parenting

Twins Ryan and Nell Stimpert lie in their baby boxes at home in Cleveland. The cardboard boxes are safe and portable places for the babies to sleep.

States Give New Parents Baby Boxes To Encourage Safe Sleep Habits

2:15pm March 26, 2017

by Maureen Pao

The baby boxes that Finland gives to all new mothers are legendary. Now states in the U.S. are experimenting with them as a way to encourage safe sleep practices and reduce SIDS.

Author Ron Powers describes the heartbreak of having two sons with schizophrenia in his new book No One Cares About Crazy People.

Father Of 2 Sons With Schizophrenia Talks Of His Struggle To Save Them

1:28pm March 20, 2017

"There is no greater ... feeling of helplessness than to watch two beloved sons deteriorate before [your] eyes," says Ron Powers. His new book is No One Cares About Crazy People.

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American kids access the Internet and social media through their phones or a parent's phone every day.

To Keep Teens Safe Online, They Need To Learn To Manage Risk

10:16pm February 27, 2017

by April Fulton

Teens should be included in efforts to mitigate their online risks, researchers say, but apps focus more on parents controlling access by monitoring and blocking sites.

Resources to help parents are typically aimed at moms, not dads.

As They Dig Deeper Into Parenting, Fathers Seek Community, Support

5:00am February 21, 2017

by Juli Fraga

More dads are getting involved with parenting, but the resources to help them are much slimmer than those available for moms.

Giving dads a task — in this case, reading — seemed to suit them better than the kind of parenting classes favored by moms.

How To Get Dads To A Parenting Class? Ask Them To Read To Their Kid

2:54pm January 23, 2017

by Jessica Boddy

In a world of mom-focused parenting classes, this class got low-income Latino dads engaged by focusing on a tangible skill: reading to their preschoolers. It ended up helping dads and kids alike.

The American Academy of Pediatrics' guidelines on when children should stay home are more liberal than those of many day care centers.

Should My Slightly Sick Child Stay Home? The Rules Often Conflict

7:36pm January 18, 2017

by Katherine Hobson

Parents have to weigh a lot of factors in deciding whether their kid should get a sick day. But day care centers may make the decision for you — and their rules are not always evidence based.

Mothers of middle schoolers reported higher levels of depression compared to moms of children at other ages.

Being Mom To A Middle Schooler Can Be The Toughest Gig Of All

5:00am December 29, 2016

by Juli Fraga

Everyone knows about postpartum depression, but depression is actually most common among moms of middle schoolers, a study finds. Think surly kids, hormonal changes and skimpy support networks.

Screen Time Reality Check — For Kids And Parents

2:49pm December 26, 2016

by Eric Westervelt

As technology is increasingly woven into family life, parents struggle to navigate limits without personal experience from their own childhoods to fall back on.

Queue Listen Now

Poverty Wages For U.S. Child Care Workers May Be Behind High Turnover

3:02pm November 07, 2016

by Jennifer Ludden

The high cost of child care is a strain for many families in the U.S., yet child care workers average less than $10 an hour. This strain on workers hurts babies and toddlers, too, researchers say.

(Left) Shana Steele with her three children. (Top) Vannessa Kamerschen with her daughter. (Bottom) David Meissner with his son.

National

Portraits In Single Parenting: Doing One Of Life's Hardest Jobs, On Your Own

11:48am November 07, 2016

by Maureen Pao

Raising kids is tough, even if you have a partner and a steady income or two. Single moms and dads face even more challenges, and like all parents, are doing the best they can, with what they have.