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I lived years without a magnetic knife bar, and now that I have one, I’m not sure how I got by!
There are several options out there, but I like this well-reviewed one from Schmidt Brothers. It keeps your knives within easy reach, and frees up precious counter and drawer space. (Just make sure you hang it out of reach of any little kids.) It’s perfect for small kitchens. The pretty acacia wood looks great as well!
This Magnetic Knife Bar is $59.99 at Crate & Barrel.
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
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?
anon says
Are there really no comments or is it just being glitchy again? Testing to see…
anon says
Do these things really work? I just bought some great knives (that arrive today!). Where do you hang them? My kitchen is 100% tiled backsplash. Will it mount well on the tile? So many questions. Time to upgrade from my BB&B knife block, and I’m so exited about it!!
anon says
Yes, they work. We just got a freestanding magnet block that sits on the counter, far enough back to be out of little kid reach. Mostly knives in use/mid chopping go there, and it comes clean with a quick wash. Can’t speak to the mounted ones. Works great for those times when you might otherwise leave your knife on the edge of the cutting board in reach of toddlers.
Anon says
I really don’t understand the appeal of these. Why put knives where they are so likely to fall? If it’s a strong magnet to hold them on against nudges and bumps, then it feels like you’ll use more force to get them off, increasing potential accidents. Maybe I’m missing something but it seems like it adds visual clutter for no increase in convenience.
anon says
I’m also confused by these. They don’t seem all that safe for the reasons you mentioned.
Anonymous says
We used two when we had a tiny NYC apartment kitchen with few drawers or countertops and no backsplash – using the vertical wall space was a good way for us to add more storage. Now that we have more room we prefer an in-drawer knife block.
Anonymous says
PS – we never had a problem with things falling off or pulling the knives off to use.
anon says
I also used them in NYC. Our stove was right against a wall, and that’s where the knife rack was. Worked great. Never had anything fall off. Maybe the only downside is that it may have dulled our knives. Cant speak to how child safe it is because I had no kids then.
Anonanonanon says
What an above commenter said makes a lot of sense to me, about putting knives you’re using in meal prep there so they have a designated spot and not just on the edge of a counter to get knocked off or for kids to reach. I’d maybe use it for full-time knife storage in a childless home in my alternate life where I’m a movie character who comes home after a hard day of work and slips off her heels on the way to the fridge to get a glass of red wine she drinks while leaning against the counter of her GIANT kitchen island.
Wait, then I’d have enough drawer space. So back to square one.
anonamommy says
If I saw this in a movie scene, I would 100% know that someone is going to get stabbed later in the film. I don’t want that vibe in my house.
DLC says
We got one in our last house- we used to keep knives in a drawer until our toddler figured out how to open the drawer. Our current house has a tile backsplash too, and we didn’t want to drill into the tile so we just got the magnetic knife holder that just sits on the counter. If you have no such qualms about drilling into your tile, I will say I preferred the wall mounted one. The wall mounted one works better for quickly grabbing and replacing a knife because usually the magnet runs the length of the strip, whereas a lot of the counter top ones have distinct magnets so you have to be more precise where you put the knives.
Also to the above point about if the magnets are strong enough- the magnets are indeed pretty strong- i find that I remove knives (and scissors) more by sliding them off the strip than directly pulling.
CCLA says
We had a magnetic one pre-kids and loved it, never had anything fall off of it, including shears that didn’t have a ton of metal real estate to grab onto. We mounted onto the wall but I would be wary of trying to attach to tile. Somewhat relatedly, for knife storage with small children, we have loved the Joseph Joseph locking knife block. It takes a little getting used to the unlocking feature but years later is now second nature.
I do like the idea of having a place to stick the knives while in use. Kids are old enough I trust they’re not going to purposefully grab a knife but still worry the younger one esp will lack awareness and accidentally knock one off the counter or something, so we’re constantly making sure to put them away right after use.
Boston Legal Eagle says
Moderna submitted their vaccine for emergency approval for the under 5 set but I’m reading that the FDA might not consider it until June (waiting on Pfizer results?) Ughhhh… I’m so tired of this. I saw posts on FB to request that people call their senators to ask the FDA to reconsider the shifted timeline.
Anon says
I like i how I was called a conspiracy theorist here in the fall for saying the FDA was deliberately stalling Moderna kids vaccines to approve Pfizer first, and last week Tony Fauci said the same thing on national TV.
Anon says
June would be amazing. It’s only one month away. Full immunity by mid-July.
Anon says
What does immunity mean right now? Because the vaccine doesn’t seem to be preventing spread/illness anymore, and young kids are not at much risk of ending up in the hospital. (I’m asking as a serious discussion question, not snark). My oldest is vaccinated, husband and I are boosted, but I’m starting to wonder what is the point of getting the youngests vaccinated right now… I think it was on this board I learned about original antigenic sin for vaccines, and while my layperson googling shows it may not be such an issue for the covid vaccine, I still wonder if vaccinating now with a shot that’s not very effective against the current strains could preclude more effective vaccinations in the future (if/when they are developed).
I have been very pro-vax throughout, but I’m wondering if anyone else is starting to feel like the kids vaccines are too little, too late.
Anon for this says
I feel this way too. I’m not looking forward to them anymore because it will be a tough decision for me. And I’m someone who was desperate to get vaccinated and boosted and could not wait for kid vaccines
Anon says
I agree.
Anon says
I think they’re too late, and I wish they were more effective but I don’t see a downside to vaccination. Just because a vaccine doesn’t prevent infection doesn’t mean it does nothing. Kids don’t often get “severely ill” in the ventilator sense (although it does happen), but there are other complications like MIS-C that the vaccines are likely effective against. We don’t yet know about all the long term sequelae of Covid, and vaccines can’t hurt and will likely help prevent some of the longer term issues. For example, it’s not clear the recent hepatitis liver issue in kids is linked to Covid, but it’s possible it is, and so far it seems none of the cases vaccinated children. Other studies have shown vaccination reduces the odds of things like heart damage in adults; I don’t know why the same wouldn’t be true for kids. I think of Covid vaccines much like I do flu vaccines, which aren’t very effective at preventing infection either. I’ve had flu with the vaccine and without, and it was a completely different experience in terms of how sick I felt or how long it lasted. I get the flu vaccine every year, because I want the flu to be a bad cold, not an illness that knocks me out for two weeks with a 105 fever. So for me at least it is still a no-brainer to get kids the vaccine, even though I accept my child will eventually get infected with Covid.
Anon says
And with respect to the original antigenic sin argument, that doesn’t make sense to me because the same issue would happen if you form your antibodies via a Covid infection. The only way to be a blank slate for the hypothetical next generation vaccine would be to avoid both Covid the virus AND the vaccine, which isn’t happening unless you stay in your house seeing no one until this hypothetical new vaccine is developed. Most of us have already been infected or vaccinated or both, and the remaining people will be soon. Because of all the potentially long term damage this virus does to the body, it’s pretty clear to me there are a lot of benefits to being vaccinated before infection. Since I can’t delay infection, I don’t want to delay vaccination longer than necessary.
Anon says
Won’t future strains be more similar to Omicron than the original, though? I guess this is a useless thought exercise, because who knows with covid!
Miraculously my family of five has avoided Covid so far, and my oldest two are in public school (including the unvaxxed 4-year-old – public preK). We are by NYC, even. I’m kind of resigned that we will get it eventually…but maybe I shouldn’t be, because long covid and side effects are still worth trying to avoid
Anon says
It’s really not at all clear what future strains will be like. Omicron appears to be genetically most closely related to 2020 Covid, not the Alpha and Delta strains that emerged in 2021. https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-022-00215-2
Anon for this says
Anon @ 11:30, those are really good points. Thanks.
Boston Legal Eagle says
Yes, to me this is akin to the flu vaccine, which I and my family get every year. Is it 100% effective at preventing infection? No, but it’s something and there really is no harm to getting it for the chance to prevent severe (though rare) complications. Thankfully our daycare has moved to test and stay even for the little kids, but I still want these kids to get the protection that everyone else is able to get!
Anonymous says
If nothing else, it means the end of 10-day daycare room closures when there’s an exposure in the room. (Where I am, if you’re exposed but vaccinated and asymptomatic, you can still attend) That’s more than reason enough for me.
Anonymous says
THIS
[I am very pro-vax and do want my kids to get it as soon as possible to reduce their risk of severe illness and long-term complications (hopefully…).]
Anon says
Our daycare has done away with the exposure quarantines, but you still have to quarantine for 14 days after any international travel (even if you went to a country that has fewer cases than the US). I want my kid to get vaccinated for her own health, but this is definitely another reason we’re doing it ASAP.
CCLA says
Yes x100000. And the general quarantine requirements under public health rules. I would love to get youngest vaccinated for a variety of reasons, including protecting her, but a huge benefit will be logistics and lack of having to quarantine her for every exposure. We’ve started coming out of our shells and booking trips and I really wish there weren’t the gloomy prospect of a daycare exposure thwarting our travel (with our only reasonable alternative being to keep the kids out of school several days before vacation, which, ugh).
Anonanonanon says
Same. We’re both public health workers and I honestly am on the fence at this point. My kid is 4 and at this point, I might as well wait until she’s 5 and get her the bigger kid dose that will have been out longer and we’ll know more about the effectiveness. Of course, this is subject to change based on signs of another big wave or of increased complications in children, so all in all I’ll be relieved when the option is at least there. Also, there is still so much we don’t know about how COVID affects a developing brain, so in that respect I’d rather know I did everything I could to prevent it
Anon says
Moderna’s 0-6 dose is bigger than Pfizer’s 5-11 dose. It doesn’t make sense to me to wait until a kid turns 5 if Moderna is approved.
Anon says
A previously healthy preschooler in my county died of Covid last year, so I will vaccinate my 4 year old the first chance I get with the first vaccine that’s authorized in the US (or Canada, if they’re willing to vaccinate non-residents). I don’t care if the vaccine is perfect. The fact that is does a very good job preventing severe disease and death is more than enough reason to get it for me.
Anon says
It’s June that Pfizer is going to submit, so it would be approval in July, with vaccination completed in August or even September. Pfizer is a 3 dose series for this age group so it will take almost 2 months to complete. Also these timelines have slipped constantly so I don’t think you can take June as certain. It’s not even clear Pfizer’s 3 dose series worked.
Anon says
June is two months away? Even if the FDA meets in the first half of June, it’s unlikely any vaccines would available before late June at the earliest. It’s at least a week between the FDA and the ACIP meeting, and then likely another week for the official CDC sign-off and distribution.
Cornellian says
Exciting. Mine turned five a couple months ago so less directly relevant, but still exciting for parents and daycares after we were strung along for a year.
It seems like some more effective vaccines including a booster will be available in the fall, but I would not hold out for them. Vaccines still help to avoid hospitalization, daycare quarantine, and long COVID so I’d be signing my preschooler up ASAP.
anon says
Any recommendations for holidays in Maine with kids ages 7 and 9? The trip would be in either late July or mid-September. Suggestions on attractions/activity parks are especially welcome.
Anon says
Mid-September is a gorgeous time of year there, go then if you can. July is a lot hotter and more crowded. I only have experience with kids in the Bar Harbor/Acadia area, but it’s wonderful for kids. At your kids’ ages they can probably do quite a bit of hiking, but there are also scenic drives, swimming lakes, ocean beaches with tide pools, boat trips, rent bikes or kayaks, etc. My favorite hike on the island, which I started doing around age 7 or 8, is Penobscot Mountain Trail. From the summit you can hike down a ways to a little mountain lake called Sargent Mountain Pond that is so refreshing for a swim. The food there is good if you like lobster and blueberries. My favorite slightly-off-the-beaten-path food rec is the Asticou Inn in Northeast Harbor. Their popovers are better than Jordan Pondhouse without the crazy parking situation and lines, and they have a really nice view of the harbor. The rest of the food is good too. Happy to answer any specific questions you may have about the area. I’ve been there every summer of my life except 2020 and the last few years have had my own kid (although she’s younger than yours).
So Anon says
Yes! So many ideas! Do you have a general idea of where you will be? Acadia is a beautiful national park but that 3-4 hours away from Portland. If you can give a general idea of where you want to be, I can give lots of recommendations. That is peak tourist season in Maine, so book early for wherever you are planning on staying.
DLC says
I would love to hear about Acadia with kids! We were thinking of going up there (from DC) since the fourth grader has one of those free national parks passes. I want to camp, Husband less excited about the idea. He would be okay with camping three nights and staying somewhere with a bed for three nights, I think. Love to hear ideas and suggestions.
Anon says
Check out Huttopia! The one in Acadia is really cool, and splits the difference between the camper/non-camper folks.
Anon says
Sorry – just kidding, the glamping resort in Acadia is Terramor. Friends stayed there and LOVED it.
Anon says
Terramor has kind of mixed reviews. It’s pretty pricey for glamping (I want to say in the ~$300/night range in high season?), and the people I know who’ve stayed there weren’t enthusiastic about it.
So Anon says
To do Acadia from DC, I highly recommend flying into Portland and renting a car. It is still a 3-4 hour drive, but otherwise the drive from DC to Portland is 12-14 hours. (I have family in DC and have done the drive many times.) Portland is a fun small city with a very walkable area (the “Old Port”) that has great food. You can also fly into Boston if you want to spend a day there on either side of your trip. In Bar Harbor, there is a whole range of places to stay. The hotel right on the water in town is beautiful and has a great pool if you go when it is warm enough to swim. There are also a few glamping sites and yurts in the area, which seem like a middle ground between camping and a full hotel. There are great hikes in Acadia, including around Jordan Pond. You can walk out onto Bar Island from downtown Bar Harbor at low tide, which my kids thought was very cool. Echo Lake is a great, fresh water lake. Driving the Park Loop is fun. You need a reservation to drive to the top of Cadillac Mountain, which is worth it, but I would recommend making that reservation as soon as you know when you are going. We took one of the shorter whale watching/sight seeing water tours, which was just long enough for my 7 and 10 year olds. Bar Harbor itself is cute and touristy. I can’t really recommend places to eat because my oldest has Celiac’s, so we are pretty limited in where we can eat. It is worth eating a lobster while you are up here, just make sure to ask for a soft shell if they are in season, and plan to get very messy and smell like lobster afterwards. On the drive from Acadia to Portland or Boston, Freeport is a fun place to stop (home of LLBean). There is also a great brewery right on the south side of Freeport, Freeport Beer Works that has fantastic beer and pizza.
Anon says
You can also fly into Bangor if you want a much shorter (~1 hour) drive to Bar Harbor. There are non-stops from DCA to BGR on American. The Bangor airport is pretty dumpy, but it’s fine if all you’re doing is flying in and out.
Baby motor skills says
I just returned from my 9-month-old’s wellness check, and his doctor told me he is concerned he is not crawling yet or pushing to stand. He also mentioned that by a year, he’d expect he would be walking. I was taken aback because I expected he’d start crawling and pushing to stand within the next couple of months, but I did not think he was behind in these skills. In any case, we have been referred to a physical therapist for evaluation. Anyone have any experience with this? Any advice/support would be appreciated it. Even though I know logically that none of this is really a big deal in the grand scheme of things, I still feel nervous and disappointed (in myself).
Anon says
That seems crazy. The normal range for walking is 8-18 months. Crawling is not a milestone, though most kids are either crawling or attempting to walk around a year. My kid could barely sit unsupported at 9 months, and don’t pull up until 13 months. She walked at the late end of the normal range and is a normal 4 year old now. Physical therapy probably can’t hurt (except for the time/cost) but definitely don’t panic. Your ped sounds really paranoid to me.
OP says
This is exactly where my son is. He is just sitting up when placed that way and will fall over frequently, but push back up. He also can hold things in both hands while he sits. Like I said, I was not concerned at all, and in fact, was proud of him for that progress.
The initial evaluation for physical therapy is free, so we will probably do that and see what comes out of it. My husband is definitely panicking, but I’m trying to put this in its proper perspective because we don’t even know that this is an actual “problem” and if it is, it is one with a solution. I told him that a year from now, we probably won’t even remember a physical therapy referral.
Thank you for responding. This is my first kid and I have no real sense of what is “normal” and what is not.
EDAnon says
My son never crawled but walked at 1, so no crawling isn’t an issue by default. I do think he pushed up (like during tummy time) but he was never in a crawling position.
Anon says
Wow, that seems early. I have a current 12-month-old, so I’m in the trenches of all those milestones and recommendations myself.
Is it possible the doctor noticed other factors that were the basis for concern? Not trying to creep or move at all, low-tone, etc?
An evaluation can’t hurt, but I would not stress about it…in the meantime, aim for as much floor time as possible. Milestones.and.motherhood on Instagram is also a great resource in this area
OP says
Thanks. He didn’t mention any other concerns, and actually said that other than those gross motor skills mentioned, he’s doing great. Appreciate the response. Motherhood is stressful!
Anon says
+ 1 to Milestones and Motherhood
Anon says
Tots on Target on instagram is also good for this (it’s very similar to Milestones and Motherhood, I just like their style more – it’s less woo)
AnonATL says
My son was barely taking unassisted steps at 1. I remember he took a couple at his birthday party and everybody cheered. He’s 20ish months now and sprints everywhere and plays on the playground with basically no help.
We would try to encourage him to stand by picking him up and he would stick his feet straight out in an L shape and absolutely refused to do it until he was damn well ready.
Agree with others that 1 is pretty young for walking. I wouldn’t worry about it yet.
anon says
Not in the exact same situation, but we’ve seen a pediatric PT since kiddo was 3 months for torticollis. Your feelings of being disappointed in yourself are normal, as I felt a lot of guilt as well (did I do something wrong while I was pregnant for him to develop this?); however, you are doing the right thing by taking him to the PT. 9 months is still very young and PT will help him a lot (if he indeed does need it)! Our kiddo was a little behind on his milestones even until month 6 but the PT helped him progress appropriately.
I will say though that regular PT appointments are a LOT of work. If your state has early intervention and you can get that paperwork started, you can find one that will come to your house or daycare.
OP says
Thank you. My state does have early intervention, and they come to your house to do the initial evaluation for free, so I am of the mind that it can’t hurt to have the evaluation done, even if what I am hearing here is giving me some peace of mind that this is probably not a big deal. My son is very active as far as moving and wiggling around and is sitting up. He just doesn’t crawl or pull to stand. As you said, the guilt is normal, but he is otherwise a very happy and healthy baby, so I am just going to focus on that and follow the directives (if any) from the PT eval.
Anonymous says
Wow, my kid was a late crawler (late 9 mos) because reflux made her not want to be in that position. Our ped was more focused on mobility – kiddo was butt-scooting around all over the place, and the ped said that counted. Once the reflux was fixed, she pretty much started crawling within 36 hours of the last explosive spitup, and she walked at 15 mos. I feel terrible, but I honestly don’t remember when she started pulling to stand, but it was pretty soon after she started crawling.
I don’t think a PT eval would hurt, and it might help to get another set of eyes on your LO, especially from someone with more specific experience with baby mobility. I know that we encountered some doctors and nurses at urgent care visits for ear infections who acted like my kid was way behind because she wasn’t walking at 12 months, so that belief is definitely out there.
Anon says
I don’t think 9 months is that late for crawling.
anon says
There are wonderful interventions that really help and it’s good to access them early.
That said, my kids were on the late side of the curve for crawling/walking and I’m really glad my pediatrician was calm and reassuring that a certain % of kids who don’t need intervention are on the late side of the curve. She said she’d refer for intervention when there were true delays (and told me what qualified as a true delay) not just not being at the straggler side of the big range of what’s expected.
An expectation of walking by a year seems really early. I’d ask more about why the pediatrician thinks intervention is necessary (is it just because the child is on the later end or is there some other factor? is this a true delay? is it so hard to access intervention in your area that it’s better to seek it before it’s needed to get on waitlists?).
Depending on the answer, I’d be tempted to look for a new pediatrician. My area has a lot of excellent pediatricians who are skilled in keeping things in perspective for parents and not unduly alarming them. I’ve found this to be a valuable skill for a parent like me.
Anon says
Anecdata because my daughter walked very early, but I lost count of the number of people who met her at 12, 13, 14, 15 months and asked “Is she walking yet?” and when I said “yes”, responded “Oh wow, walking early!!!!”
So I think you’re good :)
FVNC says
+1. My daughter took her first steps at 14 months, and it was a bit after that when she was actually walking consistently versus zombie staggering.
anon says
I started walking at 14 months and I can confidently say I am an absolutely stellar adult :)
AwayEmily says
Echoing the “probably fine but can’t hurt to talk to someone” comments. My kid’s daycare teacher recommended he get evaluated at around 13.5 months because he wasn’t walking yet and she noticed he seemed sort of stiff-legged. He was evaluated and they said he seemed fine and just to wait. That was my instinct as well but I was glad to have it confirmed by a professional. He started walking a week later.
AnonMD says
Pediatrician and mom to a 9 month old who is borderline in this area so I’m going to stop lurking and jump in for a second:
– I’m assuming your pediatrician had you complete a developmental questionnaire like an ASQ and your son was below the standard deviation. If so, referral to PT is 100% correct and considered standard of care. (If not, feel free to google ASQ 9 months, it’s pretty self explanatory to score).
– This is super common. 10% of kids will have a delay in some area. There’s really amazing evidence that early intervention (ie- PT) leads to better outcomes. We call it a delay because we fully expect kids to catch up with some practice.
– You did absolutely nothing wrong. I totally understand and have had the feelings of guilt and disappointment. But this is not a parenting fault at all and really it’s a sign that you’re a great parent in that you took your soon to a great pediatrician, you’re listening to his advice and you’ll do what you need to to help your son!
– Google ASQ activities if you want some stuff to work on while you wait for the referral
– Know that wait times can be long and that’s a-okay!
– A lot of kids will have a developmental “burst” and suddenly start doing a bunch of these skills within a short period of time.
You’ve got this!! Congratulations on your baby!
Anon says
um, no harm in doing the evaluation. wasn’t crawling just removed as a milestone? i have twins, neither walked at a year. one walked at 14 months and one at 17 months. i think walking at a year is on the earlier side and that many many many kids do not walk at a year, but i think your pediatrician needs a milestone refresher.
Anon says
Currently have a 13-month old, and we just started developmental therapy (still not sure what this is) and waiting to start physical therapy. We started the process of getting into early intervention at 10 months. Our pediatrician is the opposite of yours– he said he was not concerned unless DS wasn’t crawling or pulling to stand at 12 months or walking by 18 months. At 9 months, DS had just started fully sitting unassisted but then seemed “stuck.” He also hadn’t truly rolled back to belly, wasn’t transitioning in and out of sit, and wasn’t bearing much weight in his legs. We made the referral at 10 months because we hadn’t been seeing progress and didn’t think DS would be pulling up by a year (and he wasn’t). DS also had reflux, was 4 weeks premature, and was small at birth– so he had multiple risk factors for gross motor delays.
Anecdotally, a lot of the issues we were concerned with with DS have resolved on their own while we have been waiting for PT to start but he still seems a bit behind (and PT agrees). DS is also on target with everything else– fine motor, speech, etc. So, we and everyone that has seen him so far do not think there is anything “wrong,” but agree there is some type of muscle weakness going on that DS needs therapy for. It is a pain, but it is what it is. Also, I am not upset with our pediatrician for not making the referral earlier– a lot of the things we were seeing were not covered in the ped’s developmental checkup. Our state has also recently relaxed the referral criteria– DS qualifies in large part based on just being born early, and our ped was not aware the criteria had gotten so relaxed.
Hmmm says
My son didn’t crawl until his first birthday and no one seemed concerned. He started walking a couple of months later. Once he started, he picked it up much faster than my oldest (who was walking earlier.). Fwiw.
Anon says
My daughter crawled right around her first birthday and walked at 17 months. Daycare teachers were concerned, but ped wasn’t at all and I wasn’t super worried, given that there was a family history of late walking (I walked at 19 months) and she was a speed crawler who could get anywhere she wanted by crawling and clearly didn’t see much need to walk. She walked perfectly when she walked and was running within a week or two. I think some kids just like to wait until they can do things well before they attempt them/are a bit lazy and don’t learn a new skill unless they see a good reason to do it.
Masks for toddlers says
Those of you who had kids turn two during the pandemic, when did you start introducing mask-wearing? We’re a couple months away, but kiddo is VERY stubborn about her clothes and accessories and has very strong opinions about what her clothes/shoes look like, so I feel like we might have to start sooner. (I was not expecting shoe shopping to be so fraught so soon, lol!) For reference, we’re in a very covid-cautious community, and while masks aren’t required at daycare for kids >2 as of this week, every single kid is still wearing them.
Anon says
My kid turned 2 in March 2020, so it was a different time, but she saw us wearing them and wanted to join in on the “fun” lol. I think if you make it as an exciting big kid thing that she “gets” to do, it will go over better than something she “has” to do. The people I know who’ve had major issues with getting kids to wear masks really hated masks themselves and I think the kids picked up on their attitude.
Anonymous says
Thanks, this is reassuring! Kiddo’s daycare BFF turns two a month or so before she does, so the peer pressure should help, too.
NYCer says
I completely disagree with your last sentence at all. My now 3yo HATED masks between 2-2.5, and it had nothing to do with our attitude towards masks. FWIW, she is mostly fine with them now. It just takes some kids time to adjust.
Anon says
I said “the people I know…” Your experience can be different, but it doesn’t negate my experience.
Anonymous says
I didn’t. My kid is nearly three now, day care doesn’t require them, and we haven’t gotten on a plane.
Anon says
Same. Unless the airline mandate comes back, since we fly a lot, we probably won’t bother. In our area masking is essentially only required in health care settings, and then, not for kids this young.
OP says
That’s great for you, but not super helpful for me, as our daycare’s mask policy will be dependent on case numbers in our area. So, like I said, as of this week, masks aren’t required, but our case numbers are going up, so that could very well change soon.
Anon says
If daycare requires it, I think you can put the enforcement largely on daycare. I’m not saying you shouldn’t make efforts to work on it at home as well, but ultimately peer pressure and teacher pressure go a long way. We didn’t have issues with masks, but my kid wore a hat with no issues at daycare for a long stretch of time when she refused to wear one at home.
Anonymous says
Ok?! You asked what we did.
Allie says
We did fun activities that required a mask and left immediately if she took it off. This was over a year ago before we knew that outdoor transmission wasn’t a concern so the playground was our top “fun” spot, but CVS was a big hit too (but maybe that too was more exciting when the world was more shut down?). They key was leaving instantly if she took it off with no room to be unmasked.
Anon says
Our two year old started wearing a mask around eighteen months probably because her older siblings had to do it and she wanted to copy them. From what I see with the toddlers in my moms group it takes consistency and persistence on the part of those around the kid – parents and caregivers and teachers. A lot of my kid’s baby buddies wouldn’t tolerate them at first but now they are all about 2.5 and will wear masks I would say 90% of the time when I see them, and don’t fuss when parents pull their masks up if they slip. My kid also get very excited about certain prints on masks, so if you are okay with cloth ones over the KN95 which are not as exciting, maybe have your kiddo pick some fun ones out. I have also seen, in the thick of the pandemic, parents removing their child from playgrounds if they wouldn’t wear their mask… i guess you can treat it like any other safety behavior where if the kid is doing something dangerous there are repercussions.
I’m actually pretty surprised by how much the kids I know have internalized the importance of having masks and won’t leave the house without one.
Anon says
We started out slow, just having our kids wear them for short outings – first 5 minutes, then 10, etc. We also tried out a bunch of different patterns and styles to find ones they thought were fun and comfortable. After they got accustomed to using them for about an hour (maybe a little less?), we just said, you have to wear it if you want to do x fun thing and it wasn’t really a problem (until their friends stopped wearing them of course…).
AwayEmily says
I wanted to share a success story — we sleep-trained our baby a week ago (full CIO). First night was hard but she’s slept 11 hour straight each night since and naps have gotten way easier too. I feel like a new person. I know sleep training doesn’t work for all kids/families but wow, when it does work it’s like a miracle.
Anon says
Wow! How old? And doesn’t getting sleep make EVERYONE involved feel better? Amazing and well done!
AwayEmily says
Thanks! She was just over 10 weeks. On the early side but she was already doing long stretches and not eating much at night so our pediatrician gave us the go-ahead. And you’re totally right about better sleep affecting everyone positively — I’m so much more patient with the big kids in the morning now, and even the baby seems happier during the day!
Boston Legal Eagle says
Woo! You now have 3 kids who sleep reasonably well, early on? Play that lottery!!
Anon says
my soon to be 4 year old twins started swim lessons about a month ago and at first it was going great. last week one of them got out mid lesson insisting she had to go potty, and then refused to go back in. throughout this week she has expressed a lot of anxiety in different ways about these swim lessons (she is a kid prone to anxiety and is in OT). turns out the part making her anxious is the idea of having to put her head under water. i realize that obviously you can’t really learn to swim without doing that, but at this point i just want her to get in the pool and knowing her she will put her head under when she is ready. i helped her practice saying that to the swim teacher and we also wrote a note together that she is going to bring to him, but i’m not sure if i handled this well. should i have told her she has to just listen to the teacher and put her head under? where is that balance between pushing your kid while also giving them space/time to be ready?
Anon says
I think you did exactly the right thing. I also have an anxious 4 year old who was particularly terrified of the water (she got in the pool voluntarily for the first time ever, just last week). We push her when it’s necessary (ahem, an almost 4 year old who didn’t want to be potty trained), but I don’t think it’s even close to necessary to put her head under water at this age. At this age, all I care about is that she enjoys being in the water. I don’t want to do anything that could result in a fear of water, since that can cause lifelong issues.
Also I don’t think you *have* to put your head under to learn to swim? I can put my head under water if I have to, but I’ve always swum breaststroke with my head above water and I passed my college’s swim test that way. I love swimming and my parents couldn’t get me out of the pool/ocean when I was a kid, but my head was basically never underwater (except when snorkeling).
Anon says
You did the right thing. A kid won’t learn to swim if they are scared and anxious, either. My oldest finally put his head under at 5 and then took off in his swimming ability – pushing him sooner would not have helped (and I tried a bit before checking myself and backing off).
There is a kids book called Jabari Jumps that might be a helpful/fun read
Anon says
Any decent instructor will work with her and you on this, and may even have strategies for how to help ease her into eventually. My then almost 4 YO was like this (her favorite part of toddler swim classes was crawling out) and what finally did it for her was peer pressure (seeing other girls her age playing at the pool dropping toys and diving for them on a couple of trips to her grandparents’ neighborhood pool) and goggles. We also spent about 6 months beforehand practicing blowing bubbles in the bathtub as part of the getting used to having her face wet, which was recommended during some previous unsuccessful swim lessons that we stopped around 2. Once she had that breakthrough right around age 4, we put her back in weekly lessons and she has taken off. She is almost 5 and currently working toward being able to swim the entire pool length and went from a kid that hated water to practically part fish.
Anonymous says
I refused to put my head under until I was 7. I swim like a fish now.
Momofthree says
Definitely did the right thing by not forcing it.
My son went through multiple swim programs including with people who were supposed to be “great with scared kids.” As soon as his head went under the water or they did something else he didn’t like, he would freak out and refuse to go to more lessons. Rinse & repeat.
Finally, we signed him up for swim lessons through his OT practice that were absolutely wonderful and he loved it. One of the things (I think) he liked about the OT lessons was that she would lay out what would happen in the class on a schedule so he knew what to expect and could check off the boxes.
Anon says
Any diaper preferences? We’ve been pretty loyal users of Kirkland (or Huggies if they’re on sale at Costco) but Up and Up at Target is half the price of Kirkland so we’re going to try those for my daughter currently in size 5. We also have a baby in size 1s. Any other good cost-effective diapers we should check out? Thanks!
anon says
The Walmart ones are supposed to be usually the cheapest on a per diaper basis, if that’s what you’re after. Pretty comparable to Target in terms of materials and fit is my understanding. We liked the Walmart for the six months we used them, but then LO changed shape and developed super sensitive skin and after trial and error we’re now in the ridic trendy fancy bamboo ones that cost 4x as much. So it goes.
Mary Moo Cow says
Up and Up gave my daughter a rash, but she has somewhat sensitive skin. Another plus to Up and Up is you can put it on a subscription and get a discount and if you have a Red Card, there’s an additional discount.
Whenever I switched diaper brands, I always bought the smallest pack I could so if didn’t work out, I was only out a few diapers and then passed on the open pack to a friend.
HSAL says
I thought Luvs and the Target brand were perfectly acceptable when I had my twins. They weren’t as soft as Pampers (used with my first) but we had no leak issues or anything. I wasn’t a fan of the Kirkland brand but for the life of me I can’t remember why.
HSAL says
Oh, and I didn’t like Walmart at all.
Anon says
we’ve used Up and Up since birth for daytime and Huggies for nighttime.
AwayEmily says
I actually like Up and Ups much better than Kirkland. The Kirkland ones are slightly scented, which I find gross, and also the fasteners always stick to the diapers in inconvenient ways when I’m trying to put them on.
Anonanonanon says
Try cloth diapering if you’re concerned about cost, mama!
No, I’m kidding.
The target ones were fine. Our in-home daycare provider used Luvs and those seemed to do the trick. My approach was always store brand during the day then break out the pampers for nighttime.
Anon says
Ha! The amount of money I save on cloth diapering would definitely be eaten up by the amount of time I spend taking care of cloth diapers and the frustration factor :) I hadn’t thought about using a different brand of nighttime diapers!
Anonanonanon says
HAHA No I was 100% joking I promise!!
Anonymous says
We loved Up & Up!! So much better than pampers or huggies. They are unscented which is great. We used them for two kids.
Anon says
I love Aldi regular diapers (I think same quality as target but cheaper), Target overnights and target unscented wipes.
jz says
we’ve been using walmart brand diapers since birth and now in pull-ups. They work perfectly fine and very cheap
Anon says
can a kiddie pool be left filled with water overnight without turning into a science experiment? we got a fairly large kiddie/doggie pool and live in a hot climate, and it seems so wasteful to fill it up on friday, saturday and sunday and then empty it each day, so i was thinking of covering it with a tarp, but also dont want my kids to get sick from the water. anyone have any experience with this?
Anon says
We don’t even cover it with a tarp, and it’s been fine. I wouldn’t leave it for a week but for a few days it’s fine.
DLC says
We empty ours every night, but mostly because we live in a place where mosquitoes are rampant so we try to avoid standing water.
Anonymous says
+1, we dump it and turn it upside down every evening.
Anon says
I fill ours on Friday, cover with a tarp when we’re not in it, and I’ve let it go until Monday without issue. It is roughly 5 foot by 10 foot and agree on the waste of daily dumping.
Anon says
We dump out the pool and water table after every use because we don’t want it to be the neighborhood mosquito breeding ground.
Anonymous says
No experience here, but I would dump it out. Aren’t there brain-eating amoeba in ponds in hot climates? No thank you.
Anon says
A backyard kiddie pool that’s not cleaned out for a few days is not a pond.
Mary Moo Cow says
Ehh…it can be, but it isn’t pretty by the end of the summer. I live in SEUS and did this last summer. I bleached the pool a few times, but sill, by the end of the summer, it was irreparably stained with mildew or mold or something gross and slimy. Also, it will kill your grass to leave it for a few days. And the water can get hot! I had to drain a bit and top off with some fresh water if I had taken the tarp off in the am for some swimming and kids wanted to swim again in the afternoon. Short answer: yes, but proceed with caution.
Anonymous says
In our well-maintained, middle class neighborhood if you leave it out overnight rats will drink from it (and that’s just the animals we see!)
anonM says
I drain it, mainly because I am paranoid about water safety and the last thing I need is worrying in the middle of the night about the pool. (Our pool and yard are not fenced because it’s just a blow-up kiddie pool – might feel differently even if our yard was fenced).
SF says
This week has been really tough. My sleep trained 20m old is fighting bedtime and/or waking up in the middle of the night screaming and takes hours to settle. My 5 year old is having potty training regressions amplified by behavior issues. We also took him to the dentist yesterday who told me he has a cavity that needs treating (and I thought toothbrushing was something we were doing well!). My husband and I are not aligned on what to do with either child, and the sleep deprivation makes the disconnect feel very intense. Logically I know we will emerge on the other side but it all feels heavy (and lots of feelings of failure).
Anon says
Hugs. If it helps cavities are basically genetic and almost certainly not your fault. I had very poor tooth-brushing habits as a kid and never had a cavity; my husband has perfect oral hygiene and had dozens of fillings before he graduated high school. A dentist once told me cavity risk is very linked to how much saliva you have in your mouth, which is just genetics.
I hope things get better for y’all soon.
Boston Legal Eagle says
+1 And yes, all the hugs. I hope you can get a full night’s sleep tonight!
FVNC says
This sounds so rough, and it’s so hard when you’re going through it — even though you know you’ll come out on the other side okay. Just wanted to +1 to cavities being genetic. My 8 yr old niece has had a couple despite excellent overall brushing/flossing habits, but unfortunately she’s following after her dad, my BIL who had cavities growing up. It’s definitely not your fault or a reflection on your kid’s dental hygiene!
Mary Moo Cow says
Ugh. I took it personally when my oldest had her first cavity (first and only, but I’m guessing there will be more). Dentist told me that it was really a product of her tooth not coming in properly/coming in with hole in it, but that didn’t really help. Do you mean DH is advocating not getting the cavity filled? If so, make dentist the bad guy: we also asked my dentist how urgent it was to be filled because it was a baby tooth (and DD has an incredibly low pain tolerance and high needle fear) and he said it must be done and gave the gory details. Maybe your dentist can do the same.
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