A Mom Says Her Baby Cries Through Diaper Changes, Car Rides and Even Cuddles, and She’s Starting to Wonder if Motherhood Was Supposed to Feel This Hard
A mom shared her story about life with her 8-month-old daughter, making it clear from the beginning that loving her baby and enjoying motherhood had become two very different things. She said she loves her daughter deeply, but she has not been enjoying the day-to-day reality of caring for her. After leaving her job to become a stay-at-home mom, she has started to regret the decision and wonders whether returning to work might actually make life easier.
The thought is complicated because going back to work would bring another set of responsibilities. She is already exhausted from motherhood and worries that adding a job could leave her even more overwhelmed. At the same time, staying home means spending nearly every hour dealing with a baby who seems unhappy much of the time. What was supposed to be a quieter life at home has instead turned into what feels like a nonstop test of patience and energy.
Her Daughter Seems to Cry About Almost Everything
The biggest struggle has been her daughter’s constant fussiness. The mom said her baby spends much of the day whining, crying or screaming, and she has tried a long list of things in hopes of figuring out what is wrong. She has changed parts of her diet, tried different comfort strategies and used medication for her daughter’s reflux, but there has been no simple solution.
Even everyday activities can turn into battles. Her daughter cries during diaper changes, becomes upset while getting dressed and screams when strapped into the car seat. The stroller is not much better, and even attempts to make outings easier by changing to a convertible car seat did not seem to make a difference.
Feeding Has Become Another Source of Stress
The baby is exclusively breastfed and has never really taken to a bottle. The mom admitted that she has been so exhausted that she has not even had the energy to consistently pump and practice bottle feeding. Breastfeeding had been one of the few parts of motherhood that she felt confident about, so she had hoped it would remain a reliable source of comfort for both of them.
Then her daughter got teeth. The baby’s bottom two teeth came through the previous week, and during nursing she bit her mother hard enough to leave a painful hole in her nipple. Every feeding now feels painful, making the one routine she once enjoyed suddenly feel like another obstacle she has to survive.
Reflux Has Been Hanging Over Everything
The baby has struggled with reflux since she was very young and has been taking Pepcid since she was about 5 weeks old. The medication initially made a noticeable difference, and for a while the mom hoped the reflux was finally improving enough that they could eventually stop it. Instead, the symptoms seem to have returned with a vengeance.
She said her daughter still has wet burps and spits up frequently, which has created even more work around the house. With solids now added to the baby’s diet, the laundry has multiplied because there are messes from spit-up, food and regular baby chaos. The mom is constantly cleaning, changing clothes and starting another load of laundry before the previous one even seems finished.
She Thought Things Were Finally Getting Better
What makes the current situation especially discouraging is that there had been a brief period when things seemed to be turning around. Around 6 months, the baby had started sleeping through the night, taking some naps in her crib and acting noticeably less fussy. For the first time in a while, the mom had reason to believe they were finally moving past the hardest stretch.
That improvement did not last. Over the past three weeks, the baby has started waking several times during the night and now regularly begins the day around 5:30 in the morning. Just as the mom thought she might finally be getting a little breathing room, the sleep problems returned and took whatever energy she had managed to recover.
Even Holding Her Baby Is Not Always Comfortable
The mom has also been dealing with her own physical recovery. She said her pelvic floor has been severely affected, making babywearing uncomfortable, but she often carries her daughter anyway because the baby seems to want constant physical contact. Her doctor had planned to refer her for pelvic floor therapy, but she had not heard anything yet.
She knows there are exercises she could potentially do on her own, but even figuring out where to begin feels impossible. She said she does not have the mental capacity to research what might actually help her. When simply getting through the day already feels exhausting, adding another task to the list can seem like one more mountain to climb.
The Baby Wants to Be Held, But Still Seems Unhappy
Someone responding to her story suggested that teething could be contributing to the baby’s behavior. The mom agreed that teething was definitely happening and explained that she already holds her daughter for nearly all of her naps and much of the rest of the day. She is doing everything she can to provide comfort, yet she still feels defeated when the baby continues crying while being held.
That seemed to be one of the hardest parts for her emotionally. She can understand a baby being upset because of pain, hunger or tiredness, but it is much harder when she is already giving constant physical comfort and the crying does not stop. She is left wondering what else she could possibly do when even the things that normally soothe a baby do not seem to work.
Sleep Has Become a Daily Survival Challenge
The disrupted nights are making every other problem harder to handle. A baby who wakes multiple times and starts the morning before sunrise leaves very little time for the mom to recover physically or mentally. By the time the day gets going, she is already tired, and the fussiness continues from there.
Someone responding to her story reminded her that this stage does not last forever. Another person shared that they personally felt much more confident once their child became a toddler because interacting and playing became easier. That idea seemed to offer the mom a different way of looking at the situation, because perhaps she does not dislike motherhood itself as much as she dislikes this particular season of it.
She Has Started Wondering if Returning to Work Could Help
Going back to work has become a serious possibility. The mom initially left her job because she wanted to stay home with her baby, but she now wonders whether working again could give her some balance and relief. Her biggest fear is that she would simply trade one kind of stress for another and end up even more exhausted.
Several people responding to her story challenged that assumption. One person explained that returning to work, even part time, could actually create more breathing room rather than more pressure. Another shared that daycare had eventually made life easier because someone else could help with the baby during the day, giving the parent a chance to recharge.
Daycare Could Turn Out to Be Different From What She Expects
One response pointed out an interesting twist: a baby who fights sleep at home may behave completely differently somewhere else. The person said their own baby needed extensive rocking at home but eventually fell asleep easily at daycare. There was also the reassurance that having other adults around meant another set of eyes was watching the child throughout the day.
That possibility gave the mom something new to consider. She has spent months trying to solve every problem herself, so the idea of having help during the day could change more than just her schedule. It could also give her enough distance to remember what life feels like when every minute is not centered around soothing a crying baby.
Someone Encouraged Her to Revisit the Reflux Issue
The baby’s reflux quickly became one of the main theories discussed. The mom confirmed that her daughter does have reflux and has been on Pepcid for months, but she had hoped to wean her off the medication by this age. Another person pointed out that medication doses can sometimes need to be reassessed as babies grow, especially when symptoms seem to change.
The mom admitted that they had not increased the dose in quite some time. She explained that she had believed the reflux was getting better, but now that her daughter was moving around more and nearly crawling, the spit-up seemed worse again. Her pediatrician had previously hoped that solids might improve things, but so far that had not happened.
Her Daughter Loves Solids Almost Too Much
There is at least one thing the baby is very enthusiastic about: food. The mom said her daughter loves solids so much that she now whines and cries whenever food is visible and becomes impatient if she does not get it quickly enough. She will sometimes feed herself, but she also wants help and gets frustrated when that help does not come immediately.
Someone responding suggested discussing calories and nutrition with the baby’s pediatrician, especially because reflux can sometimes make feeding complicated. The mom said she believes her daughter is getting plenty of calories but agreed that it would be worth bringing up at the next appointment. She also shared that the baby had moved from the 8th percentile at birth to the 37th percentile at her last checkup.
She May Schedule the Doctor Sooner Than Planned
The baby had not been seen by her pediatrician since the 6-month appointment. At that time, things had appeared to be improving, so there seemed to be no urgent reason to move the next visit forward. Now that the crying and sleep problems have returned, the mom said she was considering making an appointment before the scheduled 9-month checkup.
Several people encouraged her not to simply wait it out. One response suggested asking about additional support and possibly getting help from another specialist depending on what the pediatrician finds. The mom seemed receptive to the idea because after months of trying different things, having an actual plan could be more useful than continuing to guess.
She Has Already Tried Changing Her Own Diet
The mom has also spent months wondering whether food could be contributing to the baby’s discomfort. She eliminated both soy and dairy from her own diet while breastfeeding because her daughter had been extremely colicky for roughly three months. She noticed some improvement in sleep and colic during that period, but the reflux never completely disappeared.
That experience has left her stuck between hope and frustration. She has already made major changes and followed them for months without getting a clear answer. Even when one symptom improved, another seemed to remain waiting around the corner, turning motherhood into a constant cycle of trying something new and wondering whether it would finally work.
She Is Already in Therapy and Still Feels Overwhelmed
The mom shared that she is currently in therapy, which shows she is already taking steps to care for herself while dealing with everything else. Still, she admitted that the situation remains extremely difficult. Having professional support has not magically made the sleepless nights, painful nursing, physical discomfort and constant crying disappear.
One response reminded her to pay attention to her own needs instead of focusing entirely on everyone else’s. The mom acknowledged that this was something she needed to work on because she has become so focused on keeping her daughter comfortable that she often forgets to notice when she needs a break herself.
Maybe Motherhood Is Not Supposed to Feel the Same at Every Stage
One of the most reassuring responses suggested that she might simply be struggling with this particular stage rather than motherhood as a whole. Babies require constant hands-on care, while toddlers can begin to play, communicate and interact in ways that may feel more rewarding. The mom may not suddenly wake up one morning feeling completely different, but the child in front of her will keep changing.
That thought gives her a reason to keep going without pretending everything is wonderful. She loves her daughter, but she does not have to love every stage of raising her. Sometimes surviving the difficult chapter is enough, especially when the next chapter may look completely different.
She Is Starting to Think About What She Needs Too
By the end of the discussion, the biggest shift was not about reflux, bottles, daycare or even teething. It was the realization that the mom herself needs to become part of the equation. She has been trying to solve her daughter’s every problem while running on broken sleep, dealing with physical pain and carrying the emotional weight of being needed every minute of the day.
The responses did not magically solve her situation, but they gave her several new possibilities to consider. She could revisit the pediatrician, explore additional support, reconsider work, keep working on her own recovery and finally give herself permission to admit that this is hard. Sometimes the biggest turning point is not discovering the perfect parenting trick, but realizing that the parent needs care too.
