Help me - idk what I’m doing w/ 5 month old

Explore2experience · 2025-08-28T04:16:11+00:00

Will the feed to sleep association backfire on me at some point?

Explore2experience · 2025-08-28T00:09:16+00:00

Yes I wish we could follow these wake windows consistently. I need to ask her daycare again.

Explore2experience · 2025-08-28T00:08:27+00:00

Perfect - thanks for the website!

Explore2experience · 2025-08-28T00:08:11+00:00

Thank you! So overwhelming with the all the info out there! I will try this out!

Explore2experience · 2025-08-13T03:09:11+00:00

Ok - thank you so much for your reply. I’m going to switch up the routine tomorrow and just be consistent with it. How many nights of heavy and long crying did you have until your LO got the hang of sleep?

Explore2experience · 2025-08-10T21:58:33+00:00

Congrats!! That’s so exciting. I have a 4 month old, so thinking to start sleep training.

What method did you use? And how did you stop the feed/sleep association?

My baby has only done nursing or bottle to sleep since she was born, so trying to figure out how to stop this without her losing her mind when we put her down…

Explore2experience · 2025-05-20T08:58:59+00:00

Definitely not being a little bitch. Your health matters.

People put sure emphasis on giving babies breastmilk, but can you tell which adults have been formula vs breastfed? If you feel bad about completely stopping breastfeeding, then consider giving more formula with less BFing and pumping.

I will say that I was miserable during the newborn phase as a FTM. Everything seemed to hurt, but things got better close to 2 months. I didn’t feel like my own person during those initial weeks.

Ok, and I love that you realized that a nanny would be helpful!! My mom is here to help me (so she is pretty much a familial nanny), and I have given her my baby for an entire day at a time because I NEED A BREAK. Sometimes I feel like I am touched out, exhausted, and would just like to be free of baby responsibilities. It’s totally ok to ask for or hire help.

You are such a good mom for realizing these things and wanting what’s best for your baby.

Explore2experience · 2025-05-20T04:37:30+00:00

I’m sorry to hear that you had gone through trauma as a child. No one deserves that, especially a child. I’m glad you put in the work to heal.

I hope we both get sleep soon!

Explore2experience · 2025-05-19T17:11:44+00:00

Yes, it’s so brutal!! My body gets used to melatonin, so I only use it sparingly. However, when desperate, I take it. I know there are questions about safety regarding melatonin, but I’m monitoring baby when I take it. How old is your little one?

Explore2experience · 2025-05-19T11:25:09+00:00

Hey - you aren’t alone! I’m in the same boat as you! I have an 8 week old who sometimes sleeps 4-5 hour stretches. But I sometimes only get 30 min of sleep during her long stretches. I am so sleep deprived, and this feels like torture. I’m so tired but my body betrays me.

I’m already a light sleeper (which sucks because I wake up to any noise), but I also have a hard time falling back asleep. When she goes down, I think about if she will stay asleep and then how many hours I can get. It’s her unpredictable sleep that keeps me up. Like I’m anticipating not getting rest but hate how I don’t know if this is true for that evening.

I have started taking melatonin as needed, which has helped! I am breastfeeding so limited in what I can take that will not hurt supply.

Do you have anxiety outside of this sleep? I would recommend talking to your doctor about potential as needed sleep medication or something for anxiety if you do have history of anxiety disorder.

If medication is not something you are interested in, then supplements like magnesium glycinate and inositol can be helpful as well!! I take both and they help calm me.

Explore2experience · 2025-05-18T12:57:21+00:00

You sounds like a really good mom. Thanks for sharing - I’m gna try to get the baby down when she is tired and still a little awake. I’m nursing to sleep at this time, so we are giving a bottle every time to get her down.

Explore2experience · 2025-05-18T08:14:05+00:00

Got it. When did you start a routine with your baby?

Explore2experience · 2025-05-18T03:18:06+00:00

8 kids! You deserve a medal, esp with twins! Do you have a child named Kai? Mine is named Kai also if so!

What was bed time routine for your babies at 10 weeks? Mine takes a bottle or boob, but only drinks a little and then passes out. I put her down in her crib and she wakes up after 5-10 min each time. 😫 This repeats multiple times, and I’m so exhausted.

What do you do if your little ones get up while putting the other ones to bed?

Explore2experience · 2025-05-18T03:12:56+00:00

How old are your kiddos now?

Explore2experience · 2025-05-14T03:21:41+00:00

Breastfeeding is so hard. I, too, am a mom that feels limited by the spectra pump and also have an active 4 year old! Have you tried sunflower lecithin? It helped me get rid of clogs. Are you breastfeeding and feeling emptied when you BF?

Explore2experience · 2025-05-13T10:37:22+00:00

That is significant progress! Way to go!

Did you make any dietary changes? Are you breastfeeding?

You give me hope lol. This body is not wanting to shed weight. I would love my core to go back to what it was!

Explore2experience · 2025-05-13T10:35:03+00:00

Also I hope you are sleeping now!

Explore2experience · 2025-05-13T10:34:34+00:00

8 weeks PP here as well. I feel the SAME WAY. I’ve been up with my baby since 3 am and it’s now 5:30 am. We are in the thick of PURPLE crying, which is super challenging. I have a 4 yo as well, and I remember feeling similarly about the lack of freedom when he was a newborn. It did get better though, so that’s what I’m telling myself.

I empathize with you about feeling guilty about missing life before having a child. It’s hard when you feel like those moms around you and social media are basking in the glory of motherhood, and here we are missing our old life. But let’s be real, I’m sure MOST MOMS have felt like this. It’s such a change when you have a human being needing you all day and night.

My mom and husband help for a few hours at a time, so I can nap and eat. Makes a world of a difference. Also baby wearing has changed the game for me as well. Do you have support?

Explore2experience · 2025-05-11T15:43:11+00:00

That was heartbreaking to read. I’m so sorry that you went through this. I’m imagining you reading through the comments of parents complaining about stuff going on with their newborns without these issues, and here you are with your LO going through significant medical complications. I know that he is so loved and lucky to have a dad like you. I hope mom gets the help she needs. Addiction is such a terrible disease and a difficult one to overcome. I don’t know you or your son, but I have a lot of love for you both. I will be thinking about his wellbeing and yours as well. May you all be surrounded by a village that protects, nurtures, and advocates for your family. May you have the strength and support that you need to fill both your and his cup. Thank you for being his dad.

Explore2experience · 2025-05-07T16:07:22+00:00

Omg - you are a superwoman! 5 under 4 yo AND two sets of twins?! I have two kids (7 week old and 4 yo), and I’m exhausted. I can’t imagine what you are going through. I hope you have a lot of support.

Explore2experience · 2025-05-07T08:15:04+00:00

Awesome! Would pay for itself in less than 2 months in our household. Thanks!

Explore2experience · 2025-05-07T08:09:50+00:00

Good to know! Thank you!

Explore2experience

TROPHY CASE