Parenting Contents Archive

Do you miss when your baby was a newborn or do you prefer them now?

My newborn is 3 weeks old and he is a nightmare. He sleeps horribly, very fussy and night, and I feel like I have aged 10 years in just 3 weeks. I'm sure everybody can relate to that. But he is so cute and smells nice. When he is not being fussy, he is the most lovable thing in the world. I also like the newborn fuzzy hair and tiny little fingers and toes. Sometimes I look at him and wonder if I'm going to seriously miss him being this wee little cute thing. I was wondering if you guys miss the newborn phase or if you are content with where your children are at right now. Also, if you are one of those who hated the newborn phase, when did it get better for you? Thanks for reading. I would love to read about your experience!

At the hospital with second child

I’m currently at the hospital the day after the birth of my second child with my husband. It was a planned c section and went well overall, but I’m still recovering and haven’t slept (he slept all night plus multiple naps yesterday and today) and feeding isn’t going well. I’m currently crying on and off because he has gotten angry with me, picking fights and yelling, and blaming me for all the fights and everything that’s wrong. It’s really awkward with staff coming in and out. He’s raised his voice and cursed at me, not I’m front of anyone of course but I don’t know if the nurses have heard anything. I can’t believe that he’s doing this in the hospital and can’t put whatever perceived indiscretions I’ve committed aside. I had terrible postpartum with my first and was doing great with this one until he started this. I’m stuck in a tiny hospital room with him until tomorrow. Send positive energy please (and sleepy newborn vibes, mixed bag so far!).

Tummy time for an hour for a 10 week old? How long do you do tummy time that young?

I was on Pathways.org and somehow missed the milestone by 3 months should be worked up to an hour. I must admit. I have been a little more lax than I should be with tummy time. I think my 10 week old gets about 15-20 minutes a day now. If that. Am I just a bad mom?

Don’t comment on peoples postpartum bodies, even if it’s their weight loss

Be careful of unsolicited comments on peoples postpartum bodies, even if it’s about their weight loss. A man at the gas station just told me that I didn’t look like my 10 month old sons mother and to “keep it up”. I’m currently dealing with a pretty bad ED relapse and wanted to say “Thank you! I’m actually really struggling with an eating disorder!”. You don’t know what someone’s dealing with and hearing positive feedback when one is deep in restrictive eating is soooooo harmful.

Contact naps while you have diarrhea = not fun

Things I wish I knew before I became a mom: At some point you may have diarrhea at the same time that your baby is asleep on you and you will either be pooping while holding a sleeping baby, or wake them up and have them stare at you while you like “wtf???”

Appropriate age to walk to and from school

My kids are in elementary school, and we live 2 blocks (down the street) from the school in a very nice neighborhood. We are trying to decide at what age would it be appropriate for our kids to walk to and from school without adults. We have two kids and they are two years apart. They are very mature, well behaved kids. It would also mean they would be home alone for maybe 10-15 minutes. Thoughts?

I made a passive aggressive response to my narcissistic BIL for the first time

Thanks to the mums who kindly gave me tips on how to handle his rude comments, I made a passive aggressive response to him for the first time and shut down the conversation. He couldn't say anything back to me and immediately changed topics. My husband said I sounded a bit too aggressive but I don't care. I consider this as my first mini victory ✌️

public or private school? why or why not?

My son will be school age next year and I've always wondered what other parents thought processes are behind choosing public or private schools. We're most likely doing public because we can't afford private.

What did you do if you didn’t sleep train?

Asking from the deep fog of the 4 month sleep regression in which LO is waking up at least every 1.5 hours. And then I have to go to work….

The little things

This time last year I was pregnant with my second child and getting my first born ready to start kindergarten. Today I got my son ready for his first day of 1st grade! And it was bittersweet because I thought I’d be getting my son ready for school this morning with his little baby sister. My daughter passed away in February of this year soon after she was born. So looking back in the memories of last years 1st day of school pictures was hard. BUT, my little man started 1st grade and although things are hard, I’m so happy he’s excited for school and we get to celebrate him today. It’s the little things, like seeing him excited and nervous to walk into school that make it worth it!

Who are you, and what have you done with my happy baby??

My son will be a year old in a few weeks. Over the last few weeks, he's gone through some decent life changes: we moved into our new house (finally), he was moved into a more age-appropriate class at daycare, and his two top teeth are finally coming in. He has turned from a very happy baby into the most UNhappy baby ever! It seems like an overnight transition. Maybe it's a combination of everything or maybe it's just part of joining the toddler club, or maybe both, but I DON'T LIKE IT. Has this happened to you?

Is this normal or have we struck gold??

Me and my partner had our beautiful baby boy a month ago, he is perfect!! I always was told though, that newborns are very unpredictable and don't follow a specific 'schedule' until they're older. Our baby has a ridiculously consistent schedule, goes to sleep at 10pm almost on the dot, wakes up between 2.30-4 for a feed, then back to sleep till 6am almost on the dot too. Mornings are always the same; very awake and alert, enjoys sitting in bouncer and tummy time etc, little naps here and there, then between the hours of 11am and 6pm he does his long naps, wakes to be changed and fed and then goes back down to nap, then between 6pm and 10pm he's awake a lot and fusses a bit (witching hour) but its always the same!! Is this normal?? or have we got a very well scheduled baby? I had quite a consistent sleep schedule when i was pregnant, did he pick up on that?? I don't mind though, im quite happy with his routine! Thanks in advance!

What did labor feel like for you?

Currently 38+4 and have had insane constipation for the past few days. Had an OB appointment yesterday and I’m only 1 cm - I know it can be either really slow (days, weeks) or really fast progress. I’ve been dealing with a lot of back pain and cramps especially right after peeing and severe lightning crotch. Today though, this lightning crotch is on another level. I keep having to pee, literally every 5 minutes, the pain feels lower, sharper and more constant and it feels like she is just digging lower into my pelvis right now. I am so uncomfortable. Someone please tell me this could be it, cause this is wild 😩

Did you find a postpartum utility cart to be worth it?

I'm 34 weeks right now and I'd appreciate some advice on if anyone here found that having one of those rolling utility carts to be helpful post partum. I would probably get a 3 tiered one and have snacks and waterbottles (I hear breastfeeding makes you super hungry and thirsty) then breastfeeding supplies like cream and pump and nipple pads, then some diapers and wipes and creams. I figured it'd be nice to have something to drag across the house so I don't need to get up every 2 seconds because I have no idea what mobility will be looking like after birth. Did you guys feel like a cheap 30-50$ Rolly cart was useful or a waste of money?

When you first have a baby, you get all this GEAR and it's wonderful, but a year or two later, you can't get rid of it fast enough.