Politicians and industry experts described the practice as "shocking" and said it would put further pressure on parents who wanted their babies to be perfect. Magazines have been heavily criticised in the past for airbrushing images of women to make them look thinner – a practice which eating disorder campaigners claim can help push impressionable young girls into becoming anorexic and bulimic. But this is the first time the industry has admitted using the technique to alter images of babies.

Practical Parenting and Pregnancy, a monthly magazine, has said it has retouched photographs of babies to "put them across in the best light". The practice came to light in a BBC documentary, My Supermodel Baby. In footage of a photo shoot for the magazine, the casting director explained how the photograph of baby model Hadley Corbett, five months, was airbrushed: "We lightened his eyes and his general skin tone, smoothed out any blotches and the creases on his arms," he said. "But we want it to look natural."

Daniella Delaney, the editor of the magazine which sells nearly 40,000 copies, told The Sunday Telegraph that photographs were airbrushed but that it was kept to a minimum. "We'll remove things and even-up skin tone, that sort of thing. But very little is done, in fact, because obviously babies are beautiful the way they are and that is what we went to get across."

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"Babies are not like adults you can't stop them from dribbling, so you might remove that bit of dribble from the chin. Or if the baby has just been crying, and their eyes are red, we might lighten the eyes. Or if they have just woken up because they have had a nap on the way in and we photograph them, we might remove a little bit of sleep. It is just those kind of things, very little really."

"This will confirm that Oksana Grigorieva and Mel Gibson welcomed the arrival of a baby girl named Lucia on Friday, Oct. 30, 2009, at an undisclosed hospital in Los Angeles," says Gibson's rep, Alan Nierob, confirming earlier reports of the event. No further details were available.

"Everything is great! They couldn't be happier," a friend tells People. "Everyone's healthy and thrilled. He loooves it!" Gibson, 53, was at Grigorieva's side in Los Angeles until she and the baby went home from the hospital, then he flew to New York Sunday to resume shooting The Beaver, costarring Jodie Foster.

Last year, lawyers threatened a class-action lawsuit for unfair and deceptive practices unless Disney agreed to refund the full purchase price to all who bought the videos since 2004. "The Walt Disney Company's entire Baby Einstein marketing regime is based on express and implied claims that their videos are educational and beneficial for early childhood development," a letter from the lawyers said, calling those claims "false because research shows that television viewing is potentially harmful for very young children."

The letter cited estimates from The Washington Post and Business Week that Baby Einstein controlled 90 percent of the baby media market, and sold $200 million worth of products annually.

The letter also described studies showing that television exposure at ages 1 through 3 is associated with attention problems at age 7.

The probe is a signal that federal enforcers are taking a more aggressive role in one of the most contentious issues in retailing: whether manufacturers and retailers can agree to set a minimum retail prices on products. FTC investigators are expected to review numerous emails exchanged among Babies R Us and various manufacturers.

One set of email exchanges filed in a class-action case appears to show Babies R Us urging the Britax Childcare unit of Carlyle Group LLC to get Target Corp. to raise prices. The subject field in the email exchanges said: "Target has not raised prices." "Did Target commit to you when they will raise their prices?" Cesar Garcia, director of merchandising at Babies R Us, allegedly asked in an email dated Jan. 6, 2006.

According to the emails, a couple of hours later, Scott Doerstling, a Britax representative at the time, allegedly responded: "Target said they would honor the new MSRP's [Manufacturer Suggested Retail Price] ... please be assured that Britax's goal is to have uniform MSRP's in the market place." Five days later, according to court records, Mr. Doerstling allegedly sent another email to Mr. Garcia reassuring him that "We are in communications with them [Target]. We understand your position and are doing what we 'legally' can do to ensure MSRP harmony in the marketplace."

"The song is very Teletubbies," says Tony-nominated musician Kenny Mellman. "If you listen to it, there is very little music. It's all drum and Beyonce's voice." Kara Shall, communications director of Baby Loves Disco, agrees. "Young children love songs with good rhythm and repetition, and 'Single Ladies' certainly has both," says Shall, whose company once a month in 21 cities turns bars into child-proof discos. (She also notes that her own children, ages 5 and 2, are big fans of the Beyonce song.)

Like some rogue Baby Einstein offering, the black-and-white "Single Ladies" video provides visual and aural stimulation well suited for the under-2 crowd. Babies love high-contrast colors, steady beats and smiling women's faces. "Single Ladies" has all of these things. It's almost as if Beyonce designed it for children. And, in a way, she did.

JaQuel Knight, who choreographed the "Single Ladies" video along with Frank Gatson Jr., says the "Single Ladies" team always had children in mind. "We often went back to our childhood days, when our parents would ask us to dance for all the relatives at the family cookout," he says. "They weren't the best steps on the planet, but the feeling, emotion and passion of the steps in that moment were incredible."

From Friday, August 28 through Sunday, September 20, Babies"R"Us and Toys"R"Us stores nationwide are holding the "Great Trade-In" event, providing our customers the opportunity to trade-in any used cribs, car seats, bassinets, strollers, travel systems, playards or high chairs in exchange for a 20% savings on the purchase of any new baby item, in any of these product categories, from select manufacturers.

The "Great Trade-In" event places an emphasis on specific baby products, such as cribs and car seats that, due to safety concerns, may not be the best candidates to be handed down or resold. Beyond recalls, certain older and used baby items can be potentially unsafe for a variety of reasons, including damage or lack of compliance with recent advances in product safety standards.

According to a press release, viewers will be able to witness "the emotional struggles, physical complications and financial burdens of this single mother of 14," who gave birth to eight children this past January.

"From the day the octuplets were born, cameras had unprecedented access to every area of Suleman’s life," the release continued. "For more than seven months, cameras documented Suleman, capturing incredible footage, including the private moments and reactions of Suleman’s family, as well as Suleman’s own feelings, doubts and fears."