Kids hate tags. Heck, I hate tags. They're itchy, bothersome, and they're always sticking out. Parents everywhere have been cutting tags out of clothing for years, tired of listening to kids complaining about them. Then, some smart marketer had a great idea: Let's make clothing without tags. Peace reigned over the kingdom of children's apparel. Mostly.

It seems that something sinister is going on with Carter's Fall 2007 line of tagless baby clothing. Some parents are reporting that their babies are getting rashes and sores high up on their backs from the silk-screen label. According to The Consumerist, the problem is limited to the Fall 2007 line, so unless you're child is wearing hand-me-downs, this shouldn't affect your future Carter's purchasing plans.

It's not clear whether this is a problem with manufacturing or simply an allergy issue. And then there's this forum that suggests the problem isn't limited to the Carter's brand. If your child has had a reaction to a tagless tee, contact the company that made them. It sounds like Carter's, at least, is asking parents to send the clothing in and then refunding their money in the form of a voucher. Have you ever had a problem with tagless baby clothes?

I'm not at all inclined to believe any of the flotsam floating around out there about the state of Angelina Jolie's twins' health. I am inclined to believe, however, the bits about Angelina suffering from post partum depression (PPD). Ange is a mom just like the rest of us, and, like most new moms, she is probably experiencing it on some level.

According to reports, Angie is in a tither over the health of twins Vivienne Marcheline and Knox Leon and is depressed. She is crying throughout the day and exhausted from sleepless nights. Well, welcome to early motherhood! Birth is a big deal, however you do it. Between the act of giving birth and all the pregnancy hormones flowing in and out of your body, crying is probably the least of it. Some women get PPD so badly they impart harm to themselves, their spouses and their children. Ange will be lucky if she gets away with just crying.

Having been through a milder form of PPD myself, I can say that sometimes the crying seems as if it will never end. The sadness seems insurmountable and the lack of control overwhelming. But, hope is around the corner--women and their doctors are more aware of PPD and how to treat it. Even superwomen/supermoms like Angelina Jolie are not immune to PPD or other post-natal symptoms. Let's hope that's all it is, and that she is able to get the help and understand--and support, especially from Brad--she needs in order to get better!

Don't mess with the material mom. I think we all know the consequences of that. But what about when you're her daughter? Lourdes is probably just as headstrong as her mommy and may even like to follow in her mother's big footsteps someday. Says Madonna, though, Lourdes is forbidden from acting.

Nevertheless, the acting bug has allegedly bitten little Lola. Many celebrity kids either attempt or succeed at following in their famous parents' footsteps, especially when it comes to acting. And many of those celebrity parents have said they don't want their kids acting or being in the profession at all. The stress, the drama, the lies of the media and the unbelievable pressure to be perfect are too much, they feel, for their kids to go through (yet they continue to do it).

Madonna is no exception. She is a mom, after all, and she wants to protect her family. According to a "source" Madge has banned her daughter, 11, from being in a new movie and has nixed Lola being involved in the craft until she finishes high school. I wonder how she feels about Lourdes going to college--Madonna dropped out, and it didn't seem to bother her career aspirations in the slightest!

For many kids, the day they receive a jersey or uniform with their name printed boldly on the back is proud one. They are on the team and everyone who goes to the games will know exactly who they are!

Which is precisely what worried one parent enough to lobby for the removal of children's first names from the jerseys of the Carmel Dads Club. "She raised the concern about someone coming up to a kid and saying, 'Hi, Mary' or 'Hi, Jimmy,' and that might lead the youngster to believe that they knew them," said Mike McKinley, president of the organization that involves 12,000 kids in nearly a dozen different sports.

While some support the change, others feel it's catering to a culture of paranoia. The National Center for Missing and Exploited Children cautions parents that kids wearing clothing or carrying personalized items could put strangers "on a first name basis with the kids", but also acknowledges that in the majority of cases, children are abducted or exploited by someone the child or the child's parents knows not by a stranger.

We've never been on a team where first names were used on uniforms, only last names. Maybe I'm just naive, but my biggest worry was that someone with "Felton" across their back would do something embarrassing like scratch their butt or pick their nose in front of everyone. For me, having names on the players helps me figure out who is who on the field better than just a number. However, plain jerseys have the economical advantage of being reusable and reducing the cost of sports for parents.

Also, removing names from uniforms may make parents feel safer, but it doesn't completely remove the danger. There are enough people yelling out kids' names during sporting events to make it pretty easy for a profiler to figure out who is who if this ism information they really want to know.

What do you think is this a prudent preventative measure or just parental paranoia?

Kids across the nation should all finally be back-to-school, which means parents across the nation are trying to adjust to a sometimes radical new schedule. Sleep, especially when there isn't enough of it, is on everyone's minds. Most adults need a solid 8 hours, but kids needs are different based on their age.

One of the easiest ways to get kids to bed is a predictable, consistent bedtime routine. Setting the the tone for sleep about 30-60 minutes before lights out helps children's bodies prepare for sleep. This means that loud, active play and brightly lit video games should be ended long before bed. Quieter activities like puzzles, crafts, books, music, bath, or just a little snuggling will put your child in the bedtime frame of mind. Follow this with a predictable nighttime routine, and you have the perfect recipe for a peaceful day's end.

Bedtime comes early at our house, so our after dinner "family time" ends with picture books on the couch. Then we head upstairs for tooth brushing and jammies. Once everyone is tucked in and lights are out, I read a little from a chapter book (currently Junie B. Jones) by flashlight. My soothing voice in the dark seems to lull the kids into a drowsy state, and it's great incentive for getting in bed without an argument.

Do you have a bedtime routine that helps eliminate bedtime battles? Share it with us in comments.

Yes, you read that right. A little early for Halloween, sure, but this is one of those stories too weird--and creepy--to not be true. A Greater Manchester man who police and family thought was dead re-entered their lives after his son spotted him on television. The man, John Delaney, was believed to have died in April of 2000. Police accidentally misidentified a body as his and his family had a funeral for him, cremating the body of what they believed to be the patriarch in 2003.

Delaney had actually suffered a head injury and been admitted to a hospital days later. He suffered amnesia and was unable to give medical professionals his name. He was transferred to a home and stayed there for eight years before his son identified him while watching a show about missing people.

The son, John Renehan, said that while his father had been cremated, he "knew" the man he saw on television was his father. And he was right. Goes to show you have to trust your instincts sometimes. Now the family is happily reunited in what is truly an amazing story for the books. Sadly, the body of the person who was believed to be Delaney and subsequently cremated, has yet to be identified.

New York Schools will soon be tracking more than reading, writing, and arithmetic, they'll also be watching students' waistlines. Starting this fall, New York Schools (excluding New York City) will be required to collect and report on students BMI, which is a number based upon a person's height and weight. The data will be collected in annual health physicals which are required for attendance, and will be submitted in the second, fourth, seventh, and tenth grades.

The goal is to be able to track where childhood obesity is a problem so that district leaders can offer parents and children resources for leading a healthier lifestyle. But some people are asking the question: Does this kind of information belong in the hands of school and/or state officials? Is childhood obesity a government problem or a personal, family matter?

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Kids are routinely weighed at school anyway. (Remember the dreaded Presidential Fitness Awards? Or was I the only one who dreaded them? Those body fat calibers... shiver.) If children need to have a doctor's appointment anyway, and if weighing-in is a routine part of that physical, and if this information is then later reported anonymously without names attached, I can't see a problem with it. That way, schools as a whole can be targeted for health education. But if kids are having their names stuck into some kind of obesity file and are being singled out, then I might have a few questions. Childhood is hard enough. What do you think?

The U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission has announced the recall of more than three hundred thousand sets of Circo Rosette Bobbie Socks sold exclusively by Target, of Minneapolis, Minnesota, due to a potential choking hazard. The socks were sold in packs of six for about six dollars from January 2007 through July 2008.

The socks feature a ribbon which can detach and could be swallowed by a small child. Target has received four reports of the ribbons coming loose; thankfully, there have been no injuries. If you have any of these socks, take them away from your children and return them to the nearest Target for a full refund. For additional information, contact Target at (800) 440-0680 between 7 a.m. and 6 p.m. CT Monday through Friday, or visit the firm's Web site at www.target.com.

Wipes. Once you have a child, it seems impossible to get away from using them. They're everywhere and made to use for everything baby related. And there are so many different kinds to choose from, you find yourself sampling until you find the "right" wipe for your family. Some prefer the all-natural variety, some prefer antibacterial. Others prefer the sensitive skin version, and some just go for whatever is cheapest. Heck, you can even make your own baby wipes at home.

But, are wipes all they're cracked up to be? Are they really safe for all the uses for which they are available? I use them to wipe up during a diaper change. And I use them to wipe my hands. And I use them to wipe down the table after my son has his meal. And I've been known on occasion to use them to wipe his face after said meal. I've used them to wipe his nose instead of traditional tissues because they keep the skin on his nose from drying out.

My husband came home from Costco with a box of 700 wipes. Yes, 700. And all for the low cost of like $17. But are they good for the environment? Do they disintegrate or pile up in a landfill somewhere like everything else? Is it worth it for the convenience? And what about the organic versions versus the regular kind? Is there any real advantage to using chlorine-free wipes as opposed to generic ones? So many questions, so many wipes. They're invaluable when it comes to diaper changing duties, but other than that are they really worth it? I come from the cloth napkin world where little is thrown away or not reused, but I love the cleanliness and simplicity of the wipe. Is there any middle ground?

What is your favorite type of wipe, or have you found a way to get things (and your kids) clean without them?

According to a new report, actress Leighton Meester was essentially born in prison. The Gossip Girl star's mother was allegedly in prison serving time in federal prison in Texas for drug-related charges when her now-famous daughter was born.

Mom was allowed to live in a half-way house until little Leighton was three months old, but then had to serve out the rest of her sentence behind bars. The report appears in the questionable if anything Star magazine, where it is noted Leighton was raised by a relative until mom was released.

The magazine also claims other members of Meester's family, including her grandfather, spent time in the slammer, again for drug-related charges. Do we believe it? Sure, why not--plenty of women have had children while in prison. Can't stop mother nature. Do we care? That I'm not so sure about. With Gossip Girl's second season opening to its largest audience ever, I doubt the show needed such a publicity stunt, but they got one anyway!

Suicide rates among the nation's youth continue to climb. Many experts fear the reason for this is due to fewer antidepressants being prescribed. After a fifteen-year decline the rates are climbing--what was seen as a possibly random increase in 2004 was repeated in 2005. The outcome of the study of 2004 and 2005 tracked outcomes based on actual instances from 1996 through 2003. After more than a decade of decline, suicide rates among those from 10-19 years of age skyrocketed by 18% in 2004, the largest increase in a one-year time period over fifteen years. Researcher Jeff Bridge feels, based on this study, that we could be on the verge of a public health crisis.

Bridges sites possible reasons for the increase, including online and social networking as well as returning from deployment overseas in Iraq along with the controversy over giving youth antidepressants. In a 2003 a public health advisory was issued noting children who were prescribed SSRIs, or selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors, were more likely to attempt suicide or engage in suicidal behavior. The result was the black box information on such medicines as well as doctors being less confident in prescribing them. In another study, however, Bridge noted that such treatment could be beneficial for children in the short-term.

According to Diana Zuckerman, National Research Center for Women & Families, children may be more likely to attempt suicide now due to the lagging economy, the stress of not having enough money for college and because those with depression go undiagnosed. She also noted a factor could be that families aren't spending enough time together.

Imagine you're at your local McDonald's, a few blocks from home, in a decent neighborhood. You and your eleven-year-old son get into an argument that gets worse every minute. So you tell him to walk home, jump in your car, and take off. You cool down and, a few minutes later, return to collect him. Sound reasonable? Perhaps. It really depends on just how far the restaurant was from home, what sort of neighborhood it was, and how mature the boy is.

Well, those are some of the questions being asked now after a Texas newspaper columnist did just that. Dave Lieber returned to collect his son from the local McDonald's only to find him being questioned by police officers. The police gave Lieber a talking-to and let him take his son home. Lieber wrote about the incident in his column, but that wasn't the end of it. Almost two weeks later, Lieber was arrested on charges of child abandonment and endangerment.

Now it's up to the district attorney to decide whether or not to press charges. According to Eric Franklin, an investigations supervisor for Child Protective Services, the questions that need to be answered center around the child's maturity and ability to reason, the dangerousness of the situation, and the father's intentions.

I'm not sure this is something I would ever do, although I've certainly offered to let my kids walk home if they couldn't behave themselves in the car. Still, at eleven years old, I was wandering about some of San Francisco's worst neighborhoods on my own and at night and no one thought twice about it. I'm not sure this father deserves jail time and a record over this -- what do you think?

Children born to men who are older than the ripe old age of 30 are more likely to suffer from bipolar disorder, according to a new study. The results of the study, published in the Archives of General Psychology, suggest that the risk increases as the age of the father increases. Bipolar disorder is more commonly known as manic depression. Symptoms of the disorder include periods of extreme happiness offset by mood swings of severe depression and hopelessness.

The reason for the connection? According to Emma Frans of Sweden, who led the study, it could be that older men have more degraded sperm. The Swedish research team used a national medical registry of 14,000 who had the disorder along with five people without the disorder for each person in the registry to uncover the connection. After factoring for the mother's age, the results indicated that those with fathers over 30 had an 11% increase in risk and those with fathers as old as 55 had a 37% increased risk. Frans was quick to point out that the results shouldn't keep older men from fathering children all together, but that they should be aware of the increased risks.

Older fathers have also been linked to autism and schizophrenia.

You know that old nighttime saying, "Good night, sleep tight, don't let the bedbugs bite"? Well it turns out bedbugs aren't an imaginary creature designed to keep kids from wandering out of their beds at night.

Bedbugs are tiny, real insects that suck blood from people in their beds as they sleep. Our sister blog That's Fit just shared the educational-yet-horrifying information that some colleges are suffering from bedbug infestations. You know, because between the booze, boys, and bills, college parents didn't have ENOUGH to worry about.

If your college student suspects they have bedbugs as roomies, here are the steps to take:

• Pretend you don't know about the problem and transfer to a different university (Just kidding, although that would probably be my first response.)
• Reduce clutter to eliminate hiding places for the bugs.
• Thoroughly clean house using a high-powered vacuum cleaner and a stiff brush to remove bugs from cracks in the floor.
• Dismantle beds to find hiding places.
• Wash the bedding. Seal up mattresses and box springs by taping any holes or other places where bugs could exit. Wrap the mattresses and box springs in heavy plastic covers and seal them. Dumping mattresses on the street could result in making the problem worse by spreading it to others.
• To keep bugs from traveling from the floor to the bed and anyone attempting to sleep, set the bed frame legs in containers of mineral oil and do not let the blankets touch the floor.
• Caulk and seal all holes and cracks around pipes, electrical outlets, and around baseboards and cove moldings.
• If you are a tenant, work with your landlord to solve the problem. If you are a homeowner, you might consider calling a licensed pest control operator.
• There are a number of products and kits you can purchase to treat the problem. Some involve chemical pesticides, others depend upon organic means of control, such as insecticidal dusts that tear away the bug's protective coating, causing it to die. These products can be found on the internet.
• If you suspect you have had a bedbug encounter during a trip out of the country, it's possible you have transported the little fellows or their eggs in your luggage. Leaving your luggage in a closed car for several hours in a hot summer sun should kill them. Meanwhile, it's a good idea to have clothing professionally laundered in a commercial bug-killing solution immediately upon your return, preferably before you bring the clothing home. Inspect, vacuum, and scrub your empty suitcase with a stiff brush to remove any eggs.

Of course the easiest way to deal with bedbugs is to not get them in the first place. That's why the best idea is to keep your kids little and at home with you. When someone figures out how to do, this please let me know ASAP.

The most common birth defect found in newborn boys is undescended testes. This condition may affect up to 8% of males and is also believed to be linked with infertility issues and as a risk factor for testicular cancer later in life. Research on rats found that the reproductive system of male fetuses could suffer damage starting as early at eight weeks' gestation by some chemicals, including those found in many cosmetics. During the time window of 8-12 weeks gestation, the male reproductive system is being established and certain hormones are being activated.

But researchers feel they may have found a simple way for expectant mothers to possibly spare their sons the from heartaches of infertility and health issues down the road: lay off perfume.

"Women could stop using body creams and perfumes. Although we do not have conclusive evidence that they do harm, there are components about which there are question marks; for example it could be certain combinations of chemicals. If you are thinking about how a baby might be exposed, that's one way, and it's something positive you can do. It might have no consequence, but it's something positive women can do for their baby."

It's pretty amazing that the more things are studied, the more brilliant the apparent protections Mother Nature seems to have built-in to protect fetuses during pregnancy appear. Coffee, alcohol, and perfume are three common nausea triggers among newly pregnant woman.

Did you have a nausea trigger? In the name of research, let us know in the comments!