This is a selection of recent popular blogs from Mum Mum, where parents can find information on everything to do with babies and parenting with an emphasis on health and nutrition. Universite de Montreal Study Finds Parents Behavior Can Ease or Perpetuate Babys Sleep Problems Later in Life Getting your baby settled into a nighttime routine is an important aspect of baby development. Yet thinking about how this routine will affect your baby later in life may be the furthest thing from your mind. As Mum Mums explains, nighttime actions taken now may either prevent or promote sleep disturbances well into preschool age. A new study following 987 Quebec children from 5 months to 6 years of age revealed that how parents cope with a sleepless baby can affect a childs bedtime habits. Parents checked in with researchers over the course of the 6 year study through questionnaires detailing their babys sleeping habits. Parents also reported their own behaviors on how they got their child to sleep including lullabies, simply putting them in bed to fall asleep, or rocking the baby to sleep. The study found that babies who had sleep problems were more likely to have sleep disturbances later in life. More importantly, parental responses played a key role in babys sleeping habits. Giving a child food or drink after 29 months of age was detrimental to a childs ability to fall back asleep. The best method, researchers note, is to put the child to bed awake allowing them to self-soothe and fall asleep on their own. Kansas City University Finds Exercise during Pregnancy Leads to a Healthier Heart in Moms and Babies to Be Research has found that exercise during pregnancy is beneficial, but previous studies lacked specific details. Besides feeling better and preparing the body for childbirth, the post explains that exercise during pregnancy can lead to a healthy heart for both mom and baby. By increasing heart rate variability and reducing fetal heart rate, Kansas City University researchers theorized that maternal exercise is beneficial for the fetus as well. Similar to an electrocardiogram, rearchers employed the use of magnetocardiography (MCG) as a non-invasive way to measure electrical currents from fetal cardiovascular and nervous systems. The results revealed just what researchers had speculated- exercise during pregnancy lowered fetal heart rates regardless of gestational age. Rutgers University Finds Early Detection of Impairments in Language Development Means Speech Problems Could be corrected before a Child Learns to Talk Approximately 5-10% of children beginning school have some degree of language-learning impairments (LLI), which can lead to difficulties in comprehension, reading and speaking as well as possible dyslexia later in life. The post explains exciting new research may make it possible to both identify and prevent language difficulties before a baby utters her first words. April Benasich, Professor of Neuroscience at Rutgers University and her Infant Studies laboratory have been the first to discover that a babys efficacy at processing rapidly occurring sounds can predict future language ability. It may become possible to correct language impairments by understanding how infants brains recognize sounds. During the first few months of life, babies brains are formulating an acoustic map of sounds that will later assist in acquiring language, yet for some infants this process underdeveloped. Results of the study are preliminary findings and the research team will continue working to develop training techniques, correct auditory processing impairments, and find the precise moment in time when a babys brain is most pliable. Benasich and her team can now predict with 90% accuracy the language capabilities of a baby by their response to sound. About The Mum-Mum Blog The Baby Mum Mum Blog discusses everything to do with Babies and Parenting with a focus on Health, Nutrition and Infant Development. Baby Mum Mum is a healthy, easy to digest baby rice snack that is enjoyed by babies and moms around the world for its portability, gluten free ingredients and great taste. Baby Mum Mum is a division of Want Want Holdings, a manufacturer of healthy snack foods, beverage and related products.