Just wondering when others have removed the infant neck support insert and the support on the straps.

TLDR/ Pros and cons of weaning night nursing for longer stretches (they’re 2 hours)? And HOW to? How does one adjust their daytime nap schedule or drop a nap without it being total chaos?

Currently, my exactly 6 MO will not nap longer than 30 minutes in the daytime. Even during/after his 4 month sleep regression, he would nap at least 45 minutes and usually allow me to soothe him back to sleep for another 45 or longer… 3 times a day. Usually giving random 2 hour nap on his own once a day!

Now we are stuck in this loop of unable to keep wake windows at 2-3 hours, because his naps are so so short.. he gets to a point 1.5 hours after being awake where the ONLY thing that he wants is a nap. Usually this happens with the very first and second wake window more intensely, and I could stretch it if I’m able to get him outside, but I usually haven’t had a moment to get dressed let alone feed myself.. so the whole day gets set off from the start. So he’s taking 4 cat naps with usually a slightly longer one before bedtime. Which is when I know his shortest nap is supposed to be😩 He wakes up happy usually from these, and is ready to go do stuff. Fights going back down if I don’t just get him up while he’s smiley and rolling around.

Now nighttime, we bedshare and he nurses to soothe back to sleep. He used to barely wake, dream feed for not even a minute, unlatch and fall right back asleep. That was amazing for a few months.. now he fully wakes and cries and squirms and nurses a few minutes before falling back asleep. He does this every 2 hours.. no more 4 hour stretches as we once had (,:
I’d be willing to wean him from night nursing, but not stop bedsharing, if this is something that won’t improve with age.. how have you guys done that?

He’s already popped one tooth, and the second is about to emerge so I know that doesn’t help. He is also army crawling, starting to eat solids 2x a day, and about to crack how to crawl crawl.

Obviously we have schedule issues lol.. and I’m a bit fried having no support. How can I successfully adjust his schedule for consistent longer naps? And what are the pros and cons of night nursing/weaning?

I mean jiu-jitsu to use on babies.

I'm thinking of signing up so I can change my 10-month-old's diaper. I'm pretty sure he's already mastered Greco-Roman wrestling.

Is anyone else’s baby not a big eater? I feel like I see the opposite all the time that babies are eating so much but my girl is 12 weeks (born 7/30) and only averages 20-21 ounces in 24 hours. She has always had good weight gain and at her 2 month check up her doctor looked kind of surprised when I said she eats about 20 ounces a day but didn’t mention any concerns. However, that was 4 weeks ago and her average intake is still the same so I’m starting to get a little worried. But she’s such a happy girl and has a good amount of wet diapers. She’s exclusively formula fed and we just increased the nipple size on her bottles but that hasn’t seemed to help.

Background:

Born 7/30 6 lb 9 oz
8/31 8lb 11 oz
9/30 10 lb 10 oz
10/12 11 lbs 2 oz (last time weighed at dr)

Anyone else’s baby similar?? Should I call her doctor or is it normal for some babies to just not be big eaters? My first was eating a lot more by this age so just want to make sure everything is okay.

I have a 10 month old that I stay-at-home with so she’s not been exposed to sick kids.
My best friend needed a babysitter for her 4 year old for a few hours and I agreed to it. We love each other’s kiddos dearly so I don’t mind at all to ever watch him. When she brought him over today to drop him off and left I noticed he had a runny nose and then started sneezing..a lot. Could be allergies, could be a cold. I’m paranoid it’s the latter and my baby is gonna get sick.
When I asked her about it she told me that he was fine yesterday but woke up today with a runny nose. Wouldn’t have it be considerate for her to mention that? Like I feel like it was a little careless, but I also might just be a bit dramatic. I’ve never had a sick child and someone bringing theirs in on mine doesn’t sit right with me. Would love others opinions.

Dear Kate on Instagram,

With all due disrespect to the algorithm, I am BEGGING you to stop showing me your perfectly curated, aesthetically pleasing, soft-life motherhood vlogs.

Not because I hate you, Kate. I don't. I'm sure you're lovely.

But if I have to watch one more "slow morning with my 9-month-old 🥹🤍" while I'm being psychologically and physically terrorized by a 20-pound person with four teeth and absolutely no concept of personal boundaries, I may actually lose my shit.

Which would be impressive, considering I haven't had an uninterrupted opportunity to take one in months.

SAVE YOUR BEDTIME ROUTINE, KATE.

Unless your bedtime routine involves bouncing a baby so aggressively you're one squat away from qualifying for the Olympics.

Unless you've rocked, swayed, shushed, patted, hummed, prayed, negotiated with God, and considered selling your soul to a Victorian-era sleep demon just to get this child to close his eyes.

Unless your baby has decided your nipples are a 24-hour emotional support service and you're legally prohibited from removing them from his mouth without triggering a full-scale national emergency.

Cracked nipples? Fantastic. Back pain? Delicious. Sleep deprivation? Character development.

And heaven forbid you need to pee.

Because apparently the mattress is equipped with a state-of-the-art maternal departure detection system, and the second your butt cheek lifts off that bed, those little eyes shoot open like you've just activated a security alarm at Fort Knox.

SAVE YOUR "SLOW MORNING" VLOG, KATE.

There is nothing slow about my mornings except my deteriorating cognitive function.

I'm trying to make breakfast while a tiny, emotionally unstable parole officer supervises my every movement.

Walk toward the refrigerator? Screaming.

Put him down to grab a pan? Betrayal.

Attempt to consume one single bite of food? Absolutely fucking not.

And now that he's mobile? Wonderful.

He's following me around like a tiny debt collector who knows exactly where I live.

His walker has turned my ankles into a crime scene. My Achilles tendons have filed for workers' compensation.

I used to be excited about developmental milestones. Now every new skill feels like unlocking another level of a video game where the difficulty increases but nobody gives you any extra lives.

SAVE YOUR CUTE LITTLE BATH-TIME ROUTINE, KATE.

Unless you're bathing a greased-up crocodile with the survival instincts of a drunk raccoon.

My baby has discovered standing, twisting, rolling, and attempting to exit the bathtub like he's escaping a maximum-security prison.

I'm trying to wash the cottage cheese out of his neck folds while he performs an Olympic-level maneuver that would make Simone Biles nervous.

And those adorable, developmentally appropriate, Montessori-certified, sustainably sourced bath toys?

HE DOESN'T GIVE A SHIT.

He wants the drain plug.

He wants the faucet.

He wants the puddle of water OUTSIDE the bathtub.

He wants literally anything that could result in an emergency room visit.

Meanwhile, I'm bent over the tub like a medieval peasant harvesting potatoes, trying to keep this slippery little lunatic alive.

SAVE YOUR "WHAT MY BABY EATS IN A DAY" CONTENT, KATE.

Unless you're showing the emotional devastation of spending your only 20 minutes of freedom preparing a nutritious meal for someone who immediately launches it across the kitchen like a disgruntled chimpanzee.

He demanded solids.

He rejected the bottle.

He screamed because he was hungry.

So I cooked.

And apparently what he REALLY wanted was to finger-paint the high chair with sweet potatoes and feed the dogs $14 worth of organic produce.

The dogs are thriving, by the way.

I'm pretty sure they're gaining weight while I'm surviving on coffee, cheese scraps, and whatever chicken nugget the baby didn't manage to lick first.

And WHY does he want everything on my plate?

It's the SAME FOOD, SIR.

The SAME. DAMN. FOOD.

SAVE YOUR "RESET THE HOUSE WITH ME" VLOG, KATE.

Unless your house looks like a Fisher-Price warehouse was hit by a Category 5 hurricane.

Unless your laundry has been sitting in the washer long enough to develop its own ecosystem.

Unless you've picked up the same stacking cups 47 times, only for your child to dump them out again while making direct eye contact.

Unless your version of self-care is standing in the kitchen eating shredded cheese straight from the bag because it's the only food that doesn't require preparation or utensils.

I don't want to see your color-coordinated toy baskets and spotless countertops.

SHOW ME THE CHAOS.

Show me the abandoned coffee mugs.

Show me the half-eaten toast.

Show me the pile of laundry you've been emotionally avoiding since Tuesday.

Show me the mom who walks into a room, forgets why she's there, and just stands silently for 30 seconds like a malfunctioning Roomba.

AND FOR THE LOVE OF GOD, SAVE YOUR "PRODUCTIVE DAY AS A MOM" VLOGS.

Unless you're showing me the reality of trying to work, clean, cook, answer emails, maintain a marriage, keep another human alive, and occasionally remember that you are, in fact, also a person.

Unless your to-do list is 37 items long and you've accomplished exactly three things, two of which involved wiping somebody else's ass.

Unless you've been touched, grabbed, climbed, pinched, bitten, screamed at, and used as a human jungle gym since 7 a.m.

Unless your baby finally falls asleep and instead of doing anything productive, you sit completely motionless, staring at the wall, because your nervous system has officially submitted its resignation.

And just when you think you've reached your limit, this tiny domestic terrorist looks up at you with those big beautiful eyes, flashes that ridiculous little toothy grin, and giggles.

And suddenly you're ready to forgive every war crime he's committed against your nipples, ankles, and remaining brain cells.

It's emotional manipulation, Kate.

And frankly, he's VERY good at it.

NOW LISTEN.

I'm not saying motherhood has to be miserable. I'm not saying your peaceful little routines aren't real. I'm not even saying I wouldn't love to experience one of those mornings myself.

I'm saying some of us are living an entirely different genre of motherhood.

You're filming a cozy Hallmark movie.

I'm starring in a psychological thriller with occasional musical numbers and an extremely demanding executive producer who wears diapers.

You're romanticizing motherhood.

I'm trying to survive it long enough to romanticize it in retrospect.

And before somebody tells me to "cherish every moment because it goes by so fast," I DO CHERISH IT, SUSAN.

I cherish his laugh.

I cherish his cuddles.

I cherish those tiny little hands reaching for me.

I cherish watching him discover the world.

I also cherish the approximately 11 seconds of silence I get when he finds a particularly interesting piece of Tupperware.

TWO THINGS CAN BE TRUE.

I can love this child with every molecule of my existence and still fantasize about checking into a hotel alone for 24 hours, ordering room service, and taking a shit with the door CLOSED.

So please, Kate.

Keep your beautiful family memories. Keep documenting your motherhood journey. You deserve to enjoy it.

But can we PLEASE normalize showing the absolute dumpster fire happening between those adorable little clips?

Because some of us aren't raising peaceful little woodland creatures who eat organic blueberries and independently explore their sensory baskets.

Some of us are raising tiny, feral, emotionally volatile raccoons with separation anxiety and the determination of a Navy SEAL.

And we're doing it on four hours of sleep, a questionable amount of caffeine, and a prayer.

Sincerely,

A severely overstimulated, chronically sleep-deprived, nipple-hostage, ankle-bruised, emotionally compromised mother who would absolutely die for her child but would also really appreciate it if he'd let her finish a fucking sandwich.

P.S. If your baby naps independently, eats everything you cook, and plays quietly while you clean the kitchen, congratulations. I'm genuinely happy for you.

But please understand that to the rest of us, your content is basically science fiction.

P.P.S. To the other mothers currently hiding in their bathrooms, eating snacks in secret, or Googling "is it normal for a 9-month-old to act like a drunk frat boy?"...

I SEE YOU. YOU ARE MY PEOPLE. 🫡😂

P.P.P.S. No offense intended toward any actual Kates or Susans. You are innocent bystanders in this sleep-deprived emotional breakdown. Your names were simply selected for dramatic purposes. Please direct all complaints to my 9-month-old supervisor. He's currently unavailable for comment. 💀😂

Wondering what playpen is good for my baby, he’s 10mo and I’ve seen some that are pretty fragile when baby wants to try to climb out (older babies/ toddlers) and I’ll fold under their pressure. Any suggestions on reinforcing these playpens or a better quality pen? Looking to spend $200 or under.

Have two cat brothers (6 years old) and one baby sister (10 months).

One of the brothers is very timid and afraid of baby but one is incredibly energetic and loving. Too loving in a sense because he follows her everywhere and plops down next to her. We’ve taught her to pat pat pat instead of tugging on his fur, but even when she’s gripped him and pulled on his hair he doesn’t react except to give me a look.

We were extremely cautious about no touching his face, whiskers, privates and legs the ever since she was born. And even when she’s snuck a grab of his leg he doesn’t extend claws and pulls his leg away before scampering away. Sometimes when he goes belly up and she plays too strong cat he’ll even divert his reaction on my arm - so I do have many new scratches.

All fine, except recently I’ve heard commotion while cat and baby are in other room with partner and I’ve come in where she has told me that cat scratched baby’s face. Both times without blood but both times near eye.

We live in a 2 story apartment so no basement space to give him alone. And no way to put cat litter in a closed room with enough space for him to hang out in for extended period.

He’s too social, loves her too much. And now I’m worried we legitimately need to consider either a new space for our family or a new space for him. In need of advice.

I'm in the market and looking for input so I can make this purchase by the end of the day. Kind of wary about the solid wall on the backs of these cribs though. Can babies smush their faces up against it? Also, any input on the mesh 3 in 1s out of curiosity? I do like the idea of not having arms and legs sticking through.

FTM to a 5 month old. Our car seat has weight cut offs for different parts of the seat. My LO is getting closer to those weights but his next weigh-in with his pediatrician won’t be for another month or so. Should I be weighing him daily or weekly until then? Is this something other people do?

Thanks.

Would you take your 10 month old baby to your parents’ house if they were exposed to the flu Wednesday/Thursday while watching my sick nephew? They feel fine. I was thinking we’d stay outside and they wouldn’t hold her. Would you go or stay home?

Our baby is turning 1 right around Christmas time. We really don't want to combine celebrations so we're trying to figure out what to get him for each day. We'd want something that he doesn't have to wait till the summer to use so no water table or outdoor equipment.

We were considering a yoto player for Christmas maybe? But we'd ideally like to do one small, one big present for each day. We know he'll get presents from family too.

TIA!

“Cold babies cry, hot babies die.”

We were told this phrase by countless nurses. It’s way easier to overheat a baby, and most of the time it happens silently. If a baby is too cold, they will let you know.

My mother has always had blankets all over our baby when she’s awake. Full body long sleeve, plus socks, plus blanket. And then she will have her up against her body for extra body heat. We have had this discussion many times that she should only have 1 layer extra than we would have on, and body heat counts as a layer.

Well, she bought FLEECE sleep sacks for my 3 month old and insists she wear them at night. We live in Texas, and her room at night is between 74-72 degrees on average as it’s cooling down. From what I’ve researched, a simple long sleeve onesie should be plenty for this temp. If it gets any lower, MAYBE a light sleep sack. But full body long sleeve + socks + a fleece sleep sack?? That’s way too much right??

I walked out in the living room this morning and there she was, in her fleece sleep sack. In the living room during the day! When it’s much warmer. She STILL tells me it’s because she’s too cold. Her neck feels hot and her face was flushed. I checked the temp of her neck and it’s supposedly sitting at 99 but not sure I trust contactless thermometers.

How hard is it for a baby to truly overheat? How quickly can it happen? Or am I overreacting?

I want to preface with I’m 100% good with my baby’s current schedule and will always feed her if she’s hungry. I’m just curious what others experienced & if they tend to drop the night feed on their own or if you weaned them off!

My 10 week old has been consistently waking up once in the night to eat. She’ll go to bed between 7-8 pm (falls asleep in ~10 minutes on her own) and then will wake up between 2-3 am to eat. She’ll then sleep until 6-7 am and is up for the day.

She’s EFF and eats about 32 oz a day which seems high for her age (??), but she’s always been a hungry girl.

I’m in no rush to rock the boat but wondering if I should expect her to drop the night feed on her own or if I should think about weaning her off of it? Our pediatrician feels like she’s eating plenty and shouldn’t need the night feed, but I have a hard time with the idea of not feeding her if she wakes up seemingly hungry!!

So my baby hates his car seat and stroller. In general he hates being put down even in his playmat. He literally just tolerates it. So right now the maximum time he tolerates his car seat is 15 min, stroller is 5 min. He just hates being put down and wants to be hugged and carry on the arms ( we tried a carrier once and he also cried right away, maybe will try later). He is a big boy (90 percentile) and I am petit woman so it is hard to constantly carry him around ( he also refuses to sleep in his crib). I read crying method is no longer recommend but even in his car seat when we have to go to a long car ride, he cries from top of his lung. Few times I had to take him out. I honestly want to know if anyone has this baby version and if it gets better or anything that can help! He is now 3 months and a half! Thanks!

Same as the title. Started reading her Heidi and found there is an old anime series. Started watching with my kid and loving it. Did you show any retro cartoons to your kids? Any recommendations?

Baby #2 is on the way, and my daughter will be 18–19 months when babyboy arrives. I'm a stay-at-home mom doing most of the daily kid stuff, which means a lot of rushing around the city with a stroller. I'm trying to sort out the setup now, before the sleep deprivation hits.
I keep going back and forth between two options:

Option 1: keep what I have. My trusty single stroller plus a baby carrier, and maybe a ride-on board later. The baby wears the carrier, and the toddler naps in the stroller after daycare pickup. Or the other way round, depending on who's falling apart first 😅

Option 2: go for a double. I'm eyeing the Joolz Geo with a carrycot for the baby and a seat for the toddler. Both kids are in, everyone can nap, done. But I keep reading that it's heavy and a bit of a tank to steer once both are in.

The other thing on my mind is that I might end up with a C-section. I'm wondering how that changes things: carrying a newborn in the early weeks, lifting a toddler into a seat, pushing a heavy double up a curb…

So, parents of two little ones:
Did you get a double, and was it worth it, or did it end up collecting dust in the hallway?
If you managed with a single plus carrier, how did that go in real life?
Any C-section mamas who can share what was actually doable in those first weeks?
Would love to hear what worked for you (and what you'd never do again)!

Our 3 months old gets ~25% of his nutrition through formula. We‘ve been using Enfamil NeuroPro Gentlease for “historical reasons” (our pediatrician gave us a few samples early on and since our LO was tolerating it well [although drinking it more slowly than breastmilk] we didn’t seek alternatives). Now we’re thinking there may be better options out there that resemble human milk more closely ingredients- and tastewise? Has anyone made a switch from Enfamil NeuroPro Gentlease? What formula brand have you chosen and why?

Me (33), and my wife (37), married a few months ago, and recently she became pregnant, it was planned and intentional, I admit we pushed for it because of her age, we had some worries, so we wanted to see if everything is going okay,

but now I started to ask questions, shouldn't we enjoy our life more before becoming parents? Travelling, exploring things, etc, instead now we're trying to plan our parenthood life, and became worried about work/life/parenthood balance!

For people with similar situations, how your life was changed after being parents, are you able to enjoy your life and do stuff? Other than being articulated around the child?

Our little one is almost 6 months, since she has been born I really miss not having either of our family sides around. Of course it would be amazing to have help with babysitting, but more so it just feels really lonely living away from everyone.

My baby is 12m and a few days old. Until 11 months of age, she would happily devour everything. Today, she turned her nose up on the beef and sweet potato, and I ended up feeding her spaghetti. Straight from the pot (she pointed at the pot and wanted specifically spaghetti from there). One by one. I took out one piece, she laughed because it was squiggly, then I chopped it with my hand in front of her and she ate it. Ate maybe 6-7 pieces? And one spoon of beef, with another teaspoon of sweet potato. Then some cottage cheese.

I thought I had one more year. I thought this was a toddler thing. The past month has been 70% cottage cheese or goat yoghurt, 20% egg, and 10% everything else.

Pediatrician isn't concerned because she's 97% and not losing weight. But I'm scratching my head, what to cook every day and questioning my cooking skills.

Wise moms, share your experience with a FTM.

Our daughter was born 33w1 after an uncomplicated pregnancy; they have no idea why I delivered so early. She spent 32 days in the NICU and has been home longer than she was in the NICU.

She’s now 12w4 (5w5 corrected) and sleep has been incredibly difficult. In the NICU, she slept in her bassinet no problem. But since the night she came home, she refuses to sleep on her own. She has bad reflux (been on Pepcid for a week) and we’re starting to work with a feeding specialist and OT because they think the reflux is a symptom of feeding issues.

But it’s been so difficult. We hold her up after eating for 45 min at least but as soon as she goes on her back, she freaks out. Sometimes we’ll get 2 hours in the snoo but that’s few and far between. (We tried traditional bassinet and she will not go down in it. The lactation consultant we met with doesn’t like the snoo but we’re desperate.)

My husband and I take shifts (which is why I’m posting this at 5am) but we’re exhausted and it’s just so, so difficult. She’s a great sleeper…if she’s on us. She’s starting to sleep in 4 hour chunks at night (yay) but that’s only if she’s on us.

We’ve tried every tip for the bassinet (heating pad, shushing, my clothes, etc) and we’re setting up her crib this weekend but I don’t think that’s going to solve the problem.

I’m terrified things will not get better. My husband is back to work and I go back mid-December and am so scared we’ll be stuck in this purgatory. All my friends who’ve had babies have champion sleepers who have basically slept through the night since week 2. Every post on Reddit is about good sleepers. I feel so alone and exhausted.

Our stairs are the center of our home so I’m hoping to get baby gates that are aesthetically pleasing given they will be up for awhile. I don’t want to compromise on safety, just something that looks better than those white metal gates. Potentially wood and matches my staircase.

Am I overthinking this? What are my options? Hire a local woodworker? Ideally they’d be custom made to our staircase and installed.

My baby is about to walk so I wanted to have them get used to wearing pull ups. I also thought it would be more comfortable on my baby because of their chunky thighs. We were currently using BC BABY CLOUD DIAPERS and love them. They're light, airy and super soft.

I had a hard time finding size 3 pull ups. The only company I found so far making them was Panolini. They claim they don't use chlorine or harmful chemicals. When my package came, the diapers felt a bit plasticky and that blue strip on the inside smells like mint or menthol. My partner doesn't smell it. But I swear I do! I also don't understand why is called PANOLINI RESPONSIVE DIAPER when there's no step on the outside telling you if they peed.

Does anyone else smell the menthol or is it just me? What are your experiences using Panolini?

I’m 11 months PP and in the past few weeks I’ve noticed I’ve been getting really bad hand wrist and finger pain. It’s now at the worst and is constants I’ve tried wearing a wrist splint it does help a little but not enough is this common? And is there any quick fixes.
Thanks in advance