|
Obligatory reminder for lurkers that travel with babies / toddlers is a skill like any other, and you get better at it with practice. Pre-pandemic I was a pretty frequent traveler - even with a baby and toddler, alone - and it was usually fine. I definitely got puked on once or twice and had in-air tantrums, but nothing worse than what happens on the ground. Pandemic travel sucks and I'm dreading the first flight back like I dreaded the first restaurant outing - because we haven't practiced. If you're anxious, though, kids'll pick up on it and feed off it to become hell-beasts. Best advice is to keep yourself as zen-like as possible, plan for what you can, and accept the things that will happen that you cannot change.
|
#
?
Aug 4, 2021 15:44
|
|
|
|
| # ? Jun 5, 2024 07:08 |
|
|
cailleask posted:Obligatory reminder for lurkers that travel with babies / toddlers is a skill like any other, and you get better at it with practice. Pre-pandemic I was a pretty frequent traveler - even with a baby and toddler, alone - and it was usually fine. I definitely got puked on once or twice and had in-air tantrums, but nothing worse than what happens on the ground. Zen and the Art of Controlling Children on Airplanes The hardest part about traveling with small children is not staying zen, it’s staying zen and still getting the small child to do what you want/need them to do. If the child isn’t receptive to negotiation or reason in any form (and toddlers can’t really be reasoned with), sometimes you just gotta hold them. When my son wouldn’t sit in his seat and wanted to walk around in the aisle, he wouldn’t listen to me or my wife either, no matter how calm we were. So when the flight attendant said to prepare for descent and buckle up, I just grabbed my son and held him on my lap. He loving hated it, he cried and screamed, but it’s not the first time I’ve had to physically restrain him to keep him from getting hurt/doing something dangerous. Ultimately it was what was necessary to keep him safe because even if he wouldn’t listen he still had to be safe in his seat or with one of us. He was tired and hasn’t napped, and ended up being up til midnight due to inexplicable delays, one of which was explainable due to maintenance that took longer than expected. It was pretty impossible for him to be a good listener in that state, and on top of this travel is just inherently stressful what with trying to get through security with all your poo poo and their poo poo and at least one stroller etc. Bottom line: if they won’t follow your instructions to follow the instructions of the flight crew, you gotta make ‘em. It ain’t fun but it’s best for them. And for you, rather than just completely neglecting to control your offspring on an airplane life is killing me fucked around with this message at 16:02 on Aug 4, 2021 |
|
#
?
Aug 4, 2021 15:57
|
|
|
We're expecting our first in a few months. My mom has been non-stop entering Instagram baby contests and it turns out she actually won one! Well, actually she was a runner up. But the prize is still pretty good - we can choose any of the following items as long as the approximate retail value doesn't exceed $500: Any suggestions? I'm thinking we'll want a transport system rather than a car seat so at the moment I'm leaning towards the carrier and the swing/rocker. I've never been a parent before so any advice is appreciated! I understand we're gonna eventually have to buy a lot of this stuff anyway but I guess I'm looking to get the best bang for my buck for stuff I can get for free. Edit: VV We're 
bowser fucked around with this message at 16:56 on Aug 4, 2021 |
|
#
?
Aug 4, 2021 16:41
|
|
|
Are you in the US? If so I'd make sure to check the retail prices they're giving you as you are making your decision because I know the Graco 4Ever is not as much as it has listed on that sheet.
|
|
#
?
Aug 4, 2021 16:55
|
|
|
Ok again she will not eat even after a long nap in which she fell asleep without eating. I’ve tried it all. She’s congested with sinus infection but have cleared her nose with frida and saline, bulb too. Steam shower. She has some gas but she’s never refused to take a bottle even with gas. Mom not here, just me and her. I’ve even taken her to her room with white noise to calm her and she wouldn’t take it—last time she ate was like 4:30am nursing. Really concerned about the appetite or lack thereof, I’ve called her pediatrician but in the meantime any ideas? edit: it’s not a burp because she just burped and I tried again. Still no dice. She’s pretty angry too.
|
|
#
?
Aug 4, 2021 17:52
|
|
|
life is killing me posted:Ok again she will not eat even after a long nap in which she fell asleep without eating. I’ve tried it all. She’s congested with sinus infection but have cleared her nose with frida and saline, bulb too. Steam shower. She has some gas but she’s never refused to take a bottle even with gas. Mom not here, just me and her. I’ve even taken her to her room with white noise to calm her and she wouldn’t take it—last time she ate was like 4:30am nursing. Really concerned about the appetite or lack thereof, I’ve called her pediatrician but in the meantime any ideas? Is she having wet diapers still?
|
|
#
?
Aug 4, 2021 18:06
|
|
|
bowser posted:We're expecting our first in a few months. My mom has been non-stop entering Instagram baby contests and it turns out she actually won one! Well, actually she was a runner up. But the prize is still pretty good - we can choose any of the following items as long as the approximate retail value doesn't exceed $500: I'd get the car seat. Pack n plays, high seats, cribs, baby carriers you can get used for cheap (or free). Car seats are something you do not want used, unless it's from someone very trusted, and they also have a finite life. And you will need one, even if you don't have a car, to put in the taxi to get home from the hospital. Are you anywhere near Vancouver? We have an extra Graco pack n play that we got for free which I'm having trouble giving away.
|
|
#
?
Aug 4, 2021 19:43
|
|
|
nwin posted:Is she having wet diapers still? Well when she fell asleep as I tried to feed her, I didn’t change her diaper like I usually do before putting her down for her nap so no idea when was the last time she actually peed her diaper. She wasn’t even up for the morning an hour before she fell asleep all on her own. She’s acting lethargic now still but my wife cleared her afternoon at work to meet me at urgent care and is breastfeeding. I don’t understand life is killing me fucked around with this message at 20:20 on Aug 4, 2021 |
|
#
?
Aug 4, 2021 20:00
|
|
|
Also JFC my partner's mat leave is ending and we haven't found childcare yet  Little anecdotes from the Vancouver childcare situation: We put ourselves on some daycare waitlists during the first trimester. Apparently spots are unlikely to open up until the kid is two years old. All of the daycares have notes on their websites saying that they get too many queries about people's place on the waitlist, and will no longer respond to those. My partner saw a community centre daycare post that they had four spots open up (for kids older older than ours). Their process is to give people a particular time to register to enter the lottery for the spots. They are expecting over 50 applications for each of them. There's a list of daycares that do have vacancies, that gets posted on a particular website every Friday. It's possible we could get in if we jump on them, but none of them right now are for under 12 months. Our kid is 9 months old. If/when we finally do manage to find a daycare spot, we'll probably just have to take whatever we can get, with very little leeway to vet it or pick and choose. We're looking into a "nanny share" where we and another family split the cost of a nanny for both our kids. This seems to be a bit of a legal grey area, but commonly done. It's also likely to cost somewhere around two-thirds of my partner's take-home pay once she's back at work.
|
|
#
?
Aug 4, 2021 20:31
|
|
|
Our kiddo is 3 and she's been going to preschool for about a year now. We knew it would be an adjustment at first and it definitely was really difficult convincing her to go. She only goes twice a week on Monday and Thursday. S he's never come around on it. To this day she cries in the morning when we tell her she's going and it's still a big production getting her to school and saying goodbye to her. We don't know what to do anymore. It's been emotionally challenging for both of us to have to bring her there and see how sad she gets. We've talked to her teachers and they've assured us that she generally settles down and does seem to be doing pretty well after the initial unrest. We're mostly just getting worn down by the resistance in the morning and how sad she seems to feel. When we ask her why she doesn't like the school she tends to say things like "I don't like the boys there" "the boys there hit me", which like, yeah that probably happened once or twice, but we've talked to the teachers and it doesn't seem to be a recurring thing. We've told her that when people hit you it isn't ok, talk to the teacher, all that stuff obviously, but yeah... she's also fantastic at making things up of course. The school did tell us that it can take a bit longer for kids to adjust if they aren't going every day, and yeah, that makes sense. But it's been about 10 months so we figured something would've given by now. Has Anyone had a similar experience? We just want to make the process less upsetting for all of us.
|
|
#
?
Aug 4, 2021 21:49
|
|
|
Welp it's RSV. Seems if she's gonna eat when she's sick and not feeling well, she wants the boob and Daddy isn't gonna cut it. Poor thing, she's so tired and miserable.
|
|
#
?
Aug 4, 2021 21:53
|
|
|
Following a prolonged period of wearing the same dry diaper for a day or more, we decided to rip the band-aid off. 2.5-year old has been officially out of diapers for three days now without accidents. We prompt her for the potty at set times (wake-up, before leaving home and before bed). Cue this evening, when she's really tired and shagged-out after two intense days of playdates after a summer with just parents and grandparents. For some reason she just wouldn't pee. Sat on that potty for a good 30 minutes before bedtime (getting picture books read to her to keep her from leaving) with nothing to show for it. Next, at lights-out after the bedtime story, mom offered her another chance at the potty which made her yell very firmly that "no I do not want to pee"! Since the last time she peed was at 3 PM, I'm anticipating her first official bed-wetting tonight. I guess it's a "practice opportunity" like they say in the potty training books. Hopefully she'll learn something from it. And hopefully there was nothing physiologically preventing her from peeing this evening. The things you start worrying about when you have kids... Any potty training horror stories to lighten the mood? Have I told you about my relative's daughter who, at five years old, would still go and fetch a pull-up diaper whenever she had to poop?
|
|
#
?
Aug 4, 2021 22:27
|
|
|
Hippie Hedgehog posted:
Congrats! Sister's 3.5 year old is still struggling with potty training but she doesn't get a lot of consistency at home which doesn't help. Most recent horror story I heard was that she had a poop accident the other day in her pullups, told my sister she needed to change and when my sister was too slow helping her, took off the diaper, and hit my sister square in the face with it, lol. Sister kinda deserved that.
|
|
#
?
Aug 4, 2021 22:59
|
|
|
My 3yo is way way too stubborn to attempt potty training although I have no doubt she would be able to do it if she chose to. It’s really maddening but she thrives on that. Oh lord I am raising a troll
|
|
#
?
Aug 4, 2021 23:01
|
|
|
I would love to have a meal where I can enjoy my chosen food at my own pace without sharing or having to convince someone else to eat. Maybe even enjoy a glass of wine or beer or something. That exists, right? I’m not just imagining it?
|
|
#
?
Aug 4, 2021 23:53
|
|
|
bowser posted:We're expecting our first in a few months. My mom has been non-stop entering Instagram baby contests and it turns out she actually won one! Well, actually she was a runner up. But the prize is still pretty good - we can choose any of the following items as long as the approximate retail value doesn't exceed $500: Personally I'd go for the carseat. Worst case scenario - you hate it. You now have a spare car seat for a grandparent/family/friend to use in case of an emergency. Or there's a blow out in your current one. Carriers are so person and baby specific. You could love the way the carrier fits and your baby could hate it. Or there could be a better brand that fits you/your partner better. Some babies love to be snuggled, some don't like to be overly warm - its all unknowable things. Same with the rockers, swings - they're so baby specific. Some babies love them, some hate them. And a lot of these items are optional things - you're not required to have a swing or a fancy high chair. Some things you may get as gifts or cheap from consignment shops, etc. but you won't find carseats there. In fact I'll warn against a fancy high chair as they take up room and are a pain to clean. You want a high chair? Use this as a high chair - https://www.amazon.com/Fisher-Price...ps%2C330&sr=8-2 it clips on to your existing chair, and is easily cleaned.
|
|
#
?
Aug 5, 2021 00:24
|
|
|
Fwiw that's the car seat we use and we like it a lot
|
|
#
?
Aug 5, 2021 01:13
|
|
|
BadSamaritan posted:I would love to have a meal where I can enjoy my chosen food at my own pace without sharing or having to convince someone else to eat. Maybe even enjoy a glass of wine or beer or something. Only if you can convince someone else to watch the kid(s) for a while.
|
|
#
?
Aug 5, 2021 01:59
|
|
|
We have a system that came with a base for a car, a stroller and a car seat that snaps into both the base and a stroller. It’s super handy, and I’m sure there are other advantages to having separate pieces, but going from car to stroller and back is pretty incredible.
|
|
#
?
Aug 5, 2021 03:36
|
|
|
We went with the Graco 4Ever carseat. I thought about a travel system but I didn’t foresee many opportunities to use it because of covid. The only time it would have been nice were pediatrician visits, but that’s been a combined couple of hours in the first 4 months of her life. Overall I’m happy we went with the 4Ever.
|
|
#
?
Aug 5, 2021 06:54
|
|
|
meanolmrcloud posted:We have a system that came with a base for a car, a stroller and a car seat that snaps into both the base and a stroller. It’s super handy, and I’m sure there are other advantages to having separate pieces, but going from car to stroller and back is pretty incredible. We were gifted a used car seat/base like that, and specifically sought out a matching stroller that would fit. Definitely worth it.
|
|
#
?
Aug 5, 2021 07:04
|
|
|
The click in infant seats are great but they outgrow that stage so fast. For a while they can basically be kind of unwieldy luggage!
|
|
#
?
Aug 5, 2021 07:05
|
|
|
Hippie Hedgehog posted:Since the last time she peed was at 3 PM, I'm anticipating her first official bed-wetting tonight. I guess it's a "practice opportunity" like they say in the potty training books. Hopefully she'll learn something from it. And hopefully there was nothing physiologically preventing her from peeing this evening. The things you start worrying about when you have kids... Well, opportunity missed, I guess, because she woke up dry and happy this morning and promptly peed in the potty instead. This kid has a bladder the size of the ocean, I tell you.
|
|
#
?
Aug 5, 2021 07:05
|
|
|
I had a click in and just didn’t like it. The car seat was too heavy. Then add in how much the baby weighs. If you’re talking use for immediately post birth, there could be weight lifting restrictions that puts it way over. I was always doing things solo so I couldn’t rely on a stronger partner to do the lifting in/out of the car. My first born just hated all strollers. And carriers - for the first bit at least. She warmed up to carriers after 3 months. I didn’t even start with a stroller for my youngest - we went with a carrier that I had from my oldest from the start and luckily that worked out. Later on, she naturally loved the umbrella stroller we got to make school pick up easier. Kids.
|
|
#
?
Aug 5, 2021 07:39
|
|
|
Happened over two weeks ago, but still. I feel better talking about it now that I know the teeth are gonna be ok. A neighbor boy threw a stone at Daniel and it knocked his lower front tooth loose and broke one of them. Emergency room x-ray. It's his real teeth too and not milk teeth anymore. This was the same younger kid I mentioned earlier, who the mom didn't want them to hang out with. And now we're agreeing too, no more visits there or him to us. At least he didn't knock them out, the teeth have "grown back" in and aren't loose any more, the broken tooth got a cap and the dentist says it's looking fine. Thank god we got insurance this year for both kids, that include dental. 50-60 euros a year per kid is worth it for that. 
|
|
#
?
Aug 5, 2021 09:49
|
|
|
wizzardstaff posted:We were gifted a used car seat/base like that, and specifically sought out a matching stroller that would fit. Definitely worth it. My mom had bought us a stroller from the thrift store that was originally part of a travel system. It meant we needed a compatible car seat to be able to use it for the first several months, since newborns can’t sit up. We found one that fit and it’s been working pretty great for us. Of course, baby is still only 16lbs at over 9 months, so she’s not too heavy in the infant seat yet. It’s nice that she can sit up now though and use the stroller on it’s own. This kid toddled all around the playground and splash park yesterday with support, including going both uphill and downhill. She’s gonna be walking on her own so soon!
|
|
#
?
Aug 5, 2021 12:45
|
|
|
We got a second hand duna, which new are I guess $600 or something Not having to haul around a stroller in your trunk+ not having to wake up your kid to put them in the stroller/car seat is worth the price of admission, especially if you plan on using either a car seat or stroller daily Not sure what the second hand market is like but I'm guessing it's strong, can probably recoup most of your investment when they outgrow it around the 9 month mark TLDR look at the duna, or is it doona
|
|
#
?
Aug 5, 2021 12:55
|
|
|
Nessa posted:Of course, baby is still only 16lbs at over 9 months Hmm, can we trade babies? Our 9 month old is 26 lbs. Lots of fun to lug up and down the stairs. We had to switch to a convertible car seat at 6 months.
|
|
#
?
Aug 5, 2021 14:38
|
|
|
Ehud posted:We went with the Graco 4Ever carseat. I thought about a travel system but I didn’t foresee many opportunities to use it because of covid.
|
|
#
?
Aug 5, 2021 14:43
|
|
|
Hadlock posted:We got a second hand duna, which new are I guess $600 or something We got one of these at the baby shower and it's great. So much time and effort saved getting the baby in and out of the car. Only thing is that while it is a stroller too, it has no shock absorption at all, so if your sidewalks are bumpy it can be a bit jarring.
|
|
#
?
Aug 5, 2021 15:00
|
|
|
Silent Linguist posted:Hmm, can we trade babies? Our 9 month old is 26 lbs. Lots of fun to lug up and down the stairs. We had to switch to a convertible car seat at 6 months. Well, this lightweight baby comes equipped with the feature of being uninterested in most food, which is why she’s struggled to gain weight. She was a chubby 9lbs, 5oz at birth and has since gained very slowly. She’s under doctor’s orders to be offered solids 4 times a day, which can lead to an hour of sitting in the high chair with only 3 bites eaten. I think she’s struggling with chewing as food keeps falling out of her mouth. She also now has an egg allergy and her allergist wants us to start on the egg ladder with muffins. This baby will not treat the muffin as food and will spit out any she gets in her mouth. Fortunately, she will at least attempt to eat toast, so I’ve swapped muffins with brioche and it seems to be working. Full sized servings every day for 2 weeks is still going to be a struggle though. It’s very stressful to feed this baby and waste so much food. I wish she was a better eater!
|
|
#
?
Aug 5, 2021 15:39
|
|
|
Can confirm, we got a Doona from the MIL and it’s awesome. Unfortunately baby girl is growing so fast it won’t be long before it’s too small for her. But for now, it’s great, and you don’t even need a base. For infants, it’s great to be able to roll them into daycare or wherever without having to get tennis elbow by lugging it around with your arm—just remove from car and extend the legs. In other news baby girl woke up three times last night to feed an my wife is exhausted, we are used to once a night or not at all for her so this was jarring. But, she seems to be getting her appetite back. She won’t bottlefeed still, but as long as she’s breastfeeding albeit not as frequently as usual, she is getting hydration enough to wet her diaper so that’s good. The bad news is I get to syringe flavorless pedialyte into her mouth in lieu of feeding her actual breastmilk because as long as she refuses to eat from a bottle, I cannot feed her and can only keep her hydrated. She won’t take the nipple top bottle of pedialyte we got from urgent care but it’s whatever.
|
|
#
?
Aug 5, 2021 15:57
|
|
|
Want to give a shout out to whomever it was that suggested sprinkling nutritional yeast as a dlavoring agent on my toddler"s veggies. It's still not 100% effective but he's at least putting more in his mouth. We have a vegan friend coming over for brunch this weekend so i got a small batch to cook with anyway so this was just a happy coincidence.
|
|
#
?
Aug 5, 2021 17:31
|
|
|
That sounds like something I would say because my toddler is also obsessed with it. Super glad it's working!! Ps, it kills on pizza, popcorn, and salads. Oh and toast with butter. Good lord I'm a hippie.
|
|
#
?
Aug 5, 2021 17:37
|
|
|
Silent Linguist posted:Hmm, can we trade babies? Our 9 month old is 26 lbs. Lots of fun to lug up and down the stairs. We had to switch to a convertible car seat at 6 months. Greetings fellow huge baby haver. Happily our kiddo doesn't need to go up or down any stairs, but man, is he getting wiggly trying to track everything around him.
|
|
#
?
Aug 5, 2021 17:56
|
|
|
Responding to a few people's posts: RSV sucks. It just finished passing through our house. It knocked me out for about a week but my husband just had a little sore throat for a day. Adult teeth getting hosed up at a young age is one of my fears.
|
|
#
?
Aug 5, 2021 20:28
|
|
|
RSV really is the worst. Poor baby girl is just feeling bad and is cranky all the time—I guess I would be too if I breathed through my nose exclusively and it was stopped up with mucus. That said, I just listened to crying for the last hour straight as she refused a bottle for the millionth time. Meanwhile my toddler is obsessed with her and kept getting in her face. That mostly bothered just me because I was stressed with the endless crying and here comes a toddler to try and split my attention. I know his intentions are pure and big-brotherly, but drat. Just chill so I can get your little sister to chill.
|
|
#
?
Aug 5, 2021 21:48
|
|
|
My daughter went to the beach yesterday morning, refused her afternoon nap, then went to play outside with my friend and her 4 year old girl for the entire afternoon. She passed out in the car seat on the way home, I carried her up to bed, and she slept IN HER OWN BED from 7:30pm to 7am. Is 2 years 3 months too early to drop nap time?? My 2 month old baby slept for 4 hours straight for the first time ever, I woke up before he did because my boobs were painful. Then he was up every 2 hours per usual, but I felt like a million bucks after my 3ish consecutive hours of sleep.
|
|
#
?
Aug 5, 2021 22:14
|
|
|
I don’t know, I would think that’s too young to stop all naps, they just start getting a will of their own and don’t know what’s good for them so the naps start getting boycotted. If you try hard enough and wait long enough they are usually plenty tired and end up going to sleep. But who the hell has time to fight them on this every day? But then, Every Kid Is Different and all
|
|
#
?
Aug 5, 2021 22:21
|
|
|
|
| # ? Jun 5, 2024 07:08 |
|
|
Our 14mo is finally learning to eat on his own well. He let us know he was tired of us chopping up his food for him by stealing massive things off our plates and just eating them. Last night he ate a whole quesadilla. Night before he stole a pita bread sandwich. Last week it was a whole slice of pizza. So I guess we are basically done doing special baby prep food. We're just gonna make our food and give him some?
|
|
#
?
Aug 5, 2021 22:31
|
|
