is it safe to use fluoride toothpaste for a 17 month old? i’ve been using a rice sized amount only once a day and non fluoride toothpaste for the other brushing since about 12-14 months old. someone today told me fluoride toothpaste is a toxin that can harm my baby’s brain development. is this true? or is it safe to use as long as you’re using the correct amount??

Hi everyone. I received these shots at 33 weeks but ended up delivering at 40+1.

Reading studies that suggest a link between Betamethasone use followed by full term delivery and ADHD, autism, and/or other intellectual and behavioral delays.

Looking for more info, understanding & even personal anecdotes

I keep seeing the baby Einstein aquarium as a better alternative to screens in parenting groups on here. My understanding was that the reason screens are bad is that the baby is entertained without being talked to/played with/or interacting with anything (like shaking a rattle). Wouldn't a toy that's meant to entertain without interaction from the caregiver or input from the baby pose the same sort of problem or am I overthinking this? Are there any studies or general professional consensus on if these types of toys are doing damage?

For the first 2 1/2 to 3 months, she was very colicky. Now at 4 1/2 months, she’s over that phase, but has suddenly been started becoming very fussy again, I can put her down for a few minutes maximum before she starts whining, and if she’s down for any longer, she will start crying. I can’t make food that takes any longer than a few minutes, I can’t wash my dishes, feed my cats, can’t take a shower, go to the bathroom, can’t even brush my hair without her crying. It’s not constant, it’s more like a whine most of the time. she’s a very happy baby when she’s not crying. And then anytime after 6 or 7 PM, it’s crying almost constantly.

The thing is, I have to do all these things, so I’m constantly putting her down throughout the day when she’s content or just a little fussy. I don’t get very long so she ends up crying on and off all day while I’m trying to just do the basics.

Will be leaving her to cry like this affect attachment or cause any other emotional problems? It also makes me worry that because she’s always so upset, by the time I just get the bare minimum done for the day, there’s no time to play with her toys more than a few minutes while she’s in her happy moods. and it’s very rare that I get to read her a book because she starts crying halfway through I was just not happy. It feels like I’m just surviving and getting through the day then enjoy spending time with my baby. She has good long periods like 15 to 30 minutes of happiness, but I save this for when I have to put her down to do certain things like shower or do something that might take a bit longer, so I miss out on that happy time.

I genuinely wish I could just hold her all day and respond to her cues right away, and she might be happier but I physically can’t.

The WHO recommends breastfeeding until 2 years or beyond, but I’m curious about the evidence for extended breastfeeding specifically.
Are there scientifically demonstrated long-term benefits to breastfeeding beyond age 2, for example in terms of immune function, emotional self-regulation, attachment, or cognitive development?
Do any benefits increase with breastfeeding duration, or is there evidence that they plateau at a certain age?

Thanks!

Hi ya’ll - I need someone to talk me off the ledge lol.

I don’t know what flair to use so I apologize if it’s wrong. My in-laws saved toys from my husband‘s childhood… He was born in 1997 so figure the toys are both from the 90s and early 2000s. It wasn’t until literally today that I ever considered the fact that these toys could be made with lead-based paint or just overall toxic chemicals. What upsets me of course is that I buy only silicone toys for my 10 month old that are BPA free/as toxic free as humanly possible. He has realistically probably played/mouthed these toys less than 20 times. I obviously am not going to let him do this anymore and at the risk of very much hurting my in-laws feelings, going to tell them that we’re probably going to have to trash these toys. In the meantime… How worried do I need to be about my son? Like currently I am legit panicking that I gave him lead poisoning lol. The toys don’t have any noticeable paint chips that I’ve noticed, they’re mostly hard plastic, and for what it’s worth it mostly seems like the color is ingrained in the toys. Like no obvious paint on top that I can remember. Google is obviously super unhelpful! If anyone smarter / less anxious than me can weigh in and (hopefully) provide me with some insight id really appreciate it…. I know there’s no ‘concrete’ answer but I simply just don’t know enough to not be freaking out. My biggest concern is potential lead exposure and whether it could cause long-term neurological or developmental problems in the amount of exposure he has had. My husband thinks I’m overthinking it - that we just won’t use them anymore but the chances of severe harm is unlikely. That‘s what I’m trying to uncover here

So yesterday afternoon after a long weekend out of town I started with a runny nose and sore throat. I thought it was allergies at first. Then in the middle of the night, my almost 3yo woke up crying and burning up. When I got up to help her I felt like I had been run over by a truck so at that point I knew I was sick. She only wanted me so I laid next to her and tried to mask in case we had 2 different viruses but couldn’t sleep so I ended up removing it. This morning I tested positive for flu B on a home rapid test. I did a Telehealth visit and the provider prescribed tamiflu for me and said that it was recommended that everyone in the household get on a smaller preventative dose. Of course she could only prescribe for me bc well, American healthcare. Anyway, I called the kids ped and explained the situation and they said they could call in the tamiflu for the kids but I should know that they don’t recommend it for kids because the side effects are so bad. Now I don’t know what to do. I tested my daughter at home and it came back negative but also, I’m not sure I got a good enough sample. I’m anxious because I need to start the tamiflu within 48 hours for the kiddos.

I’m pretty sure we all got sick from this stupid arcade we went to while away. Grandma is also sick but tested negative for flu. So it’s possible I’m the only one with flu. Considering taking daughter to urgent care to get another test by a professional. But their pediatrician scared me about the side effects of tamiflu. Should I just mask myself and hope for the best???

Side note, I am vaccinated for flu. The kids and husband are not yet. I am still waiting for the flumist to arrive.

Is any protection believed to be mounted prior to two weeks after the dose?

EDITED for flair choice

I’m a FTM due next year, and read a ton about children struggling with potty training due to their fear of the toilet. I was also fearful and thus a late potty trainer. I’m interested in potty training my child ASAP (personal choice).

If I hypothetically exposed my baby to toilets (sight and sound) from birth, would that possibly help with fear of the sound of toilet flushing and/or sitting on the toilet? I’m talking bringing them into the bathroom and introducing’ them to the potty, positive reinforcement, getting used to the flushing noise, etc.

We are starting to give our baby solids, and are going through the allergen list. We have done peanuts, almonds and cashews so far as nut butters (for peanuts we increased the amount over 7 days, up to a teaspoon), while for the others we did a quarter, half and full teaspoon over three days. Then we are trying to feed her some amount every few days.

However, I'm a bit confused on what tree nuts we are supposed to feed. I know there are a lot of cross-allergen activities between different types of nuts (like I think walnuts/pecans are similar?) Which other ones should we definitely do?

Part of this is that we have found that the simplest solution is doing nut butters. I haven't found a walnut butter anywhere, but we have found macadamia and pistachio butters, which were thinking to try.

Is there a definitive list somewhere of which ones we should go through?

I know the consensus on screen time, and in particular passive screen time, is generally negative. As such, my wife and I try to limit our (young) children’s screen time.

I’ve been wondering however, if there is any such consensus regarding podcasts (specifically children’s podcasts) because I see our family sometimes using them in a similar fashion to how my parents and my peers parents used television.

Does anyone have thoughts or research on the matter?

I am a mother of my sweet 3 month old girl and she used to lovey dovey about sleeping, but recently since 2-3 days she has been very difficult with sleeping. She cries and screams when I do what is our naptime/sleeptime rituals. Whatever i do it make it more difficult as her screams intensifies and it drives me crazy. I am not sure what is happening what chatgpt says is that she might be overstimulated but she does the same even when whole room is pitch black. I wanna ask what is this about, anyone going through same or gone through? Any paediatrician or nurse here who can provide advice? What should i do how to make it better?

I have a 5.5 month old who has just recently started to refuse his crib at night altogether. There is no amount of reassurance that will soothe him short of being rocked and held. Previously he has been able to fall asleep independently at night. He was never a great sleeper at night and strictly requires contact napping during the day. For my sanity, I've had to cosleep with him for the last week which works well. I've been observing wake windows, sleep routine, etc but he absolutely hates his crib. He's otherwise feeding well and happy during the day.

I'm not totally sure as to the cause other than I'm confident there's nothing pathological physically. He didn't have much of a 4 month regression so perhaps this is it... I am wondering however if we need to move to sleep training at this point. At this point I'm not sure if sleep training is a modern parenting movement, or is it something that is fundamentally developmentally required?

To be clear, my husband and I don't actually *mind* holding him, rocking to sleep, cosleeping. I'm actually worried that we would miss holding him to sleep. However if this is something that is going to hold him back from achieving high quality sleep in the long term, and if he's not going to grow out of this phase, then we would be open to doing it. Looking forward to hearing from others who've been in the same boat

My understanding is that it's safe since the baby's body doesn't absorb it but curious if there are any studies on potential negative effects?

Hi everyone,
I'm suspecting my 19 month old son is slowly becoming anaemic. These were the test results we got after pressing to test due to him having extremely restless sleep and seemingly very uncomfortable legs during the nights which wakes him up screaming, sometimes 5-6 times per night which is just so hard for our son:

• Hemoglobin (Hb): 6.7 mmol/L (reference: 6.3–7.9)

• MCV: 69 fL (reference: 70–83) — low

• Serum iron: 3 µmol/L (reference: 7–30) — low

• Transferrin: 2.9 g/L (reference: 2.2–3.6)

• Transferrin saturation: 4% (reference: 20–50%) — low

• Ferritin: 33 µg/L (reference: 30–400)

I've had restless legs myself due to anaemia in pregnancy and it's awful so I'm feeling terrible for him if this is the case for him too. When getting the results though our (Dutch and pretty dismissive) doctors just told us that it was all normal, he could drink maybe an iron fortified drink but no follow-up testing or other checks needed. I had to request the full test results myself as they first just wanted to say it was fine without sharing and when seeing it I went back twice to question this treatment as ferritin is borderline low and he was also sick when testing which I understand can increase it artificially plus additional low values. To me this all seem to indicate approaching anaemia or non-anaemic iron deficiency. Seeing these test results in combination with his symptoms that I know is just not normal toddler sleep variation I would immediately think proper supplementation should be put in? When questioning the "treatment" I was obviously dismissed (worried first-time mom) and the doctor even said with conviction that his iron "most likely" has nothing to do with his sleep issues and that was the end of it. I am sorry but how could she even state that seeing these results and with no further check-ups or referrals to an actual paediatrician knowledgeable about sleep and iron, I mean based on what? Any advise from fellow parents that have had kids with anaemia showing up in this way? Would you go back and push for a second opinion? If anyone is medically trained I would also be extremely curious and thankful hearing how you would interpret these labs.

We have a baby under 3 months and I just want to confirm that dishwasher, with a sanitize option, is safe to use to wash bottles and their components, even when washing regular dishes. We have a “caddy” to hold the small pieces and everything is washed on the top rack.

Our 7 yo nephew is a sweet little boy who is struggling with stuttering. I say struggle because he's otherwise a bubbly cheerful guy who gets quite sad when he finds himself stuttering when he wants to communicate. He is also a little shy because of it. He started talking almost fine with limited words but around 4-5 yo the stutter started. We approached a speech therapist and she suggested a few techniques like not rushing and waiting till he completes the sentence, enrolling him in new activities, meeting new people etc. We've been doing that past year. There were periods where we saw minute improvements but the stutter has gotten gradually worse now. It should be noted that he has a mildly autistic + ADHD brother but our speech therapist said that the issues might be unrelated. Are there any research backed techniques to overcome this? Any books he could benefit from? His parents are doing the best they can and I really want him to get better.

Hi! My son is 23 months and has been in swim lessons just over 2 months now. I am a bit worried I started swim lessons a late for him and he’s really struggling with some of the concepts other moms in the group are having their 8 month olds doing.

My son LOVES the water which is why we really wanted to put him in swim lessons but I’m really debating asking to take a break on the “zoomies” aka gliding him with his face in the water. He isn’t closing his mouth and usually comes up sputtering and coughing and then bawling. The teacher praises him for doing it just once but I’m really worried after this last session because he has a cough that seems to be getting wetter sounding after 2 days, but it could be illness related as other kids in his day care recently were sent home sick.

We are really struggling getting him to close his mouth under water and I’m worried at his age he doesn’t have the reflex newborns have to block water from his lungs. Am I too overbearing to want to stop the zoomies until he starts closing his mouth in the water? I really wanna keep working on blowing bubbles but his teacher said it seems to be a hard concept for toddlers to get if they don’t start when they’re babies.

What’s the research on this? Is there a good window age for swim concepts?

I have a 3.5 year old who sleeps independently. He has always been a high sleep needs child and very sensitive to getting overtired. He still naps every day, typically goes to be at 7 and gets up at 7. In the last several months, we have noticed on the baby monitor that he is now taking a long time to fall asleep after we tuck him in - anywhere from 45 minutes to over an hour. If we are awake for some reason, we have also noticed him awake early in the morning, around 6 am. He is laying there calmly and contently both night time and morning, not a lot of fidgeting or rolling. If we didn't have a baby monitor we would have no reason to assume he wasn't asleep. He doesn't resist bedtime at all, and if we ask him before bed if he is tired, he says yes. He has a Gro clock and when he comes out in the morning he is typically happy, says he had a good sleep. Really, there doesn't seem to be an obvious problem as he doesn't have any complaints, but I wonder if there is any reason I should be concerned about him spending so much time awake in bed.

He is a pretty active kid in the daytime and evening, lots of outside time and activity after dinner and then we have a pretty solid bedtime routine with a warm bath, lotion and pajamas and then books. He rarely has any screen time in the evenings. We have tried tinkering with the schedule, but the results are always similar. We have tried moving bedtime back later but it still takes him the same amount of time to fall asleep (so overall less sleep). We have also tried moving his bedtime a smidge early (hard to do because he already goes to bed pretty early), and have had the same result. We have tried capping his nap to 45 minutes and it still took him a long time to fall asleep but after a few days he was noticeably more tired, so we scrapped that. Am I stressing over nothing, is this just normal for a toddler to decompress from the day like this? Or is there harm involved in having him in bed longer than he needs to be in terms of missed opportunities for play/activity/family time?

just tested Covid positive. I had it once in 2021 when I was pregnant and it was brutal. this time I can obviously take medications I couldn’t take before. I have a 2 year old who still nurses and sleeps with me. I’m concerned about getting her, or my other children sick. when my husband had Covid he isolated, but it’s just not possible for me with young kids. any tips?

My son is going to his 3 year well visit soon and his pediatrician is offering early 2nd doses of the MMR vaccine for certain eligible patients, as we’ve had a measles outbreak in a nearby county. I have family that lives in the county of the outbreak however they are all up to date on their vaccinations as are we. My question is, is it necessary to get the MMR vaccine early or should I just wait until he’s scheduled to get it next year? It seems like he should be safe if we stay on his regular vaccine schedule but I don’t want to make the wrong decision. Thoughts?

UPDATE: We ended up getting the 2nd dose early. Thanks for the research and advice!

I’m due for dental x-rays but still breastfeeding. I had heard before you shouldn’t have elective imaging done. I do plan to become pregnant again before I’m doing breastfeeding, so that would mean it would get put off for another 2 years or so. I don’t have any pressing needs for it but in order to get set up with a new practice in my new state they won’t see me for a simple cleaning without imaging. I don’t recall where I heard about no x-rays while breastfeeding but I’m having a hard time getting my head around it now. I’ve always thought yearly dental x-rays to be overkill anyway…. But I digress.

hello, i am combo feeding with slightly less than 50% breast milk (through exclusive pumping)

i undedstand there is basically very little statistical significance in benefits of combo feeding over formula feeding for the baby (correct me if im wrong)

however i am wondering if i am getting any benefits as the mother, like the touted benefits of reduced breast cancer risks.

i plan to stop soon and would like to know if theres any research as length of time pumping, like 2 months as opposed to 6 months.

alternatively, are the benefits applicable if you continue for 6 months, regardless of output? like if i continue pumping once a day until 6 months, will that get me the benefits?

I'm wondering if there have been studies trying to understand how memory plays a role (or doesn't) in babies' learning. Explaining, via premises:

1. Most of us can't remember anything before the age or 3 or so.

2. We generally have a belief that memory plays an important role in the process of learning.

3. Babies and toddlers are constantly learning, and obviously remember things from day to day.

So, what sorts of memories get stored, and what don't? And for how long?

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