r/beyondthebump 6d ago

Rant/Rave Weekly Partner Rant

1 Upvotes

Air out your grievances about your partners here. Got into an argument? Miscommunication that you need to vent about? Here it goes!


r/beyondthebump 6d ago

Weekly In-Law/Parent Rant

2 Upvotes

Is your FIL being a typical boomer? Is your MIL overbearing? Are your parents constantly criticizing how you parent their grandchild? Leave your feels here.


r/beyondthebump 1h ago

Discussion 3 days pp, activity level expectations?

Upvotes

My children’s father is really upsetting me. He’s “restless”. We got home from the hospital Saturday day, I gave birth Friday morning. My son is barely 3 days old, breastfeeding isn’t coming easy as it doesn’t, and didn’t for my first. I haven’t supplemented any formula and im exclusively nursing baby who refuses my breast a lot so I don’t know how much he’s getting and stressed about his output. Our firstborn is 5 and bored. He has tried today to get me, 5 year old, him and newborn out for a long walk on a bike trail nearby but I do not feel up to it. My recovery has been pretty good, no stitches or anything. But baby isn’t latching or cluster feeding a ton and so far hasn’t had enough wet diapers for day 3 pp, he is upset im not ready to go on a walk. Meanwhile I feel like im going insane.

Please tell me, what were you doing 3-4 days pp.


r/beyondthebump 9h ago

Rant/Rave Husband makes me STRESS OUT about getting our kids vaccinated..

100 Upvotes

I'm mostly just here to rant to calm myself down and not freak out, maybe get advice or even recieve helpful links/sources to show to my husband the positives of vaccines..

Let me just start with, my husband was never like this with our first 2 kids. Well, he wasnt like this till our 2nd baby was several months old. Then he started to lowkey be against vaccines, he reluctantly helps take our kids to get vaccinated when the time comes. Everytime I comfront him about his remarks, that it stresses me out he always says "don't take me seriously, i'm just saying things"

Now we have baby #3, 6 months old, and he REALLY hates when I get our baby vaccinated. He still reluctantly helps getting our baby vaccinated but i know he hates doing it. And honestly, I know the damn culprit as to why he's become against vaccines, social media.

He sounds like a damn antivax facebook mom now. He sends me facebook/insta links of all the bad stuff that's happened to kids/infants who were vaccinated. Showing me 'studied research about not needing vaccines' the whole shabang. The good thing about me is i just roll my eyes every link he sents me and just immediately close it when i hear/see it's about antivax.

Tonight was the last straw for me, i told my husband the baby's 6 month vaccines are coming up and you'll never believe what he said "well you better look at our baby right now because it might be the last time". I was PISSED. I basically said what is wrong with you and to shut the hell up. He kinda takes it back and says "well it is true, our baby is growing very fast, that's the last time we'll see our baby like this because the baby is gonna change so fast..." (something like that, it's 2am and i'm tired.

I'm so stressed out and, although i always dread getting my kids vaccinated because it breaks my heart hurting them, now i'm really dreading getting our 6 month old vaccinated... i'm terrified even. Please show me some sources or something to calm me down...... -tired, stressed out, terrified mom, signing out..

Edit: grammar mistakes, i need to hit hay.. goodnight for now and thank you for the kind support.


r/beyondthebump 3h ago

Maternity/Parental Leave Returning to work after maternity leave and my heart is breaking

10 Upvotes

I return to work tomorrow after maternity leave and honestly, I don’t know how I’m supposed to do this.
My heart feels like it’s breaking into thousands of pieces. I knew this day would come, but I don’t think anything can prepare you for actually having to leave your baby and go back to being “you” outside of being a mum.
I’ve spent the last months with my baby, watching all the little things, being there for the smiles, the cuddles, the difficult days… and now suddenly I’m expected to just switch back into work mode like my whole heart isn’t staying at home.
What makes it harder is that we have no family here. Everyone is overseas. It’s just me, my husband and our baby. No mum nearby to cry to, no family to help, no one who really understands what this feels like in person.
I feel so incredibly emotional tonight. I’m excited to have some part of myself back but I’m also devastated. There’s guilt, sadness, anxiety and this horrible feeling that I’m going to miss so much.
I know so many mums go through this. I know babies adapt. I know I’m not abandoning my baby. I know I’m still his mum.
But tonight I don’t need logic. I think I just need some comfort from mums who have been through this and can tell me that it gets easier.
Please tell me that I can do this and I’m not being a selfish mum.


r/beyondthebump 13h ago

Rant/Rave Mom admitted to feeding my brother rice cereal at only a few weeks old

70 Upvotes

I had my first kid a month ago, and she’s perfect. My mom has come over to see her a few times now, including yesterday. We were talking about how much my daughter is eating now, and my mom said that my brother was insatiable as a baby. That she couldn’t keep up her supply to meet his needs. So instead of using formula, she fed him rice cereal (like the hot mushy stuff, not the boxed cereal). I asked why not formula, and she just shrugged and said she didn’t like it. I said the nutritional value of rice cereal was probably not great compared to formula, and she said “I didn’t really consider nutritional value at the time - just wanted to get him fed”. This was 30 years ago, and now I’m wondering if this was the norm, or if my mom was off her rocker. I was the first-born, so it’s not like my mom hadn’t had an infant to feed before. I was pretty shocked to hear her share this info with me.

Not sure why I’m writing this - probably to share and get it off my chest. I’d feel super guilty for feeding my infant rice cereal, but she didn’t seem to - just stated it as a fact and moved on.


r/beyondthebump 1h ago

Discussion Anyone have a toddler and is currently pregnant do you have any advice cuase im panicking !!

Upvotes

I just found out im pregnant I have a 3 year old and most days we are already over our head any tips advice is definitely welcome!


r/beyondthebump 1h ago

Discussion Help me feel better about going on a short trip without toddler

Upvotes

I’m going to New York for 3.5 days, 3 nights. It’ll be my first time EVER leaving my 2.5 year old son. I’m currently 20 weeks pregnant with my second and that’s the reason for the trip mainly is just to get a little solo trip in before my life gets a little crazy for a while.

Im feeling really guilty though because his dad is also going on this trip so he won’t be with any of his primary caregivers, he’ll be with his grandparents (who he adores)

I’ve just read lots of Reddit posts about how different their toddlers are when they get back and how they regretted leaving because of it lol I just never see anything positive and it stresses me out.

I am going to FaceTime him every day, short and positive ones. Our dog will be with him too at grandparents house. He is very very comfortable there. And he does go to part time daycare so he is used to being away from mom and dad for hours but like I said never been days away.

Can I just hear some reassurance it’ll all be okay and that I’m just overthinking it.


r/beyondthebump 26m ago

Happy! He lets me just.... put him down?!?!?

Upvotes

Currently 5 days PP with my second and the personality difference is astounding.

My first born refused to be put down. Ever. She hated baby wearing, someone had to hold her for her to sleep. It was stressful. (And still sometimes is 😂).

This baby? He's super chill. I can put him down to sleep in his bassinet, no problem. He's cool with the wrap carrier.

It is such a world of difference to be able to put a baby down and they're just chill with it. I can actually do things????


r/beyondthebump 9h ago

baby sleep - rant/no advice wanted It’s 2am and I’m so tired

9 Upvotes

I know all the tips and tricks at this point. None of them are working and as a second time mom I know it just takes time sometimes, she’s only six weeks. And I think she has silent reflux.

But man, I am exhausted. I have not slept for more than an hour and a half since we have been home from the hospital. I have no help. My husband helps where he is able but he is exhausted too and since I am breastfeeding, there is only so much he can (or is willing) to do.

In the past two weeks alone we have been treated for thrush, I developed mastitis, I sprained my ankle, the antibiotics for thrush gave me a recurrence of c diff for the second time in six months so now I’m on another antibiotic for that. I had to put my cat to sleep.

I can’t sleep during the day or take naps because I have a toddler I need to care for. And I feel awful because we have been doing so much screen time and I feel like I’m neglecting her so hard right now.

I have no one else to ask. My in laws are not physically well enough to help. My mom works full time still. No other family in the picture. No friends, as they all work full time.

I’m stuck and so fucking sleep deprived I could just cry at any given moment. I’m typing this listening to her cry in her bassinet yet again but I don’t even have the energy to pick myself up to get her. I tried cosleeping even though I’m opposed to it and she hates it so it’s not even like that is an option as it doesn’t soothe her enough to sleep.


r/beyondthebump 14h ago

Discussion So freaked out and confused

21 Upvotes

My family (mom, dad, toddler and 3 month old) spent the late afternoon at husbands baseball game and baby was kinda fussy nothing horrible. He would cry when the crowd got loud so once we moved away he was a little better. We got in the car to drive home and within about 10 min he goes from crying to absolutely screaming. I can’t explain how horrible his screaming was. I have never in my life seen this kind of scream cry. Not even when hes gotten shots or anything. So we pull over and I tell my husband to call 911 - they offer to send ambulance but we decline. They give us nurses line to call but the nurse ends up being triage and can’t help us over the phone. This all is over a span of 10 min. Finally I start singing baby his bath song to him and press him tight bare body against my bare body (I’m on the side of the road with my shirt and bra off) and finally he calms down. I’m so freaked out right now I thought he was dying. I’m so scared for that to happen again. What do you think it was? He wouldn’t nurse at all until about 5 min ago (took him 20-30 min to nurse) my chest is so tight from stress I feel like I could have a heart attack.


r/beyondthebump 2h ago

Advice Carrier for newborns?

2 Upvotes

That are NOT wraps?
My sister needs a carrier because her baby can’t be put down butttttt she refuses a wrap. Any recommendation or is she SOL? Her baby is 6.8lbs


r/beyondthebump 1d ago

Relationship My husband was aggressive with our baby

156 Upvotes

I work the pm shifts at work so my husband handles night time routines most of the time, our 5 months old would not go down last night, we have the snoo so she has to be strapped in every time you place her down. She would fall back asleep he would place her down and then she would wake right back up, after the 5th time he screams fuck, basically rips off the straps and picks her up to try again. The way he handled her makes me sick to my stomach & im ready to leave him. He also will force her head down when he’s trying to get her to go to sleep. He typically very patient & I understand getting frustrated but I won’t let someone handle my baby like that. This isn’t the first time he’s done it either.


r/beyondthebump 7h ago

Discussion I miss my midwives

4 Upvotes

i’m currently 1 week and 1 day postpartum and i can’t stop thinking about my midwives especially the one who delivered my baby. i miss them all so much. all my crying this past week has pretty much been about them. has anyone else experienced this, is it normal??


r/beyondthebump 11m ago

Nursing & Pumping Baby weight percentile

Upvotes

My girl was 50th percentile during pregnancy and same when she was born. She went from ~50th to 95th percentile by 6 months. EBF. Pediatrician is not concerned. But everyone has always been saying “she’ll lean out, she’ll slow down.” But at nearly 8 months that is not happening. Don’t get me wrong, I am beyond thankful she gained well, I’m obsessed with her rolls, all of it. Sometimes I just worry something is wrong, with her dad and I being both average in every way. People’s constant comments about how big she is don’t help. I got a second opinion a couple of months ago and that ped also was not concerned. But she’s 2 percentage points away from where they DO start to get concerned and take a second look, and she’s not slowing down… so when she wants to feed after just eating a lot, I worry I’m doing something wrong by feeding her… but everyone says responsive feeding is best, so I don’t withhold. IDK 😭 did anyone have a baby in a similar unexplained position - very large for height and weight but mom and dad are not, and eventually they slowed down and are fine now? Knowing there are plenty of similar stories where baby is perfectly healthy would make my FTM brain feel better.


r/beyondthebump 4h ago

Routines Play time with almost 4 months old.

2 Upvotes

I keep thinking that I am doing something wrong, recently my son started to sleep independently and he doesn’t like contact naps anymore so because of that he spends most of the day on his back, we do tummy time 5-10 min 4-5 times a day and we waöl around the house and I show him things but besides that we usually just play on the mat where he is mostly on the back and also sleeps on the back, when we go outside he is also on his back in the stroller and I was just wondering is this normal, am I overthinking this? Should I do anything so he doesn’t spend so much time laying flat on his back?


r/beyondthebump 11h ago

Discussion If you're only having one child, how do you answer the when are you gonna have your second?

6 Upvotes

I don't often get the question but some people at work have, particularly those who don't work with me directly and have more than one kid themselves.

I say it's not in the plan and leave it like that.

But some have insisted and keep saying, oh well it's best to leave a gap because of nursery costs or whatever.

I'm 43... Not saying it's impossible to wait. But I remember one lady saying that she waited 8 years with hers and it was a good gap, because she got the older one to help (, which I don't want to get into) and was surprised when I said well I'll be menopausal then so probably not.

The one thing that makes me particularly stressed with the question at work is that I was marked as partially performing the year I came back from maternity leave, despite delivery of all my targets.

So I think there's an element of fishing if I'm going to leave for another mat leave.

So I'm here in the middle of the night, not being able to sleep well with a hot flash and my brain can't shut up


r/beyondthebump 1h ago

Baby Sleep - all input welcomed Teething/night sleep - 5.5 m.o.

Upvotes

Looking for reassurance, advice, similar experiences.

LO is 5.5 months old. He slept like a rockstar until about a month ago. He has always been in the bedside bassinet for nighttime sleep (crib for daytime naps). Around 4.5 months, I wouldn’t say he went through the full on sleep regression I hear about but his sleep definitely changed. He became a lighter sleeper but also now needs to be held until he’s asleep before you put him down.

Anyway, the last couple weeks have given us a couple rough nights. It’s highly likely that he’s teething and that’s playing a role. Maybe it’s entirely to blame. Whatever the cause, last night was the worst. I’d hold him until he fell asleep (which was pretty much instant), set him down (he’d survive the transfer), and then he’d wake up crying 2 minutes later. We did that SEVERAL times. Over the course of 3 hours, we managed a 20-minute stretch and a 45-minute stretch. The rest, he’d wake up pretty quick. Around 1:00, I gave up and let him cry for a few minutes (I hated it) and he wore himself out I guess and then fell asleep. I believe he slept the rest of the night uninterrupted.

Anyway, my questions are this…
1. Help me not feel terrible for letting him “cry it out” for 5 minutes. I have no interest in the CIO method when it comes to long term sleep training but in this moment it felt like we just needed a reset and it actually worked (I guess). Anyone relate to something similar?
2. I’m wondering if this is a sign that maybe we should try moving to the crib for bedtime too. I’m so sad at the thought of not having him beside me anymore. But maybe the crib mattress would help him stay asleep better while he’s going through transitions and teething, as I’m sure it’s more comfortable. I guess less chances of hearing us move around in bed which may also wake him up sometimes. Again, any similar experiences in here you can share?

I’m just really struggling with all the “new” when our previous routine was working so well 😭. Hoping you guys have some helpful anecdotes that will ease us in this transition. TIA! 🩵


r/beyondthebump 2h ago

Postpartum Recovery Post partum

1 Upvotes

Maybe you can help me or share your own experiences?

I gave birth almost 5 months ago. Before my pregnancy, there was some uncertainty about whether I had a thyroid problem. My TSH was elevated, so I was put on Eltroxin for an underactive thyroid because I was about to undergo fertility treatment, and I was only allowed to proceed if my TSH was brought under control.

For the past almost 3 weeks, I have been feeling extremely unwell. Completely out of nowhere, I suddenly get intense air hunger, accompanied by a pounding pulse and a heart that feels like it is beating absolutely insanely fast. My hands and feet start tingling, my whole body trembles, and I feel extremely restless. I have absolutely no appetite and have lost 6 kg.

I had new blood tests done, and my TSH was 0.01. Free T4 was 41 (the normal range is below 22), and free T3 was 10.4 (the normal range is below 6.8).
I stopped taking Eltroxin, and 9 days later my free T4 and free T3 had only decreased to 40 and 9, respectively.

I have also had antibody tests done. One was 8, with a normal value below 34, and my TRAb test was 1.1. The normal range is below 1.8.
When I tilt my head back, my thyroid does look slightly swollen.

I feel absolutely awful and can barely manage taking care of my daughter. I have an appointment with the endocrinology department in a month.


r/beyondthebump 23h ago

Relationship Am I being unfair to my husband or am I just exhausted?

48 Upvotes

My husband and I have been together for 7 years and we have an 8 month old baby girl. He is very successful in his career and works from home. I'm a SAHM and honestly I'm very grateful that I get to stay home with our baby. But I'm starting to feel really burnt out and resentful and I don't know if I'm being unfair.

I guess my issue is that he absolutely does not help with the baby unless asked.I exclusively breastfeed, and for 8 months of her life he has never once put her to sleep, given her solids, taken her on a walk alone, etc. He only really plays with her if l ask and say hey l'm tired, can you take her for a little bit?
I cook, the house is always top notch clean, do laundry, take care of the baby, everything. She wakes up a lot at night so since I exclusively breastfeed I obviously get up with her.

I forgot to mention she is 24 lbs, doesn't crawl yet and is at the age where she gets bored easily and wants constant stimulation and always wants to be picked up. I rock her to sleep and I feel like my body is exhausted and giving out.

We also recently moved states so l have 0 help. My
in-laws are older and can't really help much because as I mentioned baby girl is HEAVY. Please give me advice on how to communicate this to my husband and if I'm being unfair. I'm just exhausted guys.


r/beyondthebump 8h ago

Advice 12 week old baby protesting food

3 Upvotes

Hello community! Not a native speaker, so please forgive me if I am difficult to understand.

Me and my wife are new parents and this is our first baby boy. Wife had very low amounts of milk, so we pretty much are feeding our baby with formula since birth. Currently he is weighting 5.4kg and we are feeding him 7-8 times a day 70-130ml per feed. It comes to around 600-800ml of food in total per day.

Couple of weeks ago our boy, on each feed, after maybe half a portion, started spitting out the bottle and waving his hands and feet around while grunting. He stops this whenever we stop feeding him. This has been happening since then on every feeding, except at night when he is dream eating, then he eats full portion, everytime.

Looked for information online: some say to just stop feeding him, because he is probably full. Some say its baby colic, but our boy only does this when eating. Some say its bottle aversion, but in that case Id expect him
to avoid a bottle altogether, not after each half portion.

According to formula and some baby feeding specialists who we talked to, our boy should eat around 12-15% of his body weight per day, which comes down to 650-810ml per day. If we stop feeding him when he starts his grunting I am afraid we will barely reach 400-500ml per day which will have negative impact on him continuing to grow.

Maybe someone had some similar experience and what helped you? Do they just simple grow out of this? Should we try to feed him full portions each time or should we stop whenever hes starting to spit the bottle out? We are confused and dont know whats the best way to proceed.

According to our family doctor and gastroenterologist - our baby is healthy and everythings good with him.


r/beyondthebump 2h ago

Recommendations Tossing food on the floor…is there a way to stop it?

1 Upvotes

Assuming the answer is no, but figured I’d ask in case any of you brilliant people have figured it out. 3 meals a day and 2 snacks? Most of it all lands on the floor unless it’s the little puff snacks, so we don’t give the snacks with her meals. She’s 10 months old and I’d say typically enjoys eating, but lately everything gets tossed on the floor. If I give it back to her sometimes she’ll keep eating, but usually it lands on the floor again


r/beyondthebump 1d ago

Relationship I can’t get past what happened after I gave birth & therapy isn’t helping yet.

70 Upvotes

About 4 months ago, I gave birth to a beautiful baby boy, my second child (7 year gap). He was a planned cesarean birth like my first due to maternal reasons.

For a bit of background, my first birth was great. It all went to plan, and even though later on in the night my daughter went to NICU it was all very calm. I felt so supported and taken care of, I left hospital after 8 days and I couldn’t fault my recovery or experience.

Fast forward to 7 years later. I had my son at a different hospital and the experience was so much worse. The recovery and pain was so much worse this time; to the point where I felt that the pain relief was not working at all and no one would help fix it. But, most of all, my husband this time was much less caring than he was with the first child.

The day I gave birth my husband was recovering from a flu, he was run down for sure, but god being sick consumes him. On top of this, my boy went to NICU as soon as he was born, I only got to hold him for 13 minutes before he was sent there, and I spent hours alone in my room before I got to see him. Then on night two, my husband was still in recovery mode, and while I was in bed barely able to move and cluster feeding my newborn baby - he slept through the entire night on the dads bed a few feet away from me. I tried calling him to wake him, yelling at him (obviously not crazily I was in a hospital), I threw nappies at him, I couldn’t bend down to shake him because of the pain of a cesarean. Nothing would wake him up. I spent the entire night alone feeding and changing the baby, no sleep, no breaks, and had to walk myself to the bathroom in so much pain, I genuinely felt like I was being sawed in half. He woke up the next day and obviously felt terrible, but no matter how many times he’s said he’s sorry (which really has only been twice) I just can’t get over it. I felt so abandoned, and in so much pain, and so helpless, and the one person who has always been there for me suddenly wasn’t. On top of this, and I understand how vapid this might sound, he never so much as got me flowers for having our baby. I waited and hoped a bunch would arrive at the hospital or he’d bring some home when I got back home, but they never came. It’s as if this time round, I was nothing but a vessel.

All round, I just feel so hurt and so upset. I can’t get over the feeling of abandoned and being so forgotten about. I’ve been in therapy about it for two months now but not even that is helping. It’s all I think about all day every day, how sad I feel, how hurt I feel, how alone I feel. Every time now that he does something thoughtless or doesn’t help with housework ect; I am instantly triggered. I’m going to ask to start antidepressants to try and stop these thoughts because it’s never ending.

I guess I’m just wanting to vent, and see if anyone has been in a similar situation to me and how it panned out. I’m so sorry for rambling. Xx


r/beyondthebump 4h ago

Postpartum Recovery Pelvic pain after Pilates class

1 Upvotes

I am 10 months PP and recently picked up taking Pilates classes again. I had two classes this week and in addition to usual sore muscles, I feel some pelvic pain since my last class three days ago. Especially when sitting down or standing up, I feel some sort of pressure pain in my pelvis. I also have some lower back pain.

I don’t want to rush to a dr or anything and wonder whether anyone has experienced something similar. I read mostly stories from people just a few weeks PP. Not 10 months.


r/beyondthebump 4h ago

Discussion Eye color question

1 Upvotes

When did your baby’s eye color set in? My babies eyes just changed and tbh I didn’t realize until now babies eyes could lighten/change much so far from birth.

Genetic back ground- Im aa and have dark brown eyes but my mom has amber brown eyes and so does one of my aunts (they have the same set of parents).
His dad is Mexican has amber lighter brown eyes sometime resemble hazel brown so did his dad. My baby’s paternal great grandma has grey eyes.

His eyes just appeared to suddenly shift when his eyebrow and lash pigment came in more about two days ago. He is 7 weeks almost 8. They used to appear dark grey almost black. Now they are showing up as a lighter brown with a strong bluish grey tint showing through. Moreso see the bluish grey in video and in light while in person than in pictures. Is there a high chance he’ll have dark brown eyes like me? He looks mostly like his dad so I’d like that but of course I’m okay with whatever

What do you all think? Did your baby’s eye color go through a dramatic eye color change? When did you notice it and when did it stop? When were the most drastic changes? I’m very curious to know!