My kids at 12f, 10f and 7m. I got married 2 years ago and originally all 3 kids moved w me 2.5 hours away from their hometown. My girls were struggling here w the kids at their school ams my city doesn't have many options for them when it comes to their advanced education so I let them move back w their dad about 1.5 years ago and my son stayed w us for a school year because he needed that 1x1 parenting and we got him diagnosed w ADHD and ODD and got him the help he needed at school. This was hard on him so I let him go live w his dad too I'm really struggling and it hurts so bad not having them here daily. They just left after a week over here w me. I just feel so empty without my kids. I know I did the right thing for them and their futures, but I feel so lousy and I want to be so selfish and bring them back, but I know it's not right to do that to them. We text and talk on the phone and during holidays and long weekends (if possible) they're here w me. I guess i just needed to get this all out because I just keep crying and I'm so sad.

My husband and I are expecting our first child in July, if all continues to go well. Realize this is very early still, but it’s fresh in my mind following Thanksgiving visits. His family lives halfway across the country, and his mom and dad will both (separately) want to come visit the newborn after birth. I don’t think either will be particularly helpful in the sense of cooking/cleaning/being hands on. They’re lovely people and very chill, but I also won’t want them staying in our home with us right after birth. Funds won’t allow for them to get their own place, but they might be able to stay with my parents if they’re comfortable with that.

This is not the first grandchild for either, but I know they’ll be excited to visit. They’re from the south and I’m from California, if that’s helpful cultural context.

My questions:

• When do you think would be reasonable to have in-laws visit to meet the newborn if they’re traveling from several states away?
• Do you think it’s justified to not want to have people staying with you in your home right after giving birth?

They will totally respect what we ask for, I just want some advice on what to reasonably request in terms of space since this is our very first child.

Thank you!

I have a 4 year old boy. Incredibly defiant (back talks, doesn’t listen, etc.) but the biggest issue is he is physically aggressive against is 1.5 year old sister. Will push, shove, lean his body against her so she falls, etc.

Our current only method of punishment is sending him to his room for 5-10 minutes but he seems to not connect his behavior with going to his room & comes out guns ablazing again.

Other things to note: -Sleeps fine (11 hours, no nap) -Goes outside most days, plays outside -Does not hurt other kids (goes to daycare) -2 parent household, stable, etc. -No diagnosed medical issues

My husband and I are gonna read No Drama Discipline together but this behavior has been going on since age 3 and we are soooo over it.

My daughter (12, 6th grade) has had the hardest time making and keeping healthy friends. I have repeatedly asked her, since she’s the common denominator here, if she could be doing something that offends or turns people off. She says really doesn’t think so. Every mom of every friend has told me how nice and sweet she is to them and their daughter , but usually soon after the tide turns. Her friends get mad at her for the dumbest reasons (being sick so unable to get together, “your mom buys you Starbucks too much” [not very often at all, she usually pays for it herself], things like that) and then start being mean and turning others against her. I have read books, articles, followed life coaches and the like to get advice, I have told her she doesn’t need to be friends with people that treat her badly, but that’s almost every friend. Then they usually gang up on her and tell her stuff like she’s fat, ugly, privileged (that’s true but so are they 😂) and spoiled (I won’t lie, we are generous but also expect her to do well in school and be a respectful and kind person and hold her very accountable to that and also warn her not to brag about how blessed and lucky we are). Shes also very pretty (she doesn’t think so, but she is. I’m not just biased 😂) She recently decided to end a relationship with one of the girls that’s consistently mean to her and now the others in the group are mad at her. Now that girl is trying to turn the others against my daughter and it’s working. This girl (I’ll call her Jenny) will tell others to say things about her to my daughter, who, at this point, takes the high road, or ignores it, but it hasn’t stopped and helped the situation. I hate this for my daughter, who definitely has her moments, but is generally a really nice kid. I just want her to find her “tribe” and have a couple of solid friends she can trust. Help me 🥹

My father-in-law is retired and it seems like everyday that I’m at work he wants to come over and spend time with my wife and kids. I work a normal 8-5 job Monday through Friday, so the time he’s over really starts to add up by the end of the week.

I appreciate that he wants to be engaged with my family, but also I’m not sure I’m comfortable with him being so involved. I don’t really like my kids spending hours with him every week. Mainly because I don’t think he did a great job raising his own kids, so I don’t really want my kids learning too much from him. I feel like he can have a great relationship with my kids without seeing them five days a week.

My wife and I already are in agreement that he can’t be alone with our kids because he doesn’t listen or respect boundaries, which can be unsafe for small kids. However, I’d feel a lot more comfortable if he wasn’t over so much. I’d like to discuss this with my wife, but am curious if I’m just being weird or if this is a valid concern?

My niece (18F) reached out to me about some inappropriate text messages from her stepfather (53M). My sister and this man have been together for over 10 years; he is not a good man and has cheated on her several times. He asked to secretly buy my niece alcohol (she is of age here, so it's legal) and told her not to tell her mom or he'd get in trouble again. He asked her what she'd do for him if he bought her a drink. He also invited her to go play pool in a lounge with him. I told her it sounded a lot like grooming; she told her mom and her mom flipped out on her, not him. I just am looking for opinions here. Am I overreacting by thinking this is grooming?

So.. my daughter who will be 15 in January is dating a boy who just turned 18 like a week and a half ago.

They are also in a "poly" relationship (I guess) with their female friend who is a junior.

My daughter and I have an extremely open relationship and talk about everything. She lets me go through her phone and respond to her messages and everything.

Her and this boy have been talking about more than just kissing lately.

I was a teen mom so this is something im super passionate about. I don't want her to be like me.

My husband and I invited her boyfriend over to talk to us today so we can get to know him. Anyone have any suggestions on questions to ask? 😅

My son, who has been going through it with a bad cold this week, has just fed me a cheezie that he had just been freaking sucking on! Ugggh, what're the chances that I'm going to have to call into work this week?

My daughter went to a friends for a sleepover, with another friend… (will not ever be happening again, they are 11 years old)

She told me that there were “security cameras” in her friends room. When asked about it, she was told by the parents that they were for security purposes and that they were “turned off”

My daughter could tell they were still on because the light was still on, so she placed a shirt over them.

The parent came into the room, removed the shirt, didn’t say anything and left.

She’s smart as fuck and called me to come and get her but I feel absolutely disgusted right now and do not know what to do about this.

She did not get changed in the room, but her friend did.

The mom is a respected member of the community and is involved in the school system.

I’m trying to wrap my head around why they would possibly need TWO cameras in their 11 year olds room who is very well behaved, not involved with drugs or sex….

There could be a possible medical reason, but even with that… when you have two other children in your care this is absolutely fucked up to me. My daughter felt like their house was a “kidnappers” house and I have never been more proud of her for following her gut, but also terrified.

I feel like i have a responsibility to do something about this, at least let the other mom know… but from past experiences I know things like this are not easy and there are a lot of people who would rather just turn a blind eye.

What the fuck do I do

Hello Parents,

I'm hoping to start a conversation about how you manage your child's smart phone usage.

We are struggling with this big time with our 12 year old daughter. She saved up to buy her own phone and we pay for her plan that includes talk and text and 1 g of data. We dropped the ball a bit on setting clear limitations in the beginning. I did tell her that she wasn't allowed to keep it in her bedroom at night and no social media. She eventually convinced us to let her get snapchat by pleading that that's the only way some of her friends can communicate. She also has it with her now at all times.

I feel like she is extremely addicted to the phone and it's majorly affecting her mood. We hardly even see her. She is holed up in her room glued to it and something needs to be done.

I am proposing to her that she keeps the phone out of her room at night after a certain time, turns off notifications for snapchat so that it's not constantly pinging for her attention, and checking her usage once a week to see her screentime and what apps she is on for how long. I'd like to block any inappropriate sites as well. She is not willing to accept any of this. She wants no limits at all. I've resorted to just unplugging my router because I don't know what else to do.

Apparently we are the strictest parents in the world for wanting to do this and none of her friends have limits nor would their parents dare to turn off the wifi. She won't even talk to us.

How do you manage this with your tween/teen?

Sometimes I feel so alone as a mama. Like when things aren’t easy with the baby (almost 1 year) I feel like I have to always be the one who stays positive and sometimes it’s hard. I feel like I’m drowning when my baby is screaming and my husband is complaining to me about the baby screaming and how it’s stressing him out but I’m also stressed and him just complaining every 10 minutes to me is just stressing me out more. I’m also feeling very protective about him complaining about my baby but also just want to go sit in a dark quiet room and cry all of my feelings out. Bed time some nights is the worst because he will cry and scream for hours. He no longer wants to breastfeed so he doesn’t want to be held and comforted at all which then makes me feel like I’m not good enough for some reason or another and I’m sorry for the complaining session I just needed to vent while I sit on my couch crying.

Hi Reddit, I’m using a throwaway account because some of the folks I’m speaking about are active on the site. I’m reaching out because I’m struggling with my relationship with my son, and I really need a place to share my feelings and get advice from others who might have gone through something similar.

I’m a 41-year-old mom with two wonderful sons, one is 18 and the other is 5, both from different relationships. I split with my older son’s father 10 years ago after years of cheating and emotional abuse. Our son has lived with me full-time ever since. His dad paid child support regularly but wasn’t very involved in his life. They’d meet up for lunch or a movie every few weeks, camp in the summertime, and stay in touch with calls and texts.

I met my current partner, and we’ve been together for 8 years now. We have a child together, and since having our baby, my relationship has been unstable at times. I’ve left a couple of times but always came back, and I feel like this has become a recurring pattern, even in my previous relationship.

Now that my older son has graduated and is working full-time, he’s becoming more independent and has moved out. I barely see him anymore, and it feels like he doesn’t call or visit. I’m scared that I’m pestering him by trying to maintain a relationship.

My ex (sons father) now has a girlfriend who’s also a single mom, and this is the most involved I’ve ever seen him with our son. They’re spending a lot more time together, and while this is what I have always wanted, I can’t help but feel hurt and left out, especially since I did all the hard work raising him. I feel like my ex is being more present just to impress his new girlfriend.

I feel like my son doesn’t want to spend time with me, or his stepdad and baby brother anymore, but is happy to spend it with his dad, who was never kind to me (cheating, emotional abuse). It’s painful because I’ve done all the child-rearing, and yet my son won’t even allow me into his apartment. He’s polite, but he rarely visits and seems to keep me at arm’s length. I feel like I’ve lost his respect, and that hurts.

During his teenage years, things were tough for him. Covid was particularly challenging, and he lost many friends. I reached out to his dad for support, but after a brief period of being helpful, my ex stopped responding and basically told me to figure it out on my own. I did manage to get our son into counseling and took him to our family doctor for temporary medication, which helped. I also worked on improving my parenting through counseling. But, in the end, I feel like the instability in my relationships has had a lasting impact on my bond with him.

I’m scared I’m losing my son, and I fear he might resent me. My current relationship has been unstable, and he’s witnessed emotional abuse from both his father and stepfather. I know I haven’t always been the best role model for healthy relationships, and I feel like I’ve failed him in that area.

I’m reaching out here because I don’t know how to make things right. How can I improve my relationship with my son? How can I repair the damage I feel I’ve caused? Any advice or insights would mean the world to me right now.

I have 1 year old twins and a 4 year old daughter

My daughter has always been a “high needs” child and very attached to me. Since bringing the twins home, it’s been obviously rough. In some ways she has adjusted, but in some ways things have gotten progressively worse.

My child talks all day about how much she hates the babies, how she wishes she could just throw them away. She’ll tell them all day how she doesn’t like them, how they’re ugly and weird and disgusting. She’s very rough with the babies. I feel like all day I am telling her to stop. So I’m sure that’s contributing to her feeling unloved by me, I know she can feel my frustration.

Lately she’s been telling me she just wants to disappear, that we don’t love her anymore and we don’t pay any attention to her. I’ve explained to her that we love her very much, and that just have a lot going on right now. I empathize with her, saying I know it’s hard to be a big sister. I try to spend one on one time with her when the babies sleep, and we do one on one dates at least once a month. I try to praise her anytime she’s good with the babies, or anytime she literally does anything praise worthy.

I do find myself getting frustrated with her a ton though, and sometimes I yell. I hate that about myself. I know that she’s having a hard time and she just doesn’t have the tools to deal with two babies coming and rocking her whole world. But she acts out in any possible way she can, ALL DAY LONG. Im burnt out, exhausted and constantly on edge.

Today I yelled at her and she told me that I’m making her not like herself. Of course that absolutely killed me, and I’ve been bawling all night. I apologized to her, told her mommy is having a hard time but I need to learn to manage my emotions better, and talked to her about how much I love her and how wonderful I think she is.

She just seems so unhappy. She’s always had anxious tendencies but now I feel she’s super anxious all the time. I feel like I’m failing her. I cry every day and wish I could be better.

I guess I’m just looking for some reassurance and advice.

My significant other gets upset that I don't take dirty diapers to the trash outside. I live in an apartment and it's just me and the kids most the time. I have to walk across the street to get to the dumpster and just can't do that every time I change a diaper. I can't leave my kids alone inside the house. I just put the diapers in the trash can inside cause we usually take it out every night anyways but he makes it a big deal. Is it a big deal? Stinky diapers i usually wrap up in 2 grocery bags. Idk. I just don't see the issue being as big as he makes it seem.

Would love to hear and get your tips...please if you have time (amongst all the other stuff you have going on!!)

I’m drowning in emails from school, sports teams, extracurricular activities, and everything in between. Add to that the planning for birthdays, holidays, events, and the
never-ending to-do lists, and I feel like I’m barely keeping my head above water, with postik notes, lists, etc. etc.

I’m curious—what tools, apps, or systems do you use to manage it all? Do you use planners, apps, google docs. Please share any organization hacks that have been game-changers
for you? Do you have a method for staying on top of everything without losing your sanity?

Please share your secrets—I’m all ears! Would love to hear what works for you and your family. Thanks in advance! 😊 So appreciate any tips you have...

My boy just turned 2 about 2 weeks ago. He points, claps when he decides, but doesn't necessarily wave. I've tired hundreds of times, but the most he'll do is say bye after we say it. My only thing is that he will answer his name if he absolutely decides he wants to. If I tell him come here, about 3 out of 5 times he will. Yet, we can call his name and he'll respond maybe 1/2 times out of 5. Im a bit worried, we see a speech therapist and now my boy is able to sing the abc's, counts to 10. Will count things correctly, but i can not for the life of me get him to consistently respond to his name.

But, boy does he have the ABCs down. He can see the "p" card and say P. He is missing an R card, skipped it over and went to the next card. It seems that when he practices a lot, he can do it, but otherwise easily forgets. He also knows the colors blue, green, yellow red and will say the word, but can only identify blue. I don't know if im overthinking it and he's just a bit lazy, but my MIL always says something about it when I see her. (Once or twice a year) She tells me to do more, although, I think my kid is doing alright. It always come back to the notion that hes not responding, although he does a bunch of other impressive things.

I only see that some weeks, he really loves to spin and hangs upside down, but otherwise I don't fully suspect ASD. The therapist began seeing him when he was about 15 months old, and told me he's mainly just behind. But, I feel as if no matter how much I try to do things differently, hes just at his own pace. According to our therapist, hes still about 3-4 monthd behind. I'm just unsure if this is something he will grow out of or I should push to get me him to respond way more than I am. At home, he will hear us say drop it, no, don't and sometimes he'll instantly stop, but whenever he's out with MIL my kids attention is on everything but what the lady says. My husband gets really annoyed with her so she only comes to me about it. He's told her to stop repeatedly and told her, "he doesnt know you. That's why he isn't answering." I've bluntly told her that even if my son is on the spectrum, I'll love him none the less. Tried to get her to stop, but I believe genuinely its just a ploy to talk poorly about what we do in our home. She still does not drop the issue as she is an overly judgemental individual.

Are any of your kids like this? My kid will bring me all sorts of stuff to play with him, loves to smile and laugh with us. He understands that if he brings us a book, we'll read it to him. Has a favorite book and I cant get him off my hair till this day. Some nights hes still rocked to sleep, I couldn't do the cry it out method. My MIL insist that hes not doing more because hes too dependent on me and isnt independent. Hes fucking 2, which my brother has taken my side as one of our nephews didn't start talking till 3. My brother didnt start talking till 4, but it comes back to his attention. He is genuinely the most loving individual I know and is always down for a hug. He has the 'no' finger shake down and uses it when upset. But gosh, I just don't want to believe I'm not doing enough. He's heard his name a million times where certainly he knows it by now. If it's dinner time or there's milk, he always looks. Always, but if it's because he's doing something bad, he'll keep going, or if it's to just get his attention without any gratification, forget it. He has a sixth sense.

My 15 month old will not sleep through the night and shares a room with my 2.5 year old. He is keeping everyone in the house awake all night, I try to let him cry it out but then the 2.5 year old and my 4 year old aren’t getting sleep. I use two sound machines to try to cover the noise and it doesn’t work. I need help, I feel like I’m losing my mind. I’ve tried having the 15 month old in our room but it seems to be worse as he can see I’m in the bed not taking him out.my husband and I are supposed to go on vacation next week and I’m in a panic about how my mom (the babysitter) will be able to handle it. Any suggestions?

LO is growing out of our infant car seat, Nuna Pipa, which we’ve loved. She’s seems comfortable and is excellent at car sleeping. This is important bc we often time our 2-4 hour drives to family around naps or bed time. It makes the whole thing doable.

I am bummed to realize that bigger car seats don’t have the same canopy (or the extendable napping shield on Pipa). We love that it creates her a cozy cocoon against sunlight or street lamps.

What do you do for your bigger kiddos to help with light in car? Do they make a car safe slumber pod? Do we just cross our fingers she can handle it?

Probably going to get the Nuna Rava fwiw.

Hi everyone! Just a mom of a 3 yr old daughter looking to know how everyone else handles family at Christmas time. The families go over board for gifts, they get lots of toys, too many and we have asked that they not do that but they don’t listen. Now my parents have done a countdown with our daughter when it’s her first Christmas she can actually eat the candy cane each day and because she had a sleepover last night and we didn’t get to do it my mother decided to do it at 9am in the morning and now I’m upset about it. What do you think? Would you guys be upset or would you just let it be and not have it be a big deal?

Hi guys. I've posted once before about my 4.5yo needing me all night every night and trying to figure out if I should just let her sleep with me, and you all helped so much. She sleeps with me now and nighttime is still rough sometimes but it's drastically improved now that I've just accepted that she'll inevitably come in with me. If you saw that post and commented m thank you a thousand times for your help and kindness.

I'm a wordy girl so this will probably end up longer than I mean for it to... For context I'm a solo sahm in P.R. with 3 kids aged 6 (very nearly 7), 4.5, and 2 (very nearly 3). My husband is a truck driver in the States. I've been homeschooling the kids but am working on changing that because I just can't. I want to do badly but trying to do it is causing all of us to suffer, because I'm just... drowning. Seriously drowning. I worry so much about the kids' mental health and development because of how poorly I'm doing and how I'm barely hanging on. They see me having breakdown after breakdown all the time and the last thing I want is for them to think that they are somehow at fault, or that I don't want them. I love them desperately but my own mental health is such a wreck and I know it's doing harm to all of us. After a particularly horrible ugly crying session in my car today before leaving the park to bring everyone home, I am realizing that I'm waiting to be saved and that's just not going to happen.

So I'm trying to figure out how to bring some structure into our home. I constantly feel like I'm the only one doing everything, that I'm the only one who notices clutter and mess (or cares), that I'm being pulled in 1,853 imposible directions simultaneously and expected to perform at 100% no matter how badly I might be suffering. We have no one here, there is no one to watch the kids, no option for self-care or time to go to a gym or even just alone time, the usual suggestions for a struggling mom. I'm not trying to throw a pity party, it's just our reality and maybe it'll help underscore how dire things feel.

I've developed a list of chores that make sense for us and have split it into Anytime Chores and End of Day Chores.

I want to give the kids an opportunity to earn themselves a little money and start learning responsibility, and I REALLY want them to learn to NOTICE things. Like "ooh man, there are books all over the floor, I'll put them in our shelves" instead of just walking on them until the covers get torn from the spines. The feeling of being the only one ever noticing is driving me nuts.

Are age-appropriate chores for earning money a good thing? I'm talking like 5 to 25 cents per task based on how helpful it is (like ok 5 cents for wiping up a minor spill, 25 cents for cleaning up all books off the floor). Is it a good idea to monetize these things, though? I feel like maybe involving money is not a great idea but I also DO want to give them the opportunity to earn some somehow. And yet I want them to learn that these things ought to be done regardless of whether or not you're going to get paid to do them. I'm at a loss. I've tried using a sticker system (with earning stickers for completing school work or for super good behavior, and red dots for egregiously bad behavior like hitting or insulting) but I didn't really have a good enough or solid enough idea of how to implement it. I also didn't have a good grasp of what to do when stickers were accumulated, like what do they get out of this? As a result of my not being firm about it, the system has kind of faded out of use. It was also never chore-based.

This is so hard. I want my kids to be responsible and helpful and to learn how to function as little People in the world. I feel like I'm never getting it right. I know that if I have cooperation from them, I'll feel a lot better, because currently it usually feels like they're actively working against me (although I know that's not really true - it just feels that way because of the drowning). They also fight so much (or maybe a normal amount, but our living situation and their lack of being able to socialize is absolutely detrimental - like I said earlier, I'm working on the school thing outside of our home).

I should stop typing but without anyone to talk to, once I start going it's like floodgates opening. Sorry for this being so long. I have so much more that I want to say, so much more advice to ask and issues we're facing, but I guess one thing at a time. Thank you so much for reading and I appreciate any advice you can give!

Both my wife and I have grown up to be people pleasers. It's relatively common where I live (India) for people to constantly forgo personal comfort to not offend/inconvenience other people.

My daughter is 4 now. She used to be one of those kids who just did and took what she wanted. To make sure that she doesn't end up as a bully, whenever there's a conflict we've always told her to compromise and "share", which is mainly her just giving up on what she was doing and trying something else.

Now, I feel like this was misguided since I don't want her to compromise all the time for the sake of others. There are so many kids her age that just take and take and take, and my poor child just keeps letting them because we've taught her to always let go of things. I feel like I would have failed as a parent if I didn't teach my child to prioritize her own happiness.

Any advice on how I should handle this? When I see her and another child fighting over the same toy, I don't wanna tell her to just let it go. Especially when I don't see other parents around me intervening and doing the same. How do I teach my child that there is a time and place for compromise and another for standing your ground?

We met a family who moved to our neighborhood a few months ago and started hanging out because our kids were the same age (4 years old). Very early on, I realized I liked the mom and child but found the dad to be obnoxious almost immediately but nothing that would make us want to avoid being friends with the family. However, I recently found out that this man has been charged with a number of crimes within the past year or 2 that make him to be a very dangerous person. After discovering this, I do not want to be friends with this family anymore. My child has only known this child for a few months, but she won't stop asking to do another play date. She keeps asking me when we are going over their house again, when we are going to see them again, and mentions that she's so happy they moved to our neighborhood. For a couple weeeks, I've just been saying that we are busy, they're busy, etc but she keeps asking. How can I explain to my child that we aren't going to be friends with them anymore?

First born 4 year old son will not do anything by himself at home.

Bathroom: Has been potty trained since 2 years old but will claim he doesn’t need to pee until it’s an emergency and then will pee all over the toilet seat and bathroom because he can’t hold it any longer. This is after asking him a million times to use the restroom when he’s clearly showing signs. Once he does go, he needs someone to sit by the door and watch him or he will scream that he’s scared even though there is nothing and we are always down the hall because we live in a small apartment. He knows how to wash his hands but if we aren’t standing next to him, he will either just rinse them or spray water everywhere or tell us he forgot how and needs help.

Food: Does not know when he’s hungry or full. Will not eat anything all day and will act out and be very emotional due to hunger but will claim he isn’t hungry. To avoid this, we will sit and feed him. He knows how to eat but refuses to feed himself and wants us to even though it’s stressful for everyone. If we don’t feed him he will only eat a couple bites over an hour or more and will be moody all day. This is how it is at every meal: breakfast, lunch, and dinner. The only things he will feed himself is snacks like pretzels or apple slices.

Sleep: even when very sick and tired he refuses to nap. We’ve dropped naps altogether but sometimes try to get him to if he’s sick and woke up all night. He also wakes up very often at night after kicking off his blanket and asks to be covered again. This happens 2-3x per night and he refuses to cover himself or he will cry and wake up for a long time.

Clothes: won’t get dressed on his own and if we let him, he takes absolutely forever and intentionally puts the clothes on incorrectly. We know this because he will come show us that it’s on wrong. This leads to us dressing him or being late to everything.

He can do all of these things at preschool (M-Th, 9-2pm) but just refuses to do them at home regardless of any reward or punishment. We are trying letting him do everything on his own and refusing to help but this just leads to the whole day being wasted on trying in vain to get him to do anything and everyone being stressed out all the time. He gets soooooo much attention so I’m not sure why he does this.

This has led to our household being very stressful and my husband and I hardly have any time for ourselves since we are always helping him. We also have a 3 month old son (these problems are existed long before I got pregnant with him). Any help or advice would be greatly appreciated!

My husband and I are planning to take a family vacation to the Caribbean with our extended family next year. My husband and I have 4 kids under 10. My mother, siblings, aunts, and a few cousins are all going. Every year my extended family takes a trip to a tropical island and this is the first year that we’re able to join. Some of my family with be going for 8 days and others are only going for 4. My husband and I are undecided on how long we should go. The flight will be 4 hours nonstop.

In your opinion what is the ideal family vacation length with young children?

How do I start teaching my six year old about different values without being judgy (when I really am judging ...) We just spent three days staying with family. My sister has two kids (4 and 7) and a very different parenting style. Lots of fast food, tablets for each kid starting as babies, unlimited screen time... While we were there I just go along with it because I have given up keeping my daughter away from her cousins screens or serving her different food. Now on the ride back she was so grouchy and said that we "hate her because we don't give her an iPad on the only food she really likes", i.e. fast food. I struggle with explaining our reasoning without at the same time putting down my sister's choices. Also, I am worried that my daughter will repeat things (screen time is not good, fast food is unhealthy) to her cousins. I really want her to understand that us limiting these things is an expression of love and care, not hate... We used to go with "every family has their own rules" but it seems to no longer fit now that she is older.

My son will be 2 next week. And I’ve been wondering when I should move him up to a new bed, I first would take the side off his crib and then probably jump to twin bed with a rail. For my daughter i did it right as she turned two and regretted it. So what ages did you do it for your kids? I don’t wanna do it too soon of course, and make the same mistake I did with my now 5yr old.

FTM, My husband and I are trying to find the best bottle for our 4 week old baby. I'm starting to get really frustrated because I feel like no bottle is working right for him. He seems to like Dr. browns the best, but he leaks soooo much out of the sides of his mouth while he eats. We tried going down a nipple size but then he barely gets any milk and he's working so hard to barely get anything. We have tried literally every other bottle and he either leaks out of the sides of his mouth or he has bad gas with them. We just tried Evenflo and he latches well and doesn't leak much, but never finishes his bottle because it goes so slow. I'm scared to go up to a medium size nipple for evenflo because he's only 1 month old and I feel like it'll be way too fast for him. Any suggestions here? People keep telling me to just keep going with Dr. browns and he'll get used to it but idk.

...other parents do it too.

The problem is that all of my children's friends are also at home, on their screens. I used to love telling my children to go outside and play with the neighborhood kids, when they were younger and the neighborhood kids actually played outside. But now? None of them do. Even on the nicest summer days, there are zero kids playing outside in this neighborhood. They're all either on their screens, or in organized sports, which my children hated when I forced them to do them.

My older kids are in their 20s now. My younger two kids are tweens. Yes, we waited over ten years between round one and two of children. We haven't moved. It's the same neighborhood my older kids were raised in. It's actually gotten a little nicer since my older kids were little kids. There are more kids in this neighborhood now. I can tell when I'm home as the school lets out.

But none of those kids seem to play outside anymore. When I do kick my kids off of screens and outside, they get bored quickly, because they're the only kids out there.

We are about to have 3 under four in April. I’m looking into wagon strollers. I like the idea of the veer but the price is quite high new. I can’t find a 4 person one on Facebook marketplace near where I live.

We are quite active, I do an outing with them almost every day and often in the afternoon I’ll do a walk.

What do you all recommend?

Did your baby experience weird sleep disruptions when they started learning how to crawl?

My 6MO is on her hands and knees, just rocking at this point. Soon to crawl, I'm sure.

She's also babbling a LOT and wants to chew on things and play all. the. time.

She's not taking a full first nap of the day. She's had a few false starts at night and a few split nights. Is this related to milestones/development?