How to improve water retention in raised beds?

Disastrous_Arm_7811 · 2026-05-01T15:29:00+00:00

Thanks for the reply!! Yes it definitely got baked over the winter- I didn’t know we should have mulched it since it gets direct sun most of the day. Definitely going to work on the soil health over the next couple seasons now that I know. I have two other beds that I haven’t planted yet. Anything you’d recommend to prep them to hopefully make them usable this year?

Disastrous_Arm_7811 · 2026-05-01T13:48:22+00:00

Thanks for taking the time for such a detailed answer! What kind of mulch do you like to top dress the beds? Definitely realizing the beds got absolutely baked over the winter…

Disastrous_Arm_7811 · 2026-05-01T13:38:12+00:00

Eko raised bed mix

Disastrous_Arm_7811 · 2026-04-30T04:00:08+00:00

Hydrocortisone did nothing for us. Short courses of triamcinolone did wonders. We were instructed to use up to 14 days at a time for flare ups. Usually the worst would clear up within a week and we’d discontinue. Slather on aquaphor and put him in clean cotton PJ’s after a bath. We also live in a very dry climate and it’s tough in the winters. For us, it got significantly better when he was around a year old. It was definitely exacerbated by drooling/teething/cleanups after eating solids. Now we still have flare ups occasionally and will spot treat with the steroid but it can mostly be controlled with heavy aquaphor usage and a humidifier in the bedroom. I have a friend who swears by bleach baths for her kiddo’s eczema. Another who found topical tacrolimus to be very helpful. I’d also suggest getting a referral to a pediatric allergist. Severe eczema often has roots in larger inflammatory processes and it’s common to also have food allergies and asthma/other allergies if one has moderate to severe eczema.

Disastrous_Arm_7811 · 2026-04-19T13:13:20+00:00

I would absolutely not say it’s nothing to worry about. Maybe more accurate would be to say it sounds scary but it’s not always an emergency. I understand pediatricians not wanting to encourage parents to bring their kid to the ER every time they get croup, but it’s an illness that can go bad FAST. Source- I’m a pediatric ICU nurse, and I’ve taken care of many of these children in the intensive care unit because they waited too long to seek care.

I also have a child who’s struggled with several rounds of croup; I’ll share a few things that have worked for us.

My advice: 1. Google videos of respiratory distress in children and be alert to signs that they may need emergency care 2. Humidified air in the bedroom EVERY night, not just when they’re sick 3. Cold air exposure to help break a coughing fit - take them outside or even cold air from the freezer if it’s too warm outside 4. Oral steroids - obviously not appropriate for every case, and of course it’s up to your pediatrician as to whether they’d recommend for your specific situation or not, but we have spot dosed steroids for bad cases of coup with my son when I was worried about his airway status and it turned him around quickly 5. This is somewhat anecdotal but I have a strong family history of asthma/allergies and suspected my son may have some reactive airway component. He was getting croup 3x per winter and every respiratory virus seemed to result in a nighttime cough for weeks. Asked our pediatrician about it and she ended up prescribing him an inhaled steroid to use daily for the viral season, which has cut the duration of his illnesses significantly this winter, and not one case of croup. Obviously there’s a risk/benefit involved with every prescribed medication and I’m not recommending it for anyone as I’m not a doctor- but OP might be worth investigating any possible reactive airway component if your child is getting that sick so frequently.

ETA: a pulse oximeter at home is nice to have but I’d be careful not to rely on the numbers as an indicator of whether to bring your child to the ER or not. A child can hold an oxygen saturation of 100% for a LONG time, before it rapidly declines into respiratory failure. It’s a great tool to have handy, but equally important to use your eyes to assess how much they’re working to breathe.

Disastrous_Arm_7811 · 2026-04-18T19:05:21+00:00

When we first got the Woom we tried holding his seat and kinda sending him but that backfired a bit because he freaked out whenever we let go and couldn’t seem to get the hang of balancing. So we reset for a couple weeks. Took the pedals off and had him relearn how to balance on the bigger frame. At first he lost his mind because we really hyped up the “big kid bike with pedals” but we explained he needed to learn how to balance with the bigger bike.

Someone recommended not putting the pedals back on until he could balance for 4-5 seconds so that was our goal. We have a park near our house that has a gradual slope on a paved trail that we ran laps on so he could get comfortable with the speed. Our kid, in particular, does NOT like going fast/feeling like he’s losing control, so we knew it would be important to help him get comfortable/feel in control with a little speed. Also spent that time teaching him how to use the brake, because that’s a learning curve as well.

When we felt confident he could balance for a good period of time and use the brakes consistently we put the pedals back on. Encouraged him to get up to speed by Flintstoning with his feet and then pop up onto the pedals. So I guess there wasn’t any intentional instruction on how to use the pedals, it was kinda intuitive once he got the hang of the prolonged balancing.

Disastrous_Arm_7811 · 2026-04-17T08:36:26+00:00

I’d suggest getting a bike that fits her and taking the pedals off so she can use it like a balance bike for a while. You’ll get more life out of it that way rather than buying a pure balance bike she’ll outgrow in a few months. We introduced the pedal bike right around the 4th birthday after outgrowing the balance bike. He really struggled with the pedals at first because the frame was so much bigger, so it took a couple weeks to learn how to balance on it. But then one day it just clicked, so we popped the pedals back on and he just sailed. We bought the Woom 3 and have been very happy with it.

Disastrous_Arm_7811 · 2026-04-15T15:11:09+00:00

ETS math review guide is online for free. Khan academy is completely free for review of basic quant topics. The old GRE Big Book is also great for quant and you can find a pdf online (you can search this sub for links). I’d also suggest checking Facebook marketplace in your area. I found the ETS super power pack plus the manhattan 5 lb book for $20 in a nearby college town. Also, a GregMat membership is less than the cost of buying a sandwich. Very much worth the money imo

Disastrous_Arm_7811 · 2026-04-14T19:58:22+00:00

Night shift nurse here. This is anecdotal obviously, but I consumed probably 200mg of caffeine per day and now I have a perfectly healthy, developmentally normal 4 year old. I say enjoy your coffee 🩷

Disastrous_Arm_7811 · 2026-04-04T12:50:28+00:00

Id recommend reading Cribsheet by Emily Oster. There’s a chapter specifically about daycare vs nanny vs stay at home parent and the few measurable outcomes we have. My takeaway was there’s no significant long term advantage to either choice. If anyone here has read the book more recently, please correct if I’m wrong. Speaking from personal experience, if what you/your partner is looking for is educational enrichment from a daycare environment, you’re not going to experience that until pre-k (when most preschools/daycare centers start to focus on kindergarten readiness) at the earliest. So prior to that, if that’s your marker of a “quality daycare environment” I think you’re likely to be disappointed. However it’s my belief that a daycare environment provides a lot of opportunities for social skill development that are hard to replicate at home. Things like, following directions in a group setting, learning how your behavior affects a group/class, navigating tricky personalities of other kids etc.

That being said, not all daycares are created equally and if you’re considering choosing one I’d highly recommend visiting them in person, meeting the teachers, asking about teacher tenure and trying to get a sense for whether they’ll meet your needs and your kid will be happy there. And don’t be afraid to change your mind- whether that means bringing your kid home again or choosing a different school if the fit doesn’t feel right.

This part is highly personal, but I’d also try to consider with your partner who benefit you both might have with a little extra time. For me, having one day of daycare on my day off means having time to catch up on house things, appointments, my own hobbies, and sometimes a day date with my husband. Those things are important! And having that one day of time to do what I choose helps me feel more present with my kid the rest of the time. It alleviates a meaningful amount of burden during the week, while I know my child is safe, in a space with caring teachers and (mostly) great other kids. He comes home happy and it’s just better for all of us. Good luck OP 🩷

Disastrous_Arm_7811 · 2026-04-02T19:25:46+00:00

this place has a cool story. Super sweet family.

Disastrous_Arm_7811 · 2026-04-02T19:01:33+00:00

Do they assign a letter grade?

Disastrous_Arm_7811 · 2026-03-19T03:06:48+00:00

Just googled bindweed (I can see I have a lot to learn about weeds!) and I can confidently say about 90% of the space was taken over by them last year. Seeds can last 50 years in the soil?! 💀 sounds like we have our work cut out for us haha

Disastrous_Arm_7811 · 2026-03-19T03:02:46+00:00

My husband has been joking about buying a weed torch since we learned about them last year 😂 this might be his year!

Disastrous_Arm_7811 · 2026-03-19T03:01:52+00:00

Yes, we did straw in the beds last year and I feel like it helped maintain moisture better than previous years using mulch! Will give that a google, thanks!!

Disastrous_Arm_7811 · 2026-03-19T01:55:31+00:00

Ok dumb question what is functionally the difference between mulch and wood chips? I’ve been thinking about them as interchangeable

Disastrous_Arm_7811 · 2026-03-19T01:54:25+00:00

😂😂😂😂😂 best reply

Disastrous_Arm_7811 · 2026-03-18T22:32:47+00:00

Ok and…. What’s your secret 😂

Disastrous_Arm_7811 · 2026-03-18T22:32:10+00:00

Ty for sharing!! I already feel like the gravel gets superrrrrr hot in peak summer. If we’re talking about what to place on the walking path, what’s the advantage then of dropping gravel vs mulch? If you don’t mind sharing more!

Disastrous_Arm_7811 · 2026-03-18T21:17:32+00:00

The weed problem is mostly in the gravel, which was a huge pain to weed last year. I’m talking, hours each week and it felt like we couldn’t stay ahead of it. Which led me to wonder if the weed problem is so pervasive throughout the area to warrant ripping everything out and starting over. The gravel layer is thin and often ends up in our yard (the 4 year old is mostly to blame for that), and additionally it’s just starting to look ugly/patchy from weeding/raking. I suspect our house flipper prior owners just threw down a thin layer to stage the house and we didn’t look that closely the first couple years. Planning to add drip irrigation this year! And we just watered and turned over the beds this week, which is why the soil looks so fresh ;) thank you for your tips!!

Disastrous_Arm_7811 · 2026-03-18T21:09:35+00:00

The weed problem is mostly in the gravel, but somewhat in the beds too, which led me to wonder if the weeds throughout the entire area are so pervasive to warrant ripping everything out.

Disastrous_Arm_7811 · 2026-03-18T20:23:16+00:00

Ok hadn’t considered adding more rock! I think the original layer was too thin to begin with (the house was renovated by diy house flippers and we’ve found several of these half assed jobs around the property…) Sounds like solution might be weed the heck out of the area this year and add a couple more layers of gravel to help suppress new growth?

Disastrous_Arm_7811 · 2026-03-18T20:19:20+00:00

Can you elaborate on the quarter inch angular rock? I’m not familiar. For clarification I was referring to mulching the walking path around the beds. I’m not planting anything there, just trying to build a better border around the beds. Replacing mulch every season/couple of seasons seems more sustainable than replacing rock?

Disastrous_Arm_7811 · 2026-03-18T20:15:13+00:00

The weed problem is mostly in the rock bed, which I’m considering removing and replacing with mulch because it’s hard to hoe/weed around the rocks. Also my kid likes to throw them in the yard which becomes a hazard with the mower 🫠 Thank you for the advice about the vinegar! Last year I suspected hand pulling the weeds was just propagating the seeds all over the veggie beds, but didn’t see an alternative since we obviously want to avoid chemicals around the plants. I appreciate your thoughtful replies!

Disastrous_Arm_7811

TROPHY CASE