Parenting Contents Archive

"The old paradigm of banning phones doesn’t work," Christopher Klein writes. "It just leads to more behavioral challenges in [the] classroom." Instead, Klein offers some ideas on how to think about phones in school. @edutopia https://t.co/Y9NhzZZ6Xl

17 year old just told me she’s pregnant

Where do we go from here? We haven’t told her dad yet, I’m out of town and I don’t want her to do it alone. Her boyfriend and her broke up last week because he’s insanely controlling and gaslights her and treats her poorly… then she decided to check if she was pregnant for whatever reason. Her and her best friend FaceTimed me just bawling. She’s so scared. I remember being 25 and terrified. I can’t imagine being 17. She’s going to finish high school and graduate in 1 month. But after that I don’t know. We have 3 other kids 7-14 who are still in school. We’re not well off but we manage. The 2 boys share a room and the 2 girls 7&17 share a room… so how do we fit in a baby? That’s so unfair to the younger ones to have to be woke up by crying baby at night, but also we can’t just kick her out, and if we can avoid her going back to that boy we will. Idk. I’m trying to gather my thoughts before talking to her dad. Tell me your thoughts.

Car seat neck support at 4 weeks - is this safe?

#Easter #DadJokes Best For Cracking Up Your Peeps https://t.co/At3ei5QCLO by @homeanduncool #Citydads #DadLife #Parentinghumor #humor #funny #Easter2022 https://t.co/tBD0KKfvQd

My 3yo keeps recounting something that happened more than a year ago and crying about it.

I think this happened in the end of 2020/beginning of 2021. We were visiting grandma and she has a cat. I left my son in the living room to go fix him a snack, not realizing the cat was under the couch. I heard a piercing scream from the kitchen and found my son crying on one end of the couch and the cat on the other, she seemed calm, but my 2yo at the time said he tried to hug her and got scratched. Wound and tears washed away, I told him cats don't like being grabbed, only stroked gently, gave him a snuggle and nursed him, I thought that was that. But now at almost 4yo he keeps reminiscing the cat attack and repeating "kitty doesn't like hug" and crying actual tears. He has had a pretty good and uneventful life so this might be the worst thing that happened to him. Might he be traumatized? Should I take him to a psychologist?

Is there any research looking at tummy issues in children post COVID infection?

Lately I’ve been noticing in my local mom groups that their kids are having tummy issues. It’s probably about every couple days I see a post asking for advice on their child’s tummy problems saying they feel like their pediatrician isn’t helpful. Maybe I’m newer to mom groups & this is just a thing that moms have always talked about, but it seems more common than I suspect & makes me wonder if Omicron or other COVID infections have altered the gut in some way in children. Any current research on the gut & post-COVID yet?

Surviving a 4 hour car ride with twins??

Surviving a 4 hour car ride with 2 month old twins?? For Mother’s Day, it’s a tradition that my husband and his family drive up to the family cabin in Tahoe to celebrate their mother. This year, my husband still wants to go, but our twins will only be two months old! We’ve only taken them on 10 minute car rides to the doctor’s office, and those have been miserable. How can we possibly survive a 4 hour trip to Tahoe?? My MIL has offered to caravan and take the twins in the car with her, but 1) that won’t stop their crying, just move me away from the sound, and 2) I’m breastfeeding, so I’d rather be close by to make that easier. What on earth should I do? My MIL and husband’s siblings are all encouraging us to go, and I don’t want my husband to resent me taking away his annual trip. How can we survive this trip?

The gift of my time, the gift of experiences over material possessions, and the gift of learning to find the joy in simple things—those are the best things I can give them. #parentingtips #middleschool https://t.co/uvwbmbwT02

Quit trying to shove your Easter Traditions down my throat

There is seriously so much pressure to make Easter into this huge holiday. From daycare ramming it down our throats, to cashiers asking my kids "whoooo's visiting this weekend?!" Or "are you ready for treats?" My aunt was at my house, going on and on about how the Easter Bunny is going to come and leave notes and candy and presents, completely ignoring me shaking my head and saying "actually, no." I don't want Easter to be a huge, exhausting holiday. That's not to say we don't celebrate at all. It's just low key -- participate in a community event, have a nice dinner, and I did get a small amount of good chocolate and 1 board game for the family to enjoy. That's it. And I know it's enough. But it's crazy how much pressure there is to just throw candy all over the house and make these huge, elaborate gift Easter baskets. Like it's Christmas in April. No thanks.

What is a mistake you’ve made that your baby/child survived just fine?

This might seem like a weird question, but I’m a FTM and have been having horrible postpartum anxiety. Every little thing I do I’ve been feeling obsessively anxious about - over/under heating a bottle, falling asleep too soundly while he’s napping, forgetting socks when I put him to bed, etc. I figured it might help my anxiety and self judgment to hear what mistakes you’ve made and that your baby is OK anyways

what kind of car seats do you guys use for older kids?

My son is 4 feet 2 inches. He is 8, and weighs around 58 pounds. I am in Georgia so the law is, "All children under age 8, less than 57 inches tall and less than 40 pounds must be securely buckled in an age-appropriate child restraint seat." My 7 year old daughter is 4 feet tall, she is 48 pounds. My kids are skinny and tall. I am wondering if both kids should be in a car seat or if oldest in a booster is OK.

Ours boys want to sleep in the same room and then share a toy/game room. Pros/cons?

Can you see any cons to this? They are 6 and 9. We are finally buying our first home that has 4 bedrooms. Our kids have the choice of sharing a room to sleep in and sharing a toy room or having their own rooms. I don’t know which option is better. The older boy is my stepson and stays once a week overnight and every other weekend. Of course we can rearrange later on if things change. My concern is my stepson feeling like he doesn’t have his own space at our house and I want it to feel like home for him too.

“If your question is, is my child more at risk from having heart problems from getting Covid or from getting the vaccine, the answer is they're more at risk of getting heart problems from Covid." - Dr. Matthew Oster, pediatric cardiologist https://t.co/KmZy98J7pu https://t.co/kn6TVDBwlN

Want to put together a postpartum kit for a friend, give me your favorites!

I had my baby seven months ago and honestly I cannot remember anything from the first 3 months lol tell me your favorite/most used items used after birth and In the early months. Also she lives in another state so I’ll have to mail the items.

Toddler rejecting mother all of a sudden

Recently, our 2.5yr old daughter has started actively rejecting my wife. She will scream, tell my wife to go away, and sometimes throw herself on the floor and bang her head. We have no idea what could be causing this, and needless to say, it feels devastating to both of us as my wife feels rejected, and I don't know what to do/how to help. My wife use to be the one who went in every morning to get her up, but now as soon as mom steps in the room, she starts screaming and asking for daddy. Sometimes when my wife picks her up when she's screaming, she will bite or hit my wife. We are really lost and could use any advice/encouragement!!!