109
votes
How to tell my 4-year-old son not to get hyper with his uncle or anyone except parents?
Kids are going to be kids. There is a lot of social etiquette and nuance that they will learn as they gain experience. Four years old is not the time. You should not place this burden on your child at ...
- 2,532
49
votes
Too many presents from Grandma - is this bad for my child?
I think that having a lot of things for your baby or kid is not a good thing, like toys or any other distraction (ipad, presents, bad food with sugar). This could create a behavior of only doing ...
- 531
37
votes
Accepted
Is it potentially harmful to a 2-year-old to still sleep in a room with her parents?
Hamad, I think that many children around the world sleep in the same room as their parents -- some for most of their lives. Most of these will/have become perfectly normal, healthy adults.
I'd say it ...
- 17.4k
36
votes
Which is more important for a baby: keep the baby happy or keep the baby healthy
There isn't a cut and dry answer to this. Both are important. And part of parenting is striking the right balance there. Given your situations above:
Baby wants to be held to sleep: well, keeping ...
- 13.3k
35
votes
Is it normal for a child just turned 3 to be able to read and how do I develop and nurture his intelligence?
Speaking from experience1, your child is advanced, very likely gifted - but it happens. Remember that “normal” is just a statistical distribution and doesn’t imply any value or sense of wrong or right....
- 18.3k
34
votes
Accepted
14 year old stepson wants to wear boxer shorts
Almost all of the arguments that you give for forcing your stepchild to wear briefs sound like reasons to let your kid wear the underwear he wants.
You (a woman) have no personal experience with ...
- 455
32
votes
Accepted
7 month old can sit, but doesn't want to
Is sitting a mandatory part of development?
Yes, it is. And your child has passed it. You put it quite well:
Sitting apparently does nothing for him.
It's not that he can't do it, it's that he ...
- 72.2k
29
votes
Accepted
How to help my son improve without being discouraging?
The root cause of your child's frustration is expecting to make complex things perfectly without a long process of trial and error. I suggest that the best long-term solution is to offer the child a ...
- 5,313
26
votes
How to tell my 4-year-old son not to get hyper with his uncle or anyone except parents?
This definitely seems like an issue for your brother in law, not for your son. Kids just don't adapt to changing circumstances that quickly; even much older children would have a problem handling ...
- 63.5k
22
votes
How should parents handle dominant behaviour of toddler towards other children?
When a child does something that makes another child feel bad, whether violence or just selfish behavior (which is basically what you're describing), my go-to at any age is to show the child how the ...
- 63.5k
21
votes
Is it potentially harmful to a 2-year-old to still sleep in a room with her parents?
No, on the contrary there is even an indication that this reduces stress for your child. This
study on co-sleeping in 101 infants concludes:
At 5 weeks and 6 months, the long-term co-sleeping infants ...
- 219
20
votes
Too many presents from Grandma - is this bad for my child?
At that age, there are pros and cons to having lots of toys, generally they're very superficial. For example:
Pro: Very easily bored baby has lots of variety
Con: Parents have lots of picking up to ...
- 311
19
votes
How can we reduce the likelihood of repeating our parents' mistakes?
If you're aware of the mistakes, and conscious of when you make them, that's a big step already. The next step is to develop alternatives, and have them ready, so that as soon as you recognize a ...
- 2,486
19
votes
Separated parents. As a dad, how do I exercise tough love without being the bad guy?
I am going to comment and answer each paragraph.
(Keeping it civil and not fighting in front of your son is absolutely the way to handle it. You aren't 'fooling' your son, but you are modelling how ...
- 17.4k
17
votes
How can I deal with adopted son who promised to the god he believes in to never to speak until he sees mommy again, when mommy is dead?
Short answer: be assertive and gentle at the same time. Gently let him know that you love him and understand his pain. Assertively (and gently) let him know that he can enjoy life, that he can be ...
- 491
17
votes
14 year old stepson wants to wear boxer shorts
Let's take a moment to break down what happened here, from your stepson's perspective. You come home and all your underwear has been replaced. This is underwear you were comfortable in, underwear ...
- 13.3k
16
votes
Accepted
Why am I so scared to become a parent?
I think you're scared because you're perfectly sane.
Who isn't a little (or a lot) afraid of being responsible for keeping another human alive and well in a world filled with total insanity? You may ...
- 4,602
16
votes
Is it inappropriate for young teens to cuddle and sleep together if there is no sign of it being sexual?
I wouldn't worry too much, and I definitely wouldn't suggest doing anything about it.
First of all you don't know that the two of them meant to sleep in an intimate manner. They may have fallen ...
- 4,265
15
votes
What benefits does using "baby talk" provide, and how do you maximize those benefits?
While there have been studies comparing infant preferences between "baby talk" and "regular talk", finding that "baby talk" was preferred, I'd probably lean more towards the results presented in this ...
- 955
15
votes
How should parents handle dominant behaviour of toddler towards other children?
This feels like very normal behaviour for an only child of 17 months; and the paediatrician is right that socialisation will solve most of the issues.
That said, you're the parents, so while it's the ...
- 10.4k
14
votes
Accepted
How to deal with spillage when my 6-year-old son uses the toilet?
He himself is very concerned and tries to avoid it by holding his 'thing' and pointing it down. This way he is successful but i am concerned is there any side
effects of this practice.
There are ...
- 8,755
14
votes
My 10 year old daughter watches Youtube shorts all day - what can I do about this?
Simple, you are the parent and she is the child.
You should set boundaries and responsibilities for her.
Limit her screen time by putting away her phone/tablet/PC (she doesn't have to have it while at ...
- 2,113
14
votes
Accepted
Walk or Drive to school?
Obviously, there is no answer that is right for everyone - a lot comes down to the situation, parenting style and so on. Also, you did not mention the child's age, so I'm assuming they are about to ...
- 2,932
13
votes
How to tell my 4-year-old son not to get hyper with his uncle or anyone except parents?
This kind of On and Off and shouting behaviour can be permanently
damaging, while I cannot make 28 years old understand how stupid
behaviour of his is making my son uncomfortable. How can I teach ...
- 4,032
11
votes
Which is more important for a baby: keep the baby happy or keep the baby healthy
Hold the child unless there is a problem. The child cannot be spoiled at this age, and will still sleep unattended later. The only limitations are physical needs of the parent. Is the parent too ...
- 127
11
votes
5 year old didn’t wanted his mother to touch
It’s entirely normal to not like being tickled. My younger son doesn’t either, and it’s very important that we enable his agency in this. At that age there’s very little they control - but their body ...
- 63.5k
10
votes
Accepted
Any Research on the Effects of Mobile/Cellphone Usage on Childhood Development?
If I were you, I would start with this short statement summarizing the (lack of) evidence and the AAP guidelines for screen exposure during childhood. The references listed at the end will give you ...
- 2,457
10
votes
13 y/o step-son wants to be a "furry"
(Edited to clarify my assumptions - thanks @Kai)
Based on the statement "After the later discussion he expressed that the costuming and what-not would just be a hobby for him", I would bet he wants to ...
- 3,697
10
votes
14 year old stepson wants to wear boxer shorts
Summary: You should let him choose his own underwear.
Speaking as an adult male, for me some types of underwear are just uncomfortable. There are several other reasons he may have for wanting to wear ...
- 324
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