79
votes
Accepted
Can taking my 1-week-old on a 6-7 hours journey in the car lead to medical complications?
Zero distance in someone’s lap. In an accident baby will become a missile and escape the grip...
If the baby is in a properly installed, rated car seat then fine, otherwise how would many parents get ...
- 2,459
39
votes
Accepted
Why do Heinz's Honey packets say not to give them to children under 12 months?
Honey is not recommended at all for babies under one year of age because of the risk of infant botulism. The risk isn't big, but if it happens, it can be life-threatening. Avoiding honey until the ...
- 1,391
39
votes
Can taking my 1-week-old on a 6-7 hours journey in the car lead to medical complications?
As mentioned, a baby should never travel in the car by anything but a child seat that is properly installed (preferably rear-facing). Do not take them out of the seat for any reason while driving: Not ...
- 499
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
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
Is it safe to store and use a desktop computer for long hours next to baby's crib?
Working in the same room your son sleeps is more an issue of the sounds and light of your monitor you make while working rather than the electromagnetic radiation. If possible, it'd be good for nap ...
- 3,743
31
votes
Can taking my 1-week-old on a 6-7 hours journey in the car lead to medical complications?
Travelling with newborns is not the safest option, but it can be done:
Carrying the baby in your wife's (or anybody else's) lap should be avoided at all costs. If you e.g. brake just a bit harder ...
- 894
28
votes
Why do Heinz's Honey packets say not to give them to children under 12 months?
Botulism spores are one of the very few things that can survive in honey, and even then, they can only do it by becoming totally inactive. In an adult, stomach acid will destroy those spores, and ...
- 557
25
votes
Accepted
Passive smoking's effect on a child
Second hand smoke is bad for a child in several ways.
First, perhaps most relevant to your case, there are relationships between smoke exposure and atopic dermatitis. See for example this study. It ...
- 61.8k
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
Are oak leaves safe for my baby to touch?
Holding oak leaves is harmless. In fact, oak leaves are used in folk medicine. Acorns are a choking hazard and should be avoided. Note that I could not quickly find any references specifically on ...
- 5,158
16
votes
Breastfeeding but periods have started after 2 months. What's going on inside the body?
First, menstruation doesn’t necessarily influence breast milk production. Some women notice a slight drop in supply in the second half of their cycle and an increased sensitivity or discomfort, others ...
- 18.2k
14
votes
Is it ok if my 15-month-old son stops breastfeeding by himself?
Firstly, your doctor is the authoritative voice here. The doctor says your toddler is okay, so I would listen to them before asking strangers on the internet.
If you do want some reassurance though, ...
- 26.6k
13
votes
Passive smoking's effect on a child
The most proper course of action is to talk to the smoker and explain to them that 1) you do not find it okay to have smokers around your child, and b) that it can pose specific dangers, given your ...
- 766
12
votes
Is it necessary to cut a baby's hair?
I'm guessing this is a cultural myth similar to "fan death" in Korea. It sounds utterly baffling and silly to anyone outside that culture.
No. There's no reason to cut your child's hair - ...
- 1,193
12
votes
Accepted
Baby / toddler girls - is it necessary to wear swim pants to prevent infections or inflammations?
Prepubertal girls are more susceptible to vaginal infections due to
Lack of estrogen - leads to thinning of the vaginal mucosa
Lack of pubic hair to protect the area
Lack of labial fat pads
Source: ...
11
votes
Accepted
Is it normal for a 3.5-year-old child to get sick every month?
Oh, yes, that's normal for kids who have just started going to school/preschool etc.
Quite simply, there are hundreds, if not thousands of cold and flu viruses circulating in society. As adults, we'...
- 2,159
11
votes
How to stop my 12 year old brother's addiction to video games?
Not an Addiction
If someone is doing something excessively we are very quick in seeing addictions nowadays.
I had this myself when I was a child, I played some days up to 16 hours and I often got ...
- 2,505
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
10
votes
Brandy for Kids
From Wikipedia: Brandy generally contains 35–60% alcohol by volume (70–120 US proof)
Alcohol is unhealthy in general, especially bad for the brain and doubly so for a child's developing brain. So no, ...
- 1,247
10
votes
Am I burping my 1-week-old too hard?
It's not possible to say for sure if you are being "too forceful" without seeing it, but I doubt it.
If this is the 1st child for you, the best info I can offer is this. There will always be ...
- 7,330
9
votes
Can tummy tightening cause harm to the baby in the womb?
Your baby can't be injured by temporarily tightening your abdominal muscles while struggling to regain balance at any stage of a normal pregnancy (and the vast, vast majority of pregnancies are "...
- 69.8k
9
votes
Allergies: should we test them proactively?
If there has been no allergic reaction then there is no need to test with two exceptions.
Family history of a lethal reaction. For example if Grandma is allergic to fish, and Mom is allergic to fish,...
- 2,572
9
votes
Accepted
How to encourage a six-year-old to habitually drink more fluids?
Resist the temptation to allow sugary drinks to solve this problem... you will just trade one problem for another!
Keep a selection of frozen fruits on hand to use as ice cubes. When she gets to the ...
- 13.5k
9
votes
Is it ok to pick up my 11-month-old baby with one hand by the shoulder?
Picking up a toddler by pulling on one hand is putting the child at risk for nursemaid's elbow:
Nursemaid’s elbow is a relatively frequent pediatric joint injury that occurs most often in children ...
- 69.8k
9
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 ...
- 314
9
votes
Is it safe to store and use a desktop computer for long hours next to baby's crib?
"Radiation" is a very broad term. It includes things like visible light, or the infrared light emitted by your body. What is harmful is ionizing radiation. A computer does not emit ionizing ...
- 91
9
votes
How to burp my 2 months old newborn baby just after vaccination?
If you touch it and it hurts, you'll know. While it is not nice to see your baby hurt, you will not irreparably damage your child if you happen to touch a sore spot. They're probably going to bump ...
- 1,400
8
votes
Which is more important for a baby: keep the baby happy or keep the baby healthy
There's quite a difference between your two examples and I would give a different answer in both situations. A 5 month old is too young to understand why you don't hold them when they cry. Generally, ...
- 2,202
8
votes
Accepted
When is it harmless to start taking a child to the cinemas?
Well the AAP guideline is daily. If you see a movie that is longer than an hour the AAP isn't going to care & you can ask your pediatrician. A single exposure to anything is highly unlikely to ...
- 7,330
Only top scored, non community-wiki answers of a minimum length are eligible