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Washable Workwear Wednesday: Twist Detail Hammered Satin Blouse

Machine-Washable Work Clothes· Recent Recs

A woman pwearing a Twist Detail Hammered Satin Blouse

I love this unique blouse from Vince Camuto. It is machine washable, but not dryer friendly. The model in the photos is wearing this top with jeans, but if you were to wear it to the office with a pencil skirt or slacks, it could definitely be appropriate for a more formal workplace. I love the V-neck and the wide sleeves with the “hammered satin” bands at the bottom. It looks like it is very flattering with the defined gathered waist detail and the interesting hemline — and I could see it work with delicate accessories. The blouse is currently on sale for $49.90 at Nordstrom. It is available in sizes XXS–XXL, but note that it runs large. Twist Detail Hammered Satin Blouse
 
Looking for other washable workwear? See all of our recent recommendations for washable clothes for work, or check out our roundup of the best brands for washable workwear.

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Sales of Note…

(See all of the latest workwear sales at Corporette!)

Kid/Family Sales

  • J.Crew – 25-40% off kids’ styles; extra 50% off select sale
  • Lands’ End – Up to 40% off your order
  • Hanna Andersson – 30% off all kids’ & baby clothing; PJs on sale from $25; up to 75% off clearance
  • Carter’s – Rule the School Sale: Up to 50% off; up to 40% off baby essentials
  • Old Navy – 50% off back-to-school styles; 30% off your order, even clearance
  • Target – Backpacks from $7.99; toddler & kids’ uniforms on sale from $5
  • Pottery Barn Baby – Summer sale: up to 50% off
  • Nordstrom – Limited time sales on brands like Maxi-Cosi and Bugaboo.
  • Strolleria – Free infant seat car adapter with any Thule stroller; 30% off all Peg-Perego gear in our exclusive Incanto Collection

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About April

April is a working mom, a longtime reader of CorporetteMoms, and wrote our morning fashion advice for working moms from April 2018 to October 2020. She has one child (born 2/17!) and she’s a public interest lawyer in NYC.

Comments

  1. Anne says

    Is anyone finding this office wear just totally odd? I mean Virginia has a shelter in place order until 6/10 and I think that’s optimistic. The end is not in sight. There is no office wear for the foreseeable future.

    • GCA says

      yeah, when I have a fancy dress social-distancing picnic with my kids on the living room floor, I dig up our favorite thrift-store flair finds rather than shop for the occasion…

    • Cb says

      Yeah, the fall clothes will be in stores before I have to dress up again.

    • AnonATL says

      I mean it is a nice distraction to think about pretty-office clothes for a minute, but it won’t be practical for a while.
      Maybe an update of best t-shirts across the price spectrum? I spend almost every day in some combo of jeans and solid colored t-shirt. I’m one of those crazy people who needs real pants to feel productive.

    • Anon says

      I think June 10 will be the new deadline for most soon. No way this is done by May 4, my state’s current deadline. I am realizing that I don’t have enough lounge-y wear, which includes basic cotton leggings and workout leggings. I’m doing laundry so much more frequently right now.

      • Cb says

        I’m embracing the frequent laundry and figuring I’ll wear my current clothes to tatters and then ritually burn them once this ordeal is over.

      • Anonymous says

        I hope some things ease up before then. Like maybe tennis courts could re-open? It is about the least-contact sport but my city banned it b/c of the sharing of the ball between players.

        I’m willing to run the course of this, but when things do re-open, I think it will have to be a bit of a stagger vs coming back online for everything 100% (raves / arena concerts / middle seat passengers / crowded NYE events).

      • Spirograph says

        I had to wear my nice jeans and a sweater yesterday because my leggings and comfy jeans were in the wash. It’s an odd kind of upside down that my nice clothes are the laundry day fallback, now!

    • Lyssa says

      I work in an essential field and am still in the office (I don’t know if that will change – it probably should, while I support a lot of people who need to be there, I personally do not), so I still appreciate it. Though knowing I won’t have any non-telephonic meetings for quite a while has made it awfully hard to find the energy to put on my usual blazers and heels.

    • EB says

      I like it. This is a pretty blouse. I’m not going to buy it because WFH, but I like looking at it. What are the alternatives? I guess more casual things? I don’t want all loungewear. I could enjoy some cute casual tops.

    • AnotherAnon says

      I don’t find it odd at all that a women’s work blog would post work wear items. Any semblance of normal life is comforting to me right now.

      • Anonymous says

        Yes. This is a working women’s fashion blog…there will be fashion…

  2. Anon says

    Co-sign. I did find the recommendation for leggings with pockets the other day useful. Now if only I could find a hoodie long enough to cover my tush when I’m wearing them…who knew the crop top trend had extended to sweatshirts?!

  3. Ashley says

    Best recommendations for intro to toddler discipline? I’m overwhelmed by the number of blogs, books, and strategies out there. My 2 yo (2 yrs 4 months) has reached the point where his memory is long enough that my old standby of distract and redirect isn’t working. I’m just looking for ways to start managing his (age appropriate) boundary testing—e.g., unlatching the baby gate to go upstairs without asking an adult, throwing a tantrum wanting dessert for breakfast, begging for more TV when we’ve already said no. Thanks in advance!

      • Anonymous says

        Those books are amazing. I seem to re-read every so often and never feel that it has wasted my time.

        • AnotherAnon says

          +1. I really like How to Talk so Kids will Listen. I keep coming back to it. Janet Lansbury didn’t work for us as a discipline strategy, but I appreciated her perspective. In addition to How to Talk, I appreciated some advice I got from foster parent classes: 1) ask “How can I help you/What do you need” 2) make sure your kid’s tantrum isn’t due to being: hungry, angry, lonely or tired (honestly, it’s usually one of these) and if they are, address the underlying need before punishing/addressing the tantrum. Good luck!

          • Clementine says

            ooo! This reminds me of something we learned in foster classes that’s helped me. Reframe it from ‘this kid is giving me a hard time’ to ‘this kid is having a hard time’.

    • lsw says

      I also really like Janet Lansbury. No Bad Kids – Toddler Discipline without Shame reads like a collection of blog posts (which maybe it is) but I really found it helpful.

    • Anon says

      I’m impressed that distraction worked until now! That stopped working for us around 16 months.
      Janet Lansbury is often recommended here but I’ve had a really hard time implementing her advice. (I don’t understand how people can create a “yes space” and avoid saying no to their kids! Maybe my house is just a death trap but I feel like we *constantly* have to say ‘no’ just to prevent her from hurting herself or other living things.)
      For not physically dangerous things like begging for dessert for breakfast or more TV we do our best to explain that we’re done for now and when she can next have the thing – “you can have some dessert with dinner,” “you can have another episode of Peppa Pig tomorrow”, etc. Usually that works but if she melts down we usually just let her cry it out alone. We don’t lock her in her room as punishment or anything, but we’ve found that if we ignore her the tantrums pass much more quickly than if we try to comfort her.

      • Ashley says

        Distraction may not have worked until now! Honestly this is the first time in a while that we’ve been home together 24/7, and I admit I’m not 100% sure how they handle things at daycare. I’m sure the disruption of routine is making toddler more grumpy and disagreeable than usual, too. I know that’s true for me!

      • lsw says

        I totally still say “no”! I think the fact that we reserve strong “no”s for dangerous things helps make them more effective. When throws something, we will firmly say “I won’t let you throw” or “No throwing.” But the strong “NO!” is for attempting to break free in the parking lot, etc.

        Other advice I’ve gotten from here that works sometimes is responding in a silly way to tantrums. It really helps for us!

    • Anon says

      Try not to say “no.” Say things like: I see you’re throwing blocks. We don’t throw blocks. (Or The rule is…) You may (throw things outside/play carefully with blocks) or I will put the blocks away. The pattern is: identify behavior, clarify/confirm rule, offer alternatives, clarify consequences.

      You’ll find something like this in a lot of places (1-2-3 Magic, Love and Logic, How to Talk to Kids) as well as other theories and suggestions. But basically if you say no your kid will say it back to you.

      • Pogo says

        +1 to 123 Magic. Unless it is a brand new thing they’ve never done before, you don’t say No or explain what the problem is. It is hard not to overexplain, my husband is guilty of this, but it really does make it so much worse to try and argue or explain.

        It really does work if you’re consistent – my LO has a habit of using his toy broom as a weapon, and he knows when I see misbehavior and say “That’s 1” he offers to put it down somewhere (because he knows at 3 I take it away). “I just put it right here Mommy.”

    • Anon says

      i’m echoing what has already been said here, but i’ve found How to Talk So Little Kids Will Listen (it is a very easy quick read) and Janet Lansbury to be helpful. For me, I found How to Talk helpful in terms of actual strategies and while Janet Lansbury suggests strategies, I find her podcast helpful in terms of empathizing with my kids and understanding where they are coming from.

    • anon says

      If your kid keeps going back to the same activity that they need to stop doing (like opening the baby gate), regardless of the discipline, you need to change the activity. At least for mine, nothing short moving to a different location or pulling out something new would stop them from doing it again. For me it was always: (1) “We don’t do X”, (2) Discipline of choice if they don’t stop, and (3) then introduce new activity/location to reduce the temptation of a repeat offense. Impuse control is limited at that age.

    • Boston Legal Eagle says

      I see different techniques for the examples you gave – for things that are dangerous or physically “aggressive” (i.e. hitting, biting – developmentally appropriate but not to be encouraged), that is where the discipline can come in in terms of stopping his hands gently, or taking a toy away that he throws, but for whining about TV or dessert – that’s less about discipline and more about establishing boundaries because that’s not really dangerous behavior in the same sense. It’s ok if he cries a lot after you say no, or all done, that’s to be expected! The Janet Lansbury technique would be something like “I see you’re upset that we turned the TV off. Yeah, that makes you really sad/mad.” Just a lot of acknowledging feelings while maintaining boundaries. Easier said that done!

    • DLC says

      I find Janet Lansbury helpful for reframing how I react to my child’s behavior and re-setting my expectations. I found her strategies weren’t as successful for me to actually implement change in my child’s behaviour. Though that might be the point?
      Also- I will say, different strategies work for different kids- 1-2-3 did nothing for my first, but works better for my second.

    • Anonymous says

      We use 1-2-3 Magic (with the caveat I’ve never read the book, but I think we apply the basic principles). Say she needs to do something by the time I reach three or bad consequence. It took us awhile to be able to quickly come up with an appropriate consequence on the spot, but we’ve gotten better (it’s usually something like, no cartoon while brushing teeth, or no moana soundtrack in the car). It’s worked really well, almost too well, because now our daughter sometimes starting counting to 3 when she wants us to do something haha.

      • Anon says

        I also haven’t read 1-2-3 Magic, but I thought its premise wasn’t that you count to 3 before enforcing a consequence, but that the kid gets 2 warnings before something happens.

  4. lsw says

    Anyone have resources or recommendations on phone use/regulations for teenagers right now? My SD is 14 in two weeks and has been with us full time for three weeks+ (usually she is with her mom 50% custody). We are both worried (maybe me more than my husband?) about her phone usage. We’ve added things for her to do and she has been doing them, but we are both working full time and also have a three year old so we can’t just manage her constantly. I know it’s temporary, but there could also be no more school this year. I’m worried about her brain development. It doesn’t help that apparently all of her friends are on their phones 24/7. I’m so tired of constantly fighting about the phone and fighting about food and hearing so much negativity from her. It feels so exhausting, and that’s on top of extremely stressful work and a cooped up three year old. I have no idea who to talk to or where to compare notes.

    • Anon says

      If the phone is affecting her behavior, that’s one thing. But I really wouldn’t worry about her brain development. This is a totally unprecedented situation that’s ridiculously hard on everyone, and I think a lot of people are letting rules about screentime go out the window. Even if school isn’t in session for the rest of the year, it’s still only a few months out of a hopefully ~80 year life. I promise it won’t rot her brain.

    • Anonymous says

      My kids are slightly younger, but I am also working FT and busy now. Some days I engage a lot more, sometimes I merely feed them. They are so lonely. They have read all of the books and our next Target shipment won’t be until this weekend. I wish they were neo-Victorians and wrote to each other, but that hasn’t taken off. Maybe with some more months of this it will. A lot of their phone usage and screen time seems to be reading or watching things that are a bit informative. Maybe engage with her — encourage her to be creative with her boredom or make memes about it? But I wouldn’t worry about screen time now at all.

      FWIW, I didn’t always live in the US and had martial law where we were similarly locked in for months at a time. I at least had a similarly-aged sibling, but if she’s the only big kid the phone is her lifeline now. I missed a lot of school and honestly turned out fine academically despite moving to the US and going to something like 7 schools before college. I’m also a stepparent in addition to being a parent.

      Maybe if you just talk to her and listen to things like: This is new /weird and we don’t have skills or routines for this.
      What are some things that might make things better for you while you’re here with us under these circumstances. What can we try differently that might make everyone happier? The above-mentioned book on How to Talk so Kids Will Listen has no upper age limit that I’ve noted :) And good luck!

    • Anonymous says

      Stop. Let her use her phone as much as she wants as long and she’s doing her school work and helping out around the house. Her brain is fine. Stop fighting about food. She can eat what you or her father cooked or she can make something herself.

    • avocado says

      My daughter just turned 13. We have gone from trying to limit her phone usage to actively encouraging it for interactive social purposes. Here’s what we’re doing for now:

      – All electronics are limited to academic usage during school hours.
      – After school hours, unlimited usage of electronics except during family dinnertime.
      – Prior to the pandemic we had a total household ban on social media, but after the school closure was extended we decided to allow her to create an Instagram account to stay connected with friends.
      – We require her participation in all virtual gatherings and activities of groups she was involved in prior to the pandemic (e.g., on-line meetups of clubs and classes, choir collaboration through an app).
      – We regularly ask if she’s checked in with certain close friends.
      – All electronics “go to bed” in their charging docks, not located in her bedroom, about 30 minutes before her bedtime.
      – Per our pre-existing rules, she is only allowed to interact on line with children she knows in real life. No interaction with adults outside of the extended family, with the exception of known adults leading on-line classes and meetings (and even then ONLY during the classes).

      • Anonymous says

        I hear you. Before this, I was practically Amish about kids and technology. Now, I really want them connected with their friends, even if it is just sharing memes about being bored. I imagine they will fill their time with better things once they have better options.

    • lsw says

      Thanks, all! This is really helpful. She is connecting with her friends a lot on her phone so I’m certainly not trying to limit that. And she’s doing a ton of art which is great too. We don’t have any schoolwork yet and I’m not sure when/if we will, but she’s a terrific student so I’m not too worried about that.

      Also, lol at just stopping fighting about food. I WISH.

      • Anonymous says

        Takes two to fight! And I don’t mean that to sound flippant. But any way you can walk away from the dispute is a good thing.

      • lsw says

        If we walk away, she follows us screaming ANSWER ME, ANSWER ME. We’ll also get some bonus “I HATE YOUs” and ‘NO ONE EVER STICKS UP FOR ME’ or ‘YOU WISH YOU NEVER HAD MEs” or ‘EVERYONE HATES ME.” We have tried every de-escalating thing we can think of. If there was a simple answer, we would have done it already. Food has been a “thing” with her forever and I’m just totally over it while at the same time not willing to allow her to subsist completely on carb-filled snacks.

    • avocado says

      Re. non-phone issues: My 13-year-old is also a fountain of negativity. Even before the pandemic, she constantly argued with us over chores and food. Now she rolls her eyes and announces that we are “annoying” whenever we try to get her to do even the most basic task. I’ve had to pick my battles. I am still insisting on personal grooming and cleanliness. I’m not going to let her lie around in an unmade bed, refuse to wash her hair, and wear PJs all day. On the other hand, I’ve pretty much given up on insisting on family time outside of meals.

      Food has always been a huge issue in our household, as she is a picky eater who will put herself into a cycle of starvation if allowed. For the duration of this emergency, I’ve decided to go with a strategy of “if you can’t beat ’em, join ’em.” I have planned only meals she likes or will at least tolerate. I am seriously limiting spice levels (we had previously been working on incorporating more heat, as she’d expressed a desire to be able to eat spicier dishes, but this occasionally resulted in her rejecting things that came out too spicy). I am making her separate vegetables. I am occasionally bribing her with treats. To avoid wasting food, I am asking her to serve herself what she thinks she’ll eat and commit to finishing what she’s taken. This often plays out as “take a small serving, then take some more if you are still hungry.” So far it’s worked out pretty well.

      And we are spoiling her a little. On Sunday we broke our strict “no TV during meals” policy to eat dinner in front of a show she loves. It made her pleasant and interactive for the rest of the evening.

        • Anonymous says

          My kids really like watching Chopped and Chopped Junior. It made them see another side of food (without me wasting time/money on new foods they reject).

        • avocado says

          Yep, we definitely do that. It’s bit more challenging with limited ingredient availability–her pickiness is very high-end.

      • Pogo says

        Yeah I was going to say, a lot of this is just being 13-14. Such a tough age. Even without phones I’m sure I was a nightmare to my parents. Sitting in my room for hours with the door closed AIMing my friends and illegally downloading music from Kazaa.

        • avocado says

          Absolutely–it is hard enough to be 13 even in the best of times! My kiddo was already having a rough go of it with a couple of huge disappointments right on top of each other in the few weeks before the COVID hit the fan. Which meant that the entire family entered lockdown with our mental reserves totally depleted.

          Things are not completely awful, though. She’s shown surprising maturity and resilience in some areas. She has taken full responsibility for keeping up with her schoolwork with zero involvement from me. Before the lockdown, she had responded to the biggest of her recent disappointments by deciding that she was going to take up piano again, presumably out of a desire to have one thing where she knew she could be very successful. Without any parental prompting, she’s been spending at least an hour a day at the piano. She’s not actually practicing, just playing through a bunch of pieces, but it’s a great start. We are about to start looking into starting up lessons again over Zoom or Skype. She’s also been willing to do some things with me, like grooming the dog and baking.

          LOL at Kazaa. That makes me feel old–during that era, I was a young adult whose job was to find and cut off kids who were illegally sharing files over the college network.

          • lsw says

            I was a total monster to my mom with lots of screaming around this age so it’s probably karma. There was no internet back then so I just spent most of my time in my room journaling or reading and avoiding my family.

      • lsw says

        I’m totally sorry to hear this, avocado, while also feeling a little grateful. We are also “annoying” for asking her to shower at least every other day and make sure she is changing clothes once a day.

        I like your food tips. We have also tried letting her page through a cookbook and marking recipes she would like to try. I have been doing a lot of homemade bread baking and she’ll always eat bread so we have that. It’s just the constant fighting over everything that gets so exhausting.

        I say this all while feeling very sympathetic to her for how hard this is for her. I love her and want to be a good parent. It’s just hard.

    • Anonymous says

      Could you pay her to watch your 3 year old? Like real babysitting dollars. Then help her figure out how to structure the time and give her that to do.

      It ma y not work in these crazy times or with your particular family dynamic, but last summer my 13 y/o neighbor came over to mother’s helper and her mom said it was life-changing. She was way into babysitting and put down her phone and “became a human again” once she had this job.

  5. cbackson says

    I’m trying to figure out diapers, and it’s so confusing, y’all. There are so many kinds and I honestly don’t know how to choose among them. I know we’re not going cloth (I was interested by partner is SUPER anti-cloth) so I’d like the most eco-friendly of the admittedly non-eco-friendly disposables, but I don’t really know how to choose. I’ve been reading reviews of 7th Generation and Honest Company, but would love personal recs if anyone has them.

    • Anon says

      Honestly there are so many areas of life to be eco-friendly and all disposable diapers are not great for the environment (no judgment – we used disposable too, just saying the incremental benefit of Seventh Generation vs Pampers is extremely minimal). The main thing you want is diapers that fit your kid well and don’t lead to blowouts. We liked Pampers but I only have girls. I’ve heard Huggies is better for boys.

    • Clementine says

      FWIW, I know people who swear by all of them. I have this conclusion that part of it is the way your kid’s butt is shaped. I know some people who swear by Bamboo Nature, others who are totally happy with 7th Gen, and now somebody is raving about Dyper.

      I will throw out a personal plug for Honest Overnight diapers. We’ve cloth diapered and I’ve done a lot of different brands over the years and the Honest Overnights hold a shocking amount of liquid, even for my very heavy wetting, stomach sleeping toddler. (Note that we only needed this when kiddo started sleeping for 12 hours.)

      • Pogo says

        +1 to Bambo but also, yes, you gotta just try different kinds. We HATED 7th generation – my husband said they were worse than using newspaper (lol). Like the pee just went right through.

        We successfully used cloth from month 2-20ish, and then transitioned to Bambo (we always had used Bambo at night). Bambo is made from bamboo which supposedly is more eco-friendly, honestly tho anything you throw in a landfill is still not great. Theoretically I think Bambo’s can be compostable by special industrial composting processes but I remembering looking and we didn’t have any in my area (more common in Europe I think).

      • Realist says

        I loved Bambo. They seemed to be ethically made and as environmentally friendly as a disposable diaper can be, and fit my kiddo great.

    • anon says

      Eh, this is not the environmental hill to spend your efforts on as the differences between disposables are minimal at best. You may have to try a few options to see what fits your kid (for us, Costco worked for a newborn but just did not fit him once he had porked up a bit, at which point Pampers and the much cheaper Parent’s Choice did). It is worth taking a minute or two to find out what brand owns what, as it turns out many diaper “labels” come from the same parent brands and are likely shaped similarly.

    • Anonymous says

      No disposable diaper is truly eco friendly. Honest and CO’s don’t work and the company routinely makes baseless health claims. Diapers are to prevent poop from being everywhere. They are not a statement of personal identify unless you choose to be super extra. Buy pampers and if they work great. If they don’t try Luvs next. You are a busy woman, do not become a person who researches diapers. This is the type of nonsense you need to wash right out of your hair.

      • FVNC says

        +100000. There is no need to research this beyond cloth or disposable. We used Pampers Swaddlers for both babies (girl then boy), switched to costco brand at some point when we got a membership there, and now use huggies pullups at night. It doesn’t matter what brand you use as long as they don’t leak.

      • NYCer says

        +2(00000). We used Pampers Swaddlers for the first 6 months or so, and then switched to Huggies Little Movers for daytime and Huggies Overnites for nights. We made the switch because Pampers started leaking for us.

    • lsw says

      We really liked Kirkland (Costco) diapers. They fit my son really well. We used cloth mostly for the first year so I don’t have newborn specific recommendations, but I think they probably do newborn too?

    • AIMS says

      i agree that this isn’t the thing to overthink environmentally. Honest diapers didn’t work for my kids at all so the fact that they were marginally better for the planet was cancelled out by how often I had to change them. If you want to make a bigger difference, potty train sooner. The US tends to potty train a lot later than many other countries (obviously wait till your kid is ready but I really think that comes earlier than many people actually do it).

      FWIW, I liked Pampers sensitive with my daughter and Huggies with my son. Not sure why, but the pampers didn’t work for the boy – we had constant blow outs and I was always doing laundry and getting rid of clothes that simply weren’t salvageable (something else to consider).

      One other thing if you really do want do this – there is some kind of in between option of reusable diaper and disposable insert. I have a friend who was happy with those. But again, you’re doing more laundry etc. with that so I think it may not be quite that virtuous a solution.

      Ps: congrats on the baby! I haven’t been reading as much pre-apocalypse because work was just too much so just catching up on the happenings around here now. Very happy for you!

    • HSAL says

      Agree with not worrying about the environmental issues. Eco-friendly diapers just make people feel better about themselves with minimal actual improvement over other diapers. We exclusively used Pampers with our first. With our twins, we use Luvs and Huggies at night. Pampers are still my favorite, but they’re twice as expensive as Luvs and I don’t like them twice as much. We’ve tried most brands (received as gifts) and the only diapers I actively hated were Aldi brand and Honest Company.

      • Anonymous says

        +1 my main suggestion is to get night diapers for nighttime — they really help! We’ve used Huggies, Pampers, Honest, Seventh Generation, etc. as they were available and like Huggies best, but it doesn’t matter that much. I think fit matters the most, so make sure to size up as baby grows.

    • Cate says

      No idea on eco friendly attributes, but I have used Pampers Newborns then transferred to Honest for sizes 1+ (and later overnights) on three kids and been very happy in all three cases. And my kids are different sizes! Plus, they’re super cute.

    • Cb says

      We used cloth but actually find the Lidl / Aldi brand nappies just as effective as Pampers when we do use disposables. I’d just try what’s on sale and see what works for you.

    • Anon says

      very happy with Target brand for daytime and Huggies for nighttime with my twins. I just had to buy some pampers because I was having trouble ordering the Target ones online and I honestly think they are worse than the Target brand (and the Target brand is much less expensive). you can also steal some to take home from the hospital and depending on the size of your baby, you won’t necessarily be in newborn size for that long, so don’t buy too many

      • Scilady says

        +1 for the Target diapers. I used Pampers at the beginning for my baby girl, but switched to Target (work wonderfully, super cheap). I didn’t like the Costco ones. Not convinced that any diaper can solve the explosive poops that happen occasionally in the 2nd-4th months.

    • Anonymous says

      You’re in a pandemic. Give yourself the grace to not chose ‘the best’ diapers. We are super environmental friendly for most things but diapers I went with what worked best for us and that was pampers swaddlers.

      Pick something. If it doesn’t work, pick something else. You can change up brands as many times as you want in the next two years.

    • cbackson says

      Thanks, y’all! This one of many things that seem completely overwhelming due to the degree of choice (bottles are another one – I’m planning to BF but it sounds like I should have bottles too so others can feed the baby and apparently there are a million types of bottles…) and honestly, it’s nice to hear that it’s okay NOT to overthink this one.

      • Cate says

        I like Dr. Browns? None of my kids ever rejected a type of bottle. Some kids are easy going about this stuff, so I’d say wait to meet your kid before you go too far down the rabbit hole (same with sleep – one of mine sleep trained herself at 8 weeks, another is 3 and still wakes up at night regularly ughhhh) But if you end up pumping look into Kiinde – my kids would all take a kiinde bottle too. You could pump straight into the bag that stores the milk and then thaw and put a top on it.

        • CPA Lady says

          If you get Dr. Browns, make sure you get the dishwasher baskets made for the parts. There is no way in haaaaaayell I’d be hand washing all those tiny fiddly parts.

        • Pogo says

          +1 We used Dr Browns because I’d heard so many good things. Would kiddo have taken another kind? Probably. But a friend gave me a bunch so I never really bought anything except the nipples. It was also one of the few things my ped recommended – he was like “eh i think it’s probably bunk that little vent doesnt do anything, but it seems to help with gas? So try em?”

        • Anon says

          My daughter took bottles early but then stopped taking them completely. We tried seemingly every bottle on the market and none of them worked. One day she just decided she was ready to take a bottle (by then she could feed herself) and she took every kind of bottle with no discrimination at all. Anyway, my takeaway from that (with a data point of one, admittedly) is that Dr. Brown’s is overhyped. It was pricey and wasn’t any more effective than any other bottle at breaking our baby’s bottle strike. I would recommend buying bottles that are easier to disassemble and clean. We liked Tippe Tommee for that.

      • Anon says

        Re bottles, start with the cheap/simple ones! My kids took Evenflo nipples with no issue, so we used those on Medela bottles and it was great. Cheap and compact.

        • Anon says

          This is what we did. In fact, my entire strategy was to buy things with 4+ star ratings that were reasonably priced, with the expectation that we could upgrade on any particular item if needed. Thing is, one kid might have a problem with a pacifier, while another has a problem with a bottle, and a third really does not like a particular type of infant washcloth.

      • AnonATL says

        Fellow pregnant person overwhelmed by options… we are roughly planning for cloth diapers during the day and disposable at night but will be probably be using disposables for the first week or two while we get the hang of parenting.
        I’m not due till the end of July so I haven’t bought any yet due to supply issues. I have a feeling our kid will end up with whatever’s in stock at the time.
        As far as bottles go, we’ve gotten a few random samples as registry welcome gifts. Babylist also has a bottle sample box with the top 5 most popular bottles if you want to have options. I’m tentatively planning to go with the Dr brown ones, but haven’t decided yet. All bottle sets are pretty expensive if your kid doesn’t like them or gets gassy from them.
        Don’t even get me started on formula options..
        What a strange time to be a ftm.

        • cbackson says

          I’m in ATL as well! I’m not due until late June but have been trying to take care of various baby needs every couple days as kind of a break from all the craziness…but this stuff is its own brand of craziness.

          If you’re comfortable sharing, has your OB made any changes to your office visits? I start the biweekly checks next week and am not sure if they’ll want to do all of them in person. My practice is at Piedmont Hospital so it feels a bit higher-risk to me vs. if the office was in a standalone facility.

          • AnonATL says

            I’m in the Wellstar Kennestone system (howdy from the burbs!). As of now, they haven’t made any changes, but I’m fully expecting it to come. So far, I’ve had a super easy low-risk pregnancy so all my remaining appointments are just doppler and belly measurements, which seem a little unnecessary compared to exposure risk at this point. I would hope my super fun GD test will still happen as planned in a couple weeks, but the rest of my appointments could go either way.
            When I was last there a couple weeks ago, Corona was just heating up in Atlanta, and they did require a temperature check to get in the building. I am planning to go to any appointments they are still holding, and just hope they have all precautions in place.
            Also, I’ve been going to the medical parks in the area vs the actual hospital. If I were going to the main hospital I would feel differently because there have been many Corona deaths and patients there. Of course I plan to deliver at the hospital, but I’ll cross that bridge if it’s still a problem in June/July.

      • Clementine says

        This is another one where they’re all fine. Pick one you like, have some backups (unopened, with receipts). If they take the first one you offer, you’re set. If not, just keep going until one works.

        In this house, we’ve used comotomo (the gold standard if your breastfed baby rejects other bottles), Tommy Tippee wide mouth (convenient and good for formula), Dr. Browns (too many pieces), and now a special nipple that screws onto Medela bottles (which I have a million of from pumping). They’re all fine.

      • NYCer says

        We used Dr. Browns for the first several months, but eventually I got tired of cleaning all the parts. We switched to Playtex without an issue.

      • Anon says

        my tip is to avoid dr browns unless your kid has reflux. so many pieces. we had twins – one with reflux who we had to use dr. browns for and one who we used avent. Como tomo is the holy grail of bottles right now. They are much more expensive, but i think made out of some kind of special plastic

        • Anonymous says

          +1m for Como Tomo. They’re three parts (bottle, collar, n!pple) and we threw all three in the dishwasher.

          • Erin says

            Also huge plug for Como Tomo. And honestly, in terms of cost, I think I bought two bottles in each size (smaller when we first had to supplement with formula at 2 months, then the bigger size a little later when exclusively formula fed) and it was so easy to even just swish them out with hot water and soap and air dry quickly a few times a day. Just those 3 parts, and the whole bottle is kind of soft and squishy…which for obvious reasons might help with a baby who’s sort of grabby while eating!

      • FVNC says

        I think bottles can be harder than diapers, but again, there is no “right” answer — it’s just trial and error. No amount of research is going to help if you have a child that refuses a particular brand. My first would ONLY take the nipples that came with my Medela pump (amazing, so easy), my second would ONLY take [can’t remember the brand, not Dr Brown but similar with lots of parts].

      • Anonymous says

        We used Avent natural and they’re fine, few parts, and easy to clean. We got glass but when we started daycare we had to go buy plastic ones, too. They screw onto Spectra pumps for easy storage. You will get a couple sample bottles when you sign up for registries. Also get yourself a Haakaa for the early days. I have a Kiinde system but unless you have a giant freezer, those bags take up h more room than the plain old basic bags that you can lay flat. I had to stop using them.

        • make em say uh.... anon-anon says

          TLDR: MAM.
          As a FTM, In a newborn daze, I caved and gave my baby the first pacifier I could find in my stash. It happened to be MAM, selected because it glows in the dark. Why did I wait? Because of the “n*pple confusion” nurses warned me about. The same nurses that don’t have to live with a crying baby. Anyway, I started baby on the accompanying MAM bottle when it was time and we’re both very happy with them. I got a sample bottle every time I ordered from Motherhood or Pea in the Pod. Goes between b00b and bottle with ease! Good luck!

      • Scilady says

        For bottles – pick the ones with the fewest parts! Also, if you think you might be pumping, try to get one that’s compatible with your breast pump. It will save you so, so, SO much headaches and washing! I got enough samples in the mail that I just planned to have at least 3-4 around for my daughter to try. I ended up using the Lansinoh bottles for my breastfed baby when I went back to work as they were only 3 pieces to wash. Avoid Dr. Browns and so many parts unless you absolutely have too.

      • AnonLaywer says

        Get all the sample bottles from registry packs – if those are still a thing. I bought a bunch of mams when my baby liked those and now she hates them and I’m trying the other ones again. But it helped/helps having samples to try. (Also, I had to exclusively pump for the first six weeks before I got her to latch so it did help having both the pump and the bottles handy to begin with.)

    • Boston Legal Eagle says

      Agree on picking whichever brand fits your kid. Huggies fit our first (boy) better so we went with those. Stuck to those with the second (also boy). We’ve tried Pampers with him too and they seem fine as well. Huggies overnights are great for nighttime!

    • Anonymous says

      Huggies/Kirkland brand (which you can order online without being a member) are the best kind because they have elastic in the back. I guess it could depend on how your kid is shaped, but Pampers leaks out the back for a lot of people and then you will be changing baby’s outfit in the middle of the night because they get a wet spot on the small of their back (especially if you have a boy). Honest Company does not have a wetness indicator on their diapers, which is nice to have, so I avoided those. If baby is in between sizes, Target brand Up & Up runs small so many people use those for in-betweens.

  6. Nelly Yuki says

    Any recommendations of lists of when to do what to prepare for baby? I’m thinking nursery, childbirth classes, etc. Google is overwhelming and slightly hysterical, and I would appreciate some kind of outline.

    • AIMS says

      I think this differs by person but I liked Lucy’s List for being relatively thoughtful and practical.also the book Baby 411 is good. It gives you lots of lists and not overwhelming. I think there is a companion called Baby Bargains and that one may have the more practical ‘what to buy’ stuff.

      But honestly you don’t need to do that much! I didn’t do any classes, I bought very little and the baby slept in our room for the first 6-12 months anyway. If you like doing this stuff, do it buy none of it is essential!

    • anon says

      We found that basically all baby gear is available on Amazon or other websites. With Prime shipping, in the absence of a pandemic, it’s really easy to get anything you need pretty quickly. There is no need to contingency plan or overbuy.

      The core stuff is a car seat, crib, feeding stuff, and some onsies/sleepers. If you plan to walk anywhere, a stroller or carrier too.

    • Anon says

      thirding Lucie’s List! I even once emailed someone from the site when I was trying to decide between a few different strollers and they wrote me back a really lengthy, thorough explanation

    • Anonymous says

      Nursery is not that important unless you’re planning to put the kid in there from day one. They’ll be in your room for a few months in a bassinet. I took the hospital class but I found one online that was more useful – I think it was Maternity Care Midwives on YouTube. I think the other thing to do other than buying stuff is to prep for your recovery – peri bottles, dermaplast, pads, maybe a nursing book if applicable.

  7. AwayEmily says

    We’ve been doing a lot more FaceTime lately (for obvious reasons) and I have realized that my 4yo is just TERRIBLE at FaceTime. She refuses to answer direct questions, when she does speak she reverts to baby talk, and she’s just generally super weird. Every once in awhile she’ll be ok with someone she knows really well (like her grandma), but with anyone slightly more distant (including even her daycare teacher) she is a mess. It’s frustrating because she likes FaceTiming but it’s a deeply unpleasant experience for the person on the other end. Has anyone else had something like this? Ideas for how to resolve it?

    • Anonymous says

      May be an unpopular opinion but FaceTiming is not a necessary life skill. Humans survived this far without it. I mean if she was 10 and doing this then maybe?? I’d be concerned. She probably just needs more practice, but if it’s not working out I’d just abandon it.

    • AIMS says

      Practice! My kids has gotten a lot better since this all started though it certainly isn’t great.
      Having the phone or iPad standing is also good – my kids have no concept of how to hold it so that it’s not just ceiling that’s showing.

    • Katarina says

      I don’t have any advice, but I think this is pretty normal. My 4 year old struggles with it, and my 6 year old does to a lesser extent. In particular, my 4 year old gets really disappointed that we did not really see the people or do the activity. They both get really wiggly and distracted, although they can sit through more passive screen time like movies fine.

        • DLC says

          + 1 to keeping it short. If the ” conversation” is t working out, I will say, “Time to say goodbye,” and end it. I will also sometimes turn the camera around and have my child sing a song for the person on the other end- then I can control the picture a bit more.

      • Pigpen's Mama says

        It’s the age — I say keep it short and it gets better with practice. My 5 year old has FT with a few friends who are also 5/6, and it’s basically a hot mess of crazy insane butt shaking and yelling and running around the house to show off things.

        She FTs with my mom and dad, and that’s a little more sedate, it’s oddly better if I’m not there. But it is boring, she showed my parents her Hatchimal collection last week. Hopefully between the self-isolation factor and the loving grandparent factor, they were charmed!

    • Clementine says

      So to make the interactions more positive, we do a few tactics:
      – Interactive songs/singing along
      – Give the kid a snack while they’re face timing
      – Have the kid show their favorite toys
      – Have the person on the other end read a book to the kid
      – Funny faces and voices from the other person are good.
      – My kids love when people walk around and just show pets and pictures and art and instruments.

    • SC says

      My 4 year old is generally terrible with FaceTime. (Somehow, there’s an exception for my husband’s aunt, who he can talk to for over an hour, but he’s really unsociable with everyone else.) I FaceTime and expect to carry the conversation with the other adult and facilitate interaction between the two of them. Sometimes, he’s more involved, but I keep the baseline low. It helps to have a sit-down activity for him while we FaceTime–this weekend, he played with kinetic sand, worked on a puzzle, and did a craft while FaceTiming various family members and friends. He enjoys talking about and showing them what he’s doing.

      Also, this may be his sensory issues, but he does not do well at all with group FaceTimes and gets upset with too much background noise (dogs barking, babies crying, tv) on the other end. We just let him go play in another room, or we say goodbye, if it’s too much for him.

    • Anonymous says

      It’s normal for that age. Have the other person do something like read a book or sing a song. Kids do better watching and let go of any expectations that kid will perform.

    • AwayEmily says

      This is useful — thanks all. And yes, in everyday life we get around the problem by just not ever having her FaceTime…but these days both her grandmothers are living totally alone (one divorced, one with a husband in health care who is living apart from her for safety reasons) and are desperate for connection with their grandkids, so we’ve been trying to step it up a bit.

  8. AIMS says

    So my daughter has suddenly decided that she only wants to wear nightgowns to bed and I am having a really hard time finding cute cotton nightgowns for little girls. Ideally on the longer side and with sleeves. Everything is either super flimsy (so she’s going to get cold), polyester and tacky, or flannel (so only winter appropriate). I am kind of surprised by the lack of options! I’d love to find some version of the cute cotton floral print pajamas that are at gap, etc., now. Where do you all get this stuff?

    • Anonymous says

      I think 100% cotton is only allowed to be used in children’s sleep wear if it is close-fitting; loose fitting PJs have to be flame retardant and are therefore synthetic. You might do better looking for “dresses” that she can sleep in if you are not concerned about flamability.

      • AIMS says

        Wow! That is so weird, although you may be on to something. But then why are there loose flannel gowns available? So far I found one option at Boden and one at Garnet Hill. I just wish there were more cute ones. I remember very sweet ones from my own childhood but having no luck finding anything quite like that.

    • avocado says

      Garnet Hill has some cute, comfy nightgowns in a cotton-modacrylic blend that meets flammability standards without icky fire retardant chemicals. They hold up pretty well in the wash. We had some that got washed weekly for 2+ years.

    • Anon says

      My daughter is the same. We like Boden — long sleeve, soft cotton. Hatley is also good but nightgowns run small.

      • AIMS says

        So this is the weird part to me! Hatley nightgowns are all 100 percent polyester, which is esp. weird because their pajamas in the same prints are cotton. Even boden is only 44% cotton and the rest Modacrylic. Same with garnet hill which is ‘flame-resistant modacrylic and cotton’.. maybe I need to just give up.

    • Anne-on says

      Hanna Anderson, watch for sales. They are pricey but hands down the best quality pjs ever..

      • Anon says

        and the CEO just announced he is forgoing his salary for the sake of the employees

  9. Recipes? says

    What’s everyone cooking right now? Would love some ideas. We’ve been grilling a ton but could use some easy, one pot, maybe casserole-like things that I can serve to DH, me and 2 year old that might yield some left overs for the next day. Tired of eating chicken breasts and the like – needing some variety.

    Considering actually looking at some of those Tasty videos that made the rounds a while back…. but open to suggestions! TIA.

    • Cb says

      We’re veggie at home – we’ve been doing a lot of bowls. Last night, it was a tofu tajine, with pearl couscous, tofu, apricot and chickpea sauce, and spinach, tonight we’re having a sushi bowl with rice, edamame, carrots, pepper and green beans. I’ve been trying to be quite careful with groceries and we’re only going to the tiny farm shop, so making a lunch and dinner plan for each day and sticking to it.

    • AnotherAnon says

      Do you eat red meat? About 3x a week we have some form of: sauteed onions and mushrooms with ground beef/elk/bison/whatever we have around, then I put it on bread for my kiddo, who’s 3. Sometimes I add butter and sour cream, sometimes just salt pepper and beef bullion. We have one roasted or raw veggie as a side. It’s getting kind of old on week 3, but it’s easy and fast. You could easily sub ground turkey or tofu! I also like: breakfast for dinner, spaghetti (if I have time I’ll make meatballs but usually just noodles and canned sauce), or chicken and rice in the crock pot is easy. We built a fire and roasted weenies last week: kiddo got a big kick out of that. He also recently tried Chipotle, so I may try to recreate burrito bowls at home this week. If it’s cold where you are: chili or beans with ham hocks are both easy simmering meals. My friends are doing a lot of roasted fish: we don’t have great fish selection here but I might try that soon too.

    • Anon says

      Lots of tacos. White sauce enchiladas (no heartburn!). Pork chops (pounded thin and shallow pan fried or stuffed with cheese and baked). Steaks. Mac and cheese. Typically I serve a vegetable (usually roasted broccoli or brussel sprouts) and a starch (usually potatoes (mashed, roasted) or bread of some kind) with meat mains. Pulled pork sandwiches – using leftover shredded pork for nachos. Frozen pork and vegetable pot stickers with sweet chili sauce. Hot dogs. Smash burgers. Homemade pizza. Frozen crab cakes. French toast. Pancakes. Waffles. Pulled some chili out of the freezer last week and made some cornbread – will probably pull some french onion soup out this week. My 2YO eats nothing other than chicken nuggets, yogurt, apple sauce, bread (will tolerate french toast) and bell peppers, so while we continue offering her what we eat, it is soundly rejected – accordingly we don’t really plan our food for her (but continue offering knowing we’ll be rejected).

    • Anon says

      We’ve been making a big batch of this wild rice soup (with whatever veggies we get from Imperfect Produce, and sometimes adding chicken). https://www.gimmesomeoven.com/cozy-autumn-wild-rice-soup/ . The Old Bay seasoning adds a little kick, so if your 2 year old is less adventurous, sub spinach for the kale and an italian spices blend for the Old Bay.

      Search that same s1te for variations with other veggies if you’re not into improvising. The Thai Chicken Wild Rice soup is also really good. She also has some great casserole ideas – the Shepherd’s Pie is a big favorite of my kids.

    • Realist says

      If you have an instant pot, you can make a meal with sweet potato, salmon,and broccoli in under 30 minutes. Put sweet potato on the bottom (cut into bite size chunks), add 1/4 cup or a bit more of water or broth, then put a trivet on top of the sweet potatoes and add thin slices of citrus fruit or mango, put salmon (fresh or frozen) on top of the fruit, layer more thin slices of fruit on top, then add a metal (or possibly pyrex) bowl of broccoli on top of the salmon layer. Add a bit of oil and season each layer as desired as you put it into the Instant Pot. Add 1/4 cup to 1/2 cup water. Cook for 2 minutes on high pressure, (3 minutes for frozen salmon). You can instantly release pressure. So easy, healthy, and quick. It doesn’t taste spectacular (I prefer salmon with a bit of crisp on the outside from the broiler, and steamed broccolis and sweet potatoes are kind of boring), but it does the job for a meal when I need something quick, easy and healthy. Being able to use frozen salmon is nice too, because I usually have some in the freezer.

    • Extra anon for this says

      Using a lot of canned biscuits and crescent dough to make easy to reheat and eat food for everyone involved. I usually use biscuit dough to make cups in a muffin tin and put in leftover ham or sausage or something in there with cheese and egg and bake. The kids and husband like them. Sometimes I do cups with shredded chicken and bbq sauce and gouda cheese, or cut up meatball with sauce and mozzarella, etc. Any flavors work. or using canned crescent dough and adding ham and cheese before rolling them into rolls (the kids like those) or making a roll of some kind to slice into pinwheels. It’s what I have the energy and resources for and the kids will eat and I don’t mind either.

      • Anon says

        Hot dogs wrapped in crescent rolls with a little cheese and then sprinkled with some everything seasoning before baking are amazing.

    • Anonymous says

      Just meal planned for the next week and did my weekly grocery outing. My meal plan is:

      tonight: leftover chili + fresh fruit
      Thurs: meatballs + rice, fresh fruit, canned peas and carrots for kiddo, frozen veggie for DH and me
      Fri: pizza and movie night – frozen pizza, fresh fruit, salad, Frozen ice cream for dessert
      Sat: grilled burgers + tater tot type things (the thin ones), fresh fruit, whatever veggies people choose
      Sun: leftovers from Sat
      Mon: chicken and noodles, fresh fruit, salad and/or another veggie
      Tues: same as Monday

      Fruit in the house right now: grapes, apples, pears. Veggies: cherry tomatoes, salad, carrots, various frozen veggies, canned peas and carrots (for kiddo who begs for them). We give kiddo a lot of leniency to choose whatever fruit or veggie she’ll eat on a given night.

    • GCA says

      It turns out that years of living on a shoestring budget, working remotely and juggling kid-care with zero nearby family have apparently prepared me perfectly for pandemic social-distance cooking!

      Weekend projects:
      – Lasagna. Make extra on the weekend, everyone loves it, you can disguise spinach, eggplant and other veggies in there, and it freezes well.
      – Shepherd’s pie and chicken pot pie. Also weekend projects but will feed you through the week.
      Weeknights:
      – Nom Nom Paleo instant pot carnitas + rice, veggies of choice, avocados.
      – Pinch of Yum chicken and wild rice soup
      – Instant pot shakshuka with pita bread
      – Egg roll in a bowl over rice
      – When you accumulate enough leftover rice, fried rice with eggs, frozen mixed veggies and whatever scraps of protein you have kicking around (tofu, leftover salmon, leftover carnitas). This is a Friday staple in our house. Grocery day is Saturday.
      – Pasta with miso butter sauce, edamame and mushrooms

      Also: For grownups’ at-home lunches, I roast a bunch of veggies and cook two cups of farro (toss in some TVP for extra protein) on the weekend, and eat that throughout the week with extras (scallions, shredded nori seaweed, a hard-boiled or fried egg, leftover black beans or chicken curry, etc.)

  10. Cb says

    A fun share. We were leaving for a scoot when my son’s balance bike arrived from a bike hire scheme (monthly fee and you exchange when kid outgrows it) and he’s so, so excited! He rode through our neighborhood singing ‘I’m on a bike’ to the tune of Daniel Tiger’s neighburhood. He rode to have our snack in the woods and feed birds a piece of stale bread and it was a really lovely morning.

    • make em say uh.... anon-anon says

      this is too, too, sweet and made me smile! enjoy the bike riding adventures with your little guy.

    • Anonymous says

      That is very cute and what a great idea for a bike company.
      I sang “I’m on a bike” to the tune of “I’m on a boat”, which is decidedly less cute but funny to think about a preschooler singing.

  11. Anon says

    Solidarity. We’re experiencing this, too, with our 23 month old. She is usually in FT daycare so we honestly don’t know if this is standard or new for her. We have seen tiny bits of it on weekends but nothing to this extreme.

    In our case she belly laughs in the face of discipline/stern talking/looking disappointed/soft but firm talking/redirection… ANYTHING. We’re losing our minds. The vast majority of the behavior we’re correcting is truly dangerous. Her new favorite thing is to flop off of the couch in all directions, regardless of what’s there to catch her (sometimes nothing but the floor). She was jumping off her stool and trying to catch herself with hands on the edge of the porcelain pedestal sink yesterday. The girl is destined for America Ninja Warrior but in the meantime I’d really love to avoid the ER. Sigh.

    • Pogo says

      omg!!! I thought my kid was dangerous! yikes. Can you incorporate more movement into her day? It’s hard where I am because it’s still so cold, but we have a play tunnel that has been helpful. The other day I also let LO down into the basement where our home gym is (and it is soft, carpeted, mostly safe) and let him roll around/bounce on my swiss ball. He loved that. He was doing forward rolls off of it.

    • Anonymous says

      Y’all, I was making lunch for my kids and turned around to find them chasing one another around the house with literal steak knives. WTFH kids?

    • Ashley says

      Yes! The examples I gave above were not that extreme but mine has figured out the deadbolt on exterior doors and keeps unlocking doors and going out unannounced. It’s terrifying!

  12. Anonymous says

    Guys, motivate me. We have about 2 weeks left of diapers before I have to buy more. Maybe 3 weeks. I can buy them, but it will be a low-medium level hassle (driving around to find a store that has the size and/or paying for the expensive ones left on amazon). My youngest turns 2 in June. My first was daytime trained by 23 months and my second was daytime trained by 26 months (could have been earlier but we had a new baby). Youngest has shown interest and will tell me when she’s got a dirty diaper and sometimes even tell me “potty now!” and we run her to the potty and she makes it. But it’s all been 100% her lead until now.

    I know the right answer is to just potty train her now. But she’s my third and I’m lazy and adding potty training to 3 kids at home 24×7 seems like another thing. But….she could be potty trained by summer and I won’t have to change diapers all summer long.

    • AIMS says

      There is no better time than now! We are doing with with the 2 year old. It’s a pain but the biggest hassle of potty training with my older kid was (1) finding the time when we would be home to do it and (2) going anywhere when she was still figuring it out. Neither is really an issue now!

      • NYCer says

        +1 that now seems like as good of a time as any.

        That being said, I was able to order diapers (Huggies) and wipes (water wipes) on Amazon this morning for delivery on Saturday. I know that both these items periodically have been out of stock lately, but they usually come back into stock pretty consistently too. Just pointing out because procuring diapers might not actually be as much of a hassle as you’re worrying about.

    • EB says

      It sounds like a good time for training, but also, it’s not that difficult to find diapers. Do you have Target in your area? I use their app and order stuff for curbside delivery. The app will tell you which store has your diapers in stock. I am sure whatever other store you use (Walmart, etc.) has a similar function.

      • Anonymous says

        Oh, exactly. That’s why I said low-medium. Having to hunt around for a target that has the right size, then drive over there. And amazon has diapers.

    • Anon says

      After a failed bootcamp, we’ve had to go the low pressure route of still keeping diapers and offering the potty but not insisting, which, after several weeks of that we’re having more success day by day (up to 50% of the time she actually asks for the potty before going in her diaper). So if your kid is not like your other kids, you may still need diapers.

  13. Connector Straw toys? Brand? says

    People on here always recommend these connector straw toys for kids that they love. Is that the ZozoPlay ones? Could someone help? I need to get them for my kid – think he’s old enough and needs a new distraction right now. Thanks.

  14. Fun stuff says

    Does anyone have ideas for Easter Basket gifts? I’m looking for ideas for my 7 year old son that will help keep him occupied, e.g. craft or activity kits. We are in an NYC apartment so outside toys are of limited use right now. (And we have a lifetime supply of sidewalk chalk).

    Also, is anyone doing anything fun for April Fool’s day?

    • Nan says

      I’m too emotionally fragile for April Fool’s Day right now. If someone pulled a prank on me, I think would just cry.

    • AIMS says

      What about spending time dying the eggs together? You can use food like beets and onion skin for dye which is it’s own project and the dye the eggs … I don’t usually celebrate Easter but planning to do this just for the project of it all.

    • SC says

      Make your own terrarium, origami kit, build a birdhouse, modeling clay, some paint + set him up with a Bob Ross episode. You could also buy a magic set or science kit if you think he’d be interested.

      Also, you don’t have to buy this, but when I was 7, I loved making salt dough and then “sculpting” stuff with it. Kept me entertained for hours. That’s assuming you have flour on hand, I know it’s hard to get.

    • avocado says

      In celebration of April Fool’s Day, I am going to watch some of the prank episodes of MASH. Then I am going to go to sleep and hope I wake up tomorrow to find out that this was all a cruel joke.

    • lsw says

      My 13 yo has been obsessed with April Fools for years so I always put it on my calendar. I went easy this year and just stuck random googly eyes all over the house. She loved it and (surprise) my three year old loved it too! I thought it would make him mad because he doesn’t like things that aren’t “right”. The big googly eyes on the trash can are the current fave.

      The 13 yo also played some cute pranks on us today as well. (Telling us there was a message from “Mr. Lyon” and to call him back at a number that was our city zoo, putting a fake bug on my son’s lamp – this one actually got me)

    • In House Lobbyist says

      I just bought my Easter basket items from the big online retailer. I bought each kid a new book, a new fancy adult coloring book, and a create your own comic book blank notebook. I also bought a huge pack of those ink pens with multiple colors of ink. We have several young cousins that I usually make Easter baskets for when we see them in person but I think this year homemade cards and those ink pens will have to suffice since I am not going to a store for Easter basket items.

  15. DLC says

    Curious: is anyone still pumping while working from home? My 6 month old is such an inefficient nurser, and then she falls asleep on me- basically I have a baby almost constantly attached me me, and I’m wondering if I should jut pump and have husband or mom give a bottle. I don’t love pumping, but at least it is faster and I can work while doing it. Though nursing is easier, I just don’t get a lot of work done. What are your work from home/ nursing routines or strategies?

    • Pogo says

      This sounds really tough. If you and DH or your mom are truly trading off watching baby (like you are working 9-1 while one of them watches baby primarily) I would pump during that time and have them do a bottle. During your off-work, on-baby times I’d still nurse. I’m finding it easier to have dedicated time where I’m 100% working vs 100% momming rather than trying to do 50% both which is impossible. It sounds like you’re trying to work full time with a baby attached to you which is tough.

    • Anonymous says

      I am during the work day. I usually only pump twice, vs feeding baby a lot more than that.

    • Anonymous says

      Chiming in that I’d probably do a combination of both based on schedules for the day.

    • Anon says

      Yep! I am. I exclusive pump and my 6 month old won’t even attempt a latch anymore. I think we are the definition of n*pple confusion, as she has eyes only for the bottle. I also only have to pump 3 times a day but she eats every three hours so I count that as a win. I’ll be honest here and also say i have no idea how to breastfeed beyond the latch. Do i offer both? just one? wont i be lopsided all day?

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