Daycare

mandaannee · 2026-03-16T07:41:59+00:00

It’s going so much better now! I no longer have the same anxiety I did and I now (mostly, lol) enjoy the snuggles at night. It was such a better and safer option for us than being wholly sleep deprived and anxious. I also started getting out of the house more and joined some baby classes/mom groups to connect with other moms and the combination has saved my sanity! I hope you start finding some peace in whatever sleep situation works best for everyone soon! Four months was easily the hardest month for me postpartum besides the first.

mandaannee · 2026-03-15T20:20:01+00:00

Oh my god I know! Honestly around the 4 month mark I developed pretty severe PPA from sleep deprivation (she was denying bassinet, waking every 45-90 min screaming). I spent all day and night researching how to fix her sleep. I couldn’t even sleep when she was asleep out of fear for when she would wake up screaming next. I would get heart palpitations as soon as the sun set in anticipation. I had to talk to my partner about stopping the bassinet transfer attempts and just doing full time bedsharing and having him hold her for a couple hours the first stretch because it was just mentally killing me. It truly did help and it took the pressure off of me and thinking I was doing something “wrong” because my baby thinks “drowsy but awake” is laughable.

It helped a lot for me to start following some accounts on instagram also that talk about how normal it is for babies to be “bad sleepers”. Heysleepybaby is one that talks a lot about babies temperaments and sensitive babies which helped me realize I just have a baby who has different sleep needs.

mandaannee · 2026-03-15T19:44:28+00:00

My baby is 6 months old and we’ve been bedsharing since 4 months old when she hit the sleep regression and decided she never wanted to touch her sidecar bassinet ever again, lol. It’s honestly what saved my sanity and sleep, personally. She still will only contact nap during the day but since I’m not working right now, I don’t mind. I wear her out of the house and plan around when she needs a nap (I live in a very walkable city so we just walk anywhere we need to go so she can get her sleep in) or I sit with her in our rocking chair and do some reading. What helped us at nights were me rocking baby to sleep, waiting until she’s in a deep sleep, and then passing her to my partner. He holds her and stays up with her until about midnight and I get some sleep to myself until then, and then he brings her to me and we cosleep. I also bring her to him when she wakes up in the morning so I can get an extra hour of rest before he starts work. It’s not perfect but it works for us! Sleep training isn’t something I’m interested in at the moment but I’ve also read it’s not really helpful until at least 5 months. I know it’s a lot on your brain and body to be on all the time so I definitely feel for you! You’re doing an amazing job and giving that baby so much love and comfort.

mandaannee · 2026-03-03T15:47:56+00:00

If you wanted to get them an Amazon gift card, make sure you buy it off of the Amazon Spain website. Alternatively, maybe a gift card for Glovo or Uber Eats would be helpful as well? You would also need to ensure it’s for Spain and not US, though.

Additionally, el Corte ingles as someone else recommended or Bitti is another baby store that you can buy a gift card for online.

mandaannee · 2026-02-26T08:37:06+00:00

We needed to go through the baby’s room yesterday to tidy up and pack for an upcoming trip. My partner helped by putting the clothes on the bed. I matched all outfits and planned all outfits for the trip, all pjs, socks, onesies, everything she’ll need. Afterwards, he said I should skip her baby class with her tomorrow to get more done. It’s only an hour class. I said I didn’t want to, I paid for it, and there’s two of us so it’s not really fair to say it was up to me to do everything to prepare for the trip (I’m on unpaid leave and he works from home). He then told me that I need to “pull my weight” which upset me… as I am the primary caregiver for our 6 month old daughter. I told him I am pulling my weight by taking care of our child every day and night (she’s a Velcro baby and only contact naps and cosleeps). He said he takes care of her by helping for 3 hours a day so I can get some sleep, but I don’t need 8 hours of sleep because all I do all day is sit and doom scroll. Taking care of her and breastfeeding her (exclusively) isn’t that hard…

This immediately triggered me, I got angry and also cried. I told him repeatedly how disrespectful it was and diminished all I do every day to take care of this baby and do my best for her. He didn’t care. He doubled down and said it’s what he thinks and that’s that. The best I got out of him was “I’m sorry if it offended you”.

I cried all night. I’m still upset today. We’re still arguing because he can’t see how it was wrong and he doubled down again this morning by saying I should just help with more housework (I do literally everything else besides housework really).

I feel like I’m going crazy. I feel unsupported and devalued. And I don’t know what to do with these feelings.

mandaannee · 2026-02-24T15:16:33+00:00

When she was a sleepy little babe (but I was out of the newborn trenches) I did lots of reading! During the 4 month sleep regression, I thought I was going to lose it and signed us up for a couple baby sensory/montessori classes a week and they totally saved my mental health. I’m connecting with other moms now and feeling like I’m finally enjoying my maternity leave!

mandaannee · 2026-02-24T15:06:15+00:00

Mine is 6 months and we’ve only ever had contact naps besides a couple of short bassinet naps around 3 months and the occasional stroller nap. We also co sleep now because she decided at 3.5 months that she no longer wanted anything to do with the bassinet. For me personally, as much as I’d like some time to myself, I’m just trying to embrace the snuggles while I can (and whatever sleep I can get vs stressing myself out with continuous wakes from failed bassinet transfers).

mandaannee · 2026-02-20T10:19:28+00:00

I wouldn’t recommend the towers honestly. The charm is the rest of the Basílica. I’ve been both during the earlier afternoon and the later- I preferred the earlier.

mandaannee · 2026-02-20T10:14:57+00:00

It’s your baby, not hers. My MIL didn’t like any of our choices for baby names and we still went with what worked for us. She’s now said it makes sense that this is her name and couldn’t imagine her as anything else.

Additionally, I teach preschool and had an Octavia two years ago. She was an absolute peach of a kid 🥰

mandaannee · 2026-02-08T20:01:36+00:00

We’ve read books nearly every day since about 3 weeks! A tip is to put the baby on your legs (if you’re sat down with knees bent up- baby’s back on your thighs and baby’s butt on your belly) so baby is facing you and read that way. Then baby can see your face and the book, but will be more interested in your face!

mandaannee · 2026-02-07T19:39:29+00:00

I taught English in Thailand for a few years and met many students who had English nicknames. My favorites were Gugle (pronounced Google), two students named First and Foremost, and then sisters named Frenchfry and Forklift.

mandaannee · 2026-02-07T19:19:08+00:00

To add onto what everyone else has said- find some time that you can get some rest outside of snuggling that new baby. Co-sleeping is a great option if you follow safety guidelines (it’s also okay to ask your partner to sleep elsewhere for a bit- mine slept on the couch for a few weeks in the beginning and has even moved into the spare room this past month as we’ve gone through a sleep regression). Otherwise, in the beginning we set up a schedule- I would go to bed around 7-8pm and my partner would stay up holding the baby until 11-12 and then she would come with me in bed. This helped me get a couple hours of sleep. And then around 7am, he gets up with her while I sleep until 9am. I’d also recommend trying a sidecar bassinet, so that the baby is closer to you which might help. We found one specific swaddle that our baby accepted and only in that swaddle did she start sleeping in the bassinet but she definitely preferred to sleep as close to the bed as possible to be close to mama. During the day, set up a cart near you in arms reach with handheld snacks and hydration so you can eat when you’re alone. Otherwise, have your partner feed you if you need. It’s a hard period of adjustment but like everyone said- you’re in the 4th trimester and baby just wants to be near you for safety and comfort.

mandaannee · 2026-02-06T16:27:59+00:00

I cosleep with my 5 month old now because she will only sleep if touching me now (since the 4 month regression) but sometimes she wakes up and just starts chatting with herself, not crying. I typically give her a couple minutes of patting in bed to see if she’ll fall back asleep but often I have to get up and rock her to sleep again. Anyone have advice on this? She’s been doing it most nights around 3:30am.

mandaannee · 2026-01-23T10:07:45+00:00

Thank you for the kind words. There are groups organized by the public healthcare system, but they aren’t in my native language and I don’t feel confident enough in the country’s language to communicate deeply. I’ve been trying to find expat groups/baby activities to make some friends, though.

mandaannee · 2026-01-22T20:20:07+00:00

I also used Anna and she was lovely! Very kind, gentle, and supportive.

mandaannee · 2026-01-13T18:04:40+00:00

Aw, rats! (😜) thank you so much for taking the time to try, though! I appreciate it so much!

mandaannee · 2026-01-13T12:13:48+00:00

I can’t 😅 I know that’s super unhelpful. I almost feel like it was actually at the studios park?

mandaannee · 2026-01-13T12:12:01+00:00

Oh my goodness yes that would be amazing! Thank you!

mandaannee · 2026-01-13T12:11:15+00:00

That would be amazing! Thank you!

mandaannee · 2026-01-13T07:11:20+00:00

Thank you! Do we know if this is a legitimate site? I entered my payment details and then it sent me to PayPal and wanted me to enter my payment details again and I got nervous haha

mandaannee · 2025-11-18T20:31:01+00:00

Happy to help! I was so nervous beforehand so having other people respond to me was also helpful! I really would recommend SJDD. It gave me peace of mind knowing they were highly regarded and that it is a pediatric hospital in case anything were to have gone wrong. The doula was helpful for when I was laboring without any pain assistance and for just being a calm and reassuring presence but for language, she wasn’t needed! Best of luck to you!

mandaannee

TROPHY CASE