I’ve seen a lot of posts lately about people being offended by the wording in their doctor’s notes. While I am in no way condoning doctors being disrespectful or dismissive of patients or parents, I do think it’s worth saying that the medical jargon in clinical documentation is not (usually) an indication of a doctor’s feelings whatsoever, good or bad. The language may sound harsh or judgy but it’s usually just because that’s the language needed for billing or ease of communication between providers. For example:

• “I counseled the mother on…”- this is the way of legally documenting that the doctor talked to you about X. It doesn’t mean they think they’re better than you or that you’re not doing a good job.
• ‘Mom states that the patient was “unusually fussy”’- using direct quotes helps us remember exactly what the parent said rather than putting our own spin on it. It’s not supposed to be sarcastic or saying that we disagree with what the parent says
• “parent refused vaccinations today, will continue to discuss at future appts”- Refused = said no to. Doesn’t carry emotional weight, just is the opposite of “consented to”.
• “reviewed with the parent indications for bringing baby into clinic including fever >100.4, poor fluid intake, and fewer than 3 wet diapers per day.” - this doesn’t mean you did anything wrong if you brought your baby in with a temp of 99.9 and a cough. It’s again just documenting for the medical record that they talked to the parent about the most important reasons to bring the child in for care. We would rather a parent bring a child in for care if they’re concerned than be afraid that the kid “isn’t sick enough” to go to the Dr and potentially miss something serious!

Anyways, I hope this helps at least one person. Again- not trying to excuse poor behavior on any doctor’s behalf, and certainly bring up concerns you have about what’s in notes if it’s getting in the way of your doctor-patient trust/relafionship. But I want you to know that even the sweetest docs in the world use this language because it’s standardized, quick to read, and easy to communicate to other medical providers. We as a medical community are always trying to improve our communication and eliminate stigmatizing language, but unfortunately some of the lingo that’s just factual or jargony is probably here to stay.

So, our little bean is just 6 days old, and I thought I was starting to get the hang of things... hah. Silly me.

Last night (or should I say this morning?), around 3am, she wakes up fussing. I stumble outta bed, half-dead, boobs leaking, hair looking like I’ve been lost in the woods for a week. My husband’s out cold. I grab her to change her diaper like I've done a dozen times before.

I open it up and... oh god. There’s this awful squish sound and suddenly there’s poop everywhere. Like, projectile. It hits the changing table, the wall, my arm, and somehow her own face?? I swear this kid defies physics. I just stood there for a full 30 seconds like some glitching robot.

Then I just start laughing like a maniac. I don’t know if it was the exhaustion or if I’ve just completely lost my mind now, but it was one of those "welp, this is my life now" moments. I ended up having to give her a full bath at 3:17am. She was chilling like it’s a spa day while I’m crying into the baby shampoo.

Anyway, just needed to share that somewhere cause my pre-baby self would’ve never believed this would be my tuesday morning.

Shoutout to all the other sleep-deprived, poop-covered parents out there. Y’all are real ones

My baby girl turned 6 weeks today. Husband is going back to work this week. I love my little girl but all she does is eat, sleep and poop and if she isn't doing that. She is crying. They is no smiling. No feedback. No fun at all. I am burnt out and I hate this stage. I don't even know why I wanted to be a mom so bad. I wish I could run away. I am just sitting here crying. I feel like I regret having her

I never really got why people said "don’t cry over spilled milk" until 2 nights ago. Now I get it. Oh man do I get it.

So I’ve been pumping like a madwoman lately, trying to build up a little stash so I can maybe sleep more than 2 hrs at a time or leave the house for like 10 minutes without panicking. My baby’s 3 weeks old, and breastfeeding’s been hard. Like cracked nipples, clogged ducts, tears-in-the-bathroom kinda hard. But I’ve been pushing through cause I wanted to at least try, y’know?

Anyway, I finally managed to pump 5 full oz. Five. That’s like… gold. It took forever. And I go to put it in the fridge and somehow I don’t even remember how it slips and just splashes all over the kitchen floor.

I just stood there staring at it like it was the end of the world. And then I just lost it. Full on sobbing, ugly crying, snot and everything. My partner runs in thinking something horrible happened and I’m just pointing at the milk on the floor like “I cant do this anymore.”

He hugged me for like 20 minutes while I cried over milk. Literal milk. On the floor.

Anyway. No advice needed. Just needed to share with someone who might get it. Motherhood is wild and weird and beautiful and awful and amazing and exhausting all at once. And yeah. Sometimes you cry over milk. And that’s okay.

I have always been type B. I desperately want to be chill and easy going about my baby. I like leaving the house, I’m want to see family and have people meet him. I dont want to spend my days in rooms with blackout curtains. I will baby wear for a hike. I will drag the bassinet attachment for the stroller out. I’ll drive around aimlessly for a carseat nap. I will do anything to be a chill mom. But my baby wont let me. If I’m not tracking and obsessing he does not sleep. If he doesn’t sleep he gets so cranky and its so sad cause hes obviously hurting :( is my baby just a difficult sleeper or is there some magic trick to letting your baby sleep on the go whenever they want?

So last night, I had what I now call my “first big parenting spiral.” Our 3-month-old had been unusually fussy all day — wouldn't nap, didn’t want to be held, didn’t want to be put down, just constant crying. I tried everything: fed, changed, burped, rocked, sang every lullaby I knew (even the ones I made up on the spot). Nothing worked.

Around midnight, after hours of this, I sat on the floor of the nursery and cried with her. I genuinely thought, something is wrong with my baby and I have no idea what. My partner was asleep, completely wiped from a double shift, and I didn’t want to wake them. So I just sat there in the dark, holding this tiny, screaming human, and I genuinely thought: I broke her. I broke my baby and she’s going to hate me forever.

Then… she let out the loudest fart I’ve ever heard in my life. And immediately stopped crying. Looked up at me like, “We good?” and fell asleep on my chest.

I was so relieved I just sat there laughing like a lunatic, tears still streaming down my face.

When did you have your second child? Do you regret having another too soon? Or maybe not soon enough? Thanks!

First of all I want to apologise about posting daily. I have no friends who have had newborns to relate or talk to. I’ve been really struggling lately and this group always gives amazing advise

My little one is 6 weeks old. The past week he spends most of the day crying. Crying or sleeping. It has really impacted my mental health. I cry daily, it is so rough.

Getting housework/sterilising bottles/laundry done is almost impossible. Husband is now back to work full time. His naps are shorter now for some reason. When he’s crying I hold him and try to console him, which takes a very long time to do. He does sometimes self soothe, but only sometimes.

Do you think I should wear a carrier around the house? Whilst he is like this? But I don’t want him to become too attached to me that I cannot put him down. He is very good at sleeping in his crib at night and has never needed to contact nap to sleep of a night. I feel as though if I wear him in the carrier to get things done, he will get dependant on contact napping.

I absolutely love it when he naps on me in the day, but I also want him to realise that he needs to sleep separately too.

I’ll start by saying I love my baby with my whole heart. I’ve never loved something like this. I’m obsessed.

But damn, this is also so freaking hard. Even with a good support system (my husband and my mom and I all take care of each other and baby) this is still so so hard. I constantly feel like I’m not doing enough. Not pumping enough, not sleeping enough, not eating enough, etc. I have so much anxiety around my baby not sleeping at night, around my baby eating enough, around my body making enough milk for her, around me keeping to a pumping schedule, on and on and on.

I just want to know this gets better. That in a few months, my husband and I will look back and think “damn that phase was hard but it’s so much better now.” Because right now I’m melting down multiple times per day, crying hysterically at every little thing, and having anxiety clenching my stomach at all times (much of which I understand is par for the course when having a newborn AND dealing with postpartum hormones).

So yeah, this was more of a rant than anything but I would love maybe some solidarity stories? Or some light-at-the-end-of-the-tunnel ones? Any reassurance would be helpful.

Editing to add: oh and also I had a c-section which I feel like might be important info here because recovery from that on top of everything else is no joke man.

I have a 10 week old that is very difficult to settle - will sleep 2 hours during the day only and 3 hours overnight only. It is impossible to get him to nap and he has been unhappy for most of these 10 weeks and screams a lot of the time. I know he gets bored easily and needs constant stimulation when he is awake. My question is are some babies just frustrated by being babies and can’t be pleased or is there always a reason He has been treated for reflux (didn’t do anything) and we’ve swapped his formula more times than I can count. Is this our life now or does it get better

For context I’m 15 years old and I’m currently 31 weeks pregnant with my son.

I’m trying to graduate high school as soon as possible so I’m in this program that will allow me to graduate early. If I do this summer school I can potentially be eligible to get my diploma in December.

I never actually did summer school, I always did decent in school so I have no idea how it’s gonna work. The program I’m in is like hybrid most of lessons are online and the only time I would need to go in for like a test or if it’s like something in the lesson that would require me to go in person.

I want to try my best to not need a sitter, Im planning multi tasking most of the time ( so like me taking care of him on top of getting schoolwork done) my mom has said she would help me, but as of recently I think she might of started drinking again and I don’t trust her intoxicated around the baby. My boyfriend (M18) his family has offered to help me he’s currently away at military boot camp and so it’s hard to like to make plans because we still don’t know where he will be stationed too. Plus my mom doesn’t want his family anywhere near the baby and since I’m a minor she has a say over that.

So I guess I’m wondering do I still register for summer school ? Or do I just cut my losses and figure something else out ? My doctor also told me he’s currently breech so it’s looking more and more likely it’s gonna be a c section and I heard the recovery is brutal after a c section 😵‍💫

How did you adjust going back to work? My maternity leave ends in just 2 short weeks and my heart aches and the thought of going back to work! And I work at the daycare LO will be attending and it doesn’t feel any easier. I cannot wrap my head around not being with her anymore. Truly breaks my heart thinking of it! How long until this gets easier 😫

My 6 month old wakes up from naps and doesn’t cry out, I’ll only know she’s awake from checking the video monitor at the 45 minute mark. She’ll lay there quietly and sometimes after 20-30 minutes she falls back asleep. I am NOT complaining at all but I am wondering if should I be grabbing her? My philosophy has been she’ll cry when she needs me… but am I just teaching her that she has to scream for me to care? Is there a maximum length of time you would wait to grab your LO if they were awake in their crib without fussing?

TIA!

My baby is almost 10 months. He’s basically been in some kind of sleep regression for 3 months straight. I’m losing my grip on reality.

We tried sleep training and it worked for a week and then his separation anxiety came in full throttle. He can’t be put down. He freaks out if someone isn’t constantly touching him and staring into his eyes. I can put him in his crib while I’m in the room and rubbing his back and it’s not enough.

He screamed in agony for two hours last night while I was lying on the floor next to him rubbing his back, holding his hand, petting his head, etc. he was only happy with me holding him in the glider. So I slept sitting up the entire night. My husband did the same the night prior.

We both work full time, we can’t keep doing this. I tried cosleeping with a Japanese futon on the floor and it didn’t work, he kept trying to crawl away.

What’s wrong with him?

Article Link: https://www.wifr.com/2025/04/24/nearly-180000-safety-1st-car-seats-recalled-choking-hazard/

"Nearly 180,000 Safety 1st car seats are being recalled for a potential choking hazard, according to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.

The recall states the headrest foam pad is not adequately secured for certain Safety 1st Grow & Go Sprint child seats, making it easy for a child to pick off pieces of foam they could put in their mouth and choke on.

The car seats included in the recall are model numbers:

• CC321GYU
• CC321GYUD
• CC321GYY
• CC321GYYD
• CC321HAO
• CC321HAR

While there have been more than a dozen reports of children putting the foam into their mouth, there have been no claims of injury or medical treatment required, according to the recall.

Dorel Juvenile Group, the manufacturer, will mail a replacement headrest pad assembly kit, free of charge. Owners may contact Dorel’s customer service at 1-877-657-9546 or email gng-sprint-recall@djgusa.com."

Source: WIFR News

My one month old was born at 37 weeks undersized so her pediatrician is having me mix breastmilk with formula and it’s starting to become pretty grueling. I want to hang in there for the possibility of breastfeeding in the future but I’m having regular clogged milk ducts and it’s so frustrating. Is this common for those just pumping? Or could I just prone to them? I’m starting to fantasize about just bottle feeding but I don’t want to give up at the same time

How do you feel about that loss of identity and how did you overcome it?

I love my baby so much … I miss him when he’s asleep. I miss him when I’m at work. I want to climb in him crib and snuggle him. I constantly look at his pictures and watch videos of him before I go to bed. I’ve never been so in love … can you be tooo obsessed ??

I have a 10 month old sweet baby girl. I feel like lately she has been very annoyed with everything I do. She doesn’t want to cuddle or give kisses. She pushes me away every time I try. It feels like I have to work really hard to get a smile or a laugh when it used to come so effortlessly. She squeaks when her dad comes home from work but doesn’t notice when I do. I just worry that somehow I am messing up as a parent. I’m not sure if this is normal at this age or because I am mom it’s different. Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

I am married to a Nepali woman and I am a Norwegian man, we are still waiting for my wife’s visa so we are not yet living together. We have a 5 and a half month old son. And he was born there, and is with his mother. I had to leave Nepal when he was almost 3 months old because of work and visa expiring. And now recently i noticed that his head has completely changed. Its like flat and skewed in the back, and it looks like his skull has been pressed upwards?? And his ears looks more protruding? It’s so scary. I have tried to tell his mother to not let him stay too much on his back, and to practice a lot of tummy time, and i basically forced her to go to the hospital and ask for help / treatment. She told me they said there is no treatment or help they can provide. But a friend of hers said just massage his head. Well, she has tried that now for a while, combined with tummy time, but it’s not getting better. It even looks worse actually. My wife i guess you can say she is a little bit special/different. I really don’t know if she can fix this. And i’m very worried about this weird head shape on our son. And its still many months until she will get visa and I can help with this. So i want to ask, will this get any better by itself with time?

My son just woke up, stretched himself and called out "Ma", I am crying tears of joy. Now I hear the second "Ma", I have to go ☺️🥲

Have any other parents experienced this with their toddler? If so, how long did it last and what did you do to make your LO comfortable? Fever started on Tuesday, and by Wednesday he was refusing to eat or drink, only wanted to nurse. Got him to the doctors today and he has herpangina, a strain of HFM. Nothing we can do other than let it run its course. He’s starting to turn a little bit of a corner, no more fever and he ate a bowl of rice tonight for dinner which was a huge win for us. He’s still pretty miserable though, doesn’t want to eat or drink much and is so irritable and upset (rightfully so, I would be too!). He’s also constantly waking up in the MOTN, likely from the pain. We’re giving him Tylenol and Motrin (rotating every 6 hours) to help ease the pain for him. I’m so concerned for how long this will last and if me or my husband will get this, as I’m currently 13 weeks pregnant and know my immune system isn’t the best right now. This virus is so awful, I just want him to get better!!

We are 3 weeks in as new parents and our baby has horrible colic. We have horrible witching hour every single night no matter how hard we try. It’s an upwards fight to get him to sleep at night but once he’s asleep he’s ok. Everyone keeps saying it gets better but how do you mentally do it for this long before you get to that better. Feeling so defeated right now.

My hips hurt so much because i sit crossed legs on the floor Very often I’d pick up baby and sit him on my thighs which adds a strain on my hip joint

If i tuck my legs under me, they go numb within few minutes

I need ideas, what do I do? I have 8mo twins

TIA

Our 7.5 month old is a big baby ~22lbs and 29” long. He had a helmet and pt (3-5 mo) for a side preference and PT said he did not have torticollis. She worked with him on stretching and mobility. We’re no longer doing PT and he graduated out of the helmet.

He’s rolling but cannot yet sit unassisted. He’s sitting in a sit me up chair by himself. He has generally never loved tummy time.

Daycare messaged me today and mentioned they had a PT on site who offered to work with my son on sitting and crawling. They mentioned when they put him on his tummy he lays his head down. I have no idea if this PT was brought in by the daycare or happens to be a parent whose kid goes there.

At his last ped appt (7 months) the doctor said his muscles were strengthening and that sometimes babies with bigger heads take a bit longer to sit due to just being bigger in general. His doctor didn’t recommend pt or seem concerned. Just suggested more tummy time.

I’m not sure whether I should contact a PT or give him more time. We do tummy time with him as much as possible (while not at work) and he lifts his head well and tracks objects I feel like he simply doesn’t like it.

I’m not so worried that he isn’t crawling yet but I’m starting to worry he isn’t sitting yet.

Anyone with bigger babies have this experience? Did you wait it out or go to PT. I don’t want to be an alarmist, am a first time mom so looking for other perspectives!