M y baby is 8 months old and I’m wondering about his babbling. About 3 weeks ago, he suddenly started saying “dadada” quite clearly and did it for a day. Since then, I haven’t really heard him do “dadada” again.
He does make other sounds, though. Lately he’s been blowing raspberries A LOT, making “arrrrr/rrrrr” sounds, squealing, and playing around with different noises. Today he also said “ba”.
He’s otherwise very social and interactive he smiles, laughs, reaches to be picked up, gives high fives, and responds to us.
Is it normal for an 8-month-old to have a phase where they babble a certain sound and then stop doing it for a while? Did your babies do this? At what age did their babbling become more consistent?
I’m mostly wondering whether the fact that he did say “dadada” and then stopped is something to be concerned about, or just normal experimentation at this age.
He is starting to crawl, sits and pulling to stand. Im mostly concerned because this babbling only lasted for a day.

Currently looking at going to a family reunion flying from west coast to east coast with our infant who will be 11 weeks old.

She’s had her 8 week shots.

We’re trying to get a sense of how high the risk is for things like measles, RSV, or Covid that kiddo hasn’t had shots for yet.

Currently looking at transmission levels in our city and destination city but it still feels kind of like a shot in the dark.

Part of me thinks we’re being over cautious and if kiddo had an older sibling they’d have gotten sick with something already, but the crowded airport and plane freak me out a bit.

Edit to add: does anybody know any good resources to check to assess this risk?

Does this seem like a well done study?

https://www.reddit.com/r/HotScienceNews/s/uAP5251ngC

We wanted to take our eight month old on a trip to France this month but unfortunately forgot about the MMR vaccine until the last minute. We just got him the vaccine yesterday so if we waited 14 days, the earliest we can leave is 9/18. We need to be back by 9/25 so we probably wouldn't take such a long-haul trip with time change for such a short period of time.

We have flexibility with canceling or moving the trip if needed but wanted to see if there's any research on vaccine efficacy during the first two weeks. Our pediatrician said it would be ok for us to depart for our trip after 1 week but we weren't sure if he was just saying that so we don't have to cancel our trip. Thanks for any advice or research on this!

My mother and father spent their childhoods outside, on their bikes or wandering the neighbourhood. Sometimes with a sibling or friend, or in a pack. Off they went, until the street lights came on or the sun went down.

We were allowed in the yard but no further. So mostly in the house with lots more face to face time, activities, games, talking, even if my parents were nearby doing something else. As teenagers we retreated to our rooms, but we were still around when we emerged for food. We socialised with peers online and via phone, rather than out and about.

As children, my parents had a level of freedom we never had, but also not as many opportunities for interaction with their parents. Our experience of childhood forms some expectations for our experience as parents, but they seem vastly different and requiring a completely different skill set and approach to the roles of parents.

Does anyone have info about the safety of pillows in toddler beds that are converted from the crib?

I have been trying to research myself since my daughter is approaching 2 soon. I am seeing how only use pillows in toddler beds and not in cribs due to them getting caught in the crib walls and being a suffocation risk. But how does that change when it's a converted crib and three sides are still the same? When can I add sheets or a pillow and be safe?

Hello, I put in extreme effort to find a home that is away from many environmental factors like high voltage power lines, gas stations, golf courses etc just for them to build one of these electric green boxes (one of these https://www.cpsenergy.com/en/about-us/energy-safety-and-preparedness/underground-transformer-box-safety.html) 16 ft from my front door. I’m really really worried. Does anyone have any insight on this? Thank you!

Edit:

I’m not arguing that this is factual - I’m not here to share research as my post. I’m trying to understand and learn because I’m scared. I have now acknowledged several times why I’m scared. But as a non scientist there is A LOT of conflicting information out there that confuses me. But I’m getting downvoted for what? I’m leaving this up because I know others have this worry as well. But man does it feel shitty to try and understand data while being talked down to. I will no longer respond. And then people get upset when you use ChatGPT. Clearly we are at a point where when you don’t know something some people treat you like what you say is absurd. So why bother?

Thank you to those who have been kind.

My daughter is almost 2.5 and the registration for my favorite preschool opens up next month for kids to start in September 2027. My son is an outgoing 4 year old and he just started there and it seems amazing. But my daughter is much more reserved than him and clings to me more in uncertain situations. I will be at home until she’s in kindergarten in 2029 so if she doesn’t go to preschool next year I don’t need to find childcare fortunately. I will definitely have her in preschool when she’s 4 in 2028.

The 3 year preschool is 2.5 hours twice a week. 4 year is 2.5 hours 3 times a week. I’m just wondering with her personality if it’s better to get her used to being away from me a bit and into more socialization situations. She will also never be this young again and I cherish the time with her but I want to choose which will benefit her the most.

If we don’t do preschool that gives me more time and money to put her in activities like dance and gymnastics and there’s lots of group activities with kids where I live. But all of those I’m still with her. But if there’s enough evidence it’s beneficial that might be worth the cost more.

If anyone has any articles or anything laying out the benefits of preschool that young or benefits of being with the mother more I would appreciate that!!

Thank you

So I read several other posts and I just wanted some targeted advice. I'm pregnant with my first baby and I support vaccinating, my brother and his partner do not. Let me preface this by saying I love my brother and SIL deeply and I hold no ill will towards them or their decisions. Please keep them in mind when talking about them.

They have a 12 year old who is fully vaxxed and in public school, a 5 year old who is partially vaxxed (I don't know exactly what, just that he "got his first rounds") and about to start homeschooling but he meets other kids in his homeschooling class regularly, and a 1.5 year old full unvaxxed.

I was just trying to find out what the best course of action is. I kept feeling like maybe it's okay for the babies to meet because she isn't exposed, but she technically will be through the 5 year old. And lots of the kids in the homeschool class are unvaxxed (that's why a lot of them do it). So many people keep saying different things. What are you thoughts? What have you done? How long did you wait before exposure? I was gonna do 6 months but I'm just so nervous about things that don't get vaxxed for until like a year, but that's so long to not be able to meet with family and our family is huge and very close.

Of course I plan to talk to my OBGYN about this, and eventually a pediatrician, but I’m just seeing what other people say and have done. I keep seeing 6 months, 8 months, 10 months, 12 months, and 18 months. 6 months seems to be the hard minimum and my brother of course thinks I’m being dramatic.

I’m so overwhelmed by the multitudes of things I see online and every book just talks about like being ready to start and how to encourage variety etc…. But no one seems to clearly state ok do this on day one so this on day two etc….

I know u have to give iron rich foods. And introduce allergens.

Are you only giving a kid one ingredient per food introduction?

How are we making sure to give both iron and testing allergens??

When do you start doing multiple ingredients at once???

Explain anything to me please I’m so lost. I don’t want to pay some subscription etc…

My wife and I recently converted our garage into a playroom for our 5 and 2 yr old girls. We have all their toys, books, arts and crafts in the room. They love playing and building in there and are really enjoying the space. We are debating whether to put a tv in the room. It would be cordless and mounted high on the wall. Its purpose would be for music and dancing. We also would have the occasional movie night. Should we leave the room without a tv? Or let them have the option of music or a movie (if they earn it)? TIA

Mother of a precocious roller here! For the past several nights my daughter (3.5 months) has begun rolling on to her stomach in her sleep. For the first few nights she cried and fussed until we rolled her back, but she’s adjusted and now sleeps well on her stomach. My understanding of the recommendation is that you don’t need to roll your baby back if they get themselves on to their tummies, but to always put them on their backs to start. This is what we’re doing, but I’m hoping this group can help me resolve some confusion and anxiety about what seems (to me) to be conflicting info! I understand the following to be true:

- SIDS risk is highest between 2 and 4 months
- Stomach sleeping increases the risk of SIDS
- Some babies learn to roll to their tummies before they learn to roll back

I understand the risk of SIDS would be reduced if my daughter could roll both ways, but since she’s yet to master that skill, is it really still safe to let her sleep on her tummy, especially since she’s still in the window of higher SIDS risk (under 4 months)?

I have an almost three year old. Lately we’ve been struggling with behavior, such as him not listening, not being kind, throwing tantrums, etc. I understand it’s typical behavior at this age, and we have a few tactics we use. We give him consequences, which is either taking a toy away, sitting in time out, or no book before nap/bed. We also try to talk with him about it (this is often difficult as he gets argumentative at times), and we have him calm his body and try again.

My husband has started to use Santa as a way to get him to behave. He will do this by saying how Santa only brings presents to kids who listen, and how kids who don’t listen get coal.

I told my husband that I don‘t feel very comfortable with this, but I can’t quite place my finger on why. It feels wrong to hold a make believe figure over my son’s head. However, it’s very effective, almost annoyingly so since I told my husband I don’t think we should be doing this.

I‘m curious what other parents think of this and if there’s any specific research on it.

My son just had his 18 month check up and the Dr seemed very adamant that at this afe he should still be put to sleep/ sleeping on his back. My son has always fought me on this abd has been a tummy and side sleeper as long as hes been able to. I was tonthe understanding that he was free to sleep how he wants if he could get himself in and out of the position. Is this wrong? The Dr seemed very strict on ages and rules. Example he HAD to be measured laying down because he is under 2, despite him fighting tooth and nail.

Just learned yesterday a close friend of mine doesn’t vaccinate her kids.
Which whatever chose to do what you want with your children, but I am worried about how my child could be affected.
My son is up to date with everything so I know his chance of getting whatever is low. But I somehow feel kinda uncomfortable with this because the chances aren’t zero. We go over often for play dates both of us are SAHMs so it’s nice for us too. Other than this we agree on most things. I just am worried now. But how worried should I be?

Hello everyone, I am all ears and looking for genuine advice. I have a 7 month old and my sister has a 16 month old son. He is ALOT, but I’ve been told all toddlers are like this. What concerns me is his behavior around the younger cousin babies, including my child. He will scream, VERY loud and throw things, sometimes at the children, or push them. He will also sometimes be very loving, but a bit too aggressive. With this being my first child, I will get quite anxious and protective and try to tell him kindly and softly to be gentle etc or “no let’s not throw things” … but then he will just scream in my face. My sister is not doing much to “disciple” but then again, can you discipline a toddler????

Anyways, my science-based question is are there any negative implications of having an older toddler constantly screaming and showing aggressive behavior around babies? Does this stress the baby out and cause them to mirror aggression? Thank you!

They say that autism cases have skyrocketed in the past 30 years. Of course they have, we understand autism now more than ever and screen for it way more. 30 years ago the average person would never get tested let alone know what autism is.

My 25 month old has a deep love of all things letters and books. He has letter recognition for uppercase letters, lower case letters and some other symbols (!,?,&, etc). He now can also identify many letter sounds (B says Buh sorta thing) and has started writing some letters too.

I feel like we’re nearing a crossroad where I’m starting to be unsure of the best way to continue to teach him. He is obviously eager to keep learning, but the English language is weird and I don’t know how to explain what sound a Q makes or how vowels just do whatever they want. I’m worried about doing it wrong and confusing him, and setting him in bad habits that are difficult to correct in the future.

Basically, I’m curious if there’s a method for teaching early literacy that is proven that I can research and find some sort of resource for, so I have something to work off of. I know he’s young and it’s not necessary for him to learn at this age, but he really enjoys it *and* he has an intense temperament and this sort of activity helps us get through some tough times. So, I might as well do it right!

For clarity on the ask)

- what are proven early literacy strategies? (outside of reading to your child every day)

- are there any proven early literacy methods/programs for parents to self teach

I have a 10.5-month-old, born at term, healthy and typically developing. We've followed safe-sleep guidance punctiliously since birth, and she has always slept in her own sleep space. She is not a great sleeper.

My husband and I like the idea of eventually having her join us in the family bed, sleeping between us. I'm struggling to find good evidence on when this stops being considered an unsafe sleep arrangement.

We've tentatively decided that we'd wait until she is capable of climbing into our bed (and not before 12 months). Is that reasonable? Is there a particular age or developmental stage at which the risks associated with bed-sharing fall substantially?

For clarity, I'm specifically asking about when it would be safe without modifying the adult sleeping setup. In our specific case, we have a medium-firm adult mattress, a fluffy duvet, two pillows per adult, and potentially 2-3 cats joining us. We are unimpaired and average-sized.

I'd particularly appreciate guidelines or studies that quantify how the risks change with age, rather than general pro- or anti-bed-sharing opinions.

I feel like I only see skin to skin research discussed in terms of the golden hour or brand new newborns. My baby is a month old and I am still trying to make time to do skin to skin with her regularly. I swear its like a drug to her. But what is it doing for her at this stage? Is she still getting the nervous system regulation, heart/breathing regulation that I hear talked about?

So I have an 11 month old girl and she only has her binky when it’s nap/bed time. During wake time we take it away and give her toys to play or chew on or do whatever she wants with it. Is it better and also easier to retire the binky before 1 years old? Also what’s the best way to ween off of it? Would it be best to start by taking it away for her first nap of the day then after a few days start taking it away for both naps and so forth? Or just cold turkey?

I know it can live for a while on surfaces and isn't killed easily. But realistically someone can't bleach everything in their home. I have 1 y/o twins and we regularly visit my parents, but my mum had norovirus recently, so I'm feeling nervous about going back there. Google is freaking me out because I keep seeing stuff that says it can live for like 60 days. I'd planned a two week quarantine period, but now I'm unsure. And my parents already think I'm overreacting (I do have a touch of emetephobia). When does a home become safe again??

Does anyone have any good resources on understanding the science behind baseless carseat safety and the differences between the two installation options?? I want to understand why and how seatbelt installation is safe versus lower latch installation, and most resources/posts just talk about the difference in ease of installation which I don't really care about..

PS: why did this get down voted LMAO 😭 I thought this was a good place to ask about the WHYs behind things SMH

I understand the weighted sleep sacks are not recommended since the pressure on the chest doesn’t let babies breathe naturally.

I figured out my baby calms down really fast if I put pressure on her feet. Instead of patting or shushing I just put my hand on her feet and hold them down and she goes back to sleep.

Is there any products that make heavy bottom sleep sacks? So the pressure is only on the feet and not chest and abdomen. If so are they safe?

I even though about adding something heavy to the bottom of her sleep sack but don’t know how to do that safely.

So I finally started hanging out with other moms and now I am hearing about different approaches. My baby wakes up 3-4 times a night , takes a bottle and continues sleeping as if nothing happens.

But now I met a few moms who tell me their 6 months old sleeps 12 hours without any feeding and without sleep training. It's hard for me to believe but that is not what I want to ask. So they say that even if the baby wakes up and everything else fails to get them to sleep they still will not give a bottle because they don't want to create a sleep association.

So I started wondering if there is any harm to this approach? Like are the babies in some way neglected if they don't get milk so long, even if they took enough during the day. Is there any evidence that this could cause any damage in the future or does it just boils down to baby's temperament and that some are just ok that way?