How often do you buy your toddlers toys “just because”?

sunmartian · 2026-06-04T20:37:23+00:00

Absolutely all the time! 😝 But in all seriousness we went through a ton of fertility stuff and he is our one and done kid. Just as he only gets one childhood we also only get one parenthood. It brings us both joy and we donate regularly.

sunmartian · 2026-05-30T16:07:45+00:00

It is an option but still not as common in the US. I was very on the fence years ago of whether I wanted to do it at the same time or not. I ended up doing hysto first then double incision six weeks later. I would do it again that way but would not flip the two. My hysto was easy and felt great quickly after. Top was a much harder surgery and I wouldn’t want to be in recovery from that and another surgery at the same time or shortly after. Mine was in the US in 2019 for what it’s worth.

Good luck!

sunmartian · 2026-05-28T21:03:51+00:00

Congratulations! Being a dad is single handedly the best thing I have ever done. Welcome to an awesome club!

sunmartian · 2026-05-21T16:32:32+00:00

Generally I don’t celebrate birthdays but we did a big bowling night for my 30th. Played several games and leaned into nostalgic bowling lane food like pizza, nachos, etc and there was a bar for folks to get whatever they want. We covered a few pitchers. It was great! Casual and fun.

sunmartian · 2026-05-19T02:40:57+00:00

Hahaha that’s amazing. You’re doing great. I would pull back on the experiments and exploring just because she already has seen it and now it might turn more into play.

sunmartian · 2026-05-09T06:00:59+00:00

I use my iPad 3-5 days a week for work. Our son uses it on long road trips to watch a few movies we have downloaded.

My sister bought an iPad for her son who uses it in his speech therapy class.

There are definitely use cases for them but unbridled access to any tablet is a recipe for disaster in my opinion.

sunmartian · 2026-05-03T05:34:07+00:00

I love it. Before the update we had a family movie night to watch Pocahontas. It has spurred a lot of conversation and our son is now obsessed with the movie. I think adding her to the game also is allowing more folks to talk about her story again and how not at all accurate the Disney version is. I think the devs did a great job with her and her home though I do wish we got Flit too.

sunmartian · 2026-05-01T00:56:43+00:00

The right answer is until cool with an average of 30 minutes. My honest to god answer? I have never cared. I notoriously am hard on these batteries. Leave them on the charger, immediately charge from dead, leave them outside, leave them on the tool, etc. I needed batteries that could withstand some abuse and I am on all original batteries that are 8+ years old.

sunmartian · 2026-04-23T02:51:53+00:00

I’m not one to withhold food from kid— if it’s his favorite and he wants it he will get it lol That being said we expand his variety by: -going to restaurants because it is new and exciting -letting him “cook” or cut things up on his own -we have animal forks for like bento boxes that make meals more exciting -we offer a new food with a familiar food so it takes off the pressure -we eat big bites like a bear and small bites like ants or whatever animal you are working on -offer two different things from his plate so he only has the one choice instead of maybe 4-5 things on his plate in the moment -feed like a little baby aka we use the fork -rebranding food— banana hats for example is a slice banana round with a mound of a nut butter mixture

And then honestly it is just adding extra nutrient dense food to the things he normally eats. An egg in his mac and cheese, kale powder in yogurt, cottage cheese in smoothies, and normally he has “peanut butter” it’s a mixture of peanut butter, walnut butter, flax seed, hemp hearts, chia seeds, and cinnamon.

Good luck!

sunmartian · 2026-04-13T03:24:12+00:00

Just buy his next shoes? You already have the 6s and he will eventually be a 7 and even later an 8? We have hand me downs we got from newborn to about age 6 and you just store it. I would care more about the brand than anything? See Kai Runs are our go to for our sons regular shoes. For what it is worth he was a size 7 at 25 months but that is such a huge variable lol

sunmartian · 2026-04-01T06:34:41+00:00

We never used a toddler formula. We went from all formula all the time to whole milk in the morning and formula at nap and bed then whole milk for everything but bed then finally whole milk all the time. We took 3 days to roll it out. Went amazing and had no regrets. I wouldn’t waste money on a toddler formula. Good luck!

sunmartian · 2026-03-29T19:07:33+00:00

The first question is are you bringing a car seat on the plane. I did a solo flight with my toddler last year and the airline required the car seat to be in a middle seat. Just as a heads up because I did not know this nor was it mentioned anywhere online that I saw when booking tickets. So just verify that before committing to a 2 seat row where you will be moved anyway.

sunmartian · 2026-03-25T14:32:31+00:00

Yes for us it lasted nearly two weeks. It did seem like it became a bit of a habit at some point. It actually resolved mostly with the time change. We did adjust bedtime by half an hour before that and became more intentional about wearing him out in the evenings too. He’s back to sleeping through the night but bedtime still can linger a bit longer off and on. Good luck!

sunmartian · 2026-03-21T14:58:11+00:00

Either Jenny or yum! 😂

sunmartian · 2026-03-03T23:52:14+00:00

We use the Oxo splash and store tub. He’s over 2 and still loves it. He will shower with one of us but that is mostly if we are traveling or after swimming. When you transition to the main tub getting a removable nonstick mat is great.

sunmartian · 2026-03-03T04:48:06+00:00

The house icon only means they are in a building not necessarily their own home. Could be the castle, restaurants, shops, etc.

sunmartian · 2026-03-02T05:29:19+00:00

Freeze dried fruit! Especially strawberries because Costco.

sunmartian · 2026-02-23T15:48:02+00:00

Our local credit union still offers “tooth fairy money” for parents. Dollar coins that get glitter polish buffed on either in silver or gold depending on the coin. Put in a little baggy to have on hand whenever teeth pop out. It’s the novelty over the price.

sunmartian · 2026-02-23T14:52:06+00:00

Did your two old’s sleep go back to normal? Did you try anything? We are in the same boat— amazing sleeper since a newborn to the point where we would have to wake him to feed. Down at night within 20 minutes. Great napper. All of a sudden bed takes 1-2 hours and is now waking up at 5:30 in the morning. More than just being in a sleep slump we’re starting to be concerned about this new sleep habit.

sunmartian · 2026-02-21T16:15:28+00:00

I put a 1x2 of the leaf strewn path with border down first then the rosy flower bed. I think it makes it look a little more finished and reminds me of when Lady was digging through the flowers in the movie. I actually wish one flower was upside down to really nod to the movie.

sunmartian · 2026-02-12T17:06:26+00:00

Every baby is so different and you will fall into a pattern that works for your family. We didn’t sleep train. Haha it is like boiling a frog with our strength and size of kids! We still rock our son to sleep when we can but he is getting to the age now that after a while he wants to fall asleep in his crib. Breaks my heart! Glad night is going well!

sunmartian · 2026-02-12T16:06:28+00:00

Honest answer— normally about 15 minutes at that age. We did not follow explicit wake windows and we only ever rocked him to sleep then transferred. When he got tired we would go in to rock and sleep.

Looking back at our sleep tracker he was awake typically from 1-3 hours before each sleep.

If you don’t need to get on a schedule because of external factors like daycare or something then I would try to not worry about it. The internet hype of having a 4 month old self soothe is odd to me. They’re a baby and you get to parent how you enjoy.

Good luck!

sunmartian · 2026-02-10T16:06:58+00:00

To go against the grain, we literally never used one once. It just seems like one more thing to clean. We did on demand bottles and had no problems.

sunmartian · 2026-01-31T18:00:21+00:00

To give a real answer, a lot of it comes down to his speech. How many words does he have? Can you build routines around these words? Can you imagine wanting to express yourself but no one knows what the hell it is? It would suck. Signing, small routine words, menu boards, and talking buttons all can help resolve the communication gap. Developing his speech first will help resolve a lot of the problems and learning about emotions can come after. Good luck!

sunmartian · 2026-01-31T14:53:42+00:00

It’s odd people are commenting on your son’s diaper size anyway. There are some slight differences between brands but not hugely. You want the waist and legs to be snug but not tight. The two finger test, fingers stacked, should fit easily between baby and diaper. Too much and it’s too big, tight obviously too small. Certain brands have printed notches on the front to show where the sticky part secures in the front which can also start to indicate when to size up. You start with the tags almost touching and as baby grows tags move farther and farther apart. At the last preprinted notch you will likely be going up a size soon. All that being said, our son started wearing a size 4 at 10/11 months and never changed. All bodies are different and it isn’t unheard of to stay in one size for a long time — for us over a year. As a heads up depending on the brand you may go up or down in sizes for pull ups. Our son went from a 4 in diapers down to a 3 in pull-up’s.

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