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Give baby-wearing a try By Armin Brott , McClatchy-Tribune News Service Sunday, June 1, 2008 DEAR MR. DAD: My 2-month-old wants to be held all day long.Everyone I know is telling me that she'll grow up spoiled if Idon't put her down. Am I spoiling her? Answer: It's absolutely impossible to spoil a baby that young. Studieshave shown that children who are carried more, actually cry andfuss 40-50 percent less than those who aren't carried as much.Every time you pick your baby up, you're telling her that you'rethere for her. That bit of knowledge will come in handy a fewmonths from now, when she starts crawling. Knowing you're there tocome back to will make it easier for her to do the kind ofexploring and mischief-making that will eventually becomeindependence. That said, carrying your baby around all the time is going to behard on your arms and your back. Fortunately, there is analternative: give babywearing a try. Baby carriers, from slings tofrontpacks, are a great way for parents to snuggle with their newbabies. The most popular frontpack is the Baby Bjorn, which allows yourbaby to face in or out and is adjustable so both parents can useit. But a lot of new parents find that their babies quickly outgrowthe packs - even before they reach the recommended weight limit -and continuing to use them is uncomfortable for baby and wearer. A more comfortable alternative is an Ergo Baby Carrier or the BecoButterfly. Both use straps, buckles and a defined baby carrier seat for thebaby. The main difference between these and the Baby Bjorn is thecomfort level for the wearer. These carriers have a padded waistbelt to distribute the bulk of the child's weight to your hips -kind of like a well-made camping backpack does. Plus, thesecarriers can handle babies up to 40 or 45 pounds, so there's a goodchance that your child will outgrow the desire to be carried longbefore she outgrows the pack. Another option is a sling. A pouch sling is a tube of fabric thatyou fold in half, slip over your shoulder like a Miss America sash,putting the baby into the pocket made by the two layers. The mostchallenging aspect of a pouch is the fit. If you and your spousearen't pretty much the same size, you won't be able to share thesling and one of you will be miserable wearing it. Brands likeHotslings and Peanut Shell are widely available in stores andonline. Ring slings (which have rings that you thread the fabricthrough before putting it over your shoulder) are similar to theirtubular cousins, but it's easier for two different-sized people toshare. There are literally hundreds of options, so whatever your size andpreference, there's something out there for you. And they're widelyavailable online at places such as www.attachedtobaby.com, or instores.

ag: Bubble Sheet A quiet campaign is afoot in Texas schools to scrap a key part of the state accountability test: the pressure.Educators

say some students have become so nervous at test time that they vomit before the exam, cry at their desks or become so unglued that their

parents turn to professional help.The pressure doesn't bode well for their psyches or their scores: Stressed-out students who freeze at the

sight of a bubble sheet can sink scores as much as children who don't know the answers, school officials say.Districts that are on the hook

for those scores are trying everything from the sublime to the scientific: In Coppell, an elementary principal plays soothing music – before

this week's tests, it was "Don't Worry, Be Happy" – over the loudspeaker.Irving officials created a game show to help high school students

relax. This spring, Plano officials will study how the jitters affect test scores.Kim Symes, an Allen mother of two, knows firsthand. She

said her daughter, Sydney, is a straight-A student but froze on the fourth-grade writing test last year."She just went blank," Mrs. Symes

said. "She said, 'Mom, I could not think of a descriptive word.' I think she was so stressed out about it that she couldn't focus."Test

anxiety strikes the best and worst of students from all backgrounds, researchers say. About 20 percent of students in upper elementary grades

are hamstrung by testing stress, according to University of North Carolina researcher Gregory Cizek.Part of the Texas Assessment of Knowledge

and Skills pressure is by design. Third-, fifth- and eighth-graders who fail exams aren't allowed to move to the next grade. High school

seniors who fail the exit test can't graduate."Once a student can understand the ramifications of passing or failing, that's the point where

the anxiety kicks in," said Charles Crews, a licensed counselor who studies testing stress at Texas Tech University. "If you can't go to

fourth grade because you can't pass the third-grade TAKS, the kids know that. It's at that point that I think it becomes pretty bad for

them." Dr. Crews said teachers and principals don't help matters when their own stress trickles down to kids. In schools with consistently

low test scores, failure can cost educators their jobs."I've observed teachers where they have a cup of coffee and they're just shaking

because some of them know it's that intense," he said.The testing environment can make it worse. Students can't talk to each other or carry

backpacks. Their teachers pace up and down the rows of desks."It's the quietest day you'll ever hear in school," said Erin Wesley, 13, an

eighth-grader at Ereckson Middle School in Allen. "There's ways they can make it less stressful, but there's no way they can make it no

stress."Mark Lukert, principal of Lakeside Elementary School in Coppell, does his best to settle nerves. He held a school assembly last

Friday specifically to tell children to relax."We don't want to over-emphasize the test," he said. "That one-day snapshot definitely does not

judge what kind of year that kid had."
2008-05-12 12:50:40