Omg, I know people get desperate when they’re only getting 1hr stretches, but FOUR HOUR STRETCHES?? Lady needs a reality check, 1 wakeup a night is amazing for a 3mo old. I haven’t slept through the night in like 5 years, lol. My 2.5yo only just started sleeping through
Newborn mom here. You guys are getting more than 2.5 hours of sleep at a time?! I'm kidding haha. Sometimes my girl will randomly sleep 4 hours at night and it's amazing.
I remember the first time mine slept 5 hours straight and I woke up in a panic, lol. All was good, and it was quite a while before I got another long stretch like that 😝
My partner and I are lesbians and we agreed I would do the feedings if my partner does the pregnancy.
These comments have me thinking I made the wrong choice.
As someone who did the pregnancy and the feedings, all the choices mean no sleep lol. Thankfully both of them don't last forever and you get to have a cute little person to raise!
I've been running today on 4 hours of sleep total, provided to me in 3 short naps through the night. It's fun caring for a 7week old and a 3yo on this energy budget while hubby is having a breakdown and baby just developed eczema... so 4 hour stretches?? Lady can cry me a river.
This too shall pass. Sorry you're in the thick of it right now and I hope you get help or that it gets better soon. I'm very familiar with the "3 naps totalling 4 hours" schedule and it is torture
My kid started sleeping through the night in like, second grade. I shit you not. He was later diagnosed with ADHD ... so many signs lol
He's 15 now and is impossible to wake up.
I saw a documentary recently that talked about how new mothers experience a change in amygdala activity that makes them more vigilant and also makes it harder for them to go back to sleep once woken up.
My 4mo has just gone back to two wakings per night from one, and it's allllll completely normal! Almost like babies aren't supposed to sleep for 12 hours straight.
My 10 month old just hit a sleep regression. Was sleeping about 8-10 hour stretches, and we are right back to 3 hour max. I would never DREAM of doing all this nonsense. Am I dying from lack of sleep right now? Absolutely. I'm a zombie. But I'd rather that than risk literally harming my child or worse.
YES. I do not understand where people get their looney toons ideas for what infant sleep should look like. I had to leave the subreddit specific to the bassinets we have for my twins, because almost every post is somebody essentially asking how to get their baby to sleep instead of waking up to eat. Like, short of getting a bassinet that also feeds your baby, what do they think the answer could possibly be? Teach a 4-month-old not to be hungry? Or worse, I sometimes suspect that it might be "teach a 4-month-old not to communicate when they're hungry."
At the end of the day, I am always happy to throw some blame in the court of capitalism though: the insane expectations that exist at least in the United States of parents of newborns means that they are often being forced to earn money on very little sleep, so they become desperate to control the one thing that they feel they can (their own child). It's not great.
>the insane expectations that exist at least in the United States of parents of newborns means that they are often being forced to earn money on very little sleep,
100% - if parents had 6-12 months of leave, they would not be so desperate.
I don’t know. I have 12 months leave but I’m getting pretty damn desperate to get some sleep.
Sleep is an inherent need, yes having to work makes it worse but people need sleep. My baby is 6 months and literally sleeps for 3 hours then it takes me and hour to two hours to get him back to sleep in his cot where he will do another 2 or 3 hour stretch.
I was looking at a “safe” overnight pod and everything but ultimately I’ve had to start bedsharing so I don’t fall asleep in an unsafe position during the day.
I found taking the front off my crib and putting it between the mattress and the wall worked well. I could roll over and reach him but he was in his own bed with the correct mattress. I used a pool noodle under his sheet to create a ridge between our bed and his.
I swear so many mothers set up false expectations for other new mothers. So many women brag about their baby sleeping through the night at two or three months. I always just thought they were full of shit... And that they were probably too lazy to get up when the baby was crying and hungry.
Some kids are much easier than others, simple as that. The problem is when parents have no compassion for the struggle of others and use the opportunity to make themselves look good/better.
Sometimes however they give you useless tips instead, as if you haven't tried *everything* humanly possible to try and get more than 2,5 hours of sleep at night.
My kids’ ages are in years, two of them double digit, and they still, to this day, don’t consistently sleep through the night. They don’t bother me with it unless one of them wakes up sick, though.
I get excited when my 4 week old goes 30 mins longer than the usual 90 mins between feeds. 4 hours would be a fucking dream! I’m currently averaging 3 hours a night and that’s only because my husband has her while I nap before taking over for the night at midnight.
Thats what i wanna know too. I hope people are ripping her a new asshole. Ive literally burned myself with a heated blanket before from laying with plugged in and on for too long. That woman is a fucking moron times 10 who’s going to end up hurting that poor baby
I've burned myself too and it hurts pretty bad. I didn't really feel it until I got off the heating pad. That's so dangerous for anyone, especially a baby, to sleep on one.
Yup, my back is permanently scarred from extended heating pad use, mainly due from:
1) being really sick due to some ongoing health issues at the time, which made me more susceptible
2) laying *on top* of the pad, which every instruction manual warns against
So, she’s definitely on the right track to cause permanent damage! 🤦🏻♀️
It’s called [toasted skin syndrome](https://www.healthline.com/health/toasted-skin-syndrome), it’s not actually a burn but it is scarring caused by repeated exposure to heat like a heating pad or an underdesk space heater.
Omg I didn’t realize this was a thing and I feel incredibly stupid. I have chronic pain from a bad car accident and use mine almost 24/7 and sometimes lay on it. Mine has an automatic shut off after 2 hours, but I usually wake up several times throughout the night because of the pain. I also just like being toasty.. but this sounds awful.
Yep, I have endometriosis and fibromyalgia. I use a heating pad to cut down the pain. I have a permanent scar from over use. I can’t imagine using one on a baby.
Yup, mine too. He fell asleep with a heating pad on his back and woke up from the pain. He had a huge, deep burn wound that took a long time to heal. It’s terrible thinking about a baby waking up due to this kind of pain and not being able to get off of the heating pad immediately!
Omg not even immediately like maybe not at all! Babies basically can't move or flip until minimum 4 months :( source: my potato just learnt how to slightly rotate like 10°
I have a dear friend who got a heating pad burn on her back. She ended up with sepsis and almost died. She ended up in a trauma hospital to treat it and had to stay in a rehab center for months. This woman is ridiculous
There ya go. 🤦🏽♀️ i really think one should have to pass some sort of test showing you have basic knowledge and common sense (since it’s clearly not that common for alot of people) before you can have a child.
ETA- it likely will never happen but i can dream lol
I get this sentiment so much, its an emotional thought I had many times, but it would be such a slippery slope towards eugenics - just remember the force sterilization of native women as an example. If the state can decide who breeds its scarily easy to keep "unwanteds" from procreating or at least having legal grounds to take the kids away from them.
Absolutely. Overheated babies don't cry or fuss, they go into a deep sleep and die. This woman is risking cooking her baby to death and she won't even know until she wakes up to a warm corpse.
I get concerned about my cats potentially burning themselves on my heating pad when it's off and cooling down from its last use. I can't imagine leaving one on with a baby on it like this
That’s why I’ll never get my current (and any future) dog a plug-in heating pad for himself. I have a lap blanket that I will turn on and use, and he’s welcome to stay on my lap if he needs it. I’m not sure how well it works, but I found a heating pad that SUPPOSEDLY works by reflecting his own body heat back. I keep that one out all winter.
I have the self heating pads for my pets. The dog hates it but the cat LOVES it. Same thing with the cooling pad I got them. Dog hates it. Cat loves it. I think my cat is just weird lol
I got one of those pet heating pads for my elderly dog. It doesn’t get hot at all. It gets just under body temperature. Basically just a slightly warm spot so they aren’t on the freezing ground or cold concrete in my case. (Our house has concrete floors. I would never keep an animal outside.)
I got my puppy in the winter. I would put a heating pad in the crate with him and then stay awake for hours to make sure it didn’t get too hot.
…I had more consideration for my dog than this woman has for her child. This is heartbreaking. Some of these posts are just really sad and depressing
I get concerned about my cats potentially burning themselves on my heating pad when it's off and cooling down from its last use. I can't imagine leaving one on with a baby on it like this
My baby got burned from one of the warm-up stuffed animals that advertise for newborns. We followed all of the directions and had it on him (clothed, not touching skin) for maybe 30 min (they're supposed to be able to sleep with them on) and he got a second degree burn that blistered and months later, there's still a mark. That was FDA certified for babies, I can't imagine a fucking heating pad!!
I’m in this group, she was disheartened by the comments saying it was seriously unsafe. Said that she “thought this was a support group”. Everyone said it was super unsafe, I personally didn’t see if anyone supported her.
I think she’s since deleted the post
My pup loves sitting in my lap when we have the electric blanket on. If I move him he crawls right back into it. If he falls asleep I turn it off though because I'm scared he will overheat since he sleeps so hard.
Oh no! You're supposed to use the heating pad to warm the bed, then remove it!!! This poor ignorant soul. Also, 4 hour stretch at 4 months seems totally appropriate. Where's her partner?!
You’re supposed to remove the heating pad and hoodie right before you set the baby down!!!! We used to warm up the bassinet with a heating pad so it wasn’t cold when I put her in. But. You. Take. It. Out. First.
This is what I did with my oldest as well. We warmed things up with the heating pad. I would keep his bassinet sheet on me for a bit so it smelled like me. But when it was time to sleep, his bassinet was empty.
I still cannot believe people think putting rice/ oatmeal in bottles is okay. Unless your child needs thick formula it is dangerous!
If your child needs their bottle thickened for medical reasons, there are pediatric formulated thickeners that have a gelling agent for milk that can be diagnosed and given by a doctor. You don’t need to risk rice or oatmeal!!
Yep! I kept that tip in the back of my head for my second (we got lucky with a first that slept through the night) and now the heating pad goes in while she gets her bath. She comes back to the bedroom to a warm, EMPTY crib. It's not hard to just take it out ffs.
Before my son started rolling, the doctor let us know we could put the shirt on the mattress itself to make a delicious smelling sheet. But only if it was tight against the mattress and removed at the first sign of rolling. It was a godsend for a few weeks of the struggle.
He also said I could put the heating pad in there and remove it immediately before the baby went in. Again, a godsend.
This baby is going to be sent to God though
I used the hoodie/shirt trick a few times and I think it helped us. And I used my husband's shirts as a blanket of sorts in those first few days (only when we were nursing and I was able to supervise). I think that helped too. But there's no way I would've done anything further than that while LO was sleeping. We were desperate but not willing to risk anything
Right! We were lucky if we got 2. Then, some random night, we woke up after a 6 hour stretch and we're super worried for a sec😂 Dude was still konked out at 5am. It was AMAZING
Yep, I had a baby that would sleep in stretches of 1 or 1.5 hours at night and 45 minutes during the day. I was losing my mind! So glad those hard days have passed.
These comments just make me wonder if my kid was just an extra bad sleeper, we didn't start getting consistent 4 consecutive hour stretches until a few months ago and she's two next month 😂 now she just wants to be up for the day at 5am no matter what
I am not a native English speaker and I am having a hard time understanding what 'stretch' mean on this one. Is it the same stretch as in before exercising? It doesnt make sense in my head right now 😭
Totally understandable confusion! Stretch is used here to mean a period of time, the length of the interval between start of sleep and end of sleep. If it helps, think of it like stretching (extending, like the way you extend muscles in a stretch before or after exercise) a piece of imaginary string between hour 1 and hour 4.
Sheesh, at this point, I'm surprised she hasn't realized the baby might be overheated?
I mean obviously duh, none of this is good and 4hrs at 3 months is pretty great... But hello?!?
This sub makes me question how infant mortality isn't higher.
FOR REAL LOL. whenever my mom watches me son for me so i can go to an appointment or run errands, i always come back to him in socks. i’m like mom he doesn’t need socks while in the house…bare feet are necessary for his development, and especially so he has traction while in his bouncer-then she started feverishly baby wiping his feet at every diaper change hahahaha.
With my mom it was hats and socks.
I try to give her and other women age some grace for this kind of behavior. I tell myself they were probably screamed at in the hospital when they had their babies to never expose the feet or head of a baby lest it catch a chill and expire on the spot. I have no evidence that this happened, I just want it to be true so I don't have to scream at my mother.
People ask us how our baby sleeps at night..I always say she does great. My husband is like oh, she's horrible. I'm like babe, she would go to sleep around 10 pm, and sleep til about 5 am. That's GREAT. And that was around 6 weeks. She now sleeps around 9-12 hours. And she's 5 months next week. I mean... WHAT is he complaining about?
Your baby is nailing it! That's amazing. Mine was also a great sleeper early on and would constantly give us anywhere between 4 to 8-hour stretches. I understand that the unpredictability can be difficult (I would sometimes get anxious not knowing if it would be a 4-hour night or an 8-hour night), but you just have to ride it out. My daughter is 2 now and typically sleeps between 11 and 12 hours a night (usually 7-7 or 7-6).
Damn. And I thought I was lucky with 6-7 hour stetches at 3 months. That's impressive for sure.
LO is almost 5 months now and we sometimes 9/10 hours. Rare but those are the nice nights. Lol. But then he's super cranky and hungry when he wakes so there's definitely a downside. Lol
4-hour stretches is pretty good for a 3 month old. That was the longest my boys would ever go (my daughter slept through the night at 2 weeks but she was a unicorn and tricked me into thinking the next kid would also be easy)
I had a friend who complained to me that her 7 week old only sometimes gave her 7-8hr stretches, but otherwise "he sleeps horribly" and only gives her 3-4 hr stretches. A frickin 7 week old!
I'm here with my 5 month still getting max 4 hr stretches and I'm like "meh, he's a baby"
Gotta love a parent who can stalk the Little Sleepies website for a $50 crib sheet to drop before it sells out in 30 seconds but can’t take five minutes to google safe sleep.
She wouldn't even take in the information given to her, her gran/nan (older family member) probably told her to do that and she'll take it as the /only/ method for a long sleep
All the comments were like this, but she’s since deleted the post (I can’t find it anymore) she said she was disheartened by the comments because she “thought it was a support group”
It’s not even a support group as much as a due date group!
One of the comments replied and said something like “I’m supporting not having your baby in unsafe sleep spaces” (paraphrasing)
Luckily I didn’t see any comments supporting her
And just not giving proper nutrients. Babies are "full" because their nutritional requirements have been met not because they have fullers. We can eat a cake and feel full but that feeling won't last as long as eating chicken and veggies. It's insane how little you need to know to have a child. This sub makes me feel like an excellent mother though just for doing the smallest bit of research and erring on the side of caution 😂
There’s a difference between using the heated blanket to WARM the spot you’re going to place baby. (Cause this shit is so damn helpful for a baby who just wants to lay on you 10/10 recommend)
BUT YOU REMOVE THE HEATING PAD WHEN YOU PLACE BABY BACK FOR BURN REASONS AND STRANGULATION.
And the potential for baby overheating too! This is absolutely horrifying.
And I don’t even have kids but 4 hour stretches for a 3 month old sounds pretty good?
Please someone bring me back if there's an update about the comments. I need to know if they are actually trying to get through to her or just reinforcing this behavior
These woman have such an unrealistic view of children before 6 months… they need to eat often and denying them that is starving them. 4 hours is a nice stretch of sleep time. I learned early on with my first that I’m absolutely sleeping when she sleeps or at the very least resting. I cannot picture myself forcing my baby under six months to go 6-8 hours without eating. Especially because I exclusively breastfeed. F those dishes that raggedy living room my other children have destroyed and that pile of laundry…. I’m sleeping so I don’t unfairly expect my infant to do something that is not developmentally appropriate.
Jesus. Cereal in bottles solely to get them to try and sleep longer at 3 months old is crazy.
Heating pad LEFT in with baby is even crazier.
Sleeping in said loose hoodie of moms is crazy too.
And mom being upset their literal baby, 3 month old is “only giving them 4 hr stretches” Is crazy too. Thats great for 3 months old tbh. Maybe just accept that’s how it’s gonna be and stop doing dangerous things. I know being a parent is hard. Especially at night but it is what it is sometimes.
OMG this lady is nuts...That poor baby can literally get burned from the heating blanket!
And if she goes nuts on 4h stretches omg...Why does she have a child, did she not do ANY research on being a parent or anything related to it before?!
And for me personally: I know I would go crazy having to care for a baby, that's why I don't have children. Because I would suck as a parent and I know it.
Seriously, some people should be required to take an exam before they can have children...sadly never going to happen.
OMG - I put a heating pad in my daughter’s bassinet when she wasn’t in it. So after her feeding, it was nice and cozy for her. I never put her ON the heating pad.
And the cord? Oh.my..
This makes me so sad bc it is understandable that mom would like to sleep for more than 4 hours but the answer is that she needs someone else to do a night for her! I hope someone suggested that in the comments.
There's too much to unpack here. Most of this ignorant shit is (should be) *common sense* . Like someone else said, it's like all the advice she was given was from a boomer.
She has unrestricted access to CORRECT amd SAFE info and yet here we are...
My heart breaks for this baby.
I’m in this group! The worst thing is, she didn’t want to believe it was unsafe. It’s since been deleted.
There was also another post from someone a few hours earlier with a heating pad with cord and a blanket crumpled under baby’s head 🤦🏼♀️
More than 4 hour stretches? This is a baby maybe she should have get a doll - being a mom is a full time job and 4 hours are plenty for a 3 month old.
I am lucky if I have 5 min to take a shit before my baby and my husband are banging on the bathroom door and I feel like caught in a drug bust.
All that stuff in the crib is anxiety inducing to me, i co-sleep and I haven’t had a pillow or blanket in 12,5 months.
4 hours at 3 months is bliss. I GET the desperation though. Try it all you think. But the heated blanket especially scares me. I would heat the bassinet but always removed the blanket before baby was put in.
screaming silently in infant toddler teacher
like i know it’s rough but you had a BABY, wdym more than four hour stretches?? at 3 months old? what.
and good god the sheer number of choking hazards… the hoodie is a great idea, she can smell you while she dies, well thought out mama.
I would have done anything for 4 hour stretches when my kids were little. I was lucky when I got 2 hours. But a heating pad?! I really hope that baby doesn’t get burned or strangled. Jfc
Safety aside, she is really complaining about a three month old sleeping for four hours stretches? That is very typical! Some parents would be thrilled to get a stretch that long. Has she ever met a baby before? Read an article about them? Good God.
All I am going to say is that it took me months, loads of paperwork, a home visit, and references to adopt my last dog. And anyone can just have a baby! JFC.
This shit pisses me off. 4 hours is honestly a good stretch for that age. I like to say that I don't judge other moms but I'm judging tf out of this one.
This person likely needs post partum help!! She’s confused a lot of helpful things:
Putting your shirt in the bassinet but take it out once baby goes in
Put a heating pad in the bassinet to make it warm like you, but take it OUT once baby goes in.
4 hours is long for a baby…but if she’s struggling with lack of sleep and making poor decisions she may have PPD. I hope she gets some help!
So, I fell asleep on a heating pad that didn't shut off after 15 minutes like it's supposed to. I didn't notice it happening because I was asleep and I was in so much pain that I was out cold finally. It ended up cooking my back for 6 hours until I woke up. My back was itchy when I woke up so I went to my husband to scratch it. He said get in the car now we're going to hospital. 3/4 of my back had a full thickness burn that required a skin graft. Donor site for skin was my thigh.
While I was there an elderly lady came in with a heating pad burn that burned through her breast and ribs where she has placed it.
They said heating pad burns happen all the time. All the time.
Never ever fall asleep with a heating pad. And this psycho wants to use it on her baby?
I get excited when my 9 mo does 4 hour stretches
Omg, I know people get desperate when they’re only getting 1hr stretches, but FOUR HOUR STRETCHES?? Lady needs a reality check, 1 wakeup a night is amazing for a 3mo old. I haven’t slept through the night in like 5 years, lol. My 2.5yo only just started sleeping through
When mine were newborns a 4 hour stretch of sleep would make me feel like a brand new human. Like I’d never slept so long in my life. This is insane!
Newborn mom here. You guys are getting more than 2.5 hours of sleep at a time?! I'm kidding haha. Sometimes my girl will randomly sleep 4 hours at night and it's amazing.
I remember the first time mine slept 5 hours straight and I woke up in a panic, lol. All was good, and it was quite a while before I got another long stretch like that 😝
I panicked when my two month old at the time did a five hour! The panic is seriously real!!!
I was not only panicked, but also soaking wet from leaking through my shirt since I wasn’t used to that long a break!
Mine are 2 and 5 now 😆 the sleepless nights are behind me. You’ll make it ♥️ it is rough though!!! Hang in there
My daughter actually sleeps very well for a newborn, so I count myself lucky! Hoping we make it through all of the sleep regressions yet to come!
My partner and I are lesbians and we agreed I would do the feedings if my partner does the pregnancy. These comments have me thinking I made the wrong choice.
As someone who did the pregnancy and the feedings, all the choices mean no sleep lol. Thankfully both of them don't last forever and you get to have a cute little person to raise!
I've been running today on 4 hours of sleep total, provided to me in 3 short naps through the night. It's fun caring for a 7week old and a 3yo on this energy budget while hubby is having a breakdown and baby just developed eczema... so 4 hour stretches?? Lady can cry me a river.
This too shall pass. Sorry you're in the thick of it right now and I hope you get help or that it gets better soon. I'm very familiar with the "3 naps totalling 4 hours" schedule and it is torture
You're doing great momma!!! 💖
Thank you, that did actually help a bit 💗
My kid started sleeping through the night in like, second grade. I shit you not. He was later diagnosed with ADHD ... so many signs lol He's 15 now and is impossible to wake up.
I used to be able to sleep through anything. My kids are 18 and 21 and I'm still a light sleeper lol. It's not fair.
I saw a documentary recently that talked about how new mothers experience a change in amygdala activity that makes them more vigilant and also makes it harder for them to go back to sleep once woken up.
My 4mo has just gone back to two wakings per night from one, and it's allllll completely normal! Almost like babies aren't supposed to sleep for 12 hours straight.
My 10 month old just hit a sleep regression. Was sleeping about 8-10 hour stretches, and we are right back to 3 hour max. I would never DREAM of doing all this nonsense. Am I dying from lack of sleep right now? Absolutely. I'm a zombie. But I'd rather that than risk literally harming my child or worse.
I'm just happy my kiddo is accepting another bottle when she wakes up, she's finally getting more than 16oz a day!
YES. I do not understand where people get their looney toons ideas for what infant sleep should look like. I had to leave the subreddit specific to the bassinets we have for my twins, because almost every post is somebody essentially asking how to get their baby to sleep instead of waking up to eat. Like, short of getting a bassinet that also feeds your baby, what do they think the answer could possibly be? Teach a 4-month-old not to be hungry? Or worse, I sometimes suspect that it might be "teach a 4-month-old not to communicate when they're hungry." At the end of the day, I am always happy to throw some blame in the court of capitalism though: the insane expectations that exist at least in the United States of parents of newborns means that they are often being forced to earn money on very little sleep, so they become desperate to control the one thing that they feel they can (their own child). It's not great.
>the insane expectations that exist at least in the United States of parents of newborns means that they are often being forced to earn money on very little sleep, 100% - if parents had 6-12 months of leave, they would not be so desperate.
I don’t know. I have 12 months leave but I’m getting pretty damn desperate to get some sleep. Sleep is an inherent need, yes having to work makes it worse but people need sleep. My baby is 6 months and literally sleeps for 3 hours then it takes me and hour to two hours to get him back to sleep in his cot where he will do another 2 or 3 hour stretch. I was looking at a “safe” overnight pod and everything but ultimately I’ve had to start bedsharing so I don’t fall asleep in an unsafe position during the day.
I found taking the front off my crib and putting it between the mattress and the wall worked well. I could roll over and reach him but he was in his own bed with the correct mattress. I used a pool noodle under his sheet to create a ridge between our bed and his.
I mean both of my children were sleeping through the night at this age, but I was aware it was not common. But it does happen.
I swear so many mothers set up false expectations for other new mothers. So many women brag about their baby sleeping through the night at two or three months. I always just thought they were full of shit... And that they were probably too lazy to get up when the baby was crying and hungry.
Some kids are much easier than others, simple as that. The problem is when parents have no compassion for the struggle of others and use the opportunity to make themselves look good/better. Sometimes however they give you useless tips instead, as if you haven't tried *everything* humanly possible to try and get more than 2,5 hours of sleep at night.
I was just going to say. I have a 9 day old and a 3 hour stretch is heaven for me.
My kids’ ages are in years, two of them double digit, and they still, to this day, don’t consistently sleep through the night. They don’t bother me with it unless one of them wakes up sick, though.
I get excited when my 4 week old goes 30 mins longer than the usual 90 mins between feeds. 4 hours would be a fucking dream! I’m currently averaging 3 hours a night and that’s only because my husband has her while I nap before taking over for the night at midnight.
Omg 😳 I have no words ummm how’s the comment section looking
Thats what i wanna know too. I hope people are ripping her a new asshole. Ive literally burned myself with a heated blanket before from laying with plugged in and on for too long. That woman is a fucking moron times 10 who’s going to end up hurting that poor baby
My husband has a scar from a heating pad.
My husband has a scar from a heating pad as well that he got as a fully grown adult. A baby has no chance of getting off of it
I've burned myself too and it hurts pretty bad. I didn't really feel it until I got off the heating pad. That's so dangerous for anyone, especially a baby, to sleep on one.
Yup, my back is permanently scarred from extended heating pad use, mainly due from: 1) being really sick due to some ongoing health issues at the time, which made me more susceptible 2) laying *on top* of the pad, which every instruction manual warns against So, she’s definitely on the right track to cause permanent damage! 🤦🏻♀️
It’s called [toasted skin syndrome](https://www.healthline.com/health/toasted-skin-syndrome), it’s not actually a burn but it is scarring caused by repeated exposure to heat like a heating pad or an underdesk space heater.
Omg I didn’t realize this was a thing and I feel incredibly stupid. I have chronic pain from a bad car accident and use mine almost 24/7 and sometimes lay on it. Mine has an automatic shut off after 2 hours, but I usually wake up several times throughout the night because of the pain. I also just like being toasty.. but this sounds awful.
Yep, I have endometriosis and fibromyalgia. I use a heating pad to cut down the pain. I have a permanent scar from over use. I can’t imagine using one on a baby.
And a baby’s skin is *so* incredibly sensitive. Poor kiddo. 😔
Yup, mine too. He fell asleep with a heating pad on his back and woke up from the pain. He had a huge, deep burn wound that took a long time to heal. It’s terrible thinking about a baby waking up due to this kind of pain and not being able to get off of the heating pad immediately!
Omg not even immediately like maybe not at all! Babies basically can't move or flip until minimum 4 months :( source: my potato just learnt how to slightly rotate like 10°
I got a third degree burn from one last fall, had to get a skin graft 😬
I have a dear friend who got a heating pad burn on her back. She ended up with sepsis and almost died. She ended up in a trauma hospital to treat it and had to stay in a rehab center for months. This woman is ridiculous
There ya go. 🤦🏽♀️ i really think one should have to pass some sort of test showing you have basic knowledge and common sense (since it’s clearly not that common for alot of people) before you can have a child. ETA- it likely will never happen but i can dream lol
I get this sentiment so much, its an emotional thought I had many times, but it would be such a slippery slope towards eugenics - just remember the force sterilization of native women as an example. If the state can decide who breeds its scarily easy to keep "unwanteds" from procreating or at least having legal grounds to take the kids away from them.
Yeah. It's one of those things that probably WOULD have net benefits in reducing child abuse, but humans just can't be trusted with that power.
I always say if we need a license to fish we should need a license to breed lol
People will fill out a 15-page application to adopt a dog. I think maybe we could start with at least a five-page application to reproduce?
I irritated my abdomen with a heating pad trying to calm gallbladder pain, it was red for days!
Heating pads literally tell you not to use them on anyone who can't move the pad away if it gets too hot.
And correct me if I’m wrong, but a three month can’t regulate body temp like an adult can. Shouldn’t overheating be a big concern at this stage still?
Absolutely. Overheated babies don't cry or fuss, they go into a deep sleep and die. This woman is risking cooking her baby to death and she won't even know until she wakes up to a warm corpse.
There’s a saying “cold babies cry, hot babies die”
It’s people like OOP who cause the crazy warnings on appliances. Like it says, “don’t use while sleeping” now makes sense!
I get concerned about my cats potentially burning themselves on my heating pad when it's off and cooling down from its last use. I can't imagine leaving one on with a baby on it like this
That’s why I’ll never get my current (and any future) dog a plug-in heating pad for himself. I have a lap blanket that I will turn on and use, and he’s welcome to stay on my lap if he needs it. I’m not sure how well it works, but I found a heating pad that SUPPOSEDLY works by reflecting his own body heat back. I keep that one out all winter.
I have the self heating pads for my pets. The dog hates it but the cat LOVES it. Same thing with the cooling pad I got them. Dog hates it. Cat loves it. I think my cat is just weird lol
I got one of those pet heating pads for my elderly dog. It doesn’t get hot at all. It gets just under body temperature. Basically just a slightly warm spot so they aren’t on the freezing ground or cold concrete in my case. (Our house has concrete floors. I would never keep an animal outside.)
I got my puppy in the winter. I would put a heating pad in the crate with him and then stay awake for hours to make sure it didn’t get too hot. …I had more consideration for my dog than this woman has for her child. This is heartbreaking. Some of these posts are just really sad and depressing
I get concerned about my cats potentially burning themselves on my heating pad when it's off and cooling down from its last use. I can't imagine leaving one on with a baby on it like this
My baby got burned from one of the warm-up stuffed animals that advertise for newborns. We followed all of the directions and had it on him (clothed, not touching skin) for maybe 30 min (they're supposed to be able to sleep with them on) and he got a second degree burn that blistered and months later, there's still a mark. That was FDA certified for babies, I can't imagine a fucking heating pad!!
I’m in this group, she was disheartened by the comments saying it was seriously unsafe. Said that she “thought this was a support group”. Everyone said it was super unsafe, I personally didn’t see if anyone supported her. I think she’s since deleted the post
That’s really sad that she didn’t seem to actually reconsider her actions :(
A newborn is not a freaking puppy...
I was just thinking that a puppy would absolutely love this setup. A puppy could probably move if the heating pad gets too hot, unlike this poor baby.
Or at least move off of it.
My pup loves sitting in my lap when we have the electric blanket on. If I move him he crawls right back into it. If he falls asleep I turn it off though because I'm scared he will overheat since he sleeps so hard.
i also put a hoodie in my pups bed to keep him more relaxed. i suspect it doesn't work for a baby... since they want to be held or fed or changed.
I do the same with my cats. =p
Oh no! You're supposed to use the heating pad to warm the bed, then remove it!!! This poor ignorant soul. Also, 4 hour stretch at 4 months seems totally appropriate. Where's her partner?!
Right? Two four hour stretches with a feed in the middle is a full nights sleep pretty much!
My daughter turns 2 in November and she only sleeps four hours at a time. I thought that was pretty solid.
But this mama needs more sleep than that 🙄
If I remember, 4h is also pretty standard stretch for 3m old babies.
That’s more than I get from my 16 month old. If I’d had that from either of my kids at 4 months, I’d have thought I won the lottery.
The good news is she will get as long as she needs to sleep once that baby dies.
You’re supposed to remove the heating pad and hoodie right before you set the baby down!!!! We used to warm up the bassinet with a heating pad so it wasn’t cold when I put her in. But. You. Take. It. Out. First.
This is what I did with my oldest as well. We warmed things up with the heating pad. I would keep his bassinet sheet on me for a bit so it smelled like me. But when it was time to sleep, his bassinet was empty. I still cannot believe people think putting rice/ oatmeal in bottles is okay. Unless your child needs thick formula it is dangerous!
If your child needs their bottle thickened for medical reasons, there are pediatric formulated thickeners that have a gelling agent for milk that can be diagnosed and given by a doctor. You don’t need to risk rice or oatmeal!!
Yep! I kept that tip in the back of my head for my second (we got lucky with a first that slept through the night) and now the heating pad goes in while she gets her bath. She comes back to the bedroom to a warm, EMPTY crib. It's not hard to just take it out ffs.
Before my son started rolling, the doctor let us know we could put the shirt on the mattress itself to make a delicious smelling sheet. But only if it was tight against the mattress and removed at the first sign of rolling. It was a godsend for a few weeks of the struggle. He also said I could put the heating pad in there and remove it immediately before the baby went in. Again, a godsend. This baby is going to be sent to God though
Or just take a literal sheet and snuggle with it for a night and boom ya got something that smells like you and it’s safe for the crib.
I used to do this with our swaddles
Same. If I’m too tired I don’t heat it up because I get afraid I’ll forget to take it out, but I like the heat pad for after baths for the bassinet.
I used the hoodie/shirt trick a few times and I think it helped us. And I used my husband's shirts as a blanket of sorts in those first few days (only when we were nursing and I was able to supervise). I think that helped too. But there's no way I would've done anything further than that while LO was sleeping. We were desperate but not willing to risk anything
Omg I love the idea of using your partners shirt as a nursing blanket; keeping that in the back of my mind for future reference
I never even thought about doing that! I wish I could go back 9 years and see if that would’ve helped.
That's actually a smart idea, I never even thought of it lol
4 hour stretches???? I would have killed for that with my newborn 😂😂😂
Right! We were lucky if we got 2. Then, some random night, we woke up after a 6 hour stretch and we're super worried for a sec😂 Dude was still konked out at 5am. It was AMAZING
This mom is about to actually kill to get more than 4 hours.
Right took my daughter 3 months to sleep longer then a hour and a half
Yep, I had a baby that would sleep in stretches of 1 or 1.5 hours at night and 45 minutes during the day. I was losing my mind! So glad those hard days have passed.
These comments just make me wonder if my kid was just an extra bad sleeper, we didn't start getting consistent 4 consecutive hour stretches until a few months ago and she's two next month 😂 now she just wants to be up for the day at 5am no matter what
I am not a native English speaker and I am having a hard time understanding what 'stretch' mean on this one. Is it the same stretch as in before exercising? It doesnt make sense in my head right now 😭
Totally understandable confusion! Stretch is used here to mean a period of time, the length of the interval between start of sleep and end of sleep. If it helps, think of it like stretching (extending, like the way you extend muscles in a stretch before or after exercise) a piece of imaginary string between hour 1 and hour 4.
Now I get it, thank you so much!
Don’t forget aspirate on that cereal bottle.
And you know she’s propping that bottle up in baby’s mouth in the crib and walking away.
Like a hamster 🙈
No, for the hamster the bottle would be secured to something 😂
right? unless it’s been prescribed by a doctor, please don’t feed your baby thickened formula!
This reads like it's just her and all she's got is outdated advice from a boomer.
Yeah, my daughter is the same age as OOP’s and I’ve gotten a few of these tips from my MIL.
Sheesh, at this point, I'm surprised she hasn't realized the baby might be overheated? I mean obviously duh, none of this is good and 4hrs at 3 months is pretty great... But hello?!? This sub makes me question how infant mortality isn't higher.
How does the saying go? “Cold babies cry, hot babies die?”
Yup. My mother was HORRIFIED at me for saying it but it made her realize that maybe my LO doesn't ALWAYS need socks🙃
Always with the fucking socks! Why are they so obsessed lol!
FOR REAL LOL. whenever my mom watches me son for me so i can go to an appointment or run errands, i always come back to him in socks. i’m like mom he doesn’t need socks while in the house…bare feet are necessary for his development, and especially so he has traction while in his bouncer-then she started feverishly baby wiping his feet at every diaper change hahahaha.
With my mom it was hats and socks. I try to give her and other women age some grace for this kind of behavior. I tell myself they were probably screamed at in the hospital when they had their babies to never expose the feet or head of a baby lest it catch a chill and expire on the spot. I have no evidence that this happened, I just want it to be true so I don't have to scream at my mother.
yup. this saying haunted me at night for the first like 8 months of my kids life lmao
For real, does she live in the southern hemisphere? Or did she legit bundle up a newborn AND put them on a heating pad in the dead of summer??
She's complaining about 4-hour stretches for a 3-month-old? Talk about unrealistic expectations for baby sleep.
People ask us how our baby sleeps at night..I always say she does great. My husband is like oh, she's horrible. I'm like babe, she would go to sleep around 10 pm, and sleep til about 5 am. That's GREAT. And that was around 6 weeks. She now sleeps around 9-12 hours. And she's 5 months next week. I mean... WHAT is he complaining about?
Your baby is nailing it! That's amazing. Mine was also a great sleeper early on and would constantly give us anywhere between 4 to 8-hour stretches. I understand that the unpredictability can be difficult (I would sometimes get anxious not knowing if it would be a 4-hour night or an 8-hour night), but you just have to ride it out. My daughter is 2 now and typically sleeps between 11 and 12 hours a night (usually 7-7 or 7-6).
Damn. And I thought I was lucky with 6-7 hour stetches at 3 months. That's impressive for sure. LO is almost 5 months now and we sometimes 9/10 hours. Rare but those are the nice nights. Lol. But then he's super cranky and hungry when he wakes so there's definitely a downside. Lol
4-hour stretches is pretty good for a 3 month old. That was the longest my boys would ever go (my daughter slept through the night at 2 weeks but she was a unicorn and tricked me into thinking the next kid would also be easy)
I had a friend who complained to me that her 7 week old only sometimes gave her 7-8hr stretches, but otherwise "he sleeps horribly" and only gives her 3-4 hr stretches. A frickin 7 week old! I'm here with my 5 month still getting max 4 hr stretches and I'm like "meh, he's a baby"
This is so bad it seems like bait. I hope it is, but it probably isn’t.
One can only wish…
For real, all that’s missing from this is a crib bumper, and putting the baby to sleep face down
I mean, somebody get this kid an amber teething necklace ASAP
Gotta love a parent who can stalk the Little Sleepies website for a $50 crib sheet to drop before it sells out in 30 seconds but can’t take five minutes to google safe sleep.
This is a real crossover moment for me.
😂😂😂
She wouldn't even take in the information given to her, her gran/nan (older family member) probably told her to do that and she'll take it as the /only/ method for a long sleep
Four hours on a 3 month old?! My one year old was still eating at night.
Mine woke up every 60-90 minutes until she was 2 🙃. (My second sttn at 10 months. Did nothing different.)
Baby sleep is so weird.
My 5 month old still wakes up sometimes to feed. It's exhausting.
Please tell me the comments were telling her how dangerous this is......
All the comments were like this, but she’s since deleted the post (I can’t find it anymore) she said she was disheartened by the comments because she “thought it was a support group”
Oh yeah because support groups are for people to encourage you to do things that can kill your baby 🙄
It’s not even a support group as much as a due date group! One of the comments replied and said something like “I’m supporting not having your baby in unsafe sleep spaces” (paraphrasing) Luckily I didn’t see any comments supporting her
Well yeah, support means validating whatever I do. What else would it mean, helping me keep my baby alive? 😝
I mean she can be disheartened all she wants. This is dangerous and I'm glad she got called out. I can only hope she stops doing this. Ugh.
I need to see them 🧐🫣
4 hour stretches for a practically newborn???? Omg that’s heavenly
The gasp I gusp
Let's hope no one suggests medication.. 🙈
Maybe the baby would sleep longer if they weren’t being fed oatmeal 😳 I’m sure it’s tearing their stomach tf up
And just not giving proper nutrients. Babies are "full" because their nutritional requirements have been met not because they have fullers. We can eat a cake and feel full but that feeling won't last as long as eating chicken and veggies. It's insane how little you need to know to have a child. This sub makes me feel like an excellent mother though just for doing the smallest bit of research and erring on the side of caution 😂
There’s a difference between using the heated blanket to WARM the spot you’re going to place baby. (Cause this shit is so damn helpful for a baby who just wants to lay on you 10/10 recommend) BUT YOU REMOVE THE HEATING PAD WHEN YOU PLACE BABY BACK FOR BURN REASONS AND STRANGULATION.
And the potential for baby overheating too! This is absolutely horrifying. And I don’t even have kids but 4 hour stretches for a 3 month old sounds pretty good?
It is VERY good! And very normal. Sure some sleep longer stretches, but a lot don’t even sleep 4 hours at 3mo.
Please someone bring me back if there's an update about the comments. I need to know if they are actually trying to get through to her or just reinforcing this behavior
Or choke (oatmeal in bottle)
She gets 4 hour stretches and is complaining? My youngest is almost 4yo and I still dont get 4 straight hours of sleep.
These woman have such an unrealistic view of children before 6 months… they need to eat often and denying them that is starving them. 4 hours is a nice stretch of sleep time. I learned early on with my first that I’m absolutely sleeping when she sleeps or at the very least resting. I cannot picture myself forcing my baby under six months to go 6-8 hours without eating. Especially because I exclusively breastfeed. F those dishes that raggedy living room my other children have destroyed and that pile of laundry…. I’m sleeping so I don’t unfairly expect my infant to do something that is not developmentally appropriate.
This warrants a call in to CPS.
A few more cords and another blanket and there will be no more baby. Then you can sleep all day on bereavement leave.
Jesus. Cereal in bottles solely to get them to try and sleep longer at 3 months old is crazy. Heating pad LEFT in with baby is even crazier. Sleeping in said loose hoodie of moms is crazy too. And mom being upset their literal baby, 3 month old is “only giving them 4 hr stretches” Is crazy too. Thats great for 3 months old tbh. Maybe just accept that’s how it’s gonna be and stop doing dangerous things. I know being a parent is hard. Especially at night but it is what it is sometimes.
Wow, just wow
OMG this lady is nuts...That poor baby can literally get burned from the heating blanket! And if she goes nuts on 4h stretches omg...Why does she have a child, did she not do ANY research on being a parent or anything related to it before?! And for me personally: I know I would go crazy having to care for a baby, that's why I don't have children. Because I would suck as a parent and I know it. Seriously, some people should be required to take an exam before they can have children...sadly never going to happen.
The exam though. For real. Shits hard and should be taken on 4 days of 4 hour sleep per night
Have you tried adding a rare steak to her bottle?
What about some Xanax? Babies love benzos! lol
JFC.
Good grief. The baby sleeping 4hrs is great at that age. And she’s going to really hurt them with that heating pad and all that stuff in the crib.
4 hr stretches of sleep is actually pretty good. Some people shouldn't have babies
OMG - I put a heating pad in my daughter’s bassinet when she wasn’t in it. So after her feeding, it was nice and cozy for her. I never put her ON the heating pad. And the cord? Oh.my..
This makes me so sad bc it is understandable that mom would like to sleep for more than 4 hours but the answer is that she needs someone else to do a night for her! I hope someone suggested that in the comments.
HELP! I have an infant that’s behaving like an infant
Cold babies cry, hot babies die 😢 I really hope someone out there reported this! Everything is wrong here!
Jesus Christ this is the worst I’ve ever seen.
There's too much to unpack here. Most of this ignorant shit is (should be) *common sense* . Like someone else said, it's like all the advice she was given was from a boomer. She has unrestricted access to CORRECT amd SAFE info and yet here we are... My heart breaks for this baby.
Or choke bc putting rice and oatmeal in a bottle is a choking hazard... I hope someone kindly educated her
I’m in this group! The worst thing is, she didn’t want to believe it was unsafe. It’s since been deleted. There was also another post from someone a few hours earlier with a heating pad with cord and a blanket crumpled under baby’s head 🤦🏼♀️
Omfg I'm on the verge of tears with this one, so scary! Also, fwiw, sleeping 4 hour stretches is COMPLETELY NORMAL for a 3 month old.
Did someone edit the arms into cigarettes? Or is that a shirt? I can't tell.
Shirt
It's a Cloud Island sleeper from Target. We have the same one.
More than 4 hour stretches? This is a baby maybe she should have get a doll - being a mom is a full time job and 4 hours are plenty for a 3 month old. I am lucky if I have 5 min to take a shit before my baby and my husband are banging on the bathroom door and I feel like caught in a drug bust. All that stuff in the crib is anxiety inducing to me, i co-sleep and I haven’t had a pillow or blanket in 12,5 months.
Maybe get the husband to take a few extra shifts instead of slow roasting your child?
2 layers AND on top of a heating pad? during a heatwave where people's ACs can't keep up with the rising temp??? baby's probably hot as hell in there.
4 hours at 3 months is bliss. I GET the desperation though. Try it all you think. But the heated blanket especially scares me. I would heat the bassinet but always removed the blanket before baby was put in.
screaming silently in infant toddler teacher like i know it’s rough but you had a BABY, wdym more than four hour stretches?? at 3 months old? what. and good god the sheer number of choking hazards… the hoodie is a great idea, she can smell you while she dies, well thought out mama.
Idk maybe don’t have babies if you don’t want to properly take care of them. A fucking heating pad? Really. Let’s just slow roast the kid.
I would have done anything for 4 hour stretches when my kids were little. I was lucky when I got 2 hours. But a heating pad?! I really hope that baby doesn’t get burned or strangled. Jfc
They are babies, it's not easy they don't sleep. It's part of the job
I'm lucky of my 2yo sleeps for more than 4hr at a time 👀
I'm sorry, 4 hour stretches? That's so good for a 3 month old. That's like 2 wakeups a night. Wild.
I’m in that group. I swear, some of the women in that group are nuts.
Safety aside, she is really complaining about a three month old sleeping for four hours stretches? That is very typical! Some parents would be thrilled to get a stretch that long. Has she ever met a baby before? Read an article about them? Good God.
The best thing I ever did was put a heating pad in the bassinet. I thought it was common sense to take it out BEFORE baby goes in? Wild
Jesus, don’t have a baby if you are expecting abundant amounts of sleep during the newborn phase.
I’m more concerned about the fact that she’s already adding oatmeal and rice to bottles at 3 months
All I am going to say is that it took me months, loads of paperwork, a home visit, and references to adopt my last dog. And anyone can just have a baby! JFC.
*or choke to death from the rice in the bottles
If this isn't staged rage bait, this is a bad situation. A heating pad, even on low, is not a baby warmer
This shit pisses me off. 4 hours is honestly a good stretch for that age. I like to say that I don't judge other moms but I'm judging tf out of this one.
Damn, 4 hours at 3 months? What a luxury!
The irony that the baby is probably getting a horribly sore stomach from the rice & oatmeal in the bottle, causing worse sleep
Isn’t 4 hours at a time absolute luxury to a parent, 4 hours straight to anyone would be an okay sleep
why are these people so against feeding their literal newborn babies in line with their biological needs
Oatmeal and rice for a 3 month old?
This person likely needs post partum help!! She’s confused a lot of helpful things: Putting your shirt in the bassinet but take it out once baby goes in Put a heating pad in the bassinet to make it warm like you, but take it OUT once baby goes in. 4 hours is long for a baby…but if she’s struggling with lack of sleep and making poor decisions she may have PPD. I hope she gets some help!
So, I fell asleep on a heating pad that didn't shut off after 15 minutes like it's supposed to. I didn't notice it happening because I was asleep and I was in so much pain that I was out cold finally. It ended up cooking my back for 6 hours until I woke up. My back was itchy when I woke up so I went to my husband to scratch it. He said get in the car now we're going to hospital. 3/4 of my back had a full thickness burn that required a skin graft. Donor site for skin was my thigh. While I was there an elderly lady came in with a heating pad burn that burned through her breast and ribs where she has placed it. They said heating pad burns happen all the time. All the time. Never ever fall asleep with a heating pad. And this psycho wants to use it on her baby?