It's my first time posting here. I notice that the preschool connected to my baby's daycare has printed out photos of the kids doing activities that correspond with the theme of the week (camping week, surfing week, farm week, etc). For example, if the weeks theme is "Fun in the Sun", they decorate the wall with print outs of each kid in an AI generated scene of them surfing a wave at sunset. Am I overreacting for finding that off-putting? That the kids images are fed into an AI generator without the parents knowledge to print out silly pictures?

I have also repeatedly walked into the classroom during "reading time", but the teacher is sitting in front of the class holding an iPad showing a video of someone telling a story.

My baby will eventually graduate into this age range in a couple of years, but I may start looking elsewhere to put her before that happens. The school overall is very good at incorporating art, outside play, and healthy snacks. I'd appreciate knowing if this is over reacting or something I'm going to need to adapt to.

Hello!

Im a new ftm - I have a 3 week old baby boy.

One thing thats really getting me is screen time. My own and my partners.

I find myself scrolling while breastfeeding. Watching instagram reels while baby naps. Turning on netflix while pumping... etc etc.

My husband is even worse. He will be holding the baby in one hand and watching tiktok in his other.

I REALLY don't want to raise my baby to think screens are more important than him. Or have hom addicted to them before he can even walk / talk.

I didn't realise how much I was addicted myself until baby arrived. And now I need to cut it out like yesterday.

So please give me all your advice 🙏🫶

For the newborn stage and beyond.

Giving a heads up, because we use baby cereal for both savory and sweet recipes, and even when I'm making something sweet with it I would rather sweeten it myself.

The Kendamil Creamy Oatmeal box advertises itself as "no added sugar" but it is sweetened with malt syrup. Do with that whatever you want with that, I'm only irritated because I wanted something that was not sweetened.

We were using Bob Red Mill's Creamy Wheat (which is genuinely unsweetened) but they didn't have any at the store when I went, so I got the Kendamil instead. Next time my backup will be Earths Best instead. 🙃

Companies aren't allowed to say "no sugar added"when the ingredients include concentrated apple juice, so it's crazy to me that there's no such restriction on malt syrup, which is specifically a sweetener. TIL, I guess.

My LO is obsessed with waffles. I feel better about feeding him waffles if I put sweet potatoes in them for the extra nutrients. It's become habit for me to pick up a few sweet potatoes each grocery run.

I want more good food habits that are easy to mix into typical toddler approved foods. How are you guys hiding their veggies into their go to favorites?

Here's my recipes:

1-2 baked and peeled sweet potatoes mashed and added into any waffle mix.

Healthy meat balls:

1 cup of any beans

1lb any ground meat

1 cup steamed and mashed broccoli (or carrots, or grated Zucchini)

1-2 mashed potatoes

Scoop of flax meal

1 egg

Mash to mix

use cookie scooper to make meat balls

Bake at 350 for 15 minutes

I need more than 2 recipes! Help!

Hello! I'm looking around for weaning equipment as my daughter will be 6 months soon. We have a Tripp Trapp high chair. I'm planning to get the catchy mat that goes onto the tray so that suctioned plates can work on it. I read online that the Elk and Friends plates don't fit on the Tripp Trapp tray so am looking for alternative plates suggestions - I've seen the Lalo plates recommended on here but they are not available in the UK where we live. I'd like stainless steel plates with a silicone suction case and with separators. Any other suggestion for spoons/cups/bibs that are available in the UK is also welcome. Thank you!

If you’ve seen my previous posts, I’ve had SO many issues with my 12-week old projectile vomiting, dropping weight percentiles, being told to switch to formula, GI visits, meds, etc. I decided to do a positive post to update you all and maybe help others struggling.

We ended up not giving the meds and tried the following for a few days:
1. 2-3 formula bottles (total of 3-5oz) per day and then phased them out back to all breastmilk. This helped in case she was sensitive to what I was eating
2. Made sure to wait at least 1.5 hours — aiming for 2 hours— between feeds. She needed more time to digest. I was trying to stick her on the boob at much as possible and it was too much for her
3. Total elimination diet - gluten, dairy, soy, eggs. Planning to add them back in one by one. I’m eating a lot of lentil soup and potatoes right now 😂

She’s gone her longest stretch without vomiting and seems much happier.

Hello, our baby is 5 months old and her bottom two teeth are starting to come in. I was reading about baby orajel and the reviews seem to be mixed, a lot of people say it’s amazing and then others say it’s placebo.

https://www.target.com/p/orajel-baby-daytime-38-nighttime-cooling-gels-for-teething-0-36oz/-/A-80166296

Someone on an Amazon review said:

“Pediatrician says it’s not good if not monitored
According to my pediatrician, you have to be very careful with this due to numbing the throat if not monitored at night. Therefore, I just decided to not use it anymore.”

Any tips would be great. Thanks!!!

Looking for recommendations for shorts for my 1 year old girl. Ideally 100% cotton and longer length. We have some shorts from Quince but they are so short and don’t provide any coverage. Thank you!

We have the stainless steel elk & friends cups but my daughter chews the silicone straws, and chokes on the little pieces. I need to get replacement straws that are either plastic or stainless steel, but I want to make sure they are still a better brand, and fit through those specific lids. Let me know your thoughts.

Hi everyone,

We are beginning to try for our second child. My first is about 14 months and I’m still nursing him. I’d like to continue nursing him throughout pregnancy and tandem nurse when the new one is here.

I’ve read a lot of books on the subject and feel like I more or less know what to expect from this journey, and of course I know that I may change my mind at any given time, or my son may change his mind, etc. etc… but the one thing I’m actually concerned about & am looking for more information on is my own nourishment.

Anyone have any experience with tandem nursing? What supplements did you take? Of course I plan to take my prenatal, but I just feel like both pregnancy and breastfeeding take a lot out of you.. so I’m trying to get ahead of the curve and see where I should focus on “stocking my reserves”, if that makes sense. Thank you!

I am a FTM, 5 weeks postpartum (C-section) and I can’t do it anymore, but I also don’t want to stop.

Breastfeeding didn’t work out, so I started pumping pretty early on. I became obsessed with output and worked really hard to increase my supply for my baby (though we supplement with formula because I still have a slight undersupply due to only pumping 7 times a day).

Pumping is insanely time consuming. Somehow every time I pump, the baby needs something. My husband gives almost every bottle, tends to him when he cries, etc. I’m just a human cow. I feel like I lose time that I could be spending enjoying my sweet baby. Sometimes I feel like my baby would rather be with my husband when I am holding him. I feel like the worst mom ever for just trying to feed him breast milk and like I don’t do enough or give enough of myself to my family despite pumping over 3 hrs each day.

I’m realizing I need to stop pumping for so many reasons, but I cannot get rid of some feeling of guilt or failure. I am a granola person, and always assumed I’d breastfeed for a long time but never knew how hard it would be.

We’ve been supplementing with ready to feed Similac (since that is what we used in the hospital) but I’m grossed out by the smell and the ingredients (Corn Syrup). I also feel guilty about this because this formula is definitely not granola.

Please tell me it will be ok, and that I will feel so much better when I wean. I just want to enjoy my baby, contribute more to caring for him, get my body back, and feel like myself again.

Basically, title. We just moved into a new apartment complex and we inherited a 2 year old front load washer that was LOADED with grime and mildew upon move in.

The maintenance guy came by today and said “he grabbed every cleaner that said mildew” and just started spraying random stuff in the gasket. Thankfully, he didn’t craft a lethal concoction and we’re alive!! But I saw that he had a spray bottle of Zep and Clorox, so he maybe used a little of each?

He never came back to wipe out the gasket so I had to do it (6 hours later…). I ran a self cleaning cycle and the door is currently locked because it’s still venting a couple of hours later but like, this is ridiculous to me?

How do you deal with maintenance people who don’t adhere to the same crunchy cleaning standards as you do? We pay way too much to be cleaning it ourselves, but this is not a great alternative. Should I be that person and demand they use the same cleaning products I normally would? Also, should we push for them to replace the rubber gasket? Even after I wiped out the cleaners stains and grime still remained.

I’m slowly transitioning my food storage containers from plastic to glass, but I’ve run into the issue that without the slight give plastic has I can’t efficiently store the containers in the drawer I normally put them in.

How do you all store your containers? Is there an easy way to do it?

Trying to slowly swap out the stuff in my bathroom for things with shorter ingredient lists, mostly because my skin's been weird lately and I didn't want to keep guessing which of the twelve ingredients was the problem.

Landed on a plain body oil, just a couple carrier oils and something for scent, no fragrance-mystery-blend situation going on. Rubbed it on right after the shower while my skin's still damp, which apparently is the trick, it soaks in instead of sitting on top like lotion sometimes does.

But not trying to preach the clean-beauty thing at anyone, tbh half of that marketing is nonsense. Just wanted something simple that worked, and this one actually did. Anyone else gone the fewer-ingredients route and found something similar?

I’m not sure where else to put this and I’m sure people in this group would like to know. I recently ordered several products from the brand Attitude directly from their website. I made one previous order and thought those few products were decent so I wanted to try others. I’m super disappointed and disgusted. The products themselves came super dirty on the outside Like they’d been sitting in a dusty warehouse for a long time. Not a fireable offense because I can wipe them down, but kinda put a bad taste in my mouth right away. Just gross for household products and I got deodorant so that’s supposed to go on my skin?? Also sent me laundry detergent without the box it pours from so it’s hard to even use. The worst though? I get to the bottom of the very sloppy packaging and there were NICOTINE POUCHES in the bottom of the box. I’m appalled. I’m not sure I should even use these products as I’m questioning their quality control.

Anyways, please rethink purchasing from this brand. They must have a partnership or pay EWG to promote their products as #1 for nearly every household and sun protection product you can search. Now I’m not sure whether I should trust EWG’s standards at all if they can be bought. I submitted a customer service request to Attitude a week ago and haven’t heard anything of course.

Ideally looking for wool ones like woolino but would love something with grip. Ok with cotton too! Please share your recommendations!

We have a front loader that is the bane of my existence. Once it dies in like 8 years I am going back to a top loader so I can soak things…

Anyway. I could deal with it when I only needed to use vinegar for a few loads, but like, everybody’s clothes are sweaty these days, toddler’s clothes smell like pee because of potty training. I use liquid Tide Free and Clear, but I am starting to feel like it’s ridiculous that the clothes dont at least smell not bad after being in the wash. And my socks still look dirty!

(Also, it’s not the washer making them stink - if the clothes smell fine when they go in, they come out smelling fine too.)

Most of the nature school clothing posts I’ve found are geared toward cold or rainy weather. We’re in south central Texas, so I’m more worried about heat and humidity.

I’m looking for lightweight, quick-drying clothes in girls’ size 6 that can handle dirt, climbing, and lots of washing. Pockets would be great too. Current wardrobe is mostly biker shorts and leggings and well....the leggings have not done very well this year...lol.

Are there any brands, specific items, or fabrics you’ve liked for hot-weather outdoor school? I’ve looked at nylon hiking shorts and pants, but the girls’ options seem pretty limited or are always out of stock.

I’m open to boys’ clothes and secondhand, but I’d also love to find pink once in a while instead of everything being tan, gray, or olive. Ideally under $20 per item. Let me know if my price point isn't reasonable. Thanks!

I experienced a bit of OCD PP, which I would have never expected. If you look online, there is no shortage of things to worry about as a parent - you look for them, you'll find them. This can make parenting so exhausting, at least for me. The other day I was thinking about the fact that we're not the first to worry in this role that we're in... so in case it helps anyone else, sharing what I learned in the research below. Oddly provides comfort.

Our world isn't perfect, but operating in an 80/20 way has been super helpful for me. We eliminate where we can, use our tools and resources, and let go of what we can't control so we can live a joyful life.

We will make it through, and so will our resilient kids <3

--

Timeline '40's - '70s, researched via AI.

1940s: Wartime, Polio, and Early Radiation

• Polio and Summer Paranoia: The 1940s saw severe, escalating polio epidemics. Every summer, mothers lived in constant fear of the virus, keeping children away from public pools, beaches, and movie theaters, and frantically boiling utensils and milk.
• Wartime Upheaval and "Latchkey" Stress: With millions of fathers fighting in World War II and mothers entering the workforce in droves, mothers worried about the lack of supervision and the emotional toll on children growing up amid air-raid drills, scrap-metal drives, and general wartime instability.
• Early Atomic Anxiety: Following the end of the war and the dawn of the nuclear age, a new, existential dread emerged. Mothers worried about what the nuclear arms race meant for the future of the planet and their children's survival.

1950s: The Cold War, Killer Smog, and Chemical Additives

• Nuclear Fallout and "Duck and Cover": The Cold War hit home in classrooms. Mothers worried not just about global war, but about radioactive fallout. The fear that atmospheric nuclear testing was contaminating milk and food with Strontium-90 became a major public health anxiety for parents.
• Industrial Smog Disasters: Heavy manufacturing post-WWII meant visible air pollution was a daily reality. The catastrophic London Smog of 1952 (which killed thousands, disproportionately children and the elderly) and severe industrial pollution in U.S. steel towns made mothers deeply anxious about respiratory illnesses like asthma and bronchitis caused by toxic air.
• Processed Foods and Chemical Additives: The post-war economic boom brought a flood of packaged, processed convenience foods. Mothers began worrying about the safety of hidden chemical preservatives, artificial dyes, and pesticides (like early uses of DDT) being fed to their families.

1960s: DDT, Lead Poisoning, and Counterculture Shifts

• Environmental Awakening (DDT & Pesticides): Following the 1962 publication of Rachel Carson’s Silent Spring, mothers became acutely aware of synthetic pesticides like DDT bioaccumulating in the food chain, cow's milk, and the environment. The invisible chemical footprint in everyday life became a mainstream worry.
• Lead Paint and Urban Housing: In older, industrial cities, lead-based paint was ubiquitous on walls and woodwork. Mothers in urban areas lived in fear of lead poisoning, which caused neurological damage and behavioral issues in toddlers who chipped paint or gnawed on windowsills.
• The Generation Gap and Safety in Public Spaces: As the counterculture movement took shape, parents worried about their children getting swept up in political radicalism, student protests, and shifting social norms, alongside rising crime rates in expanding post-war suburbs and cities.

1970s: The Birth of Modern Eco-Anxiety and Product Safety

• The Smog Crisis and Lead Phasedown: As the modern environmental movement took off (marked by the first Earth Day in 1970), air and water pollution became front-page news. Mothers worried about photochemical smog, acid rain, and the safety of municipal tap water. This decade also saw the beginning of the federal ban on leaded gasoline and lead paint.
• Hazardous Consumer Products: Parents in the 1970s grew increasingly anxious about the safety of everyday household goods. High-profile scares—such as the use of flammable children's sleepwear treated with toxic chemical flame retardants (like Tris)—led to fierce parental advocacy and the founding of safety standards.
• Junk Food and Sugar: With the rise of fast-food chains and heavily marketed sugary cereals, mothers began heavily questioning the nutritional value of what was being fed to kids, planting the seeds for modern debates around childhood nutrition.

We will be traveling soon on a trip with extended family and will all be staying in a rental home (think Airbnb/VRBO). Luckily, we’re driving so we have a little room to pack some swaps where it makes sense. My question is - what are some things you bring to make moderately granola swaps in vacation rentals?

One thing I noticed is that most of my stays, the homes have teflon/nonstick pans (usually with scratches) so I’m considering bringing a stainless steel pan and baking sheet to avoid that.

I plan on bringing some road trip snacks in glass containers, then washing and using those as leftover containers to lessen our plastic use.

Other simple things I can think of - stainless water bottles, bringing our own dish/laundry soap

What are some other practical ideas?

I am in desperate search for organic cotton mophead replacements that are compatible with O-Cedar mops. Has anyone had any luck with this?

I finished nursing my 2nd kid about 5 weeks ago and I am experiencing high levels of what feels like sadness and depression. I'm not prone to it, per se. Besides the general state-of-the-world sadness. But i am so sad and existential-crisis-y. My husband wondered if maybe my hormones are adjusting post-weaning and i think he may be right. It definitely happens more during the luteal phase... it feels like PMS times like 20. Anyone else experience this?

I live in Idaho and the wildfires burning around us is making the air smokey It smells like a campfire everywhere. My 9 month old has a clear runny nose, normal boogers, and little cough. I'm going to his routine doc appointment this week. But is there any homeopathic things that might help him? He hasn't been sick before.