John Harris on how music helped him connect with his autistic son James When James was a child, he loved playing songs over and over. I Am the Walrus, by the Beatles. Autobahn, by Kraftwerk. “He hears emotion in music. I know that for a...
Josephine Grahl advises looking at the labour burden placed on women and how social structures enforce this. Brid Connolly recalls Marge Piercy’s novel Body of Glass Rachel Connolly has it the wrong way round when she suggests that one...
You don’t need to feel wretched shame for having negative emotions, writes advice columnist Eleanor Gordon-Smith. Working through these feelings might be better for him too Read more Leading questions I have a 15-year-old son and he is...
In his fourth novel, the author leans into dark and surreal territory, focusing on a small Australian town during a mysterious global catastrophe Get our weekend culture and lifestyle email In the author’s note at the end of Orpheus...
A newly published study found that a mother's exposure to phthalates during pregnancy can affect their newborn's metabolism and brain development. These widely used plasticizers are commonly found in a variety of cosmetics and personal...
Parents can block children from talking to certain people and get detailed screen-time insights on site popular with under-13s Parents can now block their children from communicating with specific friends or playing certain games on...
I’ve blown hot and cold on the virtue of Mothering Sunday, but I’m convinced it serves as a meteorological bellwether I like to uphold my children’s privacy and respect their wishes, the foremost of which is: “Please respect our privacy...
Whether you’re a parent or not, you should be able to talk candidly about how tough it is having kids A few weeks ago I told my friend – a good friend – that I was considering having a third kid. The colour washed from her face, and...
Hampstead theatre, London Sophie Melville and Laura Whitmore star in an ambitious yet flawed play about the pressures of parenthood John Donnelly’s new play is perceptive about early parenthood, especially the way a baby’s arrival...
AI mental health apps may offer a cheap and accessible way to fill the gaps in the overstretched U.S. mental health care system, but ethics experts warn that we need to be thoughtful about how we use them, especially with children.
We shouldn’t frame girls outperforming boys as a crisis, writes Virginia Mendez , while Nick Hillman says we can tackle both the labour market challenges faced by women and the educational ones faced by men. Plus a letter from Kartar...
The key isn’t chasing some impossible ideal of passion that never fades, but learning to appreciate love in all its evolving forms The first thing a friend did when I told her the title of my book was laugh. “The Sex Lives of Married...
Exclusive: Most only take a week’s leave, and paternity pay for back-office staff in Met is nearly three times higher Police officers have described being ostracised for taking paternity leave, as it is revealed that back-office staff in...
Guardian readers share the ways and reasons they are preparing their children and students for a future that may necessitate familiarity with generative artificial intelligence Since the release of ChatGPT in late 2022, generative...
I use every bit of phone-jitsu I possess to reach a human so we can explain this situation My son hates swimming and is protesting against being driven to yet another lesson when we realise our car is gone. Searching proves fruitless, so...
Trump’s executive order supposedly expanding IVF access offered nothing concrete beyond a weird nickname for himself Donald Trump has clearly been spending far too much time with Elon-I-offer-my-sperm-to-everyone-who- crosses-my-path...
Millions have been gripped by a story of toxic masculinity in children that’s been called a ‘wake-up call’. But is it a moral panic, and how should we respond? There is a scene in the Netflix super hit Adolescence, about an elfin-faced...
New guidelines are well intentioned, but as parents of babies know, finding time to look after yourself is impossible One of the many things you don’t realise until you have a newborn is just how much people congratulate you simply for...
Now I understand the terminology, it all seems so clear More summer essentials I never identified as shy as a child because my younger brother was the type of kid who wouldn’t speak in the company of strangers, and I – apparently – never...
Schools, social media platforms, governments and communities can all play a role, but parents can still be powerful influences on the kinds of men their boys will become Get our breaking news email , free app or daily news podcast There...
This emotionally astute novel describes a woman’s descent into psychological distress, but some of its ideas remain embryonic Nine months is not long enough to grow a physiologically robust human being. Newborns enter the world...
At a party, a man looked my child up and down in admiration, before praising her looks. I saw her visibly shrink. So I taught her the value of bad manners My daughter is beautiful. At least, I’ve always thought so and, like many mothers...
Americans have long believed that sports are one area in society that offers kids from all backgrounds the chance to succeed to the best of their abilities. But new research suggests that this belief is largely a myth, and that success...
Though we learn so much during our first years of life, we can't, as adults, remember specific events from that time. Researchers have long believed we don't hold onto these experiences because the part of the brain responsible for...
The oxytocin system -- which helps release breast milk and strengthens the bond between mother and baby -- may be affected during breastfeeding in mothers experiencing postnatal depression.
Children who consumed the least amounts of seafood at 7-years-old were likely to be less 'prosocial' at ages 7 and 9 years than those who regularly consumed seafood, according to a new study. 'Prosocial' behavior includes friendly...
Parenting skills can make a big difference in fostering a newborn's language acquisition and cognition, but there may be a limit to how far parenting can go to make up the challenges to developing this skill in those born in highly...
Researchers found new insights on the timing of prenatal stress and its effect on infant stress reactivity and temperament -- including differences between genders.
Research has shown that adults instinctively think of men when asked to think of a person -- they describe the most 'typical' person they can imagine as male and assume storybook characters without a specified gender are men. A new study...
School readiness not only impacts kids' academic success, but also their long-term economic and health outcomes. Unfortunately, research reveals a concerning gap in school readiness for children with low birth weight, with only one-third...
Researchers have identified small molecules in the blood that may impact early childhood development, showing how dietary exposures, early life experiences, and gut health can influence a child's growth and cognitive milestones.
Africa is a multilingual continent and many adults speak several languages fluently. An empirical study by a psycholinguist now shows that the roots of this multilingualism can be found in infancy: In Ghana, most babies grow up...
Identifying and treating risk factors for depression, anxiety and other psychological health conditions during pregnancy and postpartum may improve short- and long-term health outcomes for both mother and child, according to a new...
Fetal acetaminophen exposure increases the likelihood that a child will develop attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), according to a new study.
A longer paternity leave after the birth of a child can improve the co-parenting relationship between moms and dads in a key way, a new study finds. Researchers found that mothers were less likely to discourage fathers' involvement in...
Many Japanese mothers are reluctant to send their children to childcare before the age of three due to the 'Three-Year-Old Myth,' which suggests that healthy development requires a child to stay at home and be raised by their mother....
Getting at least 30 minutes of daily summer sun in the first year of life may mean a lower relapse risk for children who are diagnosed with multiple sclerosis (MS) later, according to a new study. The study also found if a child's...
Maternal stress could leave epigenetic imprints on genes in the placenta associated with cortisol -- a necessary hormone for fetal development -- and this would affect the baby's development from very early stages. The study suggests...
A new study finds that pregnant individuals who were unable to have their desired emotional support persons present during childbirth were more likely to have higher levels of perceived childbirth stress than those who were not missing...
While many studies have reported a link between a mother's health condition during pregnancy and her child's risk of autism, a new study shows that nearly all of these 'associations' can otherwise be explained by factors such as...
Researchers discovered children ages 3 to 5 tested before and after COVID lockdowns had a significant gap in a key cognitive skill, particularly for children from homes with low financial resources and adults with less education. The...
A large proportion of babies born very early need intensive care, which can be painful. But the healthcare system fails to provide pain relief to the full extent. This is shown by the largest survey to date of pain in neonatal care.