Age specific questions from about 3 months to about 1 year of age. Younger: newborn. Older: toddler.
41
votes
8answers
2k views
Should we circumcise our son?
My wife and I will be having a son in about a month and we are still deciding if we should have him circumcised.
There does not seem to be a strong medical opinion on the matter but we are ...
40
votes
11answers
890 views
Programming with a baby
I'm wondering what parents programmers (or really any working-at-a-computer job) have to say about staying at home with an infant while trying to get some work done; is it at all feasible? How much ...
24
votes
8answers
10k views
Why does my infant wake crying the instant we put him in his bed?
This is probably a classic but here goes. Some time between midnight and three my 9 month old will wake crying. Often he is hungry or has gas and can be fairly easily consoled and falls asleep in our ...
22
votes
7answers
11k views
How worried should I be about head bumps as my infant learns to get around?
We have hardwood floors in the house, and have made a little "play area" out of foam interlocking "tiles" for our 9 MO to play on. Of course, he's not content to restrict his explorations to the ...
19
votes
11answers
14k views
How do I get my 6-month-old to sleep better at night?
So our 6-month-old boy still doesn't sleep through the night. He still wakes up at least once and wants to eat.
He takes 3 naps during the day, ranging from 30 minutes to 1.5 (sometimes 2) hours.
We ...
18
votes
6answers
3k views
How much should I interact with my newborn?
I have a 2 month old baby. My wife and I take care of him collectively. As he is growing, his sleep time is reducing. Sometimes, due to our schedules, we want him to sleep, but the baby is still ...
16
votes
4answers
1k views
How many toys are enough/ too much?
My husband and I have decided to minimize the number of toys for our daughter for a variety of reasons... we have a small house, I am unemployed also we see how greedy many children who have ...
15
votes
9answers
18k views
How do you know when it is time to take a child to the Doctor?
Our children have recently been sick and I am wondering when is the right time to take them to the doctor. They both have had runny noses with coughs, diarrhea, and fevers off and on for a week, ...
15
votes
4answers
444 views
How can I tell parents of a 1-year-old that they're doing it wrong?
Without getting into the circumstances, my wife's step sister and her husband are living with us while he's between orders with the US army. She's 28 and he's 42.
While they're living with us, it's ...
14
votes
8answers
823 views
Is crib use (mostly) universal?
We have friends who decided against a crib in favor of a futon mattress on the floor. This idea came from the book Montessori from the Start. The benefits for the baby are that they aren't confined ...
14
votes
6answers
1k views
Should we freeze some breastmilk for later use even if there's no excess supply?
My wife is currently pumping just enough milk to keep up with "demand". Since she'll be going to back to work and won't be able to pump as often as she does now, her milk supply will likely run out ...
13
votes
12answers
1k views
How do you know if you're ready to be a parent?
It's hard to imagine a more difficult life decision than deciding to be a parent.
How do you know if you're ready to be a parent?
13
votes
5answers
738 views
What's the best way to extract baby snot?
Our baby currently has a cold which means her nose is streaming with snot.
She is quite unhappy with us wiping it away with a tissue every few minutes. I can imagine her upper lip is getting quite ...
13
votes
8answers
845 views
Is it okay to let a baby cry at bedtime?
My 4-month-old has a set bedtime routine and will generally go happily to sleep - but occasionally (for no particular reason) he'll work himself up into a fit and cry for long periods of time, ...
12
votes
6answers
294 views
How soon until I can take my newborn to take a walk outside?
I understand that newborn's immune system is still weak and crowds/strangers are to be avoided. Knowing this, how soon can I take my newborn outside, for example to take ~1 hours walk in a non-crowded ...
12
votes
4answers
624 views
What do we do to minimize negative impact to our child when we (the parents) argue?
My wife and I have 8 month old baby boy. Having a fight, for example debating, is something that we don't want to do.
But sometimes, we can't avoid having a fight in front of our son. When the ...
12
votes
2answers
880 views
Are trace amounts of caffeine through breastmilk safe for babies?
I am a student parent and find that coffee helps me study. I drank coffee while pregnant and kept it well under the daily allowed amount. I am unsure what I can have while breastfeeding though. How ...
12
votes
4answers
783 views
How does having a second child change your life?
Most parents would probably agree that having a child will deeply change your life. But how does having a second child change your life?
Second-time parents won't be much surprised about the smell ...
12
votes
2answers
905 views
Does it hurt my baby (developmentally) if she watches while I'm on the computer?
I have a 6 month old who likes to stare at my glowing computer while I code or browse the internet. Most of what I view is text or static web pages, so it's not content I'm worried about her viewing, ...
11
votes
7answers
13k views
How can I safely keep a pacifier in an infant's mouth?
Sometimes the only thing that will keep a 2 month old baby happy is a pacifier, but at that age, baby is too young to retrieve the pacifier after it falls out.
It helps to tuck the pacifier under ...
11
votes
7answers
9k views
Are there any dangers or downsides to white noise as a calming tool
We find white nose to be extremely effective for soothing our 5-week old son. Loud white noise (60 decibels or so) will help soothe him when he is overtired and crying, and if we play soft white noise ...
11
votes
3answers
713 views
Why does my baby grind her face into my shoulder?
During episodes of fussiness, my 6-week-old daughter has started grinding her face into my chest or shoulder. She shakes vigorously from side to side like she's trying to burrow out the other side. ...
11
votes
4answers
647 views
What should I consider when flying with an infant?
My wife and I will be traveling to the US next month and we're going to take two flights, probably one of 2 hrs and the other 4.
Although my 7-months-old son already sits by himself, I'm not sure I ...
11
votes
3answers
6k views
Can I give my baby a bottle of breastmilk straight from the fridge?
I'm exclusively breastfeeding my baby, and occasionally give him pumped bottles. I generally try to warm them up before giving them to him, at least to room temperature. (I was once told as a tip to ...
11
votes
3answers
2k views
Why do babies like to be bounced?
For a large amount of the time if our baby is crying I can stick her on my shoulder or my knee and bounce or rock her (gently), and she will calm down.
Why does this work?
She gets bounced a lot ...
10
votes
6answers
657 views
Does using sign language really accelerate a child's ability to speak?
I have often heard that using sign language is really good in teaching a baby to talk. Is this really true, or is this an urban legend?
Related: Can toddlers learn sign
language?
10
votes
6answers
403 views
How to stop a baby of trying to reach things that he really wants?
I have a 10 months old boy who really, really wants to play with my computer. It is not like he is mildly curious - as would be the case with power sockets, glass stuff and other objects which deserve ...
10
votes
4answers
790 views
Should I respond to “fussing” the same as crying in an infant?
During the night my 7-week-old will fuss in his sleep (grunt, flail, etc...). This fussing rarely proceeds to crying but he usually will not settle on his own. When I pick him up he will usually ...
10
votes
9answers
4k views
Baby breastfeeds for only 5 mins before sleeping again
My daughter is 2 months old and is exclusively breastfed. After drinking for only 5 mins she falls asleep again and wakes up crying again after 30 mins. We have tried different things like tickling ...
10
votes
6answers
1k views
Is the “cry it out” approach harmful?
We have several questions on this site that deal with infants and toddlers who cry a lot, for various reasons. Here is an example question and example answer, another answer. The topic was raised on ...
10
votes
3answers
249 views
How do we stop our child screeching?
Our 3 1/2 month old has just learned how to make an ear-piercing screech, which appears to either mean "happy" or "tired and grumpy".
How can we dissuade her from making this noise, without ...
10
votes
7answers
328 views
One room for each son, or one bedroom and one play room?
My family just +1'd itself. The newborn sleeps with us in the master bedroom for now, but we will move him when he's a few months old and no longer requires attention several times each night.
Our ...
10
votes
3answers
270 views
Why does the baby consistently fuss at nightfall?
My daughter (2 months old) consistently fusses or screams around sundown/nightfall regardless of the sky is overcast, the lights in the house are on, or apparently any other factor.
Is this common, ...
10
votes
2answers
5k views
How much noise does it take to negatively impact an infant's hearing?
In our apartment complex we have fire alarms that are outrageously loud. Last night, we woke at 4:30 am to the alarm going off all through the building. We got out as quickly as possible, but I'm ...
10
votes
3answers
3k views
Why is my baby suddenly screaming in the bath?
My baby has always loved bath-time, almost since he was born. He learned to splash when he was only a couple of months old and loves to play around with the water, and over the past few weeks I've ...
9
votes
5answers
835 views
At what age should I expect my daughter to talk?
At what age should I expect my daughter to form words? When should I expect her to be capable of simple sentences?
9
votes
7answers
659 views
What should we pack when going camping with an infant?
My family and I are going camping in a couple of weeks and were wondering if anyone had any tips or just precautions we should take. I have been camping only a couple of times in my life; however, my ...
9
votes
7answers
7k views
Why won't our infant stop crying when in the car seat?
We have a 2-month-old baby that will start crying as soon as we put her in the car seat and absolutely will not stop until she is out of it. She could be fed and asleep with a new diaper before the ...
9
votes
6answers
2k views
Is TV harmful to my infant's development?
My wife and I use our TV to watch shows and streaming movies. Our 2 month old daughter is sometimes drawn to the TV and will turn her head towards it and will 'focus' on it. I know that their eye ...
9
votes
6answers
424 views
How to direct my one-year old baby not to do bad things
I have a one-year old baby, she is smart and loves to try everything and anything, including putting her fingers in the electricity and tasting every possible thing she finds :)
How can I tell my ...
9
votes
3answers
159 views
Baby awake in the morning but quiet?
Our baby is nearly 6 months old, and generally when awake during the day (from 8-9 AM) he needs attention and care (at least periodically, otherwise he is pretty good at inventing occupation for ...
9
votes
1answer
169 views
When you don't think (grand)children are getting the care they need
My neigbor is now a grandmother of two little girls about whom she is very concerned.
Relevant backstory:
The grandmother/neighbor was an adict to multiple things while she raised the mother of the ...
9
votes
3answers
204 views
What stroller features are essential for regular use on the subway?
With subways being crowded spaces, with gaps to get over, escalators and steps etc., what types of stroller, and what functionality in a stroller should I be looking at for my newborn/infant?
8
votes
4answers
780 views
Is there any benefit to not responding immediately to a crying infant?
Crying is a newborn's favorite activity. They cry whenever they feel hungry, unsafe, or uncomfortable.
But sometimes I prefer to not respond to crying as quickly as possible, in order to teach my ...
8
votes
5answers
458 views
What are some ways to encourage a gifted toddler's development?
My girlfriend claims that our infant (about 9 month old boy) is gifted because he is doing certain things relatively early, such as the way he "speaks", moves around, eats, observes etc. That may very ...
8
votes
5answers
8k views
Are ExerSaucers/walkers/jumpers bad for children or is that simply a misconception?
I have heard my whole life that the above mentioned types of toys delay walking and/or independent sitting (depending on the age they're used). I've even heard that they can hurt the infant's legs. ...
8
votes
4answers
684 views
Why use rice cereal as a first food?
Searches have come up with when and which one, but no why. Why is it recommended or common to feed infants rice cereal as their first food? Why would we feed our daughter a processed food over a ...
8
votes
7answers
5k views
What are signs my daughter is teething?
My daughter is three months old, and I'm starting to wonder if she's teething. What would be signs that she's started to cut teeth, and is the age in the normal range for that development?
8
votes
9answers
4k views
How can I encourage my 13 month old to stand?
My 13 month daughter has no interest in standing or even putting weight on her feet. We're concerned if she doesn't start trying to stand she won't start walking.
Is there anything I can do to ...
8
votes
6answers
3k views
Controlled crying isn't working at night. What are my options?
We used controlled crying to help our daughter get to sleep easier at 6 months. This was hard work at the time but now, at 10 months, we can reliably put her down at the end of her bed time routine ...
