For the first time since at least the 1970s, injury rates for little kids are on the rise. Could it have something to do with the boom in smartphone sales, and the resulting wave of parental distraction? Hold on... need to check my Facebook feed.

The Wall Street Journal recently reported about "The Perils of Texting While Parenting," noting: "Nonfatal injuries to children under age five rose 12% between 2007 and 2010, after falling for much of the prior decade, according to the most recent data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, based on emergency-room records. The number of Americans 13 and older who own a smartphone such as an iPhone or BlackBerry has grown from almost 9 million in mid-2007, when Apple introduced its device, to 63 million at the end of 2010 and 114 million in July 2012, according to research firm comScore."

We've all seen (or been?) the parents, nannies, and babysitters with their eyes glued to their smartphone for anywhere from seconds to minutes while a child does their own thing -- on a playground, a city sidewalk, or in a busy public place. And we all know how long it takes for a child to get hurt or lost (split seconds). Most of us are smart enough to realize that's a dangerous combination. But... hold on. I just got a text.

My students have such a case of spring fever these days. My 9:00 class was almost giddy with excitement when I reminded them that we are two weeks away from midterm exams, and three weeks away from Spring Break. Maybe on some college campuses across the country Spring Break means crazy road trips to sunny, beachy places, but my students are endearingly so happy at the thought of just going home--home to their families, to the people they love, home to be a kid again.

When I was out walking with my neighbor last weekend we got to talking, as we sometimes do, about those early days of parenting. She has two kids, ages 3 and 4 1/2 (yikes) so one could argue that she’s still in those early days of parenting.

The Pampers Dry Max rash debate is getting ugly. Some parents have claimed over the past month that Pampers Swaddlers and Cruisers with the new Dry Max feature have caused serious diaper rash and "chemical burns" in babies.

Well, it's no news that breastfeeding saves money. You have your newborns meals on you at all times, free of cost. According to a new study in the journal Pediatrics nearly 1,000 lives and billions of dollars would be saved each year if new moms would breastfeed their babies for the first six months.

According to a 2009 breastfeeding report from the CDC, out of 74 percent of women who start to breastfeed, only 33 percent continue for three months, and only 14 percent go a full six months.