Parenting Contents Archive

Bringing our own cupcake to birthday party

My child gets really bad eczema after eating eggs or anything with eggs in it. Her skin really inflamed and dry right now and I’m working on clearing her eczema and making sure she’s comfortable. She’ll be attending a birthday party this weekend. She can’t eat the cake they’ll be having but I don’t want her to just sit there and watch her other friends eat cake. Would it be weird to bring her own (egg free) cupcake to a birthday party?

Is Roblox suitable for a 7-year old?

Clueless parent here. My 6-year old son loves Minecraft, both playing it and watching videos on YouTube of other people playing it. That’s how he came across videos of people playing Roblox, (he’s using the kid YouTube app, so nothing inappropriate). But now he’s become obsessed with playing Roblox and asks me constantly if he can get it when he turns 7. I’m not familiar with this game at all so I have no idea if this would be appropriate for his age. Can he play it without playing with others online? Can he enjoy the building aspect of it without being caught up in the killing/gruesome aspect of it?

Unused diapers when sizing up?

Our little one has graduated in diaper size from NB to size 1 but we still have about half a pack of unused NB size and I have no idea what to do with them. What do you do in this situation? Seems a shame to let them go to waste but I don't want to put him in a size that isn't optimal just to not be wasteful either.

Is there such thing as a spoiled baby?

I’m curious. I just picked up my 4 1/2 month old from her daycare for the first time. We let her stay there for 4 hours to get adjusted. When I went to pick her up the caregiver told us that she’s too spoiled and used to being carried. That we have to let her play on her own more (mind you she does do this in her jumper and play mat daily at home) but the caregiver continued on to say she has other kids to take care of too and she can’t focus all of her attention on my daughter. So, I’m curious as to how am I supposed to make my 4 1/2 month old more “independent” when she can’t even sit up on her own yet? Has anyone else dealt with this? Is this a normal response from a daycare?

Protect your back

Babies = sore low back for so many people. As a fitness professional specializing in low back/spine, here’s how you can protect your back during long baby holding sessions! When holding your little one, rocking them to sleep, etc, practice using your other muscles to support your lumbar spine. A) puff your chest and squeeze your shoulder blades together to activate the muscles of your upper back B) draw your belly button in and tighten like you’re preparing for a punch in the stomach, engaging your abs. C) squeeze your butt! This can be a lot to think about especially when your baby is your main focus, but practice this for 30 seconds at a time and over time lengthen it out. It doesn’t need to be the full hold, any little bit helps! For example I just swayed my baby to sleep for 10 minutes, bracing for 30 seconds (ish), relaxing for 30, repeating until I put him in his crib Your spine will thank you!!!!!

Annual IEP meeting

And my son is doing great. He's "a pleasure to have in class", and "a very hard worker who wants to succeed". He's measured at almost a full grade level higher for his math skills, and right where he should be with language. He's behaving appropriately with the other children. We're dropping some of his services because he no longer needs them. I'm so friggin proud of him. He worked so hard for this.

Teaching my 7.5mo sign language

I was at the park yesterday and I met a parent who communicated with his LO using sign language. I want to teach my daughter too. Anyone have suggestions on where to start? I know nothing about sign language and I'll have to learn it myself to teach her. Any books or videos that I can refer to? I don't have Instagram or Tok Tok so videos there are probably out of reach TIA

Might have gestational diabetes and I feel like a failure

Sorry this is more of a vent, but I am having my second baby in the fall. I did my Glucose test which came out abnormal and now I have to have a second test to confirm if I have gestational diabetes. With my first baby I didn't have this issue because I had worked hard to lose weight and be more healthy prior to conceiving. I was less successful this second round and feel like I have been super bad at eating as healthy and exercising. Part of the blame is not prioritizing it and just feeling tired after working and taking care of a toddler. Now I potentially have this issue for which I feel like a horrible parent for not taking better care of myself and possibly harming this baby. I feel like an absolute failure as a parent.

Would I be a bad mom if I went to grad school in Germany?

I (f36) am a single mom to a congenial 6 year old girl (we live in the US). Dads not in the picture because of domestic abuse. I have a tolerable dead end job where they treat me like a number, but it pays just enough to survive. So, I am looking into going to grad school to advance my career. In my research I have found that I could apply to English taught programs in Munich and/or Berlin and if I went to school in Germany I would accrue less than half the amount of student dept that I would studying in the U.S.. But, I worry that taking my daughter to another country would be to destabilizing at this point in her life. She loves her school and she is really bonded to her grandmother who takes care of her afterschool. We don't speak German and it may be difficult for her to make friends in a German elementary school, but schools in Germany are generally rated as being better than American public schools. what do y'all think?

Do you always feel guilty that you aren’t “enriching” your kid enough during the day?

My dude is 4 months. I always feel like I’m not doing enough, like I should take him outside more, I should be doing more gross motor, fine motor, social/emotional activities, I should be talking to him more, I should cut screen time (he gets a little bit of ms Rachel while I wash bottles and eat my meals, and as incentive for tummy time and sitting practice). It’s not like I don’t do anything with him all day, it just never feels like “enough”. Is this a thing?

Do they think we have the memory of a goldfish? Why do they not understand consequences??

Why do men think we forget and forgive every transgression?? They think we should just drop it or stop or not use it as a reference for their future behavior. And then you’re the big bitch for bringing it up or using it to base your actions and feelings on. NOT them for doing the wrong in the first place. They should be forgiven because this time it’s different 🙄

I feel weird with my in-laws and my new baby

I am blessed with wonderful in laws so I really shouldn’t feel this way. But I’m a FTM to a 3 week old and I feel anxious when they come over to hold him. I don’t feel this way with my own family but with them I do? Anyone else?!

Husband thinks I’m being dramatic and overreacting. Maybe I am? Need advice!!

To make this quick. I don’t feel comfortable with my parents, sister and in-laws to drive a car with my baby in it, even if I’m with them, my husband ask why and this is why: -My father, FIL and sister drive above the speed limit and always changing/getting into lanes to avoid long lines at traffic lights. -My mother drives almost like them with the difference that she always says while driving "I didn’t see him" because she is not careful enough with the blind spot. -My MIL drive slow everywhere (in streets, avenues and highways) the kind of slow that makes other crash your car. So because of this I don’t want to let them drive us/take my son anywhere but my husband says that I shouldn’t deprive and kill their intentions of our family if they want to take us/baby somewhere to have fun. I said I’m not comfortable with this even if they are family. Now he’s mad at me, am I really being dramatic over this? We only have one car at the moment and he drives it to work Mon-Fri.

Teaching a second language when I’m not fluent in said second language

My first baby is due in August and I’m planning to stay at home with her for up to 3 years after she’s born. My husband and I speak English only. I am not fluent in Spanish whatsoever — I took three years in high school and have forgotten many things. I’d need to reteach myself Spanish (using Duolingo or something similar) if I wanted to be conversational again. My husband only speaks English. How should I go about teaching my baby both English and Spanish? I would love it if she grew up to be fluent in both languages. We live in the southwest U.S. where Spanish is spoken by many and I think it’d be incredibly beneficial to her long-term if she knew both languages. I’ve heard it’s best to teach a baby two languages as early as possible.

One kid shared 50/50 old partner, one kid full time new partner

Context: I have a three year old Daughter with my ex-wife - we live separately but very close by, we are amicable, we share custody 50/50, and our daughter is in M-F daycare. It seems unlikely that my ex-wife will have any further children. My new parter loves my Daughter like her own. I now have a newborn Son with my new partner - we live together, naturally our son is at our house every day, and he will not be in daycare for another eighteen months. It seems likely that we will have more children together in the future. Issue / questions: Does anyone have any experience being or having a child in my Daughter's position? Specifically, being a kid with two homes but whose sibling(s) is (are) only with one home. Were there any problems that arose because of this? (For example, feeling or being left out.) Do you have any advice on how to navigate this dynamic for any of the parents involved?