It’s okay to let baby fuss for a minute or two so you can: change your pants, take off your bra, put your hair up, grab that one pillow to stick under your elbow when you nurse or bottle feed, or get yourself some water.

Allowing yourself to be comfortable makes you a more patient and maybe even better version of yourself.

I’m a first time mom to a baby girl. When I initially took her home, I was trying to do everything “right.” We’re always told what not to do .. don’t share a bed, don’t feed to sleep, don’t let them sit in a dirty diaper, etc. It’s only been 13 weeks but I feel like I’ve learned so much and now I’m wondering what else I can do to make mine and baby’s life easier. I don’t care if it’s not recommended lol (don’t come for me). For example, I learned babies love a contact nap and sleep so much better/will nap longer so I try to make time to allow an extended contact nap if she’s fussing and not napping well when being transferred. Sometimes I’ll do it also because I simply enjoy the cuddles. Another example is nursing to sleep. I kept seeing these “routines” of feed, change diaper, wake window, nap. However, my girl would not stay down for her nap for very long if I followed that. I read on Reddit about nursing to nap/sleep and tried it and it has worked wonders for getting my little babe down for naps/bedtime. I also felt this immediate need to change her diaper if I saw the little blue line so she would end up in a scream fest because I would change it first thing when she’d wake from a nap. Now, instead, I nurse from one side, change diaper, then nurse from other side, and it’s been more pleasant for both of us. Unless it’s a poopy diaper in which case I’d change it right away. I think I’m rambling, it’s late, my baby is asleep, and my mom brain can’t clearly articulate what I’m trying to convey. Basically, what practices can I do to help my baby be more comfortable regardless if it’s “recommended” or not.

i need to vent bc I have no friends who understand, we’re 7 weeks in, baby is smiling and making new noises which is adorable but not at 2am😭 every minute of the day and night I question why we went through with this. I‘m scared of everything that is still to come, reading about the monthly regressions that come up. The sleep deprivation is killing me. I miss having time for just me, to be able to enjoy a meal, relax with my cats, spend an interrupted evening with my husband, have plans for the weekend other than a scream filled walk or grocery run. Everyone says with time it gets better but that’s not now that’s months away, I need a break now.

So my 11 month old slept decently until the past 2 nights, despite napping well during the day, suddenly started waking up every hour at night. So we thought, ah another sleep regression.

Suddenly, after the past 2 nights, she babbles much more complex sounds, plays with more intent, started taking independent steps, is showing much more interest in enjoying things (like looking at pictures in books instead of chewing the pages, taking apart puzzle pieces and inspecting them, enjoying the different tastes of food slowly, copying more complex movements, etc.) and is like a completely sentient being all of a sudden.

It’s like we have a compleeedtely different baby now. Over the course of 2-3 days. Feels like a huge software update.

Has anyone else experienced something like this?

Our toddler has been fixated on having a bottle to go to sleep even at 2yo. We thought it would just be that way for awhile until something unexpected happened on a vacation.

I was opening the trunk at our hotel to take out the luggage and her glass bottle fell out of a bag and broke on the floor.

My LO saw the glass on the floor and my wife told her that her bottle broke so we don’t have one for her tonight.

She nodded her head but still asked for it at night. But then reminded her it broke. She nodded and then replayed the whole scenario out loud.

“I don’t have bottle”

“Daddy dropped it”

“Glass all over the floor!”

And ended it with “accidents happen”

Then asked for a story and went to sleep.

Happened a few more nights but after about a week. She doesn’t ask for it and just wants a story before bed.

So glad we finally got them off the bottle. Just not in the way I expected 😂

Hi! Just bought our 10 week old daughter the Woolino ultimate sleep bag, as it’s recommended like crazy and I do like the idea of: 4-seasons, antimicrobial, will last until she’s 2, I like the snaps and the car seat opening, it’s got cute hot air balloons on it.
My husband has had a lot of questions and concerns though, he says the length seems like it’s not safe for sleeping, it’s a tripping hazard (for us), he kind of just doesn’t like the extra fabric, diaper changing might be more difficult, and then the fact that you have to air dry it.
I quit my job to be a stay at home mom so the $98 came out of his credit card. I feel weirdly guilty about it not being a good purchase. So — should I just return it??? Or does it end up being the godsend people say it is? She’s had naps in it today and haven’t experienced any magic yet, in fact she was waking up a little more than usual if anything.

Edit: This sub is crazy active! Wow! Thank you to everyone for your responses. I’m feeling a lot more confident in the purchase. Definitely going to think about my own mental blocks when it comes to having a single income and making purchases for us. I will be buying a backup sleep sack, probably a cheaper one but we’ll see. Also, she has successfully slept overnight with arms out of a swaddle! Growing up real fast so I’m sure that extra fabric will be filled before I can blink.

I’ll start off by saying, I’m an only child, and I hated it. Although my parents had a lot to do with my miserable childhood as well. I hate the “only child syndrome” stigma around only children. I don’t want my daughter to be lonely growing up either. I suffered a lot through my pregnancy mentally, and am now dealing with postpartum depression. I don’t know that I can handle another, but I might be selling myself short. I would love to hear your opinions. ❤️

It can be a little thing, it can be your baby hitting a major milestone. It can be more than one.

I'll start:

1. I fed my baby a blueberry puree pouch while she was wearing a white hoodie and managed to keep it clean.

2. Our baby had two teeth punch through her gums.

Share your happy!

I have a 4 month old, and am starting to wonder if I should be playing music while driving in the car and "playing" at home. Are we? I'm new lol. If so, what is the best Spotify playlist, because I'm not sure my millennial Blink 182 playlists are going to cut it.

I spent the last 53 minutes trying to get my 7 month old to finally sleep (rocking, singing, patting, the whole process), only for my husband to walk in and immediately forget what an inside voice is😭😭😭

Baby wakes up, husband picks him up, and now I’m back to square one… only this time I’m more annoyed at my husband.

Please tell me I’m not the only one and share your funniest/ most ridiculous wake up stories!! 🤣

Please don't judge me, but I have an 8-month-old, and I keep wondering why people choose to have more than one child.

She's a pretty good baby, but 8 months of exhaustion is catching up with me. I feel like I can never catch a break. Even when she sleeps, an hour to myself doesn't feel like enough after hours of constantly entertaining her, taking care of her.

I can't watch TV around her, stroller walks last 10 minutes before she wants to be carried, and she doesn't seem to enjoy food or car rides either.

Right now, I can't imagine having another baby. But I wonder if I'm missing something that makes others want to do it all over again.

Parents of multiple kids, did you feel this way with your first? What made you want another?

EDIT: Edit: Honestly, I never imagined this post would get so much attention! 🥹 I’m a little overwhelmed by the number of comments, but in the best way. Thank you to everyone who took the time to share your stories, experiences, and honest thoughts with me. I’m slowly reading through them all, and it’s really interesting to hear so many different perspectives. 🤍

https://www.reddit.com/r/NewParents/s/pDaa489OdG

Please don't roast me.

I recently asked why people choose to have more than one child, and the sibling factor came up a LOT.

Honestly, I’m curious why having a sibling is considered so important.

My father had six siblings, and their relationships caused a lot of pain, including a major financial betrayal. My mother’s side is okay, but nothing that makes me wish I had that kind of family dynamic. I have two siblings myself, and we’re good friends, but we all have our own lives and live in different countries. My husband’s relationship with his sibling has also brought stress to the family.

I understand that siblings can be wonderful, but they can also cause emotional damage. What’s wrong with being an only child? Can’t children find their own chosen family through close friends?

Is having a biological sibling really irreplaceable? And what about the relationship between parents? Having a second child means dividing your time and attention, including the time you have for your partner. Honestly, I struggle with the idea of compromising that relationship.

I’ve also seen only children say they want a second child because they don't want their child to experience what they experienced growing up.

I’m genuinely curious: What makes having a sibling so important that people feel their child needs one?

At my baby’s checkup appointment the doctor mentioned that by 4 months I should not be creating a feed to sleep association. I am a first time parent. Unfortunately this is what works sometimes for us, and my baby likes nursing to sleep. She said “ don’t nurse to sleep unless you want to be doing it for a VERY long time”. What does this even mean? Why is this bad?

Currently been using aquaphor since they were born and been noticing it dries out their skin and I would like to see what you guys recommend to keep baby’s skin moisturized without stripping out the oils.

Hello all,

I’ll keep it short and sweet. My cat (2.5 yrs old) is very smart, too smart for his own good. We brought home our first baby (22 days old) and while the cat was complete unbothered by the presence of the baby and doesn’t care, he’s picked up some weird habits.

I know these are attention seeking behaviors from him. I’m not asking for advice like “send him to the vet!” Believe me, it’s not a medical issue. I’m asking for advice on how to acclimate him better to the less attention he will be and has been receiving.

The new habit he’s picked up for attention is this: whenever we change the baby, he goes into his litterbox, acts like he’s using it, then walks back out, meowing like he’s crying. This is consistently when we change the baby, and when baby is crying.

While this alone isn’t the worst thing in the world, just now i found him snoozing on the diaper changing table (we keep it in the bathroom on top of the washing machine). I know cats are territorial, but this just crossed a line for me — probably because I’m so fed up with his behavior.

I know he’s just a cat. But I’m PP and primal as hell, and obviously as I’m EBF and my husband works, we can’t exactly give the cat the attention he was getting before. Has anyone dealt with this? How do we get him to understand that the baby isn’t going anywhere, and that he can’t put his poop paws on the baby’s poop station?

Any advice would be welcome. Thanks in advance!

I believe we’re going through the 4 month regression. I’m so exhausted and desperate for sleep. My doctor said we could start rice cereal when he turns 4 months, but I feel hesitant. Does it actually help babies sleep through the night? My baby also exclusively gets breastmilk & im starting to wonder if I do formula at night, will he sleep longer? My migraines are so bad from this sleep deprivation.

Hello, I am a new mom with a 3 month old, im struggling with PPD and PPA. We just got new neighbors with a baby older than ours my question is what do I do? The neighbors leave their baby alone in the room that faces our front door and window with the window open and he just cries for hours. He sounds like a whaling cat, its not Its not like hes having a fit he sounds lonely and no one goes to check on him. At first we thought maybe they were sleep training but its hours throughout the day and night. It’s not the crying itself that bothers us its the absence of adult voices. Its gets me really anxious due to being postpartum and my husband has even shut the doors and windows to drown out the neighbors baby sound because its making him distressed, my husband was neglected growing up and it triggers him. I know its none of our business but i cant help but worry. We’ve introduced ourselves and ive stated if they ever need anything were here to help. If the mom is struggling with postpartum i would love to spend time with her and heal together but i just dont know how to approach it. Any advice? & Any advice on my PPD and PPA?

Ps not to long ago we had neighbors with a baby who cried and screamed a lot, we were never concerned because we always heard the parents. So Its not the crying itself.

So this happened .. I was with my baby at the doctor’s office for his vaccination. He was getting a lil over-stimulated and fussy so I have him his soother and tried to calm him down by blowing on his face(usually works). One boomer had the audacity to come to where I was sitting and tell me “He wants to talk and explore.. you are irritating him”. I was like WTF how do you even think that you know my child (who I carried for 9 months and has been with me 24*7 for last 8 months) more than me. I respected his age(in his late 60s so wasn’t rude) but I still gave him an eye roll and politely said no, he just wants to rest. And he was calm within next 2 mins because I know how to calm my baby down duh 🙄
It didn’t bother me as much tbh but it can be a very touchy topic for many mothers. Why can’t boomers just mind their own business?

Hi everyone, FTM my baby is a week shy of four months and from the day he was born would wake every hour and a half to two hours in the night for a feed. Five days ago he started sleeping from 10pm to 4 am have a bottle then sleep til 10 am . As of yesterday he stopped and is waking every two hours . Do you think a baby that didn’t get much sleep goes through sleep regression? Any tips? Im at my wits end these past three months have been stressful

Me and my husband just had our first baby in July, and we are planning on driving from the PNW to GA (est. 1 day and 11hrs) for Thanksgiving in order for his family to finally meet her!

He and I have driven cross-country a handful of times throughout our relationship, but now that we have our little one, I'm realizing just how different this trip is going to be.

I'm looking for helpful tips, I've already gathered some important ones from scrolling this reddit, so here's what I have gathered!

Stop every 2 hours for around 30 minutes at least for changes, feeding, tummy time, play

Leave around her normal bedtime

Expect crankiness

One driving, one in the back with her

Puppy pads for carseat

Please let me know if there's anything I need to think about/plan for, especially for exclusively breastfeeding/pumping (we are okay with formula if needed, but baby is currently ebf)

Hello I’m 11 months postpartum and my hands fingers and wrists started to ache a few weeks ago now they’re pretty achey especially at night and by the end of the day. I’ve been wearing a splint to bed on my right one as that’s worse and have been to physio but they’re still extremely sore. I’ve had an ultrasound and it was board line carpal tunnel mostly just inflammation. Any advice or suggestions would be appreciated.

I’m truly at a loss here. My baby is 8, almost 9 months old and we’ve had probably the worst 24 hours we’ve ever had. Last night he was up every hour, on the hour from 8pm-2am waking from a very still sleep crying very hard. This morning he woke up an hour earlier than normal and wouldn’t go back down. He was very unhappy and I assumed he was just not well rested from the night. He had a bottle fine, took his first nap, and then woke up a bit happier. Until he had his afternoon bottle. Immediately after finishing it, he is screaming and crying the most blood curdling cry I’ve ever heard from him. Eyes wide open. Snot and tears everywhere. Just sounding like he’s in pain. He stares me dead in the eyes while he’s crying like that and it just feels like he’s looking at me with desperation. He’s throwing his body back while I’m holding him and also pushing off of me. I finally got him settled down about 20 minutes later and then he was ok. It happened again at his next two bottles. After the last one, I called the after hours nurses line. The nurse asked me if this was my first baby, I said yes, and he said “kids cry, it’s probably gas or teething”. I’ve never felt so dismissed. This isn’t my first day with my baby, we’ve dealt with plenty of gas and teething already and he cried, but not like this.

A few background notes
- He’s been exclusively formula-fed since 3 weeks, and he’s on the same exact formula as the day we started it.
- He’s been eating purées for a few months. We’ve never had an issue and have not tried anything new recently
- He does eat some food, but barely anything and has not had anything new.
- He has been constipated the last few weeks. We have him prune juice over the weekend and he had two really good, large poops the last two days. He did not poop today, but the last time he went was yesterday late evening so that’s not an abnormal time gap between bowel movements for him at all.
- His gas today has smelled horrific
- The nurse did ask me to check his mouth for sores or any teeth coming through and I did not see or feel anything. He only has his bottom two front teeth currently

His pediatrician doesn’t have any openings tomorrow, and neither do the other providers in their office. We plan on taking him to urgent care tomorrow morning just to make sure we’re not missing anything. I don’t know what else to do, but this is so out of character I just know there’s something going on. Even if it is minor. Has anyone experienced anything like this?

Edit: Thanks for all the input! I really needed info from people who MM worked for, and who can’t afford things like Courtier. It looks like people who liked Millie but switches because of the burn scandal mostly use Pampers Amore, Freestyle, and Rascal. I will research those.

I am interested in hearing from people who switched from Millie Moon since all babies are different and what works for one might not work for the next. If Millie was working for you (no blowouts, no overnight leaks using the standard diaper, no rashes) and you switched to a financially comparable or cheaper option, what do you buy now? I can’t afford to buy packs of diapers that end up going unused. I’m hoping other former Millie Moon users have babies with similar body shape, skin sensitivity, etc. as mine since we all landed there originally.

My baby is 4 months. Size 3. I tried target’s brand briefly (Rite Aid brand worked for my firstborn, but they are out of business.) He got a rash and had multiple blowouts with Target brand, so I went back to Millie Moon. I have over half the box left (so around 50 diapers), and want to find a good alternative before they’re gone. I highly doubt we’ll have a problem since this pack does seem to cause an issue. But I don’t want to risk a new package.

Any parents with experiences with a cranial helmet or did you say no and experienced natural, eventual rounding?

We went to a private helmet provider who obviously pushed for a helmet after their assessment. We want to make the best decision for our LO but the cost is astronomical… we are in Ontario and our insurance may not cover it. It would cost us close to $4k out of pocket.

Here are the results of their assessment of my LO’s head:

ODD: 7.1
CVAI: 5.2%
Mild to moderate plagiocephaly

CR: 95.9%
Moderate to severe brachycephaly

Any input would be great to help us make the decision!