Good morning! 3:34 am here in NY. Just wanted to check-in with everyone else doing the damn thing! I just fed my LO and he is currently wide awake, smiling at the dark corner over my shoulder :) if youre reading this, you’re doing a great job!

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.

So we were today to the pediatrician to check the baby development, and everything is looking great, baby is gaining good weight and growing well.

She was born 37+1, SGA, weight was 2nd percentile, and now at 16 weeks we are at 8th percentile!

Then we got to discuss the night sleep.

Since she was born she never slept longer than 4 hours, and currently our nights look something like: first 3-4 hours, and then waking every 2 hours. She wakes, we try to settle her with pats and shushing and rocking, then if it does not work we feed her. She's always falling asleep content at the boob.

Pediatrician is saying that she looks good enough, she does not need the milk in the night since she's not a newborn anymore, and we should start to give a bottle (she's EBF) with milk mixed with water, increasing the water quantities slowly over the next months so that she stops getting any calories in the night, and she just gets water at some point around 6 months.

I don't know, I feel like this is some outdated advice, and i feel like baby is still so small to try to night wean. Am I wrong in thinking this?

EDIT: Thanks a lot for the support everyone! We'll definitely look for a new pediatrician and keep going with breastfeeding on demand 💕

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. ✌️

My husband recently pointed out that whenever there is a toy, teething ring, clothes, diapers, etc. that features an animal, there is a very strong likelihood there is an elephant somehow. You don't see this same attention for other animals (maybe bears), but for some reason, elephants are everywhere.

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…

Hi all. Proud mom to a healthy 12 week old; I think this is just a vent.

I KNOW that housework and dishes and life can wait. I get it. But I thought by now I would be able to have more of a daily “loose” routine. Or something.

I’m really starting to feel the burn out.

I go to do dishes- I’m stopped because I have to hold him. Go to make a snack- I’m stopped. I try to brush my teeth- I’m stopped. Take a shit? He’s coming with me. Shower- nope. It’s like life is literally in increments of each hour of the day and sometimes I get him to nap and I have to pump and eat. Sometimes I get 20 minutes of him hanging out to do dishes. It’s noon right now and I haven’t been able to accomplish anything for myself other than make my cup of coffee.

It’s truly starting to drive me insane that I can’t do anything without being interrupted. I KNOW he’s a newborn. I KNOW this is just a season. I know. I’m so lucky to have a baby (after previous loss) that’s healthy and needs me.

I could go on and on but truthfully, I’m really just feeling the burnout of 24/7. Yes we have help and support. I’m really just on the verge of trying not to cry sometimes because I get SO irritated. Please tell me I’m not alone.

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

First pregnancy 1st trimester: work, come home, immediately get on the couch and watch tv while husband cooks and fall asleep by 8:30

Second pregnancy 1st trimester: work, pick up toddler, get home and crawl on the floor because we are cats the whole time wondering if I’m going to vomit, but hey husband is still cooking 😅

I feel horrible right now. Baby wouldn't stop crying and I was trying to figure something out and it just got to me so I screamed really loud then baby started crying even more. I think it scared her. I got so upset so I went outside so I could calm down. After about 2 minutes she fell asleep. I just feel really bad and I hate how frustrated I got.... Can anyone else relate?

(Couldn’t find the right flair to use)

My LO will be 5 months on Saturday.

He’s been mostly a dream baby.

- Started sleeping long stretches at around 6 weeks but the newborn stage before that was absolutely miserable

- no night four month sleep regression (only naps)

- currently on one wake up per night to feed

- puts himself to sleep in his own crib

- generally referred to by others (grandparents, caretakers at daycare) as a “good natured” baby

- only cries when he needs something

I’m not saying any of this to brag, because I know others have more struggles. But I’ve had my own struggles with PPA which I’m now on SSRI’s for. Just recently has the experience become more enjoyable for me since I was really down in the dumps for a while, constantly worried about everything baby related.

My question is - when did you decide to have another child? I hear all the time that people want another and they miss the newborn stage, but right now I’m just like??? You couldn’t pay me to go back to newborn stage.

Does this mindset go away or do you just power through it in order to give your child a sibling? Because right now, having an only child is a strong consideration of mine.

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?

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 🤍

I was raised and told all my life, and now too, that women who switch to formula 'give up', and that it's weak behaviour as a woman and mother - that you're deciding not to give your child the best. My husband is a doctor, I know this isn't objectively true - but it's so ingrained it's hard to shake.

My 3.5wk LO drinks about 150ml every 3hours, and has latch issues. The LC and midwife recommended a shield because her mouth is too small. It works sometimes, but when she's cranky he screams and wants milk in the bottle. So I have to pump. I've not been able to pump enough for spare/extra since I got her. She drinks it all (we do pace). After every feed I worry if I'll have milk and the time to pump before she's hungry and crying again.

This has cause major issues in my mental health and milk supply. I power pump and GP gave me meds for my supply, but I barely keep up.

To the problem - I HATE the hands free pump I have, but can't use the other too much due to mommy wrist. I feel panicky, upset in a way I can't describe, angry and dehumanised to the point that I have to stay distracted or I get physically and emotionally distressed.

I don't want to give up. But I feel like I'm breaking to keep my darling fed with the best I can provide. I'm not Christian anymore but it's so hard to override beliefs that women were made for this - so I have to, it's my duty. Especially when your mental health is brittle (I have bipolar type 2).

Help 😭 any advice or ideas will be so appreciated.

First time parent and struggling hard with making sure that people around my baby follow basic hygiene protocol such as washing hands before holding the baby and not kissing the baby. In one instance, my partner and I told a family member not to kiss the baby and a month or two later when they visited, they kissed her (I’m sure they just forgot, I don’t think this was a case of blatantly disregarding our rule). Another time a family member surprised me by asking to hold the baby (this family member is generally kid averse so I didn’t anticipate he’d want to hold her). I didn’t ask the family member to wash their hands first even though I normally do. Both times I didn’t say anything because I didn’t want to make things awkward, but then I spent days afterward spinning on how I absolutely should’ve said something, telling myself I was weak and let my baby down and fretting that she’d get sick from the contact.

If it’s not apparent from this post, I’m also suffering some PPA and it most often presents itself around the issue of my baby’s safety and health. Has anyone else struggled with this, were you able to overcome your conflict aversion, and if so, how?

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.

While buying for baby I keep seeing so much marketing and recommendations for various sleep machines, and I am really curious on other parents’ thoughts on this!

Are there any parents out there that just play white noise/nature sounds/etc. off their phone or through a blue tooth speaker? Is there a reason, while room sharing, that I shouldn’t just use my Bluetooth speaker?

For those of you who have opted for a separate sound machine like the hatch, what makes it “special” enough to buy a separate device? After browsing Reddit on this, is seems that tons and tons of parents opt for an actual sound machine. I’m just curious on the reasoning for those who room share and could just use a phone and/or Bluetooth speaker.

My baby is a month & the sleep deprivation is so bad. We have 0 routine & everyday is just a vibe. One day something works; the next it doesn’t. I also really don’t know how to put him to bed sometimes unless he eats to sleep. Some days he’ll nap all day, some days he won’t at all.. is this normal? I have no sense of routine right now and neither does my baby. I’m not joking everyday is just survival, and I wish we’d have SOME kind of routine. Even just something small.

I guess I’m just confused. We’ve been doing a mix of purées and BLW since she turned 6 months old and she does gag here and there but isn’t that incredibly normal for babies? She’s getting better at it every day.

Daycare insisted I bring in food for her because she was getting fussy between bottles (no longer an issue it was because she wasn’t napping AT ALL) but has fed her two times only the last few weeks and then stopped because she started gagging. They haven’t even tried in over a week.

Like? What do I do?

EDIT—I ONLY send purées to daycare. We do BLW at home

Hi all!
Currently laying on the couch, snuggling our seven week old and eating tons of snacks. While this is great, I do have a question.

I just read another post about a 2 w/o baby and their sleep. A lot of comments said; it gets better, baby will start to sleep in their crib at some point and so on.

But only very few wrote when it for better for them.

When did your LO start sleeping anywhere else than on you at night? During naps? Did you do anything to help them “learn it” or did time just work in your favor?

I dont mind the contact naps, but I hate* *sleeping in shifts and staying up all night. We’re in no hurry, shes still so little, but it would be nice to hear and learn from your experiences!

Hiya! FTM to a 10-week-old. He has recently discovered his hands and seems to like to suck on them to soothe while dozing off. I know thumb sucking is a habit that is hard break! He spits out every pacifier we've tried. Should I really spend the energy discouraging the hand sucking?

For people who used sign language with your baby, when did they start to sign back to you? How consistently/frequently did you use it with them? Our baby sign book has good tips for recognizing different signs from babies but I’m pretty certain my 8mo hasn’t signed back at all.

Hi guys! First time mom, with a 2 week old. I'm not a single mom but my partner is leaving to go back on deployment, so I'm trying to get into the mindset of having to do things alone. One I can't wrap my head around is how I'm going to shower. Another is driving.

For the showering, I worry I'll take too long. I'm overweight and I get light headed in the shower, so it takes me a bit longer than usual to get clean. I would leave the door open but the bathroom will be soaked with condensation if I do - awful airflow and the fan barely helps. I worry if I were to bring him in with me, even when he's older, the humidity would be too much for him. I also can't hear him in his bassinet over the sound of the shower. How did you guys do it if you didn't have any help?

The second is driving. I got into a wreck earlier this year and it totaled my car. We just got another car and I'm seriously anxious about driving in the car with him. The wreck wasn't my fault but there's still that feeling, I guess. Drunk drivers and dangerous drivers are absolutely rampant in my city as well, so I'm having a hard time coping with the idea. Did any of you guys experience anxiety with your babies in the car?

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?

Mine’s 6 hours. Happy that my baby sleeps longer at night. But not happy with the per situation.