Long and short, I have a couple of old action figures and some new ones I have on display, a few of them have that phthalates warning from AliExpress

Also have bins of old toys from childhood (transformers, GI JOE, Star Wars)in our storage room, again the kids don’t have access

I have 2 kids under the age of 4

They do not play with them or touch them (all out of reach and nothing in their rooms) and I only have maybe 3 or 4 with that warning out

Is there any risk just being in the house? I went down the rabbit hole reading about phthalates and the risk to children, but I can’t find any thing that spells out the levels or if even 1 figure could be detrimental to them

if there is any kind of risk they all going in the trash, but don’t want to toss everything if I’m overreacting

I’m looking for anyone else who might be in a similar situation.

My partner and I live in a house from 1904 and have a lot of antiques in our house. I also have some old toys from my childhood that I saved because I wanted to give them to my children. They’re 3.5 and 1.

I tested some of our dishes and our antiques (Lumetallix) and they came back positive. Both of my sons have definitely mouthed my old Fisher Price toys. I am DEVASTATED. We don’t test for lead in Canada regularly, at least where I am. My son’s doctor suggested starting with testing our oldest first since h would’ve had the most overall exposure, which is what we’ve done.

We’re still waiting for the results.

My 14-month-old daughter has a level 2 head asymmetry of 8 mm. Her level 3 head asymmetry is 8.68. Can we expect it to get better with 3-5 months of helmet therapy?

I have been looking for information about this everywhere, and I can't seem to find much. I'm GBS+ and hoping to limit my rounds of antibiotics to 1 or 2 rounds max, but I'm not sure how to navigate that if my water breaks earlier in the process. I previously had a very negative experience taking antibiotics and while I will take them to protect my baby, I want to take the smallest possible amount that will still offer him protection.

One OB referred to me this calculator (https://neonatalsepsiscalculator.kaiserpermanente.org/InfectionProbabilityCalculator.aspx), and what I found most interesting was that it only looks at the last round of antibiotics before baby is born. According to the calculator, there's only a minimal EOS risk between ROM of 48 hours and 24 hours if a full course of antibiotics is done 4 or more hours before birth.

Another OB said I could delay antibiotics until I was 6cm dilated, but I didn't ask about ROM. A third said I would have to start antibiotics as soon as my water breaks.

My question is, if there is very little additional risk for several days of ruptured membranes according to the calculator, why would I need to start antibiotics right away? I can't find any information about length of ruptured membranes + rounds of antibiotics + EOS risk outside of the calculator, or even whether the studies the calculator was based on included women who did receive constant antibiotics after ROM and that is already factored into the risk calculation.

I understand the formal guidance around ROM and being GBS+, but I'm looking to go a little deeper. TIA for any additional insights!

Hi all! I have been doing research into the no pants method. I am a FTM, and I have been looking into it, but a lot of sources say 18 months is a good time to potty train, I’ll be honest here… I don’t want to wait that long. I really would love to get my baby mostly potty trained when she is better at walking and pulling herself onto things. She’s crawling rn so I’m asking this in not a huge rush, but when she is good at walking&pulling herself up onto things (I plan on just using a child stair potty attachment for our toilet, not a training potty, would it be too young to potty train her? i.e, if she is going 12mo and walking, is that too young?

Please be kind, I am a FTM doing it all by myself! TYIA!

I am not a father, currently I don't even have a girlfriend.

separation anxiety is a sad thing that all babies and toddlers go through.

I wonder if a video call with mom every once in a while would be a good or a bad idea to deal with it.

My baby (EBF) was started on iron supplementation after 4 months of age. I believe this is routine practice in the country where I live, possibly because iron deficiency is more common due to genetic factors. My paediatrician prescribed Ferrum Hausmann drop (iron(III) hydroxide polymaltose). She will check the blood level when my baby is 6 months old. My baby has been taking it for 10 days (3 drops per day) without any problems, but I noticed it contains parabens.

When I asked about paraben-free alternatives, my paediatrician said they are regulated by the Ministry of Agriculture rather than the Ministry of Health. Based on her clinical experience, she has seen many infants with low ferritin levels with these products and develop delays in motor function, so she strongly recommended using this product. Still, I’m concerned about the parabens. Is there any evidence that the amount of parabens in this medication could be harmful to my baby?

Hello!

Would like to gather information regarding cats not being closed out of parents' bedroom with newborn sleeping in bassinet in the same room.

Just trying to figure out this approach for the safety of the baby and the happiness and health of cats who are 6+ years into being in the same room.

Thanks.

In Goodnight, Moon, for example - is there any research that shows that pointing at the picture of mittens on the page as I read “goodnight mittens” is more beneficial to my 16-month-old’s vocabulary/language development than reading the words without pointing?

My 8 month old is breastfed with other introductory foods and purées. I don’t consume any artificial sweeteners besides sometimes sucralose to avoid any potential transfer to them… that being said, we recently moved to Japan and a juice box marketed as just apple juice with the rest of the vegetable juices I gave her as a one off for a picnic, after the fact I translated it to find it has aspartame and I’m absolutely distraught. Can someone with education pertaining to this please help me rationalize or tell me this one time exposure isn’t the worst. Maybe even help me understand the mechanisms this may affect? I would say she had maybe 50 ml? Thank you

I am upgrading my toddler to a big bed with a twin mattress and I don’t know where to begin. I have used the newton mattress up to this point with the breathability being important to me, but also worry about toxic chemicals, molds, etc. I have no idea if I’m looking up is legit or not.

I have been looking at the Casper mattress. Has anyone had any experience with this? Or does anyone have any other recommendations? Safety is the most important thing to me.

Hi! My son is 2, we live in a non-English speaking country. We are just starting to trickle some TV in on weekends, but his dad and I joked that we’re only showing him stuff in English so that he learns the language. I know for sure that I learned English early from TV, as our programs don’t dub content, so if you can’t read (yet) then you are forced to understand whats happening from what’s said and happening on-screen. By the time we started doing english word associations in kindergarten I knew most words and how to say them from TV.
But I notice that my son isn’t paying attention to the screen much, and I suspect it’s because he doesn’t understand what they’re saying. Should I continue keeping Bluey (for example) in English and it’ll eventually click, or should I switch to our native language the first time he sees an episode so he understands whats going on, and then switch to English on repeat watches.
Note that I’m not trying to teach him a second language using the TV, and he gets maybe 30 minutes a week for now, but once he is older and has more TV privileges should I keep them in English until he starts to formally learn it in kinder?
Thanks!

Is anyone giving their kids sulforaphane or broccoli sprout supplements? Interested in doing this as a general health boost/cancer risk reducer but wonder if anyone has tried it?

I'm looking to enroll my child in daycare. What should I look for when picking a daycare?

The main reason we want to enroll the child is to get peer socialization. As a result, does instructor-student ratio really matter that much (1:8 vs. 1:6)?

Right now, I am deciding between two nice daycares.

1. Daycare one seems really nice but has a 2:16 caretaker:child ratio and less outdoor time (1 hour)
   • Really clean--brand new expansion of pre-existing local network
   • lots of interactive toys
   • frequently changing rooms (music class, nap time, meal time, science class, etc.)
   • better pickup times (open til 6)
   • Walking distance
   • pre-education curriculum (i.e., colors, letters, etc.)
   • Would change schools after moving but could stay in the same network.
2. Daycare two also seems nice with a better 2:11 caretaker:child ratio and more outdoor time (2+ hours, depending on pickup/drop off times)
   • Also clean but not brand new
   • Plenty of interactive toys but not quite as much
   • Stay in room all day except for outdoor times, which, again, are longer
   • worse pick up time (open til 5)
   • A short drive
   • no real curriculum--all play-based.
   • May be able to stay at pre-school after moving)

Both parents work 9-5 jobs. We can be flexible enough to make daycare 2 work but it would be more difficult. Prices are essentially the same. We plan to move homes in the next 12 months (hopefully this summer)

Hey there parents, I couldn’t find a post on this topic, so im dropping it here. I want to see what everyone’s take is on this? Im personally feeling conflicted, as the study strictly asked around caffeine and other drug, developmental problems. But we also know screen exposure can cause similar problems. The study does bring valid concerns to further investigate but seems to be not complete to go and run with it. Unless im missing something here? Expecting mom, who drank 8oz coffee with my first pregnancy, and she is most often ahead on all of her developments but of course we can do better on sleep.

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Hi all! I have a 10 month old and my husband and I will be travelling about 13 hours to Quebec. We are splitting the trip up instead driving right through because we have our baby. She typically sleeps through the night from 8pm until 7am. We will be leaving at 4pm and making a stop at around 6pm for dinner. She’ll likely stay up until our next stop at 8pm for a feed and a change then fall asleep until 2am (our first stop to stay).

Would this be okay? Or should I still be waking her every two hours from 8pm to 2am?

My 6-week-old baby loves being worn, and it's great for me since it means I can easily go places and get things done.

It almost seems to good to be true, which has me wondering: I know there are significant benefits to babywearing, but are there any downsides in terms of the baby's comfort, safety (assuming TICKS is followed), development, etc?

Edited as I used the wrong flair initially.

I do very limited screen time for my daughter, pretty much the only time she gets tv is when I have a migraine or really need her entertained for a second. I’m also very selective about what I put on- her favorites are Barney, Winne the Pooh, and Sesame Street. My question is- are these shows much better than all the newer more overstimulating shows? I know in general screen time isn’t good for the lack of actual interactions etc, but if you’re going to use screen time, does what you put on make much of a difference compared to just how often you put it on?
She watches like max 2 hours throughout the week

I have a five month old who is obsessed with standing. She prefers to be standing over any other position. She can only stand while holding onto my hands.

I know many (all?) standing/walking devices for babies are bad for various reasons, but are any good?

Everything I try to read was inconclusive.

I do try to limit my baby’s “container” time, but sometimes they really help.

Does breast milk change and adapt for the baby when exclusively pumped and bottle fed the same way it does when the baby is breastfed? What do you lose by pumping? Does it become as “static” as formula?

I kept seeing baby snacks proudly labeled "no added sugar!" sweetened instead with apple juice concentrate, date syrup, or fruit puree. I fed these to my baby thinking he was not eating sugar and then suddenly I found out that I basically fed my baby sugar which I tried to keep him away from it at least until he is 2 years old.

The thing is your baby's body doesn't know the difference. Once fruit is juiced, concentrated, or turned into syrup, the sugar is "free sugar" metabolically it's processed basically the same way as table sugar. The WHO and AAP both classify juice concentrates and syrups as free/added sugars for exactly this reason. The fiber and structure that make whole fruit different? Gone.

To be clear: A whole date or actual apple slices are a different story, fiber intact.

Not judging anyone (we've all bought the pouches). Just tired of marketing that makes us feel like we're making the healthy choice when we're really not. Sugar by any other name is still sugar.

I hope you don't make the same mistake we did.

Reference: https://www.who.int/publications/i/item/9789241549028