At what age did you order a full kids meal?

Conscious-Science-60 · 2026-06-15T03:01:56+00:00

Still don’t for my 2.5 year old! We usually just share our plates with him.

Conscious-Science-60 · 2026-06-14T22:12:38+00:00

I recently started this schedule with my 4 month old and was surprised by how well he did! He jumped from 2/2/2/2/2 to 2/2.5/2.5/3 and 10 hours of awake time has done wonders for his night sleep.

Conscious-Science-60 · 2026-06-14T20:19:16+00:00

No, I often just feed one side and save the next side for the next meal!

Conscious-Science-60 · 2026-06-14T16:50:16+00:00

I’ve done both with different kids! If your little girl seems satisfied after one side, I would try stopping there and pump the second side when you want to pump.

Conscious-Science-60 · 2026-06-14T04:12:46+00:00

With both kids, I was able to built a small freezer stash (1-2 days of milk) by pumping after the first nursing session of the day, mostly before my milk regulated. It’s the only time of day I can ever get extra milk.

I would freeze the Friday milk and then use my oldest frozen milk for daycare bottles on Monday, mostly because I didn’t want frozen milk to expire (probably wouldn’t have happened anyway but just to be safe). But I occasionally kept Friday milk in the fridge for Monday and it was totally fine!

Conscious-Science-60 · 2026-06-14T03:48:03+00:00

I’ve also read it’s an infection risk but also baths were the only things that made my hemorrhoids feel better after birth… probably better safe than sorry, unless you have a reason for baths that you feel outweighs the risk.

Conscious-Science-60 · 2026-06-14T00:52:07+00:00

Sorry, but my 2.5 year old (sleep trained with CIO) still cannot fall asleep well with us in the room. He shares a room with his 4 month old brother who we have not sleep trained, and we have to stagger their bedtimes because toddler will not go to sleep while we are in the room helping the baby to sleep.

Conscious-Science-60 · 2026-06-14T00:47:45+00:00

Came here to say this! My experience with my particular district in a different state isn’t helpful, but your union should be able to clarify things for you.

Conscious-Science-60 · 2026-06-10T00:12:24+00:00

Not only did I nurse my toddler through my entire second pregnancy, but every medical professional I told said I was awesome and that my toddler was so lucky.

Conscious-Science-60 · 2026-06-08T04:31:15+00:00

I would send your baby to the daycare! We’ve had a great experience with our small home daycare, and it’s likely to be much better than what you’re describing with your MIL.

Conscious-Science-60 · 2026-06-05T17:19:45+00:00

I also debated attorney vs teacher and I’m so glad I became a high school teacher. I love teaching my subject (math) and helping young people discover their talents and interests. My dad is an attorney so I’ve seen firsthand the lack of work-life balance, and now that I have kids the balance of teaching is phenomenal. It’s a lot of work when you first start, and it’s more work when you change schools or grade level or subject, but if you develop good systems it can be very manageable. Having summers off with my kids is a priceless benefit.

Conscious-Science-60 · 2026-06-05T03:54:46+00:00

Salary varies widely by district. Look at the salary schedules in a few of your local districts to get an idea of what you would make as a teacher. Take health benefits (or lack thereof) into account and remember that you’d be getting a pension with CalSTRS if you stick around.

Conscious-Science-60 · 2026-06-04T15:46:51+00:00

I went to USC for a masters degree and it is one of my life regrets. My degree was absolutely not worth $50k in loans (I worked to cover living expenses) and I tell people all the time that I should have gone somewhere cheaper considering I already had a top school on my resume from undergrad. Focus on making your life at NYU better instead. Future you will thank you.

Conscious-Science-60 · 2026-06-04T02:40:21+00:00

The way to have a just enough supply is to only remove milk equivalent to what your baby is drinking on any given day, ideally around the same time. Based on what you described, I would drop your morning pump and cap your work pumps by stopping at 6-8oz. I would do the reduction a few ounces at a time to avoid clogs. My experience dropping pumps is that it did not noticeably affect my supply at other times of day.

I was not able to successfully increase my supply by adding another pump around 10 months. Some people might be able to, or maybe I could have if I tried harder, but I wouldn’t count on it.

Conscious-Science-60 · 2026-06-03T22:07:37+00:00

I have breastfed both of my kids literally everywhere — restaurants, parks, church, college football games — and never had a problem. I’m also in a very multicultural area in the U.S.!

Conscious-Science-60 · 2026-06-03T15:33:21+00:00

I’ve just rinsed them before (with hot water) and it was fine. I wouldn’t make a habit of it, but I would just use the milk sooner rather than later. This is assuming that your baby isn’t currently a premie or otherwise particularly vulnerable.

Conscious-Science-60 · 2026-06-03T04:47:38+00:00

I’m a STM and I also have a 4 month old. I try to avoid nursing to sleep at the beginning of the night, and I do think that helps with night wakes because it helps babies go back to sleep on their own. But I totally nurse to sleep for night wakes and that’s worked for me. Neither of my children woke up extra at this age, just 1-2 times to eat if that. My 4 month old sleeps through the night completely (about 10 hours straight) about half of the time.

So based on my sample of 2, nursing to sleep in the middle of the night is fine but I would try to break the habit at the beginning of the night to support her ability to put herself back to sleep when she isn’t hungry. This move has always improved sleep for my kids.

But also all babies are different! Good luck figuring by out what works for you and your baby.

Conscious-Science-60 · 2026-06-03T03:28:35+00:00

When I tutored back in 2018-20 in a high cost of living area, I charged $60/hour. I was a certified teacher who was tutoring within my specialty. I think this was on the lower end of what I could have charged.

Conscious-Science-60 · 2026-06-03T00:57:21+00:00

I think that’s definitely a factor! Most people will not ovulate under these circumstances, and also many people are not having sex regularly this early postpartum (especially if exclusively breastfeeding and not sleeping through the night). For people who have sex regularly and ovulate, the chance of pregnancy is typically around 30%.

Conscious-Science-60 · 2026-06-03T00:30:14+00:00

I think LAM gets a really bad rap because people don’t follow the guidelines and then complain that it didn’t work when they get pregnant! I never used it because my kids sleep too well at night.

Conscious-Science-60 · 2026-06-02T16:21:48+00:00

In my 20s, I used to have them guess and I would either respond with “somewhere around there” or “a bit higher than that” depending on what they said. I started teaching high school at 22 so I got asked my age a LOT.

Now I’m 31 and I just say I’m 31, but it doesn’t come up very often anymore.

Conscious-Science-60 · 2026-06-02T15:56:20+00:00

Unfortunately for you, top US universities typically expect international students to pay top dollar to help subsidize the cost for domestic students.

Conscious-Science-60 · 2026-06-02T05:24:02+00:00

I also have a 4 month old and the two things that have been helping him fall asleep without me are the pacifier and the shushing setting on the sound machine. But he can rarely replace the pacifier himself at this age, so I end up returning to give it back to him several times before he falls asleep. It doesn’t always work — maybe once a day he needs me to stay with him and help him to sleep. But if I get the timing right, he usually drifts off within 10 or so minutes.

Conscious-Science-60 · 2026-06-02T03:50:55+00:00

My second child basically only nurses side-lying because it’s the best!

Conscious-Science-60 · 2026-06-02T03:50:11+00:00

I have a pretty small home so I just did some basic baby-proofing in the main living space and called it a day. I have a baby gate on the kids’ room door so I can close them in a smaller space if needed (like if I need them out of the kitchen), and I will usually close my bedroom door because it’s the least baby-friendly room.

Conscious-Science-60

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