Choking Hazards

Lately, my 1-year-old has been an eating machine.  Anything we put on her little high-chair table goes into her mouth.  It's been a joy to watch her eat with such gusto, particularly since my older child was a picky eater. 

However, I recently read a sobering article about choking hazards that has given me pause at the dinner table.  According to the American Academy of Pediatrics, the top 10 choking hazards for young children are:

1) hot dogs
2) peanuts
3) carrots
4) boned chicken
5) candy
6) meat
7) popcorn
8) fish with bones
9) sunflower seeds
10) apples

I will admit that I let my 3-year-old daughter eat popcorn because it keeps her quiet while we are at Target.  But apparently, anyone under the age of 5 is in danger of choking while eating popcorn.  A New York Times piece describes a popcorn incident which had fatal consequences for one family.  Scary stuff.  I probably won't buy it for her again. 

The American Academy of Pediatrics is now urging the Food and Drug Administration to require warning labels on these choking hazard foods.  Do you think this is necessary?  Or should parents just know better?

Cooking with love...

I have to admit that I cook because I have to and no one else will do it if I don't.  I wish I had a passion for cooking but I honestly don't.  With that said, I still want to provide my family with healthy and nutrious meals that taste good.  My go to resources are:

• Cooking Light Magazine
• Martha Stewart's Everyday Food

Recently, I discovered two other resources -- blogs:

• Cooking with Trader Joe's:  This is a fun resource to learn about new offerings at Trader Joe's.
• Simple Bites:   Nice, simple and casual read. 

 What are some of your favorite cooking/recipe resources?

Taking Better Photos of Your Kids

After my firstborn arrived, we didn't have the budget for professional baby photos.  But like every typical first-time parent, I was camera happy and wanted to capture every...single... moment.  Too bad my pictures looked like the amateur that I was.  For every 20 shots I took, I got one good one.  (Thank goodness for digital cameras!)

Slowly, through trial and error, I finally did learn how to take some decent photos.  One thing I did learn quickly was that using natural light instead of a flash made for much prettier pictures.  Of course, this is tip #1 from New York City-photographer Sabra Krock's article on the Estella blog. Wish I had these three years ago!

1. Turn your flash off and use natural light
2. Get to know our camera
3. Get candid
4. Don't forget yourself -- remember to include yourself in some pictures!
5. Don't leave home without it (your camera)
6. Hire a pro
7. Get in close -- don't be shy about getting in your baby's face.
8. Click, click, click -- channel your inner-fashion-photographer and take as many shots as possible.
9. Pay attention to the background
10. Experiment with framing your shot

See all ten articles here.

FREE Disney music

Our kids love music. We listen to music when we're cooking, driving and just whenever we want a jam session. Their daddy is really good about introducing various types of music from classical to techno dance. So, I was so happy to learn that Walt Disney Records is giving away FREE Disney music (anything free is a good thing)! On Monday, Disney Records started 50 Days of Summer on Facebook where they are offering a free song a day for 50 days. Become a fan (or "like') them on Facebook and you'll see a new link everyday for the next 48 days. Enjoy!

Shopper's Guide to Pesticides

The Environmental Working Group (EWG) came out with a shopper's guide to pesticides. See the list below:

The Dirty Dozen (worst to worse):

1. Celery
2. Peaches
3. Strawberries
4. Apples
5. Blueberries (domestic)
6. Nectarines
7. Sweet Bell Peppers
8. Spinach
9. Kale/Collard Greens
10. Cherries
11. Potatoes
12. Grapes (Imported)

The Clean Fifteen:

1. Onions
2. Avocado
3. Sweet corn (Frozen)
4. Pineapples
5. Mango (Subtropical and Tropical)
6. Sweet Peas (Frozen)
7. Asparagus
8. Kiwi Fruit (Subtropical and Tropical)
9. Cabbage
10. Eggplant
11. Cantaloupe (Dometic)
12. Watermelon
13. Grapefruit
14. Sweet Potatoes
15. Honeydew Melon

Realistically, most people cannot afford to buy 100% organic all the time. But by avoiding the 12 most contaminated fruits and vegetables and buying the least contaminated produce, you can lower your pesticide consumption by 80%. When you eat the 12 most contaminated product, you'll be exposed to an average of 10 pesticide a day. When you buy fresh produce from the least 15 contaminated fruits and vegetables, you'll consumer fewer than 2 pesticides per day.

Children are at greatest risk because of their rapid development. Children's exposure to pesticides can pose a risk to vital organ systems that grow and mature from conception throughout infancy and childhood. However, with all that said, the EWG writes that the health benefits of a diet rich in fruits and vegetables outweighs the risks of pesticide exposure. Eating conventionally grown produce is better than not eating fruits and vegetables at all.

Come one, Come all! Join us on FACEBOOK!

We are partnering with TotBargains for a $50 e-giftcard giveaway!

To enter our $50 enfanta e-gift card giveaway, complete these three steps by Monday, May 10th at 8pm EST:

1. Become a fan of (or “like”!) Enfanta on Facebook.

2. Become a fan of (or “like”!) TotBargains on Facebook.

3. Comment to our Facebook announcement of the contest with what you’d like to buy with your $50 at enfanta if you win!

For one extra entry each, you can re-tweet our contest announcement on Twitter and/or “Share” our post with your Facebook friends. In both cases, make sure you leave a comment in the same Facebook thread as your original entry that you did!

The contest ends on Monday, May 10th at 8pm EST. TotBargains will choose the winning Facebook comment using random.org’s random number generator.

Good luck and happy shopping!

Children's & Infants' OTC recall

If you haven't already heard, McNeil has just voluntarily recalled some of their over-the-counter children's and infants' liquid products including:

Children's & Infants' Tylenol
Children's & Infants' Motrin
Children's Zyrtec
Children's Benadryl

According to the FDA press release, the products were recalled "due to manufacturing deficiencies which may affect quality, purity or potency." If you should have a need for any of the above products, the FDA advises to use generic versions of the above products which have not been affected by the recall. See the full release here.

I just used two of these products on my 11-month old a couple weeks ago and while we suffered no ill effects, I'll be chucking them in the wastebasket as soon as I finish writing this post.