I have a trick for how to store kids’ gloves and hats (and their backups) — and I found it by accident. We had one of these shoe organizers hanging in our hall closet and it wasn’t getting a ton of use for shoes. One day, I cleaned it out and vowed to only put the shoes we had worn recently there — and after a few days found that instead I was sticking all of my son’s little hats, gloves, and other things there instead since there was no great place to put them and they were always underfoot and right by the door. I’ve since made it official: I got out my label maker and labeled each “column” with our names, and because they’re clear you can see the contents pretty easily. I stick: winter hats, gloves, sunglasses, lip balm, sunscreen, extra mitten clips, and all those other little things you always need right before you run out the door. This pictured shoe organizer is $8.99, eligible for Prime, at Amazon. Whitmor Crystal Clear Over The Door Shoe Organizer
2018 Update: We’re adding this solution to our CorporetteMoms Hall of Fame because we still love this solution, there are a ton of products like this still being sold in stores!
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EB0220 says
11/11/2016 at 11:16 amYes! I use one of these for all the little stuff in my kids’ bathroom. Higher pockets for medicine, lower pockets for stuff they need – combs, floss, whatever random stuff. My SIL uses a mesh one to organize bath toys, but we don’t have that many bath toys.
Anon says
11/11/2016 at 11:31 amI love this idea!! My coat closet has bifold doors, so this won’t work, but what a great idea! We’re forever searching for a matching tiny glove, which makes the morning rush even worse.
Anon says
11/11/2016 at 11:43 amSo i’m 95%, maybe 100% certain I have PPD/A. I’ve been a bit aware for a while, but kept thinking if I got more sleep I would snap out of it. My son is 9 months and I’ve had these feelings off and on since he was 4 months. Didn’t feel like this at all with my first. Every e-mail or phone call I get at work leaves me with a pit in my stomach that something terrible is about to happen (I did something wrong and someone is about to yell at me) even though that has never happened. I love my boys, but I just feel so disconnected. I used to go as quickly as possible to pick them up from daycare and yesterday I just drove around aimlessly until they needed to be picked up.
Today I’m looking around for a therapist and making an appt for my annual exam with my midwife. Anything else I should be doing? I feel like I keep making excuses and it’s time for action now, i’m just so done feeling like this, it can’t be the reality of having two kids. right?
Anonymous says
11/11/2016 at 11:54 amI think you’re right. I’m more overwhelmed with two kids, but not fundamentally more anxious or sad (except for this week, for obvious reasons). I don’t have any pointers but I think you are doing the right thing by taking action.
mascot says
11/11/2016 at 12:15 pmYou are doing the right thing. I’d see if your midwife has any recommendations for a therapist. Also, medication was extremely effective in getting me to a headspace where I could do the work I needed to do with a therapist when I had PPD/A. So I’d fast-track an appointment with someone who can write a script for you.
anon says
11/11/2016 at 12:15 pmUnless you think your midwife can/will prescribe antidepressants, I would consider making an appointment to see your regular doctor. Also, if you want to do some reading (e.g., on taking medication while breastfeeding), my psychiatrist recommended this website as a good resource: https://womensmentalhealth.org/?doing_wp_cron=1478796995.4495439529418945312500
Good luck to you – hope you are feeling better soon. I realized when my son finally started sleeping through the night, and I did not, that my depression-fueled insomnia really had little to do with him. I have a history of depression and anxiety, so it wasn’t a real shock, but getting back on zoloft for a while made a huge difference. I really wish I had done it when he was first born.
Anonymous says
11/11/2016 at 12:20 pmI remember seeing others kiss my baby and think, “why bother? She doesn’t know what you’re doing.” It wasn’t until she was 4 months old that I started zoloft, and two weeks later, I distinctly remember having the urge to kiss her squishy baby cheeks all over. To this day, I love smothering her with kisses, and now she says, “mommy I shake them out!” when I’m done.
I sat in my primary care doctor’s office and begged, saying, “please do something. everyone tells me i’m just tired, but i’m miserable and i’m scared. please help me.” I left with a prescription for zoloft, and it has been life-changing.
You are doing the right thing. You KNOW you need help. You deserve it. Good luck mama.
NewMomAnon says
11/11/2016 at 12:24 pmYou are doing the right things! I had a very similar constant feeling of dread while pregnant and for a (long) time afterward.
You need to know – this will get better. These feelings are real, but not based in reality. Hugs.
If you want to do something immediately before getting into your midwife, try adding 3000 IU of Vitamin D, a light box, and some meditation to your daily routines.
Famouscait says
11/11/2016 at 1:07 pmDo you have an IUD? I ask because there is a real mood side-effect that took me awhile to recognize post-partum. Once I talked to my midwife about it, I was amazed to hear how often she had seen this in women, even though its not listed in the drug literature. Best wishes to you.
TTC says
11/11/2016 at 1:37 pmI am a beauty and skincare product fanatic, and my husband and I are in the early stages of TTC. Besides the obvious (don’t use retinol, etc.), how much did you change or adjust your daily beauty routine when you were pregnant/nursing? Are there any pregnancy-safe products that you loved and would recommend?
Edna Mazur says
11/11/2016 at 3:30 pmNone at all. My OB said as long as I was avoiding retinol there wasn’t anything I should be avoiding. I took his advice.
NewMomAnon says
11/11/2016 at 3:51 pmSame as Edna Mazur.
I made some changes out of convenience/necessity though. I couldn’t handle anything with a strong scent and found that late in the pregnancy, my skin was super itchy and dry, so I switched from a perfumed body lotion/body wash to an unscented Gold Bond lotion and a moisturizing body wash. I also worried about the “mask of pregnancy” so I used a facial moisturizer with a stronger sunscreen. And I added belly butter to my routine because my tummy was so itchy.
Katala says
11/11/2016 at 5:49 pmI did. I made sure to avoid AHA/BHA(salicylic acid) and switched to more organic products, especially mineral vs. chemical sunscreen. I tried the Nine Naturals line and it was OK but not great. Others I like are Jason, Avalon, . I’ve been thinking of trying some of the Honest beauty products but haven’t yet. I also started buying more natural makeup (Tarte is my favorite). I was a lot more thoughtful about it in my first pregnancy, but most of my products hadn’t changed by the time I got pregnant with #2 so I don’t need to worry about it as much.
NewMomAnon says
11/11/2016 at 6:08 pmI looked at the ingredients on a few Honest Company products I’ve bought, and they seem to have a lot of the same chemicals as my other (dishonest) beauty products?
anne-on says
11/13/2016 at 8:28 pmTwo things that have been HUGE for me for hormonal acne (which of course flared up while I was pregnant) was introducing a low-PH cleanser (I really like the Cosrx one) and the acne pimple patches to suck out all the gunk when I inevitably did break out. No acids, retinols, etc. in either one, and both are on Amazon, hugely recommend them.
Anonymous says
11/14/2016 at 1:37 pmI stopped using AHA/Glycolic acid, but otherwise I didn’t take anything out. I just had to switch to a richer moisturizer because my skin is extremely dry during pregnancy. I’ll use benzoyl peroxide as a spot treatment when I get the occasional pimple (thankfully acne hasn’t flared up too much during pregnancy). I really miss my normal night moisturizer which has AHA in it, but oh well.
Pumping help! says
11/11/2016 at 2:21 pmHelp! I’m normally a champ at pumping but the past two days have been a disaster. I literally just waited for 12 minutes to get a let-down and pumped probably half what I could expect. My obvious first try is to change membranes but I don’t have spares on me right now. What else could it be? Kiddo is 11 months old, so I know volume should be tapering, but this feels like it went off a cliff. Just started a new job, but the first couple of days pumping went fine, /9 not sure why now all of a sudden. I’ve also pumped a lot in less than ideal circumstances without issue. Doing all the usual things (pics, videos of kiddo), but nothing is helping. I haven’t yet gotten my period back-could this be a preamble? It’s super frustrating.
Anon says
11/11/2016 at 2:29 pmI’m going to guess preamble to period. This is exactly what happened to me, albeit a bit earlier (9 months). Or, has kiddo recently started sleeping through the night? This was another thing that made my supply tank with my first.
Em says
11/11/2016 at 2:45 pmCan it happen at the end of your period? My baby is 8 1/2 months and my supply was good through my period (I got extra one day), and on the last day I got almost half of what I typically get.
Pumping help! says
11/11/2016 at 2:55 pmNo, he’s been sleeping through (mostly) for a while now. I’m thinking period is the best bet? Or new job stress kicking in. Honestly, I’d be pretty happy to give up pumping during the day as long as I could nurse during the day on weekends…
anon says
11/11/2016 at 3:31 pmI nursed for a year after I stopped pumping, although only morning and night. There’s hope.
NewMomAnon says
11/11/2016 at 3:47 pmSecond that. It was so much more fun to nurse when it was optional than when I was the sole source of nutrition.
meme says
11/11/2016 at 2:53 pmCan anyone recommend a good, reasonably priced light box? My husband struggles with the time change and shorter winter days, and he mentioned he’d like to try one. TIA.
mascot says
11/11/2016 at 3:19 pmI have a SunTouch Plus by Nature Bright. It was under $60. I use it while I am getting ready in the morning and it seems to help.
NewMomAnon says
11/11/2016 at 3:30 pmMy psychiatrist said the light box needs to be at least 10,000 lux. I initially had one that was 6000 lux (bought it because it was cheap), and I didn’t like it (a) because it hurt my eyes and (b) because it whined.
When I went looking for one that had at least 10,000 lux, I looked at Amazon and ended up with the Verilux HappyLight Liberty 10,000 because it had good reviews for not flickering, came with a “comfort lens” and that was about $90. There were a couple other cheaper options too, but they were smaller, some operated off of batteries, and some had reviews saying they flickered a lot.
FWIW, I have liked my Verilux. I keep it at the office and use it in the morning. I did notice that I felt anxious after using it the first few times, so I cut back the time I was spending with it and gradually worked my way back up.
Also – has he considered adding Vitamin D? My psych recommended 3000 IU of that.
NewMomAnon says
11/11/2016 at 6:11 pmI should qualify this – 3000 IU for a white, petite woman. I’ve heard friends of color say their doctors suggested higher dosages of Vitamin D.
Katala says
11/11/2016 at 6:06 pmI can’t remember the brand, but we got ours at costco for <$100 and have been happy with it. It doesn't hurt my eyes like some do and it's relatively compact. It was sold in the PNW in winter (where SAD is a thing) so I think it had the minimum wattage/other requirements.
S says
11/14/2016 at 1:26 pmI LOVE my Philips light.
numbersmouse says
12/15/2016 at 10:22 amI had a Verilux when I was living in NYC and I loved it. Don’t remember the exact model but it was ~$70 on Amazon 5 years ago.