Feeding Tuesday: Pima Button-Front Pin-Tucked Top
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Button-front shirts are classics for pumping. However, in addition to the possibility of gaping problems, button-fronts can be difficult to care for — and the iron-free versions may be treated with chemicals (formaldehyde, etc.) that you want to avoid while you’re in the pregnancy corridor and around babies. I like the look of these pin-tucked, button-front shirts from L.L. Bean, which are easily washed, and come in a number of lovely colors. I’d wear it with a structured piece to offset the casualness — a blazer or a pencil skirt would both look great. The blouse is $40, available in both regular and petite sizes XS-XL. L.L. Bean Pima Button-Front Pin-Tucked Top, Long-Sleeve
Sales of note for 1/16:
(See all of the latest workwear sales at Corporette!)
- Nordstrom – Cashmere on sale; AllSaints, Free People, Nike, Tory Burch, and Vince up to 60%; beauty deals up to 25% off
- AllSaints – now up to 60% off (some of the best leather jackets!)
- Ann Taylor – Up to 40% off your full-price purchase; extra 50% off sale
- Banana Republic Factory – 50% off everything + extra 20% off
- Boden – 15% off new styles with code — readers love this blazer, these dresses, and their double-layer line of tees
- DeMellier – Sale now on, free shipping and returns — includes select options like Montreal, Vancouver, and Venice
- Eloquii – $29 and up select styles; extra 50% off all clearance, plus ELOQUII X kate spade new york collab just dropped
- Everlane – Sale of the year, up to 70% off — reader favorites include their scoop tee, Dream Pant, ReNew Transit backpack, silk blouses and oversized blazers! New markdowns just added
- Hannah Andersson – Up to 30% off all pajamas;
- J.Crew – Up to 40% off select styles; up to 50% off cashmere
- J.Crew Factory – 40-70% off everything
- L.K. Bennett – Archive sale, almost everything 70% off
- M.M.LaFleur – Tag sale for a limited time — jardigans and dresses $200, pants $150, tops $95, T-shirts $50
- Spanx – Lots of workwear on sale, some up to 70% off
- Talbots – Semi-Annual Red Door Sale – 50% off + extra 20% off, sale on sale, plus free shipping on $150+
And — here are some of our latest threadjacks of interest – working mom questions asked by the commenters!
- The concept of “backup care” is so stupid…
- I need tips on managing employees in BigLaw who have to leave for daycare pickup…
- I’m thinking of leaning out to spend more time with my family – how can I find the perfect job for that?
- I’m now a SAHM and my husband needs to step up…
- How can I change my thinking to better recognize some of my husband’s contributions as important, like organizing the shed?
- What are your tips to having a good weekend with kids, especially with little kids? Do you have a set routine or plan?
DH and I had basically agreed to what we would do with expectant child. We had made arrangements, including a deposit at a daycare for when I was scheduled to go back to work. Now DH wants to take parental leave as well, he is suggesting 6 months, which is more than what I am taking.
A lot of this is really annoying for me; we had discussed the issue a long time ago and he was clear he didn’t want any leave. He’s refused to go to birth classes, parenting classes or doctor appointments. All purchases for the child have been from my account, including the non-refundable child care deposit. DH says he wants to “bond” with the child.
We have also scheduled two vacations and home renovations and payments on a recently purchased vehicle to think about. I do not see us affording a 1 salary lifestyle. Neither of us gets any kind of “top-off pay” from our employers if we take leave. I am okay with DH taking the same amount of leave that I am, we can budget for that.
Thoughts?
Ladies – Friday is my daughter’s last day at the daycare she’s attended since I went back to work after maternity leave (sniff!). We’re only moving her because we’ve moved across town and cannot realistically make the commute work long term. I’d love to do something for the teachers as a whole at the center (not just her current teachers, who I’m giving extra $$) as they have all loved on her and been so kind to her. Any suggestions? They have a breakroom, so I thought perhaps donuts or muffins or something? Other thoughts? I cannot reasonably tip out 20+ teachers, or I totally would!
I have been on the hunt for a maternity coat. I am due in late December, so I feel that I will not get a ton of use out of the coat and don’t want to spend a lot of money. I saw one at Old Navy and they’re doing a 25% off sale right now, making the coat about $59, free shipping. I don’t shop at Old Navy too often, but I have noticed that their prices fluctuate quite a bit depending on what sales are going on. Does anyone know if Old Navy runs any better promotions? I think $59 for a coat is not too bad, but if I can get a better price, given it’s limited usefulness, I’d prefer that. I will post the link in the comment below.
We are thinking of switching my daughter to a convertible car seat (she’s 6 months, but in 97th percentile for height and weight). Does anyone have experience with the Britax click tight convertible seats? I know they are just coming out on the market, but wondering if anyone has taken them for a test drive at a Big Box Store. Do they live up to the hype?
Related question: we don’t know if we can fit the convertible rear facing in our car, a VW Golf GTI. Does anyone have experience with smaller cars and rear facing convertibles?
Also, recommendations for a larger car? We’re contemplating another kid in the not-too-distant future, so would a mini-SUV or station wagon be best?
Hi, it’s Nonny! Sorry to have missed your post yesterday – it was Thanksgiving weekend in Canada and not a work day, so I didn’t go near my computer.
You got lots of great advice but here are my thoughts, as a complete non-expert but someone who recently went through exactly the same thing as you.
I went months experiencing numerous wakings each night, and kept a detailed log (which is slightly depressing reading!). However, I wasn’t working at that point – I was still on maternity leave, so even though I wasn’t happy about it, I could take it. I even lasted almost 2 months after maternity leave ended before I decided that we needed to do serious sleep training – I just hit a breaking point. You will know when you hit yours.
FWIW, I have heard that tanking up on solids before bedtime actually does nothing – but it sounds like you do need to work on transferring more of your baby’s calorie intake to the daytime vs nighttime. I can’t speak to whether or not you should sleep train at this point, but I would have been reluctant to sleep train before I had a sense that my little one was mostly nursing for comfort in the night and not because she was actually hungry.
As to my own progress, we are still working on things using the Sleep Lady. Within a week we have gone from 5 or 6 wakings per night to 1 or 2. I have also eliminated my daughter’s late evening dream feed, so now only feed her at her first waking after midnight – which last night didn’t happen until 3:30am. I’ve noticed that she doesn’t really seem to eat much at that one so I’ll be working on eliminating it within a week or two. The main issue we are still facing is that she tends to wake up very early (like, 5:00 or 5:15) and then doesn’t want to go back to sleep. But we are being very strict about not taking her out of her crib until 6:00, when I do a really dramatic morning wake-up, so hopefully that will improve over time.
I’m not saying it has all been a piece of cake, and there is still a fair bit of crying when she wakes up in the middle of the night and is trying to figure out how to get back to sleep. But it is taking less and less time for my daughter to do so and we are moving further and further away from her crib. I am just appreciative that both I and she are getting more sleep, for longer periods. Last night I got to sleep for 5 hours straight. Amazing. I can take that.
I just want to say that I’m overwhelmed with life, so overwhelmed. Maybe you all can give me perspective and tell me that it’s going to be okay???
I’m 16 weeks pregnant with twins. I sleep good about 50% of time. When I sleep good I’m usually exhausted and falling asleep on the couch between 8 and 9 pm. When I don’t sleep good I’m usually exhausted and falling asleep at my desk around 3 pm. This is our busy time of year (October – March) and I’m losing between 1 and 2 months of my schedule (depending on bed rest, etc.) to get the same amount of work done that I completed last year. My boss just came in and said he wants me to plan on working long week days and Saturdays for the next 6 weeks so that “we” can try and get ahead of the game. I’m pretty overwhelmed by a 40 hour week…50+ sounds awful. If I wasn’t pregnant I wouldn’t blink at a 50 hour week but I’m just so dang tired. There is no one here that can fill in and help with my workload as we are a small department of only 3 people.
My boss suggested a few weeks ago that I find a person to hire in the near future for the long-term (not just contract for maternity leave). I thought this was a great idea…much needed help for me. I reached out to my contacts and received 3 great resumes and was ready to start interviewing. He then tells me to wait until he gets approval from the CFO to hire. Wait, what? We don’t have approval?
What is my obligation here? I understand my boss is in a tight spot. But what if I would’ve gotten a serious illness? We’d still be in the same spot. At least with pregnancy I was able to give them a heads up. Is it my fault that they run this department so lean??? What am I supposed to do in this situation??
On top of work we are having a contractor that I trust remodel the downstairs level of our house to get ready for the babies because it’s currently unusable. Putting this off is not an option to me – if it doesn’t get done now, when will it get done? Never, because noise and drywall dust isn’t good for babies. This takes time to finalize the design (walls, etc.), pick paint colors, and bathroom finishes.
On top of that we need to look at baby gear, register for baby gear, etc.
I obsess over whether I’m coming back to work or not after the babies are born. I feel fortunate that it’s an option for us. My work keeps reminding me that I have bonuses and other vesting type items that I’ll lose if I don’t come back. Nothing like knowing you’ll have to pay back around $20k if you leave before 6/30/14 to add stress to the fire. I’ll also lose a couple other vesting benefits if I don’t come back. Not sure what I’m going to do.
Sorry this is long a ranty. Maybe in my spare time I should see a therapist…
Oh, hey, are you me? My MIL does this too, talking all day about nothing in particular, to nobody in particular.
DH and I trade off pretending to get emergency emails from work that require us to disappear with our laptops for an hour or so. I also sometimes replay her comments in my head in a yoda voice: ‘new cheese Costco has! Delicious is it’ etc.
That’s all i’ve got. Good luck!
I need advice on how to deal with my mother-in-law. We’re supposed to go for a weekend visit next weekend, and I’m already bracing myself. The issue is that she talks all the time. It’s like nothing I’ve ever seen before. I mean literally, all the time. When she hears me get up with DS at 5:30 in the morning, she gets up immediately and follows me into the kitchen and starts talking, and the talking does not stop until we go to bed. The topics are irrelevant — it’s everything from what brand of paint she used to paint her bathroom to her opinions on hazelnut vs. unflavored coffee to the new cheese Costco is carrying…. And it’s not a conversation either – she doesn’t ask questions about our life or anything. It’s just talking. DH claims that he deals with it by just ignoring her, but I can’t do that because she will follow me from room to room. Plus I feel rude and I do feel bad for her – I think she has some kind of untreated mental illness that makes her act this way. (I’ve talked to DH about that as well, but he and his father think she’s just “zany.”)
Does anyone have any advice on coping strategies? I’ve tried being very nice, being distant, taking lots of breaks to go for runs, claiming my son needs me to sit next to him while he naps and hiding in the guest room for hours… but after half a day, I’m ready to lose my mind. She also gets her feelings very hurt if DH and I try to go do something by ourselves, so it is very hard to escape. I need to figure out some coping strategies to get through the upcoming visit as well as the holidays. Any ideas?
How are things?
Hello Ladies! Advice sought- my son is 8 months old and has been exclusively fed bre@stmilk since he was about two weeks old. In a happy surprise I am about 2 months pregnant again. Unfortunately this has caused my milk to all but dry up (less than 10 oz a day). My frozen milk supply is quickly being depleted so we decided to start introducing formula (Similac) yesterday. My son HATED it and absolutely refused to drink it. Anyone have any advice about successfully introducing formula to an older baby? Do different brands of formula taste different? If so any brand recommendations to try?
I posted here a while back asking what my Husband and I should do on Columbus Day when we were both off of work and Baby’s daycare was still open. We ended up sending her to daycare for the usual amount of time, got some stuff done around the house, went and saw a matinee of Gone Girl, and made a giant vat of chili to freeze for future dinners. Then we picked her up and took her and the dog for a nice walk. Husband and I really, really needed a good day like this, so thanks everyone for making me feel better about sending the baby to daycare on a day off without (much) guilt.