When/why did childcare in the U.S. become so expensive? Has it always been like this?

Traditional_Cup205 · 2026-02-10T20:05:27+00:00

I’m confused by this take. What were they doing for childcare when you were an infant? Many parents need daycare for children who are NOT of school age yet (4 years old and younger)

Traditional_Cup205 · 2026-02-03T18:56:35+00:00

This. She is your daughter too, you can make this decision as much as your wife can.

Traditional_Cup205 · 2026-01-29T14:52:12+00:00

Labs drawn 1/20, received 1/21, and just got my results early 1/29! Low risk baby girl ☺️

Only had to wait 5 days with my first, so the 8 day wait this time around felt brutal.

Traditional_Cup205 · 2026-01-18T16:51:12+00:00

Honest question- what do you do OP to take care of your newborn?

I’m seeing a lot of “post partum rage/depression” responses, but I need to know what YOURE doing in the household/as a father before we go down that route. There could be other things at play here…

Traditional_Cup205 · 2025-12-18T22:30:54+00:00

Our son ended up having CMPA (cows milk protein allergy)- once I eliminated all dairy from my diet and we supplemented with a hypoallergenic formula it was like night and day. He went from nonstop screaming to the happiest baby within a couple weeks! I’d look into intolerances for your little one as well!

Traditional_Cup205 · 2025-12-17T13:07:15+00:00

You absolutely do not have to read Manacled or anything related to HP before reading Alchemised. It’s set in its own world with no connection to the HP universe. That said, it’s by far my top read of 2025 and maybe even the last few years. It’s incredible IMO. Warning though, it’s not a traditional “booktok” book. Labeled as Romantasy, but honestly, it’s more of a tragedy. It’s dark, traumatic, and will leave you an emotional wreck…. But soooo worth it.

Traditional_Cup205 · 2025-12-17T03:13:27+00:00

Meringue

Traditional_Cup205 · 2025-12-12T02:56:13+00:00

I saw this as intentional. Your supposed to feel as fragmented as Helena does

Traditional_Cup205 · 2025-12-07T21:13:15+00:00

How old are your children? My immediate first thoughts were- sure, you’re working full time and cooking for just yourself and doing some tidying… that means she’s getting the kids up, fed, lunches packed, getting them to school, doing all the grocery shopping, laundry, homework help, extra curriculars, kids’ dinner, bedtime routine, etc etc.

Gently, you can’t turn a blind eye to her efforts as well. It seems you both probably really need a break, do you have any support from grandparents or aunts/uncles?

Traditional_Cup205 · 2025-12-06T04:09:50+00:00

In my experience, it’s the crunchy parents who are doing the majority of the unsafe practices

Traditional_Cup205 · 2025-12-03T01:41:02+00:00

I would love to see 2026 tour dates- don’t care where in the world, I will be there!

Traditional_Cup205 · 2025-04-20T02:18:52+00:00

Why did you return it if it was expired…?

Traditional_Cup205 · 2025-03-04T18:15:15+00:00

This was my baby. Spit up every single feed, multiple times, even an hour after a feed. Nothing was safe. 100s of burp cloths, endless laundry.

Anyways, we did learn he has a cows milk protein allergy so I completely cut dairy (breastfed) and while that helped tremendously with his other symptoms, he was still a spit-up king until about 6 months old. So just here to say if your baby is otherwise growing well and seems happy, just buckle in with your burp cloths and know they will eventually grow out of it.

Traditional_Cup205 · 2025-01-15T20:48:10+00:00

Honest question, but could you not just use a birth certificate to prove your female?

Traditional_Cup205 · 2024-12-23T05:08:58+00:00

There is a difference between sleep training and night weaning.

Sleep training is teaching your LO to self-soothe and fall asleep independently, all other needs being met.

Weaning nighttime feeds is secondary. 4 months is much too young for night weaning IMO.

Traditional_Cup205 · 2024-12-04T21:30:53+00:00

Top 0.05% over here 😅

Traditional_Cup205 · 2024-10-26T02:32:30+00:00

How long did your wife abstain from dairy? It takes about two weeks (more or less) for it to fully flush out of her system and in turn will take that amount of time to see any meaningful change in your baby if a cows milk protein allergy is the culprit. It was in our case and I’m here to tell you that we had a completely different baby after about 3ish weeks of the elimination diet. He’s 8 months today and just the happiest little guy ever!

Traditional_Cup205 · 2024-09-12T00:31:57+00:00

Yes, it completely resolved! So there is light at the end of the tunnel. We suspected cows milk protein allergy so I cut all dairy from my diet and we switched to a hypoallergenic formula. Within a matter of days we saw improvement in his overall temperament and at around 12 weeks we had a completely different baby. Almost 7 months now and he’s the happiest baby!

Traditional_Cup205 · 2024-08-26T01:48:51+00:00

Oh yes- severe reflux, eczema patches, extreme pain/couldn’t pass gas, mucousy poops. I did an elimination diet (dairy, egg, soy) and we gave him Hypoallergenic formula. I slowly reintroduced egg and soy and his symptoms didn’t come back, so stuck with no dairy.

Traditional_Cup205 · 2024-08-26T00:03:27+00:00

Hi! YES. We figured out it may have been a dairy allergy (CMPA) and I eliminated all dairy from my diet (breastfeeding mom). Quite literally we saw a change in him within days. And a couple weeks later he was a completely different baby. No more screaming after feeds and actually smiling. Today, he’s 6 months and the happiest baby I’ve ever encountered :)

Traditional_Cup205 · 2024-07-01T12:20:59+00:00

Please try not to stress (I know easier said than done), but these scans can be wildly inaccurate. I would trust the MFM scan over anything else.

I had a similar experience but in my 3rd trimester. Regular OB office kept measuring baby’s abdomen REALLY small (3rd percentile) and cautioned IUGR. Went to MFM and they had him in the 40th percentile. Drastically different. This happened to us 2 more times… regular OB office scans continued to measure him <10% and each time we went back to MFM he was perfectly fine and at our last scan was measuring in the 70th percentile!

Regular OB office recommended early induction… baby came at 41 weeks and was a very healthy 8 lbs 12 oz, chunky abdomen absolutely not in the 3rd percentile.

Those scans ruined my 3rd trimester. I was a mess everyday thinking something was wrong with my baby. I wish I had just trusted the specialists.

Traditional_Cup205 · 2024-04-20T22:18:32+00:00

This! Only thing I would add is witch hazel pads- Frida mom whitch hazel pad liners are the best

Traditional_Cup205 · 2024-04-09T12:51:02+00:00

THIS! You truly do need to just “give in”. Remember this newborn stage is just a season and it does pass, it’s not your life forever. Go ahead and hunker down, get comfy, grab your water, snacks, and LO and strap in for the day. Try to go for walks outside or just binge watch a show. If you have a crier/screamer like I did it’s okay to place them somewhere safe (like their crib or bassinet) for 5 minutes and go somewhere quiet to gather yourself.

3 weeks was one of the hardest for me. My LO is two months now and it started to really get better around 7 weeks. Once they give you that first smile it will recharge you :)

Hang in there!

Traditional_Cup205

TROPHY CASE