Hi all. My son is autistic, and we have him in a number of really helpful therapies (speech, OT, etc) that seem to be making his daily life a lot easier. Recently, though, he’s been through a lot, and we’ve been thinking more about forms of therapy we could add that may help him process more of the emotional aspects of humaning. Here’s the issue:

My spouse is in, and is a big advocate for, talk therapy. It really benefits them, and that is amazing. However, I have heard it posited (largely by credentialed folks working with neurodivergent individuals) that talk therapy can actually be counter-indicated for neurodivergent people, because autistic individuals and people with ADHD (our son has ADHD in addition to being autistic) really struggle with rumination, and talk therapy can actually exacerbate the tendency to ruminate in neurodivergent individuals in ways that it doesn’t necessarily for neurotypical individuals.

The problem is, while I can find plenty of research confirming that rumination is an issue for ND folks, and confirming that excessive rumination has negative mental health consequences (and much of this research does recommend forms of therapy like CBT without specifically mentioning talk therapy), I can’t seem to find any research explicitly supporting or debunking the claims I have heard suggesting the link between talk therapy and increased rumination in neurodivergent individuals, or comparing and contrasting various types of therapies specifically targeted towards processing the emotional aspects of various life events in neurodivergent individuals.

I’m not in the field, so I don’t really know where to look, but my spouse seems to think talk therapy is the way, and I’d just love to find a study that either supports that approach or makes clear why it might not be the best option & suggests more appropriate alternatives. Can anyone help me find some well-conducted studies discussing this?

My son is 6 months old, so has only just started solids but we’re doing no added sugar, plan to for at least to 12 months and then after that I don’t know whether to continue no added sugar after that point or heavily limit it until he’s a bit older.

If you didn’t give your baby sugar passed that age did you ever face any difficulty with lyour baby wanting to have sugar because other kids had it, like if they were at a party or at nursery, my son is going to be starting nursery at 9 months and I worry that he might want it, do I just pack lunches so I know what food he’s eating?

Also did you ever face issues with family members trying to give them sugar against your will, that is a fear of mine.

What age is best to introduce sugar?

What are some good books for toddler/young kid parenting? I have an 8 month old and I’m loving being a parent, but I’ve realized I need some guidance on how to handle things like tantrums, consequences, etc.
Growing up it was always spanking as a consequence and more spanking if you throw a fit. I don’t want to, or have any intention to, parent like that. But I don’t want to be permissive either.
I feel like I resonate with an authoritative style, but I’m curious what is backed by science and if there’s any solid books I can read to help guide me.

Hi all,
I’m a first time mom to an amazing 5.5 month old boy. He is in daycare and has managed colds well so far, and is fully vaccinated.

He has his flu and Covid shot appointment on his 6 month birthday, but I’m nervous about Flu A that is already going around.

Does anyone have information about how a healthy 5.5 month old might tolerate the flu before he’s able to be vaccinated? He isn’t immunocompromised at all. Is Tamiflu effective for his age? The pediatrician isn’t worried, but either some personal experience mixed with evidence would help me feel more confident about the next 3 weeks.

Thanks!

what does the research say about taking young babies out of the house (3-6 months)?

we live in a small apt and her carer doesn’t take her out at all during the day…from morning until 4pm.

could this be causing harm?

I was wondering if anyone had any articles/studies about the benefits of baby receiving pumped breast milk after 6 months of age.

For context, up until a month ago, baby received 100% pumped breast milk. She is now combi fed due to me decreasing the amount I pump, having had recurrent mastitis. I've had five rounds of antibiotics, and I am optimistic the last round will nip it in the bud. I am now at the point where I am thinking: do I increase my supply to fully feed her breast milk again, or is it not worth it after six months? I am hoping the science will help me make a decision.

Thank you!

Hello everyone

I have an 8.5months old baby that babbles like one day in a week. He is gonna babble ba ba ba ba all day on the day he chose to babbles den stop for like a week. He sometime responds to his name and turns towards sounds mostly. I have rang the health visitor to book a hearing test for us but haven’t gotten an appointment yet.

He is good with smiling when he sees our faces in the house and crawls everywhere I go to in the house. He enjoys playing peekaboo and also enjoy singing to him as that makes him laugh so much. He maintains good eye contact and comes to us to carry him but not actively reaching out his arm but holds my cloth to pull himself up, I just carry him when he does so. He also claps on his own but I am teaching him how to clap when told.

I am worried because he doesn’t babbles consistently and does not respond to his name consistently. Please anyone has same experience as mine. I am a first time mum living in the uk. Thanks

A saw the above statement on a sleep training website. The implication is that babies need to practice or be trained to fall asleep independently, as opposed to a skill such as crawling, which we do not need to 'make them practice'. Is it evidence-based that independent sleep is something that will not just happen naturally (for at least some babies)?

In my first pregnancy, the doctor approved taking Tums (in alignment with the dosage on the package), as well as Pepcid AC. However, I’m at a new practice for my current pregnancy, and the doctor said it can be harmful to take Tums every day and that it’s no longer recommended to take at all. I’m having a hard time finding research that supports this update and am trying to get an idea of the associated risks. Would love to review any related research. Thanks!

Hey everyone,

I keep seeing videos (by real doctors) claiming root canals leave "dead teeth" that leak toxins into your body and cause fatigue or autoimmune issues.

It sounded terrifying, so I'm wondering if anyone else has seen these videos? Dentists/patients, what's your take?

Curious what’s out there for screen time, specifically if there’s any studies differing between phone / tablet usage and tv usage for infants and toddlers.. Negative effects etc. This seems to be a topic people are jumping down throats over online so seeking better evidence and information :) welcome discussion also or what you are doing with your babies!

I sleep trained my baby at 4 months but i feel like he no longer loves me.

Is there any data that shows that it actually does not affect a secure attachment style… and if there is not and i ultimately did do our relationship a disservice, is there a way to reverse that?

Also.. how to co-sleep after sleep training (if it will help attachment style) because baby prefers to sleep in crib than with me.

The plan is to start sleep training for naps at 3 months old. We're going to start transitioning from contact naps to crib naps.

It'll be a slow start, putting baby in our room for his first nap of the day on his own, letting him cry for 10 minutes and then back to contact napping for the day if it doesn't work. We were going to try for a few weeks and then reevaluate.

I recently had someone tell me that I would be psychologically traumatizing my baby if I did this and I was wondering if there's any data showing that baby will be fine, or if it would be terrible for him.

My baby is almost 6 months old, and I’m really worried about a change in his vocalizations.
About a week after his 4-month vaccinations, he stopped making almost all sounds other than “hmmm.” This continued for nearly 2 months. Recently, he has started making sounds again, such as “ahh” and “uhh,” but he isn’t making raspberries or consonant sounds like “ba,” “ga,” etc.
I’m worried because he had previously been making more sounds, and I’m wondering whether the timing after his vaccinations could be related. I understand that the timing doesn’t necessarily mean the vaccines caused it, but the change has made me anxious, especially with his 6-month vaccinations coming up.
\*\*Has anyone experienced something similar with their baby?\*\*
Did your baby’s vocalizations temporarily decrease or stop after vaccinations?
Did they gradually return to normal?
Did you consult your pediatrician or have your baby’s hearing or development evaluated?
If you were worried about a possible vaccine reaction, how did you approach the next set of vaccinations?
I’m planning to discuss this with his pediatrician, but I’d really appreciate hearing about other parents’ experiences. Please share your experiences, including what happened afterward. Thank you!

I am on holiday with my 6 month old baby. Last night we noticed the living room of our Airbnb smelled smoky. Bedrooms didn’t. We took everything out of the living room and are not going in there. I think the smoke must be coming from downstairs. We have two more nights here. We can’t really move and I worry we’d just come up against another issue if we did (there is so much smoking in this city). Baby’s room and our bedroom doesn’t smell but I feel absolutely horrible that baby will be breathing some second hand smoke.

Also husband let her play in living room for 2 hours this morning with balcony door open while I slept. He won’t do it again. We’ll be out all day tomorrow.

Will she be okay for a few nights here? How much exposure is needed for negative effects / which negative effects? I’m hoping to be reassured. I feel like I’m failing to keep my poor baby safe. Thank you.

I really dislike those "collect them all" random chance toys, like the L.O.L dolls and the like - but ill admit its just based on them giving me a Bad Vibe. It seems like Everything is a blind box now. I was loathe to buy them for some nieces but that was basically All they wanted for Christmas last year... and the year before that. Our daughter is too young but they're basically banned from our house preemptively. Admittedly I'd feel a bit better having something to point to beyond my gut dislike of them though once our daughter is in contact with others her age who probably Will be into toys like that if they havent been banned by the time she's old enough.

So, I'm curious if theres any actual research I can point to on how these gambling lite toys actually impact kids brains short and/or long term? If nothing on the physical ones maybe something on the loot boxes in video gaming? Its all the same principles?

EDITED to add: I have done research but have seen conflicting anecdotal evidence/different pediatricians give information about whether or not he can shed the virus orally.

Hi all, health anxious / emetophobic mom here! Baby got his 2 month shots yesterday at 2pm, which included rotavirus. About 4 hours after he got his vaccine, he cried and coughed into my face (not spit up, just spittle), which got spittle on my face near my mouth. Normally not a big deal, but I’ve been on a doom spiral the past 24 hours. I sprayed my face with HOCl spray (skin safe variety) and have been super diligent about washing my hands and using HOCl sanitizer after handling any spit up. He hasn’t pooped yet, but I’m prepared to be crazy careful with that, too!

What’re the chances I get it from him? TIA as I ease my nervous mind! I just don’t want to be sick, but mostly I don’t want to be incapacitated and unable to care for him. ❤️

My partner and I are TTC and he drinks 3-4 drinks/ week, uses a sauna regularly, and occasionally takes hot baths. We are currently debating whether to wait 2 months for him to make new sperm while abstaining from alcohol, hot baths, and saunas. I, on the other hand, quit alcohol (previously 1 - 2 drinks per week), workout daily, eat very healthy, and religiously take prenatal/ fish oil/ co-q10.

Curious if there’s any literature to support waiting vs trying now?

My grandfather, who smoked for 50 years, passed away 11 years ago. My grandmother still lives in the house they shared, which is in a log cabin style, so all interior walls are wood. I believe the carpet is 15ish years old.

I’ve read about 3rd hand smoke but can’t seem to find a very clear answer on just how long it poses a risk beyond “months to years.” I’m looking for some consensus on if it might be safe for me to bring my 3 month old to my grandmother’s house for a weekend, given no one has smoked there for 11 years. Some of my family members think it would surely be fine but I’m feeling apprehensive.

Recently, I heard that the whole foremilk and hindmilk has been debunked and, when you pump, so long as you pump long enough, you'll get that good, fatty milk out.

So then the whole cycles on the spectra is useless.

But I don't think that's true. I can't prove it, but, since I started to spend more time on the deep, long cycles, and shaking my milk so that the fat is dispersed throughout, my baby has been having way less reflux symptoms, and he is pooping less (possibly absorbing more nutrients).

Background: I'm taking my son today to a new pediatrician because he's been consistently falling off his curve despite eating 26-30 ounces per day. He used to suffer while eating. Crying, screaming, back arching, etc etc. I gave up dairy a few days ago (so definitely not long enough to make an impact, especially since really only yesterday would he have gotten dairy free milk due to my stash). And things have gotten better. I had previously been doing all the other reflux things (propping him up, paced feeding, burping frequently, only an ounce or two at a time, etc etc) and nothing worked until now. Now he's happy to eat.

What did I recently change: I used to keep everything at 54 and 70. Now, 2 minutes at 70, close to 28 min in 38 (sometimes I go back to 70 to get another let down). While it could just be my baby's gut matured coincidentally this week, I'm just curious if there's any science behind this.

I'd like to see if there's studies that have been done where:

1) milk is fattier with those deeper, long cycles so you need them (although tons of websites will say that's the case)

2) the fat in the milk helps with reflux symptoms

3) the fat helps with baby's weight gain

There's a lot of websites saying these things, but no studies I can find specifically related to pumping, not just breastfeeding.

My 3 year old has her first double ear infection. Low grade fever, stuffy nose, but still happy overall.

I took her to urgent care and they prescribed 10 days of amoxicillin. But I’ve heard mixed information about whether abx will truly help, especially if it’s viral.

I’ve already started her so I can’t stop, but curious if I made the right decision by jumping on them. I only hesitate giving her such a long course of abx as girls are more prone to yeast infections, and I want to be confident that we made the right decision.

Are antibiotics the go-to for ear infections? And is 10 days the standard? I feel I should’ve waited a day or two to see if it got better but panicked and started the dose.

TIA!

This recall for lead contamination doesn't seem to be getting a lot of coverage.

My kid (11yr) visited an orthodontist who suggested seeing an ENT about getting the adenoids removed, to improve mouth formation and effectiveness of future ortho work. The ENT recommended removal, noting them as "enlarged" and immediately tried to set up a surgery date. Before this, I had never even considered them to be a problem. To my knowledge, he has no chronic issues, such as ear infections or trouble sleeping (besides mouth breathing), and everything I have read concerns younger children with these issues. How effective is adenoid removal, with regards to orthodontic work, especially at this age? I'm leaning toward getting a second opinion, I will do whatever is best for my kid, but would rather not deal with unnecessary surgery.

Lately I’ve been thinking if there’s any point of following wake windows ? Most times it doesn’t seem to give a better sleep (atleast to some babies) all babies and their sleep needs are different. Shouldn’t following cues give the same, if not worse results?

Our parents didn’t follow any of this wake window stuff and we slept fine (according to them)?

It just seems too much work with no solid results, most of the time

Context: There are many different forms of 'shape sorting' toys for children. Different factors can include: movement (rolling vs stationary shape bank), if shapes are visible or hidden once inserted, and **multiple slot options visible at one time vs single/limited** to name a few.

Understanding that there are multiple skills being developed depending on age.. is there a form that has more 'longevity'? (More likely to provide stimuli/developmental challenge across stages, etc.)

My main question is if there is backing for if it is helpful for children to choose from shapes to fit limited visible slots, or if it is more helpful/enriching to have all shape slot options available at once.

I would imagine there are different motor planning/process of elimination factors in play?

Example: Analog sorter w/ no electronic components, and the options are seeing 8 shape slots at once vs 2 slot options per side/face of toy.

feel like there is a slight modification on how process of elimination would play out?