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I bought one of these teething necklaces for Harry, and I thought it was a good purchase — it was easy to grab when I was going out to wear him or to something where I knew I’d be carrying him a lot, and he liked playing with the necklace and chewing on it. I also bought a longer one for when we were actually nursing so he could play with it instead of getting distracted by his brother. The pictured one is $14.95, and available in purple, turquoise, black, or gray. Siliconies Medley Necklace – Silicone Bead NecklaceSales of note for 3.28.24
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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?
RDC says
Nice pick! I’ve been thinking of getting a necklace like this. Maybe I’ll go for it.
Ladies … Could you walk me through the logistics of nursing baby in a carrier while out and about? I can’t figure it out. I carry baby in an ergo 360 but his head is usually just below my chin. (I’m also short, so maybe that’s the problem.) Do I just lengthen the straps so he’s sitting lower? Does he need to be kind of … diagonal or something? Baby is 7 mos, good at nursing in public, but usually we nurse in a cradle hold so he’s more crosswise than straight up and down.
PEN says
There are some very helpful youtube videos–check them out.
ANP says
Oh man…I love nursing in a carrier b/c it is just SO dang convenient! I had a regular Ergo and found that I had to drop baby down a bit plus lift my b00b up so that the two met in the middle, if that makes sense. It was a bit trial and error on my part but once we figured it out it was easy to replicate the situation each time we needed to. For reference, I’m 5’4″. Hope this helps!
hoola hoopa says
+1
I’m 5’1″, btw.
EB0220 says
Yes, definitely check YouTube. I drop baby down so her mouth is lined up with my n*pple and also move her slightly to whatever side she will be nursing on. First, loosen the waist belt slightly and drop him down. Lengthen the shoulder strap on the side you are not nursing on, move him over to the side you are going to nurse on, then retighten straps. It’s a little awkward, but workable. Depending on the carrier and age of baby, you may want to support his head a bit with your hand so it’s not bouncing around.
ANP says
Thanks to all of you who offered encouragement yesterday when I posted about being at the office at 39w6d.
Update: still at the office. 40w today. Still over it. However, I actually think being here is better than being at home (and I could totally work at home if I wanted to) — mostly b/c I know I’ll be at home a ton when baby arrives, and I do still feel mildly productive at work.
Seriously, though — my second kid was a week early so I was CERTAIN this one would follow the same schedule. WTH?!?
LizzieB says
My only issue with teething necklaces like this is that they seem to encourage behavior that I usually try to prevent. When my 12 month old grabs at or pulls on my ‘real’ necklaces, I gently take them away and tell her no. Although I am sure that she would love to chew on a necklace like this, it seems like it could be confusing for it to sometimes be OK (or even encouraged!) for her to chew on my jewelry and other times not.
mascot says
We didn’t use these for basically the same reason. I extend this reasoning to puppy training pads, chalkboard paint walls, etc.
anonymama says
Eh, I have one, and baby can figure out that this particular big rubber necklace is for him, delicate chain necklace is not, just as they do (or don’t) for whether anything else is a toy or not. But I also don’t really wear any larger necklaces that may resemble the teething necklace.
TBK says
Our au pair told us last night she’d be interested in extending for six months. Woohoo!! I could do a happy dance in my office! Her year isn’t up for awhile but I was already starting to stress about finding someone new. We’ll still have to eventually but any amount of extra time we can get, I’ll take — she’s amazing. Happy dance!
annonn says
Yay! Congrats!
Anonymous says
That’s amazing!!
I’m just starting to mentally consider an au pair — probably won’t be in a position to actually hire one for a year or so. When did you start the process?
TBK says
We actually got her very quickly. I had been at home for almost a year and was offered a new job with a start date a month after the offer was finalized. My MIL watched the boys when I first started work, but we were able to select the au pair within about a three week window (she arrived about a month later).
We use Au Pair in America as our agency and we’ve been very happy with them. I hear other agencies may be slightly cheaper but we feel the quality of the agency is important to getting a good match. Their website is very easy to use and all of the au pairs’ profiles have great info — bio, essay in English, in-country interview assessment, employment references in the au pair’s native language plus English translations, a video, pictures, resume, plus other stuff I’ve forgotten. You can search based on language, country, age, I think religion, and maybe other categories I’m forgetting. The candidates are all thoroughly vetted and my guess is you’d get a capable au pair no matter whom you pick. You’re really just selecting for personality fit. We also like the support the company provides.
Our local coordinator checks in privately with our au pair frequently (I think it’s weekly) and checks in with us about every 3-4 weeks. She’s available to help with logistical issues (e.g., finding English classes, immigration stuff) and mediating any family issues. We felt that was important, although our au pair is so great and so easy to communicate with I doubt we’re likely to need that help. The agency was also very frank about helping us assess different cultures to find a good fit. While any individual from any country might have whatever personality, different cultures have different communication styles, different approaches to family life and parenting, and we really liked the help we got. We figured out that South America in general would likely be the best fit and were able to focus on candidates from countries that would work best with our personality as a family.
I have to say I was nervous about being able to tell from a Skype interview whether someone would be a good choice, but we interviewed three candidates and there was no contest. We fit with our au pair so well it was obvious to all of us. She tells us she’s very happy with us, that she’s never been homesick, that she likes all of us very much, that she likes what I cook, and that she likes where we live. I guess if she’s up for an extra six months with us, she really does like living with us!
One thing to consider if you’re interested in getting an au pair is what your expectations are for her living with you. We have a small house and knew we’d need to really be open to adding someone to our family for it to work. We explicitly wanted someone who wanted to, for example, eat dinner with us most nights and go with us on family outings. Some people, however, find that to be suffocating and prefer an au pair who just does her own thing. My understanding is that South American culture tends to be very family-focused and au pairs from those cultures expect to integrate with their host families’ lives. While northern Europeans, especially Germans and Scandinavians, are much more likely to do their own thing and just show up when it’s time to work. Which is what some families want.
I’m rambling on and on, but really we have been so happy with this arrangement. We went this route because of the cost but having done it, I prefer it over any other option. Our au pair treats our boys like her own nephews. We love the flexibility in that she’s often happy to move her hours around according to our needs. We never need to schlep the kids out to the car in the morning or rush to make pick up in the evening. She does all their laundry, cleans the nursery and play area, cooks their lunch and dinner, and cleans up the kitchen after they’ve eaten. She also pitches in around the house, helping to clear and wash up after grown up dinner, helping with the trash on trash night, emptying the dish washer, etc. I highly recommend getting an au pair.
Anonymous says
TBK, this is so so helpful. Thank you! I knew you’ve been happy with your au pair experience, but it’s helpful to hear more.
Possibly a silly question: what do your boys call the au pair? Her first name? “Aunt”? I only ask because you mentioned she treats them like her nephews.
I would be in small living quarters with an au pair, so like you, I would want someone who really wanted to be part of the family. I think I would keep my child in daycare during the day, but I need evening help because I frequently have to work late. It sounds like I should allow around 2 months to actually select the au pair and have her begin working. Thanks again!
TBK says
They call her by her first name. (Well, they’re 15 months and don’t call her anything yet. But we use her first name when referring to her.)
NewMomAnon says
I am totally buried at work and keep getting e-mails from other lawyers asking me (or sometimes ordering me) to do new projects on short turnarounds. I’m struggling to keep up with e-mail flow as it is, and I know I’m not responding to the new projects quickly enough for the lawyers to hit their intended deadlines (I’m gettin 300+ e-mails a day right now, while closing three deals and I’m only being paid part-time because that is fair, right?).
Would it be wrong to set an away message only for internal folks that says something to the effect of, “Thank you for your inquiry. I’m working on X, Y, and Z projects right now and do not have capacity for any other projects (even small ones). I likely will not have capacity until after the 4th of July.”
I feel so overwhelmed right now….
TBK says
Um no, you can’t do that. But you can schedule 2-3 email response times during your day of maybe 20 min or so each, during which you go through and respond to emails, and then just ignore it otherwise. Meanwhile, you need a strategy to prioritize what you have and what else is coming in. One option is to respond to new requests by saying you’re working on X right now and so would not be able to complete their work until Y. If Y is acceptable, you’d be happy to do it. If they need it sooner, you suggest they talk with the person responsible for X to determine which project should have priority on your time. Alternatively, if any of the lawyers you’re currently working for is sufficiently powerful and the work you’re doing for that person sufficiently important, you can tell that lawyer that you’re concerned that the new requests are making it difficult to complete the work you’re doing for him/her. That lawyer might then step in and tell the other people trying to assign you things that they need to let you be this week so you can finish the work you’re doing.
mascot says
Also spending a few minutes setting up filters/rules/folders may help with the onslaught of emails.
ANP says
My kindergartener needs to bring a “nap mat” to school this fall and I’m looking for recommendations. We have a sleeping bag for her already but this is supposed to be less fluffy/huge. Most of the ones I’ve seen at her school are like a sleeping bag in that the kid can get between two layers (vs. a yoga mat or similar where they’d just lay on top). Any recommendations for this type of thing?
mascot says
Do you know if they are using those stackable kids cots or are they using the tumbling type mats?
We used this one at preschool (the pillow is pretty thin). http://www.amazon.com/Urban-Infant-Tot-Daycare-Cloud/dp/B005O4LEXE/ref=sr_1_18?ie=UTF8&qid=1435684374&sr=8-18-spons&keywords=nap+mat
We liked that it had loops to attach to the little cots they had and it could stay on the cot when stacked. Amazon has a bunch of options.
In his kinder class they used the tumbling mats, we just sent in a crib fitted sheet and kid sized blanket. They stored them in big plastic bags so his sheet/blanket stayed together.
Famouscait says
I’m going to be taking a trans-atlanic flight soon with baby (9m old) and I’m trying to figure out the best way to handle his bottles (he’s 100% formula fed). What is the benefit of using a powdered formula dispenser (like link at the end)? Versus just filling a ziplock with powdered formula and a scoop and portioning the bottles out as I need them? I feel like I’m missing something here…
http://www.amazon.com/Munchkin-Formula-Dispenser-Combo-Colors/dp/B000RFCXIK
BB says
For a flight, I would definitely get some kind of dispenser because it’s less mess, although I have the Dr. Browns bottles with the narrow opening so I never can scoop formula in without spilling. The main attraction for the dispensers of course is taking a couple servings with you without the hassle of dragging the whole bag along, but in your situation you will need it anyway. We have the Simba Stackable Formula Dispenser (also on Amazon) and I love it – no chance of spilling, all the powder comes out really cleanly, and I imagine we will re-purpose it as a snack container when we’re finally done with formula. I don’t think you’re missing anything, I think it just comes down to convenience!
meme says
Another of the main benefits is you can portion out the right amount for a bottle ahead of time, so no fussing with measuring and scooping and spilling when baby is fussy and wants a bottle now.
Meg Murry says
Powdered formula dispensers basically just help out when you don’t have a third hand or solid surface. In your example, you would need to hold the baggie somewhere, hold the scoop somewhere and then set the bottle somewhere to scoop into. With a formula dispenser you can open the dispenser, then hold the bottle in one hand and pour from the dispenser into the bottle – its especially helpful if you will also be trying to juggle holding a squirmy baby.
The disadvantage is that you pre-load the dispenser, so if while you are out and about you decide you only want to make a 4 oz bottle instead of an 8 oz bottle, you either have to break back out the scoop or you have to try to guess at dividing the powder in half (not recommended).
Another pricy but worth-it option is premeasured formula sticks like these: http://www.amazon.com/Similac-Advance-Baby-Formula-Powder/dp/B000GCHNF2 . That is what we used with my son that was combo fed to keep in our diaper bag. I’d still take a can or baggie of formula with you, but the sticks would be convenient for on the plane itself.
Maddie Ross says
Have you done the pre-mix liquid formula? That was a lifesaver for me in certain situations.
Due in December says
I’m looking for what bottles/accessories to buy (i.e., register for and then buy at a discount), and I’d love recommendations. I hope to breastfeed (of course, we’ll see how it goes) and pump once back at work with the Medela Pump in Style, so I’m thinking of getting Medela bottles but am open to other suggestions. And I keep debating…
5 oz. or 8 oz.?
How many to start?
What accessories?
Or should I get a variety of bottles?
JJ says
For my kids, we tried about 4 different types of bottles before we found a type that they preferred (Born Free, which we loved). So I would register for different types and then plan to just buy more of whichever baby wants. This was also our approach to pacifiers, btw.
I used the Medela PIS, Lansinoh milk storage bags, and Born Free bottles. We bought the 5 oz ones, but needed the 8 ounces within a month or so. In retrospect, the babies spent so much more time using the 8 oz bottles, I would buy those exclusively. While I was primarily nursing, we had 4 bottles. Once I went back to work, we bought 4 more. It was much easier to always have a clean bottle that way. Same concept with pumping parts, as well. Buy at least one extra set of pumping parts.
AEK says
My baby’s breastmilk-only. For us, 8 oz would be huge for a breast milk bottle, but it sounds like that’s not a uniform experience (shocking!). I’ve been fine through 6 months with 5 oz size. We use Comotomo & love them. In a pinch I’ll use the Medela bottles (I use PIS at work and Ameda Purely Yours at home), but the Como ones are really great for the breast-esque qualities, and the slow nipple is truly *slow* which you really want for a BF baby.
ANP says
+1 — we never used more than 4 oz. bottles when our kids were exclusively BF’ed. The bigger sizes are typically (though of course not always) used for formula; bre@stmilk “expands” to fill up your child regardless of age, so they always need the same serving size. We registered for Dr. Brown’s with #1 and got lucky — she loved them, and #2 did too! I would not register for a TON of bottles (or if you do, keep your receipts) and conventional wisdom says to mix your brands up a bit in case baby is picky.
Anonymous says
I can’t recommend this set of bottles enough: http://www.amazon.com/Medela-Breast-Milk-Feeding-Gift/dp/B001EU8IPY/ref=sr_1_1?s=hpc&ie=UTF8&qid=1435687527&sr=8-1&keywords=medela+new+mom+bottle+starter+kit
It was just perfect for dealing with initial BF-ing struggles. I didn’t have to buy more bottles until the baby “sized up” to 8oz bottles, sometime around 4 months. FWIW, the “5 oz” bottles will hold up to 6.5 oz, if you fill them to the brim.
Don’t buy the Medela Freezer Bags though — they leak! Buy Lansinoh.
Amelia Bedelia says
AGREE on the Medela Freezer Bags. I was so thoroughly disappointed with this product.
I recommend buying only 8oz. My bebe was exclusively breastfed until 9mos (due to allergies), but I still wish I wouldn’t have double bought bottles. I don’t mind using bottles that are “too big” for the 4oz of milk the first six months. I could have saved so much money by not buying the 5oz first. Plus, I live in a very small house (thank you, city dwelling!) and don’t have the space to store both. So, I had to get rid of all my 5oz once I bought 8oz. With baby No.2 on the way, I’m going to just use 8oz.
mascot says
Another vote for wait and see what your baby prefers before you commit to lots of bottles, pacifiers, and even diapers. We combo fed our child from the very beginning. The Avent bottles didn’t work, he choked on the Dr Browns wide ones, fed happily from the Dr Browns narrow ones. We used the 8 oz.
Carrie M says
+1. I bought one each of three different types of bottles before baby was born. We tried the narrow Dr. Brown first, and she liked it, so that’s what we stuck with. We used 5oz bottles until she was 4 or 5 months and then got the 8oz size for daycare.
If you are going to try to BF, then there are some bottles that are supposed to be more BF-ing friendly. My LC made me swear that I would only use the Medela bottles to pump into, and not give them to baby. Apparently the Medela bottle n-pples are somehow not so BFing friendly.
meme says
I also used the Medela PIS at work. With the pump, I exclusively used the 5 oz bottles. Usually I would not pump more than 5 oz. on one side during a pumping session. If that happened (rare), I just switched bottles. Those long bottles are unwieldy hanging from a pump. I had some Medela ones that came with the bottle that I used for pumping. We also bought some generic Evenflo ones at Target that would screw onto the pump and I used those for pumping too. Any of the bottle types with the standard-sized opening will work with the pump.
At home with baby, we used whatever bottles the particular baby liked. One of my kids liked the Avent and one liked the standard size with Nuk nipples. We used both large and small bottles at home with the baby (small at first, large once they get bigger and drink more at one feeding).
sfg says
We started with Dr. Brown’s wide mouth – someone recommended them for breastfed babies. My LO took it without issue (going back and forth), so we didn’t try others. I only saw them in 4oz and 8oz sizes – her bottles now tend to be 4 to 5oz, so we mostly use the 8oz size.
I use the PIS as well – I have many extra pump parts (shields, valves, membranes). I have two sets of shields/valves and about 10 bottles in rotation. I also keep extra bottles, shields, valves, membranes, and tubing at work. All my Medela bottles are the 5oz size.
Katarina says
I would wait. I used the Ameda ones that came with the pump, although I bought a lot more. It was convenient using the same bottles for pumping and feeding, but you can generally pump into any standard sized bottle. I did buy Dr Brown’s preemie nipples, and eventually moved to size 1. I only changed the nipple when it was taking longer for my son to take a bottle than nurse. I think the nipple matters more than the bottle. My son never had trouble drinking milk from any source. My son never drank more than five ounce at a time.
Tunnel says
^I second the use of a premie nipple in the beginning if you are BFing.
hoola hoopa says
Medela, Avent, and Evenflo bottles fit in a medela pump. Probably any narrow neck bottle would work, but I have experience using all of them interchangeably. The caps are also interchangeable.
If you’ll be doing hands-free pumping, then you’ll want plastic bottles. I prefer to store food in glass, so I have a mix but primarily use glass and just support with one hand (I read while pumping and only need one hand).
Since we prefer glass, we fed the first two babies with the evenflo. The third was picky and would only use MAM (after trying 6-8 various kinds), but those are leaky so we’d still store and reheat milk in the evenflo (or medela/avent). Milk reheats much faster in glass, too, which is a plus.
I’ve never had 8 oz bottles, only 4/5 oz.
Momata says
I hoped to make it long enough BFing to pump, so I just started out using the Medela bottles and Medela slow flow n!pples, and fortunately they worked for my kid. I find them easy to clean and I liked not having to transfer. We had some hand me down Dr Brown’s on hand in case the Medelas didn’t work.
Claudette says
Yes, the Medela plastic bottles are working fine for us so far too (I use the Medela PISA), though we also bought a couple other types just in case: one Avent, which worked fine for a few one-off occasions before I returned to work, and one Dr. Brown’s, which we never even opened. Our baby is 5 1/2 months old and still doesn’t drink more than 4 ounces at a time (from a bottle, anyway), so the 5 oz Medela size is great. We have ten bottles total, and ten nipples and ten sets of collars, caps, etc. — which is really more than we need, but they were on sale and I thought I’d rather have too many than not enough. On a regular basis, we have eight bottles in rotation: I take four to work to pump into and leave four with milk for her at home.
Jen says
We just used Avent bottles + the medela ones. We had a lot of 4oz bottles and several 8oz. When she was little we did 3-4 oz of bre@st milk. As she got older, it got to be 4.5-5 oz but it was just a *very* full 4oz bottle. Eventually we started supplmenting wtih formula and she got older adn hungrier, so she was getting ~6 oz in the larger bottles of BM/formula mixed. We never really did more than 6oz, I don’t think.
Bottles were easy to clean and she had no issues transitioning to a cup.
sfg says
After reading all of your comments re: how much expressed milk you all give (or gave), I am wondering if my caregiver is overfeeding. At 3.5 months, my LO is taking three to four 5 oz bottles of milk over ten hours during the day (varies depending on what time she wakes up in the morning), with 1-2 nursing sessions in the morning, 1-2 in the evening when I get home from work, and about a 4 oz dream feed by bottle. How much expressed milk do others give?
I will have our caregiver experiment with 4oz bottles tomorrow, but now am curious as to what others do. 20 oz days are hard to maintain!
Jen says
Our kiddo never went over 24oz in 24 hours when she was EBF, more like 20-22oz/day (when I didn’t BF we could measure by bottle). I always thought she was not eating enough– always in the 50-75% for weight and 99% for height– but she was gaining weight just fine. she started solids on the earlier side (4.5 months) and once getting to solids she landed and stayed firmly at 80% for weight.
Frustrated Academic says
The general rule, per Kelly Mom, is 1-1.5 oz per hour that you are gone–is your caregiver practicing paced feeding? The most my son drank was about 15 oz and that was when he was about a year (I am generally gone from 8:45 until 5:30). My Nanny kept wanting to up the size of the bottles, because that was what she had done with her previous (formula fed) charges, and I had to push back a bit. When I went back to work, he was 12 weeks old and was taking about 12 oz while I was gone.
EBF mom says
My son takes about 20-21 oz for a 12 hour period so I think it varies from baby to baby.
Help! Shower Hostess Gift says
PregAnon here – I need help figuring out a great shower hostess gift. My BFF is throwing mine at her house, and she’s just like me and will probably go way overboard (in a good way!)
I want to get her a great hostess gift. I was thinking fancy wine + fancy chocolate, but I think I can do better? Her son just turned 1 and loves the water, so I got him a really cool, official PFD for him to wear when we go to water parks and other places that require a “real” Coast Guard rated PFD, so maybe a “water” or “ocean” themed…something? Budget up to maybe $100, or more if there is something really awesome that someone suggests?
LLC says
I did a gift certificate to a nice salon so that my hostesses could enjoy a mani-pedi on me.
Momata says
I got a set of two coordinating Kate Spade cosmetics bags off a sample site and gave those along with a Sephora gift card. It went over really well.