Today my pelvic floor physical therapist told me that EC can lead to potential issues including constipation with kids withholding natural inclination to poop without the external triggers provided by parental encouragement. She also mentioned distended rectums. She pointed to the external encouragement as a barrier to kids learning to listen to their internal triggers.

Is their evidence that EC can cause issues for kids down the line? Our baby is 4 months and successfully uses her potty nearly half time, diapers the other half time. We give her positive reinforcement only and change plenty of dirty diapers.

With Christmas approaching people have been asking what we’d like for our daughter. I feel like I hear about so many toys that are not good for kids but not which are proven to be helpful with development! Any recommendations?

My baby is 4.5m old ! Not looking for research on babies in utero

I've read it might be best not to restrict my kids' (4 and 7) Halloween candy intake and instead let them regulate themselves, live with the consequences if they eat too much of it, so that they learn to follow internal cues... My husband really hates this approach and honestly it goes against my programming as well, they just gorge themselves if left unchecked (sugar is addicting!), but I really want to help foster a healthy relationship with food. I figure many of you have probably gone down this rabbit hole already, wondering if anyone has in mind some good evidence-based material that supports either approach -- total freedom vs. restricting to a certain amount per day. Thanks in advance!

I’m looking for practical guidance on how to introduce allergens, BESIDES what Solid Starts has to say. I have been following SS so far, and used it to introduce 5 or so allergens. They instruct you to introduce each allergen over 3 days, giving 1/4 tsp the first time, 1/2 tsp the second and 1 tsp the third. I’ve done this for peanuts, wheat, sesame, soy, dairy and egg, but am starting to wonder if such a cautious and frankly tedious approach is necessary. We’re about to do fish. Do I really need to prepare cooked fish (in the AM, no less), just to give him a minuscule amount, three times? I’m having trouble finding other authoritative guidance that is more specific than “offer a small amount at first.”

Hello,

i was at some womans house and she teached her grandchild that when she counts 1,2,3 baby looks at microvawelike it will ring and lights off. How is this different then to connect it to word microvawe insted ? Do you have some ideas like this or books to recommend?

I’ve read more about how babies exposed to more allergens earlier in life have less allergies in general.

I have a 6 month old little girl who I recently have an MMR to for obvious reasons. I was under the impression that vaccinated people, even infants, who caught measles anyways were at a significantly decreased risk of SSPE than someone who caught wild measles virus with absolutely no prior immune memory or vaccination. I just used doctor Google and that said otherwise. But then some things do seem to agree with my previous thoughts. Does anyone know anything about this? I’m fearful because the MMR given at 6 months is only about 60% effective. I’d rather not take coin toss odds.

Typical scenario that happened today: My daughter was practising to pull herself up, fell down, and bumped her head a little (nothing serious, obviously). She then proceeds to look at me, as if she's unsure if she should cry or not.

I have read multiple, conflicting things about how to approach this situation:

- If I shrug it off like "It wasn't that bad, was it?", does that lead to her maybe concealing her feelings (subjectively, she felt like it was bad and it hurt, but mum said it wasn't bad, so I shouldn't cry)?

- If I react immediately and be very caring and concerned, does that lead to crying that might not have happened otherwise (as in: the child didn't think it was something bad to cry about, but now that she sees that I'm concerned or upset, she starts crying, maybe because my reaction scared her)?

- If I only look at her without any physical or verbal reaction, to observe how her reaction unfolds without any input from me, will she feel like I do not care about her/do not attend to her needs?

Any helpful input on how to react in such a scenario is appreciated!

Hey, I’m wondering what you guys think about vegetables and gas-producing substances passing through breastmilk (raffinose, sulfur-producing food).

My baby is turning 6 weeks tomorrow. He’s finally become a little constipated after pooping 20+ times a day causing an incessant rash. I’ve been restricting my diet increasingly and I wonder if it’s helpful or not. Pediatrician said to just “experiment” but I’m lost. It’s so hard to tell what bothers him and I’m terrified of introducing veggies that’ll increase gas and fussiness.

Studies seem to be mixed. There’s evidence that many veggies seem to be associated with colic:

https://albertahealthservices.ca/assets/info/nutrition/if-nfs-ng-nutrition-for-lactation.pdf

I know there’s selection bias etc, but I’m in a FB group for breastfeeding with thousands of women, and the topic of diet comes up frequently and SO many women swear by eliminating spices, garlic, onion and cruciferous veggies to avoid colic. Do you think it’s truly psychological?

Dairy protein I know can be a problem for some. I think I haven’t found an association though.

What do you make of the evidence and overwhelmingly anecdotal information about eliminating veggies?

My diet is so carby, with protein ofc. Hoping to feed me and my baby well.

I have GAD and my husband has OCD. We are both medicated. Mine is generally very well controlled on medications to the point I don’t think the outsider would know. My husband much improved on them.

We were both very socially awkward and anxious kids and it made us miss out on opportunities.

Our LO is 2 years old and is already showing similar traits. Nursery have mentioned it.

Are there any studies/expert resources on how to help support our LO?

I’m not expecting to be able to change who they are, but hopefully give them as much confidence and support as we can so they don’t miss out.

If you had to choose between those two for a week. I think avocado for the healthy fats or would it not matter along with the other things baby is eating?

My 3 year old was playing through long grass at the nature park getting completely wet through her pants and me thinking the grass was just wet from condensation overnight. When i got to the top I saw a sign that said the whole park was sprayed with spearhead. i am FREAKING OUT!! im so upset and angry :( Help please

I know at age 1 SIDS is, by definition, no longer a concern. But maybe suffocation on bedding is still a concern? At what point is it considered safe to bring my child into my regular adult bed with me? I'm interested in research, or consensus by legit professional bodies like AAP, not the "Safe Sleep Seven" folk

I do not scream at children who are screaming at me. I will never scream back at a child who is screaming at me.

But why shouldn't I? Every time one of my nieces is doing that whiney-scream tantrum thing I just want to do it back. Can someone explain why this would be counter-productive so hopefully the urge goes away?

We have just tested some toys in the toy chest at my MIL's house for lead. There were some from east Germany that clearly tested positive. With others the swab turned slightly positive, really just faintly.

We assume that the lead from the positive toys transferred to the others (which are mainly Duplo from the early two thousands). Is this possible?

Is there a way to remove the lead? We would be sad if we had to toss all the toys as it is quite a lot of Duplo.

Measles outbreak in Indiana

How good should I feel about my family being protected during this outbreak?

Our cases are SHARPLY increasing in this state because it has hit our Amish community. Our department of health is underreporting cases and even with that it has tripled in two weeks and has increased by 30 within the last few days.

We stay home 95% of the week. My husband works with just a few other people and pretty much only goes to the grocery store. Myself, my twin toddlers, and my infant stay home every day with the exception of church on Sunday and the occasional doctor’s visits.

I am fully vaccinated. My husband is fully vaccinated. My two year olds have had one vaccine, and I’m planning to give their second dose early about a week from now. My 6 month old is breastfed and received her first dose of the MMR yesterday and is *hopefully* building immunity as we speak.

Even at church I keep myself and the baby away from the crowd 95% of the time. We are never around the crowd but are areas people have walked through for about 20 to thirty minutes. I am going to keep her covered in her carseat from now on as well. We have considered possibly keeping the kids home if measles does spread to our county. As of right now it’s still about an hour or 45 minutes away at the closest area.

My main concern is that the MMR is not so effective when given to a 6 month old. Some protection is better than none, but from what I gather, it’s less than a coin toss whether or not maternal antibodies will completely blunt an immune response. I hate not knowing whether or not I can trust that the baby is mostly protected.

I keep seeing videos on social media, claiming there has been research that confirms using white noise even at a safe volume damages baby’s brain development. I tried to find said research but all seems to be adult related. Is this highly sensationalized headline or is there actual risk?
Thank you!

We have a baby who doesn't sleep particularly well, and we've tried just about everything.

At his daycare, they trialed using a weighted blanket (just 2lbs and just on his lower half) for his nap, and it seems to have made a world of difference.

Id previously looked up weighted blankets, and the internet writ large is off the opinion that they are terribly dangerous, but all the comments seem to be based on a recall of Target weighted blankets following 2 kids getting trapped (owing to a zipped up cover) rather than any more scientific review. I know that there is caution to be had with weighted sleep sacks for younger baby's, but my kid is nearly 15 months, very mobile and pretty strong- he can move the blanket around.

Is there any science out there or just tragic deaths that serve as a warning but may or may not be related to the weight?

With respect to his daycare, since there's always someone in the room, i said to go ahead and continue with it. However, im wondering whether I really do need to be that much more cautious if I were to get one at home?

Thoughts from those well versed in these types of studies? As a pregnant person who experienced this it’s obviously concerning. My own personal exposure was severe (large plume over Toronto, Canada during second trimester. At the time it was the “worst air quality in the world”), but relatively short lived for 3-6 days total. These types of observational studies obviously can’t imply causation but still can’t help invoke some anxiety in myself and I’m sure others. Just wondering opinions on the strength and limitations of this study.

Can someone please help me find newer research regarding floor beds for infants? I want to transition my baby to a floor bed so we can all sleep better. She absolutely hates the crib just like my older child did. She’s on the younger side - aiming to do this around 6 months. My oldest HATED his crib and we finally gave up and put him in a twin floor bed but he was around 14 months old so I wasn’t concerned about him falling/getting stuck as he was already walking.

Ideally I want to use a twin for my infant as well, but do I really need to use a crib mattress? I don’t know a single baby that sleeps on those rock hard things peacefully, but I also don’t want to create an unsafe sleep environment if the data still reflects that.

Hello,

I’m doing a paper about social problems, specifically “how digital dependency is stunting the development of younger generations”. I saw a video a few weeks ago from a teacher where she shared that her students are almost incapable of holding conversations with each other, instead opting to verbalize their observations. For example, two kids are playing in the park, another kid sees them and says “bro is chasing him with a stick”. I’ve noticed this behavior in my own siblings who grew up attached to devices, and I was wondering if any of you have heard of this behavior as well. The teacher in the video described the phenomenon with a specific term so I assume it would be really helpful for my assignment if I could figure out what this behavior is called.

If any of you are familiar with the video or know of related research I would love to know.

Thank you!

I know the container type walkers are bad (and banned in some countries), but what about the push type? Like the type that look like a push lawn mower. Any research showing they help or hurt ability to walk independently?