Would you go on holiday without your 7 month old baby?

Hear me out, I’m not trying to be public enemy number 1 here…

My partner is absolutely desperate to get away on holiday this year, we had saved up to go last year however I struggled a lot during my pregnancy and wasn’t up to it. We were toying with the idea of going away this year when our baby will be 7 months old to have some family time and relax after some pretty traumatic experiences surrounding the birth and early postpartum (we are all safe, well and thriving now thankfully!).

After talking about it, my parents have offered to have her for the week instead of us taking her away with us so we can fully relax and explore without trying to navigate naps/feeds/BLW in the holiday heat. They are incredibly supportive and involved in her care and have already had her overnight numerous times therefore I’m not worried about them having her for a week for us, but I feel a huge amount of mum guilt for considering it.

She is exclusively formula fed every 2-3 hours through the day and sleeps 12 hours per night and is just starting to have first tastes of food.

Has anyone been away without their little ones when they were so young?

in our community

People bringing their ACTIVELY sick children to playgroups is why I choose nature first for our son

Before anyone says anything, yes I'm aware kids get sick... No shit. Doesn't mean we all bring our sick children to playgroups just because it happens.

Also yes I'm aware of building immunity, doesn't mean our son and other children need to build sleepless nights because of someone's lack of judgement. Especially immune compromised children. NOTE I said ACTIVELY sick and specifically state playgroups that are NOT mandatory for parents. You can sit out for one week if your child is ACTIVELY sick. Just thought I would be specific in what I'm saying so no one goes off topic and says "well you can't keep them in for every sniffle" not what I'm talking about. To finish any comments saying "well don't go to playgroups then" will be blocked. Shouldn't have to avoid them because someone wants to bring a newly sick child in 🤷🏼‍♀️ I have avoided playgroups when my son was sick for 2 weeks to be sure, because I'm my area Mums bring their newborns...not that hard. For now we will be doing small nature walks 🌲
Sincerely,
Frustrated parent with a toddler waking up coughing all night 😮‍💨

Co-parenting Issues

I have a son who’s under one. And me and his dad split before he was born. All we do is argue and it’s getting me so down I am getting to breaking point.

We live 30 minutes between each other and for logistic reasons I chose a nursery near me so I can still get to work on time and it’s easy to get to. He isn’t happy about this wanted me to have one nearer him or in his town. He doesn’t pay for any of the nursery fees due to funding not come yet im paying a full £1800 a month. Any milk nappies ect I have take to nursery. We try meet half way on swap overs or I drop him off at his house.

I work full time and because he complains about fuel and affording anything I suggest him have 3 nights a week including a weekend day so I also have a weekend day. Every week he has ago at me saying I’m taking his son away from family or has something on so I end up giving my weekend day up. I have lent him so much money he can’t afford fuel or much for our son so I’m basically providing for two households. He just wants more money and more weekend with our son so I just end up with a couple of hours on evening in the week day with him.

I don’t know what to do anymore he gets so nasty and I’m so scared of him. He flips out so quickly with me and all I’ve done is help where I can. I want my son to have his dad in his life but I a physically, financially and emotionally burnt out. What do I do?

Hate this man

I rlly hate tf out of my bd it keeps me awake at night sometimes how much I hate his ass. We r together but tbh im better off single n coparenting. He sees her weekends bc his dumbass decided to live alone n acts like he’s the greatest dad in the world. He spends about £300 on our daughter n apparently that’s more than enough. She’s 9 months old why r u putting a spend cap on ur own child. But will happily eat takeaway every night bc he’s too lazy to even cook. I get no time for myself n he thinks him working 9-4 mon-thurs n 9-12 Fridays is harder than looking after our child alone.. like ew r u actually dumb. Mind u I went out ONCE for 2 hours to grocery shop n he was calling me asking where I was…

Where are the ACTUAL men and good dads at?? I’m tired of him doing the bare minimum and hearing that he’s “doing his best”. If that’s his best I don’t wanna know what his worst is. Never having another baby w him again.

Postpartum rage

1230am here- just had a meltdown and cried hysterically to my husband. My son who is now down to one feeding per night, woke up at 1120pm just as I was falling asleep. I tried my hardest to settle as I knew it wasn’t hunger. He got louder and I lost it. I came out storming to the kitchen to get a bottle (he only had .5 oz) and layed back down and just lost it. I’m exhausted, the balance of toddler and baby is insane, I haven’t had an hour to myself in months, I have no adult interaction all day, my husband works long hours, I have no one checking up on me. My rage is through the roof. The crying is getting to me this time around. It feels never ending and like the walls are closing in as the cries get louder. I need help. I need to escape and recharge. My husband no longer recognizes me, heck I don’t either. I keep it together in front of of the kids and let it out as soon as they’re backs are turned and then put a fake smile on. I love my children dearly but, I know I’m not ok. This is not joyful for me at this time. I need to know this will pass and I will be better for my children and my marriage.

Shaking

I've been struggling to get out with my boy who's now 12 weeks. I've just been going for walks etc where I don't have to interact with anyone 🙃
It's my friends birthday coming up so I went to the shops yesterday. Got to the till and I just couldn't stop shaking. And then I was stuttering and it was just a mess. Idk if its because there was a long queue behind me or if I was just nervous or something? Has anyone else had this. Do I just need to go out more?
Once I left the shop I felt fine I was relieved to get out of there.

I also feel weird walking round with the pram in public. Like I'm not really there? Dizzy feeling? Idk it's hard to explain.

Postpartum depression

Hi everyone,

I’m looking for some perspective because I’m really struggling after an argument with my partner about parenting.

For some background, I have been diagnosed with postpartum depression. When my son was just over 3 months old, I was hospitalized for 6 weeks for treatment. I’ve worked incredibly hard on my recovery and continue to do my best every day to be the best mum I can be.

This morning, our son was unwell and needed to see the GP. My partner said he couldn’t take him because of work. I asked if he could feed our son breakfast while I made something to eat for myself, as I had a migraine and needed to eat before we left.

He tried to feed him quite forcefully, which made our son upset and frustrated. I took over feeding him. By that point, I was also overwhelmed. When our son started crying, I lost my temper, kicked his high chair, and threw a bottle cap at the wall. I regret reacting that way, and I’m not proud of it.

Later, at bedtime, our son’s usual bedtime is 7 p.m. He generally settles easily with me, but he rarely settles with his dad. Instead of actively trying to soothe him, my partner left him awake in the crib and didn’t try to settle him. I ended up taking over again because I didn’t want our son to become more distressed.

After I told my partner that these situations left me feeling like I was carrying the responsibility for our son’s care on my own, we had a heated argument. During that argument, he questioned why I’m not like “normal mothers,” asked why I am “mental,” and said our son would be better off without a mother like me. When I asked him to repeat that last statement so I could record it, he refused and then said he hadn’t said it.

Those comments have completely shaken me. Given my history of postpartum depression, hearing those words from the person I expected to support me has been devastating.

I’m not posting this to prove who’s right or wrong. I know I handled my own frustration badly this morning, and I take responsibility for that. I’m genuinely looking for constructive advice. Am I expecting too much in wanting parenting responsibilities to be shared? Has anyone else experienced something similar, particularly when recovering from postpartum depression? How would you handle this situation?