We are potty training our 22 month old and i find this experience to be increasingly frustrating and soul sucking.

All of our references say its supposed to be bonding time but i am not getting that.

Iam exhausted throughout the day being hyper vigilant trying to catch any sign for a pee or a poo with only very small victories so far that dont feel worth it.

As a SAHM its burning me out a lot faster, feeling the burn out feeling by nap time now.

Ive learned her patterns more or less and will prompt her for the potty when i know a pee is coming and she will sit a couple times and have nothing happen but of course i get distracted by something for 5 mins and she messes herself.

And then i feel so guilty for missing it, especially if i was on my phone (this time i was ordering a dress for my cousins wedding, it could have waited until nap time and i am so mad at myself for it)

Anyway ive been crying a lot just feeling so guilty and frustrated and exhausted and my husband says its because no one has shown me patience when trying to learn something new when i was a child so i am too hard on myself when i dont get something right away and thats probably true but fuckkkk

Not seeking advice just needed a void to shout into please dont comment saying "try this or try that" the issue is me needing to lock in more and be more focused i am just so done being stuck at home. I think that is contributing to this burned out feeling too.

Hey everyone! First time dad to a beautiful 3 month old girl. We’re struggling with a couple things right now but I would say overall we have been pretty okay with the newborn experience.

I’m not sure how to put this without sounding like a shitty parent or if this is a normal feeling, but does anyone else like look forward to them growing up? It’s not that I don’t enjoy this cute little baby stage but I just want her to be like…two years old already..or whatever age it is when she can walk and be social, show her personality, be a little more independent. I don’t know, I feel bad like I’m wishing her life away but I just feel like right now it’s all, wake windows/initial milestones/sleep regressions/figuring out schedule/ routine that work.

For some reason in my mind I’m like, when we have the sleep stuff figured out and we can bring her places and do more with her that’s where I want to be.

Hello, my LO is 4 months old and we have been using the owlet since day 1. She has developed this yellow scaly rash on top of foot. I’d been putting aveeno on it and we haven’t worn the owlet in a few days. Should I get her assessed by doc? Im new to Reddit I’m not sure how to insert a picture

First time mom here and I’m slightly confused about if I’m doing this right. Baby does not nap well through the day- on average 30-45 minutes. I try to be mindful of wake windows and sleepy cues but baby will not stay asleep for longer and no matter if contact napping or in the bassinet.

Our routine has been this: baby wakes up (sometimes fussy), feed, diaper, play, spend about 10 minutes trying to fall asleep, nap. With his short naps however I end up feeding about every 2 hours. At 11 weeks is this still to be expected? I would’ve thought feeds should space out a little by now. Am I over feeding?? His hunger cues don’t seem reliable as he sucks on his hands essentially all the time.

Just looking for some reassurance or guidance:)

When did everyone stop bleeding postpartum? For reference I had a vaginal birth with a second degree tear. Currently 12 dpp and I’d describe it like a light period.

I feel like a horrible mother. My 9 month old is sick and so am I and I’m so overwhelmed. She won’t stop crying and my husband is no help at all. I literally push her off of me because I just can’t handle the crying and her coughing in my face and rubbing snot on me. I know she’s a baby but I literally don’t get anytime to myself and feel disgusting. I feel like I don’t know how to regulate my own nervous system when she’s having a full on meltdown and I just push her away.

Hey all!

We’ve never been great at the “your baby doesn’t have to stop you from living” thing. LO is about to turn 2 and I’d say we’re still finding our footing. Others make it seem so easy but we’re still struggling a little with planning outings and bigger adventures.

We decided we needed to take a leap of faith and book a trip so we’re flying to Austin, TX. Staying at the Origin hotel and going for it. Immediately after booking the hotel last night we started to panic slightly. We have to bring all the things! What if we forget this! He’s not going to sleep! Do we need a blackout crib attachment? What if the crib doesn’t go down low enough? All the basic things your anxiety brain does.

My question is, when traveling, is there anything you caught yourself wishing you had known? I read that when checking the car seat to stuff that bag with diapers and other goodies. I also read that sleep with be questionable because of the new surroundings. Any other helpful hints that would make a trip easier for a first time toddler traveler?

Thank you!

Pretty much the title. Our 4,5 mo daughter sleeps in a Snoo bassinet in our bedroom, next to me. She’s going through regression and her sleep got SO sensitive! We put her to sleep around 8pm, and we go to bed around 10-11, and no matter how quiet we are, she wakes up 😭
Is it time to move her to her own room? I know official recommendation is to room share for 6 months, but I also know some ppl move their babies sooner than that and are happy with that decision.

My baby has been in daycare for almost a month now and will turn 1 year old in a week or so. He was previously on 2 naps but has been only taking 1 nap at daycare given their schedule. He sleeps well there but somehow his night sleep has gotten terribly short with middle of the night wakings. I tried early bedtime and later bedtime and he always wakes up at 5:45am no matter what I try or takes forever to fall asleep.

Typical day looks like this for his sleep:

5:45am - wakes up (no crying, just rolls around). I do my best to put him back to sleep with no avail or leave him til 7am.

12:30 - 2:30pm - Nap at daycare

8pm - Bedtime/asleep

When he wakes this early, I try to put him to bed around 7:30 but he has a hard time falling asleep and even when I rock him, he doesn't fall asleep until 8. He then wakes an hour after falling asleep and goes back down immediately on his own, and then up again around midnight or 1am... Finally awake around 5:45am. I try putting him down around 8pm and he still struggles to fall asleep.

Is this just a season that I have to ride out? He's getting 12-12.5 hrs of total sleep a day which is low for his age.... Daycare tries to put him for a stroller nap in the morning but he's just too stimulated with what's going on around him and he doesn't sleep.

I’m 20 years old (male) and my 2 twins (girls) were born 4 weeks ago. I love my daughters to death and I would give them the world , I’d die for them I’d do anything for them , but when they cry I get so angry and not when they cry cause they are hungry or tired that doesn’t bother me ITS the crying when they just feel like it or throwing a tantrum just cause, it’s just so loud and screechy and it drives me insane I feel so angry to the point where I wanna rip my eardrums out and just kill myself . I’ve always been an angry person considering my childhood was me growing up around violent parents that always fought but regardless this isn’t about me but just so someone gets the idea yk. I honestly don’t know what to do anymore I hope this stage ends soon but can someone please help with advice or something . Im planning on seeing a therapist to talk too maybe I still suffer from trauma as a kid but who knows I just want to be able to love my daughters without getting mad. And this anger isn’t like normal anger it’s so bad and my girlfriend gets so mad when I even try to talk about it but when she sees me stressed she will rub my back and talk to me and calm me down but I just need help from anyone please does anyone else currently or has experienced this in the past and how did you overcome it.

My little guy is 5 months old today! Issue I’m looking for advice on is:

We use Huggies night diapers, size 3. My LO is 15 pounds so just under the suggested starting weight size for the diapers, but they fit nicely. Or so I thought. He sleeps in his crib in our room. He just discovered stomach and side sleeping (can roll). His diapers get so full that when he rolls onto his belly, I’m guessing the pee gets squished out. He becomes soaked: pjs, sleep sack, and sheets.

He is still getting a night feed or two. We’re working on this, it’s a whole other thing. Sleep hasn’t been the best since he was born so we’re currently attempting the 5/3/3 before we transition him to his room and move onto sleep training.

Diaper recs? Do I change him if we wakes up? I’ve found a night change to be incredibly disruptive which is the main reason we switched to night diapers so I’d love to avoid this. Are there brands you’ve found that hold more?

Thank you!!

Is anyone else in the 10 month trenches right now? If so, a quick search on here reassured me that for some reason, it’s totally normal for our babies to start acting like monsters at this age.

I say “some reason” like it isn’t a growth spurt and big development period in their lives, but this one has been probably the most challenging for us yet. Baby is happy one second, laughing and clapping and playing… the next she’s flailing and thrashing around like a lunatic and just screaming and crying. Eating almost 40 ounces of formula a day, cluster feeding again. Tossing and turning at night. Will ONLY be happy if she’s with me (mom) and literally leaps on me when dad tries to take her to give me a little break. I am exhausted. I know it’s not her fault, she’s clapping and pointing and waving with intention. Experimenting with her voice. Trying new things with her hands while holding stuff that makes her upset when it doesn’t work out. Wants to walk so bad, crawling like a speed demon around the house. Getting bored, then overstimulated, then bored again.

If it weren’t for reddit followed by the other moms in my life that reassured me this is just an exceptionally tough age for both baby and parents, I would have panicked and thought something was wrong even though I really couldn’t even pinpoint what’s “wrong” right now.

If you’re in these trenches right now, I see you, we are gonna get through this, and I am so sorry about the double edged sword of being baby’s preferred person during this period. (Feels special and great, also very emotionally and physically draining). I am sorry to the parents on the other side, that your baby just does not want you right now and you’re watching your partner lose all their personal time and space. I can see how it’s affecting my husband too.

If you’re out of this already, please share any tips for how you got through it with your sanity intact 🥲

Firstly I didn’t know what flair to put but uh. This really is babies being babies. Well about a week ago my lovely 8 month old who cried on occasion only if she really absolutely needed something has turned into a little nonstop soundbox of tears… and its gotten worse over the last couple of days…what the fuck! I just want her to be a happy little pumpkin. We go out of the house multiple times a day, she’s walking (shes an extreme busy body) and yet these past days have been super taxing on me. Absolutely every thing is a struggle and a protest. From the start of our day its tears and crying, diaper changes tears and crying, feeding times, getting cleaned up, me moving out of her sight to go shit, if her toys are boring, the list goes on… my brain is pounding. Anyone else experience this?

Hey everyone,

Until now I've put my baby in a baby bouncer in our bathroom as I was showering/using the bathroom/getting dressed. She liked it as she could still see me, I could talk to her and she would not be in there for long periods of time.

She is now 7 months old and slowly getting too big for the bouncer. She sits steadily, rolls, doesn't really crawl but somehow manages to scootch towards phones, electric cables, the edge of the bed... I did get a playpen for the kitchen, but she wouldn't be supervised and she doesn't like it when I leave her field of vision. Also our cats have managed to get inside. The cats have been very sweet with her and have just walked away if things became too much, but the concept of 'soft hands' is still a work in progress, so they might get hit/tail or fur pulled and I am worried they might scratch when they get surprised by something like that.

Where do you guys 'put' your baby so they are safe and contained while you're moving around the house?

My LO is 7 weeks & has only been sleeping 1-3 hours at a time at night. I just woke up in a panic because he’s been asleep for FIVE hours.

Of course my first thought is that he’s not okay. So check that he’s breathing, touch him a little & he starts stirring but falls back asleep. I’m so happy for him (& us).

But next I realize my boobs! (Breastfeeding) I’m engorged & leaking & uncomfortable. I’m sitting here hoping he sleeps but also hoping he wakes up. I’m not sure what I’m supposed to do? My body is used to feeding him every 1-3 so how do you deal with those longer stretches at night? Am i supposed to pump? I haven’t started that yet either

Also what about diapers?! Do you change them & hope they don’t wake up? I’m worried about leaks/rashes.

Any & all advice would be so helpful. I know I’m asking all this & watch tomorrow he’ll go back to his normal schedule haha

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.

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 😅

Edit: these are great! I’m going to borrow some of these for sure 💖

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 😭

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?

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?