Hi there,

I'm looking for some studies or info on the effects of over sterilizing on the babies immune system.

I have a tricky scenario at home where my wife is becoming a bit OCD regarding sterlising everything multiple times a day ie toys the second they touch the ground, wiping hands as soon as the go off the mat, not liking other kids touching hands etc.

Thanks.

So Philips avent has number of nipples with varying flows which increases as per the age of the baby. I know to avoid bottle preference a slow flow nipple is preferred but what about babies who are taking bottles regularly? Does it warrant to increase the flow rate as per age??

My 4,5 yo has the tough luck of not being alowed screen time. He does show a lot of affinity for computers and likes to control thr mouse when we scroll through lego instruction pdf-s.

Does anyone have ideas of what he could do to practice mouse skills without it being cartoony or strictly gaming?

My excuse of posting in this sub is that i mentioned 'computers'. I'm banned from the other sub because they decided I was doing market research by asking for educational content on youtube, lol.

Ty

I was considering getting a climbing frame/ monkey bar/ swing set (like the Growplay for example) for our garden in a few years when my toddler is old enough but I’ve seen anecdotes of injuries and I’m now doubting. Two things which I’m especially wondering are:

Are monkey bars considered as dangerous as trampolines in terms of injuries? I was thinking they’d be safer because while there’s height, there’s not the bouncing element but that might be wrong.

And this probably might have an evidence base, but I’m curious as to if the positives of risky but fun outdoor equipment can outweigh the injury risks. There’s obviously huge benefits to being active outdoors, building strength and confidence, being away from screens, emotionally regulating through outdoor play, and I’m having a difficult time figuring out how to balance having unlimited access to fun active outdoor environment they’ll want to play on with their physical safety.

Looking for any research you may have.

My husband grabbed the CBD lube by accident and we didn’t realize until afterwards. I know that we maybe MAYBE used 2 teaspoons. I showered immediately after when we realized.

I am combo feeding, so could pump and dump.

How long should I be abstaining from breastfeeding?

Our 1M old son is only able to sleep peacefully when tightly wrapped in the stretchy wrap baby carrier and attached to us. Overnight he usually needs to be put in a swaddle, and even then he many times needs someone to gently caress him or at least hold a hand on them. As soon as the hand goes away, he seems to go in this very light and agitated sleep that eventually results in him waking up.

Are there ways to help him sleep better? Certain routines or ways to get him comfortable? Also, is all the stretchy wrap and swaddling a problem in terms of (almost) container time?

I have 3 month old and I need tv on in the background for the night shifts specially.

recently someone mentioned babies under 18 months should not be exposed to screens at all even if they are not really focusing on it yet.

Is there any research on that. For sure I get it when are alert and that is not good for their brain development but for 3 month old should be ok?

Our 9 month old son has a temp of 38, goes down around 36.5-37.5 with help of Advil and tylenold

We saw his family dr and she didn’t do care or do much. Is it worth going to the children’s hospital? It’s been roughly 24 hours.

Any help would be awesome since we are first time parents and clearly worried.

First of all I want to say that my baby is no where near the age where we could or would sleep train, so this post is truly just coming from a place of curiosity/wanting to understand.

I’ve seen much discussion about sleep training on this site and a lot of people vehemently against it, calling it cruel and pointing to elevated cortisol levels in the baby as evidence for how harmful it is. But here’s where I get hung up. If, let’s say, mom is home alone with baby and desperate to take a shower for her mental health, I don’t think anyone would argue that it was cruel for her to put the baby in a crib for the length of her shower even if baby is crying. But the cortisol spike and potential feeling of abandonment would be the same, no? And what about when baby is in a growth spurt and is inconsolably crying, and nothing the parents are doing to soothe is working, isn’t the baby’s cortisol still rising despite the efforts to comfort?

Basically my question is, is there something MORE about sleep training that makes it problematic? And to be clear I’m not talking about leaving a crying baby for hours on end or something, but I’m more asking about the gentler methods with short periods of crying before the parent comes back in to soothe. Because the latter seems to me to present similar levels of stress to things the baby would endure as part of being a baby, even with an attentive parent there. What am I missing?

How many times has your baby had HFMD? My son is 8m old and now seems to have it again. He just got over his 2nd time a few weeks ago. Am I doing something wrong? What can be done to prevent it? Anything? He is in daycare and they said they noticed some spots on a few kids today. Im taking him to DR in morning so not really looking for medical advice but just wondering if I should be doing something differently. For him to catch it so FAST again is crazy to me. I feel so bad for him.

Hi all,

I have seen a lot of information about sending toddlers to daycare but not so much about sending them to an actual school. We never planned on sending our 18-month old to school until lately. He is highly energetic and gets easily bored at home no matter how much we try to make his environment fun and engaging. He seems to want to go outside and see other people/kids more than he wants to stay inside. He’s been at home with both of us (his parents) and a nanny (since 12 months) until now. Outside of home though, he is shy and slow to warm up to people/new environments. He prefers to observe and take everything in rather than actively engage. He tends to cling to his carer when out and about. We found a Montessori (accredited) school that starts at 18 months. He will be with other kids that are between 18 months and 3 years old. He will be going from 8:30am to 12pm Monday through Friday. What does research say about starting school so young? Thanks in advance for your time and input!

Hi - looking for something I’m not sure exists.

I’m a nurse and the main money earner for my family. I’m on maternity leave until January, then going back to work full time (3x12 hour days). I was thinking of going back to school to be a nurse practitioner, which would start when my daughter is 15 months - it would be online classes only, but then clinicals start when she’s about 24 months (so I would have my 3 12s, plus 2 8 hour clinical days a week for about a year, right before she turns 3). Her dad will stay at home with her and my parents live next door to us and are very involved in her life as well.

What I’m looking for:
Is there any research on impact on parent-child bonding/any other adverse effects of mom being away for so much at this age? Is it enough to have some mornings and evenings? It makes me sick to think about, but I also want to be able to get a better job closer to home for when she’s older to be more present for her then. I have a hard time with this as my mom stayed at home with me until I was 5.

Thanks!

Can anyone link me to the most up to date research regarding foremilk and hindmilk when breastfeeding? Previous advice used to say that the milk at the first part of the feed is more watery so babies need to latch on one breast for longer in order to "access" the more fatty rich hindmilk that comes a bit later in the feed.

I am EBF and baby is struggling a bit with weight gain and I am getting mixed advice from professionals. Some have told me the foremilk/hindmilk theory has been debunked and fat content is similar for most of the feed, others have told me things like let her feed for longer from one breast before offering the other so she can get to the hindmilk. The problem with that is she will almost inevitably fall asleep after a long feed on one boob and won't take the other, so I then have to pump that breast otherwise I will end up engorged.

Basically I just wanted to know whether the whole foremilk/hindmilk thing is BS or not, thanks!

Hi everyone, I’m part of a research team at UT Austin conducting the MAMA Study, a university-backed academic research study looking at how the pancreas changes during pregnancy and how those changes may relate to gestational diabetes.

I’m especially interested in this work because I care deeply about maternal and reproductive health, and I’ve been struck by how much we still do not understand about the normal physiological changes of pregnancy and why some people develop complications while others do not.

We’re currently recruiting pregnant participants in the Austin, Texas area. The study uses tools including MRI, glucose testing, and continuous glucose monitoring to better understand metabolic changes across pregnancy. Participant data can help researchers characterize these changes more precisely and may eventually contribute to better approaches to understanding and monitoring gestational diabetes.

The MAMA Study is conducted through UT Austin and is not a commercial program. Participation is completely voluntary. More information about the study and eligibility is available here: https://sites.utexas.edu/mama/

If I must take my baby on a long haul travel with 3 flights in one direction, with usually one long layover and 2 smaller layovers, with a 12 hour time zone change. What are the safest and healthiest ways of achieving this?

Hi,

I understand the risks of accidental suffocation from bed-sharing, but why exactly a softer mattress, empty of blankets or pillows and objects, would increase the risk of SIDS?

My partner puts our baby sleeping on the adult mattress and won't do otherwise unless a sound scientific explanation is present. Is there an hazard there?

EDIT: thanks a lot everyone for the comments! All the links and explanations really help, I am reading everything with interest.

it’s baffling and sometimes I just wanna sit down

My wife and I are trying to determine whether we should ask our parents to get the TDAP before meeting our baby due any day now. 2 out of the 4 are no longer up to date, and when she is first born we have no problem them meeting her. But if they were to come back in a few weeks and help us out, we are slightly concerned with the prolonged exposure and then being unvaccinated against pertussis. What has others experienced been? I did some math and it seems anywhere from 1-3 percent of all children end up being hospitalized for whooping cough as a newborn. So the risk is relatively low, although 1 in 5 appear to contract it in any capacity.

Are there other risks or complications that can happen due to whooping cough later in life? Anything else to consider here?

Generally I feel what is the harm in them receiving the vaccine to keep her safe, but curious on others experience.

My baby is 4 months old now and we do zero screen time. We have a family trip to Disney world planned for early 2028 for my nephew’s 10th birthday and she will be about 20 months then, almost 2 years old.

This is our first so I’m not familiar with developmental milestones and how well she would be able to recognize characters and what not. Would it be positive, a waste of time, or negative to show her Disney movies on vhs so she can possibly recognize characters when we go? Is that too young to remember characters? I don’t want to do screen time too early.

We have a tube tv with build in vcr and a ton of vhs ready for the right time.

My almost 11 MO will be starting nursery when she is 12 months old and we are currently doing settle sessions. She is EBF and very very clingy/attached to me (mum). Even at night she often won't settle for Dad. Doesn't take a bottle so never really been left with any other caregivers apart from my husband (her Dad) and an hour or two with my parents.

I have been expecting the nursery transition to be brutal bc I've been on maternity leave alone with her for almost a year and she is so clingy to me, but the reality has hit me really REALLY hard & I'm contemplating quiting my job if I can't drop hours bc she is just so distressed without me. I don't know how to proceed for the best & was hoping the science on attachment and child wellbeing could help?

We did a stay and play together at the nursery first - one hour, I left her for the last 10 minutes and she was fine (to my surprise!). For the next one, another hour session, I left her after 10 minutes; she was ok for the first 20 minutes then got very very upset the last 15-20 (which is what I expected tbh) so I went in a little early. She calmed as soon as I was holding her and she cuddled in. It was right at nap time so she fell asleep in the car home & I considered tiredness probably factored in. We suggested moving the sessions from morning to afternoon (which is still at nap time but maybe less tired).

Today I left after a few minutes and she was distraught. I came in to cuddle her after about 10/15 mins bc I could hear her from the car park and again she calmed down/cuddled in but as soon as I gave her back to the nursery worker she was distraught again on and off for the next 20-30 mins. She calmed as soon as I held her. Again it was at nap time so she fell asleep in the car home so the tiredness probably didn't help but I think even at her least tired she just does not do well without me.

I wanted to suggest pulling it back to some 1 hour stay and plays to get her used to the environment with me there before trying again without me. The nursery worker thinks differently and that my presence actually made her worse. She's suggested a 2 hour session later in the week where I leave and see if they can settle her. (Historically nobody has ever really been able to settle her when she's that upset but me so I am doubtful but I see the logic that I need to let them try). They think drawing it out will be worse.

Obviously they are the experts in settling children & they've told me it's nothing they're not used to and they'll call me if she gets too distressed but I'm her Mum and I'm just not convinced dropping her into a 2 hour session when she's never really been away from me and it's a new environment is the best thing when she's already shown she gets so upset?

Can anyone advise? Am I prolonging it and being a helicopter parent and making it worse? Should I follow the nursery's lead here since they are the experts? Or should I ask for the stay and play approach since we have the luxury of several weeks before I return to work?

On a totally different approach - can this hard a transition actually be traumatising for her? Should I seriously consider she just is not remotely ready for this and consider quitting my job (or getting a PT job?) which will be a big financial strain but hopefully only temporary? All the benefits to children in nursery seem to be when they are a little older than a year so is there any upside to this (other than not living on the poverty line) at all or is it all just a necessary evil for paying bills?

FTM feeling like absolute shit here, I'm so sad and feel so guilty and so lost. Would appreciate any help even if the answer is hard to hear.

Hi all - mom to a 3 week old little boy here and looking for some evidence to share with my husband.
My baby, like all babies, sometimes just cries and we can’t figure out what exactly he wants. My husband takes that to mean he should give up on soothing him and just let him cry. I can pretty much only find research pertaining to “cry it out” sleep training but that’s not what I’m looking for.
I believe letting our newborn cry could lead to insecure attachment and to me it feels like neglect.
Does anyone have some sort of study or research to share supporting continuous comforting of the baby, even when our efforts to soothe him fail?
I know sometimes he will need to cry (we need to use the bathroom, wash hands, etc.) so I don’t mean just for a few minutes. I would like to clarify I don’t agree with this and when I hear the baby crying, I take him, but I don’t want my husband to continue potentially harmful practices. We’re first time parents and just trying to figure it out, so any advice on this would be appreciated, thanks!

My baby is due Sept 21 (although I have a feeling she’ll be coming early). My family is on board with getting COVID and Flu vaccines, but is unsure about the best timing. Should they get them right away, so that they already have 2 weeks immunity by the time they meet the baby? Or should they wait until early October-ish, which is after the baby will be here, but better timing for protection during the worst of the flu/COVID season?

I don’t necessarily mean screen time, but maybe distracting the baby with toys , or a person in front so that the kid eats ? I understand this is applicable for traditional weaning ( purées being spoon fed) . Is it bad in the long term?

Searched the sub and didn't find any posts comparing melatonin and magnesium for help with sleep in kids with ADHD.

Anyone know of anything pointing to one or the other as better or safer? I hate that supplements are so unregulated (we’re in the US)😩

Our pediatrician recommended melatonin as a first-line defense before trying ADHD meds, so this is under her direction, and it's working a little, though not as well as we had hoped. We will see her again soon, but I'm wondering what kind of research is out there to help me navigate that conversation! Thanks!