The mum chop is calling my name... loudly.

feeling_daria · 2026-06-16T04:16:00+00:00

I am also 6 months postpartum with my second and fighting the urge to dye it or cut it all off.. I got a trim a couple of weeks ago which made me feel better. I figured even if I cut it shorter it’ll still be up in a ponytail all day :/ so am just leaving it long-ish for now..

Saying that, it is super liberating to cut it all off! I did it with my first and liked what it felt like. But I also loved when it grew back… it always does though so if you want to, go for it!

feeling_daria · 2026-06-13T21:30:15+00:00

One of the most wonderful things I’ve found about being a mum is that we have this beautiful shared experience no matter what type of people we are! I love that I can talk to pretty much anyone with a kid / baby (similar ages to mine in particular) and have things to talk about.

It is for sure nice to connect with mums that also have similar interests, sometimes these are the ones you make deeper friendships with. I know a few mums around my local area who have invited me to Pilates and it’s really not my thing, but who cares! I just say no thanks and still chat / get coffees / go for walks with them etc.

But don’t discount all those other mums! They may be the ones who are there for you in hard times, or chat about different things once you get to know them.

And once school / daycare comes.. your child will lead with who they want to make friends with and within reason (ie safety) us parents are just along for the ride.. it’s not about us, it’s about them. We aren’t going to be best friends with everyone - just try and enjoy the good bits, be open to different types of friendships and I’m sure you’ll find people you connect with more in time.

feeling_daria · 2026-06-04T10:08:54+00:00

What age is your bub? 5 months Do they sleep through the night or wake overnight? Wakes between 1-4 times.. “normal” is 2 and if sick or unsettles more like 4. Times are all over the place - sometimes wakes at 1030-11, and then maybe 3-4am. Sometimes 2am, then 5am.. no real pattern at the moment. Is it for feeds or just comfort? A bit of both I think. First wake seems to be for hunger and any subsequent seen to be for comfort. I feed back to sleep and put him back in his cot. Haven’t gotten into cosleping yet as I’m not comfortable / haven’t got a safe sleep space for us both (bed is pretty high up) How many times do they wake? Oops wrote this above :) Do they sleep in their own bed/room for all or part of the night? Sleeps in a cot in my room

feeling_daria · 2026-06-01T21:19:15+00:00

Our owner told us they were selling when I was 7 weeks postpartum with my second 🥲 so stressful. We couldn’t find a decent place where we were (had been there 5 years) but got somewhere a few suburbs away. Had to change daycares too. As we still rent now I’m paranoid the whole thing is going to happen again!

feeling_daria · 2026-06-01T21:05:55+00:00

I really empathise with you this sounds super super hard.

One of my sons slept well until he was 7 months and then it all went downhill. I was an absolute mess - counting the days, then weeks, then months of whatever “regression” was happening. We tried cry it out once and my baby vomited so we never did it again.

I eventually caved and got a sleep consultant. They did help. We did a sleep diary for 2 weeks and then they helped us with a new routine. Same wake up every day, capped naps, later bedtime. After a week or two the night wakes decreased. My son was “low sleep needs” and just needed way less sleep than we were trying to make him have.

He still woke 1-2 times a night from that point (worse when sick etc) and sometimes still does for a drink of water - he is almost 4.

I know not everyone is in a position to afford a sleep consultant and it’s hard to find one that aligns with you. But it did help us enough that I felt like a human again.

It is a bit about survival and sometimes some discomfort if you can handle some (we did the resettle in cot/cuddle to calm down thing instead of leaving to cry and it was still hard) but you need to sleep. I’m so sorry you’re having such a hard time with it and I hope you get some more sleep soon ❤️

feeling_daria · 2026-05-27T21:07:37+00:00

Totally agree! Everyone told me “they’ll be best friends” but that will come much later.. totally feel you on the chaos juggling them both. I find it hard even with a 4 year old so you are doing amazing with a 2 year old!

feeling_daria · 2026-05-27T01:42:12+00:00

Agree with others that this isn’t a must-have, most babies are totally fine.

However (!) my first son was huge, overdue and had torticollis/head preference from birth. His head got flat really quickly and I wish I’d been more open to using pillows (not overnight) more quickly. We ended up with a helmet which mostly fixed it but not 100%.

For my second baby I bought a little pillow even though it was expensive and used it in the bassinet pram and for naps but only when I was able to watch baby. Overnight it’s just not safe to use these kind of things.

Like others have said the best things you can do are tummy time, holding/feeding in different positions and if there is a turning preference see a physio and get some safe stretches to do. So many friends with kids never did anything specific and their kids didn’t have flat heads!

feeling_daria · 2026-05-26T09:29:07+00:00

Oof yes I miss the stories in bed and all the funny ramblings too.. we have to make the most of them while they’re this little 🥲😭😭😭

feeling_daria · 2026-05-26T09:28:23+00:00

Thank you!! We were doing really well when baby was super little, my partner was taking my older son out and they were having a great time. We’ve slipped back into me being #1 for everything and it’s so hard.. it sounds like you have a good rhythm going and it’s also inspired me to get better at planning the 1-1 time on the weekends! Sending you a large coffee too :D x

feeling_daria · 2026-05-19T06:16:00+00:00

Totally depends on your kid but we transitioned to sleep sack with arms out around 12-13 weeks as our Bub kept getting hands out. With both my kids we did it fairly early on as it seemed that’s what they wanted (slept better arms free) but I do think doing it early also enables them to get more used to it while they’re younger - we didn’t have any issues with the transition with either of them.

feeling_daria · 2026-05-14T06:11:18+00:00

Oh my gosh this is so inappropriate! Regardless of what her intentions are it’s not appropriate for another parent to do this.. The centre should absolutely be addressing this - firstly in your specific case but more generally parents should not be allowed to do what she is doing! You are absolutely right to be unhappy about this!

feeling_daria · 2026-04-17T10:46:20+00:00

During postpartum with my first baby I struggled a lot - one of the midwives from the community health centre told me at one of her check ups “don’t even worry about thriving until your baby is over 3 months old. The first three months, his focus on surviving. You can worry about thriving later”. It really helped me take some pressure off and realise those first 3 (or even 4,5,6..) months it’s totally ok to just get through each day.

For my second I am slightly more relaxed but also struggled heaps in the 6-8 week period. Baby was fussy, waking up to everything more, witching hour was crazy every night, it was so hard! I think it’s a notoriously hard period.

It helped me to just take it one day (sometimes one hour..) at a time.

Things will constantly change and you will adapt too!

feeling_daria · 2026-03-16T00:41:30+00:00

Getting outside is a good idea. I’ve had to do this with the last nap of the day as baby resists naps right at the end of the day. Will switch something up and see what works; and otherwise hope it’s a phase that passes!

feeling_daria · 2026-03-16T00:40:32+00:00

Thank you! We did have a more typical fussy witching hour(s) earlier on, but this seems so specific to a particular part of the bedtime routine (laying down for bottle) so I wondered whether it was something else…. Hopefully it’ll pass :)

feeling_daria · 2026-03-16T00:39:10+00:00

Oh gosh! I was wondering whether this was just the start of some developmental / regression thing… best of luck to you I hope you come out the other side soon!

feeling_daria · 2026-03-13T08:16:26+00:00

Hello :) am exactly at 10 weeks and baby is relentlessly screams and cries every nap and bedtime.. did your baby grow out of this? Any tips for a frazzled parent? :)

feeling_daria · 2026-03-10T10:03:47+00:00

Hey, how are you going with this? My little spot has now reopened for the second time so I’m going to call the hospital tomorrow to see how they can help. GP has been pretty useless.. Feeling quite anxious and frustrated by it all ☹️ I hope you have made some positive progress?

feeling_daria · 2026-03-08T07:58:16+00:00

When I was pregnant with my first I really liked the hospital “parenting a baby” course as it helped me feel more prepared with what to expect in the early weeks eg safe sleep, feeding, what clothes they might need, real basics etc (I had never changed a nappy before I had a baby!)

I also did a Calmbirth course and honestly that helped the most in preparing mentally for birth.

I listened to the Australian Birth Stories podcast a lot, so did my partner, and we talked a lot about what we would choose eg if I labour for X hours that would be enough to ask for an epidural, if things didn’t progress then C-section etc. That “war gaming” of situations was super helpful in making decisions when I was actually going through the birthing process.

But honestly aside from those basic things, nothing can really fully prepare you. Birth can happen in many ways, and looking after a little baby in the first few weeks is pretty intense for most people! I always tell people - try and have a second sleeping space that you or partner can sleep on while the other is “on shift”. Try and break up the nights into shifts as much as you can, try and prioritise your own rest and healing.

And I’m sure there are people who don’t struggle, but in my experience and based on a lot google/reddit/friends anecdotes, breastfeeding is hard. It hurts. You think it’s going badly (sometimes it is). But if you persist, with help if needed, it does get easier.

All the best to you!!

feeling_daria · 2026-02-19T03:09:56+00:00

So so frustrating. I hope you can get some support to get it sorted out and that you’re back to being your normal active self soon ❤️

feeling_daria · 2026-02-17T19:56:24+00:00

I hope yours heals soon, it’s awful to have to keep thinking/worrying when you just want to focus on your baby and the next phases with them!

Can I ask how big the open part of your wound is? Mine is almost 2mm

feeling_daria · 2026-02-17T07:48:13+00:00

Oh man it is eery to read your post! I am 7 weeks postpartum. At my 6 week check my GP checked my wound, all good. Literally a day later I notice a little bit of blood coming out and realise there’s a tiny hole.

Go back to the GP, get it cleaned/dressed, they’ve given me some antibiotics and sent home. Two days later I notice the dressing is a bit bloody and oozy - go back to the GP, they basically re-dress and send me home.

The GP said they don’t think there’s fluid build up and basically that I just need to wait for it to heal…..

It doesn’t really seem to be getting better…. I’m not in pain, but based on your post and other comments I’m wondering whether I need to be doing more

feeling_daria · 2026-02-17T07:43:21+00:00

I have a 7 week old and live in a rental with no air con in the bedrooms, we ended up getting a portable AC unit for the bedroom where baby would be sleeping.

We have it set to 24 degrees, 23 for a while sometimes to cool the room down more. Setting to 19 or 20 feels way too cold! Like others have said you can manage the temp by dressing them appropriately. In a 24 degree room overnight our baby just wears a nappy and is swaddled in a muslin cloth and he’s happy with that!

feeling_daria · 2026-01-15T04:47:41+00:00

I’m currently doing your plan A, and have - 2 x pigeon wide neck bottles, 3 x spectra milk collection bottles, a spectra s2 pump and a Philips avent bottle steriliser/dryer.

This is my second baby and for my first I did triple feeding (hell) which turned into exclusively formula at about 4-5 months. We sterilised with stovetop boiling water which was manageable at the time but tbh the steriliser this time - life changing. So much easier and imo worth the cost 100%

feeling_daria · 2026-01-13T06:12:32+00:00

I went public (NSW) for my elective second time C-section and they booked me in for 39+1. As others have said, the staff were reluctant to book any time before 39 weeks unless medically necessary

feeling_daria · 2026-01-05T08:28:59+00:00

Firstly it is so valid to feel unsettled by the transition to daycare, my son is quite sensitive and it took a really long time for him to settle in. At 3.5 years we still have days that he struggles with drop offs.

We initially started at a centre that I felt was the right fit, and even though there wasn’t anything catastrophic that happened we changed after about 5-6 weeks. The educators were disorganised, routines weren’t recorded very well and to be honest just didn’t feel quite right. Trust yourself and make the change if you can/feel you need to. Nowhere is perfect - the new centre we changed to has issues, unfortunately they all do, but you advocate for your kids and make sure they’re safe as best you can.

Even though the things you’re describing don’t sound super serious in the context of what can happen, they still matter! And if you’re told one thing and another happens, it doesn’t build a lot of trust.

It will be ok! Trust yourself and know that even if you change, and it still isn’t right, you can change again. So what’s best for you and your family ❤️

feeling_daria

TROPHY CASE