My 6 week old is fine hanging out on his own for long periods of time playing with his toys or just staring at them. I’m not sure if there can be too much independent play? I play with him multiple times a day but he can be content in his play gym or pack and play for 20-30 minutes at a time multiple times a day. Is that okay? He sleeps fairly well at night and is wide awake a lot during the day, most of the day actually.

I will start by saying that I am 100% against all smoking and drugs, including Marijuana. However, I live in BC Canada where recreational use is legal and accessible at every corner to anyone of legal age. My neighbors on both sides are frequent smokers (one of them grows it) and anytime I sit with my baby outside on our patio to enjoy the fresh air and sun, all I can smell is pot. Intense, to the point where I can taste it in my mouth.

My baby is 6 months old and of course I don't spend more than 5 minutes outside when they are smoking but with summer coming I'm feeling bitter about it. Like I can't enjoy my own backyard Both my neighbors love my son and I'm considering asking if they could smoke on the other side of their house so the smell wouldn't affect us so much.

Any research on how second hand Marijuana smoke can affect babies?

Thanks

I currently have a two year old and we've started looking at potential schools for him. I have however realised that there is a school age cut-off imposed where we are at and this is making us think about what we need to consider or what the deciding factors should be for enrolling or holding him back a year.

Has anyone read about any studies made around kids' school readiness and factors to consider when deciding on when to enrol them particularly if they're near the school's age cut-off?

Hi all - as the post notes….im a potential new dad starting the conception journey with my wife! We’re both 31, in good health, and are excited about being parents. My wife read online that paternal alcohol consumption can have significant adverse effects on both fertility, and conception. I’ve been reading up a ton, but can’t seem to find any iron clad articles to validate this. I enjoy a couple drinks here and there on the weekends, so this would be a lifestyle change to say the least.

Can anyone provide any insight on their own fertility journey, or any articles / doctoral advice I should be taking as we start this process?

One of my child's friends committed suicide a few days ago. Her parents told us the kids seemed to have joined teen self-harm groups. My kid has emotional problems this year and has become more silent with us.

How to tell if the child is going through normal adolescence or experiencing depression? Are there any online tests, resources, or avenues for family counseling? Is it necessary to use parental monitoring tool to keep tabs on what child is doing and chatting privately?

Hi there, my baby has been developing eczema around her legs (behind the knees) and flare ups on her face. This all seem to have started the same time we had to start 30kcal fortified breast milk.

Nothing much has changed in her routine or mine other than the switch from 27kcal to 30kcal. Is there anything around fortified breast milk or fortified milk in general that causes rash?

My husband would like to purchase the new nintendo switch 2 coming out in a month or two. I have a 2.5 year old boy and I know he will want to play with his dad (games such Mario kart). At what age does it become beneficial/not detrimental to the child to start playing games? I'm worried about introducing games so early and wonder if there are benefits to at all at this age (motor, social, concentration skills).

Any research and experiences are appreciated.

Thank you!

baby (f) is 4 months old now, i've always loved disney as a kid and now she's old enough to see further so is there any harm in letting her watch black and white old school micky mouse shows for short intervals? - (holding off on showing her old school colored shows because i don't know if this will cause any attention span issues) i've tried looking up research but everything i come across is referring to keeping shows like cocomelon, and shows of that nature away from kids.

Basically the title… our newborn cannot get her MMR until at least 6 months old per our pediatrician. I’ve been vaccinated (as a baby in the 80s) but am considering getting a booster - especially if this would provide additional protection to my newborn during the ongoing measles outbreaks. My OB confirmed that it would be safe to get the vaxx while breastfeeding, but couldn’t say offhand whether this would confer any additional immunity to baby. Has anyone researched this for themselves?

Had our first dentist appointment today for a single tooth. Baby is 6 months old but his favorite pacifiers are bulb shaped and I know those aren’t recommended but they’re the ones he prefers right now. Our dentist was in & out quick and I was too forgetful to ask the questions I had saved on my phone. So maybe some of yall can help? Please & thank you in advance.

• Do we need to switch pacifier shapes? If so, when? Is there a certain pacifier shape that is better for oral development that baby can easily adjust to based on his preference for bulb shaped? (Is the tommee tippee ultra light better? I just dont want to waste my money if he’s not going to take it)

• When does thumb sucking become a concern?

• Which toothpaste if any is recommended at 6 months? How much? Fluoride? Our dentist said a wet washcloth is fine but idk if that’s up to date with current research.

• Is it normal for teeth to grow in asymmetrical? I thought both of his bottom incisors would grow in at the same time but only one came in.

Feeling kind of down in the PP dumps tonight and could really use some comforting research (if it exists) that shows that my baby actually recognizes me as her mom and that my scent/heart beat/voice/ is distinctive enough to be distinguished from other caregivers.

My stepson is a good kid. He’s smart and is an avid reader. He’s a bit of a loner in part due to his autism but he also just likes some time to himself. Split household doesn’t help as his dad is the one pushing websites that we teach kids to avoid. Very far out there conspiracy theories, debunked science, the works. We are trying to build strong critical thinking skills in the kiddo, and I need help with two things:

1. Good approaches as we try to combat the radicalization.

2. What are the known affects on kids when exposed to this kind of stuff and also potential outcomes. I know there was a school shooter recently in the U.S. who fell down the rabbit hole on their own. I don’t want to see that happen to this kid.

Thank you

Our 7 month old is on his third antibiotic for recurring ear infections and will be seeing an ENT soon. I was unaware that there are studies suggesting that antibiotic use before age 1 can increase risk of food allergies. Our son tested negative for all allergens at 5 months and he was tested then due to his eczema. We were told this was a pretty high likelihood of no allergies becaue false negatives are more rare than false positives. Fast forward to during antibiotics, he had a reaction peanut and now shellfish. He was retested for peanut after that reaction and it came back positive. Is anyone aware of any studies indicating that we should avoid him consuming any more allergens until his gut heals from the antibiotics? (His tummy has been very angry since being on them and he's got 4 more days of one currently). Of course I am also reaching out to his allergist, but I am feeling so hopeless and frustrated that we were unaware of this possible link and have been sensitizing him to all the major allergens while his gut is angry from the antibiotics. It feels like we have irreversibly caused lifelong food allergies and I am devastated that he's going to be allergic to more and more after all these antibiotics. I was so hopeful when his skin prick test came back negative for all at 5 months and the allergist was so reassuring. Any guidance based on science/studies or hope would be welcome. For reference, his reactions to peanut and shellfish have been skin reactions of itchy rashes within the hour of exposure.

Could you help me understand allergen introduction? I'm struggling with anxiety and haven't seen clear answers to these questions in the reputable sources I have looked at.

1. What is the target amount to feed during a meal? Is a teaspoon enough? Does it depend on the allergen? (Does it count as exposure if the baby barely eats any?)

2. I have seen some studies that skin exposure to allergens can cause sensitization and ultimately increase allergy risk (this was for nuts in particular). Does this apply only up until allergen introduction orally or should one strive to avoid them touching the skin even afterwards? (It is very hard to feed anything to the baby without her getting covered in it, how much of an issue is that?)

3. After introducing allergens, you should feed them to the baby several times a week - but for how long? Are other parents with eczema-prone children keeping notes? At what age can you stop worrying about this?

Any insight or comments appreciated!

My husband has a lot of worries and is very over protective, for example, he will say to me “watch that stone on the floor, you may trip up on it” or “be careful, there’s a car pulling out”…yes, 500yards away!!! Or “be careful you don’t fall up the steps”. The thing is, he’s being genuine, he’s not actually taking the mick! His mum started doing it to him when he was early teens, so I know it stems from there, but he is so much worse.

He is very much like hyacinth bucket… urgh, it angers me so much! With love, obviously. But whenever he says something to me, I’m left wondering why on earth he thinks I’m blind and have never walked up a step before?!

Anyway, my worry is that he could instill fear into our child. It’s good to be protective, yes, but making them worry about stepping over a tiny stone is only going to cause them severe anxiety later in life, surely? Or maybe I’m the one who’s in the wrong in trying to give them independence to learn and to help figure out themselves what is safe and what is not (obviously this depends on the situation, I’m not on about road crossings etc, I’m on about scenarios where if they don’t hold on to something with one hand then they will fall on their bum)

Does anyone know any reports on how a child will grow to be if they are constantly put in a state of possible fear from a very young age or if there’s benefits of letting them learn themselves or does this come with having safety awareness issues later in life (again, situation depending, nothing serious that could impact on their health and well-being.)

Social worker, seeing a constant barrage of children with various diagnoses. One that is frequent is ADHD, and I have wondered what the most evidenced-based opinion could be on this. I do not diagnose or prescribe medications, but I am often asked about it and have my own personal opinions but don't know that they're based in the proper evidence. I think I read in the past, maybe 7-8 years ago, that there were some studies that had shown significant improvement with symptoms of ADHD when medicated younger, whereas improvement was not as noticeable or significant when medication was avoided until during or after puberty. My son has ADHD and is medicated, for parenting reference, and anecdotally that has worked wonders for him, but I wonder if there's evidence that supports this path.

My husband doesn’t want a dry erase map in our five year old’s room because of “dust” that is “not natural”. Please help me decide if he is right or not based on factual evidence.

I am losing my mind over this. They say BPA in store receipts, shipping labels, etc. rubs off on everything it touches.

So my husband opened a package with bare hands (came in contact with the shipping label), then touched baby toys without washing hands. Are the toys now contaminated? They are made of wood, so can’t wash them. Baby put one straight in the mouth.

Same with the grandmother. She is a receipt hoarder. So she has receipts in every reusable bag she passes onto us when she buys things for baby. Would everything in those bag be contaminated?

Please help.

For a few reasons I’m going to need a cesarian section, no chance of vaginal delivery. I was presented with three options: 1 wait for labor to start spontaneously but end with a CS, 2 induce labor on a predetermined day than do the CS, 3 do the CS on a predetermined day without induction. I’m trying to find out if the are documented benefits of labor before a cesarian section and if so is there any significant difference between induction and spontaneous labor.

Hello, I’m wondering if there is solid data about the drawbacks vs benefits in getting the second MMR vaccine dosage sooner? In my specific province the second MMR dose is administered at 4-6 years old, but in many other provinces in my country (Canada) it is recommended to get the second dose sooner at 18 months old. I want to get the second dose for my toddler sooner due to measles outbreaks in my province, but just want to make sure there aren’t any glaring cons to taking that route before I make this decision. Thank you to anyone who can provide me with some answers to this question.

My wife was looking stuff up and apparently 1-2 hour straight independent play for our 10 month old isn't normal. We do interactive play a lot with her but she is content being in her play pen with her toys when we are busy. Only cry's when she's hungry, needs to get changed, or when she's done in her play area and wants our attention. We are always in sight from where her playpen is. The way our house is set up we have one big room that is the living room, dining room, and kitchen, so we are always near by. We don't allow her to have any screen time at all. My wife and I are planning on doing more interactive play on top of what we already do. Not sure if we should be grateful for the extra time or worried what her long independent play could indicate. Any links to do research or articles on this would be beneficial. I looked around for a while but didn't find much to go off of.

Seeing major differences in my first and seconds level of extroversion. My first was definitely easily described as a velcro baby and has become a very extroverted toddler. My second is fine on her own and seems to be developing into an introvert. It's my understanding that introversion and extroversion are set traits. My question is when in childhood does this personality trait become set or fixed? And can anything that a parent does previous to this age be influential?

My FIL will be visiting our baby soon when she’ll be 6 months. He’s a frequent smoker and I’m worried about secondhand smoke. Can someone provide some good articles about secondhand smoke and what we can ask him to do to prevent it from getting onto her i.e. washing hands, changing clothes, brushing teeth? I’d like to know just how far I can reasonably go before I annoy him and/or lose the support of my husband without anything to back it up.

We just enrolled our soon to be Kindergartener in a Spanish immersion program through our local public school. It is taught 50% in English and 50% in Spanish K-5.

The school, principal, teachers all seem great. I think it is an amazing opportunity to make our children have language understanding and the program claims that by 4th and 5th grade students are “academically” fluent in both languages.

My husband however is very skeptical. He worries it will delay our daughter’s English development and impact her speech and spelling. He also worries if she doesn’t “get” Spanish she will fall behind in all of her other subjects.

Are there academic journals or articles that have studied the long term outcomes of language immersion for kids? Specifically at the elementary level.

Is there harm to the parental bond when primary parent is absent from the room, but someone is still responsive?

Background: I have a 5 month old who does not cry when I leave the room. She is exclusively breastfeeding and exclusively contact naps on me only. I am at home with her all day, but during one or two wake windows a day, my husband or my mom will watch her while I take a break in another room. Sometimes while I am alone with her, I will go to wash dishes or change in the other room. We are in a one bedroom condo where I can hear everything from anywhere in the unit, so I can quickly respond to her cries if she becomes upset. However, she still does not seem upset when I leave the room. I am becoming concerned that I have harmed our attachment/bond by consistently leaving her throughout the day. I thought babies became distressed when their caregiver leaves the room around this age, but she seems unbothered. Sometimes she’s playing and looks to me for reactions, but also there are lots of times when she’s just doing her thing independently and I felt it was okay to go do something real quick. We are also in the middle (or hopefully toward the end) of the 4 month sleep regression, so I have been extra exhausted and sometimes it seems that I am consistently taking these breaks during her wake windows.

Ultimately I am looking for research to help me understand if these actions are hurting or diminishing her attachment bond to me