe it's better to just get on with our lives, cross our fingers and hope for the best.

But at the same time, there are so many unanswered questions about the worrisome rise of a host of children's health issues in North America: ADHD, autism, learning disabilities, asthma, allergies. At this point, we're all pretty much in the dark about why more and more children seem to be afflicted, so it seems to me that any kind of knowledge is power. If I can limit my child's exposure to possibly damaging products, I should. Better safe than sorry, right?

Continue reading 5 Ways to Get Harmful Chemicals Out of Your Child's Life

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A new study suggests that exposure to anti-depressants in utero could adversely affect an infant's developmental milestones. But a leading Canadian expert warns that any potential risk of taking antidepressants during pregnancy needs to be balanced by the very serious risk of leaving mental illness untreated.

As reported in the March issue of Pediatrics, a recent study done at Aarhus University in Denmark found that exposure to antidepressants in the womb could slightly delay an infant's developmental milestones in the first 19 months of life. Boys, in particular, were found to be affected more.

Continue reading Antidepressants During Pregnancy Could Delay Developmental Milestones

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The videotaped "lap dance" between two teachers at Winnipeg's Churchill High School has parents and students across the country weighing in on what is appropriate behaviour for teachers.

The two teachers performed a dance at a school spirit rally. The female teacher sat in a chair, laughing and cheering, while a male teacher danced in front of her, bumping-and-grinding in time to the music, at one point bending down towards her lap and simulating oral sex. The incident was caught on video by two different students and the footage has made the rounds on YouTube.

The Globe and Mail reports that the teachers have since been suspended without pay. Since the sensational story broke, it has turned up in blogs and newspapers all over the world. In media reports of the incident, interviewed parents and students from the school have come down on both sides of the argument: Some say the teachers should be fired outright, while others say the situation has been exaggerated and that the teachers should be allowed to return to the school.

The incident has also raised questions about whether, in a quest to connect with students and be considered "cool", teachers might be crossing the line into inappropriate behaviour. Dance moves like the ones in question can be found in dozens of popular music videos, and even on popular TV programs like "So You Think You Can Dance" or "America's Best Dance Crew." But even if the dancing was acceptable in broad cultural terms, was it appropriate for teachers to be acting in this manner?

Continue reading Teachers' 'Lap Dance' Raises Questions About Appropriate Behaviour

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