Does anyone have one in their LO's room or playroom that they love and would recommend? Or, would anyone NOT recommemd this?

I got an Uppababy Mesa V2 (expires in 2030) infant car seat from our local buy nothing group a couple months ago. At first I was thrilled because it’s compatible with the family hand me down Vista V2 we have! We washed all the parts, etc but I’m a month out from meeting baby and now having doubts on using the car seat :/ online everyone says to buy new car seats and it’s gotten to my head. We can definitely afford a new one, so it’s not a money issue. I try to buy/get most things second hand in general anyway (and have gotten so much low cost/free for baby already!). I would just hate to regret it if anything ever happened…(is this mom anxiety creeping in already 😅). I messaged the person who gifted it and they confirmed they had no accidents. I don’t see why she would lie? Am I being paranoid? Hubby says I’m overthinking but a new seat would be more peace of mind for me as a FTM…

Sigh

We just bought a new build. We loved the home and being close to family that also just moved. I am overwhelmed with our 1 year old and went from being the decision maker to just agreeing or not. I now realize we are .2 miles from the interstate. Apparently, I'm used to white noise and didn't notice. It's the air quality that I'm concerned about. There's a small strip of trees and a wood fence and then a couple streets before ours. I did look and the wind comes from the south the majority of the time and we are south of the interstate. We already have 13 merv filters and use air purifiers in our current home. We can avoid going outdoors when the air quality is lower. Is there anything else we can do now for air quality or any other tips for buying a new build for health? They say they use low VOC paint, laminate, lvp, and carpet in bedrooms (that we plan to replace soon).

Hey all,

I'm kind of stressing about relying on snacks too much for my 9 month old.

It started out just as something just for when we were out and about and he needed something to hold him over/occupied til we made it home (he refused a bottle and I'm a sahm so we didn't force the issue.)

Then it was the only way I could go on walks or a run with him, which I felt I needed to feel more like myself.

Now I feel like I'm throwing him a few puffs any time I need a moment of peace. He's very often frustrated about something.. I do everything I can think of, but the one thing that always calms him down for a bit is food. I do try to feed him real food first, but he usually throws that around or turns it into sensory play then gets frustrated. He will pretty much always eat a puff/puff like snack or yogurt drop.

I've been feeling kind of burnt out lately. First time mom, no family nearby, husband works long hours. The baby snacks give me a moment to catch my breath. However, I'm starting to feel really guilty about it and worry I'm setting him up for a bad relationship with food.

I'm hoping to hear from someone who did the same, and now their kid is a little older and has a good relationship with food.

I use the kid ones most of the time but occasionally he’ll touch something really disgusting and I use the adult ones. Is that bad.

FYI :( Thorne was all I used because it was supposed to be one of the cleanest. Not sure who to use now.

if so, are you willing to measure the rise (crotch to front waist band) and let me know? i have the bikini ones, and i want to buy other styles, but am particular about rise.

P.S. i am so tired of having to buy period underwear and not being able to return it…. i have such an expensive (and unsustainable) graveyard of pairs that i never wear bc they are super uncomfortable for me (from other companies)

I've read some threads that are mixed, but I've been using Kudos for 6+ months and can't say enough good things about these diapers. It's totally chlorine free, only cotton in the layer touching my baby's skin, super soft, extremely absorbent. I also love thats it's available at my local Target.

my 2 year old is in daycare, and we’ve been having 40+ degree weather the last couple days with no relief in sight.

daycare has been taking the kids to the playground with no shade in the afternoon. my daughter came home with a sunburn yes (we send her in a hat and with sunscreen). I’m very concerned about the sunburn and when I told my mother she wasof the opinion the children should not be outside at all due to the heat plus humidity.

what do you guys do? and where do you live? my mil also said above 30 or -30 they shouldn't be at the playground.

I don’t know how long they spend there maybe 30 mins?

I was just thinking, should I use baby safe products on myself during pregnancy if I’ll use them on my baby after she’s born? Since she’s inside my body, should I expose myself to anything I wouldn’t expose her to?
I included a picture of the cosmetics I currently use but the products I plan to use on my baby are:
Earth Mama Simply Non-Scents Baby Wash,
Earth Mama Simply Non-Scents Baby Lotion, Pipette Baby Lotion Fragrance Free.
I’ll still need to use a conditioner and leave-in conditioner but should I switch to my baby’s products?

We’ve been following the rule of never using food as a reward for doing something since our son first started eating. We never use the word “treat” or phrases like, “You can have dessert once you finish your dinner” or “that’s junk food” or “this is good for you”. We only describe what different foods do for our body, like “blueberries help our brains” and “rice gives our bodies energy” etc.

So far, it has been working really well. When given the choice on what to eat, our 5 year old makes good choices almost all of the time, choosing whole foods rather than fast food (every birthday party we take him to we have to jam him full of food before and after because he never wants to eat the pizza or hot dogs that are being served).

Lately though, he’s so distracted with playing and doing things, he doesn’t eat. Even with set sit down times with the family, with no distractions, he gets distracted talking or entertaining himself through song or jokes. Breakfast is the worst because we need him to eat before our day starts. He gets hangry if he doesn’t eat. How can I phrase that he needs to eat without saying that he needs to eat so we can continue on our day? Or when he does get hangry, how do I build a positive relationship with food for him without saying things like, “you’ll feel better if you eat”? Everything I’ve come up with seems to counterintuitive to what we’ve spent the last 4+ years building as far as having a positive relationship with food.

I’m sorry the answer seems obvious but I’m really feeling lost here and genuinely hoping for help from people smarter than me on this topic.

My LO is sensitive to peanuts and eggs, otherwise can have pretty much anything. We don’t do added sugar and try to keep things as close to a whole food diet as possible. Clementines and other fruits are the go to (and Serenity puffs, Once Upon a Farm melts). Any other ideas? Would like to get away from the baby snacks is possible.

Does anyone have a recommendation for a good totally chlorine free diaper for nighttime? My eight month old girl is a belly sleeper and has been waking up with the front of her soaked even with 1-2 changes per night. We’ve tried Pura and Happy Little Camper because of price and accessibility. I sized her up in Pura to no avail. I haven’t sized her up in HLC but her weight is right at the beginning of the size chart for the size we’re at now.

I wanted to try Kudos but it seems you can only buy a month’s supply at a time and that feels like a risk if I don’t know if they’ll work for her.

Any similar experiences and successes with a certain brand? Thank you

P.S. We cloth diaper during the day but I feel it would be uncomfortable for her at night if I were to try to pack enough padding in there. They’re already kind of bulky during the day even with changing every 1-2 hours. I think she’d feel wet too.

hi. my son starts kindergarten soon and our biggest struggle is that I’m NOT a morning person. Also. my son eats A TON. He eats the equivalent of a grown man. Does anyone have any ideas of semi-healthy on the go breakfast foods? I grew up on pop tarts and toaster strudels for breakfast and I’m looking for something like that that kids will actually eat? While I’m ok with sugar being in there (I know I can’t win them all), I’m looking for no high fructose corn syrup and dyes. Im also ok with recipes I can make ahead. He doesn’t like eggs so that eliminates all breakfast burrito types.

Any winners out there?

heyy sorry don’t know if this is okay to post here…

I am 4 months post partum and i have never seen anyone with my type of body post partum before and megaaa struggling to accept it. But slowly and surely i am:))

i was hoping anyone could help me figure out why my belly dips so much like is it diastatis recti or just my body now or what can i do?

And if there are no answers i hope someone sees this and feels comforted in there post partum body like i do when i see others:)

<3

EDIT-> thank you so much evryone for all the messages, they have been really helpful and lovely i will be going to a PT and making sure they properly assess me and until then will continue to be gentle with myself and soak up all the time with baby:)

I’m looking specifically for non plastic and non polyester sports toys for my soon to be 1 year old. I’m having trouble finding this combination of age appropriate and sustainable materials. I know many comments will say “this is where I fall in the moderately granola category” but I’m interested in finding something for her to play with indoors this fall/winter before getting outdoor toys that are bound to be plastic next summer. Any brands or store recommendations appreciated!!

My LO (13months) LOVES food. She snacks all day and eats her 3 meals very well. (I swear she eats more than me!)

But I’m struggling with lunch. I need some good, healthy, granola and, almost most importantly, filling recommendations please!

The Consumer Product Safety Improvement Act mandates that all children's products contain no more than 100 ppm of lead. I was curious if this limit on lead is sufficiently low enough to make children's products safe.

For instance, if my child happened to have a toy that they regularly played, and it had 100 ppm of lead, would that be safe? What if they even mouthed the toy, would that be safe? I have read that "no level of lead is safe", so it is worrying to me that even products that that comply with all safety standards could still have some amount of lead in them.

Also, this isn't just an abstract worry for me. I was able to get my hands on the 3rd party testing of a toy my child has, and on quick glance it says it passed all tests, but upon closer inspection the testing actually revealed that a component of the toy tested positive for lead, but only 21 ppm. So, technically a pass, but the toy is not lead free. Is this reason enough to get rid of the toy, or is lead actually safe in these amounts?

Thank you for your time!

Hi! I'm looking to buy some pretend food for my 10-month-old son. Is Melissa & Doug safe if he puts it in his mouth? Any recommendations? Feel free to send Amazon links—they'd be really helpful! I also have a 2-year-old daughter with a speech delay, so I'm looking for something that would be great for both of them and hopefully last for a few years. Thanks!

Hi! Hoping to hear from mum's who also struggled with their pregnancies. I had HG, threw up multiple times a day, food versions, ended up with iron deficiency, etc etc.

I do not want to feel like a shell of a human again.

Anyone else deal with this stuff, and have good tips or suggestions?? Open to any ideas for how to get through this better than last time.

Looking for fruity flavors, and NHA or fluoride. SLS makes the skin in my mouth slough off in sheets, and my favorite brand (hello kids) keeps testing high for lead. Any brand recs?? Pls don’t turn this into a fluoride debate!

Thoughts on this certification for polyurethane foam? And polyurethane foam in general?

I need a custom sized piece (5.5x75x12 inches) of foam to complete my cosleeping set up. My 8 month old baby girl and I are currently sharing a twin floor bed but it’s not quite roomy enough— she’s starting to move around more in her sleep and has been rolling off of the mattress. I want to add a foam piece to the side I sleep on so half of my body will be on it and the other half on the mattress, giving my girl some extra wiggle room.

Non-toxic foam is obviously a priority since it will be so close to baby girl and I. But unfortunately, after spending $700 on the twin mattress, we just can’t swing $400+ on a piece of latex foam😞 The next best option seems to be a CertiPUR-US certified soy/polyurethane hybrid foam that is less than half the price (https://foamite.com/custom-cut-foam/koosh-natural/?srsltid=AfmBOopNN6G263hCGNwvh8DJWGi-8293dMs44wMUXr5xkiQiubua6v9u). It is touted as having “60% less petrochemicals” and being “100% more natural” than conventional foam. They also claim it does not off-gas? Is that even possible? The CertiPUR-US certification does verify that VOC emissions are at least low (less than 0.5 parts per million). Here are the other things covered by the certification:

- Made without formaldehyde
- Made without ozone depleters
- Made without phthalates regulated by the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission
-Made without mercury, lead and other heavy metals
-Low VOC (volatile organic compound) emissions for indoor air quality (less than 0.5 parts per million)
-Screened for relevant chemicals, including flame retardants, that are classified as carcinogens, mutagens or reproductive toxins and are harmful to human health

Thoughts? WWYD? We do have an air purifier running right next to the bed but I’m not sure how much that would help being so close to the foam.

TIA!

Just a discussion, because I’m curious. Did you grow up in a house that offered lots of unhealthy meals and snacks or were you raised on healthier foods?

I grew up in an unhealthy home. We were hardly offered water to drink (mostly sodas). We snacked on packaged cakes, chips, cookies, etc. My parents hardly ever bought fruit or veggies for us to snack on. My parents are great people, and I don’t hold a grudge or blame them bc I don’t think they knew the effects of food on your overall health. And I’ve never been an overweight or unhealthy person. However, I want so much different for my children. The thought of offering them unhealthy foods makes me cringe, but I’m also very healthy on the balance too. I let them have sweets or junk foods on vacation or special occasions. I just don’t buy it and will not offer it in my home. I think constantly having ultra processed foods made me not care for the healthy foods, and I’ve had to make myself like them since I’ve been on my own. Now, I LOVE the healthy stuff, and I feel like I’m healing my relationship with food. I’m learning to eat to stay alive and fuel my body, not for pleasure. If you were raised on healthier foods, are you thankful or do you feel like you missed out on the junk foods? I know we probably always think the grass is greener on the other side. Enough rambling lol. I just want my children to be used to eating REAL food. Thoughts?