Parenting Contents Archive

How to get son to stop walking so heavily around house?

I know this sounds ridiculous but we just moved into a house that has different flooring (no more carpet) and my son walks so heavily and drags his feet everywhere he shakes the whole house. I’ve told him to stop so many times already. I don’t ever hear his fathers footsteps so I feel like this is something totally controllable. He DRAGS his feet and it shakes the couch I sit on, the frames on the walls etc. when I’m upstairs I’m even aware of his every foot step. I feel like he’s doing it out of laziness, habit of walking on carpet, and just trying to get attention and complain in some way since we are so busy unpacking

Do most Non-High-Risk pregnancies reach the 40 week mark?

Most of the things I see are about moms getting to, and often going longer than, 40 weeks. Just curious how long most people in this subreddit went in their pregnancies?

What does your husband do when you cry?

Just that. What does your husband do when you cry?

Ok, ok… is the Snoo really worth it?

We have a sidecar bassinet and we also have the Graco Sense2Snooze. Ive heard some kids don’t care for Snoo and some do? What’s the consensus here? It’s so much money to turn out to be wrong for our 4 week old. Is it worth renting for a month? Any Snoo success or fail stories you would like to share?

Does this sound normal?

Hi all, Sorry if this is the incorrect place to post, but I am just so unsure and lost at the moment. I hooked up with a girl on December 18th, she ended up telling me she was pregnant sometime later. Fast forward to now. She gave birth at 31 weeks, 5 days. I have not been there for any of the birthing process, due to her randomly sending me a text that said "baby came early". It has now been 36\~ hours since birth, and apparently the baby is going to be discharged in a few hours. From everything I have read, a baby born around 31-32 weeks has, all stay in the NICU from anywhere from 25- 60\~ days. This timeline is not adding up at all. I am definitely going to get a paternity test, but just wanted to ask if such a timeline is even possible. I am so confused. Thank you.

Healthy, pre-packaged daily snacks for daycare?

Our 2.5yo son’s daycare just changed their policy around breakfast and afternoon snack. Currently, they provide hot food made on site. They recently sent home a letter stating that parents have to provide those meals, and all food must be pre-packaged—it cannot be made at home. I’m fine with sending food, but we’re struggling to come up with ideas since we tend to tend to make most of our meals from scratch. They will store food in the refrigerator and microwave it, but won’t do any more preparation beyond that. Milk and water will still be provided. My only thought so far is Nurture Life (he liked their finger foods when he was younger), but their meals seem a little too large for an afternoon snack. Thanks in advance for any suggestions.

I feel bad for not doing enough

Hes 3 months old and i play with him when hes awake but he gets mad and cries if i give him tummy time or put him in his crib on his back. He spends most of his time propped up on his boppy pillow. Should i be excercizing him? Like by force? Or just let him do as he does. He might still be too young to do anything of note lol. He can lift his head and all the normal stuff so maybe im overeacting

What do you do with baby all day???

I'm seriously bored out of my mind and some days I can't think of things to do with him. He's 4 months old now and I feel i do the same things all day, every day. It's groundhog day. I read, talk to him, walk him around, play music, tummy time, etc. I also use apps for ideas, but.. It's. All. Still. So. Boring. Just wanted to talk to other parents to see what they're doing with their kids!

Bad Weather Days - Indoor activities that don’t include screens

It’s been incredibly hot this summer where we live. When the weather limits what you can do outside what are some ways you keep the kids entertained besides being in front of the TV, iPad, etc?

My son just asked if he could start using the D-word.

My son is 9 - soon to be 10. My ex wife and I do cuss around him. He has never cussed though. He asked me today if I could talk with his mom about him starting to say the D-word (Damn). He feels like it's an appropriate age for him to start using that word on his video games. He knows that he should not cuss in public or at school or in front of other family members. He just wants to be able to say Damn or dammit when playing his games. Also - I know he does not cuss without us knowing. We share a gaming room. If he is gaming, I'm gaming and I hear all he says for the most part. Thoughts on this?

Is my 3mo sleeping through the night bad for weight gain?

I’m not really sure how to word this question, but my 3mo goes to sleep at 6:30-7pm every night and wakes around 3-4am and then goes back to sleep until about 8am. He gets 150mls of formula at his 3-4am feed and then kind of stays on the boob on and off until his proper wake up at 8am. Because of this I kind of feel like I’m struggling to fit in enough feeds (150ml of either breast milk or formula) throughout the day and am worried he’s not eating enough. Especially because he doesn’t like his feeds too close together and sometimes doesn’t want to finish a whole bottle. He’s a really happy baby and he barely cries so it’s hard for me to tell if he’s hungry because I feel like he should be more hungry? I don’t know. Am I being paranoid? Should I wake him up at night for more feeds? Any advice would be so much appreciated.

How do you fill your kiddie pools?

A seemingly obvious answer 😂 however I never realized how truly FREEZING hose water was until trying to get it ready for my toddler! If you leave it out all day it also collects more bugs than I’ve ever seen. I tried bucks of hot water but that was both exhausting and only a solution for 15 minutes. Any tips?

My 8 year old gets into and ruins things that aren’t hers.

I’m incredibly frustrated with my 8 year old daughter. She is very sweet and sensitive but she is very hard on things at best, and intentionally destructive at worst. She keeps getting into things and ruining them, last weekend she got into her sister’s maxi pads, she opened the entire Costco sized pack and had them all over her room and on the trampoline outside! She has ruined lots of my make up, she keeps getting into her sisters, body wash, lotion, perfume, and other hygiene products. Her friend is over often, and my daughter doesn’t do this nearly as often when her friend isn’t here, she doesn’t stop all together though. I’ve tried everything, making her clean it up, making her buy what she replaced, doing chores to earn money for what she ruined, grounding, lecturing, etc. I feel like she should have outgrown this by now? Im feel like I’m going to explode. Is there something I’m missing? what should I do?

Running Vicks vaporiser as baby goes to sleep.

Hey there. Just got a question. It’s winter where I am so my 6 month old gets a bit congested. Not sick or anything. I was putting baby down for morning nap and my sister in law (23F) who lives with us told me that I shouldn’t run the vaporiser so often coz it can put water in my baby’s lungs. Is that true? If so are there any non-harmful ways to make sure my daughters sleeping comfortably? She’s just started sleeping in her cot (slept in it for her nighttime sleep for the first time last night. So proud and so sad about it) and the vaporiser has been a big part of creating a sleepy, comfortable environment for her to sleep in but now I’m scared to put it on.

What is the best kind of vacation to take with a 5-6 month old?

We’re itching to get away and excited to get our baby used to traveling with us but feeling a bit unsure what kind of vacation we should be trying to plan. Go see a cool city? Beach somewhere? All inclusive resort? National park hiking trip? All of these are types of trips that would appeal to us pre baby but this is our first and we’re not sure what to expect traveling with a baby. Any advice or personal experience is great! We’re located in the middle of the US if that matters and would prefer to fly somewhere vs road tripping.