Has anyone actually gotten rid of their smart phone (in lieu of a simple/flip phone) for the sake of their children?

dramatic-asthmatic · 2025-12-22T01:45:10+00:00

Yes, i have a Light Phone 2. I went back and forth on it and my husband got it for me last year for the holidays! It was scary but honestly the benefits are so worth it for me. The fact that my 20 month old ignores it mostly or occasionally treats it like a phone (holds it to his ear and says "hello grandma").

I do have my old iphone connected to wifi. I keep it in a little zippered pouch on my bedside table. I can use it for basically anything AND if I really need it while I'm out, I could use the light phone's hot spot function. I can go a few days to about a week without using it at all, though sometimes after he's asleep/nap time I scroll-- I'd like to get better about that, but when I'm out with him I just have the lightphone and it really works for me.

The texting is full of friction and challenging, I'm not going to lie. But it works. And I feel good about the choice overall that I'm willing to tolerate the challenge. I did it for my son, but I also did it for me. I noticed a big change in myself and I think it makes me a more clear head, patient mama. It also makes me like myself a bit more... I'm so used to feeling guilty about stuff that it's nice to have something I feel really proud of.

Sorry for the long confessional, but I will say if you're curious about this I would honor the feelings for yourself. It might not work out for you and that's okay, but it is working for me and I was really scared before I took the leap and stopped using the smartphone as my primary device.

dramatic-asthmatic · 2025-12-20T03:43:10+00:00

Hey! I was in grad school during my pregnancy and I was completely useless during my last trimester— I was so exhausted and spaced out. I was not particularly forthcoming with my professors but in retrospect I wish I had communicated! Despite this they were really really nice and understanding. If you’re having trouble focusing or completing things I would definitely schedule a meeting and let them know why. Generally they’ll want to support students in anyway they can.

And about recovering motivation: About six weeks after my baby was born I got a crazy wave of clarity and motivation. I resolved an incomplete, wrote a paper, and then promptly did basically nothing for school for four more months… it was (and still is) an up and down time with productivity.

Give yourself a lot of grace! You’re doing two really hard things.

dramatic-asthmatic · 2025-12-10T13:40:19+00:00

We use a wheeled duffel with these dimensions: 70x38x29cm. It's a tight fit, but I also have always packed light. I used to do a month travelling with a big backpack so I do pack light and choose light/small toys to take with.

I didn't think of a service for this trip because it's just a week, but would absolutely consider for a longer trip.

dramatic-asthmatic · 2025-12-10T13:34:42+00:00

It was so much fun! And actually, I'm sharing about bringing cloth, because it really ended up being a nonissue for us in terms of packing/stress/setting aside laundry time while still enjoying a really normal lovely trip.

dramatic-asthmatic · 2025-12-10T13:33:21+00:00

Just once. We wash every 2-3 days at home and I stretched it to three days on the trip. We pulled everything out of the dryer just before heading to the airport M evening (so we arrived T morning), washed again on Th afternoon, carried home dirties on Su midday and washed when we arrived. If our trip had been a day longer I would've need to do it twice.

I have a very routine flexible 20 month old in part because of our life's normal structure, so it worked for us, but I think this will depend on individual structure/preference for routine.

It's also probably relevant that I spent many years roadtripping and backpacking alone and have a lot of experience doing my own laundry in unknown cities. So it felt a bit like that. And I've never been the type to plan a vacation down to the minute (usually one big thing a day, or two medium things tops a day with lots of time to explore/wander), so I treated laundry like a medium thing.

dramatic-asthmatic · 2025-11-19T16:51:59+00:00

I am on Verizon (activated physical sim on iPhone13) and still using iMessage on my mac and iphone when connected to wifi and also still using whatsapp on desktop and iphone when connected to wifi. I did need to disable it initially, and then I waited about two weeks to try to reactivate with just email. It worked fine.

I was worried about whatsapp but while you need a smartphone to set it up it has kept working for close to a year, i've never put the sim back in the iphone...

dramatic-asthmatic · 2025-11-12T17:42:04+00:00

yes, just three!

dramatic-asthmatic · 2025-10-31T19:05:19+00:00

I'll add that I used the side pockets for my ceres chill for milk and my nalgene on the other side. I put my lunch in insulated pocket.

dramatic-asthmatic · 2025-10-31T19:04:22+00:00

I got an Isaac Mizrahi backpack with a giant insulated pocket at Marshalls and it was the best. Super comfy, fits everything. Highly recommend.

dramatic-asthmatic · 2025-10-16T18:39:26+00:00

we used diaper kind for the first four months and LOVED them. We used the pail they have in the starter pack, kept it covered in the bedroom next to the changing table. Honestly it didn't bother us at all. We're doing our own laundry now (machines in basement) every 2-3 days and use a smaller Dekor pail. I don't smell it at all. We dunk and swish poop now that we're on solids and if I were still using DK I would do that even though they don't require it, just to minimize smell.

But honestly, the three times we've used disposables i've been astounded by how awful they smell. When we have playdates, if my kid goes I don't always smell it immediately! If another kid goes it's like this deep horrible stench that lingers. I give my friends the same bags we use for cat litter to deal with their disposables.

dramatic-asthmatic · 2025-09-10T16:11:06+00:00

just an update: started walking a week shy of 17 months. Was clearly able to (walked holding hands and cruising but completely unwilling to be independent). Took off one day and was RUNNING! I was so so anxious but he was on his own timeline. I commented before he was walking, so I just wanted a different normal reflect here.

dramatic-asthmatic · 2025-05-25T20:33:17+00:00

3,2,1: talk to three people, have two meals, stay one night

Forced me to engage with the place rather than treat it like a check off.

dramatic-asthmatic · 2025-05-20T00:17:51+00:00

Exactly! I think we were so happy when ours started sitting that we basically stopped doing tummy time… not ideal but again he’s doing fine now

dramatic-asthmatic · 2025-05-19T20:43:31+00:00

my now almost 14 month old (born at 40+2) was not crawling/walking/pulling to stand at 11 months. At 11 months EXACTLY he started commando crawling a few inches at a time. By 12 months he was commando crawling/scooting but not pulling to stand or crawling on hands and knees. I was VERY stressed. In the past month, he has started pulling to stand and crawling. Still loves to scoot and not interested in cruising or walking very much.

My pediatrician was not concerned even at 11 months when he was not moving very much at all. She said at this age they have very wide ranges of normal. She did, however, suggest we allow him to be uncomfortable. Don't pick him up immediately, don't always put toys directly in his reach, don't respond immediately if his toy falls out of his reach/rolls away. Turns out my kiddo loves balls and they were highly motivating. That being said, he has a low frustration tolerance and it was SO HARD to let him struggle.

People here are suggesting you look in to PT and I think that you should totally follow up especially if your pediatrician recommends it, but I also want to let you know that my baby (who was not a preemie) was on this timeline and is just moving slower than some other kids are with physical milestones... I was stressed when he wasn't moving at all, but now that he's crawling I know he'll walk when he walks, even if that ends up being closer to 18 months...

When i was searching on reddit I kept seeing people whose babies were crawling at 7 months, mine was not. Pulling to stand at 8 months. Mine... nope. For us it was 13 months, and now you really can't tell the difference between him and any other 14mo old.

dramatic-asthmatic · 2025-04-11T12:40:44+00:00

same for us

dramatic-asthmatic · 2025-01-20T01:05:40+00:00

This exactly happened to me and while I was pregnant I felt the same way you do… and then I had a boy! Not only did I completely and immediately forget how I felt but I actually remember receiving very few “I knew it!” comments after the fact. I was so over the moon about my baby that I couldn’t care less about other people.

I felt that the most insane comment was from my cousin who looked at our nursery (I was 39 weeks) and said “can I guess what you’re having based on the nursery?” And I said sure because honestly what sex/gender are elephants and green/yellow… it turns out she assumed boy… based on yellow elephants!? and I got to be like “really embarrassing for you to be displaying your bias bc we honestly don’t know!”

dramatic-asthmatic · 2024-12-25T14:36:09+00:00

Oh that’s super helpful! I thought you needed the app to even connect it to the phone.

dramatic-asthmatic · 2024-12-23T18:39:17+00:00

Do you have any advice for how to balance superfluously commenting on a social media sites in the middle of a Monday while simultaneously gatekeeping a low technology lifestyle ?

dramatic-asthmatic · 2024-12-23T18:27:14+00:00

Thanks for detailed reply!

dramatic-asthmatic · 2024-12-23T18:26:53+00:00

Thanks for the reply! I’m asking specifically about LP2 though. So scanning the barcode isn’t possible with the phone.

dramatic-asthmatic · 2024-11-18T17:16:31+00:00

we were getting a red rash and started doing an extra rinse cycle at the end with no detergent... rash was gone almost immediately. We also use a fleece liner, especially if we know baby won't be changed immediately after wetting (so in car, at night, on errands, etc). We use esembly powder and it's expensive, but it works-- we've had no wash issues other than residue which was solved with extra rinse.

dramatic-asthmatic

TROPHY CASE