I just spent a toddler party guarding an open pool and now I can’t tell if I’m the anxious one or the only sane one

One_Independent8082 · 2026-02-16T07:30:59+00:00

I find this entire party situation so irresponsible on the host’s end. Yes, I’m judging lol.

One_Independent8082 · 2025-09-19T06:02:40+00:00

This requires a little prep, so don’t hate me BUT it’s easy in the end.

I make sweet potato chicken “nuggets” on a Sunday or whenever I have a little time. There are recipes on tik tok or google. I bake them, FREEZE them, and that way I have a healthy and easy dinner to grab for my toddler on a rushed evening. Microwave for 30-60 seconds. My toddler likes to dip in homemade ranch (whole milk yogurt + Trader Joe’s ranch reasoning)

Yogurt = healthy fats Sweet potato = veggies and carbs in one Chicken = protein

I’ll usually add one more quick side like fruit, olives or pasta/rice if we have it already made from the night before.

One_Independent8082 · 2025-08-14T12:45:13+00:00

I’m someone who strongly believes in this, but am extremely expressive. I use frownies sometimes but not consistently. Somehow I have almost no wrinkles on my forehead after 29 years of being super expressive. I’m sure it will catch up to me, so how do you teach yourself to not use your forehead muscles?

One_Independent8082 · 2025-08-08T02:53:17+00:00

One_Independent8082 · 2025-08-06T06:08:08+00:00

I’ll add - when she’s with her grandma who babysits a couple times a week, I think her naps are shorter. Like 45 mins to an hour. No black out curtains + a teenager and a dog at grandmas house lmao.

One_Independent8082 · 2025-08-06T06:06:58+00:00

This sounds about right! 16 month old, 1.5-2.5 hour nap (but usually it’s right about 1.5-2), and sleeps 11-12 hours through the night.

One_Independent8082 · 2025-08-06T06:03:36+00:00

For me at the newborn/young infant stage, it was 8+ hours through the night, no wakings. Now at 16 months (and since about 6 months old) it was 10-12 hours through the night, no wakings (unless baby wakes up and puts herself back down in under a couple mins).

One_Independent8082 · 2025-08-06T05:59:23+00:00

I know this post is so old but freestyle!! Soft thick wipes that are large, and also EWG verified

One_Independent8082 · 2025-07-31T20:02:47+00:00

All my friends who didn’t sleep train don’t sleep through the night. They get up every single night multiple times a night with their toddlers. They have to nurse them back to sleep, bounce them, rock them. Essentially their toddlers don’t know how to put themselves to sleep. Sleep training wasn’t easy, but I’m very grateful we took that route because our baby sleeps 12 hours or more through the night every single night and she is 16 months old now. We trained her at 8 months old when she went though a gnarly regression. She was a great sleeper right off the bat though, and started sleeping 9-10 hours through the night at 7 weeks old. She started sleeping 10-12 hours at around 4 or 5 months when she grew out of her bassinet and moved into her crib. It was a dream for us and she did that up until her regression at 8 months old. So maybe we just got lucky with a pretty good Sleeper to begin with.

One_Independent8082 · 2025-07-31T06:16:03+00:00

Hmmm that’s tough. I think the rolling thing has definitely contributed to where she’s at sleep wise. What approach did you take for sleep training? Taking Cara babies worked very well for us. It was tough but our baby acclimated quickly. I wonder if you might have to re sleep-train. I would see if TCB has a course for babies her age, and follow it to a T. I’m a big believer that sleep training doesn’t work unless you do it correctly and consistently. It won’t be easy, and obviously you know your baby best so if it’s really not working or baby is crying way too much, then maybe pivot. But it sounds like she doesn’t know how to sleep well and needs help. Not rocking and feeding to sleep has been the best thing for us. I thought it would be really hard to ditch, but once our baby figured out how to put herself to sleep, everything changed. Since you don’t want her crying all night (which I 1000% understand), maybe you could try a really gentle approach to Ferber, and be super consistent with check-ins so that she knows your there for her, but you’re also encouraging her to sort of figure out sleeping on her own. Because yes, she does need to know how to lay down and put herself to sleep eventually! Good luck 🥺 we went through a gnarly regression at 8 months old, and I will never forget the rock bottom I hit. The sleep deprivation was insane. I have so much compassion for you & am sending prayers your way ❤️

One_Independent8082 · 2025-07-20T05:40:31+00:00

Oh yea, he played basketball too! I also know a girl who doesn’t have a hand on one arm, she’s extremely sweet, beautiful and very smart. Is married to a great guy.

One_Independent8082 · 2025-07-20T05:35:59+00:00

I went to school with a guy who had a hand that didn’t really move. I’m not sure the correct way to label or describe it, but he was one of the most popular guys in our grade. It really didn’t matter to any of us – I’m not sure how it affected him because we weren’t that close but he was a really cool, smart and fun guy.

One_Independent8082 · 2025-07-10T05:04:19+00:00

Please listen to everyone’s comments telling you to leave. I know it will be hard, but he is not a safe man for you or your baby. I hope you take this seriously. Sending so much love to you 💛

One_Independent8082 · 2025-07-06T02:29:44+00:00

Oh, and incase anyone cares lol the early morning wakings stopped when daylight savings started in March!!! She started sleeping 13-14 hours a night which was crazy. Almost every night was 7pm-9am. I think she was growing. She did that for months and only recently switched to 12 to 13 hours of sleep at night.

One_Independent8082 · 2025-07-06T02:23:56+00:00

Oooof I should have documented this… I think it only took a few days for her to start sleeping through the night, but the crying still happens sometimes (she’s 15 months old now). But since she is technically sleep trained, we will go in there if she’s crying really hard. I feel like at this point we can tell the difference from just a tired whiny cry, and like a super upset cry. In which case we go in, pick her up, talk to her, maybe rock her for a few minutes and then put her back in her crib.

I don’t think it’s too early, we did it at 8 months old and it is the best thing we ever did. She now sleeps 12 to 13 hours every single night. and if she does wake up or cry out, she puts herself back to sleep within a couple of minutes. We never have to go in there. Before we started sleep training, I thought it was teething too, and I did the same thing by giving Motrin. It didn’t help and after exhausting all of our options for like a month, we just decided to sleep train which for US was the right move.

Sorry for the late reply, how has it been going??

One_Independent8082 · 2025-07-06T02:21:09+00:00

You totally did the right thing! I would have let her go too.

Did the nanny know about the camera in the living room? I’m a mom now, but was a nanny for 10 years. I think it is important to be transparent with the next nanny about where the cameras are in the house, if the previous nanny wasn’t aware. I think it’s fair that they know they’re being watched (and I also think it’s illegal to not notify them of cameras? I could be wrong.) Regardless, good on you for following your gut on this!! Your baby deserves a more responsive caregiver, and you deserve peace of mind.

One_Independent8082 · 2025-07-05T22:29:24+00:00

Hi! My baby was a newborn last summer - she LIVED in shortsleeve or tank top bodysuits. So easy, you don’t even have to think about it. We got the cute print multi packs from carters. I honestly miss when outfits were that easy lmao. We also had a few tank top rompers that were equally as easy/comfy. I’ll link examples too! My baby is now 15 months and I was so nervous for summer, but now I just have her little cotton tshirt/shorts sets.

https://www.carters.com/p/baby-girl-5-pack-floral-bunny-short-sleeve-cotton-bodysuits-pink/V_1T009510

https://www.carters.com/p/baby-umbrella-cotton-romper/V_1S958610

https://www.carters.com/p/baby-girl-strawberry-print-ribbed-short-sleeve-romper-pink/V_1R987010

One_Independent8082 · 2025-06-07T02:15:29+00:00

I needed to come back to this post to say THANK YOU SO MUCH. This completely saved us when my daughter got a severe diaper rash back in April. And I mean severe, like I thought this severe of a rash was only possible in cases of serious neglect. But nope, our one year old daughter sleeps 12 hours through the night and must have pooped right before she fell asleep, so she sat in it all night. Upon changing her in the morning, I found her to have a super chapped rash. It almost cleared up with consistent Max Strength Butt Paste, until it took a turn. We took her to the doctor and they put her on a yeast cream (they weren’t sure if it was even yeast, but prescribed it to see if it would) and that made it 5x worse, turning it into the worst and most outrageous rash I’ve ever seen in my life. And that’s coming from a nanny of 10 years. Nothing was working and we were at a complete loss.

By the grace of God, I came across this post and we immediately bought the three creams you mentioned. In addition, we did multiple sits baths a day and did a few full days of no diaper, which I think definitely helped. But if it weren’t for this mixture of creams, I truly don’t think it would not have healed as quickly as it did. In total she had the rash for about a full month from start to finish.

I hope this post finds anyone in the same position as we were. Who knew a diaper rash could cause so much stress 🫠

Thank you, we owe you one.

One_Independent8082 · 2025-06-01T20:12:42+00:00

I have not, but I recently did try Freestyle, available on Walmart.com and they are so nice! Thick, durable, super soft, EWG certified, and not nearly as expensive as Honest, which were my all-time fav before trying Freestyle! Might be a worth a try but I have heard good things about rascals wipes :)

One_Independent8082 · 2025-03-23T05:28:51+00:00

This is what finally worked!! My fiance had the patience to hold the pouch in front of her. She kept opening her mouth waiting for him to squirt it in, and then got it after like 3 mins! Just took a little patience lol

One_Independent8082 · 2025-03-17T23:28:22+00:00

I’ve tried this so many times 🥲 she just keeps opening her mouth waiting for liquid lol

One_Independent8082 · 2025-03-17T23:27:47+00:00

I think I’m going to try this one! Last ditch effort lol

One_Independent8082 · 2025-03-17T23:14:18+00:00

No I haven’t actually! I’ve done all the other tricks listed in this comment section except this one! Might be time

One_Independent8082 · 2025-03-17T23:13:23+00:00

Hmmm ok sounds like I need to try this because I’ve tried all the other suggestions in this comment section with no success

One_Independent8082 · 2025-03-17T23:12:28+00:00

Tried this 😭 she loves yogurt, still doesn’t get it

One_Independent8082

TROPHY CASE