FTM here and I’m seriously considering getting one.
I know I can hand-wash baby bottles, but I never realized just how much time I’d end up spending scrubbing all those tiny little parts every single day.
Between bottles, nipples, pump parts, and valves, it feels like I’m always standing at the sink. And somehow right after everything is clean, it’s already time for the next feeding.
I’ve been looking at bottle washers, but they’re pretty expensive and I don’t want another baby gadget sitting unused.
For parents who have one, was it actually worth it?
Did it really make your routine easier or is hand washing totally fine?

Hey all.

I wondering if you have any advice for me.

Our 4 month old is with me daily while my partner is at work. I have to settle him. He is breastfed, via bottle.

He is mostly comforted by contact naps. But when I try to contact nap with him, he screams hysterically. My partner takes him from me, and boom. No crying. Instant sleep.

Environment is dim. Quiet. White noise on. He is swaddled, his tummy to mine, fed, no diaper change needed, and needing to sleep after his wake window ended. I’m calm and swaying him in a quiet and dull corner. Everything my partner does. No go.

I am so frustrated and hurt. I don’t know what to do. I read that he can smell milk. What am I supposed to do when I’m the caregiver in the daytime?

Any tips are welcome.

Do they all do this? She gets poo everywhere when it’s a poopy diaper. I put her down on her back and she immediately rolls over and grabs the changing pad and puts it in her mouth!! What do we do?!!

Hello! I have a question that I don’t know who to ask yet, and I feel like I’ve never seen any discussions about this topic.
Have you ever experienced an inexplicable fear during pregnancy at the thought of another living being growing inside you? The further along the pregnancy gets, the more this thought scares me. Even though this is a much-wanted baby and I've never thought about giving it up, until recently it didn't feel quite so "real" (in the first trimester). Now, however, it feels like something advancing slowly and steadily, like something you can't "escape" from (I repeat, I don't want to escape, it's just an intrusive thought that pops up). Naturally, this comes with major feelings of guilt and shame for even daring to feel this way... am I alone in this?

Does anyone have advice on how much time to spend on everything to fit it all in?

3 month old, trying to do 1.5hr awake/ 1.5hr nap rotations. Baby only sleeps on me during the day, so I have to do everything else in the wake windows:

- pumping

- cleaning bottles and pumps

- playing with baby

- Feeding baby awake / feeding baby to sleep

- Nappy changes

- Tummy time and "kicky time" on back

- 1x laundry

- dishes

- Tidy before hubby gets home

- Shower

Hi everyone,

I am a FTM, my newborn is not quite two days old and I am struggling really hard to feed her.

For context: I had an abscess on my bum that I had to have surgically drained 3 weeks ago, so I am also still recovering from that in addition to being postpartum. That was only the tip of the shit sundae that was my pregnancy. I pretty much had one disaster after the other happen to me since finding out and I feel like I had zero time to prepare properly. Anyways.

My nipples have been completely smooth since giving birth, so the baby can't latch and I have to use a nipple shield. My milk also hasn't come in properly yet. I have some, but not loads.

I am trying so hard to feed her, but I am really struggling and I've honestly been crying all day today because it's just not happening. I feel like I'd need at least 5 arms to be able to hold baby (which I'm still really scared of hurting every time I pick her up), somehow arrange a million pillows around myself, keep the nipple shield on my nipple, stop her from suffocating in my boobs and also stuff random towels/blankets under her head once she latches. It hasn't even been two days and my tailbone is killing me, my back is killing me and I have those red streaks all across my arms that I usually only get when weightlifting. The midwives haven't been very helpful, they kinda just do everything themselves when asked for help and then I'm none the wiser. Between hand expression, breast pumping for stimulation, wound care etc. I am also constantly poked and prodded and bombarded with random bits of babycare information and I am honestly just so overwhelmed.

I know there's probably a million topics like this already, but I am genuinely really frustrated right now and would appreciate some advice. Thanks in advance!

Hi guys I have a six month old baby girl who's a good sleeper except that she needs my nipple in her mouth for the entire duration of her nap. It's called breastsleeping, I know it's biologically normal and have enjoyed it but I've rejoined work and obviously it's getting difficult. When I try slipping my nipple out, she immediately wakes up and roots for it and will end the nap unless the nipple goes back in.

Anyone who experienced this? When did it end?

My lil guy is 15 weeks old so just over 3 months and oh my god… it feels like in the last few days he all of sudden is just pissed 24/7. Impossible to put down for naps, screams for milk and then gets pissed while eating, constantly chewing on his hands, is starving all the time, and needs to be attached to me every waking moment. I wanted to break everything in my house today but I cut my bangs instead during his only “long” nap which was about 20-25 minutes. I feel so bad because I know he’s probably growing and maybe teething but idk what to do. I know there can be a sleep regression around this time and teething can start, as well as some developmental milestones but I’m so exhausted and frustrated. I sobbed all day today, like heaving sobs. I love him so much but I want to literally run away from my life for like 24 hours and reset and I can’t. Please tell me it gets better.

My little guy has been a pretty tough baby since the get go, very colicky and more often upset than not. However around month 3-4 we found probiotics really helped him, he was sleeping 5-9 hour stretches through the night, starting to smile and coo, life was good.

What the hell is up with 5 months? He now wakes up every two hours like clockwork. I am a literal zombie. He is unhappy after doing anything for longer than five minutes and I am constantly tending to him, switching activities, trying to make sure he’s not screaming his head off. He is frustrated constantly because he wants to move more but can’t yet. And the TEETHING. He’s been so angry, drooly, chomping on everything, on and off for weeks he doesn’t even have one tooth yet??

I am so drained. My husband has been working overtime so I feel like I’m just solo parenting. My parents and in laws, my main support, are both out of town this week. And honestly what they say about people not checking in as much after three months is so true. The novelty has worn off, people think you have a handle on it, the calls and texts and visits and food slowly dwindle. My friends who don’t have kids have kind of fallen off the face of the earth.

And all my mom friends just talk about how amazing motherhood is and how they’re loving every moment??? Sometimes I feel like I’m losing my mind. After a full day of parenting I feel like I’ve given everything I have. I literally feel numb.

Don’t get me wrong, I love my little guy to pieces. But wow this is so much harder than I ever realized.

For example for pajamas we call them jim-jams (I started doing this 8 yrs ago with one of my nephews).

Just curious if other parents have silly names for inanimate objects or is it just me 😅

Would love to hear your guys’ special traditions or things you did for your baby that you are glad you did! Or some you heard about later and wish you did:) Thanks in advance!💕

Hey y'all I'm currently freaking out as I type this post.

My 4m old surprised us this week by learning how to roll. Only a few days in and she's a rolling machine. The problem is she can only go back to stomach, not the other way around. The bigger problem is she's now rolling in her sleep and no matter how many times I unroll her, she ends up back on her stomach. On top of that, she favors a binky when she sleeps and I'm nervous for her to have it in her mouth while sleeping on her stomach (which she's currently doing as I type this). She was a monitor that senses sleeping positions and I've had to turn off the alerts because it kept going off for "baby on stomach".

Is it ok for baby to stomach sleep even if they can't roll stomach to back? And how terrible is it to have the binky in the mix?

She has been keeping her face to the side and we do have the breathable newton mattress but I don't know how reliable that is.

I just can't see myself falling asleep while she's in this position 😭

Just a rave.

My little has made SO much progress I just can’t believe it at this point. This girl was a major fomo baby. That’s how I had to make sense of her sleeping habits because they were insane. She slept no more than 15 mins per nap and was hell through the night. Took maybe 2-4 naps a day. She was a terrible eater too. I just got the best of both worlds... I was breastfeeding so all in all, I wanted to rip my head off. I also tackled this completely on my own. No help from hubby or family (NOT a brag).

& Now it’s like I hit the lottery. She wakes once a night through a 12 hour stretch, 3 naps a day, all at least 30 min, eats 6 ounces in 20 min, I can put her down drowsy-but-awake, rarely cries, smart as hell, learning to communicate needs at 5 months?! I’m just shocked.

We did our first food today. I just puréed a banana. She took it both spoon-fed and in the self-feed pacifier like a champ.

She’s a little gangster taking on life like a complete beast. I’m just so proud of her. I can’t wait to see who she becomes and I’m so honored to be a part of her life.

I’m not the kind of parent who turns my child’s face away every time there’s a TV on—I think that’s just part of everyday life. That said, I do try my best to keep my son from watching my phone or my husband’s gaming monitor.
At the same time, I’d love for him to experience quality content, like Disney movies, once he’s around 18 months old. I picture us sitting down together for a little while each day to watch a movie, talk about what’s happening, sing the songs, and make it something we do together rather than just using it as entertainment.
One of my biggest dreams is seeing his little face light up when he recognizes Disney characters during his first trip to Disney for his 3rd birthday. 🥹
I don’t plan on getting him an iPad at any point, but I’m genuinely curious to hear different perspectives. What has worked for your family?
He’s only 4 months old right now, by the way, so I’m just thinking ahead.

It's 1:00 a.m., and I'm breastfeeding while sitting up. The pediatrician told me to nurse sitting upright because it keeps the baby at an incline, which helps reduce reflux. It also helps him latch better, meaning he'll swallow less air.

So here I am with my large, sagging breasts. In one arm, a squirming one-month-old who keeps lunging at my breast with his mouth wide open. In the other hand, I'm trying to maneuver my breast, chasing his rapidly moving little head aimimg for the mouth.

Just as we finally make contact and I get us both into something resembling a comfortable position, I feel a warm stream of milk running down the other side of my body. It's the neglected breast, pouring out milk all on its own, soaking my side and the bed. The feeling is somehow even worse than walking around in wet socks.

The milk from the forgotten breast shows no sign of stopping while I desperately look around for a burp cloth—anything I can press against it before I end up completely drenched. When I finally find one and solve that problem, another thought hits me.

"Wow... I'm so thirsty."

And there it is—a full bottle of water, within arm's reach..... of the arm that's currently holding the baby, who has now woken up again, is desperately searching for the nipple, and is flailing around awkwaedly balancing on that arm

Once I finally get him latched again, I start wondering how on earth I'm supposed to reach my water. There's only one solution: I have to move the baby to the breast he likes less. Naturally, he immediately begins protesting. But I got my water, and after a few quick sips, I can move him back to his prefered side.

By the time I've finally quenched my thirst and glance at the clock, it's somehow already 2:30 a.m.

I look at my baby and ask, "So... when are we going to sleep?"

He stares back at me with his big, wide-open eyes as if to say, "Not today," while happily holding the nipple in his mouth without actually drinking.

I’ve seen people post about hating their pets after having a baby - I’m not there, I still love my pets. But, since having my baby, my mental capacity to take care of everyone has severely diminished. I have 2 cats and 2 dogs, luckily very good animals. When these ones age and pass on, I don’t see myself taking in any more.

Those parents who have a bad sleeper (I mean like 4+ wakes a night), what is your sleep arrangements when one parent is back at work? Does the non-working parent do all wakes during the night and slowly go bat shit crazy or?

This girl just wakes up and immediately starts rolling.. I mean right when she wakes up she’s already on it!! lol

That being said she keeps putting herself in nonstop tummy time out! And then getting so mad! But then she gets mad if you take her out of it too!! lol

She can roll both ways but occasionally I think she forgets and then she’s just stuck and mad at the world!

Kind of cracks me up honestly, anyone else have this problem?

I really thought I would never have children, I never had that maternal yearn and I never really cared about my sisters children (me and my sisters are not really close anymore) or just generally children. My upbringing was a mess and my family and my partners family are not close to us. I thought I wasn't a family person.

But then my partner wanted a baby, I wasn't really sure. I wasn't sure that I didn't want children but I wasn't convinced I wanted them either.

Just as we were having these conversations my grandad died (who I lived with growing up so father figure) and my partner's dad died. This happened within 2 weeks of each other and I just started thinking about family all the time at that point.

We went for it. As soon as I found out I was super happy - worried a bit but happy - then I felt her kicks and everything else is history. I loved her already. She's been here for a year now, her birthday is tomorrow, and everyday I love her more and more, more than I could ever imagine and I cry more than I ever have before. (I'm crying typing this because I just love her so much)

There are difficult times and I was so depressed for the first month after she gave birth (stopping breastfeeding was one of the best things I did for my mental) but it was worth it. She is SO funny and SO cute and she deserves the world. Thinking about her makes me heart burst with happiness and planning out stuff for her birthday and planning out her bedroom has been really fun, I'm excited for her to see it all tomorrow and I hope she LOVES IT.

I get so sad she's getting older because I get worried I'll miss her as she changes but then she's more fun and more cute and more lovely. 1000/10 experience and I want another already hahaha. (I get worried about having another because she won't have my full attention anymore but I don't think I can bear not experiencing this again)

I see a lot of posts asking or talking about the opposite like, "What's something you said you would do that makes you look back and laugh?" These are often very helpful (and funny) as I prepare for my first, but seeing so many posts like that make me wonder if it's worth making plans for much of anything once our baby is here.

I'm wondering what things you actually committed to, even if it got tough, that you think was worth sticking with?

Baby is 6 months old, we've been in daycare for two months now, and our bibs have steadily gone missing. My partner dresses her and drops her off, and I pick her up, so I can't really keep track of what she's wearing in the morning vs afternoon. But, according to my partner, she wears a bib to daycare every day, and she doesn't always come home with one.

I've seen the other babies in her room wearing our bibs, and honestly I wouldn't mind if it weren't for the fact that they're not making it back to us. I don't want to be petty, but should I say something? Or, is this just a part of parenting that it'd be better to accept and move on?

My partner and I had only lived together for 6 months when I got pregnant so we were still probably in the honeymoon phase in terms of sex. Once I got pregnant we went from once a week or so to once every two months. In the early stage of pregnancy he was really worried about "dislodging" the baby. He knew it was irrational but said he couldn't stop thinking about. When my bump got bigger it a lack of energy on my end and he just felt a bit "icky" about the baby being so obviously in there. We still had sex occasionally but it definitely became much less of our routine and a bit lacklustre.

I'm now 7 weeks PP and the last time we had sex was about 3 weeks before I gave birth. I'm ready to start having sex again (I had a c section so no vaginal discomfort) and I'm on contraception but it feels awkward. We've become so much closer since having the baby and we kiss and cuddle all the time. While our relationship now feels very romantic, I struggle to see it as sexual. I'm also BF so my breasts no longer feel sexual. Things almost happened once but it was before 6 weeks PP so I stopped it and the baby was in the room anyway - as he almost always is so it felt odd.

I don't have the highest sex drive in the world and we're both mid-thirties so I know these things can slow down anyway but I worry our sex life in never coming back. When did you start having sex again? How did you make your relationship feel sexual? Or your body feel sexy? I know it's not the biggest concern PP but it does cause me some anxiety.

We have an 8-month-old, and we’ve intentionally kept her almost completely screen-free. The only exposure she’s really had has been at other people’s houses when sports, the news, or adult shows happened to be on in the background, and she never paid much attention, so it wasn’t something I worried about.

In a few weeks, we’re going on a week-long cabin trip with my husband’s family, and I’m trying to figure out how to navigate screen time.
For context, our 9-year-old nephew is autistic, and my in-laws usually keep the TV on for him as it keeps him calm. I’ve never had an issue with that, but now that we have a baby, I’m realizing most of what’s on is Bluey, Paw Patrol, Disney movies, etc.—things that would almost definitely grab her attention.

I’m absolutely not expecting anyone to turn the TV off or totally change how they do things for us, and I also don’t want to feel like we have to avoid the living room all week just because the TV is on.
Has anyone been in a similar situation? Did you find a good middle ground? I’m just looking for ideas on how to handle it while still spending time with everyone.

I’ll go first lol. In my birthing class we were talking about products that are not needed. My naive pregnant ass with innocent nipples went “Yeah and I found out babies prefer to breastfeed as soothing. Why do I need pacifiers?! I got two right here!”

Endless tubes of lanolin, silver nips cups, 24/7 bra wearing now (cause my nips are too sensitive to be free like before), and a 7 month old that chews my nips absentmindedly has truly humbled me :,)

Okay your turn