The Parenting Journal

Most caregivers are careful, attentive, and invested in your child’s safety. But they don’t know your home. They don’t know that the cabinet under the bathroom sink doesn’t latch properly, or that your toddler has figured out how to push...

Doing this solo is harder than anyone tells you. There’s no one to say "hey, did you check under the sink?" before you leave the room. No second adult to watch the baby while you drill a wall anchor. No...

The holiday season is the one time of year most parents willingly bring a large, climbable, needle-shedding, cord-covered object into their living room and surround it with breakable glass and small shiny pieces. If you have a crawler, a toddler,...

Every state licenses daycare facilities differently, but the gaps between "licensed" and "genuinely safe" are where children get hurt. A license tells you a provider met the minimum bar on inspection day. It doesn’t tell you whether the cabinet locks...

The holidays turn your living room into an obstacle course. Twinkling lights, dangling ornaments, flickering candles, a six-foot tree that your baby is already eyeing like a climbing wall. It’s beautiful. It’s also a hazardous environment for a child who...

Parenting twins means you are always doing the math. Two crawlers. Two climbers. Two children who will, at some point, figure out that one of them can occupy your attention while the other gets into something they absolutely should not....

Summer arrives fast. One week you’re watching your toddler chase dandelions in the backyard, and the next you’re managing a full outdoor obstacle course of pool water, bug spray, sunscreen, and a grill that’s somehow always within reach of small...

The house that worked perfectly for one child rarely works for two. When my older daughter was a toddler, I had a system. Gates up, locks on, outlet covers in, done. Then her sister arrived, and I discovered something nobody...

Camping with a baby sounds idyllic until you’re watching your eight-month-old reach for a glowing ember at 7 p.m. while you’re still trying to figure out where you left the diaper bag. The outdoors is wonderful for babies. Fresh air,...