does anyone let their 12-18 month old have some sugary stuff?

i feel like a horrible mom i didn’t realize/see the stuff about no sugar before 2. my baby’s dad & grandparents give him some bites of sugary stuff kinda often 😭 he never has anything to himself but will take like 5 bites of ice cream etc. i feel so horrible. my mom watches him for free so it’s hard to police her but i will put my foot down if i need to

Hi! Proud mama of a 18 day old (even tho he looks much older lol)

I didn’t get the owlet after everyone around me said it was not necessary but i’ve seen in every other comment here how good it is and people recommending it.

Is it really as helpful as they say? is it worth to buy now?

ty!

Throwaway bc I don't need this getting traced back to my main. I'm writing here bc something is wrong with me and I must be broken somewhere.

I gave birth to a beautiful baby girl. I didn't feel the spark when she was placed on my chest when she popped out, but I did cry. Breastfeeding was hard at first but we eventually got the hang of it. She is mixed fed bc of that, making sure she gained her weight back was what was most important.

Its been 2 and a half months now, and I still hardly feel a bond. When she cries, I get so overwhelmed that some kind of rage or fury takes over and I have to ask my husband to take over or I put her down and walk away for a bit. He's been the one doing most of the work on top of working from home part time during his leave (by choice, we're from Canada, its so he gets his full paycheck after the first 5 weeks of paternal leave). When I have her during the day, I find myself looking forward to when its his turn to take her so I can have time for myself or take care of the house or to finishing painting her room, etc. I have horrible sleep apnea and just got my CPAP machine, so I've been sleeping better, but it's still not enough. I'm so exhausted every morming that I have to go down for a nap every afternoon.

I feel awful. I'm a horrible mother. Bad enough that I can't get a job in my field bc of the job market right now, I can't even pull my weight as a parent. I despise myself. I'm in therapy but its not doing much to help. I'm writing here to vent, I have no close friends to vent to, and that's by choice. (trauma). My OB says this is very likely PPD. Will I bond with her once she starts smiling back and being more than just a lil potato that eats cries and poops, or is this just.. how I am now..?

Little guy is 4 months old/17 weeks. Naps at night with no issue. Napping during the day, uphill battle. For the past month we could do contact naps for his daytime naps because he doesn’t want to nap in his crib.
Now he’ll only nap after I nurse him but that lasts 30 mins max. May only happen once or twice. My boy likes to be entertained and can only play-gym and all the independent play development for so long until he is over it and wants to be held/hangout with mom/dad.

TLDR: I need advice for how to manage the long days of our LO refusing naps

(If I sound delusional it’s because I’m tired and have a headache, please be kind😭)

I am a FTM to a 3 month old girl. I really wasn’t super anxious about sids until recently. Can anyone ease my mind with facts/advice? I see too many sad tiktok’s about it and it spikes my anxiety!

Wasn't sure quite what flair to give this... wondering, anybody else experience this? Is it a thing?

Without having done any research yet, I have this theory that motherhood alters your frontal lobe (because I am aware that it at least alters your brain chemistry) in a way that lowers your risk tolerance?

Ever since about halfway through pregnancy and postpartum, I haven't been able to drive on the highway. Like it gives me anxiety and I've had panic attacks and had to drive slow with my blinkers or exit and take the long way.

At first I thought it had to do with a previous concussion about 2.5 years pre pregnancy but I'm wondering if it could have anything to do with motherhood, if it's a brain thing, or just a getting older thing? I've only tried a couple times but my palms have gotten really sweaty and my heart rate rose uncomfortably and I exited. Anyone else experience anything similar?

I am four months postpartum and still taking my prenatals. I’m breast-feeding and pumping. The past two weeks my hair has been falling out which is to be expected, but my scalp is extremely itchy and I’ve developed a few little bumps.

Does anyone have an idea or suggestions for what helped them if they had a similar experience?

I haven’t changed my shampoo and I’ve tried either washing my hair more often or less often.

Looking for advice on how to work through the grief of our breastfeeding journey not going the way we had planned. Maybe not even advice maybe just solidarity. I truly just can’t get over it and it is so beyond frustrating. Maybe even just putting my words out here will make me feel a little better. Long story long I had a beautiful pregnancy. I had this gnawing intuition that I had gestational diabetes - tested myself at home for a week or two and then worked to get the official diagnosis. I ended up needing insulin for my fasting numbers but otherwise all was good and normal. I was induced at 39 weeks and had a great labor and delivery. My perfect daughter was born at 39 weeks and 2 days. She latched immediately and I figured all was well. Who knew there could be issues even with a latch?! Not me and I am an SLP 🥲. Our baby was incredibly sleepy. We really had to wake her to feed most of the time and then struggled to keep her awake during the feeds. We had her 1st pediatrician appointment and she had lost about 7%. We went back two days later and she was down to 9%. I felt like my milk came in on this day so we kept trying to EBF - doctor recommended I pump and just supplement her with .5 ounce of BM and bam she started gaining. I went back to EBF and she was gaining but not as much as expected. I went to two lactation groups and they did weighted feeds and she was pulling milk but also not enough. They said that she was so sleepy because she wasn’t back to birthweight. This terrified me! Was my baby starving and couldn’t even manage staying awake?! They recommended triple feeding and we did so for two days. I believe after that she was back to birthweight. Somewhere during this the doctor also suggested I just pump for a full day and bottle feed her so we can get an idea of exactly how much milk I am producing and whether it was enough. This is where I feel like I lost control. 1st of all my husband and I couldn’t continue triple feeding. I wish I pushed more to just continue but with this being our first baby we were overwhelmed and it just felt like too much. We continued with “kinda” triple feeding when we could and then pumping. Long story long I couldn’t understand how to transition back to exclusively nursing and felt like no one could give me the answers I so desperately needed. We had our baby evaluating for tongue tie etc. and no one could answer me as to why she had difficulty transferring milk. By the time she was 1 month I became an exclusive pumper (horrific). I believe as a result of her not pulling enough milk - I wasn’t making quite enough. I continued pumping (and supplementing with formula) until I was. Then I EP’ed for 6 months before weaning. Now my sweet perfect angel baby girl is 9 1/2 months and I am sitting here crying still not fucking able to get over not being able to nurse her and questioning whether I gave up too soon. I even am questioning if I stopped pumping too soon even though that was so difficult (especially as a firewife). So anyways that’s my word vomit. I just so deeply hope I am able to experience nursing my next baby - but even that makes me feel guilty for my first born. Sigh.

Is anyone else rocking a baby for 3-4 hours every night? Our LO is 12 weeks old. She’s an easy baby for the most part until bedtime. We follow wake windows, never surpassing 1.5 awake during the day. We start our bedtime routine around 7, bottle, bath, story, swaddle, rock to sleep around 8. The first put down is easy. Rock until she’s in deep sleep, transfer to the bassinet. She will sleep for 20-30 mins, then she wakes up and the night goes to shit. We immediately try to resettle her by rocking, nursing, bouncing on the yoga ball whatever. Sometimes (rarely) it works and another 20 mins of rocking and she will sleep all through the night (lucky I know). Most of the time though she thrashes in our arms, cries, falls asleep for 5 mins, wakes up angry and this goes on for another 3 hours until finally she will fall asleep and stay asleep around 12am. We offer her milk throughout that time and once in a while that will settle her. I’ve had her checked for reflux and her doc says she doesn’t have a problem, still we hold her upright for 20 mins, and we give her gas drops. I know babies will baby, but I can’t help but feel like we are doing something wrong here. We can’t settle her by putting a hand on her chest, that only frustrates her further. I’m losing it a little bit and dread nighttime so much. Advice? Words of wisdom? Relate?

Some context:

My husband and I have been together for a long time, and have three kids together. Our youngest being only 3 months old.

We've gone through a lot of ups and downs in the bedroom, but before I was pregnant with my third I would say we were doing really well. We had a lot of fun and frequently. However it went downhill when I got pregnant.

Before anyone jumps to any conclusions, with my first two I had pregnancy complications always half way and would be told to go on pelvic rest for a good chunk of the second half of my pregnancy. We assumed it'd happen again with the third but it didnt. We still had fun initially but halfway through even though I wasn't diagnosed with this complication he stopped. He said he felt weird doing it with the baby in my belly and was worried even though I told him there was no problems brought up from the doctors. Regardless I didn't press him on this and let it be. Despite this we decided to help each other in other ways...except that I declined his help.

I felt weird since he felt weird and began to be self conscious about my body. I tend to gain a lot of weight during pregnancy (50+ pounds by the end of it), but I lose it and get fit in between. So from 5-6 months pregnant till now (3 months postpartum) I've got no bedroom action of any kind. He asked three times to help me during pregnancy and I declined them all and he never asked again.

Now I know what you're thinking, OP, you're a grown adult, why don't you communicate your needs if it's a problem? I know I know! The thing is I grew up in a household where bedroom stuff was taboo, and I told him this earlier in our relationship (8 years ago), that I struggle with talking about my bedroom needs and I'm very sensitive about it in general(probably need therapy). So he's aware of this.

Anyways, fast forward to today, for the first time he asked me if I wanted some action tonight, of course if baby cooperates. Just for me. And this is when I began to panic. I stumble and fumble my words. I told him that because it's been awhile that I'm nervous. My body is still quite big (I've lost weight but not 50 pounds), I have not stood naked or changed in front of him in months. He told me he understood that I was nervous but if I kept avoiding it we would never get past it, and that he feels bad being the only one being tended to. So all day I was nervous for the night. Nervous with a LITTLE excitement. Barely.

Night time rolls, baby is struggling to sleep, I feel a sense of relief but also disappointment. I shower I get in bed, and he didn't offer or check in if I wanted still.

I'm now feel like crying. I feel ugly, undesirable, severely self conscious.

Anyone else in the same boat?

Hi mamas ❤️
This is my favourite sub on Reddit because I’ve always loved how we show up for each other and have each other’s backs. I used to post here alllll the time during my pregnancy and my baby’s early days, so this sub holds a lot of special memories for me. It feels a little bittersweet to be back now, given how much my life has changed.

I have a one year old baby and 6 months ago my husband left us for another woman who has two children of her own. He chose to move in with her and has completely abandoned us. He’s been no contact for months and the woman knows about me and our baby but doesn’t care.

Honestly, one of the hardest things to accept is that he seems to have walked away from us so easily. Sometimes I find myself wondering if he ever loved me the way I thought he did or if he loves her more than he ever loved me. I know I shouldn’t compare but when someone you built a life with replaces you and moves on like you never existed, it really messes with your head.

I was a housewife and now I’m suddenly navigating life as a single mother while trying to heal from the betrayal and heartbreak at the same time.
I’ve tried reaching out to him about financial support and having some kind of co-parenting relationship but whenever I do, he responds with abuse and tells me to leave him alone.

Getting child support is incredibly difficult in my country because he doesn’t declare his income, and the government can’t do much when someone’s income isn’t officially declared.

Every time I’ve tried to ask for support for our child, he’s made me feel like a beggar or a loser. He’s even called my attempts to contact him “harassment,” despite the fact that I was only trying to discuss our child’s needs. I haven’t contacted him in three months now because I’m tired of being treated like this crazy person when I’m simply trying to get support for the child we brought into this world together.

So here I am, raising my little boy on my own. Some days I feel strong and other days the reality of everything hits me all over again. I’m slowly but surely healing.

Mamas, especially those who were stay-at-home moms, I would really love your advice.
How did you rebuild your life, emotionally and financially? How did you stop caring about the person who hurt you so deeply? How did you deal with the feeling of being abandoned and having to do everything alone? And how did you eventually find happiness again?

I’d love to hear your experiences, the things you wish you’d known earlier, and any advice you have for a mama who’s trying to find her feet again.

I just need a little reminder that life can still be beautiful after something like this.
Sending love to all the mamas here. Heart 💓

Any advice for reversing a supply dip while slowly getting back into shape? Any idea what might be going on, given my minimal lifestyle changes?

FTM here, unsure what to do. I desperately want to get back in shape, but my LO may be going through a growth spurt, AND I think my supply is starting to dip. LO is getting fussy and needed an extra 3 oz from frozen breast milk after nursing tonight.

Some additional info: - 3 Months PP from C-Section - 1 month of no exercising to recover from surgery, started going on walks month 2, now working out again 2-3 times / week during month 3 (yoga, cardio etc) - Gained 48 lbs total during pregnancy (was normal, athletic BMI before - OBGYN was not concerned with weight gain), lost 20 lbs immediately PP - Have not started period again, but starting to feel cramps / backaches, mood swings, similar to my normal period symptoms - Am still eating normally — tons of eggs, avocados, beef, oats, Greek yogurt, electrolytes etc. - Little one is growing — 7 lbs at birth, now up to ~12/13 lbs, lots of wet diapers (both # 1 and # 2) - Until now, I’ve had a slight oversupply (freezing ~4 ounces / day after feeding my LO) and have been exclusively breastfeeding

Appreciate any advice to boost supply while losing weight 💕

My son is a little over 7 weeks old and sleeping longer stretches at nighttime which sounds wonderful but I still can’t seem to fall into a deep sleep when he is in the bassinet beside me. I do the first shift and by the time i put him down im still watching and waking up to see if he’s okay when he’s perfectly fine. When my husband is with him he will feed him a bottle and rock him back to sleep in his room and ever since I caught him falling asleep in the rocking chair with him accidentally I can’t sleep good when he’s doing his shift either. I know this is probably partially PPA but idk what the solution is ☹️ I fully trust my husband know it was a mistake but I just want to sleep better again 😭 TIA

I am putting together a care package for my little brother’s girlfriend who is expecting their first child in November.

I had my own baby recently so I am trying to think through everything that I would have appreciated. So far on my list:

Comfy pajamas
Fuzzy socks
Lotion
Long bendy straws
Candles
“Not your mother’s” postpartum book
“From one mom to a mother” poetry book
Earth mama lactation tea
Peri bottle
Disposable underwear
Beauty face masks
Dermoplast spray (my own personal life saver)
Frida breastfeeding survival kit (2 hot and cold therapy packs, 2 hydrogel pads, 1 nipple balm at 1.5 oz, 1 saline spray at 2 fl oz, 6 nursing pads)
“Girl Mom” coffee mug

What would you add?

(She confirmed she wants to try to breastfeed)

FTM here, I have an almost 11 month old son. My parents live out of state.

Whenever they visit us/we visit them, the first thing my mom says EVERY SINGLE TIME she sees my son is "I KNOW YOU!" Every. Single. Time. She'll also say it multiple times a day, if she hasn't seen him in a bit (i.e. after his nap)

More concerning to me is how often my mom (63) mentions that my son doesn't like her. She always makes a big deal if he pushes her face away (he does this to everyone every now and then), she'll say "oh he doesn't like Nana" or "oh Nana is so weird". She also constantly talks about him giving her the stink eye or looking at her like she's crazy.

If she reaches out for a hug or asks him for a kiss and he doesn't do it, she says "oh he hates me" or "oh wow I guess we don't like Nana".

She even once told me he was like a "devil child" because he was scratching and pushing at her and trying to bite her.

I feel like she's making something out of nothing, and I'm concerned about the future of her relationship with my son. Would you consider this toxic, or am I looking into it too much? Any advice on how to handle this? I really don't want her being so negative towards my child. Do I bring this up? Any advice would help. Thanks!

I went back to work the last week of September. I was supposed to be working 4, 7 hour shifts a week while my husband, mom or sister stay with her. The first week seemed to go okay. Was told by all three that she definitely missed me and was a bit hard to settle. Second week was terrible, I had to callout and leave early for 3/4 of my shifts. Third week was a little better, tried working an earlier shift to see how it went and my husband asked if I could work all early morning shifts because she did a 180 that day. So I worked another early shift that Saturday and was told she cried nonstop for my mom and sister. When I finally got to her after my shift ended she had cried so hard for so long that she popped a blood vessel in her eye. She does not cry with me really at all and cries occasionally when others hold her when I’m around. Of course I’m getting so much advice from family and coworkers about trying formula, new bottles, eliminating food from my diet, having whoever is with her wear a shirt I’ve been wearing, stop cosleeping, the list goes on forever. I just don’t know what to do. I’m going to call the pediatrician tomorrow to see what she thinks.

My biggest question is that is there something that could be medically wrong with my baby even if she is fine with me and others when I’m present? Has anyone else experienced this?

This is just to satisfy my curiosity - I find comparing how we have and raise babies in different countries fascinating! Keep your answers brief if you can!

I'm from New Zealand, but have also had a baby in London, so I'm familiar with the UK and NZ situations. I'll put my New Zealand answers below. I realise there'll be huge variation within countries!

1. What's the culture around announcing pregnancies/gender? Any unspoken cultural gender preferences?
2. Birth - Midwifes or doctors? C-sections common? Water birth common? Skin to skin after birth?
3. Postpartum traditions? I'm fascinated by the Postpartum hotels/facilities in some countries.
4. What does maternity leave look like in your country? Is there paternity leave?
5. How long do you breastfeed for? Is breastfeeding common and did you get lots of support?

NZ answers -

1. We're increasingly seeing the influence of American traditions, with people doing pregnancy and gender announcements/parties - Most of my friends/circle just told people as it came up - Generally a pretty low key approach.
2. You typically won't see a doctor your whole pregnancy and exclusively be cared for by midwives, and typically give birth in a hospital birth unit. The c-section rate is round 35%. Natural birth is encouraged - Water births have been popular with my friends and skin to skin is normal - The baby is very rarely taken away from you. You don't get tea and toast afterwards like in the UK (my English partner brought me some from the tea station though, haha).
3. None specifically - We have postpartum care centres that you can go to for free if you've had an uncomplicated birth, but that's just for up to three nights. Your midwife will visit you at home 3 - 4 times after birth, though in the overburdened Auckland system, my midwife struggled to make those appointments.
4. You get 6 months (government) paid leave (which quite a lot of workplaces top up to your usual salary) and your job has to be held for up to a year. Lots of my friends have taken the whole year, or split it with their partner (though Dads taking parental leave is still less common) - Only two weeks unpaid leave for the non-birthing parent though, which is awful.
5. Strong push in our health system to encourage breastfeeding, and quite a lot of support if you know where to ask - I know some friends found it too much/too pushy. Midwives are trained to help, and lactation support is available after birth. I appreciated the support. Slightly higher rates of extended breastfeeding in NZ than the rest of the world - I'm still breastfeeding at nearly 2 and that's very normal amongst my circle, though I think the statistic is that only 12% are still breastfeeding at 2, so I'm in a bit of a bubble.

I’m asking this here since many of you are in the midst of raising babies. I’m pregnant with my third baby boy. My older sons are now 7 and 5 but I remember their pregnancies well. They were both active in the womb but I feel it was typical activity levels for both. My 7 year old is my calm kiddo and my 5 year old is basically Donnie Thornberry. This third boy is something else entirely…

I am not kidding in the slightest when I say he kicks all day and all night long. He’s always moving. He’ll be quiet for like 15-30 minutes then go on to kick for an hour straight. I’m only 21 weeks!! I started feeling flutters at 13 weeks and was being fully beat on by 16 weeks. He’s now kicking my ribs, bladder, cervix, everywhere. It’s so strong too.

I had my anatomy scan today and they said they have never seen a baby move as much as he did during the scan. They also couldn’t get over the strength of his punches and kicks considering his gestation. He was literally bouncing everywhere in there and I felt it all. Like I said, my other two were active and definitely moved during their scans but nothing compared to this guy. I am truly concerned for how life will be in 4 months. Is there a correlation between womb activity levels and outside world activity levels for your baby?

My daughter is almost 5 months old, and for the past 3 days, putting her down for naps and bedtime has become SO difficult.
Until recently, her wake windows were around 2 hours, and that worked pretty well for us. I’d walk her for 5–10 minutes and then feed her to sleep.
Now, around the 2-hour mark, she starts showing tired signs like rubbing her eyes and pulling her hair, but she still wants to play. When I try to put her to sleep, she fights it HARD. She resists rocking and even fights feeding when I’m trying to nurse her to sleep.
We cosleep, and I feed her to sleep. However, feeding alone doesn’t put her to sleep. She needs to be walked for 10–15 minutes or rocked in my rocking chair while nursing. Even when she seems asleep while feeding, I still have to pat her to get her fully settled.
Lately, none of this seems to be working at the 2-hour mark. She’s okay with being walked, but she whines and cries a little while I’m walking her. Sometimes she stays awake for 3–3.5 hours before finally falling asleep, and by then she’s crying and seems exhausted. Even then, she continues fighting sleep until she eventually gives in.
Her naps are still about the same length, and her night sleep hasn’t noticeably changed. She usually takes 3 naps totaling around 3–3.5 hours during the day.
I’m confused because she clearly seems tired at 2 hours, but she won’t actually fall asleep until much later. I don’t know whether her wake windows are naturally getting longer, whether she’s becoming overtired from fighting sleep, or whether this is just a temporary phase.
Has anyone else experienced this around 4–5 months?
Did your baby’s wake windows suddenly get longer, even though they were showing tired signs earlier?
Did your baby fight rocking, nursing, and all your usual settling methods?
If you cosleep and feed to sleep, did your baby suddenly start resisting that, too?
Did you keep extending wake windows, or did you stick with the old schedule?
How long did this phase last, and what actually helped?
I’d especially love to hear from parents whose babies behaved similarly, rather than babies who simply started taking longer naps or dropped a nap.

Hi mamas! I’m due in January. Big sister will be 2 and some change by then. Our current plan is to move the glider + ottoman to the new baby’s room because it’s still in great condition and the color fits both themes perfectly. Getting a second glider just seems silly.

BUT then where do we sit to read books with big sister? She’s still sleeping in a crib so it’s not like we can sit beside her bed to read. Bath, lotion and jammies, then books in the glider has been her bedtime routine for so long. Maybe I’m overthinking this but I know it’s important to keep up her routine with a new baby coming.

Do I just put some other chair in there? (I was looking forward to the extra space in her room for her bigger toys that currently are in the living room. 😩) Do we read in the new baby’s room since they won’t actually be sleeping in there for a while? What did y’all do?

Just looking for hope that 4 months postpartum won’t be a nightmare. I keep seeing posts on Reddit and tiktok about people backsliding mentally and overall just going through it at that point.

I feel overall pretty good and hoping to stay that way. I’m currently weaning off pumping and hoping to be done in the next couple weeks. Baby is currently 12 weeks, I’ll be going back to work when she’s 16 weeks and she’ll start daycare when she’s 4 months. I’m getting super anxious about my mental health potentially deteriorating when I go back to work and she starts daycare - sounds like a horrible combo! I know nobody can predict what will happen, just looking for any positive experiences that I can cling onto for hope😅

I’m 35w+2d today and I noticed a couple of very small pinkish spots on the toilet paper when I wiped. I’m talking very small, like two little dots. I thought it was a fluke, because the next time I went, there was nothing. Then I went again and again same thing, just very small tiny pinkish blot. I probably wouldn’t have even noticed if I wasn’t really looking. This has happened a couple more times since then. But it’s not mucousy and I honestly am super dry. Just have these tiny specks of pinkish brownish blood. I’ve had zero bleeding this pregnancy so far and haven’t had any recent cervical checks or pelvic exams. I just got diagnosed with mild polyhydraminos, so I’m a little anxious about going into labor. This is my second pregnancy, my first I had to be induced and never had a bloody show. I ended up with a c-section and have a c-section scheduled for this pregnancy at 39 weeks. I hate calling the OB or L&D when it’s probably nothing. I really don’t think it’s anything but just interested in some opinions.

I literally feel like I have half of a brain and can’t carry a conversation to save my life😂 And I’m 13 months postpartum, so this has been going on for a while now. I want to connect with people and make good impressions, but my baby needs me more right now. And that’s okay. But it’s also tough because I feel like I’m misrepresenting myself… anyone else feel this way?

I just saw a tiktok of a mom attacking other moms who don’t get their kids ready for the day. Most of the comment section were other moms posting photos of their children all ready with hair done and nice outfits… to stay home. My son is turning 1 and we’re home most of the time (at least until my husband gets home and we’ll go out). He’s in pjs/comfortable clothing most of the day, of course i put him in a new outfit when we do go out and after a bath. Granted my son is never MESSY throughout the day but i definitely don’t get him ready just to stay home. What do you guys think. Am i the only one who does this?

How long did your baby fluctuate between 2 and 1 nap days before dropping the second nap entirely? When did it start? Our baby is almost 1 and has had some days where they just push on through until about 1pm before getting tired.

They’ve been on the lower side of sleep needs, but 12 months is pretty early for dropping to one nap from the searches I’ve done. Bedtime has been pretty late recently too, and last night we had 3 wakings when we’d been down to 1-2 wakings.