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The morning market in Luang Prabang, in Laos, was a dense mix of straw mats,...

Harper's parents were startled out of a deep sleep when their dog, Duke, leaped onto the bed barking and trembling. After a few drowsy moments, the couple realized he was trying to "tell" them that something was wrong. They shot out of bed to check their 9-week old infant and...

I was in the library working on a new book when the sweet tinkle of children's laughter pulled at my attention. I looked across the grand room and spied five little munchkins -- in various states of sit, stand, and wiggle -- as Grandpa Bill unspooled his story to his...

Father's Day is more than just a day to make Dad heart-shaped pancakes or serve him his favorite spicy nachos and a beer while he watches his favorite team on TV... uninterrupted. It's also the perfect day to applaud Dads for the super-sized burdens we shoulder in today's busy world....

If you're like most new parents, a good night's sleep shimmers in your weary mind like a mirage in the desert. We all know that when our kids are up all night... we're up all night, and it's nowhere near as fun as the all-nighters we used to have. Before...

One beautiful spring day in 2009, a senior manager at MIT's world famous Media Lab was home with his 6-month-old while his wife was at church. He had cared for his baby before, but that day was very different. His baby's cries made him lose control and he shook his...

While uncertainty shrouds the true identity of Saint Valentine, there's no mystery about what Valentine's Day represents. Invisibly bound to our bouquets and baubles, is our enduring ideal that love conquers all...

What could be more romantic than that?

Well, I would argue that there's a bond we should celebrate...

If you're like most moms, while you're reading this you're probably cooking dinner, wiping noses, paying bills, juggling dishes, checking homework, and working an extra job -- all with the phone wedged between your ear and shoulder as you're asking your mom about her back pain.

When you think...

The holidays can be the most magical time of year -- but let's be honest, if you have a willful, impulsive toddler (in other words, if you have a toddler) it can also be the most trying. Swarms of visiting relatives and a cacophony of music, tinsel, presents, and candy...

Four-month-old Reneja never woke up from her sleep. Her 24-year-old mother found her wedged between the wall and the soft mattress of the bed they shared in their Milwaukee home.

Each year, over 6,000 American parents go to greet their baby in the morning only to find them blue...

Toddlers aren't big babies, or little adults. They're much more like...well... visitors from the Stone Age.

I know it sounds odd, but think about it for a second: they push, scratch, grunt, yank, wipe their noses on their arms and pee anywhere they want. Toddlers are certainly not born knowing...

It's probably no surprise to frayed and exhausted new moms that repeated waking from deep sleep and hours of the taped yelps of crying babies are used to train Navy Seals to endure torture. For some new parents, these very same experiences are a challenging nightly reality.

The stress and...

This is the first of three blogs on infant/toddler sleep. Over the next few weeks: how exhaustion can trigger postpartum depression and tips to boost add hours to the slumber of older infants and toddlers without making them cry it out.

Being pregnant is one of life's most magical experiences....

In case you missed the flurry of recent news, scientists have serious doubts about the safety of BPA (bisphenol A). And that's alarming because this hormonally active chemical contaminates the body of virtually every single American.

BPA was first created as a synthetic estrogen, and only later was it...

Over the past 30 years, toxic chemicals, like Teflon, plastics, and formaldehyde have increasingly invaded our homes. We used to think these substances were harmless, but a rising tide of evidence has turned the spotlight on chemical exposures as a possible poison to our children's developing brains.

One group of...

All sorts of arguments are thrown around to persuade parents that shots threaten their children with autism. I'd like to discuss 4 of the commonly repeated concerns, 3 flawed...and 1 that I think has merit.

1) Too many shots can overwhelm a child and cause autism. No!

Babies get...

This is the first post in a series of three about autism and vaccines.

If a foreign government were suspected of doing something that caused brain problems to 1/166 American children our nation would immediately and vigorously respond...and even go to war! Well, our children are under...