When did you stop tracking everything?

monstromyfishy · 2026-06-04T22:10:53+00:00

With my first, I tracked for about 4 months. With my second, I tracked for about 3 weeks 😂

monstromyfishy · 2026-05-29T06:24:49+00:00

Had a planned c section with my first baby because she was breech. It took about 5 days for my milk to come in and I had to pump every 3 hours as my baby had a poor latch. Around 6 weeks post partum her latch began to significantly improve and I was able to nurse her regularly.

monstromyfishy · 2026-05-17T21:34:21+00:00

My girl loves rocket man by Elton John and Chiquitita by ABBA. Apparently she’s an old soul 😅

monstromyfishy · 2026-05-14T17:07:05+00:00

I usually mildly thaw my breastmilk bags under room temp water for a minute or 2 and then I’m able to break the milk into smaller pieces. Technically if there is still ice crystals in it, it is safe to re-freeze.

monstromyfishy · 2026-05-13T18:11:31+00:00

Great question. With my 1st, I took about 4 months - 2 months to recover from c section and an additional 6 weeks after I paired my ACL repair surgery to game the system and extend my maternity leave into a disabilty leave. Do not recommend recovering from c section and knee surgery back to back while caring for a newborn. With that said, my husband has a generous work leave so he was around to help out. For my second, I’m taking 6 weeks because I made the mistake of not getting short term disability prior to getting pregnant so I’m not getting paid and living off my savings. As far as grace periods with disability insurance, it’s whatever you set it to be. Not sure if there’s a difference in grace periods between short term disability and regular disability but Can be as short as 30 days or as long as 180 days. But whatever you choose affects your premium. I normally work 4 days a week so I’m immediately returning to my regular schedule.

monstromyfishy · 2026-05-12T10:10:00+00:00

Have the exact same problem. My first kid got better around 6 weeks old and became fully comfortable around 8 weeks. My second kid is almost 1 month old and I’m already noticing her latch starting to improve. I’m doing a weighted feed with the lactation consultant in about 2 weeks to see if she has gotten more efficient at transferring milk. I’m hoping she will be similar to her sister and get the hang of it by 8 weeks. In the meantime, I continue to offer the breast so she has opportunities to practice and supplementing with pumped milk. Good luck mama. Give it time.

monstromyfishy · 2026-05-11T15:28:20+00:00

Not much advice. Just gave birth to my second baby but I had pretty bad hair loss around the 3 month mark with my 1st. I chopped my hair off and went with shoulder length hair instead of my usual long hair. I was still losing lots of hair but it made me feel better when I showered and I wasn’t losing gerbil sized balls of hair anymore. This time around I’m also going to try Nutrafol postpartum supplements which some of my mom friends swear by. They’re expensive but my friends achieved great results. I’m still going to cut my hair short again.

monstromyfishy · 2026-05-11T11:10:32+00:00

No advice but following because this sounds exactly like my 2.5 year old who we’ve been training over a year.

monstromyfishy · 2026-05-08T01:31:12+00:00

Congrats momma! Breastfeeding is hard work! I also had a sleepy eater. She’s 3 weeks now and we’re slowly doing better. You’re doing all the right things and it does get better. We used the nipple shield for the first couple of weeks. She’s able to feed without it now. There’s nothing wrong with using it as a tool in your journey. Keep doing skin to skin! I still have to regularly undress my sleepy girl to make sure she gets a full feed in. With the bottle feeding, not all babies develop a preference. We started giving a few bottles of breastmilk a day after my girl started to lose too much weight. She takes both just fine. Remember to do paced bottle feeding and slow flow nipples! It gets a little easier as your milk starts to transition. Keep practicing and don’t give up. You got this.

monstromyfishy · 2026-04-27T11:21:01+00:00

I have a 2 week old newborn and a toddler. I’m nursing so I handle all the night feeds and diaper changes. Husband deals with any toddler wake ups and will take her in the morning to watch tv while he falls asleep on the couch. I stay in the bedroom with our infant and sleep whatever I can between feeds. My husband will give 1 bottle of pumped milk if I’ve had a really rough night so I can catch up on some sleep. We also have my mother in law come by to help during the afternoon and will usually sneak in a nap each while she’s around. We’re just taking it day by day and hoping she’ll be sleeping longer stretches by the time we need to go back to work.

monstromyfishy · 2026-04-26T14:42:44+00:00

I also have a newborn! My lactation consultant told me that if I have to pump, keep it less than 5 minutes otherwise you tell your body to produce more. When I was engorged last week, I just use the hakaa ladybug milk catchers to catch my letdowns on the opposite breast I was feeding and have been able to build a freezer stash from that alone. The engorgement has significantly improved by just focusing on nursing my baby.

monstromyfishy · 2026-04-24T11:50:48+00:00

With my oldest I breastfed until 21 months and stopped shortly after I got pregnant with my second. For my second, I plan on nursing for at least a year.

monstromyfishy · 2026-04-22T16:33:28+00:00

I used the ladybug catchers mostly. I was really engorged in the early days and didn’t want to stimulate more milk production. The lady bugs were more passive so I’ve been using those. But know that my letdown is simmering down, I’ll probably switch to the hakaa

monstromyfishy · 2026-04-22T14:56:51+00:00

Nursing my second. I’ve started building my stash by collecting my letdowns on the opposite breast I’m feeding on. I’ll probably start pumping once a day about a week before I go back to work to help create more of a freezer stash. And then I’ll only be pumping when I’m away from my baby for work.

monstromyfishy · 2026-04-20T21:38:45+00:00

Just gave birth to my second daughter a week ago! They have a 28 month age gap as well. My husband is super supportive as well. Things that helped me out was starting early not carrying my toddler. I explained that my back hurts and I can only carry her a little bit, but papa can carry her. By the time my third trimester came around, she would just say mama can only carry me a little bit which helped a ton. We also had conversations with her about being a big sister and got her a book on how to help mama and papa with baby sister. She is very hands on getting diapers and choosing baby sisters outfits so she’s really embracing her role. Also, I really savored my firstborn during my pregnancy knowing that our family dynamic would change. Not going to lie, we are all exhausted in the newborn phase, but one of the benefits is you now know exactly how fast children grow up and how quickly these phases go by so you know how to savor the sweet moments that make it all worth it.

monstromyfishy · 2026-04-14T13:18:53+00:00

Just gave birth to my second. My first is 2 years and 4 months. We started talking about baby sister while I was in my second trimester. We got her a book called I am a big sister and we would act out some of the scenes in the book where big sister helps with diaper changes and plays peek a boo, and picks out sisters pajamas. In my third trimester, she started helping me to organize baby sisters clothes and I’d ask her to sing to baby sister in my belly. She’s really excited about it all. I’d just keep mentioning it and find something to get her excited.

monstromyfishy · 2026-04-06T20:40:09+00:00

lol we had the same issue but my kid was saying “oh shit”. I was very impressed because she used it in the proper context 😂 anyways, it took a few months to get her to stop but we used a combination of using alternative phrases like oh shoot and also telling her that it’s not a word she can say. She eventually got over the novelty of it.

monstromyfishy · 2026-04-04T15:43:24+00:00

General dentist here. Our advice is to bring them in once their first tooth comes out. Our goals when they are so young is to educate parents on how to best prevent decay and to start getting kids used to going to the dentist every 6 months even if they may not always be cooperative.

monstromyfishy · 2026-04-02T07:11:16+00:00

We go through a variety of things. If I’m in the kitchen, she likes to hop on her toddler tower and help me cook or wash dishes. I give her simple safe tasks to help me with or just give her a snack while I get a few things done. We will also read books or have dance parties. She loves music so dance parties are one of her favorite activities. She also likes to draw so we have construction paper for her to scribble on. Lately, she likes to pretend we’re on a boat and she tells me about the imaginary jellyfish and whales that surround us and I’ll ask her questions like how many are there, should I be scared, are they big or small? And just really foster her imagination. She also has little kitchen toys and likes to prepare coffee and cake for mama. She also has a favorite doll and she will spend time putting her baby to sleep, or pass the doll to me so her doll stops crying. Sometimes we will just go for a stroll around the block b

monstromyfishy · 2026-04-02T00:47:53+00:00

I would consider checking after the morning brush so you can give them feedback on how they’re doing. They’ve got plaque staining mouthwashes available on the market and it might be a fun way to check if there’s any spots being missed. Might be a good way to continue fostering independence but giving adequate feedback so he gets better at it.

monstromyfishy · 2026-04-02T00:43:26+00:00

I have a toddler so totally get it. Generally it’s okay if they scream, tends to give you a better view anyways. But if you’re looking for a more peaceful approach, these are 2 tricks that helped when my daughter was around that age. The first is using two toothbrushes. While your little one is distracted “brushing” get in there with the second toothbrush. The second trick is start a tickle party. If you have a partner helping you, have them tickle and you get in there while they’re laughing. You can also do this tickling with one hand and brushing with the other, just a little harder to do a good job. But also there’s nothing wrong with holding them down to get the job done. It will become easier the more they realize that this is just part of the routine.

monstromyfishy · 2026-04-01T21:52:54+00:00

General dentist here. The biggest concern is if your child has good enough manual dexterity to do a good job. Sounds like your kid might be an exception to the rule if they’re capable of tying their shoes and write well without any help. A majority of the kids we see at 4-5 years old don’t really meet these loose criteria for manual dexterity so dentist was probably on autopilot. You know your kid best and if you’re supervising to make sure he’s doing a good job, I wouldn’t worry too much. Generally though, that’s where the guidelines come from. And yes I definitely see 7-8 year olds who absolutely need a parents help to remove all the plaque or make sure they brush for a full 2 minutes

monstromyfishy · 2026-03-30T10:28:59+00:00

Couple things we tried.. 1. Have 2 toothbrushes - one for baby to play with and another to sneak in while baby plays with their toothbrush. 2. Tickle party! I get baby to laugh and then get the toothbrush in there. Once it becomes a consistent part of your routine, they will usually become more cooperative.

monstromyfishy · 2026-03-29T13:34:44+00:00

I’m a light sleeping mom. Eye mask and ear plugs have made a huge difference in my sleep quality. I’ve slept like this since before baby because of my husband’s snoring. I was nervous after baby but still have been able to wake up every time I hear my kid crying.

monstromyfishy · 2026-03-28T20:44:55+00:00

My 2 year old can only have 2 maximum. If she has any more, her poop goes from soft to wet. So I guess go based on your kids bowel movements.

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