u/More_Fisherman_6066

I know it’s intended as a compliment, but of course my 5 week old is a “good baby” when he’s being held and cozy. You don’t see a hormonal, tired, PP mom crying on the kitchen floor when she can’t have 15 minutes hands free during the day. Or the feral evening cluster feeding with nipples on fire. Or the many nights where settling takes 2 hours. Or anything else that’s par for the course with a baby at this developmental stage.

And also, does this imply that a baby who fusses constantly is a “bad baby”? Babies have different physiological challenges that they don’t know how to deal with. They communicate by crying. Some babies have easier time than other babies. There’s no such thing as a “good” or “bad” baby.

Again, I know it’s said with good intentions. It’s just frustrating because no, I’m not just smooth sailing on cloud nine because my baby is calm while being held and snuggled in the few hours someone sees him. Just had to rant lol.

I love baby wearing with a wrap. I was given someone’s boba wrap which is nice and stretchy, but the material feels thick and hot so I’m miserable after wearing it around the house for a little while. I splurged and just bought the Solly baby wrap for a lighter weight option. I didn’t realize the material isn’t stretchy at all. My range of motion feels totally restricted. I can’t really do much of anything and I’m done spending money. My 5 week old doesn’t always let me just set him down in order do things otherwise. I literally haven’t vacuumed upstairs in a month. Just feeling really disheartened and frustrated.

May seem like a dumb question, but I’m curious. I put one on our registry and we have it, and at four weeks old I’m wanting to bust it out for the first time. Specifically to see if it helps settle him when I want him to go down. Do you put it over jammies and then swaddle over the belt? He uses the Love to Dream arms up swaddles, so could it just go over his torso once he’s zipped up? Am I massively overthinking this?

I breastfeed all day and before we try to get him down for his first stretch, then we usually top him off with the bottle and I pump and paced bottle feed when he wakes up overnight (it’s just to give me a nipple break honestly). Then by 5 or 6 am it’s back to the breast. I do mylicon drops around 9 or 10pm, and then again whenever he wakes up overnight to feed. I don’t tend to do them during the day as of now.

He poops a ton, and he does fart during the day so it’s not like he isn’t getting it out. He doesn’t always get big burps out though no matter how much we try. But, he’s progressively become way more grunty and seems harder and harder to settle. Idk how much of that is belly discomfort versus just doing baby things.

Beyond the gripe belt, any general advice is welcomed and appreciated!

He turns 4 weeks old tomorrow. His wake windows consist of feeding and changing. Sometimes he’s up and looking around or working on a poop. But I really haven’t capitalized on those moments where he’s looking around, as they tend to happen when I put him in the lounger or bouncer to let myself get some things done. I’ve done active tummy time a few times, but he’s not a huge fan so mostly it’s him on my chest. I’ve shown him contrast cards a few times, but it’s not something I even remember to do most of the time. We shoot for a book a night, but sometimes we’re so exhausted we don’t get to it. I try to talk to him, just basically think out loud, but often I instinctually end up silently thinking again after a few minutes of talking.

When he’s asleep during the day, I try to wake him up at the 2 hour mark so we’re working on our day-night associations, but other than feeds, I have no idea what to do with him.

I feel like I’m not providing him developmental enrichment, but I also feel lost in what that looks like.

This is a brand new issue that started yesterday. Two days ago, he was nursing from the right like a champ. We had an LC appointment and he took like 2oz from the right side and knocked out. I’ve tried doing a football hold instead of a cradle with no success. He latches and then just spits it out.

Doesn’t seem to be any neck tightness or mobility issues, and the pediatrician also checked on those things during his two week appointment as he does have a preference for turning his head to the left. I did start using a haakaa to collect letdown so that’s an extra thing in the way when I feed now, but this seems to be happening without the haakaa on the other side, plus he latches just fine on the left with the haakaa on the right.

It worries me that if this goes on, I might run into supply issues. Obviously if this persists through the weekend, I’ll make another LC appointment. But in the meantime, what else can or should I do?

2 weeks PP with my first baby and grateful for good milk supply. I did no research on breastfeeding or pumping during pregnancy so I’m learning this as we go. I’ve been in a pattern of breastfeeding during the day and pumping/bottle feeding at night because my nipples feel like they’ve been through an industrial shredder.

My baby now seems to be getting what he needs from one breast per feed. We had an LC appointment today and he took just over 2oz off one side and fell asleep. Only issue is by the time we got home, I was so horribly engorged on the other side. I fed him from that side but it still wasn’t relieved so an hour-ish later I pumped for 6 minutes and took about an oz off.

Is it ok to do this with my pump? Should I purchase a cheap hand pump for this scenario or will my body eventually regulate to where I don’t need to do this?

We bought this house in 2021. Suddenly in the two weeks since we’ve been home with our baby and I’ve been breastfeeding on the couch all day: sales people multiple times, two different neighbors for Amazon package mixups, flower delivery and the kid wouldn’t go until I retrieved the flowers.

My couch faces the front door which is half glass. Other than people physically at the door, I have enough privacy that I feed on the couch during the day so I’m not holed up upstairs 24/7. How has the universe decided that now is a great time for everyone to come linger at our door?

Not sure what the point of this post is besides an ironic observation from a new mom who feels lonely and stuck in the house.

I am trying to pump after each feed with my 1 week old - trouble is feedings seem endless. As soon as he’s conked out from each boob no matter what I do, I unlatch and burp, and then suddenly he’s desperately cuing again. It feels like it’s never ending. And then he poops, I change him and get him all mad, and he’s cuing AGAIN. He’s now a peeing and pooping machine and back to his birth weight so he’s getting fed.

We saw a LC from our hospital’s clinic yesterday who did a pre and post feed weight and he got a good volume of milk in his belly. And then when he is really done, I want to be able to cuddle and bond because when will I be right here with my newborn son again?

I need to build a milk stash. How on earth do I manage to be efficient and pump after feeds and spend this time with my baby napping on my chest that I desperately want?

We were given a boba wrap and we also have a Kea Baby wrap. Our baby is one week old today - 6.11lb at his 4 day pediatrician visit (born 7.1lb). I’ve never asked or looked up age or weight limits on baby wearing - just assumed it was something we could do from the get go. He’s been on multiple walks and I’ve worn him around the house for about 1 - 1.5 hours here and there. I wasn’t thinking at all about potential hip issues or that age or weight limits existed. Just that we could bond with our baby while getting other things done and it gives some variation to being put down in the bassinet every time I need two hands.

I didn’t even think to ask our pediatrician about it, though we will at his two week appointment. Now I’m feeling like I’m messing him up and didn’t even know it. But then (anecdotally) it also seems like different pediatricians have different answers or opinions. I’d LOVE to keep wearing him right now, but feeling so conflicted and confused.

39 weeks. Woke up around 2:30am with “menstrual” cramps but strong, like stronger than I’ve ever had with an actual period. Also feeling it in my lower back. Granted, I have been lucky not to have painful periods, so it’s not a great reference point.

They’re tricky to time and not consistent. After me mulling for over an hour, my husband convinced me to just call off work for today. Of course, as soon as I make the call, the cramping backs off significantly. I have some intermittent cramping but feel pretty fine now.

This has been a different feeling than anything I’ve experienced yet. I’ve had Braxton hicks tightening but never cramping like this that’s come in waves (albeit not a real pattern), and lower back pains. I have an induction on the books for Friday night. Now that I’m wasting precious sick leave hours today, can someone please give me some hope that this could be the beginning of labor?

Also, does the band need to be put over a swaddle or sleep sack? Like, swaddle, then band visible on top?

We are due in a little over a week with our first! His nursery gets excellent air flow and stays wonderfully cool with the AC or warm with the heat. Our bedroom has the absolute worst air flow in the house. It’s something we need to address but not a cost we can incur right now with me going on maternity leave and getting partial pay, and my husband getting partial pay for his month of paternity leave. We don’t have ceiling fans in the bedrooms (yay older house?) but we have a Dyson tower fan for our room which generally works for us.

My plan is for daytime, he can sometimes be in his nursery with the monitor or we move the bassinet around downstairs. And, for nighttime, we can direct the Dyson fan at the bassinet and also use the baby fan I panic bought him. We also got a room thermometer. I still have a terrible fear of him getting too hot.

The thought of blowing up an air mattress and sleeping in the nursery or trying to sleep on the couch for months sounds daunting (and just plain miserable postpartum), even if we take shifts.

Any similar experiences? What helped?

36+1 pregnant bedside RN and ftm here - I definitely go through shifts where my baby is noticeably going wild, and shifts where I barely feel him. I was talking to a coworker about how at a certain point it just feels like your stomach is one hard contraction all day long. The common denominator is that I can’t just stop what I’m doing. I keep reading and filling my head with horror stories about women who noticed decreased movement for a few hours, go to L&D, and end up needing an emergency c/s for a myriad of terrifying reasons. But am I supposed to stop what I’m doing and go to triage every time a few hours go by and I’m not sure whether I’ve felt my baby? I don’t necessarily get a chance to pause and be still, and consciously feel out movements. This part of pregnancy is by far the most stressful for me.

My OB has never mentioned “kick counts” or any specific metrics; just simply asks whether I’m feeling good movements in general. I should probably just limit my pregnancy doom scrolling.

To all my fellow pregnant people who work busy and physical jobs, and to all those who have other little kids and loved ones to care for at home who keep you constantly busy, how exactly do you keep track of movement consistently? What’s your threshold for going to the hospital to get seen?