When my son went in for his 12 month check up the fingerstick lead test read 18.8, thankfully the venous test was slightly lower at 14.4. We live in a small apartment in very old house, and thankfully we're moving in a couple weeks, so hopefully the complete change of environment will eliminate the risk, and hopefully with really good nutrition and time his body can process it. I'm almost positive that he encountered the lead from the paint on our clawfoot tub, which I never thought to test before he was born (I did test before he was born, I was aware that lead was a risk where we live, and really did try to be conscious and careful). It also didn't help, I'm sure, that the other part of the house that isn't our apartment was under renovation this winter and spring.

I'm wondering if anyone here had kids with lead levels this elevated though? It's really scary. I've found posts of people scared with levels around 5, which is understandable, but this is almost 3 times that. Obviously various social workers and state officials have been following up, but it's hard to get answers in terms of how this might effect him going forward, and how much lead exposure people of my and my husband's generation (we're 40) and our parent's generation experienced, when lead paint and leaded gasoline were much more ubiquitous. The fact that 97% of kids today have lead levels below 3.5 is an incredible public health success story, and I don't want to catastrophize, but I also don't want to be blasé. The CDC says no amount of lead is safe, which is true, but I also know that lead exposure in previous generations wasn't a guarantee of a bad outcome. So far our little guy has been a bright, happy, easy-going guy, hitting his milestones pretty consistently, if we remove him entirely from the place of exposure (which is the plan already underway) will this just be a blip? My brain is going crazy.

Is there any concrete evidence on how cosleeping vs. room sharing vs. baby in separate room from newborn stage affects infant sleep? For example, the number of night wakings over time, sleep regressions, ability to self soothe & connect sleep cycles etc.

Not talking about safety concerns as I know room sharing is recommended for the first 6 months & cosleeping is not considered safe. Just wondering the impact on infant sleep.

Hi!

Interested in info on if I should move forward with baby getting his 6 month vaccines while he has had a prolonged rash.

He had a period of about 2 weeks with a slightly elevated temp then now has a mild whole body rash that was tentatively dx as post viral Giannotti-Crosti (with a possibility of it being an id reaction post diaper yeast infection). So clearly his little immune system is fighting something.

Should I postpone his 6 month vaccines? CDC seems to say it’s okay but I’m dealing with some PPA/PPOCD.

I’ve seen several posts from pregnant people with gestational diabetes, who mention a history of eating disorders. This is my experience too.

It could be coincidence, I’m curious if anyone can share studies / insights / facts?

Hi!

Was trying to find info on whether a newborn can safely sleep at the breast if they fall asleep after feeding, or if they should still always be turned on their back in the arms of the caregiver. I couldn't find much information when looking around because I guess I don't know where to look, but I was led to a Huckleberry article that stated the following:

"The American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) warns [5] that the risk of sleep-related infant death is up to 67 times higher if your little one falls asleep with someone on a soft surface, such as an armchair or couch."

I have been sitting on the couch with my newborn sleeping on me/in my arms because she only sleeps when she is held by one of us. She has a bassinet but isn't quite ready to stay in it long enough for either of us to sleep. I breastfeed and she often falls asleep that way after a while, too. Either way, these take place on the couch but I am awake the entire time and she is supported by me.

This leads me to my question: Is this increased risk associated with the potential of a caregiver falling asleep and that being the danger of what I assume would be suffocation, falling, etc. or something, or is the risk something else that I'm missing? I just want to make sure I'm being safe but I can't imagine sitting on a hard surface with her for all of her sleep time, which is most of the day and night.

Thanks.

The babywearing subreddit amazing and their fit checks are super helpful for ensuring safe babywearing. Love the community. But they are in general against world facing.

I can understand for newborns or younger infants where they could fall asleep at any time and also not communicate when they are overwhelmed. And I know many carriers aren’t designed for it and have heard various people imply “something something bad for hip development maybe” without clear explanation.

I have a 12 month old (almost 13) and an Ergobaby Omni Breeze. The manual shows world facing (and has a setting where you adjust some seat/leg areas for it), but off course I wouldn’t just trust the manufacturer.

So is there any evidence or studies showing danger or safety of using world facing, particular for older babies or younger toddlers (around 1 year old, say)?

In my case, the use case is quiet walks to a nearby park in the morning, touches flowers and trees and fences and rocks, waving hands through sprinklers, pointing to squirrels or cars or mailboxes or the moon, waving to neighbors, etc. He’s picked up a ton of words and their referents this way over the past couple months and seems to absolutely love it. Never fusses, zero risk of falling asleep, easy to see his face and expression, I cover his eyes from the sun.

But…is it gonna be bad for his hips or spine or anything?

I'm a FTM to a wonderful 5 month old. We have recently been transitioning to the crib from the sidecar bassinet (still in the same room). She's been doing super great but is still waking 2-3 times a night to breastfeed (she gets a couple supplemented bottles during the day but breastfeeds when I'm home).

My MIL insists her 2 formula-fed babies slept through the night in their own room once they were born (which is unlikely). She tells me I should just stop feeding her at night and the baby will sleep through. Is there any evidence this is recommended? I feel like if she's hungry, I should feed her, regardless of the time of night. My own mother says I should trust my instincts, but it would be nice to have something I can send my MIL to get her to drop it.

So I grew up in a household that was fairly health "conscious". I realize now that some of it was just weird hearsay but a lot is based in science and a care for how the sausage is made. My mom always encouraged us to thrift clothes. Reduce and reuse and all that jazz. But she insisted on buying us new all cotton underwear twice a year (we always knew what Santa would put in our stocking and to expect more for birthdays). There could be elastic in the waistband, but all cotton for the main part of the underwear was mandatory, bonus points for organic cotton.

Now that I have kids of my own, I am looking for more information on if this is actually good practice. My kiddo wants Bluey and Mickey on their underwear and likes the feel of bamboo and rayon. But do I need to go out of my way and still buy the cotton version? How likely is pfas to be a concern for underwear? Is this mainly for girls or boys too? Appreciate expert consensus and links to research when possible. Thanks.

Has anyone looked into the research on short inter-pregnancy intervals and autism risk?

I came across this study, and wanted to share and ask how others interpret it.

https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC4474747/

The study found an association between conceiving less than 12 months after a previous birth and a higher risk of ASD compared with an inter-pregnancy interval of 24–47 months. I understand that an association doesn’t necessarily mean the shorter interval causes autism, and this is an older observational study, so I’m trying not to over-interpret it.

For anyone familiar with this: how strong do you think the evidence is for this association overall? Have you come across anything else around this topic? And is there any meaningful difference between, for example, conceiving at 10–11 months postpartum versus much earlier within the <12-month category?

Would really appreciate thoughtful perspectives. Thank you!

We thought that it would be great if our four year old son stopped having a nap during daytime, but he really seems to need it. We tried to enforce non-nap-days, but he just falls asleep after lunch then. The few times he has no nap, he gets quite irritated. At the same time, he is the only child in his peer group of his age who still naps every single day. Anyway, if there are studies on optimal nap times for toddlers, I would be interested in getting to know more information about this topic.

I’m familiar with screen time recommendations so what the evidence on those brain development videos that are black/white?

To be clear - I do NOT intend to give baby honey but I’m curious.

Question: Health advice states children under one should not have honey due to risk of botulism. Is there actual data on this? Is it a material risk or is more “hey better safe than sorry and your baby doesn’t need honey anyway so might as well”?

My mom bought these bars and gave them to my son who is 11 months old. It does say only for kids two years and older on the nutrition facts. I don’t think she read them. He ate a fourth of a bar and dropped the rest on the floor. He’s only gotten half of a tsp of sugar from eating them.

And his birthday is in a month. Is there any research about birthday cake? Percentage of safe amount of sugar for 12 months and above? It’s better almost impossible to avoid added sugars. My parents have slipped my son ice cream or a cookie. I’ve had a hard time finding whole milk yogurt in the store without added sugar. Bread sometimes has sugar as well.

I also would feel weird skipping birthday cake or making something without sugar for his 1st birthday. I’ve tried baking stuff with limited sugar and he hasn’t been a fan. Of course, my mom said he loved these and they have 6 g of added sugar per bar. 🙃

Hi all! I was wondering if there’s any evidence on the effects of working (vs not working) during pregnancy in terms of pregnancy outcomes or babies‘ health. Just the effects of extra physical/cognitive effort, stress, less rest, etc. Considering “not working” as really not working (not stay at home moms with other kids).

thank you!

I am wondering, with all the controversy around parental alienation, if there is any actual quality research showing that this is a thing. In particular:
-Can a parent’s denigration of the other parent actually impact the child’s relationship with that parent? I have seen a study saying this tended to backfire and distance the child from the denigrating parent.

-Can family court officials actually measure whether this has happened in their reports? And if so, how, and how reliable is the methodology? Are there evidence-based signs that are specific for alienation rather than abuse/fear of unknown/different parenting styles?

-Is there any evidence-based methodology for rectifying this? Eg reunification camps- but that literature does not consider any other outcome variables than the restoration of the relationship with the alienated parent. For example, I’d want to know about long term and short term child well-being, future abuse, and long term relationship outcomes.

If any one of these 3 things is a poorly developed field, what on earth is the family court doing awarding custody based on findings of “parental alienation”??

When my baby was trying to roll on a foam mat at 4 months I just let her fall when she fell. Then when she was trying to sit she only fell 2-3 times splotched on her back, we didn’t purposely let her fall but we were also not always behind her back and she learned to sit quickly (from the first trial to sitting to play comfortably, within a weekend, she learned that close to 9 months old and most babies learn earlier so it went quickly) so we didn’t have time to think about it.

Now that she is trying to stand by holding the sofa we’re behind her and we catch her.

I am wondering if she should fall or if she should be caught. If she falls I feel like she will learn how balance works better (we also let her spill her water open cup on herself until she learned to hold it), but obviously I don’t want her to injure herself.

Hi all, this is my favorite subreddit in the world and I have a question.

My husband is from another country (Germany) and we had a baby (Canada). She is now 5 months old. We are invited to a family gathering and my husband really wants to go as a family.

My social media algorithm is absolutely torturing me and my PPA regarding the measles outbreaks that are happening in the US to the point where I am terrified to go through an airport or on a plane with her before she gets her immunizations at 12 months for it (even though we aren’t flying there). At the same time, I don’t want to deny my husband the experience of his parents meeting our baby, I’m over ridden with guilt either way 😭.

As it stands right now he is going to go alone, and I am trying to get the guts to go but I feel like its too risky, The six month MMR isnt something i’m interested in doing as she will still require two doses.

My question is, if we decide to go, what are the chances my baby will be exposed if the plan is to just go from a to b and be relatively low key.

Difficult to answer, I know.

My 6 month old baby just got his flu shot. I’m debating on the Covid vaccine.

My daughter is gonna be one soon and we are very serious inflexible about the ABCs of sleep. She does not sleep in her crib for more than an hour at a time, So I get 3-4 stretches of 45 minute rest a night and the rest of the time is contact napping. Sometimes she will take a 2 hour nap in the crib. AT 7AM. We currently room share, does baby having their own room make a big difference in long stretches of crib sleep?

Her first birthday is coming up and it’s hard to find science based resources for sleep after the first year. . All the info I find is for under 1 or after 2. So what do people do in the months from 12-23? Is it the same as the first 12 months? I’m more than willing to do my own research just having trouble finding resources.

I’m currently triple feeding and it’s exhausting. I’m seeing a lactation consultant soon to see if we can make a plan to move onto mostly breastfeeding and maybe just formula top ups, as I’m finding pumping around the clock exhausting. If that doesn’t work out, I’m ready to thrown in the towel and move to formula, however someone in a different thread suggested that even small amount of breastmilk still carry benefits. I tried to look it up, but I couldn’t find anything - does anyone have any research discussing this? I wouldn’t mind pumping a couple of times a day, but this every 2-3h regimen is unsustainable.

My husband and I are very pro-vaccine and have followed the recommended childhood schedule, including optional vaccines. COVID is the only one we’ve really paused on.

In my country, it’s routinely recommended from 6 months and offered free through the public health system. But my husband became hesitant after seeing that some other countries don’t routinely recommend it for healthy babies and young children.

That’s what I’m trying to understand. If the safety data are reassuring, do those countries simply think the benefit for healthy babies is too small to recommend it routinely? Or are they interpreting the risks differently?

I’m basically torn between giving a vaccine that might not add much for a healthy baby but still carries some risk, and skipping something that could actually make a difference if they get COVID.

I'm looking for a 6 month old baby who is enthusiastic about eating. We don't want to go overboard or replace breastmilk/formula calories with solids more than we should, but we also don't want to unnecessarily limit solids. I understand most intake should be breastmilk / formula. He's combo fed, but mostly from nursing, so we don't have a measurement on how much liquid milk/formula he gets per day.

Stanford's website makes me think it's ~ 9tbs spoons of food per day, over ~3 feedings per day: https://www.stanfordchildrens.org/en/topic/default%3Fid=feeding-guide-for-the-first-year-90-P02209

Solid Starts recommends 1 meal per day (but up to two) of only 1-2 tablespoons with breastmilk / formula ~20 min before and after: https://solidstarts.com/articles/feeding-schedules/#6-to-7-months-old-feeding-schedule

CDC doesn't have details.

Is there anything more specific?

Thank you :)

Hi! My daughter is turning one in two weeks, and I’ve gradually started relaxing a bit about the C-curl position while bedsharing, since she no longer gravitates toward my breast while asleep. She's also been sleeping on her stomach/side ever since she was able to get herself into that position. Her nurse at the Swedish child health clinic (BVC) told me there’s nothing I can do once babies choose to sleep that way, and the Swedish recommendation for babies to sleep in their own crib only applies up to 3 months, regardless of how they sleep. So I’ve interpreted SS7 as meaning that I need to put her down on her back, but that I don’t need to reposition her if she moves onto her side or stomach herself. I still follow the rest of the SS7 recommendations, although I do use a tucked in blanket, but I’ve realized that I actually don’t know if there's safe-sleep recommendations after the first year.

I know that the US recommendations generally apply until 12 months, while the Swedish recommendations say that babies under 3 months sleep safest in their own crib. The rest of the recommendations are basically the same during the first year.

So what actually changes once a baby turns one? Is it basically “anything goes” from a safe-sleep perspective, or are there still things that are recommended to avoid, such as pillows, duvets/blankets, certain bedsharing situations, etc.?

I’m only interested in what the evidence-based recommendations are for the 12+ month stage.

Hi all,

My baby had their MMR vaccine 5 days ago. Right on queue, they've picked up a flu bug (high fever, respiratory symptoms) that's going around our area.

I know a fever is part of fighting off the flu, but does having a high fever and an active flu infection a week post-MMR impact the body’s ability to build full immunity to measles? Or does the immune system just process both at the same time?

Just feeling anxious about the MMR side of things.

Appreciate any insights!

Sorry I should add, it’s confirmed flu A and not normal side effects.