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Updated: Nov 1, 2018 64 Comments · by

Washable Wednesday: Sleeveless Peplum Top

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Bar III Sleeveless Peplum Top | CorporetteMomsThis peplum top at Macy’s looks lovely — and possibly nursing/pumping friendly as well. I like all five of the colors offered, as well as the fact that it’s machine washable. It’s $35 (was $49), available in sizes XXS-XXL. Bar III Sleeveless Peplum Top Psst: Happy fourth birthday to my eldest, Jack, today! (L-2)

Sales of note for 9.10.24

(See all of the latest workwear sales at Corporette!)

Kid/Family Sales

  • Carter’s – Birthday sale, 40-50% off & extra 20% off select styles
  • Hanna Andersson – Up to 50% off all baby; up to 40% off all Halloween
  • J.Crew Crewcuts – Extra 30% off sale styles
  • Old Navy – 40% off everything
  • Target – BOGO 25% off select haircare, up to 25% off floor care items; up to 30% off indoor furniture up to 20% off TVs

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And — here are some of our latest threadjacks of interest – working mom questions asked by the commenters!

Comments

  1. PEN says

    can you clothes shop for me? Looking for a maternity shirt to wear under a suit jacket. Size 18 pre-partum. Currently 6 months pregnant. Would like a solid, with a modest neckline. Needs to be business formal–think courtroom lawyer.

    • Clementine says

      No help on the shopping, because I have found maternity shirts to be the hardest thing for me to find in the ‘work appropriate’ category.

      You know though, although I don’t believe the whole ‘pregnancy gives you a free pass’ deal, I have found that plain black t-shirts under a blazer actually work quite well for me. For example: I wore a plain black maternity t-shirt (I think it was from Motherhood) and a black pencil skirt with a colored blazer (worn open) and a silk scarf (partially to camouflage the um… ‘abundance’ I’ve got going on up top) and was both comfortable and professional looking all day. I’ve also worn a plain black scoop neck tank (thick strapped from the Gap) with black maternity pants, a statement necklace and a non-maternity blazer (this one was grey) to semi-formal meetings and it worked out quite well.

      • POSITA says

        Ditto. I also did a lot of t shirts and tanks under open non-maternity blazers. As long as the t shirt is new looking (not faded or pilled), I think it can look pretty professional. I also often did jewel toned t’s with a gray or black jacket/pencil skirt combo and a statement necklace. The t shirt often poked out from under my jacket a bit, but I never found a good alternative. It’s not like you can tuck it in with a big belly. The look worked a bit better with boyfriend length blazers.

        For what it’s worth, I was clerking at the time so I was in court regularly and never felt out of place.

    • pockets says

      I don’t know whether my comment is lost or in moderation, but I suggest the Isabella Oliver cap-sleeve top, or the Rosie Pope t-shirt. I had both during my pregnancy and they were thick and high quality, and would look good under a suit. Not sure about sizing, though.

    • Jdubs says

      My comments from this morning definitely got lost/stuck in moderation. Oh well! Here were some options that all go up to xl or xxl:

      LOFT Scallop Edge Maternity Shell
      Liz Lange for Target 3/4 sleeve woven top
      H&M Mama V neck blouse
      H&M Mama Satin Blouse

  2. Lyssa says

    Wow, Happy Birthday Jack! I was already an established regular reader of the main s!te when Kat got pregnant with him; I can’t believe that it was that long ago.

  3. Just Thanks says

    I just wanted to thank everyone for their awesome input on questions that are asked here. I am pregnant and feel totally overwhelmed (and often judged) when asking advice from friends and family members on issues (I asked the question about the 12 week anatomy scan last week – apparently it’s a total land mine issue for some people). I have asked a few other questions here and have gotten really good, objective, judgment-free advice from everyone. It is so great to have a place to go to ask questions about anything.

    • Clementine says

      Absolute ditto to this.

      I appreciate the very realistic and smart advice y’all give. I have great friends and a great support network, but honestly- sometimes I just need to either vent or get a wider range of advice than my friends can provide.

      My #1 takeaway as I have gone through pregnancy and hope to carry into parenthood is to be forgiving of myself.

  4. RDC says

    I think yesterday’s thread on combo feeding / weaning has finally convinced me to start ramping down on pumping – the pita to benefit ratio has just gotten overwhelming. So … could you amazing ladies educate me on formula and combo feeding? DS fortunately has no sensitivities or allergies, so are all formula brands basically the same? Any recommended brands / types? For combo feeding, is it a 1:1 substitution, as in just switch out a bm bottle with a formula bottle? Or he needs more formula volume-wise to replace the milk? If it maters, baby is 8 mos, EBF with some solids, nurses 2-3 times a day and takes 3 6-oz bottles at daycare.

    • EB0220 says

      When I did combo feeding, I liked Gerber Gentle formula. I started supplementing around 7-8 months and it was the only formula my baby would take. I found that she needed more formula than breastmilk. I started at 1:1 and ramped up as needed.

    • pockets says

      All formula is virtually the same – pick the one that is convenient for you to buy and works for your budget. Be forewarned, formula smells…not the best. Some people use Holle or Earth’s Best formula for that reason (it smells a little less not the best). If you use Amazon Subscribe & Save, you can save 15% on monthly deliveries on a variety of formula.

    • mascot says

      Nutritionally they are all the same, but supposedly can differ in taste and some other ingredient ratios. We had a good experience with the Kirkland (Costco) formula as well as Similac.

    • Pigpen's Mama says

      I think we started with the Similac sample they gave us in the hospital, and she was fine with that. I ended up using Earth’s Best Organic, not for any particular reason other than I bought into the ‘Organic’ marketing and I had read it smelled better than other formulas.

      Babies usually need more formula then breastmilk volume wise when they are 6+ months, so I think I gave her 6 oz bottles of formula vs 5 oz of breastmilk.

      I really like the Dr. Brown’s mixing pitcher for making more than two bottles at once. It’s not too expensive (unlike the Baby Brezza) and makes life a little easier.

      • rakma says

        Second the Dr. Brown’s mixing pitcher. Made mixing up a day’s worth of formula something I could do before coffee :)

      • Anonymous says

        +1 to the formula mixing pitcher. We use it to make enough to fill all bottles, and then make another batch that is stored in the pitcher, in the fridge. This is a huge time saver.

        My son has been formula fed since birth. We use the Target Up and Up brand with no complaints.

    • rakma says

      We used Enfamil, (we started combo feeding in the hospital, and that’s the brand they had, we never switched because DD had no issues with it) but my understanding it’s they’re all about the same if you don’t have sensitivity/allergy issues to worry about. You may notice some differences in poops if you’ve never formula fed before, the iron can back some babies up.
      I nursed when I was home with DD, and she got 3 or 4 4oz bottles while I was at work, whatever I pumped the day before (usually one bottles worth) and the rest was formula. DD was sort of fed on demand, so it’s hard to remember exactly what the amounts were.

    • Meg Murry says

      Our daycare provided formula as part of their meal plan, so we mostly used Similac Advance when we were doing 50/50 formula and b-milk, since that is what is provided at school. Have you asked at daycare if they provide formula? Or if you have to provide it, do you have to premix it yourself into the bottles, or can you just give them a can and have them make it as needed, so they could make an extra 2 ounces here or there if your son is still hungry? Chances are your daycare providers have lots of experience with formula feeding, so they could probably offer some good advice.

      I’d have either your SO or daycare be the ones to offer the formula bottle – as baby may be less likely to reject it. Some parents have mixed b-milk with formula gradually to get the kid to take it, but both my kids were fine being handed a bottle of either one.

      We signed up for coupons from everyone (Similac, Enfamil, I don’t even know who else) at both my house and my mothers, and I think I signed up for them in my maiden name as well, and for a while we were just using whatever we had a coupon for at that time and never had any real issues with it. I don’t think there were as many different varieties as there are now – at that time, the main brands just had a standard formula and maybe a soy version and that was about it.

      There are formulas out there specifically marketed as “formula for supplimenting” but you don’t need to specifically buy that – it’s 95% marketing nonsense, from what I can tell.

      • RDC says

        Interesting – daycare does provide meals, but never thought to ask about formula. Thanks!

      • Supp. says

        As for the supplementing formula, I bought that one largely out of weird guilt/shame – “see! I’m just supplementing”, and my little one couldn’t handle it. He spit up terribly and could hardly hold it down. I called the ped, and she said it had extra “_____” (something) in it and that it causes reflux in a lot of babies. I can’t remember what the additive is, but my guy did great on the Gentlease brand of Enfamil. Now, my guy is a special snowflake allergy man, so a lot of stuff bugged him, but don’t be afraid to try other brands if one doesn’t work out for you.

        And, as for that initial weird guilt/shame, it’s completely gone. I’ve been combo feeding since 4 months, and it’s the very best thing for our family. Ironically enough, pumped milk/nursing was possibly worse for him, as he has a peanut allergy and reacts to my milk if I eat nuts. He was pretty uncomfortable for several months when I was surviving on peanut butter sandwiches. It was a terrible cycle – he was unhappy all the time, so other things (like cooking) slipped. I ate PB as a survival means, and the milk made him more uncomfortable. Discovering the allergy, eliminating it from my diet, and supplementing with formula = super happy baby and much happier parents.

    • MSJ says

      I did it around 9/10 months and it dramatically improved my quality above. Like Pigpen’s Mama, I bought into the organic marketing hype and based on some internet research found Baby’s Only to be the preferred brand of crunch mamas – fwiw. It helped that it is pretty inexpensive. I found the best prices via Swanson’s online and there are often 20% coupons to be found. You can also order a “free” ($5.95 shipping) canister online.
      They didn’t like the taste at first, so I gradually ramped up the proportion of breastmilk/formula over the course of two days until it was 100% formula. I also used the European brand HIPP when I was over in the UK, which is great, but nearly impossible to get in the US apart from random resellers.

    • CHJ says

      One more vote for Earth’s Best Organic. DS did great with it. And the wonderful thing about formula is that you can send an extra bottle or extra ounces in the bottle without much effort. If your baby is eating 3 6 oz. bottles at daycare now, I’d send either 3 8 oz. bottles or 4 6 oz. bottles and see how it goes.

    • anon says

      We did combo feeding at a much younger age and my experience was that it made no difference to the baby whether the bottle was milk or formula — people say that milk is digested more quickly, and they need less of it, but I never found that to be the case. Check with your ped. on amounts; ours has been pretty firm about 26-30 oz max per day from one month through six months, and I’m not sure how much it would be at 8 months (possibly less). (Plenty of my friends have been told up to 32 oz, though.) At 6 months, my baby is drinking 28-29 oz — four 6 oz bottles and a 4-5 oz bottle.

      We have always used Target brand formula, switching back and forth between the “enfamil” one and the “similac” one depending on what’s available, with absolutely no problems — they’re all basically the same. When the baby went from a mix of bmilk and formula to just formula he had a little constipation for a week or two, but none since.

      • anon says

        Also, i just want to note that it is such a relief to hear about all these other professional women who combo feed or just use formula. Formula feeding wasn’t my plan but it really works for our family, and I was one of only two moms in our local mom’s group who used any formula at all. Everyone in my office has exclusively bfed. It’s really great to feel not alone!

    • CPA Lady says

      I use whichever one has the owl on it. The scientific process I used to select it was “which one has a cute container”. Enfamil I think? I don’t know about the organic brands, but Enfamil has been great because of the coupons they send every month, and because you can get individual serving size on-the-go packets for when you’re traveling. Whichever one you pick, get on their mailing list. And FWIW, my daughter still drinks 3 6 oz. bottles of formula at daycare and she’s 11 months old, so maybe try an equal volume and see what happens? If he’s still hungry he’ll let you know.

    • hoola hoopa says

      We used Similac Sensitive. I picked it because the internet said it was the best tasting. LO had a dairy intolerance in breastmilk but did fine with that one. We initially bought the pre-mixed 8-oz bottles because it was a smaller cost if LO refused. Once it was clear that they were happy, we started buying the powder at Costco.

      Thankfully LO took it straight the first time. Fingers crossed it will be so easy for you.

      I pumped once during the workday. It was unobtrusive to my work day but enough to keep daytime supply up for weekends. I skipped occasionally on busy days but tried to not skip twice in a row. I didn’t hate pumping once I wasn’t stressed over every ounce.

      Combo feeding also improved my life in terms of commuting. I (and caretakers) were no longer worried about heavy traffic delaying my home nursing session for a crying, hungry baby.

    • Momata says

      Similar doesn’t use palm oil, which causes deforestation of orangutan habitats, so we used that.

  5. PregAnon says

    Friday is my last day before maternity leave! And then scheduled c-section on 9/1. I did put my applications in for all of those open positions at the Mouse, and now I’m more excited at the possibility than I should be. Of course, it has been 2.5 weeks since I applied and most of them haven’t moved in the process as far as I can see (they have a little online status bar) save one that I’m no longer in the running for, because it looks like someone moved laterally into that position. Thye did put another one up and I also applied for that one, so there are SEVEN total that I’m qualified for.

    I don’t want to get my hopes up but…5 minute commute? Sign me up please. School just started up again here in our district and my 30 minute commute is back to 45-50 minutes. So I’ll just have to wait and see! The best thing would be to interview 2 weeks or more after my c-section. I’d be back to driving and sans giant obvious pregnant bump. I’d have to go buy a suit, but I’d gladly do that on the chance this could happen.

  6. CPA Lady says

    My baby has gone on a nap strike. She’s always been a great sleeper, and an ok napper on the weekends, but at daycare, her napping has gone from “mediocre at best” to “almost nonexistent” the older she gets. She’s 11 months old and at this point is taking one or sometimes two half hour naps a day. Then when I get her home she’s a crabby hysterical wreck, eats two bites of dinner, and then falls asleep at 6:30 for a solid 12+ hours.

    I’m okay with this, but I’m wondering if I should be concerned? I think part of it is that the baby room at daycare has all ages of babies from newborn- 12 months old, and no set naptime schedule. Maybe once she gets into an older classroom with a set schedule and a set naptime things will improve? Any thoughts? Or is this one of those things where I should just ignore it and not worry?

    • mascot says

      Once we changed to the one year old room, he moved to one nap a day (usually right after lunch). Maybe try the one nap a day on wknds and see she’s trying to drop down to just one nap.

      • Bloom says

        My baby is also 11 months old, and is in this same transition to one nap. He used to also be an awful napper and would only sleep for 30 minutes in the morning and 30 minutes in the afternoon or not at all, but now daycare has him stay up until 12, and then he usually sleeps until 2 or 2:30. That being said, I wouldn’t worry too much since it sounds like your baby is getting so much sleep at night, even if its hard to have her go to bed so early!

    • MSJ says

      My kids have always been erratic nappers and when I discussed this with their Ped at 9 mos, he said it wasn’t a big deal since they were doing 11-12 hrs at night. At that point, napping was a nice to have not need to have (at least for their health, for the caretaker’s sanity it may be a different picture). At just over a year, they typically manage anything from 30 mins to 2 hrs but again it’s erratic

    • Supp. says

      My erratic napper/great sleeper became an amazing napper after we moved him to one nap a day. We had him nap at 1 everyday, and he still keeps the schedule at 4.

    • (former) preg 3L says

      Alphamom had a post on this today! Her advice was basically: ONE NAP. Good luck.

    • Carine says

      I want to say that we had this experience right around that age with our usually great sleeper–just awkward timing developmentally and with the newborn room dynamic–and it totally resolved when she moved up to the 1s class and everyone took one nap at the same time. It was a tough few weeks, though! I’d give it a little time and try not to worry.

  7. MDMom says

    I’m looking to get my baby into a bedtime routine, especially as my return to work from maternity leave is looming next month. When we visited daycare today, I noticed they were playing lullabyes- I think partly to provide consistent background noise and drown out the older kids nearby. They were just playing stuff from youtube, which won’t work great as an every day routine. I have a cd player I can put in baby’s room. Any recommendations for a lullaby CD/album that is soothing and won’t be annoying for us to hear daily? I don’t know if I want words vs music only… does it matter?

        • MDMom says

          You’re right, and thanks to googling I found them on spotify and amazon prime streaming also. I may have to figure out a way to stream music instead of using a CD… because there is no way I could pick one of these. Too many choices!

    • Maddie Ross says

      We have the Fisher Price Seahorse thing that plays lullabies for about 5 minutes before shutting off. They also have one that hangs in the crib, but we have the one that’s kind of snuggly. We turn it on when we put her down in bed. We also use a white noise machine.

      • MDMom says

        It looks like baby can turn it on themselves by squeezing it? Is it possible for them to startle awake by accidentally turning it on in sleep?

        • mascot says

          My son adored his seahorse. Occasionally we would hear it on the monitor and look to find him asleep on top of it. By the time he was old enough to manipulate it himself, some of that startle reflex had worn off and he didn’t wake himself. The FP soother aquarium was also great.

    • OCAssociate says

      Have you looked at the fisher price soother aquarium/jungle players? We’ve bought these for every baby we’ve known for the past 15 years, including my two babies. They’re wonderful, and the baby/kid can restart the music in the night or the morning. Love them.

    • Meg Murry says

      No specific music recommendations, but a +1 to using music as a sleep trigger. My older son’s daycare teacher used classical music CDs during naptime, and one day when we were flipping through the radio he called out “that’s my naptime music!” when we hit the classical station. He started listening to the classical station at bedtime and loves it, and whenever we are in the car and need to chill out (especially if the boys start on “he’s looking at me!” “he’s touching me” “no I’m not, my finger is just near you” nonsense) putting on the classical station will calm them both down, often to the point of falling asleep in the car, which they rarely do anymore otherwise.

      So yes, it doesn’t have to be lullabies, just plain classical will do as well. Just be aware that if you go with a streaming option, you’ll want to get the paid version, because often the ads in the free versions are super loud and jarring – the opposite of soothing.

    • CPA Lady says

      This isnt a lullabye CD, but it definitely works as a sleep trigger during the bedtime routine– I have the mybaby soundspa portable white noise machine. It has a variety of nature sounds (ocean, thunderstorm, stream), a pure static white noise, and a super-creepy heartbeat that it defaults to if the electricity flickers. We’ve been using the ocean sound and it’s never gotten on my nerves. The machine is small enough to put in a suitcase and can use either batteries or a wall plug. It has several time settings or can be played all night long, which is what we do.

    • MDMom says

      Thanks for all the ideas! We do have a white noise machine already– its actually one I’ve used myself for years. I guess we’ll have to buy another one when we kick baby into his own room. It’s hard for me to sleep without it.

  8. meme says

    I just received a $1500 bill from Sequenom for my maternity21 (or whatever it’s called) first-trimester genetic test. They’re out of network for my insurance plan, meaning this is all part of my out-of-network deductible. My doctor’s office is in-network, and all of the labs they ordinarily use are in-network. Has anyone run into this and ended up in some scenario that doesn’t require paying that giant bill out-of-pocket? I can afford it, but it’s pretty annoying because no one said a word about it at my doctor’s office, I had already reviewed their list of labs and compared it to my in-network insurance list (and they matched), and if some in-network lab had been used (maybe there isn’t one for this test, I don’t know), this would have been covered 100% because I’ve already met my in-network deductible for the year. I have the necessary risk factors to make this test “covered” by my insurance, it’s just that the lab was out-of-network, so I have the deductible issue. I’d appreciate any advice anyone may have. Thanks.

    • OCAssociate says

      I was advanced maternal age for both of my babies, so my advice only works if you’re 35+. But, give them a call. I was told that they would only charge $200 max out of pocket for advanced maternal age tests.

    • MSJ says

      You should definitely call them to see if you can negotiate it down. One of the providers, I think Sequenom but no longer recall since it’s been a while for me, writes down the out of pocket costs to something in the neighborhood of $250 as a matter of course. You just have to call and ask.

    • Anonymous says

      This happened to me too. Call them, tell them it isn’t covered by your insurance, and they will send you a revised invoiced for a couple hundred bucks. I can’t remember the exact amount, but they told me before I took the test that they would charge a certain amount if it wasn’t covered and they actually stuck to it. I was advanced maternal age though, so I don’t know if that makes a difference.

      • MomtoPugs says

        I’m in the same boat with the 1st-tri genetic test. I haven’t received a bill yet, but I can see the online ‘estimate’ that my out-of-pocket costs are going to be around $1400. Ouch. Not advanced maternal age and don’t have any risk factors, but my doctor’s office told me that the max out-of-pocket costs are $200 without any qualifications. Thanks for the info on this, I think I’ll be calling and negotiating.

    • meme says

      Thanks everyone! I’ll give this a try. I’m AMA (in addition to having other issues).

  9. Work travel with newborn & helper? says

    Hi – I have work travel coming up last week in September. I’d love to bring my then-4.5 month old along, along with my mom to help. It would be driving, about 3.5 hours in the same time zone (I live in the Southeast) for an internal 1.5 day training.

    With the baby, I’d probably drive up Sunday night instead of “the morning of”. So it’d be 2 nights, probably.

    How do I persuade my company to do this? I can’t see that it’s more money – it’d be my car, or my mom’s car, reimbursement for milage, same hotel room (2 beds, + pack n play). I’d probably be taking breaks to pump, anyway, and then could breastfeed my babe in the evening and nighttime. (Baby is in daycare but due to the Jewish holiday that week, the daycare is closed.)

    Any advice and thoughts? I’m not usually the kind of person who brings helps and assistants along for trips or company meetings – do I need to make the case for it and if so, how? Also, how do I balance making sure my mom has an ok time, my baby is comfortable, and I get the neccesary work-social time?

    • TK says

      Why should your work know at all, assuming you’ll attend all work-related events sans baby? I would have grandma pay separately for her meals, but otherwise not sure how your company could interfere with your childcare arrangements.

      • Meg Murry says

        I agree, as long as you don’t try to expense your mom’s meals (get separate checks) I don’t see what the problem would be, or why you would even need to ask. The only thing I could see would be if there are “unofficial” networking events after the training – dinner or happy hour, etc that you would miss that might be less than ideal.

        I don’t think you need to ask so much as present it as “this is what I plan to do” if you feel you need to let someone know before so they don’t find out through the grapevine after.

        Although I know it would/could be hard to be away from baby I just have to point this out – if you leave baby at home with her dad and/or grandma, this could be your chance for a completely un-interrupted nights sleep at a hotel room. I might not have been ready for that at 4.5 months – but at 6-8 months a full night’s sleep in a hotel was the worlds biggest luxury!

      • B says

        Agree – men bring their wives along on trips all the time and don’t ask permission. Often, they even do things in the evening with their wives (though this is definitely a trade-off vs networking). Just pay for your mom’s meals, do what you need to do for your job, and you’ll be fine.

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