The long, lazy days of summer come to an end when it’s back to school time. Not only do kids head back to the classroom, they also often start their fall sporting activities and classes such as dance or piano are back in session. Add homework to all of that and you have some seriously scheduled kiddos. While we often think of headaches as a adult issue, kids aren’t immune from headaches.

As all moms know, our kids aren’t always able to verbalize what’s wrong. Sometimes we’ll hear the generic “I don’t feel good” or worse the “I have a stomachache” which seems to be kid-speak for every ailment. Other times, our kids attitudes and behaviors might change, but they never express what’s wrong at all. If you see your child rubbing their head or showing signs of feeling poorly, don’t dismiss the possibility of a pediatric migraine.

- Pediatric migraines can be fleeting — lasting only an hour or so — or they can last up to 72 hours.

- Children often experience headache pain in their temples or across the front of the forehead.

- As with adults, migraines can be accompanied by stomach pain, nausea and vertigo. Also look for sensitivity to light and sound.

If your child is experiencing regular headaches — once a week or more — consider bringing him to your health care professional. While it may just be an exaggerated attempt to avoid that dreaded math homework, it also may be a bona fide headache. And there’s no reason for kids to to deal with pain when there is help available.

World Breastfeeding Month is wrapping up and we’ve got a stylish nursing cover from Bebe au Lait to give to a mamaGLOSS reader!

Valued at $35, Bebe au Lait’s chic covers give moms some privacy when nursing. Made from 100% cotton and with a handy pocket to store breastpads or pacifiers, these nursing covers are a huge improvement over using a blanket — especially since they’re lightweight so baby stays cool and comfortable and the neck strap ensures that there won’t be any unexpected slips.

To enter to win the Bebe au Lait nursing cover, just leave a comment below telling us what tops your list of newborn essentials. We’ll choose a winner from those leaving comments on Tuesday, September 7th at 5pm PT.

Good luck!

Remember Shrinky Dinks? Those magical pieces of shrinkable plastic are back and better than ever.

Available in sheets that feed through ink jet printers, the possibilities are endless.

We had too much fun making a variety of miniature plastic photos – check out some of our favorite creations.

- Keychains: Never forget a picture of your little darling again – when people ask, just whip out your keys! Beware: just like you can have way too many keys, it’s possible to go crazy with the Shrinky Dink images and create a mess in your purse.

- Luggage Tags / Backpack Tags: Do away with gaudy scarves and rainbow bands to identify your black suitcase among the hordes of others at the airport – hang photos or other prints from your bag for a unique tag. For kids, they can customize a backpack tag — just in time for Back to School!

- Cake Decor: Instead of spending a fortune on a Power Rangers or Dora The Explorer cake for your little one’s birthday, create your own with readily available images on the Internet and the handy Shrinky Dink sheets!

- Placecards: For a fun favor and when assigned seating may be necessary, stand miniature images of guests around the table instead of boring name cards.

- Holiday Ornaments: Create a “family tree” with old and recent photos of the gang.

Once you’ve printed up your masterpiece(s), the rest is just like you remember: pop ‘em in the oven for four minutes and watch them shrink away!

Shrinky Dinks for Ink Jet Printers – $9.36 at ShrinkyDinks.com

Back in the day, I had a metal lunch box with the Beverly Hillbillies on it. The lid was bent a bit and, if I wasn’t careful, my sandwich and carrots and thermos would come spilling out on the way to school. It was decidedly uncool and not even remotely stylish. You can make sure your child is as far from Jethro and Elly Mae as possible with these oh-so-cute lunch boxes.

The Munch Box line comes in a variety of great fabrics that remember kids can have style, too. My personal favorite is the Black Etoile (shown), but there are many styles to choose from. My son was horrified at my choice for the photo and said I should have picked the striped Lacrosse style because that’s “really cool.”

Foam insulated, the bags sport a study nylon lining — more durable that typical vinyl linings. The Munch Box lunch boxes are made in the USA and can even be personalized.

Munch Box — $25.95 on AmeriKid.com.

When you’re pregnant, is drinking completely off limits? Or is a little bit okay? Call me old school, but I always considered drinking out of bounds during pregnancy. My stance on that has gotten stronger in the past few years since I became a mother myself. I adopted my son when he was 10 and he’s diagnosed with Fetal Alcohol Effects. When I see him struggling to make decisions, when relatively simple multiple step directions completely stymie him, or we’re once again dealing with his inability to understand cause and effect it’s really hard for me to find any reasonable excuse for drinking even a drop of alcohol while pregnant.

According to the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists, no amount of alcohol can be considered safe when pregnant. But some other health professionals disagree. In fact, a study published in the International Journal of Edidemiology stated that light drinking (one to two per week) doesn’t affect the baby.

The NY Post found that more women are starting to drink while pregnant. Dr. Randi Hutter Epstein, mom of four and author of Get Me Out: A History of Childbirth from the Garden of Eden to the Sperm Bank, told the NY Post, “The truth is, if you look at who’s born with Fetal Alcohol Syndrome, their mothers were alcoholics — not ‘one drink a week’ women.”

The National Organization on Fetal Alcohol Syndrome would probably disagree with Dr. Hutter Epstein. According to the NOFAS website “There is no known safe level of alcohol consumption during pregnancy. The best thing to do is stop drinking during your pregnancy or if you are planning to become pregnant.”

What do you think? When it comes to pregnancy … to drink or not to drink?

Yes, you read correctly — the cute, learning robot that many of us remember from our childhood is back and eager to teach a new generation of kids their letters, numbers, shapes and colors. Sure, it a little old school, but even in a day of high-tech iPod Touches and other ultra-sophisticated learning devices, Alphie — for children 3 and up — seems perfectly age appropriate. After all, do 3-year olds really need to know how to function an iPhone?

Alphie sings, interacts and challenges your little one with interchangeable cards that cover a variety of basic topics…just like the original. And, I love that tots can take their robotic friend along with them thanks to a carry handle.

Playskool Alphie – $38.35 at Amazon.com

I’ll admit upfront — I’m completely biased when it comes to Playmobil products. I’ve been a huge fan of the brand since my kids were born and love the creativity their toys promote combined with the quality and durability of pretty much every item. Though all the pieces can be hard to keep track of, ultimately their vast line of toys with the signature characters and pop-on pieces is near perfection.

Our newest fave? The My Take Along Puppet Theatre. With a variety of characters, scenes and even a battery-powered sound system that inserts laughs and applause at all the right places, this portable theatre lets kids get their imagination flowing. We love the props — from food, trees, and even an alligator (?) — little ones can dream up stories to show off in grand fashion. Best of all? No need to worry about all those little Playmobil pieces with this one. The back of the theatre — which conveniently closes up for travel — features compartments to store the actors, props, costumes and more.

Playmobil My Take Along Puppet Theatre – $49.99 at Amazon.com

None of us are perfect parents. In fact, when I hear the words “parenting expert” I inwardly cringe because, in my humble opinion, no matter how educated someone may be, parenting is one area where nobody is ever 100 percent at the top of their game. That being said, I’ll gladly glean pearls of wisdom from those more educated and experienced than I am. I’ll also ask my son’s teachers for advice when appropriate, I’ll turn to my sisters and friends who are some of the best moms I know, and I’ll (of course) call up my own mother for tried-and-true techniques when needed. But parenting advice from Jon Gosselin? No thank you.

Jon and Kate Plus 8 may have gone the way of his marriage, but Gosselin still feels he’s got some daddy wisdom to share. Apparently his Vegas exploits and younger girlfriends won’t be included. Instead, he’ll be relying on his life coach, Sylvia LaFair, to help him fill pages with his parenting insight.

Excuse me while I choke a little.

Gosselin wouldn’t be the first celebrity to write a parenting book. Fellow reality TV parents Jim Bob and Michelle Duggar did; even Candy Spelling and Alec Baldwin have written memoirs that include their parenting wisdom.

If you’d prefer to get your parenting tips from someone with more qualifications than a Beverly Hills address, check out Family Education’s list of top parenting books.

Though we’d probably all love to don our Supermom capes 24/7, the simple fact is we’re human and we all get frustrated or tired from time to time.

A new study found that parents who are aggressive with each other are more likely to spank their kids. Within this study, spousal aggression doesn’t necessarily mean domestic violence, it also encompasses controlling behaviors like denying money or critical behaviors like disparaging your partner. The study also found that, often, the parent who spanked the child was the one who treated aggressively by their partner. So, in a nutshell, when we’re hurt we’re more likely to take it out on our kids.

It’s a hard truth to swallow isn’t it? When I read about the study my first reaction was to say “Oh, but that’s not me.” I don’t spank my son and never have. But when I really stopped and took a look at myself I have to admit the study does apply to me. I may not spank, but when I’ve just had-it-up-to-here, I’m much more short tempered with my son. At times, the consequences I’ve assigned have been disproportionate to the behavior. I’m not proud of it … but those are the moments that I’ve let my Supermom cape slip off my shoulders.

It’s important that, as parents, we remember to take a step back when our emotions are taking over. After getting control of a situation, there’s nothing wrong with taking a break before doling out consequences. If you’re upset, ask your partner to take over while you get a breather. If, like me, you’re a single parent, there’s nothing wrong with sending your child to their room before you decide on an appropriate consequence. (There have been time when I’ve sent both myself and my child to our rooms — I need the breather and alone time as much as he does!)

The whole point of consequences is for our kids to learn from them. Unreasonable consequences doled out from anger aren’t very likely to have good lessons attached to them … at least not the lessons we want our kids to learn.

The American Academy of Pediatrics has some tips on disciplining your child.

You’re busy paying bills, taking care of the house and keeping up with your work while your child is outside riding their scooter. When you’re up to your eyeballs in stress, it’s hard to remember that your kids deal with stress too. Now that the long lazy days of summer are at an end, it’s even more important to pay attention to your child’s stress level. Here are some easy ways to help your kids manage stress:

- Sleep. According to the National Sleep Foundation, preschoolers need 11-13 hours of sleep and school age children need about 10-11 hours. Help your kids get to sleep on time by having a calming bedtime routine. Try reading books together after your child takes a bath. The calming activities can help prepare them for sleep. Teenagers also need to get proper rest but — since their natural body clocks want them to be night owls and schools want them to be early birds — it can be difficult. Talk to your teenager about why sleep is important. Make a cut off time for stimulating activities such as using the computer, texting and playing video games and ask your teenager to try more relaxing activities before bedtime.

- Don’t overschedule. Your kids may want to play soccer, take dance and sing in the school show choir, but you know that is too much for them to handle. Limit extracurricular activities to what you know your child can handle. Kids need plenty of free time, too.

- Be active. Between the hours spent behind a desk at school and time spent doing homework, the last thing kids need is to sit behind a video game system. Make sure your kids get at least an hour of activity each day. If it doesn’t interfere with their sleep schedule, start getting up a little early and going for a morning bike ride with your child. Walk to and from school with them. Encourage outdoor play by kicking a soccer ball in the backyard or playing a game of catch.

- Don’t involve your child with your stress. While kids might need to about family difficulties to some degree, make sure you share family problems on an age appropriate level. If you’re having money problems and extras like going to the movies on Friday night need to be cut out of the budget, there’s no need to go into detail about the problems. Just tell your child what they need to know and assure them that everything is fine. Kids have enough stress to deal with — they don’t need to absorb ours, too.

- Forge friendships. Social problems such as bullying can be one of the biggest stresses for kids. You can proactively help your child by helping him forge strong friendships. Invite kids over to your house to play one-on-one with your child. Encourage your child to join a club or team for their extracurricular activity. And be sure to talk to your child about how things are going at school so you can help her come up with solutions for any friendship-based problems.

Family Education has a list of the top 10 sources of stress for kids.

ADHD is a real condition. If you have any doubts, come on over for breakfast and hang out with my son in the morning. But, since it’s a condition that can only be diagnosed on reports of behavior and doctors can’t just send a test to the lab to confirm it, there’s room for error in diagnosis.

Since adopting my son, I’ve heard comments ranging from “there’s no such thing as ADHD” to “you should just cut out red dye and he’ll be fine” to “ADHD is over-diagnosed.” I’ll just smile politely and walk away from the first two comments, but the third I’ll readily agree to. A recent Michigan State study has found that nearly 1 million children in the US may be misdiagnosed with ADHD.

The number of misdiagnosed kids is, sadly, not too surprising. After all, with nearly 4.5 million children diagnosed, ADHD is the most commonly treated behavioral disorder for kids. What is surprising is the potential reason.

The MSU study used a sample of nearly 12,000 children and compared age with diagnosis and treatment. Researchers determined that the youngest children in a kindergarten class were 60 percent more likely to be diagnosed with ADHD than the oldest kids in class.

As parents, we need to advocate for our kids and we need to be reasonable about their behavior capabilities. Behavior issues exhibited by the youngest kids in a classroom may indicate a problem like ADHD… or it may just be a difference in emotional maturity. Children with ADHD will likely exhibit symptoms in multiple settings — home, school, church etc. If attention and/or hyperactivity issues are only problematic at school, work with your child’s teacher to try to improve the situation. GreatSchools.org has some tips for working with your child’s school to handle behavior issues.

Back to school season has arrived and among the lists of supplies you’ll need to stock up on, you may also be in the market for your child’s first cell phone too. Given the many options available — the task can be overwhelming. We got some tips from Consumer Reports’ Paul Reynolds who recommends an inexpensive, prepaid phone as the preferred starter choice and says to resist the pleas from your child for a smart phone.

Here’s why:

1. Satisfaction with prepaid service is decent. Overall, user satisfaction with cell-phone service is tepid compared with most other services we rate. But in our latest survey of cell-phone service (available to subscribers), the fairly small percentage of our readers who used prepaid service were fairly happy with it. There was some variation in satisfaction among prepaid providers, as our Ratings of prepaid services (available to subscribers) details.

2. Kids tend to lose, or destroy, handheld gadgets. Or at least mine does, based on the sad, short life of her first digital camera. A basic prepaid phone can cost as little as $10 or so, and $20 to $40 is typical. If that first phone gets lost or crushed or whatever, you can simply buy another at the same price. Which leads us to…

3. There’s little or no commitment involved. The absence of any contractual commitment is a major plus to prepaid, not least if you’re buying for a kid. The phone your child wants or needs now is likely to change, perhaps a lot, in less than the typical two-year term of the typical cell-phone contract. And replacing or upgrading that phone in the middle of your contract will surely cost you a lot more than the reduced price you paid for the original unit as part of the contract agreement.

4. Basic may be better in a first phone. It’s unclear to me how much, and how, my 10-year-old will actually use her phone. And I’m unsure how much I’ll want for her to use it, beyond its obvious utility for safety and security as she becomes more autonomous. The fact that most prepaid phones aim to be little more than voice-call and texting devices inherently limits their utility—and thereby their usage. And that, in turn, limits monthly costs. Speaking of which…

5. You can easily limit costs. Getting your kid a prepaid phone can moderate monthly bills in several ways. First, the minimum monthly amount you’ll pay for a prepaid phone can be much lower than even modest contract plans. (For example, I’m leaning to getting a plan for my daughter that offers 60 minutes—or 150 or so texts, or a mixture thereof—a month for $9.99. I can always add extra minutes on any or all months if I want to.)

Plus, Paul says, prepaid phones make it easy to “set the account up such that [your child] can’t exceed that allotment without approval. That all but eliminates the possibility of the kind of bill shock that many parents experience with contract plans, when their kids run over the plan allotments and rack up overage charges that become apparent only when the monthly bill arrives weeks later.”

Being pregnant is an amazing and exciting time, but it’s also full of beauty “don’ts.” Sometimes it’s not only confusing to remember what you can and can’t do while pregnant, but it is also near-impossible to go without beauty rituals for almost a whole year!

The good news is that you can get around some of the don’ts of pregnancy by finding the right products and services.

Here’s a guide to looking your best during pregnancy and staying safe:

1. Getting Your Hair Colored:

Though it’s generally a don’t to have your hair colored during pregnancy, the first trimester is most important time to stay away from hair coloring products. If you can’t wait the three months or want to play it safe throughout your pregnancy, look for dyes that are non-toxic and vegetable (not chemical) based — and most importantly that are 100% ammonia free. Some of our favorite ammonia-free hair color brands:

Tints of Nature: Ammonia-free, Tints of Nature has more than a dozen hair color shades which are all made from certified organic ingredients — they’re the only hair coloring product on the market that can make that claim.

Susan Henry Natural Color: Top Hollywood colorist Susan Henry created her line of all-natural color products after she started to develop symptoms of ammonia-poisoning. With six gorgeous shades to choose from, you’ll keep using the products after your pregnancy too!

2. Getting Your Hair Straightened:

Frizz. How do you go nine (actually TEN) months with unruly hair? Unfortunately, most hair straightening treatments have far too many chemicals — and some formaldehyde — that aren’t safe to be around during pregnancy.

Some alternatives to try are Brazilian Blowout and Global Keratin‘s hair straightening treatments that infuse your locks with keratin to create loads of shine and relaxes waves without harsh chemicals. But make sure you talk to the hair stylist — some keratin straightening product do have harsh chemicals — do your research.

3. Getting Manicures and Pedicures:

For the most part, your monthly mani / pedi is fine during pregnancy, but avoid poorly ventilated nail salons where the fumes are too strong. Also, try to bring your own tools, to minimize the risk of infections, and bring your own polish — preferably one of the non-toxic colors from SpaRitual or Zoya.

There are definitely benefits to the well-stocked diaper bag, but sometimes, you just don’t want to — and don’t have to — lug a heavy, bulky bag while on a quick errand or on-the-go. The one thing you need to have on hand though? Diapers, which are bulky no matter what, right?

Enter DiaperBuds. These individually wrapped diapers are vacuum-packed and 100% sterile — one full-sized diaper comes in a nifty package about the size of your palm. DiaperBuds are perfect for storing in your purse, in the glove compartment of your car and in your stroller so you’re never without a diaper. And, as most moms can confirm: the last thing you want is to be without a diaper when you really need one for your baby!

DiaperBuds – 8 for $6.99 at DiaperBuds.com

Some health centers in Massachusetts are prescribing more fruits and vegetables for their young clients — literally doctor’s orders. The goal of the program is to get kids from lower income families to eat more produce. To meet the goal, health care professionals from selected clinics are handing out coupons — produce prescriptions, so to speak — for produce purchases at local farmer’s markets.

Beyond the obvious monetary benefit of farmer’s market coupons, my guess is these coupons from doctors might help boost a child’s interest in fruits and vegetables. And there’s truth behind the old “apple a day keeps the doctor away” saying. Fruits and vegetables nourish our bodies with fiber, vitamins, minerals and protective antioxidants. In many ways, a healthy diet can be considered preventative medicine.

So you don’t live in an area that hands out produce prescriptions? Bummer. Me either. But, as parents, we can take some creative measures to make healthy eating fun. Try these ideas:

- Cut “coupons” out of different colored pieces of construction paper. Give each of your kids one coupon of each color and go to the farmer’s market. Your kids can search out fruits or vegetables to match the colors of their coupons. You’ll come home with a wide variety of fruits and vegetables in all colors (not to mention nutrients).

- Make a spinner wheel (or modify one from an old Twister game) that includes colors of all different fruits and vegetables. Let your kids spin it to see what color fruit or vegetable you can all have as a snack or to go with your dinner. If the spinner lands on orange serve carrots or squash, green means a healthy salad or string beans, red means strawberries for dessert, etc.

- Have a “dipping party” and serve a variety of cut vegetables with all sorts of healthy dips. Hummus, low-fat dressings and honey mustard are just a few tasty dip suggestions. You can do the same idea with fruit and dips such as low-fat yogurt and melted dark chocolate.

A lot of parents find bathtime to be one of their favorite rituals. It’s quality time at its best, complete with lots of fun and giggles. You don’t need much to make it a success — but these essentials make it easy to enjoy:

-  Infant bath seat. Made to fit in your kitchen sink, it holds your newborn in a comfortable, safe position for bathing, giving you peace of mind and saving you from having to bend over the tub.

-  Toddler tub. At six months, children graduate from the reclining position to a seated position, which means transitioning to a toddler tub that sits inside your regular bathtub.

-  Hooded towels. A cross between a towel and a robe with a hood sewn onto one of the towel’s corners, these provide head-to-toe coverage.

-  Natural sponge or soft wash cloth. You’ll want something soft and simple; we recommend a natural sponge for softness and accessibility.

-  Bath products. A gentle cleanser that’s both shampoo and bodywash is all you need at first, and you can add other products as the need arises.

-  Tub toys. Once babies can sit up, the fun really begins! Bath squirters, floating animals and bubbles are great additions to the baby’s bath.

-  Toy storage. Avoid bathroom clutter with a toy holder, whether it’s a bag, bucket, or wall-mounted unit. Whatever you choose, just make sure it drains to avoid mold.

About the Author

Ali Wing is more than just the founder of giggle — she’s an advocate for today’s new parents. By offering smarter solutions, providing information and building a parenting community, Ali has made giggle a resource destination. In addition to smarter products, giggle offers customized services to help make it easier to become a new parent, such as giggle personal shoppers and giggle’s ultimate baby registry, offering parents a robust set of tools such as gear guides, starter checklists and a baby gear dictionary.

Sometimes with the kids out of school, this season can feel like an endless summer. Celebrity party planner Jes Gordon has  three ideas for great kids parties to keep them busy and happy before school starts back up again.

There are certain fail-safe things that can make kids happy, such as candy, games, colors, sounds, and security. These theme sugJEStions combine these elements to create out of the box parties that kids will enjoy and parents will remember.

Pillow Party

For the ultimate pillow party, move everything out of a room and padding all surfaces and floors with pillows. Use oversize floor pillows for seating for adult guardians (and for kids to flop on). Make multicolored pillowcases by quick stitching fabric together, or just buy pillowcases with fun themes on them – superheroes, dolls, whatever the fads are. Send out pillowcases as invitations, decorated with those laundry-friendly fabric pens or paints from any art supply or hobby store. The guests can draw and write messages on plain pillowcases with fabric marker so they have a cool camp-like keepsake to bring home. A good snack to fit with the pillow concept is a simple sheet cake cushioned with tons of marshmallows. Keep the cushiony texture going with individual angel food or sponge cakes, Mallomars, and Rice Krispie treats. And obviously, the party game is… a pillow fight!

Dance ‘Til You Drop

A dance party is all about music and boogying down. You should provide a dance floor where the little peeps won’t feel too much in the spotlight and get too self-conscious to participate. Make this area darker than the rest of the room by turning off the overhead lights or equipping them with a bulb in deep red, orange, or pink – or all three! If you don’t feel like purchasing a disco ball, you can buy light bulbs that have reflective surfaces or ripples in their glass that cast a cool reflection onto the direct surface they are closest to, creating that disco vibe. Provide some current playlists on your iPod and have groups of kids play DJ for the event. Go cruise Radio Shack or Best Buy and get a karaoke machine – prices vary from $19.99 to a couple of hundred for ones that come with lighting and computer graphics. Another really fun option is renting (if you don’t already own it!) a Dance-Dance revolution game for the kids to battle each other on. Keep the food and drinks light because the kids will be moving around a lot. Consider bottled drink and enclosed snacks so that you don’t encounter too much spillage!

Inner Artiste Party

All kids are budding Picassos, so throw them an inner artiste party. Invitations should definitely be made out of some original art! At the event, provide a low table with tons of art supplies – paper, crayons, markers, paint (all washable, of course), clay, glue, glitter, stickers, and more. Give guests an easy-to-use digital camera and le the kids take pics of themselves. Print out the photos while the kids are still there, pin them on a corkboard, and let them collect their images at the end of the party. The guests could also make photo collages to keep or give away to their BFFs. Regarding nibbles, it’s hard to take a break from the creative process – especially if your hands are covered in paint – so it would be cool if each artist had his or her own apron complete with pockets. Tuck healthy, easy-to-grab snacks in the apron pockets, like nuts, yogurt-covered raisins and pretzels, carrot sticks, and cheese sticks. When your artists are ready to take a break for some real substance, offer a visual feast of food such as bowls of gorgeous fruit, baskets of bread, and luscious fondue pots filled with rich chocolate or cheese. With fondue, the artists can continue getting their hands dirty!

About the Author
Jes Gordon is an award-winning event producer & designer, author, former host of Fine Living Network’s “The Perfect Party,” and the resident Event Planning expert on Style Network and MyStyle.com. She’s also the CEO and Creative Director for her design firm jesGordon/properFUN, and the author of Party Like a Rock Star: A Celebrity Planner’s Tips and Tricks for Throwing an Unforgettable Bash. Follow Jes on Twitter.

Supermodel and new mom Gisele Bunchen came under fire this week for comments that were deemed ‘insensitive’ towards moms who choose not to breastfeed. The wife of NFL star Tom Brady and mom to Benjamin had said in Harper’s Bazaar UK that there should be a law requiring moms to breastfeed their babies for the first six months and specifically criticized American moms:

“Some people (in the US) think they don’t have to breastfeed, and I think, ‘Are you going to give chemical food to your child when they are so little?’”

The comments enraged moms who found the comments insensitive and insulting. Today, the Brazilian Victoria’s Secret beauty took to her blog to clarify the comments, saying:

“My intention in making a comment about the importance of breastfeeding has nothing to do with the law. Becoming a new mom has brought a lot of questions, I feel like I am in a constant search for answers on what might be the best for my child. I am sure if I would just be sitting talking about my experiences with other mothers, we would just be sharing opinions. I understand that everyone has their own experience and opinions and I am not here to judge. I believe that bringing a life into this world is the single most important thing a person can undertake and it can also be the most challenging. I think as mothers we are all just trying our best.”

American Idol alum, Oscar-winner and mom Jennifer Hudson is flaunting a fantastic figure on the cover of InStyle Makeover this month and inside the magazine crowns her with their “Makeover of the Year” title. Jennifer certainly deserves that title! The mom to almost 1-year old David dropped 60 pounds — going from a size 16 to a svelte size 6.

What are Jennifer Hudson’s weight loss secrets? The Weight Watchers spokesperson doesn’t have any diet wonders or tricks up her sleeve — she took the weight off the old-fashioned way: by watching what she eats and exercising regularly. She credits Weight Watchers’ points system for helping her with portion control and shaped up with the help of celebrity trainer Harley Pasternak.

And, Jennifer’s happy with her current figure. “I don’t want to lose any more weight, and you’re never going to see me skinny. I think this is a good, natural size for me.”

We couldn’t agree more! To read up on Jennifer’s incredible transformation, pick up the current issue of InStyle Makeover.

It’s World Breastfeeding Week and to help moms get off to the right breastfeeding start, we’ve partnered with Medela to give a GLOSS reader a deluxe set of breastfeeding must-haves!

Here’s what one winner will receive:

- Medela Freestyle Breastpump
- The Medela Nursing Cami
- The Medela Nursing Stool
- The Medela Breastcare Gift Set

Entry is a cinch — to be eligible for the Deluxe Breastfeeding set, you simply need to be a GLOSS Daily subscriber. Subscribe here and you’ll not only get the scoop on mom must-haves, recipes, news and more each day, but you’ll be eligible for all of our amazing giveaways each month too!

WANT EXTRA ENTRIES? For each of the following, you’ll get an additional entry into this giveaway:

- Become a fan of GLOSS on Facebook
- Follow GLOSS on Twitter

The winner will be selected on Monday, August 9th at 5pm PT. Good luck!

Already a fan of Medela? If you want to be even more involved, fill out the survey at http://www.mommavens.com/join to see if you qualify to become a Medela Mom Maven. This unique group of parents helps inform others about safe, high quality Medela products; gets a first look at new Medela products; and is able to share feedback directly with Medela. To learn more visit www.mommavens.com

When budgets are tight, and you want your pregnancy to be Gorgeously Green, it makes sense to splash out on 2 or 3 must-have pieces – all of which, should be able to carry you through that awkward phase between about-to-pop and almost-back-to-normal clothes.

My #1 pick is The Wrap by AngelRox. Made out of silky eco-friendly fabric, The Wrap is the most versatile piece I’ve found. It comes in 5 different colors and if I was pregnant, I’d want them all. Also check out the wonderful “wings” t-shirt line by the same company, as they are long and stretchy enough to work for most of your pregnancy (just go a size up), and the little painted wings on your back are just adorable.

#2 Pick is The Blossom Dress by PureT I also love their Stripey Brocklyn t-shirt (pictured right).

#3 Pick is The Empire Maternity Tank by Jessica Scott. Created from soft, velvety organic fabric, this is an easy-to-sling-on piece, which will work for both daytime fun and evening glam.

In the most recent edition of Gwyneth Paltrow‘s GOOP email newsletter, the celebrity mom of two opens up about her experience with post-partum depression alongside a feature about Twilight star Bryce Dallas Howard‘s personal account of her struggle.

Paltrow says of how she felt after son, Moses, was born:

“I was confronted with one of the darkest and most painfully debilitating chapters of my life. For about five months I had, what I can see in hindsight as postnatal depression.”

Howard went into detail about her experience:

“I felt I was failing at breast-feeding. My house was a mess. I believed I was a terrible dog owner. I was certain I was an awful actress; I dreaded a film I was scheduled to shoot only a few weeks after the birth because I could barely focus enough to read the script. And worst of all, I definitely felt I was a rotten mother–not a bad one, a rotten one. Because the truth was, every time I looked at my son, I wanted to disappear.”

The emotional accounts include advice from renowned psychologist and mother of two. Dr. Karen Binder-Brynes. Take a read and share your experiences with us below.

Weaning your baby off the bottle can seem like a daunting task, but it’s important to make the transition from bottle to cup before your child enters full-blown toddlerhood. Typically around six to nine months old, your baby will ready to wean from the bottle and will be showing signs of readiness.

3 Tips for Weaning Baby From Bottle:

1. Start weaning baby by cutting down on bottle feedings. Skip one of two feedings every week for about a couple of weeks and replace it with a sippy cup filled with whatever baby is used to drinking from the bottle.

2.  Then, gradually decrease bottle feedings more and increase sippy cup feedings — and put less liquid in the bottles and more liquid in the sippy cups.

3. Praise and encourage baby each time she drinks from the sippy cup.

Once the transition is complete, get rid of the bottles immediately! Out of sight does equal out of mind in this case!

Married With Children and Samantha Who? star Christina Applegate, 38, and her fiance, Porno for Pyros singer Maryn Lenoble, 41, are expecting their first child! The couple, who announced their engagement on Valentine’s Day, have been dating for two years.

Applegate, who is recovering from breast cancer and a double mastectomy, told People magazine that Lenoble has been a big part of her recovery and that “He gave me something to really want to live for and something to smile about.”

A wedding date hasn’t been set yet, this will be the first child for both Applegate and Lenoble.  Applegate was previously wed to actor Johnathon Schaech before divorcing in 2007.