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Source: Association for Psychological Science Date: August 3, 2007 Infants Have 'Mind-reading' Capability, Study Shows Science Daily — One of the unique characteristics of humans that distinguish us from the animal kingdom is the ability to represent others' beliefs in our own minds. This sort of intuitive mind-reading, according to experts, lays the cognitive foundations of interpersonal understanding and communication. Researchers have found that found that 13-month-old infants were able to exhibit the ability to attribute mental content. (Credit: iStockphoto/Oleg Kozlov) Despite its importance, scientists have yet to reach a consensus on how this psychological function develops. Some argue that...

My son is two months and one week old and I’ve had to make my first major decision (well, I give input and my wife makes the decision). The best advice from the Internet along with our observations suggest the following…….. “Your child will cry for basic necessities such as to eat, problems with gas, excreting feces (taking a dump), and being too hot or too cold during the first two months. From two months onward, your child will cry as his brain develops due to the human world he has entered. When deciding to pick him up or let...

Infants Wheeze Less In Homes With Multiple Dogs Living in a home with multiple dogs may help reduce an infant’s risk for developing wheezing in the first year of life, according to new research from the University of Cincinnati (UC). Having multiple dogs in the home early in life may help prevent future allergy development in certain kids. (Image courtesy of University of Cincinnati) Cincinnati researchers, led by David Bernstein, MD, have found that infants living in homes with high levels of endotoxins (bacterial contaminants) and multiple dogs were more than two times less likely to wheeze than other infants....

Parents do a lot of guessing on what could be troubling a fussy baby.  If he's crying, he may be hungry or tired. But could he be depressed?  Any parent knows that young children have to be protected from a mind-boggling number of risks, but many will be surprised to learn that infant depression could be one of them.  "Babies can be depressed," said Dr. Jess Shatkin, director of education and training at New York University's Child Study Center. "It's not a terribly common phenomenon. We think maybe one in 40 or so — but it can certainly happen."Although it's...

INDIANAPOLIS -- An error at an Indianapolis hospital killed two premature newborn babies late Saturday night and sparked an internal investigation at the hospital. Officials at Methodist Hospital said Sunday that 2-day-old Emmery Miller and 5-day-old D'Myia Nelson were given lethal doses of the drug Heparin by mistake. Hospital officials called the incident rare and isolated, and said their thoughts and prayers go out to the newborns' families. Six babies in the newborn intensive care unit were given adult doses of Heparin because of a procedural error, according to Methodist Hospital president Sam Odle. "One baby received three doses. One...

Breast milk may not be enough Janet Raloff A new study finds a high incidence of vitamin D deficiency in breast-fed babies, mostly during winter. Such a deficiency limits the body's use of calcium, which is essential for healthy bones and teeth. As part of a trial of iron supplementation, Ekhard E. Ziegler of the University of Iowa in Iowa City and his colleagues regularly took blood samples over 2 years from 84 newborns who were initially breastfed exclusively. The researchers noticed that few infants were getting supplemental vitamin D. The scientists evaluated vitamin D in the infants' blood. They...

BOSTON, Aug. 10 -- There are a lot more chubby babies than there used to be. That goes for chubby preschoolers, too. During a 22-year observational study, the ranks of overweight children grew by almost 60%, with more than a 70% increase for overweight infants, according to a study published online in Obesity. "Rates of overweight are increasing in very young children, even infants, from primarily middle-class families," wrote Matthew Gillman, M.D., of Harvard Medical School, and colleagues. This increase may be a particular problem since early childhood sets the stage for later weight problems and their related sequelae,...

Warning: Public health officials have determined that not breast-feeding may be hazardous to your baby's health. There is no black-box label like that affixed to cans of infant formula or tucked into the corner of magazine advertisements, at least not yet. But that is the unambiguous message of a controversial government public health campaign encouraging new mothers to breast-feed for six months to protect their babies from colds, flu, ear infections, diarrhea and even obesity. In April, the World Health Organization, setting new international bench marks for children's growth, for the first time referred to breast-feeding as the biological norm....

    Infants too young to receive a vaccination against pneumonia, meningitis and other potentially deadly bacterial infections have experienced a drop in the rate of those diseases, possibly as a result of older children having been immunized.     The information is contained in a report by Vanderbilt University researchers, published in the current issue of Journal of the American Medical Association.     The study found a 42 percent decline in rates of invasive pneumococcal disease (IPD) caused by the bacteria, streptococcus pneumoniae, among children under 2 months old since a vaccine went on the market in February 2000.     Researchers say similar decreases in...

PREMATURE babies requiring expensive hospital care have been described as “bed blockers” by one of the country’s leading medical colleges. The Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists (RCOG) says that the ability of doctors to keep alive babies born under 25 weeks presents difficulties for the treatment of other infants. Its comments were made in a submission to an inquiry by the Nuffield Council on Bioethics into the ethics of prolonging life in foetuses and the newborn. The RCOG paper states: “Some weight should be given to economic considerations as there is a real issue in neonatal units of “bed...

A High Court judge is to decide whether life-saving treatment can be withdrawn from a baby BBC ^ Posted on 03/03/2006 9:01:28 PM PST by ARAD Ruling due on right-to-life baby A High Court judge is to decide whether life-saving treatment can be withdrawn from a baby at the centre of a landmark right-to-life case. Baby MB, who cannot be named, has spinal muscular atrophy - a genetic condition which leads to almost total paralysis - and cannot breathe unaided. His family says he responds to them and ought to be allowed to stay alive. Doctors say his quality of...

Ruling due on right-to-life baby A High Court judge is to decide whether life-saving treatment can be withdrawn from a baby at the centre of a landmark right-to-life case. Baby MB, who cannot be named, has spinal muscular atrophy - a genetic condition which leads to almost total paralysis - and cannot breathe unaided. His family says he responds to them and ought to be allowed to stay alive. Doctors say his quality of life is so poor it is in his best interests to let him die. The case continues on Monday. We are hopeful we can persuade the...

A Call for Rediscovery of Sacrament of Baptism Father Cantalamessa Comments on This Sunday's Gospel ROME, JAN. 6, 2006 (Zenit.org).- Here is a translation of the commentary that Capuchin Father Raniero Cantalamessa, the preacher to the Pontifical Household, prepared on the Gospel of this Sunday, the Baptism of Jesus. The solemnity of Epiphany was celebrated today in Italy. * * * The Baptism of Jesus (Isaiah 55:1-11; 1 John 5:1-9; Mark 1:7-11) Rediscovering Our Baptism "At that time Jesus came from Nazareth of Galilee, and was baptized by John in the Jordan. As soon as he came out of the...

The Washington Timeswww.washingtontimes.com Pacifier curbs deaths in cribs, study indicatesBy Joyce Howard PriceTHE WASHINGTON TIMESPublished December 10, 2005 Advertisement Putting a baby to sleep with a pacifier can reduce an infant's risk of dying of sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS) by 90 percent, federal health researchers report.      The findings by investigators with the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (NICHD), which is part of the National Institutes of Health, and Kaiser Permanente were published online yesterday by the British Medical Journal.     This is at least the second recent U.S. study to find that a pacifier significantly...

<p>OSHKOSH, Wis. — A 4-month-old girl died when her inebriated mother fell asleep on top of her while breast-feeding, prosecutors said. Lorinda Hawkins told police she fell asleep about 15 minutes after she started breast-feeding the baby Feb. 23 because of her intoxication, a criminal complaint said. When she woke up about an hour later, the baby was pale and wasn't breathing, the complaint said.</p>

The White House decided to employ a politically-palatable, pundit-prescribed exit strategy with the withdrawal of Harriet Miers. Because of that, Miss Miers is no longer a nominee to the United States Supreme Court, and much of America may believe the Bush Administration's contention that she withdrew over a request for documents. In actuality, she withdrew because her 1993 pro-abortion speech came to light, and that was the straw that broke the camel's back for the great Dr. James Dobson, Senator Sam Brownback, Senator John Thune, and any members of the conservative base who had reserved judgment up to that point....

Official: babies do best with motherYvonne RobertsSunday October 2, 2005ObserverOne of the longest and most detailed studies of UK childcare has concluded that young children who are looked after by their mothers do significantly better in developmental tests than those cared for in nurseries, by childminders or relatives. The study on children from birth to three will reignite the controversy over the best way to bring up young children. It found babies and toddlers fared worst when they were given group nursery care. Those cared for by friends or grandparents or other relatives did a little better while those looked...

MONDAY, Oct. 3 (HealthDay News) -- Giving the antibiotic amoxicillin to infants may contribute to problems with the enamel of their permanent teeth, a new study suggests. However, the study authors and other experts said the finding is preliminary and more research is needed to determine if a cause-and-effect relationship exists. Amoxicillin is commonly prescribed to children for problems such as ear infections and other bacterial illnesses. "The changes in the appearance of the teeth in children that we call dental fluorosis appears to be associated with the use of amoxicillin during the first year of life," said lead researcher...

PORTLAND -- Police say a 3-month-old boy died while "co-sleeping" with his father. The medical examiner determined that the father rolled over on his son while they were asleep. The father does not face any criminal charges, but it renews a hotly debated issue: Is sleeping with infants a good idea? The medical director of Legacy's pediatric clinic says when it comes to co-sleeping there are some pros and cons. Police called the death of the northeast Portland boy Wednesday a "tragic accident," but no law was broken. Dr. Paul Horowitz says studies have shown that sleeping with babies improves...

STOCKHOLM, Sept 4 (Reuters) - As many as one in 10 cases of sudden infant death syndrome could be avoided by early screening for a heart problem and proper treatment, researchers said on Sunday. Scientists have long suspected some cases of SIDS, also known as cot death or crib death, may be due to an electrical problem called long Q-T syndrome, in which the heart recharges itself too slowly. Now a study released at the European Society of Cardiology annual meeting in Stockholm has shown at least 8.4 percent of SIDS victims carry genetic mutations associated with this and related...