Overwhelmed Mothers

For Kelly, a mother calling in from Land O' Lakes, Florida, feeling overwhelmed nearly cost her son his life. Kelly says her 9-month-old rarely slept through the night—which meant no sleep for Kelly. With her husband's long work hours and no family nearby to help, she says she was never able to get the rest she needed. One afternoon, she says a terrifying moment made her realize it was time to slow down and ask for help.

"I put [my son] down for a nap, and I heard him up there playing. I was just really frustrated like, 'Please, please, please just go to sleep.' I heard over the monitor a scratching sound, and I knew that sound was not right, but I still didn't really want to go up there because I really needed a break," she says. "By the time I got up there, he was bright red in his face because he had the cord from his monitor wrapped around his neck. He was hanging from the cord."

Today, Kelly's son is alive and well, but she realizes now that the situation could have been different. "If I had not been so overwhelmed, I know I would have gone up there faster," she says. "But I just wanted him to go to sleep."