Mom to a 4.5 month old and almost 3 year old. I feel like I’m going insane. The baby is frustrated with her existence and inability to do anything and does. not. stop. whining. She’s never even silent. Just going back and forth between whining and crying all day long. My toddler is a talker. I love that about him but when combined with the whining, it’s making me crazy. He just talks and talks and talks. And he always needs me engaged in his conversation and play. Yes or mhm aren’t acceptable answers. Repeating back what he said isn’t acceptable. He always wants me actively providing comments/questions. I loved being a stay at home mom with my first but now being around this all day is not enjoyable anymore.

I have a 2.5 year old toddler and a 7 week old baby. For example, my cat loves to sit on top of the pile of burping cloths that I keep next to my nursing chair. I use them to burp my baby, I use them on my breasts when they leak, I use them on my baby when a little milk dribbles out of their mouth, etc. So whenever my cat sits on top of the cloths, all I can think about is her litterbox butt getting on everything. There are other examples too, this is just one scenario.

Does anyone else feel this way? Not looking for fixes, I know I can simply move the cloths or store them a different way. But moreso wanted to know if this is a valid concern? Do I need to be more careful or is this just one of those things that doesn't really ever become a problem?

*If you had a baby shower or purchased yourself everything you need for your first baby.

Because really the only thing I can think of is a car seat? But maybe my brain is just missing some things.

They are lovely, caring and kind people who are coming to visit for a few days. The plan is for them to stay with us (and stay alone with baby so me and husband can go do stuff) but this makes me nervous because their kindness is incredibly overwhelming. Me and MIL enter in the perpetual cycle of her trying to make me happy, and me getting overwhelmed and upset at all the attention. Im very direct and blunt, if I want something, I will ask for it. Her love language is acts of service and gifts, when I ask her for something she will do that and 50x more which I never know what to do with (eg gifting a giant 2m tall crochet project when we live in a tiny apartment or gifting baby swimsuits and summer clothes for his size in winter) I know what I sound like, incredibly ungrateful. But while I can learn how to navigate this with her, I’m not sure how to proceed with the baby.

I want to create a list of rules which make sense to me, but not to them. I want my husband to present said list, but he’s already upset that I hate them. I truly don’t hate them, they just make me nervous (always but now worse) and I suffer strongly from PPA and probably on the verge of PPD.

The list includes things like don’t let strangers into the babies face (they are so kind I can totally see them handing over the baby if someone asks so they don’t offend them). Or if the baby is acting weird I can see them not calling us because they don’t want to bother.

And then there are other things that they used to do back in the day that are no no today. Eg blankets or fluffies in the crib, or overdressing him, etc.

I know my husband is excited to see his parents. They live 4 hours away and last time they came to see the baby I insisted they stay at the hotel and they had very limited (and supervised) time with our back then 10day old baby. This time they will stay with us and hubby is thrilled we will be able to have a life and a clean home for a few days.

I’m spiraling with anxiety that I can’t share with him as it just goes into “you hate my parents”. He’s previously put up boundaries with them for me, and I know he will always do what’s best for the baby but I just don’t know how to talk to him about this. Maybe I’m overthinking this and it will all be ok but I genuinely don’t know how I will leave the house if the husband doesn’t read the list and prints it out and makes sure they understand it first.

My son will be 1 in a couple of weeks and while I’m starting to feel more myself (especially after I stopped breastfeeding at 8 months) the mere thought of sex makes sick.

My sweet husband is an amazing father and partner. He absolutely carried me through postpartum anxiety, a very colicky baby, woke with me every time our baby did for 7 months and all while working full time. When he comes home he assumes the role of primary parent (I’m a SAHM). He spends every moment with us and makes sure we know there’s nowhere else he’d rather be. I know for sure that he is not the problem and there’s no resentment.

We’ve had sex a handful of times over the last year. He would never, ever try to make me feel bad about it, but I know this bothers him. My feelings around it range from ugh to sheer disgust to the point of tears at the thought of it. The first 6 months it was actually painful so we didn’t do it, but that’s not the case anymore. It feels fine now, it’s just that I am so grossed out by it. It feels wrong and I don’t know why. I suspect it’s hormonal in some way, but I don’t know. I was never sex obsessed before having a baby, but I also never felt so averse to it.

Has anyone ever felt this way, and if so, did it get better? I desperately want to feel differently and I don’t know how to get there.

Almost one year postpartum and sex still isn’t what it used to be. I’m not necessarily having trouble with arousal. Mentally, I want to have sex. I miss being easily aroused and sex feeling amazing. But it truly doesn’t feel like much of anything now. I have to work hard to be able to finish and even then, the orgasm is mid. I rarely get the “spontaneous desire” anymore. Lubrication is not an issue at all, so it’s not like I’m feeling any discomfort. It’s genuinely just that I can’t feel much of anything. I am already a SAHM so I don’t really have anything to look forward to like a job I can go to or an event I can attend and I want sex to be something I can look forward to, but it’s just not anymore.

Does anyone have any recommendations? Is there a way to bring back sensitivity?

It wasn't gas.

I had gallstones and a gallbladder that needed to be yeeted.

Apparently my gallbladder was so full it was like a distended bag stuffed full of marbles.

I feel much better now 2 months after removal. But apparently post Partum is a major time that gallbladders have issues for women. So yeah.

previous post

I’ve searched everything I can, I’ve seen all the replies that it’s normal for baby to want closeness right now (5 weeks), but he starts daycare at 12 weeks and I’m nervous. At most he’s ever let me put him down is 20 minutes to an hour and that’s only when he’s wide awake looking at something. I’ve tried all the tricks - heating pad before he’s in the crib, slowly transferring him, making sure arm is limp. With and without swaddle. It doesn’t work. He immediately knows he’s not being held, so he’s been held by someone 24/7.

So.. what happens when he goes to daycare? Is this going traumatize him or has anyone found their LO adjusted pretty quickly? I have to go back to work so there is no other option, but what can I do to help him in the meantime?

I keep trying to put him down, but I know cry it out is bad at this age so I pretty quickly have to pick him back up. I’ve tried every type of swaddle on the market.

Is there something I’m missing???

Our nanny has been with us for couple months now and overall she's great with my daughter. She's caring and my daughter seems happy with her. But lately a couple of things have been starting making me a little uncomfortable.

First, she's always wanting to buy my daughter gifts. When she first started, she bought us baby clothes.Today she texted me a picture of a baby bouncer and asked if she could bring it for her. She does ask first, which I appreciate, but it happens a a few times now and I'm not sure how I feel about it.

Second, last week she put baby cologne on my daughter without asking me. It's not a huge deal on its own, but I feel like she should ask me and also it’s way too early to put cologne on a 7 week old.

I don't think she has bad intentions. I think she's just really attached. But together these things feel like the boundaries are getting a little blurry, and I'm starting to feel uneasy.

Is this normal nanny behavior? Am I overreacting? She’s an older lady and had 3 kids all over 18. And if you've been in a similar spot, how did you bring it up without making things awkward?

Thanks!

Hi everyone,

I have a beautiful, healthy, and hilarious 10.5 month old. He’s doing well on solids and loves to eat - chicken, eggs, yogurt, peanut butter, all fruit, veggies, fish - you name it. We introduced all of the high allergen foods around 6 months and he had no issues - with the exception of eggs, which caused him to break out around his mouth - red rashy skin with some red dots. The pediatrician told us that this was likely contact dermatitis and he just has very sensitive skin (he did not have any other kind of allergic reaction besides the skin issue around his mouth). She prescribed an antibiotic ointment to use as needed, which helped a bit. We tried to be mindful when he was eating eggs and added a barrier cream around his mouth prior to meals.

Fast forward to now, it seems like after every meal - despite what food it is, any food that touches his mouth causes him to break out. We still use barrier cream (vaseline) and simple Aveeno lotion with the prescription ointment intermittently. There’s been no other changes to his linens, bedsheets, etc. or anything we use in the bath (Cerave baby wash and that’s it).

Again, our pediatrician has advised that he just has super sensitive skin and there’s not much we can do but let him grow out of it. I feel awful looking at his red irritated skin. It doesn’t seem to bother him at all and he loves to eat, but I know after every meal the rash will flare back up.

Has anyone experienced anything like this and if so, did you come up with any solutions on how to mitigate? Topicals, changes in diet, etc.? He is still taking formula which has never seemed to bother his skin. Other than that he just has water with his meals.

Thank you for any insight!!

I’m almost 7 months postpartum and still trying to make sense of my traumatic birth experience. I was up for hours last night reading my medical records.

I had a high-risk pregnancy due to type 2 diabetes and gestational hypertension (developed at 36 weeks), along with a baby whose head circumference measured above the 99th percentile. I had expressed concerns about attempting a vaginal delivery and discussed the possibility of an elective C-section, but ultimately proceeded with an induction at 37 weeks as per my Doctor’s advice.

After a prolonged induction, I developed chorioamnionitis and fetal tachycardia. I eventually reached full dilation and began pushing, but there was minimal fetal descent. My baby's heart rate then dropped into the 60s, resulting in an emergency C-section. During surgery, his head was found to be deeply engaged and asynclitic.

My son was born with Apgar scores of 1, 3, 3, and 3, required extensive resuscitation and intubation, and underwent therapeutic hypothermia in the NICU due to concerns about hypoxic injury.

Thankfully, he's doing well now, but after reviewing my medical records, I have lingering questions about the management of my labor, the timing of the C-section, and whether an earlier intervention might have changed the outcome.

I'm not looking for Reddit to determine whether anything was done wrong, nor am I currently pursuing legal action. I would simply like an independent medical review to better understand what happened and whether the decisions made were appropriate.

Has anyone successfully arranged a retrospective birth review with an OB or maternal-fetal medicine specialist outside their delivering hospital?

I'm in California but open to virtual consultations. I'd really appreciate any recommendations or experiences.

i have always been skinny before getting pregnant. i found it hard to gain weight by and was an xxs in everything. most adult clothes wouldn’t fit me. i wasn’t like underweight, i was just small and super short.

now that my body has changed and i am still 20 pounds away from my pre baby weight, i find myself having a hard time with food. and before you guys say anything, 20 pounds isn’t a lot but it looks like a lot on a small person. i am definitely bigger. none of my clothes fit. i feel so big now.

i’ve been struggling with restricting myself from foods, counting calories before eating everything, and then binge on foods when i restrict myself for a while. i also have the urge to make myself throw up after eating but having done it. it’s just the loudest voice in my head telling me i shouldn’t have eaten that and i feel so guilty.

i know bodies are supposed to change after giving birth. but i miss my old body. i miss not feeling insecure of my body and the way it carries this new weight. i’ve tried working out and just feel stuck. i will stick with going to the gym for a while and then just become so burnt out in motherhood that i don’t have the energy to do anything. so i just get stuck in this cycle of hating my body, working out, counting calories, restricting foods, binge out, and do it all over again.

Posting for my friend

Baby is 6 months old and has not been able to sleep independently since 2 months old.

She has tried sleep training consistently for a week but baby wails. Not just a constant cry/scream but that wail that sounds painful.
Even when she brings him in bed with her he only sleeps 1-2 hours at a time… if that.

Anyone have a similar experience?

He typically naps 3x a day. First nap typically 2 hours, second and third range from 20-40 minutes

Still eating every 2 hours at 5 ounces each feed, typically finishing bottle. Solids maybe 2x a day

She relies on her parents for child care and says it’s hard to enforce a consistent schedule for a lot.

Tips, tricks, advice, etc. she’s a tired momma

My baby is almost 7mo. He’s been sleep trained and self settling for months now. We put him to bed awake, he goes to sleep, no issue.

Yesterday, though, about 5min after I left his room, he started crying and crying. It was SO out of character (he neverrrr cries unless he hits his head or something like that). I gave him 10-15 min just in case he was just blowing off steam but the cry was different than a simple fuss so I went in, put my hand on his chest, and talked to him until he fell asleep. He slept like normal otherwise so I moved on.

But then he fussed before his first nap and woke up upset after ~30min when this is a nap I’ve always had to wake him up from (usually 1.5-2h later). I tried not to overthink it but then nap 2 same exact thing.

He doesn’t seem to mind too much when I step out of the room but then again, he has started protesting when his dad walks away (I’m basically always with him so he doesn’t really get to protest me leaving lol).

I’m pretty thrown. He’s eating and playing normally otherwise.
Does this sound like separation anxiety? Or could he be teething ? How did either start for you? Idrk how to proceed tbh

My little girl is almost 2 months old, and the entire time, we have struggled with breastfeeding, long before I got pregnant I dreamed of breastfeeding my baby, and how incredible it would be. When my little brother was born, I even tried to breastfeed my baby doll (I was 4).

I wish someone had told me earlier how hard it really is. I had no idea how many people i know that have also struggled. No one really talks about it. My mom couldn't nurse me, and my granny could not nurse my uncle (we were both very premature, my uncle was so premature he had to be fed via an eye dropper), but i never thought i'd struggle with it to

I was induced at 37 weeks, and it ended in a C Section. The spinal medicine made me VERY sick within moments. I was dizzy, faint, throwing up, and just completely out of it. Because of this, the nurse didn't allow me to do skin to skin right away, and I was unable to sit up without feeling sick, so i could not breastfeed for the first 6 or 7 hours of her life. Because of this, the nurse had to give my baby girl formula, hubs and I were fine, and thought she'd still be able to breastfeed once I was able to sit up.

Sadly this was not the case

In the hospital, my daughter really struggled to latch, and when she did latch, she'd fall asleep, we figured she was just sleepy from the speedy delivery, so I kept trying, but she kept resisting the boob, or would sleep at my boob. My breasts also never felt drained after i'd nurse her, the lactation nurses in the hospital really tried to help, but in the end, we had no choice, we had to bottle feed her my pumped milk and formula in order to get her weight up, because she lost 10% of her body weight due to her inability to latch and suction out the milk

This continued when we got home, and her weight went down even more, it took a few weeks, but she is finally a healthy weight, but the breastfeeding is still very hard. I saw a lactation consultant a few times, and in the office, she would nurse beautifully. I'd go home with all the confidence in the world, then maybe 3-5 days latter, despite doing everything correctly, we'd be back to square one

I have outstanding milk production and was recently able to switch to mostly bottled pumped milk and maybe 1 formula feed every few days. (I can typically pump anywhere from 5-7 ounces per pump session depending on how hydrated i am, or if i've taken my lactation supplement), and I know i am very lucky to be able to even give her my milk via bottle. But I'm really sad that I can't 100% nurse her.

I am still trying, but we'll nurse for 40-60 minutes, and she won't get more then maybe an ounce, and will scream for the bottle when she pulls away. Her positioning is not an issue, and she has a good latch, I see her little jaw moving, so she can swallow. And i do hear her swallowing sometimes. So she CAN nurse, but just not enough to satisfy her. it's very discouraging.

Hi! Currently just gave birth to my second baby (1w old) and have a 19 month old. My husband gets 2 weeks of leave and then I plan to have my nanny come back. She is part time and she comes 2 days a week for 6 hours a day. Thing is, I wanted her to just handle my son until I am done with leave and have to work again. I normally work from home so typically when she's here with my son I am in my office working. But i'm a bit worried he's going to give us a very hard time because he knows baby sister will be with me. Any tips on how to make this a smoother transition? Some ideas I have are to tell him i'm still working on(right now with the nanny he says "mommy working" so he knows i'm there but working), also when I hand him off to nanny I'm planning to keep his sister in my room in the bassinet so he doesn't really see her with me (at least for the first few times). They play outside, and in my basement a lot so there will be times I can come out with baby girl and move about freely.

Any ideas or do we think this is going to go horribly wrong?

Not sure where else to post about this but — as my baby has gotten older, I think I’ve just really had to let go of how i thought this season would look, even how i thought she would be as a baby. She is absolutely feral, high energy, cannot sit still and literally NEVER chills out. If babies can have adhd, she has it.

She recently started sticking her fingers in her mouth and causes herself to full on vomit, now several times a day. It’s maddening. She seems otherwise fine when she does it other than the fact that she’s bored and protesting the current activity.

Solids are seriously not going great. She has been trying out the food in the past but recently just is not interested at all and it almost makes her mad when I offer. Of course this is stressing me out cause she’s gotta eat? She also has always been on the lower end of milk/formula so im trying not to stress that she’s not getting enough daily calories.

She also is just so fussy and seems unhappy all day long as long as she’s awake. It’s like a never ending cycle all day long of entertaining her, changing environments to avoid meltdowns and keep the stimulation going. It’s like she’s just unhappy no matter what I do. I feel like I literally never stop!

And I know what you’re thinking, stop entertaining her, she needs to get used to boredom. Well, her sleep at night is SO bad and all the advice for building proper sleep pressure includes lots of activity and stimulation during the day. She sleeps so horribly that I’m exhausted during the day and truly feel like I do bore her so I really try to make the days full enough to sleep better, and I do notice it helps the nights. I just never get a break where it stops, how do people do this?? I’m going insane.

On top of all of this, she’s in the clingy phase where i genuinely can not set her down to use the restroom so i am walking around holding her allllll day my back is killing me.

I think I’m just a little taken aback at how her personality/temperament is turning out to be and I can barely keep up. No family to support around so I do everything myself on no sleep all day and I’m drowning. Everyone else makes this look so easy. Am I just not cut out for motherhood?

My 16.5 week old son is really going through it. For the past 3-4 days he has been pooping an outrageous amount. He is formula fed, not breastfed. Not all of it is a true poop/full diaper, more often than not it’s more of a “shart”, but this is happening an insane amount. It’s been about 3 or more poopy diapers an hour and it’s to the point where is butt is getting terrible diaper rash. It must be very acidic. I am not thinking that this is a dairy intolerance as he is acting 100% normal otherwise.

We brought him to the doctor and she wasn’t super concerned that it was fungal or anything like that. She was thinking it could just be a small virus that has started. He is acting 100% normal. No fever, vomiting, etc. He is just now starting to get very crabby due to his sore butt. I’m really concerned about letting this go much longer as his diaper rash is getting so much worse. We just went to the doctor today, but I am wondering if anyone else has experienced anything like this? It’s crazy to me how much he is pooping and makes me so sad :( Also, if you did deal with this do you have any advice for the diaper rash? She told me a concoction I can mix up of some different creams so I am going to try that. She also mentioned trying to give it time to air dry. Should I also try an epsom salt bath? Or would you not recommend that for a baby. I’m really struggling right now and am nervous for tonight since his bum is so raw

Not sure if this is the right community but I need outsiders opinions if anyone cares to read this massive message.

I’m 5 weeks pp, I had a C section and my baby has colic. He cries for the vast majority of the day while I bounce him and walk him up and down the house trying to soothe him. My husbands paternity leave only lasted 3 weeks. He’s works 8am-6pm. Baby bedtime is 9pm. He does 3 hours of parenting M-F.
My mom is helping me with the baby until 30Nov.

We have a 7 year old dog who is a rescue. She’s around 27-30kg and she’s a Russian Laika Cross. She had severe separation anxiety when we adopted her at 6 months (along with other behavioural issues). We worked extremely hard (for months we were recluse) until we trained her and she could be left alone for 5 hours. I work from home so this was a compromise.

We had a baby on 13Sep. My dog was with my in-laws and they brought the dog back on 19Sep.
We had planned our new life with our dog. The pram we got is for rough terrain so we could go on dog walks with the baby. We bought a bigger car so the baby and dog could fit comfortably.

Unfortunately, my dog reacted badly to the baby. She would follow and react to every movement the baby made. For example:
\- When my husband picked up the crying baby to soothe him, the dog jumped up and I had to physically get her off and tell my husband to get away from the room because the dog was chasing him.
\- The baby started crying at midnight and the dog started howling. Husband went to soothe the dog while I took care of the baby.
\- The baby would coo, move an arm, and the dog would spring up and come to the Moses basket. If I grabbed the baby and held him while on the sofa blocking her form the front, she would approach from the back of the sofa (she’s very tall).

We consulted a behaviourist and she said we had to fence the area in the living room where the baby is going to be and expose the dog to the baby noises by recording every single noise the baby makes and playing it very low first, give a treat when she doesn’t react and keep at it until we’re playing it super loud. Our house layout doesn’t allow this. I cannot silence the baby on command just to not go over the dogs anxiety threshold. I would have to live upstairs with the baby and expose the dog to the recorded sounds.

Given this, we decided that she needed to go to my in-laws who she loves. It was heartbreaking but another behaviourist we consulted said it was the best choice. She said we could work on introducing them slowly during walks.

For reasons that I really cannot even bring myself to write without wanting to run for the hills, my in-laws are returning her and she’s coming back tomorrow. My husband doesn’t want to rehome her. He wants to train her because he says we’ll regret this decision.

I’ve explained to him my plate is full. I’m also very reactive to noise and having a baby crying all days is very overwhelming already. Add to that the breastfeeding, the baby not napping if not on us (so no independent sleep at night time longer than 30 mins) and you can get an idea of how I’m feeling.

I cannot train a reactive dog while being the main carer for a colicky baby. My mom is here and helping but she’s 71 so she cannot physically restrain the dog and the dog could easily overthrow her.

I’m extremely disappointed and frustrated because I keep explaining the practicalities to him and this mf basically says I’m temporarily mentally ill.

Does this sound like pet aversion or do I need to leave this situation in whatever way available to me?

Anyones 6 month sleep regression worse than the 4 month one. My baby and 4 months went from waking up once a night to 2 no big deal. Baby at 6 months is waking up every 2-3 hours 😅literally don't even remember how I used to function when he was a newborn born doing that and I actually have to feed him and change him each wake 😂

My toddler is 22 months old and only has 8 teeth (top 4, bottom 2, 1 top molar and 1 bottom molar) she is cutting about 4 at the moment. Any of other late teethers or experience with it before? My niece is 15 months and has 6 teeth right now with no signs of more so maybe genetics?

My husband and I are planning a little weekend getaway next fall, about three months after our son turns 2. I’m so excited about it, but at the same time, I feel incredibly guilty and nervous about leaving him behind.

We’d be leaving Friday afternoon and coming back Monday morning, and the place we’re staying is only about a 2–3 hour drive from home. Our son would be staying with his grandma, who he’s seen pretty much every day since he was born. His grandparents are amazing with him, and he absolutely adores them. Honestly, it would probably feel like a little vacation for him too. 😂

My husband and I have been in survival mode for so long. We repeat the same routine every single day, and by the time we finally get an hour to ourselves before bed, one of us usually ends up falling asleep halfway through it.
I really miss having uninterrupted time with my husband, just being a couple and enjoying each other’s company without constantly being in parent mode. I know we need this, and I know our son would be in loving, capable hands, but the thought of being away from him for three nights makes my heart hurt a little.

I’m really trying to learn how to loosen my grip a little and remind myself that it’s okay to do something fun for ourselves without feeling guilty about it. Have any of you gone on a trip without your kids? How old were they when you first went, and how did you feel about it? Did you end up enjoying yourselves, or were you missing your little ones the entire time?

My 4 month old can roll from back to tummy, but not tummy to back. He gets stuck on his stomach several times a night and wakes up crying because he can't roll himself back. I'm spending a lot of time on the floor with him and we practice rolling from tummy to back. He also does a ton of tummy time. When he gets stuck, I give him some time to try to figure it out on his own before intervening. He is 20 lbs and his pediatrician said usually for bigger babies it is harder to roll from back to tummy. Any advice or tips? Right now I help him roll by crossing his leg over his other leg, then extend one arm out forward/straight, and gently push his hips to guide him back to his back. Is there a better technique?

I hadn’t had a period in a long time prior to becoming pregnant. Birth control had stopped mine. But prior to that it was always a whatever thing for me. They were never bad. I’m almost 6 months pp and this will be my third period. The pain is truly horrendous. Cramping feels like I’m literally in labor again. Has anyone else experienced this? Does it get any better? (Please say yes) and anything anyone did to help?

My (31F) sons(23 month male) dad(36M) and I were never married. He’s on the birth certificate. He hurt my son when he was 7 months old. Since June of 2025 I’ve had an active cps case. I have full custody. Supervised visits are in place.he was charged and pled guilty to a misdemeanor. My son is name after his father even tho we(my mom and I) have always called him a shortened version of his name.

For context I wanted to name him different name at birth however, I was convinced by his dad and a friend of his to let my son‘s dad name him after him. now whenever I hear his legal name all I think about is that he is associated with his father and genuinely I don’t want that. his father and I do not coparent he contributes no money towards our son. His life is a mess and I just don’t want my son associated with that. since my son and I moved back into my mom‘s house, My mom and i have thought about changing his name. Sometimes I have a lot of guilt over this and I feel like what if my son doesn’t like me when he’s older because I changed his name. I just don’t know if I can hear him being called by his legal name for the rest of his life. I guess I’m just asking what everyone in here would think if I changed his name. he isn’t going to start preschool for two more years, and I have heard from other parents who have changed their children’s names that it is best to do so before he starts school.