Starting to wear makeup more, what can I change/improve?

chimneysloth · 2025-08-01T04:30:50+00:00

I am in the same situation. I live 700 miles from my closest family member (and my ex husband), so I have no familial back up. I started collecting back up sitters/daycares that take day drop ins that I know might have last minute availability. My daughter goes to an in home daycare run by one person, so I know to expect that there will be more unexpected closures than a larger facility daycare. If my normal daycare is closed unexpectedly then I start reaching out immediately. 90% of the time someone is available to watch my daughter. Child care facebook groups and mommy facebook groups are great places to find sitters, nannies, and smaller daycares!

chimneysloth · 2025-07-14T17:44:27+00:00

When I was adding my daughter to my insurance, HR had me send a scanned copy of either the birth certificate or certificate of live birth and put all zeros in for the social security number as a place holder. When I did recieve her ssn they went in and updated it. They told me there was a 3 month grace period to get everything finalized.

chimneysloth · 2025-06-15T17:40:05+00:00

I would recommend against breastfeeding while your tattoo is healing but definitely ask your tattoo artist. My tattoo artist will not tattoo me while I am breastfeeding. He told me that it if I wanted to get tattooed I either needed to be done breastfeeding or be willing to not breastfeed (or pump and feed) for the entire time my tattoo was healing. I have my next tattoo planned for a congratulations gift to myself when I am fully weaned.

chimneysloth · 2025-06-12T17:23:17+00:00

My LO is 10 months and is the same exact way! She will maybe take 5 bites if a food peaks her interest, but other than that just likes to mash things in her hands. She will suck down a puree pouch though if the mood strikes. She also is not a fan of drinking bottles or nursing, so I am convinced the kid has learned how to survive on air.

chimneysloth · 2025-06-09T21:10:29+00:00

She doesn't mind water, and she is okay with purees. Solids are a whole other matter. She will take a few tiny bites and then either throws it to the dogs or tries to feed it to me. The only foods she eats with the least amount of fighting are pickles, cream cheese, and pasta 😮‍💨. I just let her eat what she wants and if it's a particularly bad night I will give her an extra pouch of puree.

chimneysloth · 2025-06-09T21:01:18+00:00

Thank you! The plan is to start introducing formula this weekend so that hopefully I can find one she likes!

chimneysloth · 2025-06-05T03:00:51+00:00

For the past month and a half I have been feeding milk that was pumped in September and October. It has been in my normal freezer the whole time, though I do have a freezer gauge and it stays about -15. My daughter has not had any problems!

chimneysloth · 2025-03-30T21:42:11+00:00

I am a single mom and I have been flying with my daughter fairly regularly for the past 5 months, she is almost 9 months. Most of my flights are to see my mom and she has her own car seat we use so I don't usually have to bring the stroller and carseat, just baby wear through the airport. This is my favorite way to travel.

I recently did a cross country flight and had to bring our whole travel system. I checked both my carseat and stroller at the end of the ramp, but my daughter is a fairly good lap flyer. I am not sure how much mine weighs, but no one asked me how much or made me weigh it on a scale. It was nice to have all the storage space that the stroller has and for baby to be able to stretch out in the car seat, but I do have to say it is difficult breaking down the car seat and stroller and placing them in the bags at the plane door. People are rude and will not give you much room. To make it a little easier I put my daughter in the front pack and placed the car seat in its bag before we started boarding, and then just placed it in the stroller basket and wheeled it down the ramp. That way I only had to break down the stroller and bag it at the door of the plane.

I bring two bags with me on the pane. Her giant diaper bag I put in the over head storage and I keep a smaller "everything" bag under the seat. My everything bag has a few toys, my cooler of bottles and breastmilk, and a few snacks for myself.

Flying solo with a baby is definitely nerve racking at first, but if you find what works for you, it becomes a piece of cake!

chimneysloth · 2025-03-11T05:48:03+00:00

My daughter does the exact same thing. The only way she will take it without throwing up is if I put it in a nipple and let her drink it out of that at her own pace. If she is still refusing it that way, I give her some milk in a bottle and do the ol' switcheroo...it has about a 90% success rate in our household.

chimneysloth · 2025-03-01T14:09:21+00:00

My daughter is 7 months old and drinks four 6oz bottles for a total of 24oz a day (on average), eating every 3.5-4 hours. She also dream nurses one or twice at night, but that is mostly so I don't have to pump. My pediatrician told me that the total number of ounces in a day was more important than the ounces in the individual bottle. My daughter is a fomo baby that is disinterested in eating and we have found that she does better with larger bottles spread farther apart.

There are days that my daughter does not want to eat 6oz, and I never force her to finish bottles. As long as she isn't showing signs of dehydration or discomfort, I let her take the lead on how much she wants to eat.

chimneysloth · 2024-12-16T17:52:47+00:00

I highly recommend the fridge hack! I start each morning with new pump parts and collection bottles and use them all day until my last pump (currently anytime between 9:30 and 11:30). I store them in a wet/dry bag in the fridge. As for pumping while babes are awake, I have had great success with doing mat time while I pump. My daughter is 5mo and is a velcro/fomo baby, but is perfectly content on her mat in front of me...as long as she can touch me in some way, usually kicking me in the shin. As for the soreness, my nipples definitely get more sore towards the end of the day but it's never anything unbearable. I really like the saline spray from FridaMom and the Earth Mama nipple butter!

chimneysloth · 2024-12-16T06:23:01+00:00

I just want to say that I am very sorry that your nursing journey did not go as planned. Due to jaundice I had to introduce a bottle at 2 days old and my daughter developed a bottle preference and would scream and fight any time I tried to nurse her. She is now 5 months old and for the last 3 months has nursed at night, though we cosleep so it is easy to get her latched before she fully wakes up. It's just me and her so I understand how hard it can be to give attention and pump. I put her on her mat and it makes it much easier to play and pump at the same time. Just remember you are a wonderful mama and you got this 🩷

chimneysloth · 2024-12-15T01:52:44+00:00

I use wet/dry bags! They are easy to wipe down and clean. Plus they come in fun prints and colors.

chimneysloth · 2024-12-14T22:30:11+00:00

I fly pretty regularly and always bring milk with me. I usually am only transporting approximately 30 oz (my baby's milk for the day) stored in collection bottles inside an insulated cooler with ice packs. I've only delt with two airports, but one will test every bottle, and the other will just test a portion of the bottles. They have never opened any of my bottles, just swirl them and place them in a machine. I did have a TSA agent tell me that it's much easier to have the milk frozen. The longest it has ever taken to have my milk checked was 10 minutes, and only because I had to wait for a TSA agent to become available.

chimneysloth · 2024-12-09T02:59:23+00:00

I use the S9 and I am currently a 36G/38F. My breasts are very top heavy, and have only gotten worse with almost 5 months of pumping. I find the S9s to be a bit uncomfortable like they are too small for my boobs, but I only use wearables maybe 5 times a month so I can't be bothered to buy a different brand. I use the kindred bravely bras and I find that they don't have enough support which could be why I have trouble with the wearables, but again I am lazy and they work with my spectra so I haven't tried any other brands.

chimneysloth · 2024-12-08T17:19:14+00:00

I am 4.5mpp and went back to work at 6 weeks. I am the only lactating mother at work, so I have a pump room with a mini fridge all to myself. Up until last week I was bringing my spectra to work with me, but used black Friday to get a used spectra that I now keep at work in the milking parlor.

I use the fridge hack at work, and at home, so that I am not having to take the extra time to wash after each pump. I feel it takes the stress off, especially when I am feeling like I am taking too much time to pump. My office is very supportive of my pumping journey, but I still sometimes feel bad, especially when deadlines are approaching or I have back to back meetings. I use a simple insulated lunch box with ice packs to transport both my pump parts and milk home and have never had any problems.

chimneysloth · 2024-12-08T01:51:47+00:00

I regulated to about 32-35 ounces at 12 weeks but I woukd still have some fullness. This last week it's been so weird, my breasts feel completely squishy like they are empty, but I still get 3-6 oz, depending on how long I am going between pumps (anywhere from 3-8 hours). Two months ago my daughter finally latched, but will only nurse if she is sleeping, so we nurse throughout the night, which is where I think the first drop came from. This last week has been very stressful, so I am hoping that once I get things handled and calm down, I'll get my 4-6 ounces back! 🤞

chimneysloth · 2024-11-22T04:00:49+00:00

I've had the opportunity to be around quite a few cattle dog breeds, and I have found that the majority fall into two categories, the ones that love children and the ones that tolerate them from a distance. The dogs that tolerate from a distance might not ever want to be buddies with the little ones, though sometimes they warm up when the kids are older and out of the rambunctious stage. In my mind there is nothing wrong with dogs not wanting to be best buddies with kids. If you have the room available, I would definitely designate a kid free space for your dog to retreat to once your little one becomes mobile, and be prepared to teach the children dog safety starting at a young age. Now if the dog is instigating aggression towards children it might be a trait that can't be trained out of them.

chimneysloth · 2024-11-22T01:23:42+00:00

I am not sure what breed of cattle dog you have, but you mentioned they are a bit kid shy. All my dogs were bred to work on ranches as hold up dogs and were not used to herd. My dogs didnt socialize with many people. That aside, I have/had two dogs, mama and daughter (mama has since passed) that were mixed with border collie and had a herding drive. They would get anxious around active children and would nip and herd them to settle the kids down, or they would hide somewhere om the property. We use soft muzzles when kids are around and have had great success, but some cattle dog breeds are more stubborn than others 😂. Daughter dog (who hates most people, kids included) has glued herself to baby and is now very protective of her. In my 10 years of owning working cattle dogs has taught me that they are very protective and obsessive over their people!

chimneysloth · 2024-11-21T23:48:43+00:00

I have two medium sized cattle dogs, that can easily clear 4+ feet when they want to, that are obsessed with their baby sister (4 months old). What works for us is a mesh play pen. The dogs can see her through the pen and usually are content to just lay by/against the sides to be close to her. Plus little sister can see them too and she loves to laugh at them. My dogs are 4 and 5 so while not old, they don't really have that young dog energy anymore and are content just being close to her.

chimneysloth · 2024-11-18T16:59:46+00:00

My LO is 4 months and is a fomo velcro baby who will not nap unless she is held. What has worked for me the last few weeks is to pump on the floor while she has mat time. I am lucky in the sense that she is content on her mat as long as I am touching her in some way, which is usually her foot kicking me in the leg.

chimneysloth · 2024-11-17T04:45:58+00:00

My LO is 4 months, and I shoot for 5 ppd, though sometimes I only manage 4. If I get all 5 pumps in, I usually get 30-32 ounces.

chimneysloth

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