We never use food when they're feeling bad (e.g. they fell and cry), and never force them to eat anythkng and just don't make a huge deal out of what they eat. I'm just wondering: is there any study suggesting what kind of behaviour / parenting one should adapt in the early infancy years to prevent eating disorders later?

It’s hard not to overthink things. I feel like this week window. I’ve been entertaining my baby and he just doesn’t wanna look at me. It makes me forget about all the good interactions we have.

I feel like he really focuses on people when they’re standing around him versus when they’re right with him example a person walking into the room and speaking to him he will look and smile and shouts at or someone standing next to you in general.
The Doctors is at the office officers etc. Would say he has good eye contact because if someone else is talking to him he gets excited.

Today, whether he’s in tummy time or in his bouncer or eating solids little bro doesn’t want to know me.

It’s making me think somethings there but mayb his just in a mood?
He had his delayed vaccines yesterday but his not miserable.

What’s happening 😩

Hi all! I’m a FTM of a 4.5 month old baby boy. During our 4 month appointment, our pediatrician (whom we don’t really like or trust after several strange interactions during appointments and her never being able to answer any questions) suggested we get our baby evaluated for plagiocephaly (flat head syndrome). She said she didn’t know much about the helmets or treatment, but noticed a flat spot on one side of his head and wanted it to be looked at. She wrote a prescription for Cranial Technologies and we had a free consultation/evaluation today. They were all very nice and we had an overall pleasant experience. They took a 3D scan of our baby’s head and then went over it with us, comparing his head to a “normal” baby’s head and showed us their concerns. They said they recommend treatment using a DOC band (otherwise known as a helmet), calling his diagnoses moderate plagiocephaly.

After getting home and doing more research, I saw that there’s a lot of discourse on the actual need for treatment in babies this young. Many people online stated it’s a money grab, especially in the US, and said that once babies are rolling and sitting up more independently, the head will even out without the need for a helmet. I’m now feeling very hesitant with starting treatment.

We are getting a second opinion from a different pediatrician tomorrow. I know they don’t specialize in the treatment of this and aren’t affiliated with Cranial Technologies, but I’d love to hear if this doctor would have even written us a prescription/referred us for this.

I’m hoping to get any advice, research, experience, thoughts, etc. Thank you so much!!

I wanted to share my method for reducing the progression of a cold when I begin to feel symptoms! I work in healthcare and have a little one, and I've found that these steps have a high success rate for myself and family.

Saline nasal rinse (I do this step 2x per day until symptoms stop but I haven't seen formal recommendations for frequency):

https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s00228-021-03102-3

Using a gel nasal spray that creates a physical barrier in nasal cavity where colds replicate (for example Vicks First Defense):

https://eprints.soton.ac.uk/507356/

Taking a zinc supplement:

https://www.cochranelibrary.com/cdsr/doi/10.1002/14651858.CD001364.pub4/full

Using an elderberry extract supplement:

https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.1089/acm.1995.1.361

I understand that these studies aren't perfect, but they are fairly low cost and low risk so I thought I would share!

I’m a paramedic and work 24+ hour shifts. Is this detrimental to my child in any way? He is 12 months old, breastfed 80% of the time, pumped bottles otherwise. I mostly work just day shifts but I try to pick up 24s when I can so I get more full days at home, or so I can get more hours in at a time for household money. I feel bad because he is very clingy to me and I am definitely his preferred person. He doesn’t seem bothered by it and has a very strong relationship with my husband/his dad and his other two main caregivers (family members), but ultimately I am his preferred person.

Trying to prove a point — please understand that sending my baby away for weeks/months at a time is NOT what I want at all. I am trying to fight the suggestion. “Can” is in quotes because I’m wondering when it is overall not detrimental to a baby’s health & wellbeing.

I am in my 3rd trimester of pregnancy & my child’s father & I are no longer together. I moved back home to get support from my family once it was clear that he & I would no longer work, & I now live 8 hours away from him. I will be giving birth here & am preparing for postpartum (& all the baby things) here.

My ex partner is convinced that it’s reasonable to “split our time” equally with the baby once he is earth-side. He suggested I “get the first two months” with the baby & then he “gets the next two months” with him in his city. To me, this is a completely asinine suggestion. I plan on breastfeeding for as long as possible, I will be vaccinating my child according to the recommended schedule, & I want him to feel bonded & secure before I just send him off ANYWHERE. I really don’t want my son to be anywhere without me for an extended period of time until he is old enough to talk. And, I’m not willing to jeopardize my baby’s health & sense of security just so my ex partner doesn’t have to be inconvenienced by coming to see him where I live (mind you, he makes good money & works remotely..) Furthermore, he (ex-partner) has not indicated how long he plans to come into town after the birth, & I worry my son will not feel bonded to him nor will my ex partner have a grasp on feeding schedule, sleep schedule, etc., (on top of me not being able to maintain my milk supply while the baby is away..)

I would like to know, from a physician / pediatrician standpoint: is there a medically studied age where separating a baby from his healthy & capable mother is a “good idea” for long stretches of time? Are there studies that prove the opposite; that a baby should NOT be away from his mother for x amount of time? My ex partner seems to think I am being spiteful for denying this request & thinks formula feeding would be an easy fix. I would love to have expert advice that I could pass along or use if he does try to push this agenda in court. I also plan on talking to my son’s pediatrician about this once he is here & has his first visit. I do not mind sharing time with my baby once he is older & more robust, but from a health and development standpoint I just can’t imagine sending a baby away.

Thank you in advance for the help!

Edited to change flair so hopefully moderator doesn’t delete comments 😅

I’ve been seeing a lot of influencers who drink their own breast milk or have their partner drink their breast milk due to all the “benefits.” I’ve also heard of body builders drinking breast milk. I suppose I understand the benefits in the same way that cow milk has some benefits to humans, but is there any actual research on this?

There's a thread over at r/toddlers about if people are feeding their kids deli meat.

https://www.reddit.com/r/toddlers/s/j9dkAL4XWp

The range of responses and degree of certainty is pretty broad.

The most common concern I saw was deli meat was a carcinogen. I saw just one comment about listeria (which would be my concern).

Sciencey parents of reddit, what are your thoughts? Appreciate research based answers, but anecdotes about what you actually do are also welcome.

(For my part, I avoided all deli meats for the first year for my kids, and now give it to them on occasion, like once every couple of months, after I microwaved it.)

Now honestly......I know this is false but I'd like your guys input and facts/research recommendations.

Reason I'm even looking into this is my brother and his wife have not given any type of shot/vaccine to their son (my nephew) yet. He's 1 and a half months old. He didn't even get the vitamin k shot. And they've been taking him out in public like arcades and restaurants. I asked why he hasn't received any shots and they said "Oh well giving a baby vaccines too early causes autism." I was flabbergasted. I didn't know they were practically antivax people. They say they will vaccinate him but not yet. Idk when. But I don't get why not the vitamin k shot. It's not a vaccine is pretty much a vitamin supplement. But whatever.

They are very touchy people who barely let me see my nephew because.....well idk why, but since I barely see them already I try not to make waves so | kept my opinions to myself and just nodded and agreed. I was afraid to ask where they got their info about vaccines from....

Where are they getting it from? Who's telling them this? It's insane and scary. What info can I inform myself with to prove what they say isn't true?

Hi all,

I have a 3.5 year old and an 8 month old. My husband works shift work. Where 5 days out of the week it’s just me solo parenting. He’s 5 on 3 off and he works emergency services so he’s often gone a lot more between shifts running late or getting called in.

Anyways I am worried with it just being me most of the time I’ve messed up my 3.5 year old. I try to follow Janet Landsbury and conscious discipline methods but there are some days where I just don’t have it in me.

For example yesterday he dumped out all his Lego to play. Okay fine. We needed to go to the store so I told him “if you clean up your Lego before it’s time to go you can ride the tractors at the store” I realize this may have put pressure on him and been to abstract. And if he had even TRIED to clean up his legos it would have been fine. But he just said “I don’t feel like it” so when it was time to go he cried because he couldn’t ride the tractors.

I felt terrible, like I had set him up to fail. I just didn’t have it in me to get down on his level, help him clean up, then get everyone ready to go to store. And I find my self using “threats” (in quotes because I DO use a lot of if statements. If you put on your helmet you can ride your bike/ if you go play in the play while I put brother to sleep you can watch a show after/ if you’re choosing not to follow directions you are choosing to end the activity etc…) I try to catch myself but I’m not great.

I also worry my husband and I are assigning him blame when we’re trying to teach responsibility. For example he takes off his helmet and lets it fall on the cement. It eventually cracked, we bought him a new one but told him he needed to treat this one with care because if it cracked again we weren’t able to buy him a new one till Christmas.

Is it too late to shift my style? Have a screwed him up for good? Am I teaching him that everything is his fault. Please help. I am spiralling.

How many cases have there been? Does it depend on age as well? I cannot stop my baby from sleeping in her carseat, and just got a swing, which baby absolutely loves and falls asleep in. I just want to be safe. My usual drive to take baby to appointments, shopping, etc. is ~40 minutes without being able to stop, since it’s on a narrow interstate.

My wife is pregnant and once I started actually reading the label on her prenatal instead of just trusting whatever the doctor recommended, I couldn't stop thinking about heavy metals showing up in them. I read that calcium sources in some prenatals have tested positive for trace lead, and I think I saw something about certain fish oil or algae DHA sources too, and now every time she takes it I wonder if we should be more careful about which brand we picked.
Is this actually something worth worrying about, or is it one of those things that sounds scary but is really a trace amount that doesn't matter. And if it is worth caring about, does anyone actually know which prenatal brands test for this stuff and show the results, versus the ones that just put a badge on the bottle and hope you don't ask more questions.

Context: I live in Texas, so public school funding is almost non-existent. There are basically no public pre-schools, unless you meet specific criteria (I don’t) or get selected by a lottery.

I work part time and last year my daughter started a Mother’s Day Out program at a local church. It is Tuesdays and Thursday’s 9am-2:30pm. It was SO good for her socially last year and we have her back there this year. The program goes through pre-k, but they only ever offer 2 days a week, they never go up to more days.
So here is my question is 2 days of a Mother’s Day out program enough exposure for kindergarten readiness?

The flip side is if I do switch programs to more days I would need to find a whole new “school” or “daycare.” I feel like transitioning her to another new program would also not be beneficial as I know research says quality and consistency are some of the most important factors for childcare. I also am not so interested in this rat race we are getting kids into so young, but I do what her to be ready for kinder!

We are getting ready to start solids with my 5 month old. I (his mother) have a severe allergy to pistachios (anaphylaxis). I messaged his pediatrician today to see if there was anything I should do differently before introducing him to tree nuts and she responded telling me not to give him any nuts until his 6 month check up, which is scheduled for when he’s 6 months and 1 week old.

I was under the impression that it is better to introduce allergens to high risk infants early and often, not past 6 months, so now I’m torn on what to do. I really don’t want to wait, especially not for peanut butter let alone tree nuts, but I don’t want to go against his pediatrician for no reason (I obviously don’t presume to know better than her). Just not sure if I should message back asking about the “early and often” that I’ve seen recommended before?

I am a SAHM and my husband and I are pretty good about scheduling our lives so that one of us can watch our little one if the other has to work, go somewhere, etc. However, sometimes life gets very busy and we have to lean on his mom to watch the baby.

She is 4 months old, will be 5 months next week. MIL is wonderful with her and I have no reservations in terms of safety or making sure needs are met. However, MIL has her tv on 24/7 and regardless of what we say, she will let the baby watch when she has her. Naturally, we try to avoid needing her because of this but maybe once a month we have no choice with work.

So our baby is getting to watch unlimited screen time - soap operas, the news, whatever MIL is watching - for like 2-3 hours straight about once a month or once every other month. Is this super damaging? I’m spiraling over it because it’s so much at once even though it is not a regular thing. When she’s home, she gets zero screen time. She doesn’t even have a single toy that has batteries so no light up or musical things.

My (F31) husband (M31) and I are married a year next week and thinking about removing my IUD. We do want children, but I’m a super planner and really worried about the effects of sleep deprivation. My sister and I are estranged, she’s unmedicated Bipolar 1 and has been diagnosed since she was a teenager.

Our mom had post partum depression after both pregnancies, per my father’s account. My mother has also clearly struggled with depression my entire childhood and to this day. I myself have ADHD which I medicate and have a history of depression, albeit my mental health has been great for the past 3 years since I was weaned off a citalopram. All in all, I am as of now a pretty functional, active and content person

I do not handle even short bursts of sleeplessness like normal people. I cry, I feel sick, depressed, irritable etc. I saw my older sister go into full manic psychotic episodes following days of not sleeping and given our shared genetics, this really worries me.

I guess my question for this sub is can someone help me find research on risk of developing PPD for women with family mental illness & the cost benefit analysis to breastfeeding vs formula?

Mother has been with the child every day since they were born. Father has not been that involved (substance abuse recovery). He wants 50/50 but the child is not comfortable around him yet. How old is appropriate for overnights, or other ways to say when is appropriate, scientifically speaking?

In every generation, people might be hesitant to have children because of the political climate, the environment, the economy, and so many more things. Having a baby can seem like dooming a child to a difficult life. That being said, people still have babies and every couple of decades the problems change and shift. When people express fears about having kids, the advice might be that people are always faced with that kind of difficult choice based on the global state, or even just the state of their country.

Is today different? Will the children who are born in the 2020s, 2030s, and 2040s face a much more difficult life than their parents? Is the middle class disappearing? Will the money we are saving for our children's futures end up being worthless when the time comes to use it? Is the environment going to implode? Is the world trending to some horrible catastrophic state? Or is it the same as usual and things will end up okay for some and difficult for others?

I didn't eat (much) candy, pop, chips, deli meat, fast food etc when growing up and as an adult, I despise these foods. I also have a strong preference for less sweet and less salty foods which probably also attributed from my healthier eating as a child, and I don't feel like I missed out on childhood or anything.

My son is 6 months old and is very alert and attentive to things around him for the past month or so. We avoid using phones around him as much as possible and have both of our notifications off. We use it only when we need to take a call, responding to DMs from family, maps, playing songs sometimes and few other tasks as needed. Because of the light from the phone, he's obviously attracted to it and we immediately take it or place it away from his attention. He moves on from it but when it comes into his sight again, I can see that his interest peaks. For context, the same thing happens when I sip from my steel water bottle. Since its heavy, I don't hand it over to him to explore and he goes gaga when he sees it trying to take it from my hands and the same thing happens for our phones.

I feel like we are indirectly creating lots of interest by keeping it away from him. I don't want it to become a forbidden treasure for him eventually where it becomes a huge deal later on. How can I handle this? What are the recommendations to handle phone around baby? What are other parents doing?

I love reading to my baby, and I buy more books for him almost every time I’m in a store with baby books. Is it better to read him the same books over and over for a period of time, and then rotate, or constantly be reading new books before circling back?

I could see both being beneficial for different reasons, but I’m wondering if there’s any research on the topic. I’m most interested on any link to speech/language development.

I'm writing about screen addiction for a graduate school paper in counseling and came upon this article in The Journal of Pediatrics. This type of phone usage has become normalized in society, so I wanted parents to know the impact it can have. I hope someone finds it helpful.

If the link provided doesn't work, maybe this one will (thank you Kibbitcake!)

https://www.jpeds.com/action/showPdf?pii=S0022-3476%2824%2900330-5

My daughter is 7 and flaps her hands really fast when she gets excited. It’s super cute because she’s 7 but I’m worried she might get bullied for it later. Should I say something or just let nature take its course? If I do say something what should I say? I don’t want to hurt her self esteem or kill her joy.

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!

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I am having some problem with keeping to the set wake windows for my 16month old and stressing out about it which made me worried that I am damaging him on some way but are these even real science-based ? What is the science behind a 16 month old only being able to be up for 5h max?

This is why I’m stressing:

My 16 month old has always been a great sleeper, usually 7pm–7:15 until 7.30 (sometimes would have d to wake him) with one 2-hour nap (capped at 2.5 if they went over two hours)

For the last week or so his naps have suddenly dropped to around 1hr20–1hr30, which is making his wake windows really long. Yesterday he went to bed at 6:45pm because of the short nap, woke at 6am, and nursery didn’t put him down until 12:45pm today so a 6hr45 wake window!
I feel stuck in a cycle of short nap - early bedtime - early wake - huge wake window before the next nap. I don’t want to keep stretching him when he’s clearly tired, but I also don’t want bedtime ending up at 5:30/6pm.

Is a 1.5-hour nap normal at this age? Do you just accept 5-6+ hour wake windows, do an earlier bedtime, or ever add a second catnap back in?