r/firsttimemom

Hi moms. I know there are already a ton of posts across Reddit about toddler cups for transitioning from the bottle, but I can't seem to find one that addresses my current mental pretzel. We've started the bottle transition for milk with the NUK Learner Straw Cup, but I’d like to eventually transition her to a more “regular” straw cup (with NO VALVE) sooner rather than later for oral-motor development.

For context: She will drink water out of the regular straw cups with no issues (such as the EzPz or Olababy cups) but won't do it for milk - so it's not that she doesn't know how to, but rather just preference right now. I'm trying to get ahead of it as peds recommended she's on regular straw cups fully by 15 months for proper oral development.

What I’m looking for (in USA): •True/free-flow straw that doesn’t require strong suction •No one-way/no-spill valve inside the straw (the type that makes them suck harder to get liquid through) •Ideally has handles •Spill-resistant; can be tilted towards mouth to drink without it completely spilling out •Straw cover for sanitary purposes

Does this exist?! Am I overthinking the oral development piece and rushing this?

Appreciate the help!

Hello -

So I have a friend on fb who had a baby just a few days after me. And I noticed that at 3.5m she has already started to feed her baby purées. Doesn’t appear to be a little bit because the bib had food all over it.

Now I’ve always heard you can’t start a baby on anything but milk or formula till at the very least 4mo, but usually starting closer to 6m. My baby doesn’t seem close to ready yet and he’s pretty above average in almost all milestones.

Is this normal or ok? Would a pediatrician ever recommend this? I know we’re close to 4m but we’re not that close..

I didn’t say anything when I seen the post because I didn’t want to be wrong on the subject but I do a lot of research to make sure my baby is on track with milestones and stuff and I haven’t seen anything about starting this early, and normally you would dilute the puree if that’s what you’re going to start with & only like the smallest little amount since it’s more for practicing how to eat, not about getting any nutrition out of it??

My 17m old understands EVERYTHING we are saying and is very smart. He doesn’t talk much at all though. Once in a while he will say things like “ut oh” “kitty” “ya” “no” “dada” “mama”.. a handful of words. But most days he won’t say anything at all. He makes sounds. I am told not to worry about it, some friends tell me their kids didn’t talk for a long time and now “dont shut up”. I’ve tried many things to get him to talk or repeat me or tell me what he wants, no luck. Anyone have advice or things they’ve done?

my daughter is ebf and i had taken two pregnancy tests a few days apart from each other when my period was first late and they were strongly negative. she’ll be 6mo in 4 days and i’ve had regular periods since around 10 weeks pp. am i pregnant or is my body just being weird? i dont feel pregnant at all , with my daughter the day my period was late i had nausea so just wondering what’s up😭

2.5 months postpartum and MIL always overstepping boundaries and trying to act like she’s my sons mom. I left my breast pump at our house one day and since my s/o was there I trusted that he could watch and take care of our child in the 1.5 hours I was gone. I come back to find out that she had immediately pushed her own son out of the way of taking care of HIS son. She then told me that “she hasn’t had the chance to care for him like that yet and she needs to raise him like her own and form a bond with him.” Quite obviously I was pissed and put him in the baby carrier the rest of the outing so she didn’t have access to him but then she kept pressuring me to take my sleeping baby out of the carrier.

My son also will be crying sometimes and I’ll be working on soothing him and she will come and try and take him from my arms and say that “he just needs his mimi and he’ll stop crying.” And anytime im at their house and trying to feed him she always tries to take him from me and feed him. I already don’t like others feeding him since he was unable to successfully feed at the breast due to oral tethers, so I like to be the one to feed him so I still get that bond formed with my own son.

She also refuses to acknowledge the fact that I even went into any part of his genetic makeup and claims he gets his eyes from his uncle (her other son) even though his eyes are identical to mine.

I want her to have a relationship with her grandson, but I can’t keep bringing him over with that type of behavior. Both her son and I have tried to explain that babies this age don’t form strong bonds with others besides mom and dad yet but she refuses to accept the fact that she’s not either of those people. Nor does she follow our request of not posting him on socials, including Snapchat.

Any recommendations on sippy cups? My daughter is 6 months old, and I want to start introducing her to a cup. What kind do y’all recommend, and do you have any tips for getting her started?

My son is 7 1/2 months old, and loves his pacifier. We’ve never cared much and I started using it because of SIDs reduction. However, it’s becoming more of an issue lately with sleep and dependence. Should we just cold turkey him? I know he’s going to hate it, and it’s going to be a struggle, but I’d rather now than down the road in a year. How old was your LO when they came off the pacifier, and how did you do it??

Husband's family keeps pushing visits. This weekend they wanted 9 or 10 people coming. Baby is 9 weeks and is getting first round of shots next week. He didn't ask me if I was okay with this, it was just supposed to be his parents again. Our pediatrician said 1 or 2 people is fine but a group gathering significantly raises risks of him getting sick and it would be best to wait until 2 weeks after shots. This caused a huge multi-day argument with spouse because i wanted to reschedule it based on that timeline. He accuses me of not letting him see his family but his parents come over frequently. His mom already had all these people over once too and they didn't tell me they were all coming. I told him then I wasn't okay with that and he got mad at me for it. Here we are again.

I usually keep things to myself, but my SIL has told me multiple times that I can vent to her if needed because she understood that I'm going through a lot of changes, adapting to motherhood, etc. I broke down this morning and explained the situation to her. She said she understood his point because they've only seen baby once since he's been home and didn't get to hold him then (he was asleep while they were here). I invited her and BIL over this past weekend but she never responded. Sent me tik toks, but didn't acknowledge the invitation at all.

I've explained to everyone I'm just going by what my pediatrician is recommending to me. I feel like nobody understands where I'm coming from and they think I'm just being a B****. I sincerely wasn't expecting her to basically take his side especially after I told her how hard this has been on me and that I'm at my breaking point.

I completely understand now why so many women struggle postpartum and feel incredibly lonely. I'm just trying to make the best choices for my little one and all anyone else cares about is when they can hold him. I do get that they have excitement and want to love on him. I want him to have his family too but don't want to risk him getting sick either. I'm starting to feel like I'm wrong but our pediatrician agreed with me so how can I be wrong here?

My husband texted me this morning and apologized but idk, I feel like the damage is done. If he had my back to begin with or even simply asked me before inviting everyone after I asked him to after the first time this happened, we could have attempted to talk about it first and actually plan it out before having to go back and reschedule it. I feel incredibly disrespected with this and extremely lonely. I feel bad for trying to do what I think is best but also know I probably shouldn't feel that way. I don't know. I'm tired of crying over feeling guilty and feeling like I'm being a mean person. I'm tired of him getting mad at me and having this argument over and over. I'm tired of second guessing myself. I'm just exhausted.

How many oz of water did your pediatrician say your 6month old+ baby can drink per day since starting solids?
I know every practice is different. I know breast milk and formula are still the main sources of nutrition. I know excessive water is not good for the baby due to dilution of sodium. I know all that stuff already lol. I’m just curious what other people are doing based on what their ped recommended if any lol

I had my mom help out a lot when I was fresh postpartum. She is the sweetest person ever and was so concerned about me because I had a rough birth that she was like. Oh, who cares who changes the diapers oh, you need to sleep and was just always wanting to help out with babies so that her own baby which is me good recovery physically. She’s stay up midnight to 8am to take care of baby with feeds changes etc while I slept so I could ‘recover’ and I feel we relied too much on her help for the first 4 to 5 weeks of the baby’s life and I’m concerned that that plus ongoing help not as much is making the baby see us two as equals and I’m not that special. He does love me. He smiles when I talk to him, but he does for my mom too. She’s been living with us the entire nine weeks of his life. Has anyone gone through this same fear but then the baby ended up loving you the most later on?

I’m 37+2 days pregnant and FTM.

My MIL has just arrived from India to the UK and has already started giving me lots of advice about what I should and shouldn’t do after delivery.

I know she means well and is trying to show care but I’m getting increasingly irritated because almost everything comes with a warning like, “If you do this, it will affect the baby” or “You need to take care of this part of your body otherwise the baby will suffer.”

I understand that a lot of this comes from traditional beliefs and genuine concern, but I’m finding it frustrating that every decision about my postpartum body is immediately connected to the baby, as though it’s all about baby and I won’t exist anymore!

I’m mostly reacting internally and haven’t really said anything to her, but I’m wondering — am I overthinking this or is it reasonable to feel annoyed by it?

How did you deal with similar situations, especially when family members had very different cultural beliefs about postpartum recovery?

My husband frequently travels for work so I’m left alone with the baby (11 weeks) 2 dogs, cat, and myself while recovering from a c-section. He’s home on the weekends and gets one or two weeks of work from home each month. Any time he is home he completely destroys the house. Stuff and trash left everywhere. He does help me with the baby when I ask (and lots of times he conveniently has something to do “really quick” before taking her) he will wash and sterilize bottles, give her baths, but I have to beg him to clean. I’ve had to repeatedly go into work on maternity leave so that’s something else I’ve had to deal with. I’ll be going back to work full time in 2 weeks. When my husband is gone, he gets a full nights sleep, his company pays for any food he wants, and I’m stuck at home running on 5 hours on a good night and living off of ramen, taquitos, and hot pockets because he lost all of our dishwater in the move and those are the only things I have any time to cook. Going back to work is going to be hell doing this by myself moreso than it actually is. I’ve voiced my concerns, he apologizes, fixes it for a few days, then just goes right back. Why am I having to be the one to suffer? I’m assuming just because he watches the baby from time to time when I need to run to work (she comes with me if I’m not home which is a whole other struggle in itself) or when I need to run an errand, that he thinks he’s doing a good job and being a parent. I talked to him about the fact that I’m struggling with PPD and that going back to work and putting my baby in daycare full time is causing me so much anxiety and making it worse. But he just calls me every fucking day to complain about stupid work shit that at this point, I’m so resentful of him I truly don’t give a fuck. Then he comes home and wants me to be affectionate with him? I’ve refused to sleep with him. Not even in a withholding way, I’m just so drained at the end of the day and the fact that he does next to nothing is a massive turn off. And when he DOES clean it’s horrid. He constantly cuts corners. He swept the bathroom the other day, couldn’t find the dustpan, so he just swept the pile under the fucking sink??? Are you kidding me??? I’m so sorry, I really just needed to come on here and vent. My best friend has 4 kids and I don’t want to burden her with my issues and of course I don’t want to tell my parents and drag them into it either so I don’t have anyone to talk too. I have a therapist but money is tight right now until I return back to work. Im just so fucking tired of him.

to preface this, i agree with him, lol. i am TERRIFIED to give birth. watching videos of it makes me feel absolutely sick. we’re both very sensitive to things like this. he has told me he doesn’t know if he will be able to watch, and i get that and i don’t blame him. its not coming from an “ew that’s gross” place, its more like “this is really intense and i might lose consciousness”.

with that being said, i almost… don’t want him in the room with me lol? i feel like he’s going to pass out or something and it’s just going to add to my stress. i feel like he would get demonized for that, though. i also don’t want ANYONE in the room with me though (besides medical providers). the thought of being exposed like that is extremely uncomfortable for me. i know it’s different when it’s actually happening, but i know myself and i know my boundaries. i would never be able to have my mom or sisters or anyone in the room. has anyone ever gone at it alone? did you regret it?

I had 1,132 HCG on Sunday at 2am. Tuesday at 11am I had 3,532 HCG. That represents a 212% growth rate in 57 hours, equal to a 161% growth rate in 48 hours.

No gestational sac seen at either time.

I understand this could be ectopic. However, I understand that a 161% growth rate in 48 hours is almost unheard of in ectopic pregnancies. At the same time, I understand that 90% of pregnancies once they reach 3,500 HCG are visible.

I am going back for a scan and bloods in 48 hours. Absolutely no pain or blood.

This feels like a special kind of torture, and I don't know what to think. Does anyone have any opinion on this situation?

irregular periods/ovulation. Clearblue Ultra Early tests were negative on August 7th then very faint positive August 9th.

My partner stopped drinking when I was 8 months pregnant after a few bad blackout incidents, including flirting with and grabbing another woman while I was there pregnant. Sober, he’s amazing, and I’m really proud of him for staying sober.
I’m almost 5 months postpartum and I handle the baby every night plus most of the household stuff. I finally asked for one night to relax, poured my first glass of wine in forever, and planned to watch a movie. He immediately started telling me I shouldn’t drink and that we need to set a better example as parents. It annoyed me enough that I poured it out and went to bed.
I think what bothered me is that I’ve never had an issue with alcohol, yet because he did, it now feels like his sobriety is becoming a rule for me too. Especially when this was supposed to be my one little night to myself.
Moms, what’s your take? Is an occasional glass of wine after baby is asleep perfectly reasonable, or do you think becoming parents changes that?

Hey! I’m a first time mum and my little girl is now 6 weeks old. Since the first week she has always strained and cried in pain/discomfort but it seems to be worse now.

It is constant, the times she is awake she is straining, bringing her legs up and crying etc the ENTIRE time. She ends up being sick a fair amount from the amount she is straining.

We have been to the doctors and they have said it could be reflux so we have tried the infant gaviscon for a few weeks but it hasn’t made a difference. However it is not the vomiting that’s the issue, it’s the discomfort and she is now not sleeping well because of it. We also tried the Kendamil pro comfort drops for a while and now I have been using Infacol. We are doing tummy massages and bicycle legs etc. We are at a loss and it is so hard seeing her in constant pain and discomfort.

Has anyone had the same experience and can recommend anything/provide a glimpse of lights at the end of the tunnel? Thank you.

FTM currently 4 months PP. Has anyone else also having constant arguments with their partners for no apparent reason, snappy and irritated about everything? Is hating every other being around normal during postpartum? I was always short tempered but feels like 10x now.

I (25F) am currently 36 weeks and 1 day pregnant with our rainbow baby. I started having contractions this past Wednesday evening, went to my OBGYN for a high risk visit on Thursday where they confirmed the contractions and sent me home, stayed home for a few days, started having very intense contractions yesterday evening, and was sent home from the hospital today because I'm not dilating. Last night at the hospital my BP was literally 163/119. I know they expect it to be high as I'm diagnosed with gestational hypertension, but I'm livid they sent me home.

I know they're going to schedule me to be induced this Sunday, which will be 37 weeks...but I don't think my baby is going to wait for that and quite frankly I'm really worried. She hasn't been as active as usual and I've been checking my BP very frequently today...the highest reading was 143/111 and the lowest was 116/93. I don't want to go back to the hospital if they're going to dismiss me again but I'm scared of what might happen if I don't deliver soon. I need my water to break ASAP. I need my cervix to start dilating. I'm absolutely distraught because I'm afraid of losing my baby again but I feel like these doctors are not taking my concerns seriously.

I have the Graco element lx travel system and yesterday when taking my son to his first pediatrician appointment i noticed his head was falling sideways in his car seat. I looked it up and am getting mixed things on if this is safe. It was giving me anxiety cause i know they can suffocate if their head falls forward. Any advice?

Hi! My best friend in the entire world who is essentially like a sister is getting married internationally (Mexico). I found out I am expecting and am now due 8 weeks to do the day before her wedding. I know planning could’ve been better timed but She is happy for me, not upset, and knows I’ll likely miss the wedding. Is it possible for me to still make the wedding? Baby would likely be 7.5 weeks if born on due date. I know eventually I will have to consult with a pediatrician on their approval but just as moms what are your thoughts?

We could bring grandparents, it’s all inclusive, I can make the trip longer or shorter.