Do you teach kids about Disabilities?

I am so curious to hear what you have to say about this controversy. The woman in this story was born with one arm and she is a television host for a children's show in Britain. I guess I am not surprised some parents are outraged, but as a parent I would use this as a learning experience. It would be a great time to explain to your child that sometimes people look different and there is nothing wrong with that. Would you let your kids watch this show? What do you think about the controversy?

FROM CNN: When a handful of parents complained that the host of a British children's television show was scaring young viewers, comments exploded on Internet message boards -- some so vicious they had to be removed.

Cerrie Burnell, 29, who was born with one arm, sparked heated message board debate after she was hired a month ago to appear on CBeebies, the BBC's digital children's channel. One woman who called herself "Chiara's mum," wrote, "My daughter won't watch with the new presenters. She is only 2 and notices the lady's arm has gone. She thinks she is hurt every day."

One father said the show would give his daughter nightmares, and others said their children were too young to cope or even that the BBC was too aggressive in its policy to hire "minorities" to meet quotas. Since the initial comments appeared, advocacy groups and parents of those born with "limb deficiencies" have seized on the story as a teachable moment.

"I find comments from complaining parents very hurtful," said Julie Detheridge of Coventry, whose 9-year-old son who was born without a right hand. "Should my son be kept locked away in case he frightens someone?" she asked. "He is no less of a person just because he was born with part of his hand missing."

And today, commenters on the CBeebies Web site were overwhelmingly dismissive of what they called a "handful" of parents who were uncomfortable with Burnell's disability, likening their reaction to racial prejudice.

Burnell, who has a 4-month-old daughter and works as a teaching assistant at a special needs school, called the host's critics "small-minded." "It can only be a good thing that parents are using me as a chance to talk disability with their children," Burnell told ABCNews.com. "It just goes to show how important it is to have positive disabled role models on CBeebies and television in general."

She acknowledged in an interview with BBC Breakfast Television today that a missing limb can be initially scary. "Kids come up to me on the street every day, and go," she said, gasping, "what is that? And I would say they were frightened, but I'd say certainly, they were inquisitive, they want to know why it's different, and I think that's very honest, and it's real, it's the truth."

She said all children want is an explanation. "They just want to know why we're different, what [has] happened, and two minutes later, they would have moved on."

Advocacy groups in Britain chimed in to support Burnell and chastised the British tabloids for using headlines like "One-armed TV presenter scares the children," rather than emphasizing what they call discriminatory attitudes and "bullying tactics."

"Having an upper limb deficiency does not make someone disabled, it just makes them a person with a difference, and as such they should have open to them all the same career prospects as anyone else," said Sue Stokes, the national coordinator for the British organization Reach: The Association for Children With Hand or Arm Deficiency.

"We are completely behind Cerrie and hope she can stay strong and not let these few narrow-minded bullies get to her," said Stokes, who has a 22-year-old daughter with a missing hand.
The BBC is also standing behind Burnell. "It's a big task to entertain millions of children every day," said Michael Carrington, controller of CBeebies. "Cerrie is warm and natural and we think that in time all mums and dads and children will love her as much as we do."

-NewsAnchorMom Jen

Sign Language Class

I started teaching my youngest son sign language last year and then kind of forgot about it. I wish I hadn't. He just turned two yesterday (Happy Birthday!) and he would definitely benefit from signs. He uses yah, no, more and go to communicate. My older son was a slow talker too. I knew I should have taught him sign and I don't think it's too late. I will have to look up some common words and start teaching! The sign language class mentioned below would have been fun to take. Has anyone ever found a class in their area?

FROM CNN:If you're a parent, you know how frustrating it can be to communicate with children before they learn to speak.

It may look chaotic, but these little ones are actually learning a language - sign language. The child development expert who runs this program says it's a great way to teach babies to express themselves. "Well that's a time when they can not communicate. They can't speak, they have lots of ideas in their head and they can't get them out."

The tots range from 6 to 18 months. Along with their parents they're here to practice basic signs like milk, dog, and book. "It's very bonding and it's very soothing to both parent and child, to be able to tell what your child wants and what your child sees." The goal of the class is to show parents how to teach sign language to their children at home. By repeating the signs over and over, some experts believe it can even help in the development of verbal language skills.

Beth Gundermann says her one-year-old, Jake, has learned a lot of signs since taking the class, and does a better job of communicating with the family. Every day, I feel like he's picking up more language skills, even if he's not saying words. And with, active little fingers, parents can learn a lot from their tots.

-NewsAnchorMom Jen

Get more sleep tonight!

FROM ABC: Having a baby can change a woman's life in many ways. But new research shows, new moms might not expect to be deprived of so much sleep.

Val holford hasn't had a good night's sleep in months. Her son Tristin is teething. "My friend told me when I was pregnant, that I would never sleep as soundly as before I became a mom, and I didn't believe her at the time, but she was so right.

Val isn't the only new mom who complains about a lack of sleep. Dr. Thomas Lorusso says restless nights can eventually lead to long-term sleep problems. "There's something called cycle physiologic insomnia which often will be triggered by some initial poor sleep habits. "

Lorusso explains that can lead to even more troubles. "When you don't sleep well you generally don't feel well, so fatigue is a big issue, accidents. And now there's some indications that people who have insomnia increase their weight over time." To break bad sleep habits, doctors recommend limiting food and drink, especially alcohol within three hours before going to bed, avoiding caffeine within eight hours of bed time, and exercising more -- but do it in the morning, not before you lay your head on your pillow.

I always think about exercising in the morning, but end up doing it right before I go to bed. I just run out of time. And I do suffer from insomnia. Go Figure!

-NewsAnchorMom Jen

Women's Health Night

I am headed to the annual Women's Health Night sponsored by the Illinois Heart and Lung Foundation. I am handing out these magnets for the frig. Aren't they funny? They make me laugh, but you have to hand out something at these things, right?

The event is at the Interstate Center in Bloomington from 3-8p.m. I hope to see you there!

-NewsAnchorMom Jen

New Study on Co-sleeping

FROM CNN: There's renewed debate over the safety of sleeping with your baby. A new study by the Center for Disease Control and Prevention shows a rise in the number of babies accidentally suffocated or strangled in bed.

Dayton West-Mullen's mom thought she was doing the right thing, letting him sleep with her in her bed. But then, when he was four months old, it was about ten till eight and my mother-in-law came in and yelled, you're laying on top of the baby. Dayton suffocated to death, and Lisa says the feeling of guilt never goes away.

No matter how many times people tell me it's not my fault in my heart, the heart of a mom, from the moment Dayton was born it was like I would give my life to protect this child and I couldn't save him.

According to a new CDC report, more than 300 babies suffocated during 2003 and 2004 when someone rolled over them in bed. "If there's a safe way to share a bed with a baby we don't know what it is yet." So then why, are smart, educated parents like Beverly Steiger sleeping with their babies? Steiger says she's heard the warnings, but she's convinced there's no way she'd ever roll over on four-month-old Simon.

It's really hard to explain but you have such a heightened awareness when you're exclusively breast feeding your baby. I would never, ever roll over on him. It would never, ever happen.
In many cultures, all around the world, sleeping with baby is the norm, and is often done safely. that's why some pediatricians say the CDC study doesn't really prove that co-sleeping is dangerous. "I absolutely do feel that co sleeping can be a very safe thing to do as long as
you're doing it right."

But Lisa West says there's no way a parent should ever sleep in the same bed with their small child. "Those people who are advising parents to sleep with their infants in some of those cases they're signing those babies' death warrants."

OK, so where does this leave parents? Different experts advocate different things, but here's one approach from the March of Dimes. They say that after learning about the risks of sleeping with your baby if you still want to do it, follow this advice:
-lay baby on his back
-keep baby away from blankets, pillows
-don't take certain medications

I think I have said this before, but I cannot sleep with people next to me. I can't sleep with my five-year-old next me. I make my husband scoot to the other side of the bed. There is no way I would get any sleep with a little one next me. However, I did solely breastfeed my second son. Where he slept didn't have any impact on that. So this whole topic was never really a consideration for me. I have heard some women say they sleep better with their baby next to them.

-NewsAnchorMom Jen

9 Alternatives to Peanut Butter

FROM ABC: Since a mid-January recall of peanut butter products, many people have been squeamish about purchasing peanut butter snacks and jars of the lunchtime favorite itself, although major brands were not part of the recall.

As of February, 15,642 people in 44 states were reported to have contracted salmonella from the peanut products, according to the Web site of the U.S. Food and Drug Administration. But while major brands of jarred peanut butter are not being recalled, this may be an opportune time to add more variety to your PB&J.

A variety of butters made from tree nuts -- lower in fat than their peanut counterpart -- may be able to bring more balance to your diet.

"Look at it as an opportunity to try a few other things," said nutritionist Keith Ayoob, an associate professor at Albert Einstein College of Medicine in New York City.

Ayoob did not advocate banishing peanut butter from your diet, noting that it has good nutritional value, providing protein and some fiber, while its fat is primarily the monounsaturated kind. The spread is also appealing because it's convenient and easy to use and is a relatively inexpensive plant form of protein.

Other nutritionists echoed those sentiments.

Kathleen D'Ovidio, an exercise and nutritional sciences professor at San Diego State University, said the omega-3 and omega-6 fatty acids found in tree nut butters would enhance some diets, although they wouldn't replace peanut butter completely.

"There's reasons why you want to eat peanut butter, and there's reasons why you want to eat tree nut butters," she said.

D'Ovidio said her concerns are more with peanut products like cookies and other snacks than with the jarred brands. But having looked at jarred peanut butter after a similar outbreak in 2007, she said nut butters might be a little safer in this regard, as they are manufactured in smaller amounts.

While jarred peanut butter may not be anything to fear right now, the following pages have some alternatives you might like to try out.

Still, it's wise to bear in mind that many of the options below tend to cost more than peanut butter and all are somewhat comparable in calories.

1. Almond Butter

2.Cashew Nut Butter

3.Soy Nut Butter

4.Sunflower Seed Butter

5.macadamia nut butter

6.Walnut butter

7. Hazelnut butter

8.hemp seed butter

9. golden peabutter

Almond butter is the only I have ever had and it is good! I never think about buying it. I wonder if they even have it at the grocery store I got to these days.

Has anyone tried any of these? Do your kids like them?

-NewsAnchorMom Jen