#parenting tips

- the obvious, they can’t have water bc milk is incredibly high in water already so excess water leads to over hydration

- babies cannot have honey until 1

- if ur breastfeeding your kid and saving excess milk, make sure you label what you pumped in the morning vs at night bc your body produces different melatonin levels throughout the day and giving your baby daytime milk at night can make them more alert and fuck up their sleep schedule

- idk why ppl keep saying this but swaddling your babies or getting them those baby straight jacket things is not abuse. It chills them out cuz it reminds them of the womb

- babies have a dandruff like buildup on their head called cradle cap, and it’s very easy to deal with and remove with just some baby shampoo, a gentle scrub brush (MADE FOR BABIES!!) and a comb. It does need to be removed tho cuz it can be very painful after a while. This can also continue to happen late into toddlerhood it’s normal

- you have to clean out the creases of your baby’s skin and hands and feet they WILL collect dust😭😭

- you cannot bathe your baby until their umbilical cord naturally falls off. Use a warm damp rag until then

- tummy time is actually very important

- your baby might have a misshapen head at first (not all the time but sometimes) this will either sort itself out or they’ll need a corrective helmet ask your doctor

- I wouldn’t recommend having your baby leave the house very much until they’re at least 6 months old, especially if they’re born near cold and flu season cuz the common cold can kill a newborn

- you’re not an awful horrible person for having postpartum depression and it’s always a million times better to let your baby cry a few minutes longer than normal while you regain your composure than to freak out and give ur kid shaken baby syndrome

- you’re not an awful horrible person for giving your baby formula milk either

- don’t put shoes on your baby it’ll compromise their toe box and balance

- babies put every single thing in their mouths

- the easiest way to burp a baby is to hold them straight up (spine straight) and hold their head a bit higher

- always support their head they barely have necks

- if your baby fights away food, fights tummy time, vomits every single time you burp them, is gaining or losing an unreasonable amount of weight at a time, wheezes after eating, or goes red after eating, chances are they’re probably allergic to the type of milk they’re eating (again ask a doctor but these are just some signs it’s not just colic)

- they will wobble a lot when learning to do things but you gotta fight the urge to help them every single time cuz they gotta learn

- they’re not always spitting out baby food cuz they don’t like it they just don’t know how to eat. Like they don’t know how to push food down they only know how to stick their tongue out so be patient

- babies craniums are broken up into three parts at first that later fuse together, this is to help make birthing easier but it results in a small EXTREMELY sensitive spot in the top of their head that has no protection. This puts their brain at a high risk. Always protect their soft spot

- read to your baby!! Get cute bright colorful sensory books with sight words and read them to your baby it makes such a huge difference in their educational growth and will help them acquire a love for reading early on. And talk to them never shut up just say whatever comes to mind all the time this will strengthen their vocabulary growth also.

- babies poop like a lot. A lot. an unreasonable amount. Bring back up clothes and more diapers than you think

- no pillows or stuffies in the crib and only use a muslin blanket unless it’s especially cold to prevent suffocation

- babies kick reflexively until they’re out of their newborn scrunch (they stay womb shaped for a while) and if your baby is crying and pushing at the swaddle try letting them flail around for a minute

- consoling your baby is not spoiling them ! They need comfort and they will learn to self soothe on their own

- singing lullabies actually works, they can recognize your voice a consistent place of comfort from the womb and the cadence of lullabies is literally engineered to create a calm headspace

- for the love of god do not get boring ass beige toys. Colors are important for their neurological development

- babies are very responsive to praise from a young age so be as supportive of them as you can

- babies get constipated a lot and you have to do like tummy massages to help ease their pain the easiest way is to lay them on their backs and hold one foot in each hand, kick their feet like bicycles, scrunch up, and then stretch their legs out

- holding them on your hip too much will not cause bow legged-ness if your baby is bow legged that was always gonna happen

- they drool so so much and you have to get bibs for them so they don’t get chest eczema

- don’t use scented products on their skin cuz their skin is sooo much thinner than ours

- when your baby first starts sitting on their own never walk away from them without setting up a nest of pillows and blankets around them. Even minor head trauma can mess them up sometimes

- this one is kinda morbid and scary but sometimes babies just die out of nowhere and it’s no one’s fault or anything it’s called sudden infantile death syndrome(SIDS) and it’s about 1.3k deaths on average per year in America so not super common but still very real. 90% of these deaths happen during the first four months however edit: apparently it’s bc of an enzyme deficiency which at the very least you can take steps to try and prevent

- smoking and drinking during pregnancy WILL affect your baby and your breast milk and also might contribute to SIDS cases

- babies sometimes have a big red mark on them somewhere called a stork bite immediately after birth but typically it goes away

- babies can’t see very well for a while after birth and they’re VERY wobbly so they’ll typically bonk their head into your chest and face a lot while trying to support themselves

- female babies might have smth similar to a period the first few days after birth, this is because of the hormone transfer that happens during the birthing process and the days leading up to it

- male babies get random erections for the first few days after birth(hormone transfer again) literally do not be weird about this it’s a baby

- things like weaning your baby onto solid foods, potty training, weaning off pacifiers etc, can actually be directed by the baby and will happen naturally will minimal guidance from the parent(some guidance is still necessary) although I would do individual research into baby led weaning for food to prevent choking

- get those chewy feeding pouches to help with weaning

- the most random things will scare the hell out of your baby don’t take it personal 😭

- baby carriers are life savers (tulas are one of my favorites)

- once babies hit toddlerhood they’re tougher than you think, and a lot of their reaction is based on YOURS. they’re always going to be looking to you for how to react to a situation. Remain calm and if they’re ok they’ll calm down but if they’re genuinely hurt they’ll keep crying

- babies will most likely get ridiculously attached to an inanimate object and you have to keep this thing intact at all costs until they’re old enough to abandon it or they will throw a FIT. I got a lemur plushie from a zoo once and every single one of the kids has bonded their soul with it until about 6 years old and once a month I have to stitch him back up

- don’t compare yourself to other parents. Maybe your kid isnt getting grass fed wild caught north Atlantic cheerios but at least they’re fed. If your kid is alive and healthy and happy you’re doing a good job

- you will need 3 car seats, an infant seat, a grow with me toddler seat, and a booster seat

- getting a good diaper bag is a MUST

- the hair a baby is born with will most likely all fall out or they’ll get a bald spot on the back of their head where they sleep cuz their hair is so fragile and thin but once it grows back it grows back thick

- get like 20 muslin blankets so you always have a backup when the main ones are covered in spit up

- the babies grip IS stronger than yours (keep your hair up and keep pets away best you can)

- your best bet for your teething baby is a pacifier you can put your finger in so you can massage their gums and some chewing toys numbing cream can be dangerous and should be used sparingly

- go ahead and come to terms with the fact you’re gonna have to use a Frida Baby to manually remove snot

- babies can get hair and thread wrapped around their toes and fingers that can cut off their circulation try to make a habit of checking

- don’t hit your kid please it’s nothing but trauma and fucked up coping mechanisms from there pls empathize with your child they’re a person too

- be careful not to pull too hard on their arms and legs(like during play or holding their hand while they walk) and NEVER pick them up by their hands this will very easily cause dislocation

- they might have a little tooth like callous on their lip from their pacifier. This does not hurt them and it will go away but it may hurt during breastfeeding

- breastfeeding will make your boobs different sizes

If your child tells you that they've been SA'ed in any capacity,

FUCKING LISTEN TO THEM

DONT BRUSH THEM OFF

DONT ACCUSE THEM OF LYING

DONT EXCUSE THE ABUSE

DONT CHANGE THE SUBJECT

DO SOMETHING ABOUT IT

ITS NOT THAT FUCKING HARD

Connect the reluctant reader to books on the topics they're interested in (and, preferably, at their reading level or close to it).

Are they into video games? Get them manuals on their games or books set in the universe of their games.

Are they into horses? There's lots of fiction and nonfiction books on horses that they can read!

Do they like making crafts? Craft books are amazing!

Bonus tip: Comic books or books that have lots of illustrations tend to be the biggest hits with reouctant readers. They also tend to really like choose-your-own-adventure type books.

Being a responsible parent is about setting boundaries, even for yourself.

It was a video of the method a mom is using to keep her boys from being redpilled

Instead of forbidding her boys from watching redpill content, this mom gets clips of redpill podcasts and listens to them with her kids.

She then stops every so often and asks critical thinking questions, like "Who benefits from what he's saying?" and "What is the overall message he's trying to get across?" and "What do you think about what he's saying?".

The boys then think on it and respond.

In the case of the video, they were watching a Charlie Kirk clip where he was talking about how men shouldn't trust/allow women to be figures of authority over them, his example being teachers.

The two kids were around 10-12 and 6-8. The oldest was like "Men are the ones who benefit from what he's saying. But women don't, so I think it's kinda mysoginistic."

The first three months of being a parent can be some of the most challenging. So much changes as you get to know your baby, while trying to look after yourself as well. This is something I’ve put together that explains what you can expect as you adjust to having a new baby at home, as well as extra interesting science facts.

1. Adjusting to less sleep

Babies are not born knowing the difference between the natural day and night cycle, this typically develops at around three months old. Until then, it’s quite normal for babies to cry and sleep in short bursts. Putting babies on a schedule during this time isn’t effective and isn’t recommended. It’s best to let them sleep when they need to. I vaguely remember my chipmunk parents putting my brothers and I to sleep at different times instead of a fixed schedule.

As a new parent you will lose a lot of sleep. It’s important to take care of yourself. It’s scientifically proven that new mothers lose roughly 2 hours of sleep per night during the first five months, which is equivalent to missing hundreds of hours of sleep.

2. Mammals carry children on the left

Whether or not you are right or left handed, human mothers tend to carry their child on the left side of their body, especially in early months. This has to do with the brain’s layout - sensory information on the left side of the brain is processed on the right side. Emotions are also processed on the right hemisphere of the brain so observing the baby by holding it on the left side actually helps transmit social information to the right side more efficiently. Chipmunks carry their babies (pups) by the scruff of their neck, and the babies instinctually curl into a protective ball to make relocation easier.

3. Bottle feeding

Human mothers have been bottle-feeding since prehistory. Scientists analyzed ancient clay vessels from graves in germany, and they found the residue of milk from hoofed animals and officially identified these vessels as primitive baby bottles. The earliest date back more than 7,000 years

While we’re on the topic of the past, the ice age made mothers evolve better milk. Scientists suspect that a tweak to human’s breast tissue helped some populations survive the last ice age.

Roughly 20,000 years ago, vital vitamin D would have been increasingly difficult for babies dwelling at far-northern latitudes to harvest through sunlight and exposed skin. Luckily a genetic mutation arose in mothers’ breast ducts that some scientists think allowed for critical nutrients to flow into infants in vitamin D-deficient conditions.

Extra facts.

When breastfeeding, the hormones that are released actually help the uterus shrink back to its pre-pregnancy size. Milk is filled with special components that fight infections and cut down on swelling. My brothers and I were born blind, hairless and very small, and the nutrients in the milk we drank helped us grow and kept us healthy.

Babies are actually born with 300 bones, that’s 94 more than adults. Many of these bones are actually flexible cartilage which serve an important purpose - making delivery easier. These bones fuse together during development.

They are also born without kneecaps. They are soft and made of cartilage, and don’t fully harden until around 6-12 months.