Parenting Contents Archive

What “rules” did you enforce on your kids turned out to be a waste of energy and effort?

As parents, we sometimes enforce rules that we thought would help our kids grow into well-adjusted adults. A lot of times we stress about things that aren’t really a big deal in the long run. Some parents have rules like “x minutes of screen time” or making sure they eat a perfect balanced meal 3x a day. Folks with more than 2 kids probably better advice. Would love to hear any thoughts. Thanks!

Joint Birthday party -- tacky or acceptable?

Hi all! We're thinking of hosting a large birthday party next June that lands "in between" the birthdays of our 2 kiddos. My youngest will turn 1 in April and my oldest will turn 3 in July --- June is the midpoint between the two dates. Would it be totally weird to have a joint birthday so far from the actual dates? Looking for a gut check on this! We also considered having just a party for my 3 year old closer to her real birthday, but we found July to be super hot and unpleasant when we hosted her first birthday

Would this rub you the wrong way?

This has happened multiple times with my mother, and I find it odd (like many, many things she does). Me: “Mom, will you be joining us for dinner after you come to see the kids?” Grandma: “What are you having?” Me: “Not sure, maybe spaghetti and salad?” (or whatever) Grandma, making face: “Eh… no thanks, I’ll just leave before dinner.” Like, it’s an invitation to have a meal with your children and grandchildren, not an opportunity to have the meal of your dreams. I would never think of doing this when I’m invited to a meal with someone, unless I had allergies or were vegan or something (which she is not). And it’s not just spaghetti or whatever- she only accepts when she’s super excited and in the mood for what we are having. What do you think?

I wonder what happened to

The lady who's husband was going parasailing and spending fathers day with a 20 year old. I hope she's doing okay. That's all.

Families that were on the fence about having another baby, what did you do with all out grown baby things?

Did you keep it just incase you decided to have another baby? Or did you just donate/sell it all knowing if you did decide to have another you’d buy all new?

Can I get pregnant while EBF?

My daughter is 4 months and I was planning to try for our next baby when she’s 9 months with the expectation that it’ll take (hopefully) between 1-3 months to get pregnant so that they’ll be between 18 and 24 months apart. A lot of planning I know but that’s neither here nor there… anyway I’m planning to continue exclusively breast feeding as long as possible or up to a year so can I get pregnant if I don’t have a period? Will I get a period while I’m EBF?

Parents who play MMORPGs... How?

I use to play FFXIV but haven't since i was roughly 7 months pregnant so it's been a bit over a year since I last played. I'd REALLY like to find a way to play again. The thing is, I haven't played partly because my son is a terrible sleeper. Its not entirely his fault, he has to wear clearly uncomfortable orthotics on his feet every night for his clubfoot. He wakes up crying at the minimum 4 times a night, sometimes 10, and sometimes will eventually fully refuse to be set back down. This boy 100% would cry for hours if I let him. Is there any way to navigate this? Any advice? I dont expect to be able to play every night after my son goes to bed, but Id like to try to get back into it again. Though, maybe Im just shit outta luck and have to wait until his sleep is more consistent.

Sleep sack with sleeves?

Are there good sleep sacks that have sleeves and are warm enough at 68 degrees give or take so a baby can sleep in just the sack and diaper? Also one that stays soft after multiple washes, my son's eczema is getting irritated on his chin by the current sack.

Parents of twins, any tips for one parent handling two screaming babies at the same time?

My twins are about a week old, and I have been taking the graveyard shift while my wife and her parents take care of the babies for most of the day. For the most part, it goes super well. One baby sleeps well in his bassinet, the other sleeps like a log in the Moby wrap, and we’ve been offsetting their feeding by about 30 minutes so we don’t have to deal with both at the same time. But, last night, they decided that it was time to take more than 2 oz and hoo boy did they let me know it. They were so loud that my poor wife, who is recovering from a C-section, had to roll out of bed at 1:30am to help me get the situation under control. Is it okay to put one baby safely in another room and let him wail his head off while I take care of one at a time? What strategies did you come up with?

Graco pack n play sheets

If you have a graco pack n play, what sheets do you use for the mattress? The manual says to only use sheets sold by graco, but at least a quarter of the reviews for the graco sheets say the sheets do not fit well and seem unsafe. I bought some well reviewed ones on Amazon, but they made the mattress bubble up in places, which also seems unsafe.

I just had gastric bypass surgery and my husband couldn’t be bothered to make dinner for the kids for the second day in a row.

He played video games all afternoon. I told him several times to start making dinner. All of the food is in the refrigerator. He played until the last second before he had to take one of the kids to an appointment. He’s picking up McDonald’s on the way home. Today has sucked. I am in pain. I am sad about everything and normally I would have eaten some chocolate and happily devoured some McNuggets.

Two periods in two weeks? Anyone been there ?

Guys I hope I'm just freaking out. I got my period Monday June 26 for 5 days. So.. Two weeks ago. All was normal But my boobs have been hurting the ENTIRE last two weeks. I kind of ignored it til yesterday. I wake up to.... Blood? Less than two weeks later?? After a few hours it became dry, dark blood. But I had INTENSE cramping all day. I haven't felt that kind of cramping in probably ten or more years. Tylenol, which usually does the trick, did nothing. I slept with a heating pad on and brought it to work in case cramps started up again. Guys... I'm freaking out it could be pregnancy In less than two weeks? Is that possible?? My husband and I have only been intimate twice in this time frame. Y'all, I turn 40 in 3 weeks. Im too old for this!! Also, it's too early to test so I can't even have piece of mind yet.

How many of you feel you've lost your identity by becoming a mom?

I'm a mom, I opted to quit my job until my kid could go to preschool, and I feel quite secure in my identity, at least I don't have issues with it. But I am on fencesitter communities (r/fencesitter... nice place, hang out there if you're trying to figure out if you should be a parent or nah), a hangover from when I was trying to decide if I ought to have kids. One of the most common reasons people there are reluctant to have children is they feel like their whole identity gets erased and sacrificed to 'mom' if they become a parent. Now I don't feel that way, but it could be because I have a lot of advantages others might not - I've always had female relatives who are more than mom, my husband splits childcare with me as equally as possible, and I don't really define myself by my achievements anyway. How do you feel about your identity pre-kids, post-kids, and if you do actually know someone who feels like their identity is lost, why do you think they feel that way?

How often do you do stuff that makes you feel guilty?

We all do it, and perhaps we need a reminder that it's ok to take shortcuts every so often. Today after feeding the little guy, I just left him in his chair with Miss Rachel on the TV for 15 minutes so I could sit and scroll aimlessly on Instagram

Can someone please give me an activity idea for me and my 6 month old

I'm losing my mind here. My husband works 60-70 hours a week so it's just me and my baby together all day. It's 96 degrees outside today so I'd rather not take her out. I'm feeling super mom guilt right now because I've been sitting with her in her play area all day, pressing this puppy to sing songs and reading books. Any suggestions on activities to do with her? We do very limited screen time. Like I'll only put Ms. Rachel on if I have to do the dishes or another chore so that's not an option.