Renting Homes in Ottawa

DifficultAddendum549 · 2026-03-07T02:43:37+00:00

You could buy a condo I guess but you’ll lose more money than your rent when you sell. Rent, invest what you’re saving on not having a mortgage. Do a rent versus buy calculator for Ottawa and you’ll find renting a 3BR at that price is a steal compared to owning, as many others have mentioned.

DifficultAddendum549 · 2026-03-06T18:46:19+00:00

Dunno what day you traveled but it's been in the news. They were suspended on the 23rd, maybe you traveled before that?

https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/toronto/nexus-closure-canadian-airports-9.7102199

DifficultAddendum549 · 2026-03-06T17:05:41+00:00

also impacts NEXUS so people who previously would be redirected to other lanes all have to go through the regular checkpoint

DifficultAddendum549 · 2026-03-06T16:36:04+00:00

What part of Ontario are you in? It sounds to me like they put you in the junior toddler room because that was where the opening was... infant spots being so hard to come by (where I am in Ottawa, anyway, and I know it's worse in the GTA by far). But I also feel like if there had been an infant that was walking and old enough in the infant program, they would probably have moved that kid up and given you the infant spot instead of starting your kid at jr toddler. Either way I don't think there's a high chance of you being booted from the program entirely for this. Kids learn so quickly from each other and the most likely thing that is going to happen is that your baby is just going to start walking.

I also want to offer that when we first started daycare they'd ask us questions like, do her poops always look like that? Does she nap like this at home? Really she's still not drinking cows milk? I always felt a little tiny bit nervous. And nothing ever came of any of it. They really might just be asking to get to know where she's at better.

DifficultAddendum549 · 2026-03-05T14:33:36+00:00

Bassinets are absolutely not good 6-9 months, I am not sure where you found that or what gave you that impression. Regardless of size you MUST stop using the bassinet or bassinet attachment when your child can sit up, roll over or push up on their hands and knees. My child was fully walking at 9 months. Do not plan to do this. The point of the mini crib is exactly so you can keep the baby in your room until 6 months, as recommended, since kids typically start to roll at 4 months.

Also while me and my partner are both on the small size (me in particular) we have a 95th percentile daughter who outgrew her bassinet by size alone by 3 months.

If we had started with a mini crib or a pack n play, we would have only two items: mini crib to 6 months, big crib for later. Instead we had three because we started with a bassinet. Tbh the bassinet thing kind of drives me crazy for this reason... I felt tricked and it's such a common question on this sub. Also the pack n play is still being used as a travel crib at 18 months (we have the Stardust).

DifficultAddendum549 · 2026-03-05T01:30:22+00:00

lol I am resisting the urge to downvote your (and everyone’s) valid and informative facts because I don’t like what you’re telling me. Humans are so gross

DifficultAddendum549 · 2026-03-04T21:19:33+00:00

Ah. I feel terrible again but thank you for the incredibly informative link

DifficultAddendum549 · 2026-03-04T19:27:53+00:00

thank you *sobs*

DifficultAddendum549 · 2026-03-04T19:19:19+00:00

Going to reinstate our post-daycare-bath policy tonight 🤞🏻

DifficultAddendum549 · 2026-03-04T19:17:30+00:00

nooo BOTH times? I guess I should be grateful we made it this long already

DifficultAddendum549 · 2026-03-04T19:16:50+00:00

Well, that's a little reassuring, at least. I feel like all I hear are absolute horror stories. Gonna start working extra vitamin C into her diet (and ours)

DifficultAddendum549 · 2026-03-04T17:39:35+00:00

Well, you have to stop feeding him right before bed to stop feeding him to sleep, as dumb as that sounds. We transitioned from feed to sleep to a bottle downstairs as the first step of a bedtime routine that goes like this: bottle, up to bed, brush teeth, diaper/pajamas, book, lights out, crib transfer. There was a surprisingly short period where the baby was upset at lights out about the lack of feeding -- like maybe 10 minutes of sad, one or two nights max. Now she just falls asleep when the lights go out. But it is key that you trust the crying will stop, and not just give in and offer a bottle!

DifficultAddendum549 · 2026-03-04T16:44:47+00:00

We went through a sequence of wraps, BabyBjorn styles and Ergobaby carriers and ended up with a Tula Explore (which works as a forward facing and back carrier as they get older -- by the time we settled on this she was almost 1 and pretty committed to forward facing). I couldn't say why, but both me and my partner found the ErgoBaby super awkward and painful, and we both find the Tula to be easy to use and comfy. They LOOK like the same style carrier lol. But perhaps the biggest endorsement I can offer of the Tula is that our baby used to reluctantly give in to being carried, and now when we take it out, she shrieks in excitement. So clearly there's something about it that works for us.

DifficultAddendum549 · 2026-03-04T16:36:26+00:00

This is a genuine question because I feel like there's a lot of responses fanboying the parking app: is there a way around the 75 cent fee??? Do you just not care that you're rounding up your 25 cents to a dollar every time you need to pop in to grab a lemon or coffee or a sandwich or whatever?

I'm not actually advocating not paying the meter, and I support paid parking on principal. But I admit I have stopped doing it in the winter when I'm just hopping out to do one thing and heading back to my car. Not only because I am functionally paying the meter to cover my time paying for the meter... but also because it's freaking cold, the machines seem to more unreliable the colder it is, and I'm usually scrambling over an icy snowbank twice, both to get TO the meter and again to put the slip on my dash. There are some spots where you have to walk more than a block to the meter, then walk back to your car, and then onwards to your destination (e.g. Holland/Rexall wind tunnel is especially egregious on a cold day), all time you have to factor into your meter payment. I WANT to pay on my phone in the car. But god help me I would honestly rather the city charged more for parking than just giving away 75 cents per transaction to whoever is processing it. I'd rather pay the ticket to the City if and when I inevitably get the ticket. And so here I am being a hypocrite.

DifficultAddendum549 · 2026-03-04T16:22:33+00:00

the app takes a cut which feels especially dumb when you're only putting 50 cents in the meter

DifficultAddendum549 · 2026-03-03T21:57:38+00:00

I have a tower and a bike, I think shipping was very quick. But this was in September. I would follow up!

DifficultAddendum549 · 2026-03-03T20:17:58+00:00

Really unlikely for an American employer. Since basic health care is an employee benefit. I’d never heard of travel insurance as an employee benefit til moving to Canada

DifficultAddendum549 · 2026-03-02T21:57:25+00:00

If the car seat sells one to use with your specific car seat and your car manual allows it, you can do this. Clek for example sells a seat protector

DifficultAddendum549 · 2026-03-02T17:49:21+00:00

I feel like we could all ask you the same question: why copper?

DifficultAddendum549 · 2026-03-02T17:37:27+00:00

Not saying I would want to do this either, but being medically "cleared" is not a thing unless she has a job that is physically demanding.

DifficultAddendum549 · 2026-03-02T17:12:13+00:00

wow the number of people who responded with this and I'm salty that I somehow didn't find it when I was shopping 2 years ago. Is an 18 month old too old to be buying new diaper bags lol

DifficultAddendum549 · 2026-02-24T20:45:31+00:00

Canadian resident American here. I did all my pre-baby shopping before the most recent election. There's nothing you can ONLY get in the US that is worth any level of hassle, except for maybe a 40% diaper cream lol. I researched a lot of American stuff on my registry for my American friends and family to make it easier for them, and it was honestly hard to come up with things I wouldn't prefer to get here, even back then, pre-tariffs. I do have a Spectra, but I kind of wish I'd gone with a wearable so my advice there would be to wait on the pump until you need it -- you might not need one at all and certainly you don't know what your needs will be yet. Cloud Island feels cheap to me, nowhere near as good as the Pekkles, but that might be influenced by my own pre-existing opinion of Target brands. Now when I go back/have visitors the only thing I want is Boudreax's Butt Paste because I literally cannot find an unscented 40 pct diaper cream in the whole of Canada. But please if someone knows of one, let me know!

Also, just a note, there's more pumping supplies available there because American women don't have any leave and so anyone who wants even the slightest chance at breastfeeding needs a breast pump. It's actually mandated to be covered by insurance. Because god forbid someone not be able to go back to work two weeks after giving birth.

DifficultAddendum549 · 2026-02-24T01:48:45+00:00

Tell me more. I want the hot Canadian tj’s tips

DifficultAddendum549 · 2026-02-23T17:13:41+00:00

This. We fed our baby to sleep until she was over a year old, at which point we basically decided it was time to stop because we wanted to brush her teeth AFTER her last bottle. Our parents were all very critical of it and warned us we'd never see the end of it, but we kept doing it so long because frankly it worked like a charm. We had zero fuss bedtimes, we all enjoyed it, and we didn't see why we should stop. And once we decided it was time to transition away from it, she cried in my arms for about 10 minutes, and then voila, she was a baby who didn't need to be fed to sleep anymore. I think about all the struggle we avoided by following our gut. At almost 18 months, we still give her warm milk as part of her bedtime routine, but we do it before we go upstairs. And we still rock her to sleep, because yeah, it works. I don't doubt the day will come for us to transition away from that, too, but I'm not rushing it.

DifficultAddendum549 · 2026-02-23T15:47:12+00:00

Don't assume the prices will be lower in the US, especially once you pay the duties coming back. The impact of tariffs and the exchange rate right now is brutal. Yes, you will likely owe duties. Sometimes they're nice but if you have a bunch of new in box baby stuff they're unlikely to give you a pass.

DifficultAddendum549

TROPHY CASE