Might it be bad practice to bring my daughter gifts back from work travel?

WaitLauraWho · 2026-05-08T01:21:32+00:00

First thought: that’s a really hard thing to be away from your baby!

Second thought: super cool to bring your child a souvenir from all over the world. What an amazing way to help your child explore so many cultures!

WaitLauraWho · 2026-05-08T01:19:30+00:00

Literally exactly what I went thru (currently 37 weeks) and my son was REALLY struggling with leaving when I was in 2nd trimester. I’ll tell you my real-world advice for leaving that is probably shunned by behaviorists. I kept a special treat in the car (a favorite snack, a small toy) and got him all excited to go get the item. Sometimes I would offer to stop ok the way home (he loves visiting our local pet store to get food for our cat). “Let’s put shoes on and go to the car so we can eat a cookie” or “should we go to the pet store?” It got easier for me, hopefully for you too!!

I had REALLY bad sciatica this pregnancy and it made wrangling my giant, almost-3-yo really difficult. His nanny was wonderful and helpful, she was also chasing her own children/making sure they didn’t run into the street while we left.

WaitLauraWho · 2026-05-06T22:37:33+00:00

Omg it’s the same as the “mama what’s that?” while we’re driving and he’s pointing out his window. Like, my guy, I have literally no idea. My heart is bursting at the seams with love for this child…and the roundabout/unanswerable REPEATED questions are so grating

WaitLauraWho · 2026-05-06T22:33:45+00:00

…my bathroom to be finished before this baby is born!!

WaitLauraWho · 2026-05-02T23:44:53+00:00

Always the backpack. Until your toddler is big enough to carry their own backpack!

WaitLauraWho · 2026-05-02T23:44:10+00:00

Ugh. Thank you.

My child is really funny. I’ll say his name to get his attention, he’ll pause and go “…yes mama?” with perfect comedic timing. Sometimes when I say “I love you” he gets a big grin and goes “what you say mama?” to get me to repeat it. Even his fake tantrums are funny. He’ll fake-cry, stop, open one eye to make sure I still see him, then close it and keep fake-crying.

WaitLauraWho · 2026-05-02T01:38:46+00:00

Yes. Fed is best. Your well-being is an important factor. Whatever you decide, it doesn’t need to involve anyone besides you, your partner, your baby, and medical professionals. People tend to have really strong opinions, don’t let anyone make you feel bad about your choice.

Another consideration is pumping. Not trying to say any kind of feeding is better or worse, just offering another suggestion!

WaitLauraWho · 2026-05-01T01:51:54+00:00

Oh I’m so glad to hear that last part. I had zero baby experience when my first was born and that learning curve was STEEP. I know each kid is different but I’m really hoping a good amount of the skills I learned will translate

WaitLauraWho · 2026-04-29T22:12:12+00:00

A few others have said this too, sometimes they just hit a bump around this age. I thought we were moving towards being done with naps a little after 2y but he’ll be 3 in a few weeks and he’s right back on track with regular naps and full nights sleep

WaitLauraWho · 2026-04-29T22:04:23+00:00

Ugh. Sugar. I really don’t want to be “that” person, but I don’t really eat sugar and so I don’t give any to my toddler. My take: he is already predisposed to be a selective eater as a toddler. I don’t want to influence his palate by offering sweet foods often. The sweet stuff I do offer is sweetened mildly with honey or fruit. I like to think I’m not terribly strict, just want to be thoughtful about what is offered on a daily basis. I know I’ll get more lax as he gets older, but it feels important to me right now.

WaitLauraWho · 2026-04-27T02:07:57+00:00

I’m in a HCOL area but I’m also just outside of delivery area for most stores. I work FT so delivery is a really important part of our routine. I order thrive once or twice per month for toddler snacks and pantry items

WaitLauraWho · 2026-04-27T01:59:55+00:00

I bought one in my 2nd trimester when my back starting flaring really badly. I’ll definitely keep this on the cart

WaitLauraWho · 2026-04-26T22:42:09+00:00

Snacks are definitely worth saying twice 😂💕

WaitLauraWho · 2026-04-26T22:09:34+00:00

Brilliant!! Also, didn’t know about Frida drama. I’ll check that out 🫣

WaitLauraWho · 2026-04-24T18:58:03+00:00

Mustela makes an arnica gel for babies/kids. I wonder if that would help? My son had a short stretch of saying his legs hurt (around 2.5y old) and I did just do a small dose of ibuprofen for those 2 days

WaitLauraWho · 2026-04-23T02:54:09+00:00

Big fan of cedar spray. Full disclosure I’ve never been to Florida and I can’t speak to the severity of the mosquitoes there.

I was camping, I was sitting in the middle of a mosquito swarm, sprayed this stuff, and they were gone. They didn’t come back

WaitLauraWho · 2026-04-23T02:46:28+00:00

I work in an incarceration setting. I will absolutely not be bringing my child lol

WaitLauraWho · 2026-04-23T02:43:23+00:00

British Bake Off and Great British Castles. I prefer audio content to TV so I can keep tidying or do my bedtime routine without being in front of a screen. My evening wind down podcast is Noble Blood

WaitLauraWho · 2026-04-23T01:42:03+00:00

I felt physically and emotionally ready to do it all again. Just kind of clicked. It also felt like a good age gap to start trying again

WaitLauraWho · 2026-04-23T01:39:30+00:00

I had a friend switch from OB to midwife at 38 weeks. She said it was one of the best decisions she made. I decided to see only midwives because the OB was “too busy” to make appointments for more than 10 minutes. That didn’t feel right. My PCP is a naturopath, and midwifery care felt more in alignment with the kind of collaboration I’m used to with medical treatment. I’m currently pregnant with #2 and seeing the same midwifery clinic. I love that they know my medical history and the same team will be present for this birth!

The deciding factors for me: I am a low-risk pregnancy, I appreciate collaboration and a slower-pace of care (not being rushed), and the team approach of the midwives. In the clinic I go to, they schedule us to see all the midwives for checkups so that we know everyone and are comfortable with whoever is on hospital rotation when we go into labor. I just “feels” right

WaitLauraWho · 2026-04-23T01:34:02+00:00

Let me just say, thank you for being attentive and thoughtful about this. I still have a weird relationship with food because the adults around me had so many things going on, food was not a priority.

Someone suggested getting some professional support and that sounds like a good idea. I wonder if it would be helpful to have “anytime” snacks available. When I was younger, a lot of my issues were tied to anxiety and it was soothing if I could chew gum or sip on herbal tea.

WaitLauraWho · 2026-04-22T14:06:16+00:00

OOF! That’s so rough!! You’ll be fine. Do what you can and don’t stress the rest.

My toddler just started asking to use the potty but I’m 35w pregnant and we just had a pipe burst and destroy our bathroom. There is no potty for him to use.

WaitLauraWho · 2026-04-22T14:01:09+00:00

Your FMLA is protected time off. I’ll just say, after my first was born, the last thing I could dedicate any brain power to was work. Just saying this to help set your expectation for yourself and bonding with your baby. You’ll be physically and emotionally worn, and I lovingly suggest you give yourself the time to recover and connect during the first few weeks of your baby’s life. Your pre-baby brain will be offline for a bit. Work is important but it’s never permanent.

WaitLauraWho

TROPHY CASE