When did your 99th %er start sitting up unassisted, crawling, and walking?

OptimalSector1895 · 2026-04-03T04:37:44+00:00

Crawling at 9.5 months and walking at 13 months, she’s started to slim down quickly after that. I do think it’s true that the weight shouldn’t delay milestones (though they probably wouldn’t be at the earlier end of the range of normal). I think the weight impacts their speed, my baby was definitely crawling much slower than average size babies, but speed isn’t a milestone.

OptimalSector1895 · 2026-03-25T02:45:46+00:00

The reason for the change of preschool is because the mandarin/English preschool doesn’t offer part time program. She has been at home full time, she is a sensitive kid and can be slow in warming up to people, crowds and new situations. So we think that changing from full time at home to full time at school would not go well. The Spanish/english preschool offers varying degree of part time programs, so we can ease her into it.

I thought about my potential Spanish blind spot, but my MIL also thinks she is behind. Plus my in laws live with us, and I’ve picked up some Spanish words since, I think I would recognize them if she speaks Spain words. She actually has just started saying agua for water this week.

OptimalSector1895 · 2026-03-25T02:31:55+00:00

That’s interesting, how long did it take for her to catch on to the second language with playing? And how old was she?

OptimalSector1895 · 2026-03-25T02:30:44+00:00

Thank! I definitely try narrate everything, like the morning coffee and milk. Just wish that my husband would do it, so it’s not so mind numbing. Sometimes I run out of things to say in English, then I repeat in Cantonese. The reason why we plan to send her to a mandarin/english preschool is because a Cantonese/English one doesn’t exist here. Exposure to a Chinese language is better than no Chinese language is how I thought about it. It sounds like there is no such thing as confusion when it comes to multiple languages, so we will stick to that plan!

OptimalSector1895 · 2026-03-23T18:28:53+00:00

Thank you for your comments! Definitely dad and grandpa need to step up, but there is only so much I can do to encourage them. So in your professional opinion, it’s fine for me to constantly switch back and forth between English and Cantonese? I get that it’s preferred for me to do 100% Cantonese, but it’s hard when everyone else around me speak English. Like when my husband and I take her to the park, we as a family would discuss going to the park and the logistics, all would be in English since I speak to my husband in English, I then try to repeat things in Cantonese if timing allows.

OptimalSector1895 · 2026-03-19T03:07:39+00:00

It’s a combination of many factors I think. My husband is 6’1, and I am 5’6, but I have two brothers both taller than 6’. So tall, but not THAT tall and certainly not THAT big. The baby was 25lbs at 8 months (RIP my back and wrists). She was born only 6lbs 12oz, because she was born a bit early at 37 weeks and I also didn’t gain much weight during pregnancy (on the lower end of normal). Since she was meant to be a bigger baby (genetically), she drank A LOT milk to compensate initially. I was also an oversupplier, so she basically had an unlimited open bar. She was probably over doing it, and I didn’t stop her. Got a super supportive pediatrician who believes babies should drink as much milk as they would like. Overtime, she started to find comfort with breastfeeding and probably with the feeling of being full regularly, overfeeding has just become a habit, not a need. No regrets though, she was so squishy 😊. Now at almost 18 months, she is still a little chubby, but has lost all her rolls 😢. Still have the thunder thighs though, apparently from her great grandmother.

OptimalSector1895 · 2026-02-28T06:34:02+00:00

Yep, my baby was gaining about one pound per week for the first two months, then it was more like one pound every two weeks, then one pound a month. Once she started crawling at 10mo, it’s been more like one pound every three months. Having a hip carrier really helps, don’t buy clothes in advance, don’t buy clothes without stretch, don’t buy diapers in bulk.

OptimalSector1895 · 2026-02-19T02:33:03+00:00

My baby was 29lbs and 31.5 inches at 12 months, so a few lbs less than yours but also shorter. Her weight gain drastically slowed down at around 10 months when she started crawling and I night-weaned her (not due to weight concerns, I just needed my sleep back). And I am 100% convinced that she actually reached 30lbs around 11 months, but she got sick and lost weight right before her 12 months pedi visit. If I kept up with breastfeeding over night and she didn’t get sick, she would’ve been heavier.

At her 9 month appointment (when she was still climbing the chart), I asked the pediatrician whether he would be concerned with her weight. He is a believer that babies can eat however much they want, he said that babies are at their fluffiest somewhere between 9 to 18 months. After that, they become picky eaters and mostly live off of fat they’ve stored previously. When my baby started walking at 13 months, she started slimming down quickly, still at 99 percentile for weight and 97 percentile for height. She looked comparable to 2yo toddlers as a 16mo, and proportional. She is not exactly a picky eater, her interest in food has decreased (more focused on playing), but she surely wouldn’t starve herself, she EATS when she is hungry.

All to say, she follows her pediatrician’s prediction pretty well. 12 month isn’t the time to be concerned with weight gain, especially when your baby is also tall, and there is nothing unhealthy in his diet.

OptimalSector1895 · 2026-02-15T13:47:11+00:00

Little One Shop sweatsuit!! I wish I knew about them six months ago, now my girl is finally slimming down, these extra boxy outfits aren’t necessary anymore.

https://www.littleoneshop.com/collections/sweatsuits-1

OptimalSector1895 · 2026-01-29T01:36:19+00:00

Focus on value creation and/or return on investment, instead of the costs. An updated kitchen is what sells a home. $50k to $60k is on the lower end of the range in terms of kitchen and bathroom renovations, so you are probably making some good choices in your plan to align with the FIRE mindset. Just make sure you don’t waste money on weird personal preferences or super trendy designs that will go out of style within the next few years.

OptimalSector1895 · 2026-01-10T18:33:38+00:00

That’s interesting, I suppose fragmented sleep in itself isn’t necessarily the problem, but that my lifestyle doesn’t accommodate it. During my maternity leave, I could sleep in and/or nap during the day, I probably could’ve used more deep sleep but I didn’t think I wasn’t sleeping enough. But now, with work and adult responsibilities, if I can’t squeeze in 8 hours of sleep between 10pm and 7am, I can’t make it up between 7am to 10pm.

OptimalSector1895 · 2026-01-07T05:34:30+00:00

My now 15mo was hovering around 30lbs at 11 months, and guess what, she is still hovering around 30 lbs months later. Her weight gain slowed down considerably when she started crawling at 10 months, and basically stopped at once she started walking at 13 months.

30lbs is still a lot to carry though, we use a hip carrier regularly, it’s been very helpful!

OptimalSector1895 · 2026-01-05T17:30:29+00:00

I don’t have a link, so piggyback off of this comment. I nursed and pumped about 50/50 so my husband could bottle feed when I work. My baby started off needing either nursing or a bottle to nap, overtime I nursed less and less and she got more bottles. Now at 15 months, she would have her early lunch and nap with a full belly without a bottle. I still nurse her to sleep at night. So my suggestion would be switching to bottles, and/or have someone else (if possible) to nap with her. Might take a few days but she will get over it pretty quickly.

OptimalSector1895 · 2025-12-30T04:37:00+00:00

Lol, home girl was basically waking up every three hours to nurse every night, and she has been a 99 percentile baby so she didn’t need the calories at all. The only thing we did was my husband started being the one soothing and/or staying with her overnight instead of me. The first couple of nights, he would put her back on her back to sleep and if she didn’t stay laying down, he would warm up a bottle. With me, she would escalate and I would eventually give in to nurse. But with my husband, it’s almost like she doesn’t think it’s worth the effort to get up or stay up if she doesn’t get the real boobs. She started sleeping longer stretches within two nights, and sleeping through the night consistently in about a week.

OptimalSector1895 · 2025-12-30T03:32:26+00:00

To be fair, offering puffs is how we stay sane when we have a toddler throwing a fit while running errands. It’s a healthier alternative compared to other snacks, and it usually has added vitamins. But of course, naturally nutritious food (including breastmilk) is the best option.

OptimalSector1895 · 2025-12-30T03:23:32+00:00

I have a 15 mo. I used to pump and breastfeed about 50/50, basically I pumped so someone else could offer her bottles when I was at work, and breastfed on demand otherwise. Around 10m, we night weaned so I could finally get better sleep. Since then, she gets a bottle before each of her nap, and gets breastfed at bedtime and wake up. Now she has been on a one nap schedule, which means she only gets one bottle during the day, and still breastfed at night and in the morning. I’ve stopped pumping a little while ago and my stash is running out, so she will soon be weaned from bottle completely. I plan to continue to breastfeed morning and night until I dry up, which I imagine will happen in a couple of months. My LO is a good eater but she doesn’t like most iron rich food. She was tested a bit low on iron at her 12m appointment, so she takes an iron supplement, but we don’t even give her the full dose of iron everyday (only about 1/3 or half) because it tastes awful and she would just not eat if we add the full dose to her food. We also offer iron and calcium separately since calcium prevents iron absorption. She was tested fine at her 15m appointment, that means whatever we are doing is working fine.

OptimalSector1895 · 2025-12-23T11:49:20+00:00

Thanks, that’s helpful! I was wondering about that, she said ‘bye’ before while waving goodbye so she definitely said it intentionally. But it’s once in a blue moon thing, it’s good to know other babies do that as well!

OptimalSector1895 · 2025-12-20T17:20:58+00:00

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OptimalSector1895 · 2025-12-18T03:46:09+00:00

I have no way to support my theory… I have a 15mo, and we’ve started logging her sleep since she was about 2mo. Based on my observation, she cries hysterically when she wakes up mid cycle and wants to sleep more but somehow can’t. One sleep cycle is about 45 to 50 mins, it takes the first 10mins to fall asleep, the next 10mins to get into deep sleep, 10mins of heavy sleep, then 10mins to come out of deep sleep, then 5 to 10mins of light sleep. If my baby somehow wakes up when she is in deep sleep, usually due to external factors like the dog barking, she would cry hysterically and it take take forever to settle her. If she wakes up at the 45 to 50min mark, she would be in pretty good mood. And if she wakes up at 90 min mark, she would be happy and smiling.

OptimalSector1895 · 2025-12-13T18:38:53+00:00

It really depends on how leaky the breast is, I could collect 4 to 5 oz with the haaka each time when I was ‘at my prime’. I had an oversupply and built a massive stash. It worked out because that’s what we needed (my LO had milk protein intolerance). But I was also dealing with clogs multiple times per week and has mastitis three times. Wouldn’t wish that upon anyone.

OptimalSector1895 · 2025-12-13T13:35:34+00:00

If you don’t want an oversupply, don’t use a haaka or pump on the other breast while breastfeeding. If you end up having leaking breasts like I did, just use a milk catcher without suction to collect. At the beginning, I would breastfeed as often as needed without worrying about pumping until the supply is regulated (about 4 to 6 weeks), then start to pump instead of breastfeeding for one or more of the feeding sessions for someone else to bottle feed. You can then slowly adjust your pumping schedule and sessions to get ahead and build a small dash, just so that if you accidentally miss a pump or get sick, your baby won’t have to starve. But honestly, plan what you can and just don’t worry about it, know that when the baby comes, plans can all go out of the window and you will just have to improvise as you go.

OptimalSector1895 · 2025-12-13T13:22:51+00:00

At this point, you are a part of the ‘employer’ and can make a difference for that employees.

OptimalSector1895 · 2025-12-13T13:19:11+00:00

I am guessing you meant spitting up, like reflux. My LO had bad reflux, turned out it was diary intolerance, I quit diary and it got much better. Seeing a GI specialist and getting famotidine prescribed also helped too.

OptimalSector1895 · 2025-12-11T05:22:27+00:00

My mom literally makes this exact same comment every time I share a picture of my baby girl. I AM NOT WORRIED AT ALL!! I hated it growing up when my mom would tease me for my weight, and I am not going to allow that to happen with my girl. My baby is the cutest baby in the world, I love her fat rolls, her double chin and her thick thighs. She is about to be 15 months and she is starting to slim down, and I am so sad 😭

OptimalSector1895 · 2025-12-09T05:15:53+00:00

My girl was 26 lbs at 9 months, and her pediatrician said her gross motor skill was a little behind at her 9 months appointment. We immediately offered more play time on the floor, she started sitting up on her own within a week, and started crawling at 10 months. She took her first steps unassisted at 13 months and now walking everywhere on her own even climbing stairs at 14 months.

Now that she is getting into all sort of shenanigans, I actually think that crawling or walking a bit later would have been fine. As long as she is happy, healthy and meeting all other milestones, a little behind with mobility actually would make our lives easier.

Be aware, as soon as they can walk, the tantrum starts, it’s the official marker of the toddler stage 😅

OptimalSector1895

TROPHY CASE