NEWS
By Amber Dance | August 7, 2007
Parents hoping to raise baby Einsteins by using infant educational videos are actually creating baby Homer Simpsons, scientists said today. For every hour a day that babies 8 to 16 months old watched such popular video series as Brainy Baby or Baby Einstein, they knew six to eight fewer words than other children. The makers of the videos sell hundreds of millions of dollars worth each year to parents aiming to put their babies on the fast track, even if they are still working on walking.
FEATURES
By PETER JENSEN | March 26, 1999
Three years ago, Julie and Michael McCalpin had the foresight to circle their magic date: April 9, 1999.Long before they married, or even so much as picked out a china pattern, the couple had staked out their reproductive future.In two weeks, the McCalpins will spend what could be politely termed as "quality time" together to fulfill their long-held goal: conceive a "Millennium Baby," a little Y2K bug of their own."It's a unique opportunity that few people have ever had," said Julie McCalpin, 28, who spends the balance of her day restoring a 90-year-old home in suburban Portland, Ore. "When Mike and I first started getting serious, we knew we wanted children, and we saw this date coming up and we thought we should be ready to go."
NEWS
By Chris Guy | March 26, 1999
DENTON -- A Guatemalan teen-ager who faces a first-degree murder charge in the Feb. 1 death of her newborn son was ordered held without bail yesterday after an assistant state medical examiner testified at a hearing that the death was a homicide caused by drowning or asphyxiation.Seventeen-year-old Erminia Escalante-Berduo, who entered the country illegally shortly before Christmas and moved in with relatives in a trailer park near Marydel in rural Caroline County, delivered her baby in a toilet, then placed the child in plastic grocery bags, investigators say."
NEWS
By Nancy A. Youssef | June 25, 1999
Victoria Rose Dobbin's father said yesterday his "beautiful bug" was healthy when he left her with her baby sitter in the 9100 block of Blues Alley on June 2."She was just like the same old Tori," said John J. Dobbin, Jr., 21, of Laurel. "She was a very happy and loving baby."Later that day, she was rushed from North Laurel to Children's National Medical Center in Washington. Doctors determined she suffered a subdural hematoma, a hemorrhaging between her skull and brain. She died 16 days later.
NEWS
By Stephen Smith | February 7, 1999
Coming soon to a store near you: a diaper that fights diaper rash.A what?"We tried to design a diaper that is not just about containment, but is actually about caring for the child's skin," says Mauricio Odio, a toxicologist with Procter & Gamble, maker of the new Pampers Rash Guard.The rash-dashing diaper still does the dirty work, but it also lubricates a baby's bottom with petrolatum, the ointment that's the core ingredient of Vaseline."Petrolatum," Odio says, "is the standard for treatment of diaper rash.
NEWS
By Froma Harrop | March 4, 1998
THE TRUTH of the matter is that raising children is colossally important job but also a monumental drag.Thus, skeptics may make crooked smiles at Rep. Bill Paxon's announcement that he is sacrificing a successful political career to spend more time with his 21-month-old daughter, Susan Ruby. Her mother is Susan Molinari, a former GOP representative from New York.Only last week, Mr. Paxon, a Republican from Buffalo, was feverishly working the phones to replace Texan Dick Armey as House majority leader.
NEWS
By Michael Riley | July 2, 1998
GUATEMALA CITY, Guatemala -- When she was six months pregnant, Gabriela de Leon's husband told her he couldn't afford -- and didn't want -- another child.After he beat her and threatened to kill her and her other two children, de Leon agreed to give the newborn to a lawyer specializing in international adoptions.Her husband received the equivalent of $650 for what was considered by the Guatemalan government a private, legal transaction. Within weeks, de Leon, a 23-year-old school teacher, had left her husband.
FEATURES
By Liz Stevens | May 17, 1998
Ah, the joys of pregnancy: cramping, swelling, throwing up ... choosing a name. Of all the suffering that expectant parents endure, the most extended might be figuring out what to call the kid. Hamilton or Harpo? Dakota or Dylan?For those who haven't visited a nursery school of late, names have entered a new dimension. Parents are tossing off the chains of normalcy, mediocrity, tradition and sometimes good taste to outfit their offspring with a title of distinction.A tyke's moniker needs to sound aesthetically pleasing, needs to set him or her apart, needs to conjure a positive image.
BUSINESS
By Jay Hancock | June 7, 1998
The poor American Association of Retired Persons.Its political enemies are its future members. The AARP created the richest retirees in history by putting baby boomers and Gen-Xers in deep hock. Now the lobbying group is starting to realize which side of the aisle its next dose of Geritol is coming from."We must remember our obligations to future generations" when deciding how to spend the federal budget surplus, says John Rother, AARP's chief lobbyist. "American families are expected to save and spend wisely.
NEWS
By Andrea F. Siegel | October 17, 1998
An Anne Arundel County Circuit judge ended the baby-killing trial of Zenon Cantu Jr. yesterday by saying the state failed to prove its case.The evidence would not allow him to find Cantu guilty beyond a reasonable doubt, said Judge Robert H. Heller Jr. "I cannot convict Mr. Cantu of suspicions I hold against him on my gut feelings."Cantu, 26, of Pasadena was charged with second-degree murder and two related counts in the death of Nicholas R. Alford, 17 months, whose parents found him dead in his crib at 9: 30 a.m. Jan. 14 in their Crofton home.