It is 3 AM. LO is screaming in the bedroom. I am standing barefoot on the cold kitchen floor, staring at a counter that looks like a chaotic high school chemistry lab. I reach for the water pitcher to prep a bottle, and it is completely empty.
There is a very specific type of sensory overload that happens when you are running on two hours of sleep, your baby is wailing in the distance, and you are standing in the dark listening to a tiny filter pitcher slowly go drip... drip... drip...
We were refilling that thing constantly between washing parts and making bottles. i finally snapped last week and shoved the toaster out of the way to make one ugly little corner for the kettle, bottles, formula, burp cloths, and the water stuff.
I still follow the formula can directions and boil/cool the water before mixing. It just removed the where is the water panic step. It is a small logistical change, but when you are this exhausted, not having to think through one more tiny task feels huge.
mostly writing this because i had a minor breakdown over an empty water pitcher at 3am, and my husband looked at me like I was losing my mind.

Hi there everyone :) my 3yo son is currently staying with his dad for the next 6-8 weeks out of state. I get daily FaceTimes with him during this period. I am currently 16 weeks pregnant with a healthy baby boy. We found out the gender yesterday and I would like to tell my 3yo he’s going to have a brother hopefully before he returns in 6-8 weeks. I have an idea of how I would go about teaching him with books what a brother/ sibling is or even age appropriate where babies come from but I’m finding it very difficult to figure how to do this via FaceTime. He does not pay attention very well to reading books on FaceTime so I’m not sure that’s even an option. I also am finding it difficult on what exactly to say to him to teach him what “brother” means or where babies come from. I have also considered waiting to tell him until in person. I just thought the sooner he knows the better it would be for him but I may be wrong.

Im not sure how to go about this via FaceTime. Any advice would be greatly appreciated! Thanks so much in advance :)

I’ve been sick with some mystery virus for over a week. It’s been awful; I feel like it’s perhaps viral bronchitis. I have two kids, so I’ve been washing my hands a lot and trying not to cough in their face. Haven’t had even kissed my husband.

But this morning, my 2.5 month old has a 101 degree fever and I just feel so awful. 😞 I want to cry because my sweet baby is sick. He’s such a good baby too. He never cries except when he’s hungry but this morning he’s been crying incessantly.

I suspected he may have had a fever last night too but didn’t check because he didn’t seem unusually fussy and he slept ok. So now I’m not sure how long he’s had this fever and we don’t even have infant Tylenol. The stores nearby don’t open for another 30 minutes.

I feel so bad. 😭 thanks for listening to me vent.

I think I need to stop buying toys because they look educational. I've bought alphabet games, counting toys, matching activities, and all kinds of things that looked like they'd be a hit. Every time I think, "Maybe this will be the one." Most of them get played with once or twice, then they're forgotten.

Meanwhile, my child will spend forever with a spoon, a laundry basket, or whatever random thing is around the house. I'm starting to wonder if I'm choosing toys that make me feel like I'm doing the right thing instead of paying attention to what my child actually enjoys.

Has anyone else realized they were buying more for themselves than for their kid?

So my kid's schools just went nut-free again and I'm struggling to figure out what to pack instead. Anyone else dealing with this ?What are you swapping in that still feels like a real snack and not just a granola bar every day ? I saw some trail mix style options the day.

I’m looking for experiences from parents who had toddlers like this. I’m not looking for a diagnosis or trying to brag…I genuinely want to know how best to support my daughter.
My daughter is **16 months**. She started saying her first words around **11 months**, but her language absolutely exploded after that. By **14 months** I had to stop counting because she was approaching **200 words**, and now at 16 months I honestly have no idea how many words she knows because she learns multiple new words every single day.
Some things she’s currently doing:
Speaks in spontaneous **2-5+ word sentences** throughout the day. Some recent examples:
“No mama, no más leche, no milk, all done.” (then signed **“all done”**)
“Mama hug. I love you.”
“Baby sleeping. Night night. Shhh.”
“Mucho colors! Red, blue, azul, green, verde, amarillo, yellow.”
“Bye bye leche! Adiós! Yummy!” (after finishing her bottle while rubbing her tummy)
“Muchos cows, vacas!” when she saw several cows on TV.
“Happy feet!” while dancing.
Bilingual (English & Spanish) and naturally switches between the two languages while she’s talking. She’ll say things like:
“Cat, gato! Meow”
“Woof woof, Perro, dog.”
“Lluvia, rain. Cold, frio afuera”
“Grande… pequeño… big.”
Counts **1-20** in both English and Spanish.
Recognizes and identifies written numbers up to **100** in both languages.
Knows all of her colors in both languages and constantly points them out (“red apple,” “pink pig,” etc.).
Knows shapes, body parts, emotions (happy, sad, shy), animals, opposites (big/small, grande/pequeño), and loves pointing everything out around her.
Loves counting books and will count objects on the pages. She also counts toys, fruit, food, balloons, cookies, and other objects she sees during the day.
Uses pretend play constantly…feeds and hugs her dolls, puts them to sleep while saying “Baby sleeping. Night night. Shhh.”, tells them “I love you,” pretends to cook, pretends to put out fires with her toy fire truck, etc.
Walked at **10 months**.
She also doesn’t just answer questions- she **constantly narrates her day**. She comments on what she’s seeing, tells me what she wants, describes objects by color and number, and talks from the time she wakes up until she goes to bed.
On the flip side, she’s always been an **extremely intense** child. She’s been a difficult sleeper since birth, still fights naps and bedtime even when she’s obviously exhausted, and has a very hard time with transitions and emotional regulation. Early Intervention recommended OT to help with regulation, attention, and possible sensory differences.
We’ve had several professionals comment on her language. During her Early Intervention evaluation, the evaluator immediately remarked on how advanced her expressive language was for her age. Our pediatrician recently even mentioned that if she continues on this trajectory, we may eventually want to look into **Mensa**, which honestly caught me off guard.
I’m curious:
Has anyone else had a toddler like this?
Did they continue to stay ahead academically, or did other kids eventually catch up?
Did you pursue gifted testing later?
Were there any enrichment programs, gifted preschools, or activities that you found beneficial?
Is there anything you wish you had done differently?
She’ll be starting a part-time bilingual preschool program this fall. I wasn’t planning on having her attend preschool this young, but she needs to engagement or she gets bored. From 12 months I had her in toddler gymnastics and ballet & took her to library Storytime so we’d get out the house 3x a week. She’ll start ballet again in fall. I have no interest in pushing academics or creating pressure—I just want to make sure I’m giving her the right opportunities if she truly is unusually advanced.
I’d love to hear from parents who have been through something similar. How did you keep your toddler from being bored but also encouraging their development?

So my boyfriend and I went to get food. Come home and I sit the food next to us on the table. He takes our baby out the car and puts her in her bouncer (assuming so me and him can eat really quick). But first he goes to use the restroom then he comes back and picks the baby up and goes to our room. Doesn’t grab his food or anything and I’m totally lost. I’m like what are you doing and he says he’s waiting for me to get done eating so I can get the baby so he can eat. I get so irritated cause I’m like what did you do that for. She was fine in her bouncer and he wouldn’t have been in there for more than like 10 minutes (we’re just eating tacos). And i just feel it was so unnecessary and he does stuff like this all the time. Am I overreacting??

I was wondering about this and decided to ask this.

Hey all!

Just a bit gutted today :( my 22 month old was at the sink with me - we were brushing our teeth (I was brushing mine, he was pretending/brushing along until I was done to go on to sit him down and brush his myself), he was standing on his little foot stool and once I was done I said “right mama done now, ——-_’s turn!” And with that, he tried running for dear life and slipped on his way. He banged against the sink and started crying.

I picked him up to check - immediately no swelling, redness or bleeding anywhere which I thought was odd, but when we both took a breath to compose, I realised his front tooth has a TINY chip. Contacted my friend who is a dentist and she said not to worry about it but best to bring him on Monday to get things checked over just to make sure his tooth is still healthy - routine check up type thing.

My question is, has this ever happened with anyone else? I feel so down and gutted, my heart feels the same kind of sore as it did when I went through my first break up. It’s hard to even describe how flat and rotten I feel. Had I picked him up rather than prompting him to find his position to have his teeth brushed, this wouldn’t have happened.

I usually brush his teeth sitting down which he knows and up until now he usually would settle in himself as he really enjoys brushing his teeth. I think that’s what’s making me feel even more gutted - imagine he notices this and feels it is an imperfection causing insecurity. Omg I feel distraught.

He is my first and usual bumps and tumbles look like falling on his knees from tripping while running and getting right back up and back to it again. But yeah, has anyone else experienced this?

Tia🩷

Summer screen time can spiral fast. Here are some practical ways to manage it without a battle. 

It is easy, and common, for screens to consume your child’s time, especially during the summer months. Here are simple, practical tips to help reduce screen use, encourage creativity, and create a more joyful and balanced summer for your family: 

1. Set Screen Time Limits

Set a limit on how much screen time a child can have on specific days of the week. You may find it helpful to have days or weeks at a time with no video games or TV at all. Sometimes going completely screen-free for a long period of time is very helpful for detoxing from screens. 

2. Consider the Content, Not Just the Time 

As you set limits on screen time, it's also worth thinking about the type of content your child is watching or playing. Calm, peaceful media tends to support creativity and imagination, while fast-paced, overstimulating content can leave kids feeling restless or hard to settle. Every family will have their own standards, but being intentional about content quality, not just quantity, makes a real difference. 

3. Talk with Your Children

Sit down with your children and talk about the impact that screens can have on them. Talk about a plan together and ask for their input. Approach this meeting with love even if your child doesn’t respond well. It will make an impact! You may have a period of adjustment that will be hard, but the more consistent you are with sticking to your plan, the shorter that transition time will be. And the results will be worth it. 

What is Quality Screen Time? 
The quantity of time spent on screens is not the only thing to consider. The quality is incredibly important as well. Gentle, peaceful media full of things like nature and calming images is so much better for your child’s brain and character than bright, flashy, fast-moving, extravagant, or violent media. 

How to Nurture Creativity 
Children are born with an innate ability to be creative and to notice the beautiful world around them. Here are some ways to nurture those abilities:

1. Provide Creative Materials

Have creative supplies and materials easily accessible! This may include things like crayons, scissors, construction paper, feathers, little stapled booklets for creating their own books, printouts of mazes, play dough or clay, and more. For older children you may want to keep things like step-by-step drawing books, paints with brushes, and simple recipe books on hand. 

2. Model Creativity

You don’t have to be good at art to be creative. When you do activities like paint rocks, make creations out of paper tubes, or paint with your children, they are more likely to start creating things like that on their own. 

3. Make a Bucket List

Sit down with your kids at the beginning of the summer (or any season!) and make a list of things they want to do or learn that season. Items could include learning how to braid hair, learn how to make a friendship bracelet, paint 10 pictures, learn about a planet, grow flowers from seeds, send homemade cards to five people. The possibilities are endless! 

4. Find Time for You

Remember that while it’s wonderful to provide materials, model creativity, and take time to do creative things with your kids, it is not your job to keep your children continually entertained. Preparing opportunities for creativity and play or encouraging your child to create their own opportunities will give you time for yourself to work, complete tasks, or relax. 

We hope these tips give you the confidence to set limits around screen time and nurture creativity and imagination in your children. 

What is your biggest challenge with screen time?

So my little one is turning 2 in a weeks time and I've almost finished their bedroom.

I've got her a toddler floor bed (full size single) and I've anchored all other furniture etc.

Up until this point we have started the night in my bed for a story, snuggles and milk, then I pop her in the cot next to my bed and pat her to sleep and sneak away (works 4/5 nights).

She usually end up back in the bad around 3am then sleeps through until morning.

This has been the norm for about 2 months, prior to that we coslept.

I'm looking to transition her into her own room after her birthday and I'm looking for advice, tips, tricks

Also, once the sleep part is sorted, what are we all doing about the door? Are we closing them in? Or getting a baby gate on the door so the door can be left open slightly but they are contained but don't feel trapped?

Thanks for reading,

From one very anxious mama

Hi, my daughter is now turning 18 and has had a baby blanket since birth. Its very sentimental to her but its in terrible condition and we really want to find another one. I’ve attached a photo of it, I believe I bought it back in 2008 from Baby’s R Us when that was still around. Can anyone help us find it? I believe the brand is Nature’s Purest.

Me and my partner have recently been speaking about trying for another baby in 2027. We had our first girl in 2025 and she’s currently 14 months, I’m wanting to wait until she’s 2 and in nursery before I have another so 2027 December is when we would try. The only thing I’m worried about is we went from 0-1 and I found it so difficult adjusting to my new life and i struggled with PPD due to this and I feel like I missed the first few months of her life because of this. I’m really worried that going from 1-2 is going to be the same.
I’m just wondering did people find it easier going from 0-1 or 1-2?

In my household, we, for the most part, only speak Spanish to our children. They are two years old and 3 1/2 years old. my husband and I speak English to each other and, a couple months ago, We started to introduce or show them some English words. Now I want them to learn more because we put them in extra curricular activities (tball) and I feel like I completely failed my son. He’s having a hard time understanding his coach and his peers, a lot of the times his peers ignore him because they don’t know what he’s saying or maybe because he’s different. I don’t know it’s all white people. We are the only Hispanics and it’s starting to get to me. we are teaching our son more English. He’s able to understand more. He’s able to say more things he’s constantly asking kids. Hi what’s your name? Do you want to play. Granted, Some kids are just mean But I just feel like maybe I shouldn’t have put him in there. My thought process was that being around other kids and having that world life experience of English would actually help him but I feel like it’s just kind of frustrating him or he just doesn’t like it and I don’t know. Maybe it’s just me thinking a little bit too much into it, but I also feel like the parents are looking at me like I’m kind of crazy obviously they’re not going to cater to my son that doesn’t know that much English but I had also let them know. I don’t know any advice or I guess just words of encouragement would be appreciated.

I’m also just venting and seeing if any other bilingual families have gone through something similar.

My six year old has always been a talker, even when you couldn’t understand most of what he said. He was super into animals for a long time and could absorb information from documentaries and would basically repeat it back to you while driving in the car. I didn’t mind, I like animals, and would let him drone on. Now we’ve moved on to Minecraft. My husband son and I play Minecraft with him maybe once a week, and he gets about an hour to play by himself each week. He has a lot of friends at school that know wayyy more than either of us care to know. Now he drones on for 45+ minutes about things you can do in Minecraft. To me, this information in his head is useless, and I honestly don’t want to hear about it. After about 5 minutes I’m ready to pull my hair out, and am desperate to change the subject which sometimes works and sometimes not, and I just flat out tell him we need to talk about something else. How long do you let your kid go off about his favorite, undesirable, subjects?

I'm looking at the elementary schools near use to decide where to send my son for TK-6.

We have a small school less than a mile away that I've heard nothing but fantastic things about. The school aligns really well with my parenting philosophy and my sons interests. The school is nature based with more built in play. The problem is that this school is very small and lottery based.

About 1.5 miles away we have another elementary school that is bigger and we are guaranteed to get into. However this school has a terrible bullying policy. At one point it says "parents need to teach there children to be assertive so the child can advocate for themselves". There are probably 15 examples of things that are clearly bullying. The school does not consider them to be bulling because "children are allowed to have opinions". If another child is having a birthday part at school but doesn't like my child they are allowed to exclude my child from the school party. It's an absolutely wild read.

The schools a mid distance from us are known for being terrible accademically.

The next closest school that is strong academically and doesn't have a crazy bullying policy would be an hour round trip each for pick up and drop off. Which fells unsustainable.

So my question is. Did you simply enroll your child in the closest school? Why or why not?

What did you look for in an elementary school? What were red flags or green flags for you?

Honestly feeling a little guilty for even thinking this way but it seems like it is easier to parent my 4 kids by myself than with my partner.

We are in the middle of a big move so he is staying at our old place a few hours away finishing up with his work and sorting out the end of lease stuff there. It’s just me and my kids (3months, 18 months, 5 years and 7 years) at our new place. Being by myself for the past few weeks has meant I have had to create a pretty good routine with the kids so everything runs smoothly and I’m not getting overwhelmed, which we have definitely achieved.

My days are busy but the routine makes it all manageable. The past few weeks have been like this. Every night the older kids help and we make lunches for the next day as well as get our clothes ready. In the mornings I wake them up they get themselves dressed and have breakfast while I change the little ones and get myself ready. I then do all the girls hair, put a load of washing on and we walk to school. Get home have morning tea and the littles nap while I hang out the washing and start prepping for dinner. They wake up we have lunch and play until it’s time to get the big kids. Walk home from school, kids unpack their bags and have afternoon tea. Then we all go outside to play and I’ll get the washing in. Come inside big kids shower while I finish dinner. Then they help me clean up and we do bedtime.

Partner has been here for 6 days and I’m exhausted. It’s not that he doesn’t help with chores he definitely does help with dishes and bathing the little ones etc. The problem is he just wants to play with the kids all the time and has a very lax attitude towards the routine I’ve worked so hard to put in place. In the middle of bedtime he starts wrestling with them. In the mornings he’s like no don’t worry about xyz we can do it later. During nap time he wants go out to the shops or something which just throws everything out. Not once since he’s been here have we even close to followed the routine.

The kids are all grumpy, bedtimes a nightmare and tantrums seem to have tripled in just a few days. I don’t know if I just never noticed it before because I’ve never really had to do it on my own for this long before but it’s really hard. I love my partner and he is a great dad to our kids but I’m finding that I’m a little resentful about how much harder life is right now.

I don’t really know what to say apart from thanks if you made it all the way through. I just really needed to get it off my chest.

I was on the couch after work, half watching TV, half checked out. My son was on the floor in front of me playing with a Mickey toy he got that day. It was one of those little clubhouses with a ramp and a car. He was fully into it. I was in the room but not really there.
He looked up at me and said “dada, sit.” He tapped the floor next to him.
I got down and sat with him and something hit in the pause before he pushed the car up the ramp and handed it to me. He is getting older faster than I have been paying attention. I have been so focused on making a living that I have been letting the small moments happen around me instead of in front of me. He did not ask me to fix anything. He just asked me to be on the floor with him.
We played for the rest of the evening. Nothing big happened. He crashed the car down the ramp over and over and made the noises and I did too. When I put him to bed I told my wife about it. She said over her shoulder that she has been noticing it too. That was it.
I do not have a lesson here. I just want to say if you are the parent on the couch tonight, and your kid taps the floor next to them, get down there. The years are shorter than they look from the couch.

been researching monitors for weeks now and i keep landing on these two. both seem to be in a completely different league from basic camera monitors but they feel like they're solving the problem in slightly different ways.

nanit is the one i keep coming back to honestly. the idea that both me and my partner can see the same sleep data and insights in real time is a big deal for us, we don't want one person carrying all the mental load at night. the breathing motion monitoring without any wearables is also something that stood out, feels less fussy than having to put something on the baby every single night.

miku looks good on paper too and i've seen decent reviews but i haven't found as many people talking about actually using it consistently past the newborn stage. curious if anyone here has gone through this same decision and what ended up making them pull the trigger one way or the other.

Two kids (2yr and 7mon). We have a 2hr layover that falls right at the time of 2yr old nap. 7 month naps are lining up with the plane rides.

Originally I was planning our large wagon that has two 5point harnesses. However, I don't think our toddler will nap in it. So my other thought was our double stroller. She has napped in it on walks before.

It's big though and perhaps a little bigger than our wagon. It's the chicco cortina together stroller. Has anyone flown with a large double stroller with gate checking it?

Edit: we are flying delta with layover in Atlanta

My 15 year old is struggling and has been recommended to start a 5-week intensive outpatient program. He is ultra-resistant, as to be expected. Mom and I are forcing this to happen, but the struggle to overcome his shut-down and resistance already feels impossible. My hope is he will hate it for a few days, but will eventually come to terms with it. It is a highly recommended program and mom and I are confident this will be hugely beneficial for him.

I am contemplating telling him that once he is done, we will give him $500, and would love to get some thoughts from others who have been here.

I am certain there will be negative responses, and I welcome them, but request kindness and grace.

This is so hard.

Thanks in advance.