The Parenting Journal
Age and Stage
When Do Babies Start Crawling? Milestones and Baby Proofing Timelines
Most parents picture crawling as a distant milestone, something to worry about later. Then one afternoon your baby rolls across the room and disappears behind the couch, and "later" is suddenly right now.The window between "not yet mobile" and "everywhere...
Age and Stage
Diaper Changing Safety: Preventing Falls from the Changing Table
Every diaper change is a small, ordinary moment. It is also one of the most common settings for an infant fall.Changing table falls send thousands of children to emergency rooms each year in the United States. Most of those falls...
Age and Stage
Co-Sleeping Safety: Risks Guidelines and Safer Alternatives
Every year, about 3,500 infants die from sleep-related causes in the United States (CDC SUID data). That number sits behind every conversation about where babies sleep, and it deserves to be taken seriously rather than filtered through reassurance.Co-sleeping means different...
Age and Stage
Is It Normal for Toddlers to Defeat Baby Proofing Products?
Your toddler just opened the cabinet you locked three weeks ago. They’re holding a bottle of dish soap and looking extremely pleased with themselves. This is not a parenting failure. It is, frustratingly, developmentally right on schedule.Toddlers between 18 months...
Age and Stage
Safe Sleep Practices for Newborns: AAP Guidelines Explained Simply
About 3,500 infants die each year from sleep-related causes in the United States, according to CDC SUID data. That number stopped me cold when I first read it during my older daughter’s newborn weeks, sitting in the dark at 3...
Age and Stage
Car Seat Safety by Age: Rear-Facing Forward-Facing and Booster Guide
Car crashes are a leading cause of death for children in the United States. The car seat your child sits in, and whether it fits them correctly for their age and size, is one of the most consequential safety decisions...
Age and Stage
Teaching Toddlers Stair Safety: When and How to Practice
Roughly one child every six minutes is treated for a stair-related injury in a U.S. emergency room (Nationwide Children’s Hospital analysis of CPSC NEISS data, 1999–2008). Stairs are everywhere. And at some point, your toddler is going to want to...
Age and Stage
Newborn Safety at Home: The First 30 Days Survival Guide
The first 30 days with a newborn are terrifying in a way no one fully prepares you for. Not because of the sleeplessness, though that’s real. Because you are suddenly responsible for a person who cannot roll over, cannot call...
Age and Stage
Toddler Developmental Milestones and Safety: 12-36 Month Guide
The window between a child’s first birthday and third is the fastest developmental sprint of their life. In 24 months, a baby who could pull to stand becomes a child who runs, climbs, opens doors, and operates your television remote....