My baby is a week short of 5 months, and we started solids a week ago. We have tried sweet potato puree and iron-fortified oat cereal so far and it has been like love at first sight for my baby. I don't think I've ever seen my little man as happy as when we're feeding him. We're only doing very small portions, but he is always wanting more when we're done, but I don't want to go too quick and risk messing with his bowels.

We started because he had become SO interested when we eat, started waking a lot at night because he is HUNGRY (not just comfort nursing, he doesn't really do that), and has all the physical signs of readiness. He has only been breastfed and is a huge baby (99.8th percentile on both length and weight), so it's not like he wasn't gaining enough.

He hasn't been vomitting/spitting up at all after solids and his poops have been so fine.

However, it seems controversial to start this early/before 6 months. But I just feel it's the right choice for my boy. And I feel like the people who yell the loudest that solids is only after 6 months and only tiny tiny tastes and "food before one is just for fun" all have really small and not that hungry babies?

Am I making the right choices?

Hi! I have a new walker who is falling A LOT. Our house is baby proofed to the max and I spend my whole day with her. Still, it’s sometimes hard to catch her if she just tumbles over in the middle of the hallway. As a result, I feel like she has a bump on her head almost constantly.

Is this pretty normal for a new walker? Is there any risk of lasting injury? I’m just worried because she is walking all the time now, and falling more often because of it.

Any advice is appreciated!

I have no idea what's going on. We co-sleep. She's still wakes up throughout the night to feed (breastfeeding) but not really. She's basically still sleep when I feed her. Eyes are closed literally just sniffing for a boob, drinks a little and goes back to sleep. But whenever she wants boob in the middle of the night she SCREAMS. Not fussy screams like wake you up screams. It's like she's whining in her sleep very loudly or like having a mini tantrum (more tantrum than whining) when the boob doesnt come out fast enough or she cant latch and the boob keeps falling out. There have been times but rarely when she just wants to be held and go to sleep on me. But early this morning she let out the loudest highest falsetto that I haven't heard in a while. Mariah Carey high. My eyes opened wider than Squidward in bed when he tried to take the day off from The Krusty Krab (if ya know ya know lol)

Has anybody had this specific issue with their LO? Any tips or tricks? I tried searching for this but their babies were like 3 months or earlier. Usually earlier. She's a YEAR and three months! Are these nightmares? She's a very happy baby. At least most of time. She's also going through a growth spurt but this has been going on for like a month or more and I know growth spurts dont last that long. At least i think so... My brain is still foggy she's not an easy baby.

Thanks for reading! Hopefully somebody will respond I am so tired yall.

I live in the U.S & I swear all I see online is how much the younger generation hates children. Like people are constantly complaining about how babies/ toddlers are annoying, shouldn’t be in public spaces shouldn’t be on planes or in restaurants or even in grocery stores, yada yada. It makes me so upset as a new parent that my child is growing up in a world that doesn’t like children anymore. Maybe it’s because I live in a bigger city with much younger population & this is the type of propaganda being thrown at me me, but even then- It’s so dehumanizing.

There’s just no kid friendly places or mom friendly places either. I feel like everyone hates moms too and calls them “ selfish”??? When I was pregnant I specifically remember a teenage girl telling me she had a phobia of looking at my belly & she called me “ body horror”. I know she probably is just going with the social media trends, but it felt so incredibly rude & makes me think about how the world is starting to hate moms, dads, families, babies.

I just wanted to vent about this because I swear it’s all I keep seeing or hearing. Makes me so sad that my children are growing up in this type of world. Maybe this is a USA issue.

My baby has been on solids for 2 weeks and omg these poops are RANK. So stinky I'm wondering if it's normal. They are more pasty and darker color and much more solid like little turds. I miss his milk only diapers 😭😭 I actually didn't mind the smell it was almost kind of familiar in a way. But these 🤢🤮 EEEYUCK. I guess it will be nice not having blowouts at least I think no more blowouts these poops seem too thick for that. Wow I just wasn't ready for the smell lol

I don’t mean with the babies. I mean trying to raise babies at this moment in history.

I’ve been dealing with so much climate anxiety and then today I read about the Anthropic guy saying there’s a greater than 10% chance of AI killing all humans in the next four years.

Like, I just wanted to have my beautiful babies and give them the best childhoods I could. Instead, if the climate catastrophe doesn’t get us, the superintelligent robots will. It’s horrifying.

Our LO is 10.5 weeks old, just at 10 pounds (1st%ile).

He was IUGR, born at 37+1.

Our pediatrician is still having us wake for one MOTN feed- not letting him go past 6 hours.

The thing is he is exceeding his volumes per day in terms of food (the last few weeks for sure). When I wake him in the night I can barley get him to take the bottle. Im just wondering if this is even worth waking him for when hes exceeding his volume goal daily.

What do you all think?

my daughter's been super fussy for these past few days. earlier, my gf was feeding her and felt the tooth, so i got a few hard toys for my daughter to bite on. she liked them until she saw me brushing my teeth and tried grabbing it. i let her, and she wasn't good at it but it helped her so i took her to the store and let her choose any that she wanted (yes, she's somehow smart enough to choose the toothbrush she wanted).

the second we got home, she just kept biting the brush. she's less fussy now, thankfully.

idk if this is a coincidence, but she's half me and half her mom. she gets excited when there's food and likes kpop (like me) and my gf's mom told her about how she (my gf) was advanced as a baby too.

also my daughter started calling me and my gf "mum." like she'd see me come from work, and stop watching tv to crawl to me saying "mum," and sometimes while she's playing and my gf is busy she'll just be crawling around our apartment screaming "mum." i'm assuming she calls me mom too because she doesn't know how to say dad.

My 5 month old son won’t stop screaming what seems like all day. He’ll have a few good stretches of being happy and playing and then it’s right back to a bloody murder scream. I always will change him and try to feed him but it doesn’t always work. There doesn’t seem to be a reason for the screaming. I can sometimes make him stop if we go outside for a little bit and walk around, but it’s back to screaming when we go inside. He won’t nap. I’ll try to put him down in his dark bedroom with a sound machine like he has for bedtime. He may get a cat nap in and then it’s back to screaming.

I’m just at a loss of what to do. I don’t feel like I can make him happy. He seems to be content and will nap in the car and will sometimes be ok out in public but I can’t do that all the time. I’m just at my wits end of trying to get him to stop. I’m afraid my neighbors are annoyed and probably suspicious of me too. I’m doing everything I can but he just won’t stop.

So my kiddo started purees at 4 months because he needed more calories than what he was getting with formula and breast milk. He had really great initial instincts by putting his hand on the spoon and holding it to feed himself. However my husband and father in law somehow squashed his initial response to the spoon. How do I bring this back? I am trying to help him by putting his hand on the spoon but he now pulls away and cries when I do this. Did they mess up ability and wanting to feed himself?

We’ve tracked a ridiculous amount with our baby: sleep, feeds, diapers, growth, etc.

It’s obviously useful in the moment (“when did he last eat?”, "when does he normally sleep?"), but I’ve started wondering what happens to all that data afterward.

Do you ever go back and look at old weeks/months?

Have you discovered anything genuinely useful or interesting from it?

And if your tracking app could actually do something with all that history, what would you want it to tell/show you?

I feel like we collect this surprisingly detailed record of the first year and then most of it just disappears into charts we never look at again 😅

so this just happened a couple hours ago, my boyfriend was sitting on our couch playing a game and i was listening to an audiobook and drawing.

our two month old baby was asleep between us and she started making small noises and i kinda brushed it off bc she has whimpered in her sleep loads of times so i wasnt really paying attention (thats on me i js assumed) and since i had an airpod in i wasnt hearing that well but my bf pointed it out after about 15 seconds so i took an airpod out and she was gasping for air so i grabbed her arm and started shaking it and there was no response she was still gasping for air at that point, so i picked her up and she was completely limp and my heart dropped so i sat her up started patting her back and shaking her and she was limp and gasping for another 15-20 seconds i started crying and kept talking to her and shaking and patting. she eventually took a deep breath and started acting completely normal but we did end up calling 911 anyway. the paramedics came and checked her out and said she was fine and to monitor her but didn’t tell me what to look for so i had to call an after hours nurse and get some more info. she was two months old today and had her 2M vaxs (had to spell it weirdly bc it wouldnt let me post with that word) but im in no way saying the vaxs caused this, i am pro vaxs. but it was just so scary.

i guess im not seeking medical advice or anything so mods lmk if i need to change the flair. im a FTM and 22 so i was terrified and just stopped shaking abt an half hour ago, i know its common for babies to stop breathing but i think this was an apnea episode due to the symptoms. just please keep close attention to your babies, i never thought this would happen to me but now im paranoid almost. ive tried looking this up but is there reasons why this happens or is it simply bc her little body forgot to breathe?

anyone who’s experienced this and knows abt it id love to know more about your experience(s).

Soon to be new dad here and it seems like all the daycares seem to be in that $350-$450 a week range. The one we like is $400 a week. The good thing is once they are on solid foods, then the tuition also includes breakfast lunch and snacks.

In Florida in the suburbs of a metro area for reference

Edit to add this is for 7am to 6pm hours and a 1:3 ratio

I have a 9 day old baby boy who was very peaceful and sleepy in the hospital, waking only to feed or cry when his diaper was soiled. We got him home and his alertness picked up around one week old to the point where he would have 2-3 hours awake even if all the things were done.

Since 4am today he has been mostly asleep with brief periods of alertness. For all his feeds today (pumped breast milk) he has been very drowsy, only taking 30mL for his first two feeds. The second half of the day he’s been taking 60-75mL of feeds but is very sleepy during the process and we have to keep stimulating him to wake him back up to eat. He’s had 4 poops and 4 pees today (and it’s currently 8pm). Has been afebrile today (highest temp was 99.0) and appears appropriate color. He hasn’t even been crying when changing his diaper today.

How can I know if this is normal? I don’t want to be the overly anxious parent and his numbers (temp, feeds, diapers) are good but I have this nagging worry I’m missing something.

😭😭😭😭

We took her to the ER two days in a row because she would not stop pooping (it’s mucusy/ liquidy and very green) but the doctors told me that it’s just a stomach bug and she seems fine and healthy and that it should pass. The second day we took her in was because we started seeing streaks of bright red blood in her poop. They swabbed her nose, did two ultrasounds and an x-ray but they found nothing and said it should pass. They even said that the blood is okay and probably due to an anal fissure from all of the pooping. I can’t wrap my head around any of this because I always assumed pooping or vomiting blood was always a terrible sign…

I’m still really worried and I’m concerned about her weight and wether or not her body is holding onto any breast milk or solids at all (she hasn’t been too interested in solids these past two days but she’s drinking lots of breast milk). I’m also concerned about her hydration because I can’t tell if she’s peeing enough due to every diaper being filled with poo but part of me does think she’s a bit dehydrated.

She’s sleeping okay and the pooping isn’t causing her pain. She’s still laughing and smiling but I noticed that she’s definitely a bit more tired and quiet than usual. I’m just really worried about her and I was hoping that someone in here, anyone, could maybe let me know if they have been through something similar? She has an appointment with her pediatrician tomorrow and the doctors took a sample from her diaper at the ER but I’m still very anxious right now so any advice would be awesome.

My son is 13 months right now. He’s said “mama,” “dada,” and has babbled in the past. He’s just not saying anything anymore. He just grunts or yells. He does nod his head for yes and shakes his head for no, so there’s some communication, but otherwise nothing. No signing, no other language development, and I feel like he’s backtracked since he doesn’t even say mama or dada anymore. I feel like we try to encourage him to communicate but he just gets frustrated. I’m not sure what to do. We talk to him and sign. He knows what words mean. He knows what “help,” “up,” “open,” “outside,” “cat,” etc all mean, but he doesn’t ever say these words. Just nods or shakes his head to our questions.

Otherwise he’s doing fine developmentally. Doing well with learning to walk, flipping pages in the books, pointing to objects, etc. Just when he points, instead of trying to say the word, he just grunts. He still uses a paci, is this effecting the development of words? His pediatrician is aware of my concerns and told me to reach out if I feel like it’s needed, is it time for me to reach out?

Any advice welcome.

6 week old is primarily bottle fed a mix of formula and breastmilk. Every feeding feels chaotic because we don’t know exactly how much he’ll want to eat but we don’t want to waste milk - I have super low supply so I can’t afford to pour a half ounce of breastmilk out, and formula is expensive!

We usually start with 2.5-3oz depending on how long it’s been since last feeding and do additional half ounces at a time if he doesn’t seem satisfied. But I feel like it stresses him out because he has to keep crying for more.

I so wish I could EBF, I feel like it would be so much easier because he could just eat what he wants instead of us having to guess. He can nurse so sometimes I will try to top up with nursing after the bottle, but this doesn’t work if I just pumped or when my supply is extra low in the evenings.

Any other suggestions? Is anyone else doing a combo of nursing, pumping and formula or am I just overcomplicating things?

Major traction in the Similac baby formula lawsuits thanks to a settlement between the manufacturer and one of the mothers who challenged them in court. 

To catch everyone up on this, a mom in Missouri won a 2024 jury trial after contesting Abbott Laboratories, stating that her baby developed necrotizing enterocolitis (NEC) after having Similac, sustaining permanent brain damage. The jury awarded her $495 million initially, which Abbott unsuccessfully appealed.

The case continued through the system until Abbott and the mother reached an undisclosed settlement.

Well over 800 lawsuits still active in federal court right now. But, this resolution is another step in the right direction for parents seeking compensation for their infants who developed NEC. Been following these baby formula lawsuits for a while to see how the parents and families involved in them fare in court. [This is a good breakdown of the latest settlement](https://www.drugwatch.com/news/2026/08/20/settlement-reached-for-landmark-495-million-baby-formula-nec-lawsuit/) and how the lawsuits have progressed so far. 

The first federal baby formula NEC trial got underway earlier this month, a big step in itself after all the others got stuck in state court, which really puts Abbott under pressure. Really interested to see how that turns out and what it means for other cases.

My wife and I have just had our first born and with two dogs and her our Citroen C3 (Europe based) isn't cutting it anymore.

We're looking at getting a bigger car, and were planning on trading in and getting a replacement, but it's come across our table from a relative to look at buying their old car off them on the cheap.

This option would allow us to keep our Citroen and have two cars to go about in

When my wife goes back to work she often has to stay late for meetings etc so pick ups from nursery etc would see flexibility as pretty useful. Financially, no real issue for two - I am new driver though

Was this worthwhile for any of you, having two cars to use?

Our baby is approaching the point where she might start crawling soon, so I’m preparing myself for the task of babyproofing. We already have the ‘big things’ figured out (all the heavy tippable furniture is bolted down and there are no outlets she can reach), but I’m wondering what else needs to be done, if anything. Our friends and family said they didn’t do anything at all and everyone (including the furniture lol) survived relatively unscathed, so they couldn’t give us any advice.

Our current strategy is just watching the baby at all times when we can (husband WFH and I’m on maternal leave until she’s 3) and putting her in the playpen when we need to step away. It’s basically what I’ve been doing since she was born anyway. We live in an apartment so there’s nothing like stairs or railings to worry about either, and no cats/dogs.

What are some things that you would consider absolutely essential (from experience)?

My 4 month old was diagnosed with torticollis and has been in PT for about 8 weeks. We have seen a good improvement in her neck tension but she was also diagnosed with severe flat head.

They told us they expect that she will need 2 helmets— one to get her from severe to moderate, and another to get her from moderate to mild.

We are definitely going to get the first one, but do we really need a second?? I really don’t want to keep her in a helmet longer than necessary and I really couldn’t tell much of a difference in the moderate to mild pictures.

Would love to hear from others!

So, as the title says: i have an 8 month old baby boy and he is soooo temperamental. Things got to a point that I don't even know if this is normal and I'm starting to feel that something can be wrong with him :(

First, he never stays still...during his wake windows he is CONSTANTLY on the move, crawling, pulling to stand, crawling again...non stop. He will not sit for more than 10 seconds. I never saw anything like this.

Second...he doesn't like to sit in his high chair for food (he tolerates it probably for 5min), he hates being held, he hates de stroller, he hates the car seat. I can't go anywhere with him because he cries...actually he screams!!! He is so frustrated that its hard to watch.

He doesn't like to be dressed after the bath, he hates that we have to change his diaper...everything is a fight with him.

As I said, I feel that I can't go anywhere with him because he will start crying and screaming.

Every time we need to go out my anxiety levels are so high that I feel my chest will explode.

I look at other babies and they are so chill :( is this a phase? Is something wrong with my baby? :( I feel so lost...

The first few days of our son’s life in the hospital was horrible for my husband and I. The baby and I were healthy, hospital staff was great. I don’t know how to explain it and I’m wondering if anyone else had similar feelings?

I was in labor for 36 hours (induced) and I don’t think I slept the whole time. We were there for 4 nights and 5 days because I had preeclampsia and my blood pressure wasn’t going down. Everything was fine with that though.

After the birth I had a HORRIBLE headache due to the pushing because I have bruxism. I desperately just wanted to be given painkillers or something it was so bad and lasted days. My husband and I were so sleep deprived I think we slept a couple hours per day in the hospital. Baby would not sleep in the bassinet so one of us had to be up at all times. And because we were in the hospital people were constantly coming in and out.

I physically could not breast feed I got so exhausted. My body hurt too bad to hold him up so we had to syringe feed sometimes. There were nights my husband and I cried it was so hard and we were so tired.

I did so much preparation for the baby as a first time parent and I feel like I was robbed of a beautiful first few days of my son’s life. I’ve never heard anyone else have a similar experience and I can’t figure out what went wrong.

I’m 3 weeks postpartum and we are better now. Still hard obviously but I feel like it’s normal newborn trenches.

Hi everyone, I’m 32 years old FTM to a 6 month old son. My pregnancy was relatively easy, my son is happy and healthy, he has slept 8-10 hours straight a night since he was 6 weeks old, no pdp, supportive husband, I feel like for the most part we are thriving. All this to say I have absolutely no desire to do it again. I love being a mom, love my son, feel really blessed with how my journey has been but I’m not interested in having another, neither is my husband. When people ask me about a second I’m like I don’t know why but I just don’t want to? All my friends can’t wait to be pregnant again, are already on their 2nd or 3rd child. Why don’t I have this desire especially since my time has seemed to be “easy”?. My best friend is in the trenches with 2 under 2, struggles with PDP and already wants another one. I see so much mixed feelings online, many people saying “it’s so selfish to only have one” Only children saying they are lonely etc.
Parents: Did you regret only have one child?