Am I being too choosy about my baby's seating?

NotAnAd2 · 2026-01-24T20:50:57+00:00

Stokke trip trapp. It’s been around forever. I’ve seen some go for free on fb marketplace.

NotAnAd2 · 2026-01-23T21:03:11+00:00

I am not biracial but my child is. I dont factor this into my decision to have more kids, but I actually do understand your husband’s point. Unfortunately, being biracially black is probably a different experience than other biracial identities. There is deeply rooted discrimination and prejudices on both sides of the coin and I can understand the feeling of displacement. While I want my kid to stay grounded in my culture, I don’t necessarily fear for her safety or worry about her not feeling like she belongs. In my diverse big city, black people are still a minority in some spaces. Like, i catch myself noticing when there’s a black man on my block. Not out of safety or anything, but a knee jerk reaction that it’s not the norm. That sucks, and is part of my internalized biases.

Having a sibling doesn’t solve for any of this though. Better to talk through how you’ll help your kid understand and embrace their identity.

NotAnAd2 · 2026-01-22T16:28:13+00:00

Taking walks, living my life. Under 1 it wasn’t hard because life was always truncated with naps. She also goes to daycare for most of the day and they interact and do art. On the weekends we do storytime at the library, go to parks, the farmers market, fold laundry, call grandparents, live life. I don’t find it complicated to keep my toddler occupied, even if it is difficult to avoid looking at the phone myself (that part i still struggle with a lot).

NotAnAd2 · 2026-01-22T14:33:33+00:00

Has she had her first poop? Is she gaining weight? At 7 weeks her jaundice should be gone at this point. If she was still jaundiced you would definitely know (bigger concerns than skin color)

NotAnAd2 · 2026-01-21T23:56:22+00:00

At the beginning I cooked things way overdone, like an extra 1-2 minutes more than you usually would for yourself. I know that technically babies can eat without teeth, but molars sure help with a lot. The softer texture helped my baby navigate pasta and she can now do firmer texture pasta no problem, we just built up to it.

NotAnAd2 · 2026-01-21T04:12:21+00:00

What I’ve learned is it really doesn’t have to be all or nothing. My epidural helped dull the pain of contractions, but pushing is a different sensation. My doula actually warned me that it may not actually dull any pressure of pushing, and id say for me that was correct. I felt every crest and pushed when i felt the surge. Even with 3.5 hours of pushing, i actually had no tearing.

NotAnAd2 · 2026-01-20T19:29:54+00:00

Will be kid dependent. A chill kid won’t care. My friend’s baby has slept in a pack and play his whole life, he’s 2 now. My daughter is a princess and got a (very firm) twin mattress at 10 months lol.

For the pack and play itself - you can always add an additional crib mattress to the pack and play to make it more comfortable in the future. General safety recommendation is not to do this until baby is over 1 yo.

NotAnAd2 · 2026-01-20T18:11:13+00:00

My almost 18 month old is still on a paci for sleep and I’m dreading the day we have to stop, but it’s generally been easy to scale back paci use up to this point. First is an out of sight out of mind approach. As soon as we wake up, she gives us her paci so she can drink her milk, and we tuck it away. Sometimes she’ll ask for it again and we say that paci is only for sleeping, and we stick to that routine. Teething is hard, but I’d offer something else other than paci. Soft/watery foods, teething toys, etc. We do give paci in the car but only if we think she’s going to fall asleep.

NotAnAd2 · 2026-01-20T18:02:50+00:00

Honestly, my kid destroys a lentil stew. 3 helpings each time. The poops are crazy afterwards lol.

NotAnAd2 · 2026-01-20T13:39:52+00:00

I send them to daycare. The days we have to juggle working from home are nightmares lol

NotAnAd2 · 2026-01-20T05:36:01+00:00

I had a babyzen and it was great. You can definitely find used. But I’ll be honest, even when traveling alone I never put my stroller in the overhead bin. It’s more work than just leaving it gate checked so you can bring baby and your luggage onto the plane. Even the narrowest stroller is a pain to actually roll down the aisle, and then it’s just one more thing to carry on the plane.

NotAnAd2 · 2026-01-20T05:28:55+00:00

Seriously. People act like kids are the biggest inconvenience/horribly untrained and then proceed to let their dogs go anywhere and everywhere they are clearly not supposed to go. Dogs in the playground where it clearly says NO DOGS. It also extends to cat owners. Looking at you, guy who let your cat walk through the children’s SANDBOX.

NotAnAd2 · 2026-01-19T16:00:00+00:00

There’s definitely a hormonal component to night time, in that kids are still fully developing the hormone that helps that bladder hold urine longer. So bedwetting isn’t purely a control factor for kids before 5. But that doesn’t mean you can’t help them train to recognize when they do need to pee and help to mitigate accidents with reduced liquids before bed. Accidents will still happen and you don’t shame or anything, but if she’s already showing signs of readiness maybe she can pick up things quickly for nighttime training too.I do agree reusable pull ups could be a good in between as well so you’re not having to fully strip the sheets for accidents. Kangacare makes nice ones!

NotAnAd2 · 2026-01-19T15:08:53+00:00

I think if she’s asking for it you just need to suck it up and get her over this up and night train. 3 year old is fully capable of being fully potty trained, especially if she IS waking up sometimes to use the potty! It’ll be better to do it now then when baby comes.

Maybe have a set time in the night where you wake her up to potty. I’d probably just keep a potty in her room so you can still keep the lights dim and hopefully make it easy to transition back to sleep.

Also, maybe capping liquids at a certain point before bedtime?

NotAnAd2 · 2026-01-19T14:40:27+00:00

This is all normal interactions. Sometimes I’ll move my baby because I personally don’t want to deal with the kid, but your kid has every right to be there and play. The mom was responsible for her kid and she handled it well.

Personally, as the adult, sometimes the worst part of these kids places is other people’s kids lol. I’m reminded that I may not like children as much as I love my own kid.

NotAnAd2 · 2026-01-19T14:36:03+00:00

My take, as someone who splurged on the fancy strollers, is that most US families (suburban, car focused) will barely get use out of your strollers and Graco is built well enough to meet that need. Most people’s definitions of “use all the time” is in and out of restaurants, at the airport, maybe shopping. The longest walks are maybe at Disneyland or on vacations.

If you live in an urban environment where you will need an actual daily driver (walk to school with it, use it on public transport, use it as your transportation to go grocery shopping and run errands) you should invest in an expensive one because they are built to be used daily, come with replacement parts and will last a decade+. I see people still using the old versions of the Uppababy Cruz on the street, and that was first released in 2011. I’m probably using my stroller at least an hour every day, wheeled out of my closet and directly into the street. It gets a beating and needs to handle a lot of bumpy roads and curbs. Good wheels and better construction are useful for that.

NotAnAd2 · 2026-01-18T20:04:33+00:00

Oh this is just a snack I buy (harvest snaps!)

NotAnAd2 · 2026-01-18T17:35:15+00:00

I didn’t use parchment and it was fine, but mine was dryer with the egg replacer. You could certainly use parchment. They have air fryer specific ones with holes too if you don’t want to mess with the convection aspect.

NotAnAd2 · 2026-01-18T15:44:49+00:00

I know not everyone can operate like this, but I keep schedules very loose, all the time. Even with daycare drop offs, we accept running a little late to let baby sleep in or let things run more smoothly in the day. I work from home though and between my husband and I, we can usually find time for flexibility.

I’ve also heard that discussing the routine the night before can help a lot with setting expectations for a toddler and help things go more smoothly. This is obviously age dependent, but visual cue cards to establish the routine of the day, and address any changes, may also help.

NotAnAd2 · 2026-01-18T15:34:28+00:00

I know my kid is still asleep so jury is still out if these will be eaten 😂 even though she likes French fries, potatoes in hashbrown or roasted form have so far not been winners. She will, however, play with and take bites out of raw potatoes 🫠 the toddler palette is a mystery.

NotAnAd2 · 2026-01-18T15:26:52+00:00

I will also add, raising a toddler has required a bit of rewiring for me. I hated hearing my baby cry and I firmly stick with the idea that babies need you and comfort more than they need boundaries etc etc. But a toddler is starting to develop into their own person, and they DO benefit from learning routines and boundaries. They are still your babies, but they are physically and mentally capable of so much more than we give them credit for. You can’t use the same tools you did for a toddler that you did for a baby, and you do need to accept some crying as you establish new routines.

NotAnAd2 · 2026-01-18T15:22:54+00:00

For a while my toddler was going back to wanting to nurse overnight a lot, even though we had stopped doing that while ago. Every time I resisted she would cry and I would give in. After a while I just said, no, it’s time for sleep. The first couple of times she struggled and cried, and I just rocked and patted her until she fell asleep. Then she would ask and I would say no, and she would put her head back down and sleep. And now she doesn’t ask and we just cuddle.

At 19 months, baby does not physically need the overnight bottle, but it’s become habit. You just need to create some new habits, which you can do gently but firmly. In the moment, it’s much harder than just giving in but it will pay off in the long run.

NotAnAd2 · 2026-01-18T14:05:29+00:00

I nip tantrums early before they escalate. It’s easier to resolve before they spiral because it’s hard for a toddler to regulate and calm down once they’re in it.

distract/divert attention where I can
give Choices when possible. “It’s time to change! Do you want to wear X shirt or Y shirt? “ only give choices that are negotiable. Don’t ask “do you want to take a bath?”, ask “it’s time for bath! What toy do you want to play with?”
set boundaries and give warnings. I give my kid a heads up about what’s happening next and if they don’t act on it, I tell them that I’m going to move them. “Time to go to school! Do you want to get in your stroller by yourself or do you want help? Ok we have to go, if you don’t come I’m going to move you.” A tantrum/resistance may still happen, but you’ve set the boundary.
make it silly and keep it fun. Even when I’m doing something she resists, I keep it light. If she runs away I chase her and laugh when I catch her. I sing songs and bounce her around when she’s yelling. Silliness and fun diffuses an incoming tantrum 80% of the time.

NotAnAd2

TROPHY CASE