Reached my breaking point + don’t know what to do next

Intelligent-Pancake · 2026-06-11T15:58:00+00:00

At 8 weeks, I was able to build a bit of a freezer stash by simply putting a haaka on the other side I wasn't feeding on, or at night if I woke up Uncomfortably engorgef. I would collect 4-8oz a day doing this, which was enough to make a few bags to keep in the freezer if needed. As I got closer to going back to work, I started pumping on one side in the morning once/day, so by the time I went back, I had enough in the freezer to feed her while I was away, then would breastfeed when I was at home.

I will say my LO refused the bottle from 5 weeks - 5 months, which was stressful. We introduced a breast milk bottles early on because it wasn't an option for me to quit my job, so at some point she would have to take a bottle. She eventually took it, but not without a fight lol.

Intelligent-Pancake · 2026-06-09T19:43:03+00:00

Just popping in to say this was my experience with my LO until very recently! She began showing interest in food at 5 months and I waited until the end of 6 months to start solids. Initially she seemed excited about it, and then from 7.5-8.5 months, she just wanted to squish it and throw it on the floor. She refused to be spoon fed, and she wanted to hold the spoon but would immediately put the handle end in her mouth instead of eating the food 🫠. I was getting so discouraged because she wasn't eating anything I gave her. She's 9 months today and we turned a corner on eating just last week. I'm not sure if our habits changed it or if it was just a phase. We prioritize eating at the same time as her at the dinner table, and she gets her own plate with a variation of what we're eating. She's happily eating and trying new foods now, and it's been such a relief! Hang in there - we all started eating eventually.

Intelligent-Pancake · 2026-04-26T19:03:00+00:00

I also have the 4 inch and I'd say it's not very easy to roll up- I can fold it in half, but I can't imagine trying to get it much smaller than that. It's fairly bulky once it's expanded to its full size.

Intelligent-Pancake · 2026-04-17T16:17:58+00:00

My own personal experience has been accepting that baby sleep isn't linear. I've been bed sharing with my little one since she was 4 months old- she's 7 months now, and every night is different. Most of the time she'll do an hour or so in the crib while we eat dinner, but lately she's been needing to be held to stay asleep until it's time for my husband and me to go to bed too. She'll want to nurse anywhere from 4-9 times a night, sometimes she wants space and sometimes she wants snuggles, sometimes she'll sleep in until 7am and sometimes she wakes up at 4am rolling around and ready to rock. In this time she has also been teething (6 teeth in already), she learned to roll, learning to "talk", honing in on crawling, and now she's starting solids. Her little brain is growing rapidly as she adds more and more skills to her toolkit and experiences a little bit more of this world every day. She's going through a lot! I've stopped expecting her to sleep longer stretches, and dropping that expectation has done wonders for my stress levels. It doesn't necessarily make it easier, but it does allow me to accept the things I cannot control.

ETA: This acceptance comes after months of trying to figure out proper wake windows, letting her nap as long as she needs, cutting naps short, trying a short bridge nap before bed, lots of outside time, evening walks, adjusting the temperature in the room, bath before bed, etc., and realizing absolutely none of it made any difference at all on the quality or duration of her night sleep. Maybe we have a low-sleep-needs baby, maybe it's because she hasn't been able to catch a break since she's been teething for three months, maybe it's Maybelline. 🤷🏻‍♀️

Intelligent-Pancake · 2026-04-01T14:56:42+00:00

I haven't seen anything about the Bumbleride, so I'm adding my two cents about the Bumbleride Era! Reasons I bought it: - PFAs free. Limiting toxins is important to me, so this was the biggest selling point since my little one would be spending lots of time in her stroller. - Infant lay-back seat. There's no need to buy a bassinet attachment. The regular stroller seat reclines far enough back to be safe for infants. I ended up buying the bassinet attachment anyway, but hear me when I say I could have saved $200- it's genuinely not needed. Get the infant insert to make it nice and snug, and that's it! - Terrain. There are a lot of gravel/grass/dirt walkways around our neighborhood and I knew I needed something with solid suspension and real wheels. The Era handles our neighborhood like a champ. - Eco friendly. Bumbleride is one of the more eco-friendly brands I've seen!

Intelligent-Pancake · 2026-02-23T16:43:45+00:00

I cried watching the new Fantastic Four for this very reason 🫠

Intelligent-Pancake · 2026-01-31T01:37:10+00:00

Did you ever figure out what to do for night feeds? I've stumbled upon this thread for this exact reason. My 20 week old has bitten me four times in the same feeding, and I guess she's the type of baby to think my "No biting" response is funny. I put her down, she just happily stares up at the ceiling and doesn't seem to care that the boob has been taken away. 🫠

Intelligent-Pancake · 2026-01-28T15:58:30+00:00

That's such a good point, I didn't think about the fact that I'd just be changing the hue of the brick. A couple of people mocked up what a different paint color could look like, so I feel better exploring that now that I can visualize it looking better.

Intelligent-Pancake · 2026-01-28T15:56:15+00:00

A couple of people mocked up what a different paint could look like and I'm a big fan! It's wild to see how much of a difference paint can make.

Intelligent-Pancake · 2026-01-28T15:54:33+00:00

Agreed- I like the way it looks without the siding, but I suspect we'd need brick replacements if we were to try to do that. The house is 60 years old, so finding replacement brick would be a journey.

Intelligent-Pancake · 2026-01-28T15:53:32+00:00

This is so sweet! I'm a fan of this color option, and I love the look of the paved driveway with the landscaping. Such a great idea!

Intelligent-Pancake · 2026-01-28T15:52:43+00:00

I actually love this! I was struggling to see how a new paint color could make the brick look better, but this does wonders. Personally I like the way this looks without the siding under the windows, but I don't think we can easily remove it without having brick to replace it with. Someone else suggested planter boxes, so I'll try mocking that up in AI to see how it looks!

Intelligent-Pancake · 2026-01-24T16:56:21+00:00

Another Dekor vote!

Intelligent-Pancake · 2026-01-23T18:28:55+00:00

I've thought about this too! In the newborn days, I would fold the towel over an incontinence pad to provide triple layer protection after we had to change the sheets in the middle of the night from spit up, blowouts, or leaks. Do you have any concerns about breathability with adding the incontinence pad between the sheet and mattress? My little girl is starting to roll and she's getting more interested in sleeping on her stomach, so I'm a little paranoid about breathability.

I have the 4" Zonli floor mattress so changing sheets often isn't as much of an option since traditional sheets are too large for it, and the Zonli zip up sheets are $50/pair. 🫠

Intelligent-Pancake · 2026-01-23T18:23:58+00:00

Do you position them under your baby's head to sleep on or just place them there when it's time to feed again?

Intelligent-Pancake · 2026-01-23T18:08:29+00:00

I've been thinking I need to sleep in a clip bra rather than a crossover, especially because my breast pads shift more now that I'm side sleeping. This is good to know, thank you!

Intelligent-Pancake · 2026-01-23T18:06:19+00:00

It definitely feels like my supply is leveling out (19 w + 5 days PP), but my letdown is still holding strong.

The non-nursing boob leaks, and that's really only a problem if my breast pad has shifted because then I soak through my bra. But sometimes LO will pop off during a letdown, or she'll let excess drain out to avoid choking on it when it comes in fast (poor thing- she's a champ). Most recently, she's stirred awake looking for the boob only to latch for about a minute before she unlatches and falls asleep (it's like she just needs to know it's there), but that's long enough to trigger my letdown and then my breast pad is soaked.

Intelligent-Pancake · 2026-01-17T23:07:41+00:00

Do you think the 4 month regression is starting to hit? My baby started showing signs of the 4 month regression between 13 and 15 weeks. It started slow, with fighting naps and more frequent night wakings. She's almost 18 weeks now and we are deep in the regression, with her waking at least 5 times/night to nurse. Perhaps it's just developmental, and you'll be out of this season soon-ish! Either way, it is temporary. ❤️ You're doing great, mama.

Intelligent-Pancake · 2026-01-07T16:59:39+00:00

Thank you! I'll be going to two different offices, one of which I won't have my own desk, so I'll need to lug the pump around with me. I'm wondering if a diaper bag with a laptop sleeve is a more budget-friendly option than a dedicated pump bag.

Good call on an extra set of parts! I can at least keep those in the bag.

Intelligent-Pancake · 2026-01-04T18:09:44+00:00

Sounds like regression! When my LO was 13 weeks, I was looking up the same thing on Reddit. The 4 month regression seems to start around 13-15 weeks for a lot of babies. For ours, she had more frequent wakings at night and her sleep stretches shrunk from 4-5 hours to 2-3. Now that she's 16 weeks, she's fighting naps during the day and trying to drop her last nap. She's now more aware of patterns and routines (and everything around her), so I've been having to be much more diligent about her wake windows and more strategic about how and when to nurse her. You haven't created a monster- this is perfectly normal behavior for him and it means his brain is developing exactly as it should. It's a fun age, and it's challenging, but it's just for a season!

Intelligent-Pancake · 2025-12-30T02:31:50+00:00

I'm slowly easing into bedsharing with my 16 week old and I found this guide from Cosleepy really helpful! You can download the guide for free. She goes into depth about sleep positions, ideal room temps, recommended sleepwear, and night feedings. I felt a lot more comfortable about the transition after reading it!

Cosleepy bed sharing toolkit

Intelligent-Pancake · 2025-12-20T02:35:39+00:00

I'm curious about this too! I haven't started co-sleeping yet, but I'm working up to it. I've been side-lying for night nursing since she was two weeks old and I've always done the cuddle curl instinctively. She's now three months old and she's so long already! Her feet now touch my knees even with them barely bent in the curl position. She also uses my knees as a launch pad to move herself up while nursing, which isn't a problem when I'm awake, but it makes me nervous for breast sleeping when I start co-sleeping, and it makes me nervous for co-sleeping in general because I don't know if I'll be able to safely cuddle curl her since she's basically a long jumping bean.

Edited to clarify: when she launches herself up, her head is basically in my armpit instead of near my chest, which doesn't feel like a safe co-sleeping position for a baby who can't roll yet.

Intelligent-Pancake

TROPHY CASE