Top News Headlines for Moms

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Study: Children reaching age 3 before speaking a word
The average age for babies to speak is 10 or 11 months. However, a new study found that a significant minority of children said nothing until age 3.
The British survey also reported that boys are twice as likely to sruggle to speak as girls.

Vaccine refusal raises chickenpox risk
Since a vaccine to prevent chickenpox became available 15 years ago, chickenpox cases have dropped almost 80 percent. However, many parents reject the vaccine because they are worried about its safety.
New research found that children were nine times more likely to get chickenpox when their parents refused to get them vaccinated.

Later-to-bed-teens risk risk sadness, suicidal thoughts
Teens whose parents enforced bedtimes of 10 p.m. or earlier were less likely to be depressed or have suicidal thoughts than teens whose parents let them stay up past midnight, according to a new study.
Researchers looked at a nationwide group of more than 15,000 seventh through 12th grades, surveyed in 1994-1996.
Teens who got five hours of sleep a night (or less) were 71 percent more likely to be depressed than their peers. They were also 48 percent more likely to have suicidal thoughts.

More toddlers, young children given antipsychotics
The rate of children age 2 to 5 who are given antipsychotic medications has doubled in recent years, new research shows.
In 1991-2001, about one in 1300 children were being treated with antipsychotics. By 2007, that number had risen to one in 630.
The most common drug given to young children was risperidone, which is approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to treat unstable mood or irritability in autistic children age 5 or older.