Mine is buying matching pajama sets. Not the luxurious silk pajamas, just cotton sets from Amazon or Sams Club. BUT they have definitely made a difference by making me feel a little more put together. Even though my house is a hot mess & my toddlers are screaming banshees. I at least look like I’m ready for it 😂

Moms , I keep reading posts of women saying they only get three hours of sleep a day and I’m wondering is this an exaggeration ? Maybe they get three hours some nights but more usually? Is it humanly possible to survive on 3 hours ? I like to sleep 8 hours but now with a baby get anywhere between 5-8 hours broken and when I get five hours I’m absolutely devastated and make up for it by day time naps and going to bed early . Then I think about those moms who say they get 3 hrs every night and I’m like …. Huh?!

4 year old daughter: Mommy I miss you when you’re not around.

Me: ??? What do you mean? I’m always here.

4yo: But sometimes you go upstairs to get socks and I miss you.

…this kid is literally with me every single day 😂

What I’m asking is, how many days a week / when and for how long is your husband or partner going to the gym?

I’m asking because my husband used to go 3-5 days a week, now he’s been sick lately and has been going only 2-3 days a week, but still when he is gone, he’s gone for 2-3 hours and I find that ridiculous. The gym is 15-25 mins away depending on traffic so he’s there’s working out for 1-2 hours. He goes in the middle of the day and it really disrupts our days off together as a family.

Like I birthed a human??? What!! It’s just insane to me sometimes.

Like I look at my almost 11 month daughter and I just can’t believe I’m her mom! Like shes mine??

Just saying the word “daughter” sometimes sounds foreign to me.

A whole human! WE BIRTH HUMANS!!! A FRICKEN HUMAN!! How is that even possible we can do that???

Im sorry, im sleep deprived. It’s almost 2am.

This is where my mind goes when I don’t get enough sleep. Baby is teething and keeping me up.

Hello, I was graciously asked to be a bridesmaid in my SILs wedding, and happily accepted. However, I found out I'm pregnant and am due a week before the wedding in October. I am having a scheduled c-section for medical reasons and I know I won't be able to attend. My daughter (4 year old) can still be a flower girl and obviously my husband will still attend.

I'm looking for advice on how to tell her. We are having dinner with his family tonight and she will be there. We are planning to surprise everyone with the news of the pregnancy. Should I just tell her the due date after, and let her know that I can't be a bridesmaid, or should I call her first and break the news privately?

For context, she's not a high maintenance bride, she asked me through text to be a bridesmaid (no big gift reveal or anything), and even her engagement was pretty low key, they just both talked about getting married and she picked out a ring.

I don't think she'll be too upset if I tell her with everyone else, but I don't want to be insensitive either. What would you do?

Thanks!

ETA: I am not going to attend the wedding, and will have my mom come over that evening to help me with baby. The wedding is only 30 mins away so husband and daughter won't be gone overnight.

My (31F) and my husband (30M) just welcomed our first baby just under 10 weeks ago. After a traumatic second trimester loss in February 2024, this was everything we had wanted.

I knew it would be hard. My husband works a job where he travels for 1-2 months in the fall and 3-4 months in the spring. When he’s traveling, he’s working 10-12 hour shifts 7 days a week. I’ve always appreciated how hard he works and I know it’s difficult for him. This usually leaves me to handle our home, 3 cats, 2 dogs, my own job, and now our baby girl.

When we first started having conversations about starting a family, I told him that I wanted him to be in a position, whether it was within his company, elsewhere, or using his GI bill for a degree, where he would be home more because I knew everything would be on me and it would be extremely challenging.

The first baby we lost was due in July, which would have worked much better with his schedule. I was just over 17 weeks when we found out she was nonviable and lost her. In my grief and depression and desperation to have our family, we decided to take a break from trying for a couple months. My husband had to leave to travel for work 6 days after my surgery. We waited 2 months and when he came home, I got pregnant again.

My husband received 10 weeks of paternity leave (more than me 🙃) to be used whenever he pleased. He used about 2.5 weeks then left to travel for work. He has been gone since mid February and won’t be back until mid May.

I am surviving. But sometimes, it feels like I’m just barely doing so. I am taking care of the baby 24/7, and i adore her. She’s the best. But that means 24/7 feedings, diaper changes, formula and bottle prep, putting down, staying down, tummy time, doctor appointments etc. Then I have the 2 dogs. Food, water, letting them out, exercise, etc. Then there’s the 3 cats. Food, water, multiple litter boxes, cleaning up hairballs almost every day, and now I’m wrestling one of our cats twice a day for 2 weeks to shove medicine down his throat because he has a UTI. And the house. Dishes, garbage and recycling, cooking, laundry, etc. I’m just doing the basics at this point to not live in a dumpster. And I went back to work part time 2 weeks ago. My job is in serious limbo because of this administrations cuts, so I’ve also been trying to apply to jobs. Then there’s showering, eating, etc.

Both of our parents are in town and we have a strong village of friends. I am very lucky that both of our parents come for a few hours to help watch the baby while I work, and friends offer to help and bring food.

But I’m burnt out. I’m so tired. I just want a break. I am grateful for the help I have but both of our parents shouldn’t have to be burdened with doing so much with this situation and our friends have their own kids and lives to worry about. My parents are retired and traveling, my FIL works and is undergoing radiation for cancer, and my MIL comes occasionally for a few hours and she travels a bunch. When I do get help I can’t relax because I have to do other things.

My husband is working long hours, but I barely hear from him. He’s either working, out to dinner with coworkers, or getting full nights of uninterrupted sleep. He was just telling me how he might go golfing on his day off, and he’s planning to go to a minor league baseball game soon.

I can’t help but feel resentment. I know what I was signing up for. But if I waited until he finally made meaningful changes to actually be home more, I’d be 40 and having kids would be a different conversation. I just want a break.

I don't even mean my pelvic floor. My first pregnancy gave me gum recession/gum disease, c-section scar and stretch marks, my second pregnancy made me lose a lot of my teeth, more stretch marks, and triggered my allergies and skin sensitivities to the point I'm constantly conjested and I need to use unscented products and avoid certain popular ingredients like propylene glycol.

So I started using very gentle shampoo and the one I used last time broke off a lot of my hair on the sides and this is the point I just want to cry, I had beautiful hair when fragrances didn't irritate my body so much. I feel like I am on a steady decline and should probably go back on corticosteroids. It was nice while it lasted. (I haven't taken them for 4.5 years and were fine for 3 of those years).

Also just to add to it, my ex is happily reinventing himself a continent away while I'm rebuilding my life with two small children and seemingly never ending health problems as a result of having children.✌️ (and probably having been in an abusive relationship didn't help either, or all this pressure I'm under)

I am feeling so defeated as a mother right now. I tried to post to two separate mom groups on Facebook for help with food & possible diapers. I had one women reach out to me asking me about possible location and what all we needed… few minutes later, she decided that it was okay to tell me that she knew my ex-partner for years (since high-school) and he should’ve “ beat”me a little more than asking for help on the internet. What a freaking coward. Decided to kick me down more than I already was. I don’t want to give up for my babies, but I’m so close. I was already embarrassed posting & she just put the icing on the cake…

I invited my son’s friend to the movies. I sent a message to his mum asking if he would like to come along. She said he would love to. She asked how much are tickets. I told her the price and said I would shout drinks and snacks. But I feel like I should have just said it’s my shout for the ticket. I was planning on paying for him anyway. I feel like it’s rude. What do you guys think?

I have no idea how to sum that up better. I’m due for my induction with our son tomorrow. Our daughter just woke us up throwing up all over the bed. It’s been an hour and she’s thrown up at least 8-10 times. My friend was supposed to come stay with her while we were at the hospital but now I’m waiting for her to cancel because she has her own kid she won’t want sick. My husband doesn’t want to miss the birth of his son.

I have no idea what to do. How do we bring a newborn home into a house with norovirus? Do we just accept my husband missing the birth? Any advice/tips/tricks are welcome.

Also how the heck do you deal with a toddler who can’t stop puking? The original bedding is in the wash. The bed is covered in many layers of towels but we will eventually run out before the washer is done at the rate she keeps puking. It’s our first stomach bug and the pediatrician hasn’t called me back yet.

I am the mom of two girls 4 years and 5month. The public school system was already scary enough, now we may not have a schools system. My kids and I are facing a world where the protections we had to our personhood are disappearing. Now we are facing total economic collapse a lot quicker than I thought they would have to deal with. I’m scared for my girls, my property and our livelihood.

I resonate with this group so much because I have no one else. Just me & the babies. That’s all I have… my boys behaviors have started to take a down fall & the ask me “where is daddy?”. My mental health has taken a toll, I’m rapidly loosing weight because I can’t eat. I ate half an orange & toast yesterday evening because that’s all the shelter could provide. I keep walking to food banks with the babies but I’m getting denied because my I.d is expired. The Salvation Army is too far to walk. I’m praying for a miracle & literally blame myself that maybe if I just continued to let him physically abu$e me then I wouldn’t be in this situation where I can’t even feed us. I feel like a piece of shit.

My MIL texted me “I’m coming to get the kids for breakfast/lunch”

Say no more, I’ll get them dressed. 😂

I am really trying to look my best. I am transitioning from maternity leave to working full time.

Lately, I have been getting shellac manicure's every 3 weeks along with brow threading.

I wear a light face of make up daily; mascara, (sometimes) eyeliner, concealer, light powder, blush and some kind of lip products.

I like to put togther an outfit I feel good and confident in, I have been looking at Pinterest for inspo and updating my clothes too.

I have long hair and I only like get a hair cut every 6 months

I do skin care every night along with a luxurious shower, remove make up, glycol acid, wash face, then apply retinol, moisturizer and if I am extra dry apply a layer of vaseline. In the morning I rinse my face with water and apply. vitamin c, moisturizer and starting with sunscreen too.

I am religious about getting my teeth cleaned every 6 months.

I am really wanting to begin working out but I haven't found the time for that in my schedule just yet.

Am I crazy or are there a stupid number of stomach viruses this year? Since Christmas we have been hit 3 times. I am assuming they are either 3 different strains of norovirus or some other kind of hell bug. Prior to this winter, we had only gotten hit by stomach illness once since my son was born in 2020. We live in an area that wasn’t super Covid conscious after 2020, and he did go to daycare. Just wondering why it’s so rampant in 2025.

Basically the title. My baby just turned 10 months yesterday, and he's been taking 2 naps per day, for the most part. Maybe I'm crazy, but lately he's been seeming like he'd rather take one long nap midday than splitting it up. He's usually wide awake and first for a while when I put him down for his first nap, and he's also been harder to wake up, rather than him waking up on his own (like he could continue sleeping). Because of the longer wake windows, his afternoon naps have only been 30-45 minutes.

Idk, I feel like if we just experimented I could figure out if he's ready for 1 nap, but I don't want to try if it's just straight up not recommended or bad for him in some way. Advice?

Back story:

One of my friends kids is “perfect” in the sense that they always follow the rules, do great academically, teachers favorite but the thing that irks me is that the child is always “reporting” on kids when they do things wrong. The things the child reports are typically correct and the child’s mom thrives on this information everyday after school as entertainment. I’ve listened to it over the years always feeling a little icky hearing this because she is talking about other kids and their wrong doings. I’m probably sensitive to this topic because my child, while amazing in so many ways, isn’t the “perfect” kid and does things that could be annoying or just not “perfect”. I’ve always been wary as I know my kid could be the subject of convo.

My concern- she told me her child reported to her something my kid did that wasn’t appropriate. Her child went into detail in the car with friends and because my friend thrives on this I know she grilled everyone in the car about every detail of the situation.

Note: She always has kids at her house and does this “grilling” to them all the time. She is a very engaging and fun person and easy to talk to so I’m sure kids easily give up any information.

What my child did, while not appropriate, is something that many kids my child’s age do. It’s something that we aren’t happy about but also it’s not an earth shattering situation. It was a kid trying to get a laugh and not realizing the behavior isn’t what we do for laughs.

She voice texted me all of this while she was driving with her child and the kids friends (my child wasn’t in the car). My biggest issue is —-is it appropriate to voice text a friend, with kids present, in the car all the details of what my kid did without my child there to defend themselves. Is it appropriate to have my concerned texts read allowed through the car audio for all my child’s friends to hear?

We talked to my child about the situation but I’m concerned with how my child’s friends will be around my child because I know how dramatic my friend gets especially when her child reports of other kids doing wrong.

Elementary aged children involved.

This will probably end up being a little long because I ramble a bit, so I apologize ahead of time.

I have a 6 year old daughter I will call N. She has gotten close to a girl in her class this year called C.

When the weather is nice and we don't have any time restricting plans, I have my kids dismissed as walkers and they come straight down to their school playground. I'm always there waiting for them, and they play with their friends for at least a couple of hours while I chat with other parent friends (and obviously keep an eye on my kids at the same time). This is how I finally got to meet C. She is a very energetic girl with a sassy goofy personality similar to N so I can easily see how they became friends. However, I quickly noticed that I never saw either of her parents around the playground. Turns out, C's mom sits in her car across the playground the entire time, always on her phone. I've only seen her get out of the vehicle once or twice when she needs to tell her girls it's time to go. I don't agree with not being nearby to keep an eye on your kids both to make sure they are behaving and playing well with other children, but also in case they get hurt or need help. But everyone parents their own way, and maybe she's not very social, so I brushed it off for the most part.

During one of our after-school-playground times, N was playing with C and I saw them run over to C's mom's car together when C had to leave. I kept an eye on N as she said goodbye. She climbed up onto the runner of the car to give C a hug in her seat, chatted for a minute with C and the mom, then all 3 of them came walking over to me. The first thing N says in a surprised/excited voice is "C and L (the younger sister) don't have any boosters or anything! They sit in the big seats!" C's mom laughs a little and says "I know, it's terrible! I really should have them in boosters!". Remember, C and N are both 6 or 7 years old, and L is 5 or 6. N says she and C want a play date some time so the mom brought me a paper with her phone number and C's name on it - not her own name - and asked for mine in return. I wrote my name and number down and thought maybe we could organize something in the future. This was probably 3ish weeks ago and neither of us have reached out to each other but N regularly asks if she can go with C when they leave the playground to get ice cream or donuts or wherever they are going. I always say no with a legitimate excuse like needing to get homework and dinner done, etc.

Last week, N came home and asked me what sexy means. I asked her where she heard that word from. She told me she heard it from C, and that C told her it means "when someone is naked and they're in the pool and they flip their hair around looking all beautiful". I told her sexy is a grown up word and not appropriate for kids, and that I'm not sure why C knows that word or what it means, but that she shouldn't at this age. The next day we were at the playground after school and I asked other parent friends if they know anything about C's parents. I am not from this area originally, I moved here with my husband about 10 years ago. However, many of the other parents I am friends with grew up in the area and know more about other families than I do. 3 different parents that I trust completely (one of which is a local police deputy, another is a nurse at the local hospital, and the other is a firefighter/EMT) all had negative things to say. They did not have much to say about the mom, but the dad is a known cocaine addict and possible heroine user. He was fired from a big-name car dealership for theft and opened up his own auto sales business in return. As one of the dad's put it, he wouldn't trust buying a golf cart from this guy, let alone a car. They also pointed out that the mom only ever wears long pants and long sleeves/cardigans no matter the weather (it can easily get into the 80s-90s with high humidity in the warmer months here), which makes them wonder if the husband is abusive and/or she is hiding track marks herself. Many of them also had not so great things to say about C's behavior. She yells at and hits her mom very hard with the mom having no reaction other than giving her what she wants or bribing her with things to distract her. She gives a lot of attitude if another parent stops their daughter and C from doing something they shouldn't be while playing together, such as climbing on top of the tunnel slide and trying to walk on it, running into the parking lot without looking both ways first, things like that.

In general, it sounds like C's parents don't do much parenting as it is and C has behavior issues because she is given free reign of what she wants and does. I also am very uncomfortable with her parents' behaviors and lifestyle. I do not want my daughter over to their house, obviously cannot trust them to take her anywhere with them such as out for ice cream as mentioned before, and I'm starting to be wary of the things C is telling and showing N when they are together at school. I know C is just a very young child and these things are not her fault, so trying to stop their friendship from growing further makes me feel guilty. I'm also fully aware that outright banning them from being friends will likely push my daughter to become closer with C as a result. All of that being said, I don't know how to broach this situation with my daughter. I can only say no to these invites and play date ideas so many times before N starts to ask me why we can never hang out with C and why she can't go to her house, etc. I know that if I'm honest and say things like "I don't trust her parents", she will take that back to C and repeat it and things might snowball. I've never had to deal with a situation like this before. A little guidance from others would be really appreciated!

Hello! I’m due with my second baby in a month and I remember being unhappy with what I brought to the hospital for clothing with my first…I didn’t know how hot and sweaty I’d be, didn’t have a good nursing bra, and didn’t realize how uncomfortable anything fitted would feel. Maybe I was just overall uncomfy 🤪anyways, what did you use? Links are appreciated too! Looking for comfort and practical but also cute is great too. I’m having a girl this time!

Thank you!

My baby is 5 months old, has rolled belly to back for months but just discovered back to belly in the last few weeks. Screams bloody murder on her belly now, roll her onto her back and then she immediately rolls onto her belly again screaming. She knows how to roll both directions. Sometimes she will be on her belly fine, but typically she will fuss after a few mins. But baby why do you immediately roll back onto your belly if you don’t like it? 😅

The fun part is sometimes at nap time or bed time she rolls onto her belly, falls asleep on her belly and wakes up screaming for help to get back on her back. Once she violently rolled onto her back and went back to sleep. Should I just leave her to figure it out, or is it ok if I’m rolling her back?

I (26f) have two kids (4f and 5m) and am pregnant with our 3rd baby. I want so badly to be the parent that doesn’t spank/pop my kids on their bottom or mouths for something if there’s a better way to go about it but find many times that’s all that will work. Popping/spanking is usually a last resort.

My problem is here recently (the past few months) we’ve had an issue with listening, attitude and being mean to other people.

For my son our biggest problem is how mean he’s been. For example, my daughter has a stuffed animal which she named Lemon, my son told her it was a stupid name. Now, she’s an arguer and doesn’t necessarily put up with it but that usually leads to bickering and arguing which is another problem all on its own. This is a Mild example but the first one I could think of, and it extends to adults as well. I was smacked in the mouth growing up so that is my first instinct and I’ve always worked really hard to not smack him.

They’re both having a hard time listening, it’s taking me yelling at them to convince them to do something. I know this is a normal kid problem but I need to know what others are doing and what’s working for them.

My daughter is a HUGE arguer about anything and everything, she’s even argued that I said she could do something when I didn’t, so I worry we’re crossing over into lying.

Naturally All of these things are made worse when older cousins are around, so that is also an added twist.

Issues: Being mean/disrespectful Arguing Not listening

Things we’ve done: Put their nose on the wall (one time I made them hold hands at the same time) Taken electronics Popped in the mouth Popped on the bottom Early bedtime

Anytime they’re mean to one another they have to say sorry

I feel so bad ranting about this, but it's a really stressful thing for me.

I have been babysitting my friends toddler and her newborn, while still having my 17 month old with me, for free. Which doesn't bother me at all (but also, doesn't give me room to be buying supplies each time). She's really struggling with PPD and I'm trying to help her as much as I can, which has mainly been babysitting once a week.

It can be challenging; the newborn is definitely the easiest, both toddlers are high needs. Mine is really clingy and we are working on reducing tantrums (working with early intervention on that and speech therapy), and her toddler is on the spectrum. But her toddler LOVES me, gets super excited to see me. And my kid is sweet to him. So it's not insanely impossible. I just have everything baby proofed and keep them in my living room.

She has a BF, but he is basically useless and he's the father of both children. He just doesn't help. She's a really good friend and has been there for me through a lot.

But it's just frustrating because the time before that, she brought me the kids and left enough formula for one single bottle for the newborn. She didn't answer me at all, so I had to door dash formula with my meager funds (I'm a single mom and very low income). I saw no reasonable way to go to the store with 2 toddlers and a small baby. Both toddlers love to elope and cry in the cart. I was just not going to risk it. She still hasn't paid me back for that.

The time before that, she didn't pack me her toddlers epipen and I had to call her like 15 times to get her to go get it, because I'm not risking taking care of a kid who almost died from anaphylaxis without an epipen. I'm very careful to avoid having any peanuts in my household, but still, I'm just not risking it.

This time was definitely my bad. I checked the infant and toddler bags, saw the epipen and full formula. Then I checked the diapers in both bags. The infants diapers were stacked up, so I thought there were a lot. Toddlers diapers were fine. After she left, I took them out to get to the diaper cream, and it was not a bunch of diapers stacked up; it was 3 infant diapers stacked on top of wipes. Now it's been 2 hours and she's not answering me.

And her baby is eating a lot rn, so I'm down to 1 diaper. I just ordered some again, but it's just frustrating. She hasn't even paid me back for the formula.

Also, she is with her mom rn, but I honestly don't believe she hasn't seen my texts/calls because she's always on her phone. I have a suspicion she's just ignoring me.

But it's hard because she's super depressed and I don't want to be forced to remove the only support she has. I'm the only one who helps her. Her mom will kind of be emotionally supportive, but won't even watch the toddler, much less the infant.

It's hard because I know she's not meaning to be a jerk, she's just depressed. But it's still a lot on my shoulders 🙃 she's mentioned a few times that she wishes she can just disappear and not see her kids again. i helped her get into therapy and she's on meds, but she still regularly calls me that she just wants to leave the kids with their dad and not come back.

Idk what to do :(

My LO is only 10 months so I feel she is too young for just one nap but I’m also at a loss for what to do. She has been a catnapper since she was 8 weeks old. At 8ish months we started contact napping for all naps in order to get any naps, her naps then ranged from anywhere between 30m - 2 hours. If the first nap is long then the second nap is battle and she just ends up falling asleep at like 7pm and napping then. So in the last week or so I’ve tried cutting both naps to about 30mins (I feel so mean waking her) because it’s taking hours to get her to sleep at bedtime. Today she woke just after 9, napped 12:30-1 then 4-5pm. Showered at 8:30 and she’s finally gone to sleep at 11pm. Hindsight I probably should have capped the second nap too but she was fast asleep. We’ve had a consistent bedtime routine since she was a month old (shower, milk, bed) this has never mattered 90% of the time she will not settle for bed. I don’t put her to bed awake, she falls asleep on me (usually nursing but it might take more than one attempt) because she will just cry in her crib if she’s awake Her first nap of the day she settles for really well about 3 hours of being awake so I just don’t think she’s ready for only one nap yet. But she just never seems tired enough at bedtime until we try for hours and then she’s over tired.

This post is a bit rambly, I’m just one tired, stressed out first time Mumma wondering what to do (please no CIO advice that is not an option for us)

Hi all, been lurking for a while. Newish mom of an 8 month old daughter. She's perfection and I love her more than life. Mom life is hard though. I see you all and appreciate that we are in good company with each other. Anyone else feeling like they just want to totally overhaul their entire life after becoming a parent? I'm feeling out of sorts and feeling like I just want an entirely new career (like going back for a new degree or training after getting a bachelor's 10 years ago), and I want to sell our house and move away with my husband and daughter. I just feel a little crazy and wanted to hear everyone else's crazy fantasies lol