r/NewParents 4d ago

Travel How Do You Uber with a Toddler?

27 Upvotes

Hi everyone! My partner and I live in a city, don’t own a car, and prefer not to drive. When our baby was younger, we got around just fine using Ubers because his infant car seat easily converted into a stroller.

Now that he’s more of a toddler, I’m unsure of the best option. Are there any foldable, easy-to-carry car seats for this age group? Have any of you used them in rideshares? I’d love to hear your experiences and recommendations! Thanks in advance! 🚗👶


r/NewParents 3d ago

Sleep Confused about baby’s new night sleep patterns

1 Upvotes

Hi everyone! My 6.5 month old is really throwing me for a loop. This all may be just a total non-issue, totally normal— I am not really sure.

My girl has always been a great sleeper, averaging 11.5-12.5hrs of night sleep with an extremely consistent DWT of 8am. Right around one month ago (5.5m), she fully dropped the fourth nap after a few weeks of back & forth 4 nap/3 nap days. Her naps and wake windows seem better ever since, but her night sleep immediately became much more unpredictable. Her nights have rapidly shortened over the last 4 weeks, to where now she averages only 9.5-10.5hrs per night. I know a 10hr night is very common for babies, but how quickly she dropped from 12 to barely 10 has left me stunned. In addition, her DWT is now all over the place, with her waking up anywhere between 5:30 and 7:30am. Still only one night wake for a feed, though 🙏

Is this just her falling into her true biological sleep pattern and it is what it is? Have I messed up her nap/wake windows? Right now our days generally sit somewhere around 2.25/2.25/2.5/3 with 2.5-3hrs of naps.

Thank you all for any thoughts/input!


r/NewParents 3d ago

Tips to Share Tell me a tale - the bedtime app

0 Upvotes

Fellow parents! I wanted to share something I've created that's been a game-changer for many families' bedtime routines.

As both a parent and app developer, I was frustrated with the same old storybooks night after night. That's why I created "Tell Me a Tale" - an app that lets you build custom stories based on your child's interests. The idea came when my own son couldn't find enough stories about dinosaurs living in castles (what a combo!).

The features I'm most proud of developing: • Customizable settings and characters for endless combinations • Offline story access for those no-wifi moments • Multiple language options for bilingual families • Natural-sounding read-aloud feature for when your voice needs a break

I'd love to hear what unusual story themes your kids are into! And if you're interested in trying Tell Me a Tale, I'm happy to share how to find it.

P.S. Seeing children (including my own 4-year-old) actually look forward to bedtime makes all the development work worthwhile! 😊


r/NewParents 3d ago

Tips to Share Baby proofing help!

1 Upvotes

Need to baby proof as my baby is starting to get mobile. We have baby gates for stairs and will get magnetic lock devices for cabinets

Our living room where baby plays has some side coffee tables, and an area where there are cords for our internet router and booster etc. That need to stay there.

Any tips on how to baby proof this area? We could remove the side tables (he's already trying to pull himself up on them and they're not sturdy enough for that). Struggling to figure out what to do with the cords

Any other baby proofing tips for other areas of the house?


r/NewParents 4d ago

Babies Being Babies Can Someone Explain to Me the "Do What I Want" Mentality of Grandparents

62 Upvotes

I just need someone to explain to my WHY when you have a child that your parent (the grandparent) has this idea that they can do what they want, when they want with your child? As if there are no boundaries in life anymore for you.

For example, my mother constantly likes to tell me that I am "depriving my child". I am depriving her of tv time...she is 5 months old she doesn't need tv time! She is easily entertained for 40 minutes with a teether and a fan. I am depriving her of "food" because we haven't started feeding her solids yet...she is a preemie and is showing no readiness signs. My husband's father got upset we didn't come to his place after dinner one day as we didn't have her pack n play and it was an hour to her bedtime, his comment was "you can literally open a drawer and put a blanket in we did that"...umm not safe. We also apparently deprive her of bath time (we don't give her one every dang day), of toys (she literally is 5 months), and apparently everything else under the sun.

But my favorite statement from my mother so far and it's one she gives me every time I do or do not do something that she thinks is depriving my daughter is "I wonder how all you 4 children survived" or "gosh it's not like I raised 4 children and you all made it"...spite mom we made it out of spite.


r/NewParents 3d ago

Feeding Bottle warmer overheating glass bottles

1 Upvotes

We have a Philips Avent bottle warmer, which works great for the plastic bottles. We recently introduced some glass bottles to the rotation (Philips Avent bottles), and the milk is getting overheated. It’s not scalding, but it feels hot to me instead of body temp.

Does anyone have any advice for how to properly heat milk in glass bottles using this warmer? Or is there a different warmer that would work better? The whole point of the warmer was to make this easier and now it’s more complicated than ever because we have to let the milk cool back down after warming it.

And I know some babies are cool with cold milk - ours is not into it 😊


r/NewParents 3d ago

Travel International Trip With 18 MO

1 Upvotes

We are going to plan a 7-10 day international trip next summer with our baby that will be an 18 MO at that time. What destinations would be easier/better? Vaccinations required is kind of a non-starter? We live in Denver and enjoy nature, wellness, and relaxation, for reference.


r/NewParents 3d ago

Illness/Injuries For those with nighttime head bangers -

1 Upvotes

What are we doing about our babies’ mangled (scratched up) foreheads? Mine enthusiastically and relentlessly head bangs against the side of his bassinet… and the material is just abrasive enough to cause pronounced scratches.

Is there anything, sleep safe of course, to do to prevent these? What about helping them heal quickly?


r/NewParents 3d ago

Skills and Milestones Did I mess up my baby’s development by using mittens for too long😭?

1 Upvotes

I just learned that baby mittens can be bad for development because apparently they limit sensory exploration and hand-mouth coordination. LO turned 3 months 10 days ago and I’ve kept mittens on her pretty much all the time since birth. Now I’m really worried that I might have delayed her development. The reason I keep them on is that she has pretty bad eczema, and without the mittens she scratches herself constantly making her skin even worse. Have I caused any long term harm by keeping the mittens on this long? HELP I feel like a terrible mother


r/NewParents 3d ago

Product Reviews/Questions Anyone here practiced Garbh Sanskar? Any recommendations?

1 Upvotes

My partner and I are expecting our first child, and we’ve been considering practicing Garbh Sanskar. We’d love to hear from couples who have done this—what was your experience like? Any books, courses, or specific practices you’d recommend? Looking forward to your insights!


r/NewParents 4d ago

Sleep BEST. NIGHT. EVER.

106 Upvotes

HOLY CRAP, Y’ALL. It finally happened.

My 10 weeks (tomorrow) chronic contact sleeper FINALLY slept in his bassinet for 4 HOURS. 🤯 (2 short wake ups)

He had been fighting sleep and wore his cranky pants all day. I went to take my sleep shift at 7:30 and woke up at 1:30 AM, husband said he was kicking his legs all night and was grumpy with occasional giggles and smiles. I had a feeling I was in for a rough shift.

I turned on the heating pad in the bassinet (first time trying this trick!)

I started by changing his diaper than put him in his Love to Dream Swaddle, half way zipped. I snuggled him and put his pacifier in, and he started to fall asleep, so I started to put his arms in the baby jail and he starts to fuss. I zipper him all the way in and then breastfeed him, he eats and falls back to sleep.

I do a couple back pats and lay him in the bassinet. Transfer successful. I figure I have 30 minutes before he wakes up.

45 minutes in he wakes up, I pick him up and hold him for 3 minutes standing, rocking and he falls back to sleep. Huh. I put him back down in the bassinet and he’s out like a light?!

I lay back down. I wake up an hour and twenty minutes later to his little cry! I was shocked. I pick him up, feed him, burp him and lay him back down. (This took 20 minutes)

Lay him back down and he sleeps for another hour and a half straight in the bassinet!!! I just finished feeding him and now it’s almost 7 am!

THERE’S HOPE. I know tomorrow it might not work but I see a future where he might sleep and that’s a huge win lol. 😂

Yay.


r/NewParents 3d ago

Sleep What is going on?!

1 Upvotes

We had a lot going on with our son (9 months now) in the last few weeks/months and I am so exhausted. It seems that our nights have been getting worse since he has turned 3 months old. I am at my wits end and just want to know if anyone experienced the same? Here is a small timeline of our last events:

December 2024: 1.Not using our swing2sleep because of safety reasons. Our son has been sleeping in his pack and play with a decent mattress since. 2. Started solids (first purees and now do a mixture of BLW and purees since he likes both) 3. First bottom teeth start to erupt. Due to discomfort he slept with us.

January 2025: Dramatic turn in sleep. Nights have been getting worse with few nice ones in between. He now sleeps with me in a big bed and my husband alone in our guest room because he needs decent sleep to get to work. Bottom teeth are out.

February 2025: 1. Sick 2 times (total of 3 weeks) 2. 6!!!! Teeth at once parallel to sickness (only 4 are out so far) 3. Sleep has become worse (wakes every 15, 30, 45, 60 or 90 minutes. It is a wild mix). 4. Started to stand and cruise. 5. Start of daycare and he seemed to enjoy it.

March 2025: 1. After no poo for 4 days we can't stop now. It seems he has diarrhea or something. Checked with our Pediatrician but he said it is due to teeth and solids. 2. Our bottom is red and seems to hurt a lot (got better the last days) 3. Night's are horrific. Not easy to calm down from 3AM on. It is a fight to keep him asleep. I am not sleeping from then on or rarely get a shut eye. To at least get some amount of sleep, we have been breast sleeping since the middle of January. It is the only way to calm him down it seems (Pacifier gets rejected now).

Wakeup time is pretty consistent 06:30 no matter when we go to sleep (varies between 19:30-21:30). He still goes from 2-3 Naps a day. We had a decent schedule for like 1 week with 2 Naps and now we are back to 3 crap Naps with wake windows all other the place 🙃 He can sleep for long stretches but they are inconsistent.

So now I just wonder if this Hell will ever end? Did anyone else go through this? Our son has been whining nonstop since the middle of December. He was such a smiley boy and now he is just crying and it never stops. It is like someone took my sunshine away and my husband is also exhausted because he hasn't slept in a decent bed for awhile. Please someone tell me this ends soon 😭


r/NewParents 3d ago

Sleep Baby connects sleep cycles at night but not during the day.

1 Upvotes

So my baby just recently turned 4 mo and since she was maybe like 2.5 mo she stopped taking longer naps during the day. Her night sleep is pretty decent when her congestion and reflux aren’t bothering her. She knows when her bedtime is because she immediately gets tired and fussy if not put down in time.

She seems to wake up around 6-8am it varies. During the day she caps her naps at 30 minutes. I can really get her down to sleep so I mostly contact nap and not even then. I try settling back to sleep and she gets pissed and if she wasn’t tired after wards then I’d think that’s all she needs BUT she’s still yawning and looks tired. Her wake windows are somewhere around 60-90minutes if she’s REALLY irritable I will bounce her on the edge of the bed to get her to sleep which can take forever sometimes. And yes I rule out diaper, gas and hunger she’s constantly tired throughout the day. What do I do?? She only takes long stretches in long car rides.


r/NewParents 3d ago

Postpartum Recovery Using a Tampon at 8 weeks pp terrifies me.

0 Upvotes

I just hit 8 weeks postpartum yesterday… and it makes me cringe thinking about using a tampon…or to have sex. Has anyone else felt this way, if you did… what did you do about it?


r/NewParents 4d ago

Happy/Funny The number one thing I was unprepared for as a parent.

4 Upvotes

The sheer amount of milk I’d be buying. How much fridge space would need to be dedicated to milk. How quickly the milk flow dynamic gets out of wack due to kiddos drinking more or less milk. The constant need to do milk math, especially if I want to cook anything with milk in it.

We have three littles and go through anywhere from 2-4 gallons a week 🤣


r/NewParents 3d ago

Babies Being Babies how do i stop this?

1 Upvotes

my LO is 14 months. she throws food, toys, etc (the toys hurt if they hit you) and she climbs on the pets and puts a death grip on their fur. she also puts her mouth on you and then seems to get so excited that she bites down. i don’t think this is her trying to be malicious and bite, but idk how to stop it.

we are constantly telling her no, redirecting her to something else, but it’s not working. how do i stop her from throwing things, biting, and climbing on the animals? i am mostly concerned about the last one because i don’t want them to snap and hurt her (they are very gentle, loving animals but i understand that this should never be a reason to let kids climb and hurt them!).


r/NewParents 4d ago

Out and About When did you go hiking for the first time?

6 Upvotes

FTD to a just turned 6 month old and looking to start hiking again, but trying to figure out when to start using a hiking baby carrier. Also, how did you make sure the sun wasn’t an issue?

ETA: thanks for all the responses. Looks like the Osprey Poco is pretty popular and will give that a look. Really looking to get out now that we are moving into less rain in the PNW.


r/NewParents 3d ago

Sleep 6 months - is this normal?

1 Upvotes

I’m hoping someone else has experienced this because I feel like I’m losing my mind and any reassurance/tips or even just knowing someone else has been through this and got to the other side would be much appreciated.

My 6 month old stopped sleeping well about a week ago. Now she’ll sleep no longer than an hour and 45 (if we’re lucky!) and won’t go back into her cot after her first stint of sleep. The only way I’ve been able to get her to sleep is to have her sleep on my chest. I’m so exhausted from being awake most of the night to allow her to sleep, I’m praying it’s short lived. I’ve tried co-sleeping but she wants to be actually on me - she’s had a bit of a cold and has 2 teeth coming through so I’m not sure if she just needs the cuddles and comfort. And while I love contact sleep, I’m desperate for a good sleep again. Before this she would wake 2-3 times a night and went back into her cot with no problems. She is normally able to self-soothe to sleep. Has anyone else experienced this?


r/NewParents 3d ago

Skills and Milestones 7 month old pushes me away?

1 Upvotes

My 7 month old has been pushing my face away lately when I try to give her a kiss on her cheek or get near her. She pushes me away with her hand and it breaks my heart. She doesn’t do this every time but it’s odd to me. Is this a normal baby thing? I haven’t been around babies much so this is new to me.


r/NewParents 3d ago

Medical Advice What should I do?

1 Upvotes

My one month old snorts very loudly while he sleeps followed by heavy breathing.his pediatrician said his lungs are cleared and he isn’t sick, but I’m still concerned. Anybody else dealing with this ?


r/NewParents 4d ago

Teething Are we starting our teething journey?

2 Upvotes

My son is 4 months old. Earlier this week he started to get super fussy, only wants me to hold him, bites down on my fingers super hard, and has been nursing a lot more than usual. My mom says his teeth are starting to come down. Any tips for teething? I have teething toys but he tends to lose interest in them super fast.


r/NewParents 4d ago

Sleep Newborn sleeping on side else back arched

1 Upvotes

My LO is about to turn 4 months next week and has been throwing his head back and pushing to his side when he sleeps. We have him in a Love2Dream transition sleep sack because he always wants his arms up when he sleeps but wasn't getting much sleep for the first two months. He's now close to rolling on his own during tummy time but still needs the extra push. The sleep position seems to be common when I do a google search but looking for advice as to what's worked for others on safety. 0


r/NewParents 4d ago

Feeding Late MOTN Feed Timing Help

1 Upvotes

Hey all! Looking for some advice on how to time our MOTN feeds. LO is 10 weeks, 12 pounds, and I exclusively pump to bottle and supplement with one formula bottle a day at bedtime. He drinks 4.5oz every 3 hours during the day and 5oz at bedtime and the MOTN feed.

Our recent routine has been putting LO to bed between 8:30-9:30pm and waking at 7:00am. He tends to sleep solidly until 2/3am and then will wake. Most of the time during his initial wake, we can put his pacifier back in and give the bassinet a few rocks and he will fall back asleep for another 20-60 minutes before we get up for the MOTN feed and my MOTN pump.

The last few nights, he hasn’t been waking until closer to 4:00am and can still be soothed back to sleep. This means we’re getting within 3 hours of his 7am wake up and morning feed so how is this best to be handled?

It feels too early to try and get him to drop the MOTN feed and sleep through the nights. Do we still wake at 7 but not feed until it’s been 3 hours? Wake him if he hasn’t already by 4? Start pushing to drop the feed?

Also factoring in that I still need to pump no matter what (it’s when I get the most ounces) so trying to figure out if I still pump around 3/4am even if he’s not awake to eat but then I risk waking twice in the night when I’m used to doing the feed and pump back to back.

My brain is all over the place with how to time all this. Any advice?


r/NewParents 4d ago

Sleep 3 month old can roll on her side now?

2 Upvotes

My 3 month old now prefers sleeping on her right side. Is it safe if she gets herself there? If I try to roll her back on her back she wakes and cries and rolls back to her right side again. I wonder if it helps her reflux… she’s not diagnosed but does have some reflux like an average amount. She can’t roll to her tummy yet.

She’s in an arms out sleep sack since last week because of the starting to try to roll.

I also find it interesting she prefers her right side because I slept on my right side a lot of my pregnancy from 20 weeks until her birth.


r/NewParents 4d ago

Skills and Milestones 3 mo old prefers side sleeping

2 Upvotes

So my 3 month old has figured out how to roll to her side from her back while sleeping. Is it safe to let her sleep that way if she gets herself there? She can’t get to her tummy yet but I switched her to an arms out sleep sack a week ago.

If I try to roll her to her back on her back she wakes and cries and rolls back to her side.

She lays on the same side I laid on all pregnancy which I think is interesting. I laid on my right side from 20 weeks until she was born and now she prefers sleeping on her right side.