Parenting Contents Archive

TW: death of child. I am struggling with making the holidays fun this year

Our 12 year old son passed away this year. I am doing everything I can to keep that trauma from being compounded by not being as enthusiastic as I used to be about Halloween, Thanksgiving and Christmas coming up. My son loved Halloween so much it is killing me inside to make plans, and do the activities for ny two surviving sons and I feel awful because I haven't taken them to the fall festival or the trunk and treat. I'm psyching myself up for Halloween so they can have the best time I can give them but I still feel like I'm failing them. So far they haven't asked to the extras but I worry it's because they don't want to upset me. I don't lose it in front of them and they have costumes and we've talked about Halloween plans. I know on Halloween I will need to 100% be present with them. I just feel so awful that they may be quietly feeling left out of other fun things. I don't know what to do.

FEET!

Our 5 month old has recently figured out how to get his toes in his mouth and he's *obsessed*! Diaper changes have become acrobat performances 😂 What's everyone's little tykes current obsessions?

Where do they go?? I have a drawer full of odd baby socks 😂

Uncomfortable with my child going to friends house.

My 8 year old has made a friend with another kid in her class, who also happens to be on her sports team. I have gotten to know this family somewhat because of this. Because of some things the mom has shared with me, at this point I am not really comfortable with my kid going to her house. The mom keeps asking me if my kid can come over. It has not been able to happen, because we have been extremely busy and we are for the next month or so, which I have explained this clearly and directly. I’m kind of hoping the asking fizzles out over the next few weeks, but she keeps almost guilt tripping me about having my kid over just about every day. I do not want to be rude or offend her and I do not know how to have this conversation. Before this, the only houses my kid has been to, happens to be families I already knew well. So this is new territory for me.

My baby disappeared

My baby disappeared this morning. I put him down in his crib (third time lucky) for his nap and nipped outside to the bin. When I came back in, I couldn’t hear him fussing on the monitor as if expected, turned the screen on (screen goes blank after a while but sound continues) NO FUCKING BABY IN THE CRIB!!!!!!! I nearly puked, someone has stolen my baby right from under my no…….nope, there he is. Fast asleep. The monitor had clearly frozen on the last image before the screen shut off. Scariest 5 seconds of my life!!!

Vasectomy consultation

Literally the only question they asked my husband was “Ready to get snipped?” Nothing about if he already had children, if he was married, why he wants it, nothing. Meanwhile if I wanted to get my tubes tied, I’d have to jump through a million hoops including having HIS written consent to do this to MY body. Healthcare is dumb. Sexism is dumb. I’m annoyed.

Opinions on reusable diaper service

I’ll be a FTM on March/April, my mom found a diaper service where I live, they drop off/pick up diapers every week so you don’t have to clean them. She offered to pay for this service for us for a year as a shower gift but my partner and I are on the fence. What are some opinions, good or bad experiences with the reusable diapers! I always imagined just buying disposable but I do like the idea of not contributing to a landfill I suppose.

Moving to Colorado. nervous but also excited.

Well, my family and I are going to be moving to Colorado at the beginning of next year. My husband got a job offer making 3x the money he makes here in Louisiana. I'm nervous because I've never lived anywhere but here and moving away from my parents, friends, kids friends, etc. My husband is pretty used to moving(former military). I also HATE the cold weather and, while I does get sort of cold down here, I'm pretty sure it's nothing compared to there. On the bright side, I won't have to work and we will be living in a much bigger house than what we live in now. Being a working mom and toting around kids is exhausting. Wish us luck!

RSV season

Okay so our son was born 9/20/2022. We’re heading right for RSV season. My SO’s family knows no boundaries. There were 11 of them in our home 2 days after I gave birth. They also all kept kissing him. And i snapped on that. Well now that we’re heading into RSV season his family seems to have some sense of entitlement to our son? “Keeping us from seeing him for 6 months is a bit much” Even though the risk outweighs the reward. The family has had close calls with RSV. But they don’t seem to care now because “it’s his first holidays”. My SO also doesn’t have the ability to set those boundaries with them so as I am doing that they are emotionally and mentally exhausting me. Advice on this would appreciated. They all also work very public jobs. Prisons, social services, healthcare.

Breastfeeding and allergens

Is there any evidence that breastfeeding exposes babies to allergens and will *decrease* their risk of allergic reactions through very small exposures over time? I can only find information that reassures people that breastfeeding doesn’t *cause* allergic reactions but that is not what I’m looking for. Basically, my girl is ready to start solids and I’m paranoid about an unknown allergy but she’s been exclusively breastfed since about a week old. I haven’t changed my diet the whole time and aside from a couple of random rashes, she hasn’t seemed to have much of a reaction to anything in my diet. I’ve eaten lots of peanut butter, eggs, dairy, etc. Is there evidence that she’s been exposed to these already through breastmilk and I can relax about feeding them to her directly soon?

So…y’all’s babies just accepting solid food or nah??

My baby has good days where they will eat and try new stuff but half the time it’s an absolute rejection of anything that is not the bottle. Doctor is saying they can’t stay on formula past 1yo. What should I do to encourage solid food??

Three-time New York Times Bestselling author @Luvvie Ajayi Jones has a fourth book coming. And this time, it’s for the littlest troublemakers in our lives. https://t.co/WLO3Pb7Dc9

Eczema on daughter bottom

My daughter has eczema on her bottom in random patches and one spot on the front diaper waist line. It’s been going on for months and I’ve been to the drs multiple times and have had 2 steroid creams that work but I’m told not to use them more than 5-7 days at a time. It seems to do the trick then they come right back the following week. Does anyone have any advice on how to get rid of it once and for all?

Bully in pre-k

My child will be 5 in February and has a classmate with physical violence issues with my child and other kids in the class [once was sent home for hitting the teacher]. We've been told by the administration that the aggressive child hasn't done anything to merit keeping them from attending. At this point [after multiple instances of being hurt by this kid including a time where they tried to cut my child's pants with scissors & most recently took to hitting my kid in the face / head because they wanted to put away the project my kid was working on] I'm ready to take my child out or find a new option for education, but would love to hear advice on how to handle this . My partner has suggested at one time maybe teaching our kids to retaliate, and I am firmly against that idea, especially because of how young they are. Any suggestions or similar experiences would be helpful!

Dying for mum friends but saying no to every invite I get. Why is my brain like this

I'm pretty lonely, have no friends or family, baby's dad is at work all day and I'm on maternity leave. There are some lovely women at the baby groups I go to, yet whenever I'm invited for further socialisation I say sorry, not that day, I've got *(bullshit excuse) * even though I'd like to make some friends. I just feel like I'm a burden or I'm really worried the outing would be awkward because I can be quite shy. Lots of mums with babies the same age as mine which would be perfect for her too, so why do I both hate being lonely but find comfort in being a recluse?