Above all; be respectful. Be mindful of what you say and how you say it. Please remember that the tone or inflection of what is being said is easily lost online so when in doubt be doubly kind and assume the best of others.

FTM to a 16 month old and I am feeling like a husk. I am still breastfeeding, just before bed and first thing in the morning. I just feel worn out. Everything about me feels gray and drab. My daughter started daycare 4 months ago and we are in the throes of the illness deluge. I’ve had some major job changes. I am just burnt out. My hair sucks, I’m trying to find time for movement every day but I just feel blah. I cry a lot, after my daughter goes to daycare or during the workday, or after she goes to bed. I haven’t slept through the night in about three weeks and I’m sure that doesn’t help.

I am missing my baby so much lately, and I don’t think I need a break from her…it’s just everything else. What are your tips and tricks for when you’re feeling this way? I’ll take any and everything - supplements, routines, diet changes, whatever!!

Editing to add that I am in regular therapy and I do try to journal too.

i have a no screens 2 hours before bed policy with my daughter (10) and i'm looking for some low stimulation activities to help wind her down in the evening. what do your kids do before bed?

Looking to decrease the amount of disposables and chemicals in and around my vagina during menstruation. What do you all use?

I’m thinking about trying menstrual cups. Does anyone have tried and true recommendations?

Is it okay that my 9mo hangs her head when she falls asleep in her seat? I have the britax poplar s and it’s reclined all the way back but she never sleep with her head back? Should I be concerned? I feel like it doesn’t recline enough but it’s within the recommended level.

Hello! For the past 2 days I’ve been going crazy about rugs. Here is my problem:

- budget $300-$400, min size 8 x 10 or similar
- husband hates cotton and natural fiber rugs, is not crunchy so would be ok with polyester etc
- i am not ok with polyester, but as a former vegan / current vegetarian for health reasons am opposed to wool. i like cotton
- husband likes fluffy soft rugs

As you can see, these things don’t really go together. Do I just have to go for wool to keep my family safe? Recycled wool? He found a rug he would compromise on at IKEA that’s wool. I’m worried if I just order online we are stuck with something neither of us want. Part of me is also thinking with having carpet upstairs anyways would a polyester rug downstairs even matter? The other side is let’s reduce where we can. Any advice?

I’ve been comparing prenatal labels for a family member and noticed there’s a lot more variation than I expected, even among prenatal vitamins with choline. The rest of the formula can look pretty different depending on the brand. I'm kinda overwhelmed honestly, What should I pay the most attention to besides choline?

Looking for recommendations for homemade snacks with hidden veggies that actually taste good. I’ve tried the sweet potatoes cinnamon rolls, which were good.

Hi all,

Looking for some moderately granola perspectives here because I have a tendency to go overboard!

So we’ve more or less eliminated synthetic fabrics in all of my baby’s things except for her cloth diapers which we just recently started using. We have the Esembly system— a cotton inner diaper (against baby’s skin) with a polyurethane laminate outer diaper cover (not against baby’s skin).

I know one route of microplastic exposure is through synthetic fibres shedding them in washing machines, and I’m becoming increasingly concerned as I’m realizing that cloth diapers are washed very often and in very hot water. I imagine these things exacerbate the shedding?

These diapers aren’t going in her mouth or anything but they are sitting, often wet, right against her skin. I’m not sure how much of a concern transdermal absorption really is, but Google seems to say it is a feasible exposure route, and especially where sweat is involved which I’m concerned also applies to urine.

The drawbacks of washing the inners and outers separately are the additional precious time and energy spent doing laundry as well as the additional water and laundry detergent used.

What do you guys think?

TIA❤️

ETA: I just realized my concern is not very clear🤦‍♀️ I’m concerned about the inner diapers, which go against baby’s skin, becoming saturated in microplastics by being washed with the polyurethane laminate covers!

I am 24, a first time & single mom, just for context. My daughter turned six month old recently and was given the greenlight today at her doctors appointment to start eating solid foods as frequently as she likes. I’m gonna start at just dinner times and go from there. I have absolutely no idea what I’m doing, I’ve been seeing that I have to steam the food before I blend it. Is it normal to have to buy one of those machines that do it all for you? Or is it less effort that I’m thinking to just do it all at home? Now onto prepping and storing and refrigerating the food, are you all just making it for your baby per meal fresh? Or do you prep a couple things at a time and put them in the fridge? I’ve seen that you should treat your babies leftover food like you with yours, so typically 24–48 hours in the fridge. Or up to six months+ in the freezer. Am I understanding all of this information correctly? I just wanna make sure I’m doing all of this right, haha!! TYIA🫶🏻🫶🏻

hey i’m looking for brands that i’m able to buy in the us that are for toddlers barefoot andwool lined rainboots. i’ve looked into bisgaard and can’t find anywhere that sells the barefoot option in the us if i did it’s over 100$ also if by chance anyone is selling a pair either size 6.5-7 /23/24

I always wanted to be the family that ate together every night, but it’s admittedly really hard to come up with adult meal plans every week that my kids (6, 6, 3) will also eat. I just can’t be bothered a lot of the time. It’s so much easier to make them kid meals and then figure something else out for my husband and I. We try to do at least one dinner all together a week so that makes me feel better. Just wondering what others do, and if you do eat together most of the time, what are you making that the whole family can/will eat?

hi! do other moms look at the per batch heavy metal contaminant data when buying baby food? For example, https://plumorganics.com/heavy-metals-test-results-for-pouches/

If so, how do you contextualize the data?

Furthermore, when buying a well-know brand off of Amazon, how do you know if you should buy a baby food product before knowing the batch that your purchase will be from?

I’m trying to understand the best way to use this data and rely on it in day-to-day life.

Is there a specific threshold concentration that you are okay with or do you always try to get <1 ppb?

Please tell me your daily flow when purchasing baby food products!

Thank you for your answers!

Google references lead safe mama and I feel like I've seen mixed opinions about her content. Ive seen a lot of good information on this subreddit plus been pointed in the correct direction a few times.

Last year we bought plates w bees on them as our first set, it was a spur of the moment purchase bc we ran in the dollar 25 tree for God knows what, bc we had just moved. Later I realized they may not be the safest plates after learning that some companies still use lead paint in their designs or labels.

We have been adjusting some of our dishes and such to be safer where we can. We just moved and I'd like to get some dishes again, today I walked in and saw cups w pumpkins on them and tbh I only put them down so I could look up if they were relatively safe.

If anyone has a reference for this type deal and or recommendations please hit me w it. Even if it's just your fav dishes. Until today my heart was set on matte stoneware

I have 16 month old twins and we don’t do any added sugar at home. For daycare, they provide snacks but we provide lunch. I recently found out they often give graham crackers or nilla wafers, both of which have a lot of added sugar. They do a lot of other healthier snacks too, but I think that’s what they keep in the cabinets for in between snack/lunch time when kids need something.

Would you care? I can’t decide if I should care and ask them to do something different or provide different snacks, or if I should let it go and just let what happens at daycare be. They’re both tiny toddlers, 17 and 18 lbs, so I kind of figure any calories are okay, even if it is some added sugar. Curious how others would approach this?

Hey y’all, when I was moving out of my old duplex we had a very short time frame and had to move and clean everything out. My mil brought over cleaning supplies and I cleaned the shower (honestly I used my cleaning supplies for that) and she had me use comet to clean some sink and stovetop stuff with gloves on and window open. Later on she cleaned the oven with some kind of oven cleaner and it was insane. We opened all the windows and doors but it was literally stinging my nose. I had to clean out the fridge by the oven because we had such a time crunch, and I was breathing that in for probably 45 mins. This was when I was around 7 weeks pregnant, now I’m 12 weeks. Now I’m freaking out about possible birth defects and trying not to be angry as well. I’m so irritated at myself, I should’ve told her no and just waited for someone else to do it but I didn’t know it was unsafe at the time . Ugh

Hi I am looking for a water bottle that is and or has any or all of these in it.

Water bottle specifics: Silicon straw, easy to clean, fits in cup holders.

I have not been able to find one but I am hopping that someone here has found one with the three things i mentioned

Im nearly 4 months postpartum and in the last week my skin has just gone to shit??? Just tiny little bumps not big cystic acne just small little pimples??? Is this a normal thing?? Anything to help it??

I am breastfeeding also if that impacts anything.

My kiddo will be 8 months at Christmas. I’m starting to create a list do things to suggest to family when they ask what to get her. Other than books, what are some things you/your kiddo liked and thought was worth it at that age?

Has anyone taken ritual prenatals? I took mykind organics with my first along with a DHA supplement and didn’t make me nauseous or leave a bad taste in my mouth. I’m interested in the ritual brand as it has 350 mg of DHA so I wouldn’t need a separate supplement. The only con I’m seeing is It’s missing a few vitamins I would like such as vitamin C, calcium and zinc.

I really want to get my kid a Planetbox, but I'm uncertain if it'll fit in his lunchbox. It's slightly longer than the lunchbox dimensions, but looking at/measuring the lunchbox in person it seems like it would probably fit if the lunchbox sides stretched a bit, or if the Planetbox was put in at a slight angle? Anyone here who has both and can tell me if it works? I don't want to spend all the money (especially on non-refundable shipping costs) for it to not fit lol

hi everyone! looking for advice and tips. I have a 21 month old and a 4 month old. my 4 month old takes 3 naps a day and my 21 month old takes 1 nap a day. how do you put your baby to sleep during the two naps while the toddler is awake? the toddler does not have screen time and sleeps Independently. my baby currently needs rocking to fall asleep for naps, or contact/nurses to sleep if we are out. she sleeps the night and occasionally puts herself to sleep if she wakes up without needing assistance or a feed. i have help at home, but am nervous about how a nanny would handle 2 under 2 when I start working In 2 months, which means they will be handling a 23 month old and a 6 month old. Would like to establish a good routine prior to the nanny starting! Thank you in advance and let me know if I need to edit to give more info.

edit: just want to say thank you for everyone responding. I feel my anxiety decreasing knowing I’m not the only one who has two little, as silly as that may sound.

Hello everyone!

My 9mo and I will br travelling to Brisbane from Melbourne (and spending sometime on the Sunshine coast) and i am after recommendations of good, natural sunscreen for her? I leave this saturday so preferably one I can just pop into a shop & buy instead of ordering online

She doesn't get out much in the sun here in Melbourne (for obvious reasons) so just trying to be extra cautious 🩷

TIA

I’m trying to find a pillow that is more natural. I saw naturepedic is on sale right now for $63 dollars, but I saw that it’s filled with plant based PLA fibers (essentially still plastic).

Then I saw A Little Pillow Company. They are handmade in Virginia, but the fill is KindCore-plastic bottles basically. But everything is made in the US. $35

Probably best bet that I have found is Down & Feather Company. It’s made to order by hand in the US. The case is cotton and the inside is filled with down feathers sourced from Hungary and is Responsible down certified. I read China is the main supplier for down and they usually live pluck until the animal gets sick or stops growing feathers. $50

What did you go with for toddler pillow?