u/Grouchy-Recording-12

I have an 8-month-old who will be 9 months in a few weeks, and he is exclusively breastfed. He was a big baby at birth (10 lb 1 oz) and is now around 23 lbs.

He goes to daycare for about 8 hours a day and typically drinks three 7 oz bottles while he’s there, although lately he’s been wanting closer to 8 oz. At home we feed him every 3 hours and he also nurses overnight. Altogether, he can be drinking anywhere from around 35–45 oz in a 24-hour period.

My biggest concern is that I’m struggling to pump enough to keep up with him. I used to pump around 32–40 oz a day, but lately I’ve been closer to 26–28 oz, and it’s really stressing me out.

I keep hearing that breast milk changes in composition as babies get older and that they may need less volume eventually, so I’m hoping that happens for us because I genuinely don’t know how I’m going to keep up with his appetite if he continues drinking this much.

The other thing stressing me out is solids. We try everything, but he has basically zero interest. He doesn’t like purées, and he doesn’t want to be spoon-fed. If he can’t pick something up himself and put it in his mouth, he generally wants nothing to do with it. So far, we’re talking maybe a bite of rice or a little piece of a teething cracker nothing substantial.

I know breast milk is still supposed to be a major source of nutrition at this age, but I’m getting nervous because he’s approaching 9 months and isn’t really making progress with solids, while simultaneously wanting more and more milk.

Has anyone else had a baby this age who was drinking a LOT of breast milk but barely interested in solids? Did their milk intake eventually decrease naturally as solids increased? And if you had a drop in supply while trying to keep up with a high-volume baby, what actually helped you recover?

I’m probably freaking out more than I need to, but whenever my supply drops, I get really stressed because I don’t want to run out of milk for him.

For anyone who regularly uses the I-77 express lanes, how much are you actually spending per week/month?

I commute from SouthPark to Huntersville and take I-77 North, and I’m considering getting a pass because traffic can be brutal.

I’d mostly use it during the workweek, especially during rush hour. Is it worth it for the time you save? And roughly how much are you paying per trip during peak hours?

How many new parents here set up a 529 for their kids pretty much right after they were born?

I’m a FTM and I really want to set my son up for success. Education is a non negotiable for us so we recently opened one for our son through Fidelity. However, I keep coming across posts from parents who are disappointed with the returns from the age/target-year portfolios. It has me second-guessing whether we should stick with the target-year option, choose something more aggressive while he’s still so young, or a completely different strategy all together. What is everybody else doing?

My 6 month old son started daycare not too long ago, and ever since then it feels like he’s sick every single week. If it’s not a runny nose, it’s congestion. Every night before bed we end up using an electric nasal aspirator because if we don’t, he can barely breathe through his nose and ends up waking every other hour.

The problem is… he absolutely hates it. My husband and I have to hold him down while he screams, cries, kicks, and thrashes around. We both feel terrible every single time. We’ve tried saline mist, saline spray, humidifier with the Vicks drops, and even sitting in a hot steamy bathroom, but none of that really helps if we can’t actually get the mucus out.

Bedtime used to be my favorite part of the day. Me and my husband would look forward to coming home from work and sing him songs during his bath, laugh, cuddle, and end the day on such a happy note. Now we all walk into the room quietly because we know what’s coming. I just hate it.

Does anyone have any tips for making nose suction less traumatic? Or is this just one of those awful daycare phases we have to get through?

Going to Carowinds for the first time in a couple of days. Any tips or things I should know? Also are they strict about wearing crossbody bags and hats on the rollercoasters?

My 6 month old recently started daycare, and I keep questioning whether it’s the right fit. I can’t tell if my concerns are valid or if I’m just having a hard time trusting someone else with my baby.

How many times have you changed daycares?
What was the timeframe?
At what point did you know it was time to switch versus give it more time?

Would like to hear your experiences.

Not loving our current daycare situation and starting to look at other options for our 6-month-old. Does anyone have daycare recommendations in the Northlake or Huntersville area, or anywhere between there and SouthPark?

No budget. I’m more interested in finding a place that’s clean, has caring teachers, communicates well with parents, and genuinely seems to put effort into taking care of the kids. Bonus points if you’ve had experience with the infant room.

Would love to hear where you’ve had good experiences (or places to avoid).

I’m not looking to debate vaccines or discuss whether following the CDC schedule is right or wrong. I also don’t need responses from parents who vaccinated on time, since I’m specifically interested in hearing from those who delayed certain vaccines or spaced them out.

For those who followed a delayed schedule:

What schedule did you use?
Which vaccines did you delay and for how long?
What was your reasoning?
How did your pediatrician respond?
Looking back, are you happy with your decision, or would you do anything differently?

Just started a portfolio at 33, how doomed am I? What can I do to take advantage of lost compounding time?