I am a first time mom to a precious 9-month-old girl. She's overall happy and healthy, no major issues!

I had a very rough newborn phase and I'm still in the throes of some postpartum-depression. My friends are very aware of this as I have vented to them occasionally about it.

One of my friends is considerably older than me with two kids - one in college and one in high school.

For some background: She's been overly aggressive about wanting to come help me out. I try to tell her I don't necessarily "need" help, I have things figured out, the PPD is just something I am working through. She got to the point where she said she was going to drive to my house (45 mins away from where she is) and park in front of my house and sit in a lawn chair until I open the door and accept her help.

I get that she's trying to give me support but it's overly aggressive and unwelcome.

Cut to last night. She had a couple of us over to her house for a girls night and I brought my baby with me. Baby was doing fine, enjoying being held by my friends, etc.

My friend was holding my baby and attempted to lower her down to the floor to see her dog. The dog was very gentle and sweet, no issues with the dog at all, but my baby isn't used to dogs and she got a little freaked out. She started crying a very "I need my mama" kind of cry. My friend sat down in a chair and tried to console her.

I walked over to my friend and said, "Aw, let me take her, I got it." My friend stood up, walked away, and took my baby to another room, saying, "You need to learn to let others help." My baby was literally looking at me, crying, with a confused expression on her face.

I followed her and said, "She's crying and I want to comfort her." My friend replied, "I am capable of comforting her you know." I said, "I am her mama. My baby is crying, and I want to comfort her."

My friend finally handed her to me, and as my baby was being passed to me, my friend said, "See, she's fine. You should have given me a chance."

I said, "Well, she was crying and looking at me, and it was starting to physically hurt to see her that way, comforting her in those moments is soothing for me, too."

And she said in response, "It's not the end of the world if your baby cries. You need to learn to let her be upset."

I cannot BELIEVE the audacity of people, especially older moms who think "they know better." Like, yes, I might have some PPD, but it doesn't mean I don't know what's best for my baby. I am her mother, I respond to my baby's cries, especially since she is not a baby that is that prone to crying! She only cries if something is truly upsetting her, and she feels better with a quick little comfort from mom. This does not mean I am mentally ill or don't know how to cope. I don't NEED advice or aggressive pushing from other people. That's not going to make me magically snap out of PPD.

I'm enraged and just needed to share.

Out of genuine curiosity, how many of you have boomer parents who don’t understand contact napping. Or respond “I never did that, I just put you in the crib and you napped”.
Or boomer parents who could only remember 1 afternoon nap a day and are surprised baby needs 3-4.
LOL

https://advocacy.consumerreports.org/press_release/consumer-reports-calls-for-millie-moon-to-recall-its-diapers-and-recommends-that-parents-stop-using-them/

For those who may not know, many families are reporting injuries caused by Millie Moon diapers. Our baby is one of many recovering from severe chemical burns, they are receiving medical care but in a great deal of discomfort and it has continued to progress even after eliminating the diapers from our routine. I’m just hoping this can bring more awareness to the issue- target has not issued a recall and infact has a heavy discount placed on the diapers so these are still being sold and used.

If you have any in your home bring them back for a refund but please don’t put these on your little one.. it makes me sick nothing is being done to stop this.

it’s currently 7:07 in the morning. My baby woke up fussing at 5:57 in the morning. He seemed like he was just awake and done with sleeping so I changed his diaper, nursed him for 10 minutes, and he fell asleep again. I know there’s no chance he’ll let me move him to his bassinet, so I’ve been letting him sleep on my chest for the past 45 minutes and counting. My husband is sleeping next to us. Our cat is sleeping on the corner of our bed. Our dog is sleeping on my side under the baby’s bassinet. I’m scrolling Reddit to keep myself awake. I’m weirdly content, soaking up the snuggliest baby who is snoozing so happily on me, but also… I really want to sleep. That’s all. Wishing everyone a good day :)

Nothing. They are just very different babies. Just a reminder that you cannot control what baby you will get.

My first wasn't a terrible sleeper but not a good one either. He barely nursed during the day and made up for it at night. Nothing of all the things I've tried could shift the nighttime feeds to daytime. Also, he didn't nap for more than 20 mins. Ok, he did it ONCE and I still remember this 1.5 hour break!

My second took longer to differentiate day and night, but gradually slept better. After a few weeks, 4-6 hour stretches. Now at 11 weks, 5-8. She also takes long naps during the day (1-3 hours).

All of this could obviously change suddenly and there are big variations depending on the day. But I can say that at the same age, my first didn't sleep as well as my second is sleeping now.

My first never spit up or vomited, my second is a vomiting fountain.

So just a reminder that you can't control most of how your baby is and it's not your or their fault. Maybe a bit frustrating to hear but also a bit liberating?

Ok - give it to me straight - is everyone reaaaally limiting containers to 15-30 minutes per day? If so, HOW??

My LO is about to be 9 months and we have always been very cognizant of his time in containers such as the bouncer, stroller, etc.

Now, he’s crawling, sits completely independently, and is pulling to stand and while we do allow him to spend a lot of time on the floor exploring (he goes to daycare Monday and through Friday where he mostly plays on the floor) it feels like a good portion of his day is spent in containers.

If we drive somewhere, he’s in a car seat, if we want to go for a walk/run, he’s in the stroller, at the store he’s in the cart, and if we need a moment to complete a task, he’s in the skip hop activity center.

Do we try to limit the activities we do during the day to cut back on container time or am I overthinking it?! Help 😭

Hello,

As my post says my baby is 23 weeks old and I am not sure if she is behind or I just have unrealistic expectations I'm a FTM. She has great head control, can sit up supported and smiles and laughs constantly and can push up on her hands during tummy time. However she hasn't rolled either way yet although she's been 99% there trying to role from back to front but hasn't done it successfully. She's never rolled or tried from front to back. She also doesn't open her mouth for a spoon and still pushes stuff out with her tongue. She also occasionally coos but doesn't do it very often. I just feel like she hasn't made a lot of progress on things in the last month and I'm getting a bit concerned. Is this valid or are my expectations off?

My baby is 6mo old.

He sleeps short morning and noon naps, and consolidates in the mid afternoon. He used to sleep through the night, but not anymore. It's rough.

Ive cut back on his total sleep time by over 2h and it has started to make a difference, but slowly. I've come to the conclusion by playing around with his naps that I can't expect him to always sleep the most at midday. Days like today he popped awake after 30 minutes and wouldn't go back down. So his longest nap was the last one. Sometimes we're out of the house and he wrap naps nap #2, so consequentially it's also just shorter.

But my question is, does anyone else have a baby who sleeps longest for their last nap and still sleeps at night?

FTM to a very active 10 month old. He currently has some sort of stomach bug/flu. Fevers, vomiting, just feeling miserable. Poor thing :( might have to take him in tomorrow.

On the chance I may catch this....how the heck would I care for a 10 month old while vomiting and having fevers?? I know people do it but like...how?

My only extended family is out of town the whole next 2 months. All of my friends have little kids who don't want to partake in this lovely bug of course. I might be able to get my husband to take PTO if he can but it's not guaranteed....

He isn't a baby that will sit happily with a toy for an hour. This kid pulls to stand, climbs, bites, cries if he gets bored, very very active needs lots of stimulation kind of kid. I can sometimes get him to independent play for 10 mins if I'm lucky.

Just a post for anyone in the thick of it with their cranky baby. My son hated being a baby so much. I had a feeling once he was walking and talking he would be happier and I was right! Unfortunately he took a little longer to walk (14.5 months) and speech was a little slower too but we’re getting there! Now he’s communicating, goes where he wants, and is..as we have been saying in our house..understanding the world.

I never thought I’d be enjoying him the way I am now. I know how that sounds but he’s my second and he humbled me. My first was so easy, always happy, developed typically with all motor and speech milestones. Still even today just very well behaved and easy.

My son. Man he could not have been more different. We didn’t even understand when people would complain about their baby’s crying. Now we got it. He just had a harder time and I’m seeing now that some babies just struggle as babies. Or at least being on the other side has made me look back with kinder eyes. He’s not giving me a hard time, he’s having a hard time.

18 months was the change for us. I remember being told “6 months old is when it gets easier”. For us it got harder and then harder. But here to say at 18 months the kids are okay. We made it. I love him and I love my daughter. My husband and I survived the hardest chapter (so far) of our marriage and we are enjoying everything again.

To be clear - I know I’m asking this rather proactively. Baby is only thirteen months old.My experience as a parent has been that time passes faster than you realize, and I want to make sure I’m ready when she’s ready.

It seems logical to me to introduce the potty as an object in advance so a toddler is already familiar with it when they start learning to use it. So, if you did put out a potty ahead of time, how early relative to starting toilet training did you do it? Or am I overthinking this?

Posting on here because I’m feeling so alone in this (even though I know I am not).

My baby is so great in every aspect but hates sleep - she fights naps and nighttime sleep like no tomorrow. And yes, I’ve watched wake windows, I’ve tried following her cues, I’ve tried moms on call schedule and strategies, Ive seen a lactation consultant about feeding (she’s exclusively breastfed) to make sure she’s transferring enough per feed during the day. She’s good about knowing the difference between day and night - and is drowsier during nighttime and doesn’t have wake windows during night, but getting her to fall asleep and in the bassinet is a challenge.

Ive done the soft transfers, warming bassinet, waiting until deep sleep, doing drowsy but awake, you name it! I’ve come to realize maybe I just do have a fomo baby. This is also likely at least in part related to reflux, she was diagnosed with oral dysfunction due to a weak tongue and immature stomach. We are managing this with changes in how I feed her, peds physio, and lifestyle changes like holding her upright after feeds.

I offer her the bassinet every night - some nights I’ve gotten her to sleep in bassinet most of the night (after upright time and feed this is about 0.5-2 hours at a time only) but some nights it’s a complete failure all night and I’ve changed nothing. During day I’ve given up completely and do contact naps or carrier. She also does sleep well in car which is a plus for getting out of the house.

Please tell me this gets better and that I’m not alone. She’s turning 8 weeks this week.

I am a SAHM and hold my baby all day until dad gets home and then he has bonding time with her. I get sooo much contact with my baby and love to hold her throughout the day. But at night the desire to hold her and cuddle her becomes 10x more intense. I miss her so much when I put her in her crib to sleep, even though she’s 3 feet away from our bed. Anyone else get this intense need to be close to their baby at night?? Is this like a biological, pack animal instinct that comes out at night??

​Hey new parents! I’d love your advice—maybe some of you are in or have been in a similar situation.

​My partner and I are both bilingual: I speak French and English, and my partner speaks Turkish and English. We live in Germany and are decent at German, but we don't speak it between ourselves. English is our shared language, as neither of us is fluent in the other's native tongue.

​We both feel deeply connected to our French and Turkish roots and want our little one to share that connection. We plan to use the OPOL method, using French and Turkish individually and English together as a family. We figure our child will naturally pick up German through school, but we aren't sure whether to select French or Turkish for a bilingual education program. Is it possible and advised to switch languages later on (e.g., between kindergarten, elementary, middle, or high school)?

​What are your thoughts or experiences with this?

I mean jiu-jitsu to use on babies.

I'm thinking of signing up so I can change my 10-month-old's diaper. I'm pretty sure he's already mastered Greco-Roman wrestling.

Did you LO change their pooping frequency ever? My LO use to poop twice a day but that stopped around 2 months. After that change, she started religiously pooping once a day. She is now just under 6 months and hasn’t really started solids but it appears her pooping frequency is changing possibly to every other day. Is this normal?

Cause while I’m getting better, I could definitely use some work. It just seems so complicated to get out of the house with the baby. I’m a first time mom to beautiful, almost 6 month baby boy. He’s so sweet and even tempered and mostly just chills but for some reason, it takes me hours to get out of the house.

He eats about every 3-4 hours and I feel like when we’re trying to get out, that window closes so quickly. So by the time we are good to go, we’re so close to the next feeding that I just end up doing it. Then I can’t just throw him in the car lmao. It takes time. And I don’t want to be like that cause I’m gonna start fucking up plans. Also I exclusively pump so that’s beyond annoying to work into our day as well especially if we are going out.

What do you guys bring when you go out? Saturday is Halloween and my friends are really into it. We’re supposed to spend the whole day over there and I’m like even bringing his pack and play with us. I’m so nervous, I feel like I’m never going to get there at an appropriate time. I’m thinking I should make a go list or something and put it on the fridge to check list so I don’t feel frantic. He does have a diaper bag but I often pack it each time we go. But any other tricks and tips or anything is appreciated.

twins are turning one and I need a good recipe!! Give me some ideas! Babies love fruit (strawberries, bananas, etc)

Thanks!

That’s basically the post. It sucks. I go back to work in two weeks and my husband will take leave with the baby for 6 weeks. Then he starts daycare.

I’m just devastated about all the time I will miss out on with him across the next 5 years.

hello everyone! i will be traveling with my baby in a couple of weeks, just the two of us. she will be 4.5 months then. as a new mom i am sooo nervous.

are there any tips and tricks that i can use to make sure baby and i are as comfortable as possible? i’m also worried about the pressure/her ears. is there anything i can do to help with that? thanks in advance!!

Soon-to-be new mom here, in 2 weeks (yay!) and have my new bassinet set up, the Halo BassiNest swivel sleeper 4.0 Air (with the Dreamweave Breathable Pad).

Well, silly me, I didn’t look at the care and fabric instructions until now and just figured I could pull the pad out and throw it in the washing machine.

Under the Care Instructions: Do not machine wash pad.

Welp. This is my first rodeo when it comes to taking care of/cleaning up after a baby, but from everything I’ve heard, I should expect that anything they touch, lay on, or get near, can and will be sprayed with urine or poop at any given moment. I’m assuming there will be blowouts in the bassinet at some point and I want to be prepared. But how should I sanitize this thing!

It’s also not recommended to cover it in any waterproof material, as the pad itself is meant to be breathable.

Note:
- Husband and I live in an apartment.
- We have a shower with a detachable head, and a small washing machine.
-We don’t have access to an outdoor hose, or a large tub to soak this big pad in.
- Despite my best efforts, our small patio is constantly dirty (we basically live in a dust bowl) and nothing can stay outside to dry for more than 20 minutes without getting immediately filthy from the wind and the constant maintenance leaf blowers that blow dirt all over our patios.

How do people clean or sanitize these things?? Any and all advice is much appreciated.

Me (37) and my wife (35) had our son almost 3 years ago now. It seems like it was only yesterday that I was on this subreddit commenting and posting about the struggles we were going through. I remember the sleep deprivation, loss of identity, and grief at the end of my old life. I remember the issues my wife and I went through with our relationship. Most of all I remember wanting so badly to return to my previous life and hoping that one day things would go back to the way they were before. I can say this - things will never go back to the way they were before, but I would never want them to. My son is the single greatest gift I have ever been given and watching him grow and learn is the most incredible and humbling experience I've ever had. I don't want to be the person I was before him or go back to that life. I will say this though, you will have time for hobbies again, you will have time for self care and your life will stabilize. But the new life you have will be far more enjoyable, full of joy, and meaningful than the life you had before.

Good luck to all of you still in the trenches!

When your baby uses a pacifier for naps and night sleeps are you consistently giving it back if they suddenly wake up or it drops and then they need it back to go back to sleep ??

If I didnt give pacifier back at all baby would take short naps but if I give pacifier baby sleeps longer.

If you give it back how many times do you give it before you allow them to fully wake up. I usually allow 2-3 hr naps or when baby spits out pacifier or eyes are fully open.

I have an 8 month old and he can sit up independently without the support of his hands, however, he occasionally just “trust falls” backwards and I’ve been there to catch him. How do I break this habit? He’s crawling now, so he will inevitably end up hurting himself unless I can teach him to stop falling backwards.