All parents like to think that their baby is unique — the cutest, brightest, most engaging infant ever born. And one way parents seek to reflect their child’s uniqueness is by bestowing them with equally distinctive, sometimes …
Parenting
Working Moms Multitask More Than Dads — and Like It Less
Women — especially working mothers — are the ultimate multitaskers, but they’re not too happy about it. There’s now empirical evidence in the December issue of the American Sociological Review that underpins the notion that …
Study: 40% of Kids Who Attempt Suicide First Try in Elementary or Middle School
Almost 40% of kids attempting suicide make their first try in middle or even elementary school, according to research that suggests that kids who think they want to kill themselves are considering it long before previously assumed.
Down Syndrome: With Breakthroughs in Testing, a Choice Becomes Tougher
Perhaps the most important thing you need to know about Melanie Perkins McLaughlin is that she’s not pro-life or pro-choice or pro anything — other than pro-information.
Do Babies with Flat Heads Need Helmets?
Anyone who’s surmised that putting babies to sleep on their backs has contributed to the increase in babies’ flat-headed noggins can’t be blamed for making the connection: the spike in plagiocephaly has largely coincided with the …
Why Do Kids Gain So Much Weight Between First and Third Grade?
What happens to kids between first and third grades? They discover chapter books. They tackle multidigit subtraction. And they gain more weight than at any other point in elementary or middle school.
Why Parents Still Want to Read Real Books, Not E-Books, to their Kids
In my house, bedtime stories are sacred. Rarely does something derail the nightly routine, although feverish kids have been known to be tucked in, sans story. But last week, my strep-throated 4-year-old awoke at 1 a.m. with this …
Spacing Siblings At Least Two Years Apart Makes Kids Smarter
Kasey Buckles’ kids are two years, two months and two weeks apart. The timing is significant because Buckles, an assistant professor of economics at the University of Notre Dame, has just officially determined that the ideal …
Controversial Posters of Babies with Knives Aim to Reduce Co-Sleeping Deaths
Babies and knives are not generally a good combination. But in the case of a Milwaukee ad campaign against co-sleeping, the startling juxtaposition of a snoozing infant nestled next to a butcher’s cleaver seems to have served its …
Grandparenting 101: Teaching Grandma and Grandpa About Modern Parenting
“Tummy time” and “Back to Sleep” weren’t part of the playbook when Ginny Fountain gave birth a generation ago. This expectant grandma’s got a lot to learn about newborns, which is how Fountain, 64, wound up in a grandparenting …
Baby Boom? Moms Eager to Deliver on 11/11/11, the Coolest of Due Dates
Expectant mom Julie Madayag first learned of her daughter’s auspicious potential birth date from an online due-date calculator: 11/11/11, the computer predicted.
Penn State Scandal: Can We Trust Coaches with Our Kids?
As Penn State reels from a sex-abuse scandal that led Wednesday to the ousters of Joe Paterno, the winningest coach in major college football, and university president Graham Spanier, parents are left wondering whom to trust.
Fatherhood Helps Men Cut Back on Drinking, Smoking and Crime
It’s not news that becoming a parent changes everything. But a new study suggests that fatherhood’s transformative power is responsible for new dads’ decreased rates of tobacco and alcohol use and crime.