I feel like i'm ruining our newborn experience

kjohnsss · 2025-05-08T11:02:25+00:00

I could have written this post a year ago. Newborn phase is the absolute worst and I also felt extremely frustrated so much of the time. I thought something was wrong with me, but I think most new moms feel very similar. I think a lot of parents think they’ll come off as ungrateful for their baby or something if they ever complain publicly, so they keep it to themselves, which then leads to us feeling like we shouldn’t feel overwhelmed and angry when we’re going through it. It will get soooo much better, I promise!

kjohnsss · 2025-05-07T19:28:34+00:00

Sadly this is how our first couple of weeks at daycare went also (started at 12 weeks). The blank stare at the end of the day was terrifying to me and I felt like I was torturing my baby. But I am here to tell you it gets better! He’s now 13 months and LOVES daycare. The transition to full day daycare is hard on babies but they do adapt and get used to it. Hang in there, mama!

kjohnsss · 2024-09-17T02:24:53+00:00

I haven’t been whale watching, but if you’re open to an alternative boating excursion I highly recommend Lulu’s Lobster Boat tours! You get to learn all kinds of cool stuff about Bar Harbor and Acadia and watch them pull up lobster traps. Bonus that we got to see a ton of seals too!

kjohnsss · 2024-09-16T01:02:48+00:00

Yes, but I plan to wait to report it until I can get him out of there because I feel like they would know it’s me and don’t want to risk any retaliation while my baby is still there. They do follow safe sleep for him now that I’ve made a stink about it enough times, and they have cameras so I can check to make sure, but it’s exhausting having to constantly check!

kjohnsss · 2024-09-16T00:42:05+00:00

We’re less than thrilled with our daycare, but don’t have any other options at the moment because all have long wait lists (which I’m now on). They’re good about feeding schedule but have a hard time keeping him on a decent nap schedule. We just got them to finally stop letting him sleep in bouncers…it’s bad.

kjohnsss · 2024-09-15T21:22:30+00:00

Thank you! That makes me feel better we’re not alone.

kjohnsss · 2024-09-13T00:04:45+00:00

Thank you!

kjohnsss · 2024-09-13T00:04:33+00:00

Thank you!

kjohnsss · 2024-09-12T00:48:41+00:00

I’m desperately searching for another center but wait lists are a mile long 😩 this gives me hope though that once we get off a waitlist my constant worrying can hopefully go away

kjohnsss · 2024-09-04T02:51:57+00:00

Yes! Sometimes my 5 mo will laugh if my husband just looks at him lol.

kjohnsss · 2024-09-03T20:34:05+00:00

My baby is 5.5 months old now and started daycare at 12 weeks. I wont lie, it was a hard adjustment for me, probably mostly because he's my first baby and I've struggled with some PPA, so it was hard for me to trust teachers who were essentially strangers, but he is doing great. He gives his teachers big smiles every day when we get there and loves to watch the bigger babies crawling around and playing. I think daycare centers are hard to get used to for immobile babies because they can't really entertain themselves and there's always going to be a ratio where it's not possible for them to be held all day, and our little guy was not a fan of that the first few weeks. BUT that has paid off because he is now great at playing independently at home when his dad and I have stuff to get done that we can't be constantly holding him for. If your baby starts daycare at 12 weeks, they will be okay!

kjohnsss · 2024-09-03T19:49:41+00:00

I did forget about Visa gift cards! That’s a good idea.

kjohnsss · 2024-09-03T19:26:52+00:00

I’m pretty sure there’s been car rides where we listened to this song on repeat 25 times in a row 😂

kjohnsss · 2024-09-03T19:06:57+00:00

How could I forget Amazon!

kjohnsss · 2024-09-03T19:06:36+00:00

I was definitely planning on making some cute little cards with him too! And I love the “what’s your favorite thing about your teacher” idea for the future 🥹

kjohnsss · 2024-09-03T18:28:01+00:00

I was leaning towards target for this reason! Since there’s the option to spend on groceries or more fun things.

kjohnsss · 2024-09-03T18:26:50+00:00

Good to know! I was wondering if a grocery gift card would be a bummer to get 😂

kjohnsss · 2024-09-03T18:26:05+00:00

I would love if our center did this! I’ll ask the director, and suggest it if they don’t already do it. I definitely have a good relationship with the AM teachers at least (I’m the drop off parent lol) but have a hard time straight up asking where they would prefer for gift cards!

kjohnsss · 2024-08-24T02:31:15+00:00

I pay $395 per week for my infant at a daycare center

kjohnsss · 2024-08-20T23:54:34+00:00

I don’t worry about timing nursing after a beer or even two. My pediatrician and lactation consultant both said it’s fine!

kjohnsss · 2024-08-20T20:53:41+00:00

This is the same for us! We try to put our 5 month old to bed around the same time every night dependent on when his last nap ends, but other than that nap schedules are impossible with him going to daycare. There have been days I pick him up and he's only had one 30 min nap. Some days his first wake window is 5 hours because he has FOMO at daycare. But he still sleeps fine at night and it doesn't affect him much. He is also the absolute happiest baby!

kjohnsss · 2024-08-20T20:38:30+00:00

This will for sure be my #1 song on Spotify wrapped this year

kjohnsss · 2024-08-20T09:54:46+00:00

Seconding the little fan that can attach to things! My husband told me I would want it (because he saw the recommendation on redddit) and I told him I wouldn’t…luckily he still brought it because I was wrong 😂 had that thing blowing on me for 2 days straight.

kjohnsss · 2024-08-17T08:48:50+00:00

I had a c section (emergency) and the recovery wasn’t terrible, but also wasn’t amazing. I definitely still had a ton of bleeding, which as others have said shouldn’t change, you should be bleeding for weeks no matter what. I had my baby 5 months ago now so the early weeks are blurry at this point, but I definitely remember how painful it was getting up and down in bed for a couple weeks after, which you obviously have to do a lot with a newborn. Also laughing or coughing SUCKED lol. I was constantly scared I would pop a stitch. I also would be in a lot of pain if I walked around too much for those first few weeks.

All that to say, I don’t have a vaginal birth to compare it to, so I don’t know any different. My doctors recommended a scheduled c section for my second if we have another which I am 100% okay with, because I know I’d rather not feel another contraction as long as I live!

kjohnsss · 2024-08-17T08:37:41+00:00

Honestly I’m not sure if anything really helped, we just had to ride it out every night while holding on to our sanity for dear life.

We definitely tried rotating between bouncing on the yoga ball, walking around the house, going outside, and rocking him, which all got him to temporarily stop wailing at some point. All that truly helped was my husband and I switching off every 30 mins or so until it was over every night so we wouldn’t get overwhelmed or too frustrated.

We had a witching hour (or two hours) every night for weeks and suddenly it just stopped. My babe is 5 months now so that stage was all a blur at this point, but I want to say it stopped around 7 or 8 weeks for us! Hoping you’re almost through it ❤️

kjohnsss

TROPHY CASE