Expand your kid's mind and help her succeed with these real IQ boostersBy Margot Gilman

As a parent, you want to give your child every advantage in life, so it's a no-brainer that you'd want to try boosting her intellect. While parking a tot in front of a Baby Einstein video didn't turn out to be such a smart idea (a University of Washington study found that such video viewing delays small children's language skill building), the following approaches actually up IQ scores. Photo by Thinkstock

1. Nurse your newborn.
Breastfeeding bestows many benefits, including immunity defense and disease protection. But until recently, we didn't know whether breastfeeding influences intelligence, or if breastfed kids tested better because of other factors. A study from McGill University in Montreal has shown a clear causal connection. Looking at 14,000 children, those whose moms participated in a program that encouraged exclusive and prolonged breastfeeding scored 7.5 points higher on verbal IQ tests at age six-and-a-half than those whose mothers didn't take part.

Breastfeeding is good for you, study says. Photo: Getty Images/Vicky Kasala ProductionsWomen still confused by the breast milk vs. formula debate may want to listen up, as a new study has found exclusively breastfeeding your baby for at least six months could cut your chances of dying from cancer and all other diseases by 17 percent—and death by heart disease alone by 8 percent.

More on Shine: Breast is Best? One Dad Says No to Breastfeeding

The mass study, published online Wednesday in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, examined breastfeeding and other lifestyle recommendations from the American Institute for Cancer Research (AICR) and its umbrella World Cancer Research Fund International and their effects on nearly 380,000 people in several European countries over 13 years.

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It found that both women and men could cut their risk of death on average by a third, simply by adhering to one or several healthy lifestyle choices: keeping lean but not underweight, eating a plant-based diet, being

The much praised letter, from FCKH8.com via Facebook.A letter written from a dad to his gay son Nate is going viral on the Internet because of its simple, hopeful message of love.

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“I overheard your phone conversation with Mike last night about your plans to come out to me,” it reads. “The only thing I need you to plan is to bring home OJ and bread after class. We are out, like you now. I’ve known you were gay since you were six, I’ve loved you since you were born.”

He signs it “Dad” and finishes with a post script: “Your mom and I think you and Mike make a cute couple.”

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The letter was posted on the Facebook page of FCKH8.com, an organization aimed at empowering youth through its snarky, gay-positive T-shirts, videos and activist campaigns. Fans often send in photos of inspiring items, from cakes topped with “I’m gay!” to jack o’lanterns carved with “FCKH8.”

“We get a lot of crazy stuff, so I almost didn’t look at it,”

Dylan Hayes not only survived the three-story fall, he landed on his feet. (Photo: KCNC-TV)When parents think about child proofing their homes, they're usually focused on keeping cabinets locked and storing sharp objects or dangerous chemicals out of reach. So when Jessica Hayes of Aurora, Colorado, was spring cleaning recently, she says says that she didn't think of the potential for danger when she pushed her couch out of the way, against the wall and under a window in her third-story apartment.

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While she was shampooing the carpets and her mom was helping out in the kitchen, her 4-year-old son, Dylan, climbed up on the couch to chat with a downstairs neighbor through the window. As he leaned against the flimsy screen, it gave way and he fell three stories, landing on the rock-covered ground below.

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"My mom was cleaning our fridge out and, all of a sudden, I hear her screaming, 'Dylan just went out the

It's perhaps motherhood's dirtiest little secret: Favoring one child over another.

Favoritism is usually not intentional and can happen for a variety of reasons. Maybe one kid is the most well-behaved in the brood, especially talented, has an inexplicable bond with a parent. And often times the opposite can be true: If one child has behavioral problems, he can become the favorite because he requires extra attention.

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And while moms may objectively realize that favoritism isn't ethical or even a conscious act, a new study published on Tuesday in the February issue of the journal Child Development shows that showing more love to one kid harms more than just the "naughty one"—it damages the entire family unit, causing increased mental health problems in children such as aggression, attention, and emotional problems.

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The study included 400 Canadian families with up to four kids

20-year-old BrookeBrooke Greenberg may be 20 years old, but she remains forever trapped inside the body and mind of a toddler, due to a mystery medical condition that has baffled medical experts for years.

"From age one to four, Brooke changed. She got a little bit bigger," explained her father, Howard, during the family's appearance on Thursday's "Katie" with Katie Couric. "But age four, four to five, she stopped."

Since then, Brooke's height and weight of 16 pounds and 20 inches have remained a constant. She wears diapers, is pushed in a stroller, gets fed through a feeding tube due to a too-small esophagus, and communicates like an infant would, estimates her mother Melanie.

"Like 6 months," she explained on the show. "If she's happy, she'll giggle and laugh."

Doctors have told Melanie and Howard, who live in Maryland, that there is no other known case like Brooke's in the world. And at least one medical expert believes that Brooke's condition could hold the key to the fountain of youth.

"Here's

(Photo courtesy of Sarah Powling/Lowell Sun)Watch out Bruce Willis. At 3 months old, Joey Powling Jr. has already out-smirked the actor, and proven braver than any run of the mill action hero.

The photo of the newborn, taken by his mom shortly after open-heart surgery, has become an internet sensation.

After his uncle posted the picture to the community board, Reddit, baby Joey was crowned "ridiculously good-looking surgery baby" and his adorable mug became a popular meme viewed by over a million fans.

"What a legend," writes one commenter. Other awesomely accuarate feedback from fans include: "A baby Bruce Willis" and "That baby is manlier than me."

But for Joey's family, the photo is more than an internet ogling break. In an essay published in the Lowell Sun on Monday, Joey's great-uncle, Dan Phelps, explains the serious side to the smirking baby photo.

"Joey Powling Jr. was born in July with a condition known as tetralogy of Fallot, or TOF, which is, basically, a hole in the heart (although there is more to

(ThinkStock Images)After almost losing her life to her parent's poor judgement, a little girl has taken her family to task--and to court.

12-year-old Faith Carberry, of Langford, Ireland, filed a lawsuit against both her parents after sustaining severe injuries from a drunk driving accident caused by her own mother. On Wednesday, the liability suit was settled between her father, the owner of the car, and the Motor Insurance Bureau of Ireland. But the damages caused by her mother's accident are still being assessed by the judge in the coming weeks.

Faith, just seven at the time, was at the mercy of her mom Mary Carberry's binge drinking the night a fatal car crash took the life of her sister Ava, 6, and another little girl, Michaela Logan, 9. Michaela's brother John was also injured but survived the crash.

Grieving dad pays teens to drive sober

Mary, now 35, already had a history of chronic alcoholism and was banned from driving for six years after two DUI arrests, when she crashed her