r/Parents

So my baby is currently in daycare and is planning on moving up to the one year old class in less than two weeks. Problem is they use sippy cups for milk (they have their own that they run through the dishwasher), and my almost 1 year old does not want to use them.

Obviously I know straws are better, and we’re working on that, but unfortunately I need her to learn how to use the sippy cup as well. Does anybody have any advice on how to encourage use of a sippy cup??

i feel so confused and stressed out.

some mums have told me to always add an extra layer than what i’m wearing when i’m dressing my baby (but like an extra layer of what? a singlet? an extra top? a jacket? each one of those provides a different level of warmth so how do you even know what extra layer to add???), and other mums have told me to just dress her the same as what i’m wearing/ feeling comfortable in.

my baby runs hot so whenever i dress her in an extra layer, 99% of the time, she feels super hot and/or starts to sweat, but then i worry that if i dress her in the same as me, that she’d be too cold and get sick (twice now i underdressed her and she ended up with a cold). i’ve heard that they overheat quickly but i’ve also heard they get cold quickly and i’m just really confused.

she’s 6 months old now and i still stress about this and change her a million times a day. someone please tell me wtf to do 😫😢

Our oldest is 17 and just graduated high school. The last 2 years have been very hard on my husband and I with him. He has fought us to the point where he argues just to argue. Of course he doesnt see it that way and feels we are being too hard on him. Last month we were on a family vacation and he and dad got into it. Grandma came with this time and felt we were too hard on our son and sided with him. One item she kept bringing up was the fact that we took his phone away when he was being rude to me. I told him to come to dinner and he told me to leave him alone. Very rudely. Now it was a very late night the night before so there was some attitude because he was tired, but no reason to speak the way he did. Which is why I took the phone.

Of course my mom told my sister and my sister is now worried about our family dynamics. She asked me about the situation and I explained that son either needs to move out or realize there are rules. She said that in all our years she has never heard me use the tone I had especially when speaking about my son the way I was. She sides with the son and grandma at least partially explaining that if he pays for part of the phone (which he does because he wanted the upgraded model) she wouldn't have taken it away. Its his. I said I took it away based on how he was speaking to me, not because he was tired and asked if she would let her kids speak that way. She said no, but she would have not taken the phone but found an alternative method to use. She asked what's changed so dramatically that he would tell grandma he hates his family and wants to leave along with me saying I want him to leave. She also stated that my husband is too hard on the kids and this is why our oldest pushes back. Then we end up in an argument with him. She's worried he will leave and never return and that our family dynamics have changed for the worst.

So basically we are bad parents. In a nutshell.

We are not perfect. We make mistakes. Yes, my husband is strict with the kids. He definitely has a "dad" voice where hers is very "let's sit down and discuss in a calm tone" kinda guy.

So are we really that bad that my mom and sister both think we messed up parenting our oldest?

I’m a SAHM to my LO (10mo) and SS (8yo).

All day I’m taking care of the baby, cleaning, doing laundry, dishes, bottles, picking up dog shit, house stuff all during naps if I’m lucky. Then school pickup happens, homework, dinner, Greenlight chores, baths, packing lunches, closing the kitchen….. and by the end of it all? No, I don’t want to “hang out.”

I want the baby to go to sleep and my SS to go entertain himself for a while. I don’t want to play a board game or watch a family movie. I don’t even want to HAVE to interact with my kids. I want a bath, my TV show, silence, adult time with my partner or a couple beers.

I know I sound like a jack ass but that’s why I’m posting. Maybe I am a shit person because I’m not one of those “super moms” constantly trying to squeeze in more family time every second of the day.

I feel guilty because sometimes I feel like I spend more time trying to get away from my kids than trying to play with them.

but I know I can’t be the only one…

My son has had reflux, cmpa, and eczema since he was 2 weeks old. Due to how uncomfortable he was laying flat he only gets relief sleeping on our chest. We held him for every nap and all night long since 2 weeks old. When he was 4.5 months he started randomly sleeping independently on his belly and his reflux has gotten so much better. Now all of sudden he refuses to sleep independently and wants to go back to being held. I can’t tell if it’s him being uncomfortable again or if he just prefers this because he wants to be held. My husband and I are beyond exhausted. I go back to work next month and he HAS to fix his sleep. He hates napping, he hates being putting down for any sleep. At night even when he sleeps on his belly he wakes up at least 3-4 times a night and sometimes even stays awake for hours wanting to roll around everywhere. His pediatrician advised me not to sleep train because he has reflux and cmpa. Anyone has any advice? We’ve tried everything.

25yr old dad here. I had a “fun”experience taking my 2 year old to an indoor play place today. We arrived and went to a specific area that is designed and designated for under 3 and under. The area has a posted sign “under 3 only”. My boy went to the ball pit where there is room for 5 kids to play. There was a father and his 2 sons that looked to be 5-7 years old.(father is sitting within arms reach) No biggie I’m not a Karen kids should play where they feel comfortable. My son walks up to the ball pit and the older kid screams at my son to go away Frightening him. I brushed it off just told my son to play in a different area. We came back 15minutes later and they are in the same area. My son really wanted to get in the ball pit. When he walked up one of the boys jumped up and growled at my son and the other screamed. Now the father reacts by saying” that is not a nice thing to do”. The kids blew him off and kept growling and making faces at my son making him cry. I stepped away as I was getting pissed. The younger one then comes over giggling trying to scare my son again. I was done and said to the father”really? It’s okay for your kids to follow my kid around and scare him away from the toddler area?”. He just said sorry and didn’t move his kids at all. We just steered clear from that area and went home 30min later. The whole ride home and hour after my son wasn’t talking about all the fun he had he was talking about how they scared him. Was I wrong to say something? I’m starting to feel some kids should just be kept away from play areas or at home if they can’t control themselves or their parents are so out of touch to discipline bad behavior. What’s your take?

My six, soon to be seven-year old, has asked for coffee for breakfast on their birthday. It is something I drink every morning and occasionally share a small sip of, but they were clear they want their own cup, and want it black like I drink it. I mostly think it would be a fun experience, they get to feel a little more grown up sharing an "adult" experience. For that reason, I don't want to dilute it or make it with decaf, since that kind of undermines the point of the experience. Interestingly, Canada has guidelines on caffeine consumption that say 2.5 mg/kg is a reasonable threshold. They are about 30 kg, and a half-cup of coffee gives around 60-80 mg, so maybe a bit higher but it's a one time thing and at worst he's a bit buzzed for an hour. I'd make it clear this is a birthday thing only, and it's back to occasional sips until they turn 8. And yes, I'm prepared to weather some nagging when they ask for it again before then!

Just curious what people's thoughts are on this?

If you're infant reaches out for their grandma/pa, do you have expect your mom/dad/mom-in-law to ask to hold your child ? Or have you been okay with them making a third person comment and cueing you to give the child over?

My friend made a comment, "Do just allow the grandparents to hold your child from you without asking? That would annoy me."

A few weeks ago, my 11 almost 12 month old was crawling around the tub and slipped. His face fell into the water and since then he's been terrified of getting his hair washed, even gets upset if I just use a wet wash cloth. He is otherwise pretty happy in the bathtub.

I can't lay him back and support him with my arm to try and rinse him so the water goes backwards instead of down his face. He'll panic with that too.

Does anyone have any tips, tricks, or games I can use to help him get over his fear?

honest admission: the original goal was not character development, it was a tired parent's calculation, structured activity, burns energy, fills a weekday afternoon.

he started kids BJJ at Team Perosh MMA in Five Dock. i sat through the first few classes watching from the side expecting to observe the tiring-out process.

what i didn't expect was how quickly the frustration tolerance thing changed. BJJ specifically involves failing constantly, you get put in a bad position, you try to get out, you don't, you try again. it's actually a pretty direct training ground for not immediately giving up when something is hard.

by month three his teacher mentioned spontaneous that he'd been noticeably more persistent with tasks at school. i hadn't told her he was doing martial arts.

i'm not saying martial arts is magic. i'm sure there are other activities that do similar things, but if you're a parent who defaulted to the soccer/swimming rotation and hasn't thought about this one, it does something slightly different and is worth considering.

what activities have you found actually shared skills outside the activity itself?