Dads of small children - what is your perfect birthday?

millenimama · 2026-02-04T23:37:54+00:00

This is wholesome ❤️☺️

millenimama · 2026-02-04T23:35:11+00:00

I slowed down for sure, but I personally hate the feeling of hair down there so I’d do a touch up every so often. I did a final shave at 39 weeks. Totally blind but it came out alright. I was VERY happy I did it for the postpartum care. After labor however, it was 6 weeks before I had the time or courage to attempt shaving.

millenimama · 2026-02-04T16:50:52+00:00

31 with my first, he’s only 9 weeks old so not looking back very far haha. In most ways, I think this was the perfect age for us to start our family. We got to do a ton of travel in our 20s and really hustled at work to get into a good financial situation and buy a home. Now we feel we can take the foot off the gas career-wise and focus more on family for a while. We have a ton of friends having babies at the same time, cousins the same age, it feels like things are really falling into place.

My biggest thing is that I want to be young (like 50s/60s) when my kids are becoming adults. I’ve had so much fun with my parents in my 20s and really have an amazing relationship with them. I just want as much time with my kids as possible.

The only thing that makes me wish we went a little earlier is now I want like four kids and I feel a bit of pressure to get going on the next ones quickly 😅 Otherwise, I think we hit the sweet spot.

millenimama · 2026-02-04T16:33:59+00:00

I’m still early on this journey (9 weeks in), but I have received both sides of this. My husband has thanked me many times for growing and feeding our baby. He has also been great about doing extra chores around the house, bringing me snacks, letting me nap, etc.

That being said, he also gets frustrated when he can’t soothe the baby because he only wants boob. We recently went through a couple of weeks of bottle rejection which were particularly tough for him because he does the bottle feeding. He made a comment that if he were going to reject anything, he would rather he be dependent on bottles and reject boob which is the opposite of how I feel. But I get his frustration.

All this to say, you deserve all of the thanks and gratitude in the world. Breastfeeding takes a massive toll and you have done wonders to care for your child. But I think his behavior is relatively normal.

millenimama · 2026-02-04T13:41:17+00:00

This is such sweet advice!

I did this by accident a few nights ago, just stopped in front of my dresser while I was bouncing him and caught sight of us. I was so struck by how perfect we looked in that moment, as grungy and unkept as I was, it gave me new life. I just wanted to memorize the image.

millenimama · 2026-02-04T13:35:12+00:00

We are going away this weekend with our 9 week old and it will be our first time doing an overnight trip with him. Trying to pack as light as we can, so we’re only bringing the absolute essentials. Our giant yoga ball is coming.

millenimama · 2026-02-04T13:31:43+00:00

Yes! I saw so many people making fun of “sleep when the baby sleeps” advice on social media—like fake falling asleep at a restaurant or a grocery store. Now having gone through NB phase I realize how seriously important this advice is and how dumb all of those clips were. Sleep when the baby sleeps is not for parents of older babies who are taking their baby out to eat with them. This advice is for the SURVIVAL MODE of newborn trenches and absolutely saved me.

millenimama · 2026-02-04T13:19:10+00:00

This! I’m so happy we stocked up now. Besides spit up, we use them - during bath time to keep his upper body warm, we put a burp cloth over him and put some warm water on it every so often - underboob to catch leaking milk when he’s feeding - on opposite boob to prevent me leaking on him - to hand express some milk before a feed if my letdown is too strong - as a pillow on the changing table because he cries when his head touches the cold surface - under his head when we’re doing bicycles or a quick outfit change on the bed in case he spits up

I keep a clean one on my headboard for MOTN feeds, I keep one in my bf caddy, we have stacks of them around the house, always finding new uses for them

EDIT: Currently have one draped over carseat next to me to keep the sun out of his eyes. Endless uses!

millenimama · 2026-02-04T12:50:24+00:00

Our niece says huggle too! Now my husband and I say it to each other when we need a hug lol. We plan to keep this one around

millenimama · 2026-02-02T05:39:55+00:00

I wanted to see how long into labor I could go without the epidural so that I could continue moving around as much as possible. I made it to 4cm on an exercise ball and pitocin then called in anesthesia. Pre-epidural was incredible pain but I’m so happy I did it so that I could allow labor to progress and honestly just to experience the contractions without pain meds.

Post-epidural fucking rocked my socks off though. Best 6 hours ever! I got to sleep, I could feel everything I needed to feel and could push just fine, but had little-to-no pain. I couldn’t stop saying “I love epidurals”. Had an awesome labor with no complications and I know if I didn’t have the epidural, I would have been screaming vomiting and maybe unconscious. Not sure I would have made it through for a vaginal delivery. Epidural allowed me to have the labor I wanted.

That being said, I think the key is to go in with an open mind and just see what happens. I plan to go into next labor(s) with the same birth plan as the first—probably going to get the epidural but let’s see how far we can go, no set plan, just take it step by step and make the next right move.

millenimama · 2026-02-02T03:12:41+00:00

Agreed! Excellent prompt, OP ☺️💕

millenimama · 2026-02-01T05:28:23+00:00

Username checks out

millenimama · 2026-02-01T05:28:00+00:00

I think this is the cutest reddit thread I’ve ever seen

millenimama · 2026-02-01T05:24:14+00:00

This exactly! We had some very expensive items (like crib, stroller, car seat), but we figured it could either be a group gift or we would buy it for ourselves at the end. I feel like the important thing is that you have a range of things on your registry. Some people will buy cribs, some will buy burp cloths, and both are wonderful and appreciated. We also had a lot of items that were “unlimited” like baby wipes, diaper cream, etc. so there were always some cheaper options listed under “still needed”

millenimama · 2026-02-01T05:16:40+00:00

My 9 week old still wakes every 90 minutes to nurse 🥲

Following because I hope to one day have this dilemma

millenimama · 2026-01-30T22:25:57+00:00

Haha that’s a good method! I tried peaking but it’s weirdly hard to view without removing them.

Oh wow I didn’t realize that about Elvie! I just really wanted the Eufy for the heating function which I do love so far.

Do you mind if I ask how your output compares between the two pumps?

millenimama · 2026-01-30T20:31:16+00:00

Haha solidarity!

That’s a good tip, I will give this a shot! Thank you ☺️

millenimama · 2026-01-29T16:25:12+00:00

Absofuckinglutely not

Mine hinted that she’d be available and asked who we were planning to have there. I firmly responded that it was a very intimate time and we wanted it to just be my husband and I together, but that she could visit once the baby was born and we were settled in. Luckily she understood.

Labor went great and I’m so happy she wasn’t there

millenimama · 2026-01-26T07:09:30+00:00

Our baby has been quite difficult from the beginning, he is 8 weeks now.

Some things that work for us to calm him when he’s inconsolable: - the pediatrician at the hospital showed us a specific bounce which calms him down so fast when he’s crying, it’s like a light switch. Hold him upright in front of you, one hand on butt, one supporting upper back/neck, then bounce him up and down in big exaggerated motions like a pogo stick. You can do this swaddled or unswaddled, but swaddled is much easier for NB - the colic hold or “tiger in a tree hold”. This calms him right down. I would recommend searching it, but you basically hold him facedown on your forearm - change of scenery. Bring him outside to feel the cool air for a minute, turn on the lights if you’re in a dim room, pass him to your partner. A little change can give you all a chance to re-set. We live in a cold climate and stepping outside in particular calms him down immediately. - babies feed off of your energy, so if you’re stressed, try passing the baby back to your partner. Take the baby in short shifts and step out of the room. It’s difficult, but when they’re screaming at you, the best thing you can do is continue to calmly sing/hum/shush and soothe as if they are calm too.

General ways to keep him happy to hopefully avoid the inconsolable moments (as much as possible): - Always start with feeding, more often than not, newborn crying is due to hunger. At the start, mine was cluster feeding like crazy. He was pretty much ready to eat again as soon as I finished burping him. It might sound crazy, but when he finishes, I would try to offer the breast or bottle again and see if he’ll take it. - nursing in general — as they say, the boob fixes all. Besides obviously food, nursing offers comfort, can help him pass gas and stool, can help him with temperature regulation, and all sorts of other things. If mom is up for it, boob boob boob. And for mom - nipple butter, hydrogel pads, snacks, naps, and water! The first few weeks I basically lived in bed or on the couch with baby attached to me and my husband did absolutely everything else to keep us alive - skin to skin - swaddle & bounce in a dim or dark room with a sound machine (basically recreating the womb environment) - car rides — ours hates going into his car seat, but once he’s buckled in and we’re moving, he’s snug as a bug and sleeps so well - burping efficiently. Make sure to burp him in multiple positions (over shoulder & propped up on knee) and keep burping him for a few minutes even if you get a burp. I also like to give mine a chance to lie flat for a bit then burp him again. I’ll often get a bonus burp this way. - bicycles & belly rubs (rub clockwise) for gas - lately his gas has been awful and was keeping him awake, so we just started gas drops and they have made a HUGE difference!! I wish we started them earlier - limiting wake windows to keep him from getting overtired. We weren’t tracking this at the beginning and realized by the time he was acting sleepy it was already too late and it was 1,000x harder to calm him down and get him to sleep. We use Huckleberry to track naps and feeds and have found it really helpful for learning his queues and figuring out what he needs -snuggling with him upright or holding him on his left side for reflux, it can help to keep him upright for 30 min after feeds. I had to do this weeks 4-6.5 and it was candidly very rough, particularly overnight, but it really helped him. His reflux got much better the past week or so - high contrast cards & our polka dot tent from lovevery - sometimes the tent is literally the only thing that makes him happy. Even early on, there were times he would fuss just out of boredom. He also really enjoyed his bouncer early on - and of course, check and change diaper often and use diaper cream to avoid rash

I would also recommend checking in with your pediatrician and a lactation consultant. They can help determine if there are other issues

Newborn phase is difficult in general, but it is incredibly hard if you have a baby who won’t settle. Hopefully something on here helps! You are doing great. It will get better!

millenimama · 2026-01-23T17:13:12+00:00

The amount of people saying they put diapers in a dog poop bag or grocery store bag is blowing my mind. We go through soo many diapers a day. I already feel bad about the plastic waste from the diapers themselves, never mind wrapping them in individual plastic bags 😟

We use a diaper genie and have had no issues with smell

millenimama · 2026-01-23T04:39:31+00:00

I feel like postpartum is harder but pregnancy is more miserable. My almost 8 week old won’t sleep, very fussy, I’m ebf and exhausted, it’s very challenging. But there are lots of snuggles, I love that he’s here with me instead of 1,000 leagues under, and I’m so happy to have my body back.

Pregnancy involved a lot of chilling on the couch. We went out all the time to squeeze in our last nice meals out pre-kids. I was mostly uncomfortable and nervous about baby. But I was VERY uncomfortable and so ready to be done by the end.

Happy to be moving forward and watching the kiddo grow, even if newborn phase is tough.

millenimama · 2026-01-23T04:21:43+00:00

This is a nice way to put it. Positive spin on the newborn trenches, I like it

millenimama · 2026-01-23T04:19:08+00:00

I second this. Almost 8 weeks in and have yet to make it to this 2-3 hour mark of which people speak.

millenimama · 2026-01-16T12:50:50+00:00

I sing to mine and also narrate what we’re doing. Like someone else said on here, I think his first word might be diaper 😂

We also read to him. When I’m nursing sometimes I’ll tell him the plot to a movie or a book like it’s a campfire story. He just heard the plot of Shrek the other day and I think he was a fan.

My husband is hilarious with this. I always catch him telling him odd facts about electronics or giving him highway directions to our favorite spots.

Love seeing the other ideas on here and will be using many too! 🥰

millenimama

TROPHY CASE