u/Legit_baller

I honestly feel like there is no solution to this problem but I will post here in case there's something I'm totally missing here.

I have a 4 month old baby girl and I work from home. My job requires me to be on the phone for 100% of my shift. They're very flexible with what hours I can work, but I have to get 40 hours every week no matter what. Using pto isn't an option. I work in telesales, so the best time to work really is Monday through Friday in the morning and then in the evening. If I work other hours, I risk losing money.

My husband works the same hours I do and has 0 flexibility with his job.

Currently I have absolutely no one who can watch my daughter during the daytime, and I'm limited to what I can afford when it comes to hiring a babysitter. I have a posting on care.com for $16/hr for 20 hours a week, which I realize is not much, but we live in rural AL and most jobs around here pay $15 max. I'm not getting any replies there, which is not surprising considering where I live and what I'm able to afford.

I'd be willing to put my daughter in daycare, except she refuses to take a bottle. I have tried about 7 different brands, 0-3 nipple sizes, heating the nipple, warm milk, cold milk, lukewarm milk, leaving the room, leaving the house, absolutely nothing gets this girl to take a bottle.

I don't have any social media, so posting on Facebook is not an option either. I don't know where else to look for local groups.

Does anyone have any advice or suggestions?

Husband's family is 3 hours away and we have a baby shower to go to. Recently our 14 week old baby is absolutely hating car rides. By the shower she'll be almost 17 weeks. Any tips? I wish we could just skip it and wait til the holidays to visit when she's 7+ months, but I want her to get used to car rides. I just know there will be long periods of time where she's crying and I will be in the back seat with her, but unable to really do anything. I'm afraid this will damage her secure attachment.

Any thrift stores or vintage stores you guys know of that may have the old school fat back TVs for sale? Even better if it has a VHS player in it. TIA!

I'm slightly over producing, so I have to pump about once a day, but my baby (10w4d) refuses bottles. I know breastmilk can only be stored in the freezer for 4 months, so what can I do with what I have stored if she won't drink it? Can I incorporate it into baby food when she starts eating solids? I don't even know if it'll last that long in storage. Does anyone have any experience with a baby who refused bottles and then suddenly started taking them? I don't want it to go to waste but I just don't know what to do with it. I've seen videos of moms putting some of it in popsicle mixes, but I know I can't freeze it again if I thaw it out to mix it with anything. Help!

10 week old baby got her vaccines on Saturday morning. I let her sleep as much as she wanted to over the weekend and then everything seemed like it was back to normal Monday. She had lots of awake time and wasn't fussy. But last night she slept a full 8 hours when she usually has a MOTN feed around 4 or 5am. And now all morning today she has been extremely tired. Pediatrician doesn't have anything available until Thursday morning. I was expecting the sleepiness to decrease as the days went by but it seems like the extra sleepiness was almost delayed by like 3 days. Is this normal?

My brother (28M) is looking for a room to rent. He's a very friendly, single, gay, mixed race STEM major from Vanderbilt. Idk how much of that information actually matters but, there you go lol let me know if anyone has anything available for him. TIA

I need tips for what I haven't tried yet. My daughter is 8w5d old and for the first couple of weeks, she would take a bottle and breastfeed with no issues. She's never really cared for a pacifier although she had used one a handful of times during that same period.

Once my milk was fully established around 3 weeks I began exclusively breastfeeding. Since I had 8 weeks of maternity leave, there was no problem with never using bottles or pacifiers because I was always with her. Around week 6 I tried reintroducing a bottle and have failed miserably. She simply will not take it. She keeps her mouth open and looks at me and just frowns.

I have tried nipple sizes 0, 1, and 2.

I have tried different temperatures. Warm, cold, and room temperature.

I have tried having my husband or another person give her a bottle while I'm not in the room and not even in the house.

I have tried giving her a bottle and pacifier while she's content and sleepy or content and awake rather than trying it while she's crying and super hungry.

To add to this, her latch is absolutely terrible. She's always only flanged out her bottom lip but not the top, and she has a strong gag reflex. If I try to get nipple + areola in her mouth, she gags. She won't latch on to anything but just the nipple. It isn't painful for me but I know it isn't right because she sometimes makes smacking sounds while eating. I've hesitated seeing a lactation consultant because 1. I feel like all they're going to do is tell me everything I can already look up on YouTube about trying to get her to open her mouth wider and 2. I'm afraid my insurance won't cover it even though they say they will. They've burned me in the past about that so I don't trust them

I suspect she has a lip tie which I will ask her pediatrician about in her appointment in 1 week. I'm just trying here to see if anyone has tips for helping her take a bottle again when I feel like I have tried absolutely everything

Ebay and Facebook marketplace are not options and I don't have any baby stores near me to sell to. Is there anything similar to ebay that you guys have used and had good luck with?

I have a few systems that she really hates and I'm not confident that they're the best for a baby who can't lift up her own head yet. They were gifted to me 2nd hand and 2 of them don't have tags or logos anywhere but one of them is the baby Bjorn mini. She hates all 3. Idk if I'm just wearing them wrong or what but her head flops around and I can't actually do anything around the house with her in them.

All that being said, what are your recommendations for a 4 week old baby who obviously can not lift up her own head yet?