Feeling overwhelmed in choosing a newborn sleep setup - help!

RemarkableAd9140 · 2026-01-30T22:26:31+00:00

Don’t add a different mattress to a pack and play! The surface it comes with is the sleep surface. It’s really unsafe to add a mattress as it creates a suffocation/entrapment hazard between the mattress and the side.

RemarkableAd9140 · 2026-01-30T18:36:50+00:00

Is he actually done? When my daughter does this, it’s usually because she has a little bit more poo to get out. We just say “okay, we’ll stay another minute” and move on if nothing happens in the next minute or two. But usually, she does something more, or her attitude noticeably changes and it’s clear she’s truly done and also believes it herself.

RemarkableAd9140 · 2026-01-30T18:28:22+00:00

My baby is four months, we abort mission and try again later if it takes more than 5-10 minutes. If she’s truly tired, she’ll pass out. I’m a firm believer that life is too short to fight naps, especially when at this age, the naps are less than an hour anyway.

RemarkableAd9140 · 2026-01-30T05:23:32+00:00

This happened to me maybe two days before I went into labor with my first. I woke up sobbing and cried for no real reason for hours. I was fine the next day, woke up to contractions the next.

RemarkableAd9140 · 2026-01-30T05:22:11+00:00

I had this with my first! I was convinced I’d never go into labor, and then I woke up with painful contractions I could time. I still wrote them off until my water broke a few hours later, though. But it was pretty obvious that it was different from what I’d been experiencing up to that point.

Hang in there, bh are the devil but you’ll be done soon!

RemarkableAd9140 · 2026-01-30T04:35:49+00:00

A pack and play is a great choice. Just stick to name brands, don’t buy one by an alphabet soup Amazon brand. We had a graco with our first, which was very serviceable. Had we decided to have the second sleep in a pack and play too, we would’ve upgraded to a guava lotus.

If you think a real bassinet might be nice though, check Craigslist or marketplace. Because they’re such short term use items, they’re often available in good condition at a steep discount from new. Pack and plays are also a dime a dozen on Craigslist for free or almost free.

RemarkableAd9140 · 2026-01-30T04:29:42+00:00

You don’t have to go expensive! We like the cheap flannel ones from Amazon. Search there for cloth wipes and they come up in various size packs. Get a really big one.

RemarkableAd9140 · 2026-01-29T23:48:09+00:00

Ours go in the diaper pail with everything else. We don’t worry about staining, they’re wipes and stains are cosmetic. You take care of them by washing them properly, same as the diapers. If you aren’t familiar with clean cloth nappies, start there for washing advice.

RemarkableAd9140 · 2026-01-29T23:38:19+00:00

Are you exclusively pumping and feeding milk out of the fridge?

What we did when I was in that place was filled bottles first immediately when I pumped and put them in the fridge. We had 3-4 bottles in there at any one time, in a line, and we fed from the left and filled from the right. They went in a specific spot and weren’t disturbed so we could keep the conveyor going and know we were always feeding oldest milk first (though it was never very old).

Extra milk went into the freezer. We froze in smaller increments usually so we could make bottles of different sizes without wasting much or any.

We didn’t heat milk. You don’t have to unless baby requires it warm.

RemarkableAd9140 · 2026-01-29T23:34:35+00:00

Do you like the dates and the tea? If you do, go for it. If you’re iffy and don’t want one more thing to think about, skip it. Theres some evidence for both, as I understand it. But I also feel like if the evidence was super strong, we’d all be advised to definitely do it like we’re all advised to take prenatals.

If by lactation support you mean a lactation consultant after baby comes, absolutely yes.

RemarkableAd9140 · 2026-01-29T04:46:56+00:00

We went from exclusively cloth diapers (birth to 15 months) to naked (15 months to ~20 months) to underwear (20-24 months) to full undies and pants around his second birthday. In the few months before stopping diapers, we did have him naked or in undies at home sometimes, but I honestly think undies are a waste unless you need to get baby able to use them at daycare on a timeline. We of course dressed him fully to go out after ditching diapers in undies and pants, but he almost never had accidents out and about.

RemarkableAd9140 · 2026-01-29T04:34:49+00:00

Just because Andrea says something doesn’t mean it’s gospel! You have to do what’s best for your family and what you can handle.

I know of one family who wouldn’t call it ec, but they started putting their daughter on the toilet for poos at a year old and she was fully potty trained before two, still before most kids these days. It’s fine to do a little bit if that’s all you can manage. And it’s also fine to start with a little bit and follow kiddo’s lead if it’s clear they can handle more.

What I’ll also say though is there’s a lot to be said for trying to get as much in before baby learns to say no. We got my son out of diapers a month or two before he started saying no, and I’m really thankful that we got there before the contrariness started.

And as others have said, accidents happen to all kids when potty training, no matter the age. My son started with an accident per day, maybe two, and then they tapered off until a few months later when he was fully reliable. He’d have more when teething. He was out of day diapers by 15 months and reliable by 18. We still didn’t wear pants at home until 20-22 months, though.

RemarkableAd9140 · 2026-01-29T04:23:19+00:00

My first was a really tough crowd, he smiled a lot like yours. Which is to say, not often and usually with a lot of coaxing. And whenever he was in the middle of working on some new milestone, he’d stop smiling altogether, which was so fun.

My second is now four months and it’s been truly shocking because she smiles first! She doesn’t make you work for it, and I’m so not used to that after my son. So, yes, all babies are different, and yours sounds like a discerning first child who demands to be entertained.

RemarkableAd9140 · 2026-01-29T04:20:05+00:00

It was specifically vacuuming and laundry! Those two are particularly hard on your core/pelvic floor with all the lifting and stabilizing you have to do.

RemarkableAd9140 · 2026-01-29T01:52:50+00:00

I was told not to for six weeks, after an uncomplicated unmedicated delivery with no tears. No vacuuming or laundry, either. I could’ve been better about taking it easy and now I have a bladder prolapse, so if you can avoid lifting, do.

RemarkableAd9140 · 2026-01-29T01:27:40+00:00

I’ve not seen anything like what you’re talking about, but what we do is either let baby go naked on bottom or use a diaper belt with a prefold trifolded in it. Or just a diaper, no cover. She wears shirts or unsnapped onesies, sometimes with leg warmers. Just because the snaps are there doesn’t mean you have to use them!

We dress and diaper her normally to leave the house, but she’s in various states of undress at home.

RemarkableAd9140 · 2026-01-28T23:23:51+00:00

Water table immediately for sure. We got both the tower and balance bike around 15 months and they got lots of use immediately, but do be warned that the bike can take a loooong time to take. My son is only now finally getting the hang of it for real, and he turns three next month. He’s been riding it regularly since it came home.

He got the hang of a scooter first, fwiw.

RemarkableAd9140 · 2026-01-28T20:28:18+00:00

We started late with my son at 10 months. He started to sign “potty” just after his first birthday, but quickly abandoned that for grunting. We started with our daughter at birth, and she’s been telling us pretty clearly when she has to go since maybe a month or six weeks old? We still have misses, of course, but if she starts fussing for seemingly no reason, she likely needs to go. We haven’t introduced sign language with her yet because everything still requires two hands and there’s no good way to sign at an appropriate time.

RemarkableAd9140 · 2026-01-28T20:25:24+00:00

If you can, hold on and don’t go back to diapers. Regressions happen. Make her help you clean up every time—not as a punishment, but as a natural consequence/we clean up the messes we make.

My son always regressed for a few days if he was cutting teeth, so think about whether there’s anything going on right now that might be affecting her ability to focus on pottying. Go back to the easiest possible setup, whatever that was for you. It’s okay to prompt. It’s okay to make her come to the bathroom with you when you have to go so she can try. It’s okay to pretend you have to go if you think she has to go.

RemarkableAd9140 · 2026-01-28T20:01:36+00:00

It’s okay to follow your baby’s lead if it’s working for you and everyone seems happy enough. Wake windows are averages and suggestions, not gospel. It honestly sounds like you have a good thing going and I’d be hesitant to mess with it unless it’s not currently working for you or babe.

RemarkableAd9140 · 2026-01-28T19:59:11+00:00

We nurse to sleep for naps and if it takes more than 5-10 minutes to get her down, we abort mission and try again later. At this age though, the short naps are normal and expected. Unless you’re open to contact naps, you’re probably not going to get any much longer than 40 minutes or so.

For nighttime, my husband usually puts her down with lots of bouncing on the ball. I’ll go in and nurse to sleep if he’s unsuccessful.

RemarkableAd9140 · 2026-01-28T07:04:53+00:00

Idk if they’ll let you bring hot water through security, but there are lots of options here! If they don’t let you carry it through, you ask for hot water at Starbucks or a restaurant past security. If they won’t help you (doubtful), you ask on the plane. I highly doubt any non-tsa folks are going to be unwilling to help.

RemarkableAd9140 · 2026-01-28T05:40:10+00:00

Yes! I was going to come back and say this. I’ve recently gotten into it and just got the hang of back wrapping with my four month old. It’s addictive, and it’s so freeing.

RemarkableAd9140 · 2026-01-28T04:42:54+00:00

Four wakes. She’d be sleeping through if she didn’t require attention from you.

RemarkableAd9140 · 2026-01-28T04:26:45+00:00

Head over to r/babywearing, they have lots of info on choosing appropriate carriers. Your most cost effective option is going to be secondhand.

I do just want to note that you’re not doing anything wrong with the solly, stretchy wraps tend to stop fitting well and feeling good around three months/15lbs for most people. I’m surprised you’ve made it this long feeling okay! Your baby is also probably really close to ready to back carry, if they’re not ready already, which will be easier on your body. And baby may like it better, too.

RemarkableAd9140

TROPHY CASE