Who knew that former party girl Nicole Richie was such a giving and charitable person? I think that the way she has turned her life around and started giving back to those less fortunate is wonderful and I applaud her efforts. And apparently she has only just begun helping children - here and around the world.

Through the Richie-Madden Children's Foundation, Nicole is launching an online gift registry that will help needy mothers and their children. Families in need can sign up through local social service agencies and submit a list of the things they need for their children. Asked-for items could include cribs, blankets and other essentials. Donors could then look at the registry and choose what they want to contribute. Initially, the registry will benefit families in New York and Los Angeles, but the hope is to take it nationally and then internationally.

I think this is fantastic idea and love the idea of being able to choose a family to give to and personally pick out what they receive. Way to go Nicole!

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In a draft report recently issued, the Federal Drug Administration has concluded that Bisphenol A is safe --at least when used in food containers. Commonly known as BPA to consumers, the chemical can be found in all sorts of children's products as well as cars, plastic food containers and lining aluminum cans.

This most recent study was one of two funded by the industry itself. Gee, of course any study funded by the industry that stands to make money off it is going to come out with data supporting a chemical's safety. There rationale is that people are exposed to so little of it that it won't do them harm. In other studies BPA has been found in 93% of testees' urine and has been known to cause cancer and behavioral disorders in lab animals. The EPA (Environmental Protection Agency) supports the findings as well.

Opponents of the decision say the study agencies don't have enough data to support their findings that BPA is safe. The country of Canada has banned the use of BPA and products containing the chemical, and national retail chain giants Wal-Mart and Toys R Us are set to remove all children's merchandise containing the chemical from their shelves as of January 2009.

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These days, traveling by air can be an extreme test of patience and restraint. Herded like cattle and crammed into tiny seats, most of us suffer quietly and try to make the best of the situation. Most of us adults do, anyway. Kids are often a little short on patience and restraint and being cooped up for hours in an airplane can be pure torture for them. And for those who sit anywhere near them.

What if there were a separate section on the plane where families traveling with children could sit? Wouldn't that make things a lot easier for everyone involved, including the frustrated parent who can't seem to get junior to sit still or use his inside voice? Airfare Watchdog asked that question and a whopping 85% of respondents said that airlines should have a section of the plane reserved for parents with babies and smaller children.

I wish there had been a kid section the first time I flew with a baby in tow. I thought I was being very considerate of my fellow passengers by keeping her quiet with bottle after bottle of apple juice plugged into her mouth. It kept her quiet alright. After about the fifth bottle, she quietly had a massive apple juice-induced blowout in her diaper, causing everyone in our immediate area to reach for their barf bags. I am sure each and every one of those passengers who caught a whiff and glimpse of that mess wished there were a separate section for kids. And I would have been happy to sit there.

But, as 27% of those polled agree, having a section just for babies and small kids will probably never happen and wouldn't work anyway. Airlines want to fill each and every seat and telling non-family traveling passengers that they have to sit in the loud, stinky section probably wouldn't go over too well.

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Nineteen-month-old Aidan DeBeck is the latest child to beat the odds by surviving a scary fall. He fell 25 to 30 feet, the equivalent of three stories, from his playroom window and walked away with only bruises. His mom. Sara DeBeck, tells of how she left him in the third floor room to take a nap. "I put him in the playpen, which he's just started climbing out of," she said. "He wasn't really sleepy, so I gave him some books, put the gate up and turned on the monitor."

She went back downstairs to tend to her three-year-old but could hear Aidan quietly playing through the monitor. Then she heard a thump. She was confused as to the source of the sound until she noticed the playroom curtain laying on the ground outside.

She rushed out and found her son crying but seemingly unhurt. She called 911 and Aiden was transported via LifeFlight to the hospital. Aidan checked out okay and was released the next day. "In the end, he had no injuries at all," Sara DeBeck said. "It was just amazing."

She says that Aidan will no longer be allowed to be in that room alone when the window is open. That is all well and good, but I hope that isn't her entire plan for child-proofing her windows. Give a curious kid like Aidan enough time and he will be able to open that window by himself. Preventing window falls is as easy as installing window stops or guards. I hope the DeBecks do that very soon. It is a very small price to pay for peace of mind.

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Last week, a group of breastfeeding mothers and their supporters gathered in an H&M clothing store in downtown Vancouver for a nurse-in. The protest was prompted by the experience of Manuela Valle, who recently attempted to breastfeed her two-week-old child in that store, only to be told that she could not. The store clerk told Valle it was their policy to prevent customers from being offended and suggested that Valle feed her baby in a special fitting room, out of the sight of others. Valle was not happy. "I told them I would publicly campaign against their policy because it is wrong and discriminatory. It punished me for breastfeeding by putting me in seclusion and thus confirmed the idea that public breastfeeding is offensive and shameful."

Valle kept her word and on Thursday, a group of women, children and fathers packed the store to draw attention to the situation. One of the organizers of the event, Veronica Polanska, says the protest wasn't specifically aimed at H&M, but at any business that would suggest that nursing a child in public is shameful and should be hidden.

"It's about every business, whether it's an airline or whether it's a restaurant, whether it's a pool ... it doesn't matter where it happens, it's not acceptable.

Considering that an estimated 90 to 95 percent of Canadian mothers breastfeed their babies, it is no wonder that the issue has been officially addressed by the British Columbia Human Rights Commission. In 2000, they issued a policy and procedure manual that says public facilities are to accommodate lactating women and specifies that mothers are allowed to breastfeed or express milk in public places.

I guess it is going to take a more than a policy and procedure manual to convince certain people that breastfeeding is not sexual, offensive or in any way inappropriate. Just what will it take?

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As many of you may know, I have a sixteen-month-old-son. When I first became pregnant I never thought whether I wanted a boy or a girl. I was simply thrilled to be having a child at all, and wanted only a happy, healthy child--the sex of the baby was inconsequential. Then, at one point I found out I would be having a son. I was an only child and a girl and knew not the first thing about having, and raising, a little boy. Now I'm on track with my second child, a little girl. I'm nervous and flustered and wondering just how different raising a child of the opposite sex will be. After all, I've had experience raising a baby, but he is all boy, all the time.

Is there such a difference in raising children of the opposite sex? Ask anyone, whether or not they're parents, and they'll have a pretty strong opinion about the world of boys vs girls. For example, when I found out I was having a girl, the pink clothing literally started pouring in. Everything is pink! When I was pregnant with my son I received clothes in all manner of colors, but not with my daughter. People also always comment that boys are much more rambunctious than girls in the beginning, but that girls are ever so much harder to deal with as teenagers--and that as the would-be mother of a teenage girl I have a lot of drama to look forward to.

The only real difference I've come across in my research is how you change a diaper. For girls you simply wipe in a different direction than with boys. Perhaps there's a little more clean-up involved as you're dealing with internal parts as opposed to external parts, but really that's the only difference I can discern. All of my friends who have two children, oddly enough, started out with a boy and then followed up with a girl. They all say that there is a real difference, even if it can't be defined in words, to raising a boy vs a girl.

Thoughts? Is there any real difference? Is it just society straining its concept of norms over us? Or is there more to raising girls than pink clothing that makes them intrinsically different than boys? After all, aren't little boys made of snails and puppy dog tails and such, while girls are made of sugar and spice?

The U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission has announced yet another crib recall. This time, about 500 Baby Appleseed Davenport Cribs are being recalled because they fail to meet federal safety standards for cribs. These cribs have a two-mattress support system and the secondary one, used for the lowest position, doesn't meet the full 26 inch minimum height requirement in its lowest position. This could allow a child to crawl over the railing and fall out of the crib.

These were made in Vietnam for by Baby Appleseed and sold at specialty juvenile product stores nationwide from December 2006 through September 2007 for between $600 and $800 each.

The recalled cribs are the Davenport models that begin with model numbers 273 and have manufacture dates on or before August 2007. You can find the manufacture date printed on a label on the right side of the lower inner panel of the crib. Newer Davenport cribs with model numbers beginning with 244 and having just one mattress support are not included in the recall.

If you have one of these cribs, you should stop using it in the third lowest position, which uses the wooden mattress support. If you are currently using the crib with the metal mattress support in the top or middle positions, you can continue to do so while awaiting a repair kit. Repair Kits will be available from the firm in mid-August 2008.

To receive your repair kit, contact Baby Appleseed by calling (877) 348-2199 anytime or by visiting their Web site.

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Last week, Congress passed a law designed to ensure that the massive toy recalls of 2007 are not repeated. The bill, awaiting the signature of President Bush, gives the Consumer Product Safety Commission a larger budget, increases the fines for companies who don't comply with the new stricter rules, and forces those companies to take responsibility for making sure safety standards are met in toy design and manufacture.

But it isn't just lead paint and loose magnets the bill hopes to eliminate. The new law also bans six types of phthalates in children's toys. Phthalates is a chemical commonly found in plastics that may disrupt the hormonal development of children. The bill completely bans three types of phthalates - di-(2-ethylhexyl) phthalate (DEHP), dibutyl phthalate (DBP), and benzyl butyl phthalate (BBP). Three others are temporarily banned pending a study of their effects on children and pregnant women.

This is clearly a step in the right direction, but many believe that banning phthalates is just the beginning. "This has started a dialogue on what else is needed," says Janet Nudelman of Breast Cancer Fund. What is needed, she says, is the passage of the Kid Safe Chemical Act, which would require all chemicals be proven safe for children.

In the meantime, banning phthalates is likely enough to change the face of the toy industry. All those plastic playthings littering your child's room may soon become relics of the past. But buyer beware: this law will not have any impact on toys already on the shelf. Maybe it is time to revisit the past and experience the joys of simple wooden toys. Or perhaps a game of kick the can will keep the kids occupied while everyone figures out how to make toys safe again.

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The U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission has announced the recall of about 1,300 Mother Hubbard's Cupboard cribs. The cribs fail to meet federal safety standards in that the distance between the mattress support bracket in the lowest position and the top of the side rail in the highest position is less than the required 26 inches. This poses a fall hazard to children.

The recall involves wooden full-sized cribs in the following models: Enchantment (model #210), Hush A Bye (model #215), Once Upon A Time (model #320) and Rock A Bye (model #1900-359). Only cribs with date codes from 0306 through 0308 are included in this recall. You can find the words "Mother Hubbard's Cupboards", the model number and date code printed on a label on the bottom inside of the right side of the crib.

The cribs were sold at juvenile product stores from March 2006 through March 2008 between $500 and $650 each. More pictures of the recalled cribs can be found here.

If you have one of these cribs, you should stop using it immediately and contact Mother Hubbard's Cupboards to receive instructions on how to reinstall the support brackets and eliminate the hazard. You can reach them by calling (888) 661-8201 between 9:00 a.m. and 6:00 p.m. ET Monday through Thursday and between 10:00 a.m. and 4:00 p.m. ET Friday and Saturday, or by visiting their Web site.

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Motherhood is definitely a challenge. It's a lot of hard work and moms are, in their own special way, true superheroes. One Boulder, Colorado mother, however, took that concept literally and chased down a pervert, on her bicycle, while carrying her ten-month-old baby on her back. Twenty-three-year-old Danika Bueno was out for a bike ride when a man on a bike rode up to her from behind and grabbed her chest.

Instead of reeling in shock and letting the man get away, Bueno took after him, following him for more than a mile, and called 911. Police were able to apprehend the man and have charged him with unlawful sexual contact and child abuse. In regards to the pedal-powered chase, Bueno said, "I'm pretty comfortable on a bike, but I was nervous about getting too close to him." That's certainly understandable.

Still, kudos to Bueno for having the presence of mind to chase the guy down and get him off the streets. Way to go, Supermom!

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I believe parenthood has brought on many positive changes for me, but I'll be the first to admit I've grown downright pedantic when it comes to movie or television scenes depicting pregnancy, childbirth, or the post-partum stage. "Oh, COME ON!" I'll snap, flinging a hand out in disgust at the actress whose strap-on belly, supposedly containing twins, barely pushes out the confines of her hospital gown, as she heaves a delicate sigh meant to convey the depths of her labor pains (Natalie Portman I am looking at YOU). "WHY ISN'T SHE THE SIZE OF A NARWHALE AND POOPING ON THE TABLE."

Newborn babies are always pudgy and adorable, probably because they're actually three months old -- they never look like underdone, angry little pot roasts. Post-partum parents are delirious with joy, sitting in soft-focus pools of light, and no one is furiously scratching their C-section scar or rooting around under the sink for yet another Super-Plus-Flow-with-Wings! maxi pad.

Well, I suppose I can understand why these vignettes might not make for a pleasant viewing experience, but I have to say, I LOVED last season's Friday Night Lights for the scene showing the coach in a grocery store a short time after their baby was born. Did you see that, where he's completely disheveled, wearing stained sweatpants, with purple half-circles under his eyes and a vacant, drooly expression? Now that's REALITY.

Oh, I guess I just like it when parenthood is shown for what it is: a beautiful, blissful endurance trial. It's like an endless, brutal trek up the slopes of a sky-sweeping mountain, where every day you wheeze and gasp and think, holy crap this is so much harder than I thought it was going to be, and yet you are constantly treated to the most glorious landscape. Every step seems so critical, and there are so many paths to choose from. It's indescribable. It's terrifying. Like gazing upon the face of God. A god with many, many bodily fluids.

I'm terrible at goodbyes (and segues!) so I will quickly close by saying that this will be my last post with ParentDish, and I want to thank you for reading. It has come to mean a lot to me to be able to talk about my motherhood experiences -- the good, the bad, and the yeeesh -- and I am so grateful for having had this outlet. Take care of yourselves, you hear?

This was just after the twins were born and we'd gotten home from the NICU: the phone rang and my husband Tom took the call. A few minutes later, he hung up. There was a dazed expression on his face.

"That was the pediatric cardiologist," Tom said. "He called to tell us the good news. We won't be taking a life flight to Seattle for emergency heart surgery. " He paused, letting the words hang in the air around us. "I didn't know," he said finally, "that such a thing was even a possibility."

I hadn't realized it, either. But there were so many things I was just beginning to understand, then. I thought back to my many ultrasounds with Tally, whose name always made me smile (each week she took a tally of our babies!) and the numerous, grainy black-and-white images of Bennett, the small bones in his back like a tiny string of pearls; or of Avery who, more often than not, was sucking his thumb.

Each measurement--of the bones in each baby's leg, or the width of each head, or the blood pumping through four chambers of each heart, was met with, "Everything looks fine," and despite what eventually followed--the twins' premature delivery and 5 days later, Avery's diagnosis of Down syndrome--I still had faith in those words. Why would anything be wrong with Avery's heart?

As it happens, babies with Down syndrome are 40-50% more likely to be born with a heart defect: some of the conditions are minor, and can be addressed with medication, but others require surgery. Hence, our cardiologist's comment to Tom, which was indeed, good news.

Since that time, I've learned even more things about being mother to a child with Down syndrome. I've learned that one of the more common problems in babies with Down syndrome is called atrioventricular septal defect (AVSD), sometimes called AV canal, a condition that affects the walls between the two upper chambers and the two lower chambers of the heart.

Which is how I came to have, in my hands, a white manila envelope from the Kennedy Krieger Institute, an internationally recognized facility dedicated to improving the lives of children and adolescents with disabilities. And though the institute is located in Baltimore, MD, and we're in Montana, I've agreed to participate in a collaborative research effort designed to help identify genetic and environmental factors related to congenital heart disease in Down syndrome.

My role in this study is minimal: since we don't have any heart issues, we'll be part of the comparison group. I need to fill out a medical questionnaire, and sign some release forms. I need to supply the team with a copy of Avery's karyotype, which is a profile of a person's chromosomes. In Avery's case, it shows 3 genes at the 21st chromosome instead of the usual 2, and was how we confirmed the diagnosis. And the researchers need a copy of the echocardiogram, the one that the cardiologist telephoned Tom about.

In a few weeks, I'll participate in a telephone interview too, answering questions about my medical history and my pregnancies. And Avery will donate 1/5 teaspoon of blood for DNA analysis--this will be, in fact, the most difficult part. Avery has his blood tested every year for TSH and T-4 Thyroid function, and we'll get the sample then. In the beginning, he'd approach these blood draws with his usual cheerfulness and good will, smiling at the nurses and even flirting a bit. It's happened often enough that now, just the sight of the medical clinic sets his chin to quivering, big teardrops already forming in the corners of his dark blue eyes.

Why would I consider such a thing? Before becoming Avery's mom, I probably wouldn't have. The world to me, then, seemed like something "out there" that was mostly none of our business. But having Avery made everything personal--the families in the NICU with us, the children we know at the CDC, the babies with heart surgeries, they are close to me, now. I'd once thought that having a child with a visible disability would isolate my family--but instead, most times, I've found the opposite to be true. Avery brings people together.

It's a small thing, our participation in the Kennedy Krieger Institute research, but it's what we can do.

When the twins were still babies, I used to sit with them in the rocking chair. I'd arrange them like the nurses in the NICU showed me, one in each arm, heads on my chest. The rhythm of the rocking chair reminded me of a heart beat, too--bump-bump. Bump-bump. And I'd feel it, then, our connectedness, all of our hearts beating as one.

For more information on the Kennedy Krieger Institute study contact Charnan Koller.

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Smoking is a hard habit to break, there's no doubt about it. In fact, according to USA Today, only 10 to 20% of people who try quitting succeed. But expectant mothers have a reason to quit smoking that goes beyond their own health -- smoking during pregnancy is linked to ectopic pregnancies, placental problems, and low birth weight. And according to the American Cancer Society, those potential health issues are reason enough for many pregnant women to kick the habit, even if only temporarily.

Up to 45% of expectant moms who smoke quit cold turkey, especially notable since nicotine products like patches and gum aren't recommended for pregnant women. That's the good news. The bad news is that the stress of new motherhood often causes those same women to return to their smoking habit after their baby is born -- up to 80% of moms start smoking again within a year of giving birth. Post-partum depression, stress, weight loss, and partners who smoke are often named as reasons women return to the habit.

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Two and a half months have passed since our baby Paloma was born and I've run out of excuses for not working out or pulling myself together before 2PM. I finally looked in the mirror (only because I was cleaning it) and decided that enough is enough - I need to re-enter the land of the living, even if I still feel like a sleep deprived zombie.

My first day on the elliptical machine was hard. Not the workout, but the three hours of procrastination I spent doing every other chore in the house. Wait, there are dust bunnies under the crib. Move bed, vacuum. Equally exhausting was the dread of squeezing my post-baby body into my pre-baby exercise clothes.

With the house in order, laundry sorted and going, and kids miraculously playing peacefully, I once again run out of excuses. No problem, I better check my e-mail. A news story flashes with a picture of my former workout idol, Madonna. What's she up to? Seeing her bulging arm veins and manly triceps, I almost scrap the workout all together. "Look what it's doing to Madonna," I tell myself, "This cannot be good for you."

Then one of those humbling mommy moments snaps me back to the reality of my overstretched abs. "Mommy, are you having another baby?" asks my pig-tailed four year-old. "No, honey,"I try to say sweetly through clenched teeth.

Fine! I'll get on the machine, but first I have to nurse and by the way, isn't nursing supposed to help my stomach come to its pre-baby shape? I guess there's an exclusionary clause for the fifth baby.

Long story short, I did 25 minutes on the elliptical and some abdominal crunches. I felt soooo good afterward! Why did I wait so long??!!

Baby's still asleep. Good! I can shower. Oh, this is what it feels like to be clean before noon. I had forgotten.

Baby's still asleep and the other kids haven't killed each other? I'm going to exfoliate and mask with my new favorite organic skin products (the best post-baby gift I have EVER received) and what the heck, I'll give myself a home pedicure.

Pores clean, skin soft, nails painted, hair washed. I'm back in the land of the living.

To learn more about Rachel, visit her website at www.rachelcamposduffy.com.

We're all familiar with the "breast is best" campaign, but some women are taking their commitment to nursing far beyond the comfort zone of others.

Experts have noted an increase in cross-nursing, the breastfeeding of a baby other than your own. According to Lisa Moran, editor of Babytalk magazine, cross-nursing is to be expected.

"Cross-nursing is the logical extension to the rise in breast-feeding rates that we've seen in the past 15 years," she told "Good Morning America." "Moms are really committed to breast-feeding exclusively and finding new ways to do that. Cross-feeding, cross-nursing is one of those."

Cross-nursing or serving as a wet nurse wasn't uncommon in the past (my father-in-law was nursed by a neighbor in the 1920's because his own mother wasn't able) but isn't an accepted practice in developed nations where infant formula is readily available. According to a poll in Babytalk, 45% of respondents find cross-nursing "disgusting" or "weird", whereas the Chinese policewoman who nursed nine babies after the earthquake was considered a national hero.

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