Editor's Note: Mom is tired and she is going on a much-needed vacation. While she's at the spa, Moms Talk is going on hiatus too. Moms Talk is a Patch forum in which we ask members of Patch communities across the Lehigh Valley to weigh in on an issue that affects parents, children of all ages, and, quite frankly, people in general. You don’t have to be a Mom, or even a parent, to have an opinion on our Moms Talk topic of the week. And, we, in fact, encourage people of all genders, ages and life situations to share their thoughts on our weekly Moms Talk question in the comments section below …

Moms Talk is a Patch forum in which we ask members of Patch communities across the Lehigh Valley to weigh in on an issue that affects parents, children of all ages, and, quite frankly, people in general. You don’t have to be a Mom, or even a parent, to have an opinion on our Moms Talk topic of the week. And, we, in fact, encourage people of all genders, ages and life situations to share their thoughts on our weekly Moms Talk question in the comments section below so that our “discussion” can become as broad and, hopefully, as useful as possible. In this week’s Moms Talk, we’re exploring the …

How do you and your baby get a good night’s sleep?When you hear your baby cry, letting him or her cry it out is one of the hardest things to do. Your instincts tell you to go and soothe your baby.A study out of Temple University says that parents should let their baby cry it out. Psychology Professor Marsha Weinraub says in an article on the Temple website that babies need to learn to self-soothe, which they don’t learn if a parent is doing the soothing for them, such as nursing the baby back to sleep. "The best advice is to put infants to bed at a regular time every night, allow them to fall…

Moms Talk is a Patch forum in which we ask members of Patch communities across the Lehigh Valley to weigh in on an issue that affects parents, children of all ages, and, quite frankly, people in general. You don’t have to be a Mom, or even a parent, to have an opinion on our Moms Talk topic of the week. And, we, in fact, encourage people of all genders, ages and life situations to share their thoughts on our weekly Moms Talk question in the comments section below so that our “discussion” can become as broad and, hopefully, as useful as possible. In this week’s Moms Talk, we’re exploring tips …

Moms Talk is a Patch forum in which we ask members of Patch communities across the Lehigh Valley to weigh in on an issue that affects parents, children of all ages, and, quite frankly, people in general. You don’t have to be a Mom, or even a parent, to have an opinion on our Moms Talk topic of the week. And, we, in fact, encourage people of all genders, ages and life situations to share their thoughts on our weekly Moms Talk question in the comments section below so that our “discussion” can become as broad and, hopefully, as useful as possible. In this week’s Moms Talk, we’re exploring Teen …

Moms Talk is a weekly feature on all Lehigh Valley Patches in which local parents, caregivers and other members of the community are invited to share opinions and advice on parenting topics. This week’s Moms Talk question relates to a Patch blog post called “Please Don’t Help My Kids.” Originally posted on a California Patch site in September, the blog has taken on a life of its own in recent weeks, thanks to the power of social media. At the time of this writing it had 124,000 Facebook recommendations and 833 people had tweeted the blog. Written by Kate Bassford Baker as an open letter to …

Moms Talk is a weekly feature on all Lehigh Valley Patches in which local parents, caregivers and other members of the community are invited to share opinions and advice on parenting topics. This week’s Moms Talk question relates to distinguishing between child’s play and real danger. Three 6-year-olds have been suspended this month in two separate incidents in Maryland for playing with pretend guns “made” from their thumbs and index fingers. The parents are upset. In one case, a school psychologist says there was no malicious intent. Other mental health professionals say that at the age of …

Moms Talk is a weekly feature on all Lehigh Valley Patches in which local parents, caregivers and other members of the community are invited to share opinions and advice on parenting topics. This week’s Moms Talk question relates to depression and parenthood. Depression runs in families. That’s a scientific fact. Women are more likely to experience depression than men. Another scientific fact. That’s why comic Sarah Silverman says she has made a conscious choice not to have kids – she doesn’t want to pass on her issues to her children.  And that brings us to this week’s Moms Talk question: …

Moms Talk is a weekly feature on all Lehigh Valley Patches in which local parents, caregivers and other members of the community are invited to share opinions and advice on parenting topics. This week’s Moms Talk question relates to drinking alcohol while pregnant. Drinking alcohol while pregnant has pretty much always been taboo. Yet, a series of studies conducted in Denmark earlier this year may be indicating that a little sip of wine - or perhaps even a whole glass - during pregnancy could be OK. Howevery, the results of the studies are far from definitive and surely don't help mothers-to-…

As 2012 comes to a close and we look forward to 2013, people around the world are making lists of New Year's Resolutions about everything from weight loss to retirement investing. In this week’s Moms Talk we are asking local parents, caregivers and other members of the community to tell us about their Parenting New Year's Resolutions. Do you vow not to “yell” as often? Hope to cook more balanced meals? Aspire to schedule a monthly family outing? Whatever your goals as a parent for 2013, we’d like you to share them with us. Our Moms Council members include: Lisa Amey of Upper Milford Township …

The debate over guns in schools heated up Friday as the NRA issued a sweeping call for armed guards nationwide and a group called MomsRising responded with harsh criticism of the powerful gun lobby. We'd like to hear the parents of our communities weigh in. Do you think your child's school should have armed protectors or does that idea worry you? There are strong opinions on both sides of this timely controversy. Post your comments below and you can also vote in our poll on an assault weapons ban. Our Moms Council members include: Lisa Amey of Upper Milford Township is a stay-at-home mom to …

Editor's Note: Here are tips on how to talk to your kids about school violence. Moms Talk is a weekly feature on all Lehigh Valley Patches in which local parents, caregivers and other members of the community are invited to share opinions and advice on parenting topics. In the wake of a the tragic elementary school shooting on Friday in Newtown, Conn., this week’s Moms Talk question relates to a topic on every parent’s mind right now – the Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting. After all, countless lives will never be the same after this. Even here, in the Lehigh Valley, our lives as parents …

Moms Talk is a weekly feature on all Lehigh Valley Patches in which local parents, caregivers and other members of the community are invited to share opinions and advice on parenting topics. This week’s Moms Talk question relates to crowdsourcing baby names. Let’s face it selecting a name for your child is tough -- at least it was for me and my husband. Take the whole part of the two of us coming to consensus out of the equation. That’s a whole other matter. What I have never understood are those parents-to-be who “test” potential names out on other people. From what I have seen, pretty much …

Moms Talk is a weekly feature on all Lehigh Valley Patches in which local parents, caregivers and other members of the community are invited to share opinions and advice on parenting topics. This week’s Moms Talk question relates to the “right” age to begin babysitting. This spring, a Connecticut mom was arrested and accused of endangering her four children when she left them under the supervision of a 13-year-old babysitter. The 13-year-old happened to be her oldest child and that child was supposed to watch three younger siblings – ages 10, 4 and 18 months – for one hour while the mother …

Moms Talk is a weekly feature on all Lehigh Valley Patches in which local parents, caregivers and other members of the community are invited to share opinions and advice on parenting topics. This week’s Moms Talk relates to leaving kids alone in the car. Your two-year-old just fell off to sleep in the car seat and you just need to run into the school to pick up your other child. It won’t take more than five minutes, tops. All you need is to grab a gallon of milk from the mini-mart. It will take longer to get the boys to unbuckle and put their coats on than it will for you to get in and out …

Moms Talk is a weekly feature on all Lehigh Valley Patches in which local parents, caregivers and other members of the community are invited to share opinions and advice on parenting topics. This week’s Moms Talk relates to Black Friday shopping. True confession time:  I have NEVER been Black Friday shopping. I have read about it. I have seen stories about it on T.V. There’s the annual interview with the first person standing in one of the long lines that wrap around stores like Toys ‘R Us and Best Buy in the hours before dawn. I know the sales are good. I don’t love shopping as a general …

Moms Talk is a weekly feature on all Lehigh Valley Patches in which local parents, caregivers and other members of the community are invited to share opinions and advice on parenting topics. This week’s Moms Talk relates to selecting a pediatrician. Every parent eventually faces the tough job of selecting a physician for their child – whether prompted by a move to a new area or a change in insurance carriers. There are lots of factors to be weighed during this decision-making process, to be sure. One of our Moms Council members recently struggled with this challenge and ultimately had to …

Moms Talk is a weekly feature on all Lehigh Valley Patches in which local parents, caregivers and other members of the community are invited to share opinions and advice on parenting topics. This week’s Moms Talk relates to the lessons learned from Hurricane Sandy. Whether it’s the Boy Scout motto of “be prepared,” or the importance of neighbors helping neighbors, the destructive force of Super Storm Sandy holds many lessons for us all. Which brings us to this week’s Moms Talk question: Is there one thing you hope your children will take away from their experiences with Hurricane Sandy? Our …

  Moms Talk is a weekly feature on all Lehigh Valley Patches in which local parents, caregivers and other members of the community are invited to share opinions and advice on parenting topics. This week’s Moms Talk relates to those priceless gems that come out of the mouths of babes. “Why is she so fat?” “What’s that thing on his nose?”“Well, her belly is so big, I poked it to see if it is real.” Kids say and do the darndest things. Whether you believe that misery loves company or that laughter is the best medicine, in this week’s Moms Talk, we’re asking you to share: What’s the craziest, …

Moms Talk is a weekly feature on all Lehigh Valley Patches in which local parents, caregivers and other members of the community are invited to share opinions and advice on parenting topics. This week’s Moms Talk relates to trick-or-treating solo. Our Moms Talk topic this week needs little explanation. It’s a scary world out there and it doesn’t get any less scary whether your young one is dressed as a fairy princess or wearing a zombie costume. The candy-collecting and general horsing around of Halloween night sounds like and should be good clean fun, but…and it’s that “but” that gives every…