Tomorrow night, my mother-in-law is visiting. Lucky her, she gets the bottom (full-sized) bunk, being that it's the only guest bed we currently have in the house. I plan on sticking my three-year-old in with us, but gave my five-year-old the option of sleeping on the top bunk or camping out in our room.

"Oh, I'll sleep in my own bed. It's where all my babies are."

Do you know how long I've waited to hear those words? FIVE YEARS. Still, shortly after I got done jumping for joy, I felt sad. My chronic co-sleeper didn't want to sleep with me anymore. Isn't motherhood weird?

According to recent research, adult women who were breastfed as infants have a higher chance of not getting breast cancer than their counterparts who weren't. Oddly, this result didn't necessarily apply to first-born children. Women who reported they were breastfed as babies were 17 percent less at risk for getting breast cancer. This was not observed among women who were first-born however.

The mother's age at the time of birth was used to predict how many environmental contaminants were in her breastmilk, suggesting a possible link between the amount of contaminants and the woman's likelihood of developing breast cancer. Over 2,000 women between the ages of 20 and 69 with breast cancer and just under 2,000 at that age without it were studied. All three factors--the mother's age, the daughter's birth order and whether or not she was breast-fed--were given consideration for the study.

Women who were not breast-fed, reduced cancer risk was noted when the mother was older. Birth order did not affect this group, while in those who were breast-fed group it was noted women with three or more older siblings had a lesser chance of getting breast cancer than first-born women. As is the result with most research, more study is needed.

Frederic G. Melcher, former editor of Publishers Weekly, once said, "A great nation is a reading nation." Recognizing that the love of reading starts in childhood, Melcher and others came together back in 1919 to celebrate the very first Children's Book Week. Eighty-nine years later, the Children's Book Council carries on the tradition of encouraging reading among children.

This year, Children's Book Week is celebrated May 12-18 and children's author Terry Pierce has some suggestions for ways to promote a love of reading with your own children.

First of all, it is never too early to start reading to your child. Even if they don't understand a word you are saying, it is a wonderful way to bond. Plus, early exposure to books helps develop memory skills as well as symbol recognition, hearing and speaking.

To extend the learning beyond the pages of the book, Pierce suggests asking questions at the end of a story. You could ask your child what she thinks the author was trying to say, discuss the illustrations and even predict what happens next. Another way to enhance the story is to take it into the kitchen. A story that involves food can lead to a fun cooking activity in which your child can be involved in everything from the shopping, to the cooking to the eating.

If your child likes to draw, how about letting him create his own illustrations for a favorite book? Or maybe design his own cover? Reading can also be a springboard into writing. Whether your child wants to pen a letter to the author or begin keeping a journal, books can be inspiring.

For more ideas on celebrating books and promoting reading, visit the Children's Book Council for activities, suggested books and more. Happy reading!

I've recently seen some version of the study linking weight loss to the amount of sleep moms get in at least five different places, and it kind of makes me want to cry a little. If I'm getting six hours of sleep, I call it a good night.

I mean, really, when was the last time you got eight hours of solid, uninterrupted sleep? Maybe it's just me, but I can't seem to make that happen, even on a good night when my 3 year old goes down like a dream (which is never) and my to-do list isn't two miles long (also never.)

I have three jobs: my full time day job, writing here, and full time parenting. In other words, when some people's day ends after the kiddo is finally in bed and the laundry is going, mine is just starting. Apparently this isn't good for my overall physique, or my mental health, but I can't even begin to fathom how to do things differently so that I could sneak in another hour of sleep here or there.

Even when I go to bed early, or perhaps more accurately, especially when I go to bed early I can't fall asleep. Instead I lie in bed, my brain going at a million miles an hour, worrying that I'll forget to do something, or strategizing about how I'll get it all done.

And I can't take any comfort in a recent poll by the National Sleep foundation, that found that half the nation reports having frequent insomnia, because it seems that the drug companies who market sleep medications are behind it.

But I am curious--misery loves company after all-- how much sleep do you get every night, really?

Ice cream trucks are an icon of childhood summers. Just when you think it can't get any hotter, you hear that tinkling (and sometimes, really creepy) music and know that relief is on its way.

Communities across the country, however, are starting to pay more attention to who's behind the wheel of their neighborhood ice cream truck.

Spearheaded, possibly, by a handful of incidences where children found themselves in the hands (and trucks) of sexual predators working as ice cream truck drivers, officials in several states are passing laws that require strict background checks before hiring. Many are looking to ban criminals from this kind of employment altogether.

In an extreme case of misplaced priorities, an Australian man has been fined for failing to safely secure a five-year-old child in his vehicle. It isn't that he didn't have seat belts in his car, it's just that there weren't any available after all the adults and a 30-can case of beer were buckled in.

Alice Springs constable Wayne Burnett was understandably "shocked and appalled" when he pulled over the unregistered vehicle and discovered the backseat full of safely secured adults and beer and a child perched on the hump of the back seat floor. "I haven't ever seen something like this before," he said. "This is the first time that the beer has taken priority over a child."

Oh, but it isn't. Earlier this year, a woman in Florida was arrested for essentially the same thing. She had a case of beer buckled in the front passenger seat and a sixteen-month-old child unrestrained the the back.

As bad as this is, I suppose it could have been worse. At least these children weren't made to ride in the trunk - where the beer should been in the first place. And what is with all this buckling up of beer? It has never occurred to me to strap in my purchases when driving home. Do normal people do this?

A possible link between a vaccine additive and autism is in the news again. The courts will participate in three cases, the second of which was last Monday, to determine whether parents should be awarded millions of dollars to over 4,800 parents of autistic children.

in the second hearing parents are claiming that thimerosal, an preservative added to vaccines that contains mercury, is causing the autism. This issue has been on wildfire for quite some time now, and since 2001 pediatricians have declined further use of vaccines containing the preservative.

Several parents discussed in the New York Times article contend that their children were developing normally until they were vaccinated but that a build up of mercury in their brains stopped that development. The two cases are being used to determine what if any compensation will be given to other parents with similar claims.

You're cleaning out your child's back pack. Book order? Check. Field trip form? Check. Homework? Check. Notice that a male classmate will now be living as a girl, and counselors will be discussing the issue with your child tomorrow at school? Check. What? Wait a minute.

Parents of third grade students at a Philadelphia elementary school were recently surprised when school officials announced that a boy who has been receiving treatment for transgender issues would now be living as a girl. They announced they'd be explaining the issue to kids in a developmentally appropriate way the next day, as well doing some minor sensitivity training.

An eleven-year-old Canadian boy battling Leukemia has decided he doesn't want to undergo any more chemotherapy. His family doesn't want him to suffer anymore chemo either. The Children's Aid Society, however, has taken the boy into custody and is forcing him to undergo therapy. He was diagnosed at age seven with acute lymphoblastic leukemia which is curable eighty percent of the time.

After being cancer-free for a year following a previous round of chemotherapy, the disease came back and he started treatment again. Now, however, he wants to switch to alternative treatment including chelation therapy, oregano and green tea. "He told us that he didn't want to undergo any more treatment because he felt that it wasn't going to give him quality of life, that he felt that it would probably take away his life," said the boy's father.

A judge had earlier ruled that the boy was not capable of understanding what it meant to refuse chemotherapy. According to his father, the boy has fetal alcohol syndrome and is somewhat intellectually delayed.

According to a recent NYT article, Title IX had an amazing impact on the number of girls and women who play sports. Title IX was passed in 1972, a bill that eliminated the exclusion of women in any federally funded educational activity. Though it's effect was wide-reaching, it's probably best known for opening up the playing field, literally, to women.

In pre-Title IX 1972, about 300,000 girls played high school sports. Today, that number has blossomed to three million. Likewise, the number of female college athletes has grown to 205,000 from 30,000 in 1972.

Girls have more opportunity than ever to participate in sports. Sports keep kids active, help them maintain their weight, give them a social outlet -- so some would call that a blessing. But while understanding that sports play an important role for many teen and young adult women, some sports experts are also calling the change that Title IX has brought somewhat of a curse.

Have plans for Wednesday, May 21st? Well, even if you do, if you happen to be pregnant, make sure you stop by Baskin Robbins. They're offering those expecting a new addition a taste of their own new addition--soft serve.

Now, you may say Baskin Robbins offering soft serve is pure ice cream blasphemy, but, if you're pregnant (and having a craving for ice cream, with or without the pickles) you can enjoy a free three ounce serving of the new soft serve from 11:00 AM until 10:00 PM. My advice? Locate the various Baskin Robbins stores around you and hit them all.

Unfortunately, the offer is limited to those lucky gals in California, Chicago, New York, Nashville and El Paso. if you don't happen to be located in one of those locations, you have two options:

1. Hop on the next train or plain and get yourself there to satisfy your desire for soft serve.

2. Consider that your OBGYN would probably say ice cream isn't good for you anyway.

I happen to be pregnant, located in New York, and a supreme lover of Baskin Robbins. So if you're looking for me on May 21st, you know where to find me.

Ever get tired of eating at home or suffering through take out? Ever fantasize about going out to a nice meal that someone else cooks, someone else serves you and someone else cleans up? Ever figure out how to turn that fantasy into a reality and actually get you, your spouse and your kids out the door at a reasonable hour before things get too crowded and miraculously find yourselves seated at a table at--oh!--a restaurant?

You've finally managed to sit down and rest your aching feet, your aching back, your aching everything. You've got the kid's food and his toys and his diaper changer and your spouse has managed to put down the stroller and find a safe place for it out of the way. The server has brought the high chair. And, as you're sliding the baby down into it, you realize it's broken. The latches don't work or don't exist or whatever. You kindly ask for another one, explaining this one is broken.

The server obliges and brings you another one, which is, alas, also broken. Not only is it not safe, but it simply won't hold your son, who is more excited than ever to be in a new place with new faces and smells and ever so much excitement. He can't sit still. In fact, he won't sit at all and you have to hold him down to keep him from standing in the high chair.

You're having a baby, now where to put the car seat? According to a recent study, the most popular placement for car seats is the rear passengers side, most likely so that the driver can most easily see and attend to the baby.

But the same study found that the safest place for baby is actually in the center position of the back seat, if the car seat can be installed correctly in that position. An analysis of data from car accidents in 16 states found that kids under age 3 who sat in the center were 43% less likely to get hurt.

Sometimes, placing the car seat in the center just isn't possible. In our first car, we couldn't get a snug fit. Our second is a minivan, with bucket seats in the back. If this is the case for you, safety experts remind you that any car seat that is properly installed in the rear offers excellent protection. But if you can get it installed correctly in the center, even better.

Sleep deprivation is a normal part of early parenthood. But for David and Shannon Lamb, sleep issues have taken on a whole new meaning. Their three-year-old son, Rhett, hasn't slept at all -- not a night, not a nap -- since he was born.

Rhett has a rare condition called chiari malformation, which his doctors believe is the cause of his sleeplessness. Patients with chiari malformation have a skull that is abnormally formed and puts pressure on the brain, causing it to protrude through the bottom of the skull. People with chiari malformation may have muscle weakness, vision problems, or coordination issues. Symptoms can range from nonexistent to severe.

When Denise Richards and Charlie Sheen broke up way back when, many speculated that playboy Charlie had been caught doing something he shouldn't have been doing. There may or may not be something to that theory, but according to Denise Richards, the final straw in the relationship had nothing to do with another woman. She says it was an ugly disagreement over vaccinations that made her realize her marriage wasn't going to work.

Denise says that when she decided to vaccinate four-year-old daughter Sam, Charlie accused her of poisoning their child. "I knew when he said that, that the marriage wasn't going to work," she tells Rebook magazine.

While that does seem a little harsh, I've seen first hand right here at Parent Dish how the subject of vaccinations can divide parents. In the end, the best we can do is agree to disagree. But when mom and dad have different opinions, things can get a little more complicated. Have you and your partner found yourselves on different sides of the vaccination debate? How did you work it out?