Parenting Contents Archive

Is it tacky to announce we’re expecting baby #2 at our son’s 1st birthday party?

The timing would work out well to announce… our son will be 1 when I am about 4.5 months along (so we will have gotten past the first trimester, all genetic tests, we’ll know the gender, etc.). I feel like it’s kind of cheesy, but at the end we could have our son open a gift from us that lets out like pink or blue balloons or something, plus a big framed ultrasound pic “We got you a little sister/brother!” Thoughts? Better ideas welcome. Thanks!

my three year old doesnt get invited to any class bdays

I have a three year old son in a local preschool at the same daycare center weve been going to since he was born. At this point i had envisioned us going to bday parties on weekends as some of my other friends with slightly older kids talked about. The pandemic hit when he was around 1.5. So i figured that was why we werent going to parties. But now that its less of a thing...im wondering whats the deal. We arent allowed in the school so i dont know any of the parents. We had a small party for his third bday but the daycare told me i should only invite a few kids and gave me a list of the ones he played with most. I thought that was kinda weird. What is your experience? Another friend with a four year old girl says they get invited to parties every month! Is my son being excluded our what? How can i gain more outside school social interaction for him without seeming weird or desperate lol?

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Some different perspective

I see a lot of “I hate being a parent” “I want my old life back” “does it get easier?” posts on here every day. My wife and daughter are away from me for about 4 months. It’s been a month, and it’s all job related. I can go out every weekend, I can hang with my friends, make my own routine, whatever I want. And I am so alone. I love my family dearly, which a lot of your posts say. I miss my daughter, who cried last time I saw her and asked me to stay. That memory haunts me every night. I miss the noise. I miss the chores. I miss the cuddles and the time together just being bums or doing a million other things she loves to do as she grows so fast. I don’t want to call what I see on this sub “whining” because that’s not fair to people who are struggling. But there’s a lot of us with a “grass is always greener on the other side attitude” and I just wanna say…hold your family close man.

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Super depressed with a fussy baby.

I see so many people with happy, content babies and I feel so angry. So resentful. So jealous. My baby boy has been fussy since Day 1 and it doesn’t seem to be slowing down — it’s just getting worse. He is 9 weeks old and it’s very rare that he is content at all. I constantly try to make him nap/sleep so I can get some peace, which I feel very guilty about right now. He has acid reflux and Famotidine + Enfamil AR are NOT helping. He is miserable during feeding and after, which is most of the day. He constantly has formula pouring out of his mouth - when I burp him and 1-2 hours after. It literally looks like liquid just pouring out. I don’t get it. It’s almost like he can’t get it into his stomach for some reason. He had an ultrasound at about 4 weeks to rule out pyloric stenosis. I’m just at a loss and feeling so sad. I had trouble getting pregnant and I WANTED him, but now I feel like this was a huge mistake.

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Is independent play still a thing?

My earliest memories were of doing creative things on my own, like drawing or playing pretend in the back yard. My parents weren't "absent," they would play with me sometimes and we'd do fun activities together outside the house, but they also encouraged me to be independent from a young age, which I always thought was largely a good thing? Well, now I'm pregnant with my first and reading up on other moms' experiences, and it doesn't seem like independent play is a thing anymore. I don't agree with this and will endeavor to encourage my kid to be creative on their own (in a safe environment of course...) when they're old enough, but will I get a lot of flack for this parenting style?

Grandparents and Baby Wearing

My MIL wants to use a baby carrier for my LO. I’m not comfortable with it because she is very absent minded and every time we walk she inevitably trips on something and most times her own two feet. Tips and advice welcome and needed.

Long covid actual risks

Have there been any good studies about long covid? I keep seeing post about the risks stating the percentages of people with covid who get long covid being very high but I’ve known probably 30 people who have gotten covid and none of them have long covid. I think the risk is real but it seems strange to me that I haven’t actually seen it occur in anyone I know.

Unable to feel bladder fullness after C-section and catheter 3 months ago

As the title says, I’m still unable to feel when my bladder is full 3 months after delivering my baby son via c-section. I remember reporting this to a Dr at my 6 week postpartum checkout but was told this was completely normal and now it’s 3 months and still… nada? I don’t have any bladder weakness, can hold a huge amount in there and nothing goes awry if I suddenly sneeze (thankful for this!!) but sometimes I’ll urinate and it’s as if I’ve got a trough worth that I’ve held onto! This is concerning as I used to be prone to UTIs and I’m afraid if I got one I wouldn’t feel the pain and that could lead to complications. Thought about getting a pelvic floor Physio, but I’ve always had a hypertonic pelvic floor so kegels have always been a no no for me… Anyone else gone this long without that sensation? Worried it’ll never return! Is there anything I can do?

Need advice I’m at my wits end with potty training

So my son is half potty trained. He can hold his pee and go in the bathroom. Now pooping is a whole other story. He just won’t do it, no matter what we do or say or try to explain to him. He literally poops everywhere. Yesterday he pooped in the bath tub twice one after another within 30 minutes. Again this morning after talking with him about where poop goes he went and pooped in his underwear. I’m just so tired of it, this has been a month of this same behaviour. We even tried sitting him on the toilet every 15 minutes but he just holds it and then goes in his underwear after. He has pooped in the potty before just 1 time and that was right in the beginning. Any advice would be great

Sweet little blankies

At my baby shower we tie-dyed some muslin blankets. Everybody did a few and they all turned out pretty great. My LO is 2.5 now and we should probably start weaning her away from them soon (she sleeps with them and has one in the car). But I just think it’s so sweet her comfort blankies were made with love from my family and friends. She’s always got a little piece of them with her even if she doesn’t realize it.

5 week old wont stop falling asleep while bottle feeding

I try everything with her. She ultimately ends up falling asleep. Most of the time she eats enough but ends up leaving an oz in the bottle and then sleeps for 3 hrs. There are days she has a hard time waking up just to feed and we try to wake her.

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