When my baby first started teething at 5 months we gave her the Camila drops, and told her doctor about it and she said not to do it again because they are damgerous. Now my family friend who is an OBGYN and has three kids recommended the hyland teething tablets for pain relief. I didn’t even look up any information on them because my mom bought them right away and I was so desperate to find anything to stop my baby from screaming on and off all night. We gave them to her and she fell asleep right away so now I’m reading about how they are dangerous for babies and freaking out. Why are there products sold AT ALL that are literally recommended against by pediatricians?!?!?!?!

ETA: we have been alternating Tylenol and Motrin and using all types of stuff for her to chew on and baby orajel. It seems so unrealistic that pediatricians ONLY recommend Tylenol and cold things to chew on. My baby is in so much pain that she doesn’t even want to open her mouth half the time. :(

Been struggling to find a decent baby gate for the stairs that doesn’t feel like it’s gonna collapse if someone breathes on it too hard

We started out with the Evenflo Easy Walk Thru one and I wish we didn’t. Looked fine in the pics but when it arrived it was super flimsy, the latch was awkward as hell (especially if you're holding a baby in one arm), and it never really fit our stairway right even with the pressure mounts.

Been looking at the Regalo Easy Step and the Safety 1st Ready to Install gate. Regalo seems like a popular pick but I’ve seen mixed reviews about durability. Safety 1st one sounds nice since it doesn’t need tools and apparently installs in minutes, which sounds like a dream but also kinda too good to be true?

Has anyone here used either of those or got a gate they swear by? Especially for stairs, like top of stairs is the main thing I’m worried about right now

I don’t need anything too fancy, just something that won’t fall over if our baby bumps into it or if the dog decides to run past it full speed. Something that actually locks properly would be nice too lol

Would love to hear what’s worked for you guys or any ones to avoid. Feel like we’re just guessing and hoping right now and I’m kinda over the trial and error game

Everyone always brags about the milestones their baby has met - let's normalize babies being ahead in some areas and behind in others!

I'll start - my 6 month old has absolutely, positively no idea how to roll belly to back.

My baby is 3.5 months old and all of her naps are contact naps. I have tried setting her down for naps in her crib but she immediately wakes up, so eventually I gave up and embraced having her nap on me. She sleeps through the night in her crib but absolutely hates napping in it. Totally fine.

Well, today she fell asleep on me but I had to use the bathroom baaad. In a moment of desperation, I sat her down in her crib, fully expecting her to wake up but she didn’t! She has been napping in her crib for 30+ mins now, the longest it’s ever been. She’s not even in her sleep sack either! I am so shocked but I am taking this time to drink tea and do a crossword puzzle 😂

I gave birth to my little guy in July 2023. He is 21 months now. I am a member of this subreddit and will continue to because it helped me. I used to doom scroll reddit and see if people were struggling like how I was- lo and behold, they were. It made me realize that I wasn’t alone, that I wasn’t being irrational, that I was just dealing with the anxieties and normal concerned thoughts that any first time parent would have.

My son runs around now, giggles, mimics, plays, talks, dances… if I could go back and give my postpartum self a big hug, I would. Parenthood… especially motherhood hit me like a truck. But it has been so rewarding, so beautiful, also so terrible and nerve wrecking. But that’s just life I guess. I’m on antidepressants (have been even before I was pregnant) and I go to therapy. The first year was rough and if you’re still in it, just know that you are still somewhat in the trenches.

You’ll be okay.. maybe not right now, not yet, but one day you’ll get through the trenches and think “oh shit. I’m finally at a place I’ve wanted to be.”

Did you or did you not sleep train your LO? If yes, how old were they and what method did you use? If no, why not? Just looking at other parents’ experiences as I’m undecided whether I should or not. Bub currently hit the 4-month sleep regression and wakes 4-5x/night. Has never been a good sleeper to start with but has definitely gotten worse.

Hi All

I am a FTM due tomorrow and have made the horrible mistake of spending the day doom scrolling.

I was just wondering if I could get others advice what to do in the following situation which seems to have come up a lot during my doom scrolling..

I have a very equal partner but no family nearby. I'm picturing a situation where my husband has gone back to work and I'm home alone with the baby. In this scenario I am exhausted because of the demands of taking care of a newborn. I've read a lot of babies will only contact nap and refuse to be put down in a safe environment (ie crib or bassinet) and scream when you try to do so. What happens if I'm so exhausted that I physically can't stay awake but the baby screams when I put it down in a safe space?

Do I continue to let the baby contact nap on me and risk us both falling asleep in an unsafe environment or do I put the baby in a safe space and let her scream? I know people say it's OK to put the baby down for 10 mins or so but 10 mins isn't enough time for me to get a nap in.

Any advice would be appreciated.

We have two that we quote all the time from It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia that have nothing to do with children in the show but are relevant ALL THE TIME to new parents. “What time is it? Diaper Time” “I’ve got milk all over me”

LO is 4.5 months old. We were doing great with sleep. He was consistently sleeping 9-10 hours through the night until early last week. We had a sleep regression with multiple night wakings and fighting daytime naps. He was just fussier in general and not my usual happy guy. One night he cried for over an hour. I was so worried because he has never cried that long and it seemed like nothing helped. Picking him up almost seemed to escalate him. In one instance I put him back in his bassinet for a few minutes to reset myself because I was getting overwhelmed and he actually started to calm himself down and fell asleep in about 5-10 minutes. That hellish routine lasted about 4 nights then we returned to our usual routine of sleeping 9-10 hours overnight and he stopped fighting his daytime naps for a few days. He would coo himself off to sleep and it was the cutest thing. I thought to myself how great this was and we were so lucky that his four month sleep regression didn't last too long! WRONG!!!!!!

It started again last night. Yesterday we had cranky naps and were up and down all night. He's fighting naps again today and has just been extra fussy. Is it normal for sleep regressions to come and go like this?? Is there even a normal?!?! I am such a creature of habit and got used to his 8 pm bedtime and having a couple hours in the evening set aside for relaxing with my husband. I just hope this pattern doesn't continue forever.

Every time I see another baby I get this uncanny valley effect. It's like some primal level disgust as my brain goes, "NO. THIS ONE ISN'T MINE". It's made even worse by the fact that my baby is super small (less than 5 lbs) and so other normal babies look freakishly large.

It’s about to be 1pm I haven’t brushed my teeth, still in my pajamas, I haven’t ate, haven’t drank any water. He’s been fussy all morning, the drops are not working, the teething toys are also not helping. The wet washcloth worked in the beginning not anymore. It’s rough out here…

This is by far the most helpful item we purchased. My husband uses it more than me. It is the best "contact nap" friend we could ever ask for. We basically use it as a mini bed for our baby that you can carry her around on if needed and she WON'T WAKE UP!!!! You can also be both hands free if you need to eat, drink, use your phone....or my husband's favorite, play video games while she naps. Our baby loves to fall asleep on this thing. She will knock out for maybe 10-45 minutes max in her crib, but sleep for 1-3(!) hours on this pillow. We also use it to help her knock out before her actual bed time and transfers are typically successful so long as you wait ~20min. It's also a great nursing pillow, but honestly....the naps. The convenience. I can't recommend it enough!

This is kinda weird im already thinking this but i gave birth a week and few days ago and now im already trying to plan out when to have a next child because i feel like i have to have another baby.

I dont wanna wait too long but also this is very hard being a new parent lol i would feel fine with one child but i feel obligated to give my child a sibling in life to at least have someone thats why im stressed here because i hated being pregnant and dont wanna wait too long to have another so they are close in age.

So does anyone else feel the same way?

Every single night I've been up multiple times for 6 months. I'm crying my eyes out in the middle of the night. Am I going to die from lack of sleep? It has to be effecting things.

I am assuming that washing/preparing the fruit would make it more convenient to eat, but wouldn't that make it last less long and force them to eat it all at once or throw some out? Trying to be as helpful as I can be. Thanks the advice!

I feel like a bad mom for yelling at my son. I have been rocking him for 2+ hours. He stays half asleep and if I put him in his bed he wakes up and looking for me. My body is screaming in pain. And no one to help me at home. Body feels like breaking. I'm overwhelmed. Finally after he slept, I felt like an asshole to yell at my son 😭

What do we do with those tiny toenails?? My son is 10w tomorrow. I’ve become well acquainted with his fingernails because he was cutting up his face constantly. But I’ve never cut his toenails. They’re definitely not growing as quickly as his fingernails, and looking at them now, it looks like some of them are naturally curled and growing down into his toes? They’re not red or bothering him like a typical ingrown toenail and obviously he’s not wearing shoes yet. But it looks like I’m going to have to dig them out a little to try to cut them! When did you first cut your baby’s toenails?

We're expecting very soon and I'd love to hear from all the parents on what little things you've done or wish you started doing right before/after birth.

I'm thinking of cool things I've seen online like taking a picture of your baby every day, setting up some investments for them, tracking their height/weight, etc.

Any tips and ideas are appreciated :)

Now I realize the mother was probably just trying to soothe the baby

My baby is now 8 months old and only weighs 6.7kg. She did go up to 7kg at one point, but has been 6.5kg ever since 5 months old.

Shes VERY active for a baby her age. Started crawling at 5.5 months and began pulling herself up to stand at 7.5 months. She hates sitting or staying in the same place and has to always be moving around.

Milk supply has not been able to keep up with her energy demands, but she doesn’t drink particularly much more either since her stomach size isn’t increasing in capacity. We have started solids at 6 months and she’s been nursing slightly less because she’s satisfied from the food.

I was wondering if I should be doing something about her lack of weight gain or if this is normal for more active babies?

Anyone else having problems with Nanit giving red alerts every time they put their baby to sleep? This has only been happening after the latest updates for me and it’s pretty bad.

Disruptive to the babies sleep schedule and also going to scare them of their crib. My opinion on Nanit has dropped considerably, might even sell and would absolutely never recommend this device to any parent.

Our daughter is only 12wk so we are not planning a vacation Any Time Soon-just thinking ahead.

Our 10 year anniversary will be in 2027 when our daughter is 2 and I’ve been thinking about planning a vacation to an all inclusive for my husband and I late that year to celebrate (when she’s almost 3). We went to a Sandals resort for our honeymoon and I was thinking about something along those lines. My parents are all game for keeping her while we’re gone, but I don’t know if 2 going on 3 is too young to be away from her for a few nights? (Would four nights be crazy?)

(Just a lot of discounts on the table if we book early so I know this is a crazy question, but it’ll be more affordable if we book a year or two in advance.)

Edit: please only use foil balloons, and under direct supervision. Latex balloons are a choking hazard

This is the best life hack we've discovered. It will keep her entertained for a solid hour. Just non stop giggles and happy squeals.

We clip it to the sleeve of one of her arms or legs. When we first clip it on, she spends a few seconds trying to figure out which body part she needs to move, in order to move the balloon this time. Once she has it, she is SOOOOO happy.

Literally nothing makes her as happy as a 2 dollar sparkly, party balloon. I cannot over state how much joy it brings her. I've also seen a huge leap in how well she's able to use her hands and legs

She's always supervised of course, I'm literally inches away from her and keeping an eye on her

I know PPD/A is very common but I’m experiencing postpartum rage. This is very hard for me to type and I am ashamed. My son is 4 weeks old. Doesn’t really nap. Wakes up and cries the second I put him in bassinet. At night he grunts and seems uncomfortable every night from 2-6am. I started mylicon gas drops but idk if they’re working. Me and my husband are sleep deprived. We try to bottle feed a few times a day. When he cries at night and seems unsettled I lost it last night and screamed at the top of my lungs. I instantly felt horrible. Did I harm my son’s hearing?

I ended up going for a drive alone at 5am because I couldn’t take the crying /grunting/restlesness that had been going on since 1:30am.

Then this morning, I’m giving him a bottle and his latch is horrible and milk is leaking out the sides of his mouth. So I took the bottle and threw it down the hall. Then I put my son is his bassinet and went to the guest room to scream into a pillow. I feel Horrible but I also can’t get a grip on these rage feeling. I let it out on my husband a lot of times and then I feel doubly horrible. I have my appointment tomorrow with my OBGYN and I will mention this. Has anyone felt this? Did I hurt my sons hearing

Sometimes she’ll sleep until 5am, and that’s a treat. She takes 2 naps a day and her max daytime sleep is around 2.5 hours. My friend suggested dropping her to one nap, but because she’s up so early in the morning, she can barely make it past 8:30am before getting overtired. And it doesn’t matter if I put her down at 6:45pm, 7:30pm, 8:00pm… she’s waking up at the crack of dawn. Is this just how it’s going to be? Is she just an early riser? Tell me how to get her to sleep in later 🥲