New parents work hard to keep their babies in good health, with frequent trips to a pediatrician to check on growth and development. But how often do they think to take their baby to an optometrist for a special vision screening? According to the public health program InfantSEE, not often.

According to their website, "One in every 10 children is at risk from undiagnosed eye and vision problems, yet only 13 percent of mothers with children younger than 2 years of age said they had taken their babies to see an eye and vision care professional for a regular check-up or well-care visit."

InfantSEE is a public health program run by members of the American Optometric Association in partnership with The Vision Care Institute of Johnson & Johnson Vision Care. InfantSEE's member optometrists will provide a no-cost comprehensive infant eye and vision examination within the child's first year of life. With early diagnosis, vision problems are more treatable and less likely to permanently impact a child's vision.

The Parents' Corner section of the InfantSEE website has all kinds of information about why children should be tested early in life, common vision problems, and what actually goes on during an infant eye examination. If you are interested in taking your child to an InfantSEE doctor, you can easily use their doctor locator to find one in your area. The exam is free, and it is a great way to help keep your child's vision healthy and strong. - Sara I.

My addiction extends beyond my closet to include the closet my little ones share. Inside you will find a variety of shoes, from $5 Croc knock-offs to pricier pairs. And while I’m all for budget-friendly shoes because of the speed at which my younger children grow out of them, I also understand and believe in the importance of high-quality, comfortable shoes for those precious little feet. Rileyroos are the perfect fit.

Sure, Rileyroos are super stylish, soft and lightweight but more importantly they are designed to imitate barefoot walking, the best way for little ones to learn how to walk. Their uppers are crafted of soft leather or suede and have a flexible leather or suede sole (I’m a big fan of the flexible sole) with rubber padding to protect little feet.

One of my favorite features of Rileyroos was something I didn’t even notice the first time I saw their product line: the sole curls above the toes. Why? Apparently it provides better leverage as children go from sitting to crawling and eventually to walking. Their shoes also have a padded leather collar, leather lining for greater breatheability and a Velcro closure for easy on-and-off and a snug fit.

You won’t find all these features in my son’s fake camo Crocs; hence the $5 price tag. Don’t get me wrong, those shoes do have their place (most often poolside), but to keep my little ones’ feet healthy as they toddle around, I’ll invest in something like Rileyroos. You can view and purchase many of their styles for around $30 on Amazon.com. - Emily H.

In a past post, Polliwogged contributor Jenn featured the book Baby Massage: The Calming Power of Touch, a wonderful book outlining massage techniques, including illustrations, in an easy to understand format. If you'd like to see some "live" massage to help guide your learning, you’ll want to add BabyBabyOhBaby to your DVD collection.

BabyBabyOhBaby, a Lamaze International Recommended Resource, provides an introduction to infant massage with easy to follow demonstrations and a step-by-step guide organized in chapters, one devoted to each part of the body. I am one who learns by watching others and that's why I love BabyBabyOhBaby; the DVD features easy-to-follow demonstrations and real moms and dads practicing infant massage on their own babies. Another thing I love? BabyBabyOhBaby is packaged in an eco-wallet made of 100% recycled cardboard and printed with 100% vegetable-based inks.

If you’ve been hesitant to try infant massage and feel you need more hands-on training than a book might give you, BabyBabyOhBaby can help teach you - and show you - this ancient art of loving communication between parent and child. Though infant massage is easiest with newborns through pre-crawlers, infants of any age can enjoy the benefits of massage. You can purchase the BabyBabyOhBaby DVD for $23 from Amazon.com. - Emily H.

It's that time of year again. The tissues-everywhere-and-kids-full-of-snot time of year. For most adults and older children, this time of year is a nuisance, but for infants, the sicknesses that tend to come with the winter months can be far worse. One of the nastier illnesses making the rounds right now is RSV, or Respiratory Syncytial Virus. Sadly, I know this from experience; my three-month-old and the infant of a friend have both been to the hospital with cases in the last two weeks.

While RSV presents typical cold symptoms in most people, including runny nose and a cough, the virus is pretty nasty for babies. Because they are so small, babies (especially those under six months of age) have a more difficult time fighting the virus. They are more likely to develop more severe symptoms such as a high fever and upper and/or lower respiratory tract infections, like bronchiolitis (a viral respiratory disease) or pneumonia.

Because RSV is a virus, there is no treatment other than to help alleviate the symptoms of the illness. This can be done by propping up the baby's head while sleeping and using a bulb nasal aspirator or Nosefrida to keep mucus from nasal passages. Humidifiers can help the baby to clear congestion, and medications such as Tylenol or Motrin may be suggested by the pediatrician to help control any fever that arises. More severe symptoms may require a visit to the hospital for the baby to be placed on oxygen and receive additional breathing treatments.

So how can you keep RSV out of your home in the first place? Because RSV is fairly contagious through casual contact, starting with a period about three days before symptoms even appear, it is hard not to catch RSV. However, like with most illnesses, frequent hand washing is said to be the most effective way to keep the RSV virus at bay.

More information about RSV can be found from the Centers for Disease Control and WebMD. If your child shows symptoms of a cold that continue to get worse, keep the possibility of RSV in mind and seek the advice of baby's pediatrician. - Sara I.

I’ve always known about baby-friendly laundry detergent and fabric softener, but I had no idea you could buy baby-friendly dish soap! Dapple Dish Liquid is an all-natural dish soap that is phthalate-free, paraben-free, and dye-free. It features award-winning "green" technology that targets milk residue (all too common on bottles and other feeding gear) and baking soda to fight odor. The ingredients list is rather impressive only because I can actually understand each ingredient, from purified water and baking soda to tree oils and natural amino acids.

Dapple rinses quickly and uses essential oil for a light lavender fragrance. It is also biodegradable, environmentally safe, free of detectable levels of dioxane (a known eye and respiratory tract irritant) and has not been tested on animals. Kind of makes me wonder just what's in the current bottle of dish soap sitting on my sink…

You can purchase a 16-oz. bottle of Dabble for about $6 from Amazon.com or a case of six 17-oz. bottles for about $42 from Dapple's website. - Emily H.