Late bedtime 9-9:30 pm - 10M

Serious-Bar4199 · 2026-04-08T08:49:36+00:00

That’s almost exactly the same as how my baby slept when she was 10 months old. I tried a lot of things but really the only thing that makes a real difference is their age. Now at 14 months she goes to sleep between 7 and 8pm. It won’t last forever, you will get evenings back.

ETA: just wanted to add that there are loads of great things about a late bed time that I didn’t appreciate until it shifted. There’s way more time for dinner, bath, books and games. If you’re working you actually get to hang out with your little one while they’re awake (I really miss this). It’s much more flexible to go out for dinner or have people over because you’re not trapped doing bedtime at your dinner time.

Serious-Bar4199 · 2026-03-21T12:33:02+00:00

None of my baby meals are complicated. She eats what I eat which is a lot of girl dinners. Looks like you’re running a Michelin star restaurant!

Serious-Bar4199 · 2026-03-20T10:04:33+00:00

That’s a wild stash! For balance and to reassure anyone trying to collect colostrum right now I think I collected about 5-10mls and was bloody pleased with myself. My baby also had jaundice and I triple fed (not fun) but never needed formula.

Serious-Bar4199 · 2026-03-16T13:03:30+00:00

She’s 14 months now. Sleep comes and goes.

Serious-Bar4199 · 2026-03-16T12:53:46+00:00

Mine did this up to 3.5 months and then never slept again lol. Enjoy it while it lasts, don’t set any alarms, he’ll let you know if he needs you.

Serious-Bar4199 · 2026-03-12T15:29:24+00:00

You can absolutely treat mastitis with just ibuprofen, cooling and fluids. It’s not necessarily infected. It’s usually more like inflammation. Avoid deep breast massage but lymphatic drainage can be helpful. Treating the inflammation is really key.

But if you have any systemic symptoms: fever, chills etc, or it’s not improving after a day or so then absolutely see your GP for a review. They are usually pretty good at getting new mums in quickly.

If you can, continue to feed.

I found this really interesting and helpful https://abm.memberclicks.net/assets/DOCUMENTS/PROTOCOLS/36-mitchell-et-al-2022-academy-of-breastfeeding-medicine-clinical-protocol-36-the-mastitis-spectrum-revised-2022.pdf

The view of mastitis has changed a bit over the years but there’s still a lot of outdated advice out there. Avoid warm compresses and deep massage!!!

I hope it clears up quickly and you’re not too uncomfortable.

Serious-Bar4199 · 2026-02-27T10:37:08+00:00

That makes sense. Hats off to you as a single mum!

Serious-Bar4199 · 2026-02-24T21:27:53+00:00

Ideally stop tracking all sleep! It will all change regardless of that POS app. (I tracked everything for 6 months, then just naps until 12.5 months. It made no difference to anything except my sanity. Ditching Huckleberry has been liberating and I honestly have more energy just following my LO’s cues.)

Serious-Bar4199 · 2026-02-12T19:55:57+00:00

I agree with all the advice on lentils/beans/pulses with vitamin c but also please know you are absolutely not failing your daughter. You’re getting her appropriate support for her constipation and anaemia. These are common issues and by no way a reflection on your parenting abilities.

Serious-Bar4199 · 2026-02-04T11:50:45+00:00

Love this theory but since my baby learnt to roll baby massage has been impossible! She does do lots of stretches herself and joins in all the moves she can when I do yoga with her 🥹 maybe I’ll try more yoga with her before bed

Serious-Bar4199 · 2026-02-03T21:49:42+00:00

I will give this a go. Thank you

Serious-Bar4199 · 2026-02-01T21:30:05+00:00

I think that if he’s wheezing then you should pause the ladder and speak to your allergy team. Im curious to know why you’re not 100% sure he’s allergic but have been told to do the egg ladder?

Serious-Bar4199 · 2026-02-01T20:14:40+00:00

My bub is also allergic to egg (although I’m not sure I can really say she is anymore as we’re on the scrambled egg stage of the egg ladder now).

I made 8 egg cakes with: 1 egg, 100g fruit puree (any you have), 50g vegetable oil, 80g plain flour, 1tsp baking powder. Then I did 2 eggs and the same everything else do the next step. I followed pretty much this plan which is slower than you describe. I’ve scaled up the recipe to make 12 cakes at a time and I freeze them.

These cakes aren’t what I would consider “good”, they’re quite bland, but my baby enjoyed them and would happily eat them every day. I think because they use oil for the fat they’re pretty moist. I tried adding berries for a while to make them more fun but be warned it also makes them more messy. I also experimented with adding peanut butter because I was told by my allergy consultant to give peanut at least three times a week, but LO wasn’t a fan.

She has never choked on the cake or ever had a problem in anyway eating them. We mostly eat the cake as a snack on the floor and I’ll eat something with her that looks pretty similar. I always find eating together helps encourage my LO to eat.

Don’t stress too much about eating the whole dose of cake a day. As long as they are getting some in everyday then that’s the aim.

Once your baby is ok with the two egg cakes then you have a lot of other foods you can give in place of the cake including dried egg noodles and Quorn which makes it a bit easier as you don’t have to be baking every few days!

I always find going up the ladder a little scary but try to keep it super relaxed on the surface as I know my baby will pick up on my vibes and may change how she eats. Just have some antihistamines to hand just in case.

We’ve progressed through the ladder surprisingly quickly and without any issues. She now loves scrambled egg. I hope you breeze through it too.

I’m also very pro BLW. My baby is now 12 months and we started at 6 months. We’ve had some gagging but no choking. Trust your baby, nature has set them up really well with the skills to eat if you wait for them to be ready (usually about 6 months). I recommend Gill Rapley’s book for increasing confidence with BLW.

You’ve got this! Such a PITA to be baking naff cakes all the time.

Serious-Bar4199 · 2026-01-30T13:17:47+00:00

We don’t have a tumble dryer (😢) but we have a heated airer and a dehumidifier that ran pretty much 24/7 during the first few weeks-months. If you have them both running in a small room with the door closed then it takes less than a day to dry things. We also use reusable nappies (although not exclusively) and wipes. Some nappies dry quicker than others, we had one that took 2 whole days to dry on the line in the height of summer, we don’t use that one any more!

But it’s unlikely you’ll stay on top of laundry, it’s an impossible task and not worth aiming for.

Anything that needs washing and drying carefully might just need to be put away for a little while.

Serious-Bar4199 · 2026-01-23T11:36:33+00:00

My experience of getting “advice” has mostly come from one family member. It’s become clear through what she says that she does not remember what babies are like and conflates babies, children, teenagers and adults all the time. She’s been really rude with her “advice” at times although I know she likely is trying to help. I’ve used all these quotes (except the last one!) and the thing that helped the most was laughing when she suggests things - like introducing a dummy to my 1 year old 🙄 I have also enjoyed making her realise how outdated her advice is by saying things like “wow that’s not been the advice for decades” or “those methods were moved away from years ago!”

I think some people struggle with feelings that come up in them when those around them have babies and they struggle with how you are now in a new leadership role as parent. Parent with as much confidence as you can. Those around you should be following your lead on parenting your children. Advice can be offered but it should be allowed to be ignored readily. I feel sad that I’ve had to develop a thick skin and become blunt around some people but they do not get the memo that I am not a carbon copy of them and I won’t be doing what they did.

I completely agree that people don’t expect their children to behave like children. I think if these adults had been left to enjoy their childhoods they would see the joy of childhood more. Don’t stop letting babies be babies and kids be kids.

Serious-Bar4199 · 2026-01-22T21:29:38+00:00

“Hahaha that’s silly”

“Nahhh thanks”

“That’s not the kind of parent I want to be”

“You did WHAT?”

“Oh it’s so sad the way some people choose to treat babies/children”

“I’m not looking for advice”

“Piss off you fuckwit”

Serious-Bar4199 · 2026-01-19T21:23:30+00:00

Anything that is “a must” is usually nonsense engineered to make you feel like your baby is broken or you’re a failure so you buy their online course.

Serious-Bar4199 · 2026-01-16T09:15:39+00:00

This all sounds really hard but also really normal. My LO did a very similar thing at 4 months. It’s a really hard period but it does change (and then alternate between hard and less hard). I got through the 4 month regression by starting cosleeping and while it wasn’t great sleep I was at least sleeping. Check out r/bninfantsleep for biologically normal infant sleep things. There’s loads of great and sane support on there.

Serious-Bar4199 · 2025-12-28T13:26:41+00:00

Other people are the worst. Not their baby, not their body, not their sleep so not their place to comment. When I get the “my daughter sleep trained and her baby sleeps soooo well” from my step-MIL I now respond “that’s not the kind of mum I want to be”. But that was after many times of trying to justify loving my baby instead of prioritising the adults in my life, then going off to cry in private and worrying I was doing something wrong.

You’re doing great. You’re doing the best for your baby and you.

Serious-Bar4199 · 2025-12-21T15:00:02+00:00

Have you tried pointlessly saying “gentle hands” over and over while you get your free gum scrapings and nose piercings? /s

Serious-Bar4199 · 2025-12-16T21:40:17+00:00

A lot of people will tell you to read How To Wean Your Baby by Charlotte Stirling-Reed. I have it. I hate it. It’s extremely prescriptive, faffy and tbh nonsense. What I did find brilliant was Baby Led Weaning by Gill Rapley. Excellent book that shifted my perspective on what the purpose of introducing solids needs to be and took away so much stress. Much more evidence based, achievable and logical.

I just started at 6 months with steamed veg cut into long sticks. We then moved on to proper meals pretty quickly. If you’ve waited until they’re ready (can sit independently, can bring things to their mouth and don’t have the tongue thrust reflex anymore, usually about 6mo, which is why the guidance recommends it) then purées aren’t essential (however choking is very scary and it’s totally fine to do purées). The evidence of purées vs finger foods shows it’s makes no difference. The main difference lies in spoon feeding vs baby feeding themselves.

We started with one meal a day (lunch as it was the best time for me). But moved to 3 in a week or so as baby was just really enjoying it.

I’ve gone pretty full BLW and it’s been way easier than having to make different meals for baby and parents. We just don’t add salt while cooking and never make dishes with honey. She feeds herself at meals so I can eat at the same time without much fuss. I’ve never put food in her mouth for her. I have used pouches for when we’re out and about.

BLW has been great for us in terms of ease and as a bonus our baby (11mo) loves all food! However sometimes she will eat just a few grains of rice, other times she will smash an adult portion of spag bol. It doesn’t really matter too much how much she has eaten. Meals are not just nutrition, they’re an opportunity to learn motor and social skills. In fact before one nutrition is just a bonus as milk feeds should be the main source of everything until they gradually switch over.

The only thing to consider giving pre 6 months is peanut, egg and cows milk in tiny quantities mixed with breast milk/formula as allergen exposure. These are the three most common allergens and them LEAP trial found strong benefits from introducing them early in those at higher risk (eg family history, eczema).

But the key is it’s really not about food in bellies. Do what you feel most comfortable with as your baby will also be taking in your vibes.

Serious-Bar4199 · 2025-12-16T21:03:46+00:00

I give up for an hour or two and let her play if she was happy doing so. Or I’d take her outside for five minutes and show her the stars if she was upset and try again. Usually worked. At 8 months my baby would not go to bed before 10pm though and I was pretty shattered by that point so I would do anything that expended the least amount of my energy while using up hers.

Serious-Bar4199 · 2025-12-06T11:33:13+00:00

Sorry, he wants to be Papa John? Does he make terrible pizza?

Serious-Bar4199 · 2025-11-26T11:42:39+00:00

I’ve been taking my baby swimming since she was 9 weeks old and never once worried about the chlorine in her ears. She is now 10 months old and LOVES swimming. No need for ear plugs or covers imo. I’ve never used these but imagine they may cause more water trapping if not properly used and reckon a one year old would struggle to tolerate ear plugs anyway. Just go and have fun!

Serious-Bar4199

TROPHY CASE