My daughter is 10 months now and eggs have been an issue since we introduced solids. I was never taught how to cook growing up but I'm trying to better myself for her I've tried giving her eggs I know how i cook them but she always spits it out. She ate them ONCE when I mixed the scrambled egg mix with milk and haven't been able to get her to eat them since. She still spits it out. I've tried different spices (even garlic, pepper, and salt!)

Hey mommas, I was curious everyone’s thoughts on this. My LO is 11.5 months old and always has been a bit of a Velcro baby. She sleep amazing starting at 2 months she slept through the night but then 6 months we transitioned her to her own room/crib and she started teething. Ever since then she has not slept well at all… we have tried sleep training (chair, Ferber, gentle) nothing worked! She worked herself up to a point she would throw up every single time… it was traumatic for both of us, so we stopped…my husband and I were getting so exhausted we reverted to bed sharing at 10 months after months of waking up multiple times a night trying to get her back to sleep. I know it’s controversial to bed share and before we had her I always said we will never bed share/cosleep because I know how dangerous it can be (we have a large bed so we have plenty of space and we’ve made it safe for her, no pillows or blankets anywhere near her). I just worry that we’ll never be able to get her to sleep independently at this point….but it’s the only way we can all sleep right now. Any advice or thoughts from you all?

Hello parents,
I’m coming here with a heavy heart and with the sense of total hopelessness. My husband and I are stuck in a cycle of toxicity and I don’t see any way out of it. I’m miserable.

The reason I’m posting here is because trying to parent 3 kids together completely destroyed us.
If I talk about all the issues we have and had it would probably become a very long post. So I’m going to just stick to what we have been dealing with lately.

My husband leaves home at 6 am and comes back at around 5 or sometimes later. I am a stay-at-home mom. We have a 7-year-old (1st grade), a 2-year-old (goes to school for 2 hrs twice a week), and freshly one-year-old.

So I do all the morning routines/dropoffs. Also they don’t sleep through the night and I’m the one handling nights. And most evenings I put 2 or 3 of them to sleep.

So my husband is now asking me to give him a 30-minute break when he gets home. And then I can have one too. The problem is in the evening it’s really hard to take care of all 3 of them, because they need to eat, bathe, just cranky and clingy etc. and I’m feeling completely exhausted at all times. My husband says he is exhausted too. And on top of that, he has a horrible attitude and yells at me when we try to discuss these things.

And finally, he just completely ruins our weekends trying to nap or relax. He wants us to make a schedule, so each one can get a break. And I prefer to have family time.

I guess I don’t know if I’m looking for advice or just ranting. But thank you for reading if you made it this far.

Hi!

3 y/o son has a severe allergy to dairy (among others). Today we were playing on the slide at the playground, when another child started climbing on the equipment holding (and eating from) a bag of cheese curls. I immediately picked up my child and left- but it really bummed me out. Just had another similar situation where we had to leave a library class because another child was eating peanut butter bambas (despite a no-eating sign displayed 😩). How are we handling these situations? Just picking up our child and leaving) Asking the parent of the child on the playground if they could please eat their snack in the designated picnic areas? Obviously, I know that the burden is on me to keep my child safe - but it just feels so unfair that he can’t experience normal childhood things like playing on the playground.

My daughter has decided to start unnecessarily add her own two cents into conversations and dig her heels in when she wants to be right. I’m losing my mind with trying to redirect the behavior to no avail.

For example, I took her with me when she was on winter break, to have coffee with my best friend. We were talking about her job and some drama in regards to a newsletter. And my daughter interrupts (strike number 1) and starts talking about how her dad talks about me in a negative way.

It’s not appropriate at all. And my best friend had to step in (she had been made aware of my issue) because she saw how my daughter wasn’t paying attention to me when I was telling her that that wasn’t appropriate to bring up at all, and how she interrupted, and that she was not invited into the conversation.

My daughter still persisted in interrupting our conversation a few more times, talking about how she got free things at a music festival, how much she argues with my brother because he’s strict when he babysits her, and the latest gossip at her school…all of these conversations had nothing to do with what my best friend and I were talking about.

And then when she was wants to be right, she digs her heels in and gets so upset and won’t listen to anyone. A good example I can give is when she says she did her homework. And i ask her later if she did it and she says no. I’ll ask her why did she tell me she did do it, and then she’ll insist she didn’t actually say that, that she said she was going to do it later. Even when others jump in and start telling her she actually said something specific, she gets so worked up and claims she actually said something else. And she gets so upset and I get so upset because then she won’t listen to reason and how bad it is that she claims one thing and then contradicts herself, and still insists she’s right.

I don’t know what to do anymore. I’ve tried so many ways to not be mean and redirect the behavior and find out why she keeps bringing up the most inappropriate topics when it’s not warranted. And to find out why she likes to change her stories and lie about it (her dad does the same thing and it’s so triggering for me because he would do it to gaslight me when we were together).

It’s gotten to the point, I become so desperate to cut her off before she starts that I slip up and tell her to shut up because that works better than being like, “Hey, were we talking about that? Why are you bringing it up? That’s not okay.”

I don’t know what to do.

Our daughter is 5½ and in kindergarten. She has known a boy in her class for two years, since they were in the same daycare and pre-K together, and she considers him her best friend.

Over the last two months she has told us that he often tells her what to do, and when she doesn’t comply, he gets upset, screams, and cries. She tends to give in to avoid the conflict. Recently she wanted to go on the slide, but he told her not to, so she didn’t. She came home sad that she missed her chance.

We’ve encouraged her, sometimes gently and sometimes with a firmer voice, to make new friends and play with other kids. She has other friends and mentions them by name, but she won’t play with them.

For the past two days, I’ve been talking to her at drop-off, suggesting she play in a bigger group, where she could still include him. When we ask afterward whether she played with other kids, she first tries to hide the answer, then admits she only played with him. When I asked why she doesn’t listen to us and whether she wants us to feel sad, she said, “I want to do what my brain tells me to do.”

How can we communicate with her about this? Has anyone dealt with something similar, and what worked for you?

My wife is a full-time stay-at-home mum looking after our 3-year-old son. She's decided to co-sleep with him and not vaccinate him, which means he's missing out on childcare/kindergarten due to vaccination requirements in our country.

As a result, she's with him almost 24/7, and I understand how overwhelming that can be. I do contribute at my fullest capacity to look after our son.

However, she screams at our son almost every day over things like not sleeping on time, refusing meals, or not following instructions.

Whenever I try to step in and remind her not to yell over these little things, it creates tension between us. I genuinely feel that the constant yelling is more damaging to our son's emotional well-being than him occasionally skipping a meal or sleeping late.

I know my wife loves our son and is doing her best, but I'm worried about the long-term impact this might have on him.

Has anyone been in a similar situation? How did you approach this with your partner without making them feel attacked? How do you support an overwhelmed spouse while also protecting your child from constant yelling?

Hello! She/her. I keep hearing that my sons will pull away from me, mom, around age 11 or so and I question...why? Is this a stereotype or do kids genuinely need to have autonomy from their opposite sex parent? It seems super sus to me. Wouldn't it benefit my kid to learn about half the population? My husband says he needed his mom MORE when he was 11-13. So many questions about socialization and emotions and feeling awkward. His dad told him to stop whining!

My 4-year-old has unlocked a new level of anger.

He is now hiding under the dinner table like an angry little loaf of bread, and apparently we're in a hostage negotiation situation.

We almost got him to come out by talking about farting. FARTING. We were THIS close to a peaceful resolution, but he retreated back into his underground bunker.

Then, moments later, he crawled out of his own accord because he wanted a granola bar and had to ask for one.

And just like that, the tiny rage goblin emerged from his cave to conduct business.

No apologies. No peace treaty. Just a snack request.

He's four. I'm starting to think he's going to win this war. 😂

My partner and I feel like we’re at a loss on what to do with our picky eater. For example, if my 5-year old comes to the table and doesn’t like the way dinner looks they will go “EW thats disgusting!” And/or will lick the food and say the same thing.

The other huge issue is our 2-year old (who is not a picky eater) will repeat exactly what our 5-year old will do which results in both kids not eating. This is almost every night.

We do not offer extra food. They have to eat what’s on their plate. They cannot have anything else. I DO offer a safe food on the plate. And I do try to repeat dinners my kids like. But my kid does not always eat it — even if it’s a safe meal. They also have “dessert” every night (which I ABSOLUTELY hate that we started) so we have to say “no dessert” if they don’t eat their dinner. (Also dessert is like a small piece of candy or popsicle…nothing excessive)

It is a constant push and pull with my 5-year old at dinner time. Typically they will eat some of the dinner but it comes with a lot of whining.

I’m exhausted. I know I am 100% creating a bad experience for food for my kid. ESPECIALLY with rewarding or taking away sweet treats. I don’t know how to undo it. I am trying to be so conscious of it because I struggle with a ED of overeating AND food noise and I am in therapy because of it so it is constantly triggering my ED as well.

Any advice is appreciated. I’m so tired of it being a constant struggle every night.

I'll start with some context. We live in a town that has some of the best rated schools in the country. Most parents here have a high education level and very high expectations of their kids. Most kids go to some kind of extra tutoring. Our 2 kids are attending one of these schools, which happens to be French immersion. This means that a significant part of their schooling is taught in French (although we are English speakers in an English part of Canada).

My daughter had some struggles last year, seems like she missed a lot of important foundational math and struggled with spelling in both languages. We got extra help and we worked really hard with her. She improved, however she is still behind, at least a bit. Kids in her class are getting A+ and she's getting B-. It's upsetting her and she gets down on herself. She likes French and speaks it well, absolutely loves her school and friends, however I'm starting to think we should pull out of the extended French school and go to a regular English school.

She's in grade 4 and I feel at her age she should have much better writing and spelling skills (at least in English). She memorizes words for spelling quizzes, but can't spell them 2 days later. We meet with teachers who always insist that this is fine and it's normal to acquire skills slower when learning 2 languages at once. While I agree, it seems like other children are having a much easier time (including our son, who is a year younger, and despite not having any tutoring, he's doing amazing in both languages).

For the record, I don't think B- is so bad, but she does. If she leaves the French school, there is no going back. I like her school a lot too and I admire the high standards but I think the longer we stay, the more she will be behind. She is a great kid and teachers like her a lot. I think they see her effort so they think she is fine. But she's my kid and while she is "fine" I think dropping the extended French would help her confidence and she can still catch up and be "great". I know she is smart, and I think she can do so much better grades-wise if assessed in English.

Just wondering if anyone has some insight or went through something like this. Thank you for reading.

My son’s been having some emotional regulation problems and one of the potential issues we’re looking at is if he maybe isn’t getting enough attention. I feel like I’m spending more time with him than my parents did with me growing up, but I also had attention seeking issues so that’s probably not a great bar.

How much dedicated 1:1 play/ interaction time are you having with your kid? Not just running around doing chores or errands or existing in the same house, but sitting down and playing games or talking or going out somewhere fun for the day.

I am mostly asking about school age children here, who also have their own interests/ hobbies they enjoy. 1:1 can include just you and the kid or both parents.

I worry we may be lacking, while I take him to extra curriculars 3x a week and exist at the house after school with him, our dedicated time is largely:

~1 hr a day working on school work/ practicing reading together, broken up between homework, practice games & bed time

~1-2 hrs a week game night with cards or board games

~30 mins a day talking over dinner

~1-2 full days a month going out somewhere on a weekend to enjoy with him (Zoo/ amusement park/ festival)

The other time he’s either at Grandmas where she’s very 1:1 with him (1-2 days a week) or we’re just both at home but he’s playing with friends/ video games/ watching tv/ playing Lego. I work from home after school so I’m always around but sometimes busy on my phone so I can’t always give him my full attention.

I will say, I only get 2-4 weekend days a month with him, so I worry me being gone often on weekends may be negatively impacting him? I travel for work and he’ll stay with Grandma for the weekend.

Altogether I’d say he gets about 10-15 hrs dedicated attention time a week. How does that compare to the average?

I been with our baby for 11 months, and I started working 2 weeks ago, I understood before that he needed time to decompress after work, but now that I’m working too, I don’t get how he can get back from work and tell me he needs to shower, he needs to go for a bike ride (sometimes) .
when do I get a break? I’m working now and the minute I finish I’m with the kids after, why he thinks he deserves a break but I don’t ? I think it’s completely unfair

Okay listen, maybe this is such a ridiculous thing to worry about or I wouldn’t say I’m very worried or anything.

I have three kiddos, a 7(m), 3(f) and a 1(m) and there hasn’t been one time my kids have cried during a sad part in a movie. My seven year old loved watching Lion King for the longest time, never shed a tear during the Mufasa scene. We watched The Land Before Time once when he was five perhaps, never shed a tear. My second has made sad faces or seemed concerned when something happens but has never shed a tear, meanwhile I’m in the back crying which my kids see sometimes.

Now I’m questioning myself, like am I nurturing enough for them to feel the connection in the movie about a character losing their parent or mom? I know this maybe sounds absurd but it’s got me questioning myself and my parenting because here I am scrolling and come across a sweet and sad little video of a maybe three year old getting sad and emotional from The Fox and The Hound when Tod loses her mother.

Any one else out there with kids that don’t cry from movies? When I was a kid I remember sobbing from shows on Animal Planet. It’s not like I’m trying to get my kids to cry but when we’re watching a movie with a particularly sad scene with parents and they don’t cry, I’m like oh do my kids not care?

Idk, I overthink things sometimes but I’m just curious.

My 2.7 yo started having meltdowns multiple times a day.

We are pretty firm parents, we don't buckle to tantrums (we still dont) when we say no we mean no.

We thought she was doing ok and learning to accept being told no.

But this past week she has been screaming and crying so often.

Today's meltdowns (and i mean screaming, trashing)

- she woke up just before 7, didn't want her mum to be the one to open her room door

- wanted a milk bottle and to go back to sleep (she had a solid night and had to get ready for school)

- we offered a milk pack, she wanted us to just poke a hole so she can put the straw in herself

- we finished showering, she wants to play her usual game of pickaboo and for mum to carry her away (mum was too tired and needed a break) (this one i understand its a change from routine)

- we didn't let her press the water dispenser a second time

What the hell is going on?!

Could it be teething? She's due for her last four molars. But there's no night wakings.

.

We've been having a lot of issues lately with not listening, talking back, and/or whining in our house (ages 6-10). All of these are "against the rules" in our house, and we used to have a list of jobs they could pick from as a consequence for breaking the rules, but I found it hard to keep track of how many jobs people had (if we weren't at home when it happened), or who had done what. I know there's no perfect system and I know sometimes it's just going to be hard, but I'd love to hear some other ideas about what to do in the moment for quick consequences. I'm not talking about big "you're grounded" consequences, just quick little things that happen throughout a normal week that need some sort of consequence, but that doesn't require too much extra managing from me. Thanks, everyone!

I'm currently using the Medela Pump in Style, but I keep hearing amazing things about the Spectra S1 and S2! I'm wondering if it's genuinely that much better or if it's mostly hype.

I'll be going back to work soon and will need to pump during my shifts as well as at home, so I'm curious whether the Spectra would be a worthwhile upgrade, especially for pumping at work.

For anyone who's used both, I'd love to hear your experiences!

* Did you notice a difference in milk output?

* Did the Spectra empty you better or feel more comfortable?

* Is the S1 worth the extra cost for the rechargeable battery, especially when pumping at work?

* If you already had a Medela Pump in Style, would you spend the money to upgrade?

I'm in Ontario, Canada, and I'm struggling to find a Spectra that doesn't cost almost $400! 😩 Where did you buy yours? Are there any Canadian retailers with good prices, sales, or reputable secondhand options?

I don't want to spend that much money if the difference isn't significant, so I'd really appreciate honest opinions from people who've actually used both pumps. Thank you! ❤️

Dad and I separated when she was 3. I’m all she knew for 5 years in terms of mom and mom’s house. 2 years ago, I met my partner and we’ve adapted to our new dynamic. I’m now 8 weeks pregnant and want some ideas or advice on how to tell her she’s gonna be a big sister at mom’s.

She has a little sister on dad’s side and she adores her. I’m not too worried she’ll be upset, I’m more looking for cute and special ways to tell her.

She’ll have a big blended family who loves her and she’ll be big sister for both siblings.

My daughter is turning 10 in a couple months. She wants a sleepover party and we got a low-key expedition booked to a nearby yurt. We invited two of her friends who are the same age. Turns out my wife who was going to come, now has to work and will be out of town so now, it will be me, 41 M, my birthday girl, her younger sister (also my bio-daughter) and my birthday girl’s two friends, also girls. I’m going to tell the kid’s parents about the change so they are aware and have time to make a decision if they and their daughters feel comfortable with this new plan of having one male chaperone.

I don’t see the big deal, because we know these kids, we know their family, they know us. It feels safe to me. If it doesn’t sit well with the kids or their parents there is plenty of time to plan something else. My wife wants to call the whole thing off because she is worried about the optics of it and if someone ever made up a story,,,,ugh. I can see her point and maybe if we didn’t know these folks I would be more reluctant to move forward. But we’ve had a few sleepovers with these kids before so we are all pretty comfortable with each other.

What’s the right move here? Am I being naive?

My 2 year old learned b****. For the record we don’t say that in my house and we already talked with those he got it from.
One thing lead to another and although I tried to not give attention he has learned that this word is a word to say when I’m upset and not getting my way and he says it directly to whoever is disciplining him. Be it me, his aunts, grandma, and dad.

It’s getting worse and more frequent.
So far I’ve tried time out- I tell him all the time that his mouth is for saying nice and kind things and when he is not kind, he can’t be around me
And I put him in his crib for like a minute or two, but I don’t see a decrease in the behavior. I see it happening even more so what do I do?
I also give him a ton of praise for when he is saying kind words. I’ve also given him replacement behaviors “I’m mad” instead of saying b****
But it’s not working

Help

** edit to add thank you
That was very fast.
Will be telling this to the rest of the family as the game plan.

I feel like my son hates me. He is 6 months old and absolutely loves his dad, its like i dont exist. I cant get him to sleep, he doesnt want me feeding him, when I hold him he searches for his daddy. It wasn't always like this, its only when my husband comes off his night shifts. He works 4 on 4 off, so has good quality time with baby. I feel like i dont know how to bond with him anymore. I read to him, sing, dance, play with his toys. But he is constantly looking for his dad. It's breaking my heart so much to think and feel that my own baby doesnt like me.

Hi everyone,

We’re in a classic, even cliché, situation. Even so, we don’t know what to do, and I wanted to see what you all actually do in practice.

To keep it short: there’s a household in the equation that sets no limits whatsoever on screens, bedtime, food, etc., and only sees my son (11) during school holidays (an important detail, I think, because it adds to the freestyle vibe while he’s there). On the other side, ours: age-appropriate screen access with limits, homework always done, we eat home-cooked food but go out to restaurants now and then, a lot more outdoor activities, a fixed bedtime, etc. So, pretty classic.

The problem comes when he gets back from his stay there: bad behavior, exhaustion, a tendency to talk back, a tendency to demand things he knows aren’t allowed, etc. In short, we end up being the bad guys every single time.

We’re at the end of our rope because it keeps getting worse and worse, but at this age, how do you explain why we do what we do, that it’s in his interest, that it’s actually for him? All he wants is a phone like his cousin’s over there (with no limits, of course), and to go to bed at 2 a.m. on weekends. I absolutely don’t want to get into a competition with the other parent. I just want his return to go more smoothly, and for him to understand, as much as possible, that we’re not the bad guys but his parents who love him and want the best for him, and that sometimes that does mean setting limits on things he likes.

So, what do we do? Hold firm and wait it out? Targetted concessions? Long discussions seem to do nothing, he just sits and waits until we're done basically (and to be fair, what 11 year old like getting lectured by their parents?). Punishment immediately after getting back creates a really bad correlation as well, conscious or not. I'm just stumped here.

Edit: we can't discuss this with the other parent, they are pretty uncooperative. We tried once a few years ago and were told essentially that it's not our concern what happens in their house.

My daughter is 5 yo and has always been quick to anger, more than other kids her age.

She's a loving and sweet kid, truly. Loves playing outside and doesn't have very much tv time and no tablet time. She has the tools to calm down, but won't use them when she snaps.

In an instant she can go from happy and playing to throwing herself on the ground and kicking. Daycare clued us into this being an issue earlier this year and we started her in therapy. Since starting kindergarten she has been doing very well academically but struggling with behaviors. She will kick other students' chairs and not listen to the teacher.

She was having a rough time this morning getting ready for school and I knew it was going to be one of those days. Lo and behold, she got into it with another kid during gym and he got a bloody nose. She was separated from the kid and kept kicking and throwing herself to the ground.

I immediately reached out to her therapist for a consult and will follow up with the pediatrician, but I feel so alone and like I'm failing her and those around her.

For reference, she is adopted but has been with us since she was 2 days old. We know her parents had some cognitive struggles, but nothing like this.

Please help me help my kid.

My son is about 2.5 months old and he cries A LOT. He’ll have periods almost every day where he’s inconsolable for 10–20 minutes, and on his bad days he can cry for about an hour and a half in the evenings.

I have a 3 year old daughter who was a much calmer baby, so this has been a bit of an adjustment for me. I know every baby is different and I’m definitely not expecting my son to be like his sister, I’m just mentioning it because this experience has been very different from what I’m used to.

He does have periods where he’s happy/content, feeds well, has wet diapers, etc., but it feels like so much of our day revolves around trying to calm him down.

It has even gotten to the point that my daughter is always telling me “We need to teach him how to be happy”

I know this is a phase and that babies eventually grow out of it, but honestly, I’m feeling really discouraged lately. Some days it feels like the crying is never-ending, and I’m just exhausted from constantly trying to figure out what he needs.

For parents who had really fussy/crying babies around this age, does it eventually get better?

Hi all!

I’m posting as a parent of a 6 year old (oldest child) navigating trick or treating as he gets a smidge older.

Some quick context:
- He is very tall for his age. Like genuinely, as tall as a 4th grader. He also is fairly well spoken & loves to play sports. These things combined, he’s been sort of scooped up by some of the older boys/boys his size in our neighborhood.
-He does have a handful of boys and girls his age in the neighborhood as well. Some of the older boys are the siblings of his same age friends.
- I live in an LDS neighborhood and we don’t go to their church. The parents are clicky. This context does matter. Halloween basically looks like husband stays home and hands out candy, I walk w my son. Then we all hang out and pass our candy to the big kids later at night.

Here’s the dilemma this year. He REALLLLLY wants to impress the bigger boys and hang out with them. I let him walk ahead of me on our street (sun was up) last year and go with them. When we rounded the block they surprisingly were cool with me trailing along the road and wanted my son to keep up. He trick or treated all night with them. Boys were 8-10 years old.

The same group has invited him again. If I had “mom friends” in the neighborhood I’d totally just keep up in the street without hovering and let the night play out. Walking by myself does start to feel a bit like a hover. We’re at an age where all of our friends and cousins also want to be in their own neighborhoods w their friends or I’d invite them (this is what we’ve done up until last year and traded off neighborhoods).

So - what would/have you all done? To me - 6 is too little to be without an adult, but plenty old enough to be valid in wanting to be with friends. I want to set his expectations that this may or may not workout how he’s hoping if they run off without parents.. AND if that happens, we may not know where his other friend groups his age are in the neighborhood.

Thanks yall!