My fellow new parents, something happened today that I’m sure you’ll get a small giggle out of. I wrote this down to share with my daughter when she’s older, so it’s written in a pov. I’m so glad my daughter is fine and we will be even more watchful in future.

Now without further ado, please enjoy our story.

On 05.05.2024 when you were 8 months old I was trying to take you to bed. You didn’t want to drink though, you just bit my boob. I looked into your mouth with a flashlight and got so scared. It looked infected and it looked like the roof of your mouth was coming down. There was a big gap, it looked like a horrible wound. Daddy agreed. Quick googling made him come up with cleft palate.

I packed a bag for you and me, sure we were going to spend some time in the hospital together.

Daddy drove and I sat in the back with you. I was so worried. You weren’t very unhappy but uncomfortable.

Suddenly I said to daddy ‘something’s happened, something has come loose’ and I took something out of your mouth. Something I thought was your palate.

We arrived at hospital and I wanted to go straight to the NICU.

The doctor was who I had spoken to on the phone. She was very surprised and concerned that I had the roof of your mouth in my hand. She called the on call doctor and he made his way over. It was apparent that what had happened was not normal.

The doctor in the ER came with a sterile dish and took a good look at the thing I’d handed her. She asked how the inside of your mouth looked now.

We looked in and said that somehow it now looked normal. We wondered if it was a long time coming and it had already grown back.

Then daddy said …. You know what it is? It’s a bit of muffin form. One you’d pulled out in the kitchen and mummy didn’t see you sticking it in your mouth.

I went scarlet red but at the same time I was so grateful and relieved. I apologized profusely and thanked the doctor.

Now we’re home again, one hour later. You have had a good drink of milk and have fallen asleep in my arms. I love you so so much. You’re my everything.

My Lo is 10 weeks old and still swaddled to sleep as she will not sleep without it, if not swaddled she will wake herself up startling every 5 minutes, tried to just power through for a few days but gave in as I was so sleep deprived. shes not rolling either. Have bought the love to dream transition swaddle and am hoping to keep her in that for a while longer?

My 8-month-old son tosses and turns like mad. He’s recently started rolling during the day from back to belly and back again. He’s desperate to start crawling or standing or whatever. It’s almost like he’s compelled to roll by a motor, even if he’s exhausted and frustrated and crying, he keeps going. And now this has spilled over into his sleep seemingly.

I put him to bed and an hour later, I hear him cry so I run to his room and his head is facing the opposite wall in which it normally should. He’s on his stomach and he has one arm in front of him and one arm behind. I don’t even know how it’s possible for him to get in this position in his crib.

I’m terrified he’s going to get pinned in a painful position or somehow hurt himself in his sleep. It’s beginning to keep me up at night and I intend to ask our pediatrician about it as soon as possible. But in the meantime, I’m awake while everyone else is asleep so I’ve come to Reddit.

Is this typical? Any advice?

Hi. My baby was diagnosed with moderate HIE due to cord prolapse and underwent therapeutic cooling. He is 4 months old now, meeting other milestones except having good head and neck control. He is good during tummy time but has noticeable head lag when holding upright. Any advice/comments/success stories are greatly appreciated.

My 12 week old is still taking 5 naps a day and goes pretty much from content to screaming when she’s hungry or tired and isn’t super playful yet. She starting to smile more but isn’t super engaged yet in playtime. When do they start showing their personalities and not just screaming when they want things :)

LO is 21 weeks old (4.5ish months?) and has recently discovered squealing. Like… all the time. My ears do not like this phase.

How long does this last? Is this the new normal? Will I forever more be subjected to the high pitched squeals of an infant?

Our 4-year-old son has allergy and easily catches flu, resulting in runny nose, cough, and fever. Recently, he seemed to have trouble hearing, so we had his hearing tested at Aster Hospital. Results show mild conductive hearing loss. Doctor prescribed antibiotics and scheduled a follow-up in a week. Has anyone experienced this? How serious is it? We are worried. Will it resolve as he recovers from the flu? Thanks in advance for your response 🙏🏻

Anyone else complete small chores with baby in a safe spot & are content/happy? Examples: fold/put away laundry when baby is in crib, order groceries when baby is in the pack n play, etc. Chore stops if baby is in distress and I will respond to baby.

I find I complete small chores like this on a daily basis with these pockets of time, wanted to see if anyone else does too!

This is a bit of a rant. But my 3mo old (literally 3 mos today) has had 2 different older adults in our lives name her “emotions” when she cries.

We’ve had older adults (in their 70s) call her impatient, angry, mad, and pissed off. Anytime she makes a peep it seems they get frustrated with saying things like “gosh what’s the matter now?”

I’m a FTM and I’m a pretty chill person generally. Most things don’t get me riled up and I find my kid to be an easy baby. Maybe others wouldn’t, but she’s usually fine with me and easy to soothe.

My kid’s cry is more of a high pitched scream and I can understand why it may bother some folks. It doesn’t bother me, never has. The worst thing she can do is cry, because, well, she’s an infant. She cries when she needs something. She can’t control how loud or how high pitched her cry is.

Idk if I need advice but how do you handle these things? Would you say something to them? Or how do you let it not bother you?

Ps. I’m a single mom also and we are managing well, better than I expected tbh. But it seems sometimes this type of projection eats at my confidence 🥲

Hi guys! Anyone have a recommendation a good travel stroller for tall parents? I’m 6’0 and we have the uppababy but looking for something compact/easy to travel with.

FTM here and I never drove with my baby yet. I always go out with my husband and he drives while I sit in the back with our baby in case he cries and needs soothing. He is almost 6 months old now and my husband is traveling soon for a business trip for a long period of time. So I'll definitely be the one driving. The only issue is my baby is gonna be alone in the back and I'm anxious about it. What if he cries a lot while I'm driving what do I do? I can't just pull over anywhere and take him out of his car seat... 😭

Please let me know if you have some helpful tips I really have to idea what to do.... or if you've experienced this before and how did you drive with the baby in the car seat alone in the back.

Hello all!

Just wondering what toys should I buy for my baby (4 months) and activities we should do? She currently has a piano mat but she doesn't use it anymore lol I think she finds it boring.

Thank you ☺️

It’s like crack. So addictive ❤️

We haven't made our plans yet, LO will be just about 4 months. Not necessarily looking for ideas, just interested to hear what you're doing!

Does anyone have any tips on brushing a toddler's teeth? I can get the tops of the teeth easy, but every time I try to get the actual surface of the teeth (like the part that you see when you smile), she closes her mouth and tucks her chin so I can't access them and it ends up frustrating both of us as I try to squeeze into her closed mouth. Does anyone have any advice? Thank you

So, my 5 month old doesn't really babble... Like, ever. She does practice her pterodactyl noises at all hours though. Anyone else? We have her 6 month appointment on the last Friday of this month.

… the post I made last year after I attended my first Mother’s Day with my husband, 6-week-old baby, and extended family. Click the link below to see the post.

Let this be a cautionary tale. This year, my husband, baby, and I are doing something just the three of us, and I can’t wait!

https://www.reddit.com/r/NewParents/s/XB6LCeG7gt

So I'm running out of the enfamil gentlease and stores around me are out of stock too. I was hoping to keep her on an easier to digest formula until she gets more into solids (she's almost 6 months now and fairly well into solids). I have some of the enfamil premium at home that I could start introducing to her but I'm not sure how and if that would be best.

Do I get a different brands gentle formula? Or do I start switching her to regular enfamil? Would I mix the powders together or prepare separately and then mix? I do have a baby brezza formula mixer so if the scoop codes are the same I assume I'm good to mix the powders.

My little needs to move up to a convertible car seat and I have read the numerous reviews and such.. What I'm looking for is a car seat that has breathable cooling padding? Is this a thing? Are all the seats made with the same type of material that this isn't really a measurement for review?

Does anyone have thoughts on the Clek? otherwise I'm leaning towards the Nuna Exec because I don't want to buy another seat in the future.

Anyone else’s baby a totally different baby (3 months) during the time of day. During the morning baby just wants to eat and go to sleep, you don’t have to hold to get her to sleep. You can just put her in the crib and she will be out like a light. At nighttime baby wants to be be held until she falls asleep and apparently it is playtime when it is dark.

Hi guys. I have a question for parents with babies with food allergies: did your LO ever have a rash that got worse over the course of several days? My 6m has a big cluster of red spots on the back of his neck that keeps getting worse and I’m trying to figure out if it’s food related. Notably, we haven’t introduced any allergens yet, only chicken, fruits, veggies, some cinnamon, mint, and a bit of bone broth for pureeing. We have a doctors appt in less than a week so will also ask then.

My 10 week old will not nap without being held. He used to, then went through a gassy phase where he was distraught most of the time and only holding him could console him (sometimes not even that). He’s starting daycare in 2 weeks when I go back to work and they’re not going to be able to hold him all day. Im worried he’s going to just scream all day and not sleep. I’m trying everything I can think of to help get him to sleep independently and nothing has helped. I’m exhausted. I swear if another person tells me to sleep when he sleeps I’m going to lose it because they obviously did not have babies that insisted on contact napping. I can honestly get more done/more of a break when he’s awake because he’s at least content to sit in his bouncer for five or 10 minutes at a time.

And if so, how did you navigate it? What did you start with, etc? LO is 5 months and cleared by ped to start tasting. Yesterday we blended peaches and gave him small tastes of that before nap. He loved it. I am waiting the appropriate amount of days before introducing anything else. Right now, we are in between grocery trips so we don't have any infant cereal, just fruit and veggies for the moment.

So my 4 month old has started refusing bottles when she's too tired. We've combo fed since birth. I go back to work in less than two weeks. I fully understand I created this monster by nursing her to sleep but I was unprepared for how strong her will is. Absolutely nothing will calm her down until she gets the boobie. We have tried breast milk in the bottle, formula, different bottles, her dad feeding her when I'm there or even when I've left the room, rocking, shhhing, going outside,.

I'm so anxious that I'll go back to work and she will refuse to eat/ scream for the whole time I'm away.

I have to work 13 hrs over night and can't leave to go help if she's loosing it.

My 8 month old seems to only like foods with pretty “big” flavors. For instance, he hasn’t been into porridge or yogurt much, but he likes pesto, shakshuka, yellow curry, so on. Even with fruits, which he likes generally speaking, he’s much keener on grapefruit than bananas and apples.

Just seems a bit weird to me frankly. I was scared to give him flavorful foods but our nutritionist said to go for it. I make all these foods myself, so they are tailored to have less sodium than typical and maybe I make them slightly less spicy than I normally would if there is a heat component to the dish. Otherwise, just typical recipes we eat at home.

Anyone experience similar?

basically what the title says - after finding a bottle my babe likes (bibs - she's a fancy girl) I went and bought a few bottles & matching pacis to rotate through the wash.

but in the haze of 3 week old sleep deprivation, I bought paci's sized for 6 months+ instead of newborns. LO takes them well, the size I got is the size of the nipple on the bottles, but am I doing any long term damage? or putting her at risk for SIDS?

does anyone have any experience with giving their LO the wrong size paci?

How bad is it for baby to be watching tiktok and Instagram shorts on a phone from a few inches away?My hsband was using this to entertain our baby while I was getting ready in the morning. I went and picked up baby and put her in tummy time.

She is 4.5 months old

Hi Everybody,

My wife and I are running into a big money issue with my son's day care where we needed to accept money from her parents every month just to stay a float. This issue is blown up more because my job security is severely lacking at the moment, and my job has no growth at all. I just go there for a paycheck, and barely do anything.

My wife is very worried about money and job security, so much so that little spats turn into big fights.

The only way out of this for us and my son is for me to get my CPA license. I currently have passed 2 of 4 exams officially, taken the 3rd and have a good feeling about it. My 4th and final exam is in July 2024. I won't receive my grade for the 3rd exam until 7/31, and 4th exam will have grade out on November 1. Currently with this timing I won't be officially licensed until 2025, as it takes my states 2-3 months to process the application of a license.

A new job for me would give me a 50% increase in salary, and cover all the expenses needed for daycare. The situation is that I am currently being DENIED job interviews AND job offers because I am not licensed.

If quit my job I can be done with all tests by 6/25, and have my grades by 7/31. Fully licensed by end of 2024 at the latest. A new job most likely will come in August 24, and get my family out of this financial rut, as I can show proof of all my grades.

My wife and I are clashing about me quitting my job, money, and just doing more around the house. This exam requires 200-260 hours of study time, and I need to do 15 hours a week to take my exam in July at the minimum. (Think full time job of 40 hrs + 15 hrs part time job a week for time restriction)

I am not sure what to do at all as I can only go so fast through the material to make sure I understand it. If yall can provide any tips/advice/insight on what to do it would be greatly appreciated.

Edit 1: looks like this question is coming up a lot. Why do I want to quit my job, or feel like I need I need to? A: hiring season for public accounting firms and corporate tax jobs usually finish by August 31, before the extension season happens for due dates of 9/15-10/15. From what I remember the hiring process after 10/15 was not the best, but that was a long time ago. Hiring usually picks up (as recruiters get mass job postings in Jan). If I stayed at my job i am not sure the likelihood to get a new job after the summer but before Jan 2025.

Edit 2: Question: Can my wife earn more money/get a raise? A: No, she is salary capped at a state job. Gives fixed 3-5% raises yearly based on her union contract.

Hello - FTM of a 7 week (corrected) baby girl. Since being home she has had day/night confusion. It's getting a bit better but she's up mostly at night. Her father works Monday through Friday 8am to 4pm. So I'm left as the one up with her. When he comes home from work I have to pump, take care of dishes, eat and then I try to sleep. I can at most get 3 hours before I have to be up to help with the night time routine and up to take care of her the rest of the evening. Dad goes to bed around 10pm or 11pm until I have to pump at 6am. On weekends, I get one night where he watches her overnight and I can sleep except the past two weekends he's been on call and needed to be at work both Saturday and Sunday for a couple of hours. So I'll sleep when he gets home on Saturday most of the day. My question is, how can I make sleep more equitable? It feels more one sided right now and maybe that's the best we can do because he is the bread winner and I don't work... I see ppl on here that take shifts and I'm just not sure how to make it work so I'm not left so burnt out.

TLDR : what's a good schedule for overnights with the baby if one partner works 8-4, Monday through Friday?

We have been treating our baby for eczema for the past month or two. It started when we began baby led weaning so I thought it was skin irritation due to exposure to oil/food. We applied ointment/vasoline and it worked but it would come right back the next day. We took her to the doctor and they recommended using a cortisol cream for a week and then switching back to vasoline. It didn't seem to help that much and when we stopped using the cream it got worse. Her neck is covered in a red rash and she now has some patches on her legs. Her doctor is booked for the next few months so we will have to try to get her into a clinic instead asap but I've done some looking around online and found it could be related to her diet. The culprit could be eggs, wheat or dairy which, unfortunately, is going to be hard to avoid. Every meal includes at least one of these. I'd much rather try to avoid the cause rather than just treat the symptoms so I think we eliminate one for 5 days and see if we see any change.

Has anyone had this problem and what did you do about it? Any meal ideas that would avoid two or more of these? If you did manage it with diet change which one was the one causing it for you? Any advice or personal experience would be greatly appreciated. Thanks in advance and I apologize for the long post!

(I should also note that we screened all of these for allergies and based on the rash I'm confident it is eczema. I have eczema so I'm familiar with what it looks like)