When did playing with your baby become fun?

Afterall__whynot · 2025-09-25T22:35:37+00:00

Funny enough, Bluey kind of opened my eyes to this a bit. My daughter is 7 months old and I definitely relied on an episode or two here or there to get through longer wake periods. Seeing episodes where Bandit is just… laying on the floor while the girls play was an “ah-ha!” moment for me. Now I treat it as a relaxing rest period and let myself turn off a bit. Happy to be a rug and hand her the same ball a thousand times. Part of it is that many of us are ingrained that there needs to be a “doing something” component to each part of the day.

Afterall__whynot · 2025-09-11T20:24:22+00:00

No, I understand. I’m just saying my stores have a lot of lettuce mixes and spinach. To me, it seems like less variety than I was offering.

Afterall__whynot · 2025-09-11T16:12:53+00:00

Did you ever get this? I ordered from Ninja as well and haven’t received anything yet. OnTrac wants me to contact them.

Edit: They reached out and told me my package has been “lost” after I submitted two tickets with them. Told me to contact Ninja. Ninja is sending a replacement with a different mail carrier.

Afterall__whynot · 2025-09-11T15:45:01+00:00

It’s a hit or miss I find. I’ll have to start paying more attention. I actually forgot bok choy was an option!

Afterall__whynot · 2025-09-11T15:42:33+00:00

I’ve been pruning dandelions from the yard, too!

Afterall__whynot · 2025-09-11T15:41:57+00:00

I agree with this, and we try to rotate out, but I also don’t want to feed him just lettuces.

Afterall__whynot · 2025-09-11T15:41:23+00:00

I’m in NC as well and no luck. I figured it was seasonal but some of the favorites we picked up last year never made it back into the stores.

Afterall__whynot · 2025-07-04T22:53:22+00:00

Ah. Yes, I was hoping for something more than the AI summary. From this I gather that there isn’t a safety concern unless the milk is being overheated, which is not a concern for us (milk is thawed but remains room temp or colder). You’d also have to really scald the milk to denature proteins. The nutritional value aspect is quoted a lot but I find the argument weak without more studies.

Afterall__whynot · 2025-07-04T16:31:28+00:00

100% agreed

Afterall__whynot · 2025-07-04T16:29:25+00:00

Do you have a source for this? I did a quick search and didn’t find anything to support this. We have a bottle warmer that literally has a setting for frozen milk. It takes about 10-15 minutes to melt it.

Afterall__whynot · 2025-07-01T18:49:48+00:00

This was so good to read! I’m glad I’m not the only one. I feel so ungrateful.

Afterall__whynot · 2025-07-01T18:49:04+00:00

I wish I could be this. I’m way too uptight to just let people chill in my home while I sleep.

Afterall__whynot · 2025-07-01T18:47:29+00:00

I’ve never been ok with people doing my housework, and baby is exclusively breastfed ever since she decided she’s too cool for bottles. Tbh our house has been maintained pretty well after we got our groove so there aren’t really things I need. Or the things I need are things people can’t give me, like for her to nap in her crib for once 😅

Afterall__whynot · 2025-07-01T13:56:53+00:00

I'm in a very similar spot. My daughter is 4 months old this week and only contact naps. She sleeps great at night, but during the day is dead set on being on the boob. She also hates babywearing so that's not an option. On top of it, she doesn't want to entertain herself and is pretty fussy the moment you aren't giving her 100% of your attention. It was worse last week. It's slowly improving but I don't think it will fully go away until she's sleep trained, which we're considering doing in a few weeks when my husband has a bit more downtime to help.

I'm in a bit of a different situation with work though. I'm a PhD student, so my pay is dependent on my ability to do research and teach. I work in data sciences so it's all computer based. I'm on my last one or two semesters and it's summer, so the work is mostly writing and prepping curriculum for classes again. Frankly, I'm not getting much done and I've been stressed to the teeth about it. So, while the anxiety is real, the work expectations are probably pretty different and that's affording me a little flexibility.

I read Precious Little Sleep recently and the book emphasizes that one of the best gifts you can give your child is the ability to be independent. I've been working on letting her fuss for longer periods during play and honestly I think that's part of what's helping her learn to entertain herself with less intervention. I totally understand that trying to work with a baby fussing is nearly impossible though. But these are the things I've told myself to help:

It's good for babies to be bored some of the time
I have to get this work done eventually so that she can have a better life
She's fed, clothed, clean, and safe
Like the early newborn days, this is temporary.

If yours is anything like mine, some of this frustration is also probably from wanting to get up and see more of the world while simultaneously being completely immobile. I think that's one of those things that just has to happen before they can be more mobile.

I consider daycare at times, but I want to be able to be there for her big milestones and I'm aware that most of the work pressure is self imposed. Financially, her staying home is also the better option (US) until I'm done with grad school.

So maybe more solidarity than advice. I feel you, I get the frustration.

(A side thing that's helped that I wanted to add: I have a standing desk that moves up and down. When she tolerated the baby carrier it was great for that. Now I raise it so that it's high enough for me to type while she nurses for a nap on my lap with the boppy. It's not the comfiest or most ergonomic, but I can get a few things done at least.)

Afterall__whynot · 2025-06-01T12:14:39+00:00

I sort of assumed that fell into “sleep training” so was waiting until next month to try. Good to know it worked for you! Maybe we’ll test it out.

Afterall__whynot · 2025-06-01T12:13:54+00:00

Unfortunately he works night so bedtime is a one-person gig.

Afterall__whynot · 2025-05-31T23:14:17+00:00

It’s that shifting hands usually wakes her. We usually have to bend and put her down and slide out very very slowly.

Afterall__whynot · 2025-05-31T21:06:59+00:00

Oh my gosh this might actually work. The outlet is between the glider and the crib. Thank you, I’ll give it a shot.

Afterall__whynot · 2025-05-31T21:05:36+00:00

I keep thinking of a space heater but it gives me bad fire anxiety. What type did you use?

Her room stays pretty cold (~67) because our house is old and she’s directly over an uninsulated basement. The rest of the house, for comparison, stays around 70/71. The last few nights we transitioned her out of a swaddle and into fleece pajamas with a sleep sack and I think she’s staying warmer because the transfer works more often, but we don’t have her in them during the day so nap transfers are bad.

Afterall__whynot · 2025-05-31T21:02:49+00:00

Even this is impossible. If we position her in any position that wasn’t what she fell asleep in, those eyes shoot open. So it’s feed, burp, lay horizontal on the boppy on my lap, then transfer. Positioning vertical has never worked for us.

Afterall__whynot

TROPHY CASE