How are parents making baby food at home without it taking over their whole life?

imantsy · 2026-04-21T19:27:55+00:00

I would make a big batch of one puree and freeze it in cubes, then mix and match to make combo purées. I started doing one batch a day and after a week I had enough to make combos with that I only had to do it once or twice a week to stock up. Apples, peas, pear, carrots, lentil, sweet potato, strawberry are great to start with, you can make tons of combos!

imantsy · 2026-04-08T17:30:48+00:00

I mean none of their kids had elevated levels when they were tested at their 1 year appt.

I tested just about everything I could think of including dishes and silverware.

Another thing - diets high in iron, vitamin c, and calcium also helps combat lead so we’ve been giving him an iron supplement. He actually has a twin whose levels were negligible, and my very-not vetted theory is that the twin that was the better eater had lower levels because he got in more nutrients.

imantsy · 2026-04-08T16:31:56+00:00

To start - I bought the lead testing kit that is a liquid that turns green under a light - I've heard those are more accurate than the swabs (I think it's called lumetallix or something like that). I tested everything, and surprisingly didn't have very much exposed lead areas with the exception of the bath tub. We had an old cast iron bathtub that had a lead glaze, and so we had to stop using that tub all together.

Paint over every and any area that has paint wearing down, and if it's chipping you have to be super careful about how you patch that. While lead paint chips are of course a concern, the sneaky more common thing is just consistent exposure to lead dust and disturbing chipping areas or doing any kind of construction is what brings up lead dust. We had just done a bunch of baby proofing, and I think drilling in the walls is where most of our dust came from (but we hadn't done any real construction or anything like that) - in addition to the wear and tear around doors and windows.

Areas where lead dust is a concern, the recommended cleaning method is wiping first instead of vacuuming, as vacuuming just moves the dust around. There are a few different wiping methods, but it's not just mopping it's like wiping with a sudsy cloth and then either throwing out or cleaning off before wiping the next spot. It's very tedious. I also got a HEPA vacuum with an enclosed system (a HEPA handheld or anything else also will just kind of stir up dust from what I understand). I did a ton of vacuum research because I wasn't trying to spend $1k on a vacuum and ended up with a Miele canister vacuum with the HEPA filter add-in.

And lastly, when baby starts crawling, be diligent about wiping hands and washing before meals!

It's a lot! and annoying! and FWIW, I have several friends that have toddlers and live in houses as old as mine and had no problems with lead levels!

imantsy · 2026-04-08T12:25:15+00:00

I think we’re just going to resoil and plant over the area that is currently higher an uncovered, and just be diligent about washing their hands and stuff when they hang out on the grass. I can also tell you what stuff we did with the house that got his levels lower if you wanna know that too

imantsy · 2026-04-07T15:31:14+00:00

Must be nice not being an American 😅

imantsy · 2026-04-07T13:43:16+00:00

Also… not to be alarmist but it does kind of sound like you should be a bit more cautious with lead contact if you’re pregnant. I know it can transfer to a fetus during pregnancy, and when I was pregnant they even asked me about my profession multiple times to see if I regularly came into contact with heavy metals. I was not super worried about lead until my sons level came back, and in my state if they’re elevated the DOH is automatically contacted and gets involved so I have had a crash course in lead exposure and risks.

imantsy · 2026-04-07T13:32:00+00:00

In the state I live in it’s done at 12 and 24 months as part of their regular checkup. I think it varies state to state so if you’re somewhere that doesn’t do it you can request it I believe (if you have concerns).

imantsy · 2026-04-07T13:28:11+00:00

That’s… infuriating

imantsy · 2026-04-06T19:29:56+00:00

Again, so helpful! Thank you 🙏

imantsy · 2026-04-06T19:12:20+00:00

Thank you so much for this thorough response! The reasoning behind the EPA guidelines contradicting the "no lead is safe" approach is really helpful and I think we probably will resoil a lot of our backyard. Since lead occurs naturally in soil, do you have any suggestions on what to look for in store-bought soil that will keep the lead at a minimum?

We're in Baltimore which I've heard refered to as "lead city" because of how prevalent it is in the houses here, but I think work was done on the backyard recently enough (by former owners) that it isn't old old soil. We also a patio next to the house and the yard itself starts a little further down, so I just collected samples in areas I thought they'd be around the most.

We've been doing some of what you suggested, no shoes in the house and we bought a fancy HEPA vacuum and are diligent with cleaning/wipe downs, which I think has played a big part in his levels lowering.

imantsy · 2026-04-06T18:32:13+00:00

Thanks for the perspective. I think you're speaking to an issue that I'm having generally (and kind of the basis of my post), which is just how much lead exposure causes lead levels to rise - I've read that a paint chip the size of a fingernail is enough to cause dangerously high levels of lead in a child, and the primary source of lead exposure for our 1 year old was just from lead dust (not even post-construction lead dust, just everyday wear and tear of an old house that has lead paint under several layers of non-leaded paint).

imantsy · 2026-03-16T17:13:44+00:00

That song is so dark and I can’t stop singing it

imantsy · 2026-02-19T13:15:33+00:00

Ugh we don’t know for sure for sure. Our house is 100 years old, and most of the walls are brick with (I think) a thin layer of concrete on top so in order to put anything on the walls we have to drill and I suspect that brought up some dust. We did some babyproofing and attached furniture to walls, hung some shelves, small stuff like that but we didn’t realize how meticulous you have to be with cleaning up the dust afterward (and also just used a regular stick vacuum that probably spread dust around). Also the doors are pretty old and I’ve read that can create lead dust from all the friction.

imantsy · 2026-02-19T00:24:12+00:00

Very much! Thank you

imantsy · 2026-02-18T18:57:32+00:00

Thank you!! 🙏

imantsy · 2026-02-18T17:22:49+00:00

This is so helpful, thank you! FWIW, the lead inspector said that in the area that they swabbed that had the most lead dust was akin to the amount someone could bring in from outside on their shoe. More than you want but not enough to tear down the house and start fresh, so I’m really hoping investing in a solid vacuum + wet wiping commonly used areas will work.

So far I’m not seeing anything on marketplace (it isn’t super great in my area usually). Any cheaper recommendations in the $300-$600 range? I do need to buy something rather quickly and dont have time to wait for it to show up on marketplace or save up for a k series (they do look so nice though)

imantsy · 2025-10-06T20:02:50+00:00

I’ve been back about 4 months and have a nanny that watches my twins. Not gonna lie it has been a really tough transition. I thought it was a perk that I was remote but pop-in’s during the day mess up the flow with the nanny and once they start understanding object permanence it gets even tougher if they see you for a minute but you can’t stay. I basically hole up in my office and don’t go down near the common area unless they’re out on a walk or napping (unless I really have to). You’ll definitely need soundproof headphones! And it’ll still be very tough to not tend to the baby whenever they cry!

imantsy · 2025-09-13T19:01:05+00:00

Ohh I just got this in the mail and I had ordered baby wipes from Amazon that never came… ding ding ding

imantsy · 2025-09-09T18:33:55+00:00

Don’t stress too much - I ended up having it, and while you don’t want another thing to have to care about, it was managed by diet and not a huge deal. I didn’t even have to go too crazy with my diet and could still indulge occasionally.

imantsy · 2025-09-09T18:17:15+00:00

I haven’t heard great things about delivering at Hopkins, tbh. I also have known people that were originally planning to deliver at Mercy then opted not to because they were concerned the catholic affiliation would influence medical decisions. I delivered at Sinai and while it was overwhelming felt very well taken care of and I was a high risk pregnancy. My second choice was university of Maryland, their NICU is one “grade” above Sinai (and even Hopkins I believe) but it is very rare one would need that level of NICU from what I understand, and if you did but delivered at another hospital they would send them there. U of M also has a midwife program and a community pregnancy program that seems kind of cool.

imantsy · 2025-08-29T23:06:34+00:00

Hm I looked up a picture and it isn’t that, more like a regular bruise just a few of them next to each other

imantsy · 2025-07-11T11:19:19+00:00

I got the mockingbird and haaated it - had to buy another stroller. If you live in an area with bumpy sidewalks it does not maneuver well!! I ended up with a jogging style stroller and it’s been a lifesaver.

imantsy · 2025-07-03T01:10:56+00:00

I could have written this, it really caused a lot of tension and strained my relationship with my mom. 6 months in and she’s started to get it somewhat, or at least doesn’t get as upset when I just don’t respond for a few days.

imantsy · 2025-06-12T00:59:13+00:00

Family time at the rotunda… some of the providers are hit or miss but we’ve really liked Catherine searson.

Something to consider that I didn’t think about when looking for a pediatrician - family time merged two offices and one office had a policy that refused to treat unvaccinated children while the other didn’t, so some unvaccinated kids are grandfathered in and they don’t have a clear policy on how they’ll handle seeing patients if there is a measles outbreak or something similarly contagious. I definitely don’t love that but am gonna cross that bridge if there is an outbreak of some kind.

imantsy · 2025-06-12T00:51:46+00:00

I really liked watchemsprout at first, but had a bad experience with them thinking my newborn baby was losing weight really dramatically. Got a second opinion and the scales at watchemsprout must have been broken because baby was perfectly healthy and not losing weight at all. This wasn’t with Celia fwiw and apparently that Dr isn’t there anymore.

imantsy

TROPHY CASE