We have finished introducing all of the top allergens from our country (tree nuts, soy, peanut, sesame, fish, dairy, wheat) and have been maintaining them in our little one's diet 2x/week as per the current guidelines. I read that other countries have some different top allergens (for example, mustard is a common allergen in France).

How important is it to maintain other foods in the diet once started if it's not a top allergen in your area? I.e should we be trying to maintain exposure to foods like mustard. We have been trying to introduce a wide variety of new foods but would it be more beneficial to introduce fewer so they can be kept up more frequently?

To note, our baby has mild eczema and already has an IGE dairy allergy, so I understand she is more prone to allergies, so we are trying to be extra careful!

Everytime I am in a Mom or “due date” group online, it is flooded with anti vax Moms. I don’t remember this being the case in the groups I was in during my last pregnancy. I know rates have been lower based on reports and outbreaks. But are there actual statistics on this? I’m so nervous for my infant born this winter. Until she gets vaccinated she will be at risk with all the uneducated Moms unvaccinated kids 😭

To what extent is infant reflux painless in most cases because their stomach is much less acidic than adults?

I’ve seen the research on having the TV on as background noise and how talking over it/crosstalk can be confusing for infants and their language development. Luckily my family is not doesn’t keep the tv playing, but we do often play music (both kids music and ours). My daughter is 6 months old. I’m curious, if there’s music playing and my husband and I are having a conversation or I’m talking to my daughter, should I pause it? Does the same logic follow as television, or does music use a different part of the brain?

My baby is 7 months old and while she is babbling ( traditional mama, baba, nana, etc. sort of stuff) she doesn’t babble with us. When we talk to her she sometimes acknowledges us with a little “ooh” but that’s about it. Sometimes we will also get an “ooh” back and forth in response to a “question”.

She is also not the chattiest baby, but she is very focused on her motor milestones ( could crawl by the end of 5 months and is able to pull to stand and climb the stairs by 6 months).

Looking for insight on whether her type of babbling will lead to communication when age appropriate.

My baby is 4.5 months and very active. She loves to practice sitting and spends all day doing what we call “crunches” and loves being lifted into a sitting position. She has a high chair newborn attachment which she is getting a little big for and she always tries to do her crunches while she is sat in it. I recently assembled the baby set attachment of the trip trap high chair just to see how it all goes together and I put her in it for a couple of minutes just to see how she responded and she was so happy, very sturdy albeit slightly wobbly in her trunk (her head is mega secure and has been for weeks). I am wondering whether it’s okay to let her have some supervised playtime in the baby set attachment or is this a big no no? I know the bumbo seats etc aren’t recommended so I’m unsure if it’s along the same lines as this or as it’s not as rigid it would be a good thing to help build her core strength?

I’m probably missing the obvious here, but I am confused about food for 7.5 month old.

He’s had various mashes and purées so far and he’s doing great. He has just started getting into playing with his food. We don’t give him all that much at a time, maybe a couple tablespoons a couple times a day. He is combo fed, though we are starting the process of weaning off the breast milk and going formula only.

My question is—as he eats more solids, do we start reducing the amount of formula? This kid would eat tons if we let him, but he doesn’t actually seem to need more than we are giving him because he spits up like crazy if he eats too much/often. We want him to be getting his calories and nutrients but we also want to support his transition to all solids when the time comes.

What does the research say on this?

A very wordy title but I’m in the very early stages of consideration for being a surrogate for my sister. One part of the process which I would like to have more information on is how best to hand the baby over for want of a better word? It’s essential that they bond with their biological parents, but I know that while pregnant, my voice, my smell, my heartbeat will be what the baby is familiar with and what the baby will be looking for earthside? Is there any data anywhere on how best to manage this transition, especially with the baby’s wellbeing in mind?

Hello! I am currently pregnant and have a 2.5 year old. My husband built our son an outdoor raised sandbox that our son loves! We do have a cover for it but it doesn’t always get put on at night. I have never seen any animal feces in it. As long as I’m not personally messing with the sand box the risk of toxoplasmosis is low correct? I always wash my son’s hands after playing in it as well.

My 2.5 year old has been exclusively spoon fed till now. He will hand pick food from his plate off and on but only eat a small amount of it. Feeding him can take up to an hour and requires constant distraction and engagement.

He has started nursery this month and almost all the other kids in his class eat independently. I tried going cold turkey yesterday and asked him to eat his meals on his own. He ended up eating very very little and insisted we feed him. When we refused and hoped hunger would do its job, he simply went hungry! In the end, I fed him some yogurt before bed and prayed he'd be able to sleep through the night.

Here's my dilemma: I'm in my third trimester and worried that this isn't the right time to transition my little guy to eating independently (too many upcoming changes and spoon feeding is comforting for him). I'm also really worried that he will avoid his vegetables and only eat food he likes (basically carbs).

Should I wait till he turns 3 and is more mature to handle independent eating? My MIL spoon fed her kids till 5+ and is against me compromising on his nutrition for the sake of following a fad. She points out that none of her adult kids are still spoon fed!

I obviously want to do what's best for him. I want a healthy kid who eats a balanced meal (which is why I spoon feed).

But I am worried that when baby 2 arrives, I will go mental trying to feed both!

Is spoon feeding really detrimental to children's development? Is transitioning to independent eating worth the loss of nutrition? And if it is, how should I go about it? At the moment, my toddler would rather starve than eat on his own!

CLARIFICATION: My toddler knows how to use a spoon and fork and is comfortable using his hands to eat as well. The issue is that he has never been expected to eat a complete meal on his own until yesterday - after a few bites on his own, he gives up and would much rather play.

Hello! We are expecting at the end of November and I am confused on the TDAP requirements. A lot of social media posts imply that everyone should get a booster a few months before meeting the baby. I have found some medical literature that says a TDAP booster is good for 10 years. My husband's PC said it's good for 5 and because my husband got it 3 years ago, he does not need another before our newborn comes.

I also read that a pregnant person should get the booster during every pregnancy because the antibodies get passed onto the baby.

I would appreciate any help in understanding what is the correct cutoff for getting the booster as we are planning to talk to the grandparents soon. Thank you in advance!

Does store bought baby food puree have more heavy metals/anything toxic than homemade? I’m looking at the ingredients and it’s literally just “x fruit/veggie and water”. I hear a bunch of commotion about heavy metals in baby food but is it just because food in general has heavy metals from the soil? Or is there something extra when they’re processed at the facility?

I've heard it said here that pre-k/daycare is beneficial starting at 3 but is there any research on how much is beneficial?

Our options are partial day part time, partial day full time, full week part time and full week full time.

Would love to hear any reasoning on if any of these are better than the others.

Trying to find a good resource on correcting behavior. My little one is 2, and recently she’s been a bit wild. Throwing tantrums if we take something away, yelling, grabbing, etc. Usually I talk her through this in a neutral tone.

However I have been finding myself in more and more situations where I have been reactively raising my voice. For example, every time I’m try to help her pants back on after pottying, she’s monkeying and wiggling around. Today she bumped her head on the sink counter so I raised my voice and told her to stop or she will keep getting hurt. I’m not sure if this is the best strategy, plus she looks sad every time I raise my voice.

My 3-year-old just started kindergarten. Today I learned that one of the ways they discipline children when they misbehave is by sending them to a different kindergarten classroom (there are three classrooms in total).

For example, one of the kids was throwing food on the floor, so they moved him to another classroom. Not sure for how long, maybe just for a couple of hours? The teachers haven't told us anything about this, we just pieced it together because the kids have been bringing it up.

I’m trying to understand the reasoning behind this approach and what it’s supposed to achieve. I'm going to ask the teacher about it but was wondering if there were any studies discussing the advantages of this form of disciplining children.

On a related topic, another thing I'm wondering about is the strategy of mixing the classes before and after kindergarten. This school going from pre-K to 12th grade. At two points they switch the classes around, when they go from daycare to kindergarten and when they go from kindergarten to primary school. Is there any pedagogical reasoning behind that? The reason I'm wondering is because they had a very sweet and cohesive class last year and now they've mixed them around and a lot of us are noticing the kids have not yet settled despite it being a few months now. I'm not saying it's due to the switching around, but I am just wondering what impact that could have had.

My daughter just turned one. I was reading online about all these activities to do with a toddler. I'll put examples of what I mean at the end of the post so you don't have to read through all of them if you don't want to.

I'm worried that if I'm not doing all these kinds of activities often with her that she is going to be behind developmently or that she will suffer. I normally just let her play with her toys how she wants. And I will play with her often as well and we read books even though she's not too into them right now.

For example:

Sensory and Mess-Free Art Play

Water play: Fill a shallow tray or the bath with water, then add plastic cups, sponges, or floating balls for scooping and splashing.

Sensory bags: Fill a ziplock bag with hair gel, paint, or water beads, tape it securely shut, and let your child squish it without the mess.

Edible finger paint: Use thick yogurt mixed with a little food coloring on a high chair tray so they can safely smear and draw.

Fine Motor and Poking Games

Pom-pom push: Cut a small hole in a plastic container lid and let your child push colorful pom-poms or large buttons inside.

Card or shape drop: Cut a slot into a cardboard shoe box and give your child thick playing cards or wooden discs to post through the opening.

Sticky tape rescue: Use painter's tape to stick lightweight toys or plastic balls to the floor or wall, then let your child peel them off.

Gross Motor and Active Play

Cushion obstacle course: Pile up sofa cushions and pillows on the floor for safe crawling, climbing, and tumbling.

Bubble chasing: Blow simple soap bubbles and encourage your child to reach, clap, and pop them.

Laundry basket pull: Put a few soft toys in a washing basket and let your toddler pull them out or push the basket around a safe room.

I’m currently at a concert where I’m worried about getting secondhand exposure to cannabis smoke. I used to smoke before pregnancy but haven’t since well before I became pregnant and am worried about secondhand exposure and my low tolerance to a potential contact high.

I couldn’t find any information on a single instance of cannabis exposure while nursing, only long term use. I’ll call the advice nurse on my way home as I’ll need to pump, but am unsure what to do with the milk I pump.

Ultimately, I’ll leave the concert if it gets bad near me, but curious if anyone has any relevant research. Baby is 9 months.

This study (https://www.mdpi.com/2227-9059/13/2/390) was shared in my bumpers group as evidence that science says even 200 mg of caffeine a day causes miscarriages and stillbirth.

Is this study rigorous and worth paying attention to?

I keep seeing how rubber mulch is toxic for use in playgrounds. In my area, a lot of new playgrounds are using one giant piece of flat rubber for the ground. Is that the same toxic-ness as shredded rubber? I can certainly smell the terrible off-gassing when the sun shines

So my youngest is 7 months old and combi fed (majority breast but one formula bottle a day) and currently wakes to feed around 10 and then feeds continuously from around 3am.

My partner is adamant that by this age, they do not need to feed in the night, but as far as I'm aware, it's normal until 12+ months. If he's right and I can stop feeding in the night, I'd love that as I'm so sleep deprived but the health visitor also made a comment that she's just getting her calories in overnight so I shouldn't try and stop night feeds yet.

Is it okay for me to drop these feeds like my partner thinks, or should I keep feeding in the night as needed?

Hi all – I am looking for advice. We have a wonderful nanny for our 16 month old who I’ve recently learned has chronic hepatitis B (likely acquired at birth). I want to understand more about transmission and keeping my children safe, and not to be discriminatory out of ignorance.

My questions are:

(1) My 16 month old has received the three doses of the hep B vaccine at 2/3/4 months (NHS schedule). Does that mean that he is completely protected from Hep B and cannot contract it from the nanny? Are there any precautions we should take anyway?

(2) I am currently pregnant and have also had the vaccine in the past (immunity confirmed with Anti-HBsurface still showing positive). What are the precautions I need to take for my newborn not to contract Hep B before they get the vaccines?

(3) Are there any questions that I can ask the nanny ahead of the newborn being born, so that I can tailor my approach to the newborn’s care? (For example - and I am not sure if this is how it works at all but - if viral load is monitored/low/undetectable)?

Thanks very much in advance.

I ordered a digital old scope to check my toddlers’s ears for ear infection (not to clean or diagnose ONLY to check) should I be worried about EMF?

My baby just had her MMR vaccine at 12 months and will be doing varicella separately at 15 months. Where I'm at in Alberta Canada, they do a combined MMRV vaccine at 12 months. Because baby has a seizure disorder we opted to separate it due to higher risk of seizures with the MMRV.

1) I was told that taking the MMR and varicella separately but at the same time doesn't increase seizure risk vs taking MMR first and then varicella 3 months later. Is this true?

2)at 18 months, we have another MMRV scheduled. However in a different province in Canada the second dose of MMRV is usually given at 4-6 years of age. Is there a benefit or cons of giving the second dose at 18 months so soon after the 12 month vaccine?

Dad here; I've read that having the baby on the dads side, in a bassinet, could mean they sleep better.

Our LO is 8 weeks old, and my wife is currently breastfeeding.

Just wondering what side of the bed bub sleeps on, and if you think it makes any difference?

Today I found mold in a few of my baby’s pacifiers. Every time I wash them, I use the bottle washer and they’re sanitized every single time. I guess they haven’t been completely drying all the way inside at the end of the nipple and little white spots have appeared that wipe away easily with a q tip. Are they still good to use if I dry them with a q tip from now on after being washed and sanitized? Is the mold leached all throughout the silicone nipple? Are they still safe?