The Parenting Journal

Renting an apartment or living in a leased home doesn’t mean you get to skip babyproofing. It means you have to be smarter about it. For a lot of parents, the fear of losing a security deposit is real enough...

Renting with a baby is a specific kind of stress. You’re trying to keep a small person safe while also protecting a security deposit that represents, in some cases, two months of rent. The good news: you don’t have to...

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 furniture in your child’s bedroom is probably the most overlooked hazard in your home. Not the outlet covers you spent twenty minutes debating at the hardware store. Not the cabinet locks. The KALLAX loaded with board games. The MALM...

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...

Most toddlers test limits. A child with ADHD, or with the impulsivity patterns that often precede a formal diagnosis, tests them faster, harder, and with less hesitation than you’re prepared for. I learned this the hard way with my older...

Sliding doors are among the most overlooked hazards in a baby-proofed home. Parents spend hours installing cabinet locks and outlet covers, then leave a 70-pound glass panel on a track that a determined two-year-old can move with one hand. The...

About 93,000 children under 5 are treated in U.S. emergency rooms each year for stair-related injuries, according to a Nationwide Children’s Hospital analysis of CPSC NEISS data. That number is why baby gates exist. And it’s why the question of...

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,...