5 HUGE Differences Between Having A Baby in Germany vs in the USA
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- Опубліковано 27 лип 2024
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After moving to Germany, living in Germany for 3 years, and then having a baby in Germany, we have gathered an interesting list of ways in which Germans and Americans bring up a baby completely differently! What's the difference between German parents and American parents? Watch this video to find out 😊
#AmericansInGermany #GermanyVlog #MovingToGermany
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❤️Aubrey was a Speech-Language Pathologist and Donnie was a graphic designer, but we both had a dream to #travel the world and experience cultures. After three years of being married and dreaming about if something like this great adventure would be possible, we decided to quit the rat race and take on the world. We sold everything we had, quit our jobs, and took off! After 9 months of aimless and nonstop travel, we now get to fulfill our dreams of #LivingAbroad as #expats as we move to #Germany!
00:00 - Video start
1:01 - Difference 1
2:54 - Difference 2
4:50 - Difference 3
7:00 - Difference 4
10:10 - Difference 5
12:30 - Bloopers
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I peel the kiwi if it is hairy. There are some smaller varieties of kiwis (sometimes called kiwi berries) which are not hairy and so don't need to be shaved.
About the Names and the Laws in Germany:
There is a FUNDAMENTAL missunderstanding in the USA. It is not "your Children" (as of kind of Property!): It is a Human being but it can not defend itself if you give it complete BS-Names since it is simply too young to defend itself.
You can ALWAYS rename yourself in Germany and if you wish to have a Name wich is normaly not allowed you can go with a "Künstlername" (Artistsname) under wich you then also get called by others. So basicly you would have 2 Names then.
Example: My Name could be "Manfred Hennig" but I go under the Handle (Künstlername) "Enrico Crusticale" since I am known Dancer or a Painter or a Writer or whatever....
*GERMANS WILL ALWAYS BE ASSOCIATED WITH NAZIS NO MATTER WHAT THEY DO, ESPECIALLY NOW WHEN THEY SEND TANKS TO UKRAINE LIKE IN 1941, ONCE NAZI - ALWAYS NAZI*
You (as other Americans too), seem to understand under "freedom" only the negative freedoms like freedom from the government, whereas in Germany the children's rights are taken seriously, the freedom to health, education and well being and it will be enforced even if it cuts your personal freedom as a parent.
The thing with the mandated doctors appointments is to also notice child abuse earlier.
The rule that children must go to the check-ups by doctors and the doctor must confirm that, were decided in 2005, when a 7 year old girl died by hunger and abuse through her parents.
She was only nine kilogramm and seemed like a two years old child. The neighbors didn't even know that there was a child living in the apartment, nobody ever saw her.
After that the gouverment decided, that children have to go to the Check-ups, so that something like that can't happen again.
I think that's great.
I can't remember having to hand in some confirmation and my child was born after 2005. Is it possible that some health insurance providers keep track of the check-ups and the parents don't need to do anything? Or was it just my Stilldemenz and I don't remember. :D
Many Americans seem to view any input from the government as overstepping the mark, but I agree with you, the safe guards should be in place. I remember the report on the news about that child in Germany, because sadly at the same time there was a couple of similar incidents in the UK. Children should be protected.
Damn... That reminds me of something I heard a few months ago when talking about regulations. How no government is just making them up for their own sake. And how because of that, especially the unnecessary sounding ones often have a sad story behind them.
@@petraw9792 U-Untersuchungen
@@chrstiania Well, yeah, but they were tracked in the Untersuchungsheft. We didn't need to go to the city hall and hand in a slip of paper. Is this a regional thing or does it depend on your Krankenkasse?
If somebody presented themself to me as "John Smith the third" I would probably ask "What do you think you are, nobility?"
And our answer is, "yes" 😉😁
imagine, if you had to count every single John Smith and then get that number, not just the uninterrupted generational number of your family.
You don't present yourself that way to people 🤦♀️. You only do this on official government documents (drivers license, passport, wedding certificate, etc). Majority of people don't know you are the third. My brother was John the 2nd. Absolutely no one knew he was the 2nd unless they knew our dad's name.
@@jessicaely2521 I would most definitely present myself as John Smith the Third.
@@jessicaely2521 But why give a boy the same name as his father? That’s boring.
One thing that truly shocks me as a German who is part of some US parenting groups, is how many US Americans in those groups defend corporal punishment as a viable parenting option, while it is completely illegal in Germany.
And also, how common male circumcision is in the US.
I feel so sorry for this little boys.
I agree. If you have not the brain to parent your kid without force, you'd better not have any child. You should be the one with the forward thinking at not expecting it for you kid which is still learning to get along with growing up
Male circumcision is more the rule in the US than the exception. There is a bit of a push to do away with it, but not at all a strong one. Many physicians still push parents to circumcise their babies.
@@karenjones2548 yeah, because they can invoice it... male circumcision without any medical indication (phimosis) is a violation - even if it's done with a religious background. In Germany, you are free to choose your religion even against your parents' will by the age of 14, that is when religious circumcisions should be offered. No sooner.
@@Baccatube79 not just that. Many physicians have no idea how to care, or not care for an uncircumcised baby. And the idea that a baby should look like dad. That’s a big part.
A friend of mine is a "Notfallhebamme" which helps the Jugendamt if there are any problems with very young babies. And she really has been in very hard situations where parents actively used drugs while she was around etc. The government sends very early intervention and help for babies if their parents can't take care of them and help the parents to get on the right track and resources. The goal is to get happy, healthy babies and hopefully not having them taken away from their parents.
I think with the name rules you need to take into account that changing your first name is not really an option for Germans in most cases. Laws are extremely limiting on name changes here. So your kid is gonna be stuck with the name you give them. That way, better make sure it is an acceptable name for a normal person.
It is still possible to get creative and invent new names for kids here. This happens every year. If they sound like first names and you can tell the gender and there is no concern that the name will lead to ridicule, new names will be allowed.
So because the government makes it next to impossible to change a name through dumb, unnecessary laws, they make more dumb unnecessary laws to protect you from the consequences of their other dumb, unnecessary laws.
All gender ruling has fallen some years back
@@TrangleC You could summarize it like that (although it is not the government who makes the law but legislature, not the same thing). However I think that there is good reason to not let people change their names just like that. A name isn't just for you, it has an important social function, most importantly identification and accountability. Whenever somebody wants to hold you accountable for anything, they first need to find and identify you. Every important economic and legal transaction you make in life depends on you being identified correctly and staying identifiable. This will be much harder for people if you can just change your name whenever you want. So you could weasel out of responsibility for your actions. But it is not just bad things that can't be attributed to you if your name changes. It is difficult enough to even find a woman (sadly it is mostly women who still do this) after she got married and took her husband's name. My mother just recently tried to find out about an old school friend who most likely had a great carreer and probably has a linkedIn profile or something, but under a name my mother won't ever find out because she probably got married and took her husband's name. At my university there was this brilliant young researcher who is now a professor, but nobody who finds her first book will make the connection between it and its author because she got married after publishing it and now has a new name. For so many women, changing their name means inadvertently cutting ties to old social circles and achievements in life, and it can be hurtful. I don't say nobody should ever be allowed to change their name, and I definitely think that Germany could have less strict laws on name changes, but there is still good reason to make sure that, as a rule, people are known under one name that stays the same.
Sadly we don't get legal names here
In 1994 I had my first daughter here in Berlin and I put her in a baby sling to carry her around, while buying diapers and other stuff. She was peacefully sleeping, when a woman came up to me, telling me what a bad mother I was, because the baby sling would be bad for her spine and that she will inform the authoroties. Thankfully the shop owner told her off and comforted me. I was really shocked!
This has been going on for decades! 😅 I hope we don’t run into the same lady while we use our baby sling then…😂
We have Karen´s too ;)
Still happening… with very old women. Most people know nowadays that it is healthy if you use the sling in the right way.
That's very surprising to me.
My mother told me that I was born with underdeveloped hips, but being carried in a baby sling helped me to correct that.
🙈 There are even babies who have to be carried around like that. Such people should better mind their own business.
About government and doctors visits: In Austria we have the government issued "Mutter-Kind-Pass", which includes a string of free (health care insurance or not), scheduled medical check ups for the pregnant woman as well as the child up until 5 years of age.
Thing is, it's not mandatory, but linked to a bunch of social benefits like the full "Kindergeld", etc. (As far as I know not many opt out of that.) 😉
Also, since it's installation in 1974 the fatality rate in children and becoming mothers dropped and the early recognition of diseases increased.
ETA: I cut the Kiwi in half and eat it with a teaspoon. 😊
As for having a baby carrier in the front seat…..
1. Make sure you got the passenger airbag turned off!!!
2. Always rear facing!!
As a single driving mom having the baby carrier in the front, gives you more access to your baby. You don’t have to look constantly in the rear view mirror, or when it starts crying you can easily assist, without pulling over and get out.
This was not an option for me, I had twins, so they were always in the back 😁
But that is exactly the thing why you put toddlers into the front seat (in the cribs that are rear facing) in the first months.
Here in Illinois they require rear facing car seats for children under two or under 40 inches or 40 pounds. They also instruct you to place it in the backseat and never place it in front of an airbag. They don’t even mention the concept of deactivating the airbag. This is probably because people are notoriously lazy and often stupid and don’t know what the heck they’re doing and they don’t want them to kill their child as a result. They also have requirements for booster seats until the age of 12 which I found strange but they also put a caveat in there or until the child can safely fit in the seatbelt without the booster. This probably seems especially odd to me because I am from a very tall family. I was 5’5" by the time I was 10 years old so kids in our family grow our booster seats much younger than 12 😆
@@pjschmid2251 here in Germany it was age *or* height which counted when I was a child over thirty years ago. I don't know if there was a change because my child is still too young.
My grandmother was so small she used to drive on a small extra seating to sit higher.
@@susa5846 how was she able to reach the pedals?
@@pjschmid2251 her legs were a little bit longer than the upper body and the drivers seat was as much as possible foreward... But I think she was wearing special shoes for driving, too. Need to ask my dad about it.
My grandfather was very tall, so it was very funny to see them both adjusting the car everytime they changed driving.
A) I use a spoon to scoop out the kiwi, and throw the skin away
B) not a parent, but in my youth it was common that the entire community (I live in a small village) basically raises the kids.
Heck when it was bath-day, and you were over at your friends house, they’d throw you in the tub as well
hahaa.. true.. my mum always knew were i was, some neighbour always saw me and told her..
i think the phrase "it takes a village to raise a child" comes from Africa
Same about kiwis and even if I grew up in Munich and not in a village, I had several baths at friend's houses because my friends had to take a bath and we'd just share the tub together. Was always great fun.
Edit: back then Munich was called Millionendorf, so maybe that's why 😁
@@stpaley the phrase might be African (though Africa is huge with different nations/cultures), so I'm not even sure where it comes from. However, I think we can agree that this was a social practice common everywhere, until technology took over.
As a postman, I treat every baby as if it were my own... you never know...
I remember a previous video of yours where Aubrey was kind off sad that older germans didn't really get exited about her pregnancy. And I was thinking: wait until the baby is here, you will wish that people are still indifferent 🤣
Also: you can eat the skin of a kiwi???
As a 40 something German, I would assume, that those older Germans didn’t want to jinx it by being (or maybe appearing) too excited.
Remember: most of us still don’t congratulate on a pregnancy, only after birth. We have it ingrained, that something might go wrong.
@@jennyh4025man soll den Tag nicht vor dem Abend loben.
One big reason the U-Untersuchungen are in place is exactly to discover if a child is abused (that's why they stop being mandatory once Schulpflicht hits, then teachers should watch out for abused kids). I had not only a letter from the Jugendamt but some random visit from them when I 'missed' one U-Untersuchung. First, the doc said to do it near the end of the accepted timeframe. Then on the date of it, my kid had a cold or such, and thus we stayed home instead. The week I had the Ersatztermin, a lady from the Jugendamt stood at my front door unannounced. I just came home with bags of McDonalds (no time to cook on this particular day) and I felt bad for showing her bad nutrition and messy home - but all was ok afterall, kids were not hungry and loved.
We also had announced visits from the Jugendamt. Shortly after birth, someone visited us to tell us where exactly to get help with parenting, from financial help over daycares and playgroups to help in case of abuse. They also gifted us some clothing (size 68 or such, so kinda 'big' for a newborn) and a small toy (big enough to give to a newborn).
Kids clothing sizes continue in length of kid up to 176 (ok, in 176 there are only teenager designs available). it goes in steps of 6 in Germany. In other European countries, the same system is in place, but the steps differ (so if you get something in size 54 you know it's not German). Shoe size is the same not some random number but calculated from the size of the foot (but I don't know the formula by heart). Makes shoe sizes also not dependent on if it is a womens, kids or mens shoe. This will be interesting for you once your kid hits puberty and shoes can be bought from kids and adults sections in stores.
The generally accepted technique to eat a kiwi is: cut it in half and eat it with a spoon like a boiled egg. Leaving the peel, of course.
Regarding eating in Restaurants: In Germany you can also ask for a so called "Räuberteller" (Robber's plate), so that parents might share what they eat with their children instead of being forced to order a portion the child is unable to eat anyway. (And yes, there are also smaller portion for children meals, but those tend to be things which are popular with children, not every meal they offer). Otherwise most parents try to introduce their children to as much different dishes as possible early on. Makes cooking soooo much easier.
Nerver heard that phrase in my life (Bayern)
Yes, the "Räuberteller" is amazing for kids! 😂😂
Of course, there are also the typical offerings for kids like French fries and ketchup, a single dumpling with sauce, Grießbrei (semolina porridge) with sugar and cinnamon, chicken nuggets etc.
But, even as an adult, you might also just ask for a kids portion/ half portion of any meal on the menu. Sometimes they are also offering smaller portions for elderly people (Seniorenportion). They will try their best to match your wishes.
@@timoschmitt8317 Ned? Des is aber komisch. Ja guad, kommt drauf an, welcher Teil vo Bayern. In da Oberpfalz is des durchaus üblich. Also zumindest in meina Gegend
@@TheSteve_1992 ist zwar 10 monate her, aber ich bin im norden bayerns, in unterfranken
In regards to the kiwi I don´t peel it and I don´t eat the skin!
I cut it in half and eat the inside with a coffee spoon like a soft boiled egg!
I'm not sure if that was only a thing in my friends/family bubble when I grew up, but it was more common for adults to order a "pirate plate" for us kids. It was literally an empty plate, so the adults could put some of their food on it. And even though it's a nice option to have some fries and nuggets on the menu, I do think it is much better for kids to try every kind of food first.
Sometimes (not always) the kid version of a menu is just a smaller portion size of the adult menu. For example we went to a Vietnamese restaurant last night. My husband, daughter, and I had pho soup. My daughter's was just a much much much much smaller version of the adult soup.
Ja, das kenne ich aus meiner Kindheit auch. In einem Restaurant hieß das auch "Räuberteller". Da bekam man dann einen leeren Teller und hat von Mama und Papa "geraubt" 😂
I think it's a good thing that they check that the name is reasonable. Parents in the hospital where my child was born wanted to name their kid Pumuckl. I think such a name falls under mental cruelty against the child, because be named after a fantasy children books character is a guarantee for bullying later in life. If you are not a native German and can proof that the name is a common name in your culture you can name your child that way. There are some names that are mainly one gender and in that case they want you give a second name with a clear gender for example Maria is mainly female but there are males called Maria, but are named Klaus Maria, Hans Maria etc. SEcond it depends on the county/city. Some are more tolerant than others.
And now search for "Pumuckl" if you don't know anything about the name. 😊
@@JohnADoe-pg1qk my parents knew an older woman who was nicknamed "Pumuckl" by everybody because she always had (dyed?) bright red hair ... :-)
They allow e.g. Spanish people to put the name Jesus, which is forbidden for Germans, but a common name in Spain. Just an example.
isn't pumuckl just a nickname of people named nepomuk? (and yes I know the children's character) I love the name nepomuk, in part because of this.
One huge difference: Male babies in europe are rarely circumcised as it is often considered abuse or bodily harm without consent. It is a religious artefact and should be decided by the person once they come of age when they can consent to it.
Europe is 10% of the world's population and an American colony no one cares. And I'm from Europe and never heard of it being called abuse, maybe If you are a Nazi.
I was circumcised as a small child to mend a phimosis. Not a pleasant experience, would not recommend it for other than medical reasons.
Yes, the German state is very paternalistic in certain areas.
Strangers interfering with parenting: Note, it tends to be an older generation. I always interpreted this as: “This baby needs to be switched off immediately because I cannot cope with the crying because i can’t cope with my own undigested childhood trauma. As a child I learnt to bottle up my emotions because any show of emotions was punished either through verbal minimisation or even corporal punishment.”
My biggest hate: As soon as my child started to walk, random strangers would pet her on her head in the street while walking past. She would get startled and start to cry. Anyone who has ever been touched from behind in public by a total stranger can confirm it leaves you feeling startled at best, feeling assaulted at worst. I used to be really vigilant and as soon as I saw someone move in to do that shout: “Kein Streichelzoo!” Which would usually startle that person and unleash a barrage of curses on me.
Years later, I discovered the company EMP actually has a children’s t-shirt that says “Kein Streichelzoo”. I felt vindicated that I’m clearly not the only one p’d off about this behaviour. Maybe check the company still has those shirts before your child starts walking. You’ll need it.
And remember, if people act rude and entitled in public, so can you!
Ouch-> maybe that's also a regional bad habit? Here in the north nobody (foreigners) tried to pat my children or grandchildren on the head.
Yes, it happens that you speak to a baby or toddler in the presence of the "desperate" parents and ask the little ones whether they should complain out loud because the whole world is so mean? or other "nonsense"--> this direct "speech" usually helps to distract the child. It is not very comfortable for most "ear canals" to hear a heartily crying toddler in a crowded bus :)
That last sentence is so important. If people treat you like an asshole they get the same treatment back!
allthough it's half a century ago I still remember I hated being patted on my head. Even though I didn't know about personal space yet.
Well, kids noise can be anoying but even more so "adult" inconsiderate behavior like loud phonecalls or music.... Seeing we need all the kids we can get, parents need encouraging and support, not being lectured.
@@buschhuhn9197 Yes! I‘m absolutely amazed that even in the 21 century so many people still believe children should regulate their emotions to avoid inconveniencing adults instead of asking adults to get a grip on their emotions. The fact is, children need to first learn to regulate their emotions and that is a long process.
The problem is the adult who cannot control their urge to touch a complete stranger in the street or feels triggered by a child crying. They have not learned to self regulate and they have to take responsibility for that and urgently catch up.
I say it is startling when someone pets your head. I have blonde hair and blue eyes and my family would visit the Caribbean Islands a lot. The black kids would stroke my hair. It was so bad at one point that my dad picked me up and carried me for the rest of the day.
I'm German and had my first child 3 months ago, so a lot of this is also new to me! Concerning the sizing of baby clothes we have come to the conclusion, that they should just be ignored! Our daughter is (according to the charts) a bit larger than average, but now, at three months age, she wears sizes 50/56, 62 and 68, so pretty much the range from 0 to 9 months. It really depends on the company and, since all of her clothes were bought pre-owned, also on the babies that wore the garments before her.
Personally, I think the mandatory doctor's appointments are a great thing and I have read, that child abuse gets detected sooner.
Regarding strangers trying to parent your child, I have not experienced it. I usually carry my daughter in a baby sling (which she loves and just sleeps in), which just earns me the occasional curious glance, as it's not the typical mode of transportation here and I usually have her fully covered up against the sun. When she is visible, mostly people just smile and sometimes comment, that she's cute - something I love to hear of course! However I did notice that older people want to interact with her. So far, nobody tried to tell me how to parent my baby - let's hope it stays this way!
I eat kiwi without the peel. Tried it with peel once, but it felt very strange...
You have to shout this name in full volume across every playground in your area more often than might think. make it short recognizable and shoutable.
Or at least establish a short and shoutable nickname.
This numbering of generations for me as a German sounds like royalty. I always thought that being "Francis I. Du Pont XV" is something, which people like billionaires do, because they feel like nobility. Frankly, I find it strange to happen in a country, which is - at least in theory - built upon equality.
I reckon, it's fairly unusual in German speaking countries to name a child after yourself (perhaps in the nobility, but I don't really know about that), so it's hardly ever necessary to call a child "junior" or James IV.
@@mina_en_suiza Hi, your estimate is not entirely false. But some families (commoners!) have traditional first names. Some always name their first-born after the father or the grandfather. Calling someone 'Junior' has been customary, when for example a business owner and his son worked together in their company. This indicated the line of succession. Numbering by first name really only is something happening or better having happened in nobility in Germany.
@@knudvoecking I now recall: In Nothern Germany - Jens Jensen, Thieß Thiesen etc.
I wouldn’t insert myself directly in a parents business unless of course they were actually abusing the child. But I have been known to play peekaboo with a baby while waiting in the checkout line to keep them occupied and happy.
Who eats the skin of a kiwi I’m having physical reactions just thinking about it 😖
Having a staring contest (or making faces at) with a baby in stores or public transportation is so fun. Sometimes the kids stare at you like you're really interesting, but since they're so small you also know they have no concrete thoughts behind it. Whereas if an adult was to stare at me like that, I'd probably be uncomfortable.
I'm always so thankful for people entertaining my kids a bit in those situations ❤ it makes a huge difference for us
As someone wanting to change my first name , that is very hard and you need a good reason for it. That is not something you normally do. So yes, I'm for protecting kids from the bad taste of their parents
"Jimi Blue Ochsenknecht"
@@KitsuneHB i was thinking more about people I saw in a chat who wanted to name his kid Wookiechild
@@antrazitaj5209 I complete birth certificates at a hospital here in the U.S. and we have had many, many very odd names for a baby that were accepted with no problem. "Persephone Lemonade" was one of the strangest but also "Abcde:, "Caramel, "Pumpkin", etc. One mother told me she did not want her child to have a "boring" name.🤥
@@lissalack1490 Yes, and when Abcde gets in school the parents aren't the ones who have to live with that name
@@antrazitaj5209 Yes, it is an awful situation for the child.
The reasoning behind having your baby in the front seat is probably that it's still safer in case they need your attention. Never a good idea to climb over the backrest while driving... With a rear-facing seat for the baby, the airbag needs to be deactivated.
even small children (but maybe not babies :-) can learn pretty early how to unfasten seatbelts and then start climbing around on the backseat. much better to have them under easy supervision on a *safely* and *correctly* (without airbags) mounted seat in the front.
wouldn't tending to a small child be considered distracted driving?
Well to kid's menus - it depends on the age of the kids. As I live in Baden-Württemberg the go to menu for the smaller ones (one to five years) will be a plate of Spätzle with Sauce. Later there are normally smaller variations of regular menue like Schnitzel with fries or fishfingers with potatoe salad. But lots of Restaurants offer another alternative - the Räuberteller or the robbers plate. This is an empty plate with silverware and the kid can play the robber and pick what he or she favours from their parents menue.
Can confirm the goto ‘Spätzle mit Soß’ in Baden-Württemberg. And as kids get older, this frequently turns into ‘Schnitzel mit Pommes’. However, those things usually aren’t even listed on the menu (Schnitzel might be, depends on the restaurant).
This method can extend to deserts, in that the restaurant might have a couple of fancier ice cream ‘cocktails’ on the menu but you can then always ask for just a scoop of, eg, vanilla ice cream for a child.
So when you go to an Italian or Japanese restaurant you can get Spätzle with Sauce?
🙂In Bavaria you get "Knödel mit Soße (duplings with sauce)" - the Bavarian way of Spätzle mit Soße. But it is a "Semmelknödel" because most children like it. If there is no Knödel, we get "Nudeln mit Soße" instead ...
@@petraw9792 In Italian restaurants we get a small portion of Spaghetti. Maybe you get in a Japanese restaurant a "Harumaki" or "Miso Sticks" - a Japanese variation of Spring Roll because when I was smaller we got Spring Rolls when we went to a Chinese restaurant 🙂
Where I live even Croatian restaurants have Spaghetti for children because they may do not want to eat what their parents have for dinner ...
@@philippbock3399 When I understood Donnie right the point he was trying to make is that in the US kid's menus are identical across restaurants of different cuisines.
Räuberteller oder Piratenteller:
Child gets an empty plate and cutlery to snitch the best bits from their parents meals😀
Lol, haven't heard of this concept! 😅
as I was 11 and my mom and dad went to a fancy restaurant for their 30th wedding anniversary and took me with them and they saw how a woman ordered Räuberteller for her 4 year old child and I saw they got him a empty plate I said as my mom suggested it too that I want food and not a empty plate cause I didn't understood the concept of it. My mom was later on mad cause I ate half of my giant plate and cause the restaurant was actually out of our budget since meals started at 30€ and up
I am German, I did not receive a letter from the government that I needed to take to the doctor with me to prove that we participate. The U-Untersuchungen are not only for checking, if your child is in general healthy, but also if it suffers from child-abuse in any possible way, since in here it's forbidden to hit your children.
Sitting in the front seat was more a thing of how tall you already were than what age.
Basically spoken, when the seat-belt covered your body as with an adult you could sit in front.
Below that height the seat-belt could just strange you, when a lead foot was on the brakes to prevent an accident.
There are vast cultural differences in child rearing and what is considered ok or not ok. To give you an example:
My husband is from Ghana. We have a lot of Ghanian friends with kids. When we attend an event together with other Ghanians and a child/toddler comes your way and wants to interact with you it's completely ok to touch the child (appropriately!), pick it up, whatever. Some months ago we threw a party that was attended by both Germans and Ghanians. During the party my German father played with the young kids and even held our then 10 days old baby neighbour. Everybody took care of the kids so that the parents could actually enjoy themselves a bit.
A few weeks later my dad and I went to a German only family gathering. One guest brought his 2 year old child. The child toddled towards my dad and my dad picked her up. The child started screaming and the parents scolded my father for picking up the child without first asking for their permission.
At least in our Ghanian community child care is more of a collective task. See a child with a snotty nose? Go ahead and wipe it. In Germany child care is almost exclusively provided by parents or close family members. Snotty nose? None of your business!
Sounds like tribalism. Considering a baby belongs to a certain group where it is okay to pick up random children I mean. If those children don't belong to them, they are seen as rubbish. I know that from first hand experiences.
We had similar experiences in Latin America (we have family over there). Child care, at least at gatherings, is far more a collective task than it is in Germany or here in Switzerland. However, having several friends from South America, our kids are actually able to live the experience.
@@SchmulKrieger I don't think that any child that any child inside or outside or outside the community is considered "rubbish". My point in the comment above it that in some cultures child care is more public/universal than in others. To stay with my example here: If a complete stranger wipes a child's snotty nose on the playground or some other public space. In some cultures this would likely be considered an invasion of privacy, whereas in others such behaviour would be considered normal.
However, I agree that tribalism or other types of social adherence can influence individual's behaviour towards a child (e.g favouritism)
@@julezhu1893 I got a douche by a stranger to me when I was 2 years old, my oldest thing I can remember and my mum knew her. But that's all, if we don't know the children then usually we ignore or ask the children if able if they have lost their parents or similar.
Given that Americans tend to talk to strangers more than Germans (which we hear a lot) we can safely assume that you will also get more unsolicited parenting advice in the US.
Not really. I have a kid and she was born in Germany. When she was 3 we moved to the US. Germany I had tons and tons and tons of unsolicited advice with her (this was all the way to the day we left). The US I had none. I still had none when I had my 2nd child. First most of my unsolicited advice in Germany was on public transportation. Most US cities don't have great public transportation so that cuts down unsolicited advice by 60%. Second people are worried about who they may offend in the US. A man was shot (he lived) by another man for giving unsolicited advice in the US.
@@jessicaely2521 Yes, very nice social interaction.
Congratulations to you three! I wish you all the best! Enjoy the time with your baby
I think you are experiencing baby ownership complex. Try leaning back and listening to Kahlil Gibran: “Your children are not your children. /They are sons and daughters of Life's longing for itself." Children are in the main your responsibility, but not only. If I see a completely bundled up baby in an overheated shopping center in the winter and it is crying and about to faint from hyperthermia, I will certainly say something, even if the parent might get offended. Sorry.
Lol, ok 😂
My advice would be: Parents deal with enough people who think they know better how they should raise their child, keeping your opinion to yourself is appreciated.
Edit: misread a part of your comment so I removed my response to it
And I think you are confusing hyPERthermia with hyPOthermia. See en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hyperthermia
I heard of German parents with their last name being "Maja" who named their daughter "Biene". So her name would be "Biene Maja", which is also the name of a popular bee in a German animated series for kids. That name might be cute for a baby, but I can't imagine the struggles that girl will have to go through during her later life. I mean, everyone will think she's joking saying "Hello, my name is Biene Maja." Bullying at school is also predetermined with that name... And I still don't know how the German government accepted this name!
I really like these differences videos. always great to learn something new
So glad you enjoy them 😊
In Europe, due to more history, names would be like; "John Doe MCMXVII".
Kind of ridiculous.
Well...that would probably be true for Americans as well considering almost all Americans also have ancestry from somewhere else. John Doe I may have been from Germany, John Doe VII could have emigrated to the US, and then John Doe MCMXVII could be his American descendants 😂
Yes, ridiculous. 😁
So John Doe the 1917th? I guess the first one had a real dinosaur for a pet, too. 😂 Well, not really. But at an average 25-year generational gap, this still would be almost 48,000 years (back to Stone Age). Impressive longevity for that line of name. 😉😄
As an american you may have no idea of public health strategies?!🤫🤔😜
While the German government looks out for the name of the child and the medical wellbeing - it also helps with bringing up a child.
The funniest baby story in my family…we were stationed in Germany when my baby brother was born. My father, at some point, went to the Apotheke to get diaper rash cream. He confused the German verb ‘to be rash’ with the noun rash and startled the young clerk behind the counter. The pharmacist had to come and sort things out. We still laugh about this 50+ years later…😳🤣🇨🇦
(Germany)
I know I've been in a rear-seat in the front of the car (with the airbag switched off) as a newborn, but after this, my parents only allowed me (and my brother as well) on the front seat after reaching 1,50 m (or 12, wich of these is reached earlier, wich is the age/size you are 'allowed' without a higher seat)
for a Kiwi... I don't eat them at all, but I know about cutting it in half and taking a spoon and eating it right out of the peal and the peal goes into the compost...
Love your videos and wish all three of you the best!
In Germany the government is considered to be as responsible for the children and their safety as the parents are. Children have their own rights and the pediatrician and the midwife have the duty to watch whether the child is growing and developing well. They have to call the childcare or youth welfare office and inform them if they think something goes wrong with the family. This helps to reduce infant mortality and undiscovered diseases which may have late effects of illnes. So don't wonder the government don't only pays for parental leave or Kindergeld they really try to take care for children because in europe we generally seem to look at the wellbeing and growing up of children as a obligation or responsibility of society as a whole and not as a private family thing alone. I agree this sometimes seems to be weird as it has really strange bureaucratic appearances.
that reminds me of a teacher I had. She told us she used to have a student 15-20 years ago who was Turkish. The girl's name was apparently Achmet and my teacher tought for the first week: Were is Achmet (the boy) and why is there a girl she didn't knew the name off. She literally forgot to ask her students who is who in her class and therefore she wondered why her list had 1 more male name than boys are in the class and why 1 girlname was missing. She later found out the girl was indeed called Achmet
Haha, that does get even more tricky with foreign names that one isn't used to the "gender norms" of another country, just like with Aubrey's situation 😅
@@PassportTwo It is the same with the name "Andrea" - in Germany it is am girl's name. In Italy and France it is a boy's name (the female version is "Andreana"). Just think of Andrea Casiraghi, the eldest son of Princess Caroline of Monaco. Or "Inge". In Germany it is a female name in Scandinavian coutries it is a male name - the female version is "Inger" (the most prominent person who is called "Inger" is the actress "Inger Nilsson" who played "Pippi Langstrumpf" in the 1960ies/1970ies).
But there is a very odd fact that might suprprise you: It is allowed to call your son "Maria" as second first name. A "prominent" person who is called like that ist the designer "Guido Maria Kretschmer". A reason for this is the deeply religiousness with the adoration of the (Holy) mother Maria especially in catholic parts of Germany (Bavaria) and Austria.
My brother's second first name is "Maria" as well and in his certificate of birth it is mentioned "of male gender" 🙂
Many greetings go you from Philipp
@@philippbock3399 In Catholic families, especially in South European countries, it is common that men has Maria as one of their first names.
I also have encountered "Eike" and "Helge" as both male and female names (Hamburg area).
Unfortunately kid's menus are getting more and more common. We usually order a Räuberteller (Robber's dish?). It's basically an empty plate and the child gets something from their parents plate.
Didn't know that anyone is eating the peel of a kiwi 😂 I cut it in the half and eat it with a spoon like an egg.
In germany in restaurants you can also ask for a so called "Räuberteller" if your kid. It is just a child-friendly empty plate and parents can put some of their food on it. So instead of feeding the child it has a plate by its own.
Front seat: AFAIK the 13 years rule is based on the assumption to
- fasten the child only with the built in seat belt
- the child has the size so the crash bags will secure it - not cause the size diving under the bags.
For me more serious is the rule to use appropriate seats for the children.
- For example kids around 6 - 8 they want to sit in a normal seat but in case they would be harmed by the seat belt. So they have to have such a small seat extender that guides the seat belt so it would hold the kid without extra harm.
Seatbelts is one area where I just barely Made it with 1,50 m. The Other is the depth of pools. Just big enough to function as a regular adult 90% of the time.
RQOTW: I don't Kiwi as I'm allergic, but I'd definitely peel them.
In a village about a 20-minute drive from home, there used to be a very strange naming routine. More than half of the population in that village in the 18th century had the same family name. And many of these people had the same first name as well (even the members of the town council fell into that category). So, in order to distinguish between the people, they added Roman numerals at the end.
Nowadays Roman numerals are a thing of the past as we tend not to name babies after their fathers. We might consider a grandparent or great-grandparent. My sons are named after a distant ancestor and the other after one of my grandfathers who had the same first name as one of my husband's grandfathers. Another example; my mother got three names - her godmother and her two grandmothers.
The U-examinations are very important in protecting the child. They are a screening for any developmental problems (where early intervention is key to mitigating the problem in a timely and not too expensive manner) and child abuse. And they give health professionals and parents an opportunity to talk about any other problem. Though parents are the legal guardians of their children, there can be cases when parents fail and the U-examinations are one way to learn about it early and provide parents and children with the appropriate help and support.
About those busybodies: in 1984 I was a rare father walking alone with his baby. So - often other mothers had a steady strange look at us if that man can handle a baby at all.
So my jacket hat tissues all over every pocket. My best situation: helping such a mother with a tissue for her child 🙃😊
a friend of mine is a single father of 2 kids.. one boy and one girl.. when the girl hit puperty he went to the store with his daughter to buy a bra.. he told me he felt like a pedo, everyone was starring at him probably thinking he had kidnapped this little girl..
Regarding chield seat in the car: You will get more relaxed to have it also sometimes on the front seat when you be a dad for a little longer time. I decided to have him direct beside me for a travel to his grandma without his ma as he was 2 or 3 years old. This made it much easier for me to interact with him during travel and keep him busy and to reach him something to drink or to eat. Much more relaxed way to travel with a little boy when we just two in a car for 3 hours.
As older people get as more they think they know it all.
I think especially with small baby crying people want quitness and think that babies can always be "turned off" easily. But that is not how it's gonna work.
A colleague told me once that his son was crying and not stopping and other people mentioned (not yelling) that he might be hungy. As if that wouldnt be an obvious thing a parent will think about. So I guess it is kind of a thing but not in a yelling way.
BTW: There is a Germany saying, that you need all people of a village to raise a child.
"Es braucht ein ganzes Dorf, um ein Kind großzuziehen."
I scoop out the Kiwi from the peel. Germany doesn't have a list of approved names (anymore, there was a list of approved names during a certain dark period in history), it has a list of basically banned names plus the requirement to have the gender be obvious via the name and consist only of letters.
I eat the kiwi with a spoon out of the peel which then goes into the Biotonne
Great strategy! 😊
The state does not take decisions for your child, the state acts as an ipso facto neutral entitiy ensuring the safety of the baby against the (rare but real) threat of irresponsible, over-worked etc parents...
👍
Our daughter first sat in the front seat of a car at 11, as she was tall enough. We didn't own a car until she was 7, and from the time she was 4, we had a booster seat to use in rental cars. Going by taxi was always a hit n miss, some had booster seats, some didn't.
Re interference: If a toddler is being fussy while mum is trying to do something else, like put groceries away, I will go and talk to it, in English, to distract it. Funny how that leads to many conversations, and a few times to friendships with ex-pats.
I have only ever had green kiwis , so I peel them.
USA could learn some lessons from Germany. USA definitely has a crazy names.
I think offering unsolicited baby adivice is an older women thing around the world. I have personally seen this happen in the US, Asia and Europe.
In Greece it's also a sport for older men. 😁
You can turn the airbag for the passenger seat off, which is why it got mentioned in that article
Babies just touch people if they want or not and they react because of it, especially older semesters. It's nature. As a newbie father, I had to learn to handle my environment as much as my baby.
Olaf watching over Donnie's shoulder at 10:05 is a masterpiece of video art 👍 🤣
The last one surprised me, because as a german I definitely noticed that people in america (and britain) definitely interact with you a lot more in public. In my experience, us germans usually keep to ourselves, but maybe people become different when a child is involved. I do believe that germans (especially older ones) might be a little more traditional-minded and see raising a child as a task for the whole community.
I can't make this up- we distantly know a child with the name "bonanza jellybean" .
In Germany a name like Abcde wouldn't be allowed. In the US it would. But with some baby-names in Germany, you only can shake your head. (One Example: "Schantalle-Schackeline" that is a variant of "Chantal-Jaqueline")
When I eat a kiwi, then I eat it like an softboiled egg out of its peel.
I think it is more of an abomination than a variant of the name(s).
I'm not sure if it true, but these kinds of variants of non-german names (mostly french based, I think) are mostly used in eastern germany after 1989, as far as I know.
@@JohnADoe-pg1qk
With the abomination, I agree.
But 1st: Even the combination of two german first-names (one rather old one rather new) can be weird. (Like Luca-Heinrich)
2nd: The combination of firstname and surname can be weird. (Thomas Thomas or the legendary Claire Grube)
3rd: I've once seen a baby-note from a newspaper, were the name was "Cyan Fat Tommy". I think "Fat" was an east-asian name.
French names are picked quite often. But thats nothing compared to english names.
That would be okay, when the kids or even the parents could pronounce that name with the french as the hardest. So, a kid with the names Ives could be calld "Üffes" by the mother. And once I read something (not sure if a joke or not) where a little child claimed, his name was "Pirschelbär". After a consulting with the parents the name was reveiled as "Pierre-Gilbert" with french pronounciation.
@@HalfEye79 The bad part of "Schantalle-Schackeline" is the spelling (I would call pseudo-phonetic). Chantal-Jaqueline - why not? (You could argue about the addition of a 'c' to "Jacqueline" 😁.)
Thomas Thomas is lucky. Walter Thomas has more problems - or is it Thomas Walter?
Pirschelbär sounds amusing. Someone could have made this up for a story.
And I have never heard of Claire Grube but I hope she didn't fall in love with Herrn Werk. 😉
@@JohnADoe-pg1qk i think (or at least hope) that Claire would be an illegal first name for the entire Grube family after someone responsible did not look at the first name alone but at the entire resulting name.
@@Anson_AKB
Then you could start with the "what if"s. What if a Claire marries into the Grube-family. She should be allowed to take that lastname.
Well, regarding how the government is "controlling" if you are treating your kid "the right way" (bringing a document to the doctor etc) it might depend on the state/city you are living in. We did not experience that. But our city is sending you a letter with an exact date and time where somebody from the "Jugendamt" will come to your place and take a look about how you are doing. I know the intentions where good, but I respectfully declined as it feels very intrusive...no big deal, in the end it is an offer but with an exact date and time a few may think it is mandatory. This is where I draw the line.
Fremdschämen for the German Omas and Opas 😂
About the front seat issue: I think being allowed to sit in the front depends on size rather than age, at least that was it for me... my parents let me sit in the front when I reached a certain height, I think it was somewhere between 140 and 150 cm 🤔
I peel ‘em! 😄 Love your videos!
As for German state mandates for children, such as appropriate name and confirmation of check ups, it's because the child's rights to bodily and psychological health superseed the parents' right to parent as they see fit. It's for the same reason that homeschooling is illegal in Germany; the child's right to knowledge and contact with society (especially of its own age) superseeds the parents' right to parent as they see fit.
It's interesting how at the core of many of the issues you discuss two fundamentally different cultural concepts collide. Where Americans emphasize unlimited individual freedom - which extends to how nobody has the right to influence how you raise your offspring, least so any state agency - in Germany the common approach shines through, that it is the assignment of society as a whole (including the government!) to take care of its youngest members, which may seem intrusive for American parents at some points.
In One of your last videos you mentioned that it was not possible to add "III" to your babie's name: Maybe there is a solution: In Germany many people have a "Namenszusatz" such as aristocrates. So when you are a lord or a baron the family name usually is such as "Hans-Peter Graf von Hohenstein" - the family name is "Hohenstein, Hans-Peter, Graf von" - "Graf von" or just "von" ist what we call a "Namenszusatz" and maybe you find an advocate or someone else who can help you to state "III" as a "Namenszusatz" and it will be possible for you to add that "annex" to your son's name? Maybe you can convince the authorities that this annex is similar to a prefix the same way like aristocrates have it, too?
All the best to you and thank you for your nice videos. I really enjoy watching the videos from you and the other expats for it is so interesting to see their view on Germany ... Greetings from Bavaria from Philipp
At least one female name is allowed for men if it is not the first name: Maria
Christoph Maria Herbst
Christian Heinrich Maria Drosten
Erich Maria Remarque
Markus Maria Profitlich
Carl Maria von Weber
"Marion" too, at least if you are persistent and convincing enough to find eg Marion Robert Morrison (later renamed from Robert to Mitchell) as a famous example ...
@@Anson_AKB
Yes, but this is not common in Germany.
Wkipedia page of the name Marion with all males that have that name: only US citizen.
German Marions, all female.
Same in France. for example in a shop, he ask me in German, if he can PLEASE have this... I bought it, and a women behind, he has to say thank you!!! And 1000 Other thinks...
in Italy in restaurants there isn't a real children's menu, but you can find dishes that are more suitable for them; you can usually find the children's menu in Chinese or sushi restaurants, as they are dishes they are not very used to, or in burgers such as mac donalds for a difference in quantity. In the pizzeria you can ask for baby pizza, but always in reference to the size and not to the type of food
The way you said ADAC gave me anxienty xD In Germany we pronounce it letter by letter
Please do not stick your nose in their business. They do things their way. 🤣
My baby is now 20 years old :), but I remember that we had people wanting to engage with our child, when he was a baby and toddler in almost any country we visited. We lived in Asia at the time and also both took some time off and did an around the world trip when he was relatively little. I personally didn't mind, because with one or two exceptions it came always from a good heart. And yes some people think they know it all, but when we engaged with them and explained why we were doing what we were doing, most saw our point. It can be a bit concerning in the beginning, because you yourself are still figuring things out, but with time you get more secure in being the Mom and Dad you really want to be and then it's also easier to politely counter "helpful" advice. Every human is different from the very start, and some people who give you advice may have had babies with completely different temperaments and sleep schedules. On the positive side, babies and toddlers are great conversation starters and it is way easier to chat with random people you meet on your travels.
In Germany, Children are legally not allowed on the front seat of a car if under 12 years old or shorter than 150cm unless in an adequate car seat.
Oh no, that Baby Month Size thing was useless for me.
Kid 4 was 45cm at birth, Kid 5 was born with 58cm 🤷🏻♀️
Wanna be scared? I rode on my mothers lap for 100 Miles and more, no one wore a seatbelt (none on board). We were 6 Kids, Dad drove , Mum on the passenger seat, 3, sometimes 4 Kids on the back Seat, 2 in the trunk (?) of our Kombi/Station Wagon and as I said, as youngest on my moms lap or the backseat as one of the 4. Dangerous times the 70's. Fortunately nothing ever happend.
Having an older sister (6 years) made the chance of my sitting in the front seat few and far between. I vaguely recall being in the front seat a few times at the age of 5 back in 1955.
My mother (58 by now) wasn’t allowed to be named „nicole“ because it was not a german name. They gave them the suggestion to call her Susanne and my grandmother negotiated with them until she was allowed to be called Nicoletta Susanne. She went with Nicole for her whole life regardless.
I had to look up when you said "ADAC", as I had no idea what you meant. Luckily you had a picture blended in.
Just a tip: We don't pronounce it as one word. We pronounce the letters individually as they stand for individual words: Allgemeiner Deutscher Automobil Club. I am not sure if Germans would really know what you are talking about when you pronounce it as one word 🙂
To answer your question, when did I first ride in the front seat ... Well, I am in my sixties now and when I grew up there were no seats for babies or small children. There were also no seat belts (shocker!). But I don't remember if I had a certain age, I think it was more like: if there are adults in the car, they go in the front, children in the back. If you had your car loaded up with children, because maybe you were getting them from the sports club or swimming, then the oldest child was in the front and the rest "piled" in the back 🙂
I remove the peel of the Kiwi.
I don't know why this is, but it seems to depend on where in Germany you live, if you have to prove your baby's doctor's appointments or not. We live in Baden-Württemberg and have had four babies and never had to prove any one of their doctor's appointments. But I've heard that before from a friend of mine who lives in Berlin.
Those (apparently well meant) suggestions of other people are so annoying! Our first baby cried a lot. If I had a nickel for every time someone told me, he might be hungry!
Thanks for this video, I like your videos a lot!
Regulation prevents you from calling your babygirl Khaleesi before watching the last season of Got 😂😂
Regarding the front seats....I think many do that because it's easier to check up on the baby while standing at a red light or so... It's a lot easier to just look to the side or reach over to the side than the back....
I myself had to sit in the back until I was 12 or so...but my dad allowed me to sit in the front seat from time to time on very short trips... e.g. when going home from grandmas after dropping off some groceries, she only lives a few houses down the street...
I am a mom of 4 and raised my children in Germany. Honestly, I have never experienced strangers trying to 'raise' my child. Except when they were in school and sometimes I had to remember the teachers on the fact that the kids were ours. (This was in the former GDR not long after the Wall came down) The government is giving you child allowance(money) so they want to be sure that there is a child, and this child is been taken care off. It is all to protect the child that cannot speak for itself yet! We don't see this as negative or suspicious at all... no big brother watching syndrom.
Regarding the Kiwi, everyone I know, including myself uses a spoon to eat it directly out of its peel
I think kid's menus are pretty common in Germany as well. They are typically schnitzel, chicken nuggets or sausages. so not that different to the US.
Fun fact: This numbering after the name was in practize in Germany before. My grand grand uncle was the fourt male with the same name as his forefathers, indicated by the roman IV. He was born 1917.
Nice! It does seem like it has fallen out of style in Germany.
@@PassportTwo it fell out of fashion about the same time we got rid of our monarchy so around 1918. Pretty much only kings and queens do that numbering thing in Europe.
@@gustavmeyrink_2.0 royalty also usually uses (first name + roman numeral), and that numeral has nothing to do (at least not directly) with their family, but with the list of previous active rulers of that first name.
In my region of germany I couldn't find any names with numbers. This was rarely used as a nick . Very comman was to give seconde and third names from father, granfarthers and godparents. This included female names even female names . Like: Claus Maria Brandauer (actor) . Or like Hans (Johann) Gerd (Gerhart) xxx . Three names where very normal in the pre-1970. My mother alway cursed when she was forced to write down her full name for contracts or gov reasons. It would rarely fit into the space. Katharina Irmgard Regina then surename then her maidens surename (angenommene) plus her surename before adoption (geborene). That was in the 1920s. That surename thing died in the 70s . I always have to write my sed. name when it says : Full name .
regarding baby names: So "A boy named Sue" by Jonny Cash could never have been written in Germany. Fun fact: You can name a boy "Maria", which is decidedly female, if you place a male name before it. Actor Klaus Maria Brandauer is a rather well known example of this practice.
When I started eating kiwis as an adolescent, I would peel them but later I saw a segment on TV with Rachel Hunter (herself a kiwi - someone from New Zealand) and she advised that one should not peal them so I just make sure to clean them extra good.
At my workplace, a kita, we have someone to cook for everyone. We never have fries or nuggets or hamburgers. Our cook is very well versed in the nurtritional requirements of children and makes sure to get a variety of veggies and fruits on their plates. Of course not all kids eat everything, but there is very rarely a child who refuses a whole meal without at least having a taste. The kids are used to eating foods, that I haven't even tried as an adult
I never had anyone interfere with my children and the way I was bringing them up in the 80s. I wouldn't dare interfere in that way even with my own grandchildren. I am surprised to hear of your experience.
My second child was in the Front seat from age 3 to 10 (with airbag switched off) and we peal the Kiwi 🥝
In Germany in some Restaurants you can get a " Räuberteller" , an empty Plate and the Kids can " steal " fromm the Pilates/dishes the parents get
Mosty kids have to sit on back seat. But the 4. kid can sit on front seat. The other is, a baby that cry in the back seat, distracts the driving mother. So you allowd to place a baby on the front seat. So you can reach the baby while driving.
Wow! My jaw was dropping while you were talking anoit your experiences out with your family.
100% do not eat the peel!😆
For measuring the body length of your baby simply use your body. The length from your fingertips to your elbow is roughly 50cm or 19- 20", your hand width is 10cm or 4". If you spread your hand, between the tip of your thumb and the tip of your small finger is 20cm or 7-8". If you make a fist and spread your thumb (OK sign) it's 15cm or a half foot. That are very rough measures that differ some centimeters but can give you a hint. Or you put a cheap measure-tape on the changing unit, this too can give you a hint while changing the diaper or clothes.
I eat the peel if it's a golden kiwi, cause the peel is very thin and doesn't bother me. But I don't eat it if it's a green kiwi. 😅
And the mandatory check ups for the baby and toddler is not to control someone but to ensure the child is safe. There have been cases of child abuse and even infanticide over the last years so it's an attempt to prevent that. And to notice potential developmental disturbances that can be corrected if discovered in time.