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With family and friends attending holiday dinners, manners are on the minds of many parents. There is more to manners than just polite social behavior. Manners can help encourage children to respect and treat others like themselves. Here are a few tips on the best way to nurture good manners in your children during this holiday season: Talk to your children about your expectations before the holiday event. Tell your children that they might be disappointed by a gift they may receive, but encourage them to be gracious even if they are disappointed....

Nothing prepares you for being a new mom-to-be. But that first go-around won’t necessarily prepare you for your second journey either. My first pregnancy was quite magical. I was able to exercise comfortably throughout the entire nine+ months, I never once experienced morning sickness and I had only a few minimal migraines in the first trimester. What’s more, I felt more attractive than I had in my entire 37 years of life, and I absolutely loved connecting with the little life growing inside of me....

It really depends on whether or not you’ve had the virus inthe past and at what stage of pregnancy you’re at. If you had chicken poxyourself when you were young, then your body’s most likely immune to the virusnow and you’ll be far less likely to contract it. But if you’re one of thelucky few who’ve never had the pleasure of being housebound for a week,scratching like crazy, then you may still be at risk of contracting the virusin adulthood — and being pregnant with the chicken pox is fun for no one....

The U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission recalled about 76,000 Infant Bed-Side Sleepers from Arm’s Reach Concepts late last night due to potential entrapment, suffocation and falling hazards. There have been ten reported incidents of infants falling from the raised mattress into the base of the sleeper or becoming trapped between the mattress edge and the side of the sleeper. This has happened when the fabric liner was not attached properly, or not used at all, and poses a serious risk of suffocation....

It all depends on baby’s age. Before 4 months, baby needs an extraordinary amount of sleep—up to 20 hours per day. Some babies can only stay awake for an hour at a time and the day is more of a sleeping/waking cycle, as opposed to a schedule. One thing you can try doing is to keep a log of when baby is sleeping and awake. After a week or so, look back on the logs to see if he or she has some consistent sleep patterns that you can encourage from day to day....

With the honor of hosting your friend’s/sister’s/cousin’s baby shower comes the headache of paying for it. But there are ways to cut back without looking like you’re cutting corners. Here’s how to tune in to your inner recessionista. LOCATION Average Cost: 5 percent of your overall budget Ways to Save: Instead of hosting the event at a restaurant or club, offer up your home (or ask a relative or another friend to do so)....

Figuring out what to name baby can be a big to-do for expectant parents. You’re likely looking to many sources for inspiration, such as your family tree, nature or even American history—Hamilton has certainly brought our founding fathers back into the forefront of pop culture! If you and your partner are history buffs, you might want to pay homage to your favorite historical figures. To help, we’ve rounded up some of our favorite baby names inspired by America’s presidents and their first ladies....

Needless to say, new moms who haven’t slept, showered or stepped outside in days often don’t feel like themselves. Even when you’ve just added to your family in the best way possible and are basking in a sense of profound love, it’s normal to also feel like a part of you is lost in your transition into motherhood. Sound familiar? Research shows you’re not alone. When you become a mother, you experience more than just a changing body and shifting hormones....

The benefits of a good night’s sleep are endless (you’ll feel well-rested, healthier, more alert, focused and energized) but new research suggests that the importance of some old fashioned shut-eye during your pregnancy could rule out birth complications for baby. Published in the journal Psychosomatic Medicine, researchers from the University of Pittsburgh’s School of Medicine identified sleep problems in expectant mothers, finding that poor sleep quality and quantity during pregnancy can disrupt normal immune processes and lead to lower birth weights as well as a host of other birth complications in baby....

It’s no secret that the best part of any birthday party is usually the cake. And not just eating it: Seeing baby covered head to toe in the sweet confection also makes for some super cute photos. The cake smash trend that’s taken over social media is a fun way to commemorate baby’s first birthday, and for good reason—there’s something seriously adorable about little kids making a complete mess. But there’s more to celebrating this special moment than just letting baby go to town on a pint-size cake—you’ll want to get good pictures of the occasion too....

There are certain terms most women don’t even know exist until they become pregnant—and cervical effacement is one of them. If your doctor mentions that you’re “effaced” during an appointment or in the delivery room, you’re probably going to want to at least have some clue as to what they’re talking about. So what is effacement, exactly, how will your doctor measure it and what’s the difference between effacement vs. dilation?...

In Georgia, a company called MiMedx has caught some serious flack after the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) penned a letter to the company for selling unapproved injections containing human placenta. MiMedx, a public, for-profit company that takes donated human placentas and turns them into health products, uses the crushed and dehydrated placentas to treat inflammation, scar tissue formation and to promote healing. However, the FDA stepped in on August 28 to stay that there are currently no licensed products on the market that contain placental tissue at all and that MiMedx is in violation of federal law for failing to get the proper license or investigational new drug application before marketing the ground-up placenta products to consumers....

When you’re pregnant and overweight, it’s easy to let yourself ride the guilt train, big time. After all, everywhere you turn, some magazine’s telling you how dangerous your weight is for baby or how you should have dropped the weight before getting pregnant. (Sound familiar?) And while it’s definitely true that your weight can put you at risk for certain complications like gestational diabetes and preeclampsia, trust us — even though it’s ideal to work towards a BMI of 18....

The stigma around postpartum depression is lessening; we talk about it more and more, making it easier and more encouraged for women to seek treatment. But does the same hold true for dads? One in ten dads will suffer from postpartum depression. And a new study highlights the negative effects this could have on parenting as children grow into toddlerhood. “The fact is that, given that there’s often two parents in the home working with the child, both parents’ depressive symptoms can have a very similar level of effect to the point that both need to be addressed,” says Sheehan D....

According to a new study from the American Association for Clinical Chemistry, 9 out of 11 of the most popular hospital urine pregnancy tests are more likely to produce a false-negative result after the fifth to seventh week of pregnancy, even though the tests perform well in the first month after conception. Led by Ann M. Gronowski, PhD, of the Washington University School of Medicine, St. Louis, the study shows that when a woman’s egg is fertilized, it begins producing the hormone human chorionic gonadotropin (hCG), which is detected in urine or blood....

Your Pregnancy pregnancy-week-by-week/-Week Woohoo! You’ve made it to the third trimester, which means the end is in sight. During this last stretch, baby will go from being the size of an eggplant to a watermelon (yup, an actual watermelon). Time to get serious about things like finding a pediatrician, planning for labor and delivery, and last but not least, to get majorly excited – because baby is almost here! Your Pregnancy: Week 28 » Your Pregnancy: Week 29 » Your Pregnancy: Week 30 » Your Pregnancy: Week 31 » Your Pregnancy: Week 32 » Your Pregnancy: Week 33 » Your Pregnancy: Week 34 » Your Pregnancy: Week 35 » Your Pregnancy: Week 36 » Your Pregnancy: Week 37 » Your Pregnancy: Week 38 » Your Pregnancy: Week 39 » Your Pregnancy: Week 40 » Your Pregnancy: Week 41 » Your Pregnancy: Week 42 »...

You can’t exactly see it, but your body (and baby) are accomplishing amazing things during pregnancy. From what’s happening with your uterus and placenta to what baby can sense, we’ve got the scoop on the mind-blowing things going on inside you. Your Uterus Is Growing to 14 Times Its Original Size Yep, it will stretch from the size of a pear to the size of a watermelon (and go back down again), says Sherry A....

Fatherly is a publication for modern fathers looking to make the best of a good situation. Everyone has advice for you when you become a parent. Nearly all of it is unsolicited. In conversation, I try not to dump unsolicited advice on new or expectant parents, so I’ll unleash my thoughts into the abyss that is the internet. My expectation: low traffic. However, I hope my daughter will read this one day, and that’s all that matters....

When you’re an expectant or new parent, people may joke about how much you’ll spend on diapers. And it’s true: At about 25 cents a diaper, you’re going to be spending close to $1,000 a year on them. It’s easy to fixate on those immediate, tangible expenses of having a newborn, but the crucial elements of financial planning after baby are intangible. There’s childcare, health insurance and educational expenses, both in the near and long term....

It’s easy for Grandma or Grandpa to jump in and connect with baby when they’re physically close. (Just come on over and read them a story or snuggle!) But when grandparents live far away, finding ways for them to bond with baby proves a bit more challenging. While your little one might delight in watching Grandpa blow bubbles on the porch, they’re not exactly at the point where they can call him up on the phone or make him an elaborate card for his birthday....