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Happy Cyber Monday! Isabella Oliver is offering 33% off all maternity dresses. The brand has a ton of classic maternity workwear; this newer Eliot dress looks very on-trend with the blouson top (and surprisingly flattering, I think!). It’s normally $159, but with code MON2015 it’s 33% off. FYI, there are some great sales going on (including a major clearance sale at Nordstrom), so stay tuned for more of a roundup later this morning. Isabella Oliver Eliot Maternity Dress (L-2)Sales of note for 4.18.24
(See all of the latest workwear sales at Corporette!)
- Ann Taylor – 50% off full-price dresses, jackets & shoes; $30 off pants & skirts; extra 50% off sale styles
- Banana Republic Factory – Up to 50% off everything; extra 20% off purchase
- Eloquii – 50% off select styles; 60% off swim; up to 40% off everything else
- J.Crew – Mid-Season Sale: Extra 60% off sale styles; up to 50% off spring-to-summer styles
- Lands’ End – 30% off full-price styles
- Loft – Spring Mid-Season Sale: Up to 50% off 100s of styles
- Nordstrom: Free 2-day shipping for a limited time (eligible items)
- Talbots – Spring Sale: 40% off + extra 15% off all markdowns; 30% off new T by Talbots
- Zappos – 29,000+ 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 – Up to 70% off baby items; 50% off toddler & kid deals & 40% off everything else
- Hanna Andersson – Up to 50% off spring faves; 25% off new arrivals; up to 30% off spring
- J.Crew Crewcuts – Up to 60% off sale styles; up to 50% off kids’ spring-to-summer styles
- Old Navy – 30% off your purchase; up to 75% off clearance
- Target – Car Seat Trade-In Event (ends 4/27); BOGO 25% off select skincare products; up to 40% off indoor furniture; up to 20% off laptops & printers
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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?
Shoe help? says
I am hoping to buy discounted shoes for my 13 month old daughter today, but I find all the options overwhelming. Any great recommendations for (1) non-slip, won’t-fall-off house slippers, and (2) warm shoes/boots for outdoors?
Syd says
LL Bean Animal Paw slippers – a little tough to get on with the flip side being they can’t fall off and my 14-month old can’t pull them off! Also, they’re adorable. And Stride Rite has great deals today, I saw some boots and more substantial sneakers that could work depending on your climate!
hoola hoopa says
(1) Hanna Andersson slipper mocs
Sad anon says
Can I just shamelessly ask for some good vibes? I’ve been wanting baby #2 for awhile now (oldest is 4) and DH is finally on board so we started TTC last month. With #1, it happened the first month. Over Thanksgiving weekend, not only did I turn 35 and start my period on my birthday, but I was around 2 family members who are pregnant, 1 with her 4th when their youngest is just 13 months old and the other, a single mom of a 10 year old who is not with the father. I’m tracking everything and our timing was good last month, so it was a rough weekend. Just looking for some positive thoughts. Thanks.
Tunnel says
Positive thoughts your way, but just know that it is totally normal to not get pregnant the first month you try. Even if your timing is perfect and everything is working perfectly, you still only have about a 25% chance of getting pregnant in any given month. I know it can be disheartening to have to wait, but please don’t turn your view to the “unfairness” of other pregnancies. You don’t know their struggles. And it’s only been 1 month for you, so stop.
CPA Lady says
+1 seriously, stop. You are going to drive yourself crazy.
My sister got pregnant the first try with her first kid and it took her about 6 months with the second. Despite what you may learn from Mean Girls (don’t have s** because you will get pregnant, and you will die), lots of times it takes a while. And even six months isn’t a long time. Getting pregnant right away was the fluke in your situation.
And believe me, I’m a person who can drive myself crazy, so I understand how you feel. But this is when would I whip out one of my favorite mantras “don’t borrow trouble”. You tried for one month. Nothing is wrong yet. Don’t borrow trouble. Deep breaths.
+a freakin million says
Exactly. Stop. Particularly stop taking other people’s pregnancies personally, even when, gasp, she’s not with the father. How is this judging relevant to your uterus? Stop stop stop.
Signed,
Someone who conceived with a great deal of medical intervention over several years and who wishes OP to acquire some perspective stat
OP says
Wow, um ok. I understand that rationally 1 month is not a long time, that we were unusually lucky the first time, and that even if the timing is perfect, chances are slim every month. Plus I now have some health issues that I didn’t mention in my original post. But none of that means that it’s not ok to be disappointed that it didn’t happen. I’m not judging the other pregnant women, just lamenting the fact that she randomly hooked up with her older child’s father and got pregnant by accident against the statistics. Plus just the combo of birthday (and now being at an “advanced maternal age”), starting period, and reminders of pregnancy made me sad for a few days. I know rationally that I am very fortunate in many ways, but I was just looking for some positive thoughts. Forget I asked.
Spirograph says
Aw, I’m sorry those responses made you feel worse. I read your post the way (I think) you intended it… Just a lot of tiny things all reminded you at the same time of what you don’t have yet, and it’s a little frustrating. I was frustrated when 2 of my friends announced their pregnancies when we were trying for our first. It’s just feelings; objectively, you know everything is likely to work out, but you feel what you feel and that’s OK. Sending good vibes for better luck this month!
Anonymous says
success story- we conceived #1 in the first month of trying. WE’d been trying since June for #2 and our timing was right EVERY SINGLE TIME but it took until October. Just went to the doc Friday and i’m a little over 6 weeks. It will happen eventually!
ANP says
Here’s my story: 1st baby was conceived in the first month of trying. 2nd took a year and we had started seeing a fertility specialist — no treatments yet but preliminary appointments were made/attended. Then we had a completely accidental 3rd while actively using birth control (we are apparently the 0.07% or whatever). So it just goes to show you never can tell how this stuff will work! Deep breaths.
Jmds says
Any advice on transitioning back to work when you have been exclusively breastfeeding (with an occasional bottle here and there). Baby is 6 weeks old and I will be going back to work in another 6-8 weeks.
Main questions, when did you start pumping (and how often) and how and when did you transition to the bottle?
Thanks!
POSITA says
My little one started rejecting a bottle around 12 weeks, which corresponds to a developmental change where the baby becomes more aware. I’d start doing one daily bottle and pumping for that session. Bottle rejection is no joke and crazy stressful for both parents and baby.
I also pumped once after my morning nursing session to start building a freezer stash. Supply is the highest in the morning, so it’s the best time to pump extra. Just be sure to check to see if you have a lipase issue before freezing too much. I had to throw out hundreds of ounces that the baby wouldn’t drink.
MDMom says
My baby also started rejecting around 12 weeks. We had to buy different bottle nip**** (to match paci he likes), heat milk very warm, and basically force the issue for one meal/day for the 2 weeks before he started daycare (fun for all involved). But he never gave the daycare ladies much trouble and now takes a bottle like a champ. Best thing is to experiment with timing, temperature, bottle etc until you get a winning combo or just wear the baby down.
NewMomAnon says
I started pumping once at night (9 or 10 pm) a few weeks before I went back to work. I had a lot of milk at that time of day, and baby slept longer stretches at night, so it wasn’t that hard to do. I had WAY too much milk in the freezer when I started work though. A couple days’ buffer (2 days at 15-16 ounces a day, so 30 ounces) is good.
Also, consider giving some formula (in addition to, or in lieu of) b*milk while baby is at daycare. It would really take the pressure off of pumping.
My kiddo started getting a bottle pretty early – I would pump enough to fill a 4 oz bottle and keep it in the fridge. She probably got 3-4 bottles a week starting at 2 or 3 weeks? We didn’t have any problem with the transition between bottles and nursing.
Anon in NYC says
I started pumping very early (like, first week home) due to my daughter’s poor latch and needing to heal. In the beginning I tried to alternate pumping and nursing, but that was an impossible schedule to keep up when I was home by myself. I eventually got to a happy medium where I was/am pumping in the morning and right before I go to bed. At work, I pump twice a day. If I was worried about supply issues, I think three times a day would be better.
We began by feeding her a bottle for her middle-of-the-night wakeups, and I would pump. My husband was great about getting up with her. Also, we give her a bottle first thing in the morning because I’m too full to comfortably nurse.
ChiLaw says
I think the advice here is good.
To the extent you want to keep giving baby as much b-milk as possible for a long-ish period of time, I’d add the following: Try starting with one bottle a day now, to get baby used to the bottle. You may have to experiment with which bottles baby likes the best, and the general advice is to use the slowest flow nip* possible (to avoid developing a bottle preference). A cheap First Years bottle works for our gal. Have whoever is giving the bottle research “Paced Bottle Feeding for B*fed Babies” — there’s a popular youtube video. The thinking is not to make the bottle more appealing than you, and to generally mimic the nursing experience. Doing that has been important for me, because I want to be able to nurse when I’m at home (about three times a day during the work week, and a million times a day on weekends). Nursing when you can will help you keep your supply up, and, for me, the ability to nurse when I’m home makes all the annoyances of pumping seem more worthwhile. As far as building up a stash, pumping in the morning if possible, once a day, should do you fine. It might be hard to build up a huge stash — you’re now pumping in *addition* to baby’s regular feedings, but once you start work it will be *instead* of, so you might get a lot more then. Your stash can be small — you really do only need to cover the first day, because what you pump on Monday will feed baby on Tuesday, etc. It’s good to have a bit extra for tragedies like leaving your milk in the car overnight, but it’s really not necessary to have a huge amount.
Finally, don’t stress! (Ha, easier said than done!) You’re gonna do great!
Anonymous says
Thanks everyone for the advice! Very helpful!
CHJ says
I have a holiday party coming up, hosted by two childfree friends who live in a very hip modern loft with lots of very breakable things everywhere. Another friend and I were thinking of bringing some kind of toy or activity to keep our two-year olds occupied/entertained so that they don’t, say, pull the entire vintage record collection off the shelves. My thought was to introduce something entirely new and very VERY exciting for two two-year old boys. Any thoughts on what might work? I was thinking something like Hot Wheels with a track or Lincoln Logs / Magnatiles? They both love vehicles, dinosaurs/animals, and books.
(I would get a babysitter but the hosts intentionally moved the start time up to a baby-friendly hour so that these two toddlers would make an appearance.)
mascot says
Even if you bring toys, being in a new space with lots of people and music/food/noise is going to be pretty distracting (at least for my super social kid). Will they watch tv yet? Videos on a phone/tablet could keep them calm(er) and quiet, plus you aren’t chasing down 100 toy pieces. And snacks. Lots of snacks.
Anonymous says
IPAD, IPAD, IPAD!
Anonymous says
yes. ipad with some fun games. one for each kid or else there will be so much fighting.
Maddie Ross says
That is brave of your friends, but I agree with mascot – the new space with new people and with a non-family member friend of their own age is likely to be helpful. I would definitely plan on bringing a tablet and cueing up a cartoon or something if you need to distract. Also snacks. And sippies that are super spillproof (with water preferably, so there’s no juice or milk spillage issues).
Meg Murry says
Are you planning to stay long, or will the toddlers really just be “making an appearance”? Is the party not far from where you live? Could you make a half hour appearance, while just keeping the toddlers very close to you, and then send then off with a babysitter? Or if the weather is cooperative is there a park within a reasonable distance where you could take turns doing shifts with the toddlers – so everyone goes to the party for 1/2 and hour, then the moms do 45 min with the toddlers at the park and then the dads do 45 min?
FWIW, my kids are slightly older, but for anyone facing this kind of problem with a 3-4 year old – our hip childless friends at least have Jenga, and my kids always like to play with that at their house – either playing the actual game or just using it as building blocks and then knocking down what they built with it. It still requires an adult or two to sit on the floor and play with them though – it isn’t something they will entirely play with by themselves.
Another option – remote control cars, or the plastic Thomas the Train tracks with battery operated train – we have one small set that just goes in an oval but my kids love the battery operated train that goes by itself – it will also just go by itself without the tracks.
TK says
I’ve never had a desire to be a stay at home mom … and still don’t really … but after nearly a week at home with our 22 month old I’m feeling sad today that he’s learned all of these new skills and abilities at daycare that I didn’t fully recognize and appreciate until I was able to spend more than a few hours at a time with him. Since when did he move from ‘destroy block tower’ to ‘build block tower?’ When did he start understanding ‘please give Dad back the remote?’ When did he start using 2 and 3 work sentences? It was a magical few days (that were helped by having grandparents and young nephews in town, who all got along fabulously with our kiddo) that made me sad, maybe for the first time, that the full time job that I love really does take away from time with a toddler that you can never get back.
LSC says
I am right there with you today.
CHJ says
Me three. I even called daycare this morning to see how he was doing, which I haven’t done since my first month back at work in 2013. Post-holiday reentry is hard!
anon says
ME FOUR
Anonymous says
me five. I called daycare at 9:30am “just to see how her day is going”
NewMomAnon says
This may or may not be true for you, but I’ve noticed that my kiddo often has little bursts of learning after spending concentrated amounts of time home with me. So…it might be that you didn’t miss all those things, but your kiddo picked them all up because you were home.
And if not, then it sounds like you have a great daycare and your kiddo is doing really well there. Hugs on the hard day, but know that you’re doing a good job.
anne-on says
Yup. Post-holiday re-entry to daycare stinks. My 3.5 yr old had to be physically pulled off of me and handed to his teacher crying his poor little head off. Didn’t help that dad left early on a business trip today.
It will get better after a day or two. Give yourself mental permission to let some things slide to give your child extra play time/cuddles/etc. We’re also really stressing all the fun stuff we can do this time of year, which helps a bit.
pockets says
So, I lost my job a few months ago and I’ve been at home with my also 22 month old since then. And let me tell you, I am SO SO SO FREAKING READY to go back to work. Yes, it’s been nice and there are moments of sublime happiness and joy (like today, I was giving her kisses on her forehead and she was giggling and saying “mommy kissing eyebrows”) but for every single one of those moments, there are moments when she is flinging her yogurt across the room, screaming her head off while I’m trying to change her diaper, trying to kill herself in new and inventive ways, making a huge mess, not letting me put her hair up, running around in circles while I am trying to just SIT DOWN and DRINK MY COFFEE, etc., etc., etc. And I never get to do anything by myself and every single day I sit in my living room for 3 hrs in the middle of the day while she naps. I’m not complaining and I’m very grateful to have this time with her, but I am way more exhausted at the end of the day with her than I was at the end of the day when I worked.
Meg Murry says
Anyone have a recommendation for a good source for kids boots? We’ve always been lucky enough to have great hand-me-downs or second hand, but this year I need to get new boots for both kids (sizes 9 or 10 and 2 or 3, if that matters). I used to love Land’s End for this kind of thing, but their backpack and winter coat quality has gone downhill, IMO, and they are playing the “jack up the price and then run promos all the time while lowering the quality game”. Seriously, $50 for winter boots that are only “water resistant” not water proof? I don’t care that there is a 50% off promo – I just don’t want to play that game.
So where do I get kids boots that will hold up for at least 1 season and ideally be hand-me-down worthy? LLBean? Anywhere else? Or do I just go with Target or Payless and replace halfway through the season if necessary?
EP-er says
My MIL bought the kids Sorel Pac Strap boots, which I can heartily recommend. Until I was just looking at the price! I had no idea. But they are lovely and warm and water proof and definitely hand-me-downable.
We have had the Lands End ones in the past and have been happy, but I didn’t know that they aren’t water-proof any more. That is just silly for winter boots.
Meg Murry says
The most expensive ones ($60 and up list price) are actually waterproof, or at least have plastic-y stuff over most of the shoe area, and have good reviews.
The $50 ones (the Snow Flurry) only say “water resistant” and there are a bunch of reviews from fall of 2015 saying that their kids had wet socks after wearing them on snowy days.
Since I don’t really want to do the classy thing of making my kids wear breadbags on their feet over their socks but inside their boots (did anyone else do this as a kid, or was this just something my grandmother made us do from her holdover from depression era obsession with saving and re-using breadbags?), I would like to find some at least mostly waterproof boots. Or at a minimum, I should say, I’m not willing to spend $30+ on non-waterproof boots when I could probably get that level of water resistance from Target boots.
hoola hoopa says
We did the bag thing!! Sock, bag, sock = snow boot!
Depending on your weather, I’d recommend Croc rainboots with heavy socks (I’ve gotten good wool ones from REI). Unless we have plans that definitely involve snow, I make my kids live with that since our climate is more slush than snow, so we get a lot more use out of them. I figure it’s better than bags in their tennis shoes ;)
Not sure if you live in Fred Meyer country, but I’ve found waterproof snowboots there. They aren’t the glories of Kamik, but they work well and are hand-down worthy for our kids, who only use them only a couple of times per year.
CHJ says
We have these winter boots and they are great:
http://www.zappos.com/kamik-kids-snowbug-3-toddler-navy
We’re in New England and these boots are on their second season, still in great shape. Very warm and dry, and easy to put on.
I’ve also heard good things about LL Bean but don’t have a specific recommendation.
Chi Squared says
+1 for the Kamik boots. I just bought another pair in a larger size for my 2 year old. The ones from last winter still look brand new.
hoola hoopa says
+2 for Kamik
Maddie Ross says
Honestly, we have the Target ones from last year and intend to wear them this year too. Just bought them big last year. They have worked pretty well. And they were worn on two ski trips (one with negative temps), as well as playing in the snow at home and just around on cold mornings. I just have the one kid and no one to hand stuff down to, so I can’t comment on that. But for $20 or so, they’ve been more than worth it.
anne-on says
I searched on 6pm for kids snowboots and wound up with Kamuk’s for about $35. I also really like both sorrel and merrell as brands – you can usually find both as long as you don’t care too much about colors.
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