kela.fiFinnish mothers are crediting a simple cardboard box with saving their babies' lives and providing them with a hopeful future.

More on Yahoo! Shine: 9 Baby Products Adults Can Use

The boxes, a 75-year-old tradition in Finland, are given to new mothers as they leave the hospital with their newborns, according to a story published Tuesday on the BBC. Dubbed a "maternity package" or a "baby starter kit," a typical box is lined with a mattress on which babies take their first nap during the ride home.  Mothers are also given the option to accept the box or a cash grant set at 140 euros (approximately $180), but most mothers opt for the box. Here's what's included:

Bedding:  An under sheet, mattress cover, duvet cover, blanket, and sleeping bag or quilt.
Clothing: A snowsuit, a hat, insulated mittens, booties, socks, mittens, leggings, knitted overalls and facemask, onesies, and a romper suit.
Bathroom products: A hooded bath towel, a hairbrush, a toothbrush, diaper cream and diapers, nail

Recognize when you, your spouse or your kids could use a break from each otherBy Melody Warnick

"Too much of a good thing" tends to apply to chocolate consumption and marathons of The Real Housewives, not to something as wholesome as family togetherness. After all, research shows that children who spend a lot of time with their families do better in school, make better choices and are happier. But hanging out too often, especially if you force it, can cause problems like making kids dependent and leaving parents feeling resentful. These 10 warning signs tell you when it's time to take a break. Photo by Getty Images

1. You and your husband haven't been to the movies in five years…

…because you won't leave your kids with a babysitter. It's tough to tell whose separation anxiety is more agonizing: yours or your little ones'. But hire a sitter anyway-for the kids! "Life has turned into one long, teachable moment, but we think we're the only teachers," says Lenore Skenazy, author of Free Range Kids: How to Raise Safe, Self-Reliant Children Without Going Nuts

WHAT?! Kids have strong desires to be tan.When I was younger, getting a tan was pretty much my only goal for the summer. That is, until I realized that routine sun exposure would make me look like an old leather handbag someday if I wasn't careful-not to mention that it could lead to deadly cancer.

By Natasha Burton

It's a good thing I traded my baby oil for sunscreen sooner rather than later: According to a company spokesperson for Superdrug, which just released the results of a poll on sun exposure, the average person gets 80 percent of his or her lifetime skin-to-sun contact before hitting age 18.

Related: Scary Truths Tanning Salons Deny

Of course, this means that slathering on the sunblock is super-important when you're young. Only, scarily enough, the Superdrug poll found that 50 percent of children age six to eight are jonesing for a tan this summer and one in five say they won't wear suncreen. Um...where are their parents?

We just hope this doesn't lead to a creation of a Tan Kid. Tan Mom is quite enough for us.

Read more at

My little Monet.Let's face it, once your itty-bitty baby enters oh-so-opinionated toddlerhood, life changes. Most of it's outrageously fun - the discovery, the vocabulary, the interactions, the independence. But every now and then, these little people decide to dig in and show us who's boss. Having been through this a few times myself, I've learned that sometimes it's really as simple as using our words. By adjusting your perspective, you'll adjust your toddler's too.

Related: 5 unique ways to capture baby's firsts

Here are a few examples.

1. Consider avoiding the word "no."
Let's say your toddler decides her body is a canvas (obviously this one isn't too hard for me to imagine). While, upon discovering you have a little Monet, you may be inclined to react with a "No!", I've found that only fuels the fire - or marker, in this case. Reminding her, instead, that a marker draws on paper not bodies, or hands are for hugging, not hitting, empowers your toddler to be the boss the next time around. Because