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I was recently chatting with a friend who was a nursing champion. She was also my go-to person for baby product advice and open-minded guidance, especially in the early days and even up to now. In our recent convo, she mentioned these, and I thought they were a great idea. She even noted that her sister-in-law can get up to an extra full ounce of milk on the non-nursing side with these. We all know that every drop counts, so why waste any of that? This product is $27.95, eligible for Prime and free returns, and has more than 2,000 positive reviews. Milkies Milk-Saver This post contains affiliate links and CorporetteMoms may earn commissions for purchases made through links in this post. For more details see here. Thank you so much for your support!
Lana Del Raygun says
Maybe I would feel differently if I had a low supply, but something like this would have to be really, really easy to use to make it worth it. The last thing I want while breastfeeding, especially in the early days, is another thing to juggle or another way to spill milk all over my lap (it doesn’t have a lid), and then on top of that having to get up and store milk and wash another thing every time? I feel like products like this up the pressure to “SAVE EVERY DROP OF PRECIOUS BREAST MILK” (per their Am@z0n copy). What do others think? Am I overdoing the anti-lactivist backlash?
Anonymous says
Agreed. I loved breastfeeding, once I got past the first few weeks, but I never had an “every drop counts” philosophy. Formula is not poison, it just doesn’t have all the benefits of breastmilk. If you’re feeding primarily breast milk, there are diminishing returns to each additional ounce of breastmilk. I tried the Hakaa on the non-nursing side once, spilled milk everywhere and that was that – back to breast pads for me.
Anonymous says
I actually would have liked this just to contain the mess, not as a way to save every “precious drop.” In the early days I had to tuck a burp cloth or towel into my bra to sop up the leakage on the non-nursing side.
Anonanonanon says
I didn’t know these existed when I was BFing, but would have at least tried it for the same reason. I sprayed out of the non-nursing side (lovely) and had to hold a beach towel up to it, so this would have been a nice alternative I guess. I’m not sure how i’d juggle holding it on and nursing though? I definitely would have tried it and it 90% would have ended up with me in a puddle of postpartum frustration tears
Boston Legal Eagle says
Definitely too much effort to put anything on while trying to bfeed on the other side, and then switching when switching sides. I wore (still do) nursing pads in my bra to soak up any leakage and don’t care about saving every drop. Then again, I have a bit of an oversupply, so I definitely end up “wasting” a lot in the shower, etc.
Anonymous says
Agreed — +1 for the pads.
And I thought that the hind milk was the really good stuff anyway. That’s not what is leaking anyway.
Anonymous says
The pads did not soak up enough for me.
Anonymous says
Hind milk vs fore milk is really only an issue when they are super tiny if they are only drinking fore milk. All BM is useful.
GCA says
I have an aggressive letdown and tried using this by stuffing it in the other side of my bra – it was a mess. I got a Haakaa with kid 2 and it’s been much, much more functional. My thinking is if I’m going to leak anyway I might as well build up a freezer stash.
AwayEmily says
I agree with all this, Lana — especially the fear-mongering marketing.
I also had a super intense spraying letdown and tried something like this to contain the mess but it was too much trouble, kept falling off/spilling, and I ended up using towels instead. But agreed with GCA that if it actually works for your particular b**b shape and nursing routine then it could be a nice way to make things less messy.
Wow says
I never had any leakage or had the need for nursing pads, so would never have used this. I also supplemented with a bottle of formula a day, so again, no need.
Anon says
I didn’t know I needed the Haakaa until I tried it, and it truly is amazing. Less mess in those early weeks and a nice way to build a small bf stash with no extra effort other than pouring it into a bag. If you haven’t tried something like this, there is no need to be so negative…
Anonymous says
+1 I don’t get the negativity around this product. I had a really hard time pumping and lots of non-nursing side letdown that I hated to see get soaked up by a towel. This type of product would have saved me so much stress.
NYCer says
Agreed. I can get 2-3 oz from the Haakaa while feeding on the other side. And it is super easy to use. Happy to add to the freezer stash with (extremely) minimal effort!
EB0220 says
I would have tried this if I had known about them. I hate pumping so much and I leaked a lot so anything to reduce the amount I had to pump would be worth it to me.
anony says
Yeah, this would not have helped me much, as I didn’t leak much past the first couple weeks. The Haaka only gathered 1/2 oz for me when I was super engorged and wasn’t comfortable to use, so I grew to hate it. These products really depend on your body I think. It is nice to gather extra milk if you need it (low supply), but the people with low supply might not necessarily find that much success with these type of things.
Pogo says
I remember looking into these but thinking they were too complicated? Maybe I’m remembering another product. I just used the Haakaa silicone thingy that you compress and stick on the b00b to catch the other side letdown. I could do it one-handed, whereas these seem like more of a production to get on?
FVNC says
+1. I’m generally pretty clumsy and the Haakaa silicone catcher was super easy for me to use.
Aspy girls says
Good morning all!
I wanted to chime in again re Aspy girls from yesterday. Our initial eval with the medical professional working with our pediatrician is that our daughter has signs of being Aspy (which I understand doesn’t officially exist any more but with it did b/c it conveys something more nuanced than “on the autism spectrum). But other than with some social interactions (and being very anxious about teasing, doing “talking to others” wrong, etc.), has been in a regular school and is doing well. To get a handle on it, and help decide on supports / OT / next steps, we and her teachers are doing some screening questionnaires and it is very clear that she checks a lot of boxes with some of her behaviors and quirks. So I’m not basing this on TV-watching (and I’ve watched people with some serious quirks of this sort my whole life (here in the south, they are eccentric or peculiar, which is different and yet OK at the same time).
At any rate, if anyone else walks this road, I’d love to hear from you.
So Anon says
I think it is wonderful that you are exploring this road; it will give you insight into how to support your daughter and how she can best advocate for and support herself. Our road to finding the best supports was not straight at all: talking to our pediatrician who put in the referral to the major medical center, wait a year to be seen, in the meantime see a therapist who recommended an OT eval, start OT, wait more time for additional screening, receive more detailed report and we are now headed to school with all of this. This is to say that from what I can see, there is not a preordained path forward: find the professionals in your area and don’t hesitate to ask questions or explore other routes.
As for resources, check out A Mighty Girl: 20 Books about Mighty Autistic Girls. Also, Asperger Experts has great resources.
Annie says
I’m using this now for the first feed of the day and love it. It’s really easy to use, less of a mess than just leaking, and I get an extra ounce of milk a day.
Anonymouse says
I used this for all feedings for the first few weeks, and then for just the morning feeding for months. Yes, if you bend over it will spill and if you forget it on the nightstand it was ooky, but if you have serious oversupply / non feeding side spray, this is the best. I found it easy enough to dump into a bottle in the fridge, and then combine with that day’s pumping at the end of the day.
Part of our evening routine was that my husband would wash it and put in a tupperware (so that I could simply take it out when done and it wouldn’t spill everywhere) on the nightstand for the morning.
I liked it better than the Haaaka because it fit in my bra – on cold winter mornings, I wanted to only expose what baby needed to feed!
Anon says
My 7 mo old son loves the b*ob but has never been a great nurser, so I rarely leak (have to pump to keep up my supply). I have over 100 nursing pads from my registry that I have never used. Ha.
Anonymous says
I wondered whether I could use them as coasters. Decided that was too much for anyone but me to handle.
HSAL says
This makes me laugh because I had wondered what to do with them as well. I hate the disposable pads and tossed all of those, but used the reusables with my first. After the first couple weeks with my twins, I never leaked, so my stash is just hanging out. I figure I’ll save them until I wean just in case, but would they work like cotton rounds to remove makeup? I don’t know what the fabric composition is.
Lana Del Raygun says
I have heard they make great makeup remover pads! You can use micellar water on the smooth side and then whatever other cleanser on the plush/towel side.
rosie says
I’ve heard they work well at protecting your clothes from sweat stains? But I just gave my unused ones away.
Anonymous says
I offered them up free on my neighborhood listserv and found people that wanted them.
Anon says
I had a heavy supply but never leaked while nursing (just overnight if she slept longer than usual). My pads pretty much went unusued too, but maybe next time around since we’re TTC again.
Anon says
In your experience is it easier to start daycare by going part-time, or is it better to just rip the band-aid off and go full-time immediately? We could do any combination of partial days or only sending her certain days of the week. We asked the daycare and they said they’ll work with whatever we want to do, and it varies by kid (which makes sense). My daughter will be almost 16 months when she starts and had a nanny until now. The first few days with the nanny were hard, but once she got to know the nanny good-byes have been smooth as long as we say goodbye and immediately exit (if she knows we’re in the house but not interacting with her, she gets upset).
Anonymous says
full time immediately generally results in better transition as more time to get familiar with the class. Toddlers can’t understand days of the week yet so if you do MWF, then the alternating whether they go to daycare or stay home in any particular day can be challenging as they don’t know what to expect. That said, if you can do ‘part time’ in the sense of shorter days, that helps. We’ve done two visits about 1 hour each with parent staying, then:
Monday – about 3- 4 hours – pick up before/ after lunch depending on how they are doing
Tuesday – about 4 hours – pick up after lunch
Wednesday – about 4 hours – pick up after lunch
Thursday – about 5-6 hours, pick up after nap
Friday – about 6 hours, pick up after nap.
Monday – about 7 hours, stay for nap/afternoon snack
Tuesday – about 7 hours, stay for nap/afternoon snack
Wednesday – full day with slightly early pick up
We told kid when they would be picked up each day (after lunch, after nap, after nap and snack etc). It will be totally fine if you transition more quickly but the main thing that can be hard for kids is the alternating days so I’d try to avoid that.
Anon says
Thanks, that’s what I was thinking, that alternating days would be confusing but that early pick-ups in the beginning might be welcome. I’m probably going to be picking up by 4 pm regularly, but I was sort of thinking of doing exactly what you mentioned: picking up before lunch for a couple days, then after lunch but before nap for a couple days, then after nap for a couple days, and then going to ‘regular’ schedule, which will probably be 9-4ish.
Anonanonanon says
Agree that alternating days is confusing for children that age. I also think picking up before significant activities and then changing to picking up after could be confusing. For example, if you pick up right after lunch for a bit and then suddenly don’t, some toddlers might find that stressful because they think you should be coming right after lunch and suddenly you aren’t. I would base it on what the last “milestone” of the day is. For example, if the last nap is from 1-2:30, start picking up at 2:45, then gradually increase it to 5 or whenever normal pickup time will be. Then, the fact you pick up after nap #2 will always hold true, if that makes sense.
Of course this may not apply at all to your child, but that’s how mine worked!
ElisaR says
I’d say full time is easier. Another consideration: my daycare is in high demand and the wait list is insane. For that reason they don’t have part time spots. In my area, the places that have part time spots are less desirable. As a business owner, the daycare would prefer to have full time children in their care and they have the ability to be picky. I know this is not likely the case everywhere, but I wouldn’t want to use the daycares that have part time availability near me (again if given the choice).
Anon says
Sorry, maybe my question was worded badly. Our daycare does not have part time slots either. We’re paying full-time tuition from day 1 and she’s going to be going mostly fulltime eventually. I was just asking about the transition, like whether it would be better to send her partial days for the first few days or weeks, since we have the flexibility to do that.
Anon says
Counterpoint – one of the very best daycares in our area does part time. I’m honestly not sure why they do it from a business perspective as they have huge waitlists, but they do.
HSAL says
Ours offers part-time, but the cost savings really doesn’t make it worth it, so I do think it benefits the business when people go part-time. I’m guessing that they match up families, so you have one kid who goes MWF and one kid there TTh. They’re each paying more than half the tuition, so the daycare gets more money for the full-time equivalent with almost no extra effort.
Anonymous says
This is what our daycare does. It’s pretty popular so people will take part-time spots as it gives them priority for any full time spots that come up. Part-time spots also allow more diversity because there are kids with different abilitise or medication needs for whom part time is enough.
Pogo says
I’d do the rip the band aid off approach. It might be more difficult in the first few days but I think kiddo will get over it quicker.
Emily S. says
We did part time (3 days a week, 8:30-5) until she was almost 3. From 8 weeks to 12 weeks, she was with a nanny, and full day, 5 days a week daycare just felt like too much (on top of my guilt at having to go back to work at 8 weeks). At (almost) 3, when baby sister arrived, she went to full day, 5 days and transitioned well. In retrospect, she was (is) a child who likes routine, so 5 days is a good fit because she knows what to expect each day. Even at 16 months, you may be able to get a sense of her personality/flexibility and factor that into your decision. It’s not an easy decision and there’s no right or wrong answer!
octagon says
A few weeks ago there was a request (not mine) for toddler books with kids as the stars of the story. I just wanted to say thanks to whoever asked, and all who answered. My kid has loved Jamberry, Knuffle Bunny, and Last Stop on Market Street so much. We also enjoyed This Is Sadie and discovered there’s a sequel to Knuffle Bunny, Knuffle Bunny Too!
Anonymous says
There are actually three Knuffle Bunny books – the last one is Knuffle Bunny Free
octagon says
Hey thanks! Our library doesn’t seem to have that one, but I will ask the librarian about it!
Anonymous says
Snowy Day by Ezra Jack Keats (same author as Last Stop on Market Street) is also good.
AIMS says
What does everyone do with baby and kids clothes that are too stained to be hand me downs? Clothes recycling? Something else I’m missing?
Anon says
I think textiles recycling is pretty much all you can do, unless you have a friend/family member you’re comfortable discussing this with and they want stained clothes. My SIL told me explicitly she was fine with food stains but not diaper region stains – the majority of the stained clothes we had were stained with food, so we were able to give her a lot.
Anonymous says
Check with your daycare. Our daycare will take food/paint stained clothes to use as extras if a kid runs out of the clothes their parents send.
Mama Llama says
I recycle most but tear some into strips to tie plants to stakes in the garden.
Pogo says
use as rags, or textile recycling.
Anonanonanon says
What do I do? The garbage. Is that the best solution? Probably not, but it’s what I have the energy and time for.
Knope says
Take them to any H&M, they will recycle them and give you a coupon for 15% off your next purchase.
Bailey's Lower? says
It’s a long shot, but has anyone’s child attended Bailey’s Elementary School for the Arts and Sciences? How did you like it?
Thanks in advance!
ifiknew says
First time mom. I have a 23 month old who’s started to REALLY protest a lot of things like putting on diapers and pajamas, no attention span for reading books before bedtime. Putting on clothes in the morning. Eating dinner etc. she’s recovering from the flu, so not sure if its related to that (she seems well now though) or if it’s terrible two’s. I do bedtime by myself most weekdays, so it’s getting so terrible to get her in bed. She falls asleep quickly so she is tired, but just will.not.get in without a huge fight and tantrums. I’ve tried giving her choices, but she just ignores them..
Walnut says
All the solidarity. My 21 month old is all of this and a bowl of grapes (covered in a pool of milk she dumped while staring you in the eyes.) Plus a nasty temper. She’s also the cutest thing you’ve ever seen.
Boston Legal Eagle says
Also solidarity. I’ve found age 2 to be pretty difficult – their need for independence is so high + the inability to regulate emotions + everyone being tired at night makes for a difficult combo. Our latest trick has been to use timers to get him to the next task – that works pretty well right now (still lots of tantrums of course). DS1 is almost 3 though, so not sure if that will work with an almost 2 year old.
Any chance you could get a babysitter or family to do bedtime one night a week so at least you get a break from doing it all solo?
Pogo says
Do you use a timer that shows him how much time is left? Or just put a timer on your phone?
OP says
I could not use a timer on my phone, because my DD immediately needs it to look at pictures or YT kids. I basically can’t be on my phone / laptop / screens at all around my kid without her needing to see it.
Boston Legal Eagle says
We have the Alexa so we set a timer through her. Sometimes we use our phones too, but he likes to grab that and set his own timer (for like, 48 minutes) or do other phone-related things.
Pogo says
Thirded. My guy’s newest thing is not wanting to sit to eat. He totally knows he’s supposed to do it, but hates it. My theory is they are so excited to PLAY and everything is so fun they can’t be bothered to stop for 5 min to have a meal, or bath, or clean diaper.
I do a lot of talking about what we’re going to do and offer choices – usually, “You can play for 5 min OR we can do diaper change”. Obviously he chooses play. Then I walk away to go get myself ready and hear the whining: “mommmmmy”. So I go back – “Remember you made a choice – do you still want to play, or do diaper now? Or do diaper when mommy comes back?” He’s then 50/50 on what he picks at that juncture.
Nothing seems to help get him to sit and eat when he would rather play.
Pogo says
Also, can we just vent about the fact that 99% of your weekday time with kids is trying to get them to complete some task (diaper change, get dressed, eat, get your shoes on, get in your carseat, get out of your carseat, put away your toys, eat your dinner… and on and on)? I feel like an awful nag but that hour before and after work is so crammed. I so wish I could let him just play and explore!
I know he spends 10 hours at daycare playing so it’s not like he’s play-starved, but still. Working parent guilt I guess.
Mama Llama says
Yes! I feel this so hard. At every stage, even the tough ones, I have enjoyed playing with my kid. But all my time is spent forcing her to do stuff she doesn’t want to do, and it sucks.
anon in brooklyn says
This! And if it didn’t take so much dawdling time to do all of the necessary things, we would have time to play.
Anna says
+1000
Mama Llama says
Solidarity. People and books (The Spirited/Strong-Willed/Highly Sensitive/etc Child – I’ve read them all) always want to tell you to give choices, but that never worked for us at all. I tried to let go of any battles that weren’t health/safety related or necessary for our schedule. My kid slept in regular clothes for a year because she didn’t want PJs, and I didn’t think it was worth fighting about. She went through a phase of refusing to put on shoes, and so got carried into daycare with shoes in hand. There was a phase of her taking what felt like forever to pick books to read at bedtime, but she would scream if I tried to pick something to keep things moving. I’m not sure I ever found a good solution to that one, but it did pass eventually. Good luck.
OP says
Thanks so much all. That’s so helpful that it’s just this age. It’s infuriating but of course its not her fault but when i’m 6 weeks away from giving birth and am wiping the food of the floor that she threw for the 100000x day in a day, I just want to throw something as well lol.
SC says
I like to say that my kid is a very “out of the box” thinker. If you offer choices between A and B, he either says “no,” or picks C. His play therapist suggested telling him, “If you don’t choose, I’ll choose for you.” The first few times we chose an option he didn’t like, he had a big meltdown. We stayed firm and consistent, and he eventually understood that he had a limited opportunity to make a choice, and it’s gotten much better. Also, he’s not 2 anymore, so that undoubtedly helps.
Also, around that age, my kid hated getting dressed. It was a struggle every single day and night. He would bite and kick and hit and scratch to avoid getting dressed, and I had some of my worst parenting moments in that struggle. Eventually, I realized that getting dressed is a transition, and transitions are hard, and I had to give myself and him more time. Basically, however long you think it should take to get a child dressed, triple it. Also, this may not apply to your kid, but we realized my kid has sensory issues and responds aggressively when people “invade” his space (he can be snuggly and affectionate if he initiates physical contact). To handle getting dressed, I gave him a warning a few minutes before it was time. If he still refused to get dressed, I waited for him to be ready. He wasn’t allowed to play instead, but he would often lay down in his bed and snuggle with his lovey and self-soothe. I would just wait quietly next to him for a few minutes until he was ready. I had him do as much as possible by himself, even though it took longer, and then helped when he asked for help/invited me into his space. I sang a silly song for each piece of clothing. Typing it out, this sounds like a lot, but being patient often saved time instead of having a big meltdown about it, and we were all much happier and calmer. Oh, also, for a while, we did baths every night. It helped soothe him, and he was much more willing to put pajamas on when stepping out of the bath with no clothes on, so the whole bedtime routine was that much faster.
Anonymous says
My 23 month old just went through about a 1-2 week long stubborn streak that I think coincided with teething (she still only has seven front teeth in).
I’ve had pretty good success with telling her “We’re going to do x in a couple minutes,” and I say that as soon as it pops in my head. “I’m going to change your diaper in a couple minutes,” “We’re going to get your shoes on so we can go to school in a couple minutes,” etc. She doesn’t care for it but I follow through and the recent phase seems to have passed.
However, she does not like to sit at the table for dinner. We start with her at the table, try to feed her what we can, and then when she asks to get up about the second or third time, we let her get out of the seat and put her plate on the kids table so she can come and go and grab food. She is not allowed on anyone’s lap until that person is done eating. It’s not ideal but she does better out at restaurants and I am hopeful her patience will improve with time.
Your case definitely sounds like it could be a combination of the age and the flu.
Pogo says
I like the kids’ table idea! I’m worried about allowing the come and go as you please, but I’m thinking maybe letting him have his own special table might help.
I’m also so comforted reading these responses that at least I’m not alone in these struggles! Toddlers are wild.
Anon at 12:35 says
We don’t love the come and go, but it was turning into a struggle and my husband was getting upset that she wouldn’t stay at the table and she was getting upset and wouldn’t eat. I was worried it could lead to issues with food so I googled and it sounds pretty developmentally normal for kids to have short attention spans at dinner (not to mention smaller appetites–she eats more diverse food and better at daycare), so we’ve decided we’re going to try to model good habits for now and check in as we go if we have specific problems.
Biglaw Maternity Clothes says
Does anyone have a particular option for a black maternity dress that would pass with a blazer for “suit days”? I’ve tried ordering a couple things online but the quality has been really shabby. Willing to spend more for something that will work. Bonus if I don’t need to get in hemmed, but I’m 5’2″ and not holding me breath. I don’t live near anyplace that carries maternity options in store other than Target, and the pickings were slim at my location. Thanks!
Anonymous says
no rec but as a fellow 5’2″ lawyer, my unsolicited advice is not to hem anything! as the bump grows, the need to hem disappears. and then all those pricey maternity dresses you hemmed in the early days suddenly become too short for work. ask me how I know…
Anonymous says
This!!!
Anonanonanon says
It’s not 100% black, but was very good quality and worked throughout my pregnancy, and I wore it for a lot of “big” meetings with a blazer. https://www.destinationmaternity.com/isabella-oliver-laela-colorblock-maternity-dress/006-27134-000-001.html?cgid=sale-clothing-dresses&dwvar_006-27134-000-001_color=006-27134-01#sz=24&start=25
I’ve heard great things about their quality in general, but can only vouch for that specific dress since I owned it. Also I do not think you would need to get it hemmed
Anonymous says
I had a black dress from Isabelle Oliver made of some kind of ponte material that I wore with a blazer. It was a lot higher quality than most of the other maternity stuff I had — you get what you pay for I guess. It was clearly not a suit but looked like I had tried hard enough when I was in a context where other people were wearing suits. I am tall and liked the brand because I felt like they were some of the only ones that were tall enough as my belly got bigger, so YMMV.
Patty Mayonnaise says
Highly recommend Isabella Oliver. Not cheap, but very flattering and high-quality. So it may be worth it for something as versatile as a black dress.
IHeartBacon says
For court days (i.e., full suit), I either wore these Loft trousers with my regular black suit jackets from Ann Taylor: https://www.loft.com/petite-maternity-trousers/446320?skuId=23584730&defaultColor=2222&catid=cat1890004
Or this dress: https://m.shop.nordstrom.com/s/isabella-oliver-ellis-side-ruched-maternity-tank-dress/3953470?origin=category-personalizedsort&breadcrumb=Home%2FWomen%2FMaternity%2FDresses&color=persian%20bluednu
The dress is knit jersey so it’s pretty casual, but I would wear proper court shoes and made sure that my hair, makeup, and accessories were appropriately formal. Everyone could see my belly so no one ever gave me any flak or looked at me sideways.
The trousers made a proper suit, so nothing to worry about there.
rosie says
I liked this with a blazer (it’s knit jersey), or something very similar from the same brand. https://www.apeainthepod.com/side-ruched-maternity-dress–black/006-15667-02-XS.html It was a great item for me and I also bought it in a print from Macy’s.
Legally Brunette says
I highly recommend dresses from Seraphine. I love Isabella Oliver, but their dresses didn’t work for me at all. This is the dress I wore to court (with a blazer) when I was in Big Law. Thick fabric, super flattering.
https://www.seraphine.com/en-us/shift-dress.html
Here are two others that look great:
https://www.seraphine.com/en-us/prue-wrap-collar-bodycon-dress.html
https://www.seraphine.com/en-us/luxury-v-back-maternity-dress.html
shortperson says
isabella olivier dresses and rosie pope shirts got me through two biglaw pregnancies. and i got a real suit from pea in the pod but it was probably not necessary.
Anon says
Wishing I could fast forward to 8pm tonight. I have 9 month old twins. Yesterday my nanny texts me that Twin A is throwing up, so I put in a call to the pediatrician to find out what to do. While I’m on the phone with our nanny providing the instructions, Twin B starts throwing up and screaming in the background. I was supposed to go to a doc appointment after work, but cancel that to go home and help our nanny because she sounds like she really has her hands full. I get home, and both kids throwing up every 20 minutes or so and are soo soo miserable. And of course DH was out of town last night for work. Nanny had to leave to get her daughter, but offers to come back if I need her. Kids still sick and rather than risk having to take them out in the middle of the night, i decide to take them to evening hours at the pediatrician (thank goodness for those!). We literally gave away our frame stroller on Sunday bc we are switching them to convertible car seats later this week, so I lug both of them into the peds office in their infant seats. When the ped finishes evaluating them and I’m holding one screaming child who is beyond exhausted, i suddenly feel sick, hand her over to a nurse and then i proceed to get sick all over myself before I can make it to the sink in the exam room where I throw up a few more times. feel like i’m about to pass out, but fortunately don’t. then take two very overtired screaming babies to cvs to get them a prescription, get them home, pjs, meds and to bed. fortunately they slept pretty well last night considering, though i was up all night staring at the monitor each time one of them coughed making sure they hadn’t thrown up. DH (who was also throwing up his entire flight) will be home tonight, but not until after the kids go to bed.
Mama Llama says
I wish I could give you a hug. You deserve a g-d medal for this.
Anon says
Omg!! That’s the woooorst. You handled it so well!
Anonanonanon says
I’m so, so sorry. I ended up as a single parent with my first, and one of the worst memories is us having a horrific stomach virus (It was probably noro) at the same time. I can’t imagine with two babies!
Luckily my son loved the bathtub. I had a bathseat installed in the bathtub for him, and I sat him the bath with every toy and container I could think of. I was close to the toilet (which was needed) and he could play in the water, then when he threw up I would rinse him off, drain, and refill the tub. It bought me like 2 precious hours that day. I could also lay my head on the cold side of the tub (while looking at him, of course, since he was in the tub) which felt nice while I was sick. I had forgotten about that until now!
OP says
This actually sounds way worse than my situation yesterday. I got ‘lucky’ in that majority of the throwing up and cleaning up happened before I got home, so the nanny had to deal with hit. By the time I got home they were still throwing up, but didn’t have much left in their teeny bodies so there wasn’t as much mess. And my own sickness happened at the peds office/once the babies were asleep.
Pogo says
This is… brilliant. If I am ever in a co-puking situation this is what I will do. Heck even if I’m not puking, it’s better than trying to follow a toddler around with a bucket and yelling “in the bucket!! in the bucket!!!” as soon as he starts retching.
Anonymous says
This is literally the worst. Stomach flu is terrible with one baby so I can’t even imagine with two.
Boston Legal Eagle says
Oh man, that sounds awful. You are a superstar for handling that by yourself! I hope you get some much needed rest tonight. And this probably isn’t much consolation now, but hopefully one day you’ll remember this and laugh at the sheer madness of it all.
Emily S. says
You are a rock star. Hope you get some sleep and that everyone feels better soon!
avocado says
You are amazing. Hang in there! Wishing you a speedy recovery and all the Zofran.
lsw says
OMG, I am so so sorry! You are amazing.
Anonymous says
Seconding everyone else that you are a hero!
Ms B says
You have ALLLLLLLL my sympathy. Hope everyone gets better soon!
Pogo says
You’re an f-ing champion. That is my worst nightmare. Definitely go to bed ASAP!
So Anon says
Oh I’m so sorry! That sounds miserable and you are an absolute rock star.
When my ex was away a few years ago, I had my then 2 year old sleeping next to me because she wasn’t feeling well. She was still tiny enough that when she started crying in our bed, I picked her up, held her over my head and asked what was wrong. She then puked down onto my face, my hair, my pillow, etc. So we took a shower at 2am. I still shudder thinking about it! Hang in there and do whatever you need to do to make it through!!!
Lana Del Raygun says
I’m so sorry, that sounds absolutely terrible.
Also terrible: if you can muster the energy, I really recommend cleaning up with bleach, because you can re-infect yourself with a lot of stomach viruses. :(
Anon says
No, you won’t, that’s an urban legend. A healthy body builds immunity to any virus you have, and once you’ve fought it off you won’t reinfect yourself. Immunity is not terribly long-lasting for the norovirus, it’s possible that if it spends a long time going around your community, you can get the same virus twice in one year (although it’s still probably more likely you got two different viruses, there are hundreds of them). But you absolutely can’t reinfect yourself a week later because you didn’t scrub your floors thoroughly. It’s also way harder to remove every trace of virus from your house than it is to wash your hands before eating or preparing food. Source: family member is a CDC immunologist who has never cleaned with bleach, but swears by frequent handwashing
Feels like Monday says
My paralegal just informed me my dress has a hole in the back. Confirmed in the bathroom that it is splitting along the seam. Trying not to buy clothes because we’re TTC, but was planning to wear this dress to 2 events next month. Dear Nordstrom, please take all my money and pray something fits my cusp-sized, gained back every single pound I lost when I was BFing self.
Anonymous says
Ugh, how frustrating. This reminds me of the time I was wearing a skirt made up of several panels attached by long vertical seams. One day at work, several of the seams began to split at the same time. I did the best I could to staple the holes back together on the reverse side, then tried to remain seated at my desk for the rest of the day.
shortperson says
bring it to a tailor!
Anonymous says
If it’s along the seam it should be an easy repair, right? No need to buy something new if you don’t want to.
Feels like Monday says
Given the type of fabric, I expect it is not repairable. The fabric itself is shredding along the seam, not the seam itself.