My Baby Blog - my.babyblog.com

Baby Blog is site dedicated to providing you with articles and information geared to every stage of your baby’s development. Pregnancy, Newborn, Baby and Toddler.

Research Overturns Theory On How Children Learn Their First Words

New research by a team of University of Pennsylvania psychologists is helping to overturn the dominant theory of how children learn their first words, suggesting that it occurs more in moments of insight than gradually through repeated exposure.

The research was conducted by postdoctoral fellow Tamara Nicol Medina and professors John Trueswell, and Lila Gleitman, all of the Department of Psychology in Penn's School of Arts and Sciences and the University's Institute for Research in Cognitive Science, and Jesse Snedeker, a professor at Harvard University.

Girl Who Sneezes 12,000 Times A Day Has Doctors Baffled

The non-stop sneezing began two weeks ago when Lauren from Virginia in the U.S. caught a cold.

Doctors believe it may be that she is suffering from an 'irretractable psychogenic disorder' that could be triggered by stress. Her mother added: 'There's less than 40 cases ever documented ever in the entire world. Nobody really knows how to treat it, what's going to work, and even in the cases where it might have worked or turned the sneezing off for awhile, a lot of times it comes back again and then you're right back to where you started.'

» Daily Mail UK [ Contribute: submit link / submit article ]

San Jose Mom And Cranky 2-year-old Kicked Off Southwest Flight

Like most other airlines, Southwest gives its flight attendants discretion in determining what constitutes a "safe and comfortable" flight, McInnis said. In addition, they give attendants leeway in figuring out how to "resolve" situations.

Other airlines have similar rules. United Airlines spokeswoman Sarah Massier said the airline has three pages of what they call "right-of-refusal" reasons. "But no," she said. "We don't have a policy on crying children." Yes, she's mortified, but Root admits to learning a lesson herself. When she rebooked her flight home Tuesday, she chose a 5 p.m. departure and fed Adam well before takeoff. How did he do?

» Oakland Tribune [ Contribute: submit link / submit article ]

Intel Survey Reveals Majority of Parents of Teens Find it Difficult to Help their Kids with Math and Science

• The News: A recent Intel Corporation survey found that parents feel more equipped to talk about drug abuse than math and science with their children.
  
• The Context: Despite a perceived importance of math and science for success, and an overwhelming willingness to be involved, the survey results reveal that parents, particularly those of teenagers, often find themselves with little more understanding of these subjects than their children and without the necessary resources to bridge this gap.
  
• Why It Matters: A strong background in math and science is increasingly critical for American prosperity, security, health, environment and quality of life. And yet, according to the National Assessment of Educational Progress report released last week, less than 40 percent of fourth- and eighth-graders are proficient in math. Intel believes that to better engage America's future innovators, we need to understand and appreciate the role that parents play in education and help them inspire their children to take an interest in math and science.
  

When it comes to talking with their kids, parents say the topics of math and science are harder to discuss than drug abuse, according to a survey released by Intel Corporation today.

The survey found that although more than 50 percent of parents rank math or science as the subjects most critical to their children's future success, they report discomfort talking to their children about these subjects. In fact, nearly a quarter of parents who admit to being less involved in their child's math and science education than they would like say that a key barrier is their own lack of understanding of these subjects.

» Intel [ Contribute: submit link / submit article ]

Should Children Start School at Age 6 Instead of 5?

In the United Kingdom, at least, it's looking like the answer to that question is "yes." This is but one of several controversial findings to emerge from the most comprehensive review of the British educational system in 40 years.

The Cambridge Primary Review -- released last Friday -- is the biggest independent inquiry into primary education in this country in more than four decades. It is based on 28 research surveys, 1,052 written submissions and 250 focus groups, all led by a prominent Cambridge University-based research team.

» Politics Daily [ Contribute: submit link / submit article ]

Guilt and Atonement on the Path to Adulthood

Here is an experiment you don’t want to try at home.

Show a toy — a doll, say, or a model boat — to a toddler and explain that it it’s something special you’ve had since you were little. Ask the child to be “very careful” with it. Hand over the toy, which appears to be in fine condition, except that you’ve secretly rigged it to break spectacularly as soon as the child handles it.

» NY Times [ Contribute: submit link / submit article ]

On Overscheduled Children

Are our children too busy? Overscheduled? Does my daughter really need to take gymnastics and ballet classes once a week, be in a Daisy troop that meets for an hour after school every other Wednesday, play soccer (practice is on Sunday afternoons and games are on Thursday evenings), and play kickball (games are on Saturday mornings and practice is on Sunday)? My four-year-old son has a much lighter schedule: gymnastics once a week and soccer (games are Wednesday evenings and practice is on Sunday). Obviously, at this young age, my children don’t need to do anything after school. But they certainly seem to enjoy it all. I’ve read more articles on overscheduled children than I care to count, and I like to think that I’m very in tune with trying to balance school, free play, and scheduled activities. But am I?

» Texas Monthly [ Contribute: submit link / submit article ]

Book: The Introduction to The Child

Bringing together contemporary research on children and childhood from pediatrics, child psychology, childhood studies, education, sociology, history, law, anthropology, and other related areas, The Child contains more than 500 articles—all written by experts in their fields from around the world and overseen by a panel of distinguished editors led by anthropologist Richard A. Shweder. Each entry provides a concise and accessible synopsis of the topic at hand. For example, the entry “Adoption” begins with a general definition, followed by a detailed look at adoption in different cultures and at different times, a summary of the associated mental and developmental issues that can arise, and an overview of applicable legal and public policy.

» University of Chicago Press [ Contribute: submit link / submit article ]

On Parenting: Spanking Causes More Harm as Children Get Older

Spanking is a huge hot-button issue for parents. Many psychologists say that spanking or any other physical discipline harms children and their relationship with their parents. But quite a few parents disagree, and some experts do, too. Lawrence Diller, a behavioral pediatrician in Walnut Creek, Calif., and author of The Last Normal Child, even argues that more parents should consider spanking to speed behavior improvements in young children.

» US News [ Contribute: submit link / submit article ]

Half of babies 'will live to 100'

More than half of babies now born in the UK and other wealthy nations will live to 100 years, researchers say.

The study, published in The Lancet journal, also says the extra years are spent with less serious disability. Data from more than 30 developed countries shows that since 1950 the probability of surviving past 80 years of age has doubled for both sexes.

One expert said healthy behaviours for all ages was the key to enjoying living a long life.

Professor Kaare Christensen, of the Danish Ageing Research Centre at the University of Southern Denmark, who led the study, said life expectancy had been increasing since 1840 and there was no sign of this trend slowing down.

» BBC [ Contribute: submit link / submit article ]

Recession Drives Women Back To The Work Force

The Great Recession is pushing many highly educated women who had left work to stay at home with their children to dive back into the labor pool, according to several nationally recognized experts on women in the workplace.

» NY Times [ Contribute: submit link / submit article ]

Safe Routes to School, New Study

"We found that 75% of parents driving their children less than 2 miles to school said they did this for convenience and to save time. Nearly half of parents driving their children less than 2 miles did not allow their child to walk to school without adult supervision. Accompanying a child on a walk to school greatly increases the time the household devotes to such a trip. Few Safe Routes to School programs effectively address issues of parental convenience and time constraints."

Takeaway for practice: Safe Routes to School programs should take parental convenience and time constraints into account by providing ways children can walk to school supervised by someone other than the parent, such as by using walking school buses. To be effective, such programs need institutional support. Schools should take a multimodal approach to pupil transportation.

» Journal of the American Planning Association [ Contribute: submit link / submit article ]
[ PDF ] Why Parents Drive Children to School: Implications for Safe Routes to School Programs

Child Development Journal: Spanking Detrimental To Children

A new study called, "Correlates and Consequences of Spanking and Verbal Punishment for Low-Income White, African American, and Mexican American Toddlers" has been published in the September/October issue of "Child Development" journal.

• The study was conducted and written by Lisa J. Berlin, a research scientist at Duke University
• "Children who were spanked as 1-year-olds tended to behave more aggressively at age 2, and did not perform as well as other children on a test measuring thinking skills at age 3"
• "The new study focused on children from low-income families because prior research suggested that spanking is more common among them"
• "Her study found that about one-third of the 1-year-olds, and about half of the 2- and 3-year-olds, had been spanked in the previous week, according to mothers' self-reporting to the researchers."

CDC.GOV: Seasonal and Novel H1N1 Flu: A Guide for Parents

These actions will protect against the new H1N1 too!

[ PDF ] Seasonal and Novel H1N1 Flu: A Guide for Parents
[ PDF ] Information about the Flu -including the new H1N1 Flu

Car Seats Lower Oxygen Levels Of Newborns

Car safety seats are one of the most effective ways to protect children from injury and death in the first years of life. For the best protection in a crash, car seats require infants to be placed in an upright position. However, this posture can partially compress the chest wall and reduce airway size, resulting in lower levels of oxygen. The study, “A Comparison of Respiratory Patterns in Healthy Term Infants Placed in Car Safety Seats and Beds,” compared oxygen levels in 200 newborns while in a hospital crib, car bed and car seat. The mean oxygen saturation level was significantly lower in the car seat (95.7 percent) and the car bed (96.3 percent) compared to the crib (97.9 percent). Previous studies have found similar effects on premature infants; this study confirms the respiration of full-term infants is also affected by car seats and car beds. The study authors suggest these safety devices should be used only for protection during travel, and not as replacement for cribs.

» AAP [ Contribute: submit link / submit article ]

Your Baby Is Smarter Than You Think

GENERATIONS of psychologists and philosophers have believed that babies and young children were basically defective adults — irrational, egocentric and unable to think logically. The philosopher John Locke saw a baby’s mind as a blank slate, and the psychologist William James thought they lived in a “blooming, buzzing confusion.” Even today, a cursory look at babies and young children leads many to conclude that there is not much going on.

» NY Times Opinion [ Contribute: submit link / submit article ]

Re “Your Baby Is Smarter Than You Think,” by Alison Gopnik (Op-Ed, Aug. 16):

Rethinking the Way Babies Learn
For the last 70 years, my colleagues in child development and I have known that play is the way in which babies and young children learn. The government-run nursery schools of the 1930s were organized for play and health. Head Start, the famously successful government program founded in the 1960s, promoted play as preschool children’s mode of learning.

» NY Times Lettters To The Editor [ Contribute: submit link / submit article ]

Sleep-deprivation linked to infertility

For women who are trying to conceive, skipping out on your eight hours of sleep could have a major impact on whether or not you can conceive. Although most people need seven to nine hours of sleep each night to function well the next day, the National Sleep Foundation's (NSF) 1998 Women and Sleep Poll found that the average woman aged 30-60 sleeps only six hours and forty-one minutes during the work week. Without adequate sleep, you cannot achieve optimal health and wellness. Moreover, one of your body’s most important systems, the endocrine system, will start to malfunction. When your endocrine system malfunctions, your ability to conceive can decrease drastically. Your endocrine system plays one of the most important roles in terms of regulating ovulation.

» Examiner [ Contribute: submit link / submit article ]

In Reversal, Highly Developed Nations See Rise in Fertility

For decades, the rate at which women were having babies in many of the world's most highly developed countries slowly declined.

Now, however, new research has produced the first glimmer of hope that economic prosperity may not be linked to an inexorable decline in fertility. The new analysis has found that in many countries, once a nation achieves an especially high level of development, women appear to start having more babies again.

» Washington Post [ Contribute: submit link / submit article ]

Five Simple Moves to Get Your Pre-Pregnancy Body Back With Minimal Effort

Postpartum Fitness Made Easy. Especially during the sleep-deprived first weeks after delivery, exercising may be the furthest thing from your mind. However, there are some simple moves you can start making as soon as your body feels up to it that can make all the difference in rebounding your body post-birth. Finding clever ways to sneak little toning and strengthening moves into your daily routine with baby will help you to feel more confident, less apt to react with aversion and exhaustion to the prospect of "working out" and restore your core strength sufficiently to make toting your little one around a whole lot easier.

» Huffington Post [ Contribute: submit link / submit article ]

Mothers, But Not Fathers, Follow Their Own Moms' Parenting Practices

When it comes to how they raise their children, mothers today tend to follow the same practices their own mothers did, according to a new study that looked at parenting practices across two generations.

» Science Daily [ Contribute: submit link / submit article ]

Swine Flu Aaccine For 'half US', Pregnant Women and Health Workers

About half the US population should be vaccinated against the H1N1 virus with pregnant women and health workers the top priority, US officials have said.

In the event that not enough vaccine is available, a tighter group of high-risk patients will receive it. This group also includes people who care for babies, health workers and children between the age of six months and four years.

» BBC [ Contribute: submit link / submit article ]

Thrifty parenting leads to sagging diaper sales

Cash-strapped parents are increasingly taking a pass on the training pants, which cost more than diapers, when teaching their sons and daughters how to use the toilet. A generation earlier, the product was embraced with great gusto by moms and dads and sales shot up. Parents shelled out $90 a month for the product, sometimes for a full year.

» Daily Finance [ Contribute: submit link / submit article ]

The Challenges (and Rewards) of Part-Time Work

To work or not to work…many new moms grapple with that issue. Some moms decide to stay home for months or years, if it is economically feasible. Others continue to work full-time. Still others decide to reduce their hours to part-time, and remain on their career path, although possibly on a slower schedule.

But while working moms may fear that working part-time will create yet another glass ceiling, many part-timers are finding that they are actually advancing in their careers. Working as a part-time professional is becoming an increasingly acceptable work alternative. Companies nationwide are offering employees the option of working part-time.

» US News [ Contribute: submit link / submit article ]

Let the Kid Be

Perhaps you know it by its other names: helicoptering, smothering mothering, alpha parenting, child-centered parenting. Or maybe there’s a description you’ve coined on your own but kept to yourself: Overly enmeshed parenting? Get-them-into-Harvard-or-bust parenting? My-own-mother-never-breast-fed-me-so-I-am-never-going-to-let-my-kid-out-of-my-sight parenting?

» New York Times [ Contribute: submit link / submit article ]

Paranoid Parenting by Frank Furedi

Tony is giving up teaching. Although he would not use the words, it was 'parental paranoia' that drove him out of the West Sussex primary school where he had taught for three years. During his teacher training, Tony had anticipated that he might be stretched by the challenge of dealing with rowdy children. But he was not prepared for the task of coping with 'difficult' anxious parents. The most taxing moments of his working life were to be spent dealing with 'worried mums'. He sighs as he tells of the mother who insisted on driving behind her son's coach to France to ensure that he arrived safely. He wearily recalls how a school trip to the seaside, planned for a class of 5-year-olds was cancelled because two parents were concerned that the trip would involve their children in a 45-minute journey in a private car. Would the cars be roadworthy? Who would accompany a child to the lavatory? Who would ensure correct fitting seat belts? Were these normally non-smoking cars, or would the children be made victims of passive smoking? The planned pirate's day on the beach ended up being confined to the school field - sea, sand and adventure confined to their imagination and many of its education aims undermined. Exasperated by 'problems - all in the minds of parents', Tony sought, and found, a career outside teaching.

» Guardian [ Contribute: submit link / submit article ]

Help Your Child Learn to Read

Listening to your child read a book for the first time is a golden moment in parenting. After years of reading to your child, it is truly amazing when that same child turns around and returns the gift.

For most children, the switch from pre-reading to actual reading happens somewhere between kindergarten and second grade. You can support the journey by reading books aloud, encouraging language and vocabulary development, and showing kids that reading is important by cracking a book on a regular basis yourself.

» education.com [ Contribute: submit link / submit article ]

A new manifesto argues that parenting is bad for your career, your marriage, your bank book and your love life

They can hurt your career, your marriage, your social life, your bank book. Why bother?

Elaine Lui was 29 years old and had been married for a year when she and her husband, Jacek Szenowicz, decided that they didn’t want children. “Before that, we didn’t give it a lot of thought,” says the Vancouver-based eTalk reporter who writes the popular celebrity gossip blog LaineyGossip.com. “It was just an assumption, ‘You get married, you have kids.’ ” Front-line exposure to a close relative’s three young children and the work they required provided a wake-up call, Lui says. “That killed it for us. We just looked at each other and said, ‘We don’t want them.’ ”

» macleans.ca [ Contribute: submit link / submit article ]

HICKS: Faith tutoring boon to young

Yesterday, Google's alert service let me know that a blogger had written a review of my parenting book "Bringing Up Geeks," released last summer by Penguin/Berkley. In case you haven't read it, the premise of the book is that we ought to raise geeky children for success in life, and not for popularity in the seventh grade. These goals generally are mutually exclusive.

» The Washington Times [ Contribute: submit link / submit article ]

Readings on ambivalent parenting

You could burn most every guide to parenting babies and the world would suffer no great loss, but, as the mother of a one-year-old, I feel compelled to endorse a few standout pieces of writing that have helped me survive babycare.

» BoingBoing [ Contribute: submit link / submit article ]

Parenting Seminars

MP3 files and PDFs below from various hosted at Covenant Life Church in Gaithersburg, MD

Parenting Ages Infant to 5

[ MP3 ] Training, Discipline, and the Rod
Because children are sinners, training them requires patience, clear communication, and consistency. The rod, when used Biblically, will help young children learn the appropriate response to the authority of God.

[ MP3 ] Biblical Principles of Parenting
The Bible wisely guides parents to remember that their children are gifts from God. This recognition will lead to nourishment, discipline, and instruction done in the Lord and for his glory.

Parenting Ages 6 to 10 / Overall Outline

[ PDF ] “Sowing Plan”
[ PDF ] Plan to Overcome Complaining

H1N1 (Swine flu) 'hits pregnant women harder'

Pregnant women are four times more likely than the general population to need hospital treatment for H1N1 swine flu, data from the US suggests.

The findings suggest pregnancy does increase the risk of complications without speedy anti-viral treatment. It also underlines the need to ensure pregnant women are made a top priority when a vaccine becomes available.

What should I do if I get sick?

• If there is H1N1 flu in your community pay extra attention to your body and how you are feeling.
• If you get sick with flu-like symptoms, stay home, limit contact with others, and call your doctor. Your doctor will decide if testing or treatment is needed. Tests may include a nasal swab which is best to do within the first 4-5 days of getting sick. Like regular flu, H1N1 flu may make other medical problems worse.
• If you are alone at any time, have someone check in with you often if you are feeling ill. This is always a good idea.
• If you have close contact with someone who has H1N1 flu or is being treated for exposure to H1N1 flu, contact your doctor to discuss whether you need treatment to reduce your chances of getting the flu.

How should I feed my baby?

• Flu can be very serious in young babies. Babies who are breastfed do not get as sick and are sick less often from the flu, than do babies who are not breastfed.
• Breastfeeding protects babies. Breast milk passes on antibodies from the mother to a baby. Antibodies help fight off infection.

Is it ok to breastfeed my baby if I am sick?

• A mother’s milk is made to fight diseases in her baby. This is really important in young babies when their immune system is still growing.
• Do not stop breastfeeding if you are ill. Breastfeed early and often. Limit formula feeds if you can. This will help protect your baby from infection.
• Be careful not to cough or sneeze in the baby’s face, wash your hands often with soap and water.
• Your doctor might ask you to wear a mask to keep from spreading this new virus to your baby.
• If you are too sick to breastfeed, pump and have someone give the expressed milk to your baby.
  

» CDC [ Contribute: submit link / submit article ]

Obesity Prevalence Among Low-Income, Preschool-Aged Children

Childhood obesity is a leading public health concern that disproportionately affects low-income and minority children. Those children who are obese in their preschool years are more likely to be obese in adolescence and adulthood. A Healthy People 2010 objective is to reduce to 5% the percentage of children and adolescents who are obese. To analyze progress in reducing childhood obesity, CDC examined data from 1998-2008. The findings indicated that obesity prevalence among low-income, preschool-aged children increased steadily from 12.4% in 1998 to 14.5% in 2003 but subsequently remained essentially the same, with a 14.6% prevalence in 2008.

» CDC [ Contribute: submit link / submit article ]

[ PDF ] Obesity Prevalence Among Low-Income, Preschool-Aged Children

European heights have been increasing while Americans have not

"We surmise that the health systems and high degree of social security in Europe provide better conditions for growth than the American health system, despite the fact that the system costs twice as much," said study co-author John Komlos from the University of Munich in a statement. "There are also indications that American diets are deficient in several areas."

From the Colonial times until roughly the 1970s, Americans were the tallest people in the world. But then, growth stagnated while Europeans spent the second half of the 20th century growing like weeds. Now, the average Dutchman is six centimeters taller than the average American -- "almost an exact reversal of the relationship in the middle of the 19th century," Komlos says.

» spiegel.de [ Contribute: submit link / submit article / submit company ]

Toddler nearly dies from smallpox vaccine given to soldier dad

A 2-year-old boy spent seven weeks in the hospital and nearly died from a viral infection he got from the smallpox vaccination his father received before shipping out to Iraq, according to a government report and the doctors who treated him.

The boy, who lives in Indiana and has recovered, became ill in early March, two weeks after his father’s deployment was delayed and he was allowed to make a trip home. Over the next few weeks, the boy suffered kidney failure and lost most of his skin to the disease, eczema vaccinatum.

» nytimes.com [ Contribute: submit link / submit article / submit company ]

When to have a child, if ever: The impact in later life

How does having children or not having them affect a woman's happiness in later life? A new study examining nearly 6,000 women provides an unexpected answer —it's not so much whether you have children as when you have them.

But even more important than when you become a mother is whether you have anyone else to love in your life. "Whether a woman has had children or not isn’t likely to affect her psychological well-being in later life," said University of Michigan sociologist Amy Pienta. "What is more important is whether or not she has a husband, a significant other or close social relationships in her life as she ages."

[ mp3 ] listen or download » umich.edu [ Contribute: submit link / submit article / submit company ]

Plus:
Time, money, and who does the laundry
The ISR Panel Study of Income Dynamics studies how U.S. men, women and children spend their time
[ mp3 ] listen or download [ PDF ] view document

Mommy Chairs look like they were drawn by children

Mommy's Chairs are designer chairs that appear to have been drawn by a five-year-old with a poor grasp of perspective. Made of bent steel rods in uncertain, shaky lines, they come in four sizes, with a breathtaking pricetag of £250.

» wheredidyoubuythat.com [ Contribute: submit link / submit article / submit company ]

Most 2 year olds watch 1.5 hours of TV despite warnings

Approximately 40 percent of three-month old children and about 90 percent of children age 24 months and under regularly watch television, DVDs or videos, according to a report in the May issue of Archives of Pediatrics & Adolescent Medicine.

"The public health implications of early television and video viewing are potentially large. There are both theoretical and empirical reasons to believe that the effects of media exposure on children’s development are more likely to be adverse before the age of about 30 months than afterward," the authors note. Recent studies suggest that what children younger than two years watch and whether they watch it alone or with a parent may be important for their vocabulary development.

Frederick J. Zimmerman, Ph.D., of the University of Washington, Seattle, and colleagues, conducted a telephone survey of 1,009 parents of children age 2 to 24 months. The study analyzed four television and DVD content categories: children’s educational, children’s non-educational, baby DVDs/videos and grown-up television (such as talk shows or sports programming). Average daily viewing, reasons parents gave for their child’s viewing, who was present during viewing and socio-demographic factors were reported.

» American Medical Association

Breast-feeding and preventing obesity

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the US Department of Health and Human Services promote breastfeeding as a strategy for reducing childhood overweight. We evaluated the relation between infant feeding and the development of overweight and obesity throughout life course.

Results: The duration of breastfeeding, including exclusive breastfeeding, was not related to being overweight or obese during adult life. Women who were exclusively breastfed for more than 6 months had a risk of 0.94 of becoming obese as adults compared with women who were not breastfed. Exclusive breastfeeding for more than 6 months was associated with leaner body shape at age 5 for the highest vs the lowest category of body shape) compared to women who were not breastfed or breastfed for less than 1 week, but this association did not persist during adolescence or adulthood.

Conclusions: We did not find that having been breastfed was associated with women's likelihood of becoming overweight or obese throughout life course. Although breastfeeding promotes the health of mother and child, it is unlikely to play an important role in controlling the obesity epidemic.

» Journal of Obesity / [ PDF ] view report

UK: Home test that reveals an unborn baby's sex at six weeks

Goverment fears the £189 kit will create a massive leap in abortions if would-be parents are not having the gender they want.

Michaela Aston, spokeswoman for the charity LIFE, said: “This test is very dangerous. It could lead to babies being aborted simply for being the ‘wrong’ sex.” And Julia Millington, of the Prolife Alliance, said: “There is a real risk that some people would choose to abort babies of a certain gender.”

» thesun.co.uk

Porn shown to children on Comcast/Disney Channel

(AP) Children here got more than they bargained for when they tuned in to "Handy Manny" on the Disney Channel this week - hard-core pornography. Cable giant Comcast is investigating how the porn was broadcast during the popular cartoon, which is about a bilingual handyman, Manny Garcia, and his talking tools.

Comcast spokesman Fred DeAndrea said last night that the programming error had occurred at around 9.30am on Tuesday.