All Questions
8
votes
3answers
398 views
are there any peer reviewed studies showing the benefits of video games for kids (especially girls)?
I've been fairly against video games for my daughters (10,11,11) but I'm starting to rethink that. Currently their total "Screen Time" is limited. I might let (or even facilitate/encourage) them to ...
8
votes
6answers
1k views
How do we help our toddler to sleep through the night?
My 14-month old daughter is no longer breastfeeding, and sleeps happily in her bed, although it is still in our room. But she wakes up around three times at night, and as far as we can determine it's ...
7
votes
4answers
461 views
When can children understand the concept of lying?
How old does a child have to be to be lying on purpose? How old are they before they can understand the concept of a lie vs the truth? What about not the truth vs the truth?
7
votes
8answers
2k views
Why is my newborn crying constantly?
my 4 week old daughter will not stop crying. We've tried everything from sucking, both on pacifiers and fingers to breastfeeding, white noise, movement, diaper is clean she doesn't seem to have a ...
6
votes
3answers
606 views
Attention-promoting activities for a toddler
ADD runs in our family ("in fact, it practically stampedes"), and I'm starting to see my toddler's attention become more and more difficult for him to control; he's beginning to have difficulty ...
6
votes
5answers
155 views
How to ensure that necessary things get done when time is short?
My question is based on the following assumptions:
I think that children learn by their success, if a certain behavior "works" to get what they want or not.
In consequence: A child should never ...
6
votes
2answers
370 views
How important is the pronunciation of a toddler's first words?
My 11 month old son has started to talk. He currently has a two-word vocabulary: "uh-oh", and "balloon".
He clearly understands the meaning of the word balloon, and uses it appropriately (his use of ...
5
votes
3answers
2k views
Why will my baby sleep easily at night, but not nap during the day?
I put my 6-month-old down for the night a little while ago. She was awake when I put her down, and less than ten minutes later with no crying, she was dead asleep. I try this during the day, and she ...
5
votes
5answers
267 views
How should I deal with my toddler's difficult behavior towards food?
My daughter is almost 15 months old and has always been a small eater. She was breastfed for the first 5 months then solids were gradually introduced. It went okay for the first few weeks but soon it ...
5
votes
7answers
1k views
When should we allow children to experience spices in food?
Based on this question, I think it would be interesting to hear opinions on use of spices in foods for toddlers.
When we prepare meals, we add the seasoning/spices fairly late. This allows us to ...
20
votes
8answers
753 views
How long should I wait before I permit my children to have access to caffeine?
From observing teenagers around my neighbourhood, it's obvious that Starbucks, and a few other coffee shops, are standard hangouts for teens. So I assume that once they're in highschool, I won't have ...
19
votes
6answers
385 views
How do you find great reading material for a child whose reading ability is far outstripped by his/her comprehension?
I have an 8yo child with CAS (Childhood Apraxia of Speech). Because the first two schools he attended didn't deal well with his CAS, he only really began to read about a year ago. He reads at a ...
18
votes
3answers
1k views
How do you handle poor behavior by other people's children?
I believe that interacting with a variety of other children at social functions is an important part of childhood development. However, there seem to be a lot of children who are... how shall I ...
17
votes
3answers
4k views
How do you potty train for overnight?
My three year old is well on her way to being potty trained. She rarely has any accidents, , at least during the day. My wife and I put her in pull ups to sleep at night.
My question is, whats the ...
15
votes
4answers
810 views
Is there any research on the effects of PG cartoon violence on small children?
Our son is now at the age where we let him watch a moderate amount of children's videos to entertain himself -- all firmly G rated stuff.
I have also been allowing him to watch some recent animated ...
14
votes
8answers
820 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
5answers
2k views
What are some ways to teach a child how to spit (after brushing their teeth)?
Typically, this is something you don't want out of a child. My 4 1/2 yr old has been brushing his own teeth for about a year. The problem is that I can't convey to him to spit out the toothpaste. I ...
14
votes
6answers
2k views
Is baby talk helpful or detrimental?
I have heard both that 'baby talking' in response to a child's babble is productive, and that 'baby talking' is counter-productive and can impede language development. Any thoughts?
13
votes
14answers
26k views
When do kids usually stop believing in Santa Claus?
My 7-year old son treats Santa as a real person. He probably suspects something, but me and my wife always find a way to persuade him.
What is the normal age when children realize that Santa is not ...
12
votes
5answers
429 views
Would it be bad to only speak to a child in a language in which you are not completely fluent?
My husband and I can speak daily conversational Mandarin, probably at the fluency and vocabulary of a native 3rd grade speaker. So decent, but not great. We speak 99% of the time in Mandarin to our ...
11
votes
7answers
216 views
How do we teach our 1 yr. old that “no” isn't a game?
We have a little girl that's almost 13 months old. She's found that when she touches a power cord or near an electrical outlet and we say "no" that it's a bit of a game. She gets a funny smirk on her ...
11
votes
4answers
3k views
My son Is 5 years Old and sexually active
I am a 20 years old female student and I have a 5 years old son who is really sexually active. For instance, he kisses girls by force, he forces them to lick his penis, he "fingers" them, he speaks ...
11
votes
7answers
497 views
Can a toddler spend too much time with books?
Back when we were still expecting our son to be born, we were told all about how important it was to read to our son, even before he was born.
Being avid readers ourselves, my wife and I felt this ...
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
555 views
How do you operate a successful “Star Chart”?
So, one of the techniques for improving behaviour that you often hear about is the "star chart". You put the focus on good behaviour by adding stars (I nearly said "badges") for the good stuff and ...
9
votes
6answers
485 views
How can I make my preschool child brush his teeth, and similar mandatory tasks?
Most tasks and chores can be taught by letting the child experience consequences, because those consequences are mostly immediate and direct (e.g. not going to the playground if the child won't put on ...
9
votes
3answers
268 views
How can I handle a child that claims medical problems as a bad excuse?
I have 3 kids who seem to use medical reasons for excuses, most often to not go to bed. For instance, my 7 year old periodically "Can't move" at bed time to get to his bed, but when he gets in there, ...
8
votes
4answers
428 views
How to handle a defiant 2-year old when he takes something he shouldn't?
My very strong-willed 2 yr 10 mo. old son is curious about everything in his environment, which crops up as a problem now and then if something delicate, expensive, or dangerous comes into it. Eye ...
8
votes
5answers
18k views
How long can a 3-month-old go without eating?
My 3-month-old son has started sleeping through the night, with a vengeance. He sleeps for hours. And when he finally wakes up and I expect him to be starving, he's often still ready to happily play ...
8
votes
7answers
1k views
Will getting child care from a non-native English speaker impact my child's language development?
My wife and I really like a neighborhood day care we recently checked out. The place seems very nice and the care providers seem to do a very good job. They are organized, appear to give a lot of ...
8
votes
3answers
408 views
How do we make our toddler less afraid of robots?
I'm sure the headline made you curious? :-) But I'm serious, and I am not referring to toys but actual household machines. We have a Roomba floor vacuum cleaner and a lawn mower.
My 20-month son is ...
8
votes
4answers
758 views
Is nipple confusion a real thing?
Our baby daughter is breast-fed, but sometimes it would be convenient to supplement with a bottle of formula (mostly so that the mother can sleep a little longer while dad takes care of it).
We keep ...
8
votes
8answers
736 views
What do I do about the fact that my child can already read, write and do math before entering Kindergarten?
My nearly 6 year-old son is going to first grade next year. He's already reading quite fluently and writing. He does basic math (without writing). He has great sense of humor, and he loves to make ...
8
votes
4answers
454 views
How do I teach my toddler not to abuse animals?
We have two dogs and two cats, and our son loves to interact with them, but his form of interacting is not particularly enjoyable to the animals...
Some of the things he does are just annoying, like ...
7
votes
6answers
368 views
teenage child with severe daily temper tantrums and whining
My 13 year old daughter has severe and daily outbursts - sometimes as many as 10 a day - from time she gets up till time she goes to bed. This has been going on since she was of walking and talking ...
7
votes
2answers
152 views
How can you teach a toddler about pain without actually inflicting any in return?
My daughter is entering those 'terrible twos', and as a father I want to find the method of teaching her discipline and self control that really gets the point across. For most behaviors, my wife and ...
7
votes
4answers
869 views
My wife is pregnant again, does she need to stop breastfeeding our son?
We have a 1 year old son, and my wife is now pregnant with our second child. Our doctor says she should stop breastfeeding our son because she is pregnant, because it may harm the fetus. This makes me ...
7
votes
7answers
568 views
Should I supplement children's education at home?
I am a mom who has made two changes to my children's education so far. I was not satisfied with the level of education of school at the first school so we switched to a more rigorous academic ...
7
votes
10answers
713 views
Do we need an electronic breast pump?
Since we plan that my wife is going to be a full-time/stay at home mom, do you think she will need an electronic breast pump?
We are first time parents. We do not sure if we need the electric one or ...
7
votes
3answers
809 views
At what age can children understand and respond well to discipline?
When my daughter was 6 months old, she liked to crawl over to our floor lamp and play with it (which is dangerous). Instead of trying to correct her behavior, we simply moved the lamp behind a child ...
7
votes
1answer
459 views
What to do when toddler keeps using the potty to stay awake at bedtime?
We are working on potty training our two year old girl and it is interfering with our bedtime routine. She will often keep requesting to use the potty, knowing that we will take her out of bed to go ...
7
votes
3answers
595 views
How do you remove stains from cloth diapers?
Our breast-fed son occasionally has poops that are greenish. These tend to stain his clothe diapers. What is the best way to get stains out without compromising the ability of the diaper to do its ...
6
votes
1answer
169 views
Are clothes needed for a newborn?
Provided that I have a warm enough home, can a newborn live there with only diapers, or does he still need clothes on? If so, why?
6
votes
4answers
457 views
How should I wake up my 4 year old?
My four year old is like I am: she HATES to wake up. I completely empathize with her, and I have horrible memories of screaming battles with my parents waking me up for school. How should I go about ...
6
votes
4answers
174 views
What should be done when your child wakes up from a nap and is extremely irritable?
We have a daughter who takes naps and (usually) wakes up extremely cranky and irritable. She is 1 month away from being 3. Because she is so irritable, she'll usually cry when she wakes up. Depending ...
6
votes
6answers
204 views
How do you keep up with a toddler?
My son is 2, and is seemingly a perpetual motion machine.
He constantly wants me to "play cars" (we stand at a window sill and smash matchbox cars into each other), play "tag" or "chase me" around ...
6
votes
6answers
326 views
How can I deal with my unreasonable 8 year old with ADHD?
I have two kids, 8 and 5 years old. My first boy has ADHD he is on medicine, but the medicine will stop working after 4pm, or some times works good or some times so-so.
The problem I have with him ...
6
votes
1answer
148 views
Retrain toddler to potty?
My toddler was using the potty frequently when he turned about 2.5 years, then after Memorial weekend, he suddenly stopped going. He seems to hold it forever and is very stubborn. I haven't had him ...
6
votes
5answers
141 views
What are some good places to find trustworthy babysitters?
Our children are 3 and 10 months, and we're thinking about finding a regular babysitter so that we can get out of the house a little more often.
In the past we've relied on nearby family, a high ...
6
votes
2answers
585 views
How can I potty train my 4 year old daughter?
I have been trying to potty train my daughter over the summer to prepare her for nursery school. She started sitting on the potty for hours just in case she wet in spite of being told this was not ...
