Parenting

Article Authors:

• Colin King | Director, Mary J. Wright Child and Youth Development Clinic, Western University
• Amy Rzezniczek | Ph.D. Candidate, School and Applied Child Psychology, Western University
• Rachel Krahn | Master's student, School and Applied Child Psychology, Western University

Awful to see the steady dismantling of the CDC. There are doctors and science advocates coming together to scaffold and build up trustworthy sources of info outside of the CDC. I follow epidemiologist Katelyn Jetelina and she has a great newsletter she started up around Covid and has kept going - https://yourlocalepidemiologist.substack.com/ She recommends the general public avoid the CDC web site now. She recommends healthychildren.org powered by the American Academy of Pediatrics. Some U.S. states have also partnered together i.e. the West Coast Health Alliance that have pulled away from the CDC recommendations. A friend of mine in health noted it's a big reason why we (I'm in California) can still get our Covid vaccines regardless of age while her sister in Oklahoma was denied. I know there are some North Eastern states that have also partnered up. Going to be very different healthcare messaging to navigate state by state...

My kid can't really read yet, but they brought me home a book. This exchange occurred in the first ten pages:

"Papa, that man is as black as ashes, isn't he?"
Papa laughed. "Dogs and horses come in different colors, don't they?"
"But he's not a horse, is he, Papa?"
"No, he's not a horse." Papa patted her on the head. "But colored folks aren't much different."

I WONDER WHY THIS BOOK WAS FREE IN THE LIBRARY.

(I'm not blaming my kid, they chose it just based on the cover.)

It's an exciting policy, and I didn't realize the history of such experiments being tried in NY.

Can anyone offer some advice on getting an 18-month-old to sleep at night?

Until now the three techniques we've had are 1) feeding to sleep on the boob, 2) walking to sleep in the sling and 3) falling asleep in the car. Number 3 is only good for naps in the daytime, number 2 is getting difficult as our kid is getting big and heavy (and is a PITA at night anyway, and number 1 is starting to become less reliable/effective.

What have you learnt about getting kids (particularly this age, if relevant) to sleep?

Many thanks!

my daughter has stolen a few things. She's 7 now but it started when she was 6. It was from school a few times - at first it was seen as a mistake and for her to return at item.

She was always told "it's the school's" or "person X will be sad if doesn't have y back".

Recently however she took some chewing gum from a shop. When I saw it I took her back to the shop, we gave it back and she apologised to the shopkeeper.

I told her about how it is not nice, can make people sad, it is illegal etc. she didn't get a dessert that day (our usual day for having one). And I wrote a few questions on a bit of paper (why stealing is bad, what will you do if you feel like doing it again etc.) and asked her to answer them - she wrote the answers down.

Less than a week later she got a pencil off a boy, gave it to her mum and said that she won two pencils. We checked this with the teacher and the teacher said there was a boy who 'lost' a pencil and was upset about it.

So she knows it is wrong, but is continuing to do it. It is difficult to catch her in the act of it. Has anyone dealt with similar behaviour in a child of a similar age? Any recommendations?

I can force myself to shout at her (this would scare her as I don't shout), I can take her to the local police by pre -arrangement , I'm not sure what the best approach to stop this behaviour is. It could have possibly been going on since she was in nursery as we've always accounted for things showing up as normal mistakes not intentional stealing.

Me (after spinning them around): Do you know why people get dizzy?
Kid, 6: accuratelyish describes the workings of the inner ear
Me: uh ... Yeah.

What have you been putting in your children’s lunches?

I usually try to do something I know they will eat like a croissant, waffle, bagel, muffin, or crackers;

something I hope they will eat but don't, like celery or cucumber:

And snacks ( apple slices, cookies, granola bars, grapes, berries, etc).

What are some lunches you make?

Inspired by this post: https://vger.to/lemmy.ca/post/53785551

In 1890, a German scientist named Robert Koch thought he’d invented a cure for tuberculosis, a substance derived from the infecting bacterium itself that he dubbed Tuberculin. His substance didn’t actually cure anyone, but it was eventually widely used as a diagnostic skin test. Koch’s successful failure is just one of the many colorful cases featured in Dead Ends! Flukes, Flops, and Failures that Sparked Medical Marvels, a new nonfiction illustrated children’s book by science historian Lindsey Fitzharris and her husband, cartoonist Adrian Teal.

The couple decided to collaborate on children’s books as a way to combine their respective skills. Granted, “[The market for] children’s nonfiction is very difficult,” Fitzharris told Ars. “It doesn’t sell that well in general. It’s very difficult to get publishers on board with it. It’s such a shame because I really feel that there’s a hunger for it, especially when I see the kids picking up these books and loving it. There’s also just a need for it with the decline in literacy rates. We need to get people more engaged with these topics in ways that go beyond a 30-second clip on TikTok.”

Their first foray into the market was 2023’s Plague-Busters! Medicine’s Battles with History’s Deadliest Diseases, exploring “the ickiest illnesses that have infected humans and affected civilizations through the ages”—as well as the medical breakthroughs that came about to combat those diseases. Dead Ends is something of a sequel, focusing this time on historical diagnoses, experiments, and treatments that were useless at best, frequently harmful, yet eventually led to unexpected medical breakthroughs.

For the background: I am from Europe, but we live in Korea, I still don't speak Korean.

Today on the way to the kindergarten, in the tunnel we have to go through, we were walking slowly behind a grandma. When my 2.5 years old had enough, he screamed at her: '비켜!', which means "Get out of the way!" in Korean.

She turned around smiling and asked him '비켜?'. She was nice and she went out of the way so we could walk faster 🤣.

I'm just so unbelievably proud, and though my son is over it I'm still charged up.

My son is 12, in those delightful middle school years. In my neighborhood lives another boy two grades above mine. His grandmother lives right next to me, and his parents across the way. This kid has been making fun of and bullying my son since they were 6/7 years old. He just did it to do it, I've seen it play out all the time. He used to pick on this smaller boy, my son's best friend, but when he moved away my son became the target.

My son is over reactive, especially when he was younger. He's in special education and has to do a lot of therapy learning to regulate. But it was clear as day, this kid would say something, just so he could watch my son react. The kid is a total jerk.

Anyway, just not too long ago, my son was playing in the back yard, again minding his business. Im bird watching on my porch as one does. When I hear off in the distance "something loser!" .. then I hear it again.. and again, someone is chanting "double loser". I bolt off the porch, last time something like this happened, my son charged the kid, I could hardly hold him back, I know immediately whats happening and run to look.

I go to see the street, and of course it's this kid, walking with two friends, and hes chanting this while they look back. I turn and see my son. Calm as a cucumber.. my son, calm as ever. He shrugs and says, "what? I'm not going to let it bother me. I know I'm not a loser"

Ohmygoooodness, ohmygraciousness, oh I smiled! Of course I told him he's absolutely right, we had a small conversation about his bullying and what not, high fives and hugs, I complimented him a million times. Just.

The work is paying off!!!

We're going to play a family game night now. Just a year ago my son would be crying having a meltdown in his room. Today, ah, I'm so proud :D

We have our first baby on the way. My wife and I love the name 'Violet', pronounced 'Vi-let' but she would like to spell it as 'Violette' instead.

I fear that people would pronounce it 'Vee-o-let' instead of 'Vi-let' and the child would be subject to a lifetime of correcting people. My wife thinks that because we can speak French we know 'Vee-o-let' but most people will still say 'Vi-let'

Thoughts?

Our new cleanup game with my preschooler is called “magic toy”. In her pile of toys there are magic toys. As she cleans up she holds each one up to me and I inspect it. Most of the time I say “nope, not it” but every fifth toy or so I say “that’s it!”. Both the magic and non-magic toys go in the toy bin. Then she searches for another magic toy. Keeps her focused and engaged. She told me “it’s funny when you say not it!” I’m going to enjoy it while it lasts.

Sounds like these guys have the same goals as me. I have high hopes and low expectations

(Sorrynotsorry for the self plug. I decided it was worth posting on Mastodon first.)

Where I live, Germany, it is very common to spend weeks, sometimes even months, trying to slowly get a child used to going to day care. In my home country, the Netherlands, this wasn't really a thing when I was younger and, from what I've learned from people with young children there, isn't common even today. That got me thinking.

Are there many differences between countries when it comes to day care and specifically getting your children to go to day care in the first place?

We're currently getting our second child used to day care. For our first child the entire process took six weeks and represented the Idea trajectory - nobody was ill, she liked going there, she liked eating there and she didn't make a fuss when it was time to sleep there. Still, this represents a significant investment of time (and therefore money) for any working parent. Sometimes it seems really absurd and impractical. I get the impression that the entire day care system in Germany revolves around the idea that mothers don't work or, if they do, it's only ever part time.

How does this look like in other countries? I've linked an article (in German, but translation services are available) about the system we're stuck with here, if anyone wants to dive deeper.

When I was a kid, Staples ran a back to school ad where parents were rejoicing to someone singing "It's the most wonderful time of the year!" This is my fourth back to school as a parent and I still cannot relate whatsoever. I miss my little buddies. :(

The "protection of children" has been the cited reason for a lot of controversial laws and measures recently. A common response is that parents should use parental controls to manage that on their own instead of relying on the government to do it to everyone. I found this article interesting since it touched on how the existing tools aren't that good, and addressing that problem might be a better thing to focus on

Authors:

• Sara M. Grimes | Wolfe Chair in Scientific and Technological Literacy and Professor, McGill University

• Riley McNair | PhD Student in Information Studies, University of Toronto

Hi all! I'm a mod at !WomensStuff@piefed.blahaj.zone a trans inclusive woman only group. I'd really like to do some parenting posts. I'm not a parent so can't do good ones.

Would anyone be able to assist?

I just have to post this because I am soooooo tired of all the videos and stuff I see all over the internet about how dangerous YouTube Kids is. It isn't! It's actually fine! You don't have to let your kids have access to aaaaaallllll of the videos! There is a whitelist feature! It's literally part of the set up process! JFC! My children only have access to videos and channels I specifically chose for them! Like PBS Kids! Please spread the word so I can stop running into these goddamn fearmongering videos.

Does anyone have tips for breastfeeding while babywearing? I'd like to stop taking the baby out and then readjusting all the time (since she inevitably decides she's hungry as soon as she goes in the carrier).

I use both a stretchy wrap and a ring sling. The ring sling is okay enough while sitting down, but we have a regular hangout spot that I'm standing for 2hr.

My daughter will attend high school in Canada after spending 8 years in my home country's schooling system. Her dad is Canadian and she speaks English so I don't worry about language barrier. But Canadian public schools are very different from here. What can I do to help her adjust?