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We recently went to a holiday party — specifically, a Festivus party — and the hosts wore light-up ugly Christmas sweaters. I knew ugly Christmas sweaters were thing, but I didn’t realize they light up now. If this sounds intriguing, check out Amazon for a bunch of options (come on, you’d look good in one!) that are around $23–$45. Do note that Target has them as well, for around $30. The pictured sweater is $43.94 and eligible for Prime and free returns. Forum Novelties Light-Up Ugly Christmas Sweater This post contains affiliate links and CorporetteMoms may earn commissions for purchases made through links in this post. For more details see here. Thank you so much for your support!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?
Paging Walnut says
Any updates on the daycare diaper debacle? I was telling my husband about it this morning and got mad all over again.
Walnut says
Yes, I addressed the director by stating that her email was inappropriate and hurtful. In the future, she needs to give me a call if there is anything that needs to be clarified. She made several attempts to defend her actions as I turned around and left. The whole thing still makes me angry and upset.
HSAL says
I hate this trend. I miss when ugly holiday sweaters were found at Goodwill or my mom’s closet.
avocado says
Yeah, the best ugly sweaters were the ones that weren’t intended to be ugly.
AwayEmily says
yeah, this whole ugly sweater thing seems like a giant marketing scam to me.
J says
Agreed. Our ugly sweaters came from Ragstock nearly 10 years ago when they were still used like at Goodwill. We rarely participate in ugly sweater stuff so have only ever used those ones. I would never buy a new ugly sweater.
Rainbow Hair says
I just texted my bestie “when will ‘haha it’s an ugly sweater party’ be OVER already?”
It’s snobby. It’s dumb. It’s a marketing scam. It’s not even clever any more. Like I bet someone had a party like that 10 years ago and people were like, “oh, instead of looking cute, I’ll just wear the ugly thing Aunt Mildred gave me!” and it was fun and funny. And now it’s just like a costume party without the fun creativity.
[end grinchery]
Msj says
Agreed. But a holiday party I normally attend just got became a sweater party. And as I’ve avoided the need for such a sweater my whole life and have no time to thrift, do appreciate the opportunity to buy it easily online.
Anonanonanon says
^This. I would appreciate the opportunity to just get it done if I needed to do it, as much as I agree that the original spirit of finding a normal sweater that is ugly is missing. PS Wal-Mart has A BUNCH of “ugly christmas sweaters” if you are close to one and want to grab one during your lunch break
Redux says
Irony is dead.
anon says
Novelty items like this seem so wasteful. It makes me sad to think of the materials, labor, shipping, environmental impact, etc. that went into creating something that will be worn once or twice for a laugh and then discarded.
Book recs says
+100
CHL says
Well, I’m officially into my full length down coat, and thinking about doing a long weekend to a family-friendly all inclusive in Riviera Maya in February ish. Corporette moms meet up? Does anyone have recommendations for family with 3 and 5 year olds.
Anonymous says
This is genius and I would love to. Unfortunately, kids with divorced parents aren’t leaving the country. Anyone down for a Miami meet-up? (Only half joking.)
Anonanonanon says
Ugh yes I wanted to do Montreal sometime this winter (I’m in the DC area so it’s not too far) but don’t want to open up the international travel can of worms with my ex. Sigh.
Would totally do Miami in February if I wasn’t going to be super pregnant :-P
Rainbow Hair says
Following with interest. My husband and I love to travel and have always been like, “an all inclusive resort isn’t our style, we want to get into the cities and explore” but it is starting to look like such a good deal! And to just not have to think about logistics and just sit by a d@mn pool drinking blender drinks? YES PLEASE.
CHL says
Yes! This is NEVER something we would have done pre-kids, but they don’t want to go to museums and historical walking tours all day, so we might as well just embrace it for a little bit. My brother recommended Grand Palladium Colonial resort where he took his two kids. Just looking for alternative perspectives as well!
Anonymous says
I think that’s where we went for my cousin’s wedding with my then 4 year old – she still talks about it 2 years later. We liked the ‘natural pool’ area as well. Tons of food options. We’re not all inclusive people (2nd time ever) but it’s nice for a ‘turn my brain off’ break sometimes.
GCA says
Following. Probably a pipe dream because after loads of international travel this year we don’t have the budget for still more international travel, let alone an all-inclusive resort, but a girl can daydream…
anon says
Can we talk about night terrors? Kiddo just started having them this week, and we are…terrified, spooked, unprepared. She goes to sleep fine and then starts screaming and kicking in her sleep. I try to comfort her but that makes things worse. I spoke with her doctor and she said that the goal is to get kiddo to calm down and go back to sleep, but I am not sure how. Should I ignore the night terror and let kiddo work it out on her own?
Book recs says
We dealt with this! It’s horrible! I just sit with her and occasionally pat her back until she gets back to sleep. I’m not sure she knows I’m there at all, but I feel like I don’t want to leave her alone. Picking her up, hugging her, and talking to her definitely make things worse. It was every night for a couple of weeks and now it’s only occasionally.
RDC says
My son has had them for a long time. For us, they are much worse for us (the parent) than for him – he never remembers them, or even wakes up enough to know what happened. When he was little (under 2) we would pick him up and bounce or rock, which helped calm him. Singing also seemed to help pull him out of it. He wouldn’t actually wake up, but would eventually calm down and go right back to sleep. Now that he’s a little bigger I just rub his back and try singing.
We had great success with Lully (available on Am a zon). It is a buzzer thing that you activate every night before the time they tend to have terrors. The idea is that it wakes them up just enough to get them out of the deep sleep cycle and prevents the terrors. It was pretty much a miracle cure for us, especially since the pediatrician was no help. (First denied he could be having terrors (they started when he was 8 months) and then had no real advice.) You can achieve the same thing without the expensive buzzer by just going in roughly 60-90 minutes after they go to sleep and rolling them over or partially waking them.
IUD removal? says
Can anyone share their experience on having a paraguard removed? I am a bit of a wuss regarding pain and I am wondering how bad it will be. TIA!
Moms Solo says
Just had this done! I just felt pressure, a tug and then it was over — spotted that afternoon only. I didn’t even take an advil before or after and was fine. Good luck!
anne-on says
The removal was waaay easier for me than the insertion. If you’re really nervous definitely take some advil before you go, but it really wasn’t a big deal at all.
Anonymous says
Didn’t hurt at all for my first IUD, and for the second, it came out without me noticing it. Really.
Anonanonanon says
SOOOO much easier than insertion. I passed out during insertion (it didn’t hurt that much the passing out was some sort of involuntary nerve response) but the removal was no big deal. I barely noticed.
LC says
I’ve had this done twice, and felt nothing either time. You’ll be fine!
Grinchy mom says
Does anyone else feel a little tinge of resentment every time they sign their husband’s name to a Christmas card or on a gift tag, knowing that he did nothing to locate, book, and schedule the photographer for the Christmas card photo, buy the Christmas cards, write the notes in the cards, buy the stamps, address and mail them, think of gifts for all the children in the extended family, buy the gifts, or wrap the gifts? He pulls his weight in other areas, but it still irks a little to give him credit for these things when he had literally no role in executing them.
HSAL says
I get it. But give him part of the execution! Make him buy the stamps and be in charge of sending things for his side, or wrap things. Basically I take the parts I hate the most and make my husband do them, since I’m still doing more overall.
Grinchy mom says
After fuming for a bit, I did tell him he’s taking the packages to the post office. Not exactly parity, but it’s something.
Anonanonanon says
I like this compromise. For some reason I DESPISE going to the post office.
Cb says
I totally have my husband do his side for Christmas cards. They’ll see his chicken scratch on the envelope and hopefully realise I am not the social organiser.
Grinchy mom says
Good for you! My husband does not care about cards at all, so I excised most of his relatives from the list and send them only to his parents and sibling.
Pogo says
Ugh, I feel this. More related to wedding cards and gifts because the Christmas stuff I bring on myself tbh. But I haaaate when we’re on our way to a wedding and he goes “Oh, did you get them something?”
Yes, obviously, I went on their registry, purchased a gift, not only for the wedding but also for the shower, and bought a card which is in our luggage, and signed your name to all of it. You’re welcome.
Grinchy mom says
YES. Or even better, “Did we get them something?” Yes, WE did.
RDC says
I get frustrated with the gifts for the in-laws every year. I suggest, nag, remind and yet every year it’s december 23rd and he’s in a panic because he has no idea what to get and they have to be shipped out of country so they end up arriving sometime in January. I know the solution is to just let him do it (or not do it) but I can’t help but feel I’ll be blamed/judged as the lazy/ungrateful/whatever daughter in law if we don’t send anything at all.
Em says
I do the Christmas cards because I care about them and my husband only minimally does, which is also why 95% of the cards go to my family and friends. However, I always put my name first on anything I’m doing (Christmas cards, thank you notes, etc.), and this year my husband asked (in a joking manner) “isn’t the husband’s name supposed to go first?” to which I replied “sure, if he wants to book the photographer and order the f*cking cards.” I also generally refuse to buy his family members gifts, although I did make his parents a photo book of our son this year because I actually enjoy making those books.
Anonymous says
If it makes you feel better, I guarantee that the women in the families you are sending things to are giving him zero credit for the gift. When my kids get gifts I know it’s 100% my SIL putting in the emotional labor even though my brother’s name is on the card too.
Grinchy mom says
Thank you, it actually does make me feel better.
Anonymous says
I also get it, but if he’s actually pulling his weight in other areas then I would try to adjust your mentally towards more of a “team” attitude rather than an “individual” attitude. I think it can be a slippery slope when you start to compare what you’re doing vs what he’s doing (unless it’s obvious he isn’t pulling his weight). There must be plenty of thankless tasks that he does, gets no credit for, and you benefit from. If you want an actual solution – have him be involved in sending out cards, or just stop sending them. A lot of holiday stress for moms is actually self-induced. We’re adults! We can decide what the holidays look like for our families! Sometimes we forget that.
HSAL says
I agree with the “self-induced” part completely, and I think that extends past the holidays. On the recent emotional labor discussion, someone mentioned checking OTC meds a couple times a year to make sure they had stuff for the correct season. Which is totally fine and reasonable, but a single man on his own would just wait until he needed mucinex and go buy it, and that’s fine too. There were other examples too, but that struck me. We don’t “have” to do all these things. These men survived without us, and without arranging for photo cards and with buying a card and writing a check on the way to the wedding.
But part of the problem is societal expectations on a wife/mom versus a single guy, like RDC mentions, and that’s where we should be pushing back. Of course I have no idea how.
Grinchy mom says
It can be very tough for me to sort out in my own mind what I want to do because I like it, what I feel like I should do because of friends/family, what I feel like I should do because of society, and what I would genuinely like to do, but it’s just not reasonable because of the constraints on my time and energy.
Cornellian says
I think the OTC meds example depends a lot on whether you have kids/other dependents. I don’t care if my husband has to go buy cold meds when he has a cold, but if my kid is up at 3 AM with a 103 fever, I will be PISSED if there are no meds for him.
J says
This. I’d love to stop caring about lots of stuff, but I don’t want our child to suffer. Of course, if our child needs medicine at 3AM, you can bet your ass I’m delegating that trip to the store out to him.
BLW vs purees says
Tell me your experience. Some of my questions:
1) To truly do BLW, you’re supposed to feed them from your dinner. How in the world do you get dinner ready and eaten after work in time to get a kiddo into bed on time? How do you convince daycare to get on board? I feel like hard core BLW requires a SAHP.
2) Since “food before 1 is just for fun”, why do people even start kids on purees/cereal at 4-5 months? Is there an actual benefit? Does it really help kiddo sleep through the night or is that a myth?
3) Has anybody done a combo of BLW and purees? Or is there some reason you’re not supposed to do that?
Curious to hear different experiences.
Anonymous says
I did BLW and some purees. I did purees because my mother INSISTED and I was living with her at the time, so I kind of had to. I hated it. LO hated it. We tried once in a while (probably 3-4x/week) for a few weeks, then gave up on purees. I just was NOT going to sacrifice my minimal time with my LO to forcing food in her face that she didn’t want. I gave her bananas, avocados, and cheerios. We started branching out to cooked carrots (awesome awesome awesome food for BLW, can be a few inches long and thin enough for them to gnaw on, but soft enough they can make progress on it), blueberries, strawberries, etc. By 15 months, I could give her grapes on the vine and she could pick them off and feed herself (SO NICE that I didn’t spend my life cutting grapes in half). Yes of course I watched her and made sure she didn’t choke. I found this mini vegetable steamer to be a lifesaver – I could microwave a few pieces of broccoli or carrots for her while I threw together dinner for myself, and she could gnaw on it while I ate my dinner. I would also give her some pasta or some small bites of whatever I was eating. I loved it. I read the book too, so that might help.
As far as daycare – just send whatever you want them to put in front of your LO. They will probably require grapes to be cut in half, but bananas, apple slices, vegetables, celery sticks, etc. are all fine. Focus on getting a variety of textures vs a variety of nutrition, because there will be minimal food consumption.
Anonymous says
Link to mini vegetable steamer: https://www.amazon.com/Fresh-Starts-Baby-Food-Steamer/dp/B007P0YKOU
HSAL says
I’m apparently all over this thread today. I think true BLW just requires food you would eat that’s appropriate for the baby to pick up and self-feed. You can’t really do a combination of BLW and purees, because the action of self-feeding has something to do with oral development versus being fed from a spoon. That said, we introduced finger foods very early, it’s just not BLW.
I also kind of think the “food before 1” thing is kind of a crock. My kid needed a lot of practice eating. You can’t just provide food to play with and then expect them to start eating regular meals at their first birthday. Mine was pretty much eating three meals a day, with snacks, by the time she was 11 months, while still getting four bottles a day. I don’t know about sleeping, but I do think babies just need more food as they get more mobile.
Anon CPA says
1) It’s not easy, but eating dinner together is important to us so we’ve made it work (we have two kids that have done BLW, and one two month old who will). We both work full time and don’t get home with the kids until 5:30-6. But honestly, I’m hungry at that point and I’d rather just make something we can all eat together than feed them and then eat later myself!
2) Because it’s what pediatricians have recommended for ages. There is no benefit, and it actually teaches them to swallow before they learn to chew which isn’t great. It does not help them sleep through the night. There are some kids with severe reflux that can benefit from thickened bottles, but it’s not the norm.
3) Plenty of people do! We didn’t, because I’m too lazy to make or buy purees. BLW is the ultimate in lazy parenting, to be honest, and I love it! The main reason you “shouldn’t” is because of the difference in swallowing vs. chewing – this concern is probably exaggerated by the hardcore BLW community, but I understand the logic.
OP says
The swallowing vs chewing makes sense – I didn’t think of that!
Anonymous says
There is some evidence that introducing food, especially likely allergens early, prevents food allergies.
Knope says
I’m about 3 months ahead of you on this, so answers are from my limited experience thus far:
1) You can’t. We don’t. I get home at 6 to relieve our nanny (so can’t comment on the daycare part), and heat up DS’s food or “prep” it (sometimes I make stuff on the weekends, sometimes dinner is chunks of avocado, banana, etc.). DH doesn’t even come home until an hour later. Sometimes I’ll have a snack while he’s eating to model for him, but eating a family dinner is just not in the cards at this point.
2) There is some benefit to introducing potential allergens that early, but there is no need to introduce cereal – I think that concept was pushed by baby food manufacturers.
3) After reading the internets, I decided when DS was 6 months we’d do BLW right off the bat, starting with finger foods. The problem was that he didn’t really “get” what it was first and really didn’t show any interest in trying to chew or whatnot. So we started with mashed (not pureed) whole foods for the first few weeks – avocado, sweet potato, cauliflower, squash. Once he got the hang of it we moved into mostly finger foods but still do spoons for messy foods. For instance, last night I mashed up some black beans for DS – I pre-load the spoon, he grabs it, then I help guide it to his mouth.
OP says
Your #3 is what I was getting at with the question about starting kids at 4-5 months. I feel like it’s just so young and my kiddo wouldn’t know what to do with food? and I think that’s the point of BLW – that when they’re interested, they’ll eat.
But my ped said to start purees at 4 months! So I was curious if there was an actual reason for that. I’m willing to believe the baby food lobby was involved at one point….
Anon says
my best friend is a pediatrician. i just visited her and she still hadn’t fed the kid food yet at 5 months. i think they were going to start at 5.5 or 6 months.
K. says
1) Our child stayed up late with us and had a weird sleep schedule, so I can’t help you.
2) “food before 1 is just for fun” is not based on any evidence and while I loved blw, I hate this phrase and think its problematic. Starting at 6 months, babies need iron that isn’t provided in the amounts needed in breastmilk. They also have nutritional/calorie needs that are not met with breastmilk/formula at that point also. If your baby is not interested in solid food at this point, it may be worth it to try purees to make sure they are getting their nutritional needs. Additionally, there is more and more research suggesting that to minimize allergies, babies need to be exposed to certain food during a magic window of 4-6 months (after that point, exposing them to those allergens doesn’t seem to minimize the risk as much). I don’t think it helps them sleep through the night though–they need food for nutritional reasons mainly.
3) I think people do a combo. Mine didn’t, but I don’t see why not. I mainly did solid food out of laziness too!
Anonymous says
I did not do BLW, but re: #2, babies cannot go from not eating solids at all to having them be the main part of the diet overnight when they turn one. It’s much easier if this is a gradual transition.
I didn’t do BLW because daycare provided most of the solids my son ate. They decided what he ate, and I went along with their vision. That said, my son also was not interested in self-feeding until fairly late – he’s just not super independent, not adventurous re: food textures, and was very happy being spoon fed.
AwayEmily says
This is all so helpful! We didn’t do many purees but we didn’t do “real” BLW in that we ended up cutting everything up into pretty small pieces. Whenever we tried to give her bigger ones she would stuff it ALL in her mouth at once and then start gagging/sobbing/freaking out. I know that’s a normal part of the BLW process but it was just too much for us to handle. She’s also a pretty texture-sensitive kid, so she just absolutely refused “hard” food for awhile (ie, she’d eat cooked carrots/apples but not raw), which limited things.
I really wanted to do more BLW but it just didn’t work for us — and in fact, she’s 20 months now and we still cut up her sandwiches into bite-sized pieces for her. The other day I tried not doing that and she stuffed half a pita into her mouth and then worked herself into so much of a crying/scared state we had to stop dinner.
Probably the answer is that we should have stuck it out for longer and been less scared of her gagging — I do think the principles of BLW are sound, but it’s just so tough to see your kid struggling like that. It will be interesting to see how it goes for baby #2.
Anonymous says
Just re: the cereal part of the question, our pediatrician had us do it at 4 months to a) get them used to an eating motion that wasn’t bottle swallowing before we introduced “real” solids and b) really primarily for the iron. Breastfeeding doesn’t provide their iron needs after the first 6 months postpartum and ours were preemies (34 weeks), meaning they didn’t get the majority of their iron store in place before birth. And while ours were already sleeping through the night, the cereal absolutely let us go longer between bottles during the day (on weekends, we both work). And the FWIW babies LOVED the cereal.
OP says
Interesting! Our ped was against the cereal because supposedly it has been linked to obesity (?!) but wanted us to start on dark green veggie purees, for the iron. That also sounds valid.
I guess I was just confused about how BLW reconciles with that – if I gave my 4mo spinach, he would probably lick it and stick it on his forehead. If he really needs the iron, it’s getting pureed.
This is all so helpful and interesting!
October says
I was going to mention the iron. With my first, we held off on solids until 5.5 months (there is some research suggesting that 6 months is better than 4 months, and baby should have certain readiness signs…also, it was more work than just breastfeeding). We also didn’t do much cereal because I was brainwashed by the “avocado is sooo much more nutritious” bandwagon (baby hated avocado). He ended up anemic, I had to give him gross supplements til he was like 18 months. Your kid probably will not each much of the dark green veggies, so watch the iron intake.
J says
Yes – you can definitely find a combination that works well for your family. I’m sure there are folks who will say that isn’t technically BLW, and maybe that is true. But you need something that is sustainable. Maybe tonight your child will have slices of avocado from your salad, but tomorrow night you’re having frozen pizza so it makes more sense to just grab some puree out of the freezer. We tried to introduce our child to lots of things before one, but when she didn’t eat much then I’d feel better about the “fun” mentality. Our child’s tastes come and go so much, who knows if it even mattered. Regarding family dinner, this is really important to me. We eat as a family at 5:30 every night unless one of us has a true conflict. I work for two hours early in the morning before she wakes up to make it work. My husband usually walks in just in time for dinner. My daughter is two now, so it is much easier. She can and will eat nearly anything, and we always have yogurt in the fridge in case she needs it. When she was really young, we’d usually give her whatever she needed help with (puree, etc.) at the beginning of our meal and then give her something she could eat herself while we finished eating. Sometimes it was just a rice husk, but that was fine with us. We still don’t care if she eats mostly with her hands although she is great with silverware. I just want us all to eat independently.
Anon says
These are great questions! Here are my answers for our 9 month old, with the following caveats: Baby was a premie and is exclusively formula fed. We do not do BLW – not for any reason other than I didn’t find out about it until after he started solids.
1) You’re right – dinner together is a challenge. I make it a point to leave work right at 5 (day care happens to give his last bottle at 5) so by the time we get home around 6, I can make a quick dinner that we can all eat together around 6:30 or 7. Meal services help (I can get Hello Fresh on the table fast, but it’s more expensive than takout). Hubs HAS to help! If he’s not cooking, he has to watch Baby. If for some reason I can’t get dinner in time, I just give Baby cereal or sweet potato or whatever and don’t sweat it. Our kitchen/dining situation is very open though so no matter when he eats we are all together. I like to think that helps? I dunno.
2) The pediatrician recommended solids when he turned 4 months because he was in the bottom 5% for height and weight (preemie!) I do think it helped him sleep through the night but that’s anecdata. Due to travel and illnesses, we did a pretty terrible job of giving solids at home (day care did much better) until he turned 6 months. I realized buying pouches and purees is better than meaning to make homemade food and then never getting around to it and him having nothing.
3) I haven’t read much on BLW but I think it’s more important to do what works for your family than to follow a particular method very strictly. My kid is pretty laid back though so YMMV.
OP says
Ah, I wonder if my issues with #1 will get better when he needs less sleep. Right now due to limited napping at daycare he needs to be asleep by 7pm at the latest or horror ensues. Even with that, I have to wake him up in the morning so we can get him to daycare on time. Please tell me something worse than waking up an adorable, content sleeping baby because it is the hardest part of my day LOL I think I’d ideally put him down at 6pm which would leave zero chance we’d ever all eat together.
So obviously right now we eat after he’s asleep, but I could swing it if he didn’t need to start bedtime routine until 7:30. Maybe someday!
avocado says
A decade ago there was no such thing as “baby-led weaning” as far as I knew. Our pediatrician recommended starting cereal and purees at 6 months. The progressive thing to do back then was to go to finger foods as soon as possible. During the brief puree phase, kid drank a quart of milk or formula and ate three bowls of baby oatmeal, three full jars of purees, and a baby yogurt every day, and we still had trouble getting her to gain enough weight. If they are active, they need more than just milk. They also need the iron.
The kid started eating bits and pieces of real food with her fingers at maybe 8 months, and by 1 year was eating people food off a plate. The transition was pretty easy and painless. We just started giving her little bits of safe food on her high chair tray while we were eating, and she started eating more and more as she got better at it.
Lunch Date says
Our daycare now requires that we write the date on our kiddo’s lunchbag every day. Does anyone have any creative ways around using scotch/painter’s tape? I was thinking about using some kind of plastic dial-calendar (do they make those?) or maybe some premade date stickers? Does anyone else’s daycare have this regulation, and what are you doing?
EB0220 says
We had this rule for bottles and used a label maker. What specifically do you not like about the painter’s tape approach?
Cornellian says
I would probably print labels with dates and then just stick them on.
Lunch Date says
Hmm, ok, I was thinking about buying some stickers. We don’t have a label maker (or a printer) at home.
mascot says
I think NameBubbles makes write-on/erasable labels. I’ve not tried those, but everything else I’ved ordered from them has held up really well.
LegalMomma says
They do – we used them for my son’s bottles — they worked great!
Lunch Date says
OK, interesting solution. Thank you.
LegalMomma says
Just an FYI – make sure you erase BEFORE you put through the dishwasher . . .
Lunch Date says
Good to know. Fortunately kiddo just needs one for the lunchbag. However, #2 is on the way and we may use the same daycare which will require the bottles to be labeled (name/date)…
AwayEmily says
Oliver’s Labels (my source for daycare clothes/stuff labels) makes write-on labels that come with a special wax pencil that is supposed to last in fridge/freezer/etc.
jlg says
Namebubbles write-on, wipe-off labels. We did this for daycare bottles and they survived numerous washings. It was hard to get the first kid’s labels off almost 5 years later to switch them for second kid! Worth every penny. The generic ones (without name) are cheaper.
Toddler Nap Desperation says
Please help. My 18 month old will not nap at home anymore. This has been going on for at least a month. He has been down to one nap a day since before he was 1, so it is not about a nap transition. He naps beautifully at daycare Mon-Thurs. Fri-Sun at home, without fail, he refuses. He stands up the moment we leave the room and yells our names, jumps, hollers, until we get him. If we don’t get him, the yelling eventually devolves into hysterics. We sleep trained him originally for bedtime and naps so we don’t have a problem with modified CIO, but it just isn’t working for naps anymore. We have tried everything, mimicking what they do at daycare, etc. He will usually fall asleep later in the afternoon in the car or stroller, but I don’t want to encourage that, plus he is still tired mess by late afternoon/early evening. It is really making our weekends difficult as we have no time to ourselves/to be productive, and as he is not a pleasant little human for the afternoon. He does sleep through the night just fine.
Please tell me someone has been through this and has a magical solution. I am so jealous of friends whose toddlers take 2 hour naps every day – what I would do with that kind of free time during the day on a weekend!
Relatedly, I often see “go in and pat their back” as a soothing method for sleep refusal issues – do other babies over the age of 1 stay lying down when they are crying in their crib? My LO is always standing during these stand offs, he would never ever let me lay him back down or pat his back if I went in to encourage sleep. He’d just grab me to be picked up. I don’t understand this advice!
Anonanonanon says
I hate to tell you this, but my son stopped napping at home and continued napping like a champ at daycare around this age :( The only exception was he would sometimes fall asleep in the car still, so if I REALLY needed a break I’d go on a drive and bring my Kindle along, and park somewhere and read while he slept. Didn’t help with being productive during naptime, but I suppose a really ambitious person could pay bills online from the car or something more productive than read on their kindle :-P
Toddler Nap Desperation says
I see my future in your reply. Everyone says it’s too young to stop napping, and he clearly needs it, but… :( He always wakes up in the car after 40 minutes, which seems to be the length of one sleep cycle for him. I guess it’s better than nothing.
Msj says
+1 this was/is my kids too. On the plus side, they usually go to sleep earlier than kids who nap, so I got some of that time at night. And I never had to worry about planning excursions around nap time
Anonymous says
Abandon the nap, and just go for super early bedtimes, like 6 pm.
Anonymous says
Do you have him outside in the mornings when he is home? He’s probably less active at home compared to running around with other kids at daycare. Try to get him running around outside for an hour before lunch. Otherwise, take him for a walk and let him nap in the stroller. Our twins napped on the back deck in a stroller between ages 1-3. They nap in their cribs now because the stroller was getting too heavy to push. We used the second camera that came with our monitor to watch them. Just plugged it in outside.
Toddler Nap Desperation says
I’ve had that thought, and tried it, but it might be worth pushing more. Re the walks, that does work sometimes, but it’s getting quite cold now where we are so won’t really work for the winter months. Thank you, and I am impressed you have three year olds that still reliably nap :)
Meiqi says
I have this problem with my 2.5 year old. I either try to schedule my Sat/Sun runs around his school naptime so he sleeps in the running stroller or run an errand in the car that requires a half hour drive. Better yet if I can find someone to come with me to sit with him in the car while I shop…
I don’t know where you are located, but I run in any temp above freezing and my son sleeps great bundled up in the running stroller.
CHL says
Can anyone comment on wagons? Trying to decide whether to get a regular red wagon or one of those folding ones. uses would be for 3 and 5 year old to ride in to park, push things around in, etc. Thanks!
Rainbow Hair says
We have one that folds. I like it because we can put it in the back of the car if we’re going to go to grandmas and then wheel around or whatever.
AnonChiMom says
Are you taking your toddlers to meet Santa for photos? In Chicago and suburbs you have to pay around $40.00 for photos with Santa. Our daughter is 16 months. I am wondering if its worth the price and the effort of taking her to a crowded place. Also, do you get yearly photos with Santa? Thanks
Grinchy mom says
Nope, nope, nope, you couldn’t pay me enough money to do this. I hate lines and crowds and when I see other people’s Santa photos the kids are crying/terrified in at least 60% of them.
AwayEmily says
Same. I do like the idea of a “yearly” holiday photo but I think we’ll just do one on the porch or in front of the tree or something.
Anon says
+1 you cannot pay me to do this! My SIL and my mom both live in small towns. SIL had the brilliant idea to give my mom a photo of my nephew with Santa EVERY YEAR as part of her Christmas present. Now that we have a baby, mom let me know that she expects a photo of him with Santa. This would legitimately take 4-6 hours out of my already insane weekend, not to mention the PTSD involved from road rage and crowds. I (hopefully politely) told her we won’t be doing that. Lo and behold, guess who threw a temper tantrum and refused to sit with santa this year? My nephew!
A less Grinchy alternative: a pet shelter in our neighborhood offers photos with Santa for a $5 donation to the shelter, and I’d totally support that!
Anon says
I’m in the NW suburbs and there are a ton of options here that don’t cost much. Join your local town’s FB moms’ group and ask for ideas.
– Several of the legions/VFWs have a “pancakes with Santa” thing where you pay something like $3 for a photo, and maybe $10/head for breakfast.
– Does your kid go to daycare or preschool? See if they are having an event – oftentimes they’ll bring in a Santa and you can use your own phone for free.
– Smaller malls typically have shorter lines and reduced costs. Especially check the more boutique-y malls.
If all else fails, there’s a website “santa in chicago” (no spaces) dot com. I haven’t used it but it’s supposed to list a bunch of options and maybe you can even sort by free events?
POSITA says
We’ve always taken ours to see Santa, but we don’t do a mall Santa. We found a local holiday fair where the Santa visit is free, there is a minimal (<3 minute) line, and you take your own pictures. Everyone is happy and we buy their hot chocolate afterwards. It supports our local park system.
I'd look for non-traditional Santa options. Some churches around us do breakfasts with Santa where you buy a ticket and the money goes to charity. Our preschool also has a Donuts with Santa event, which is a fundraiser for the school. There are also Santa Trains (including those with Thomas or Polar Express themes) where Santa makes a visit. Even our local elementary school has a weekend Santa event where all are welcome. Lots of options.
Anon in NYC says
Nope. I don’t personally value photos of my kid with Santa. I don’t remember doing them as a kid, and neither does DH. My MIL was horrified that we weren’t going to do Santa photos and then my DH pointed out that he has no recollection of doing them when he was a kid, so they obviously were not very meaningful to him.
In a related, but completely separate from the photo point, I’m conflicted about if we’re even going to do Santa. Kiddo is 2.5 so I feel like if we’re going to do it we have to do it either this year or next. I feel like I like the idea of Santa and seeing how excited she would probably be, but it also feels so unnatural to perpetuate this story that we know is make believe.
Grinchy mom says
We’ve opted out, and with our 3.5 yo, it’s been a non-issue so far. She knows about Santa from songs and stories, but we’ve never told her that he actually brings kids real toys, and she’s never asked about it. So far, so good!
Anon says
I wanted to opt out, but my DH really wanted to do it. We compromised – Santa brings one toy (not the biggest), and we won’t lie if they ask questions. At 3, my daughter asked some things like how does Santa get in the house. We asked her what she thought, and she promptly got distracted. At 4, she directly asked if he was real or pretend, so we told her the truth. We did take care to say that different families believe different things (we open St Nick shoes on the 6th) so she wouldn’t insist on “ruining” it for every kid in her class. We made it through that year just fine. Now she’s in K, so we’ll see how this year goes, but so far it’s been a non-issue.
Em says
I do, only because my work does a really nice, not-crowded Santa event. We stood in line with my toddler for about 7 minutes to get the photo taken and then left. If I had to take him to a crowded event, stand in a long line, or pay for it, that would be a hard no.
Anon says
Pro tip – a lot of animal shelters do santa photos with the pets. They will let the family be in the photo too. If you have a dog, you can take a pic of your baby with the dog and Santa for way cheaper (usually just a donation), a smaller line, and a private space. They usually only allow one family in the room with Santa at a time to avoid dog fights.
Lunch Date says
Bass Pro Shops does it for free (and when we went: waited 1 minute for the family in front of us. They also had a picture frame for us and toys to play with/arts and crafts for free.
There’s also a local, independent toy shop in my area that brings in a free Santa (but only for 2 days, so you have to get there early or else you’re stuck waiting a LONG time – not worth it IMO).
Seek out the reduced-stress no-fee Santas and it can be fun! I personally would not pay or wait longer than 20 minutes for these types of things.
Meiqi says
In/around NYC, you can make an appointment with Santa (which is the only way I would do it.) The photos cost around $30-$40, but I love them because they are so cheesy. We do the Easter Bunny pics, too. We will always have a story to tell since last year the bunny we saw started a fist fight with one of the dads…
Anon says
just venting, 13.5 weeks and finally gave into my nausea/vomiting after being up puking till 1am for the millionth time and asked my doctor for meds. doc called in the prescription asap, and of course the pharmacy called saying the insurance company won’t cover it without prior authorization which could take up to a week! i mean i know i’m having a baby and should get used to this whole not sleeping thing, but I’d hope to at least get some sleep throughout the pregnancy!
Grinchy mom says
Oh man, that is evil. Did you ask how much it would be without insurance? If it’s generic it might be reasonable to just get it without using your coverage.
Anon says
My insurance will reimburse me if I pay out of pocket for something that is waiting prior approval. It’s a gamble because you don’t get the money back if PA is denied. My pharmacy will also split up the order for me if it is a non-controlled substance. So, I could get a weeks worth of acid blockers while waiting PA but I could not get a weeks worth of Adderall. It was all or nothing on the adderall.
2 Cents says
I’m so sorry! I hope you get some relief soon!
Knope says
Check with your OB first just in case, but Unisom is traditionally considered safe for pregnancy and may even help with nausea when combined with B6. That might help you get some sleep until the good stuff gets approved.
Rainbow Hair says
Can y’all help me with this? My kid is almost 3 and pretty advanced verbally.
Last night we were getting ready for bed and she pointed to the map on her wall and asked “what’s that?” and her dad told her “South America.” After dad left, as we were getting ready for lullabies, she said to me, in a sad little voice, “The kids have no food in South America.” I asked for clarification and she told me that at school, her teacher told her that the kids in South America “have no food to eat.”
I am not crazy about that. (Not because I don’t want her to know that other people have it far worse than her, or to pretend there’s no sadness in the world, or whatever — but) it’s just such a blanket statement and it deals with big concepts and I don’t want that to be The Thing she ‘knows’ about a whole continent.
Any advice? In the moment I told her, “There are lots of places where some kids don’t have enough to eat, and it is very sad. But a lot of times, nice people help them by sharing. And lots of kids in South America have food to eat, too.” I mean… she’s two. IDK.
jlg says
Your response seems completely appropriate. In my experience, bright kids sometimes ask tough questions and are very sensitive to information provided by adults. I often have to give careful and limited explanations of the reasons why the flags we pass on our walk to school are at half mast. I’ve learned that a direct but somewhat vague/narrow answer works best to avoid topics that may be a bit beyond their ability to process and need-to-know. For example, I gave more info re: Pearl Harbor Day (on this day a long time ago there was a surprise attack, it was sad b/c people were hurt but important b/c the US decided to fight in an war in Europe against some really bad guys) than when flags were lowered for the Las Vegas shootings (the flags are low because something sad happened and its to remind us to be nice to each other).
At around the age of your daughter, I had the following conversation with my son:
DS: Is Mr. Rodgers real?
Me: Well, he is real, but isn’t around any more to make new shows.
DS: Where did he go?
(silence as I thought about how to answer)
DS: Where did he go?
Me: He went to be with G-d.
(silence as DS digested this, and I thought to myself that I’d succeeded in avoiding talking about death by saying something abstract)
DS: Where is G-d?
(silence again as I realized I’d made a tactical error)
Me: That’s a good question, and everyone has a different idea about where G-d is. No one really knows for sure. (a sigh of relief that law school “it depends” reflex kicked in and that no further questions were asked)
Sometimes there’s just no winning, and while talking to the teacher might be in order to make sure he/she understands how seriously your kid takes stuff, there will likely always be some tough questions. Good luck!
Rainbow Hair says
Dude she ALSO asked me about death last night, on the drive home. It, predictably, went right to me dying.
Kid: [Teacher]’s mom isn’t here any more.
Me: Oh, where is she.
Kid: She died.
Me: Oh, that’s sad.
Kid: Is [grandma]’s mom dead?
Me: Yes, she is.
Kid: Is [grandpa]’s mom dead?
Me: Yes, she is.
Kid: MOMMY WHEN WILL YOU DIE?
Me: Not for a long long time, honey.
Kid: And daddy too?
Me: Everyone will, honey, but not for a long long time, I promise.
Kid: But but!!! I will be all alone without any grownups!!!!!!
I really thought I had some time before I had to deal with this stuff. She also wants to know how babies get into mommies’ tummies so it’s just like, all the life lessons all at once over here.
Anonymous says
I found that ‘a long long time’ was hard for kids to wrap their head around. I said that usually people don’t die until they are very old and their bodies stop working. That means I wouldn’t die until after she is a grown-up with her own house and her own babies. Like how I’m a grown up and she is my kid but my mommy (grandma) is still alive.
I know that people can die young but it’s so uncommon that I didn’t think it was worth addressing that in the conversation.
Redux says
My kiddo got really interested in death after figuring out that the dinosaurs had all died and that’s why they weren’t around anymore. I have no advice, just commisseration on how hard it is!
Anonymous says
My son (at 4) started asking about this when he heard on the radio that it was JS Bach’s 300whateverth birthday.
Son: wow, that’s really really old!
Me: well he was born a long time ago, but he died a long time ago, too
Son:why did he die?
Me: he was old, and when people get really old their bodies stop working and they die
Son: (wailing) but great grandma and great grampa are really old and I don’t want them to die!!!
Me: (WTF was I thinking enabling this conversation?) I don’t want them to die either, buddy, hopefully they will still be alive for a lot of years. What did you have for lunch today?
And then during the death-obsessed week, he found out my other grandma, who used to live in Texas, had died before he ever met her. We have a big map of the US on the wall in the playroom, and the next time my mom came to visit, son pointed at Texas on the map and announced “Someone died under those letters! People die when they get old! But great grandma and great grampa are still alive even though they’re really old.” kids put things together in such interesting ways sometimes.
Ms B says
On the baby issue, I highly recommend the book “It’s Not the Stork”. Whenever The Kid asks those questions we pull out the book, look it up, read it, and case closed. The book is factual, but not explicit and there is a series of them for kids as they grow.
For BLW question above says
Sorry, can’t reply in line. Re (2) question on why purees– our baby was EXTREMELY interested in food and desperately wanted to eat beginning just before 5 months. I wanted to try blw, but… He had a very, very strong gag reflex. Literally anything other than a very smooth puree made him full-out vomit until about 8 or 9 months. But he loved eating and wanted to eat a TON. He also gained a billion percentile points once he started food, and has stayed on that curve now for several years, leading me to believe he perhaps wasn’t getting enough formula previously. He was always a happy baby so can’t have been TOO hungry, but would have drunk more if offered (ped gave us a rough limit, unlike bf’ing). He was eating 3 full meals and 2 snacks by 11 mo, and would let you have it if you tried to skip one, so I don’t really agree that food is just for fun for all babies.
More BLW Thoughts says
My daughter showed “signs of readiness” at 3 months and keeping her happy at dinner was a massive fight until we could start purées. We did fortified oatmeal every couple of days for the iron (I was anemic during pregnancy) and as she got older mixed in adult oatmeal and quinoa for texture.
She was active enough that she dropped off the weight curve at six months and we started doing finger foods like avocado, slightly smushed blueberries (nothing like finding a whole blueberry in a diaper), torn up bits of omelette and bread, slightly smushed beans, etc. As well as lots of full fat adult Greek yogurt (all the kids yogurts I could find had sugar in them).
My husband would not get behind straight BLW when he came across a story of babies getting food lodged in their throats and needing surgery/general anesthetic. (He works health care adjacent and some of the pediatricians he knows send him things.)
Our friends did BLW and could hand their one year old an apple. But our kid could do the same at 18 months so…
(Also, your baby knows how to swallow– she’s been swallowing milk for months.)