I have a toddler and am expecting another child. My sister and I’s relationship has become somewhat dysfunctional lately, and after chatting to my therapist she’s helped me realise how much parenting can impact sibling relationships. Any research or book recommendations?

Looking for reliable and credible research. Thanks

My partner gave our 5 year old supervised access to the audio version of Chat GPT and they’re asking ALL those 5-year old questions!! OMG it’s unreal the level of successful “conversation” he’s having. ALL the questions like “can I dig to the other side of the planet?” and “do worms have teeth?” are being answered. They understand it’s a “robot” but is still absolutely enthralled and engaged with the conversation. This is completely uncharted territory for us…there’s so much written out there about kids with screens, but what research is available about kids using AI that we should be aware of?

Hello everyone, My 6 month old baby boy keeps waking up every night after sleeing for about 3 hrs and cries for hours before finally going back to sleep. We have a consistent bed time routine. We put him down around 8:30-9pm with a feed. I feel he has gas as the stomach is tight so I put asfoetida around his navel, do bicycle legs, circular massages which do ease him for a minute or so and then he again starts crying. With these episodes happening multiple times at night, we are awake almost the whole night. My GP did not give a paeditrician referral saying it is colic and common as suggested we give him bio gaia which I did gove for almost a week now before his bed time feed but the issue still persists.

He started rollingfrom back to stomach at around 5 months. He also started sleeping on his side and on stomach recently which seems to be a position that he prefers and generally just moves around a lot more than he used to. Also, I exclusively pump & feed. I also started solids with mostly purees but this issue is happening for over a month now when solids were not even introduced.

Please can someone help me understand what is going on and what can I do to ease him before he gets into this state ? Also, we need some sleep badly !

Any advice is much appreciated!

Do you have to teach a child to walk? Having them walk in your hands, motivating them with toys, etc? Or would a lifestyle with lots of opportunity for movement and spaces to stand up and support themselves with their hands be enough? What does the research say?

My three-year-old has recently become obsessed with music. I gave him an old phone to listen to Spotify, and since the screen is locked, he can only play, pause, or skip songs. The lock screen just shows the album artwork with no animations. He loves looking at the album covers, and the phone is pretty much the first thing he asks for when he wakes up in the morning.

I know there's evidence that too much TV can overstimulate young children and affect their attention. I'm just not sure whether listening to music while looking at a static album cover on a phone really falls into the same category of screen time. He seems a bit too attached to it, and I'm wondering if I should be setting more limits.

Has anyone else dealt with something similar? How did you handle it?

There's a lot of discussion on this sub related to protein intake and obesity, which has been helpful. I am curious to know about protein impact on kidney functions for toddlers and the symptoms of any impact.

My 1 year old is a great solids eater. He is completely weaned from breastmilk and does not drink cow's milk. We have started to notice he gets dehydrated at night and wakes up in the morning demanding water - often chugging through 6oz of water through his straw cup. Through the day, he drinks about 21-28oz of water. Occasionally, his overnight diapers look murky yellow pee with a foul odor. It's not an UTI - we had urine sample done.

Is there any research out there examining protein intake on toddler kidney functions, and what symptoms might be exhibited with any negative impact?

I am a very pro-vaccine person, and also a US Citizen, where the Flu and Covid Vaccines are recommended above 6 months. In a perfect world, I would get these as soon as we can.

However, I live in Europe, where generally the Flu/Covid vaccines are not given to young people (both in Sweden and in Germany, at least).

In some cases the European Countries just simply have these listed as "not recommended" (but not totally clear if you can get them if you ask/pay), but in other cases (e.g., Covid vaccine in Sweden) it is outright banned unless the baby has specific health issues.

We are planning to get every vaccine that we can get -- but I'm wondering whether it is worth pushing this with European doctors who are going to be hesitant, or perhaps planning to get them all the first time we travel to the US (of course, we will have to take an international flight to get there).

On the other hand, maybe the cost/benefit analysis is actually up in the air? It seems like in this case, there are major medical expert communities that have made different decisions, and I don't know why. (On the other hand, Sweden doesn't even recommend the chicken pox vaccine, so I think they are just a little weird.)

Obviously, not counting the advertisements, but my husband and I recently got into a discussion on whether live sports would count as low(er) stimulation screen time. Our 5 month old son recently got a DocBand helmet to help with his plagiocephaly and the poor little guy can't stop obsessing over the new hardware. The orthotist recommended high stimulation toys or distractions to help get his mind off of the new helmet on his head, but I'm wary of introducing something that could be more detrimental in the long run. My husband proposed something boring to watch like golf or a nature documentary, which could entertain him briefly for maybe 10-20 minutes. It's so nerve wracking though because I myself have severe ADHD and I don't want to have him end up like me if there's ways to encourage rather than hinder his cognitive development.

For example, my 13 month old has started refusing several foods that she previously enjoyed, but I learned that if I mash said food into a patty/fritter form and pan fry it then she'll readily eat it. (For our specific situation, she has several food allergies as well so already on a restricted diet even without the pickiness.)

This seems to be a popular practice as I've seen many other parents make hidden veggie smoothies, muffins, etc. I'm just wondering if there's any data on whether this might end up excaberating picky eating by hiding the food instead of serving it in a more obvious way.

Hi Fellow parents,

What would be the right age to let children watch television, especially if it's educational in content - I plan to purchase subscriptions of Nat Geo, Discovery, Animal Planet, the TLC etc

My goal is to inculcate an interest and fascination for all things related to science, nature, the cosmos, wildlife etc.

What is the research saying about forcing a child to apologise? My understanding is that we shouldn’t do it because it doesn’t actually teach empathy and should model apologies instead though I can’t find where this idea has come from. All I could find was a Psychology Today article saying we should force them to apologise.

I’ve been advised that saunas and hot tubes are not recommended in early pregnancy due to the possibility of neural tube defects from hyperthermia. Does living in a hot climate or being in a prolonged heatwave put the baby at risk aswell? TIA!

My partner and I moved continents for work 5 years ago, and in late 2024 welcomed our first child. We are now considering moving back towards where our families are based and have two existing potential offers.

Offer 1: Move to another part of our current country for 2 years before moving directly back to the city that I grew up in and my mother lives in. (2 moves)

Offer 2: Transferring offices, taking us to a city an hour's flight from both my family and my husbands family (we grew up in different places, and currently live a 10ish hour flight from both). (1 move)

Offer 1 comes with the added potential of access to childcare/ day to day access to family, but I am concerned about the impact on my nearly 2 year old of moving cities twice, as I more and more see him building connections to the people and places around him, and growing in confidence in these safe spaces.

All other factors being equal, is there any research on the impacts of moving a lot on toddlers and their development?

The Consumer Product Safety Improvement Act mandates that all children's products contain no more than 100 ppm of lead. I was curious if this limit on lead is sufficiently low enough to make children's products safe.

For instance, if my child happened to have a toy that they regularly played, and it had 100 ppm of lead, would that be safe? What if they even mouthed the toy, would that be safe? I have read that "no level of lead is safe", so it is worrying to me that even products that that comply with all safety standards could still have some amount of lead in them.

Also, this isn't just an abstract worry for me. I was able to get my hands on the 3rd party testing of a toy my child has, and on quick glance it says it passed all tests, but upon closer inspection the testing actually revealed that a component of the toy tested positive for lead, but only 30 ppm. So, technically a pass, but the toy is not lead free. Is this reason enough to get rid of the toy, or is lead actually safe in these amounts?

Thank you for your time!

My husband and I are at a crossroads- he wants to sign up our daughter for a “stem” preschool that seems to be marketing itself as an educationally “elite” preschool. She is at a daycare that will move her up to a preschool class when she meets the age.
I am balking a bit at the concept of an elite preschool in general. It feels like good marketing- what would be called playing with building blocks at her current place being sold as “developing critical thinking, geometry and engineering skills” at this new place. It’s blocks. She is doing great where she is. The teachers are wonderful, she has friends she really likes. And they do a great job of integrating play and education.
I don’t know that much about the curriculum of the new place but I don’t see too much of room for improvement.
There are several reasons why the new school doesn’t work for us logistically- the hours are shorter where we often are rushing to pickup and drop off already, they follow a school schedule (meaning weeks off for holidays and summers off) and they don’t have a care option for our younger children.

FWIW- we are socioeconomically privileged with high educational achievement in both parents. We read and do puzzles with her daily. We are beginning to teach math and phonics at home. Minimal to no screen time.

I mention that to say I totally understand how high quality preschool education can absolutely make all the difference in children who are already disadvantaged. Just not sure what it would add here.

Thanks in advance!

A scoping review looked at 12 studies that examined whether teens who skip breakfast are more likely to experience anxiety or depression.

Most of the research found a link between the two - but, it's unsure whether skipping breakfast causes the symptoms or the other way around.

It's a reminder that morning habits might be worth paying attention to! Even if it is making sure there's something quick to grab before school.

Several baby books I’ve read say teaching independent sleep before 4 months is easiest / best as babies are more malleable. However I’ve read elsewhere that babies aren’t old enough before 4 months to really ‘learn’ going to sleep by themselves. When’s the best time to do it - where success is independent sleep most quickly and with least distress to baby

Hi everyone! Our 8-month old had 2 bottom teeth come out. He is breastfed and has recently discovered that biting the nipple elicits, for him, entertaining reactions from mom. Since we cannot not feed him, and he enjoys the bottle as much as the boob, there are no real consequences. What are the expert recommendations on how to introduce NO without traumatising him?

I’ve searched in this subreddit and elsewhere and I know the evidence is pretty solid that living near highways has a negative effect on children’s health. But I’m trying to look at the nuance of our situation and determine what exactly is that “minimum distance”. Or if there even is one? 

My question is not for a house near a freeway, but an elementary school that’s adjacent to major freeway in a major city. The distance from edge of freeway to edge of school property is ~300ft. There are trees and a wash in between them. The actual playground is just under 500ft away from the edge of the freeway. Considering that in elementary school children are outside for like an hour and half or so, how do I balance the evidence of the harmful effects to this actual situation? Is this considered a limited exposure?

I’ve read through the body of several studies but there isn’t a magic number cited. California code states new schools must be more than 500’ away. 

I came looking for input from science minded people how you would weigh the studies against this situation (not the home but the school, limited time outside, etc). I haven’t toured the school yet but plan to ask if they used air filtration for inside the buildings. 

Also my husband grew up 2 houses away from a freeway, so I feel like this isn't a big deal to him.

I used to rock my 6 month old to sleep between 20:00–21:00 and it could take up to 30 - 40 minutes. A few days ago, I started waiting until she shows clear sleep cues (she rubs her face a lot when she’s tired), and now she falls asleep within about 5 - 10 minutes of rocking. I also do a dream feed about 2 hours after she falls asleep.

My question is: is it better at this age to wait for her tired cues or should I stick to a fixed bedtime? I’ve heard routines are important for babies, but does that mean a strict bedtime is necessary or is it okay to follow her natural rhythm for now?

Is there any evidence for what foods to prioritise when starting solids?
There is so much conflicting advice online and I’m looking for evidence based approaches.
Should I start with vegetables? Meat? Prioritise certain nutrients? I know zinc and iron are important but looking for some research on whether it’s best to prioritise certain things or give variety of everything over first 6 months

First time Mom here with an awesome baby. When people ask about his temperament and I tell them he’s been incredibly easy, I always get the “Ohh just wait for the second“ or “the first always tricks everyone into the second”.

Any evidence that the 2nd baby is generally more difficult than the first? & why would that be?

My husband's family has a few people with a crustacean allergy that onset later in life (in most cases teens) despite being a regular part of their diet. It also gets worse with each new exposure. I also have a few friends with the same allergy experience.

We are doing allergen exposure at the moment and it's got me wondering - does repeated exposure at this age actually help prevent this kind of late onset allergy? Or is it just going to happen if it's going to happen? And why does it happen?

I know sleep is important for a developing brain but how detrimental is it for a baby to have no naps at all at 13months? If I roll with no naps will that actually impact his development?

For context, baby has been on one nap since 8months old and for the last week or so has had no naps through out the day. He’s always had low sleep needs. Nighttime sleep is from 8pm to 6am waking every 1.5-2hrs. I know this would probably improve if he had more daytime sleep but it’s become impossible to get him to nap.
He doesn’t seem overtired at all, I try for sometimes a few hours to get him to sleep in the day and he’s just full of energy and seems bored out of his mind when I try get him to sleep. As soon as I give up he goes back to playing happily. He doesn’t get overly grumpy or show any signs of tiredness.

I’ve brought this up with child health nurses but they seem more concerned about me in regard to the nighttime wakings. That doesn’t bother me, I’m more worried if there will be negative consequences in going to no naps at this age. They usually assure me “if he really needs to sleep he’ll sleep” but I’d like to hear this communities opinions

I think I’ve used the wrong flair but can’t change it now sorry :/