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These pants look like a wardrobe staple for your pregnancy. They’re skinny, ponte, and machine washable. When I was pregnant, I preferred over-the-belly pants, but I also was pregnant in the winter months when I didn’t mind the extra layer. For summer, I can see the under-belly version being cooler. I buy 99.9% of my regular clothing on sale, and the good news is that these happen to be on sale at Macy’s, down to $54.97 from the original price of $78. I really liked Macy’s for maternity clothes because of the abundance of sales/stackable coupons. The pants, which are from A Pea in the Pod, are available in black (almost sold out), charcoal, and navy. Skinny Ponte Maternity Pants
Kohl’s has an option in sizes 1X–3X that’s on clearance for $20 with an additional 20% off.
Building a maternity wardrobe for work? Check out our page with more suggestions along both classic and trendy/seasonal lines.
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!
Sales of note for 3.28.24
(See all of the latest workwear sales at Corporette!)
- Ann Taylor – Up to 40% off your full-price purchase; extra 50% off sale
- Banana Republic Factory – 50-70% off everything plus extra 20% off purchase
- Eloquii – 50% off 2+ items; 40% off 1
- J.Crew – 50% off select styles
- Lands’ End – 10% off your order
- Loft – 50% off everything
- Nordstrom: Give $150 in gift cards, earn a $25 promo card (ends 3/31)
- Talbots – 40% off 1 item; 25% off everything else
- Zappos – 37,000+ 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 – 50% off entire site
- Hanna Andersson – 30% off all swim; up to 30% off HannaJams
- J.Crew Crewcuts – 40% off sitewide; 50% off select swim; 50% off kids’ styles
- Old Navy – 50% off Easter deals
- Target – 20% off Easter styles for all; up to 30% off kitchen & dining; BOGO 50% off shoes & slippers for the family;
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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?
Anonymous says
FTM here. My son is 8 months and just won’t eat solids. We’ve tried purées, finger foods, etc and nothing. He either spits out the food or just won’t open his mouth. Pediatrician is not concerned yet, she just said to keep working with him and trying different foods. We are following her advice, just looking for any stories if anyone else experienced the same? Will he just want to start eating solids one day out of the blue?
Clementine says
So, my experience is that some people are able to give solids really early (like 4-6 months) but many kids aren’t really into it until like 7 months or later.
And yes, kids often do just one day out of the blue start eating something. For my kid it was strips of red bell pepper off a salad bar (we were on vacation) suddenly, gumming those was the BEST THING EVER. Just keep offering. 8 months is still pretty little!
Anon says
I know multiple kids who refused solids and then just one day decided they were great and couldn’t get enough of them. I’d keep offering finger foods (just something easy like cheerios or puffs) but maybe back off on trying to spoon feed him things if he’s not interested. Also, if you ever eat in front of him, that can sometimes inspire babies to want what you have.
Anonymous says
I have heard this anecdotally from people (in real life). Kids aren’t too interested until 8/9 months. Just keep offering foods at your mealtimes. Maybe revisit at the 9 month appointment. There is such thing as “feeding therapy” if your kid ever needs it, but chances are they won’t!
Anon says
Mine ate solids but didn’t seem to really have much of an appetite until 9-10 months. We had been giving him fruit in those mesh feeder things but until that time he’d turn it around and eat the handle. :) The only thing he had ever expressed interest around 8 months was eating pizza! We’d give him crusts to chew on.
Anon says
Oh and I should add that he didn’t really even eat solids when fed until he was at daycare. I think it was the peer pressure that did it.
Anon says
We started (at 6 mo) with puffs on the high chair tray table. Let kiddo pick them up at her own pace. It may take them some time to actually put them in their mouths, but at least for her, being in control of it opened the door. We also had to use two spoons for a while, one for her and one for us. Another first food was oatmeal mixed with breastmilk with some (warmed to thin it out) peanut butter (obviously we tried the oatmeal by itself first for allergy reasons).
Anon says
i have twins. one would very happily open her mouth for purees, while the other not so much. we started around 6 months and it was probably around 9 months when my other one started eating. our ped also wasn’t concerned, even though it was my smaller twin who wasn’t eating. we ended up getting some of those teether mesh things that you can put fruit inside, which she was able to pick up herself and she liked those. i think for us, she had to be coordinated enough to feed herself bc she did not like being fed, but she couldn’t really do that at 6 months.
No Face says
My first was like this. She just did not like the sensation of food in her mouth! She didn’t accept purees until she was one, and refused any actual solid until much, much later. She was and is a healthy kid who gained weight appropriately, so I did not see this as a problem. Think of offering food as just introducing baby to the concept. He or she will eat eventually.
As am aside, my first has generally taken this approach to all milestones. She will do what she wants when she wants, and not a moment before. I’ve learned to go with the flow.
Beth says
My older daughter didn’t really eat solids until maybe 14 months. I distinctly remember that she didn’t eat any cake on her first birthday. Today she’s 8 and eats everything. She was always a slow eater and still is, but doesn’t have any issues.
Anon Teacher says
I am the high school teacher who posted last week about my school just going back as normal and no masks (rural midwest). I just got more details and this post is more about my daughter. My daughter will be in first grade. For the elementary, no masks, lunch in cafeteria as normal, and recess as normal (this part only concerns me when it is inside, because the kids are all packed in a gym). The school will have a room that students can go to if they have covid symptoms (!!). If we don’t want the in-class option, she can stay home and do teacher-created elearning. Because it is a low population area, the entire district is in one building–so while the elementary is small, K-12 is in one building–about 1,000 people total. The town is rural, but has a bunch of tourist attractions and most students work at the tourist places.
I’m not optimistic the elearning will be great–especially since teachers will have to create in-class lesson plans and elearning (who has time for that??!). Regardless, my daughter hated elearning last spring. My daughter was also really, really looking forward to having the teacher she has been assigned. But, my other child is watched by my in-laws who are 67 and 81–and the younger in-law has some pre-existing health conditions. My in-laws have told me they would prefer to homeschool my daughter than be exposed to her germs from school. I may be able to work something out with the teacher that I could do a lot of my own created materials for the elearning instead–legally she isn’t even required to be in school at her age, so that would at least keep the state funding for her with the school even if I’m technically homeschooling her. Obviously, my girls will be in contact with me since I have to be at school and no masks, but at least I have more control over how I wash/sanitize throughout the day and I plan on wearing a face shield
So…what would you do? We have a low infection rate here so far and while we have been cautious, I don’t think extremely so (though, for the area, yes–no one here is cautious!). I would have been happy if they had required masks at school–I would have been ok if they had just kept each classroom isolated (so no cafeteria/combined recess)–but I’m not okay with doing nothing, especially since there are a lot of teachers at the school who think it’s a hoax, so this just emboldens them to follow unsafe practices.
I’ll be talking to our doctor about this too for advice. I just feel like both options are terrible. And thank you for listening. I feel like I can’t publically post about this because I work for the school.
Anonymous says
Given your reliance on your in-laws for child care, and your description of the political environment and the school’s plan, I’d definitely keep her home.
I wouldn’t try to work out an informal deal with the teacher to replace her e-learning materials with yours. That could go wrong in a thousand different ways. I’d either officially homeschool or keep her registered and supplement the school’s e-learning with your own materials.
Anon says
Have you voiced your concerns to the administration? Plans may not be set in stone yet, and other parents may feel the same way you do.
Anon says
I would send her to school. It sounds like your in-laws only watch your youngest, so the exposure would have to be kid to Daughter to Youngest to in-laws? The data thus far on child-based transmission seems to indicate low risks of children spreading it, and your in-laws’ exposure would depend on three child-based transmissions. I would think this isn’t much higher than the risk of exposure from you going into work and then going to your in-laws to pick up Youngest.
Especially for those younger grades, I plan to err on in-person as much as I can given the disaster of elearning from the Spring. At least at my house, my kids could not sit still long enough to get much academic benefit out of the elearning, and are clearly not gaining any social benefits either.
NYCer says
With the caveat that everyone has to do what they are comfortable with, I would send my first grader to school too if I were you.
Anonymous says
I would send my child to school. Also (and I know this is a minority view here), I am opposed to requiring children that age wear masks all day every day. If you need different child care, I’d find something different. But I think the folks above make good points about the risk of transmission.
Anonymous says
Why are people opposed to having 6-year-olds wear masks? I can see why some people worry about 2-year-olds not being able to practice proper mask hygiene, but by first grade they should be able to wear masks properly. There is mounting evidence that masks really do prevent contagious people from spreading the virus to others.
Anonymous says
Because they’re uncomfortable for long stretches of time. I don’t think it is reasonable to ask children that age to handle that along with all of the other demands of school. Also, are these studies specific to young children?
Anonymous says
Adding that I understand that it may depend a lot on where you live. I don’t live in a densely populated area. I, too, am in the Midwest in a rural area, but less rural than the OP (about 23,000). Although I’m not in a densely populated area, we were hard hit in April/May with outbreaks at several meat packing plants within 25 miles of here. I just don’t see masks happening in classrooms of young kids in rural areas, and I’m okay with that risk. I’m not set in my ways – I could eat my words in 4 months if it is clear that masks in a first grade classroom keep the kids in school.
Anonymous says
If full time in-person school is an option at my kids’ public elementary school next year, we will take it. I couldn’t care less whether the kids wear masks all day in the classroom or not, but if that is what’s needed to make teachers and other parents feel comfortable, I am happy to make my kids a full mask wardrobe.
Anonymous says
I’m in a weird spot right now in that I have an unofficial offer from a govt agency, but I’m waiting to receive (and accept) a final official offer to tell my current firm. The agency said it could be 2-3 more weeks. In the meantime, I’d like to take a few days off, but will this be frowned upon once I give notice?
Anonymous says
If you took a few days off, came back, and then gave notice soon after, I’d assume you’d been out interviewing for the position. This is totally normal.
Anonymous says
I’d take the time now. My firm won’t let you take vacation after you’ve given notice
TheElms says
Do 32-33 inch tall toddlers fit in pack n plays? We never bought one but are contemplating travel to see my parents this summer and so we will need something for kiddo to sleep in. Kiddo will be about 15 months at the time we go. But I see the height limit on the Pack n Play is 35 inches. Will kiddo fit? And even if kiddo fits this summer, I assume that within 3-6 months it would be outgrown (based on the 35 inch limit and the fact kiddo is growing about 0.5 to 0.75 inch a month). Is there something that would be a better investment / fit her longer? Googling I found the KidCo Peapod Plus and the Joovy Glow Large which look like they fit taller toddlers. Has anyone used these and have thoughts you could share?
Anon says
We put my 2.5 yo 35″ twins in pack-n-plays last summer and they didn’t complain about it. If they stretched out their heads would bump into the edges, but they usually sleep curled up or diagonal. We stopped using them shortly thereafter, though, and switched to toddler cots or sleeping bags on the floor, so you’re right that it wouldn’t last that long.
Anonymous says
You could consider one of those toddler air mattresses that has the bumper around it. But I’d probably get a pack and play so kiddo couldn’t get out of it at that age. If you think your parents will have further younger grandchildren, you could always leave it at their house for others so you don’t have to store it. Our kiddo slept in hers until about three on a diagonal. We had a thicker mattress for it from Amazon.
Anonymous says
How old is she, and can she climb out of the crib?
TheElms says
She’s 13 months now (31.75 ish inches tall) and will be 15 months when we travel. She is trying to climb out of her crib now (and she’s in a sleep sack) but she’s not getting anywhere (thank goodness!)
Anonymous says
I would definitely put a 15 month old of any size in a pack n play. It’s also likely the baby will slow down in growth between now and 15 months. 35” is very, very tall for 15 months (and mine are over 99th percentile height). I don’t think I knew about the height limit, which may exist for a reason, but we kept using a pack n play for travel until kiddo was closer to 3 and Over 40”.
octagon says
I just checked kiddo’s history and he was 32.5″ at 13 months (super tall). We used a pack and play until after age 2 and he never tried to climb out. I think it depends in part how your kid sleeps — mine always curled up into a little ball, so there weren’t any space issues. If your kid is a starfish it might be a different story.
TheElms says
She does everything from the face down little ball with bum in the air to splayed out starfish … kids are so weird :) I did more Googling and it looks like the BabyBjorn and Guava Lotus are both a tad longer (and more expensive) but that might be a good option to get her more comfortably to 2 1/2 in a crib type thing.
Clementine says
HIGHLY endorse the Guava Lotus.
Anon says
I also love our Lotus and it is longer/narrower than our Graco pnps, but I wouldn’t endorse spending the $200 on it just for this one trip. If you’re likely to use it at your parents again in the future, sure!
TheElms says
I might be able to get one second hand, or I could sell it reasonably easily where I live or hand it down to another family member. We’re also still on the fence about baby 2. (We were one and done, but now we aren’t so sure.)
Ms B says
This is exactly what the Phil and Ted Traveller or a Peapod is good for. Once The Kid reached the climbing stage, we just unzipped the side and he would scoot out.
PSA – We looooooved our Traveller (especially because it was so light and packed so small) but watch the YouTube video and practice assembling it a couple times before you go on the road. You do not want to try to put it together for the first time at bedtime!
Spirograph says
In my experience, the limiting factor for a pack and play is not the height of the child, but how adept the child is at escaping it. My kids were perfectly happy to sleep in a pack n play long after they were “too tall” and able to get in and out of it, but obviously there comes a point when you can’t count on it as a containment device.
Ashley says
We bought the Joovy Gloo large around 18 months for height reasons. FWIW, it zips from the outside so does have some potential for containment if you are worried about that aspect.
anon says
It’s too soon (and optimistic) to be thinking about this, but I’m likely going to purchase my 5-year-old’s kindergarten backpack soon. Any thoughts on how many years I might get out of the PBKids small Mackenzie style? When I bought my older kid’s backpack, I bought LLBean. It’s held up great but is definitely getting small for him, so I guess I’ve given up on the idea of a pack lasting most of elementary school. :)
Emily S. says
What about handing down the LL Bean bag and getting the older kid a new, bigger backpack? Our PBK backpack showed it’s age after a few years, so I bought my pre-K-er a LL Bean bag for Pre-K and K and gave the toddler the PBK to take to daycare. I was hoping the LL Bean bag would last through at least 1st grade!
Anon says
What size LLBean did you get for preK?
Emily S. says
The Jr. Original.
Anonymous says
My 3 year old (the size of a 6 year old) uses the junior one (and used it last year as well). She probably has a few more years with it (likely K).
anon says
I bought a PBKids small Mckenzie backpack for each of my kids when they started kindergarten and then an LLBean one (with the idea that it will last through middle school, but we’ll see). The backpack held up ok for my two boys through the end of 2nd grade (although I didn’t buy the LL Bean one until beginning of 4th grade because I’m indecisive), but my daughter’s was showing wear by the end of kindergarten, so I just replaced it (end of 1st grade). The small McKenzie definitely was not big enough for 4th grade. I think they just grow too much to buy one backpack for elementary school.
anon says
OP here. I guess I’d be OK with getting 2-3 years out of the first pack. I bought my older kid an original bookpack from LLBean, with the theory that it would last all of elementary school. Technically it has, but it was replaced after in third grade because the zipper broke at the worst possible time. Even on the new one, he is constantly having trouble with the zipper getting caught on the fabric flap (so have I), so not sure I’d get that one again.
Lana Del Raygun says
Y’all I gave my toddler bangs and she looks like a medieval peasant and/or tonsured monk, but also … it’s totally growing on me and I love it???? Am I losing it?
Anon says
Hah – we’re using this to grow out my toddler’s bangs. She has super curly hair so it’s taking forever (they are chin length wet but cheekbone dry.
Anonanonanon says
HAHAHAHAHAHAAH!!!
oh man I enjoyed that.
JadedSnail says
Your description is pure gold!
Backyard Toys says
We are finally moving to a house with our own, real yard! Especially now that playgrounds are closed (in our area) I am super eager to get some things to make our yard more engaging. We have a 2.5 year old and a baby. Tell me about what you would get for your yard or what your kids have loved! Things I’ve been mulling over – but wouldn’t get all of:
Full-on swingset with a fort type thing – if you recommend this, any vendors or specifications I should be looking for to make this fun for her to play with for a long time?
Little house (ground level)
Sprinkler – I think she might be afraid of this? Any less-forceful type options?
Water table and/or mud kitchen
Anything else?
We already have outdoor toys like a balance bike, balls, etc, that we take to the park. New home will have fenced-in yard and a deck.
Thank you!!
Anon says
Depending on the temperament of your kids, we have had the most success with just letting them dig. If you have a space that you are willing to sacrifice in the name of digging, we just allow them to take some of the excess of indoor toys (from grandparents) and allow them to become outdoor toys. They love just having random shovels, buckets, trucks, and even old kitchen tools outside. I’d love a swing set but am afraid the novelty would wear off. Sprinklers are fun! We also just fill buckets with water and use water sprayers that were $3 at Target… Congratulations on the new home!!
ElisaR says
digging. my boys heart digging. 2.5 yrs old and 4 yrs old. it’s all they want to do. they each have a gardening bag that has little shovel, little rakey thing and little hoe. they LOVE to dig.
Anonymous says
Yes. 5 year old and 22 month old here and all they want to do is dig. They have a corner behind some trees where they can dig as much as they want.
Anon says
We have a mud kitchen and a slide, both of which are used daily. The awesome thing about them is that they don’t required parental supervision for the just-turned 3yo. The sprinkler/wading pool/water table only come out when it’s hot and a parent is dedicated to sitting out in the backyard with them.
What we’ve been especially missing during covid is something to climb on, so a swingset would be good for that, but I also know that my kids would just want to be pushed on the swings alllll the time.
Cate says
all of the above except swingset with fort thing eliminates need for little house (ground level). We use our backyard sooo much and you are going to get years of use! Our playset is from treefrogs (I’m in Texas) and has been worth its weight in gold. You could also get a smaller one to start – step2 or one of those that even has swings – and then go for a bigger one when kids a little older – the big one will feel pretty big to you right now, so i’d probably recommend that. We like our water table and sprinkler too!
Anonymous says
We have a 2yo and 4yo. We have a sandbox, a full-on fort play set thing, and tons of outdoor toys. I asked me 4yo and he said to tell you to get the fort swing set because he’s “the boss and tells people to get swing sets.” So there you go!
We have had ours about six months and the kids play on it. They do also love digging in the yard (both love construction trucks/diggers), which we let them do because we consider the backyard theirs. For us, it gets less use in the summer (playgrounds just reopened here and we do a lot of bike/scooter rides and walks), but is a lifesaver in the winter. The kids liked being able to pop out and swing or slide a little, then pop back in to warm up.
We don’t have a little house but they like the house-like area under their play set. We got ours from a local place. I am not sure what they’re reselling but we looked at a lot before picking one. The only ones we didn’t like were the assemble them yourself ones. Rainbow and all the similar ones seemed roughly the same.
We have a sprinkler and they’re not afraid of it, but the older one hates that the water is cold (we live in the upper Midwest).
Anonymous says
LOL I appreciate your 4 year old’s recommendation :)
Emily S. says
Our kids are 5 and 2.5, and we’ve had a Gorilla playset for a year. It gets used daily in spring and summer and frequently in fall and winter. It has a rope ladder, a rock climbing wall, a slide, and three slots for swings. It seemed a bit high/big for the kids when we bought it, but we wanted them to be able to use if for many years, not just 2 summers. We have also enjoyed the mulched area we put it — less grass to mow!
We also have a B.Toys whale sprinkler attachment that it is meh and two inflatable pools, a smaller pirate pool with a slide and a larger rectangle pool. The pools get a lot of use in the summer! (We don’t belong to a pool.) In the past, we had a hard plastic baby pool and a smaller round mini pool.
avocado says
With sprinklers, we found that the kind designed for watering lawns (stationary or fan-style oscillating, not rotating) were more fun than the ones marketed for kids’ play. The squirty mat and the wiggly sprinkler with a million hoses and the inflatable sprinkler all sprayed very weakly.
If you have the space and budget, I’d vote for a tree platform (or a raised fort if you don’t have a suitable tree) over a big swingset. A tree platform will be used well into the teen years. If you build it big enough, they can even pitch a small tent on it and have sleepovers out there. With a 2.5-year-old and an infant, I’d get a small cheap climbing structure for now and build the tree platform in about 2 years.
fallen says
my kids (2 and 7) absolutely love the little tikes basketball hoop
Anonymous says
Thanks! I totally forgot about these but she does love to fawn over the next-door neighbor playing basketball (he is a much older teen so on a different level but I still think she’d like to imitate with her own hoop).
Anon says
I have an almost 3 year old. She loves her swingset (has 4 swings – infant, toddler, regular and seesaw), a ladder and slide and a little fort like thing (two stories, top is for slide, but has a roof and a wheel and a spyglass, under is like a house). It came with our house (so at least 5 years old – my guess would be closer to 10 years old). Brand is Creative Playthings and it is stained wood – we have very aggressive woodpeckers and carpenter ants, so I think we are going to need to replace it in the next few years given the current state – also fairly certain the previous owners did not maintain it like a wood set needs to be maintained. When we replace, I will go for metal or resin so it doesn’t have the maintenance aspect and is more resistant to our particular wildlife. My prime complaint is that she needs to be pushed on the swing, so it’s not the supervision-light activity I was hoping for (maybe in another year)…
Other popular outdoor toys: chalk, water table, all the balls (full size kick ball, mini kickball, soccer ball, etc.), kids pool, kid-specific sprinkler (it’s plastic, designed for kids, not scary at all like the lawn sprinkler I mistakenly put out at a kids party my first time….). If you have a deck, paintbrushes and water to “paint” the wood might be fun. See also (free): leaves, sticks, rocks, more rocks, frogs, and more rocks.
NYCer says
If you don’t have an actual pool, my toddler LOVES her toddler pool. It is just a cheap-y plastic one from Rite Aid, but it provides lots of entertainment.
Walnut says
We have alllll the things. Swings, trampoline and riding toys are the biggest hits. Costco supplies the swing set/fort and we paid for them to install it.
Anonymous says
We don’t have any large or permanent play structures in our backyard, but my 5-year-old still enjoys the toddler pool–he knows how to blow it up with the electric pump and fill it up with the hose now, and I think that’s half the fun. We also have a beach ball sprinkler that’s really fun–you can fill up the bottom so it stays in place or let it roll around. You can moderate the force of water, so it wouldn’t be scary.
In house lobbyist says
My kids are 10 and 7 and they still love a swing. Nothing fancy but they swing everyday. And a sandbox. They still play in the sandbox all the time. Its not a formal sandbox but was where the owners had an above ground pool (right off the deck) and we had a 2 year old when we moved it so it came down. And you need shade from trees or a canopy. Even if they routinely fall out of love with a swing set, when other kids come over, it will be a hit. My husband built each is them their one fort/fairy house but it’s still the swings that everyone comes back to.
Anon says
Please help me! My 7 month old will not nap independently for more than 20-30 minutes max. Typically, we rock and pat him until he falls asleep and then set him down in his crib. We use a sound machine, blackout curtains, make sure he’s fed and it’s not too warm or cold. We tried letting him cry when he woke up, we’ve tried putting him down awake–both result in screaming for at least 20 min (that’s the longest we let him cry before giving up). He is sleep trained for night sleep and that’s going well, maybe cries a few nights a week for no more than 15 minutes, and then sometimes wakes up once at night to be fed. How do we get him to nap? What are we doing wrong? Work from home is already hard, but the nap thing makes it unbelievably frustrating and we feel like we are losing our minds!
Anon says
My kids were amazing night sleepers but horrible at napping until around 12 months. We did lots of naps in bouncers–rock baby with a foot until they fall asleep and then stay near in them (working, in your case) so that you can keep an eye on them. Not AAP recommended, but a lifesaver for us.
octagon says
Similar here. My kid did not nap predictably until he was both walking and eating solids, right about a year. He slept soundly overnight, so that helped. Some kids just have too much FOMO during the day – mine did.
Anonymous says
I would do the cry it out for longer at naptime. Sometimes it takes my kid 30 mins to settle down for a nap. Does he need to transition to two naps instead of 3? We follow the 2/3/4 rule. First nap is 2 hours after wake up, second nap is 3 hours after that wake up, bedtime is 4 hours after the second nap wake up. If it helps, i have found that naps get much much more reliable as the baby gets closer to one.
GCA says
A few thoughts:
– Is this a new development? Could he be getting ready to crawl, pull up etc?
– Does he need to drop a nap?
– Does he go down/ back to sleep on his own at night? (It wasn’t super clear if ‘sleep trained’ included letting him fall asleep on his own, going back to sleep after night wakeups, or both.) If not, maybe he needs more practice there? Or, lean in to it and wear him to sleep/ walk him to sleep?
– Some kids are just terrible nappers but good night sleepers…I’m sorry! Both my kids would not nap longer than 20-45 minutes at a go at that age, often on a parent, but once they went to one nap they would nap for at least 1-2 hours.
Anon says
Is he tired enough? If he’s taking two naps I’d give it a good 4 hours of awake time before attempting to put him down.
Anon says
My kid is an amazing night sleeper but terrible napper. I think he gets so much good sleep at night that he just doesn’t need it as much during the day, and frankly, that’s a tradeoff I can take.
Is the same thing going on with yours? Does he need to nap in his crib? I just put my baby (age 5 months) on the play mat and let him play with his toys, and he’ll randomly conk out for a half hour at a time.
Anonny says
Any recommendations for keeping kids in car seats cool? We have an old Prius and the AC just doesn’t reach back there. We live in the South and our summers are sweltering. One forward facing, one rear facing, if that matters. We tried using a small clip fan but it seems to just blow hot air around and doesn’t really do much. Is there a car seat ice pack or something I could buy?
anon says
Look up a nozzle. I think that’s the right word.
same anon says
Sorry noggle! https://www.amazon.com/Noggle-Backseat-Conditioning-Comfortable-Traveling/dp/B00LXT23RA
Anon says
Noggle to direct ac to the kid, but there are also ice packs you can put in their seats before they get in to cool it down a bit.
Mintra says
This is one of the reasons we decided to replace my husband’s car with a large SUV w/ sun shades and back vents. When in my smaller car, I just blast the AC and give kiddo some ice in his sippy drink. For longer rides on hot days, we take the newer, larger car that has the back vents.
Anon says
4 year old is going back to preschool next week. For the last 3 months, she’s been watching like 3-4 hours of videos a day so that we can get work done. She loves her school but is not happy about going back due to the pending loss of daily video marathons! How have others helped this transition? Cold turkey?
Anonymous says
Yup, cold turkey. She’ll be fine.
AnotherAnon says
Yes, 100% go cold turkey. This was us with our 3 year old a few weeks ago. I also got permission from day care teacher to blame it on her: “Sorry. Mrs Bird said no tv.” If she’s like my kid, she will be exhausted after school anyway and will likely forget. We enforce minimal tv on weekends but that’s because my kid tantrums the more tv he has.
anon says
Yep, cold turkey.
Anonymous says
We did cold turkey and it worked fine. Both watch no tv or almost no tv on daycare days, which is back to normal for us. And I love it! Sending them back was the best for them and for us.
Paging Realist says
Junior Associate responding late to your comment on Thursday — Larry Gonick’s cartoons actually seem more suitable for precocious upper elementary (3rd grade+) or middle / high schoolers or even adults, since there are a lot of big words or concepts that come up as well as comic satire that might be lost on younger readers. In hindsight I think I had a different set of cartoon books (can’t remember the name) explaining basic concepts and only read Gonick’s books towards middle or high school. But of course this would depend on the kid I remember – one of my closest friends delved into similar books and was spinning fantasy fiction based on ancient and medieval European history by second or third grade.
The Horrible Science (I think the series also has some books on history or civilization under a different series name) books might be a better fit for younger readers in general
Realist says
That makes sense. Thank you!
Anonanonanon says
Received ours over the weekend- they look great but 100% agree, I would say upper elementary at the earliest, and even then I think some of the “jokes” will be lost on my kid. I’m putting aside the Biology one because it is definitely too advanced, but the Environment one and Vols 1-7 of the history of the universe look good for him!
GCA says
I missed this last week, but definitely remember reading and enjoying some of the Gonick books (physics, genetics) in middle school. The humor in Horrible Science/ Histories will appeal to younger readers. For the pre-K set, my 5yo is currently enjoying a series called ‘100 facts about…[spiders, penguins, etc*]’ by Miles Kelly Publishing.
* But avoid the history ones. I looked in the ‘100 Facts about Explorers’ and basically all 100 of them were about white men – never mind that the Polynesians had a long history of Pacific exploration or that a Ming Dynasty Chinese explorer visited East Africa in the 15th century! So, um, some gaps.
Alanna of Trebond says
Has anyone tried Yumi foods for babies? I keep getting Instagram ads for them, and they seem to be a good option when we cannot puree our own food. I would appreciate any thoughts from anyone who has used them.
fallen says
We didn’t try Yumi but we loved one of their competitors, nurture life. we also did a combo of making our own food and using a food subscription and it worked really well, plus it gives us ideas on what to make for baby.
buffybot says
Yes, we used them until probably around 18 months? Not exclusively – we supplemented with baby-friendly versions of what we were eating and often gave yogurt or made our own smoothies or oatmeal for breakfast. I really liked that 1) there was no ground up meat, because meat baby food has always given me the icks and 2) they had a variety of savory flavors as well as sweet. My son seemed to really like them but I do NOT think they set him up magically to only enjoy healthy foods like they claim because at 2.5 he is a sugar fiend like no other. I found them extremely portable and to have good variety. Customer service was pretty good too. I felt VERY bougie ordering them but they assuaged some mom-guilt and were very convenient.
drpepperesq says
PSA: Daniel Tiger episode 401: “When grown ups are too busy to play with you, look around look around… and find something to do!”
Daniel’s mom is doing work and can’t play with Daniel, and he sings that little tune.
ifiknew says
I posted awhile ago about finding it difficult to work in our small space with a 3 year and 1 year old. My husband works in biglaw, I work part-time (25 hours a week). Normally, the grandmas provide care for the baby while 3 year old is in school and I’m working. However, we live in a southern state where cases are rising rapidly and I’m not sure that it makes sense for us to send my 3 year old to preschool this fall. I just don’t think I make enough $$ or my career trajectory is such that it really matters if I scale way back for 6 months to a year that it’s going to be the worth the fear and hassle of sending her to preschool this fall. I really don’t love staying home, but I really don’t love the idea of going in daily not knowing if she’s picking up anything and passing it to grandparents who are caregivers for the baby. Thoughts? WWYD?
Anonymous says
This is really tough. I work FT and make a little more than my husband does, but I’ve also entertained the fantasy of quitting my job during all of this for similar reasons. It’s just too much. So if I were you and I wanted to do that, I’d go ahead and do it. But if you love your PT job and are willing to social distance from the grandmas, I would do daycare unless someone else is high risk in your household.
Boston Legal Eagle says
What will you be doing with the 3 year old for the next 6 months – year (or longer, as I don’t know that a vaccine is guaranteed in a year)? Just sitting at home? If you’re planning to do playgroups or the library or any sort of venturing out, there is always a risk that you’ll pick something up there. With preschool, I’m assuming they have stricter regulations on cleaning and mask-wearing. I haven’t heard too much about large outbreaks at daycares. In any case, if you’re worried about the grandparents, I’d suggest you get another caregiver for the baby (or the same school) and limit grandparent exposure to outside or just a few hours a day. I would not quit my job for something that I didn’t really want to do, and it sounds like this would be limited SAHM-ing anyway if you can’t join in any playgroups.
OP says
Thank you, this is helpful to think about. The library isnt open and most people arent willing to get together. In fact, nearly everything I would normally do with the kids is not really considered acceptable to do right now, but daycares are open. I think daycares are just essential and they realize people can’t work without them, but for those that have the option to stay home, it feels selfish maybe to work in a pandemic. Not at all implying that it’s this way for anyone else, because everyone’s circumstances are different, but in my case, where the money doesn’t move the needle and it’s not like I work fulltime with a real trajectory and my kid is having a blast at home and shows no interest in wanting to go to school, not sure if it’s worth it. I just don’t know, it’s such an impossible choice.
Anon says
Yeah, I worry a little bit about daycare, but it’s going to be the same group of 10 kids every day (and 2 of them are my twins, so it’s really only adding 8 new families), whereas playgroups/museums/storytime are going to be a new mixture of families each time.
anne-on says
I’m taking a sabbatical for the late summer/early fall as camps are out and I hate that this is the choice I have to make, but in reality we don’t have any other good options (high risk grandparents, high-ish risk kid, au pair unable to get a visa, etc.). We’re scrambling to try to find a long-term sitter but if it doesn’t work out then yes, my career will likely be the one that takes the hit. Which sucks. But, look, nobody anticipated a pandemic, and I chose to believe that once things go back to (somewhat) normal, it won’t be something held against me as I try to ramp back up/job hunt in the future.
Anonymous says
Would the grandparents be able to care for both? We sent our kids back to daycare but we live in a community that is taking it seriously and cases are declining here (and all grandparents are several states away).
I do think it’s tough and would definitely pick between grandparents and preschool.
I also wouldn’t be good at staying home. I am bad at it now. I recommend looking into lesson plans and really scheduling the day if you stay home. And make the grandparents part of it! That will give you some relief in the day/week.
Good luck!
Anon says
That’s a tough one since you already work part time and rely on grandparents for childcare. I would not want to be a stay at home mom but it sounds like you’ve already moved in the direction of pulling back, so that makes it harder to switch the momentum now when you have other pressures and worries to add weight to one side of the scale. I wouldn’t knock regular daycare (even during COVID) until you give it a real chance.