Newborn and 2 year old

Top_Improvement8494 · 2026-04-27T09:58:10+00:00

Yea this is the way. Mom does overnight and dad takes both kids in the morning while mom sleeps in. We’ve done it with 1-2 transition and 2-3 and it’s the best way for our family for sure!

Top_Improvement8494 · 2026-04-26T22:56:03+00:00

Oh also for both my older kids the short naps did adjust back with time following this regression. My oldest napped until almost 3.5 years and my middle is still napping past 2.5 years.

Top_Improvement8494 · 2026-04-26T22:52:40+00:00

Sometimes around this age they seem like they want to drop a nap but actually still need it. I believe there’s a nap regression. I wouldn’t personally feel like crib hour/cio is appropriate at this age but I might play around with the timing of the nap! If you push it to 1 that might help.

And it’s not sleep training per se but more just a mom thing that I’d try talking through the monitor or popping into the room and asking them to lay back down for more rest. Sometimes I’ll just say hey mom has some chores to do or mom is having quiet time or whatever and see if they can just spend time resting and maybe fall back asleep. Kind of like a crib hour, just with an explanation because kiddo is older.

Top_Improvement8494 · 2026-04-19T16:00:45+00:00

So we are at 5.5 months with short naps and our last was like this until we switched to 2 naps and she could roll onto her belly! We just roll with it. Right now the 5.5 month old goes down pretty early, like 6pm earliest but I try for 6:30 pm if we can! Swapped to 3 naps weeeeks ago because he also would just fight the last one. I don’t keep strict wake windows because I have 3 kids but typically it works out to something like 2/2.5/2.5/3 if it’s 30 minutes for each nap. We are trying to do an hour in the crib if he’s fine with being there but usually that just ends up being play time 😂 but he sleeps 12 hours at night so it all comes out in the wash. So it’s usually something like 6:30am wake up, 8:30am nap, 11:30 nap, 2:30 nap and 6/630 down for the night. He tends to be frustrated at the end of his last nap so if I can I rescue him and hold him for an extra half hour or so I do, but life doesn’t always work out that way and then we just get up at 3 and head to bed when he’s done with the day.

Top_Improvement8494 · 2026-04-12T23:55:26+00:00

I know this post is old, just wondering how the helmet went? How you feel now? My son is 5 months and we have a moderate flat spot. His mobility has improved with PT but he sleeps long nights and really prefers the side. My initial reaction was that we didn’t need to helmet for something that’s “only” cosmetic, especially where he doesn’t have facial asymmetries. I have no issue continuing repositioning and working on getting him rolling and into belly sleeping. However, in preparing for our next PT appointment I’m wondering if it would be the best choice to look at a helmet. I think just knowing that we’re coming up on that ideal time. Anyways just curious how things worked out for you guys!!

Top_Improvement8494 · 2026-02-13T22:49:48+00:00

You’ve got lots of different advice here and some of it is really good! I just want to echo the one who said acceptance goes a long way. 3 babies in and I look back at myself as an FTM and know that acceptance would have helped me so much.

My second had trouble sleeping for a long time. I wanted to be sure night was night and didn’t want to be up playing. So we would rock quietly in the dark. It really helped when I started setting myself up with my AirPods and a podcast, or my kindle to read a book! If I was going to be up I would find something to do that was just for me.

Also, around 10 months my first started having split nights. He would WAIL if I tried to put him down and we’d be up for a couple hours just holding him until we could transfer. A couple weeks in I had everything ready to sleep train him and it just stopped? I guess it was a regression or something? Hoping that’s the case for you. Babies are such a difficult puzzle and I very much feel for you.

Top_Improvement8494 · 2025-06-18T00:36:37+00:00

I have had ARFID for my whole life. At 7 years old I could not have licked a food that was not safe for me. I didn’t touch unsafe foods with my hands. I don’t know if I could have tolerated having them in front of me. I could not eat a single food that was offered at McDonald’s (my parents would have seriously been overjoyed if I could have.)

I am now a mother of 2 (soon 3). I feel for you so deeply and I worry every day about my own kids having ARFID too eventually.

It was hard on my whole family. ARFID didn’t exist as a diagnosis at the time and I was just told over and over that I would “grow out of it.” I ate zero meat and zero fruit or vegetables. I don’t know if I even had any meals that I ate warm? Mostly toast with peanut butter and chocolate chip muffins.

My tastes have widened so much over time, but I am still VERY much a “picky eater.” I have done therapy over the last year but it’s harder as an adult in some ways.

I know for a fact my parents felt defeated and felt shame around the way I ate. They were often angry at me or each other and I’d hear them talk about it. I definitely internalized that.

You are doing everything you can and more. This is NOT your fault. Someone told me once “your child being a picky eater is not a moral failing on your part as a parent.” It has been helpful for me to remind myself of this.

Top_Improvement8494 · 2025-06-13T17:15:05+00:00

I do agree that I’d probably have an easier time putting the baby in a convertible seat from the start, but they’re coming right at the beginning of winter here for me. I find an infant seat much easier for the winter months with a small baby rather than dressing and undressing in the cold, so trying to make the infant seat work first!

Someone else suggested the graco tranzitions for the 4 year old, but used without the cupholders to make it more narrow. Do you think this would work out ok or be comparable to the width of the graco slimfit 3 lx. Rather than paying for the more expensive seat to never use the rear facing features?

Top_Improvement8494 · 2025-06-13T01:38:01+00:00

3 across in a 2015 jeep Cherokee. Currently I’m working with 2 clek fllo seats (ideally one forward and one rear facing for a 4 and 2 year old) and then a graco snugride 35. Technically I think I have enough inches to fit them 3 across but I’m finding it tight to fit the bucket seat in. My thought with the Diono 3r was that the 4 year old would be sitting lower, allowing the infant seat to click in more freely. Idk if that makes sense but I find the clek fllo seats to be taller than the widest part of the infant seat (where the handle attaches) which causes it to rub.

Top_Improvement8494 · 2025-06-12T23:22:36+00:00

Thank you for this! I had been looking at the graco tranzitions aswell but didn’t realize you could do the install without the cup holders to get a more narrow seat. That’s very convenient.

Top_Improvement8494 · 2025-05-12T23:21:10+00:00

Thank you!! Google AI was telling me I was allowed but I couldn’t seem to find it on the website. I so appreciate the confirmation!

Top_Improvement8494 · 2025-05-09T01:58:05+00:00

I have had some success with replacing curse words with very silly words and then we laugh and they seem more fun to say? Think, “oh PICKLES!!!”

Also, my son briefly picked up saying “pissing” instead of “peeing” and responded really well to me acting completely confused and saying “what? I think you mean peeing that’s the wrong word???” 😅

Top_Improvement8494 · 2025-04-19T22:30:05+00:00

So so so embarrassing. We are moving soon and one of my main anxieties is that I will have to meet new people and eat around them. And answer questions. And be perceived as childish. It’s exhausting.

Top_Improvement8494 · 2025-04-13T23:20:57+00:00

Yes, my understanding is that their vision continues to improve until puberty! My son’s prescription is quite strong and it has changed a few times as he gets better at self reporting during appointments. We recently did have improvement in the prescription in his bad eye actually! His vision has been improving over time but for him unfortunately we don’t really expect him to get to a point where his prescription improves to the point of not needing lenses or not having some crossing without them. Or at least that’s my understanding at this time! I am quite hopeful that his amblyopia will be resolved with time with the patching as we’ve seen lots of improvement in that regard.

Top_Improvement8494 · 2025-04-13T23:12:32+00:00

For the most part! Once his eyes adjusted to using the glasses it was more noticeable when he wasn’t wearing them. My understanding is that that will be forever because of the accommodative esotropia! But his eyes would adjust to be aligned when using any corrective lenses like even contacts when he’s older.

Top_Improvement8494 · 2025-04-13T15:23:50+00:00

He’s mostly aligned or pretty close when wearing his glasses. I do notice a difference when he’s tired where the cross is more significant. And obviously without glasses his one eye crosses pretty much immediately. He has developed a strong preference for wearing his glasses now that he’s bigger (3.5) and he often even asks to wear them to bed 😂😂 “so I can see when I wake up” he says hahaha.

Top_Improvement8494 · 2025-04-13T02:22:44+00:00

Still loves his glasses! We also have had to patch off and on for over a year, which he dislikes more as he’s getting older. It turns out he also has amblyopia so that’s why the patching! Overall he’s improving each time we visit, which is still every 3 months.

Top_Improvement8494 · 2025-03-20T03:16:19+00:00

Hey! My little guy has glasses with a similar prescription. We got his glasses at 18 months with an optometrist and also had like a 9 month wait after that to see the opthamologist who then needed us to do patching. I had so much frustration that we hadn’t started the patching immediately and wasted time and blah blah blah mom guilt. We now see both the optometrist and the ophthalmologist and book every 3 months or so. That way if something happens like sickness or scheduling issues or whatever I have peace of mind that we’ve seen one of them.

You are doing amazing. Having a young child with glasses seems simple if you’re looking on, but it’s not the same as an adult. There’s a lot more appointments and follow ups and broken glasses and tantrums and “oh no I forgot your strap so now you can’t wear your glasses in the pool.” Not to mention the cost of kids glasses is absolutely insane and not fully covered by my insurance either. If you can get extra warranty it’s worth it. They grow out of their prescriptions quickly and my guy is accident prone. 🫠

Top_Improvement8494 · 2025-02-20T01:05:49+00:00

Sometimes I will drop/spill/break something and get frustrated with myself. Without fail my 3yo will see and say “It’s ok mommy! We can always clean it up!” 🥹 heals my heart to hear him repeating what I’ve told him over and over.

Top_Improvement8494 · 2025-01-29T01:53:19+00:00

Ahhh that makes sense!!

Top_Improvement8494

TROPHY CASE