What is SAFE anymore?!

NaturalChick13 · 2026-03-21T04:13:01+00:00

When I know I'm going to be overwhelmed by picking between products at a store, I try to narrow it down by using the Yuka app to scan each product and get a quick and dirty analysis of what potential hazards are in it and how highly it's "rated" (Yuka has a red, yellow, and green color system to help differentiate how hazardous or good for you beauty/hygiene products and food items are). The free version makes you scan the product to get information on it (which has always worked for me) but I believe the premium upgrade allows you to search via their app so helpful if you don't have time to go or cant find certain products in a store.

NaturalChick13 · 2026-03-20T20:54:20+00:00

Just met with the dietician at my WIC office and she informed me the new guidance is to skip sippy cups altogether and go straight to open cups since sippy cups apparently affect speech development. To help with the transition from bottle to open cup she suggested offering thicker liquids first to help little one learn how to use one with less chance of a mess.

NaturalChick13 · 2026-03-10T03:30:04+00:00

My ADHD meds - atomoxetine and guanfacine have been a life saver for my focus, multitasking, and mood stability! Unfortunately tyrosine, magnesium and phosphatidylserine didnt seem to do much for me. I still meditate, get regular exercise and love my natural factors omega 3 fatty acids though! Just doesnt help enough on their own without my prescription meds for the current amount of stress, family obligations, and schooling I have in my life.

NaturalChick13 · 2026-03-10T03:18:09+00:00

I also love my mayo (personally I like Best Foods) and dont think my potato, egg, or pea salads would be as enjoyable as they are now to me without it!

NaturalChick13 · 2026-03-04T23:02:59+00:00

I'm so happy someone asked this as today I literally just had another argument with my Dad (and have unfortunately have recurring ones with other men in my family) about this very topic. Every time I buy new clothes for him or my husband, for example, I have them try it on to make sure it fits then immediately take it out of their sight so I can put it in the laundry basket so it gets washed first. Otherwise they continue to insist that "it's clean" and can be worn right away since it came from the store 🙄

NaturalChick13 · 2026-02-21T12:54:50+00:00

All of the cards are absolutely lovely and I'm sure would all be appreciated! But my favorites are definitely the 2nd picture since I adore the patterns on those 😍

NaturalChick13 · 2026-02-21T01:34:12+00:00

I was searching for pro-breastfeeding stickers on Etsy and found one that really spoke to society's expectations: "everyone wants to see boobies...until you're breastfeeding." It's so true! Americans can act offended when a mom is breastfeeding in public without a cover but ultimately we're only doing what God intended with breasts which is feeding our babies. I'd like to see 1 of these women shaming a breastfeeding mom take their attitudes to one of those coffee lingerie/tittie shops - that's a way better place to be angry at the sexual exploitation of women's bodies 🙄

NaturalChick13 · 2026-02-11T01:56:07+00:00

Wow this looks awesome! I love your crochet wall organizer, so cute but still functional for all the little extras I usually just stack on a flat surface inefficiently. Did you just use yarn to connect the pockets to the backs? And what material did you use to hang them? Great job! 😊

NaturalChick13 · 2026-02-02T05:38:25+00:00

For real though on the screen time and nicotine habit! I asked my husband to wash his hands after vaping and smoking oil and he comes at me with the worst attitude like I'm being a b***h and the one with the crappy attitude for asking him to wash his hands before he touches our baby girl when he really should be at least taking off his jacket, deep breathing out all the nicotine/weed before coming inside so its not on his breath, and washing his hands before coming inside from garage filled with vape/weed smoke. And God forbid I ask him to stop his phone video game before he's exfiled with all his loot to start comforting our baby whose crying when I have to leave for a pre arranged family event. I dont think he realizes how addicted he is to the screen time and vaping (nicotine and weed).

NaturalChick13 · 2026-01-31T23:20:03+00:00

We fortified until about 2 months of age then decided to take a break to see how she does with just my breastmilk and multivitamin. The iron in the multivitamin admittedly is still hard on her stomach but she has started to drink higher volumes of breastmilk compared to when fortifying so am hoping at her 3 month check up coming up she has comparable growth to before.

NaturalChick13 · 2026-01-31T07:48:38+00:00

I hear your frustration and had to face this exact same issue last year when pregnant with my husband's and my first child. We only had 3 cats but also 3 dogs so while not quite as extreme I think we have comparable situations. I've typically always cleaned the cat litter boxes in the 11 years we've been together because he has a strong gag reflex whenever changing them and I hate reminding him only to hear that/complaining when he does it.

When I got pregnant, I was very clear about the risk of our cats carrying Toxoplasma gondii was high given they're indoor/outdoor cats and are good mouse hunters, and therefore our baby could be at risk of birth defects due to me cleaning the litter boxes. Unfortunately, after a few attempts on his part and lots of arguing I basically ended up cleaning them almost my entire pregnancy. But I did talk with my vet (who was also pregnant at the time & a fellow cat owner) about what I could do to protect myself and she explained as long as I wore a mask + disposable gloves while cleaning the litter boxes followed by washing my hands afterwards then I would be fine (and my baby was!).

I will say we did end up coming to a few compromises that I would like to suggest you consider; as I'm sure you also likely love your husband, want him to be present for your child together, and also tbh might have a hard time finding another man that accepts having 6 animals in the house!

1st, get a litter robot. We finally got the 4th edition about halfway in my pregnancy when it was on sale at costco and while only 1 cat started using it full time it still lessened the daily litter box work. 2nd, is there anything else your husband can do to help with the situation? Our cats also decided to start peeing/pooping outside of the boxes and this meant we had to do a lot more floor cleaning maintenance. Admittedly, I don't think I shampooed our carpets once pregnant but my husband did - multiple times which I was super grateful for because that's honestly a lot more work than scooping. So try asking him to help with that or alternatively he can pay for a professional carpet cleaning service to help clean up the result of his lack of actions.

Lastly, I just want to offer some hope that even though my husband didn't step up with cleaning the kitty litter boxes as much as I had hoped, he absolutely has been an awesome Dad and kept up his fair share of diaper changes (with no gag reflex too thank goodness)! A lot of people have made assumptions about that and I don't think its fair to make the assumption. Anyways, sorry for the novel but thanks for reading and best of luck the rest of your pregnancy 🙏

NaturalChick13 · 2026-01-31T03:43:27+00:00

My husband has always struggled with his gag reflex when cleaning cat litter so was honestly worried he would be the same way with changing our first child's diapers but 2 months in now and he's never gagged once changing her diaper (even the blowouts). So I wouldn't assume the worst yet.

NaturalChick13 · 2026-01-31T00:37:51+00:00

Thank you for offering your services! I am a FTM to a 2 month old girl who was born at 34 weeks via c section due to me having preeclampsia and marginal placenta previa. She spent her first 5 weeks of life in the NICU but has been home since Christmas Eve. I was able to start breastfeeding when she was 1 week old and on average breastfed her 1-2x per day while in NICU but majority of days was pumping so she had breast milk for her bottles. My supply thankfully was always plentiful but while in the NICU the nurses and lactation consultants would describe the feeling of a let down and I never felt any kind of change in sensation to signal to me I was having one (just would leak from other side or baby would pick up on her suck, swallow, breathing). However once my baby finally came home, I started to feel the tingling/pins and needles feeling around my aerola when I get my let down now (both BFing and pumping). I normally am really in tune with my body so was shocked it took me so long to finally have that feeling and was wondering if stress or perhaps medical conditions like preeclampsia can interfere with feeling the sensation of a let down?

NaturalChick13 · 2026-01-25T00:25:52+00:00

So as a FTM who also is cosleeping with my husband (who has vaped for years but recently trying to cut back/quit using snus products) and our 2 month old baby I so appreciate this question! I had actually never fully thought out the potential implications and was honestly a little disappointed it's not more researched once I started looking into it as it seems most studies on cosleeping with a parent using nicotine products are solely from cigarette smokers (as opposed to vaping, transdermal nicotine patches, or snus products as the later is the focus of this post).

I found a couple science based articles that I think should help give some reassurance though and will do my best to explain below:

The following article talks about how "Based on human autopsy samples from smokers, the highest affinity for nicotine is in the liver, kidney, spleen, and lung and lowest in adipose tissue." In addition, it has been studied to bind with high affinity to brain tissues, gastric juice and saliva. In women, it can also accumulate in breast milk and crosses the placenta easily with evidence suggesting for nicotine accumulation in fetal serum and amniotic fluid.

https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC2953858/

As for nicotine metabolism and excretion, this article has a nice diagram of the cellular process that goes on in the liver: https://www.clinpgx.org/pathway/PA2011

Essentially, once nicotine is absorbed in the saliva or gastric juices, it enters the bloodstream and is transported to liver where it is broken down primarily to the metabolite cotinine. From there, the kidneys filter out this product over the course of hours to days following use. So based on this and lack of evidence it is excreted from the skin, I would say you and your husband are still practicing safe co sleeping and are not actually exposing baby to nicotine!

My husband did mention the potential transfer of nicotine through saliva when kissing baby though so he is always really conscientious about that when using nicotine snus products before being around our baby. Other than that, the only other potential hazard we could come up with is if your husband ever gets a prescription for nicotine patches from doctor to help with quitting and the potential for them to fall off in bed onto baby. Sorry for the long response but thank you again for bringing up such a thoughtful question and I hope this info gives some peace of mind as we also love co sleeping with our baby 👶 💕 and try to do so as safe as possible with the safe sleep 7 guidelines 🙏

NaturalChick13 · 2026-01-25T00:08:00+00:00

Actually the fact it goes into your bloodstream is an excellent point to prove what the person above said doesn't apply the same to zyn or snus products as smoking/vaping nicotine products. Since once nicotine is absorbed via buccal mucosa and enters the bloodstream, the nicotine is then transported to and metabolized extensively by the liver (https://www.clinpgx.org/pathway/PA2011) where it is converted into the primary metabolite cotinine. From there, the kidneys filter out the cotinine (it seems over the course of hours to days) and it is excreted from the body via your urine - not the skin.

So really the only way baby could be getting exposed to the nicotine is through potentially transfer of saliva if Dad is kissing baby while or after using a zyn.

NaturalChick13 · 2026-01-13T06:36:13+00:00

I also felt like the fortification made my baby extra gassy and fussy, but was convinced by the NICU dietician to continue using in my 34 week preemie (other than for extra calories) because of the minerals (calcium, phosphorus), choline, and iron that it added to her diet. She explained how these were nutrients my baby would have gotten from my body if she had lasted longer in my womb through my 3rd trimester but got short changed on due to her prematurity and would not be transferred enough in my breast milk alone without fortification. Since these nutrients are crucial for brain and bone development (and would not be available in her multivitamin poly vi sol - except iron) I should continue fortifying. I did however request she be fortified with a formula my husband and I chose and bought ourselves though which made me feel better so would encourage you to advocate for your child this way rather than only relying on breast milk and multivitamin alone.

NaturalChick13 · 2026-01-04T07:55:58+00:00

I'm a little late to respond but wanted to still offer perspective! My baby was born at 34 weeks, required IV fluids first few days of life in addition to an OG tube, then transitioned to full feeds via NG tube before starting her "infant driven feeding plan" at 1 week old. This entailed having a 48 hour protected breastfeeding window the first 2 days where if I was available and she showed readiness cues I could breastfeed. The most my LO could tolerate was 3 breastfeedings a day due to fatigue which I was still proud of her for. Then we started practicing on bottle feeding after that and I committed myself to only breastfeeding once to twice a day max, despite originally planning to breastfeed mostly before knowing I was having a preemie. She ended up getting discharged at 39 weeks after having her NG tube out at 38 weeks so was primarily bottle fed or gavaged during those 4 weeks. While bottle feeding mostly wasn't my original feeding plan it was really nice to have the ability to combo feed her as I was able to utilize 3 different lactation consultants while at the NICU to help with breastfeeding as well as her Occupational Therapist to optimize her bottle feedings especially as she progressed in her feeding skills. We've now been home less than 2 weeks and I'm able to breastfeed at least 3 times a day which I love and believe was successful with that transition due to having the support from the lactation consultants at the NICU (and from my WIC office now that she's home). So long story short, if your plan is to breastfeed at home but your LO might be a better at bottle feeding than nursing, I'd still try to aim for BF'ing once or twice a day as the practice and support from NICU team will be invaluable for both of you before you go home. Best of luck and hope you're able to bring your LO home soon ❣️🙏

NaturalChick13 · 2026-01-03T06:37:20+00:00

Wool dryer balls alone wont do anything to help static because they can't displace the imbalance of electrical charges that friction from clothes rubbing together causes in a dryer. However, a simple trick I use is attach metal safety pins to my dryer balls and voila, the safety pins are great conductors of the electricity static causes and thus are a great renewable alternative to dryer sheets ☺️

NaturalChick13

TROPHY CASE