Hi everyone. Im currently pregnant and have been nervous to become a mum. I checked the posts on here in hopes I can see a lot of posts raving about the joy of parenthood, but it seems to be mixed.

Can you tell me if parenthood is all worth it? Of course, likely rhe answer is yes, but why? Can you share some moments where you can justify? I know parenthood isn't about getting something back, but why is it worth it? I'm sure it is, but I just can't imagine it (I guess it is "trust the process " kind of experience)?

Thank you.

Due in January and I’m gonna start prepping and freezing some stuff so we can eat homecooking the first week or 2 while I recover. I’ve got tons of reusable, restaurant supply litre containers for soups and stews so I’m gonna make a huge batch of chili, a huge chicken veggie soup, a couple batches of meaty pasta sauce and probably some stir fry’s so my husband just has to thaw and heat it up and bring it to me. I’m not good at casseroles nor do I have much freezer space so I’m thinking just filling a bunch of those soup containers with quick stuff is easiest.

My husband doesn’t cook, he’s not good at it (no offence to him I’m just the main cook and I already know how so it’s easier for me to do it!) I love cooking so it’s not a big deal for me. I just want stuff he can heat up and serve. We use our air fryer instead of our oven because it’s always been just us and the air fryer is easier, hence why I don’t do many casseroles in the oven etc

With that in mind, what did you guys prep and eat the first week or so? What would you recommend? Any recipes or tips you can share for a FTM? :)

My daughter just turned 15 months. She’s never been the best sleeper. After talking with friends and other moms, it seems it’s my fault and I started bad sleep habits that I can’t get out of.

I went back to work in September so during the day she is with my MIL or mom. She usually wakes for the day around 7:30, and (for the last few weeks) takes one nap around 12/1ish. The time varies because sometimes my MIL can't get her down. She will sleep for 1.5-2 hours and then goes to bed by 8:30. She is rocked to sleep for nap and bed. There are nights she sleeps through no problem, nights she may fuss but puts herself back, but lately she has been waking up SCREAMING at least once a night. Like exorcism screaming, throws everything out of her crib, and will not go back to sleep until one of us goes and rocks her. She'll typically go back to sleep until we lay her back down. Sometimes she'll settle for butt pats. Sometimes we rock again. This will go on for hours. Some nights I find myself bringing her into our bed just because I’m desperate for sleep because I have work in the morning.

I just don't know what to do at this point besides let her scream her head off? Is it teeth? A regression? Separation anxiety? The consequences of my own actions? I'm desperate for advice and find myself getting anxious at night, like I did in the newborn phase, because I never know what the night is going to hold. Any ideas are appreciated!!!

Last week my daughter got the chicken pox and she was absolutely miserable because of it but since I knew her symptoms early it wasn't too bad. She had rashes mostly on her thighs and back. I kept her in quarantine for about 3-4 days so it wouldn't spread, rubbed some scaboma (our version of calamine) lotion on her, kept her hydrated and gave her cuddles. I'm just so grateful that it has passed and I don't have to worry about her getting it again. It was so exhausting but we made it out the other side

This isn’t really advice related just wanted to share I suppose, I’m feeling very sad that my baby is changing so quickly. She’s 5.5 months and in the last month she’s starting rolling back to front and front to back and now roly poly’s everywhere, she can now sit up unassisted and is getting really good balance wise, she’s got two teeth with more coming and has started to try and crawl. I can’t help but feel both proud of her and sad that I have no time to adjust before it seems she develops a new skill. The last month has truly blown my mind, a few weeks ago I was trying to teach her how to roll now she’s camo crawling all over the place. Anyway, just bittersweet I guess! I don’t think I was ever prepared for how fast time goes.

I’m 15wpp. I randomly breakdown and cry about weird things these past few days.

2 days ago, I dreamt that I ran heating too high and overcooked my baby at 101 degrees and she screamed at me all red and sweaty. I didn’t sleep for 26 hours after that cuz I was really really scared.

Today, I cried for hours thinking how fast she is growing up and I’m unable to pause time so I get more of these cute moments to enjoy before she grows up and never needs me.

I’m still recovering from my birthing injuries and it still gets difficult to poop some days. That sets me off into meltdowns as well.

I am recovering from back to back flu, and my milk has tanked quite a bit, so that also makes me quite sad and miserable. I’m hoping it’ll get back up, or my mental health recovery will really need some professional help.

Do baby blues last this long? I just want to cuddle with her and never leave my bed.

I’m wanting to pack my hospital bag early (so I can forget about it!), and I want to include some non-perishable, but still healthy snacks that will be desirable during my c-section stay. My husband won’t be staying overnight at the hospital (he’ll be with our preschooler), so I want snacks that will be appealing in the night if I get hungry! Any suggestions?

I don’t mean this to come off condescending. Maybe I have a unicorn. Maybe #2 will be a constant ball of snot.

Just genuinely curious how common the “my kid has a constant runny nose all of winter” issue is, or is not.

Tell me about the sinus health of your crotch goblins!

My baby is just over 7 months. For the last few nights, maybe 5 nights? he's been up at least every hour from 11pm onwards. It's currently 3am - he was up at 10.45, 12am until 1, 2am until 20 past, then again at half 2. He's in his room, I've checked on him a couple times but he's just.. still crying. I've fed him each time he's woken up until now and given calpol. There's nothing clearly wrong with him other than he's awake and he just won't calm. Sometimes we leave him a little while (maybe 20-30 minutes) to see if he'll settle and he just doesn't. I actually don't even know what to do this time as I literally just fed him.

I'm so tired. Cosleeping isn't an option for us - usually if he's still struggling to sleep at 4/5am I'll bring him to our bed and wake my husband up to watch him but that's as close to cosleeping as we are comfortable with.

This is all a bit new because except for a regression at 4 months he's always been a decent sleeper. Usually its a wake up around midnight and another at 3ish. But this is just brutal.

Any input very welcome. Has anyone else been through this? Is this a particularly difficult time sleep-wise in general? Is it his age and stage?

Was labor easy for you? Were you able to do it vaginally? I’ve always heard for the term “ child bearing hips “ which are like wide hips and thinner waist, something I don’t have naturally. I was wondering if that has any impact on labor.

My 2wk old is having poopy farts/sharts literally all day. He will have one or two more substantial poops in the day (more than a tablespoon) but then will leave smears in his diaper every time he parts- which is alot. He is breastfed and the color is the healthy deedy mustard brown/yellow, but the frequency is causing him to have terrible diaper rash.

Had anyone experienced this? Will he grow out of it or is there a dietary issue i need to think about? I don't consume much dairy.

Three weeks postpartum and my skin is absolutely horrid. Luckily my post-partum hormonal acne has subsided, but now it just seems as though my entire face is sloughing off. My husband told me I look like I am molting (in the most loving way possible). The skin around my lips is constantly peeling and my cheeks and forehead are red, rough, and dry.

The only thing that somewhat helps is slathering in aquaphor every night and then guzzling down water which helps a bit with the dryness but I am still super flaky.

Did anyone find anything that helps their skin?

In the summer and autumn i would go on walk with my baby, I was really loosing all the baby weigh but now it winter amd very cold outside. There is a small gym on the apartment complex I live but sometimes it's ocupy so I don't use it and it makes me so sad. I just wanna do something by myself for myself I don't work so going out for a ride it's not an option. We do time to time go yo the mall or to a coffee shop

Hi all- I have an 18 month old son who is the light of my life. I’m now 40 and thought we were done but life had other plans and now I’m 12 weeks pregnant. I thought I’d be cool but frankly I’m so nervous about how to handle 2 that young. I work full time and my husband and I divide care but I’m already very tired. I was just starting to feel like myself and get my feet under me, and now I’m very worried we’ll Be totally overwhelmed. For those with 2 close in age, how did you feel? Anything help you get over the anxiety? Thank you!

I’m so sad because everything seems so serious between my husband and I, constantly. We’ve been married for 4.5 years and have a 20 month old.

Having a baby has definitely caused tension between us with the sleeplessness, anxiety, lack of time for “us”. But I thought by now things would get better, because we have good family routines, are all sleeping well, have had weekends away together. We just don’t laugh together much anymore and it’s worrying me. We problem solve well together, discuss deep things, he’s a good partner and father. But we lack lightheartedness. I just don’t have fun with him anymore.

To be fair, that’s kind of both of our personalities (more serious and deep). But I feel like before baby we had more fun.

How do we get this back? How do we work towards being more lighthearted? Help!

Something they didn't tell me about fenegreek if how long you'd smell like maple syrup. I took fenegreek a good 3 years ago. I wasn't pregnant or lactating but it helped my severe constipation. I knew it could cause you to smell like maple syrup but I wasn't told how strong and overpowering it would be and how long it would last even when you've stopped taking it. 3 years later and every now and then I get a faint wiff of maple syrup in my armpits.

I am 18 days pp and started drinking mother milk tea which has fenegreek so I'm back to smelling like maple syrup but it's not nearly as strong as taking the capsules. Im not looking forward to walking around smelling strongly of pancakes for the next few years even after finishing breastfeeding 🫠

LO is a week away from her 4th month. Today I went back to work and was gone for 9 hours or so, this is the first time I left her this long and I'm usually the one with her most of the time (since birth). When I came home today she started crying once I held and tried to feed her. She kept crying while I'm putting her to bed. She calms down when I hold her not facing me but gets upset when I face her to me. Is she mad at me?? Or she forgot me already and viewing me as a stranger?

Hi! We are first time parents living in Chicago and I am LOST in this whole stroller debate - it's like learning a new language. We've landed on the Bugaboo Kangaroo for our main stroller. But for an infant car seat/running errands stroller, we have been recommended the Doona as our secondary.

Two major concerns:

1. Doona's use of flame retardants

2. Their poor crash safety testing

Yet everyone raves about it... The only thing I can think of that is comparable is getting the Bugaboo Butterfly travel stroller + the infant car seat attachment and pairing it with a Nuna or other nontoxic infant car seat that is compatible with the stroller.

Has anyone tried this as their "day-to-day, running errands" stroller? Or is there really no comparison to the Doona when it comes to convenience for infant travel? I am wondering just how light weight and easy the Butterfly is, and if it's as simple as it looks to attach the infant car seat to make this a Doona-esque stroller.

Looking to get a strider bike for our 14 month old for Christmas. He's behind on walking, so we're hoping this helps! Has anyone used the hape or retrospec? How was it? I'm worried the retrospec will tip forward, but that the hape won't help with balance. Thank you!!

30y/o and 5 months PP. A few weeks ago I started having pelvic pain that feels like period cramps and low back pain. The first time I was directly between periods so I figured ovulation but this time I just finished my period 2 days ago. I’m not pregnant and I’m getting a pelvic ultrasound in a few weeks. I’m convincing myself something scary is wrong

So I’m a SAHM and a night owl (as is my husband) and admittedly our 5 month old has adapted to our sleep habits.

She will absolutely not settle down to sleep until the early hours of the morning and it seems to be getting worse. She’ll sleep anywhere between 4 AM - 7 AM and then she’ll stay asleep for about 10-12 hours afterwards.

Getting her to sleep earlier has always been a nightmare. She becomes inconsolable if I am persistent in trying to get her to go back to sleep. There have been a couple of hopeful moments, but she’ll wake up after about 2-4 hours and then is wide awake for hours afterwards. This isn’t ideal for us and I would really like to change her sleep schedule but don’t know where to start?

I’m just really tired of starting my day with her at 3-5 pm and would love to have her experience daylight and other outdoor activities during the day. If anyone has advice it’d be heavily appreciated!!

I feel like I’m about to go insane. I have a little boy who is 14 months this month. He hasn’t slept properly overnight in weeks. I’m EXHAUSTED and I have no patience left. NONE. to deal with him all day.

He wakes up screaming blue bloody murder anywhere from 1-4 times a night, and will stay awake for an hour just inconsolable no matter what I do/try. That in turn has a follow on effect to the next day where he’s too tired to cope and just cries and screams and whines at me all fucking day. I’m ready to lose it. On top of that he won’t sleep past 6am anymore and then is too tired by 8am that he has to go for a sleep. He has always had high sleep needs his whole life and when he’s not getting sleep everyone suffers. He’s not teething. His schedule is fine. We use huckleberry. His bedtime was always 730pm and awake at 630-7am but now he’s in bed at 6-630pm and up anywhere from 5am-6am. Still has 2 naps a day.

It’s a mess. I’m a mess. He slept better as a newborn. My husband works away weeks at a time. I have 2 other children I have to look after plus myself plus run my business plus run my household plus keep on top of cleaning etc etc etc I’m literally ready to throw myself off the roof.

I NEED SLEEP. Please help me. ETA he never refuses naps. Naps are no issue ever. No screaming no tears no fighting. Only nighttime

I need advice. We see our pediatrician Thursday and I see lactation tomorrow, but I’m struggling with my newborn. She is my second and I’m suspecting reflux. My first had it and after a few weeks we finally got medicine for it and it helped a lot. My second doesn’t spit up, but she has all the other classic symptoms: hiccuping, coughing, arching back, grimacing face, pained crying, and difficult to settle or will settle and then wake back up with the reflux.

I try to make sure she is latched well and hold upright after feedings as well burp during and after feeds.

I am EBF for the moment, but with my first I started supplementing with Enfamil gentlease, actually Nutramigen first, but we switched to gentlease and she did fine with it. We did a bottle of formula at night before “bed” and then I breast fed the other 2-3 wakes she would have. But with my first I also didn’t make as much milk, whereas now I have an over supply due to pumping too soon (she wasn’t latching). So I’m working on trying to pump less and let her regulate my supply. I know too much milk, especially foremilk, can cause reflux issues.

I know it’s all normal newborn stuff, immature digestive tract… but this is really affecting her night sleep and I hate that she is in so much pain. :(

A friend of mine stopped by for a few the other day. Her kid immediately starts hacking a lung and a literal lougie on my floor. "Oh, it's just post nasal drip from allergies" okay, so tell me why, my whole house now does not feel good and neither does she???

PROBABLY BECAUSE IT WASNT ALLERGIES OR POST NASAL DRIP.

Any sign of sickness, just reschedule. Having a 7 month old that doesn't feel good isn't fun.

That's all, thanks for reading.

What can I expect after a silver nitrate treatment? I have two spots of granulation tissue and I’m not sure what the hours/days/weeks afterward will look like. Any advice or tips?

I also have some slough (yellow goo-looking stuff) when I pat the area dry. Midwife says it’s not pus and not an infection. Did anyone experience this and did it go away after the granulation tissue was removed?

Were you still using a peri bottle after bathroom trips and doing sitz baths?

When we found out I was pregnant, it wasn’t long after that we found out the date of a very close friend’s wedding. We are in New York, and the wedding is in Florida mid-January. My husband is a groomsman so he will definitely have to go. My son will be a few days shy of 4 months old at the time of the wedding. Since we found out the date, we were planning to bring the baby and Grandma along to watch him while we were out. But after he was born, I kept having this feeling like I shouldn’t do it. I don’t know how he will be on a plane, we’re struggling financially as it is to pay for flights, extra hotel rooms, car and car seat rentals, plus traveling with an infant sounds incredibly difficult the more I look into it.

It was suggested I can leave him home with Grandma, but I personally cannot peel myself away from my baby for more than a few hours. I make a target run by myself and I’m itching to get home before I’m at the checkout line. He’s also breastfed by bottle through pumping, and I’m a just-enougher so I don’t even have a freezer stash for him to have for the 3 days I’d be gone, so I’d have to get him used to formula.

The whole ordeal is causing me so much stress and so I made the official decision today to just skip out on going.

I’m devastated that I’m not going. I really wanted to go. These are such great friends to us and it really hurts that i won’t be there to celebrate their love. I know they will understand and not be mad at all, but I can’t help but feel guilty over it.

I knew as a mom I would have to make sacrifices for the sake of my children, but it doesn’t make it hurt any less.

My LO is 14 weeks old and since 12 weeks has been waking every 2-3 hours at night to feed when she was only waking 1 maybe 2 times prior. We push intake during the day but since she has started eating more at night she is chugging those night time bottles and not eating well during the day. I know it’s appropriate for a baby her age to need to eat 1-2 times a night but I am thinking of decreasing these MOTN bottles from 4 oz to 3 or 3.5 oz to hopefully get less intake at night. Any experience or advice?

Did anyone else have this 2 months post? I have insane cravings, i feel nauseous, i crave the smell of pinesol. I’m not pregnant for sure, it’s just unsettling

Hi everyone. Ftm .. I wanted to ask everyone what type of baby food do u all use? I'm starting my 6 month old on baby food but idk which brand is best .. I plan to make my own as soon as I get a bullet or whatever to puree it .. but for now .. which brand is not toxic lol? Tia...

Hello all, I'm wondering if anyone else has had this.

My little one ( 7 months old) has been on solids ( purees) since 6 months she has been eating all her vegetables and loving her morning cereal. My issue is that this week she is rejecting everything except yoghurt, foods she loved last week are now treated like poison and refused. Has anyone else experienced this? Did your little one go back to other foods? How did you encourage them back to other foods.