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Apparently, as soon as your baby has teeth, you’re supposed to be brushing them. I think I was a little slow to start that routine, but once I did, I looked for fluoride-free toothpaste. I didn’t want anything overly sweet tasting or a flavor not previously introduced, like bubble gum or mint.
I found this toothpaste and used it until this week when we introduced a fluoride toothpaste. It tastes nice and is free of dyes — and my son liked it, so it was a winner in our house.
It is $2.97 at Amazon and $2.99 at Target. Kids’ Fruit Fusion Toothpaste
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?
strollerstrike says
At what age – if ever – did you start leaving a bottle in your little one’s bed to drink from at night/in the morning?
Same question with regards to night lights.
My 14 months old (still in crib) wakes up crying bloody murder every morning but makes no attempts to stand up or climb out of the crib. I wonder if he is scared because his room is pitch dark. After naps he will often sit up and chill for a minute before then crying for us to get him.
Clementine says
Bottle – Never. Around 20 months though, my oldest figured out that he could run to the bathroom, turn on the tub faucet, and get himself a drink. Around 18 months, my middle realized she could go get my oldest to get her a drink from the bathroom sink.
Nightlight – really depends on the kid. Oldest had one of those noise machines with a projector that he LOVED and we used every night until the motor burned out. Middle doesn’t care so she doesn’t have a nightlight at 2. Youngest? Sweet youngest child is fine with anything so who knows what she’ll need when she gets older.
I say try it with an amber bulb. If it doesn’t work, no biggie. If it does, well, you’ve just gotten better sleep for $5.
Mrs. Jones says
We never left a bottle in the bed.
Anon says
My 2 year old recently started asking for a sippy cup of water to take to bed and we obliged, and the cup is usually pretty empty in the morning. My husband guzzles water at night so I guess it’s genetic. I’m not sure how this will work with potty training but we’ll cross that bridge when we come to it. I’m not sure I’d do milk, since that’s supposed to be a tooth decay risk.
We’ve never done a nightlight but my kid is one of those people who can’t even contemplate sleep unless the room is pitch black. We have to put towels under the door, layered under blackout curtains on the windows, etc. to get the room dark enough, so definitely not doing any additional kind of light.
Anon says
Never left a bottle, but at around 2.5 when we moved her to the big bed, DD gets a sippy cup of water on the nightstand. She usually only wants a sip or two unless she didn’t drink enough during the day. We’ve had nightlights since kiddo went to the toddler bed (at 17 months, because you, know, she climbed out). Vaya makes one that looks like a glowing egg and is pretty easy for toddler to operate.
Anon says
I’ve read that kids aren’t scared of the dark until around 2, which is about when my 2.5 year old started putting her hatch light on herself.
For bottles, I know a 4 year old who had to have her 2 front teeth pulled because of decay because of a crib bottle, so I would say never with milk.
Boston Legal Eagle says
We never left bottles in the crib. My oldest was out of his crib a little after 2 so we could have left a sippy in his room at that point. We typically leave a bottle of water in his room now – not night trained yet but he can also go to the potty himself if needed. Youngest (almost 2) has a Hatch night light/white noise machine in his room – he doesn’t need pitch black but is also happy to just sit in his crib once he wakes up (doesn’t cry for us and hasn’t tried to climb out of the crib yet, unlike DS1) so not sure if that’s helpful.
AwayEmily says
No bottle. We give our kids 360 cups of water to have in their beds at night, though.
In terms of the nightlight, each our kids got Munchkin owl lights to have in their cribs when they turned two. Before that, very low-wattage amber nightlight in the room.
CCLA says
We do this too, 360 cup with water. I think we started around age 1. We also use a hatch light.
Anonymous says
No bottle of milk – doctor and dentist were very clear not to. We left water starting when they started asking for it, around 2.
Io says
My kid has a thermos of water by her bed. I think we started that when she was three. But she was fully night trained early (she often woke up dry from naps at 18 months. Some kids are weird).
But I’ve seen too many chewed through bottle n*pples in my life to just leave one with a baby who might be teething. Total choking hazard.
Cb says
We’ve just sold our flat and confirmed a moving date and my son seems to think we’ll be moving to a new house with new toys? Erm, nope, same toys kid.
Practical question, do you need a stair gate with a 3 year old? He’s not a climber and has never tried to open doors etc but we’ve never lived somewhere with stairs.
Anon says
No definitely not. We have stair gates that we installed when our daughter started crawling and now at 2.5 I feel like they’re a bigger safety risk than benefit, since she likes to kind of hang onto the sides of the gates at the top of the stairs and lean forward to talk to us when we’re downstairs. I’m worried she’s going to tumble forward one day.
Cb says
That’s a really good point. I also think I’d be likely to run into it, trip over it. Still have a perma-bruise from bumping my thigh on the kitchen gate.
Anon says
My kid is 3. We keep the safety gate at the top of the stairs because she runs from her room to our room in the middle of the night and I’m worried she’ll bounce of the wall or trip and take a sleepy header down the stairs. It’s truly just for nighttime because she can open it. We have since taken down all the other gates. If your kid is not a wild hooligan like mine, I’d say you are probably fine.
anonn says
Same. Daughter is 3, we only use it at night because I come from a family of sleep walkers, our bedrooms are upstairs so we just have it at the top.
Boston Legal Eagle says
We moved into our current house when the kids were almost 1 and almost 3.5 and didn’t put in stair gates until the youngest could reliably walk (so like 6 months after we moved in) – our older one (who was a climber and definitely needed gates when he was younger!) was fine by 3.5 to be trusted not to do anything crazy. Based on what you’ve written, your kid seems more or less rule-following so you should be fine.
Anonymous says
Depends on the kid and the layout of the upper floor and type of stairwell. First kid didn’t need a gate when we moved into our new house – she was 3. Kids 2 and 3 needed a gate until like age 5 due to lack of rule following. A big factor in no gate was that in order to walk from her bedroom to our bedroom she did not have to walk in front of the stairs. I might have gated it for fear she trip at night when sleepy if she had to walk in front of our steep stairs (vs. say 4 stairs to a landing).
Anonymous says
Congratulations! Did you buy a place or are you moving into temporary housing?
Cb says
Phew, it’s been a whirlwind – we made an offer on Monday, got it rejected on Wednesday, on Thursday they called back and offered it to us. We sold ours yesterday, and the owners of the house we are buying want to be out in early December so we’re all scrambling to sort mortgages. Our proposed move date was originally end of January but I think mentally it’ll be good not to be in limbo and nice to be in before Christmas. We have very little furniture to move so it shouldn’t be a big ordeal.
The estate agent thinks we’re idiots for accepting a slightly lower offer, but honestly, trying to keep the house staged whilst pandemic parenting, WFH was not worth the extra few grand.
Anonymous says
I’m so excited for you!!
Anon says
“The estate agent thinks we’re idiots for accepting a slightly lower offer, but honestly, trying to keep the house staged whilst pandemic parenting, WFH was not worth the extra few grand.”
I’m going to be really cynical here: you are the ones who would be miserable and stressed holding out for a better offer; from her perspective, there is nothing but upside to the better offer.
You’re not an idiot for taking the offer; she’s hoping you would be idiots who would be willing to be completely miserable so her commission would be better.
Anon says
This. We offered 30k over asking (and appraisal) for our current house. I’m pretty sure both the sellers agent and the buyers agent thought we were complete idiots, although they didn’t say so since they were delighted about the higher commission. Friends we told were shocked and said the house can’t be that great, just find another one. But I was in Big Law at the time and had much more money than time, and it was worth $30k to me to not have to make another house-hunting trip to the area we were moving to. And honestly, our house IS that great and five years later I have zero regrets about the “wasted” money. It’s not irrational to decide that $X is worth it to you to avoid some difficult or complicated situation.
Cb says
Yes, it’s true! The market is slowing, we know of two neighbours who are listing their house next week, and we really didn’t want to lose the new place. £3k wasn’t worth the stress and agro. Especially as the couple who bought it are really lovely and really love the flat, think there is good karma letting another couple start their family here.
rosie says
Sounds like it’s worth 3k to be that much closer to being done dealing with your realtor.
Anon says
This is a myth. Real estate agents don’t care about a few thousand, which is just barely a few hundred of commission. They want the sale to happen and get $$$ in their pockets too. Maybe they really thought a better deal could happen quickly for your benefit – but it’s still your call and sounds like a good one for you.
SC says
Congrats! Sounds like perfect timing, and definitely worth letting go of a potential 3k and having to deal with all the aggravation! I moved 2 years ago in November, and it was SO nice to be moved in and settled for Christmas.
Audiobooks says
Missed yesterday’s conversation re audiobooks. We listen to them on long car rides but kids have varying level of attention. Mine are now 6 and I’d suggest the following:
– Wild Robot and Wild Robot Returns. By the same author of Mr Tiger Goes Wild. Great modern classic for kids and adults
– the Miraculous Journey of Edward Trulane
– Ramona series (I read most of them aloud vs audiobook)
Other ones I’ve enjoyed and kids haven’t minded in the background but didn’t actively listen to:
– Narnia series (Audible has them narrated by legendary actors)
– wizard of Oz (the Anne Hathaway version on Audible is great)
– Pippi Longstocking
– Phantom Tollbooth (Rainn Wilson narrates – will likely need a few more yrs before kids fully grasp)
I see Matilda frequently recommended and Kate Winslet is wonderful narrator but I found the abuse hard to listen to as a parent
The audible versions of the above are worth hunting down for the specific performances but generally, I just use Libby for audiobooks. I may try Harry Potter next year but I’m trying not to rush it too early
I’d love other recommendations for read aloud at this age group. We did the entire Little House series (with lots of conversations on the problematic parts and discussions about Native American genocide), Birchbark House. Zoey and Sassafras. I have Secret Garden on deck next. I’m trying to save the easy reader series for when the kids can read them independently.
Anonymous says
The Secret Garden is perfect! The Penderwicks is also very accessible for that age.
EP-er says
We love audio books! Some hits at that age:
The Hoboken Chicken Emergency (we listen everything Thanksgiving)
Any Roald Dahl
Other Beverly Cleary — we loved Henry Huggins so much more than Ramona, esp early Ramona (we’re listening to Mitch & Amy right now)
The Little Princess
How to eat Fried Worms
DLC says
We read Fantastic Mr. Fox out loud and I loved it. Plus the chapters are short.
A couple newer titles that we’ve enjoyed:
The Inquisitor’s Tale by Adam Gidwitz (this was a really really good book, set in medieval Europe)
Ms Rapscotts Girls and the sequel Making Mistakes on Purpose (hilarious books about a quartet of girls sent to a most peculiar boarding school)
All Four Stars and Summer of Stars (about a girl who becomes a restaurant critic unbeknownst to everyone)
Any book by Grace Lin (she writes chapter books and picture books featuring Asian Americans)
The Vanderbeekers of 141st st
help? says
I need advice re letting my nanny go. We’ve had a somewhat fraught relationship since she’s worked with us (almost 2 years) and COVID has made it worse. Her hours have decreased now that our child is back in school (half days) and my husband and I aren’t commuting, so I’d like to take this as an opportunity to let her go / find someone new, but I feel heartless doing it during the pandemic.
For some background, pre-pandemic, she was working 50 hours a week and we haven’t reduced her salary (even gave her a raise!) even though she’s now only working 35 hours a week. She’s stopped doing some of the ancillary chores during our child’s nap window and instead watches tv, runs personal errands during that time (which she may have always been doing but we didn’t notice pre-pandemic because we were at work). She’s also been out sick 3x in the past month, scheduled doctor’s appointments during her work hours and then left us scrambling to rearrange schedules during those weeks. We gave her the raise during the pandemic to help with some of her family’s increased costs, but then in the following weeks she’s shown up with new designer shoes, etc. so I felt like I got played a bit. On the other hand, our child likes her, they get along well and I’ve never seen bad interactions between the two of them (other than typical toddler frustration when being disciplined).
My husband thinks we should just leave things be because it would be a struggle to find someone new now and he doesn’t think things are that bad / I should be more considerate given the state of the world. But, I’m struggling with trusting her and generally feel anxiety about interacting with her. Any tips / thoughts on best way to handle?
Anonymous says
Oof. Your nanny doesn’t deserve to spend her money as she chooses? She is not supposed to get sick or go to the doctor?
Is she getting her assigned chores done? If so, I don’t think it’s a problem for her to take a break during nap time, unless your agreement with her specifies that she is to be using all nap hours for household work.
Anon says
I think it’s fine to let her go, but given what a hot market this is, I’d recommend lining someone else up first.
Anonymous says
Have you talked to her about the lack of/change in chores? I’m confused about the runs personal errands – does she leave the premises or is she like online shopping on her lunch break? I’m assuming she takes her lunch break when kid is napping so errands like emails or calls when she is in the house wouldn’t be an issue for me as long as the assigned chores were getting done.
I’m confused about the doctor thing – you don’t want her to come to work sick in the middle of a pandemic and spread something to you. I’ve never had a lot of choice when booking Dr. appts. My doctor’s office currently has much more limited in person appointment times with covid. It’s easier to get a virtual appointment but somethings need an in person exam.
The shoes thing makes you seem super judgey. How do you know they weren’t a gift or a great find at a consignment shop? I have a Prada handbag but I don’t make Prada handbag money, it was a graduation gift from my parents.
Anon says
I’m also confused about the personal errands. Does your nanny leave the house while your kid is napping? And was possibly doing so pre-COVID – so leaving your young child home alone? That’s obviously a total deal breaker but I doubt that’s what’s going on.
Everyone needs a break during the workday. If you think it’s too much, discuss expectations of all that should be getting done during the day. If she meets them, breaks should be fine. If she can’t meet them while also taking reasonable break time, your expectations are too high. Have set hours for breaks if that makes you more comfortable.
Anonymous says
I mean fire your nanny anytime you want. Pay her two weeks severance and say good bye. None of the things you listed sound terrible to me or anxiety producing. If you want to start just paying her for the hours she works, do that. If you want her to be doing more chores, ask her. If you’re going to be bitter and judgy about how she spends her money don’t give her a raise.
Anon says
+1 I think the problem here is that you’re very resentful of the fact that you’re paying your nanny 50 hours for 35 hours of work. I understand why this is frustrating to you, but at the same time you did this voluntarily and I don’t think it’s fair to blame your nanny.
Anon says
If you can find a new nanny, find a new nanny and give your current nanny two weeks of severance and a good recommendation.
Anonymous says
1. Do you have someone lined up? Do nothing until you do. It’s a sellers market out there and you may end up worse off.
2. Before firing her, why not talk to her and reduce her pay down to the number of hours she actually works?
3. She is an employee so you need to manage her. Talk to her about duties she isn’t doing. Maybe there’s a reason and if not, perhaps a reminder will help. Talk to her about how sick days leave you hanging and how you’d like her to handle them better going forward. It’s awkward but it’s literally you/your husband’s job as her employer.
Unless you left out the part of your story where you’ve been actively managing this, right now it’s on you (meaning you/DH) – until you connect with her and see no improvement.
Also, who cares about her shoes? Maybe they were a gift. Pay someone what they are worth and let them decide how to spend their money.
Io says
You know there have been some stupidly good sales going on with Covid, right? I bought several “upgrade” replacement items that I wouldn’t have in a normal year.
You should only pay her for the hours she works. And she’s an employee, you should manage her.
But if you think finding a nanny now is easy, or finding someone who your kid likes is easy, or that your kid is just going to shrug when one more thing is ripped away from them and changed this year, I suspect you will be sadly surprised.
rosie says
Why are you struggling to trust her? I don’t see anything in your post that indicates she’s not trustworthy with your child.
It’s going to be really hard to find a new nanny. It’s going to be really hard to onboard someone new when you are working from home and can easily slide into micromanaging just because you’re around and the new nanny is getting up to speed with how you want things done. I would really really really dig deep and see what you can do to make things work with this nanny. I suspect some things you’ll need to let go of and some things you’ll need to discuss with her. Tell her that sick leave needs to be scheduled with advanced notice to you to the extent that’s possible (which it may be for preventative care drs appts and things like that). Go over with her the chores you want her to do during the day and get on the same page.
I think it’s common especially in certain markets to pay for full-time when you only need part-time care. If you can afford it, just keep doing that with the mentality that you are getting yourself backup care (seems particularly important with potential for COVID-related school closures), and maybe look at expanding the chores your nanny does around the house for you. If she’s only doing kid-related chores, would she be open to doing some meal prep for the family? Washing towels once a week?
Anon says
Also, are you going to go back to needing full time (meaning 50 hours, which is a lot, 35 is still full considered full time for “normal” jobs)? If kid’s in school, maybe not, but maybe you will need closer to 40 once you’re commuting again?
I know a couple of families who kept their nannies on full time once all kids were in school. One of them doesn’t drive, which works for them, but the other family has the nanny helping to shuttle the 3 kids to afterschool activities (well, did in beforetimes). During school hours, nanny does light housekeeping, meal prep, kid-related errands, and – importantly – is there to watch any kid that is sick or has a half day or day off of school. It seems like a very nice arrangement for dual working parent families. You could consider asking her to work more hours to cover some of these things.
Anonanonanon says
Some of what you listed is no big deal, assuming she gave you reasonable notice when possible about doctor’s appointments.
The pay thing is crazy. I think it’s worth sitting down and saying “We, like everyone, did not realize COVID would go on for so long when we agreed to reduce your hours by 15 a month and maintain the same salary. Unfortunately, this is no longer sustainable for us. We need to set your salary commensurate with your reduced hours beginning in two weeks. If this is a deal breaker for you we understand, and are happy to provide you with a positive reference.”
Seems like a win-win. Either she leaves and you don’t have to dread the interactions anymore, or she agrees and you have less resentment.
I had the “dreading every interaction” thing with our most recent nanny and we let her go for different reasons but, honestly, it has been such a relief. Juggling work and a 2.5 year old is not fun, but I’m just that relieved to not have someone in my house for the time being. Like everyone said, it’s a seller’s market, so evaluate if you can do without for a few weeks before you make this move.
help! says
OP. Thanks all for the feedback. The trust element was more around her reliability as the times she’s called out on short notice has been on days when I’ve had important meetings or have had to reschedule things that broke glass for me at work. Since posting this note this AM, she called out again today with only 30 minutes notice to take a personal day so we are again scrambling to recalibrate the afternoon. Though I guess the bright side is that she told us she thinks she’ll need to take tomorrow off too so at least we have fair warning.
For me, it’s more around the reliability and feeling burned by that. The stuff around the margins like shoes, not doing chores, etc. were more just exacerbating annoyances. And also probably more around my own psychology during the pandemic for fear of job loss, savings, etc. — the juxtaposition of us penny pinching while giving her a raise in response to her ask due to personal needs, but then seeing luxury goods I feel like I can’t afford now given our shift in finances needled me a bit (for clarity, I never said anything to her about this). But all fair points re needing to not be judgmental about how others spend their money and needing to more actively manage tasks when they seem to start falling by the wayside.
Also point taken re it being a seller’s market — given today I think we need to start dipping our toe in just because our jobs aren’t really flexible enough to handle the inconsistent availability.
Anon says
The reliability thing was always IT for me with nannies, and I did once let someone go once who could not seem to ever get to work on time. There were issues that made me finally let her go, but I should have let her go sooner. I would look around to start interviewing and you should probably stress with candidates that you need them there certain hours, aside from personal emergencies or scheduled days off.
Anonymous says
Your nanny does sound unreliable, but even the most reliable person is going to have days when they wake up sick or need to deal with their own sick kid – that’s the downside of relying on just one person for childcare. Of course I realize it’s different now, but in BeforeTimes this was part of why we went with daycare. Even if the total number of missed days was similar (since you can’t send a kid to daycare with a fever), “my kid is sick, I have to take her to the doctor” seems to be better received by childless bosses than “my childcare fell through.”
Eek says
Having someone employed by you in your house when you’re home is inherently awkward, I think – is it possibly that the situation isn’t just uncomfortable and a new nanny won’t be any better? I agree with others that you should try to communicate with her a little bit more.
(That’s assuming when you say errands you mean personal tasks. Obviously if she was leaving your child alone in the house at any point in her employment, you need to get rid of her immediately.)
Anon says
Are your daycares just quarantining classrooms or shutting the whole center for 2 week when someone tests positive for covid?
Anonymous says
Just classrooms
Anon says
If a contact of a child or a staff member tests positive, the center shuts down for thorough cleaning and waits for the potentially exposed person to get a test. If a child or a staff member tests positive, it shuts down for two weeks.
SBJ says
It depends on who tests positive. For a member of the admin staff where they may have interacted with teachers in any classroom, the whole center shuts. For specific classrooms, it’s those rooms or that wing (our center has three wings-babies, jr preschool, sr preschool) for 2 weeks. I know this because we are currently navigating both at the same time…
Anonn says
It depends on who it is, timing and contacts etc. At ours, they combine rooms at the beginning and end of the day, and basically all the teachers were close contacts of each other due to how they rotate lunches and breaks, and they weren’t wearing masks. So when my daughter’s teacher got a positive test basically every other teacher had to quarantine, in addition to most students, so they shut down. But, we didn’t know she was positive until 5 days after the last exposure (she went home ill on a Friday, did not come back the next week while waiting for a result and then we got result Wednesday night, shut down Th-following Fri.). We did not have to pay for the full week they were closed.
At my SIL’s daycare they were segregated enough that only one room was shut down when a teacher got it.
Anonymous says
Our director said in each situation they will describe what happened to the health department and do what the health department advises. We just had a student test positive for the first time yesterday (thanks, surging cases in our state) and so far it seems like they’re only quarantining his classroom because they believe only his classmates and teachers qualify as “close contacts.” I think the teachers generally have more interaction with teachers in other rooms than the kids do, so the whole school might shut if a teacher tested positive because you can’t operate a school if most of the teachers are quarantining.
Blueberry says
Following health department guidelines, which usually means just the one classroom.
AwayEmily says
Apropos of nothing…I have two kids, aged 2.5 and 4.5, and I still wish I’d bought the Veer Cruiser stroller wagon (or maybe a cheaper version) when my second was born. We have a Costco folding wagon that we have used constantly over the past two years to cart the kids around the neighborhood (never had a double stroller) and it would have been so nice to have something that didn’t hurt my back (and that we could keep using well beyond the stroller age). It’s too late now to be worth it, but if I had a time machine I would have spent the money.
Do you guys have similar things that you wish you’d gotten but never did?
anon says
A marble run. I refused because it was yet another thing with multiple pieces. Turns out the kids are 9 and 11 and *love* them, so I just bought one for the cabin.
anon says
Interesting. I have been resisting the marble run, but maybe this is the rare toy that my 6-year-old and 11-year-old could enjoy together.
anne-on says
I’d look into a few (we had 2, and kiddo had another 2 at school) and the only ‘winner’ was the Gravitrax one. The app and the add on pieces made it more fun then just a top to bottom gravity based marble run for him.
Anon says
A learning tower. My BFF offered to buy one for my kiddo’s first birthday, but my kid was still not standing up at that point and was never really in the kitchen with us, so I didn’t see much use for it. When she was about 20 months she got super into helping us out in the kitchen and I really started to regret saying no to the learning tower. We make do ok with a stool but it requires more supervision.
anon says
Oooh plus one. We have a small kitchen so never did it and I totally wish we had.
FVNC says
A play kitchen! Not sure why we never bought one or asked the grandparents for one, but oh well…!
Cb says
A Snoo. I know they don’t work for every kid but my son didn’t sleep for more than 2-3 hours at a time until he was 18 months old, and even an extra hour or two of sleep in those first six months would have been lifesaving. Or one of those swings he could nap in. Every nap required a walk in the sling or the buggy.
Boston Legal Eagle says
Good question. I would probably have bought the Stokke high chairs that everyone always raves about, starting from when the kids could use high chairs. Our older one is in a booster seat on a regular chair and the younger one has a normal high chair, which is fine, but gets really messy and I still want to get the Stokkes but wish I had just gotten them from the beginning.
Anonanonanon says
Yes. We’ve been in a weird in-between high chair and normal chair phase for a while and I wish I had done this.
anon says
This. My 3.5yos just sit on normal chairs at the moment, but I think they’d do better with something like the Stokke.
Anonymous says
A real bassinet instead of just the pack and play. A stroller where I could have kiddo facing me or facing out.
rosie says
Woolino sleepsacks. They seem like these magic things that can be used for a variety of temperatures for all of baby/toddlerhood. I have a bunch of sleepsacks already in different sizes and weights from my older child, so doesn’t seem worth it to spend for a Woolino at this point for our younger child, but would have made sense if I had bought a few of those instead of all the other sleepsacks I’ve accumulated.
Anonymous says
If it makes you feel better, I don’t think Woolino is worth the money unless you size out of all other brands. We’ve had to buy them for our very tall 2 year old because they were the only sleepsacks we could find that fit her since she’s roughly the size of an average 5 year old. So I’m grateful to Woolino for making sacks designed for elementary schoolers. But they’re insanely expensive and don’t seem worth the cost to me – I would have been very happy sticking with Halo if she hadn’t outgrown their largest size.
anon says
the bjorn bouncer. had it for my first and gave it to someone – who knows. didn’t have it for second and third and man I really love that thing!
I also wish I’d sprung for the tripp trapp.
Bjorn bouncer for #2 says
You’re really smart not to have have Bjorn bouncer for subsequent kids. If, say, your back is turned, it’s an impressive slingshot if an older child sits on the top and then gets up while the baby is in the bouncer. Ask me how I know.
earlier poster says
HAHAHAHA and there go my regrets. My kids would totally have done that.
anon says
OMG. I know it wasn’t funny in the moment, but this made me laugh!
Hehe says
As the mom of a 2 year old and infant, I got such a laugh out of this (I’m assuming everyone was ok!)
Anonanonanon says
BAHAHAHAHA oh noooooo!
fallen says
does anyone know of any good parenting books for older (elementary-age) kids?
Marilla says
How to Talk so Kids Will Listen, on repeat forever. My kids are still younger but I apply the concepts.
Io says
This really depends on your parenting philosophy/struggles. I liked (most of) Blessing of a Skinned Knee, but the writer is somewhat conservative and I wouldn’t recommend it to LGBTQ friends or people with LQBTQ kids. (I feel comfortable ignoring it, but I wouldn’t want to inadvertently hurt someone). I liked Everything You Never Wanted Your Kids to Know About S#x (But Were Afraid They’d Ask), but it was written mostly pre-internet and may not be great for specific challenges. I liked The Dolphin Way: A Parent’s Guide to Raising Healthy, Happy, and Motivated Kids, but she tries to hard with the acronyms, but solid advice.
Not sure about quite how old your kids are, but ten and up I’d start looking into parenting teens books. You want to have that under your belt before you actually get into the middle of it.
anon says
I really like The Gift of Failure by Jessica Lahey. I feel like this one will go the distance through middle school and even high school.
Paging Microscopes from Yesterday says
Hi — For the poster looking for microscopes yesterday, there are few options on sale (15-20% off) for Prime Day.
Speaking of Prime Day, it is a little disappointing. Great deal on Roombas (my favorite quarantine purchase so far!) We bought a few items (Bananagrams, Switch memory card, some books) but most of it we don’t need or is off brand stuff. Anyone found anything good?
SC says
I agree with you. So much of it is Amazon’s own brand or off brand stuff. It’s hard to wade through it all. There are a few good, but not amazing, deals on brand-name tech, but even then, only a few models are available. There are a couple of great deals to draw headlines, but I don’t happen to need those 2-3 things.
Anon says
Stasher bags are 25% off, and the Foreo Mini 2 is 40% off (about what I saw it for at the Nordstrom Sale a month or two ago).
Anon says
I bought a second Britax Marathon seat for under $200, since my second is close to outgrowing his infant seat. We have this seat for our older daughter in a slightly different color and have liked it so far. There are also diapers/wipes that are good deals but only in random sizes and brands (for example, I found ~60 Honest overnight diapers in a size 4 for $15 but all of the other sizes were full price for some reason?).
The 100 piece Magnatile set is on sale for $83 (usually over $100). I’m contemplating picking that up as one of my soon-to-be 3 year old’s “big gifts” for her December birthday or Christmas.
anon says
I am no longer comfortable buying kid safety stuff from Amazon. After what came out about the fake carseats (I think it was specifically the Doona if you want to look up the story), it’s not worth the risk of getting a copycat item that hasn’t actually passed the same safety tests with no accountability from Amazon.
Anonymous says
+1 I basically assume everything sold on A-zon is a fake knockoff, so I won’t buy food, medicine or anything where safety matters (like car seats).
Realist says
+1. Even a few years ago, I stopped buying food and beauty products on there because too many things arrived and weren’t what they were supposed to be (a knock off, a long expired product, something that had gone bad because it had clearly been stored in extreme temperatures, etc). I would never trust Amazon if it was something that could be harmful if it wasn’t the right thing, and carseats and other baby equipment would fall into that category for me.
GCA says
+1 the quality control issues are a big problem for me; the only money Amazon gets from me is for digital services.
Anonanonanon says
Oooo good find with the magnatiles.
I don’t know if you have any yet, but my 10 year old still plays with these daily. It’s amazing what he can construct. My 2.5 year old loves them now, too. They were a go-to grandparent gift for a while, but I still feel comfortable saying they’re worth every penny. I might pick up this 100 piece set. Now that both kids are into them, we can never have enough.
Anon says
I got the Magnatiles! My oldest is five and we don’t have any yet. I’m excited.
Anonanonanon says
Oh, good! I hope yours enjoys them as much as mine does!
anon says
I bought stasher bags and a set of airpods to give our nanny for christmas – i bet those are same price at christmas but don’t expect them much lower?
Anon says
Our beloved Blueair purifiers are roughly 25-30% off. We have the 411+ and 211+. Only had them about two months, but I definitely notice my fall allergies have calmed down and there is significantly less dust when I am cleaning. Plus it helps with the cooking odors in the way our vent fan never has (our big one is in our kitchen area).
EP-er says
Tell me more about these! Do you have them in the bedrooms or the main living areas? DH has terrible allergies this time of year.
Anon says
We have a big one in our kitchen, and the small one in our master bedroom. I am going to order another big one for the other half of the downstairs and another small one for my daughter’s room. They take new filters every 3-6 months that are not cheap, but multiple independent reviews like them, young house love recommends them, and a few other friends tried and loved them, so I bought the two to see if they made a difference. They have a fabric sock that you vacuum or wash monthly (or when visibly dirty) and then a carbon and HEPA internal filter (that one is the one that needs to be replaced). On low they are close to silent; on high they sound like our (on the quiet end) bathroom exhaust fan. We generally leave them on low unless we are cleaning (i.e., stirring up dust) or cooking (making smells).
Anonanonanon says
This is what I got today! I had my eye on it for a while so was glad it went on sale. I got the one that does 540 sq ft since that is roughly the size of each floor of our home.
Anonanonanon says
Agree. Magnatiles referenced above are a good find (I got them, thank you for letting me know!) and Roombas, but I already bought a knock-off Roomba a few months ago that I’m very happy with, so that’s too late for me.
An air purifier I’ve had my eye on just got discounted by 35% (it wasn’t this morning, so I’m glad I checked again) from around 300 to around 200. It filters air and exchanges the air 5 times an hour on the highest speed.
Some Play-Doh sets/packs are on sale. Haven’t compared to prices at other stores to see how much of an actual markdown it is, though. I also recently bought a bunch so, again, too late.
A few montessori-type toys are on sale, as well. We don’t need more stuff, but if anyone is interested!
Anonymous says
Are the Kids Fire tablets good? I kind of despise Amazon and never really shop there, but we have a 14 hour (!) drive coming up for our “vacation” this winter, and I’m thinking we really need a tablet for our 2.5 year old, and I see the tablet is 60% off.
Anonymous says
Oops I mean $60 aka 40% off.
anon says
NO. We have one, and I loathe that thing. The interface is clunky and hard to use, IMO. And if you don’t subscribe to the related kid content (it comes with it at first, then expires after a year), it doesn’t do much. Waste of money, IMO.
Anonymous says
The content is a concern, I really don’t want to add another monthly subscription – it doesn’t work with Disney+ or Netflix?
Anonanonanon says
It does!
Anonn says
We got one for travel for our daughter at about 2.5 back in March at that price. (HD 7 I think) it’s been great, though she is obsessed, so we probably should have made it a travel only thing. It has good battery, you can control the content and put time limits on it, and it’s indestructible. Get some headphones too, though not big ones, because hers don’t fit between the headrest in the car and she has to lean forward, she doesn’t seem to mind though.
anon says
I wouldn’t say they’re objectively good tablets, but if your goal is having something cheap that a toddler can watch shows on during long car rides or plane rights, they’re great.
Anon says
+1
Anonanonanon says
I’d say they’re 100% worth the money. We’re not apple users so I can’t compare it to an iPad, but they’re almost indestructible in the kid case (and I think come with some kind of warranty), charge on the same charger as our phones (see: not apple users) etc. I have a hot spot from work with unlimited data that I use on car trips to stream movies, but if you get one with a lot of memory you can download some movies etc. from prime and/or netflix for the trip and it is 100% worth it. My 2.5 year old can’t really navigate anything on it, but she also doesn’t get much time with it so I’m sure it can be learned.
I got an over-the-seat organizer with a clear tablet pocket in it for our last road trip. The key was MOVIES, not episodes of a tv show. The episodes didn’t auto-play for some reason and it was too much to try to navigate it every 25 minutes, but worth it for a full movie.
I also use it to play audiobooks to a Bluetooth speaker in my daughter’s room during rest time (an idea I got from here)
Anon says
They are not “good” tablets, but at that price, my toddler doesn’t need a good tablet, just one that has enough power to play her shows and games (it does) and that she can easily navigate herself (she can). Ours is a year old, my now 3 year old can navigate it better than I can, and our bundle came with a year content subscription and therefore I don’t have to worry about her navigating to anything objectionable. We also added the Disney plus app to it since we have that separately. It’s also taken a ridiculous amount of abuse that only a toddler can dish out but that bubble like case is doing its job. Would I get it for an older kid who is playing more graphics intensive games or watching HD video or video chatting with high quality? No. But it’s perfect for a toddler.
Anon Lawyer says
I use the fluoride version of this toothpaste for my 11-month-old (because we live in Portland which thinks fluoride is a plot of Big Element so our water isn’t fluoridated; our pediatrician recommended a fluoride toothpaste). She loves it and goes absolutely nuts when we go into the bathroom to brush her teeth. Though “brushing her teeth” mostly means her chewing on the finger puppet brush thing.