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No matter what type of phone you decide to purchase for your child, consider how you plan to teach them about technology and digital media. Child psychiatrist Helen Egger, MD, tells Verywell Family, “When we reflect about when children should have personal cell phones, we must think beyond the device and consider how we are going to teach our children to use technology and consume digital media responsibly." To create our list, we looked carefully at age appropriateness, parental controls, durability, and features of each device....

When choosing the right diaper pail for your nursery, look for multiple seals to help trap diaper stink. Take into consideration how many diapers your pail can hold and whether it opens with a foot pedal or other hands-free method for easy use. We considered design, value, additional costs, and odor control when reviewing products. Here are the best diaper pails to help keep unwanted odors away. The Diaper Genie is designed to be hands-free—the top opens by pressing a foot pedal—and comes with a carbon filter in the lid to control bad odors....

“Choosing a natural fiber such as cotton and something with a little color can always help brighten the mood," Jennifer Lombardi, a certified postpartum doula, tells Verywell Family. “Make sure that it’s designed to be functional during your hospital stay. Most labor and delivery gowns are now made specifically for functions like [an] epidural, baby monitoring, IV with snaps in the front and back, and open access to your arms....

Safety comes first, so you’ll want to check out the recommended age range and overall durability of the activity center. Moreover, consider products with educational features or the option to convert into a toy that a toddler can enjoy for longer use. We carefully considered design, assembly, age, height, and weight recommendations, value, and material when reviewing products. Here are the best baby activity centers to choose from. The colors are modern, and it has wood accents that set it apart from other all-plastic models....

The best toy specifically for your little one will depend on the star in the bunch that hones in on their specific interests. We considered childhood development experts’ insights, engagement, and skill-building when reviewing the best toys for 12 month olds. Here are the most entertaining and developmentally appropriate toys for your 12-month-old. Safe for kids 6 months old and up, younger kids will enjoy grasping the lightweight shapes while older babies can practice fine motor skills and color matching by sorting the shapes and placing corresponding shapes into the sorter....

“Playing with balls is good for not only muscle development and hand-eye coordination, [but also] social skills, as most ball-playing activities will involve others,” Heather Shafi, MD, FAAP tells Verywell Family. They’ll be working on fine motor skills, spatial awareness, problem-solving skills, and balance, too. Whether your kiddo wants to play according to the rules or make up their own game, balls are good to have in your toy arsenal....

The challenge becomes what to suggest on the spot, how many times to request the same item, and whether to put in unique gift ideas or similar requests to each guest. Solve this problem by creating a gift registry for each of your kids to make birthdays and gift-giving holidays less stressful for relatives, birthday party guests, and yourself. Gift-givers will know exactly what you or your child wants, so no one will be disappointed, and the gift-giving process becomes easier and more efficient for everyone....

Here’s a look at what’s going on behind the scenes during the first two weeks of pregnancy—the germinal stage. A New Life’s First Journey When an egg is fertilized, the result is a single-celled organism called a zygote, which then develops into a multicellular structure called an embryo. Almost immediately the zygote is on the move, making its way from the Fallopian tube where fertilization took place toward the uterus....

An open adoption can be arranged in domestic adoptions, including foster care adoption. Birth family contact can include birth parents, grandparents, and/or siblings. There have even been open adoptions in international cases. When an Open Adoption Is Not a Good Idea There are times when an open adoption is not in the best interest of a child due to safety issues. This is often the case in foster care adoptions....

Although it may go unnoticed, the first time a newborn digests breast milk or formula is truly a landmark moment. In the womb, digestion is unnecessary. Nutrients from the mother’s blood are absorbed via the placenta and umbilical cord into the baby’s bloodstream, and waste products are transferred back to the mother’s blood by the same route. Until birth, the GI tract is simply waiting for the right moment to begin doing its job....

Not only is coaching a sport time-consuming, but it is not always an easy task either. Parent coaches must learn how to juggle parenting and coaching, meet the demands of instructing others, and navigate the dynamics of dealing with other parents. Here’s how to make sense of what it means to coach your child’s team so that you can not only make the right calls but go the distance when it comes to both coaching and parenting....

What Is a Brain Injury? The term brain injury refers to brain damage resulting from physical trauma occurring after birth. The most common cause of brain injury is by sudden or accidental trauma to the head, as in a car accident. There are several types of brain injuries having various effects. Concussions occur from a sudden impact or a strong whiplash movement as in a sudden stop when moving at high speeds....

If you’re shopping for a triple stroller, here are some models to consider. Be prepared—triple strollers are pricey and oversized. While many double strollers offer streamlined and lightweight profiles, a stroller for three children is almost universally bulky and heavy. If you’re only planning to use the stroller on occasion, purchasing a double stroller and a baby backpack, or a double stroller and single stroller may streamline your life. But if you have triplets, or twins with a single close in age, the ease of a triple stroller will be well worth the bulk....

When labor needs to start, there are multiple ways to approach it. Many people are surprised to find that there are many different types of induction. No single method will work for every pregnancy. Breaking the Bag of Water Using an item called an amnihook, your practitioner will make a tiny tear in the bag of water. This will cause the water to begin leaking out. Since the bag does not have nerves, this should be no more painful than your average vaginal exam....

If you have a concern, it’s always best to err on the side of caution and call. Most of the time, your provider will be able to answer your question or ease your mind with just a phone call. Other times, you may be instructed to go to the hospital. Below, you’ll find a list of some of the times you should definitely call your doctor. These are all cases when ignoring your concerns because you don’t want to be a bother could result in serious consequences for you or your baby....

Join our host Tiffany Small, 23 weeks pregnant with her first child, as she gets real answers to the biggest pregnancy questions keeping expecting parents up at night. Usual discussions of pregnancy can come across as too romantic, oversimplistic, or ancient. In this series, we focus on reliable, current, and honest advice from doctors, health experts, and parents from all walks of life to hopefully bring a greater sense of calm to the pregnancy experience....

Obstetrics vs. Gynecology Obstetricians are also gynecologists, which involves delivering care for all women’s health issues. Collectively, the two fields make up the OB/GYN title, which is considered one specialty. The OB/GYN branch of medicine requires the completion of medical school and a residency program. Some OB/GYNs will acquire further knowledge in fields like maternal-fetal medicine, gynecologic oncology, reproductive endocrinology and infertility, and female pelvic medicine and reconstructive surgery. To become board-certified, you must take and pass the American Board of Obstetrics and Gynecology certification exam....

Most often, this soft, downy hair appears on preemies, but full-term newborns are sometimes born with lanugo, too. While it can be a surprise for parents to see, it’s not a cause for concern. Learn more about why this baby hair is there, how long before it typically goes away, and when, in rare instances, it could be a sign of a problem. Why Lanugo Is Important Lanugo is part of an important developmental stage for your baby....

People invest in higher education generally because of its promise of upward mobility. The idea is you pay now for training that will land you a high-paying job in the future. In today’s world, it often doesn’t work out that way. The cost of higher education has risen over the past 40 years, but grants for low-income students, called Pell Grants, have not kept up. College costs three times as much as it once did, while Pell Grants have remained about the same....

If you’re raising a perfectionist, you’ve likely seen firsthand how difficult it can be. Torn up papers, late nights, and crying episodes are just a few of the behaviors you might witness in a budding perfectionist. What Is Perfectionism? It’s good for kids to hold high expectations of themselves. But if they expect everything to be perfect, they’ll never be satisfied with their performance. Perfectionists establish unrealistic goals for themselves....