Nursing/Postpartum Tuesday: Pullover One-Button-Closure Nursing Top

Sigh. Employment law friends HMU. My daughter (5 months today!) was diagnosed with leukemia a few months ago, while I was still on maternity leave. I used all my FMLA time while on maternity leave. Went back to work February 1. I recently transitioned from FT to PT (spending 3 days a week at work, 4 at hospital. Husband has plenty of PTO so he’s doing the other days @ hospital.) My company requires 25 hours/week to be benefits eligible, so that’s what I’m doing. (We can get insurance thru husband’s company but I don’t want to switch insurance companies right now since we were just approved for a treatment.) We’re getting ready to do a treatment where I’ll need to be at the hospital every day and I won’t have the bandwidth for work. (Can’t do remote work since I’m PT.) My company offers 30 day unpaid leave (pay premiums upon return), and my team is offering to give me another 10 days vacation. If I don’t return after 30 days, I don’t have my job back and have to pay all the premiums @ 100%. Totally fine. Truthfully there is a chance of complications where I might have to take additional time after the 30 d + 10 d are up. I don’t have my wits about me right now, so what do I need to do to protect myself (if anything?)

my nanny’s 9 year old daughter is coming to work with her this week due to spring break. it occurred to me after she came yesterday that maybe i should have had some little gift for her or something to make her feel welcome or is that unnecessary because i am the employer? when people bring their kids to work at my office my director obviously doesn’t give them little gifts, but i guess i was thinking back to how my mom always had a little gift (stickers, a book, etc) when we had out of town visitors or something with kids over for dinner to make them feel welcome [this was at a stage once my sister and i were adults and so these visiting kids were the only kids there]

I need some advice on helping a baby sleep in a crib. My baby is almost 6 months old. She easily falls asleep for naps in her swing, but now her daycare is not allowing babies to sleep in swings (it’s a licensing violation in our state, and they were called out on it). I feel like we need to move her past this phase anyways, especially if some consider it to be an unsafe sleep position (my pediatrician said sleeping in a swing was fine, though, which is why we have done this for so long).

She sleeps at night in her crib, but naps have been a different story. She can fall asleep in her swing even when it’s not moving, so I think it’s just the close, cuddly environment and association that helps her get into sleep mode. Sometimes we’ve used the swing to help her fall asleep at night if she’s having trouble sleeping and crying (and then later move her to the crib when she’s asleep), but I’d like to help her learn to fall asleep in her crib night and day more regularly.

Has anyone else had this issue? Any books to recommend on helping babies fall to sleep? I’m open to crying it out in theory, but know it would be really difficult for me to implement on an emotional level and wonder if there are other methods out there or what would be appropriate. I’m not sure what to expect of a 6 month old baby in terms of falling asleep. Thanks for any advice you can share!

I have a question about branded/character clothes. I have heard women on this s*te say that they don’t put their kids in character clothes, and I remember before kiddo was born that I thought maybe I wouldn’t either. But now I legit can’t remember why. Is it just an “ugh, capitalism?” thing? (I can def. empathize with that, but on this front something-she-will-deign-to-wear > attempted-ethical-consumption, for me.)

Is there a galoshes alternative? My kiddo won’t wear wellies (he just cries and cries and won’t walk) and is coming home from nursery with wet shoes everyday. A note from his nursery diary: ‘Wellies have many advantages but sometimes it’s good to feel what a puddle is all about – wet!’ He’s in Jack and Lilly leather sneakers which are fine in the rain but not when your kid just jumps directly in the mud puddles. Some sort of duck boot? We’re in Scotland so puddles are a year round reality of life.

Hello wonderful ladies! I’m throwing a party for my husband (lunch time event) and there will be both kids and adults, about 50 people total. The children have an adjoining room next to the party room where there will be a magician doing an hour long show in the middle of hte party. I have also hired two sitters to keep an eye on them so the adults can mingle and have fun.

Aside from the magician, what other activities can I provide to keep the kids engaged (aka: not running around crazy)? This is inside, no outdoor space. Kids will range from 4 – 12 or so. I was thinking of bringing a bunch of legos, puzzles, board games, coloring books, etc. from home but I’d love some other creative ideas.

There is a place in town where you can rent small kids’ activities that you can set up in a room like a very small putt putt course, etc. Is this a good idea or ideas on other things to potentially rent that go over well with kids of all ages?

Thanks!

Any suggestions for size 18 maternity dresses that are at least kind of business formal? Thanks!