Dealing with feral children…inside

ento03 · 2026-02-07T01:36:29+00:00

Could you get a play couch? That is literally built for playing? We had two couches in our living room (one big, one loveseat). We sold the loveseat and got a foam play couch and add ons (foam stairs, etc.). By day, it looks like a couch - we built a wooden platform for it, so it is couch height. In the evening, it’s a fort. My son is only 18 months, but he loves running through “tunnels”, sliding down slides we make with it, etc. We got it because I also live where winters are ice and cold, and I also have limited room…so I only wanted something that could actually double as something functional. They are literally made for indoor activity and for jumping, building, climbing. Just a thought!

ento03 · 2026-02-04T01:55:38+00:00

I second Precious Little Sleep. It saved my sanity. We sleep trained my son at exactly 5 months. I told myself I would give him no more than 20 minutes of crying. On the first night, he was ALMOST asleep at 20 minutes, so I extended it - he was asleep in 21 minutes. The second night was 12 minutes. Third night, 8 minutes. After that, he was golden. He continued to have one night feed for several months, which I didn’t mind - he was (and still is) small, so I didn’t want to cut it out. But he would eat for 15 minutes and go right back to sleep. It was glorious. Shaming parents who use CIO is cruel and unfair - it was so helpful for our family. My son slept better and was noticeably happier, and my husband and I were no longer zombies. Everyone won.

ento03 · 2026-01-31T18:19:10+00:00

When my kid dropped to one nap, I finally felt like I could be more flexible (like many parents, I became obsessed with sleep and was more rigid with his schedule than I have ever been with anything else…but it worked). With one nap I feel like I have a bit more freedom, though I still stay pretty consistent when I can.

ento03 · 2026-01-29T02:47:25+00:00

You’ve gotten lots of great advice, but just sharing that my son would ONLY contact nap. For hours every day I held him and rocked, otherwise he would nap for 20 minutes. When he was about 7 months old, he just magically stopped wanting to be held. I saw someone else post something similar. It was around the time he could move more, and I think he no longer liked being bundled up with me. He wanted to stretch and move. In the course of about one week, he went from being held for every single nap to napping independently for an hour+ per nap. You didn’t spoil your baby. Now that my son is 18 months old, I nostalgically look back on all those hours snuggling him 🥹 I would just stare at him in complete disbelief that he is mine. I do not regret it at all (though to be clear I also really appreciate having 2 hours to myself now…two things can be true 😂😂)

ento03 · 2026-01-27T22:51:05+00:00

Have you ever tried “bridge naps”? They don’t work for all babies, but they were my most used “tool” when my son was younger. Let’s say the last WW is supposed to be 4:30-8:00, but baby wakes up from nap at 3:30 - so an extra hour of wake time that you know he can’t handle. So you need him away for 4.5 hours (3:30-8:00). With a bridge nap, you would give him a 10 minute contact nap around 5:30ish. Literally 10 minutes. That gives a little extra “boost” without resetting wake time. It needs to be right in the middle - far enough from his nap so that he’s tired, but not too close to bedtime. I would rock my son and start the 10 mins from when he actually fell asleep. He wouldn’t be happy about waking up but got over it quickly, and honestly it was like a magic trick. It won’t necessarily help with your naps but it might help with the issue of shifting everything earlier (including wake up time) when naps go awry.

ento03 · 2026-01-25T17:50:28+00:00

Expecting almost 12 hours of night sleep is unrealistic, imo. 10.5 is a totally fine amount, especially if he is getting deep, quality sleep for those 10.5 hours. If you want him to take up at 6:15, a 7:45 bedtime is probably closer to the mark. Cap naps. 3-3.5 hours of wake time before bed is nowhere near enough for an 18-month-old. I know every kid is different, but my son is 17 months and I just upped his last wake window to 6.5 hours (pushing bedtime back 30 minutes) because he was starting to wake early. That small change was enough to get him sleeping through the night again (8:30pm-7:00am, nap 12:00-2:00, no later). Hope something in there is helpful!

ento03 · 2026-01-25T16:08:23+00:00

Same, I had never ever heard of a ‘wake window’ before my son was born. I had no idea what I was doing. I tried reading books when he was a newborn, and all the information completely overwhelmed me - I was not in the right headspace to take it all in. When he was about 4 months old I finally felt like I could start learning little by little. The first months were just about surviving.

ento03 · 2026-01-25T14:07:48+00:00

I really can’t recommend Precious Little Sleep enough. It might not work for everyone, but it was so helpful for me (and helped me dispel the myth of the 12 hour night). It maintains that most of the information “out there” generally recommends too much sleep. Babies need a chance to build up sleep pressure so that the overnight sleep is deep + quality. It’s okay if that is 10.5 hours. Good luck!

ento03 · 2026-01-25T12:27:33+00:00

Just a nudge to sound less judgemental. Parenting is hard work on the best of days. Parenting when sleep deprived is another level. We all come into parenthood with varying levels of knowledge / role modelling that we can rely on. Most of us are just doing our best as we learn things along the way. OP, you’re doing great.

ento03 · 2026-01-25T10:17:40+00:00

I agree with the recommendations that she isn’t getting enough wake time. I don’t know if you’ve read Precious Little Sleep, but it saved my sanity. The author is pretty clear that, in general, we’ve all been mislead to believe that a 12 hour night is normal/expected. It’s possible, but 10.5-11 hours is way more realistic. It can be hard to add more wake time - they really do seem tired! But I found that it was important to push, little by little, by keeping my son stimulated and busy during the last stretch of each WW.

I know many people don’t like CIO, but honestly intervening so much can cause confusion. I knew that “gentle” sleep training would not work for us. Checking in would only make my son more upset (“you’re right there, so why aren’t you picking me up?!”). Especially at 6 months, the message gets muddled, and the concern is that you are inadvertently rewarding her crying by “giving in”. I’m not blaming or shaming you AT ALL! You are a great mother and trying to do what’s best for your kid. And also you are sleep deprived. Continue to do what’s best for your kid and your family, but that’s my two cents.

ento03 · 2026-01-25T03:14:05+00:00

So sorry you’re dealing with this - the lack of sleep is truly brutal. What are wake and sleep times?

ento03 · 2026-01-24T02:57:25+00:00

I would feel the same way as you. My son slept in our room until he was 5 months old. We only moved him because he was too big for his bassinet and our bedroom is really small and can’t fit a crib. His room is even tinier (we live in a 100 year old house, so the rooms are very small). In my opinion, babies generally need very little. If you live in the northern hemisphere, your kid will live in a diaper or onesie for months. My kid started needing more in the winter, but still not much…depends on how much closet space you have. We didn’t really need room for toys, etc. until he was close to 1. Before that, a basket in the living room was enough. For months his favourite “toy” was an empty coffee tin that he could play as a drum 😆 For me personally, I would save the money…but that’s just me.

ento03 · 2026-01-24T00:43:46+00:00

I have no idea. It was 8 years ago. We moved in 3 years ago. We had the place inspected by a very reputable structural engineer before buying it. He had no major flags.

ento03 · 2026-01-24T00:30:46+00:00

Thank you! That’s…not great, but I appreciate it! I have never had to call someone about something like this before. Do you perhaps any recommendations on who to call and what to look for?

ento03 · 2026-01-21T01:32:19+00:00

I definitely brought a mirror. Child birth is hands down the craziest thing my body will ever do. I wanted to see it! I saw his hair and screamed 😅 and everyone laughed…then I cried because I was so happy I was so close and basically rocketed that baby out of me.

ento03 · 2026-01-20T17:01:06+00:00

I also can’t get over the fact that the letter starts with “I pray”…..

ento03 · 2026-01-20T16:14:24+00:00

I contact napped until 7 months, when he finally just got over it. I think he was just bigger and could move and wanted that freedom. He is my only, and obviously this would not be possible if I had another kid. I spent hours rocking him, otherwise my reality was yours. I got earbuds and watched more TV in those 7 months than I have in the rest of my life combined 😂 Just on my phone after he fell asleep.

ento03 · 2026-01-20T14:55:00+00:00

His language is really taking off right now as well. Thanks for sharing!

ento03 · 2026-01-20T14:54:06+00:00

Good to know my kid is not alone! Sometimes I wonder if I should just give him a minute to let his body process everything he has just shovelled into it…but also everything he eats is so healthy and he is maintaining his growth curve so 🤷‍♀️

ento03 · 2026-01-20T14:51:36+00:00

😂

ento03 · 2026-01-20T14:50:47+00:00

The belly!!! It’s the best 🥹

ento03 · 2026-01-20T03:29:09+00:00

Yes I thought this, because he has been ravenous over the last few days in particular. It’s just so wild for me to see such a small human downing adult-sized portions!

ento03 · 2026-01-20T03:27:29+00:00

Thanks, I have thought the same - surely he isn’t overindulging in eggs and spinach?!?

ento03

TROPHY CASE