New Moms Drowning in Postpartum Life

“Feeling so frustrated. No matter how I rock, bounce, shush, sway, or swaddle my newborn will not sleep for me unless he nurse to sleep even if I do it the exact way my husband does it. As he's getting older, he isn't falling asleep at the end of every nursing session anymore and it's starting to get super frustrating during my shift In the middle of the night. He falls asleep from my husband no problem whatsoever. I've tried putting one of his shirts on my chest and rocking baby,”

“We had our baby girl 2 weeks ago today, and have been home with her for a week. So far mum and I have been working in shifts, and feeding her and pumping every 3h. Each feed takes about an hour, so neither of us had gotten more than 2-3h of straight sleep in a fortnight. When we’re on shift, the baby won’t go down on her cot, so we need to hold her in our arms, so we can’t sleep, I’m not coping well, I had mental health issues and now I’m getting PPD hitting me like a ton of bricks. I’ve self ha”

“Not sure what to put this under so I just did sleep… I’m a week and 5 days pp, I was told that I should be starting a schedule for my son… so many different questions, how on earth do I start this schedule?? Like I have times in my head, if I put him to bed at 8 and he wakes every 3 hours this would be a good schedule as I’m a night owl.. so if he goes to bed at 8, he will be awake by 10-11 which would be when I’m about to go to sleep which works perfectly… since when he wakes up I change him, f”

“I’m writing this as I cry. I have a 7 week old child and a 20 month old toddler. I am so sad everyday, my relationship with my husband is failing. I see his sister who has a 10 week old and a 20 month old thriving with her husband going to events and living life and we ar over here struggling. Like we always argue and just idk I feel like we are just growing apart we are different from when we met 6 years ago. I find it hard to see joy in life lately and I’m just sad. My birthday is in a few day”

“My husband and took shifts at night for my baby’s first 8 weeks of life because she refused to sleep anywhere other than our arms no matter what she did. After we each had episodes of falling asleep with her on our shifts, we decided to start cosleeping falling safe sleep 7 guidelines. Even with cosleeping, our *good* nights are 3 wake ups at almost 4 months old. I’m going back to work at the end of July & would like to transition out of cosleeping and into her sleeping in her crib in our ro”

“My husband and took shifts at night for my baby’s first 8 weeks of life because she refused to sleep anywhere other than our arms no matter what she did. After we each had episodes of falling asleep with her on our shifts, we decided to start cosleeping falling safe sleep 7 guidelines. Even following the guidelines, I still feel anxious every night going to bed. At almost 4 months, she is starting to roll over & get generally more mobile. This is causing me to feel more and more anxiety, and”

“My boy will be eight weeks old this coming Tuesday. I don’t track sleep-wake windows during the day and I never have. As he’s grown, some days he seems wired most of the day despite my best soothing efforts, some days he’s extra sleepy, and I just let him lead the way as much as possible. He’s EBF with one small top off bottle of collected milk at bedtime. I spend my days feeding on demand with variable time stretches (generally every 2 hours or so, sometimes more frequently). He’s a contact nap”

“My son is 5 weeks and 2 days old. Born term (39 weeks ). I had about 10 hours of bliss before I looked at his chart. When he was born, he was really small. Everything was in the 1-2%. His head being in the first percentile sent me into an immediate spiral. I also feel like his eyes are smaller than most babies. Everyone just said everything was small, so the head being small wasn’t a concern. Over the course of the first month he grew quite a bit. His head grew about 1.5 inches and he gained 2.5”

“Lately I’ve realized how much I miss the life I used to have. I was a stay at home mom for 8 years before going back to work two years ago. Our house was always clean, decorated and felt like home. I loved making beautiful dinners, keeping our family organized and creating a peaceful place for everyone. I truly thrived in that role. Now I work from home full time and little by little, my mental health has declined. I noticed this around Christmas time when I didn’t want to decorate or bring out”

“Baby just turned 3 months and naps are a true fight. He used to fall asleep after rocking, then that turned to pacing around his room in the dark (always with white noise), but now he will only fall asleep of a) we feed him to sleep or b) he’s in the carrier with the vacuum on. Vacuum sound won’t work, has to be the actual vacuum. The funny thing is sometimes just sucking on a bottle (empty) will calm him and he’ll go to sleep but he refuses a pacifier. We even have the same ones as his bottle (”

“Hi everyone, I have a wonderful 6-month-old baby boy who will only sleep at home. It feels like we can barely go anywhere. I see other moms out and about all the time, and I can’t help feeling a little jealous. I only have a small window of time between naps, because if he falls asleep in the stroller or car, he’ll usually sleep for only about 20 minutes, wake up overtired, and then the rest of the day (and night) becomes much harder. I absolutely love being his mom, and I would do anything for”

“I’m really just posting this to clear my head. Not really needing advice. I guess I’m just wondering if anyone has had the same experience. I’m 12 weeks PP. My baby girl is the absolute light of my life. I’m still breastfeeding but have moved into combo feeding her as I feel my supply just never really became “enough”. As we are leaving the newborn stage I feel really emotional about my baby growing. I am starting to realize how short and tender this stage of life really is. She’s also eating mo”

“My baby was born a little over 3 weeks ago and I feel that I’m struggling just being at home. Our baby girl is super calm (only cries when she’s hungry and we’re taking too long) so I feel like this pushes me to feel that she would be great out and about. My husband and I are homebodies but there are so many things my husband and I didn’t do while pregnant. I had some pregnancy complications which required a surgery 2 months before our unexpected C-section. We’re waiting for the babies immunizat”

“My 35 week old preemie is now 10 weeks old and she is absolutely miserable when she is awake. She screams while nursing most of the time (never at night, thank God) screams while trying to pass gas screams while pooping. She is in serious pain and I feel like my breast milk is to blame. I’ve tried gas drops, gripe water, tons of massages, the windy etc. I know most people say it gets better and it wait it out but this is so so hard. I have a 4 year old who was also colicky and I really hoped thi”

“I’m not writing this because I’m not happy, I’m just trying to get some input from other moms out there. I’m so blessed to have this beautiful baby girl! She is 12 weeks old today and the past 7 nights she’s been cluster feeding from 9 or 10pm to roughly 2-4 am. It’s been a struggle! I currently have a 13 and 8 year old so it’s been a while and I formula fed them after the first week. Does breastfeeding get easier? My 8 year old slept through the night as soon as we switched him to formula. I kn”

“I’ve heard of sunset or sundown scaries postpartum but I think I have the opposite? I don’t mind the end of the day (1 month pp) but it’s the mornings that I struggle with. Baby sleeps pretty find throughout the night and even when I have the time to sleep I find that I’m thinking about the next day and the repeat of the feed/diaper/nap. When I wake up before baby I could get up and have time to myself to read or eat something but I instead find myself lying in bed just stressing about the day a”

“I am 3 months postpartum, and is anyone else also feeling particularly warm at night? I like and need to sleep cool always, but it feels like lately I've really been made to feel bad about feeling too warm at night by others in the household. I'm breastfeeding so supporting a whole other body with my body, so this makes hormones do crazy things and any sleep I am able to get is precious. Idk if there's anyone else out there who also experiences this. I would love to know. submi”

“I’m a second time mom and my baby is now 4 months and a half. Since he got 4 months vaccinations I feel like it breaks him. He slept through out the night since 2 months then now he wakes up every 2-3 hr. Sometimes just open his eyes and cry for a bit but as soon as i pad him or shuu him back to sleep then all good. But god I have 2 years old at home too and it’s a lot. I thought for sure it wolast 1 weeks but here I am losing my shit cause I’m exhausted all the time. I’m also breastfeeding so t”

“I’m not sure what happened but over the last week my 8.5 month old’s sleep has absolutely come crumbling down. She was never a great sleeper but we had made great strides (falling asleep independently and only waking up 2x, recently 1x). She will no longer fall asleep by herself and she’s been waking up every 55-60 mins for the first half of the night. We thought it was teething the last few days so we gave Motrin during a MOTN wake and she had a longer stretch, but we gave it tonight before bed”

“Hi all. Like the title says, I’m so unbelievably tired. I’m 6 months postpartum, and as of 2 weeks ago, my girl has been sleep trained and is now sleeping through the night (with one feed in the middle). I’m getting WAY more sleep than I did prior to two weeks ago, but I’m more tired than I was then. I’m so confused. She goes down around 7:30/8pm, wakes up at 3 to eat, then sleeps until 7/8am. I go to bed around 10 and get up when she gets up, so I’m literally getting so much rest. I don’t get i”

“My son just turned 9 months last week, the 8 month sleep regression was rough for a few weeks and then it got better for 2 weeks. Now it sucks again but in a different way. My son has always preferred to sleep on his tummy, be rocked to sleep and take a bottle/binky. Now I’m confused on what he wants and maybe he is too. He acts like he doesn’t want any of that. He pushed the bottle away and the binky a few times until he settles for one eventually, he will pop up a few times when rocking him an”

“For some context, our beautiful baby boy is 9 months as of a couple days ago. We have our routine and though I’m perpetually exhausted, I feel like I’m able to get everything I need to do for baby and the household done for the most part. I feel like I’m really out here momming now lol Mind you, we also have 3 cats, 2 dogs, a flock of chickens, and I still work from home part time. On top of this, I have recently been trying to go to the gym in the evenings when my husband is home after baby is”

“Every time it’s time for a nap and we walk into her bedroom holding her— immediate tears! Like, girl. This is the cuddle/rock/milk place. Why are you crying?? Anyone else’s baby do this? My current theory is we have a bit of a fomo baby. She’s pretty terrible at daytime sleep (3.5 months). submitted by /u/niscodinja [link] [comments]”

“Have a 7 month old and finding my days very boring. A lot of the time we have plans with family or others moms/babies but the days we are at home seem to drag on forever even when we do multiple walks/outings. Does anyone else feel like this? submitted by /u/CedarColumbia1 [link] [comments]”

“Okay this feels bad for me to feel this way, but sometimes when I’m rocking my baby to sleep, I get SO overstimulated by her constantly shifting, turning, kicking her legs, scooting up and down etc. it’s like she can’t get comfortable for awhile. I get so overstimulated and over-touched and I feel bad for feeling this way. Feels like a baby’s version of kneading her bed before she goes to sleep. I transfer her to her crib once’s she’s settled. She’s almost 10 months old submitted by”

“And I mean, without having to wake up to shush, put paci back in mouth, feed, rock, you have it. Just uninterrupted, blissful sleep. My LO is 5 mo and wakes up every 4-3 h for the first stretch at night, then 3-4 again, then 2. Started solids, did not help. Honest answers pls submitted by /u/Forsaken_Highway5317 [link] [comments]”

“I’m 9 months postpartum, and I love my baby girl more than anything. But wow... I feel like I’m in a constant state of overwhelm and overstimulation. My house is a mess. I’m a mess. I leave the house dressed like Adam Sandler half the time. I’m struggling to keep up with prepping three meals a day for my baby (I always make it happen somehow), let alone feeding myself properly. My sweet girl is crawling everywhere, practicing standing on her own, couch cruising, terrorizing the cats, and making”

“hi my baby is 11 weeks now. Since 8 weeks we have been getting to sleep fairly ok - no major meltdowns in the evenings. However these past few days it’s as if she was a 3 week old again - crying so much in the nighttime before bed, won’t go to proper sleep until 11. Overnight in her bassinet she just tosses and squirms (not physically, just her head, she’s still in swaddle) did anyone else have this?? not sure what to do thanks! submitted by /u/neijy003 [link] [comments]”

“I have been gifted a fairly good sleeper and we have not done any sleep training. At 20 weeks, her schedule is usually a 5:30am bottle, back down til 7:00am. Then she is up until 8:45, down for a nap etc. We usually aim for an 8:15 bath time, 8:30 bottle, 8:45 bedtime. I’m noticing that a lot of people put their baby down earlier. The one time I tried to put her down at 7:00, she just shrieked and smacked her feet on the mattress. Am I depriving my baby of sleep? Or should I just continue on unt”

“my girl is almost 9 months old!! and we have been so confused with naps lately. she was taking two naps a day, but then I realized by the time bedtime rolled around she was actually over tired! now I'm trying to squeeze in a third nap but it seems like it's just too close to bedtime now. she usually wakes up around 6:30 and is in bed between 6:15-6:30. tia!! submitted by /u/thatreader24 [link] [comments]”

“I’m 2 weeks postpartum and this has been so beautiful but so hard. It’s also the summer and I feel like everyone’s living their life except me and I’m stuck in my bedroom all day. I’m too nervous to take the baby out right now and I’m healing. I love my son so much but I’m having major fomo of others and feel guilty for even saying that. Everyday is so different and unpredictable which is why I don’t feel comfortable taking my baby out right now.. I’m also exclusively pumping so everytime I get”

“I'm a first time mom and I have a 1 week old who is cluster feeding right now. He's primarily breastfed, with my husband helping with pumped milk during the nights or if I need a nap. But I still have to get up and pump every 2 or 3 hours anyway. I just am really confused because not as exhausted as I thought I'd be. My energy does dip a little after feedings, and sometimes I do need to nap for an hour or so in the mornings once the baby is settled down a little bit, but the past cou”

“I’m 5w6d and I haven’t been able to sleep more than four hours at night. My sleep during the day hasn’t been great either, and I’m genuinely not sure what to do considering how important sleep is. Does anyone have any advice that’s not scary chemicals? submitted by /u/Myrcenequeen420 [link] [comments]”

“Lucky that my baby can sleep 4-6 hour stretches… but I don’t. Anyone else just can’t seem to sleep even when baby is? And have you found something that helps? I’m beyond exhausted and it’s my own body’s doing. submitted by /u/imdirrtydan12 [link] [comments]”

“My baby just turned 3 months and she did a 180 in all sleep and feeding habits, I don't recognize her. The newest and worst addition is she will only nurse to sleep and eat, with me side lying in bed. She will then comfort nurse for the WHOLE duration of her nap. If I try to pull away, she wakes up crying and fussing and grumpy... The moment she senses me pulling out she also starts swallowing like to tease me saying, see I'm eating, don't go... My nipples are sore, I'm thirsty a”

“What tips and tricks do you have for your little ones because mine (23 months) can go all night if we allowed it 🤣. I recently switched her crib to a toddler bed so i understand it’s also a transition thing but im trying to shorten the time every single day. submitted by /u/Nadsarie_UGC [link] [comments]”

“I have 6,5 months baby. My husband is working from home and is not very busy with work so he helps alot. We cosleep so I relatively sleep quite good, get approx 6-7 hours of sleep, some rare nights I even dont wake up at all (though baby feeds by himself while I sleep and I dont feel a thing lol (got a night vision camera)). So Im blessed and happy regarding sleep and husband support, pointing these out as I dont think I should be feeling down/depressed, but all days look the same. I mean ALL of”

“Hi, Im a FTM, my baby was born 3 weeks ago (c/s). I have support, my husband takes care of the baby, my mom come and go. Im breastfeeding, most of the time i feel like im breastfeeding, when i go to sleep im always half awake, listening the baby even my husband or mom takes care of the baby. I feel exhausted and sad most of the time, and then when i look at baby i feel guilty because he deserves a better mom i guess. I talk with him when he is with me, i breastfeed every 2-3 hours, he is growing”

“sorry this is just a venting post. i'm struggling so much right now. i was happy when i came home from the hospital with my baby, then i decided to dry up my milk due to my own reasons and i think that with the postpartum hormone drop you get any has caused a horrible hormonal crash within me. i am taking propranolol for the physical anxiety symptoms which does help massively because i can't eat without it (gagging and throwing up). i also can't sleep well, my partner is really sweet”

“My son is officially 13 months old as of yesterday and I’m so proud of how far we’ve come but I really want to stop nursing cold turkey. It’s affecting my sleep, he wakes up every few hours to nurse just to fall right back asleep. I have other children that I care for so when he is up a few times a night it puts me in a dreading mood the next day. I’m always running on choppy sleep. My nipples are sometimes sore because of him sucking on them. He is a very attached baby so he cries and pulls at”

“I’m a first time mom to a 9 month old. I’ve never been interested in sleep training and always respond to him when he cries. I’m not interested in changing that. However, we’ve had a really rough 3 months. In that time we’ve had 5 ear infections, cold after cold, a stomach bug, HFMD, and ear tube surgery. So I’ve been extra responsive because he obviously has felt terrible. Now that I feel like we’re coming on the other side of it, I’m trying to figure out the best approach to sleep. I know when”

“I dont remember it being this hard with my first. I feel like I’m at my breaking point, and so is my husband. Our 6 week old son hasnt slept more than a 2 hour stretch yet. He wakes up after 30 minutes typically screaming. I feel like I’m nursing him all day long and I’m so exhausted from it. Hes gaining so much weight, plenty of wet and poopy diapers, doctor said he looks great. We tried gas drops, we stretch him out etc. I’m an oversupplier this time around and have plenty of frozen breastmilk”

“I have a 2 month old, and while the first few weeks were honestly really rough, things have gotten so much better. I truly love my baby more than anything. That being said, every day feels exactly the same, and I’m starting to feel like I’m going crazy. Every day is just feed the baby, change diapers, wash bottles, clean the house, figure out what to cook, run to the grocery store, cook dinner, clean up dinner, bathe the baby, shower, go to bed, and wake up to do it all over again. I’ve gotten i”

“What time are you putting your 5/6 week olds to “bed”? After going to sleep around 9pm, mine wakes up to eat around midnight and 3am typically then anywhere from 6-7am. He takes a long time to get back to sleep overnight. I can’t really put him back to sleep once it hits 6:30/7am because we have to get my toddler ready for daycare and drop her off there. I am desperate to get some of my evening hours back. My toddler goes to bed around 8pm and to still have another hour or so of feeding and rock”

“I woke up this morning and some switch just flipped - like nothing holds gravity in my brain except my baby. Also have this intense affection for my dog / cats. Lol My whole pregnancy things have been on the back burner, like people keep asking me about the nursery, baby clothes, etc and I’m like “idk I have to work!” Now all I can think about is an exact list of what my baby needs, I can visualize him in my belly, and every little stressor from yesterday about family being annoying, or not liki”

“Background: 37, stay at home mom, one child 14 months, sleeps through the night and is a pretty chill and happy baby. Husband does a lot of baby stuff so I feel well supported there. Had a crazy year when baby was born at 25 weeks with a 123 day NICU stay. He came home on oxygen and one med, and one minor surgery but we are well past that stage since December. i have been seeing a postpartum therapist which is helpful and now a ERP therapist for OCD which really took over after last years events”

“First off let me say at about 10 weeks we are VERY blessed with baby’s sleep. I’m going back to work in 2 weeks though so I am hoping there is a solution as I’d like to workout in the morning and feel guilty leaving my husband with baby if he’s restless. (He doesn’t guilt me, I just feel this way.) 7 pm last bottle - I try to make sure he’s awake a bit before and a bit after 8 pm - bedtime in his own room, sleeps pretty well might have to put paci back in his mouth 1-2 times. 4/4:30 am - starts”

“My 4m old (today) baby has slept through the night since 2 months old. Granted, he is sick but he thinks he needs to wake up every two hours again. Why the HECK. I’ve been waiting for it to come because sleeping through the night was too good to be true. It’s only been 3 nights but I miss him sleeping longer so much already 😭😭 any fellow FT working moms also struggling with a baby who isn’t sleeping at night? submitted by /u/No-Perspective-6528 [link] [comments]”

“I have an 8 month old he is breastfed and bottle fed. I don’t know if I am doing something wrong he used to sleep 6hr stretches and now is 3hrs. I don’t know if i should switch on giving him breastmilk on his bottle before he goes to sleep or what do you recommend any tips? He is also eating solid but not as much lately since he is been teething. submitted by /u/wagoogus_crusher [link] [comments]”

“Hello! My baby is almost 9 weeks old and he's EBF. After he was born my mum came to help so she would put him to sleep at night and bring him over to me for the first 1-2 feeds of the night. Then he was in a crib next to me, though sometimes I'd leave him in my bed after a feeding. I started co-sleeping intentionally a couple of weeks ago and it's been working well in that I feel more or less ok in the morning. I'm not sure if I'll keep doing in in the same room with my husba”

“My baby is 5 months old this week. Sleep regression hit hard at 4 1/2 months. I’m spending at least 3/4 of my day it feels like just trying to get him to sleep. Naps or bed time. All for him to sleep for 20-30 minutes on naps, even when held. Occasionally he will hit an hour if it’s a good contact nap. Bed time is like an Olympic sport. Every night he immediately wakes after 30 minutes with his false start. I basically sit and wait for it at this point. Sometimes I can get him back down quickly”

“I’m so thankful to breastfeed! I would do all of the hard again if I had to… but is there room for both being true? I feel so guilty for how worn out I am. I’m so tired. I haven’t slept more than 4 hours at a time in over 10 weeks. I’ve had mastitis twice. I still have cracks. Feeding on the right still hurts. I hate being naked all the time. There’s a ticking timer to try to get anything done. And worst of all, I hate pumping. But I’m thankful for the bonding. And I know there are some great be”

“...and to light up the tunnel since it seems I'll be in here for a minute. This weekend will be 6 weeks since my sweet babygirl joined us. I was induced and it was a tough time but I'd repeat it all over again with minimal changes if I had to. I got on anxiety meds at 2 weeks because I was cracking at the seams. I can look back and acknowledge that 5 week babygirl is already easier than 4 week babygirl, who was easier than 3 weeks...etc. But I'm still struggling to look forward. I&#3”

“I see posts all the time by new moms who are able to keep a spotless house, do pilates, and have an active sex life all while caring for their baby. Meanwhile my son turned 3 months old on Monday and I still barely get anything done. I can keep the house somewhat picked up but I have to do most of it in the hour or two I have between his bedtime and mine. That’s also when I pump, prep dinner in the crockpot for the next night, and try to spend time with my husband. I barely get a chance to showe”

“I have been in parenting subs long enough to know I’m going to get torn apart for this “brag post” but I’m genuinely looking for advice. Our daughter is 8 months old and has seemed like a very “high sleep needs” baby for the past month or so. I know I should just enjoy the sleep but I’m concerned the schedule isn’t helping her development. I know she should be taking two naps still but this schedule has been what she’s on for the past month or so. Her typical schedule is as follows: 9AM - Wake u”

“FTM and our daughter is almost 5 weeks old. I immediately loved her when I gave birth, but in the last week or two with longer wake windows and her starting to look at us, I feel so much more connected to her and protective of her and get emotional just looking at her because I can’t believe we made someone so precious. It’s such a crazy feeling loving someone this much. Does anyone else find these feelings overwhelming? Both in a good but also anxiety inducing way? submitted by /u/R”

“I'm not asking for medical advice but just maybe experiences. This is my third baby and my PPA is just nuts. My first two I just... Pushed through. It stopped once I stopped breastfeeding. This time, it's just so intense. I had a dr appt yesterday, and they did blood panels and everything came back perfect. Today, I had a panic attack so badly I literally went to the ER at because I thought I was having a heart attack, my chest hurt horrible, I was hot and racy and just felt unwell. And”

“I’m a new mom (6 months pp) who went back to work about 2 months ago. Like many new moms, I had a lot of anxiety about making the transition back to work. This was probably exacerbated by the fact that my son spent the first month of his life in the NICU and the idea of leaving him felt unbearable for a while. But my husband took paternity leave for my first month back at work and it ended up being a really smooth transition. I missed my son during the day and I wish I lived in a country with at”

“i thought being a SAHP meant i'd have time for stuff. turns out it just means i have more time to fall down random rabbit holes that leave me more exhausted than i was before. my daughter started ballet last month and she's obsessed. like, lives and breathes it. so now i'm in charge of making sure she has all the right gear and i'm just. so overwhelmed. there are so many options so many opinions so many things i didn't know existed. anyone else feel like kids activities come”