Parenting Contents Archive

Is there anything better than contact naps?!

Wife woke up with night sweats and fever. Refusing to visit doctor.

7 days ago my wife had our first child. She’s 33 and very healthy. Tonight she complained of shivering and nausea. She has a low grade fever of 37.6 C. Today she took a day off from breast feeding and her reason was that her nipples are sore and there was some blood. I went on baby duty tonight so she could get some sleep in the other room. I’m trying to convince her to visit the doctor tomorrow because im worried about an infection. Unfortunately when I bring up going to the hospital she gets very angry. On google I’ve read that night chills are normal but I’ve also read there is a danger of infection. I’ll be contacting the doctor regardless but in the meantime if anyone could shed light on these symptoms I’d really appreciate it.

it's like she's possessed and I just want to give up.

My whole life all i have ever wanted to be was a mom. But now, its just miserable. My child (2f) is essentially a zombie. She has never hugged me, she has never given me a kiss. She has never called me mama. She doesn't speak at all and doesn't acknowledge us speaking to her. She walks face first into things over and over like a roomba vacuum. You have to literally force any food down her throat. Any attempt to be near her or give her affection is met with screaming and kicking and hitting. She doesn't play. At all. With any toy she's ever seen. Any doctor she's ever been to says she's perfectly fine and healthy, her hearing is fine, her vision is good. But I feel like Im living in the intro to a horror movie. Does she just hate me? I don't know. But I wish I knew what it felt like to be hugged and called mama. I wish I knew what it sounds like to hear your child playing. I feel like such a failure.

How often do you leave your kid(s) with a sitter?

My husband and I just had a baby in May, so he is 9 weeks old. I feel like every single week my husband is planning some date or concert to go on. In 3 weeks we have our first overnight as his brother is getting married 2.5 hours away, and I just feel like asking my friends to watch our son every week is too much. He says I’m putting too much stress on myself. This week alone he asked me to go see a movie in the morning tomorrow and go to a concert in 6 days. I just spent all day Friday away at his insistence, and was out of town alone all morning and afternoon on Saturday for a bridal shower. I just feel like I’m being forced into being apart from my son. I can’t decide if I’m being reasonable or not. He doesn’t take a bottle, despite our best efforts as well.

Please tell me your methods for keeping your baby out of your dogs water bowl.

Please tell me, there is water everywhere 🤦🏻‍♀️

My 4-year-old son demands peaches to be peeled, but I really don't want to do it

When it comes to whether you eat peaches with or without the skin, it's probably a matter of personal preference and family tradition. All my life I've been eating peaches with the skin, but my son seems to genuinely hate the texture or taste of it, and asks me to remove it. But I don't have the patience to do it, and I don't want to do what I think is unreasonable just because he asks. I tried to tell him the skin is good for him, but he wouldn't listen. Any comments?

baby gate dilemma! (see comments)

What does the science™️ say about picky eating?

I don’t even know if it’s fair to call it picky eating since my son is only 14 months old. He started really taking to solids/purées at 8 months old. I was so proud of him - there wasn’t anything he wouldn’t eat. In the last 2 weeks he’s gotten picky about food. He refuses things he’s liked in the past, and these days he’s only interested in eating sweet foods like fruit and yogurt. The one thing he mostly eats without fail is chicken. Not chicken nuggets, he actually hates those, but pieces of sautéed chicken in different spices. But even then, there are some days where he’ll refuse it. Cantaloupe, strawberry Greek yogurt, teddy grahams, and applesauce are 4 items he will never refuse. So, what’s the best way to address this? Give him whatever he wants just so he gets *some* food in? My mom seems to think he should go hungry if he doesn’t eat what he’s given. But I don’t feel comfortable with that. Especially not at his age.

When did y'all start being able to decipher your baby's cries?

I'm a first time mom and my son is about to turn 2 months soon and all his cries still sound the same to me 😭 Is this normal? I know it's different for everyone, so I was wondering what everyone else's experience with this is

It’s different at our house.

My fourteen yr old daughter has friends over sometimes. I’m surprised at the fact that more of them are not from a split family or divorced parent situation. I am a single mom it’s just me and my two girls. The way these other children look at us and our home, how I run things is like they are almost grossed out or disappointed. My car is usually cluttered. My home isn’t always tidy nor do my daughters have matching bedding or designer anything and I forget a lot of things and sometimes I don’t have time to cook or have the energy to pop up early in the morning making a full breakfast for everyone. I usually do fun finger food and pizza during stay overs. These kids seem to expect a maid or a huge array of options for entertainment and I feel like staying here with us is a downer for them in a lot of ways. They don’t come back typically, or they only stay a little while. I wonder what they are thinking a lot of times.

Baby's first birthday

Next month is my baby boys 1st birthday. He shares the day with my GFs daughter she'll be 5. I was wondering ideas of how we should do the party. My family is huge and my GF only has a few people in her family that will come. I'm just worried if we do a party together it will end up with my baby getting more presents and I don't want her feeling sad on her birthday. Any advice?

how much vomiting is too much?

FTM and of course having lots of anxiety if he's doing ok. He is gassy and vomits after feedings sometimes. Usually once a day or so. How much is too much that we should look at going to doc? Or is once a day just completely normal and I'm overthinking.

Is my son too young to walk alone to/from school?

We live right by the elementary school in our neighborhood, 800 feet to be exact. School is starting in a month and he keeps asking if he can walk to school like his sister. But she’s in middle school and her school is a little over half a mile down the road. I’m just so nervous, he’s going to be in 3rd grade next year and has no means to communicate with us (no cell phone). I just feel like he’s still too young. It would save us $500 a month in before/after school costs so obviously that’s super beneficial, but I’m more concerned with his safety and being kidnapped… Am I being too paranoid?

what do you do if a 3yo hits you?

My 3.5 yo boy has a habit of hitting me or my gf when we do not let him do something. To be precise, this mostly happens when he is throwing a tantrum. How would you react? Talking to him (after or at the moment) does not solve it.

What made your baby laugh for the first time?

Our LO is three months old and laughed for the first time recently! I was holding a blanket and moving it back and forth in front of her face and she loved it. I did it with my hair and she loved that, too, so it seems she just likes things blowing and moving close to her face. It shocked me when she let out that first giggle and thankfully we got it on camera. It has been so sweet to watch and it just made me curious as to what made other babies laugh for the first time!