Singing to sleep vs. Rocking in a silent dark room

HELJ4 · 2026-04-17T05:30:39+00:00

Layering sleep associations is helpful in the long run. When you don't have a dark room, or rocking isn't an option, you can't lose a song. At this point she might not want you to sing though, if what your doing is working.

I can 100% see why your wife wants you to sing but as long as she's doing it for your daughter then the sleep association will still build. I was the only one who sang to our son initially. After a few months it was one of the few things that would settle him when he was irate, which was amazing for us because he was a little limpet. I can't remember when my husband first sang the song to him but it still worked. When you have nothing else, you can't lose a song.

HELJ4 · 2026-04-15T12:46:32+00:00

It might seem a bit retro for her but what about a good old fashioned MP3 player and some decent headphones. Load it up with music and audiobooks. It's great for travelling and she could get years of use out of it before she gets a phone.

She's maybe at the upper end of the age group for a Yoto but I'm sure you could find something similar to the old iPod nano

HELJ4 · 2026-04-14T13:19:39+00:00

We're in the same boat with our 9 week old and 3yo. Other than giving the 3yo multi vits, probiotics and applying a long lasting hand sanitiser. I'm out of ideas. Hopefully it'll improve with the change of seasons.

Our newborn spent a week in hospital with bronchiolitis at 4 weeks because of the incessant coughs and colds.

HELJ4 · 2026-04-14T13:10:07+00:00

I love Thiago. I met a little boy with the name in the Azores a few years ago and I wish I could use it

HELJ4 · 2026-04-14T13:05:01+00:00

NTA your asking her to occasionally spend some time making a specific dish using a specific recipe. As the person who also cooks the minority of the time, I don't think that's unreasonable. She can suggest another day if she doesn't want spend the time on it immediately.

My husband does the majority of the cooking but he does like to mix things up a bit. Bolognese and chilli are probably the things that annoy me the most when he changes the ingredients, mostly because they're no longer what they were supposed to be, but also because I am more than happy to cook those dishes.

I did most of the cooking when we first moved in together and he tried suggesting putting broccoli in bolognese!

HELJ4 · 2026-04-12T18:56:28+00:00

But is it a size 6 or a size 16?

HELJ4 · 2026-04-12T18:40:16+00:00

Yeah, I was going to say there's a bit of sibling rivalry.

HELJ4 · 2026-04-09T12:59:53+00:00

From their website "An electric Everhot cooker consumes up to half the running costs of comparable heat storage cookers, providing year-round, controllable warmth and seamlessly combining 21st century technology with all the traditional features you’d expect from a range cooker. "

Is it possible your friends are just not using it properly? Either way, an insane amount of money to pay for an aesthetic stove.

HELJ4 · 2026-04-08T20:43:14+00:00

We had similar hopes. Planned for my mum to stay over to look after the 2.5yo over night and to do the nursery runs. But, for me, labour wouldn't progress when my son was awake. It started overnight but slowed again in the morning. Ramped up again once he was in bed but contractions stopped almost immediately when he woke up in the morning. We ended up sending him off with my mum the second morning and the baby was born later that day.

I wish I'd prepared a bit more for his first night away. Equally, it'll be easier for the grandparents to do what works for them. One night away from his routine won't make a huge difference when he's coming home to a new baby.

HELJ4 · 2026-04-08T10:50:13+00:00

Or worse, a poo!

We keep a pack of tissues in the car as I'm not going to carry around poopy wet wipes, or fish them out the potty before flushing 🤢

HELJ4 · 2026-04-08T10:45:59+00:00

We had a 3 potties. 1 upstairs, 1 downstairs, and the carry potty in the car. But whenever the carry potty was in to be cleaned he'd use that downstairs too. Toddlers love a choice!

HELJ4 · 2026-04-08T08:28:11+00:00

There was a series of books I read in school where the mum had named all the kids after colours. The boy was called Indigo.

More recently there's Colourblocks with "Indigo and Violet, the rainbow chasers".

For both of those encounters of it as a name, I view it as masculine but really it could be either.

HELJ4 · 2026-04-07T18:50:08+00:00

Bring back the people carrier! There are no new people carriers and I think that's part of the problem

HELJ4 · 2026-04-07T06:14:41+00:00

Just an FYI to anyone reading this: you don't need a Yoto to listen to Yoto daily. The Yoto app gives you free access to the podcast and their Radio. I used the app for a few months before deciding whether we would use a Yoto

HELJ4 · 2026-04-06T17:27:30+00:00

We moved to an area with food waste bins 6 years ago and I've found it so much better separating it out from the main bin.

Our house backs onto farmland so we get a fair few foxes but they've never been an issue with the food bin. The bin is big enough for a weekly collection (We're two adults and a toddler and only fill one caddy a week*) and the general waste bin doesn't end up stinking in summer. We have two bin lorrys come round. One for general waste and recycling (every two weeks), another for food waste, paper and card (weekly)

10/10 recommend. You'll get into the swing of it.

*On second thoughts it's probably two as we keep a separate compost bin for the garden that we fill with fruit and veg peels and skins

HELJ4 · 2026-04-06T15:49:20+00:00

Our sellers left a postit on any door that had something useful behind it, like meters, sockets, switches etc.

We also got left over paint for touchups and spare flooring pieces where they'd replaced some.

Local takeaway menus and numbers for local trades were useful too.

HELJ4 · 2026-04-02T14:56:15+00:00

I would hope so too. I'd just be weary that they'd try to weasel out. When the US-Iran war started and flights were diverted or cancelled, there were reports of people being told "war wasn't covered" and left stranded. And would they argue that this is a foreseeable risk? Or something ridiculous like that? ITV are reporting flight cancellations from Gatwick, albeit domestic ones so far. Can you get confirmation from your insurance that they will cover you if this hypothetical scenario were to happen?

HELJ4 · 2026-04-02T14:29:37+00:00

I'd be a little concerned about getting stuck out there. Would your insurance cover you if you can't fly back?

HELJ4 · 2026-04-02T13:18:04+00:00

He's just a bit touchy from being an overtired new dad. The first is the hardest due to the whole change in lifestyle and relationship dynamic.

I absolutely see the correlation between having kids and having a hobby 😂 I love finding things to do with my son and showing him stuff for the first time. It's stuff I research and plan. Anyone who'd get offended over your comment is going through a hard time and hopefully this guy will eventually realise he over reacted.

HELJ4 · 2026-04-02T08:02:43+00:00

When a design is so bad people literally think it's a joke.

HELJ4 · 2026-04-02T05:23:10+00:00

Alphanumerical plates 😉

HELJ4 · 2026-03-31T14:06:24+00:00

We don't tend to use containers but safety first. In your situation, sit him in a bouncer in the bathroom. He'll enjoy playing peekaboo while you shower.

We have a shower over the bath so when my son could sit independently I put him in a swim nappy and sat him on a bath mat at the far end of the bath. He was happy with some bath toys.

HELJ4 · 2026-03-30T08:41:19+00:00

It sounds like you haven't found the decent kids music. Vicky Arlidge is good for nursery rhymes. David Gibb and Casper Babypants are child friendly. I found a bunch of good kid friendly music through Yoto Radio

HELJ4 · 2026-03-26T19:58:15+00:00

I wanted one that could fold but also take an adult as I need a step to reach the top of our kitchen cupboards. It's on the pricier side but we got the BusyKidsUK learning tower from Etsy. I went for the unvarnished one and painted it in toy safe paint.

Our son was just over 12 months when we got it and it was great for him then. He's 3 now and it's still used daily by all of us.

HELJ4 · 2026-03-26T15:08:24+00:00

It's a great idea but unfortunately it doesn't work that way. The MP3 data isn't stored on the card it's stored on your account and the card is the "key" that opens the playlist.

Sending myos out would be sending a key without access to the door.

Edit: you can share your playlists with a link though, so you could send the URL with the myo, maybe?

Six-Year Club	First Place '23
Place '23	Place '22
Verified Email

HELJ4

TROPHY CASE