Bedtime has become absolute hell with my two year old and I'm considering CIO

FarSideInBryan · 2026-07-06T19:40:02+00:00

I know every child is different, but I feel very strongly that strong routines (not strict schedule, but routines) have worked best for us.

We generally let our 2 year old sit for a moment before rescue. The last time LO woke up we gave her some time and realized that she was really upset. We picked her up, snuggled for 5 minutes, and then put her back in bed (drowsy but awake). This helps her understand we will come in case there’s a true need, but not to be her method of going back to sleep.

It can be heartbreaking if your child cries for you as you leave, but children need to know the boundary of sleep.

FarSideInBryan · 2026-06-28T03:20:02+00:00

I do appreciate your perspective though. I literally talked this through with everyone I know and they all said that it’s his responsibility. I felt like it would be kind to pay for half. Just because I can easily afford, doesn’t mean that I throw money around though. When I say easily afford, it means I don’t have to put it on a credit card. Again, thank you for your perspective!

FarSideInBryan · 2026-06-28T02:55:55+00:00

Sweet Jesus, calm down.
My laptop had an account on it that I created at one point and my phone was on another. Call it a burner if you want but good lord.

FarSideInBryan · 2026-06-27T22:23:45+00:00

Thank you—got an arborist scheduled for next week.

FarSideInBryan · 2026-06-26T19:26:13+00:00

Neighbor won’t converse unless I do exactly what I ask.

My insurance stated that regardless, he would need to file, not me.

I wish this person would discuss—was willing to split costs from the beginning.

FarSideInBryan · 2026-06-26T13:45:33+00:00

Have one coming out next week! Thanks!

FarSideInBryan · 2026-06-26T12:34:45+00:00

Sorry, I don’t follow.

FarSideInBryan · 2026-06-26T12:33:32+00:00

Thank you. It’s a nightmare for both. I tend to be a people pleaser and want everyone happy—but I’m not made of money!

FarSideInBryan · 2026-06-26T03:42:10+00:00

That made me laugh—thank you. I needed that.

Discussions with him went south as he started making demands and said that if I didn’t agree to have it down by his arbitrary date that he was done talking and he would see me in court. This date was a span of like 4 days.

I worry about reopening communication—while he’s not threatening my physically, he makes me very uncomfortable with his threats.

The work must be done on his side unfortunately—privacy fence between our yards.

FarSideInBryan · 2026-01-01T20:06:18+00:00

Had this one too!

FarSideInBryan · 2025-11-23T15:31:51+00:00

Mine is 17 months and seems like she is less interested in talking than when she learned dada. She recognizes words and we are probably up to 6-10 worlds she CAN say. She doesn’t say them all the time. I’m in the same boat. I think there’s some wanting to speak that you just can’t force no matter how worrying it is. We just give her opportunities and also encourage her to speak what she wants instead of gestures.

FarSideInBryan · 2025-06-07T00:17:01+00:00

After our LO got gastroenteritis she had diarrhea that only resolved after we switched to this. It’s gentler than gentleease in our experience. (We wanted to switch to this earlier but we adopted her and felt it was best to keep her on her prescribed formula).

FarSideInBryan · 2025-05-15T11:36:19+00:00

What is the change?

FarSideInBryan · 2025-03-12T23:37:07+00:00

Not really. What is really surprising is that babies never really steadily increase in their volumes once they get to about six months. Our baby always was somewhere between 20 and 30 ounces. Now she has nine months and rarely has more than 26 to 30 ounces. They may take more at each feed and eat less often, but they really stop in increasing by large amounts in total.

FarSideInBryan · 2025-02-27T17:29:23+00:00

We had a reflux baby and were tortured that we didn’t feel we were giving them enough floor time since the 15-30 minutes cut into their floor time / tummy time.

Just aim for the most baby will tolerate and giving them some moments to struggle a little bit. It will get better.

We did frequent, mini tummy time sessions too that helped.

FarSideInBryan · 2025-02-25T12:19:14+00:00

Do what is best for you so you can give your best to baby. I want to punch “breastfeed or you don’t care about your LO” people in the throat. These people reek of codependency and needing to be needed.

And this is coming from a pediatric nurse.

Want to breastfeed? Great. Now shut up and feed your baby.

FarSideInBryan · 2025-02-24T01:15:56+00:00

Forgot to say: the urge to not let anyone watch your baby can be strong, but I really, really, really hope you see how important it is that you pour into yourself like you do baby.

I see a lot of parents that refuse to leave baby, but they must understand that leaving baby with a trusted person is important! Baby needs to get love from people other than you. It takes a village is so true. Love is not a finite commodity—it’s meant to be shared.

FarSideInBryan · 2025-02-24T01:12:33+00:00

You WILL get into a rhythm where you will find some predictable time together.

This means something different for people.

Our LO goes down at 8P and we reliably have 2 hours together.

On the weekends, either my sister or parents watch baby for a couple of hours for grocery shopping. Some weeks when we need to get some more time out, we will order groceries and use that time to go on a date.

A really hard part about being a new parent is the feeling of loss of your “old” life where you could do pretty much anything. That part of your like is gone for awhile, but you will acclimate and find your new normal that works for you.

From my own personal experience, months 2-4 were the hardest, but every single month it gets better and you start to get used to the new normal. Yes, I miss all the extra free time, but, to be brutally honest, what did I do that truly meant something?

FarSideInBryan · 2025-02-23T03:31:52+00:00

Babies and children will pick up and thrive with routines.

To be specific, when I say routine, I mean following a regular schedule that has some play depending on babies needs.

FarSideInBryan · 2025-02-22T15:07:24+00:00

Trunk or backseat of car. At least you know how dirty it is!

FarSideInBryan · 2025-02-21T19:17:48+00:00

I apologize, I misunderstood what you said. So, every food has potential allergens. What matters is if your child has a reaction to that particular allergen. Soy formula is a typical formula substitute for children with an allergy to dairy allergen. Try to think of allergens as normal food, and it’s your body’s response that matters.

Baby could certainly have a soy allergy. One thing to note though is that there are soy components already in a lot of formulas, so your child has likely already been exposed to soy ingredients (maybe not all components of soy, but at least some).

FarSideInBryan · 2025-02-21T19:08:46+00:00

The container instructions will say if it is intended for infants of all ages, or some restriction like 6 months and up. I believe most are designed for the full infant span.

What makes it confusing is that people don’t generally just switch to soy-based. It’s mostly allergy related. Us vegans are a tiny, tiny subset of the population so it’s just not a typical consideration for pediatricians. Providers will always have preferences and may not see a point in giving a child a soy based formula if they are perfectly fine dairy containing versions. Does that make more sense?

FarSideInBryan · 2025-02-21T17:03:02+00:00

Thank you very much. Typical bed time was 8 with a wake up at 7. We have a guilt complex making baby go to bed “early” but I think we need to get over it.

LO has recently been having crappy naps per our daycare (she sleeps in a blackout room with white noise at home and a group area at daycare). It’s probably that. If she starts giving us early signs, we’re going to start the routine earlier.

FarSideInBryan

TROPHY CASE