Parenting Contents Archive

What have you found the hardest part about having a baby??

I love my daughter more than life itself and I'm so grateful she is in my life. She is my first and only child and she is just over a year old. The last year in which I have been a mum has been wonderful but also one of the hardest of my life. The thing I have struggled with most is lack of sleep. I was prepared for the newborn stage to be tough sleep wise but no one warned me my baby might STILL not sleep through at 1 year old. She wakes up 1-4 times a night and is up for the day at 5-6 am. That part has been really hard for me. I have also really struggled with how intensly frightening the idea of losing her is (through illness or worse). I love her more than I have ever loved anything and the idea of losing her absolutely terrifies me. What are some of you guys struggling with?

Metallica Enter Sandman soothes a crying baby?

We have a two and a half year old and an eight month old. This was the same with our eldest as a baby and still seems to work now with our youngest. If we're trying to get crying to stop and sleep to happen, I've found that Enter Sandman by Metallica works best whilst cuddling standing up. I'm a little surprised myself as it seems to go against the calming atmosphere advice but I can only assume it's the heavy repetitive drum beat... Has anyone else found this or something similar? I'm curious if someone else wants to give it a go and feed back if they've hit a brick wall otherwise.

My wife’s absolute favorite cup, from the OB ward…8.5 months ago.

My 3rd grader is self-conscious about her arm hair. What should I do?

On Monday, my grandmother told me that my 8-year-old cousin - let’s call her Ava - refuses to wear short sleeves to school. When Ava came home, I asked her why she refused to wear short sleeves on such a hot day, and she told me that it’s because her arms are hairy and no other girls in her class has hairy arms. I told her that it’s normal to have hair on her arms, but she doesn’t believe me, the reason being that I myself do not grow hair on my arms. She has tan skin with black hair, so it does stand out a bit. What should I do to make her less self-conscious about her arm hair?

New entertainment level unlocked

Is it okay to breastfeed and pump?

As the title says, I am (27 F, FTM) currently breast feeding my 20 day baby from morning to night and using pump in the night since I am unable to function without some sleep. I wake up every two hours to pump, because my baby takes about an hour to feed. Is this okay or will the baby forget latching? Doctors says the baby will get lazy and forget latching, and it’s better to only breastfeed but I can’t function without some sleep. Please help. I feel like I’m mentally going downhill.

Do I have a right to be upset?

First off, I know that no one owes me childcare or help with my kids. They’re mine. I chose to have them. They’re my responsibility, 100%. However, do I have a right to be upset about grandparents offering to babysit then backing out because something else came up that they want to do? In-laws said they would watch our kids so we could go to celebrate the birthday of a good friend. I was so excited- would have been our first night out together since last summer. MIL called me today to tell me they can no longer watch the kids because friends invited them to come visit that weekend. If I ask for a favor and you say no that’s one thing but to say yes then back out because you’d rather do something else just feels crappy. Do I have a right to be upset over them backing out? Or do I just need to get over it?

Guys can you let me know if you see this

I’ll delete it after. Nobody is responding to my posts or comments on Reddit and I’m having an emotional breakdown honestly. I even checked the shadow ban sub but it’s telling me I’m not. Someone got really upset with me about not liking the movie “Signs”, going through and downvoting my entire profile, I’m starting to think they messed with my account ( been ignored by my partner to the extreme lately by silent treatment and all this making me think he has a point) Anyway please anyone comment if you can see this post thank you

Dear husband, I’m not saying I resent the fact that you’re having fun at work…

I’m just saying that maybe when I’m in the middle of dealing with — for the thirty something-th day in a row — a clingy screaming toddler, an EXTREMELY colicky infant, unpacking an entire house, and simultaneously dealing with an ant infestation and a flooded laundry room (not my fault) in said house…*isn’t* the best time to inform me that your entire department has decided to go get ice cream this afternoon. You’re thriving at a job you love, and I love that for you. But meanwhile I am fucking drowning. So don’t expect me to respond with the same level of enthusiasm.

Kid fundraisers i could get behind....

The good corn/fruit/vegetables... iykyk Homehold goods - dishtowels, sink scrubs, afcans Honey sticks Plants/plantable flowers I'd probably be more prone to get those, than go to a golf outing or ordering wrapping paper.

What do I tell 4yr old about why we don't visit toxic family members anymore?

I'm not sure what to tell him. He wants to see them, and he knows they live within driving distance I don't want to lie and say they moved away or something, but neither do I want to say bad things about them

How to find friends?

Especially friends around your area, with a child in the age range of yours? I go to the library, I visit the groups of my daughters age range. No dice. Either everyone is/seems uninterested in making connections, has their group already, is paid to work with the child (nanny/au pair) or/and their child is in another range (which makes meeting up again unpractical) I got lucky- my cousin had a baby two month ahead and friend two months after. Still, both are far away from me physically. I’d love more people to do things with locally, I’d love for my baby to socialize more often. I do as many events as I can find trying to find others but I’m stuck for ideas how to find them. How do you guys make friends?

Overwhelmed with starting solids

LO is coming up on 7 months and LOVES eating food. We mostly are doing purées during a family meal in the evening but I just cannot for the life of me wrap my head around how we move from one puréed meal a day to the “next step” of more solids and frequent meals. I spend so much time scouring info in this sub and on Instagram about how to transition to solids. Choking, allergen exposure, how much food to give— it all gives me so much anxiety making sure we don’t “mess this up.” The in and out pediatrician visits are far from helpful and accounts like Solid Starts just make me feel like I’m doing something wrong. What other resources and advice have others found helpful for the transition to food?

What age is appropriate for games with pretend “killing”?

Up until this point we have been pretty strict about the idea that we don’t play pretend that include shooting or hurting someone or something. He received a dart gun a couple years back from a family member, but we encouraged him to play target practice with it. Now, at 5.5, he’s started getting into Star Wars and good guys vs bad guys stuff. I’ve caught him talking about shooting a bad guy or killing Darth Vader. Does anyone else have hang ups about those kinds of imaginative play? I remember playing Cops and Robbers as a kid, but as a parent, I don’t love the idea, especially in the US with our gun climate.

Walkers vs other toys

I was reading this site and it says walkers are a no (understand this from looking at it previously), but something such as a child's grocery cart is OK?? I'm not sure I get the difference? I'd like to get our LO something so he can explore a bit more, he's cruising constantly, but don't want to do him any harm or hinder development