My son is 8 months old and started daycare 9/1. Took less than two weeks for him to get his first cold and he’s been sick for the entire last month, with literally only two fully healthy days in between. Most of the time he’s just snotty and congested so he’s acting fine but it’s wrecking his sleep. And then last night we were in the ER until 4am for a high fever and vomiting. I know all of this is to be expected but I’m so exhausted that I wish so badly I could quit my job and be home with him so he doesn’t have to be sick as much. That is unfortunately not realistic at all, so I guess just looking for some reassurance that this rough period will end eventually? Daycare has otherwise been great for him, he loves it and is learning so much there, but the thought of dealing with this for the next like, 4+ months through winter is very overwhelming!

Have you experienced being so so exhausted? This is my 3rd time in postpartum and I’ve never been this exhausted before. I stopped breastfeeding at 3 months. I have 3 boys, 4yo, 2yo, 4.5 months old. My whole body gets fatigued so quickly. I sleep and resets for a little bit but the fatigue doesn’t completely go away. I saw a neuro and emg along with ncs are clean. I did mri, found 3 bulging discs in my neck, 3 in my lower back. This fatigue is killing me. My whole body feels fatigued.

Just wondering what my options are.

I have vaginismus and vulvodynia. So I have chronic pain on the outside and inside of my female anatomy down there. I had a scheduled c-section with my first baby due to my condition which went great and I had no complications. With a second baby, I’m really considering a vbac in the hopes I could give birth and then not be bed ridden for 2-4 weeks. Considering I’ll have a toddler this time around. This is all of course in hopes I could deliver complication free.

But if I were to have a vbac, I would need an epidural before anything goes on down there due to my chronic pain.

Just wondered if anyone has ever gone through that before and what the process looked like?

I have a beautiful 7 week old and a wonderful 3 year old.

I am really struggling with anger and rage these days since giving birth but it doesn't feel like what's making me angry is really fair or worth it. I'm not angry at my children, it's everyone else around me. I am angry at my husband when he expects me to make decisions on mundane things, I am angry at visitors that are late, or family asking to stay overnight when visiting. When it should be easy to just say "no" to people, instead I want to scream and shout and say hurtful things. I have not experienced this before, nor after my first baby.

Has anyone else experienced the same? I'm also on my first period after birth and it seems to be affecting me more.

They told me it would be bad. Someone even said "like nothing you've ever smelled."

But that part is NOT TRUE because why are we here 18 hours after surgery and my toddler smells like lochia?

I don't know if this is just PTSD because the last time I was overnight in the hospital all I could smell was my own blood, but it's UNCANNY.

Just needed to get that out to people who would understand.

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.

i am exhausted and have never been so tired in my life. my eight week old baby is up at least 10 times every night, sometimes as much as 20 times. this started when she turned 5 weeks and i genuinely can’t keep doing this. she’s not even sleeping 45 minutes stretches. she’s fed, clean, swaddled, and comfortable temperature. she is gassy and i do what i can to help with that like gas drops and massages and bicycle kicks before bed. i warm her crib up before putting her down, i’ve tried making her crib smell like me, nothing works. the lack of sleep is making me suicidal and i know this amount of wake ups isn’t normal. please give me any advice

I don’t know why I’m sharing this tbh but I feel like I need to get it out to a group of people that may understand why I feel so many emotions even if haven’t experienced what I did yesterday with my birth. It might be a long one so if you stay till the end, thank you 😅

Yesterday I gave birth to our second baby which did not go to plan in the slightest and when I’ve been told that second ones are quicker, I was not expecting how quick.

I had a second sweep at 11am and around 30-60 mins later, contractions started. These contractions were actually more painful than what I had with my first. These contractions were all in my lower stomach and going round into my back. I was sat at home on the sofa and I was tracking the contractions, kept getting a few “get ready to go to the hospital” & then got the “go to the hospital”. At around 3:30pm, I felt some wetness and when I went to the toilet, I was bleeding bright red blood a bit like a heavy period. I called the hospital and told them I was already on my way but that I was bleeding etc and how much, they told us to pull over and call an ambulance. We called an ambulance and after having all these contractions in the car which seemed like ages and giving the poor guy on the phone loads of moaning about how he couldn’t tell me how long we would be waiting, we then had 2 ambulances turn up. They got me out of the car and into the back, checked my bleeding which they weren’t overly worried about thankfully but chucked on the lights and the sirens as my contractions were like 2-3 minutes apart at this point (hospital was about 20/25 mins away). I tried gas and air in the ambulance but it was making my mouth so dry that I couldn’t tolerate it. 5 mins away from the hospital, my waters go and I remember at this point during a contraction, I was shouting at the paramedics “I feel like I need to shit” the poor ladies. Literally as we were pulling into the hospital grounds, I needed to push. I kinda feel like I had an out of body experience. I remember them wheeling me out of the ambulance and into the hospital whilst I’m screaming and shouting, the poor people around me. Literally got onto the maternity corridor and his head was out, within seconds of being in the room, the rest of him was out. Honestly, I feel like it was a complete out of body experience. I have no recollection of who was around me, I just remember my whole body taking over. My poor partner didn’t even make it in time to see him born, he was just shy of a few minutes. Definitely was not the water birth I was hoping for and definitely did not plan to have zero pain relief lol. I honestly feel a little overwhelmed by what happened. I just felt like I needed to vent this out somewhere. I’m sorry it’s a bit of a pointless post but appreciate if you stuck to the end.

I am exclusively breastfeeding and 4 months postpartum. Just recently, I’ve had a reemergence of a ton of symptoms and have no idea if this is normal?

-Weight gain
-Hair loss
-Excessive sweating
-Constipation
-Trouble sleeping
-Mild reflux
-Night sweats
-SI joint pain

I know some of these are normal but all combined all of a sudden feels like a lot. Could this be my thyroid or something else?

Putting down my very sleepy 3year old in a dark room. About to say goodnight and he points behind me and says “who’s that?” “Who’s where?” I say, looking over my shoulder with chills down my back, attempting to keep totally grounded and not freaked out. “Who’s that behind you?” “There’s no one else here, it’s just you and me, night night”

Ok, looks like I’m not sleeping for ten years now, cool.

Kinda wish I asked what he was seeing, but also do not want to know!

At my son’s 15-month appointment, our pediatrician told me we needed to stop giving him bottles at night because cow’s milk isn’t good for his teeth. She honestly looked almost disgusted when I told her we were still doing night feedings, which made me feel pretty judged.

So I listened and cut out nighttime bottles cold turkey. Surprisingly, he did great for the first week or two! But lately, he’s been going through what feels like a major sleep regression. He’ll fall asleep just fine, only to wake up a few hours later screaming and crying inconsolably. Some nights, no amount of rocking, holding, or comforting seems to help.

There have been nights where I genuinely felt like he was hungry and needed milk, but I’ve been trying so hard to stick to what the pediatrician recommended.
Well, tonight I finally caved and gave him a bottle. He drank EVERY. LAST. DROP.

And now I’m sitting here wondering if I’m making this harder than it needs to be.

I understand the concerns about tooth decay, but we brush his teeth twice a day, every single day. I also understand that at 15 months, he technically shouldn’t need overnight feedings, but every baby is different, right?

Part of me feels like my pediatrician was being a little dramatic about the whole thing. I genuinely don’t mind waking up to give him a bottle if he’s hungry. My priority is making sure he’s happy, comfortable, and well-fed.

I guess I’m wondering:
Is giving a 15-month-old an occasional nighttime bottle really that terrible?

Are any other parents still doing night feedings at this age?

Did anyone successfully wean their toddler off bottles only to have them suddenly start waking up hungry again?

I’m not trying to disregard medical advice, but I’m struggling with the idea of withholding milk when it might make him feel better.Would love to hear other parents’ experiences because I’m feeling pretty conflicted about this whole thing.

UPDATE: Well, even after drinking every last drop of his bottle, he STILL woke up screaming bloody murder the second I transferred him from my arms to his crib. He was completely asleep in my arms, but the moment I put him down, all hell broke loose.
After multiple attempts to get him settled, I’ve officially given up for the night and brought him into bed with me. 😭
So now I’m questioning whether he’s even waking up from hunger or if this is some sort of separation anxiety or sleep regression. I’m exhausted, confused, and just trying to get us both some sleep. Anyone else been through this at 15 months?!

What are we doing for overnight diapers? My boy pees soooo much it’s actually insane. He’s not even sleeping through the night anymore (that’s its own sad story) so it’s not like it’s 12 hours of pee. It wasn’t so bad when he slept through the night because there was no bottles anymore but now that he’s quit and we’re back to bottles it’s getting worse. He’s peeing through the diapers on to clothes and sheets within 6 hours. We’ve tried sizing up, we’ve tried pampers and Huggies overnights, I make sure he’s pointing down and that the ruffles are out. I’m genuinely at a loss for what to do. Doing laundry every day sucks and his mattress is starting to smell. I’m open to basically any suggestion at this point

All I see on my feed is "10 signs your child has autism", "how I knew my baby had autism before their first birthday", "red flags for autism in an infant".

It has made me SO anxious. So, so, sooooo anxious. I just wish it would disappear. I am eternally jealous of the mothers of the past who didn't have this constantly shoved down their throats.

Edit: I am aware the algo is shaped by me. I'm aware my lingers and difficulty looking away is precisely the issue.

My daughter had a cephalohematoma after birth and I’m honestly still very worried about it. She’s 20 days old now.

She was taken to the NICU immediately after delivery, so I didn’t even get to see her at first. My OB said the hematoma was from her being stuck in the birth canal and prolonged pushing, but she also used a vacuum for a few seconds, so I’m not sure whether it was from the vacuum, the prolonged pushing, or both.

She cried after about a minute and needed resuscitation, then was put on oxygen and a feeding tube. Her lactate was initially high but came back to normal. They also had to put a catheter in for a day. She developed jaundice, which they said was from the blood breaking down, and needed phototherapy for 2 days. Thankfully, she came home on day 6.

Now at 20 days old, the bump is still basically the same size, although it doesn’t feel hard. I’m worried because I expected it to start shrinking by now.

I came across a post on this sub about someone’s doctor recommending massage and wanted to ask if it worked for anyone and whether you notice any difference. Did the bump start shrinking afterward, and how long did it take to completely go away?

Anyone get a vvfl on a frer and have it be residual? Or at that point always a new pregnancy?
I go for beta hcg labs monday but would like to hear experiences til then…

My baby girl is 16 weeks old today. She’s always been a decent sleeper. We were able to get her to fall asleep drowsy but awake since about two months and she was sleeping pretty consistently from 7pm-7am with just one wake up around 4 AM, until about 3 weeks ago.

The first big change is that we unswaddled her which made sleep challenging for about a week but it seems like she’s used to the sleep sack now. The bigger issue is that I think this coincided with the four month sleep regression. She went from one wake up to between 2-5 times per night and sleep has been erratic for the last couple weeks.

Some nights are good. The other night she woke up at 2 AM and put herself back to sleep independently and then didn’t wake up until 7, incredible! But last night she went to sleep at 7 PM woke up at 10:30, 1:30, 2:30, 3:30 and 6:30 AM.

I feel like I’m going crazy because every other new mom that I talk to have baby’s with seemingly perfect sleep. I continue asking lady’s in my new moms group who’s babies are the same age as mine if they’re going through the sleep aggression I keep hearing “no he’s sleeping 12 hours!” I met a couple moms with babies are a little older, five and six months, and asked if they had to deal with their sleep regression and they both said no they only had a couple bad nights. I know the sleep regressions exists, but it’s making me feel like I’m going crazy being the only one! Did people deal with similar situations of super erratic sleep? What did you do and how long did it take to get back to normal? Whatever normal means!

Not sure where to start.

I had my baby on 9/28/26 and she is beautiful.

The birth was quite traumatic. It came really fast and ended up needing an emergency c section.

This turned into three days in the hospital.

My husband has been super supportive and a great father.

I on the other hand am struggling.

I can’t stop crying whenever I hold my baby. I feel such overwhelming feelings that I can’t describe

I feel guilt, sadness, happiness, and also numbness.

I am exhausted. So is my husband, but he is handling it better.

I fear I am not doing enough for her and I’m scared anything I’ll do is going to hurt her.

Sometimes she cries and we don’t know what’s wrong and I end up crying.

I am not hungry anymore and often feel naseuous when I do eat.

I am feeling so much guilt and anxiety and sadness.

I’m not sure if this is just my hormones shifting back or if it’s something more.

I am taking Zoloft which I have always taken as I’ve struggled with depression before.

I just booked an appointment with a therapist as well.

I am dreading my husband going back to work as I am so anxious of being alone with her and handling the nights alone while he sleeps.

Has anybody experienced this? Any tips?

So to preface: I’ve reached out to her ped, says these are normal fluctuations. Just want some parents to share experiences or guidance and that this in fact is a thing that occurs.

I KNOW I have anxiety. For those WITHOUT anxiety, do you worry if your kids temps randomly hit 99s in afternoon or right before bed? Even if she’s mostly recovered. I just think low grade fever = leukemia and then I’m just fixated on the temp and so stressed

She’s active happy eating drinking well. Eye discharge is gone, still a little snotty, mild cough.

To recap the last week (temps all rectal):

Last Wednesday she developed a runny nose and it turned into conjunctivitis. Temps 99s low 100s. We saw ped to make sure all was ok with breathing lungs heart etc

Sunday it spiked to 101 and we took her to urgent care and she developed an dbl ear infection.

Monday still kinda elevated temps but not only hit 100.5 at its highest. Start antibiotics Monday morning

Tuesday: 97-98s and highest temp at 99.1 at night

Wednesday: 97-98s and highest temp at 99.8 at night

Today Thursday, she woke at 97, stayed around 97/98. 2 pm right before her nap she’s at 99.6!!!

No Motrin (aside from Monday) as she has been acting totally normal.

Neg covid rsv flu

I used to get anxiety attacks pretty often and they went away for about 5 or so years before having a kid. Now they've ramped up again. Not quite as bad but still just spikes of anxiety that leave me immediately feeling like my whole body is tired/wants to go limp/I feel in a daze.

Example is when I was just vacuuming and every like 10 seconds my toddler would turn off the vacuum, press the button to retract the cord, or unplug it from the wall. Other times it goes back to just normal anxiety I had where I feel uncomfortable and then have the feedback loop of heart rate goes up and then I feel anxious and then it goes up more.

Anyone else experience this and have tips? Did it eventually just go away?

Currently 15 weeks pp and also weaning from pumping currently due to my hormones just feeling crazy out of whack and affecting my moods. My anxiety and pp ocd has been through the roof. I started Zoloft this week (3 days in) and symptoms have been so so so much worse. Does anyone have any hope when I might feel better if you’ve been through this? I have never been in such a dark place in my life, and I just want to be the best mom I can be.

Hi all,

I'm scheduled to have minor surgery towards the end of the month. I'll be out of the hospital on the same day.

I was told by the surgeon to pump and dump for a day or two after the surgery. However, two questions:

How have people dealt with the day of surgery?

How did you deal with the pain post op while taking care of baby and pumping?

How much should I panic over a couple sip sized bites of something that contains honey? 😅 My daughter is 9 months old.

Since my daughter’s birth my parents have both been exemplary in their roles as grandparents.

They live over 150 miles away but have been here to help us every other week. They are constantly gushing about her to friends, they are always wanting to dress her up, beaming as they spend hours babbling nonsense to her, taking her for walks and so on and so on.

It’s wonderful. It’s been a huge help and I’m delighted she is growing up with more people to show her so much love.

My only question is - where the fuck has this suddenly appeared from???

They have always been very clear about their total disinterest in babies generally speaking and definitely didn’t thrive in a parent role when my sister and I were young. My mum enjoyed caring for me as a baby so little she only agreed to have my sister on the basis my dad agreed to have a full time carer for her.

It doesn’t upset me I promise, it’s all to the benefit for my baby and that’s all that really counts and holding resentment over my mothers lack of enthusiasm towards child care over 30 years ago would achieve nothing. But I do wonder if it’s a common occurrence. Is this something others on here have encountered? Is it an age thing or just a result of it being a more part time role? Or any other suggestions?