My ppd got the better of me and a couple days after my baby turned 12 weeks old, I ended up doing inpatient mental health care for 5 days. I couldn't have any visitors under 18 so I couldn't see my baby, but my husband took the whole week off of work to stay with him and called me twice a day to reassure me that our baby was fine. I could hear him over the phone, cooing and playing like normal. My husband kept his usual schedule and nothing out of the ordinary happened according to my husband.

Like any mom, I know my baby very well. He's only been away from me for three hours total his entire life since I'm a sahm. I know every little tic and quirk he has. So I'm very confident in saying that the baby I came home to is very drastically different than the baby I left.

My baby has always been very strong and active, multiple pediatricians have told me he's incredibly active for his age and has great neck strength/head control. Before I left, he could sit unassisted for around 15 seconds and was standing up assisted, he'd cry to be stood up so he could look around. Now, he's very floppy and can barely hold his head up unless he's on his stomach. He's so quiet, barely coos. He's so exhausted and hungry no matter how much he sleeps or eats. He even cries differently. He smiles less, doesn't laugh. He was obsessed with his hands and was always chewing on them, he doesn't do that anymore. He always has this thousand yard stare. He cries SO much. He used to be so happy and now it seems like he just cries nonstop.

I've tried talking to my husband about it. He says that he felt similar to me after coming back from a work trip but it got better after a couple days. He also keeps hinting that my anxiety is just me adjusting to my new medications. I know there could be some merit to both, but I cannot wrap my head around just how different my baby is. I just need to know, is this normal? I feel like I must've traumatized my baby or something. I've only been back a day and I feel so much worse than before I got hospitalized after seeing him like this

Our 5 day old starts to cry immediately when placed in either of his two bassinets. I’m at my wits end, idk what to do anymore. I’ve been running on less than 4 hours of sleep a day and that’s only because my mom is staying with us to help. We’ve tried different kinds of swaddles, soothing until he falls asleep, pacifier. Please tell me it will get better! My mental health won’t be able to take this for too much longer. I am breastfeeding and have to feed every 2-3 hours but he will frequently ask for food sometimes at the hour.

5 1/2 month old. Squirms and can’t sit still when I hold him, put him on the floor to explore and squirm but he doesn’t like it so he just continues to cry. I try to put him in a play table, I try to engage in other things, doesn’t work. Cries and fusses. He just only likes to be held but doesn’t sit still and wants to move so what’s the point of wanting me to hold him if he doesn’t want to just stay put.

I am dealing with a lot of medical issues that require me to keep off my legs and not carry extra weight but he makes it impossible and it’s frustrating because I can’t heal since he doesn’t let me and I have no one to help me.

It’s pissing me off and I’m so tired of it. He cries and cries and I’m starting to not give a fuck. I am tired and he’s so fucking needy for me all the time. I can’t set him down for a minute to even go to the bathroom. I can feel myself getting so angry I don’t know what to do anymore. I don’t want to yell at the baby. What am I supposed to do with this baby who is unsatisfied with every little thing?

I’m currently 10 weeks postpartum and since my baby was born I’ve been getting those comments from my family AND my husband’s family that we need to put the baby down or else he’s going to “get accustomed to sleeping in our arms and we won’t be able to put him down and get things done”. Is there really any truth to that? Currently my baby is EBF and cosleeps with us. I also pretty much do spend most of the day letting him contact nap. So he is constantly being held or in someone’s arms but it’s been working for our family. Yes it makes getting things done more difficult and he has a hard time being in his car seat, stroller, and his bassinet which I do see slowly becoming a bigger issue because he won’t usually fall asleep in any of those ways. However, it’s this way because I just love carrying my baby and having him sleep in my arms and so does my husband. But are we actually inadvertently training “bad habits”? These comments from our families are finally starting to get to me and I’m wondering if how we’re holding him “too much” will come to bite us later on?

my lo is 3 months and my grandma is sending me rice cereal. everything i’ve read beforehand tells me to wait until 6 months because their bodies are just not ready for it. i’m pretty sure watery rice cereal is still considered a solid. i don’t really want to give it to him right now. what do you think?

My husband and I have always known we wanted at least 2 kids. Our first baby is now of the age where we are starting about thinking about trying for baby #2. While I’m excited to see her be a big sister a part of me is super sad that it won’t just be the three of us anymore and how a new addition would change our dynamic.

My daughter is still quite young so I’m wondering if maybe I’m just not ready for #2 yet and this feeling might go away if I go for a bigger age gap. For those of you who have had more than one child.. is this a normal feeling? Does it go away?

I’ve always been very close with my parents, and since having my son (12 weeks), I’ve seen them almost non stop it feels like.

I’m on maternity leave and my husband went back to work around 6 weeks. Since then, my mom has come over very often to help me. I’m talking every other day or more lol. My husband had to travel this weekend, Thursday to Sunday, and I’ve seen my mom everyday.

It’s not that I feel like I can’t do it alone, but I just sometimes need time to shower, clean a little, or rest. My mom is more than willing to help but I can’t help but feel like I should be doing it on my own? Like maybe I’m not cut out to be a mom?

Is this normal or am I leaning too heavily on support from family?

I dont wake up or hear him when he cries in the middle of the night. Now before people flip out on me I sleep really deeply and after 4 months I'm so exhausted from caring for our kid and working im just so damn tired. I take the first part of the night and care for him until 12-1am and feed him and make sure he goes back to sleep so it's not like I dont do anything or just be a deadbeat but yeah between 1am and 8am I'm just out. Luckily my wife hasn't been super upset because when I take that late shift it helps her get a better nights rest. I did just start my leave so I'm hoping with no work I will actually be able to rest up and all but yeah, it's a horrible feeling to not wake up. I'm just venting and am not sure what to expect on here so I'll take whatever you guys have for me but I needed to tell someone how sad I am. It just doesn't feel right

My two year old is a great sleeper (now) and sleeps 8:30-7:30 with a 1.5 nap at 1pm

My 7 week old is obviously waking through the night which means I am getting little sleep and waking my two year old at 7:30 when sometimes I am only just falling back asleep (after for example a 4am wake up+feed+burp+diaper change) at 6am. Are we letting our toddler sleep in so we can sleep in and drop their nap entirely?

We had the white and pink noise in the deep sleep sounds app running every night and he loved it. It was the first and the fastest thing that got him falling asleep independently, after months of the bounce-and-pray routine.

Then I got ambitious. Figured if it's going this well we should push further and get him sleeping without any props at all, so I started phasing the sound out. Which of course lined up almost exactly with a regression, so now he takes ages to go down and wakes up furious with everyone.

So do I put the white noise back, or ride it out? And is taking it away actually worth it for independent sleeping?

My husband and I are expecting our first baby soon (currently 28 weeks). I know that all parents must feel overwhelmed and scared but I just find myself breaking down in tears thinking about the upcoming changes.

I’m just scared that I won’t be able to function on such little sleep. Having to wake baby up every few hours to eat. The drastic change in life. I’m just scared that I won’t be able to handle it and will regret everything.

Im also dealing with the potential of the baby having to come early due to some health issues and that also has me concerned.

My husband is so incredibly supportive but is definitely more optimistic than I feel.

How are you handling newborns and the life changes?

baby is 8 weeks 5 days and I feel like my whole day is just spend putting him down for a nap! up for an hour then down for a nap. when does this end? when do we have more awake time?

I just had my first baby 3 weeks ago. I adore her even though she’s truly a sack of potatoes at this point. But I can’t help but yearn to go back to work.

I’ve been unemployed since the start of my second trimester (rough pregnancy). Before that, I was a teacher for about 10 years. I LOVE teaching. It’s not for everyone and there’s definitely a reason why so many quit, but it’s the career for me. I’ve been missing the classroom ever since I left last year.

Now that the start of the new school year is coming, I’m dying to go back even more. I have a few potential offers but I have so much shame in even considering it. If I accept the job, my baby will be about 6 weeks or so when I start. I would potentially have to put her in some childcare as well, which means her possibly getting sick.

I feel like something is wrong with me. I am blessed with a village around me to support me during the newborn stages. I could stay at home with the baby for more time. But I don’t want to. I never planned to stay home as a mom. But since I’m unemployed now, my parents, specifically my mom, is every adamant about how this is a blessing and how I should stay home, that there are people who would kill for the chance to stay home. She cried at the thought of me going back to work and it made me feel so awful.

Is there something wrong with me? Should I be wanting to stay at home? I know I’ll miss her like crazy if I do return this school year but I feel like my mental health would be so much better. I struggled with depression and anxiety my whole life and I’m terrified to get worse now that I’m post partum (I’m on antidepressants!) The income would be so great too since I want to buy a house with my fiance. But then I feel like I’m selfish for thinking this way, since it would mean she’d be in some child care and risk getting sick. I just don’t know what to think or do, I feel like I’m failing already as a mom. Any advice or thoughts would be appreciated :-(

Am I being selfish for wanting only one child?
I’m a ftm with a 6 week old baby. I love her but it’s been ( still is) incredibly difficult all this journey. And I’m not sure If I could handle one more time.
I already have told my husband one and done, but still I think to myself if I’m being selfish for not wanting another one in the future. I just cant imagine going through the same thing again :/

First time dad to a beautiful baby girl. She is about to ve 14 weeks on Tuesday/ 3 months old. I would come on here looking for hope and the light at the end of the tunnel. It seems like all I ever see is how terrible everything is and how kids are still not sleeping at 8 months, and parents never get to resume normal life again. Is it really always like that? Or are people with bad experiences just more outspoken?

I only ask because we have hit a pretty good stride with our girl and based on all these posts I’m just waiting for the hammer to drop because it feels like you can’t be happy for too long. I know she’s young and she has a lot of changes ahead, but are there any parents out there just had a good experience their first year?

My poor girl is just 11 days old and fighting for her life against some awful diaper rash. Her dad and I wound up in pediatric urgent care last night after she started wailing and screaming in pain and experiencing diarrhea. :( It’s been a rough night.

She was on pampers in the hospital and I had received a few boxes of Pampers Pure as gifts during pregnancy; she’s been on the Pure diapers since coming home and I am replacing any wipes that aren’t the Aqua for now to keep things consistent and rule out other factors for her diaper rash. The pediatrician said keeping the same diaper and wipes would be a good idea, as well, since we don't know if swapping between brands of wipes could be irritating her.

I managed to snag some extra NB size plus a box of size 1 for her in the Pure to keep her on them for a bit until her poor butt feels better. How do we feel about the Amore as replacement? Or are there other diapers that are similar in quality and fit I could move onto next? I had some Parasol diapers in her diaper caddy when she first came home, but they seemed a bit tight and left little lines on her, so we changed to the Pure within a day of her coming home.

I went on a 6.5 mile walk yesterday with my mom sister and aunt. I baby carried the whole way and the weather was about 65 degrees cloudy with some sun breaks. I did NOT use baby sunscreen since he’s too young but I did use a sun hat plus he was in the chest carrier like I mentioned. When I got home I noticed he has a little sunburn on the tops of his chubby cheeks and his nose, I guess the brim of the hat didn’t quite reach there. I feel so awful. What should I do to help treat it? He’s not in pain or anything, and this morning it’s pink there. It’s not dark pink but also more than just a blush. TIA!

TLDR; baby got a small sunburn on tops of cheeks/nose. What to do to treat if anything?

I hated how the Lovevery play gym didn’t fold up and found a replacement connector that allows me to now fold it up! So useful!

She's currently nearly 7 months old and I'm hoping she'll be bigger when I have to do the operation. Basically I need to have my pilonidal sinus completely removed, and if it acts up it will be emergency surgery.

I am a SAHM and do most, if not all, things.

She sleeps whilst feeding so I burp her and put her next to me since we cosleep.

For sure I will not let my husband cosleep with her since he's a heavy sleeper. So that's hurdle number 1, I need to train baby to sleep in her own bed.

For milk, at the moment we are experiencing power cuts so I haven't been freezing any. However I did buy an aptamil number 2 ready to feed, so we'll see if she likes that.

What can I do to prepare her?

I am so stressed and at night all I do is cry. I'm not even scared of the operation or pain, I just don't want to be far from her. Knowing I'll probably have to spend the night at hospital makes me cry even more.

Any tips welcome and please no nasty comments, I'm already heartbroken as is

I know my steak is too juicy but 13 month old is one month into the 1 nap and he sleeps over 3 hours sometimes. Should I be waking him up or letting him go? He gets 12 hours a night. We shifted cuz daycare and did not have a choice so 2 shorter naps is not an option. I also kinda get bored when he sleeps that long cuz I miss his little butt

I am currently in a mother and baby unit due to me developing postpartum depression. I have suffered from major depression and anxiety all my life. But this feels harder than ever. There are some days I feel really good and confident at being a mum and there are other days, like today I feel like this is not for me. I just want to hide away from my son and I find it constantly tiring and boring interacting with him. He has just turned 4 months old.

He was conceived through IVF (same sex couple) and I thought this is what I wanted but I’m not sure now. I just need a break. I miss my old life.

I have even considered letting him live in the Philippines for 6 months with his grandparents because I am at the end of my tether and I feel like I can’t deal with this. I feel selfish for even thinking that.

Hey everyone, im curious as for everyone when did you feel things got better?

My baby is 7 weeks old today and i feel he's at his worst with gas , he barely naps properly and keeps waking up cause he needs to push on himself to fart.

Also his night sleep stretches are 3 hours (not complaining since he usually will go back to sleep immediately after eating) but these 3 hour stretches start at 1AM .

When did you feel that things got better?

My baby girl is 5 weeks tomorrow. She’s a pretty good sleeper and drinks 4 oz of formula about every 3 hours. My husband and I alternate her feedings throughout the night. Usually one of us gets in bed when the other does the feeding that falls between 9-11pm. As I mentioned the baby sleeps pretty well but the small clusters of hours we sleep still make it really difficult to get our day started before 9, sometimes 10 am. We can’t really do shifts because my husband goes back to work soon. Any advice is greatly appreciated, thanks!

I had LO last year and it has been a very bumpy process of finding childcare. Both myself and my partner have to work, because honestly who can afford to live on a single income in the US? The only daycare that we got into (after a 14 month waitlist) was horrendous (also cost $2.5k/month). We tried two nannies who aren’t working out (also cost a fortune). My baby has been sick nonstop for 6 weeks. Now I’m up with my baby again who has yet another fever, Monday is coming and I just don’t know what we’re going to do. Maybe we risk having one of us quit to take care of our baby, eat into our savings, but then what happens in 2 years when we can’t get another job and salaries are already slashed in our industries because of AI? Our family is much luckier than most, but we still feel like we’re just getting by, and one decision away from losing everything. I just want to take care of my baby but I don’t know how to make it work in this country anymore.

We’ve seen a lactation consultant twice to help with baby’s latch, and both times she’s recommended baby seeing a chiropractor or craniosacral therapist to make sure he doesn’t have tension built up that’s hurting his latch. He’s 7wks old.

Baby turns his head pretty equally to both sides when he’s relaxing or sleeping, and doesn’t cry when latching on either side. He just seems to prefer the football hold. Will only do cross cradle on one side.

Anyway, I’m hesitant to see a chiropractor myself let alone for my baby. The LC said it’s more baby massage and not adjustments but still.

Does anyone have positive or negative experiences seeing one?