Mum to a 2.5yo and a 4mo.

There is not a second of the day that I’m not feeding, changing, preparing bottles, making food, giving someone a nap, doing laundry, doing housework when I get a sec, driving to appointments, planning meals, attempting to be present and play with them both.

All I see is parents chatting about Halloween activities or cute crafts or inventing games and honestly my entire waking life is spent physically doing something for the kids. HOW do you fit in all the extra fun?

We recently went on holiday with them both and my husband and I both worked 24/7 to keep on top of the childcare and chores while attempting to give the toddler a fun holiday. We’ve never been so busy in our lives. HOW are other parents so chill and not stressed? How do you make it look so easy? What am I missing?

Just thought I'd share our experience with Flumist intranasal influenza vaccine because maybe some other parents might find it useful. Our kids are very anxious about getting needle jabs as are many others, so this year I decided to skip all the hassle and just go for the nasal spray vaccine for flu. It was super easy to order online, and most insurance covers it except for a $9 shipping fee. The vaccines arrived in about a week in a refrigerated package. To administer, you just give a quick spray in each nostril using the provided device. My kids barely felt anything and there were no side effects. Hope this helps!

My 1 year old has recently started to nag, whinge or cry almost all day about everything. She was such a calm, content baby until she turned 11 months old and she just seems to never be satisfied or happy no matter what I do.

Am I doing something wrong?
I respond to her needs, I play with her sometimes, I take her out, I’m not sure what else I can possibly do to make her happy.

Is this just a developmental thing?
Am I not letting her do enough of what she wants?
Am I being too controlling?

I’m so tired of feeling like nothing I do is enough or constantly feeling guilty if I have to take something away or put her down when I’m tired, or put her into the car or into the pram, or do the dishes, literally anything and she cries.

It’s like she wants my undivided attention 24/7 or she isn’t happy, but I am only 1 person. I can’t give her my attention all of the time.

Thanks in advance.

How bad did it get? What made it bad? Did it get better? Did your marriage make it out alive?

Hi there, I’m just trying to figure out a plan for our Son before I start work again in December. We initially started by combo feeding him as a newborn and then went down to one bottle of formula or EBM daily. Then, at around 4 months, he refused bottles altogether. We tried different types, and made sure I was out of the house or far from him when he wasn’t overtired. Still refused. So, I began to exclusively breastfeeding for two months.

Our little guy is a great eater, he enjoys having solid foods! He eats three meals a day and drinks some sips of water with a straw cup. I’m still nursing first thing in the morning and then every 3 or 4 hours for naps and bedtime. We are up to once or twice at nighttime for feeds.

My question is coming as we approach my return to work at 12 months postpartum and him starting daycare the week after… my three year old was still taking bottles to go to sleep at this point. I spoke with a Dietitian not too long ago, who suggested I don’t need to reintroduce a bottle to him. My Husband and I agreed we will need to introduce a new method for naps and bedtime as I’m a shift worker, and some weeks I’ll be working either days or evenings.

Any help or advice is encouraged. Thanks!

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Io e il mio compagno abbiamo due lavori full time molto stressanti, io inizio alle 7.30 e torno alle 17/17.30, lui inizia alle 9 e torna alle 18.30 e stiamo letteralmente arrancando.

Da un mese mia figlia ha iniziato il nido ed è stata quasi sempre malata con conseguente caos organizzativo.

Tra lavoro, cura della bambina (che è un tornado) e faccende domestiche non ci fermiamo mai e siamo stressati come non mai.

Non abbiamo grandi aiuti: due dei quattro nonni lavorano ancora, una nonna ha problemi di salute e l'unica rimasta quando può si rende disponibile ma essendo molto anziana più di un paio d'ore fa fatica a seguire mia figlia.

Chiedo consigli per sopravvivere a chi c'è passato/ci sta passando.

Grazie

My husband and I have recently decided we aren’t having more kids, simply because we are so content with our son. No desire for more. He’s turning 2 soon.

How are you doing?

"We love them all the same" - is it real or bullshit?

I need honest answers, please.

EDIT: I don't mean "there are times when I prefer one over the other". I mean genuinely, all the time, is there a favourite? Your kids could be 1 to 50+ years old for all I care

Curious where other parents stand. Do you keep your little ones completely away from internet-connected devices (tablets, phones, smart toys), or do you allow some? What worries you most about it, and what would you want instead?

My LO is 7 months old and his bottom front teeth have started poking through. At the same time he has decided that he wants to eat me at all times. The best is when he grabs my hair and pulls my face into his and “bites” me. Before the teeth poking through this was slobbery but fine now he’s like a little piranha. He tries to eat my face, my hands, my clothes, everything. We have a ton of different teether toys he is fine with them but would rather eat me. Just wondering how long this lasted for most people?

Being a parent is the most expensive, exhausting, unending, demanding, thankless undertaking that a person can decide to do in their lifetime without question.

That being said, for most parents it is deeply rewarding, fulfilling, purposeful endeavor that they happily shoulder because they chose to become a parent and are fully aware of the sacrifices involved.

My question for discussion is have you met or are one of the parents that complain all the time about being a parent? As in, they truly weren’t aware of what it means to be a real parent and the resources needed? How are so many people so oblivious to the demands of parenthood?

Hello fellow parents. I’m wondering how you all are managing your children’s eating habits.

Some initial background, I grew up overweight, I’ve continued to be mostly overweight my adult life although I’ve made improvements. I know that my personal experience with food is manipulating how I see my children’s eating habits.

Our son is 6. He’s fit and active, but he eats A LOT. We provide healthy meals and have very few limits on how much he can eat at dinner, but some meals he’s chasing carbs or when we get take out, he’ll really pack in the food during those meals. Like I said, we’re pretty laid back and mostly let him eat to his heart’s content, but I do wonder if we should be putting limits.

Like veggies, obviously no limit. And we do already limit condiments, but if we’re eating BLTs should he be allowed to have 2 or 2.5 adult size sandwiches? I really want to avoid the same food shame I experienced, so I try not to make any comments, but I’m just wondering. How are you handling your children’s food intake?

She turned one recently and I am still completely exhausted from the whole weekend.

We did a Winnie the Pooh theme because my mom had those exact books when she was little, so it felt really special. But the actual party was pure chaos. By the next morning, all the balloons were popped, the decorations were torn apart by the kids, and half the cake was smashed straight into the rug.

I spent three days scrubbing icing off the floor. The only thing I saved from all that mess was the little paper invite my mom hand-drew for her.

I didn't want it getting shoved into a junk drawer and forgotten, so it ended up becoming a fridge magnet for our kitchen. Now I see it every single time I go in there, which with a one-year-old is like 40 times a day.

It's just nice having one sweet little memory from the day that didn't get completely destroyed

we live in a second-floor unit with zero floor insulation, and our downstairs neighbors hear every single footstep and drop. my kid is obsessed with tapping beats and making sounds all day, but standard toy keyboards and drum pads are way too loud for our space. someone suggested kiwico's little musician box since kids assemble a small wooden xylophone, pluck rubber bands for strings, and stamp out color-coded song cards. building the instrument first and keeping the sounds acoustic seems a lot more manageable for an apartment setting, but i am curious if any parents here have tried it. for anyone dealing with close neighbors, what gentle rhythm kits or low-volume music projects have kept your 3yo entertained without shaking the floorboards?

Hi! I’m looking for some advice on how to handle a situation with my daughter at her after-school program.

This week, my daughter reported that she was cornered by three children—two boys and a girl. She says the girl held her down while one of the boys repeatedly spanked her on the bottom. When they finally let her go, my daughter punched the boy who had hit her.

The school informed us about the incident and said they have a zero-tolerance policy for inappropriate behavior. They spoke with my daughter, asked her not to hit and to tell a teacher. However, as far as we know, only the boy who hit her was seriously reprimanded. The school told us they spoke with the other boy’s parents and addressed the fact that the children had cornered my daughter, but they have told us that the girl did not hold her down.

My daughter is still very upset about what happened, and reports the girl continues to make comments to her. I’m concerned that this hasn’t been fully addressed and that my daughter still doesn’t feel comfortable with the situation.

I’m trying to figure out what’s reasonable to ask of the school at this point. Or if they handled it sufficiently? The kids are only 6/7, so it’s difficult to know how to reasonably address this. And I am trying to figure out why I am so mad?

I’d really appreciate hearing from other parents who have navigated something similar. I want to make sure my daughter feels safe and supported without escalating things unnecessarily

Everybody talks about walking, talking, etc. but for funsies - what “underrated milestones” have you celebrated? Things you had never even thought about pre-kids? I’m thinking about the little things that have made life just a little bit easier.
Mine for example are:
\\- blowing their nose
\\- putting their hands in their coat pockets

Ten minutes after I reset the toy area, every basket is upside down. My 2-year-old carries blocks into the hallway, drops a few play-food pieces behind the couch, then comes back to empty the animals and stacking cups.

He will join if I sit down and start something, but alone he seems far more interested in unloading and transporting than using the toys the way I expected. Fewer toys make cleanup faster; they have not changed the pattern.

At this point I cannot tell whether to change how a few toys are displayed and kept within reach, or accept that dumping and moving them is the activity right now.

I am not a parent but, anyway. My cousin is over with her 2 daughters and her step son. The boy(the oldest I would guess is 3 or younger. The daughter (middle child) is about 1. She was climbing the couch and jumping onto the boys back and he was yelling to stop cuz he was laying down watching a movie. This whole time my mother and her mother are in the room. And my cousin only hit the boy for elbowing the girl. But she has been yelling and jumping and all of this stuff. I'm not saying she's sexist or doesn't care about the boy cuz he's not hers technically but I would like to know whether or not I'm looking too far into it. (She has spanked the girl btw)

Is there an audio only baby monitor where both the baby AND the parent unit can run off battery? All of the ones I’m seeing say the parent unit can be battery operated but don’t say the baby side can. Would like this to keep in our camper for when we stay at campgrounds without electric hook ups

What do you think, is there an ideal time to have kids? I mean besides biological reasons. What’s your story, how old were you when you had your first child? Do you think it was the “right” time?

Since the beginning of the school year, there were a few incidents where two boys weren’t very nice to my son.
The school and parents were involved, everything was addressed, and there haven’t been any further incidents.

Because of this, I told my son to stay away from these boys.

The problem is that my son is extremely literal and seems to interpret instructions very rigidly.

For example, during design class, the kids were working on their iPads at a table. One of these boys came over and was simply looking at what they were doing. He wasn’t bothering my son, saying anything to him.

But because I had told my son to “stay away from him,” my son told the boy to go away. The boy said, “But I didn’t do anything,” so my son went to the teacher and said, “My mom doesn’t allow me to be near him. Can you tell him to go away?”

I understand why my son reacted this way because, from his perspective, he was following my instruction exactly.

When I tried explaining that I meant he should avoid interacting with the boy if there is a problem, rather than treating his presence as automatically unacceptable, he told me, “But you told me to stay away from him. You keep changing the rules for me.”

How to teach him how to judge situations rather than constantly giving him specific rules.

I’d also love advice on how to give him more flexible guidance so he can eventually navigate these situations himself

** edited to add the boy came to my sons table and was simply watching the screen of my sons ipad … he wasnt bothering him and didnt talk to him but my son wanted to be away from him as i told him to stay away

My 21 month old randomly woke from his nap today and vomited what seemed to be a huggeee amount. We’ve all had a cold for the past week or so, no fevers though. He ate his breakfast and lunch no problem, went down for his nap and then had the episode of vomiting

I am DEATHLY afraid of norovirus, last time I had it it took me months to recover.

My son is eating Cheerios and drinking as usual, and it’s been 2 hours since he vomited.

Is this common? He’s my first child and I feel like I have no clue when it comes to illnesses. Terrified to put him to bed tonight!

My baby just turned 6 months old a week ago. The day she turned 6 months, is when i realized a decline in her communication and increase in whining. She had a drs apt and doctor said shes developing fine no signs of sickness maybe teething, but other than that just keep communicating with her and playing and by 9 months she should be babbling more like “ma ma ma ba baba”

She used to be very loud in her screeches if she got excited or with me playing with her,
She would do a lot of “ahh ehh ohh” babbling throughout the day on her own.
Since 6 months she doesnt screech and no “ahh ehh ohh” shell only do that if shes playing with something in her mouth. Sometimes i see her getting excited and trying to screech but nothing comes out.
She has started blowing raspberries this week with an under tone of “b” and has also started what i feel like is fake coughing. Shell go back and forth with me if i mimick her fake coughing or raspberries but only in the morning, after that shes pretty much silent all day unless shes whinning, which shes doing a lot of.
She seems upset most the days now, whinning even if were playing, not content unless im holding her walking around.
One other thing thats kind of sending my anxiety is her twirling of feet and hands when shes excited or frustrated. Idk im freaking out shes autistic or something. I dont know what im looking for with this post, maybe just other stories of maybe similar situations and how your kids are now a days. I also feel like i need to delete social media completely, the moment i stop worrying for just a second i get reels of “is your baby doing this? Yeah well youre screwed No? Well youre screwed” and it sends me into a spiral again… gosh shes whinning as we speak with her dad trying tk blow bubbles to make her happy. Im so burnt out over the overthinking…
Also, before anyone suggests a therapist, im on a very long wait list where i live, and private is not affordable to me right now what so ever…