UrbanBaby Buzz

Flash back to physics class a few decades ago. Newton’s third law of motion states, “For every action, there is an equal and opposite reaction.” The same can be said of parenting philosophies. “The Case Against Over-Parenting: Why Mom and Dad Need to Cut the Strings” is the cover story of the Time magazine issue hitting newsstands today. The piece examines the transition we’re seeing from full-speed-ahead helicopter parenting to “slow parenting,” aka “simplicity” or “free-range” parenting. Hey, we already have a slow food movement and even a beverage called Drank that’s supposed to “slow your roll.” It’s about time we eased up on what Time editor-at-large Nancy Gibbs calls “the almost comical overprotectiveness and overinvestment of moms and dads.”

Gibbs writes, “We were so obsessed with our kids’ success that parenting turned into a form of product development … college deans described freshmen as ‘crispies,’ who arrived at college already burned out, and ‘teacups,’ who seemed ready to break at the tiniest stress.” Now, as with fashion and fine food, “less is more.” And we have the Great Recession to thank, at least in part, for solidifying this new, relaxed parenting mindset. A CBS News poll found that since the onset of the recession, “a third of parents have cut their kids’ extracurricular activities.” Both parents and kids seem to be benefiting from this sort of forced schedule reliever and streamlined lifestyle. A Time poll last spring revealed that nearly four times as many people said their relationships with their kids have gotten better as said they’d deteriorated.

The article also gives a nod to the importance of play “as an essential protein in a child’s emotional diet.” The freedom for kids to explore on their own sans constant structure and enrichment activities is what helps them learn essential life skills such as flexibility, resilience and leadership.

Many of us could use a stint in the sandbox.

Mamatini. The name sounds like a product that should be front and center in the upcoming Sex and the City 2 movie, now that at least two of the fab four (maybe more?) have kids.

Mamatini is a doctor-designed drink for breastfeeding women. Think of it as a healthy sports drink for the lactating crowd. It’s loaded with vitamins and only 20 calories. Mamatini contains herbs - fenugreek, fennel and ginger - to stimulate milk production and increase energy levels. Women have used fenugreek for centuries to cope with breastfeeding issues, and the herb, a member of the peanut family, is a staple in Indian curries.

Mamatini is the brainchild of former venture capitalist and mother of three Erica Duignan Minnihan. Minnihan was sick of brewing fenugreek tea at all hours of the night and decided to collaborate with her kids’ pediatrician (her mother!) to develop a ready-made drink that would make postpartum life just a tad better. This “ginger-mint herbal infusion” beverage is sweetened with a touch of cane sugar.

It bridges the gap until you’re ready to go back to cosmos.

Available at drinkmamatini.com.

Silhouette portraits, an exceedingly common wall decoration and keepsake in Victorian times, is now something of a lost art. It’s a pity, since there are few things cuter than a baby’s double chin or the pursed bow lips of a preschooler, and silhouettes capture details like this perfectly.

Master silhouette artist Karl Johnson still practices the vintage craft, using photographs to cut out his images freehand, instead of using the tracing method of lesser artists. The silhouette portraits he produces are wonderfully accurate and charmingly old-fashioned, a perfect holiday gift for grandparents. They’re darned cheap, too: $25 for a 5 x 7 face-and-shoulders portrait, $50 for a 8 x 10, with extras like colored paper and full-body silhouettes costing a bit more. One divine extra to shell out for: $15 for a digital file of the silhouette, perfect for birthday invites and holiday cards.

Silhouette Pictures by Karl Johnson, starting at $25

Whatever behavior problem your child is currently having (living in a pigsty, ignoring you when you talk, picky eating), chances are its been addressed in the Mrs. Piggle-Wiggle series of books by Betty MacDonald. The series of five books was published in the ’40s and ’50s and written by an author who was already famous for her smash book, The Egg and I. In the Piggle-Wiggle series, Mrs. Piggle-Wiggle is a kind of magical good fairy whose late husband left her a pirate chest full of cures for childhood “ailments.” In each chapter, a mother who is concerned about her child’s behavior comes to see Mrs. Piggle-Wiggle for help and is issued a cure that clears the troublesome behavior right up.

Some of the cures are relatively pedestrian: when Hubert Prentiss won’t clean up his bedroom, his mother simply lets the toys pile up until he can’t get out of his room anymore and is forced to clean it up himself. Other cures are magical: When Evelyn Rover and Mary Crackle are being unkind to Cornelia Whitehouse, Mrs. Crackle gives the girls some candy-like Whisper Sticks that makes their teasing inaudible.

Regardless of whether the cures are real-world or not (I could use some Crybaby Tonic, for sure), it’s fun to read about a kid having a behavior issue to a kid who’s having that same issue, and it can spark both interesting conversations and maybe even change. At the very least, kids love hearing about naughtiness and comeuppance, good adults who know everything, and stories that end happily. And neither parents nor children can resist the Piggle-Wiggle illustrations, some by Hilary Knight of Eloise fame, and some by Maurice Sendak.

The L’ovedbaby Arms-Free Swaddler has a horrific name. Really? You want that apostrophe in there? Huh. But despite the bad name, the swaddler is a genius idea. When babies are first born, a tight arms-and-all swaddle helps them sleep. But just a few months later, they start fighting to get their arms free and wake themselves up doing it. With the genius Arms-Free, their arms can wave around while their legs are controlled. Hey, anything that gets you 20 minutes of extra sleep.

L’ovedbaby Arms-Free Swaddler, $29.95

Your DC gets an incredible present haul around her birthday and Christmas/Hanukkah. But too much of a good thing can be overwhelming. Too many gifts, too little time, too small an attention span. So spread the wealth.

The founders of Project of the Month Club understand present pacing. Club members receive a different self-contained art project every month. That means they send you everything needed to complete the project. No need to go scavengering for your own Elmer’s. You can select from different categories, including Mix ‘n’ Match (step stool, game board, craft caddy) for kids ages 4-8 and Master Builders (woodworking) and Future Designers (jewelry kits, perfume, purses) for slightly older kids. Coming soon: Pint-Sized Painters and Seismic Scientists. If a monthly project seems like too much of a commitment, you’ve got other membership options: bi-monthly, quarterly and 4-in-a-row.

It’s just like a wine club. Sort of …

Visit projectofthemonthclub.com.

Delivering a baby is enough of a shock to your system. No need to sign on for any additional physical discomfort (translation: pain).

That’s where the new Puj Tub comes in. It allows you to easily bathe Junior in the sink and eliminates the need to contort yourself into unnatural positions in order to lean over a regular bathtub while holding a slippery newborn. The Puj Tub fits into any sink. So you just step right up and wash. The PT has medical grade, warm foam to cushion your little seven pounds of bliss. It’s non-toxic, antibacterial and anti-fungal as well as hypoallergenic. The sleek design of this modern bathing pod is, in and of itself, a work of art; it folds flat so you can hang it to dry.

This is one hot tub.

Available at pujbaby.com.

By now it’s fairly well established that what turns on men isn’t exactly what turns on women. And as for what turns on a new mom…at least Chronicle Books has an idea. Following up its successful hunks-doing-housework photo book of last year, Porn for Women, Porn for New Moms extends the “this is what women really want” to breeders.

Yes, ladies, it’s hot dads saying “Let’s not have sex tonight. Let me just rub your feet while you tell me about the baby’s day,” and cradling the wee one in his lap while thinking “…and in just eight more hours we can wake up mommy!” Hey, that is hot.

Porn for New Moms, $12.95, chroniclebooks.com.

Word that stroller giant Maclaren was voluntarily recalling all its umbrella strollers sold between 1999 and the present hit the momosphere yesterday like a tsunami. There’s a lot of confusion swirling around, so here are the facts: Maclaren is not asking for the strollers back, merely distributing a free hinge-cover kit that corrects a defect in the stroller. Here’s where things get ugly: The Consumer Product Safety Commission has received reports of a dozen fingertip amputations due to the hinge. Parents are closing the stroller…the hinge pinches the tiny finger…you get the picture.

The models of stroller affected are Volo, Triumph, Quest Sport, Quest Mod, Techno XT, TechnoXLR, Twin Triumph, Twin Techno and Easy Traveller. If you have one of these strollers, visit Maclaren USA at maclaren.us, or call toll-free between 9 a.m. and 5 p.m. EST, 877-688-2326. Both the site and phone lines have been deluged with requests; keep trying if you can’t get a response right away.

Once you get pregnant it’s like you’re a ticking time bomb, counting down the moments until you’re going to be in a heinous pair of maternity pants. Oh sure, you can hold on for a while, looping your waistband together with rubber bands, or wearing some type of big cloth belt to keep them up as they bag beneath your swelling protuberance. But sooner or later, you’ll be forced to buy a big, baggy pair of paneled pants. Unless you send your favorite pair to Denim Therapy. This innovative company specializes in denim restoration: patching up holes in the knee, butt, or crotch. But it has a sideline in turning regular jeans into maternity pants, and then back again.

For $60, Denim Therapy inserts comfy, stretchable panels into the seams of your regular jeans. While you swell, they swell with you in the belly area, while giving you the same fit down to the ankles. When you’ve had the baby and deflated back to your normal size, you send them back to Denim Therapy and the panels are removed. There! Wasn’t that an adventure for both of you?

For more information, visit denim-therapy.com.