Parenting | featured news

Babies who spend their first year in homes with dogs have fewer colds and ear infections and need fewer antibiotics than babies in pet-free homes, a new study from Finland shows. Babies who live with cats also seem to have a health advantage, but it's not as big.

Some families where either the mom or dad decided to stay at home with their kids during the early years have decided against going back to the corporate craziness and instead are choosing entrepreneurship.

An array of surveillance software now exists to let parents keep tabs on their children’s activities online, raising questions about appropriate parenting.

Michael Jolton was a young father with a 5-year-old son when Colorado legalized medical marijuana in 2000. Now he's got three boys, the oldest near adulthood, and finds himself repeatedly explaining green-leafed marijuana ads and "free joint" promotions endemic in his suburban hometown.

For $235,000, you could indulge in a shiny new Ferrari - or raise a child for 17 years....

Doreen Flynn is the mother of three young girls with an incurable blood disorder called Fanconi anemia. Jordan, 13, and twins Jorja and Julia, 7, will all need bone transplants to survive. Their mother fears there won’t be a match for her girls when the time comes. Or worse, that if a match is found that the donor won’t follow through and donate. She has reason to worry - some experts say that nearly half of donors don’t follow through with donation. So she has become the lead plaintiff in a case that she hopes will change medical history and make it legal to pay bone marrow donors. In doing so, she’s also taking aim at a long held position by the medical establishment that people who provide bone marrow should be altruistic – and not in it for the money.

Balancing career and home has long been a hot topic for women. But many young dads taking a bigger role in the household are finding they are less prepped for the juggling act.

Finally, some good news for older dads. A new study hints that their children and even their grandchildren may get a health benefit because of their older age. It's based on research into something called telomeres - tips on the ends of chromosomes.

It's every parent's nightmare: To get home from an event and realize that a child is missing. But it can turn out to be a political minefield as well if you happen to be the prime minister....

Teresa Woodard of WFAA-TV hit the mark with this story about a new gun range in Lewisville that plans to host kids’ birthday parties. David Prince, the owner of Eagle Gun Range, says the parties will be safe, and educational.