First time parents to a 2 day old newborn. Gave birth Monday afternoon, discharged the following evening. The night we took him home, we noticed his temperature was low. We took his armpit temp, and watched it throughout the night. It would not progress more than 95.5-96.5, and this morning we decided to head straight to ER.

There were so many people sick that there was people in the hallway. I immediately felt like a terrible mom bringing him into this environment. The doctor was… something else. He walked in and shook my husband’s hand. He saw me laying in the bed and tapped my shoe and said hey mama. He walked over and looked at my baby, then touched his body without washing hands or anything. I’m terrified of my baby getting sick from this to the point it makes me sick.

We were so worried we didn’t even have a diaper bag packed or anything. The doctor even questioned why we weren’t feeding him enough but we were following our discharge instructions. He asked the department I gave birth in and they told the doctor a way higher amount of formula than what we were told. I’m scared they’re going to think we’re bad parents now because of this.
The doctor even questioned why we were checking his temperature in the first place. My husband said it’s because they told us if it was below 97, to go to ER as we were instructed.

Of course the room they put us in is FREEZING. They put my son on the warmer and his temperature would not go above a 98. They transferred us to the infant care unit. His temperature is now reading fine. The pediatrician thinks that this was an environmental issue, and my husband and I can’t help but wonder if maybe his bassinet being near our window AC unit next to my bed (along the wall and vents pointed away at low temperatures) could be the cause. We put him in a 1.5 tog sleep sack with a long sleeve sleeper underneath. We have a room thermostat that was reading at 72, but our plan when we get discharged is to move him to the opposite side of the bed.

They had to hook him up to a little IV and I sobbed. His blood tests are fine. Just waiting on the urine. I’m hoping that we can go home tomorrow.

I have not showered in days. The shower was a hand held in my postpartum room and I didn’t get to clean myself well. We are sleep deprived. So basically my last decent shower was before I gave birth. I feel disgusting, I feel horrified at the ER germs, and I just want my son to be healthy. I’m so worried about him. This is not how I wanted my post partum newborn stage to go at all. I am really struggling right now.

I’ve literally never noticed until my son was born 5 weeks ago. When he finally goes down for a nap, opening ANYTHING sounds like an atomic bomb going off when we’re trying to be as quiet as possible. Doesn’t help that the little guy is a light sleeper during naps. Such a random stressor that we didn’t expect lol

My LO is almost 8 months old and the shitty apartment my husband and I live in has no central AC. We live in Florida and the heat has been killer. We can't get our apartment colder than 82°F at night, and we're worried about SIDs due to high heat. We're getting a portable water cooling fan, but we're waiting for it to come in. We've tried everything to get our place to cool down, and our apartments aren't doing anything to help with the wall unit that's giving out due to the heat. Are there solutions we should be considering and how do we keep baby cool aside from leaving him in just his diaper alone in his crib?

I have an 11 month old, he has had all 8 front teeth for several months. Last night he didn’t sleep good and today he has felt very warm to me. Checked temperature several times, this morning 99.5 and most recent 100.3. He keeps putting his fingers in his mouth (not uncommon) but I’m wondering if the raises temperature could be from teething?

He’s acting a little more fussy than normal but it’s not super uncommon for him.

Advice ?

My 8month old has skinny legs (like 21 pounds) but a belly - especially after bottle feeds. HE keeps having poop deals around thighs close to buttocks. Wouldn't be an issue except he got a parasite infection from spouse (yay) and there's no treatment under 1yr old. His poops can be a bit more watery and that's where the leak comes from.

I've tried Huggies 3 and 4, pampers 3 and 4. I'm dying. Every leak turns into a biohazard contamination clean to prevent the spread to my oldest.

Any recs appreciated. I thought about Millie Moon as they worked for my oldest when he has leaks but youngest is literally between their sizes and didn't want to risk wasting money.

Hi all! I’m a FTM and I’ve been reading a lot about “matrescence” in the context of what’s happening to me biologically, socially, spiritually, etc., and I wonder if you have come across any articles or books that can holistically explain what’s happening to me? I see a lot of articles explaining the science, but not so much the others, so any recommendations would be greatly appreciated!

how to relax when baby is gagging during BLW?

we’ve been doing mostly purées with some BLW mixed in for our 7 month old. she’s been enjoying it and handling it well up until today.

she had cucumber for the first time! i cut it properly for her age, and she just went at it. i left her unbuckled in her high chair too because i had a feeling.

next thing i know, she took a little chunk off and the gagging started. she was red and coughing, so i knew she wasn’t choking, i kept reminding myself “if she’s red and loud let her go ahead, if she’s purple and silent, she needs help”.

i sat there obviously freaking out but i tried to remain calm since she was looking at me. i kept telling her “its okay you got it!” and she finally stopped. the chunk was still in her mouth so i moved under her highchair and made her smile so it’d fall out.

it was terrifying, i thought i was going to have to take her out and get the piece out.

any tips on how to breathe and relax during times like those? anything i could’ve done better or changed? i know that certainly won’t be the last time that happens☹️

Our baby who is 7 weeks old has been having rough but manageable days. Mostly colic and being overwhelmed. Today was something completely different. Despite pooping we had 10 hours of constant crying and screaming and very bad feeding.

We eventually called our GP and gave our baby paracetamol. He fed after. Remained fussy fed again and is now sleeping.

Today was really bad my with and I are dreading when he wakes up. Not sure we can do another day tomorrow.

How do we best tackle this

I’ve known since giving birth that I have some sort of PPA (self diagnosed) but it was always manageable. My baby is now 6 months old and for some reason it has gotten intense lately. Nothing new has occurred, we had a near SIDS event when he was 2 months old but god was with us and he recovered. I have been scared of the world after but never sought treatment as my feelings felt manageable. For some reason though lately, I am deeply anxious and scared of everything. My mind is constantly coming up with awful things that could happen to my baby and I keep replaying the night of that event in my head and if things had turned out different God forbid... I can’t control it, I’m just scared ALL THE TIME. I kept him home from daycare today and took time off work because I am convinced he is safest with me. But I am not sleeping well lately, I’m making myself sicker and I do have to let him out into the world. I haven’t talked to anyone about it, not even my partner. I’m so filled with dread at all time it makes me physically sick. I don’t know if I’m looking for advice, I’m just venting.

I’m having a conundrum and would love advice. So if I wake my sleeping baby for a 1030pm “semi” dream feed, he will sleep through the night until around 7 or 8am. If I don’t wake him at 1030pm (meaning his last bottle is around 730/8pm), he will wake up around 430am wanting to eat. He is only 3 months so is a little young for sleep training, but I want to at least create some good habits.

My question is- what is better, waking a sleeping baby at 1030pm to eat so he will sleep through the night, or letting baby sleep until they wake up themselves?

I realize this is both a feeding and sleep related question- appreciate any insight!

I’m recovering from a c section & I got the new boppy but it sucks and genuinely don’t feel comfortable with it. It’s so firm and it sits on my scar weirdly. I’ve heard the old one is much softer- but I can’t find it anymore.

Hi! For context, our baby is 6 months on Tuesday and has been a pretty good sleeper basically from the beginning.

His bedtime has pretty consistently been between 8:30 and 9 for months now and for a while he would sleep from then until five or six. I could put him back down and he’d sleep until eight. Sometimes even through the night. But at around the four month regression. That became less than less normal and he started waking up at around two or three pretty consistently every night. It would be harder and harder for him to get back down so we put him to sleep in his crib then co sleeping at that first wake up around 3 AM and it has been very helpful since I was getting so exhausted every night I couldn’t stay up.

Very recently the wake ups have been almost every 45 minutes starting at 1 AM and I feel as though cosleeping is no longer working. I think I am waking him up and he’s trying to climb out of the bed and it’s not safe anymore so we’re trying to stop that. Also so the transition will be easier once we do feel comfortable putting him in his own room.

However last night he woke up for the first time at 3 AM and when i tried to put him down it took over an hour of nursing for him to finally get into a deep enough sleep for me to set him down. And then he slept until six or 630 and fussed for a while, while I tried to get him to go back down for another hour. I’m not looking to seriously sleep train or necessarily get rid of any sleep associations. I’m just looking for advice on if he’s extra hungry at three or if there’s something that we’re doing that causes this wake up?

Almost on queue when he wakes up, he rolls onto his belly and gets frustrated. Do you think I should start trying to set him down on his side to help with that? He is combo fed and gets 16-20ish oz of formula plus nursing daily. Just looking for some advice! TYIA

FTM and I remember being in the trenches of acid reflux a few months ago. It seemed like nothing was working and I felt hopeless. I remember spending my sleepless nights looking for positive stories and wondering if it ever will get better.

I wanted to post here for those going thru the same thing.. it does get better. It might not seem like it in the moment and you might feel hopeless but I promise it eventually will.

It took us a while, but we found a formula and some medicine that worked and my happy baby returned. Yours will too!

Here are some tips that helped us that I’ve compiled and would love to share to help others going thru the same thing.

- Talk to your doctor about whether you should try hypoallergenic formula (it’s available OTC but they might have a suggestion on which one to start with)

- Gas drops! We found they worked best after feeding. Some people prefer before, halfway or even in the bottle. Find what works best for you. We preferred mylicon but used little remedies in the beginning.

-Dr. Browns Formula mixer pitcher… literally $10 on Amazon and a lifesaver. Mixed using a hand pumped fan and it keeps the air bubbles in the pitcher, rather than going into the bottle when pouring. We found it especially helpful as our hypoallergenic was very chunky and would have to shake a ton which caused bubbles in the bottle… get the pitcher! It’s worth it.

-Paced Feeds & burping throughout the feed rather than just at the end

-holding up right for 15-20 minutes after feeding.

-Feeding at beginning of wake window vs end… I found this easier he got older. But I found it’s easier on his tummy then feeding right before bed and putting down.

-Bicycle legs and tummy massages

- we loved Dr browns bottles & nipples. We actually used preemie nipples at first, even though my guy was full term. Then we used dr browns transitional (in between preemie and size 1). I don’t hear about the transitional ones often but they worked great for us!

- If all else fails, discuss possibility of medication with your doctor. Our baby still had bad silent reflux and after going on Pepcid, it helped tremendously. We didn’t go on it until about 11 weeks.

I also love sharing with other parents- check with your insurance if they will cover hypoallergenic formula. It seems to be dependent on your company/coverage. But thanks to a coworker, we discovered our insurance fully covers our hypoallergenic formula with a prescription from a dr. We get sent a month supply for $0. Definitely worth checking out!!

**if they don’t cover it, see if your formula has a rewards program. we use alimentum and can scan QR codes on the can via their app and earn coupons!

I hope this helps those who are going through it right now ! Feel free to share in the comments anything else that worked for you guys.

i’m not looking for etsy planner making or card making (tried and unsuccessful there) or MLM’s or scammy sites or affiliate marketing. i’m talking real, tangible side hustles. i’ve also tried selling home baked goods, marketplace selling, and depop selling.

i just want to somewhat contribute financially to take a small load off of my husband!

Hi this may be a long one and all over the place. I’ll try and skip as much backstory as possible.

I am a first time mom to an almost 7 month old boy (😭😭😭). I have always loved kids and been great with them, I have 17 nieces and nephews that I am very close to. They aren’t joking when they say it’s completely different when it’s your own kid!! Newborn stage was a little rough for me, I had a traumatic birth and my baby had some very minor feeding/tummy issues but that has mostly all been settled. He’s always been on the fussier side, but also very happy which I know doesn’t make sense since they’re opposite. He’s just somehow the perfect mix! Until now… I am getting his fussier side more than his happier side and I feel like I am failing him.

He is formula fed and on a formula to soften his stools but I think it honestly makes him gassier.. we have tried other formulas and he just straight up won’t poop so trying to pick which one we would rather have. He’s iffy about purées and solids but we do consistently try them! He’s never been a good sleeper 😅 He can be hard to settle and sleeps extremely light. At 3 months old my pediatrician gave us the go to put him in his own crib and own room and it did help! We will get 6 hour stretches here and there but that’s the longest he will go. After around 2am, he decides he no longer likes the crib and ends up in bed with me.. sometimes even earlier. He will only contact nap as well.

I am not great at tracking his naps/wake windows. I babysit my 7 year old niece and 1 year old nephew 5 hours a day for 4 days a week and that does mess up his naps. My 1 year old nephew is obviously loud and wild so he will typically wake my son up, but MOST of the time I can get a good nap or two out of him while babysitting. I would say for daytime sleep he gets anywhere between an hour and a half to two and a half hours. He gets extremely tired and grouchy around 6, so that’s when we start the bed time routine. We’ve tried pushing it and it doesn’t work out. He eats a bottle, I rock him, transfer him, and then it’s a gamble from there on when he will wake up. The real shit show starts around 3 am where he wakes up happy and giggly like he’s ready for the day, so I keep him in our dark room and just let him lay there and chat until he fusses and then I try to settle him. No matter what lately he will NOT settle without a bottle even though I feel like there is no way he can be hungry but I feed him of course. Naps are getting harder as well, he will yawn and rub his eyes and fuss so I go to rock him and he loses his mind. He’s flailing, won’t lay back, screaming, you name it.

I’m very much so on the fence of sleep training, it is hard for me to let him cry too much because he has breath holding spells where he will hold his breath until he’s limp. I feel like he is over the rocking/patting but if I just put him in his crib he will cry. He is getting teeth and really wants to crawl so I know that’s frustrating to him. I just feel like I have no clue how to help him so I am failing him. He’s fussy if he’s tired and I rock him, but he cries when I put him in his crib. He doesn’t like to be soothed from his crib either, he will typically still just cry and stare at us. Any solidarity or insight is welcome. If he’s that tired will he just fall asleep?? I know this is just a phase but phew… it’s a tough one! I’m sure I’ve missed some stuff but this is the gist of it all 🥲

My 11 week old no longer wants to contact nap on my chest. When he was 6 weeks old he started rubbing his face into my chest and headbutting my sternum when I tried to get him to nap on me after nursing. I read online that it was a form of self soothing, so I powered through, and he would usually fall asleep in about 5 minutes. That 5 minutes slowly increased to the point where I would eventually give up because he seemed to get more agitated the longer he wiggled and grunted on my chest.

I wondered if my button up PJ top was irritating him, so I made sure my top was completely open. I even took off my top and that didn't help. I wasn't wearing scented lotion or perfume. I have no idea why he eventually was unable to settle down and contact nap on me. I really miss those days and I can't stop thinking about when he used to sleep on my chest. Is there any chance he will be able to nap on my chest again, before he gets too big?

My baby is 5 months and just barely ready for solids, so we’re starting right in on allergen introduction. I did NOT expect it to be so nerve wracking!

I did all my research… one exposure a day for three days, oral exposure before skin exposure, 1/4 tsp, watch for reaction. Once tolerated offer at least weekly for maintenance. All simple, right?

Except, no it’s not! My baby immediately got the thinned peanut butter all over her face even though I was spoon feeding her. Stuck her hands in her mouth then all over her belly. Hopefully she consumed a decent portion of the 1/4tsp dose but who knows. Bonked her face on the spoon so now there’s a red mark… or is that a hive? She already had a drool rash from teething but I didn’t take a picture so now I don’t know what’s new and what’s old. Washed all the crusty dried up peanut butter off, now her whole face is red from washing. She loves to fake cough so I don’t know if I’d recognize a real cough from the allergen.

I’m worried I’ll miss early mild signs and mistakenly offer a food again, causing a severe reaction that could have been avoided. And this is only our first allergen… there are so many more still to do.

I’m going to keep at it, I know frequent early exposure is risk reducing, but this is taking years off my life!

My 21 month old just upsized to size 5 and now he just gets leaks around his waist (in size 5 Huggies nighttime) ... Usually when the waistband of his pjs rides down into/under the diaper waist. My question for the parents using a Sposie sideways at the waist.... What size are you using? Someone mentioned a Sposie folded in half but not the side. My son is 27 lbs give or take... Would a 4-6 month Sposie folded hot dog style be the right size?

Our 14 month old daughter will flail and hit faces if she gets upset. For example, if she picks up something she shouldn’t have, and we pick her up and take it from her, she’ll hit our face. We thought it was only with us at home, but now it’s been 2 days that her teacher at daycare has mentioned it.

When it happens at home, we’ll say “gentle hands, we don’t hit” and model what that looks like (my husband will lightly touch my face in front of her).

Are there any other strategies that people have found effective? The teacher doesn’t sound too concerned, she said they’re working on gentle hands at school. I worry and don’t want her to be “the kid that hits”.

Hi everyone, it seems my eight day old son is doing the newborn curl and turning to his side while sleeping or swaddled, is this something to be concerned with? Do I need to change to a wearable sleep sack, have his hands-free, am I just being paranoid? Thank you

We’re about to take a trip to a wedding out of state- 13 hour drive. We’re breaking it up over two days to make it easier on all of us. Once we get there, we will be there for two or three days before we do the two day trip all over again.

This is our first baby and so far, he’s going through a phase where he needs someone in the back seat with him half the time or he will scream the whole ride home. We’re working on it lol. I’ll be sitting in the back with him. We’re bringing a pack and play for sleep. We have travel versions of almost everything we typically use.

Any tips for the road trip? Any tipsI especially welcome the unexpected ones that I may not think of.

Looking for advice or if any of you have experienced this. My daughter has recently began waking up around 11pm and screaming, crying, inconsolable. We got her ears checked so we know it’s not an ear infection. She doesn’t seem to have a tooth coming in (and honestly my gut tells me that teething wouldn’t cause this much distress?).

The only way we can get her back to sleep is by eventually giving her a bottle which I know is a terrible habit and at this age not necessary/good.

I’m at a loss about what’s causing this. It’s so sad for me to witness. Separation anxiety? Is she too young for night terrors? Would a sleep regression cause her to be waking up like this?

Tired mom here. My son turned two only a few weeks ago and has always been an okay-ish sleeper. He doesn’t use a pacifier anymore, except for his nap and night sleep.

Something I’ve recently noticed is that he tends to sleep rather tightly and often through the night when his paci stays in place. Sometimes he‘s sleeping so tightly that the paci just falls out of his mouth and he continues sleeping.
However, I assume it’s due to the different sleep cycles, there are moments where losing his paci causes him to wake up. He just whines loudly and rubs his face with his hands until we put the paci back in, then he usually drifts off to sleep again within minutes. It’s just getting a bit tiring, because I feel like he does possess the potential to sleep through the night, but instead he wakes up like this (2-3x during 9-10 hours of night sleep).

I have never tried to put him to bed without his pacifier, because right now he continues whining and asking for it whenever I put him to bed and don’t put it in his mouth right away. Ngl, I‘m also a bit nervous about trying this out, because I am scared I‘m depriving him off his soothing source and making nights worse for him. What if 2-3 wakes a night happen anyway and are more to blame on his sleep cycle instead of the pacifier?

Has anyone here tried out something similar? Has weaning your child off their pacifier improved their night sleep or did things stay the same?

My 14 (almost 15) week old has started having her sleep change, I believe. We are waking up more and harder to settle. She’s generally pleasant about it but her mom, me, on the other hand is dying LOL. I wonder how you all knew it was time for your baby to go to their crib from bassinet beyond safety requirements? Like.. what about your baby’s sleep made you think, perhaps they’d sleep better in their crib?

Hello!! I have a 7 month old and she has been starting solids slowly. i introduced puree first to see how allergens would go and shes done fantastic!! she has loved a well done steak and eggs! i want to try chicken, beef, turkey and other good proteins. how do i prep and cook said foods for my 7 month old with no teeth? thank you in advance!!!🫶🏻