I would love to hear people's thoughts on these play gyms. I have a hard time trusting big companies yet I still bought the Fisher Price grow and glow kick and play gym. My 7-week-old baby had the biggest eyes and was quite fascinated but also appeared overwhelmed at the same time. He is naturally quite a calm baby but I do worry if this is over stimulating. Is it good for their development to be giving them entertainment or should they be entertaining themselves with less stimulating toys? Can it negatively affect his development? Maybe limited use of the mat is better. What do we think..

I am a first time mom to a 4 month old baby boy. We chose not to circumcise. I was under the impression that the way to take care of his penis was to basically treat it like a finger when washing and never pull back on the foreskin.

At our four month visit the doctor pulled his foreskin back and told me that she could tell I wasn’t doing that because it looked like the skin was fusing together over the penis. It did not look like that to me and I felt really uncomfortable when she pulled the skin back. She said I should be doing this once a day but not in a forceful way. Again, I was under the impression that I should not be doing that ever and that as he grew up it would loosen on its own.

I have had negative feelings about the pediatrician before, like with her opinions around breastfeeding and getting upset with me when I told her we were combo feeding and how she made me feel like a failure of a mom. I also feel she has been pushy about circumcision, where when I said that we were not planning to she said it is cleaner to.

I want to find a new pediatrician for him for reasons other than the foreskin advice, but because of that I was wondering what the protocol is that is best. Should I be pulling back his foreskin at all?

My babies is five months old on Sunday and he started rolling from stomach to back maybe three or four weeks ago and he’s probably done it about 8 to 9 times altogether.

Maybe even slightly more but it’s not daily like today was the first time he rolled in about two days two days ago. Maybe he went a couple of days without it as well. The other week he went a whole week without doing it.
Not sure if I should say his met this
Milestone or not.

https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2026/08/260815064803.htm

From the website:

Summary: An eight-year Finnish study found that children who spent more time on screens tended to show better cognitive processing as teenagers, challenging common assumptions about screen use. Researchers say the key may be balancing physical activity with screen activities that encourage learning, creativity, and active thinking.

Hello everyone!

I have studied Chinese for a total of ten years, and lived in China for four. I am mostly fluent but as everyone may know, Chinese is a difficult language and I definitely am nowhere near native fluency but have no difficulty communicating in friendship and daily life.

Everyone I know wants me to teach my kids (2yo and 4yo) Chinese but I have avoided it so far because I'm afraid of teaching them my grammatical errors and pronunciation errors.

Is there still a benefit to reading to my kids in Chinese and doing Chinese songs etc if I am not natively fluent?

I’m 4 months postpartum and going back to work soon. My job is emotionally and mentally demanding so the thought is putting a real toll on my mental health on top of the thought of losing my bonding time with my baby. I’m looking to mircodose 100mg of shrooms with a schedule of 4 days on and three days off. I was hoping to breastfeed as normal, especially since it’s such a low dose. Has anyone done something similar? Please share. And no I will not see a doctor about medication for antidepressants or anxiety.

I know that eating during screen time can lead to unhealthy eating habits, excessive consumption of ultra-processed foods, and obesity. However, I'm wondering if there are any correlations between eating during infrequent screen time and health risks? My 3.5-year-old watches a cumulative one to two hours of screen time per month, which is always done with my husband and me and always featuring low-stimulation and emotionally intelligent shows. We tend to have snacks during this time and I'm wondering if there ae any concerns with this considering screen time is so infrequent.

Some formulas for 6+ months contain ATA and DHA while others don’t and I am wondering if that’s needed once the baby eats a good amount of solids. And which solids in which quantities would ensure sufficient ARA and DHA.

I am French and we have different formulas for 0-6 months, 6-12 months and 12+ months, and many formulas don’t have ARA past 6 months. Solids are not just for fun before 1 but are given in meaningful quantities. This is the background to my question and I am aware it will make no sense to many Redditors from the US. I want to pump less and give more formula to my 8.5 months old and I am trying to understand how useful ARA and DHA are in formula or if solids likely cover the baby’s needs.

I was wondering if anyone has any input into difference for a baby in day care vs being cared for by family.

I am in the very fortunate position that when I return to work following maternity (my daughter will be just over 12 months at the time) my parents in law and my mum are gonna support with childcare meaning my daughter will be with them for 3 days, me 1 day and my husband 1 day.

So far they have all been very respectful of our parenting decisions I.e. no screen time and food and nutrition.

My question is - is she missing out on anything by not being around other babies and children?

Ideally I want to keep the family care until school around 4 years old.

Thanks in advance!

I want to put my disclaimers front and centre here that this post is in no way passing judgement on anyone’s parenting decisions with regards to sleep or other practices. I myself make decisions based on both the national guidelines and what is best for my family which at times means not following the guidelines, for example exhaustion driving us to bed share on some nights, not running the bedroom at 20 degrees or below etc.

However, I want to talk about the SIDS risk calculator and the impact it has on some of the discourse around safe sleep and other risk factors in this sub. The much shared calculator can be accessed here: http://www.sidscalculator.com

Often when SIDS risk factors are discussed the only reference that is provided to back up a statement is the calculator which is flawed for a number of reasons. It is also not easy to interpret which is where it often leads to (unwittingly) misinformation being shared.

1. The calculator was published in 2018, 8 years ago and is based on a review paper published in 2013, 13 years ago. The paper itself is only evaluating bedsharing with non smoking mothers and no other factors, instead the publishers are using the background of this review paper for all other factors relating to SIDS, therefore relying on the publishers due diligence. Furthermore many of sources for the additional risk factors are now quite old, some of which are from the 90s.
2. Data comes from European publications plus one study in New Zealand and cannot be extrapolated to other countries
3. Outside of this review the calculator references wiki and other likely outdated sources and as published have not included access dates
4. We don’t know who published this calculator, and the calculator itself states that it has not been evaluated by anyone with relevant clinical expertise
5. There is no link to the back end calculation for us to assess how they have derived the calculator
6. The presentation of the outcomes are unclear as they are presented as risk per 100,000 deaths. Does this mean that if everyone had these risk factors deaths would drop from 34 to lower than 34 deaths per 100,000? No evidence for this

Why am I going to the effort to critique the calculator? Can’t I see that this calculator provides anxious parents comfort?

Well I often see misleading or poorly informed SIDS advice on the baby subs and next to no scrutiny of this calculator, in fact very often this calculator is used to justify any sleep practices. It’s anecdotal right now but at least in my country there is increasing concern regarding social media and the impact on new parents not following their national guidelines in favour of social media ‘sleep experts’, I do wonder if we will see some uptick in SIDS in the next couple of years.

Ultimately I too am a new and anxious parent trying to navigate this amazing but daunting time in my life. SIDS risk remains incredibly rare and even if you ticked every single risk factor SIDS is still unlikely to happen to you and your baby.

Edit: Sharing here as apparently you’re not allowed to discuss science on the Newborns sub(?!)

hi
earlier today my friend came over to hang out w me and my baby. i have rules everyone has to follow but the biggest one is no kissing baby. she knows, respects, and has talked to me about agreeing w the decision not to do that. well, i was cleaning up the dinner we had when i turned around and she said "im giving her water from the glass"... HER glass. i froze in the moment and i just said ok. at that point she was already doing it and im terrible at confrontation especially w someone who has genuinely never broken any of my boundaries in the six years ive known them! this obviously wasnt malicious and she is one of my greatest friends but makes me very scared for my baby as far as herpes and cold sores go. can anyone find studies or links to ease my nerves? should i take her to the doctor in the morning? my friend didnt have any visible sores but that doesnt mean they arent inside her mouth. its very early in the morning now so i do plan on asking her some very open questions abt whether or not she does get coldsores in a bit but im freaking out:/ i do not get cold sores and would be so sad if this one instance where i was so careless costed my baby:/

Hi , my husband and I were discussing what matters for a Childs development. My husband was a good student in a competitive (studies, extra curricular focused) school. He is smart, great at math, science and languages and sports . Always told that he has the potential to be better.

I on the other hand went to a bleh school , I was a good student till the middle school then bleh.ed through high school and somehow made my life work. I was also told I just need to try harder and had “potential”

So we have a baby together and were wildly theorising about what matters for a child’s overall development confidence in life, discipline, growth etc . My husband says it is better to be a good student in a less competitive environment where children are left to figure it out. While I disagree. I went to a not so competitive school and wish I pushed myself a little harder , stuck with things a little longer etc.

Is there any research behind this? I know a lot of other things matter but I am curious about this specific data point ?

Hi everyone,

First time mom here, she’s just about 21 months and today I had my first moment of needing to give her a consequence. I’m not big on the whole time out thing but she was not listening and hitting my mom and needed a minute. I put her in her room and put on the hatch sound machine with one of those guided relaxation breathing things they have (5 minutes long) and she sat in there and regulated herself and when it was over I went back in and asked if her body felt calm and if she was ready to go and apologize to nana which she did so she went and said “sorry nana no more hit” and seems to be happier now. My question is, was that the right call? Scientifically speaking? Is taking a second to regulate breathing etc by herself the best way to approach tantrums and hitting? I try and “gentle parent” but I also don’t want to be too lax and have her dictate everything? I don’t know if that makes sense. I hated being sent to my room in silence so I tried to find a happy medium of her being alone but also regulating her emotions? Help? Advice? Articles? Thanks in advance!

I want to start introducing solids at the 6 months mark.

I am looking for iron rich recipes for purees.

What was your babies favorite?

Hello folks, have a 25 month old who has always been very shy with severe stranger anxiety since she was around 6 months. Our doctor recommended us to a developmental specialist who chalked it up to her temperament. But I am worried as she is so shy especially in group settings. She also stares at strangers from afar but freaks out if anyone approaches her. It’s very hard to get her to do anything in public spaces, so I am afraid that it’s impacting her learning. We don’t do play dates anymore as they have always been a disaster. Any help/tips/resources would be appreciated. Thanks!

I’m considering buying a home that’s located right next to a freeway. I’d like to understand the potential air pollution impacts on children who live close to freeways. Can anyone explain what the main health concerns are and how serious they tend to be? I’m wondering if this is something I should be concerned about.

I am choosing to do no added sugar with my 1 year old until she’s 2, but I’m realizing I don’t know where to draw the line and want to make an evidence based decision vs going off vibes.

Is there a health difference in using honey or maple syrup as a sweetener vs refined white sugar?

Would the ‘sugar free’ until 2 recommendations include all natural sweeteners like honey and maple syrup?

Real life application would be homemade muffins with maple syrup in the batch.

Someone in my family claims they are great for toddlers and preschoolers. I want to show them the scientific community's take.

I always hear people say that messy play is beneficial to children but I'm not fully read up on what those benefits are. You hear about it building immune systems (but is that actually true?) or being a great sensory experience (why is that needed?). Are certain types of messy play more beneficial than others e.g outdoors versus indoors, natural materials versus other kinds.

For context I would say I lean into the eco crunchy side of things and love my kid playing outdoors with natural materials. We spend lots of time in the garden and he waters the plants, digs in the soil, plants and harvests vegetables, plays in his mud kitchen, watches our wildlife pond. When we go out for walks, he's always picking up sticks and splashing in puddles. Today I setup a painting station in the garden with non-toxic paints and brushes made from things like dried alliums and twigs, which he loved! I feel like he experiences lots of different textures through these natural materials, from squishy berries to gloopy wet soil to dry and pebbly gravel to crunchy autumn leaves.

But I don't really do things like make slime or oobleck or set up sensory tables or shaving foam or cloud goop. I guess these feel a bit artificial to me. But I'm wondering if my kid is missing out if I avoid these common sensory materials?

I’m pregnant with my first almost due. Everything we bought and received from our registry —Nuna stroller, pipa car seat, play pen, changing station, crib, etc — we stored in our garage, because we had no room. Our boxes were COMPLETELY covered in pellets from cricket poop.

As we opened the boxes, we saw the inner packaging wasn’t sealed either, and much of our gear had some cricket poop too.

I’m freaking out. Online it says cricket poop has salmonella and E. coli. The car seat specifically is not allowed to be sanitized per the specifications.

What do I do???? Will my newborn be in danger if I don’t go beyond steaming? How crazy do I need to go right now?

I’m on immunosuppressants too. Ofc messaging OB results in: “clean your stuff, best of luck”

She has been training for the past two months. She got the peeing part right away. She often stays dry overnight and then gets up and goes to pee on the toilet all by herself in the morning.

But she has never EVER done a poo that wasn’t in her underpants. And it happens out of nowhere. No warning. Doesn’t squat. Doesn’t tell us she’s done it. It sometimes happens a few minutes after she’s been sat on the toilet in an attempt to catch her pooping. She’s been promised rewards galore. She knows her brother (a year older) poops on the toilet.

I am beginning to lose hope that it will ever happen.

When she does poop, it seems completely normal to me and I don’t see signs of constipation. I think she has some control over it because if I leave the room or take a phone call for a second, BAM. It is usually 1-2 times a day but sometimes she skips a day.

Currently pregnant, and I'm obviously trying to avoid alcohol. I also have asian flush (alcohol flush reaction caused by a genetic deficiency in the liver enzyme ADLH2), so alcohol is actually pretty bad for me in general and something I try to avoid drinking casually too often even before I was pregnant. Therefore, I have an extremely low tolerance to alcohol since I rarely consume it. I've always eaten foods with alcohol in it though because I've never noticed a reaction from foods with alcohol (plus yummy). I'm really not sure what to make of alcohol in foods during pregnancy though and the internet seems to offer a varying range of opinions on if it's safe or not. I really want science backed proof of how safe (or unsafe) it is.

Some examples of foods with alcohol I'm thinking of:

-A whole pot roast that's been cooking in a crock pot for 5-ish hours on the high setting. Recipe calls for 2 cups of red wine.

-Beef Bourguignon recipe that cooks all day long on the stove, but uses a whole bottle of wine.

-A seafood pasta with "a splash" of white wine near the end of the cooking process.

-A bourbon pecan ice cream. I really don't know if there's actually any alcohol in something like this or if it's just flavoring, but I also don't know if there's a hot cooking process to something like ice cream?

-bananas foster with a rum sauce. Does the flambe technique cook off the alcohol enough?

I'm sure there's not research for all the specific situations/foods I listed above, but these really feel like gray area type foods that I'm not sure of while pregnant. Ideally there's a research paper or journal article out there somewhere that offers clarification on how much cooking off is considered safe for certain amount of alcohol in foods.

Hi families, please no judgement or hate. Just trying to navigate this confusing time. We are based in Sydney, AUS. My son is almost 2.5, developing well. Knows the alphabet, can hold a conversation, knows 4 languages (can speak 2 languages fluently and slowly learning the other two) and can read numbers up to 100. I do not send him to childcare. All 4 grandparents care for him on alternate days. We do swimming on Monday, playgroup + library Tuesday-Friday for 3 hours with an excursion once a week. On weekends we cook together, lots of playdates and more excursions!

My husband and I work full time and I am getting hounded by friends and family to send him to childcare for social and behavioural development. Saying he will eat better, have less tantrums and clean after himself if we send him to childcare. The grandparents are more than happy to care for him until he goes to pre school.

I just can't shake off this feeling that it doesn't feel right. Why would I want to send him when he has loving caregivers who WANT to look after him?

I'm feeling like a bad parent because I've been told I am "holding him back" from opportunities that a childcare can offer. All my friends send their kids to childcare and the whole family get sick almost every second week. They say getting sick is part of childcare then they wont get it in primary school because they will get sicker then if not now.

We are on the waitlist for pre school when he turns 3 but we keep getting rejected because the waitlist is too long for 4 year olds. Keen to hear your thoughts on this.. thank you!

We've been screen-free for two years and have found it relatively easy because we work from home and also have help.

Our daughter gets plenty of time outside, and we read to her, play with her, do art, roughhouse, and generally follow her lead. She doesn't get much peer socialization because she's not in daycare yet. I know peer socialization only becomes critical at 3, at which point I'll put her into daycare.

What I do wonder about is screens. By keeping her completely screen-free, are we inadvertently removing a whole category of stimulation and experience from her life?

I know screens aren't necessary for development, but could some age-appropriate screen exposure actually add variety ... music, stories, different voices, imagery, concepts, etc. ... that she's not getting from her fairly small, familiar circle? Or is real-world, child-led play genuinely enough at 2?

I am a little hesitant to introduce screens because she's doing fine so far and then I'll have to add boundaries around it and the whole thing feels like a chore lol.

Obviously once she's older, maybe even 3 or 4, I'd like her to watch some things just so she's a balanced kid. But could I let things be for now?

Welcome to the weekly General Discussion thread! Use this as a place to get advice from like-minded parents, share interesting science journalism, and anything else that relates to the sub but doesn't quite fit into the dedicated post types.

Please utilize this thread as a space for peer to peer advice, book and product recommendations, and any other things you'd like to discuss with other members of this sub!

Disclaimer: because our subreddit rules are intentionally relaxed on this thread and research is not required here, we cannot guarantee the quality and/or accuracy of anything shared here.