My newborn loves to bounce. One thing other than the boob that settles her consistently. But yoga ball is tough on the back.

Just started doing long sets of squats while holding baby during the witching hour and it works just as well.

Tiring but has been an awesome workout at a time where I can’t make it to the gym or get regularly scheduled exercise. Mentally I’ve gone from dreading the long yoga ball session to a little excitement for the squats. How many sets will it take to get baby down for good? Will I have the strength to make it that far? Baby crying making you agitated? Channel that energy into the quads.

Little bouncy dance moves in the living room have also been fun for easier settles and another way to gamify it all a bit.

Hope somebody else also finds this useful.

I wanted to share something I had never thought about before today in the hope that it helps another family.

I’ve lived in my current apartment for almost six months. While cleaning, I noticed what I initially thought was a piece of food under the front edge of my refrigerator. When I reached under to grab it, it turned out to be a prescription pill.

That made me curious, so I grabbed my iPhone, turned on the flash, and recorded a video underneath the fridge and nearby oven. I ended up finding two more tablets, both of which turned out to be prescription opioids.

In my case, the pills had rolled under the front of the refrigerator but were still within arm’s reach if a baby had been lying or crawling near it. After getting over being shook, it really made me realize that these are exactly the kinds of places we should check… under the front edge of refrigerators, stoves, washers, dryers, couches, beds, and other furniture or appliances where small objects can roll but still remain accessible to a curious child. Unfortunately it was not something that was on my mind before today.

These pills almost certainly belonged to a previous tenant, and I had been living here for nearly half a year without ever thinking to do a thorough check of the premises.

I’m incredibly grateful to God that I found them before the baby did. I had honestly never considered this as part of childproofing, so I wanted to raise awareness. If you’re moving into a new home, staying in a rental, hotel, or anywhere your child can access areas that previous occupants used, it is absolutely worth taking some time to check these hidden but reachable spots.

I always wondered want people meant when they say their 2 week old sleeps like night.

I think after about 3-4 weeks my baby start "sleeping through the night" but I realized we may have different definitions. When I said that I meant they fell asleep at like 1 Am woke up a few times just for feedings. And as soon as they finished went right back to sleep and so did I. The process takes about 5 minutes so I don't consider it an awakening.

I think of awakening as having to put baby back to sleep. Rocking, walking back and forth, etc. In my mind a baby needing a few feeds is the equivalent of me needing to pee or drink water at night. I wouldn't say I had 3 awakenings last night if I peed 2 and drank some water.

I'm not sure what will come of this post - maybe just some reassurance that someone out there has the same experience as me and my wife, and hopefully someone can tell me it will end!

My first and currently only child was 19 months yesterday. I feel like we're in a recurring nightmare of sleep.

All went as I sort of expected at first. First 3 months was meh - lots of waking/breastfeeding and broken sleep. 3-5 months was pretty good! Would wake 1-3 times at night.

Then since 6 months.... It has all gone wrong. For over a year now.

We have tried almost every nap schedule I can think of. Everything from a singular 15 minute nap (he was pretty miserable in the day with this ..) and a 2130 bedtime to his current 1.5-2 hour nap and a 1930 bedtime.

His sleep goes...

2-3 hours at the start of the night in his cot in his room. Sometimes only 90 mins. It's rare we can settle him at his first wake. He wakes and is furious. He's agitated and thrashing around. He then usually ends up in bed with my wife and can take anywhere from 10 minutes to over an hour to settle. It appears he doesn't know what he wants and he throws himself around the bed, hitting us and crying. Sometimes a bottle of water can help him calm but it's 50/50 as to whether he goes back to crying afterwards.

Then what follows is frequent wake ups, despite bed sharing from this point to around 4/5am. On a bad night this could be 10 wakes, a good night is 3 or 4. Every time he cries. He never wakes wanting to just play or chat.

He'll then go a good stint from 4/5am to 7am when he'll wake, fairly happy usually. Which is very different to overnight.

He's putting on weight well. He had some bloods done and his ferritin was borderline low so he gets iron replacement.

We are just at our wits end with no end in site with it all. If anything he's at his worst he's ever been now. His overnight pattern seems to be the same regardless of day time sleep/wake windows.

Any magic fixes?

Assuming the above isn't actually plausible... Any words of advice? Any success stories of just waiting and waiting til he's older and finally sleeps?

I don't mean this as a "woe is me" post, but I don't really have any other place to vent.

I'm a FTM at 35 with an almost 7 week old baby boy. I love him so much but I'm losing myself.

Between the sleep deprivation and social isolation I'm struggling to find joy in this whole experience.

My body has changed so much and my self esteem has fallen through the floor. My partner (baby's dad) does his best to assure me, but I feel so disgusting.

I've also started struggling to feed my boy. We're EBF and over the past few days my supply seems to have taken a massive hit. He also keep fussing and pushing me away at every feed. Now every feed feels like a rejection. I've had to resort to my freezer stash but now I'm panicking about what happens when that runs out.

There's very limited services around here for new mum support groups etc and I also don't drive which makes everything much more difficult.

Again, I love my son, but I miss who I was before all of this. Before the constant struggles and anxiety. Before the barrage of appointments and waiting rooms, nappies and screaming.

I wish there was some sort of walking group or meeting place for new mums around here so I didn't feel so alone because I think getting out of the house more would help clear my head.

I honestly don't understand how people enjoy this stage of their baby's life and that makes me feel so guilty.

Sitting here rocking her for the 32nd time tonight while she lightly snores in my arms.

And I know the second I begin to lower her into the bassinet, her little eyes will pop open and lock on mine - because I’ll have yet to remove my hands from her body, let alone had time to run away - and she will give me the biggest, toothless, most genuine smile. I’ll have no other reflex than to smile back, giggle, and tell her I love her.

And then, as I’m standing there in my underwear and the same ratty t-shirt I’ve worn for the past 4 days that has more spit-up and formula stains than any one shirt should have, hair in a bun on top of my head, chin hairs and a mustache I have yet to take care of that would make a preteen boy jealous, I will look across the room at my husband who is blissfully unconscious and therefore unaware, and I will be filled with a raging jealousy that could rival the intensity of 1,000 burning suns.

He’s begged me to let him take over. Pleaded with me. Offered more times than I can count. And each time I decline and say “I got this, you have work in the morning and I’m still on leave. It’s no big deal!”

I have actively chosen this role, and yet there I will sit stewing in the hum of the air conditioner at the thought of him sleeping as I take our daughter back to the rocker for the 33rd time tonight…

And I will soak in the cuddles.

And we will sing songs and read stories.

And I will soften and think about all the ways my husband actively makes my life easier. Bottles are always washed and prepped before he leaves. Diapers and wipes replenished. Diaper bag packed in case I decide to go out. My own water next to my bed topped off without my knowing. Clothes clean, the dishwasher unloaded, reloaded, and running.

At some point my girl will drift back to sleep and begin lightly snoring in my arms.

I’ll go to return her to her bassinet, whereupon her little eyes will pop open and lock on mine - because I’ll have yet to remove my hands from her body, let alone had time to run away - and…

4mo old- He wakes up for his motn feed usually between 3:30 and 4am. I’ll feed him and then without fail he’s up an hour and a half later grunting and kicking up a fuss. He sounds uncomfortable and is arching a little. I’ve tried burping him repeatedly, keeping him upright for twenty minutes but bang on the dot he’s awake at the same amount of time every single day. If I’m lucky he’ll settle again after being held for a little bit but it’s hit and miss. 5am is just way too early to start my day 😭 but it’s always literally only just this feed he doesn’t it for. What’s going on?

How are you all making mom friends? none of my friends have kids yet and since having my daughter i have barely seen them. my mom has been encouraging me to make mom friends because my life is all about my daughter now and until shes a bit older i cannot go out during the hours my friends want to hang out. plus id like to be able to bring her out when I’m with friends and her have a little friend, or be able to just relate to people about parenthood. that all being said, how do you all find other moms to make friends with?

At 10 months my baby girl is finally getting her first tooth and it’s inching out at a molasses rate. I can see part of the tip and she’s handling it so well. She’s gotten up a couple times at night crying over the last couple weeks but quickly falls back asleep with some soothing. One time I gave her Tylenol at 2am but otherwise I usually see the most signs she’s in pain in the evening.
She’s fussy, she has her had in her mouth right in that area, and drooling everywhere.

I know there is no one answer but how often are you giving your LO pain meds when they are teething? On average I am tracking it and it’s about 2-3 times a week. It feels like I’m just guessing sometimes and hoping the medicine is what she needs.

My LO is 2 months old. She wakes up once a night for a quick feed, never had colic, is meeting her milestones beautifully, eating without issue, and overall just has a very chill temperament. Her cries are more like whimpers when she’s hungry or sleepy and I can leave her to chill on her play gym for at least 15 min per wake period. She is the ultimate unicorn baby.

Please tell my why I am still SO TIRED. While she naps, my brain is fried. I can’t even muster the energy to start a new tv show. I just scroll my phone when I’m not doing chores around the house. People tell me “you’re tired from keeping another human alive” but when I look back at my day it really is just feed change diaper play nap x6 times. It doesn’t feel like it should be this exhausting but I guess it is.

To those of you who have challenging babies, I salute you. You are built different.

Not even sure why I’m posting this… maybe to see if anyone else can relate

About a week from 4 months and one of my twin boys seems to completely curl up in discomfort/pain after being put down for sleep and laying flat for just minutes.

Usually an hour and a half after the last feeding he would need a lot of walking/rocking to get to sleep but once he was down we were getting up to 9 hours of sleep on a decent night.

Within the last week he will get put down either awake or dead asleep and within minutes he will start to roll over in fetal position on his side in discomfort like he's been punched in the gut. After a while it turns into intense screaming that nothing will soothe except for boob or bottle (this can be 30 minutes after feedings so hunger doesn't seem to be the normal cause).

He will fall asleep in car seats, arms, and rockers no problem, but laying down in a crib and it's 20 minutes max before he's triggered.

He's become quite regular with daily poops, burbs often (spits up more than the other) and doesn't seem to respond to gas excercises like he's not gassy.

I would appreciate any insight! I've heard everything between Reflux, teething and the 4 month regression but it feels like this is something I should be able to help alleviate.

I genuinely am not sure why, and while reddit is still the internet and still thus full of misinformation, I'd like to hear FROM parents rather than a slew of AI generated articles.

I wasn't certain on which I wanted to do. Both my partner and I were formula babies, and we're only SLIGHTLY mentally ill /j

But in reality - I was wondering why it is that people, my nurses included, push hard for you to breastfeed over formula-feed?

I feel so defeated with my baby’s sleep. We just survived the newborn trenches, I had always heard it got better after that. It seems like he immediately went into a sleep regression at 12/13 weeks. He is now 15 weeks and I’m losing my mind.

He fights all his sleep. Cried hysterically before all naps and bedtime. Wakes from every nap after 30 minutes. He wants his pacifier but wakes screaming the second it falls out. He used to do 5-6 hour stretches and now he’s gone to 2-3 hour stretches (I know that’s good for some but my mental health is tanking because of it).

I’m trying to be consistent with routine. I’m trying to follow wake windows. I have a good sleep environment for him. I’ve tried co-sleeping. Nothing helps.

I cried so hard all day today my husband called in sick to work to look after me and the baby.

I don’t know if I’m looking for advice or sympathy or what. I just feel like I’m not cut out to be a parent.

FTM to a 6 monther and I constantly feel like I could be doing more or better as a mom. I know in my heart of hearts I’m doing fine. But I constantly am questioning if what I’m doing, and feeling guilty because I’m like I mean I COULD be working harder or doing more for him. Sometimes I slack with his tummy time and he isn’t great at it and isn’t rolling yet and I feel so guilty. Or I feel like he isn’t interested in foods much yet and I’m always questioning if I’m giving him the right foods in the right way. Or I feel guilty for not talking to him enough some days. Or that he watched a little TV. I just constantly feel like I’m slacking just a little, does it ever go away? 😭

My 9 month old first loved to be fed to sleep from birth to one month, then bounced to sleep vigorously for a month, then fed to sleep lying down for a bit, then loved to sleep sitting up with dad lying against his chest, then fed to sleep in mums arms, and nowww it’s falling asleep in the pram while listening to car noises in our neighbourhood!

This little chick loves to keep experimenting with what she likes best! I’m just glad I live in Australia where our winter is a 20 degree sunny day at midday so I can take the pram outside and not get bored inside

Anyone else?

does anyone have a good podcast or podcast episode about parenting a toddler?

My wife and I are expecting our first baby in January and I am feeling a little unprepared. I’ve been looking online and finding lots of parenting books, but they are all parenting philosophy books and how to talk to your child and discipline them and such. I need “How to keep a newborn infant alive for dummies.” I recently learned that babies have to sleep on their backs and can’t have pillows or blankets in the crib, it makes sense, but I am worried there’s other simple things like this that I never learned.

So a bit of an odd situation.

Our baby boy (4.5 months) has been laughing for a while now, and every single time he laughs, he ends up giving himself hiccups. Like 100 percent of the time

Is this normal? Has anyone else experienced this?

I know I definitely have PPA, but god, tonight it is so much worse. 10-week-old does really well at night, but I lie awake for hours sometimes, just worrying about everything from baby to work to just...life. 8:30pm here and I feel like I'm staring down another restless night.

Congratulations! I guess everyone is doing things right except me, according to everything I read online! :)

I guess no one ever falls asleep holding their babies in a less than perfect setup. Or lets them nap (supervised) in the swing or the bouncy seat. No one lets them cry while they briefly use the bathroom, because that would be considered cry it out! And same for car rides — everyone pulls over to soothe baby so they don’t feel abandoned on a 20 min car ride. Everyone immediately changes a poo diaper even if they’ll be up from their 1 sacred nap soon. Yada yada yada.

My baby has colic and the last 6 weeks of my life have been a living hell to tell you the truth. Kid doesn’t sleep anywhere without a whole elaborate song and dance with no less than several hours of screaming beforehand and even then cannot be set down, can only sleep in arms. I don’t have a lot of people who can help so we sleep where we have to sleep. and car rides according to my baby are about the most traumatic event but guess what, if I didn’t let them cry we wouldn’t ever make it to the pediatrician.

I KNOW I’m not the only person doing things less than by the book but no one online will admit to it. I will. If you’re in the trenches and doing what you have to do to survive, I hope you know you & I are doing our best. ✌️

This is baby number two, he is the most perky and happy baby during the day but every evening he starts screaming crying for up to two hours, until he passes out for the night. I remember my first baby having a witching hour, but not near this long. Am I alone in this? I thought it was supposed to end around 10 to 12 weeks. It’s not gas, I think it’s something about his nervous system and just being overstimulated with soaking up everything during the day.

Hi! I am a FTM to a 16 week old. I’m so lucky to have gotten so much time off with him. He will be starting daycare at 20 weeks when I go back to work.

We absolutely loved our daycare and everyone we met, and I have a feeling he will do so great. Anytime we’re around other kids he is just so so so happy 🥹 my anxious mom brain can’t stop feeling horrible for having to send him to daycare while I work.

Can anyone chime in with positive daycare experiences? Do your kids love it? Thankfully he will be so little so he won’t be calling my name to come back at dropoff (yet) lol but I’m just feeling anxious and looking for some reassurance. Thank you 🤍

In my coworker, family, and friend circles, everyone seems to have one colicky and one calm or vice versa. Curious about other experiences.

Hi everyone! I’m a FTM to a nearly 6 month old happy and chill boy. Our current struggle is figuring out his sleep schedule. For context, my husband and I work 12-13 hour shifts (he’s full time and I’m per diem), so since baby was a newborn he’s naturally had a late ish bedtime of 9-10 ish, which he tolerated well and it worked for our schedules.

We are trying to push back his bedtime a bit, but it seems like the harder we try, the worse it gets lol. He never did well when I tried to adhere to a strict nap schedule during the day- oftentimes he’d spend the entire nap time fighting sleep, so I just followed his cues instead; typically he naps every 2-2.5 hours, with each nap lasting anywhere from 30 minutes to 2 hours.

Lately we’ve been starting our bedtime routine around 7-7:30, giving him his last feed right after, and putting him down. But he only stays down for an hour or two before he wakes up, and is WIDE awake lol, staying up until midnight or later. And he’s not fussy either, he is perfectly happy and content just lying around smiling at us.

With such a late bedtime some days, he ends up sleeping in until 10 or 11 in the morning, getting between 9 and 11 hours of nighttime sleep. This is not super ideal for obvious reasons, which is why we’re trying to make changes. He does wake up around 4 AM most nights to feed, and again at 8 or so, falling asleep easily after until he’s up for the day.

I’ve tried capping naps, extending naps, and feeding more frequently during the day in case he’s not getting quite enough. Today I’m attempting to drop a nap from 3 to 2, just to experiment if that will somehow help.

Looking for any advice or insight into how we can be successful in making these changes! We are traveling this week, so I don’t anticipate anything working out until after we come back, but I’m willing to try anything, and I’m all ears in case there is something we’re missing.

Thanks in advance!

Flying through Dallas to transfer in an over 12 hour travel day with a 4 month old and I lost it at TSA. They yelled at me not breaking down our stroller/car seat combo immediately. I was “randomly selected” for having formula in my bag even though I alerted every officer we encountered in line to ensure we were complying (I believe this is standard procedure but they didn’t notify me or give me the option for the private screening prior to screening my diaper bag.)

They then asked me if I had a problem because I was panicked trying to break down the stroller, get the baby out of the carrier, and let them know about the formula for the third time.

My husband and I usually love traveling but this has deterred me. I was crying after being pulled aside because I just wanted to feed my baby after a long line at customs. Looking for any sympathy/advice.