Moderation is my motto. And most of the time it works for me when it comes to food, exercise and maintaining weight. But since I stopped nursing my daughter a year ago, six pounds have slowly crept onto my frame and they seem to be sticking more than in the past. I guess it's because I'm now 36. And I'm a mother. And I have an evening glass of wine to wind down more often than when I was childless.

So, am I stuck with these six pounds? Probably not. If I want to do the extra work it will apparently take to get them off. Clearly, I can't cut a few calories here and there for a couple weeks and do my usual two or three workouts a week plus walking, mowing the yard, etc. and watch the scale go down. It's going to take more. Ugh.

So, my goal after I get back from celebrating my 10th wedding anniversary with a weekend in NYC and consuming Tapas and Italian aplenty is to do just that. Wish me luck.

Breastfeeding isn't always easy in the beginning. Poor latch can lead to sore and cracked nipples, which -- until they heal -- can make nursing even more difficult. Mom's may be tempted to reach for a soothing cream to ease their pain, but the FDA recently put out a warning that babies can be harmed by the ingredients in Mommy's Bliss Nipple Cream.

The chemicals in the cream, which infants can be exposed to during breastfeeding, can cause respiratory distress, vomiting, or diarrhea. Though the company no longer sells the cream, moms may still have it in their homes. The FDA recommends throwing it away. In addition, if your baby has experienced (or is experiencing) any difficulty from this cream, contact your doctor right away and call FDA's MedWatch at 1-800-332-1088.

I don't know about you, but I get really tired of hearing these kinds of stories, both as a mother and as a consumer. It's commonsense that a cream used for breastfeeding shouldn't contain harmful chemicals. In fact, the cream itself is advertised as "all natural" and there's no mention of these two ingredients on the company's website. The company claims there have been no reports of injury; hopefully, that's the truth.

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Former Crossing Jordan and Law & Order actress Jill Hennessy just debuted her body after giving birth to her second child in November. And well, it looks pretty good.

Hennessy credits nursing for losing her pregnancy weight: "When you are nursing a small infant it literally sucks everything out of you," the 39-year-old said at her first post-baby public appearance.

Yoga helps too, admited Hennessy who maintains that getting back into shape is not all fun and games.

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Even though not everyone likes canine companionship, studies have shown that dogs and elderly do very well together. In the past when dogs have visited nursing homes, those elderly individuals have reported feeling less lonely because of it. However, a new study out of Saint Louis University shows that it may not be only the flesh and blood variety, but robotic mutts help as well!

These robot dogs provide the same level of companionship as the real deal according to the results. Of course, while there are things only real dogs can provide (like slobbery dog-kisses), the nursing home residents answered questions which revealed both groups feeling decreased loneliness.

In case you were wondering, the dogs which are made by Sony are called AIBO. If purchased off eBay, the price can run into the hundreds (between $200 and $800, maybe more). Even though the robo dogs may seem pricey, they feature artificial intelligence and don't come with the downers of a real pet (feeding, walking, etc.). They could be the perfect gift for grandparents or other elderly folks you may know!

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Health care for the elderly takes a huge amount of money. In fact, taxpayers subsidize over $70 billion a year on nursing homes alone. That's the reasoning behind why the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services have released a list of the worst nursing homes in our country.

Since there are 16,400 of these facilities in the nation, people have been wanting full disclosure of this information. Interested in hearing which locations were the worst offenders? Check out the list here. They don't enumerate the facilities in order, but they do label which ones were newly added, and which locations had improved. There are over 50 listed as high-risk facilities and did not show much improvement.

While it is up to the states to determine which nursing homes get qualified for this list, they follow a few guidelines to assess the quality. Those places labeled as needing improvement did things like used an unnecessary amount of medication. But this list alone is not a reason to go pull your grandmother out of her bed if you have someone in a nursing home. It might warrant a double-check, but providing health care is difficult and the CMS administrator says this is one step they are taking to stimulate improvement across the others.

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When I became a mom for the first time, my own mother remarked on how much parenting techniques had changed since she was a young mother. I told her frequently, "Just you wait." I know how quickly health advice can change, and I'm sure that by the time my own girls are mothers they'll roll their eyes at our co-sleeping, sling-wearing ways.

One piece of advice that isn't likely to change is that breast milk is the best first food for babies. But a piece of breastfeeding advice that's been commonly dispensed for the last several years is being discarded due to lack of evidence.

Expectant and breastfeeding mothers have often been told to avoid eating foods like milk and peanuts to prevent allergies in their unborn or nursing children, but the American Academy of Pediatrics is now saying that there's no evidence that avoiding allergenic foods will reduce the risk of your child developing allergies.

Good news, especially if you're in your third trimester and craving a milkshake!

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Even as you, a new mother, revel in the joy of your newborn, you might be watching with the despair the southern migration of your breasts. It's no secret that motherhood changes your body in some irreversible ways. But when University of Kentucky plastic surgeons interviewed over 100 women in their late 30s who were interested in breast augmentation surgery, they found that breastfeeding wasn't a major factor in changing breast shape.

Instead, researchers say that smoking, age, a larger pre-pregnancy cup size, and the number of pregnancies had more to do with loss of elasticity than did breastfeeding. So you can still blame any sagging on your babies, just don't let it stop you from breastfeeding them.

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When that neighborhood nursing home or assisted living center is bought out by a private company (usually as an investment) a survey shows that the quality of care often deteriorates soon afterward.

Why is this? Do cost-cutting measures and other measures not meant to provide the best care for patients (customers) thrown out the window in the name of profits? That's just a guess, but the term "for profit" generally describes the purchasers of such locations. Profit is the motive -- but what else is?

In the survey, expenses and staff were cut at about 60 percent when it came to nursing homes bought by private equity. There is your answer, folks.

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As Bethany reported yesterday, a Harvard law student has found it hard to try and breast feed her four month-old due to not being allowed extra breaks during tests to do just that.

A young mother with hopes of a career in medical research and with admission to one of the nation's most prestigious medical schools sounds like an oxymoron. But it's not -- and Sophie Currier has my vote for a few extra breaks to properly feed her infant.

Breast milk is really the only food needed by infants, although the process is much easier using packaged formulas and other non-mother products. The National Board of Medical Examiners stated that they would be altering the performance of the exam Currier is set to take if it allowed time for breast pumping and feeding of her daughter.

Apparently, no rules can ever be bent, regardless of situation. Some argue that the rules need to be the same for everyone, no matter the circumstances. Otherwise, abuse of the rules becomes rampant. But, is a mother needing to feed her baby an abuse of any rule? Hardly.

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You've probably seen mothers who make breastfeeding look easy. They do it in line at the grocery store, baby tucked into their elbow, and deftly handling their older kids. They do it so well, you hardly even notice that they're nursing a baby.

And then there are the rest of us. Statistics show that 74% of new mothers try breastfeeding, but three months later nearly half of those women have quit. By the time babies reach six months, only 11% of mothers are still nursing. Why? Because it can be hard, and mistakes are commonplace that can make it even more difficult or even painful. To help new moms get past those first few hard weeks, a mom who's been there has compiled five of the most common breastfeeding mistakes and how to remedy them. Addressing these issues may not make you more graceful at breastfeeding, but it will ensure a happy nursing relationship between you and your baby!

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The more nurses there are in each hospital, the fewer patient infections will occur, according to a new piece of research. The sheer amount of infection-reducing procedures used by nurses to prevent infections makes this research's conclusion pretty easy to agree with.

Infections caused by ventilator-associated pneumonia (VAP) are serious and are easily caused by bacteria entering the patients lung when a ventilator is used. The more a nurse can attend to the specific needs of each individual patient, the less of an occurrence of these situations is a result.

Do hospitals measure the types of patient needs (statistically speaking) against the budgetary constraints of nursing staff along with many other variables to find the best mix of efficiency and top-flight patient care? I'd hope so, and any good hospital administration professional should also.

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Nurses and doctors sometimes get to take abuse on the job in an undeserved fashion. It's true that both positions in the medical industry have to deal with unhappy and sick patients (not to mention, emotionally charged). But where does the line need to be drawn at outright abuse.

In fact, should nurses be able to file charges against patients for attacks? After reading some of the stories below, I would think so. Threats and physical attacks are not pleasant for any receiver.

A recent survey stated that 86% of nurses reported being a victim of workplace violence during the prior three years. That right there is astounding. Have hospitals become violent houses of frustration like road rage drivers on the highway? Just like teachers who have to play the role of psychologist to kids with severe emotional problems caused by unbalanced families, nurses must be dealing with similar issues. And, it's no fringe benefit at all.

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There are so many diseases out there that are really terrifying to both the sufferer and their family. I think that one of the worst is Alzheimer's, a type of dementia whose symptoms progress from minor forgetfulness, to complete deterioration of mind and body functions until the patient is no longer able to do anything on their own.

While there are treatments for the disease, there is no cure. For the families of patients, perhaps the worst part of the illness is watching helplessly as their loved one slowly but steadily forgets them. These family members may be interested to read the results of this study, which shows that for many patients, being placed in a nursing home increased the amount of cognitive decline experienced.

However, the study also found that for those with Alzheimer's who were able to continue to live in a community with regular day care visits to aid with daily tasks, the results were different. While all patients showed an overall decline in cognitive function, those who began the study with day care visits, showed a much smaller decline once entering a nursing home than those who started the study in one. Unfortunately, for various reasons, many families have limited options when caring for relatives with Alzheimer's, but for those who can utilize day care, perhaps the study will give them some hope and a little bit more time with their loved one.

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Nursing shortages in Britain may be causing patient nutrition to take a nosedive. If there are not enough nurses and the existing staff becomes overwhelmed due to lack of time, patients who need to supervised while they eat aren't properly looked after.

Patients about to undergo treatment or who have undergone certain treatments (chemicals, surgery, etc.) generally have a dietary plan they must follow to ensure adequate preparation or recovery is performed.

Could this happen to the U.S., where the explosion of baby boomer hospital visits is sure to happen in the next 10-15 years? Health care seems the place to be for future growth.

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Just wanted to spout out about something that really irritates me. I know a woman I'll call Nancy who was totally adamant that her baby only be nursed for the first year of his life. Formula was too "dangerous and unhealthy" for her. Nursing 100% is completely great with me, and just FYI ... I nursed both of my children for about a year as well. Mine were given formula here and there though and I truly felt it made no difference. To each her own, right?

Nancy nursing her son was terrific, but Nancy was also a big idiot about others who gave formula. A BIG IDIOT. Constantly putting down the formula, and baby food, and everything else. What drives me most crazy about this buffoon is that as soon as her boy turned one year old I caught her several times with a stroller tray full of Burger King cheeseburger bits and french fries!

Nursing is phenomenal. But don't go from strictly giving your kid the BEST food to the WORST food. What the heck is that all about? That first year of a child's life is crucial to development and counts so much. Nursing is not sustainable forever. What matters most are the habits you give them to grow on. Sustainable and realistic habits that will set them on course for a healthy childhood, followed by a long and vibrant life. Parents.Com has some great advice on pursuing this option.

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