My son is 4 months old now. He’s awesome. One of the things I was told a lot was to be careful because boys will be pee on you when you change their diaper!

Well, it was 3:30 in the morning. Unusual time for him to wake up, we’ve been blessed with him sleeping through the night lately. I check on him and he’s face down. Apparently he only wants to learn how to roll from his back to his stomach when it’s dark and no one’s looking. Shy kid, I get it.

So I start changing his diaper. I take a step away to toss the dirty diaper. Rookie mistake not putting the new one on first. I see a spray of pee hit the top corner of his changing table. Cool, didn’t hit me. But the stream starts going right. I watched in horror as my baby yawned and the stream cut right across his face, in his mouth.

I’m processing a lot of guilt and he’s deciding whether I tried to poison him or gave him some really foul milk. That is all. Thank you for listening.

Hello fellow new parents!

I wanted to offer some education regarding SIDS since there was a recent post about it, and I imagine many of us (myself included) have very legitimate fears about it.

SUID vs. SIDS

SIDS is a biological anomaly that is not obvious or observable via an autopsy. SUID (Sudden Unexpected Infant Death) is a newer umbrella term that SIDS falls under, but also includes accidental suffocation and asphyxiation.

As of the most recent studies, SUID impacts 0.1 percent of babies. If possible, I’d love each of you to take in a big deep breath and read this next part.

The odds are in your baby’s favor.

Years ago there was a national push for safe sleep practices, where babies are put to sleep alone (no bed sharing) on their backs, in an empty crib or bassinet. The number of deaths classified as SIDS fell dramatically. This showed researchers that many deaths once classified as SIDS were likely related to sleep environment and would now be classified differently under the broader term SUID.

And according to the CDC, up to 98.5% of SUIDS deaths (which again includes SIDS) had at least one unsafe sleep factor at the time of the tragedy.

Something else that’s important to note, because things like suffocation and rebreathing deaths cannot be observed on an autopsy, in these tragic cases, the cause of death can sometimes be listed as SIDS, which as I mentioned, true SIDS is the medical anomaly.

THE TRIPLE RISK MODEL

One of the leading scientific explanations for SIDS is the Triple Risk Model. Three risks are most likely to be present in the event of SIDS, often working as a chain, one that we can break at point #3. Breaking the chain doesn’t guarantee safety, but the science suggests it helps significantly.

(1) A biologically vulnerable baby, these are the ones who may experience the anomaly, which they believe is largely caused by an underlying brainstem abnormality that may impair the baby's ability to wake or respond appropriately to low oxygen or high carbon dioxide.

(2) The critical development period. This is when a baby’s brain and body changes functions for sleep and breathing. This is why ages 2-4 months are the most critical. Some speculate that vaccines cause SIDS but it is worth noting that vaccines and this window just happen to coincide.

(3) An environmental factor. A blocked airway, cigarette smoke, suffocation, rebreathing, overheating, etc.

Research shows that the following reduces the third risk significantly (even meeting one or two of these recommendations is good!)

(1) Safe sleep. Again, alone in their empty bassinet or crib.

(2) Room sharing. While the jury is still out on exactly why, it is speculated that subtle noises parents make in the middle of the night can help keep the baby’s brain alert and avoid falling into too deep of a sleep.

(3) Having a fan blowing GENTLY. Some studies suggest this is effective by keeping fresh air moving around baby’s face to reduce the risk of rebreathing (inhaling CO2 into their lungs, this can happen if the sleep surface is too soft (why couches, adult mattresses, baby loungers are not recommended) or if baby is on their stomach (before they’re old enough to roll).

(4) Offering a pacifier has been shown to reduce occurrences and the leading theory is that it keeps the brain engaged and keeps their airway open.

(5) Breastfeeding. Breastfed babies are generally easier to rouse. That said, formula feeding does not increase SIDS risk, it just doesn’t offer the same protection.

(6) Sobriety and maintaining a smoke-free environment for your baby.

This is more of a public recommendation — using a pulse/ox monitor. While monitors like the Owlet have not been shown to reduce or stop SIDS, they can possibly alert you to intervene if baby’s pulse or oxygen levels become poor. There currently isn’t any research that shows that if SIDS begins, parents can intervene and stop it, but this doesn’t mean it can’t either, there’s just no definitive proof and there’s no way to ethically study this. HOWEVER, occasionally the Owlet has been used as a safety net to start or continue sleeping practices that are not recommended, so please keep that in mind. Additionally, some parents report feeling more anxious with the use of these kind of monitors. I mention these because of their rise in popularity and are frequently discussed in comment sections regarding SIDS. My pediatrician said they are “complementary” to the expert recommendations.

My goal of writing all of this out is to provide both education and some comfort as many of us face the scary reality that yes, SIDS does exist, but we are not powerless in it. My prayer is that all of our precious and beloved babies grow up happy and healthy, and that their parents are able to get some sleep at night despite the very natural anxiety parenthood brings.

If desired I can make a similar post on PPA and intrusive thoughts if anyone is interested.

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK513399/

https://my.clevelandclinic.org/health/diseases/13646-sudden-infant-death-syndrome-sids

https://publications.aap.org/aapgrandrounds/article-pdf/51/6/69/1641689/gr+june+2024_69.pdf

https://publications.aap.org/pediatrics/article/153/3/e2023061984/196646/Characteristics-of-Sudden-Unexpected-Infant-Deaths

So LO is 3 weeks old and by now I've seen 4 lactation consultants. 3 in the hospital before I was even discharged.

I've been getting so much conflicting info, each one saying to disregard everyone else. A big off putting thing is also how aggressive some of them are. LO has trouble latching and they'll keep pushing her into my breast over and over while manhandling us both while she screams and cries because she's hungry and probably confused and a little scared.

I know they say I need to be tough and push through, but I've started pumping and bottle feeding and using a shield just to stop distressing her so and getting her to eat.

Am I being too soft, and they're right? I'm not a sensitive person, but it's so off putting how aggressive their tactics are while my newborn is screaming so badly she's getting hiccups and chin quivering.

Sorry in advance for the rant.

Am I the only person who finds it extremely odd that so many people make celebratory posts on Linkedin about their career and company in the context of parental leave? I'm sure this is much more common in the US than it is elsewhere. But it almost feels like the companies are pressuring their employees to make a post about how great they are during the employee's leave.

I just saw a new mom say how wonderful her company is because she's got the flexibility to be home with her newborn while still being able to "stay connected to the work" through online team calls. Am I crazy in thinking this is not a flex whatsoever and kind of... sad? Like do we have to tie everything back to work? Our children?

I know a lot of people don't have the realistic ability to 100% step away from work (I probably fall into that category). But why are we praising that online? Shouldn't we be more critical of companies that make you feel pressured to "stay connected"?

Again, sorry for the rant.

Signed,

a US mom-to-be limited to 12 weeks of unpaid leave.

To my pre baby night owls, when did you get YOURSELF on a schedule? I used to sleep in till 11am sometimes even longer before having a baby. She had her nights and days confused so we’ve slowly been able to get her on a more normal schedule. She is officially a 6/6:30am riser naturally. It’s wonderful for her but also… hell for me. I’m getting more and more used to it and getting up with her. But as for now, she is my alarm clock which means I get no private time in the mornings. This isn’t really me looking for advice, more just seeing how long it took other parents to adjust. I know what I need to do (get used to it, and start setting an alarm for earlier if I want that time by myself). How long did it take you to start waking up before them and when did they stop being your alarm clock??

When did your LO stop contact napping? Mine is 10 weeks and basically refuses to nap anywhere but on me. We attempt a crib nap for practice once a day but that has been pretty much completely unsuccessful. I enjoy the quiet time and am soaking up the snuggles but I’m starting to feel a bit trapped.

I’m 38 and we recently decided we want to have a child.

Is raising a child without outside family support doable?

My parents are deceased and my husband’s parents are moving to another country soon.

My husband works 2 days remote, 3 days in office (he’s an accountant). I’m currently finishing up nursing school. I don’t know what my work situation will be as a nurse, I’m hoping to get it an outpatient M-F position without nights/call.

My baby has been getting bored of his toys so I’ve been trying to get enough of a collection to have a rotation going. I ordered a bulk pack of baby toys off the Walmart website, 17 toys for $14 and yall they are just fine he loves them as much as any of his other expensive toys.(more, actually) I also ordered a couple clearance toys for $2, $3, or even $1 and was really surprised how great the quality is when they arrived! lol I know it seems obvious but I’m just so happy, I’m never getting the $10 single toys again. Thought I’d share. Of course random household objects are also a win, but these cheap toys have actually held his attention longer than any of his other ones and it’s great

Most of the time I absolutely love everything about being a mom to be achingly adorable son.
Also most of the time I have no idea what day it is or if I ate breakfast.
I’m a stay at home mom, who also works from home since he was 4mon old.
He is exclusively breastfed still, and has been since day 1. He has only ever had ONE bottle in his entire life. All boob, all the time.
He nurses to sleep for every nap, to get to bed, and at every wakeup (typically 2-5 times a night he wakes and needs to pop on the boob to go back to sleep. We cosleep.)
I can count on one hand the amount of times I’ve slept for just a single stretch of 4-5hrs straight. I’m awake all day, and get about 5hrs in 1-2hr increments every night for the last year+ of my life (I also could not sleep while pregnant.)
He eats solids now too which is great. Doesn’t help sleep tho.
He’s been walking since 10 months old, at which time we moved his giant playpen (Amazon) into his room to be a his new nap area. I lay down and side lying feed him to sleep for his naps and slither away until he wakes up 35mins later and I repeat until he’s gotten at least 1.5hrs of sleep (do this twice a day for each nap; occasionally he will sleep for 1.5hr straight HALLELUJAH but that is a rare occurrence)
He simply will not let anyone put him DOWN for sleep. Transfer=impossible. Up until 10months I was holding him for every single nap. Every single day.

Idk what other people do or what their actuality is with their kiddos. I have no regrets for anything I’ve done to take care of he and I all this time, I’ve always made decisions based on what feels best for both him AND me. The sleep deprivation is crazy but I’m used to it at this point.
It won’t last forever, but it is fucking nuts sometimes lol. Godbless people with babies who sleep independently!

Wouldn’t have it any other way. Not looking for any advice, just sorta venting and hoping someone can find some solidarity/peace if you’re living the same kind of life these baby days lol.

Have a wonderful day! 💛

Our baby has CONSTANT blowouts - out the legs and out the back. We have tried Huggies, Pampers, rascals and Kirkland diapers and blowouts with all. He is around 15 lbs and using size 3 diapers. He blew out with size 2, so we moved to 3 on all of the above brands. No success. We flair out the frills/elastic around his legs. We make sure the band is secure. We leave the little pouch space near his bum. They are almost always fresh diapers.

I will mention that he almost exclusively poops after we feed him and have him sit in the bouncer to keep him upright to prevent spit ups so I’m thinking it’s because his bum is compressed and there’s nowhere for the poop to go but out? Please help lol.

Hello again! This is a requested follow-up to my post about SIDS, but this time we will be looking at postpartum anxiety (PPA) and intrusive thoughts.

DISCLAIMER: This post is not a substitute for any form of healthcare. While I will share some “educated tips” I by no means want to give the impression that anything in this post is a cure for PPA or intrusive thoughts.

PPA

A reasonable amount of anxiety is to be expected for new parents. Anxiety is not an enemy. It’s essentially our brain’s threat detection function. Anxiety sounds alarms prior to something unsafe happening, which is why anxiety often presents as, “what ifs…”

For new parents, this can look like:
What if my baby gets sick?
What if my baby isn’t eating enough?
What if my baby goes through sleep regression?

Anxiety wants us to explore and answer these questions in advance. So it will ask the question, wait for an answer, and then scamper off for a while and let you return to your baseline. We’ll put a pin in this for now.

Anxiety becomes “disordered” when it becomes your baseline. You spend more time than not worrying, and the worry is accompanied by physical symptoms of some kind. High heart rate, sweating, muscle tension, digestive issues, etc. Another threshold for disordered anxiety is its controllability i.e. you can’t focus on other things, or it doesn’t respond to rational thinking and the same what ifs continue to return over and over again, or the what ifs become more and more unlikely but feel very likely.

What if the Canadian wildfires reach me and my baby… in Florida?
What if our house collapses for no reason?
What if someone tampered with this unopened, sealed can of formula?

By the way, anxiety absolutely contributes to physical exhaustion, and new parents don’t need MORE of that. If you are experiencing this level of distress, talk to your doctor or pediatrician. You deserve to have a sound mind, you deserve to focus on your baby instead of irrational worries. You deserve to feel good. Needing a little help with that via talk therapy or medication is perfectly okay.

TLDR; Occasional controllable “what ifs” are normal, distress is not. If your worries are adding to your stress, it’s time to talk to your doctor.

INTRUSIVE THOUGHTS

Anxiety asks “what if…” whereas intrusive thoughts regenerate those what ifs as extremely distressing images, words, or what feel like urges. Instead of just asking “what if the Canadian wildfires reach me and my baby” you IMAGINE your baby surrounded by fire. Instead of asking “what if my baby slips from my arms while bathing” you imagine your baby going under the water and staying there.

Anxiety isn’t always distressing. Intrusive thoughts always are… but that’s actually by design, and it has a name: Ego-dystonic.

Ego-dystonic means that these thoughts go against your values and character.

If you feel so inclined, take a deep breath and read that sentence again. This is one of the reasons we feel like we’re going crazy when we have these thoughts, and that feeling is heavy and scary, but remember, it is just a feeling, and feelings are not facts.

Now, occasionally you will hear of something called postpartum psychosis. Postpartum psychosis is completely different from postpartum anxiety or OCD. It involves a loss of touch with reality, such as delusions, hallucinations, or severe confusion, and requires immediate emergency medical care. Thankfully, it is very rare.

So… if ego-dystonic thoughts are against our values and make us feel crazy… why do we have them? This is simply your maternal brain in overdrive. It’s simulating the worst of the worst situations in an attempt to help you prepare for them. Even though these thoughts usually don’t end with us saving our baby from the fire, or pulling our baby out of the water (referring back to the past examples), or stopping ourselves from intentionally dropping or throwing the baby, these thoughts are like a mental dress rehearsal for a play that won’t be performed.

The intrusive thoughts are saying, “Look at this terrible thing. Now, how are you going to make sure it won’t happen?”

You may notice yourself becoming highly emotional after these ego-dystonic thoughts. You may temporarily hold your baby tighter while you walk, you may get the urge to test your smoke detector, and you may take extra precautions during bath time. You may not even notice the connection between the thoughts and these behaviors.

Another side note, if the intrusive thoughts become very frequent and result in repeated behaviors, like checking the smoke detectors, frequently checking to see if baby is breathing at night and feeling unable to stop, or refusing to bathe baby because of what the intrusive thoughts showed you, you may be experiencing postpartum OCD, which is common and treatable. If the intrusive thoughts are commonly about you causing harm to your baby, that can sometimes be referred to as Harm OCD. Yes, it has a name, and that means you’re not alone in it.

Now, what can we do about it? Again, this is where I will offer some tips, but they should not replace talking to your pediatrician and seeking therapy. These tips will not make the anxiety or thoughts go away alone, but they may possibly help you feel better in the moment and turn down the volume on some of the alarms.

(1) Don’t try to force the thoughts or feelings of anxiety out. Simply acknowledge them. “Oh, I’m having a really distressing intrusive thought” or “Hmm… there go those what-if questions popping up again.”

(2) Declare what’s happening in the here and now. “Right now, my baby is safely sleeping in my arms, not being dropped.” “Our house isn’t on fire right now.” “My baby isn’t even near any water… by the way is it time for me to hydrate?”

(3) Think of what you can practically, reasonably control in the scenarios. “When I give the baby his next bath, I can control how slowly and carefully I maneuver him.” “I can make sure I have a good hold on the baby before I stand up and walk with her.” “I can grab the baby and head toward the closest exit if there is a fire.” “If the thought of baby drowning scares me, I can look up local swim lessons to enroll them in when they’re old enough.” On that same note, remember what we pinned further up? Sometimes it helps to actually ANSWER the reasonable what-if questions.

What if my baby gets sick? Then I can check their temperature, monitor them, and schedule a doctor appointment.

What if my baby isn’t eating enough? I can talk to our pediatrician about ways to increase calories if necessary.

What about sleep regression? My partner and I can talk about how we can tackle it in shifts, or I can see if a friend or relative is willing to help us for a day or two.

(4) Use your senses to ground yourself. What are 5 things you can see in that moment? Maybe your baby sleeping peacefully, or the sunshine outside, or the pattern/graphics on your baby’s clothing. What are 4 things you can hear? Your baby cooing, yourself breathing, the AC running, etc. What are 3 things you can feel? The added weight of your baby in your arm, your feet on the floor, the warmth of the bath water you’re running. What are two things you can smell? Your baby’s breath? The lingering smell of the coffee you didn’t finish? And what is one positive thing you can declare about yourself? “I am a present and attentive parent.”

Everyone experiences anxiety to some degree. Per the CDC, postpartum anxiety impacts 1 in 4 mothers, though we also have to account for cases that aren’t reported, so the number could be higher. And roughly 95% of mothers will experience some level of intrusive thoughts.

In other words: You are FAR from alone, and you are FAR from crazy. It feels awful, sure, but experiencing these things means your brain is operating as it should, but if it becomes distressing/disordered, it may be doing it a little too well.

Look at you, overachiever. 😉

Reach out to your doctor or pediatrician if you feel like you need support. You don’t have to push through any degree of distress without help.

https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC6429780/

https://www.americashealthrankings.org/explore/measures/postpartum_anxiety

International OCD Foundation Perinatal Guide

Ok so my 4 month old sleeps great in his crib. However the last several nights as he is becoming more mobile (he's rolling all the directions and trying to crawl) he ends up with his legs through the crib slats and his chunky thighs are getting stuck. So at about 3am/4am I am waking up to a baby screaming bloody murder. Does anyone have any suggestions to prevent this? I am trying to follow safe sleep guidelines but everything we look at is technically unsafe that would help prevent the problem. I am half tempted to have my husband build a back wall on his crib at this point as it is only happening against the back of his crib that touches the wall. I wanted to ask y'all about any suggestions for things that have worked for you?

So I 26M and my wife 25FM have been together for 5 years, I’ll tell it all how it is, our relationship has not been perfect, obviously no one’s relationship is. I have always struggled to show affection coming from a family like mine where the father figure was never seen hugging or kissing the mom and those that did were considered weak or feminine. (Yes excuses I know, but those who grew up like that know what I mean) so she would always ask for more and I would try but not enough for her.

So in 2024 we had some stuff happen in our relationship where we split up for 2 or 3 months then we got back together and shortly after that we found out she was pregnant, fast forward to today we have a beautiful 4 month boy, both our first. When we got back together from that break I was much more affectionate, spontaneous flowers, little gestures, letting my self get hugged and do more hugging and things like that.

Even after she gave birth I helped as much as I could, woke up in the middle of the night so my wife could get more rest, helped clean more, cooked more when she dint want too, asked her how she was feeling, just over all tried to do everything I could to help her more, at around 2 months pp I noticed I would catch her reposting sad things on tik tok or randomly crying, and I would tell her things like “your doing good, your a great mom.. it’s okay to cry, everyone cry’s” just so she wouldn’t feel so down, then she would be okay.

Now about 2 or 3 weeks ago I noticed there was days where she wouldn’t want me to touch her so I wouldn’t then she would come around, we would still have sex and all that. But a week ago everything changed, now it’s getting to the point where it doesn’t matter what I do she throws little jabs at me in the sense that she says “sometimes we feel like roommates” or she’ll say “I can only love my son right now, it’s hard for me to love anything else” or “I need to find that love for you again because the affection is gone” when just 2 weeks ago she asked me “do you really love me?” And I said of course I do, then she asks “will you ever leave me?” And I said no. Never.

How can we go from having convos like that and being affectionate to her saying “oh we should be friends at this point because the affection is gone”. Now today she’s saying that her and her mom had a argument about how it’s not fair to me that she’s doing this to me and her mom said “you just don’t fall out of love like that”& my wife responded with a lot of people do” so she insinuating that she’s out of love. Did anyone else go through this or am I the only person that’s in this crazy position. Any help or advice would be great, even just encouraging words would go a long way for me at this point

You’ve fed them, changed them, soothed them etc and they’re finally asleep. You gently transfer them to the crib and … bam! Eyes wide open. Do you…

a) pick them up immediately and try again
b) if they’re not crying, leave them to settle themselves to sleep
c) if they are crying, set a timer and see if they’ll settle themselves within that time and then pick them up
d) if they’re crying pick them up immediately and soothe and try again.
e) let them cry it out, they’ll eventually fall asleep.
f) other

I’m interested in what other households do! Let me know the age of your baby/child, and which one is your household :)

Eg.
Mine is: 4mo daughter post 4 month sleep regression; combo of both b and c. Usually she is put down pretty much asleep and may wake up but she usually settles herself down without crying. If she does cry, I give her 5 minutes before I intervene and pick her up, and she’s usually out within 2 minutes.

(Let’s keep this a judgement free space and learn from each other! We are all doing this for the first time after all)

Is it actually even cheaper if I have to out of fear of being covered in pee automatically change it every 5 min? Shes literally getting more diaper rash changing these every 2 hours (probably a pee and a half) then huggies when I just waited for the blue line. This is ridiculous. She peed all over me and i had to change her jammies and diaper and wipe her back down. She refused to go back to sleep, giving me -2 hours of sleep. Im pretty broke, but it almost seems like im breaking even cist wise with a bigger headace.

FTM here with a 2-month-old. I feel like my son somehow has his own favorite "summer thing." 😂 He absolutely loves early morning walks before it gets too hot. The second we head outside and there's a little breeze, she's completely fascinated by the trees and usually falls asleep within 10 minutes.

Now we basically plan our mornings around that walk.

So what's your little one's favorite summer activity so far?

My baby girl is 6 months old and she (knock on wood) is a great sleeper. She goes down around 8pm and usually wakes up between 5 and 6. A lot of mornings she will feed at this time and then actually fall back asleep, sometimes I’ll put her back in her crib and others I’ll let her co-sleep with me since my husband has already left for work.
Is this normal for her to be getting this much sleep? Call it a 8.5-10 hour stretch, eat and then another 1-2 hours?
She’s perfectly healthy and meeting all of her milestones I just don’t know I should switch and let that time she wakes up between her morning time or let her sleep if it’s her body telling me that’s what she needs

My baby is seven months old and we decided it’s time for her to go in her own room. We tried for her first nap in there today, and after about an hour of settling she finally fell asleep for maybe a half hour. I just tried for her second and she went ballistic screaming. I’m so defeated.

Edit: I sound so dramatic as it’s only been the one day, but my daughter was SUCH a good sleeper for months 4-6 then for some reason about two weeks ago she stopped sleeping through the night and would cry so it’s been really frustrating not knowing why the change has happened.

My 5 mo old sleeps 830pm-1230am pretty soundly, wakes up for a feed and diaper change, then around 330/4am she wakes up with painful gas pains. Her belly feels tight and she is obviously in pain, so I rub her belly, bicycle kick her legs, etc to help her fart but then from that point on (until around 630am when she’s up for the day) she’s thrashing around, and obviously struggling to fart. So, I’m up every 20 min trying to help her and I’m exhausted. This is happening every night! Any suggestions?

Hi everyone, I'm looking for anyone who has used a service to create breastmilk jewellery before and if they would recommend/avoid certain websites?

I'm in the UK (:

Just looking to vent here and see if anyone else has been through this! My girl will be 5 months old in a couple of weeks, she's been in daycare fulltime for a little less than a month and was going part time before then just to start adjusting. She used to do pretty good at at least napping for 1 sleep cycle, about a 38-40 minute nap. Not ideal but I was okay with it!... She's not the best home napper either in her crib but we try, she sleeps pretty much through the night (minus occasional paci assistance).

The last few days she is getting 5-6 like 15-18 minute naps (some back to back so they are clearly trying to get her back to sleep). I feel horrible. She is clearly tired if they keep trying to get her to take a nap but she's having a hard time staying asleep once transferred/the noise im sure. Shes the youngest kid in the class and I bet the rest of the kids are on a better 2 nap schedule so shes getting naps in the light/no noise machine. I know I have 0 control over this because she's in daycare but I find it so stressful to look at! and then i feel bad for her teachers if they're spending all day trying to get her to nap, and her wake windows are shorter than normal because the sleep is so fragmented. at home she can handle 2 hours between naps! here its more like 75 minutes. 

Is there anything I can to help make this better? Can it naturally improve with time? I'm going to try this long 3 day weekend to focus on doing all her naps in the crib in her room to keep trying to get her used to "okay naps take place in the crib" ...thanks for listening! first time mom here just spiraling looking at the daycare app in between my work meetings haha

My 5 month old has pretty extreme diarrhea and gas right now and literally needs a poop diaper change every hour. I've tried the creams, the diaper rash spray, leaving her without a diaper to let it breathe (she then had diarrhea all over me and my couch despite my seemingly clever towel situation), everything I can think of and it's jnky getting worse. She shrieks and wails in agony all day long and when I change her and try to gently wipe or even pat her clean she stiffens up in pain and screeeeeeams like hell. I don't know what to do anymore, this has been going on for 2 days and I feel like a horrible mother for not being able to help her. What do I do?! How can I make the rash/diarrhea/both stop?! The pediatrician is honestly no help.

My baby is 3mo old this week.
He will not take a paci, no matter what is happening. I really don’t get why, when I see people with kids to the age of like two and three that have pacis in their mouths constantly, but my baby refuses one. I have tried different brands, different shapes, switching the bottle with it when he falls asleep feeding but he can tell the difference and even in his milk induced coma, he will spit out. And I mean with some force.
I know people say it’s just a habit I won’t have to break him of later and I’m cool with him not taking one, I am just wondering why he won’t take one. My brothers son was born one day after mine and he will take one. Has this happened to anyone else? Did you ever find out why?

what does everyone do with the diaper/wipe/toy boxes? 😭 i don’t wanna waste them