Parenting Contents Archive

Let’s talk the Barbie movie + kids.

So my 6 year is old LOVES Barbie. She’s got every Barbie accessory you could think of and the dream houses take up half her room. My husband has already bought tickets for Friday night as a surprise for my daughter. I’ll be the one taking her. I was so excited and so is she. BUT then I googled it…. It seems like the general consensus is 1) no one knows what the plot really is & 2) this movie is not for children. I’m totally okay with my girl seeing a PG-13 movie. I can’t say she hasn’t watched rated R as well. We’re a horror movie junkie family and she totally understands what’s real vs fake, what adult language is and she is not to use it, and we of course limit anything with severe gore or sex. All this to say — should I take her to see Barbie? Am I going to be severely judged for taking her to the movie theatre for this? Just looking to see where y’all stand with the movie. I was really excited to surprise her with the movie tickets.

I've lost 40lbs

Yep. 40 pounds since (well, also including) having my second baby in late March. Forty pounds in like four months. Like, over 20% of my max pregnant body weight. I've done it. I'm almost back down to my happy place, eight pounds away from my wedding weight, and *my hips have stopped hurting*. Everything else is utter fucking chaos, but it's a good day. I know it sounds like bragging, but I just need to tell *someone* who won't look at me worriedly, or tell me that it's "normal" to be fat forever, or tell me that I'm starving my baby by losing weight while breastfeeding, or remind me that it's "hopeless" to try to lose any baby weight *while* offering me heaps of fried trash that will make me feel like hammered dogshit the next day. I just want someone to be happy for me, and not jealous or worried when I eat a reasonable-sized portion of something homemade. I'm finally starting to feel pretty again. That's it. That's the post. Can y'all relate?

Did your kiddo have elevated blood lead levels? Did you pay a lot of $$$ to remediate? I want to talk with you!

Hi, my name is Lauren and I'm a journalist based in California. I'm writing a science story for The Atlantic about my own experience with lead remediation after my toddler received a high blood lead level test result and would love to hear your stories. If your child had elevated blood lead levels and you went through the maze of remediation, please dm me so we can talk. The crazier the stories, the better. Thanks.

Has anyone been diagnosed with PPD with a 3 year old?

My therapist (and I) are scratching our heads because I’ve been having textbook PPD symptoms. Without telling her my thoughts and just my feelings, that’s exactly where her head went. She first asked if I had any miscarriages which I have not. She’s confused because she said it really sounds like PPD but my daughter is 3 years old… She suggested before I speak to a psychiatrist to see an OBGYN for some blood work. Any moms go through something similar?

I just feel like screaming until my throat is raw

I just had surgery to remove cancer on my liver (ended up being six tumors in total!) almost a week ago. I had help for the first couple of days until Monday but now I’m having to take care of my baby by myself and it’s been very hard on me physically. I’m not even supposed to bend over or lift my daughter but there’s nothing really I can do about it. Someone has to care for her, I don’t have any other options. However, I can’t help but feel sorry for myself. What about me? I’ve just been told that I might have to do chemo. Who’s going to hold me while I cry? Who am I kidding,it’s not like I have time to cry anyway. But gosh the option would be nice.

Travelling to Mexico with 7m old - all inclusive - advice needed!

Hi all! Husband & I will be going to an all inclusive in PV next month with our 7m old. We’ve been to this resort and love the layout/ private beach. We also booked a room with a balcony so if baby is sleeping at least we can be on the balcony & not in the room. Baby is bottle fed & just started solids (cereal & purées). I will use bottled water to mix with formula. Here’s what I’ll be taking: - play pen for sleep - slumberpod - travel stroller - purée pouches Questions: - should I take the car seat? We’ll be taking a shuttle transfer from the airport to the hotel and I’ve been told baby gets to sit in lap. What about if we go into town and take a cab or Uber? - how should I manage cleaning bottles? Is tap water ok? Should I take a sterilizer? Any other helpful tips or things you think would be good to take? Thanks!

He's acting personally offended I want to take an international trip to my cousin's wedding in December

Because it's too expensive and family obligations freak him out. He basically had like a panic attack in front of me when he realized I was serious. I'm not even mad at him, but like wtf. Why is this such a big deal to him? Like yes it's 5k but it'll be a fun experience and I want to go and he's acting personally offended. Edit: to clarify, I wanted all of us to go, not just me.

Best nighttime diaper?

My 4 month old has started sleeping on his stomach all night. We have no night time feedings and he doesn’t wake up at night. However, he is starting to pee through his diaper almost every night. We find ourselves washing his sheets, mattress cover and sleep sack way too much. Does anyone know how to fix this? Are there some special diapers we should put on at night? We make sure his privates are pointed down and he is wearing the right size diaper. Any advice would REALLY help.

Almost 2 year old refuses to nap

My toddler is 1 and 10 months and he refuses to sleep in the afternoon since about a week ago. Is it normal for him to drop the nap althogethet? It seems early. What do I do? He wakes up at 8 and then refuses to nap. We make him go to the car and he falls asleep. But otherwise he would stay awake till 8pm.

What do daycare providers do to help toddlers sleep?

One year old has been in part time daycare since 5 months in a home setting. At first she would take naps there, though never great ones. Over time her naps have gotten less and less frequent to the point where now she literally doesn’t sleep for the 6 hours she is there. She comes home exhausted and it ruins bedtime routine on daycare days. I love her daycare provider but I know she doesn’t do much to help get her to sleep. At home I rock her in a darkened room with white noise for never more than 5-10 minutes and she’s out. I just don’t know what’s normal. Should I be insisting that the provider try to mimic her sleep environment at home? I really don’t want to have to look for a new daycare, especially if it’s not typical for providers to ever rock toddlers to sleep for naps. I know that no amount of shushing and bum pats are going to put her to sleep without at least some rocking. I’m lease share your knowledge!!

Help! My baby won’t nap anywhere but my body.

Hi everyone, Our LO (almost 5mo, 3.5mo adjusted age) is doing a great job sleeping in her Snoo for 6-8 hours at night, which is absolutely delightful. During the day, she’ll only nap on someone’s body or in her moving stroller — not in the Snoo, not in the crib, not on the bed (IKIK). Grandma is leaving town next week and I need to be able to put her down for more than 5 minutes at a time during the day. I know we may have made mistakes here but it’s time to correct course. Does anyone have any ideas/suggestions/resources/etc. for how to get her to nap on her own? (If this is helpful, she’s only napping for 30-40 minutes at a time right now and doesn’t really have a schedule, despite our efforts. We’ve been working on wake windows.) Thank you!!!

Teenage Girls

My daughter 14 year old has a 16 year old "boyfriend" that lives long distance, she has never met in real life, and i now learn he has a history of opioid abuse. I don't ever want her to meet him EVER. But I also don't want to drive her more towards him, by banning her from talking to him. She thinks he is coming to town in a few months and she is going to see him. (My feeling: "over my dead body") How can I make sure I keep her safe, and not want to backlash and rebel and try to run away or something crazy?

Legal Question

If anyone else has been in sort of similar circumstance please let me know your outcome or what you did in this case! Thanks. Father who has never really been in child’s life, nor contributes child support, not on birth certificate, wants child to have his last name, child is now 11 years of age, has mother’s last name and has been raised by her & maternal grandmother all his life. Father has secretly got a paternity test done. Paternity has never been in question. Will a judge automatically give child father’s last name & visitation rights once results are in?

Stay at home moms, how do you leave a toxic marriage with no house no job no family nearby?

I’m so sad to be asking this, but I think my husband (37 male) and I (37 female) have hit the beginning of the end in our marriage. We have a 20 month old, I gave up my career to be stay at home mom and move closer to his job. Am 5 hours away from friends, 1500 miles from my family. I need an exit strategy, but how?! I haven’t worked for almost 2 years, our finances are joined so don’t even know if I could afford a house or rent. Any moms or dads in here experience this and have a success story? It’s heartbreaking, but I’ve entered survival mode for my daughter and I. Thanks and much love to anyone who experiencing marriage struggles or abuse

Odd birthday party timing— what to do about food?

I usually time birthday parties so that they end around lunch or dinner time. So, pizza and cake and then the party’s over with a meal checked off their list. This year however, because of various reasons, my daughter’s (turning 10) party will run 3-5 and I don’t know what to do about food. It’s too early to have dinner and I worry about spoiling guests dinners with cake (never too early for cake haha). What would you do in this situation? Just cake? Snacks and cake? Get pizza anyway, and cake? It’s just my daughter and four friends.