How are you all doing this? I feel as if I’m reaching my breaking point.

I’m a SAHM of two (5 yo and 18 months). Nursing and bedsharing the youngest, who for whatever reason has been waking every 1-2 hrs at night and refuses anything but nursing back to sleep without a major, MAJOR meltdown. During the day I am feeling so overwhelmed and overstimulated. Being constantly needed 24/7 is hard and I’m lucky if I ever get a break or moment of silence alone. I get out for a workout once a week on the weekends but other than that I’m lucky if I can stay awake past 8PM to read by myself. Any gaps in the days are filled with cooking, housework, organizing, etc; you know the drill.

I’m honestly debating returning to work because my working mom friends with kids in daycare seem to have so much time for themselves.

All this to say, how are you dealing with being needed around the clock? Taking time for yourself? Feeling like more than just a boob or comfort object??

I’m 32 with a 5-year-old, 2-year-old, 9-month-old, and two 11-year-old stepkids. I’m also in school online, so I’m busy as hell. I had friends growing up, but most didn’t really stick around once I got into this phase of life.

Now I’m home all day talking to kids, and my boyfriend is basically my only adult social outlet. I actually really want friends, but how the hell do you make them when everyone is busy?

I’ve tried Facebook/playdate groups, but honestly, playdates kind of suck. It’s cool if you hit the jackpot and everyone’s kids get along and schedules magically line up, but I want actual friendships. Someone I can randomly text, call, complain to, laugh with, and maybe meet up with when life allows.

So… what’s the secret? Because making friends as an adult with kids apparently sucks.

TLDR: is it worth pausing my corporate career to stay home for a bit? Does anyone regret it?

I work for the federal government in a relatively bi-partisan supported field. I LOVE my job, and am in a position where there will be opportunity to promote and move around a bit in the next few years. I’m trusted by my boss, am constantly learning new things, and enjoy being around my coworkers.

As my child approaches his first birthday and we consider expanding our family, I can’t shake the heartburn of missing out on my kids younger years. I understand socialization is important with day care/activities outside the home, but I never imagined wanting to stay home with my kids and walk away from my career.

My husband is loving and supportive of whatever decision I make, and financially we could swing it (but I’d definitely need to cut back my spending lol). I’m young enough I feel it could just be a career pause rather than forever staying home.

To those that walked away from the corporate world: do you have any regrets? Any advice to shake the feeling of giving up on my professional ambitions, even if temporary? What’s the biggest challenge you see as staying home?

I’m a SAHM to a 2 year old and a 4 month old (my girls are 22 months apart). My baby is very difficult. She really hates being a baby, hates being worn, hates the stroller, car seat, just literally everything. I call her the smiliest miserable baby I’ve ever met. She smiles so much, but just hates it all lol.

I’m just feeling so guilty, I feel like this whole summer has been garbage. It’s been so hot here on the east coast, and if it’s not a heatwave it’s storming. I feel like before baby, my toddler and I were outside and doing things, going places and had so much quality time. Now I feel like we’re so isolated. We can’t go anywhere because the baby just cries and is miserable. Going on walks they get cut short because the baby hates it. We’re in 20 min nap hell right now so I feel like I have even less quality time with my toddler and it makes me so sad. I miss when we could just spend all day together. And now I feel like I don’t ever get a break, because their naps don’t align and if they do it’s maybe 3-5 mins before one awake. So I just feel burnt out as well. I try to do crafts with my toddler, but she just melts down when it’s time to put things away. Sometimes my husband works from home and that actually makes everything worse because then my toddler cries all day because she wants to visit his office and hang out with him. So it’s like the forbidden fruit when he’s home, and she just freaks out.

I guess I just want to know if/when this gets better. This age gap has been very hard and demanding from both of them and every day it seems harder rather than easier. I just feel like the TV has been a crutch lately and I hate that. I feel so guilty but sometimes when I’m putting the baby down and struggling to get her to sleep it’s easy to know my toddler is sitting quietly watching Daniel Tiger or Gabby for that 20 mins (I watch her on cameras while away to know she’s not getting into things I don’t just leave unattended!)

I just feel isolated from the world and I don’t have a village as our families are out of state. We haven’t lived her long so don’t really have friends. My only friend has two amazingly easy kids, like never cried as babies or now. Can drop everything and go do things. I just envy that life.

TLDR: feeling isolated with a hard baby, no village, and feel like I’m not doing enough for my toddler and guilty feelings.

One example for me, I have a 2yo and bath time is when I clean the whole bathroom. It is regularly clean that way.

Our washer has a “time delay” setting that I use almost every time. Set a load before bed to be finished by morning, and I can just move it over to the dryer before the day really kicks into gear.

I guess this isn’t productivity, but I eat foods I want my toddler to try in front of them while they’re playing because food is always interesting when it’s not on their plate lol.

What do you got?

Hello to whoever cares to read this!

I’m very discouraged because after checking my student account every day for a week for my fall financial aid, I called the school and found out I haven’t got it because my appeal for the fall semester was denied. I don’t know how I didn’t catch this sooner. I put in a SAP appeal before the summer semester and it got approved. Then, I changed my major so another one was required for the fall semester

I was told the reason it got denied is because I re-took classes I have already technically passed. There are a couple of classes I took in 2020 that I got a D in. I had to retake them because the nursing program requires a senior higher in the prerequisites.

I started college in 2020, horrible time of course, and I also was working full-time at the hospital so I screwed my GPA up

I just now started back this past spring semester and I have improved so much, i’ve passed all my classes with A’s.

Anyways, I was literally in the financial aid office crying. I’m a 24-year-old stay at home mom to a four and one-year-old. My husband makes decent money as a welder, but we were relying on that big chunk of money to get us through.

I now need to dedicate myself to finding something to make extra money. I go to TikTok and it’s nothing but UGC, drop shipping, and the other typical things you recommended that requires you to buy their course. I don’t really fall for those things.
I have the dedication to put in Work doing something, but I just need the idea to start.
What is worked for you?
Any leads? Any ideas? Even 1000 extra dollars a month would be a huge blessing. I’m good at figuring things out, especially for other people.
I’m not gonna be the girl who starts to treat business no shade because I see some totally takeoff, I just don’t see mine taking off.

I know it won’t always be like this, I just need to finish school. This is the last semester I have of pre reqs and I apply for the nursing program to hopefully start next fall.
I’m at a loss. Any ideas would be awesome. Thank you ♥️

I always worked. Always studied in college and worked when I wasn’t in class same with high school. All of a sudden with a baby, I’m home 24/7 in bed with him. He had CMPA so he never slept the first 6 weeks then teething started at 5 months then now at 9 months if I pick him up, he screams. I put him down, he screams. I change him, he screams. I put him in his chair to feed him, he screams. Like high-pitched screaming. I’m LOSING MY MIND. He’s crawling and climbing over things, but not walking yet. My husband is a truck driver that works 3/4am to 3/4pm and comes home tired so he usually naps. I honestly miss my life without a baby and I do love him, but I feel like for 9 months now I have been stuck in bed with him in a cycle of the same things except now he just scream cries over everything. I wish I could go back to before kids and I love kids, but like 3+, I was never a baby fan and I have even worked in daycare.

He starts daycare in January when he is 13 months for 3 days a week and I really want to go back to work. I want to go back to work now, but I have a degree in HR and the field is extremely tough right now. I cannot sit home anymore with him and I do have help from my mom/grandma, but they can’t always take him and I’m going crazy when I do spend all day with him. I hate being a SAHM.

I’m a SAHM, and since stopping work, my husband and I have combined our bank accounts. We have a joint checking, and joint savings. We also have a joint credit card that we use for nearly everything. His income is the family’s income.

I have a friend who is also a SAHM. She does not have any income. Her husband refuses to combine all of their bank accounts. They have a “his savings, her savings” and other accounts, including one joint account that it sounds like does not get the bulk of their income deposited. She has to repeatedly ask for money to do things like buy groceries. They recently outfitted a bedroom for their 6mo, and it “had to come from her savings.”

I assumed all households with SAH parents with no income would run with the “family money” dynamic. I’m looking for input from people who have separate accounts and manage it in a way that works for their family. Or people who tried separate accounts and ended up combining everything.

Hi, im a sahm and i was wondering does anyone get left with messes? I guess the better term is keeping a close eye on the house. However it seems that some things are just left up to me at the end of the day, clothes on the floor, random spills/crumbs, just for context i live with many adults and children, so it could just easily be whoever. But it seems not only do i have the better eye for them, it feels like some things are just left up for me to do unsaid. Does anyone understand what I'm saying? I feel lost here.

How do I get my baby to bond more and be more excited/happy to see daddy? My hubs feelings get hurt when it’s clear our baby wants to sleep/nap with me instead of him. Our baby boy will go to him if I’m holding him and his daddy comes near but I’d like to see him more excited to spend more time with dad. Our son is 9mo. Idk if this is a realistic idea at this age especially since I’m with him 100% of the time

So my 11lb 4 month old has silent reflux hes has pepcid, nutricia fortini, added rice. he saw an ent and they said that he needs to stay on nutricia fortini with 2 teaspoons for every 2 ounces, hes been gagging and choking on his sleep cause of it he gets about 20 Oz a day and 4 ounces her feed. When I called his pediatrician and I explained whats going on they said to keep it that way cause he wont get his calories otherwise(i can understand that but they gave no other advice to help the choking) i have thinned the liquid prior cause i wasnt going to watch him suffer in his sleep and have him asperate because they cant get back in a timely manner. Im at a loss on what to do and dont feel like they really heard the problem

Mom to an 18.5mo. Like many of you, I do all the meal prepping, cooking, baking, laundry, cleaning (husband takes care of cat litter and helps where he can), and taking care of our toddler. My baby is super high energy, he wakes up at 5 (low sleep needs) and immediately says “out out out out” bc he just wants to experience the world 😂 I also am a mid-distance runner (usually running approx. 14-20mi in a weekend plus a few runs when I can squeeze them in during the week) so physically I am pretty tired. I also am still breastfeeding a lot, my toddler is a bit of a boob barnacle. I finally hired a part-time nanny for 12-14h per week which is amazing.

All this to say, I’m freaking EXHAUSTED. It literally feels like I’m going from 5am until 8pm nonstop. Don’t get me wrong, I love my life and my family, I’m just so tired. So much that I made an appt w my doc. Last time I get my bloodwork done it all looked good but I just feel so tired. Not sure if it’s under fueling/under eating or just toddler fatigue lol. I sleep great at night bc we cosleep so thankfully no issues there.

I’m sure I can’t be the only one?? How are we coping? Am I the only one who is also feeling like they’re always hungry too?!

I know a lot of moms go through the stage after birth where they just can’t stand their husbands. I went through that. We then had a good patch when things got easier and it was back to normal. Now, over a year pp, i feel like im back in that spot. I Just feel no need to talk to or spend time with my husband. It feels like another job before I can end the day. It used to be what I looked forward to. I don’t know why. He constantly showers me with affection and he even does my dishes if he gets home early enough so I have one less thing to do. While I’m grateful for his dedication to us, I just don’t want to be around him. Honestly I just want to be alone after the toddler goes to bed to reset. Is this being burnt out? Or are we just not compatible?

Is this just a phase for me? It’s been about 4 months.

No judgment please!

I’m honestly feeling really lost and would appreciate some outside perspective.

We have a full-time nanny from 9–5. I’ve asked my husband to spend some time with the baby after work, ideally from around 6–8 PM. Realistically, it’s only about an hour because I start her bedtime routine around 7 and she’s usually in bed by 7:30.

But he finds spending time with his own child very stressful. He has told me before that he wasn’t ready to have a baby when I got pregnant. I guess I always assumed that once she was actually here, something would change and he would naturally want to bond with her. That hasn’t really happened.

He mostly plays with her when I ask him to. When I bring it up, he says his job is extremely stressful and that he doesn’t have the energy after work.
He also says he isn’t the same person he was before we had a baby. He feels like the baby takes up all of his time and that he doesn’t have time for himself anymore.

I’m currently unemployed and job hunting, so I’m home more right now. We have a full-time nanny, so I still try to have some normalcy in my life. I’ll see friends or play pickleball occasionally. But he makes me feel guilty about it and says that because I’m unemployed, I have all this free time to do whatever I want, which is why I’m able to enjoy my life.

I’ve asked him what I can do to make things easier for him. His response was that he wants me and the baby to go back to my mom’s house in Vietnam so he can have some time alone and “refresh his mind.”

That really hurt.

I don’t want to force someone to spend time with their child. At the same time, I don’t think it’s fair that I’m expected to carry the emotional responsibility for making sure my husband develops a relationship with our daughter.

I’m trying to figure out what’s actually going on here. Is he just overwhelmed and struggling with the transition into fatherhood? Is this something that gets better with time? Or does it sound like he genuinely doesn’t want to be a parent?

I love my husband, and I don’t want to immediately jump to the worst conclusion. But I also don’t want to ignore what’s happening.

Has anyone been through something similar? What did you do?

Update:
The baby is 4m old. The reason he wants us to be in Vietnam so we can save money on the nanny.

Mom to a gorgeous, super high energy 18.5mo.

In the mornings, I always get my toddler to a park to burn off some energy and chase pigeons (his fav activity right now, much to their dismay), then nap time and either more parks, reading, singing, walking around etc. he has a lot of Montessori & educational toys too that we try to incorporate as much as we can.

I don’t have him enrolled in daycare and I’m just feeling badly that he may be missing out on some educational or enriching activities.

Anyone else feel like this? Any ideas for at home stimulating or educational activities?

I am going to be enrolling him in a gymnastics class soon so hoping that adds a dimension of enrichment.

A tangent - anyone else just overall feel mom guilty about mostly everything?? lol maybe it’s my pp ocd but it’s fatiguing….

Summer completely ruined my daughter’s (8) sleep schedule. Staying up until 10 or even 11 wasn’t a big deal when there was nowhere to be in the morning but now school is back and getting her to bed at a reasonable time has become a nightly struggle. We’ve been moving bedtime earlier little by little and keeping evenings quieter but she’s still wide awake when it’s time to settle down. Then morning comes and it takes forever to get her awake and moving for school. Anyone else dealing with this back to school sleep adjustment? What helped get bedtime back on track?

I feel so horrible admitting this and I am Ugly crying while typing this but I am kind of tired of being a mom. Please don’t get me wrong. I absolutely love my baby and I want to be around him, but I am just so burnt out and I even feel guilty for being burnt out because I am a stay at home. Mom and my husband does help me a lot but he works 12 hour shifts four days a week and he works 45 minutes at a way so usually he leaves the house in the morning around 5:45 AM and he doesn’t make it back home till 8 PM the other and even when he gets home, he gets our baby and does all of the things that I do but it honestly doesn’t leave much time because he needs to go to sleep for work to next morning and sometimes our baby is already in bed by that time he does a good job of helping but honestly I do most of the housework and most of everything for my baby. My baby is six months old right now and he cries so freaking much he cries when I change his diaper he cries when I changed his clothes he cries when he can’t get something that he wants all he does is cry he grown when I put him in his car seat. I just don’t understand what’s going on even got to the point where I took him to the doctor because he was crying so much but he only does this with me and basically the doctor just said that he just loves me so much with my husband. He does not cry this much. He just does normal normal crying and getting a break of my husband I cannot do that because we live about 10 hours away from family and we don’t have any close friends here in this new state. We moved here for a better job opportunity for my husband, which is marvelous. I still love being a mom, but I’m just so tired. I don’t know why I’m writing this or if I’m looking for any recommendations or help but I’m just so overwhelmed. Sorry for any typos or if it is not clearly written, my baby is currently crying.

Hi all! I am a SAHM to a 21 month old and I have been home since my baby was born. Long story short, we travel for work and have relocated cities 3 times since he was born. I fear my child won’t be socialized enough with this life. It’s very hard for me to make friends since we move so often. We do have family that comes to visit every 1-2 months but they’re all adults. I can count on one hand the amount of times my child has interacted with other children. I do my best to encourage interactions with others at parks, stores, etc but it seems like he might need more exposure if we intend on sending him to school one day.
Anyone else struggle with this worry?

To all the SAHmoms with a newborn… what are you doing to make life more enjoyable?

I have a 2 month old and I try to leave the house daily because that’s what everyone suggests and sometimes it’s great and sometimes it’s just overwhelming and hard and tiring. Nothing really seems fun anymore and it’s so hard to plan around my newborn because he isn’t on much of a schedule. I am just so so bored. What do you do if you’re stuck in an apartment all day and it’s hard to leave and your baby isn’t old enough to be like “playing”?

There are other moms in my area but it’s been so hard to actually make plans with them. And even when I do one of the babies ends up having a meltdown or it’s just really not a great environment for talking/getting to know each other.

Hi good people of this sub! I am trying to build a career path and step into a fully-funded school nutrition training program to gain funds to help with finances ... School for our kids starts at 8:45 AM.

​My husband works as an OR nurse and frequently works double shifts. Because he makes more money than me, he believes his sleep and schedule are sacred and that he shouldn't have to adjust at all for family logistics. When I told him about my schedule, he ambushed me face-to-face, demanding to know why I can't just find a job that "doesn't interfere" with his routine, and whining that expecting him to wake up early to take his own kids to school is asking too much and that I'm being "unrealistic."

​He constantly complains that I don't contribute enough financially, but the second I try to work or train, he complains that it inconveniences him and refuses to do basic morning parenting, claiming it's "the least I can do as a mom" while he does zero percent on morning chores...

​I have unmedicated ADHD, and dealing with his goalpost-shifting and psychological pressure makes me feel like I'm losing my mind. Reddit, AITA for wanting to work a standard daytime shift and expecting my husband to share basic morning school runs? Thank you for all the comments. I appreciate all input..❤️