Baby’s fall prompts visit to Spears’ home

Los Angeles – The 6-month-old son of singer Britney Spears and husband Kevin Federline fell from a highchair, prompting social workers to visit the couple’s Malibu home over the weekend, sources close to the situation said Tuesday.

On Friday, Spears became concerned that her son, Sean Preston Federline, might have a head injury and took him to an emergency room, the sources said. That is when the Los Angeles County’s Department of Children and Family Services was notified.

Martin Singer, Spears’ attorney, said Tuesday that there was an automatic report by the hospital to child welfare officials, as required by state law, and “DCFS immediately responded and determined there was no problem and no reason to open a formal investigation. They determined that the parents weren’t involved in the injury and nothing was improper within the home.”

Steve Whitmore, a spokesman for the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department, said a deputy accompanied social workers to the home Saturday afternoon as a routine request.

In February, child welfare officials visited the couple’s home after photographs showed Spears behind the wheel of a sport utility vehicle with her then-4-month-old son on her lap instead of strapped into a rear car seat as required by law.

Marriage pending

New York – Maggie Gyllenhaal and Peter Sarsgaard are engaged and expecting a baby, her publicist said Tuesday.

It will be the first marriage for both actors, Gyllenhaal’s representative, Amanda Silverman, said Tuesday. No other information was released.

The couple have been dating for four years.

Screen credits for the 28-year-old Gyllenhaal include roles in Oliver Stone’s upcoming “World Trade Center,” “Mona Lisa Smile,” “Secretary” and “Donnie Darko,” co-starring her brother, Jake Gyllenhaal.

Sarsgaard, 35, starred alongside Jake Gyllenhaal in last year’s war drama “Jarhead.” His screen credits also include “Boys Don’t Cry,” “Shattered Glass” and “Kinsey.”

Marriage mending?

London – Madonna and Guy Ritchie have retreated to Los Angeles where they are patching things up after a bumpy period in their marriage, her father-in-law says in a magazine interview released Tuesday.

“L.A. seems to have helped them. It’s easier out there because there is less pressure. They seem to have left the bumps they were having over here behind them,” John Ritchie was quoted as saying in an interview with Closer magazine.

Reports of a rift in the marriage circulated recently, especially after the 47-year-old pop star didn’t thank her film director-husband after winning a Brit Award in February.

“They have put everything behind them and have gone to L.A. to enjoy themselves,” John Ritchie was quoted as saying. “They’re able to go home at night and be together. They both want to see the children. They are going to have a good time out there and be a family.”

Ritchie, 37, and Madonna have a son, Rocco, 5, and the singer also has a daughter, Lourdes, 9. The couple were married Dec. 22, 2000.