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I always associate this burnt orangey red color with fall, but White House | Black Market has a ton of pieces in this color now, so if you like it, stock up! This machine-washable wrap dress looks like it’s a nice wrap option — I suspect they have it layered with this camisole, but it would also be nice with a regular black or white camisole beneath it (including a nursing camisole). This $78 top is another nice look in the color. The pictured dress is $98. White House | Black Market Drape Knit Wrap Dress Psst: If you’re a fan of Pendleton, note that their sale prices just hit 70% off — lots of nice dresses that were originally north of $200 are now under $60. Psst 2: In personal news, I should already be under the knife by the time you read this — for the surgery to repair my ACL, which I tore on our vacation from hell in November. Surgery is supposed to be quick, recovery is supposed to be “brutal” (yaaaaay), so please send good vibes if you can! The rest of the week should continue as expected. (L-4)Sales of note for 3.26.24
(See all of the latest workwear sales at Corporette!)
- Ann Taylor – Up to 40% off your full-price purchase; extra 50% off sale
- Banana Republic Factory – 50-70% off everything plus extra 20% off purchase
- Eloquii – 50% off all workwear
- J.Crew – Annual Spring Event: 40% off sitewide; extra 40% off sale styles
- Lands’ End – 10% off your order
- Loft – 50% off Lou & Grey; 30% off new arrivals
- Nordstrom: Spring Sale: Up to 50% off
- Talbots – 25% off your purchase, including markdowns
- Zappos – 37,000+ women’s sale items! (check out these reader-favorite workwear brands on sale, and some of our favorite kids’ shoe brands on sale)
Kid/Family Sales
- Carter’s – 40% off everything; extra 10% off your purchase with code
- Hanna Andersson – Up to 30% off swim; up to 30% off HannaJams
- J.Crew Crewcuts – 40% off sitewide; extra 40% off sale; 50% off kids’ styles
- Old Navy – 50% off Easter deals
- Target – 20% off Easter styles for all; up to 30% kitchen & dining; up to 25% off TVs; BOGO 50% off shoes & slippers for the family; $100 off select Apple products
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And — here are some of our latest threadjacks of interest – working mom questions asked by the commenters!
- If you’re a working parent of an infant with low sleep needs, how do you function at work when you’re in the throes of baby’s sleep regression?
- Should I cut my childcare down to 12 hours a month if I work from home?
- Will my baby have speech delays if we raise her bilingual?
- Has anyone given birth in a teaching hospital?
- My child eats everything, and my friends’ kids do not – how should I handle? In general, what is the best way to handle when your child has some skill/ability and your friend’s child doesn’t have that skill/ability?
- ADHD moms, give me your tips to help with things like behavior in the classroom, attention to detail, etc?
- I think I suffer from mom rage…
- My husband and kids are gone this weekend – how should I enjoy my free time?
- I’m struggling to be compassionate with a SAHM friend who complains she doesn’t have enough hours of childcare.
- If you exclusively formula fed, what tips do you have for in the hospital and coming home?
- Could I take my 4-yo and 8-yo on a 7-8 day trip to Paris, Lyon, and Madrid?
JEB says
I posted a few weeks ago asking for thoughts on hiring a sleep consultant (recap: 16 month old, waking 3 times per night, approximately 1 hour each). In the responses, I received some helpful suggestions that I hadn’t yet tried. Based on those suggestions, I moved my daughter’s bedtime earlier, which I never would have thought to do…I was clearly missing some of her earlier tired signs before her second wind set in. I also added some post-reading cuddle time, which I hadn’t considered. It’s brief, and I don’t allow her to fall asleep on me, but we spend a few minutes together after I turn out the lights. We also shortened our pick-up/put-down times to 30 seconds max when we go in to check on her. These changes have done wonders for her sleep! In the past two weeks, she’s slept through the night most nights!! She’s had two nights where she woke up at 3am, but we only had to go in and do the pick-up/put-down one time. I’m starting to feel like myself again! So thank you all so much for the advice! You’ve seriously saved my sanity, as well as the money I would have spent on a consultant.
New question: she’s now waking up at 5 or 5:30 – fully awake and ready to start the day. She used to wake up at 6:30. Any thoughts on this? Normal toddler wake up time? Natural consequence of moving up her bedtime? We’ve tried the same pick-up/put-down strategy, but she’s clearly awake, so it’s not really working. I’ll take the early mornings over the multiple nighttime wakings, hands down, but if I could fix both, I’d be the happiest mom around.
mascot says
I remember that being pretty normal. I’m a morning person though so it wasn’t the worst thing in the world. They do start sleeping in more as they get older. She may sleep better once she is more adjusted to this new schedule. Will she play in her crib for a little bit? If she’s happy, I’d just let her hang out for a few minutes. Or if she’s hungry, can she handle a sippy of milk on her own while you doze/shower/whatever?
Meg Murry says
yay for more sleep! I suspect the earlier wake-up time might be the natural consequence of her getting a good solid night’s sleep instead of broken sleep with long periods of being awake.
My personal suggestion is to leave it for right now (trade off with your husband so one of you gets up with her on Saturday and the other on Sunday), and then in a couple of weeks you could try to start creeping the bedtime back by only 10-15 minutes and see if that gets her to sleep any later.
anne-on says
That sounds about normal to me. Is she still doing 2 naps a day? My son switched to one longer nap at that time and it really fixed the early wake up time…by ‘fixed’ though, I mean a 6am wake up as opposed to a 5am one. He’s still up between 6:15-6:45 most days.
naps? says
How do you switch your kid to fewer naps a day? My baby is 6 months and is at 3-4 naps a day. I wish it was 2-3 (mostly 2, and then 3 if he is really struggling) but I don’t know how to keep him up after he starts rubbing his eyes and yawning without him going over the edge…. But, I do think that the days he has 4 naps he seems to have a lot more trouble sleeping through the night.
anon says
I think you just wait. 3 is really really really normal for 6 months. Ours only dropped the third nap at 10 months. They need their rest! 4 might be a lot for some 6 month olds — how long are the naps? Can you work on lengthening one or more of them? (through whatever methods you use… for us that meant working on getting through that 40 minute sleep cycle transition by first wearing baby for second part of nap, then letting him fuss for a while till he figured out the transition himself.)
pockets says
I think 3 is normal for 6 months, but so is 2, so it’s a good time to start the transition. You try to stretch out the time between nap 1 and nap 2 so that nap 2 starts later and hopefully lasts a little longer because baby is more tired. Do 15 minute intervals, increasing every few days. Then third nap just gets absorbed by bedtime. When I transitioned my child from 2 naps to 1 (at 16-17 months) it took a solid month before her body figured it out and napped long enough during her sole nap.
anne-on says
Ha. My kid hated naps as a baby and fought them bitterly, so it wasn’t really an issue. One (or even tw0) longer naps was just easier. Once we were fighting to get my son down for his morning nap for almost as long as he’d sleep for we juts gave it up. I also gave up the last evening nap (4ish?) pretty early.
I also liked the 2-3-4 schedule – first nap 2 hours after wake up, 2nd nap 3 hours after waking up from first nap, bedtime (or third nap) four hours after waking up from the second nap.
Anonymous says
+1 for the 2-3-4 schedule at that age. The third nap will drop away anywhere from 8-12 months depending on the baby – I had twins where one needed the 3rd nap for about 4 months longer than the other.
anon from 11:43 says
I just laugh whenever I hear that 2-3-4 schedule for anybody younger than 9-11 months. No way could my 6 month old have stayed awake for 3 or 4 hours at a time. NO WAY.
Anonymous says
Yep I don’t get the 2-3-4. 4 hours of wake time is around 12 months. And by that age they probably need more than a 2 hour window before their first nap.
Anonymous says
I wouldn’t offer 4 naps at 6 months. Around that age I started doing naps “by the clock” instead of wake times. By 6.5 months we had transitioned to 2 naps. But we had to do a very early bedtime for a while to compensate (I had a long mat leave so it was doable). For a 3 nap schedule at 6 months I would try wake up between 6-7, nap at 9, nap at 1, catnap 2 hours after nap 2 ends, bedtime 2 hours after nap ends. By making the first 2 naps at set times baby should learn to start taking longer naps.
Anons says
Early wake ups can be one of the hardest sleep issues to solve. Suggestions below. Some may not work until she is older:
*Nudge bedtime a bit forward (no later than 7:30 or 8:00).
*Get an OK to wake clock that lights up at 6:30 (or just plug a regular light into an outlet timer) and teach your baby that she gets up when the light does. Don’t let her get out of bed until it is wake up time. You have to work with her sleep. If she averages 10.5 hours a night, then you can’t expect her to stay in bed too much longer than that, so set the bedtime and wake up time accordingly.
* If you are down to 1 nap, limit it to no more than 2 hours. If your baby is routinely sleeping longer than this (even just by 15 minutes), she may need to be woken up. Childcare is unlikely to love this idea, but this is the only thing that worked for us after dealing with 4:30 to 5:30 wake ups for 18 months.
pockets says
+1 to the limiting nap time. My 2 yo was waking up at 630 (after 2 years of 730 wakeup) and the problem went away after I started waking her up after 2 hrs instead of letting her sleep for up to 3 hrs. It sucks because it is so nice to get a 3 hr break in the middle of the day (I was SAH at the time) but 630 wakeup was way too early for us.
Anons says
Every child is so different–this comment made me smile a bit because 6:30 is sleeping in for us. My baby (almost 2) has slept past 7am less than 10 times in her life. Not once past 7:30 am, no matter how hard we worked on her schedule. With her 4:30 wake ups–which used to happen at least once a week–we often had to do morning nap before 7am when she was an infant. I’m a night owl and I thought her first year would kill me. It seems that evolution should have had the decency to teach her mom’s sleeping habits at some point during her 9 month gestation.
pockets says
430! Holy moly.
JEB says
Thanks all. She went down to one nap at around 12 months. I’ve heard about the “ok to wake” clock ideas, but I figured she was too young to understand. I’ll look into though! In the meantime, I’m just grateful that we’re getting a solid stretch of sleep now, so the rest would just be icing on the cake.
Momata says
We tried the OK to Wake clock at around 20 months and I think my kid was still too young to understand. I think she started to understand at around 25 months. She still whimpers instead of playing quietly, but I think she finally understands that the light WILL come on and that a parent WILL come get her when the light comes on.
EB0220 says
Not sure if you’d be comfortable with this at 16 mo, but I moved my 20 month old to a toddler bed, and it’s been great. Sometimes she wakes up early and reads a book or plays until we come get her. When she was in the crib she would cry when she woke up.
Anon in NYC says
Best of luck, Kat!
LadyLuck says
Fast recovery, Kat! Hope everything goes smoothly.
Pogo says
Oh man, that Vacation from H3ll post is amazing. I’m reading through all of the stories and really enjoying my coffee break.
Good luck Kat! Enjoy the drugs and hopefully being waited on by DH :) And I hope you don’t live in a walkup!!
Honestly, I was in such a terrible work situation when I had my knee surgery it felt like a week-long vacation. I think in hindsight that was the beginning of the end for me at that job. I gave zero f***s and just laid on my couch hopped up on Percocet, taking calls and writing contracts, probably riddled with errors. I don’t think anyone from my team even asked if I was OK, lol.
Soundproof says
Agree! Good luck Kat!
Lol, I knew I was in the wrong job when I could not WAIT for maternity leave b/c it felt like a dang vacation compared to working. Never mind the major abdominal surgery or the exhaustion – it was a picnic compared to life “before.”
Anonymous says
Any tips for getting a kid to poop in the potty? My 2 year old loves peeing in the potty but holds his poop until he’s in a diaper (naptime and overnight). Ideas to help him get it out on the potty? Because he’s holding it in the poops are… really, they’re horrifying (huge! smelly! gross!). Help!
Anonymous says
Can you make up a little song to sing with him when he’s trying to poop? Put him on the potty around when you expect him to go (right before naptime and overnight) and sing it a few times. Singing always helped my kids relax. Do something simple or with simple actions so he can participate (clap hands etc). I did this with my daughter and even at age 5 it still helps her relax and go – I sometimes hear her singing it to herself in the bathroom.
Anonymous says
Does Raffi have a song I could borrow? Haha
Anonymous says
My mom did a version of a song with me and it does work – even now! Her version was just a little noise she made. My sister’s youngest had the same problem and they finally got him to go by having an older sibling go in front of him a few times.
mascot says
Maybe try putting him on the potty after bath time when he is relaxed? Then he gets a special treat when he does go (bribery was our go-to for the short term). Is he in daycare? Peer pressure worked well for my kid. And if nothing else, time. He’s 2, he won’t go to kindergarten in a diaper.
Anonymous says
Oh, I’m not worried about going to kindergarten in diapers, more that I’m trying to save myself from the disgusting blowouts resulting from holding it.
He is in daycare. Maybe I can ask the daycare provider to let him watch the other poopers.
What a weird time, huh?
mascot says
The whole thing is weird. We just now, in kindergarten, have convinced my child to consistently wipe on his own and he’s finally getting the hang of it. Small mercy is that he is generally getting into the shower right afterwards. I do not miss the poopy years.
hoola hoopa says
OMG, the battle over self-wiping! My oldest would have had me wipe for her until she was in college I swear, my next won’t wipe at all and is super stealthy with her potty time (so much worse, yuck). Who knows what adventure #3 has in store for us.
Meg Murry says
What worked for my oldest was a secure place to rest his feet (either a step stool with the big potty or using a little potty on the floor) and privacy – he didn’t want me in there watching him poop, but didn’t want me far away either. So I would make him sit for a minute or two after he had peed and say “I’m just going to step outside the door and give you some privacy so you can go poop” and then I’d step in the hall (or sit on the floor in the hall with my eyes closed, since that was a time when I was chronically exhausted) and leave the door cracked open.
It might take a while for him to “get” pooping on the potty. Relatedly, hold off on transitioning him to standing to pee instead of sitting for as long as possible, and don’t let it happen until he is consistent about pooping in the potty. My youngest insisted on standing to pee after watching his big brother do it, and we started having issues with him withholding poop and/or poop accidents, because he was so resistant to go back to sitting on the potty. We had to go to a forced sit every day before nap and bed, although we phrased it as “you need to sit there for 3 minutes, just in case any poopy wants to come out” not “sit there until you poop, little demon” which is how I felt
hoola hoopa says
+100 for privacy.
Also, try an interim period of putting on the diaper and sitting him on the potty at a time that would be productive for him. (Sounds like pre-nap could be a good time).
pockets says
Preface with I didn’t have to do this so this isn’t based on personal experiencr. The Oh Crap book (I think, I know I read it somewhere) suggests that if this is the issue, you go cold turkey on no diapers. Yes, your child will have some unfortunate accidents. It is definitely tough love and will be unpleasant for a few days, but it’s the CIO of poop.
hoola hoopa says
I’d be very cautious with this. It could easily lead to holding it in, constipation, and a very painful poop that will only make matters worse. So think about your specific kiddo’s tendencies.
pockets says
The author of Oh Crap is pretty adamant that poop withholding is not A Thing, and that you the parent might freak out over it, but it’s not a huge deal for the kid. I agree that what she’s saying doesn’t sound right, but she is the poop expert and I’m just the person who failed miserably at potty training her kid, so who knows.
Sarabeth says
Um, speaking from current painful experience that poop withholding is definitely A Thing.
NewMomAnon says
Daycare started really upping the potty celebrations for poop – three stickers and a little song and dance (pee is one sticker and a cheer). And, invasive as this is, I think it helped that kiddo saw me pooping in the toilet. And yes, I did get three stickers for the accomplishment.
It does take time though. We are 6 weeks into potty training, and the last 7 days is our longest stretch without a poop accident (fingers crossed).
I am also going to pass along this piece of laundry wisdom that I learned the hard way – shake out and rinse dirty underwear before you put it in the wash machine. And for the love of all things holy, do NOT allow turds to go through the dryer cycle. You’re welcome.
Meg Murry says
+1 to all this, plus if you just can’t deal, don’t forget that underwear is less than $2 a pair at Target – not the end of the world in the long rum if you wind up throwing away a couple of pairs when you just can’t that day. Besides, I think watching a pair of Thomas underwear go in the trash helped shock my son into understanding that pooping in underwear wasn’t ok.
I’m not mean about it, but I am not exactly nice when my kids messed their pants (unless it was entirely not their fault, like when we got stuck in a traffic jam). Just very matter of fact “oh no, you got poop/pee in your underwear, let’s clean you up” and I don’t use the word accident. I’m super enthusiastic when they use the toilet during training (and even now the 4 year old gets a high five) and I make a big deal out of dry under pants and for the kid telling me they needed to go.
Anonymous says
My husband got a Squatty Potty last year (luckily right before I had to start taking iron for pregnancy anemia). It made me realize that several kids I’ve babysat for who wouldn’t use the potty to poop often crouched or squatted to poop — I’ve begun to wonder if it is a biomechanical issue for some kids. If he poops while squatting or crouching, or pulls his knees up while lying on his back maybe try giving him something to put his feet on to help with his body positioning.
Squatty Potty says
Tangent- what do you think of the Squatty Potty? Would you recommend to a friend?
I’m intrigued.
layered bob says
love it. was a lifesaver during pregnancy and still use it now. sounds weird but I miss my time in the bathroom looking at my phone….
time says
A word of caution – be careful not to make this “a thing” between you and your child. I went through this with my son and ended up creating a power struggle between us. I bribed with candy, with putting a cool new toy up on a shelf that he could only have when he went, taking him to buy a new toy as a reward on the one fluke time he went at daycare, peer pressure of his classmates, constantly talking about it to him, etc. Eventually, my ped convinced me that you can’t make a kid poop or eat and to take a casual attitude about it. We offered him a pull-up when he needed to go. Then, one day a light just switched on, he came home, said he needed to go, asked for a stool to put his feet on, and boom, it was over! Potty training was the most frustrating phase of parenthood so far, but I made it worse but not just giving it time.
Anonymous says
Best gift ideas for a first birthday (girl)? My LO’s is coming up. It feels silly since it obviously means nothing to her, but I figure I need to get her something and grandparents are also asking.
hoola hoopa says
Some popular items for 12-18 month olds:
Leapfrog music table
Munchin music cube
Stacking cups/boxes
Little People barn or house
Shape sorter or anything where parts go into a container (Manhattan Toy birdhouse, etc)
Balls (Ikea soft soccer ball, generic playground ball, think lightweight and appropriately sized – and avoid foam/nerf if they are chewers)
Melissa and doug magnetic hide and seek (doors! magnets!) more age-appropriate than the latch board, fyi.
If you like thinking ahead: a great set of wood blocks (HABA, etc), duplos, magformers/magnatiles. Enjoyable (and safe) at this age, although peak years are still to come.
NewMomAnon says
First birthday presents that kiddo liked:
helium mylar balloons
noise makers (drum, maraca, kazoo)
books
a mini couch with a cartoon character on it that can be unfolded into a small bed
a play kitchen
ride-on toys
rocking horse
First birthday presents that I liked:
good sneakers meant for an early walker
nice kiddo-size silverware and dishware of your choosing
clothes in the next size up (including swim wear and water shoes, if you plan to go swimming)
shortperson says
toys she liked best: second the little people farm, tomy squeak eggs, stacking cups, and grimms rainbow friends. she ignored the baby doll she got for her first birthday until 18 months, but she loves it now.
if theyre willing to go beyond play with now toys, i would ask for: a toddler seat for the table if you dont already have one (we upgraded from a high chair to a stokke tripp trapp at 18 months), a nice balance bike, toddler dishes, forks and spoons (i’m anti plastic so buying a bunch of toddler metal plates added up), a smaller stroller (we love the mountain buggy nano) or convertible car seats if you didnt already buy those $$$$ behemoths.
Anonymous says
We’re fast approaching this, and so far my list is books, bath toys, and more little people stuff. Little people are very, very popular in our house. I’m also getting her a plastic tea set.
Anonymous says
Thanks everyone!!
Anonymous says
DH and I did heirloom toy boxes for each kid’s first. They didn’t need more toys from us!!
Oil in Houston says
hello,
I’m organizing a trip to DC, and won’t be able to travel with our high chair as we have to fly there. Does anyone have any tips / recommendations for a 16-month old?
thanks!
BKDC says
Why do you think that you need to bring a high chair? Most restaurants have one to use and you can always have your kiddo eat at a coffee table or something similar if you’re concerned about eating in the hotel room.
Maddie Ross says
This. Almost every restaurant you would want to take a kid to (even coffee shops) have high chairs (though sometimes you have to hunt them down). If you are staying with family/eating at home, we just would hold LO in our lap while eating while traveling. Or eat at a coffee table or something instead. A few unstructured days aren’t likely to derail normal behaviors.
Oil in Houston says
we’re renting a flat, so will be having most meals (mornings and evening at least) there. she is good at eating alone if she is sitting, but if she is allowed to move then it becomes quite a battle….
Anon in NYC says
You can rent one. Check out Baby’s Away (or search for baby equipment rentals).
Anonymous says
Phil and teds lobster chair, or something similar. Although it won’t work on all tables.
I just bought the “ciao baby” high chair for using outside, at friends houses etc. But it is probably a bit big to travel with.
shortperson says
i would just ship a fisher price booster seat (the kind with straps and a tray) to the flat and then give it away when you leave. we bought one for the inlaws house for <$30.