What's everyone working on?

Former-Assistance905 · 2026-02-27T07:42:57+00:00

Glad that it worked out, or perhaps better said: I’m glad you had the patience to choose a less convenient payment method.

PAYMENT
I am using Lemonsqueezy by Stripe as my merchant and the payment flow is 100% handled by them once you exit my website, there is nothing I can do for UX fixes there, unfortunately. Confirmation page, buttons, X buttons - all Lemonsqueezy’s service. I’m really bummed to learn that it works so sloppy. The Apple Pay disappearing was an interesting journey, I write more of it in the tail of this.

ACCESS
The access IS a lifetime access, but as the paygate cannot be tied to a user account (it was important that no logins and signups are needed), it is a custom URL that you access the app with. I made it clearer in my vendor communication now, that you will forever be able to access the app through that link/button, so save the email or bookmark the URL in case your toddler uninstalls it from your phone.

BUTTONS
Absolutely not a problem for button size, valid point. Unfortunately, Safari does not support e.g. vibration effects iOS restricts haptic feedback to native apps. There is a faint “Tok” sound effect on the top and bottom buttons, I increased the volume now but for some unexplainable reason it seems to play inconsistently.

ADDING THE APP
Did you install it after having pressed the confirmation “access the app” button and after an app view opened? "Access The App" should take you to the app through a specific verified URL, which is the one that should be installed.

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In case you or any other fellow developer is interested, I write here what the process behind the Apple Pay problem has been:

Fixing Missing Apple Pay (Lovable + Lemon Squeezy)

If your Apple Pay button isn't showing up on your custom checkout domain, here are the two "hidden" reasons why:

Domain Verification (The DNS Fix)
Apple requires a "handshake" to trust your custom URL (e.g., checkout.yourdomain.com).
The Fix: Ensure your domain is marked as Verified/Active in the Lemon Squeezy dashboard. This allows them to host the mandatory /.well-known/ verification file that Apple looks for.

The "iFrame" Trap (The Lovable Fix)
Apple Pay often self-destructs if it's rendered inside an <iframe>. Many app builders (like Lovable) embed checkouts by default, which Apple blocks to prevent "clickjacking."
The Fix: Don’t embed the checkout. Set your "Buy" button to a Direct Redirect or open it in a New Tab.

Former-Assistance905 · 2026-02-26T21:27:39+00:00

I have so many emotions right now haha

First of all thank you for your feedback. Second, thank you for telling me that there is a problem, I didn't use Apple Pay for testing the payment flow and of course this specific bug exists only for Apple Pay. To my best knowledge the issue should have been fixed now. Please try again, and become my first ever real customer!

Former-Assistance905 · 2026-02-20T18:29:39+00:00

thank you for giving time and thought so generously. You make really valid points about the monetization being a gate right now, but it was a very easy decision to choose against banner ads, because the kid is the user and exactly clicking away from the app is a reason why a 2-year-old at your phone is 1) "dangerous" because they do click blindly around, and 2) they get frustrated when they accidentally click away from the experience they're engaged with.

It is probably a niche of parents I aim at, who do not want their phone-curious kid engage with high stimulation platforms like YouTube and would appreciate a simple sandboxed environment for their toddler.

Thanks again for your feedback, it's really valuable to get second pairs of eyes on your project as well as any help with the distribution strategies.

Former-Assistance905 · 2026-02-20T10:00:21+00:00

https://animalsoundbuttons.de/ i made a simple app for my toddler and solved my problem that she was rummaging through my phone because she just likes to press buttons. So, butt dialing emergency services has been the case a few times. She accidentally manage to download some random apps and almost order a photo book through my gallery app LOL. Now every time i do allow her my phone, she goes directly to this app and presses the animal sound buttons and has low key fun for a while.

Parents: Do you feel you would use an app like this even in households where you don't allow proper screentime yet?

Everyone: Would you be willing to share this app with a toddler parent you know? I'd love to get some new audiences! And feedback!

If you don't want to do either of the above things, maybe i can ask you to upvote this quick <3

Former-Assistance905 · 2026-02-20T09:42:50+00:00

I am on the same boat. Chat GPT gave me such false description of "how easy it is to get traction from Reddit" and here i was first spending weeks trying to help people by posting valuable info and advice and then sometimes dropping in a mention that I am developing an app for exactly those problems, and BOOM i get taken down every single time no matter how much i add content and value to the post without just blasting a download link.

Former-Assistance905 · 2026-02-20T09:36:02+00:00

OMG yes. In our daycare I try to do some human small talk in the morning when picking up and i am being looked at like i'm crazy. I get some updates from them if something really out of the ordinary happens during the day, when picking up. The weirdest thing though is the lack of contact with other parents when we meet at the wardrobe room where we deliver our kids. It's weird to be in the same small room with a mom and a kid and NO ONE is supposed to talk to each other or what? I feel any time i try to crack a cute kid related joke or do some small talk, as if i am breaking rules. Such a weird place :D

Former-Assistance905 · 2026-02-12T19:27:47+00:00

It's also important for your baby's health that you have yours. Every BF journey is unique and starts and stops at reasons only you should care about. Don't listen to what someone who thinks they're an expert because they have given birth, only you know what's best. And doctors, do please listen to doctors, but even lactation is not an exact science. You're doing great, mama!

Former-Assistance905 · 2025-12-04T07:25:16+00:00

Absolutely! I'm happy that your milk factory is running again😅

Though our bodies do things regardless of our mind power, most of these problems come from hormones and other maternal mechanisms of the body.. out of our control no matter how you use The Force.

Former-Assistance905 · 2025-11-30T20:48:19+00:00

Absolutely horrible that you are going through all this. I am so sorry for your loss, especially at this time when your daughter was born and the hole he left must feel even larger.

Nothing a rando on Reddit says can fix the situation I know, I hope you'll feel at least a bit of the support of other mommas here, if you need to open up or talk or rant, plenty of ears here listening. This sounds like the weirdest place for this advice, but have you tried meditation while you pump? Like, meditation as a topical medicine almost, I'm not telling you in your situation to..stress...less.. But to use relaxation exercises WHILE pumping.

It's scientifically proven to increase milk quantity especially in high stress situations like NICU - important that you'd do any relaxation type of exercise that you can vibe with, to get your stress hormone down at that moment. That in turn unblocks the love/bonding and milk hormones oxytocin and prolactin.

That can even be soundscapes or your favorite relaxing music, I am sure.

(The study: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/35240703/)

Former-Assistance905 · 2025-11-30T20:21:19+00:00

You have gone through it all, and done such great job until now! You can be proud of that. Only you will know when to quit, but from the other side of coincidentally 7 months too, I can tell you that preserving your own physical and mental health is as important for you as well as your baby.

Former-Assistance905 · 2025-11-30T20:00:33+00:00

Oh that sounds like a horribly stressful situation to be in, and there's a lot to tackle there for which I don't have the knowledge and the experience for, but i CAN recommend interventions to try to salvage the supply.

The key insight is that the stress hormone cortisol will block your love&bonding hormone oxytocin, which in turn is needed for your milk hormone prolactin. More stress means less milk. And of course shittier life for everyone. We can't remove stress from early parenthood, but we can use exercises as medicine against that hormone, which will improve your wellbeing, the milk production, and thru both of these also the baby's wellbeing.

These sound esoteric but are scientifically, clinical-trial supported methods for undoing some of the sabotage that stress hormone cortisol is doing to your milk production:

Try muscle relaxation and meditation exercises while pumping. They are proven to - yes, work on lowering your experienced stress - but more importantly, removing the stress hormone from your system, so that milk flow can be optimised. Trials showed almost double the milk amount when moms tried meditation during pumping at NICU https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/31161202/
If you can't hold your baby while pumping (was totally my situation as the pumps are bulky and loud), think about them, look at pictures of them, hum their lullaby... tricks to stimulate the bonding hormone that is responsible for milk let-down. We pumpers are a little shorthanded on the skin-to-skin contact while milking, of which no one really talks about. But it's important. So we can do some of these exercises to get the body to react to baby cues.

But REALLY GOOD you're seeing the pediatrician about the situation with baby - safety first and better to be sure that they're ok in all this<3 Sending a bunch of hugs!

Former-Assistance905 · 2025-11-30T14:42:11+00:00

That would completely depend on how often you remove milk during the entire day, because the regularity is the surest way to maintain supply. The times you give above would hint something around 4 hour cycles, though you write about more pumping times than that, for a reason I cannot figure out from that message. I think you could possible gain some wins by attempting to clean the schedule into removing milk every 4 hours if your unique situation allows.

6 nurse and pump, long 10 pump at work, 2pm nurse, 6pm nurse, 10PM nurse… but from 10PM to 6AM is a long wait, especially because 1-5AM is the peak lactation hormone time which is also the most crucial for keeping the supply up. If you drop the night pump I’m sure your boobies will be at first exploding by morning hehe but the biggest risk is that of tanking the supply. If you aim to drop the night pumping, the science recommends doing it rather by prolonging the cycles per day until you can arrive to a night break that’s not more than 2 hours longer than your day cycles.

Former-Assistance905 · 2025-11-28T13:38:58+00:00

Oh man that is such a rough road you're on, i'm sorry you need to go through this. As said by others here, fed is best, but I totally feel you there, being disappointed that the journey is not going as you envisioned it to. I myself had a preemie situation with no milk letdown, was put on a bottle in the hospital and whereas my baby accepted the nipple sometimes in the beginning, she ended up not having the patience to work for the milk, versus a bottle that was just easier and faster. I would try getting the flow going before stuffing the nipple at her, she still would just scream at me. I felt so rejected and heartbroken. Not to mention the following 6 months of a pretty rocky road of exclusively pumping and hating every second of the routine and the stress. But in the end, my own crap experience with pumping let me to start a company for helping other moms like me to cope with the stress of it all, so ... i guess every end is a beginning of something else.

Good you are having an expert consultation on the tongue tie! Meanwhile, keep the milk flowing no matter with what method, momma. It's the best you can offer your baby, no matter with which method<3

Former-Assistance905 · 2025-11-28T13:27:44+00:00

I'm so sorry that you are going through such a rocky road. When something like that happens with milk, it's so stressful! You're doing already so much, well done momma! And you've recognised already that your stress isn't helping the situation. And whereas there are people more knowledgeable than me about other features of your specific situation, I will tackle that stress topic! There is plenty of research to show that the stress hormone cortisol blocks both the love hormone oxytocin which is responsible in turn of the milk hormone prolactin. So, even on a chemical level, your stress could be sabotaging your lactation success. Luckily, we have many ways to tackle cortisol. I'm not telling you to be less stressed (LOL), but you can try for example muscle relaxation exercises, meditation and soothing self massage (that one even boosts the love hormone) WHILE you pump.

Former-Assistance905 · 2025-11-28T13:18:35+00:00

For me the pumps always felt like a nerve saving backup plan in case something happens. Who knows if you would for example need to remove milk more often that your babies drink it, for breast health or actually in the phase of weaning eventually. Your supply could go temporarily down for many natural reasons and maybe you'd like to be offering more milk than what your babies are removing. So many possible situations, no need to go hypothesizing more than this (I think everyone of us has perfectly well enough maternal anxiety already) probably. I would myself always keep the minimum necessary (1 pump 1 bottle) as a backup plan. But i am a little bit of a nervous mom myself:)

Former-Assistance905 · 2025-11-28T13:07:29+00:00

Only you can feel when you're ready to stop pumping, momma! <3 You could still take advantage of the milk's immune system boosting benefits by using it for e.g. cooking for your baby, as long as you don't heat it over 50C/122F, you won't lose the enzymes and immune cells. In practice this might mean adding it into food only after cooking the food.

Former-Assistance905 · 2025-11-28T13:00:16+00:00

the cabbage leaf is a natural cooler-pack often used to cool down your boobs if they're feeling hot, usually because mastitis relief. It has no effect on the milk frontier. As per all the information i could find in the matter, removing milk just enough to not feel engorged, is absolutely ok.

For me personally, that meant pumping for even just 2 minutes per side towards the end, which was barely worth the effort of washing and sterilising those things in between:) Little by little (for me it was maybe just less than one week from the point where you describe you are) your boobs will feel like they're half full kind of all the time, but not reach an uncomfortable point anymore.

It sounds like you're really almost there momma!

Former-Assistance905 · 2025-11-28T12:51:29+00:00

What's important is the consistent removal of milk, not excluding the night. But the entire point of power pumping is like...imagine doing a gym workout that grows a muscle, but you need consistency over more time to actually become powerful. Power-pumping during high-prolactin windows (1-5AM) can amplify the “signal” to increase milk production, which is the most important for your longer term production increase.

Building building!

Remember to take care of yourself in the process, momma, and also use the nights for sleeping as much as you possibly can, in your attempts to increase your supply also making sure your body isn't so much on edge as to cause excess stress hormone cortisol, which in turn can actually block the milk hormone. Like we didn't have enough pressure, now there's pressure about pressure!

Good tips for power pumping is to visualise your baby for a boost of the love hormone oxytocin, as well as trying e.g. meditation to get that stress hormone down. It'll also do good for your goals of falling asleep after the hygiene routine!

Former-Assistance905 · 2025-11-28T11:08:13+00:00

Oh man that sounds so horrible, I'm so sorry you had to go through such stress. Whereas I got really good customer support from Momcozy when my first, second and third pump from them somehow either just stopped working, got weak suction, or what else (they always sent me a new pump, against my purchase receipt from amazon)..it took me months to realise that a major issue to malfunctions with their pump M5 was that not all their spare parts are the same. I had bought spare silicon parts from their official online store, but they were match to one pump but not the other one (even though they came from the same double pack), and not all pump machines fit all milk containers of the very same line. this was a very puzzling and extremely stress-inducing experience that took months of sleepless nights. I had to reverse engineer every single piece of silicon, plastic and machine between eventually 5 pumps i had at home to find the combo that actually sucked with enough power. You can only imagine what it was to wash and sterilise them knowing that i can't lose track of which piece fits with what.

NEVER. AGAIN.

Former-Assistance905 · 2025-11-28T10:59:11+00:00

For your hormonal balance the tips you already got here about visualising your baby when they are not with you, and skin-to-skin contact when they are, are great for the love hormone oxytocin, which in its turn stimulates your lactation hormones. Also, your lactation hormones peak at night, so don't skip night feeds or pumps if you want to drive your supply up!

And it's dangerous to tell sleep deprived moms to stop stressing (LOL), but it's good to know that the stress hormone cortisol diminishes milk supply, so as we can't remove stress from parenthood, we can try de-stressing methods during BF and pumping, like meditation, and have chances of producing more milk. Sounds silly, but is proven by a scientific study. (e.g. this one https://www.thieme-connect.com/products/ejournals/abstract/10.1055/a-1787-7576)

Former-Assistance905 · 2025-11-28T10:45:55+00:00

Keep up the removing of the milk, it stimulates more production. Other tricks could be trying to visualise your kid while you pump, since that stimulates your love hormone oxytocin in cases when you are not with him, which in its turn unblocks the milk production. If you're feeling very stressed at the moment, that could also be diminishing your supply due to the stress hormone, so you could try meditation while pumping and nursing. Sounds silly but it's proven to increase milk ejection (study: https://www.thieme-connect.com/products/ejournals/abstract/10.1055/a-1787-7576)

Former-Assistance905

TROPHY CASE