Watching too much TV is linked to harmful effects in children, but the latest research says even background TV can affect development Even if we aren’t actively watching TV, most of us leave the set on in the background. But that may have detrimental effects on children in the home, according ...

Yahoo CEO Marissa Mayer gave birth to a boy late Sunday, casting a spotlight on her ability to steer the struggling Internet company in a new direction while adjusting to the challenges of being a first-time mother. The birth came a week ahead of the Oct. 7 due date that Mayer ...

A Texas school district changes its corporal-punishment policy — by expanding rather than limiting teachers' rights to paddle students. Is spanking really the best way to discipline kids? Spanking is one of the many things about which parents agree — passionately — to disagree. Most American parents swear by the old ...

Helpful tips on how to be there for your ill and aging parents, while protecting your job and the financial well-being of you and your family When my father was diagnosed with terminal cancer in 1998, I flew from my home in New York City back to my parents’ farm in ...

Will allowing your child a sip of wine at an early age prevent him from engaging in dangerous drinking later? Probably not, but plenty of parents think so, finds a recent study. A survey published this week in the journal Archives of Pediatrics & Adolescent Medicine interviewed 1,050 mothers and their ...

There may be no cognitive dissonance quite like parenthood. There’s the rapture of it, yes. The transcendence of it, yes. The unbounded love you hear about and hear about and hear about, until you think that it’s all got to be some kind of well-orchestrated breeders’ propaganda to conscript those ...

Experts counsel against rocking infants to sleep. STORY HIGHLIGHTS Having an infant with sleep problems doubles mother's risk of depression symptoms Specialists have developed a repertoire of bedtime routines designed to help Pediatricians generally don't recommend leaving babies alone to cry themselves to sleep (Health.com) -- An infant who cries through the night -- or ...

This week, as the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers scrambled to close a massive barge gate in an attempt to protect New Orleans from Tropical Storm Isaac, I couldn’t help but also think about Stephanie Decker, an Indiana mother of two. A couple months ago, President Barack Obama met in ...

Why would someone celebrated as a hero break the rules? Lance Armstrong's decision to stop fighting anti-doping charges prompts parents to parse right and wrong On Friday morning, my sports-addled son was reading the newspaper. As I was hustling him, his friend and his sister out the door to camp, he ...

The most popular age at which parents give their kids cell phones is 12. Are tweens ready to handle the responsibility of their own digital link to the world? My 9-year-old son doesn’t have a cell phone. I don’t think it’s occurred to him to ask, which puts me in the ...