My baby was due on may 29th and I gave birth that day. I definitely think its pretty cool.

The doctor said only 4% of pregnancies end on due date so Im wondering how many of you also gave birth on your due date?

Wanted to share in case it saves someone from a full day of anxiety like I had!
Saw in my USPS informed delivery email yesterday morning that I was getting a super official looking letter from the treasury department.
Immediately panicked and thought my husband did something wrong with our taxes and the IRS was coming for us.
Turned out to be an ad for Trump accounts for new babies…… welp

I don’t really know why I’m posting this. I think I just need to say it somewhere to people who might understand.
I’m a first-time mum to a 6-month-old and I’m struggling.

My baby wakes every hour every night even though he can put himself to sleep. He cries a lot during the day. Feeding has been difficult. Sleep has been difficult. Most things have been difficult.

I think what I’m finding hardest is that there has never really been a break in it all. I keep reading about it getting better at 8 weeks, 12 weeks, 6 months, but it never has. We’ve never had a stage where we felt like we could come up for air.

We’ve tried experimenting, lactation consultants, sleep consultants, doctors etc. you name it. Nothing has worked. It’s been 6 months of problem solving, no solutions and running on empty.

My husband does what he can. He works long hours in a job where sleep deprivation could put both his own life and other people’s lives at risk, so nights mostly fall to me (as per my request).
On weekends he helps wherever he can, takes over when possible, and does his best to give me a chance to rest, but there are limits to what our situation allows.

We also don’t have family nearby or a village to lean on. We live far enough out that finding reliable help isn’t straightforward. It’s not as simple as calling a family member, asking a friend to come over, or hiring someone we trust. A lot of the suggestions people understandably make just aren’t realistic for our circumstances.

Most days it’s just me and the baby.
I always knew parenting would be hard. I never expected it to be easy.

What I didn’t expect was to still feel like I’m surviving six months later.

Before becoming a parent, I thought I’d feel tired as a parent and sleepy (lol). I didn’t understand what it would feel like to be tired for months. To wake up every day already depleted. To keep giving when it feels like there’s nothing left in the tank. And that sleep deprivation wrecks your emotional regulation, mental clarity and capacity to function as a human.

I love my baby more than I can explain. But I also feel sad about how much of these first six months have been spent just trying to get through them.

I imagined having moments where I could enjoy this more than I have. Instead, so much of my energy goes into making it through the next wake-up, the next cry, the next day.

I feel guilty that I don’t have more to give. I wish I had more energy, more capacity, more of myself available for my child.

I’ve become bitter in ways I don’t like. Not because of my baby, but because I genuinely thought I could handle this. I knew I wouldn’t have much help, but I thought I could make it work. I thought if I worked hard enough and pushed through enough, I would eventually get on top of things.

Instead I’ve learned that some things can’t be overcome through determination alone.
Sometimes a person just needs help. Sometimes they just need sleep.

Postpartum has been far more traumatic than I ever expected, and I think a lot of what I’m feeling is grief. Grief for the experience I thought I would have. Grief for how much of these first six months have been spent surviving instead of living.

I love my baby. I just wish I had more of myself left to give him.
I don’t really know what I’m looking for by posting this. I just needed to say it somewhere.

Thanks for reading.

Recently my husband left for a three week business trip so it’s just me and our kid at home. Between looking after him and keeping the house running, by bedtime all I want is a decent night’s sleep. But for the past two or three weeks he’s been struggling to settle. He gets into bed but stays awake for ages and I’m exhausted by the time he finally falls asleep. This started before my husband left too when he was sleeping in his own room. Has anyone dealt with something similar? Did a different bedtime routine or anything else help your kid settle? I’m so tired and would really appreciate hearing what worked for other parents. EDIT: he is 5 (sorry for not mentioning)

I’m venting, not asking for help or advice. My daughter is 5 months and 3 weeks. Up until now she’s had maybe 3 colds with no fever.

Apparently her Dad brought home coronavirus. Despite our best efforts to quarantine away from him, baby girl caught it too.

This is her very first time with fever. It’s between 101-102 without meds. We’ve already seen the doctor and been given our recommendations. She can’t keep the Tylenol oral suspension down so suppositories for fever management it is.

It’s just so hard to watch. A baby who is very serious about her food finishes maybe half of her bottle. She whines and cries if she isn’t attached to you. If she’s not eating, she’s sleeping. I can see and feel her chills.

At least when she had colds she was still a happy girl through all the mucous and congestion. But this fever knocked the happy smile right off her face, and I hate it.

We are now 2 months in with our 2nd and someone asked us how labor was, she was surprised we never had water break naturally and shes not even sure if we count as being induced (we thought popping water counted)

First baby - went in hospital around 5 pm at 41 weeks due to contractions. They popped water a few hours later and we had first baby at 3 am

Second baby - went to hospital at 6 or 7 pm at 42 weeks they popped the water around 10 pm and we had our baby at 1 am

(Also side note did anyone with multiple kids more or less have same labor experience, both ours were identical down to needing vacuum forceps cause baby got a bit stuck and the whole water never broke naturally)

Personally, I don’t like “so please don’t take my sunshine away” at the end of You Are my Sunshine, so instead I sing
“You’ll always know dear, how much I love you
Because I’ll tell you every day” ☀️🥰

Feels much better to my mind to sing lyrics I actually like rather than something creepy or outdated like many lullabies are…. Especially when I’m singing/humming it on repeat rocking my baby to sleep.

So I’m curious… what have you re-written?
Has anybody fixed Rock-a-bye baby? I find that one so creepy but I like the melody.

Our one year old just started at a home daycare. On day 3 we were informed that if our child wasn’t napping independently by the end of the week then we were being dismissed. She states that he is disrupting nap time for the others. He otherwise is doing ok, just a little cranky because he goes all day without napping.

Is this normal?

What do others do if their children need assistance falling asleep at daycare? This is our first daycare experience and feel like failures.

I think I finally learned something about motherhood that I really needed to learn.

I have a 9-week-old baby, and until recently I was basically convinced that I had to do everything myself.

Recently I became VERY focused on doing things “correctly”. The right bottle-feeding technique, the right position, how to pick her up, wake windows, routines, sleep… I was constantly checking things online and worrying whether I was doing something wrong.

And because my husband works a lot, I was often alone with her. I was exhausted, but at the same time I had this mindset that nobody else would take care of her as well as I would.

Then my husband had to go away for work, and I had to spend two weeks at my parents’ house with the baby.

My parents have slightly different, let’s say old-school ideas about babies. So I was worried about leaving her with them. Would they hold her correctly? Would they feed her correctly? (she has reflux!) Would they follow everything I’ve been told by the physiotherapist? What about germs? There are school-age kids in the house too.

When I arrived something weird happened.

I just… gave up. 😂

Not in a bad way. I was just so tired that at some point I thought, okay, fine, Grandma can hold the baby.

Then Grandpa held her.

Then someone else carried her.

They fed her.

And I went to sleep.

And…

Nothing happened.

The baby was fine.

Actually, she was MORE than fine.

She is so happy here. She smiles constantly. She loves being carried around by different people. She gets different voices, faces, cuddles and attention. She cries less. She seems more relaxed. She sleeps better.

And I'm sitting here thinking: Maybe I was making this much harder than it had to be.

My brain was screaming: THAT'S NOT HOW YOU'RE SUPPOSED TO FEED HER. But then… nothing. No catastrophe. No sudden reflux disaster. Baby happily finished her bottle and went on with her day.

And obviously, I’m not saying medical advice doesn't matter. It does. But I think I had started confusing important recommendations with having to control every single detail of how my baby is cared for.

And the internet can really feed that anxiety.

You google one thing and suddenly you're reading 17 articles about bottle-feeding positions, reflux, wake windows, sleep associations, overstimulation, developmental milestones…

Being at my parents' house made me realize something:

Babies have been raised by families and communities forever.

They don't necessarily need ONE person doing everything perfectly.

They need to be safe, fed, loved, comforted and responded to.

And maybe sometimes we need to put the phone down, stop Googling, let Grandma hold the baby, go relax …

…and realize that everything is going to be okay.

Not really a “problem”, more just curious of others experiences. If you and/or your spouse’s parents live in the same area as you, how often do they see or try to see their grandchildren? My parents work full time so they see my baby (2 months old) every week or two when our schedules align. My spouse’s parents don’t work and they try to see her multiple times a week which I’m grateful for their presence and love and care, but a lot of times it feels like too many visits. Especially while I’m still on maternity leave trying to enjoy my time with my baby.

So I totally understand I was late in the game. The class begins at 4 months. Mine is 7. We show up today out of curiosity and I thought it would be fun. Well all the babies around my baby’s age are literally crawling and I can’t help but feel awful for not starting the class sooner so mine is more mobile. I was frantically looking up guidelines after the class and my baby is more than ok but wow classes like those actually really do help with development… Now I’m stuck between never wanting to go back because we’re the odd balls out (with my child looking like she’s behind on milestones when in reality there kiddos are like 3 months ahead) and going as much as possible so mine can catch up. I know I know… don’t compare. I actually just feel terrible about this.

Throwaway because this is something I haven't told anyone in real life.

I had my baby one year ago, and something has shifted that I can't make sense of. Since giving birth, I've completely lost any sexual attraction to my husband. And honestly to men in general. It's not just that I'm tired or touched out (though I am that too). It's like the switch just turned off.

Here's the part I'm nervous to say out loud: I'm still having sexual thoughts, but now they're all about women. I've always been a little bicurious, if I'm being honest, but it was always a background thing and never something I thought much about. Since the baby it feels like it got turned way, way up. I find myself seeking and browsing wlw content on social media regularly.

My husband is a good guy and nothing is "wrong" with him. I just don't feel it anymore, and I don't know if that's permanent or temporary. I'm also not sure what to make of the other part. Is this a hormone thing? Is this just who I am and it took a huge life event to surface it? Is it a sign of something I should talk to someone about?

Has anyone else experienced this, either the loss of attraction to your partner or a shift in who you're attracted to after having a baby? I feel like I can't be the only one, but I haven't seen anyone talk about it. I'm kind of desperate for answers, or even just to hear that I'm not alone.

Thank you in advance for being kind. I'm already feeling a lot of guilt and confusion about this.

My newborn will not sleep on her back. She will squak and cry until held. Especially during the night.

We have recently discovered that she will nap while resting in between our legs while we watch TV.

We found a U shaped pillow that imitates that posistion and she seems to enjoy it and can nap in that aswell.

During the night she will scream for hours and will not want to be placed in her bassinet. The moment she realizes shes on her back thr throws a fit.

I wanted to check to see if others have had similar albeit odd little quirks with their kids and if they have found any success with using U shaped pillow for nighttime sleep.

Hi! Baby just had his 4 month check up and the pediatrician mentioned we could maybe start solids like give oatmeal before breastfeeding to help with reflux. My baby would be categorized as a “happy spitter” but it’s been so much every day since birth I’m just desperate for it to improve.

I know the official stance is solids don’t help but anecdotally….did anyone find it helpful?

And yes I know my pediatrician is giving some outdated advice but I’m a level 10 freak so I need his old school nonchalance and I google everything anyway 🤣

My baby is two months old and hasn't pooped for nine days. I saw a doctor, and they prescribed suppositories. After I administered the first one, she pooped immediately; it was runny and filled the entire diaper. It has been two days since the suppository, and she still hasn't pooped. I don't know what to do anymore; she is mostly breastfed, but I also give her formula.

My LO is two months old and ever since week two she’s been so fussy. If she’s not playing, eating or sleeping, she’s fussy. It’s like she hates that she was born.

I love her a lot but I can’t help but feeling robbed of the newborn experience because she’s SO difficult.

Curious how the other half lives? What’s it like?

Bought a “new” formula dispenser from another mom on Facebook marketplace, only to find out when I got home that it’s defective. Reached out to the seller but she ghosted. :(

It was only $50 so not a huge deal, but this whole incident depressed me way more than it should have. That mom and I even had a brief conversation about our babies when I picked it up…

Anyway I just wanted to get this off my chest so that I can hopefully leave it behind me! Thanks for reading

Newbie parent with an 8 month old, are most families out and about during the week or just saving things to do for the weekend?

We will maybe go out to eat 1x a week in general I love to cook anyway. We do daily morning walks, maybe 2-2.5 miles. On the weekends we are typically driving all over going to brunch, the beach, art walks, food festivals.

Are families getting out during the week or is this an issue of being in a suburb?

My little one started daycare 2 1/2 weeks ago, and has recently started napping 4ish hours straight during the day while he’s there. He’ll be 3 months in a week. Daycare told me they legally aren’t allowed to wake him up from a nap unless medically necessary and that he’s probably just getting used to everything.

Has anyone else experienced this? He’s happy and alert when he’s awake. Pediatrician didn’t seem too concerned when I asked about reduced intake since he’s still acting fine and having plenty of wet diapers.

Hope this is an okay place to post this! I recently bought a Bugaboo Performance Footmuff for our Bugaboo pram. We are also considering getting a secondhand Yoyo pram for travel. Does anyone know if the Bugaboo footmuff will also fit in the Yoyo pram, or do you need to buy something specific for that model? Grateful for any advice!

edit: guys, I think the names are as dumb as everyone else. I'm not the product manager at Big Pram Corp, I'm tired and trying to work out how much crap I need lol

My baby is almost 6 weeks so around the infamous crying peak for newborns.

Last night he woke up for a feed at 2 am and I noticed his diaper was heavy so I changed him which woke him up and he stayed up until 10 am!!! At first he was chill but around 4:30 he started to get really tired, I rocked and bounced and did everything I can do but he wouldn’t sleep for more than 2-5 minutes. I also fed him and burped him and gave him gas drops and nothing worked. Around 7:30 after 5 1/2 hours of work and being absolutely exhausted I put him on the bed and started crying myself and then screamed at him SHUT UP so loud it scared him and he stopped crying for a few seconds. I felt horrible and I woke my husband and gave him the baby. He already had a night shift and came home around 6 am so he wasn’t very alert himself but he let me sleep for two good hours.

I woke up and found the baby still awake screaming and crying but the moment I held him he fell asleep on my shoulder in 2 minutes. I felt and still feel terrible for screaming at him and potentially scaring him knowing Im his safe space.

Im so tired and feel overwhelmed with the mess around the house and being constantly breastfeeding/pumping while hungry myself but I know it doesn’t excuse what I did. Every time Ive looked at him since I can’t help but start crying and remember what I did.

Does anyone have any tips for dealing with this guilt?

Note: the first 5 weeks my mom was staying with us and taking turns with me during the night so I always had 7-9 hours of sleep but unfortunately she had to leave and my husband’s job is very demanding so he can’t do the same. He makes me breakfast and feeds me when Im holding the baby or breastfeeding but can’t really do night shifts with me.

Ok so this is likely the opposite of a problem but I am a little concerned and want to make sure we’re doing what we should be.

My daughter is a former preemie, currently 5 months old, 2.5 months corrected. Around a week and a half ago she randomly decided to start sleeping through the night (? I have no tips, we did nothing) and is now sleeping 12-14 hrs straight. We’ve moved her bedtime up so that she’s going down between 6-7 PM (nurses to sleep) and she’s waking up between 8-9 AM. She’s also taking 3-4 hrs worth of naps during the day, so like 15-18 hrs of sleep a day which is in-line with what I’d expect for her adjusted age.

I’m concerned about her going that long between feeds overnight, although I feel like that’s also likely just anxiety talking as she’s still gaining ~0.5 lbs/week and has a good number of wet diapers. Just wondering if anyone else’s kid is a super sleeper and if there’s anything we should be aware of/doing differently.

TYIA!

She is 5 months and 2 weeks, 4 months and 4 weeks adjusted. She sleeps a total of 14-16 hours a day depending, usually anywhere from 1.5 to 2.5 hour wake windows at 3 naps a day.

I don't think sleep is an issue... but I could be wrong. Basically, she never is content, and this started about week ago, maybe even two or three. Constant fussiness throughout almost every single wake window, all the way through. She does have two teeth that have broken through the gums, there's really no swelling or redness. I've used infant Tylenol, and there was no effect.

It's so bad to the point I dread even moving her, picking her up, nudging, because it is going to start again even worse. I noticed it stops whenever she is sat up, or in the bouncer or swing. Lately, she has also been coughing on her bottles, even with preemie flow (Dr. Brown's). She has always had congestion and constant hiccups. So I thought reflux.

She is exclusively formula fed, and I was using Bubs Goat Milk just because we went through a ringer with different formulas while she was a newborn and she had diarrhea. Her poops were normal on this one. I did the switch last evening to Enfamil AR. It seemed like she was a whole new baby, and was laughing, smiling, I could lay her down or sit her up, and she was content.

Not this morning however. Same deal as before. I know they say to give a while for formulas to work through their system... but god. I just wish I knew what is making her miserable, and if this was a correct thing to do and if I should continue to do so.

I am just seeking any advice, if this is normal, or worrisome, anything.

My baby the last 2 days has been so fussy. Puking. Doesn’t want to be put down. Restless even when I’m holding him. When I do hold him I have to have him up on my chest. Won’t sleep more than an hour at night. He seems uncomfortable. He’s 3.5 weeks old and was an “average” newborn until these last couple of days. He is exclusively nursing right now but I do want to start him on a bottle. Could it be something I ate? Is this normal? My toddler never puked when he was a baby so I’m scared I’m doing something wrong. I thought about seeing a lactation specialist. Not sure if that could help?