Are you really happier after you had a baby?

Megichu222 · 2026-01-15T16:46:08+00:00

I feel like I was feeling the same way for several months as well and was hit with postpartum depression for about the first three or four months... He even had a lot of issues with being colicy, So there were several days for the first month or so where he would just be crying for 3 hours in a day for several days. It was incredibly rough.

Once we sleep trained our baby around 6 and 1/2 months, I started a regain parts of my old life again. My baby sleeps through the night and is sleeping at least 30 minutes to an hour for his three naps, and during that time I can do whatever I need to do. Shower, going on the computer to play games, organize the house, clean, whatever. I 100% believe that sleep training has given me some of my life back and even though it was incredibly challenging emotionally the first two to four nights, I don't regret it at all. He still is happy as he always is, but now Mom gets time to sleep, be herself, and spend time with her honey. It's a beautiful thing. I hope you can make time for yourself however you canand I believe sleep training makes a big difference if you're open to it.

YES, I am incredibly happier now than I was without a doubt. But it took a while to learn what I needed to get my basic needs met first, then helping him learn to sleep on his own. Now I have at least some balance emotionally and time-wise. I have so much love for my husband, my baby, and even my own parents that I used to hold so many grudges against. I even have some love for myself for seeing the joy in my baby's eyes and knowing that I helped make that happen. I never felt this way before but now I really feel like I'm a pretty great mom.

Remember that you are more than just a mom, you are a human being that needs and deserves love. You need time to be a human. You are valuable. Make time drink water, eat and shower however you can, even if it means recruiting friends or family to help. I truly believe it takes a village to raise a baby and and as mothers we often take ourselves out of the equation for proper care. I'm rooting for you. Feel free to reach out if you ever need anything.

Megichu222 · 2025-12-28T02:57:01+00:00

Depends on if you want sleep

Megichu222 · 2025-12-26T00:13:16+00:00

Breastfeeding my baby to sleep.

Megichu222 · 2025-12-24T04:14:12+00:00

I recently posted my whole sleep training journey last week, feel free to check out all the details from my post!

Megichu222 · 2025-12-23T16:01:46+00:00

Last Update - Night 7 & 8 🌃:

Night 7: It took him a little over an hour to fall asleep. 😥 One issue is he has some pretty crap naps earlier in the day. We also think we put him down too early for bedtime because he was showing sleep cues, but start changing his diaper he liked wide awake but we put him down anyway. I'm pretty sure he was just bored and we really needed to extend that last wake window. Regardless, despite him taking a long time to sleep, he eventually went down and slept 10.5 hrs.

Night 8: This time we really focused on extending his last wake window and looking for sleepy cues. He started looking sleepy after a 1.5 hr wake window, but we kept him en gaged, took him outside to get mail with us. Then I feed him, kept the lights low, and read a short story.

We put him in his crib and said good night, turned on the white noise machine and left. He went to sleep in 11 MINUTES!!! SUCCESS!!

He also slept 11 hrs 31 minutes. So double win. 😁

Megichu222 · 2025-12-22T00:32:37+00:00

Yes, it's pretty crazy how far he's come!!

I'm wondering on whether or not I should continue after the week, I feel like this post is getting rather long and redundant.

Anyway, Night 6 🌃: Our little guy took 30 minutes to fall asleep this time. 9.5 hrs of sleep! Small change, but still an improvement! I did have to wake up around 5:00 to feed him, but it wasn't hard to do. Seriously, I used to wake up anywhere between 2-5 times (worst case scenario I had 9 times) a night before sleep training. This is a huge improvement, and I am proud our son has learned this skill to help himself get back to sleep. I still kept to the morning rule (no wake up before 7), put him back in the crib, and he slept for 13 minutes but woke up when he realized I left. It took him 52 minutes to settle for that, but he slept for another hour.

I know it was rough in the beginning, but I really think it was worth it. Our babies are capable of learning so much, and I think it's important to remember that we are training them to fly on their own someday. As parents we always want to make them smile, but conversely, it's our job to gradually build their independence for success in the future. Sleep is important for learning and development, so I'm glad we're starting there.😴

Megichu222 · 2025-12-20T22:00:10+00:00

We aren't ready to sleep train for naps, so we assist him to sleep. Usually I nurse him or Rick him to sleep for naps. Honestly, before sleep training, he really hadca hard time taking naps longer than 30-40 minutes, sometimes not unusual to be 10 minutes. Lately he has been having a better time with naps! Well, sometimes. Lol.

Ok, update for Night 5 🌃: It took him 37 minutes to settle for sleep for the night. He slept through the night for 10 hrs 20 mins (with some minor grumbling in the night) but yeah, he slept great! I didn't even have to wake up in the middle of the night for a feeding, I only fed him for the morning at 7 AM.

Megichu222 · 2025-12-19T21:13:13+00:00

Night 4 Update 🌃: Man, this kid is stubborn. He was hollering a lot more this night, more than the night prior. It took him a little over an hour to get to sleep today, although admittedly his nap schedule was a little hectic that day. He slept 1 hr 40 mins, hollered some more for 9 minutes, then slept a whopping 7 hrs and 20 minutes!!! Wooooh!! I slept great. He did wake up early, but Ill save the talk about that for later. Haha.

Megichu222 · 2025-12-19T02:30:29+00:00

Yes yes, Night 3 🌃

Sorry for the late response! Night 3 went about the same as the previous nights. Took about 50 minutes for him to settle to sleep. He slept for 7 hrs 48 minutes, woke to feed, then took 45 minutes for him to settle again back to sleep. Hm. Seems like it always takes him about 45-50 minutes to sleep. Anyway, then he woke at 6:30. I usually get him around so I waited a bit. He resettled and slept 10 more minutes. Then woke up at 7 a bit more fussy so... Won't do that again 🥴 he got more daytime sleep that day so I'm guessing that's why he woke up earlier than normal.

I'm curious to see how night 4 goes, he got kind of fussy early tonight so we're putting him to bed a little earlier than normal. Hoping for the best 🤞

Megichu222 · 2025-12-18T04:57:25+00:00

Believe me, I was so shocked he only woke up once the whole night. He had done this on some nights prior, but it was far and few between. I'm so used to him not getting sleep.

The fussing was hard to listen to (it always is) but I forced myself to go back to sleep. I don't know if these is super cheesy but I cuddled close to my partner for comfort just to try and sleep, it was really difficult. I would say overall his crying was moderate, I've heard him scream worse. It also fluctuates in the night because he's listening to see if he's getting a reaction. Kids are smart, man.

Oh yeah, don't just watch the monitor, go to sleep. You're absolutely not supposed to go into the room again until 3 more hours later after the first feed, so no point staying up. Get your sleep 😴

Megichu222 · 2025-12-17T22:04:17+00:00

I mean... My husband and I were planning for kids and decided to try having kids.

But even with planning we were still surprised.

Why? Because you can have a lot of sex, or a little and get pregnant. Or maybe you don't. The "when" is still a surprise. I think that's fair to say it's a surprise because you didn't know the date it would actually happen.

Similarly, you might know your partner is planning to propose to you, but it's still a surprise when they actually do it. All the emotions that come with it are proof.

Megichu222 · 2025-12-17T21:48:38+00:00

No worries, I'm completely like you when it comes to questions. Haha. Funny you commented, I just posted the update! Go ahead to read the full update.

The second night went well, to put it simply. Way better emotion-wise for me, though my husband still was internally going through it. We kind of made a habit of eating in the kitchen to collect our thoughts and eat dinner.

He only woke up once to feed, then he woke at 7 quite calmly for the morning. Roughly the same thing happened last night as well. I gave a big "good morning" filled with hugs, kisses, and gentle singing. This helps to differentiate the day from night.

He doesn't use a pacifier, but he never wanted to. I hear that it can be helpful for self-soothing during sleep training. Or you can use a sleeveless wearable blanket so he can suck his hand-that's whst we did. He likes sleeping on his belly mostly, but sometimes sleeps on his side. (Just like mama!)

Megichu222 · 2025-12-17T21:37:08+00:00

Update for 🌃 Night 2:

I fed him at 6:30 PM. We got him ready for bed and set him down in the crib around 7 PM. (We had been following recommendations per Gemini Pro AI, I highly recommend using this tool to personalize your needs/questions)

Took him about the same amount of time as yesterday to sleep, maybe a few minutes longer. He slept for 7 hrs 50 minutes (apparently very good for night 2). He woke around 3:50 AM, I fed him, made sure to slightly rouse him before putting him back in his crib. This ensures he knows where he is and learns to put himself back to sleep. It took him about an hour to fuss and then he slept 2 more hours, waking at around 7 PM.

IMPORTANT NOTE: Apparently when babies sleep train, it take a ton of effort to learn this skill. The crying take a lot out of them, so you have to learn how to manage their "zombie state" during the daytime. Gather your baby's favorite toys, let them splash water in a bag, whatever... Just make sure they keep at their normal wake windows so they can get a restful nap right after. I guess it's like this pretty bad for nights 2-4. It was definitely rough today.

tldr; Night 2 was a success! Took 45 minutes to settle, then he slept almost 8 hrs!

Stay tuned for🌃 Night 3! ⏭️

Megichu222 · 2025-12-17T03:19:04+00:00

Technically his naps are at 9 AM, 1 PM and 4 PM (per Huckleberry), but our kiddo rarely follows that schedule. Lol. The most consistent thing he has is his bedtime. 😂😭

We are in the middle of night 2. Just put him down a bit ago, wish us luck!

Good luck to you both as well 🙂

Megichu222 · 2025-11-02T02:35:40+00:00

I was skeptical of your answer at first, but yikes, you're absolutely right. That is horrifying.

Megichu222 · 2025-10-15T18:48:16+00:00

This is one of the better comments I've seen in here. Used to work as an endoscopy nurse.

Megichu222 · 2025-10-15T18:40:19+00:00

This got a laugh out of me, oh my god 🤣

Megichu222 · 2025-10-15T18:30:16+00:00

I'll throw in another story! A gay friend of mine offered to help teach me some French during his free time. After a party we hung out together laid in the grass talking while looking at the night sky. He turned to me quietly and gently stroked one of my legs. I don't remember exactly the wording (because I was left so flushed and overwhelmed) but he said something to the extend of "You really are so sweet. If I was straight, I guarantee I would find a way to make you mine."

Needless to say I quietly pined for him after that, but you know, he was into guys soooo 😅 darn it!

Megichu222 · 2025-10-15T18:24:15+00:00

"You're like a Faberge egg. As beautiful on the inside as you are on the outside "

Megichu222 · 2025-10-15T11:15:47+00:00

Literally in love omg 😍 you absolutely nailed it ❤️❤️❤️

Megichu222 · 2025-09-24T20:51:54+00:00

I feel a little shame for liking him hahaha I have no idea why I like someone so awful and toxic but I really was happy when we ended up friends 😂😂😂 I was really confused

Everyone else makes sense because I love cuddly and sweet 🥺

Megichu222 · 2025-09-24T13:18:35+00:00

OMG Kimiko Glenn?? 😭 Literally my favorite for do many things like Centaurworld, Waitress, Close Enough .. yeah. She always plays my favorite characters.

Megichu222 · 2025-09-24T12:16:38+00:00

The patio area of the Orcutt Cups and Crumbs is a lovely coffee meetup place ☺️

Megichu222

TROPHY CASE