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This jacket looks so great in both its plus-size and regular-size versions, I thought I’d feature the plus-size for a change. I will say as someone who hates coral/orange yet wore the heck out of a similar coral/orange blazer: You’d be surprised how versatile it is. My favorite way to wear it was with a black-and-white printed blouse, a black skirt, and a multicolored necklace, but that’s me — tone it down easily by pairing it with simple neutrals (black, white, navy). The blazer is $298-$329, available in regular, petite, and plus sizes. Classiques Entier Three Quarter Sleeve Collarless Jacket If you are interested in plus-size workwear, please sign up for CorporettePlus, our newsletter! We promise not to blast your email more than once a week at most. (Right now it’s more like once a month.) In keeping with our Privacy Policy, we’ll never sell your email address. (L-3)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
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- 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?
FTMinFL says
This week has been a long one, but I’ve got a large coffee, a quiet office (yay for other people’s time off!), and a carefully planned, challenging yet manageable to-do list for the day. Life is good. What is getting you through to the weekend?
Anon says
Thank you for this. It has been a heckuva week here, but I also have all of things. Mostly what is getting me through is the knowledge that tomorrow is Friday. Ha. And the occasional pictures of my baby.
FTMinFL says
Baby photos are what phone storage is for :)
Wishing you a very long happy weekend!
AIMS says
Teething question: how do you know when you should give Tylenol? Baby AIMS is getting her teeth in and she’s not generally too fussy and isn’t much more so now, but she definitely wakes up a bit more than usual lately. If I nurse her, she’ll usually fall back asleep but then will wake up in another hour to repeat. I’d rather not give too much pain meds but at the same time I don’t want her to be in pain and not like I can ask her to tell me her level of discomfort on a scale of 1-5.
ALSO: a PSA – LOFT is having a pretty big sale (which is the only way I buy their clothes), I just ordered white jeans b/c I think someone on the main s*te recommended them as not being too see through, but they have lots of maternity stuff on sale. I really liked their maternity things for work when I was pregnant so just wanted to do a shout out. Also, their “utility blouse” is pretty great as long as you wear a tank underneath. I got it in a bunch of colors in petite and it makes pumping at work very easy and I manage to still feel put together.
POSITA says
We gave ibuprofen (after 6 months) when we had inconsolable wake ups at night. We were never completely sure if it was necessary, but we also didn’t want her to be in pain. Usually we ended up giving it for 3-4 nights in a row and then we could take a break until the next tooth. She never needed it during the day and never seemed to be in pain during the day. It was a night only problem. Unfortunately, teething pain is usually easier to diagnose in retrospect. It usually was at its worst before there was any sign of a tooth.
If your baby is old enough for ibuprofen, it works much better for teething than tylenol.
Syd says
We did the same. It is a guessing game, and I suppose there were a couple nights we gave ibuprofen that ended up not being teething. But we got pretty good at figuring out the signs!
Anon in NYC says
Yes, our gauge was inconsolable as well. For us, we could tell that she was very uncomfortable when she was hysterically crying and would not calm down OR if we suspected she was teething and she needed an unusually long amount of comforting for a normal middle of the night wake up (like 1-2+ hours – 20-30 minutes is more normal for her), even though we both felt somewhat uncomfortable giving her tylenol in the latter situation.
Just make sure you know the correct dose of tylenol – you don’t want to try to figure that out in the middle of the night! I think you can find it online, but a quick call to the doctor will work too and you can also get their thoughts on when to administer it.
puffs? says
I wrote out a reply telling you what my doc said when I asked, but then decided I should not give out medical advice on the internet and you should just call your doc and ask specifically for your child. Not trying to be rude, but I think that’s probably the best way for you to get an answer.
Maybe coloring my response is the news story a week or two ago about a baby who died because the babysitter gave him an adult dose of Benadryl. I shared the story with our caregiver and re-emphasized protocol for administering meds (basically, don’t unless specifically told in writing). So, so sad…
MomAnon4This says
Agree with this but will add — you know your kid best. I’ve been a preschool teacher, and I remember the call from the teachers when my son was “not himself”. You know when your kid is “not herself” — lethargic, not interested, throwing favorite toys/cups, etc., struggling to breathe or to sit up or to make eye contact or stay awake or go to sleep. You know. Have confidence in yourself, and your thresholds – for me, I think, “Should I call the doctor?” generally equals, “Call the doctor and ask if I should be worried”. If you have a different threshold, that’s ok, but you’ll know it and be comfortable with it. You’re a good parent.
Katala says
Agreed. While asking the doc is a good idea, I don’t think there’s anything wrong with gauging other parents’ experiences against what you’re doing/planking to do as long as you’re still following dr’s orders, since they are often vague/general or you have to figure out how to apply them to a current situation.
For us, we are willing to give meds during the day if he’s not himself and needed them at night. He’s a super happy guy and generally good sleeper, so if he’s extra fussy and waking up often and we see other signs (for him, finger chewing on a certain side, buckets of drool). If meds help him get back to normal he may get them for 1-3 days/nights. But its behavior driven for us.
puffs? says
Yes, also agree with both of the above.
MDMom says
So…we also only gave pain meds if baby was basically inconsolable. For us, that has only been due to fevers, not teething. Caveat is that baby is 13 months and is just working on his 3rd tooth. So far, teething made him a little fussier and more prone to gnaw on things, but it didn’t cause long wake-ups at night like this. Could it possibly be an ear infection? What about a regular sleep regression/phase? I would take her to doctor and investigate those possibilities before assuming teething pain. But you have my sympathy- it is so hard when they can’t just tell you what’s wrong.
AEK says
I think offering it once and seeing if it improves her waking / fussiness is about the only way to tell if it the pain /discomfort of the teething is the problem. As you say, she can’t tell you any other way, so you can only test it out. (Totally agree to go with ibuprofen over Tylenol if over 6 months.)
PinkKeyboard says
I give if she is waking up frequently at night and I can’t see another reason (got her leg stuck in the crib bars, activated her giraffe, cats decided to play against her door). If it doesn’t help I don’t do it again, if it does then I”ll give her a dose of ibuprofen before bed for 2 or 3 days then see how things go the next night. I don’t want to overly dose her but I also don’t want to force her to be in pain when it’s completely unnecessary.
Anon For This says
I generally don’t want to induce paranoia in other parents but, if you are giving any new-to-your-baby medication, please do not give the very first dose in the middle of the night. If your child has an allergic reaction, it’s a lot easier to deal with when you’re awake and places other than the emergency room are open.
– Signed, my kid is allergic to ibuprofen and I found out the hard way :( Thankfully, we tried to give her the dose 20 minutes before bed, so when she started wheezing we whisked her to urgent care and kept her up an extra 3 hours.
POSITA says
My almost 3 yo is really struggling with having a new sister (5 weeks old). She is sweet as can be to her sister and loves to help with her, but we have constant meltdowns over me or my husband holding the baby. She wants to be held by whoever is holding the baby. She is not content to share us–we have to put the baby down. If we hand the baby to the other parent she just switches to wanting that parent to hold her. We often do put the baby down to hold her, but there are times when that just isn’t practical. And as soon as we pick the baby up again she wants to be held again. It’s one constant tantrum.
She also is hugely oppositional about everything. She won’t put on clothes, get ready for school, get in the car, put on shoes, take a bath, etc., etc. I’m so tired of the constant battle. She also has a massive freakout if we leave the room. (Though she has no issue being dropped off at school. We’ve kept that routine.)
She cried or tantrumed for 2.5 hours last night and another 1.5 hours this morning. We do try to spend as much one on one time with her as we can. I played playdough with her for almost 2 hours yesterday just before the epic bedtime tantrum. (Grandma came over to hold the baby.) I don’t know how to make this better. She’s clearly hurting. Suggestions?
MomAnon4This says
My mom of 4 kids recommended a special plate/cup combo for the bigger sibling – with her favorite licensed character on it, of course, and then when baby is being fed/nursed it is snacktime for everyone! And LOOK you get BIG GIRL plate/cup!
Talk about all the BIG GIRL things she can do — I am so glad to play playdoh with you because the baby is too little to do that! I like to play BIG GIRL stuff with you!
Of course, she is almost 3… I remember a lot of this tantrum/jealous stuff happening with my older son even though he didn’t get a sibling till he was over 6! So keep in mind some of it is sibling transition and some of it is 3 and all of it is exhausting to you. And Dad. And Grandma. And probably both kids. I’m sorry.
Betty says
It does get easier. Short term: It sounds like you are really trying to continue making your oldest fell valuable. Can you set aside a set time every day to play with her? With my oldest, knowing that that he had one-on-one time coming at a set time (e.g. after dinner) every day really helped him. We also tried to make him a helper wherever possible (he was 2.5), so asking him to grab a diaper or whatever and then praising him like crazy for being an awesome big brother and great helper. We also tried to bolster him as a big brother: any time the baby smiled and he was within the vicinity, we would lavish praise: “Wow! She smiled at you! She loves her big brother.”
Also, try talking to her about her feelings, help her find the words and know that they will be complicated. We tried to be very accepting of our oldest’s feelings of “we love the baby and also wish the baby went away.” Or “the baby is funny but I am also mad at the baby for being with mommy so much.” Basically, the idea is to help them find the feeling words and acknowledge/accept those feelings. Check out the books: How to Talk So kids Will Listen and Siblings without Rivalry. Amazing. Both available via audiobook (listen while walking the youngest around in a stroller).
Meg Murry says
One good piece of advice I heard is to make sure she hears you say “hold on baby, right now I’m helping Big Sister, then it will be your turn”. Or “Baby, you have to stay here while I take Big Sister to school. Someday you’ll get to go to school like big sister, but right now you’re not big enough.” After all, she hears you tell her “I can’t do XX right now while I’m taking care of the baby” or “Not right now, I have to put the baby down, I’ll be with you in 10 minutes.” So let her hear you telling the baby to “wait” from time to time.
Emphasizing the “such a big girl” aspect might work – “Look at you put on your shoes like a big girl” or “I bet a big girl like you can get dressed super fast”. Or it might backfire if she insists she wants to be like a baby, not a big kid.
Is the baby waking her in the night so she’s not getting as much sleep? Cranky overtired toddlers = extra tantrum-y toddlers.
Can you ask what they do about tantrums at school? Our daycare apparently has a “feelings corner” where kids who are throwing tantrums go to, with stuffed animals and a soft chair. They are told to sit there and hug an animal if they want, and when they are done being mad they can come back to the rest of the group. So it’s kind of a time-out, but not in a “you’re being bad” way, just in a “go kick and scream over here, that’s not ok in the living room” way.
Shayla says
yes! This! (“Hold on Baby, Big sister needs me”)
We do this when it doesn’t even make sense and it slowly made a huge difference.
“Hold on baby, I can’t you something to drink right now”
Or, baby is resting contently and I’m playing with Big Sister, “No baby, mommy is playing with Big Sister first, then it will be your turn.”
Samantha says
To follow up on the “look! baby smiled at you!” – I also did this baby-voice thing where I spoke out aloud what the baby is thinking because baby couldn’t speak. It was gushing – “oh big sister! I wish I could kick the ball like you just did! Wow – do you think one day I can learn to run like you? Right now I can only wiggle my legs”. This got a great response from my older kid, who would try to “teach” the baby things or give detailed instructions on how to wiggle legs to walk, or how to talk etc. At the very least, it was a great distraction and it was fun for me – baby was actually very interested in the whole thing, so I think we all ended up believing that it was baby thinking those things and me just voicing them!
hoola hoopa says
I’m sorry. It sounds like you’re doing everything I would suggest. Everything she is feeling and doing is normal and will pass.
With one of my kids (who was same age as yours but small for her age), I was able to carry her in the ergo on my back, which helped satiate her need for cuddles but I could still do things. In particular, I’d walk baby in the stroller with her on my back, since baby would sleep and not care that they weren’t being held.
MDMom says
As a follow up to the discussion last week about forgiving yourself for not balancing work/life perfectly, did you all see Michelle Obama’s comments from yesterday? It was some kind of summit about women involving Oprah. But she really nails it I think, in terms of the first thing is liking yourself. She also made done great comments about men. Link to follow.
MDMom says
Sunmary of her comments:
https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/arts-and-entertainment/wp/2016/06/15/the-nine-important-things-michelle-obama-and-oprah-said-last-night/
FTMinFL says
This is great! In light of Father’s Day coming up, I teared up a little at, “just being good fathers who love your daughters and are providing a solid example of what it means to be a good man in the world, showing them what it feels like to be loved. That is the greatest gift that the men in my life gave to me.” As I watch my DH try to figure out how to be husband, dad, employer, etc., I am even more thankful for him and my own dad
Pogo says
First of all, love this jacket & thanks to Kat for featuring the plus size one!
Second, going to a co-ed baby shower this weekend. I already bought a gift and shipped it to their house, and it was delivered earlier this week. Do I need to bring anything to the shower other than a card? I thought about bringing a token gift in case she opens presents, but she indicated that she didn’t want to do that, and I’m fairly sure she doesn’t need another cute onesie.
Third, after a talk with the RE, we decided to go straight from clomid to IVF. Our insurance covers it, and the RE said the success rates of IUI are similar to clomid with well-timed intercourse (which we tried three times, and while supposedly I responded but it was never a slam dunk – my best follicle was only ever 18mm). Eeeeep! I can’t believe we might actually get pregnant!
Faye says
For showers, even when they’re opening gifts, I ship the gift to their house and then give a card with a printed picture of the gift taped inside. That way they can still say “oh thanks for the X” and also in case the gift shipped without the gift tag, they know who gave it without having to awkwardly ask around.
Famouscait says
Love this idea!
anne-on says
Great idea! If you really want to bring something physical, we loved giving (and receiving) copies of people’s favorite children’s books inscribed with a note. Extra points for books geared to reading aloud to slightly older children – you get oodles of board books at first, not so many things like ‘If You Give a Mouse a Cookie’ or ‘Paddington’ for example. We also loved (and used the heck out of) Baby 411, which was a great resource for pulling out to gauge the type/severity of various weird baby illnesses and had small (easily read) chapters about feeding, sleep training, etc.
Pogo says
Thank you!! perfect. That is what I will do :)
twin mom says
Just have to say that I’m wishing you the best with IVF. I still get teary looking at photos on my phone of my IVF babies and thinking how glad I am that it worked!
PinkKeyboard says
We did all the rest because IVF isn’t covered by our insurance… and we have a beautiful baby! My sister, who is 45, just had her baby because they finally did IVF. Good luck! Also, you can inject in your thigh instead of your stomach! Some offices don’t tell you that, and at least for me, that was much easier mentally.
Pogo says
Thanks… I’ve done OK so far on stomach injections. I think the main concern is running out of spots to inject when you’re doing it every day (I’ve just done trigger shots). Needles aren’t a big deal for me, though, so hopefully I can handle it!
I am so, so grateful for our insurance. That’s part of the reason we really want to get pregnant now – my husband’s company is getting rid of this plan after next year, so we wanted to do all fertility and pregnancy/birth stuff while still on it!
Betty says
Good luck with IVF!!! With the injections, just move around a bit and you will be fine. My husband is a type 1 diabetic who injects insulin (which stays in a ball beneath the skin for several hours) multiple times a day on his stomach and all is well, and I did daily injections for infertility as well. You may occasionally hit a nerve, but I found that the shots were mostly painless.
JP says
Late to this, but you can also mix the shots for IVF so you don’t have to do 2-3 injections per night. Freedom Fertility Pharmacy has a video on it. Basically you reconstitute the menopur like normal, but then you inject the follistim or gonal-f into the menopur vial, draw the whole thing up, and inject. Good luck! I’m 14 weeks w my IVF baby and soooo grateful we had insurance coverage and were able to do it.
Pogo says
ooo thanks for this tip!
Anon says
In the question about giving Tylenol above, one of the responses mentioned the caregiver calling to tell you your child was “not himself.” I have only been back to work for a month, but our daycare (which we love) called me last week to tell me my child was not himself because he was fussy (he is normally a VERY happy baby). I asked if he was running a fever and they said no, and then I was confused about what I was supposed to be doing. I wiped out my vacation on my maternity leave (because my company made me), so I can’t just leave work because my kid is fussy at daycare. I ended up thanking her for the information and texted later to see how he was doing. Is this a common thing and are they just trying to keep me informed, or do they expect me to come get him every time he is extra fussy?
EB0220 says
I’ve definitely had some daycare providers do this, especially when the baby is small. I think some parents really like knowing everything. I finally asked my daughter’s teachers not to call me unless there was something I could do. If she’s sick and I need to pick her up, call. If she’s low on breastmilk and I need to come nurse her, call. If it’s just informational, please don’t call and just tell me at the end of the day instead. Another thought is that, depending on your pickup/dropoff schedule, your child’s primary caregiver might not be there when you drop her off/pick her up. So she could be calling to find out if there’s important information she should have gotten in the morning (e.g. got shots yesterday, slept badly last night, didn’t each much in the morning) or to tell you information about your baby’s mood since she won’t see you at pickup. Anyway, long story short – normal, but you can certainly express your preference if you don’t want to be kept quite that up to date!
Lkl says
Ours used to text us things like “Baby has been crying for 20 minutes.” It wasn’t clear why — did she want us to come get him? Turns out she just thought we would like to know, even though we get extremely detailed notes at the end of every day. We finally asked her to stop, unless he is sick enough that he needs to picked up — which, miraculously, has not happened in almost a year of daycare. If it bothers you — as it did me, because then I knew he was upset and couldn’t do anything about it — can you ask them to stop?
Anon in NYC says
I think they’re probably trying to keep you informed.
Anonymous says
Sometimes babies are extra fussy for a while, and it turns out that it’s an ear infection. If they called you on Monday to tell you this, it would be helpful for you to know, since the baby may have been fussy all weekend and it continues on a third day, so you decide to take him to the doctor. If they’re just telling you to keep you informed, I would ask them to stop.
MomAnon4This says
Ask if it’s an emergency, if they want you to do early pickup/head straight to pediatrician (usually unnecessary) or “just” watch the baby afterhours to see if s/he improves. Also be aware if there’s a cold or something going around the classroom, or if there’s a reason at home that the baby is off-schedule or feeling different…
One theory I heard from moms was that teachers would say this to get rid of problem kids… I hope not, but you’ll know if that happens to you/your kid.
First Father's Day Gift says
Help! I need another last minute gift for Father’s Day. Needs to be Amazon Prime or something that can be pick up locally (mall/Target). So far, I have a family photo for his desk at work but would like another gift. I had planned to order the matching onesies and shirt from Amazon someone posted last week. There were too many options and I couldn’t make a choice, and now it’s too late for shipping (through third party seller). I used to love shopping and choosing thoughtful gifts but ever since giving birth, I’ve been dreading the whole process and how mentally draining it is to make choices.
AEK says
I totally feel you on how exhausting decisions can be now. Since you didn’t provide any info about your husband (I think your husband?) here are some random ideas: portable cell phone charger, fancy shaving cream/lotion, golf balls, packing cubes, video game, booze or booze glasses/opener/ice tray/etc., portable coffee mug or water bottle, headphones, bluetooth speaker, gardening gloves/shears/seeds, packing cubes…
Not to overwhelm you with options, but maybe something will jump out?
BTanon says
I’m admittedly not into gifts, but for the first Father’s Day this year I ordered a couple of dad-focused board books for husband and kid to read together. I bought Daddy Hugs and Your Baby’s First Word Will Be DADA, but there are clearly lots of options in that theme. Those + card, and I’m calling it done.
Vi says
If he’s into sports onsie from that team?
POSITA says
I got the matching kid/dad socks that someone posted last week from Pair of Theives. They were much less locally at Target than the online price. I found them in the men’s sock section.
Meg Murry says
Does your kid go to daycare? They may have made a craft there that would serve as a second gift.
Along the matching theme: onesie for baby and jersey for him of his favorite team? Or of his alma mater if you can get them rush shipped or are local?
Is he into booze? My husband got 2 bottles of whiskey when my kids were born – one to drink now, and one to put on a shelf and drink with them on their 21st birthday. Even though technically most whiskeys don’t actually improve with bottle aging, we still think it’s kind of fun to have.
ChiLaw says
Is it too late to get a personalized pint glass from Cafe Press? That’s what I’ve done for my husband, with a picture of him and the baby.
OP says
Thanks everyone for the suggestions! Ordered Daddy Hugs and My Daddy Loves Me books. Scheduled to arrive on Saturday.
Anony says
What’s the gift protocol for a 4 yo’s birthday? Do I ask the parents what their kid is into? Guess? Budget? We will be going with our son and it is a casual event.
Maddie Ross says
Is a there a theme? (Paw Patrol? Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles? Mickey Mouse?) If there’s a theme, I try to buy something that relates to it knowing the parents picked it because kid is into it. If no theme, I pick something relatively universally liked or relatively consumable – play-doh sets are my fav or art supplies. I usually spend $10-15 for friend birthday parties.
mascot says
The Thunder Tumbler Rally Car, nerf guns, or board games are good universal gifts and under $20. Or ask the parents if their kid is particularly into anything.
anonymous says
Just wanted to say thanks for all of the travel advice that has been posted here. I successfully did my first business trip involving pumping and it went just fine. I was going through DFW which has nice mother’s rooms in terminals A&B and I got the polar bear cooler suggested by one reader which worked perfectly to bring back milk. I had no issues with TSA – in fact, they were super nice to me. I would have been so much more nervous without the advice from here. So thank you, everyone!
(was) due in June says
F yeah polar bear cooler :). Way to go and props to DFW for a good nursing room. I just found one at LAX (gate 10, Southwest terminal).
twin mom says
what size cooler?
(was) due in June says
I have the 12pack size.
Op says
12 pack also. Was plenty big enough for 3 days
PinkKeyboard says
I just wanted to say thank you to everyone for all the comments when I was worried about no crawling at 11.5 months. She decided today was the day and is now zooming around daycare!
Anon in NYC says
Yay! I’m glad she decided she was ready!