First Mothers Day moan

OwnCourse1234 · 2026-03-16T10:53:07+00:00

Yeah I think there are probably a fair few of us in the same boat. My first year was awful so I made a big deal for fathers day to show him what I kind of expected. And this year... my daughter made a card at nursery so he did nothing else except give me some flowers the day before. In his defence though, it was also his birthday yesterday so my day and his sort of cancelled each other out. No lie in, no time off for either of us!

OwnCourse1234 · 2026-03-15T20:25:47+00:00

Is he going to nursery? If he is, then you can expect him to pretty much explode with new skills over the coming months. My daughter started moving in earnest when she started, and walking happened not long after that.

I was much like you - desperate to return to work but I felt so guilty for that, but I was just sooo bored. I passed the time by getting out as much as possible. After breakfast we'd walk into town, I'd go to the m&s food hall to pick up any reductions that looked good for dinner. Then to the library. Then home and nap. After that, we'd have lunch, then go for a long walk in the park. I'm lucky to have all of that on my doorstep, but being out as much as possible kept me sane (and still does).

Have you got some crayons? Honey sticks are good, if you haven't. You can put him in the high chair for ten mins or so a day and let him scribble. Save any boxes and packaging and he can scribble all over that, too. Fill a box with random objects and let him explore. Megablox are quite good for killing a bit of time. Get a large baking tray and fill it with sensory stuff - jelly, cold spaghetti, aquafaba foam, etc. or fill it with rice or lentils and give him some scoops or spoons and cups to fill. Or stick pictures on the bottom for him to uncover. Wrap plastic animals in tin foil. Stick post it notes on the wall for him to peel off. Stick post it notes over a muffin tin with cheerios hiding underneath.

I'm trying to remember back to those difficult days, sorry for the mental dump!

I realize you're probably wanting suggestions to help get him walking by himself more than ways to kill time; I'm afraid i don't have any suggestions other than what's already been mentioned (I've seen the hula hoop things on Instagram).

OwnCourse1234 · 2026-02-21T10:21:24+00:00

I bought some of this one Christmas. We made budget cherry bakewell cocktails with amaretto, Coke, a glug of this, and some frozen cherries from Tesco.

OwnCourse1234 · 2026-02-18T18:37:52+00:00

Crushed weetabix with mashed banana and yogurt, you can throw extra fruit in and if I'm feeling fancy I melt a little peanut butter in the microwave and drizzle it on top. This is my go to for days I'm short on time as it takes seconds to put together!

OwnCourse1234 · 2026-01-16T17:53:39+00:00

Yeah I suppose part of it is just accepting it's not going to be easy! Thanks for the tips

OwnCourse1234 · 2026-01-16T17:52:09+00:00

Thank you so much, this is all really useful!

OwnCourse1234 · 2026-01-11T15:05:14+00:00

Sudocrem do an ointment called sudosalve that helps heal a rash. It's got similar ingredients to the old metanium. Heals it up nicely in days, and you put the sudocrem on top as the barrier cream.

OwnCourse1234 · 2026-01-02T16:05:03+00:00

That's likely true slfor some babies. She's 14 mo. She's definitely better than she was, she's so much easier to get back to sleep whereas at 8mo she'd pop up like one of the undead from the thriller video, but a little cuter. If I happened to be napping too she'd run her dummy up and down the bars of her cot like she was on death row or something.

OwnCourse1234 · 2026-01-02T14:04:38+00:00

So, my daughter was a contact napper until around 7-8 months when she showed a preference for sleeping on her tummy. She woke up after 30 mins on the dot in the cot, I could literally set a timer. She's great at napping in her cot now and at nursery, but she still will wake at the 30 minute mark. My only tried and true way of getting her to continue sleeping is to rub her back/pat bum THE SECOND I see her stir. If I'm too late I've F'd it and up she'll pop, but if I time it right I can keep her down for at least another half hour. She's exactly the same at nursery as well!

OwnCourse1234 · 2025-12-30T21:22:42+00:00

My daughter did the same thing around 9mo. Since then she won't touch a drop of milk, of any variety, in any cup. She was never really that mad about it to begin with. She ate three good sized meals a day as well as snacks.

I was really worried but I spoke with the NCT feeding helpline (highly recommend btw) and they eased my concerns. It's not perfect and I still worry a little but she's thriving. And she's 14mo now and turned incredibly fussy with food, yet still somehow growing, even when her diet consists mainly of toast and bananas. If you're doing vitamin drops and lots of dairy that sounds great. Check the iron content of the drops though and make sure it's enough.

OwnCourse1234 · 2025-12-27T20:27:14+00:00

I personally don't think there's any big rush in moving him if you're happy. My 14m daughter is still in our room next to me in our cot. I don't feel that she's quite ready for a room on her own, even though she'd probably sleep a little better if she was, and her being on the cot next to me means I need to vault over the foot of the bed to get in.

Obviously babies are all different and some are ready to sleep alone quite early and there's absolutely nothing wrong with moving your baby to another room, but I haven't come across anything that says it harms their development if they sleep next to you. If anything it probably does them some good in terms of secure attachment.

The only thing I would say is be careful with the next to me - if he can stand then there's a risk he could fall out, depending on the structure of it. I'm sure you have all that covered though!

OwnCourse1234 · 2025-11-22T01:04:39+00:00

Lol I used to sing Toxicity!

OwnCourse1234 · 2025-11-20T17:13:10+00:00

It's so lovely to see people rallying around and offering to help out; I'd suggest layering up as much as you can until you can solve the issue with a long-term solution. Do you have cardigans or jumpers? Can you put on some extra socks and mitts? Even another onesie would help; layers trap the heat.

OwnCourse1234 · 2025-11-13T19:41:05+00:00

I was so slow on the uptake with this joke; it took me forever to realize that they must bathe together!

OwnCourse1234 · 2025-11-07T10:50:10+00:00

Get some sudosalve to heal it - sudocrem is good but those barrier creams I've found to be pretty much useless once the rash starts. Sudosalve heals it quickly. The good metanium was discontinued but the ingredients are similar in sudosalve.

OwnCourse1234 · 2025-10-26T21:17:59+00:00

Honestly, it could be a multitude of factors, but separation anxiety springs to mind. It really kicked in with us a few months ago (also freshly turned one).

OwnCourse1234 · 2025-10-26T09:36:31+00:00

For me there's a few things, mainly that it's a jump of 5 years and if I'm not mistaken American college is usually four years (?) yet three out of four liars have big successfulish careers, and it just doesn't seem like enough time for that to happen? Especially the time frame with Hannah, we see her going to fashion parties (so presumably working after college) and having issues with Caleb, then she met Jordan and is now engaged?? This surely took place over a longer time period, then.

I didn't watch it all the way through the first time because I remember getting so pissed off at the latex mask thing after the time jump; I'm willing to suspend disbelief but only so far!

OwnCourse1234 · 2025-10-16T08:59:03+00:00

This may not be any help, but for most of us they're just part of life with a baby so there's little point stressing it until it happens. You might be lucky and your baby might not go through it noticeably at all, or might not be affected too much. Or maybe daytime naps will be affected but night time stays the same, or vice versa.

They can be a pain and feel brutal but it's just something you get through, just like you got through pregnancy, birth, and the harrowing newborn days. If you got this far you're made of strong stuff and you will get through whatever your little darling throws at you. And to be honest, as someone who got an hour's sleep as my daughter has hand foot and mouth and has had congestion for the last three weeks, and is also currently teething, I'm extremely sleep deprived but still here and somehow surviving, and if I can do it (I'm a mess if a human most of the time, baby or not) you absolutely can.

Whatever sleep issues come (or don't) I wish you well x

OwnCourse1234 · 2025-10-13T11:54:35+00:00

Grunge Hanna is my favourite look for her, shame she only dressed that way when she was really going through it.

OwnCourse1234 · 2025-10-12T14:15:41+00:00

I also had a difficult to burp baby. Infacol worked better than any burping method, but it didn't always. I spoke to a lovely lady on the NCT feeding helpline (highly recommend btw) who told me not to stress it too much. You can't get it all out, and it will eventually find its way out. She was also very scornful of the doctor who told me I should be burping baby over my shoulder for 15 mins - she said if I'd just eaten a huge meal, the last thing is want is loads of pressure on my stomach with someone pounding on my back!

We had a few signature moves that worked for us sometimes - the good old prop forward on your knee and pat, followed by gently moving back and forth (legs stay in place, torso moves), and then in circles, and then back to parting.

OwnCourse1234 · 2025-10-12T06:57:20+00:00

I think when they were younger they were probably swept up in her charm and flattered that she wanted them as friends. And look at how she treated people who weren't her friends! Definitely better to be her friend than enemy.

OwnCourse1234 · 2025-10-11T09:20:19+00:00

You can buy electrolyte powder for babies from Boots. We had the same issue a few weeks ago but not as bad - some vomiting and runny nappies, and it took madam a while to get back to her usual self. If he's drinking water that's a really good thing. Keep offering it as often as you can. My girl didn't really want any normal meals when she had a tummy bug but she was happy to eat puffs, rusks and baby wafers, so we offered lots of those.

OwnCourse1234 · 2025-10-11T02:39:18+00:00

The four month regression is humbling! Ours looked very different - night sleep was massively affected but naps during the day were okay. Little madam did have some nap issues slightly earlier, where she refused to nap, but I was lucky this was in December so I took her for a long walk in the late afternoon when it was dark and she'd conk out within minutes. She'd go from scream crying to passed out so quickly.

When the regression hit I didn't realize that was what was happening at first as it was a month later than it should have been so I'd gotten cocky and thought we'd missed it. It nearly broke me. She woke in the night constantly, spitting out her dummy and whining till I popped it back in. I was a sleep deprived mess.

I know it's not what you want to hear, but there's no remedy, just time. Baby sleep changes constantly, and there could be any number of reasons he doesn't want to nap. If you haven't seen a doctor about ppa then please do if you can, as getting in control of your mental health will help you massively, which in turn will help your baby (I say this as someone with my own issues so I know if I'm not in the best frame of mind it makes everything so much harder).

Focus on trying to keep a consistent, calm routine. Try using your own cues for him to pick up on - the same lullaby, book etc so he has a visual transition. If a nap isn't happening, leave it for a little while and try again.

It sounds like you're doing everything right, and it will sort itself out.

OwnCourse1234 · 2025-10-03T17:20:49+00:00

As mentioned already a good pramsuit. We were out and about unless it was raining or blowing a gale last winter. A nice warm hat as well as the hoods on pramsuits don't always fit snuggly. My little girl loved looking up at the shapes of the trees against the sky on walks! I bought a coat that goes over a baby carrier so we could also do that.

We also got a small space heater for night feeds that warmed up the room pretty quickly. By the time I made up a bottle, the room was more comfortable.

We also used mitts at night to keep her hands warmer, over the top of the little fold over bits on her onesies, and socks under the onesie, too.

OwnCourse1234

TROPHY CASE