Dear babycenter, Three months, week 4

Dear babycenter,

Thank you for your email this week.  "Your baby loves to reach out and touch anyone and anything she can get her hands on."  Yep, that's true.  But your recommendation that I should "outfit her crib and play yard with fascinating toys" fell a little short.  My baby doesn't have a crib or a play yard.  Maybe instead of outfitting his crib and play yard, you could recommend some toys we can play with interactively.  My guy loves his Lamaze giraffe, for example.  It squeaks, it rattles, it crinkles, and it's bright and shiny and easy to chew on.  We spend lots of time sitting together talking about the giraffe and playing.  I think that's better quality learning time than "spending time in an activity saucer or under a floor gym," your other recommendation for this week.  Seriously.  Maybe you should recommend I play with my child, not provide things for him to play with. 

And the picture of the baby with a cell phone up to his ear?  SERIOUSLY?  Your "telephone talk" game is crap.  There, I said it.  It's CRAP.  How is me holding phones up to our ears and pretending to have a telephone conversation any more beneficial than simply having a conversation with my baby???  I thought you were going to suggest I put my baby on the phone to talk to his grandmother or aunt (which is silly, but I can see some merit there), but your actual suggestion was so much sillier.  

And I know we've said it before, but it bears repeating.  Again and again, until the problem is fixed.  I clicked on your quick link "When can I introduce solid foods?" not because I'm thinking about doing so, but because I wanted to see what babycenter had to say on the topic.  Why, oh why, babycenter, are you still spewing this 'solids introduction between 4 and 6 months' nonsense??  Thank you for following that up by saying that the AAP recommends exclusively breastfeeding until six months, but maybe you should switch those two paragraphs?  Maybe you should address the fact that delayed introduction of solids decreases food allergies.  

You do get some points from me, babycenter, for correctly defining Ferber's method of 'sleep training.'  I appreciate that you give equal credence to the two major methods, Ferber and Sears, as well as addressing the middle ground, and acknowledging that what works for one child may not be the best for another.  Good job, babycenter.  At least on the sleep front.