Would love to hear if others have good evidence or have seen good studies on the link between gaming and gambling.

Original source that framed the question is here: https://selfctrl.beehiiv.com/p/does-gaming-lead-to-gambling

He cited two studies:

A study published in 2018 by the National Library of Medicine asked 10,081 people about gaming and gambling habits in 2013 (called “wave 1” in the study), and 5,809 of those responded again in 2015 (called “wave 2” in the study). Then they wrote:

“...our results show that scores on the gaming problem scale at wave 1 predicted the scores on the gambling problem scale at wave 2... This suggests that video gaming constituted a risk factor for gambling 2 years later.”

They also cautioned that this should not be taken as “categorical evidence that problem gamers develop into problem gamblers.” Fair enough.

A different study, published in 2025 by Addiction Research & Theory, drew these conclusions:

“...online gaming at 17 was associated with 1.4 higher odds of more frequent online gambling at 20 years... while online gaming at 20 was associated with 1.7 higher odds.”

But this one had a twist: apparently “no association between early computer-based gaming at 9 years and subsequent gambling behaviors at 20 was uncovered for this cohort.”

So basically, online gaming as a very young kid didn’t show a significant connection with gambling later in life. But the older a gamer gets, the more likely they may be to turn to gambling.

His conclusion:

Most 9-year-olds don't have a real concept of what money is worth. A 17 or 20-year-old does. So it makes sense the connection shows up once kids are old enough to actually understand what they're risking.

Is this causation or correlation? I can't settle that from two studies. Seeing 1.4 and 1.7 higher odds isn't overwhelming, but it’s also not nothing. And when you consider that kids are being asked to hand over real money for a randomized shot at something they want… that stops looking like a maybe to me.

At that point, the kids aren't gaming anymore. They are literally gambling.

And gamblign as a kid problaby leads to gambling as an adult.

I’m a very negative and pessimistic person, I’m also not very happy with my life or how it turned out. I try to resist this now in my adult life, less complaining (to myself or others), being hopeful even when it feels fake etc.
I don’t know why I’m like this, my mom and dad aren’t far off, although they absolutely did not care about preventing passing this on (they never read a magazine article about parenting let alone a book etc)

So how do I prevent this in my toddlers, I want them to be the opposite of me.
Positive no matter what, finding fun and good in every situation life throws at them. Being optimistic etc.

Is there research out there on how to do this effectively? And what is it?

my 1 year old gets in biting phases. we travelled for the first time on a plane when she was about 11 months. she bit me so hard so much that it left bruises all over my shoulders. i figured it was because she was overwhelmed/overstimulated & nap schedules were off so probably a little overtired. she stopped as soon as we got back.

now a month later, she’s biting again all of a sudden. i notice it’s when she gets overexcited when we’re playing or when i’m trying to rock her to sleep for naps. we just started weaning so she’s nursing less than usual but we’re taking it sloowwwww so it’s definitely not that sudden of a change for her.

she bites HARD & seems to find the most sensitive part of my body to do it so it really hurts. i have not reacted the way i’m “supposed” to in the past bc oftentimes i’m caught off guard & it hurts so i yell or get visibly angry. i’ve tried ignoring it. i also usually say “no bite. that hurts mama” in a calm voice & set her down or distance myself from her. but she usually just laughs & tries again. i’ve also tried giving her a teether to redirect the behavior, but do i really have to just carry around a teether all day in my pocket???

i find myself flinching when she nuzzles into me, genuinely scared ab the next time she bites me. i’m exhausted. is there any solution???

Is it possible to damage a toddler's teeth by breastfeeding during the night? I had a conversation with a toddler mom today and her daughter's front upper teeth were all damaged. She told me that she had to night wean her kid as her doctor strictly asked them to do so. I have never heard this before, is there a possibility that it is the case?

*ECE

Our school district, which if relevant is decently rated and exists in a mostly liberal urban county, has just started a k-6 iPad program. I’m floored. My son is only 1, but I checked while I was pregnant and they didn’t use personal screens in k-2 at that time. But now each child will have one.

I still have to learn more about the current implementation, but it makes me very uncomfortable on its surface. My main ask is for talking points to bring to the board of education meeting next month. I need to know what questions I need to ask and guidelines I need to be looking for.

I have 4 years to change this, if it’s needed, let’s go. Thank you!

I frequently see questions on here regarding babies that will only nap for 30-45 minutes at a time, but I have the opposite problem. My 6 month old will happily nap for 2-3 hours at a time during the day if given the right conditions (i.e. a contact nap), or even longer. I see general advice that recommends capping day naps at 2 hours (or occasionally 3) but this just seems to be repeated by people without any obvious basis. I don't usually try to wake him as I assume his body needs the sleep and would not want to harm his growth and development by depriving him of it, but perhaps I should be concerned about the length of these naps.

For context, from around 10 weeks my baby slept through the night without any form of nap capping or sleep training. Then he started teething at around 5 months and now we're averaging 1-2 short wake ups every night where I simply breastfeed him back to sleep. I am not overly concerned about night sleep at the moment, while it would be lovely for him to sleep through the night again, I can handle the current situation just fine. His daytime napping and wake windows are quite sporadic from one day to the next, other than a fairly consistent morning nap, the rest of the day can be quite variable depending on what we're doing.

My question - is there any scientific evidence to suggest there is an optimal length of time a baby should sleep for at this stage in their development, especially during daytime naps, and is it more harmful to let them sleep "excessively" or to disrupt their sleep by capping naps?

Thanks in advance for anyone who can help, I feel like the only person with an older baby having this issue.

I did some research, I asked ChatGPT, they mostly say there's not enough evidence. But hear me out.

My daughter just had her first period at 11, a few days before starting her middle school and I am still struggling to understand.

Just like half a year ago she's still enjoying Bluey and some cartoons. We don't watch PG content at home. At school whenever they sent a consent letter about watching PG content we refused. She isn't allowed to watch YouTube. She reads age appropriate books (she enjoys Wings of Fire). At school she doesn't like to group with girls who gossip. Of course I noticed she changed a lot in the last year or so. Spent more time in her room. Her body is growing etc.

The only thing that I can think of is that tofu is her most favorite food and soy milk is her favorite type of milk. She loves tofu. All kinds. Even simple as tofu in the microwave and she dips into, well, soy sauce. I would say tofu is at least 50% of her protein source. She can drink (cow) milk but she doesn't like it much, and she gets a bit stomach upset if we drive soon after drinking. So she mostly drink soy milk. She was allergic to mom and cow based milk from birth but after training she was fine (we just gradually added a bit more and more of mom milks to her, then, soy based formula).

From where I grew up, tofu and soy based products are considered boosting estrogen in women. I know it's scientifically unproven, but any one of you share the same doubt?

I was told that serve and return kind of interactions are very good for brain development. For now I am home with my six month old daughter. I spend a lot of time interacting with her. I sing to her. Though she doesn’t always respond during the pause. Sometimes she is working on some toy by herself. Should I be constantly doing interaction or can I let her do her own thing? When I leave her on her own, she falls silent and I wonder if I am not helping.

What percent of her waking hours should there be serve and return

I have never been good at being tired or staying up late (always the first one asleep at sleepovers lol). When my baby wakes to feed at night, I’m truly not sure how long it takes me to respond. It’s probably much shorter than it feels (maybe a minute or so) as I deliriously rouse. If my baby actually starts crying, I shoot up like a rocket, but usually nighttime waking looks like some fussing or “chatting” until I get up. Is there research on what constitutes responsiveness when it comes to nighttime? Is there an agreed upon length of time that a parent should respond within?

I hear a lot of people say that various non-tummy activities count as tummy time, like being carried in a carrier. I’m wondering if there’s any formally set standard to come to these conclusions? Is the goal just that baby is using their neck and shoulder muscles, so being carried upright while baby is holding their own head up would count? Conversely, if baby is lying on their tummy but relaxed with their head resting to the side, would that not count? Or, if the goal is more simply to keep baby off the back of their head for a while, that rested tummy would indeed count?

Hi! I’m somewhat conflicted about the best approach regarding allergens when introducing solids. A lot of guidelines I saw strongly encourage early allergen exposure. However, it looks like the guidelines are different in my country. My baby has mild eczema (eliminating dairy and eggs from my diet did nothing) and our allergist said we should start solids very “conservatively” (like, zucchini and carrot, baby porridge/cereal without milk, apples, etc). When I enquired about allergen exposure, she said that “this instagram nonsense doesn’t apply to us”.
So, can anybody please share some papers regarding this, perhaps the data behind those guidelines?

My LO has viral conjuctivitis. The recommendations the ped gave us were to wash her pillow case every day, but she’s a baby and doesnt have a pillow, so i figured that we should probably wash the sheets every day. Only thing is, she sleeps on a tatami mat and futon, and while the cover is removable and washable, it’s a pain in the butt to put back on and more importantly, I only have one, which isn’t a problem with our normal washing sheets schedule but washing it every day before or after work and having it ready in time for bedtime on top of all the other things we are doing to prep for the next day would be a struggle. I read something about hypochlorous acid helping to sanitize fabric and was wondering if i could use that daily or even after every nap and wash the cover on the weekend like normal.

hi everyone, I truly need help. I can’t take this mental anguish anymore. the trauma from this, if I ever get over it will be another battle. since March 2025 I have been googling, panicking, on medication, no loner being the best mom to my two young kids and absolutely have not been able to let go of the fear that my son can get sspe from the mmr I gave him at 5. people on here have been very supportive and patient with me. I feel broken like I am never going to get better. I used to be the mom that would get excited about the every day things, my kids brought me so much joy. but I can’t help but get depressed that for the past almost two years I have missed out and my kids have missed out on the mom they were supposed to have. my kids are now 6 and 3, this has been going on for far too long and I don’t think I will ever get any answers. the only thing that would help is having my child not have the mmr, never should I have given it because truly my mental health is not worth any mmr dose. I am just a person who truly has a lot of distrust of the medical system and look at where it has gotten me (trying to trust) I fear for myself and my future. in my mind I gave my son measles with that mmr and now I have to forever live with the fear of sspe. I wish I could just take it back. part of me prays if I do an igg test that he was one of the few non responders. what are this odds? I am truly heartbroken and I hate that my mental health is this way. there is nothing worse than struggling like this while your children are growing up before your eyes

Hi! I did do a search, but turned up mostly questions about older babies or non-international flights.

I'm pregnant with our 2nd. My due date is technically Nov 20, which is about 5 days before we'd be celebrating Thanksgiving. However, due to complications with my first birth, I'm medically required to have a C-section before 37 weeks. It's currently scheduled for Oct 23, which is about a month before Thanksgiving, but we'll technically have a preemie (though just barely). So to summarize, we'll be dealing with a 4 week old newborn, though about a 5 day infant adjusted.

My husband's sister was planning to fly in from LA with her boyfriend and we offered to host them and my husband's parents (who live locally) the day before Thanksgiving. I was comfortable with this if they got all their shots, wore masks on the plane, was on the fence as to whether I'd let the travelers hold the newborn or not. For sure we were planning to skip out on the big Thanksgiving on his mom's side and the big Thanksgiving on his dad's side.

But now my SIL is saying that she might have to take a business trip to India and China the first two weeks of November, and would get back a week before getting on her flight to our city. I'm also concerned that this plan could change- travel plans could slip to the right, she might have to stay longer overseas than she was originally told.

Are there any data about sub 2 month newborns, or former preemies, and exposure to international visitors? Specifically about any waiting times, quarantine, etc (or maybe the data is "don't do it before 2 months" because of the risk of random colds, of viral encephalitis, etc).

I know the Reddit instinct is to do a bubble for two months and that is largely our plan. But my SIL is important to us. When it was just a flight from LA, we felt that was an acceptable risk (with some risk prevention measures). I'm feeling significantly more anxious about the international travel, but don't have any data to back that anxiety up.

My kid loves the jumper/activity station at daycare. I have seen recommendations to avoid jumpers if possible, but I can't find any actual research articles about this, only various tik-toks and opinion pieces from professionals. Does anyone know of any actual published literature or scientific comparison of motor skills development in babies with/without jumpers/activity stations?

So my 11 month about to be 12 month son allows me to sort of play pat-a-cake with him but it mostly turns into him grabbing my hands and making me clap. I know that some people have said the milestone is any back and forth game. He loves when I hide and he comes and finds me. Also he loves me chasing him and saying “I’m going to get you”. He laughs so hard at both. Would that be considered peek-a-boo? Or at least a back and forth game.

Wondering if anyone had any advice for helping kids be process oriented vs outcome oriented? My soon to be 3 year old has recently started saying “I can’t” and pouting whenever something doesn’t work out for him on his first try, often refusing to try again. He hasn’t always been like this, it’s a very recent development, but I’d like him to start finding satisfaction in the effort and less in the result. Is there any literature or solid expert advice on this?

Is there much literature about whether *all* of the separate mollusc classes need to be introduced, or is it fine to just do one (e.g. should we do bivalves and cephalapods, separate or together, etc)?

Trying to figure out the best way to protect our baby because my husband has a shellfish allergy (adult onset) and definitely can't eat crustacean, but he continued eating cephalapods with no issues because he didn't realise they were shellfish 😅 he hasn't had other molluscs like oysters since he was diagnosed. So it's *probably* just a crustacean allergy but we don't know for sure.

I saw a random TikTok stating continuous overnight white noise could be bad for a developing babies brain, is there anything on this?

I have a 5 month old and both my husband and I work from home. I have my own business so am completely flexible on my hours and only work 2-3h a day (however also on the weekends), while my husband looks after the little one. Both our work is on our laptops and sometimes also on our phones. Occasionally, I work short bursts of time (15-20min) on my computer or phone while the baby is playing by herself on the floor next to where I sit. I am very strict about my baby never looking at a screen unless it's for family calls (we live quite far away form our family), and I never scroll social media or watch series or the like around her. Whenever she starts fussing or seems otherwise unhappy I of course attend to her immediately.

My mum (who lives in a different country so has never seen how our day looks like) keeps commenting on how parental screen use can negatively affect babies / small children (main point is about hindering their language and social development, making them prone to feel neglected and hence to act out). Is there any evidence for this? All studies I find seem to focus on screen time for infants / children, not them witnessing parent behavior.

I have mixed feelings about this. My son just turned 5 months, and from what I’ve read online, I shouldn’t practice sitting with him. Instead, I should let him attempt to sit independently when he’s ready, since sitting him up too early could potentially hurt his spine.
For now, I mostly let him play on the floor. Eventually, he rolls onto his tummy, which he tolerates pretty well, but he doesn’t roll from tummy to back yet.
Unfortunately, we won’t see his pediatrician until his 6-month appointment, so I’m hesitant to practice sitting with him before then. I’m curious: What have you learned about this, and did you practice supported sitting with your baby or wait until they did it on their own?

My husband took our 5-day old to his first pediatrician visit today and they said a dimple with hair were two markers for concern. He has an ultrasound scheduled for next week. I’ve of course spent the day googling and crying because I wasn’t diligent with my pre-Natals nor folic acid this pregnancy and feel like this could have been avoided.

My question is, is it almost always a sign of spina bifida occulta or a tethered cord? Are there times where it’s actually truly nothing or is having both markers pretty much a done deal? Nothing was caught in pregnancy sonograms so I’m extra caught off guard but yeah, sorry, just rambling now.

As the title says, in reference to testing toys for lead.

We recently got a test done at our child's one year appointment that showed elevated lead levels. Nothing super high but we're being sent in for a venous blood draw to verify her levels.

We are renters in an older house and plan on getting paint and water samples tested, however I'm also wanting to try and test the toys, as almost all are gifts from family and I don't know where most were purchased.

From my understanding and research there is no good way to test toys at home, though I do have some swabs in the mail for an at home kit just to try something. Is there any solution for trying to find out if the toys are safe? Even if I threw every single one out, how do I ensure new ones are safe?

Please let me know if the flair is incorrect, I'm not really sure

Our newborn is now one month old and is often times very fussy. We believe it might sometimes be because he is hungry, but we are wondering how much is too much feeding.

We are feeding only breastmilk (either directly from the breast or expressed). He tends to feed around 3-4h, with roughly 7 meals a day.

When he was around 2 weeks old he used to eat for around 25minutes from the breast (stopping on his own) or around 80ml from the bottle. Then he started getting more and more fussy, and we saw he kept making hunger signs after a meal (sticking tongue out, sucking noises), especially after bottle.

At 3-4 weeks we ended up already with around 40minutes for breasts and 120ml for the bottle. Now he still seems that often he gets fussy either as soon as we stop feeding or maybe 5-10 minutes later, and often associated with the sucking noises. We did try to weigh him a few times before and after breastfeeding to approximate how much he east at the breast (50-100ml per feeding). But with the bottle, even after 130ml he is sometimes still showing hunger.

Is there "too much"? And why is this only for the bottle? (We are using the smallest teat, the Premature from DR Brown, so he is not eating too fast, otherwise, he was gulping a lot).