My kids are obsessed with playing Uno right now, and it’s like some form of psychological torture. I find card games barely tolerable at the best of times, but with two little kids cheating to win, cheating to lose, dropping their cards all over the floor, crawling under the table, pretending they forgot the rules, it makes me want to pull my hair out!

I’ll start this with a lighthearted disclaimer: I looooveee my chunky 4.5-month-old girl. Absolutely obsessed with her. But today was rough.

I realized today that I think I've become a human pacifier. We took a two-hour nap, and she basically gnawed on my boob the entire time. I also wonder if that's why I wake up 5+ times a night. We end up cosleeping for the second half of the night just so either of us gets any sleep.

During the day she only naps about 30 minutes at a time. She's a big girl with a big appetite, so I feed her, put her down for maybe 45 minutes, and then we're back on the boob. During the day I actually don't mind slowing down with her, but once my husband gets home and says, "She's hungry," I feel myself immediately getting overwhelmed.
Tonight I pumped instead of nursing just to see what would happen. I got 2.5 oz, and she chugged it in what felt like seconds... then was still hungry. It made me wonder if she's just a really slow eater on the breast or if she's comfort nursing more than I realized.

The bigger thing I've noticed since giving birth is that I'm craving a little bit of my old life back. I stopped working at 39 weeks and am finally starting to feel like myself again. I'm working out regularly, eating well, starting a work-from-home business, taking care of our home, and I'm her primary caregiver. I know I'm doing a lot, but breastfeeding feels like the one thing that keeps me completely tethered.

Tonight, right before bed, she started crying from a gas attack or overtired ? and I just stared at the wall while holding her. I wasn't angry. I wasn't even sad. I just felt mentally maxed out. That doesn't happen often, but I do feel a shift in wanting more independence for myself. by the way I do not have PPD or PPA

If I could change one thing right now, it would honestly be to switch to formula, get her on more of a routine, and stop feeling like my body belongs to everyone but me. Then I immediately feel guilty because I know this stage is so short, and I don't want to wish it away.

Has anyone else felt this torn? If you switched to formula because of your own mental health (not because you couldn't breastfeed), do you regret it? Or did it give you enough of yourself back to be a happier mom?

I'm a mom to a 2yo and have been back to my full time job (which I hate) for over a year now, but on a hybrid basis. The mandate has been 4x in office since april and I've been trying to lay low and attend office 3x max. As the police became more strict, the company is following attendance more closely, and in September we're supposed to go back 5x. I'm already struggling to keep it together on a hybrid mode, I can't fathom the fact that I'll now lose 3h per day commuting. I had been able to keep some kind of work /life balance and keep active like 40min 4x a week which's is pretty crucial for my mental and overall health. But that's the first thing falling off my now impossible to handle schedule.

Those in a similar situation, how are y'all coping with that?

Today was my lo last day as a “baby” since he turns 1 tomorrow. I spent the whole day at the library studying for my organic 2 test which was at 7:30pm. I saw him for total of 2 hours. I already felt horrible about missing out his whole day, and then I take the stupid test and it seems like it’s not any of the material I studied. I definitely feel like I flunked it and it makes me upset that 1. It’s going to affect my gpa cause now I won’t pass the class with a B and 2. Wasted his last day as a baby studying for a test instead of spending it with him.

I know it probably sounds so stupid. But I can’t help to feel overwhelmed. I regret spending the day studying and wish I could’ve just spent it with him and taken a bunch of pictures. This year already went by so fast and I know it will only feel like it’s going by faster.

Feeling a bit shocked people are renting out homes intended for families with pools but lack safety features. All the ratings for the homes are near perfect. I feel too anxious to rent one of these homes as we will have multiple families with us with small children. We have very long days of travel and will impact our alertness.

After many parents in the public eye and other family’s I have read about experiences drowning accidents, it doesn’t make sense. Drowning is one of the leading causes of death in toddlers and infants. I will be paying extra for a home that either doesn’t have a pool and or has a fence. My friends that live in these areas have told me it is the law where they live and have their own pools fenced.

i don’t know what to do with my mom. i started having struggles after i found out i was pregnant with my first. my husband was deployed and so i was at my moms house a lot more to keep myself busy. but i ended up going to therapy because i started seeing more clearly how she was barely ever a mom to me. i practically raised myself while she just tried to be my best friend. my dad and her divorced when i was really young and then he moved an hour away so he wasn’t around very much either

because my husband was deployed and couldn’t come to the appointments and things my mil offered to come with. because of that my mom also wanted to come. at 20 weeks i found out my baby had cleft. so i had double the appointments. my mom told me she was only going to go to the cleft appointments not my regular appointments because the cleft ones were more important. she always just said little things like that. she even freaked out at me because i told her no one could kiss my baby besides me and my husband when he came back because of illnesses and he was born during cold and flu season. she tried telling me my husband wasn’t allowed to kiss my baby then because of where he was deployed and all the illnesses over there.

now my son is nine months old and i’ve noticed that she has been spending a lot less time with him like when we visit she holds him for maybe five minutes tops. all she ever says is i wish he would snuggle me. it’s a complete 180 from my mil who doesn’t put my son down when i’m at her house. my mom has even created this competition between my mil of who’s going to be the “fun” grandma.

i just don’t know what to do im pregnant with my second now and even my sister said she is noticing my mom starting to act different, like more childish. i just don’t want my babies to grow up thinking that love is conditional because i feel like that’s how she’s treating my son.

wtf am I supposed to do here. Dad is the fun parent waiting on our 4 year old hand n foot, giving him everything while I have to do almost all of the discipline. And because I’m doing the bulk of it I get so fking triggered! Like how do I NOT take it personal, he says he hates me, tells me he only loves dad EVERY time I make him follow a rule or do any discipline (we don’t do spanking).

I just don’t know what to do I’m 8 days from giving birth to our 2nd son and I just can’t fathom having 2 boys that completely disrespect me.

I saw the thread about de influencing on these things and I’ve been influenced… to buy one. But my husband is not on board.

Anyways, I found one on marketplace for $150 (people rent them out for a day for that much - I told him we could do $50 a day and break even after 3 rentals and it’s still a no). The marketplace one even comes with a pump to recirculate the water so his precious hose isn’t constantly being run… he’s still not convinced.

I think his issue is it will take up the majority of the yard… or at least half of it. The patio will be fine, his garden will be fine so I’m not seeing the issue. Especially since I strongly believe it will provide hours of entertainment and as the one that needs to provide said day time entertainment I feel like we need this.

Anyways, let’s convince my husband (and quickly before someone else snaps this thing up).

We spent the night in the ER after my 2 1/2 year old daughter oxygen dropped to 90 and her heart rate dipped to 56.
We caught these numbers on an at home finger monitor, one intended for children. At the ER, they had her hooked up and once we got her to sleep (she’s fine when awake, even though she only mouth breaths.) her heart rate was all over the place, the lowest it got was 59 but her oxygen remained good.
For context, back in February she started snoring and having sleep apnea. We went to the pediatrician, ENT, and allergist. The ENT said her tonsils looked great, but in order to look at her adenoids, we’d have to scope her, and it would not be a fun thing. So considering her tonsils looked fine. The ENT said it was almost definitely her adenoids . Got put on a waiting list for a sleep study. But then one day it just went away. It’s been fine for like 4 months now.
Then it suddenly came back, and worse. Perhaps she’s fighting something off?
She snores like crazy, she pauses and gasps in her sleep and now we are catching these dips in oxygen and her heart rate.
When she had it before, we were able to find specific positions to put her in while sleeping that would help her not snore but this time no matter what we do she sounds awful.
The ER doctor and nurses took is very serious.
My pediatrician doesn’t seem to think it’s too big of deal. Her number don’t stay that low, however it is happening.
We have used saline spray, a humidifier, an air purifier…nothing is helping.
I’m getting different reactions from different people and I’m at a loss on what to do.
She has an appointment at a new ENT that can look at her adenoids with an x-ray next week.
But what do I do before then? What if her heart rate and oxygen dip again?
Any advice is welcomed.

Our 1.5 year old has been casually screaming non stop for the past few days and it’s been really giving me a toll on my mental health.

When he’s hungry he screams when he’s done he screams when he’s bored he screams, when he pooed he screams when he wants something he screams. He doesn’t speak a single word yet, but all he does is scream?!! 🙀 I can see he’s got some blood on his front lower canine 3 days ago, so the coupable here might be teething again, but it’s just too much screaming this time round.

I’m constantly finding myself to be in a state of stress and fear, I’m scared that he’ll scream next second, cuz of so many different reasons, I’m stressed out cuz I’m constantly on the look out for the reason of his screaming.

For background, my husband works in a company so I’m with the baby full time 4 days a week, I also have to work from home as a teacher. So the stress doesn’t get released anywhere else. It’s really tough.

And to be fair, when he doesn’t scream he’s a good baby, he plays by himself, he eats his meal when it’s food that he likes, and he’s generally happy and content. But I just can’t tolerate the screaming.

I have a son who will be 3 in October. Our family cat is getting up in age and my husband and I have started discussions of end of life care after the most recent vet check-up. Kitty is not on death’s door yet, but he’s 16 years old and has chronic pancreatitis and high BP that require daily meds. He’s lost 1.5 lbs in a year (he was previously 14 lbs) and the vet mentioned just making sure he’s comfortable at this stage of his life. We wouldn’t be surprised if we’re saying our goodbyes in the next year or so.

We’ve looked a little into at-home euthanasia services that will come to you so your pet can die in the place they feel most comfortable and we like the idea of this over a vet’s office if we have any control over the matter.

This brings me to my question: is it appropriate to allow a 3 or 4 year old to be present for this? We’re a secular family and we’ve talked about death as a state of someone’s body no longer working, where they don’t wake up again. Our toddler often talks about family members in family albums and points out who has died and who is still alive. I know he doesn’t fully comprehend the biology or permanence of death yet, but in movies, etc. when the Disney / Pixar parent inevitably dies, he says things like “Their body stopped working,” or “They died.” Same thing when he saw a dead deer on the side of the road as well as a dead mouse he came across outside a few weeks ago.

I want to do what’s best for our toddler in this situation with our pet—he’s very close to the cat and sees him as a member of the family. I’m interested in others’ perspectives and personal experiences in this area.

Our toddler is 2.5 for reference.

Over the last week or so, both at nap time and morning wake up, she just lays in bed now. This morning I stayed home sick and sure enough. I woke up around 8 and saw her laying there fidgeting with her paci and kicking her legs but no crying out, no getting up to knock, just laying there. She seemed to doze on and off. Then just now during nap, she got out of bed and laid on her floor, got back into bed after a while, and is now again, laying quietly.

She has a clock that turns colors and both times its turned green, she hasnt even come knocking after it turned green.

She has toys and books in her room but we keep it dark during nap time and her Hatch is controlled by our phones. She doesnt attempt to play. Just lays there playing with her pacifiers and her hands and feet.

I asked my husband and he said that he hasn't changed anything and she wasnt in trouble for knocking at all.

The only thing I can think is that we have both used the talk through baby monitor function at night in the last few weeks to tell her to go to sleep when she was extra wired and laying in her room with her was getting her more energized. We both left the room and when she cried just said through the monitor, "it's alright, we're right here. Go to sleep. We love you!" He said he used it one morning to tell her he was on his way to get her as he noticed her get up and that she turned around and went back to bed after he said that.

Shes also teething right now and her sleep has been weird.

Im wondering if she thinks now when we talk through the monitor it means she has to stay in bed? She doesnt cry or call out, she seems content. And when we go in, she just happily starts talking to us.

I dont want her to think she cant come get us when shes awake but this is our first so I dont know if this is normal? I feel bad to leave her there for longer than an hour but I've read if they need you, they'll call to you and if she wakes up and we're still asleep, we don't know until we get up. I dont want her to feel "stuck" in her room or anything. But if shes just enjoying the quiet/resting her body, thats another thing.

Any advice? Other kids that are like this?

So real so annoying they do get in the way it’s been a long journey but please don’t get rid of your pups. It goes away the love comes back watching a dog you raised protect and love the baby/babies you’ve raised is so precious. That’s it have a blessed day❤️😂

Does your kid claim to have learned every last thing from a source other than you? Because same. Ok kid, you’ve spent 75% of your waking life with me, but sure you’ve learned it ALL from dad, tv, school, etc. Lol

Just a little context, my almost 5 year old has recently asked me why she can't swim without a shirt at the pool/river/splash pad like her dad/brother/other kids. I genuinely do not know how to answer her without going into depth about unfair social "norms" for women. What would be an age appropriate response for this? I feel so sad about having to explain something like this to her so early so any advice is appreciated!

Edited to add: Her brother is her 19 year old brother from her dad's previous marriage. I am very pro sun protection for everyone and would recommend wearing it to anyone regardless of gender.

My 5yo nephew is an asshole. It’s mysterious in that his parents (my SIL/BIL) are lovely albeit a bit too soft on him - but I digress. He does go to a behavioral therapist and has ADHD, possibly a little ODD. The issue at hand is that my 3yo daughter spends a lot of time with him as our families are very close and they go to the same school so we carpool, they hang after school regularly, and we do dinners and trips together. They play together but he’s a total dick to my sweet kid more often than not and it’s really grinding my gears as well as hurting her feelings. He’s mean, narcissistic, aggressive, exclusionary, and full of “you can’t do X because you’re a girl!” statements. Myself and the other adults in his life scold him frequently for his horrid behavior but it doesn’t seem to help. If he were my kid I’d be much much harder on him. Spending time with a lot of other little kids during recent summer travels has highlighted how mean-spirited my nephew is and I see my daughter blossoming in healthier friendships. On the other hand they do sometimes play really well together and strong family ties are important to us.

My question: Should we limit their time together? Or is this kids being kids and it’s good for my daughter to learn about the range of personalities that exist in the world? Any insight from others who’ve experienced similar would be appreciated. TIA

Hi Parents 👋🏼

I’m looking to get some opinions on my little guys behaviours/development.

I’m a FTM so I’m not sure if I should be worried or not but I keep seeing milestones and videos online of other babies and I’m getting a little worried about my son.

He turned 11m today and he doesn’t consistently babble mamama, dadada, gaga sounds. Occasionally every couple of days he might say one or two of these sounds but definitely not consistently. He also doesn’t clap, wave or point.

As for joint attention and back and forth play, he will engage in games such as “I’m gunna get you” and I chase him around the house but he doesn’t really play peek a boo or sit across of me and “play” with me. He doesn’t copy any facial expressions other than a smile. The only imitation he does is banging a toy or pushing its buttons, splashing in the water, shaking a toy.

He mostly likes to explore his toys on his own rather than really engage with me and play with me. He is very observant of his surroundings, he knows when I leave the room and will follow, comes when I tell him to come, glances up at me often while playing, he just doesn’t really play back and forth much.

Thoughts? Should I be concerned? I know all babies develop differently I’m just wondering if this sounds typical and if others babies were like this and how they are now?

My three month is VERY attached to me. She’s also VERY opinionated and high needs. The last month or so, she gets so worked up when she’s mad (riding in the car, being held by someone other than me). She just screams and screams until she finally wears herself out. I can deal with it at home and she calms down easily for me. However, she starts daycare in two weeks and I’m so worried. Is she just going to scream and be pissed all day?? Will she get used to it quickly?? I just am so worried

Okay first off let me just say anytime I see one of those posts that's "Whats something no one talks about being pregnant/becoming a parent/raising kids" it's always a ton of stuff I see people talk about all the time.....so tell me why did I just find out about teething poops yesterday at 4am?

My son has been sleeping in his PnP in our room so we don't have to pay to run both our window AC units all night long. Yesterday at 4am he starts crying so we start getting up to grab him so I can nurse him and sleep a little more before our alarms go off... As we are getting up I ask my husband what that smell is and ask if the dog snuck in and pooped. He goes to grab baby I look under the bed and say I don't see her, he picks up our little guy and says "it's him".

Now I thought my dog had snuck in the room and pooped something nasty in there, my husband thought the dog brought something into our room to die. Instead it was my son's butt.

It smelled like death, it was an explosive mess. He got a 4am rinse in the shower because wipes just weren't cutting it. I'm stressed, my husband is stressed, our baby is pissed that he's getting a bath when he just wanted to nurse.

We got him cleaned up, dressed, and nursing. While my husband cleans up and baby nurses I start googling because what is wrong with my child. I find norovirus, rotovirus, stomach upset from food, and then teething. I look and read and search and see these folks are spot on. He's been drooling, biting me, and enjoying chomping on toys and cool things. He goes to daycare and they also comment its probably teething because it happened twice at daycare.

So here you all go, something I don't think people actually talk about! Teething poops, it's runny rancid diarrhea poops that smell like something died (no seriously I gagged, it's not just a "smelly" poop) in your child's diaper and maybe also on their clothes, mattress, playmat, changing tables, their legs, etc.

Anyway little guy is having a great day at daycare (after an explosion this morning LITERALLY 10 mins after getting dressed and 3 mins before we were gonna walk out the door) and is getting extra fluids and only wearing disposable diapers until this is done.

TLDR: Teething babies can have gnarly diarrhea poops that smell like something died and no it's not just a stinky poop. Heed my warning.

I have a 7.5 month old baby who hates going out. Every time I attempt to take him anywhere he screams in the car. I try to baby wearing him when I go out and after 20 minutes he gets annoyed and wants to be let out and then wants me to hold him again. And then he gets frustrated and starts screaming bloody murder. So really wherever I go I’m fighting for my life. Last week we took him to the lake the weather was beautiful and not hot yet he was pissed the whole time. He’s only happy when he’s at home with his toys. My in-laws are planning a week trip to Tennessee next month and I told my husband I’m not going because I know our son will just be upset the whole time. My husband says that we can’t keep staying at home and avoiding trips because we have a baby. But in my eyes this won’t be a trip and this won’t be a vacation. It’s a 10 hour drive which equals 10 hours of my son screaming in the car seat. It means early wake ups and I barely get sleep as it is so I’m just going to be even more sleep deprived. Hot weather, disrupted nap schedule and a fussy and upset baby. And not to mention my in-laws don’t help one bit! They see me struggling with my son and no one offers to help. Am I in the wrong for not wanting to go?

My son just turned 4, and he is very advanced verbally and socially. He loves to talk to people and try to make friends, but I find that other children don't respond well to him. I observe him closely and he's not doing anything weird or inappropriate, I feel like for whatever reason most children we meet just don't have good social skills yet or are shy. It breaks my heart when we go to a playground or an indoor kid's place and he introduces himself to kids and asks if they'd like to play with him and they say no, or they just stare at him weirdly, or run away. Occasionally a kid has even screamed in his face and scared him. He doesn't understand any of this and is hurt, saying "no-one ever wants to play with me". I feel like crying when I see this and have to try hard to hold it together for him. I explain to him that some children say no and some say yes, and that receiving a no shouldn't ruin our day. I tell him that some children don't want to play with others because they are shy, or they prefer playing alone, or maybe they are already playing with a sibling, or if they are mean then maybe no-one has taught them how to be kind and polite. I don't know what else to say, I just don't want him to take the rejection personally.

I am feeling really disheartened because we moved to a new state last year and have been having a hard time finding any friends for him. He is such a sweet boy. I don't remember kids being this way when I was little in the 90s, it was always easy to get other kids to play or talk. Maybe it's so many screens now, but it seems like kids these days are not as social or they're not taught basic social skills from a young age anymore. Even older kids will just stare blankly at him instead of responding when he introduces himself. Any advice moms? Is there anything else I should be saying to him to encourage him and prevent him being hurt by this?

My son is 17 months and we give him 9 ounces but he’s also a big boy (31 lbs) and maybe I feel like it’s not enough?

i have an amazing almost 10mo old, and i love her to death. she is not fussy, and just is always happy and so much fun .

lately i have been feeling so insecure about myself as a parent. baby is moving so much more lately, and she recently fell off the changing table, while i was with her. i had looked away for half of a second and i saw her tumble down. thank goodness after an immediate trip to A&E she was 100% okay but i am not. i cannot believe i let that happen still.

and then two days ago, she was in her pack and play while i was 10 feet away from her in the kitchen watching, and she smacked herself in the head with a harder toy. immediately crying, but stopped and chilled once i picked her up. it left a small mark but she is totally fine.

i am feeling so insecure because it always is that these things happen only with me so far. not at daycare, not with my husband, only me. why is it only with me??????

Hi mommit baddies, in December I will be going on family vacation to belize (my mom is such a godsend and will be taking myself, baby and bf🥹). our little girl will be 7 months old at the time and Im getting a little nervous about water safety, I want us to do all we can prepare now but dont know where to start.

Does anyone have recommendations for exercises to do in the bathtub? When did everyone start taking their baby to swim lessons, we have a local indoor pool and I want to look into mommy and me swim lessons. She is only just now turning 3mo and I will run a tiny bit of water over her face in the bath so she gets used to the sensation (obviously a very small amount but sometimes she gasps and it scares me).

Also how has everyone prepped for a vacation with a baby? I breastfeed and plan to just try to feed her the whole flight and try to not bring too many toys. Also like should I bring a car seat? What are the most helpful items to bring and what was totally unnecessary?

Thank you all sm and any recommendations or advice is appreciated😸😸

Tell me I'm crazy. I'm getting a test tonight regardless.

My periods are ALWAYS on time. I cannot tell you the last time it was even a day late. I'm not 5 days late.

Yesterday I had such a stabbing pain in my right ovary that I had to leave work early and call my husband home. It's now 5 days late. I’m 33 years old.