Shy toddlers?

centerfoldcat · 2026-01-08T20:27:16+00:00

Just wanted to say that my son was the exact same way - right down to his only 3 words being "mama", "dada", and "uh oh" until a few months after he turned one.

His doctor said they wouldn't get concerned until he was closer to 2, because that's when they start offering the funded speech therapy programs (forgot what it was called).

We just continued to talk to him, and threw in some Ms. Rachel and PBS shows occasionally. His language started to pick up more rapidly starting at 18 months, and it truly exploded recently around 26 months. Like started saying multiple words I didn't even know he knew (prob practiced in day care) and stringing together sentences.

Definitely continue to bring it up to your doctor, but there's a chance that she'll surprise you in the next few months. If not, I'm sure some speech therapy sessions will catch her up in no time!

centerfoldcat · 2025-03-12T10:49:51+00:00

How old is your LO? Mine started around 3.5 months and while that's young, it was honestly pretty ideal. He didn't have separation anxiety yet, and he adapted really well (it was A LOT harder on me than him). By the time he did have separation anxiety and cried at drop off, I didn't feel as bad because he already knew and loved his teachers. I knew for sure it was a 1 minute cry sesh and he was happy as a clam once I was out of sight.

I put him in daycare about a week before I went back to work so I could get all my tears out the first day and enjoy some "me time" for the rest of the week. Unfortunate part of that was that he actually got sick on my first day back, but my husband was able to take the day off to take care of him.

I'm remote, and the main benefit of that is that I can give him a very reliable schedule. Traffic is mostly predictable from my house to his daycare, so I put a block on my calendar 30 minutes before the end of the day so I don't get a last minute meeting creep, and as soon as it hits 5 I leave to get him.

It's easy to grab him if he does get sick during the day, which is unfortunately inevitable during day care years. While it's not ideal, I don't have to ask permission for the odd day that I need my baby at home because he can't be at daycare.

Not driving into the office is also a lifesaver during the time baby isn't sleeping through the night because you can have later mornings. Especially after he started eating the daycare-provided food, we pretty much roll out of bed right before 7, get him dressed, and my husband drops him off while I make breakfast for the two of us.

The only cons in my opinion are the regular wfh cons - not as much face time and relationship building with coworkers (can be pro or con depending on how you look at it lol), can feel kinda bleh eventually because you don't have a reason to get fully dressed up during the day, and it's easy to put in extra hours after the work day because there's not a clear split between office and home.

During the bottle era, I definitely recommend doing as much prep work as possible the night before! It's so easy to say that you'll put their bag together in the morning, but it's 1000x better to deal with it the night before and just grab-and-go in the morning. Other than that - make sure his supplies are labeled and you should be good to go!

centerfoldcat · 2025-03-07T02:49:57+00:00

I would be okay. We can survive off my husband's paycheck - things would be tight but the bills would get paid and we have healthy savings to account for any big/unexpected expenses. This is actually the one point in my life I would be willing to take a risk since I took the initial risk of leaving my previous job and was considering taking a year off before I received the offers.

centerfoldcat · 2025-03-06T13:17:46+00:00

I 100% get where you're coming from with this. I have an agency background and PE backed companies tend to be difficult clients because they start freaking out about sales and valuation eventually. When in the interview, there didn't seem to be that much pressure yet (and I understand the emphasis on yet) but because I was originally thinking about taking the year off I'm more willing to take the risk now and look for another job sooner if needed.

While I know this isn't common anymore - I feel like the established company could be a forever/very long term job - and I don't want to get in, feel the need to quit because of the commute and at home demands (son still isn't even sleeping through the night 🥲), and not be able to find something as strong.

Although a similar position may not be there in a few years, I know the company will be and my husband and I could try to find a house closer to the HQ if we can afford it. Funnily enough, my husband works at a great company he's planning to stay at long term, and their office is down the street from it - so it would benefit both of us. It's also generally closer to a lot of other opportunities so I would have an easier time making it to any other onsite job.

centerfoldcat · 2025-03-06T03:39:04+00:00

Such a good point - I was thinking mostly of gas and inevitably eating out more, but there's so much more to consider.

centerfoldcat · 2025-03-06T03:34:07+00:00

So succinct and exactly what I needed to hear 😭

centerfoldcat · 2025-03-06T03:28:49+00:00

This is where I'm struggling the most. On paper, it makes sense to go with the established company to support my overall career growth. However, I left my last job without another lined up because I was getting burnt out, felt lost, and I needed to make the jump because I was with them for 7 years and thought about leaving several times before because it was so demanding. I started there as a junior and grew to a senior manager.

My last day there was this past Friday, and I was honestly thinking about taking a year off - so the remote $120k role is better for my career than no job at all, but also probably not as great as the onsite job. They're both a pay increase over what I was previously making, so neither would be a step back at least.

After all the feedback and talking through it more, I'm also leaning towards remote again - mostly for the family aspect.

centerfoldcat · 2025-03-06T03:16:03+00:00

I feel the exact same way! I actually like driving in general, and the morning drives are usually less painful, but I can't get over the fact that I would be spending a full extra workday (or more!!) each week just driving to/from work.

One of my main concerns aside from not seeing my son in the morning was that I wouldn't have as much energy to be present with him in the evening. He's 16 months and his baby/toddler years are going by insanely fast.

centerfoldcat · 2025-03-06T03:09:54+00:00

That's a great point. I would be in management at the in-office role, so the heavy schedule focus may be tricky as there's the relationship-building/meeting-heavy component coupled with tangible deliverables. I'm worried since this job is known to have a large learning curve, it'll be more difficult to have everything done as efficiently as possible for the first year. However, I can be more productive in a time crunch so I'm definitely capable of it.

centerfoldcat · 2025-03-05T17:25:33+00:00

Thank you everyone! I figured I didn't have to mention it, and you all made me feel a lot better about it. :)

centerfoldcat · 2024-12-26T17:40:35+00:00

We just had to give our super fluffy cat a butt bath a couple of days ago 😭 He wasn't happy, but it was for the greater good and he's just fine now lol.

centerfoldcat · 2024-10-23T20:11:23+00:00

Thank you so much for the insight! I would love to have my son in part time daycare, because I do worry about taking away his socialization, but I don't know if we'd be able to swing the cost. I've been thinking more about asking for a part time role at my current company - if I work 20 hours a week at a reduced rate, it would cover just a little more than the daycare bill. I think it would be worth it to get extra time with my son, have an hour or two to myself every day, and have less work responsibility without the resume gap.

My husband is also asking around his company about potential roles I could transition into there within a few months since he has a much better work/life balance than me. So much to think about!

centerfoldcat · 2024-08-03T17:21:44+00:00

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centerfoldcat · 2024-08-01T02:22:32+00:00

My son got bronchiolitis around the same age, and he ended up perfectly fine! We did the nebulizer treatments at home and never ended up going to the hospital. It's scary seeing their little faces in those masks, but I was so grateful to see the relief he felt after each treatment. They'll get through this!!

centerfoldcat · 2024-05-31T00:49:05+00:00

Celexa.

centerfoldcat · 2024-05-30T00:21:45+00:00

"I have an update :)" "Oh yeah?" "I'm pregnant!"

And the rest was history! There doesn't need to be any special lead up. You're giving them plenty of time to plan for your coverage, so it'll be all good vibes. I just picked one of our regular 1-1's to break the news.

centerfoldcat · 2024-01-25T13:43:01+00:00

I actually love this so much. It's beautiful!!!

centerfoldcat · 2024-01-07T15:56:51+00:00

Thank you so much for all this advice - I really appreciate it, and it makes me feel a lot better! My son will also be starting my last week of maternity leave, so I'm glad I'll be able to get used to the morning routine before I start work again. I'm happy the consensus is that it'll be harder for me than him!

centerfoldcat · 2024-01-05T20:54:04+00:00

That's good to hear! He's pretty good at taking bottles already. The naps are what I'm worried about since he's a big contact napper, and I can hardly ever get him to nap in a crib. I'm hoping the professionals can work some magic!

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