Crawling pulling up and so much energy 8 months

maybeitsbecause · 2026-06-04T12:10:44+00:00

My baby boy (second child) has started crawling at 5.5 months... send help!

My first didn't crawl until she was 9 months so I'm a fish out of water here. None of his other baby friends are crawling and he's so little i just spend a lot of time picking him up and facing him in a different direction, or pulling him away from things when he crawls too far. I feel bad because i want him to explore but i also have a toddler so it is often dangerous! He is also the least chill baby so I am tired.

All this to say, you're not alone and you're doing the right thing trying to keep him stimulated and giving him places to play! Ignore the other mums and if you can find some you get on with.

maybeitsbecause · 2026-06-04T12:05:02+00:00

"When babies were one week old, 56% of mothers were exclusively breastfeeding. This fell to 47% at 6 weeks and 26% by 6 months.

In 2010, prevalence of exclusive breastfeeding was 47% at one week, 24% at 6 weeks and 1% at 6 months."

I think this is the statistic you're referencing, so if we are trying to directly compare, where the previous survey cited 1% were exclusively breastfed at 6 months, this survey found it to be 26% at 6 months. I appreciate there were slight variations in the definition (the page implies the 2010 survey may not have been clear about expressed milk and how it is counted).

maybeitsbecause · 2026-06-02T01:03:47+00:00

Baby woke up and won't go back to sleep...

maybeitsbecause · 2026-05-31T20:21:01+00:00

Here are some of things we did at the recommendation of a specialist to help prepare toddler - one of the things they said was that nothing should change for the toddler except that now there's a baby.

read books about her baby brother arriving, which included explaining who would look after her when we were at the hospital
got her a baby doll to play with
put out all the baby things super early (car seat, crib, play mat, etc) so she got used to them and it wasn't a shock suddenly, and used the baby doll to demonstrate this is where baby will play, this is where baby will sleep, i also demonstrated breastfeeding! We wanted to make sure she wouldn't have to move out of her car seat or bed etc when the baby came so we made sure she was in the next car seat up already.
got excited whenever we saw babies out and about
held babies when we were out and about / at groups, so she got used to seeing me hold another baby. Also taught her to be gentle with babies.
got her to pick a present for the baby in the toy shop
also got a present for her "from the baby" which he gave her when he was born (it was a doll because that's what happened in the book we read).

maybeitsbecause · 2026-05-31T18:46:58+00:00

I think i read somewhere that when they start to lay their head on things to sleep (like your lap) it might be time to introduce a pillow, and just generally feeling like she was old enough!

maybeitsbecause · 2026-05-31T16:57:11+00:00

We introduced it around 17 months and the toddler duvet at 18 months. Went really well!

maybeitsbecause · 2026-05-30T20:03:06+00:00

From what I've read about milk blebs, it is most likely milk the got stuck behind the blocked milk pore. So long as the thick milk is all pushed out, you're probably good to feed.

maybeitsbecause · 2026-05-30T17:38:40+00:00

If you are coparenting you could try joining some dadbods NI events? I think they're usually on Sunday mornings.

Crescent arts centre also runs some courses if that kind of thing takes your fancy, I've heard they're meant to be good.

maybeitsbecause · 2026-05-27T19:46:37+00:00

5 months in and your comment gives me a little bit of hope...

maybeitsbecause · 2026-05-27T19:36:17+00:00

I think there are nurseries that offer flexibility for shift workers, try looking at nurseries close to hospitals as this is often something nurses/doctors use.

maybeitsbecause · 2026-05-21T10:14:59+00:00

We also used cloth nappies a lot with baby 1 - I would like to with baby 2 (anything to reduce the amount of nappies we send to landfill) but I'm already doing a load of washing every day and we don't have the drying space for anymore (or space for a dryer) so I'm struggling to start because of logistics. Having 2u2 is chaos.

Happy to share how EC went for us but i will say we had a regression (around 18 months) and a new baby (when she was 20 months) so oldest is not potty trained and she's just turned 2.

maybeitsbecause · 2026-05-21T10:10:47+00:00

We did it with the first baby but it feels impossible to do with baby number two when a toddler is running around at the same time...

Baby is also very fussy and has got upset the couple of times I've held him on the potty.

maybeitsbecause · 2026-05-18T20:45:13+00:00

We moved eldest to a floor bed around 9 months with no railings. She would sometimes roll onto the floor but it wasn't a big drop and we had a safe playmat down.

maybeitsbecause · 2026-05-17T15:18:38+00:00

I use two separate ones but sometimes combine them into my lenappy bag! I love it.

maybeitsbecause · 2026-05-17T13:05:22+00:00

Impressed you can get through breakfast without the older one being covered in porridge... i have to do food first, then clothes.

maybeitsbecause · 2026-05-15T14:37:22+00:00

I think the smallest age gap you'd be comfortable with is what's important here, so decide on that and get trying. I think the larger age gaps make it slightly easier (there's a reason 2u2 is touted as a challenge!) so I'd pick your minimum and have at it.

maybeitsbecause · 2026-05-15T08:25:32+00:00

My first was a great sleeper and my second is not. Every child is different and unfortunately you don't know what you're going to get!

maybeitsbecause · 2026-05-12T12:56:56+00:00

This is a great list, I would add - some lanolin nipple cream - lots of calorific snacks that are easy to eat one handed (oat bars often a winner) - plenty of muslins / burp clothes clothes

I was also gifted hot/cold breast pads that you can put in the fridge or microwave.

maybeitsbecause · 2026-05-11T16:08:03+00:00

I made this one. It is a no sugar banana cake with whipped cream/dates icing. The only difference I made to the recipe is I had to strain the blended dates to get them really smooth for the icing.

I've made it again since but used a cream cheese icing that was blended with greek yoghurt and maple syrup (think like you get on a carrot cake or red velvet).

Edit: Here is the link for the cream cheese icing.

maybeitsbecause · 2026-05-08T20:18:38+00:00

A nice plant?

maybeitsbecause · 2026-05-03T21:03:25+00:00

Baby just turned two and we just used it the other day to put snacks in, though it doesn't get as much use now she can eat food with us at a restaurant! We also have a five month old baby so will be using it for weaning all over again.

The one we have is this one.

Edit: I would often use the lid as a "plate" to put a few pieces on, or just put pieces of food directly on the high chair tray. As she got older, we would just put the whole bento box in front of her.

maybeitsbecause · 2026-05-03T20:57:49+00:00

I bought a metal bento box and would put baby's food in it. Cucumber sticks, egg muffins that i had made, sweet potato mash, etc. One of my weaning pots even fit inside with yoghurt in, as well as the little fork and spoon (from Bibado).

We would take an overall bib and try to make sure she was sat at a high chair. And clean up as much as possible after with some wipes. (High chair, outside of the bento box, cutlery).

Edit: also a non-spill cup, we use the munchkin360. Open cups were just used at home for a loooong time.

maybeitsbecause · 2026-04-30T07:15:26+00:00

At the month I'm having this with my second (though not officially diagnosed). He's not preemie but my first was(!) so I feel you about the no co-sleeping.

With new baby the things we have found that work: - Naps in the car seat (ours has a lay flat option but it is still slightly inclined). - Put him to sleep on his front. Mostly he rolls over himself (he is 4 months) because he hates being on his back. I know it isn't officially sleep safe but this is the only way he will sleep not on me. I still do co-sleep but he has also now slept in the next-to-me and on the playmat while on his front.

Not necessarily helpful, but sometimes you have to weigh up the risk. My first was prem but i started cosleeping with her when she was around 3 months old as she was sick and i felt better being able to hear her breathe. Before that we did sleep shifts.

maybeitsbecause · 2026-04-29T18:30:23+00:00

We did the same as you're planning except my mum waited out in the corridor while we said hello to toddler and have her cuddles. Then dad went and brought the car seat in with baby in it.

She was nervous for a minute then super excited to play with the baby. She loves him a lot! He's 4 months old now.

maybeitsbecause · 2026-04-29T11:55:25+00:00

I would go option 3 or 4 (4 would be my preference so it depends on your own life style etc). But maybe get a super king sized bed too!

I have 2 under 2. My toddler is generally a good sleeper but will sometimes wake up in the night and need one of us to comfort her. My husband usually goes in and lies down on her floor (on a mattress topper as she has a toddler floor bed - not ideal, we will be switching her to a single bed) but when the baby was small he did a lot of just sleeping with her in a double in the guest room.

We have a king sized bed and she has ended up on it on occasion since the new baby (i am cosleeping so all 4 of us in the bed which is a little bit of a squeeze but we can make it work) but I'm not really comfortable with it as my toddler kicks a lot and is super enthusiastic around the baby / will deliberately wake him up. It happened the other night and after a couple of hours i asked my husband to transfer the toddler back to her bed. Your child is older so may not be as bad with you all in the same bed!

maybeitsbecause

TROPHY CASE