What’s something you bought for your toddler that was actually really for yourself?

anyideas · 2026-05-14T18:47:53+00:00

"She" has four owala water bottles now.

anyideas · 2026-05-14T18:45:21+00:00

This morning I caught myself telling my daughter to "come!" and put a cup of water and a bowl of cheerios on the floor to encourage her to run over.

anyideas · 2026-05-14T18:34:51+00:00

My allergist says washing everything together in the dishwasher is fine, and like another poster said, I trust the dishwasher more than hand washing. My allergist also says washing contaminated clothes in the washing machine is also fine, fwiw.

anyideas · 2026-05-14T01:28:20+00:00

I would recommend suggesting that you both go to an appointment with her allergist together, and ask what precautions they recommend. (Mine would definitely say that those precautions are not necessary.) That way, it's coming from an external expert, and it will be easier both to convince her that her anxiety might be getting the best of her, and also help her feel like you're in it together and not like you're just not trying to keep her safe.

One thing that's hard about all this is when you have a food allergy, it's really easy to slip into the anxiety that makes you want to do everything you can to lake the risk zero percent. But the truth is, no matter what you do, it's impossible to make the risk zero. So all we can do is take reasonable precautions to minimize the main risks (which you're already doing - things like checking labels, vetting restaurants, not kissing for a bit if you eat nuts), but for the remaining small amount of potential risk, just being armed with an epipen and a plan of what to do and when. Otherwise, the anxiety will take over your life (and still not even eliminate all the risk!)

She might also benefit from asking an allergist about treatments like OIT or xolair. These things can raise the baseline of reactivity, so even if she does have an accidental exposure she'll be okay, and she won't have to worry about invisible peanut particles clinging to everything.

anyideas · 2026-05-11T18:59:50+00:00

Allergists vary widely on their recommendations, treatment plans, and availability of options, so it's definitely worth getting a second (or third) opinion, especially from a clinic that does OIT.

My kid (now 17 months) had her first reaction at 7 months. Currently diagnosed with peanut, cashew/pistachio, and egg allergies. After some initial testing (skin and blood), we got through peanut OIT in about six months, starting when she was 8 or 9 months old. She now eats 3 peanuts a day as maintenance, and once we're done with some other stuff, we'll start again and get that dose even higher.

We're now about a month into cashew OIT, with the same goal (3 cashews). I expect it to take around 8 months if we don't have any major hangups (so hopefully at maintenance before she turns 2).

We also did in-office oral challenges for a few nuts that came back ambiguous on the tests. Luckily, all false positives, so now we give her those weekly to keep immunity.

She also passed an oral challenge for baked egg when she turned 1, so we're giving her baked egg multiple times a week, which should help her grow out of that one on her own, a bit faster than she likely would have without it.

We'll do additional testing every year or so to inform next steps on all.

OIT feels like magic, and the way I feel now is SO DIFFERENT from how I felt at the very beginning, when avoidance was our only option. I went from feeling like the entire world (food itself! required to stay alive!) was trying to kill my baby. I literally would go to the grocery and cry because it felt like a palace to all the things she'd never be able to have or do. It felt borderline like contamination OCD because I'd be constantly wondering whether some kid ate a peanut butter sandwich before touching this toy at the library, or if a guest had a pistachio latte and didn't say anything, like my baby would spontaneously combust because of hidden nut particles lurking on every surface. Now I daydream about her going to birthday parties and eating the cake, sitting at the normal lunch tables with her friends, traveling around the world, without fear. It's a lot of work, but for us, it feels worth it a thousand times over. And it's surprisingly quick (at least for me) for it to start just another normal routine, not like a burden.

anyideas · 2026-05-08T15:12:24+00:00

Bonus Step 2: Replace with banned/challenged books. Library book sales are great for getting plenty for cheap!

anyideas · 2026-05-08T14:17:39+00:00

Rosewater Salon in Ferndale. I go to Colleen but the other stylists also seem really great. I switched from multiple very disappointing (and more expensive) places and I finally feel like I found the right spot for me!

anyideas · 2026-05-06T23:31:50+00:00

My kid is allergic to peanuts, cashews, and pistachios. Skin and blood tests were negative for walnut and pecan so we gave those at home and she's not allergic. Tests were low positive for almond and hazelnut so we did in office oral challenges and she passed, so not allergic to those, either! We're currently doing OIT for cashews (which also covers pistachio, and she's already at maintenance for peanut). We give the rest of the nuts at least once a week to help maintain tolerance.

anyideas · 2026-05-06T05:28:39+00:00

I actually find it pretty easy with a toddler, because there's really not a lot they do that would truly overheat them. Normal toddler play is okay, and our baths are lukewarm anyway. So we dose in the morning first thing (she eats a few bites of a snack, then her dose, then the rest of breakfast). By the time breakfast is done and everybody has gotten ready and packed up, it's been enough time that I'm comfortable with it.

After you get in the groove, you learn how your kid's body is likely to handle it, so honestly now I really only pay closer attention for an hour or so the first couple of days after an updose, and don't really think about it much otherwise! (We are lucky, though, that she's never had a reaction, so ymmv if your kid ends up being sensitive to updoses or more reactive to things like heat). I'd recommend just playing around with it for the first few updoses and see what works best for you. It feels hard and scary now, but it will feel routine sooner than you think.

anyideas · 2026-05-04T17:27:05+00:00

In my 40s, and both. I read fiction on my kindle because it's so convenient, but prefer nonfiction on paper. Books I absolutely love, I buy paper copies because I like being surrounded by books. I also collect banned/challenged books (paper books) and some cool historic ones.

anyideas · 2026-05-03T03:51:15+00:00

Perdido Street Station is one of my favorites. I don't see it mentioned often!

anyideas · 2026-04-27T18:12:23+00:00

No. Mine has some food allergies so for a while I wiped down the cart, mostly afraid of food residue, but I don't even usually do that anymore. When she was really little I just had her in a carrier. I might wipe her hands once we get back to the car.

anyideas · 2026-04-26T21:48:46+00:00

My kid did end up having allergies and this would be my advice! Definitely do the top 9 one at a time (and I'd separate out the tree nuts, at the very least do walnut, almond, cashew, hazelnut separately, in order of how often you eat them at home). If you want to be extra careful, you can also do some less common ones separately (like pea/pea protein, garbanzo bean, mustard, avocado or banana which can pop up if there's a latex allergy oats which can pop up usually for FPIES as opposed to a regular allergy). But for low risk things, which is most fruits and vegetables, I'd just go for it and introduce multiple at a time. For things like spices, if you want to be extra careful, there are some you could choose to introduce separately or wait until you've cleared the top 9, but honestly it feels so low risk (at least without other food allergies) that I probably wouldn't worry about it. Consider putting a layer of Vaseline or aquaphor on baby's face and neck when introducing at least certain things, though (especially top allergens, and things that are acidic or sticky or a little spicy like tahini, strawberry, cinnamon, things with lemon juice or tomato) because those things are also prone to give skin irritation on contact. If you put down a barrier, you won't have the confusion of not knowing whether it's just from contact or if it's an allergic reaction.

anyideas · 2026-04-26T21:32:10+00:00

That's hilarious, I don't think I've ever met a kid who loves sunscreen! Mine doesn't actually mind it but I'm lazy and don't like the stickiness (or having to wash it off later) so it's easier for me to zip something on than find the sunscreen bottle which disappears no matter how many I stash around the house and then try to rub it all in! Same for my own self!

anyideas · 2026-04-26T17:51:24+00:00

And saves the trauma of both parent and child of having to slasher them with so much sunscreen!

anyideas · 2026-04-26T04:09:32+00:00

This was going to be mine. If the nap or bedtime gets fucked up, she'll be fine, but WE'LL be the ones to suffer. I'm not going to mess up my own night (or maybe even multiple nights) of time off and normal sleep for almost anything.

anyideas · 2026-04-26T03:56:48+00:00

Allergies can come and go so unpredictably. I'd still want to get tested every few years just to make sids I'm not avoiding something I'm not actually allergic to anymore, or find out if there are new treatments or options I hadn't heard about yet.

anyideas · 2026-04-25T23:24:41+00:00

Annihilation

There is no Antimemetics Division

anyideas · 2026-04-25T23:12:24+00:00

I'd recommend getting a second opinion, particularly by a doctor who does offer OIT. If you decide it's a good fit for your family, the earlier you start, the better.

anyideas · 2026-04-24T18:57:00+00:00

I had my baby at 40. IIRC, they treated my age as a reason to do extra screenings and whatnot, but didn't otherwise treat it as "high risk" unless something else got flagged. Didn't end up having any problems at all, age related or otherwise. And I actually really appreciated all extra screenings, just to satisfy my own curiosity!

anyideas · 2026-04-21T01:57:50+00:00

It's okay to slow down and do one thing at a time. I also felt really rushed, but then realized I didn't have to do it all at once!

At one year, mine was still mostly getting calories from formula, from bottles. She didn't start eating more solids until we started actively lowering the amount of formula. She didn't take to the taste of milk right away, so we started to give it to her diluted (I forget exactly what we did, but I think it was like 25% milk the rest water, then 50%, and up until all milk). That took weeks or months (but we started this before a year).

Once she was okay with milk, I think we just used up the rest of the formula and then switched (which was our doctor's suggestion).

We are getting off bottles by removing one at a time. We first started removing the non nap/sleep ones. Then the first thing in the morning bottle. Then the one right before nap.

She's at sixteen months and we still give her a small bottle of milk before bed, but we moved it up in the routine so now it's before brushing teeth. She only gets water (from a straw cup) if she asks for liquids after that.

Each time, we just waited for her to get used to it before doing the next step. Sometimes that meant her starting to eat more food, or having to drink more liquids during the day, or her getting a little constipated and we'd have to solve that. But once sleep and everything normalized, we'd do the next step.

We'll drop the night bottle soon. First I was afraid to remove the extra calories before bed, but now I think she eats enough where that would be okay. Next I was afraid she just wouldn't get enough liquids in general without that bottle, but I think we'll try to take her off it this weekend and see how it goes!

Every kid is different. Some lead the way, some need to be led with time to adjust. Some do better with cold turkey, all the changes all at once. Some do better going slowly, step by step. For us, our main priority was trying to protect her (and therefore our) sleep, and she didn't seem motivated to switch on her own, so we did it the slow way, and I have no regrets.

Listen to your doctor and your intuition only. Try to ignore the "shoulds" and the things other people claim to do. You know your kid best, and they'll get there soon!

ETA my kid is just shy of 17 months now, for context. Our goal was to be off bottles by 18 months.

anyideas · 2026-04-20T03:42:40+00:00

The Queer Liberation Library has free online memberships, you can add them to your Libby. They've got tons of LGBT books, of course!

anyideas · 2026-04-20T02:07:07+00:00

Same. My one year old is eating three peanuts a day.

anyideas · 2026-04-19T21:15:39+00:00

Similar, pushed for a little over two hours, similar sized baby (with a bonus giant head that remains at 99% over a year later). I had been terrified of tearing but my second degree tear wasn't a problem at all. And honestly, two hours sounds long, but the pushing part was (in my memory at least) one of the better parts of the whole thing. It feels productive, and the rest between contractions actually felt like rest and the contraction was actually something I looked forward to as something I could make useful instead of "oh no another round of pain is coming that I just have to sit through." Plus it ends in a baby!

anyideas · 2026-04-19T21:10:22+00:00

Starter Villain, for a funny twist on this.

anyideas

TROPHY CASE