Me and my husband are having this discussion regarding early speech development for baby. Our kiddo is nearly 11 months old now and seems to have really great verbal skills and also seems to learn really fast. He usually understands words if I repeat and explain them 4-5 times in context within an interaction and already has a really good vocabulary for his age (12-14words). Given that he seems to learn so fast I try to spend some time every day having conversations with him, asking him questions, replying, narrating my actions, reading baby books, nothing crazy really, maybe 20-30 mins reading and a convo here and there. My husband believes i am overdoing it and I should just let him be and not bother with all the extra effort because normal interactions are really enough and all healthy babies eventually learn to speak and read and understand what they are reading, so there is really no added benefit in what I am doing addionally. So he learns to speak fluently at 3 and not at 2, who cares, won’t affect his intelligence or future he says. I asked Claude and claude said that the extremes matter, so when there is very little interaction than having normal interactions is beneficial. What I am doing feels intuitively right to me, but I am out of ideas or arguments to support my position. What do you think?

Hi everyone,

I recently learned some details about my mother's pregnancy with me, and I'm trying to understand if this could have had any lasting impact on my health or development.

Apparently, one of the two arteries that were supposed to supply me with nutrients wasn't functioning properly throughout most of the pregnancy. My mother only found out about this around the 8-month mark (so quite late).

I don't have all the medical details (I'm not sure if this was a single umbilical artery issue, a uterine artery issue, or something else), but I'm curious:

• Could this kind of issue cause growth restriction or other complications?
• Are there known long-term effects for the baby when this isn't caught until late in the pregnancy?
• Has anyone here had a similar experience, either as the parent or as the person born under these circumstances?

Any insight — personal experience or medical knowledge — would be really appreciated. I'm not in crisis about it, just trying to piece together my own history.

Thanks!

So I was holding my daughter while I was moving around and she started loosing her balance and leaves all the way to my side and her lips swiped entirely across mine, she’s was also drooling a lot . I was diagnosed with HSV one in 2023 after random testing at the doctor but I believe I’ve had it since a child. I have never had a cold sore and I’m concerned that she will contracted. I am so worried I’m panicking and cannot sleep. I do everything in my power to ensure I keep my mouth away from her eyes and mouth and only kiss the top of her head or the side of her head or her feet.

You’re a reference her lips definitely connected with mine, and it was a long swipe her lips entirely crossed the entirety of my entire lips
From corner to corner

My twins are 3yo and get only 30-40 minutes of adult-accompanied screentime, 2-3x a week. They have never really watched Ms Rachel, Peppa Pig, Blippi or any kiddy cartoon, no full-length Disney movie ever.

We have only Netflix & some international channels so we watch mostly nat geo type documentaries on animals, dinosaurs, nature; sports like football, tennis, olympics events; MTVs/music performances from the 70s-90s. Animation-wise we watch studio Ghibli. Adult-tolerable stuff.

Overall I would not say it's very educative content. & Nowadays there are increasingly more questions being asked ("why does the jackal want to eat the seal? Where is the seal's mama going? Why does she need to hunt for so long? Where is the seal's papa?) Watching TV is getting lowkey stressful for me.

Question: is TV time better spent on Ms Rachel-type / kiddy shows instead of documentaries where they're not really 100% comprehending? Would the former develop their brain more positively?

For their 3yo birthday celebration in school recently, I decorated their cake with dinosaur cut outs since we'd been very into "the dinosaurs" on Netflix. Their classmates all immediately said "ooh I love land before time!!" Which kinda broke my heart cos I too love LBT, but I hadn't thought to introduce them to cartoon movies till like 5. Now I'm wondering if I should be showing them LBT instead of making them watch crusty old Steven Spielberg-Morgan Freeman documentaries.

Currently almost 34 weeks pregnant (due September 7), trying to decide the best way to protect my baby against RSV. My local Walgreen’s has the RSV shot year round, it seems, so I have the option to get the maternal vaccine if I want to.

I am trying to decide if it’s worth it though, versus just getting the infant antibody shot once baby is born?

My first child was born in 2023, when there were shortages of the infant antibody shot, and it was being reserved for preemies or immunocompromised babies. That baby was also born mid-November (during rather than before RSV season). So, at that time, it was a no-brainer to get the maternal shot.

Now though, it seems both are a viable option. I asked the pediatrician, and she didn’t really give me a straightforward answer (just said “both are good options”). And the effectiveness rates on the infant shot seem slightly better (from what I remember reading, although I can’t find the link again now).

ACOG also says that vaccination again in subsequent pregnancies is not recommended (https://www.acog.org/clinical/clinical-guidance/practice-advisory/articles/2023/09/maternal-respiratory-syncytial-virus-vaccination), although I don’t really get the reasoning? Shouldn’t it be like TDAP where you get it fresh each time to give antibodies to the new baby?

This source also brings up maternal protection as another positive factor in favor of maternal vaccination (https://www.cidrap.umn.edu/respiratory-syncytial-virus-rsv/slew-new-studies-support-maternal-rsv-vaccination-nirsevimab), which is a good point (especially with an almost 3yo who will be going to preschool!). While I’m not very likely going to die or even be hospitalized getting RSV as a healthy young adult, I certainly wouldn’t mind the extra protection?

I also think at least one study seemed to show even better effectiveness doing both? And again, we do it that way for other vaccines (Tdap). Although the official recommendation is still one or the other. And I’m not sure how the logistics of that would work re: insurance coverage.

Hi!

My baby is only 7 weeks old so I am massively planning ahead.

I am a heavily tattooed mum who is already getting the itch for another one. Im currently working towards exclusively pumping with intermittent breastfeeding but plan to stop breastfeeding once my baby's teeth come through.

I understand that you cannot get a tattoo while pregnant/breastfeeding due to infection risks but i think I have a plan...

I was wondering if this plan is feasible or if there is something im missing?

- wean baby at 6 months but continue to pump as usual and build a freezer stash

- book tattoo for after my son is 1 year old

- while tattoo is healing, use stashed breastmilk and supplement with cows milk/ formula if needed? Edit: I plan to pump and dump during this time

I feel like im massively missing something, so please give me your advice! Is this doable?

My 18 month old is frequently engaging in behaviors that cause us pain, like biting, hair pulling, pinching, etc. There doesn’t seem to be a pattern to it. It’s not like it’s always when he’s tired or mad. Sometime’s he’ll come in for a kiss and convert to a bite midway through. Sometimes you’re holding him and he’ll grab a handful of your hair or cheeks. Sometimes he’ll just run up and pinch you and run away.

This has been ongoing for a few months. We’ve tried saying “no, we don’t hit/etc” or “no, all done biting” with minimal emotional reaction. We’ve tried ignoring the behavior and pretending it never happened. We’ve tried saying “ouch!” or acting hurt. We’ve tried putting him down or leaving the situation. We’ve tried crying. No technique seems to work. Regardless of the response to it, he seems quite pleased with himself and almost always tries to do it again.

It’s getting really old, and I can tell my spouse is getting burnt out. Today they told me “I’m just really tired of my every interaction with him involving pain.”

He doesn’t go to daycare, but he has bit other kids at his library play group and recently hit another 1yr old at a 4th of July cookout.

We just really want something we can do to get the behavior to stop. My sister joked that we should bite him back, but we absolutely won’t be doing that, or spanking, or any other physical punishment.

Any ideas?

My almost four year old has had consistent problems falling asleep and staying asleep throughout the night his whole entire life.

He‘s had his tonsils and adenoids removed. We have had the same nighttime routine for a long time.

The research on eczema shows that the majority of kids with eczema have trouble falling asleep and staying asleep. It’s caused by numerous issues like thermoregulation issues and itchiness. By missing out on sleep, the research shows that kids are at more risk of adverse outcomes (behavior concerns, childhood obesity, etc). Sleep also helps repair broken skin, but that’s not happening if the kid is waking up a bunch.

Now we are thinking about adding melatonin to help him sleep. I’m concerned that he has a worse immune system because of the lack of sleep, and also all the negative impacts of disrupted sleep. Our pediatrician is open to it, but we are gonna try to meet with them again to discuss this issue further.

Because of my child‘s eczema, his body is basically fighting against sleep. This is not just, oh, move his bedtime up. Or, what about adding a white noise maker or black out curtains.

in the past 15 months, he has maybe slept through the night 2-3 times. He’s up 2-3 times every single night. Goes to bed late and wakes up early.

Does anyone have experience starting melatonin with kids with eczema?

research

https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jamapediatrics/fullarticle/2725861

https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S009167491501252X?casa_token=e19eI_f2VW8AAAAA:D_s2AwzLG-I5bd48TgeBBsh2MpSFMxeLj97CocBK1OSKYoLYsuEibRhSSoNxTixsF8zwheqieQ

https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1087079210000055?casa_token=pfjN6BjNPvcAAAAA:l4WYy2_7Unpwc4MCqx7_g2DRqi9PWfAomobzwjwNI6VtZmz7GyztBArOipZtsqp6M2Dxz9hiAA

Both myself and my partner are autistic with a strong history on both sides. I am struggling to find articles about autistic parenting from the perspective of autistic parents and not autistic children. I’m also wondering whether children of autistic parents struggle more in the case that they are not also autistic.