@AnnaS930 We didn't do daycare the first year, but we used Tommee Tippee cups, and we had little cups to hold formula that sit inside the bottle along with the water and then you just dump it when you're ready to actually make the bottle. We did that when we were on-the-go, but it would work for day care too and you don't have to worry about keeping bottles refrigerated.
If you end up FF from early on, or you have a baby who gets up several times/night well past the time they should be STTN, then I'd say that it's 100% worth it. We used it for the whole year. I'm not sure I'd recommend it to mother with a child who sleeps through the night and is switching to formula at 6 months. It just costs too much money to be justified at that point. My kid was 4 months old and still consistently waking up to eat every 2-3 hours so I would have paid a LOT more than $150 just to shave a few minutes off each wake-up time.
@KimmySchmidt- Thank you, that's extremely helpful. I should buy it now, and maybe the reverse psychology will have this kid sleeping through the night immediately? Make the brezza useless (which would be the best $150 ever spent even if it sat in the box, am I right??) Lol, I think I'll keep it in the back of my mind.. we really need so little for this babe, maybe a fun new gadget will be a good splurge if we do the formula switch early on!
@KimmySchmidt- Thank you, that's extremely helpful. I should buy it now, and maybe the reverse psychology will have this kid sleeping through the night immediately? Make the brezza useless (which would be the best $150 ever spent even if it sat in the box, am I right??) Lol, I think I'll keep it in the back of my mind.. we really need so little for this babe, maybe a fun new gadget will be a good splurge if we do the formula switch early on!
I get what you mean about feeling like you need to buy stuff for a second baby. I used a borrowed ergo for #1 and I think I'm going to get a tula. #splurge.
@mom2adoodle I didn't understand your siggy when I saw it online, now I get it and it's very funny .
@LakeR2014 At around 8 mos when we went to exclusive FF, a water dispenser worked wonders for making bottles because it had the hot water tap. We actually bought ours used from C-list for $30. We never had to warm up a bottle and had it to use afterwards because our water is CRAP here. I forget the ratio we used, I want to say it was half hot/half cold, but it was the better option for us vs the Brezza since he stopped FF after a year.
I'm just really hoping pumping works better for me this time. My job will still make it hard because I'm often on the road but at least I will have a better arsenal of supply aids (give me all the dark beer).
ooh, @RedMar that's also awesome! I'll be happy to have a bottlewarmer regardless. Even when exclusively breastfeeding we did a bottle just about every evening, and taking breastmilk out of the fridge, and putting the bottle into a cup of hot water and waiting for like 10 minutes was brutal. My guy liked his milk warm, and with 2 of us home it was easy, but if just 1 and he saw the bottle then had to wait 10 minutes.. those were 10 loud minutes.
Making individual bottles ahead of time allows time for the bubbles to go down.
Different formulas are more bubble-prone than others, I found. We used similac sensitive and it was SO foamy. We switched to the target sensitive brand and it was SO much better.
@KimmySchmidt- We used (and loved) the Target version of Similac (advantage or whatever the regular one was). The coupon/gift card deals for buying 3 tubs at a time was a nice break
Let me just say - we really didn't discuss formula much on my last BMB, or maybe they did and I wasn't really in tune to it all since I wasn't sure how I'd be feeding my little one.. but there is some really good advice going around already! For those who stick with the group until birth and need some formula advice, seems like there will be some great resources (and certainly with the lengths that a lot of moms have reported breastfeeding there will also be great resources for those who breastfeed as well!)
@AnnaS930 I'm still trying to narrow down what causes me the most issues with this lactose intolerance/sensitivity. Milk, yogurt and ice cream are definite problems. I miss having cereal but I other than that, I can avoid those things or eat them knowing the consequences.
Cheese is hit or miss. I ate a 1/2 of a grilled cheese and got really sick. I ate a slice of American cheese and was fine. I had pizza and was ok, but then a few slices from a brick of cheddar cheese and sick again. I should just avoid it all together, but I love dairy too much. Also, I somehow forget that dairy is giving me problems. I'm not really sure how I forget, but it happens more often than I should admit.
Target formula is definitely the way to go. Has everything that name brand formulas have. (Although I've heard of babies with especially sensitive stomachs having issues with it.)
@LizC216 - your body is playing some cruel tricks on you!! Trust nothing! Risk everything! Hahaha, Cheddar really shouldn't be an offender for lactose intolerance so your system is really just giving you a hard time. Bummer! Last time I switched to almond milk if I wanted cereal because dairy just made me so disgustingly gassy - like scared I'd knock out my coworkers. If I had dairy later in the day I'd just assault my husband with my horrendous odors and deal
@LizC216 The Lactose thing sucks, I feel for you. My husband has had some issues, and it's very inconsistent. He seems fine with cheese & milk but heavy cream, 1/2 & 1/2, and ice cream bother him. Gelato is fine and so is frozen yogurt. Of course we went over to the Google machine and apparently it's not uncommon to have selective lactose intolerance. Sometimes it's the fat content. All I know is that sucks, I'm sorry to hear. It's hard enough with food aversions & cravings, but to throw is lactose is cruel! You can always keep a food diary and see if there is a pattern to it.
@AnnaS930 Haha...it's the worst! I'm putting almond milk on my list. I used to drink that somewhere along the lines but switched back to cow's milk. No idea why. I'm dying for some cereal!
Is anyone else a TWD fan? I won't throw any spoilers out there, but yesterday's finale was so difficult to watch, suspense the entire episode. My Fitbit had my heart rate at 90 that whole hour and a 1/2 just sitting on the couch. I can't wait until October, but at that time we'll have another baby in the house
@LizC216 The Lactose thing sucks, I feel for you. My husband has had some issues, and it's very inconsistent. He seems fine with cheese & milk but heavy cream, 1/2 & 1/2, and ice cream bother him. Gelato is fine and so is frozen yogurt. Of course we went over to the Google machine and apparently it's not uncommon to have selective lactose intolerance. Sometimes it's the fat content. All I know is that sucks, I'm sorry to hear. It's hard enough with food aversions & cravings, but to throw is lactose is cruel! You can always keep a food diary and see if there is a pattern to it.
That is really interesting. I'm going to pay a little more attention to it. I think I'd be so sad if this continues when I'm not pregnant. I had the same issues with my first and thankfully went back to normal. I'm hoping the same is true this time around.
Is anyone else a TWD fan? I won't throw any spoilers out there, but yesterday's finale was so difficult to watch, suspense the entire episode. My Fitbit had my heart rate at 90 that whole hour and a 1/2 just sitting on the couch. I can't wait until October, but at that time we'll have another baby in the house
Edge of my seat, freaking out. I kept telling my husband, "this stress can't be good for the baby" and he kept telling me I was crazy.
@SaraJuul@PSUBecky23- Pretty big fan over here, but didn't watch it last night (Kept telling husband I wanted to start a few minutes in so we'd have some space to fast forward through commercials).. I was asleep on the couch by 9. I would say we're going to watch tonight, but with National Championship bball on tonight I'm sure that's what we'll be watching. If we start TWD right at 8, with speeding through commercials we could be done for tip-off. That's my goal. And I can fall asleep at that time because I really just don't have a favorite in this final!
I am obsessed with TWD. Last night was pretty amazing...it will be interesting to see how everything plays out next season. I'm so glad the FTWD is on to ease the withdrawal. It looks like it will be a really good season over there, too.
Do you know when they switch fabrics out? Is it just in a rolling basis? I have a feeling I'll pick one and buy it and then the next week they'll come out with a pattern that I really love.
Target formula is definitely the way to go. Has everything that name brand formulas have. (Although I've heard of babies with especially sensitive stomachs having issues with it.)
Not to mention the price! It's like 1/2 the cost. You get yourself a target card and stalk the sales and you're good to go.
It's not Friday, but I have a mini-confession today! We've been invited to dinner by a friend whose cooking I do not trust...he said he's making beef stew, but in my experience he will just pick the absolute cheapest cut of meat and toss it into liquid until it looks done enough. I'm already pretty picky about meat, so I'm not optimistic. I figures I'd pre-eat, just in case, so I bought some pizza rolls and a cookie ice cream sandwich. Now, I can eat as little as I want, without getting hangry!
Just catching up now.. I go away for like 8 hours and this thread has 100+ new posts? I can't keep up!!
Anyway, @LeahKnits we plan on keeping our guest bed (full size) in the nursery, and having it available when people stay -- in those cases the baby will just move into our room for the night I'm assuming. I do like the idea one pp had about decorating it to look more "day bed" like, with pillows along the side and such! I definitely plan on trying to make it fit with the nursery decor.
@AnnaS930 I agree that's too old for those kind of pictures, unfortunately there are just too many creepers out there for me to feel safe about that. To each their own, but I personally wouldn't.
I'm hopelessly confused about what to wear to DH's cousin's wedding.
The wedding is in the afternoon at an orchard with the reception in a barn, but the invitation says formal attire. What the what?
She knows two of her guests are pregnant. It's going to be summer (early summer, but still hot) so long dresses and suits are going to be miserable outside. And then there's the whole venue thing (which is not formal at all).
DH is supposed to call and find out what the hell I'm supposed to wear, but I'm banging my head against the wall. He thinks she doesn't know what formal actually means, which is possible, but I'm freaking out. I was having a hard enough time planning my outfit to start with.
I'd originally planned on a knee length faux wrap dress with elbow length sleeves in a deep blue gingham print (cute for an orchard) and sandals. Now I'm thinking I'll have to wear a long dress, which either means one of my jersey maxi dresses (I just picked up a nice dressy casual one yesterday from A Pea in The Pod that would be the best I could manage; it's sleeveless with an empire waist and has an all over large chrysanthemum print in muted navy and ivory) or spending money on something I'm going to wear all of once.
Shoes, I don't even know. There's no way in hell I can wear heels and even ballet flats hurt my feet right now. So it looks like flat sandals and hoping no one looks too closely at my feet.
@MoJoe21 the boxes the cribs from babies r us are the biggest I've ever seen! The biz almost didn't fit in my brother in laws truck! By the way- that crib is beautiful! I think ours is similar but white. Can't even remember what it looks like now lol
@MojieJo I would tend to agree with your husband that maybe she doesn't know what "formal" technically means. Her venue is not formal at all-- maybe they just want people dressy, i.e., no jeans, etc that some people might find acceptable to wear to an orchard/barn wedding? As a side note, I think the venue sounds amazing
As for your dress, formal doesn't have to be long, so it sounds like the wrap dress could definitely work if dressed up with jewelry or accessories. What about wedges instead of heels?
Luckily, our friend has a giant pickup truck and we don't live far away from BRU, so we can make multiple trips if we need to. DH thinks we can fit everything in his Subaru Outback and I'm just shaking my head.
@MojieJo agreed with you and SLou, sounds like she means semi-formal, certainly not formal. The gingham dress sounds just right, also pregnant women are adorable dressed up and get some leeway in dresscode, certainly don't fret about shoes. Sandals sound really reasonable!
@SLou24@annas930 I'm thinking she doesn't really mean "formal" formal, either, given the venue. It's probably just a case of her not knowing what she's really asking for. I'm guessing formal means "dress up" (no shorts, try to look nice, etc.) and not the official definition for formal attire.
I may have to look for some wedges. I almost never wear anything but flats since I have super loose ligaments in my ankles that lead to frequent accidents (sprains, strains, torn ligaments) when I'm not standing flat on the ground, but I'll give it a try if she wants something fancier than sandals.
I'm guessing that as long as I don't do what my best friend's GF did at our wedding and show up in a polo shirt and khakis with tennis shoes, and make an effort to look nice, that I should be able to make it work.
I tend to get very anxious about social situations, so I'm probably freaking out a bit more than is necessary.
Do you know when they switch fabrics out? Is it just in a rolling basis? I have a feeling I'll pick one and buy it and then the next week they'll come out with a pattern that I really love.
They rotate pretty regularly, but some stick around a lot longer than others. I have one that was an exclusive pattern for a smaller shop, the other one I had was a basic release but I ended up selling that one. The good thing is they hold their value, so even if you decide you want a different one there are always people buying and trading and you can get close to retail back on it. If you have other questions feel free to pm me, I've been following a bunch of Tula groups for a year or so.
Do you know when they switch fabrics out? Is it just in a rolling basis? I have a feeling I'll pick one and buy it and then the next week they'll come out with a pattern that I really love.
They rotate pretty regularly, but some stick around a lot longer than others. I have one that was an exclusive pattern for a smaller shop, the other one I had was a basic release but I ended up selling that one. The good thing is they hold their value, so even if you decide you want a different one there are always people buying and trading and you can get close to retail back on it. If you have other questions feel free to pm me, I've been following a bunch of Tula groups for a year or so.
Unsolicited advice about Tulas - I'd suggest trying one before buying. Most people swear by them. I wasn't a fan. Could never get a good fit.
@MojieJo Just throwing this out there. I just bought these sandals/short wedges from Target. I saw someone wearing them on Easter and they were so cute. I thought ahead to this summer. My cousin is getting married outdoors with a reception at a less formal venue. I have no idea what I'm wearing yet, but I think these would be comfortable for the ceremony and reception. I also loved the ankle strap because I hated wearing heels late in my last pregnancies. If the link doesn't work, they are Sam & Libby 'Shae'. I bought the brown and gold, I think they'll be neutral enough for whatever I eventually find.
@SarahMConnors It's not just your imagination, cribs are shockingly big, even the ones without all the extra frills outside the regular rectangular space that's the crib itself. We weren't expecting them to be so big, either. A mini crib is definitely a good choice if you're short on space.
We thought we were going to have plenty of room in the first room we'd designated as the nursery (our current computer room), but with cribs being as big as they are, there's only one way to make it work with two cribs in there and it would be almost impossible to navigate easily.
Thanks for the input Now I just have to convince DH lol! He still thinks a pack'n'play will last long enough. We have enough room for a mini-crib in our room and a pack'n'play in our living room, so we have options. I just think the mini-crib is nice because it's a real crib. I feel bad enough that we don't have enough room for a real nursery for the baby, so having a real crib (albeit a little one) makes it feel nicer to me.
Any of you mini-crib-users sidecar it to your bed for co-sleeping? I've been trying to figure out if that would work. Probably I need to go to a store and take measurements. But I'm hoping it might be an option and would love to hear experiences if anyone has any.
Re: April Randoms Thread
If you end up FF from early on, or you have a baby who gets up several times/night well past the time they should be STTN, then I'd say that it's 100% worth it. We used it for the whole year. I'm not sure I'd recommend it to mother with a child who sleeps through the night and is switching to formula at 6 months. It just costs too much money to be justified at that point. My kid was 4 months old and still consistently waking up to eat every 2-3 hours so I would have paid a LOT more than $150 just to shave a few minutes off each wake-up time.
@LakeR2014 At around 8 mos when we went to exclusive FF, a water dispenser worked wonders for making bottles because it had the hot water tap. We actually bought ours used from C-list for $30. We never had to warm up a bottle and had it to use afterwards because our water is CRAP here. I forget the ratio we used, I want to say it was half hot/half cold, but it was the better option for us vs the Brezza since he stopped FF after a year.
Making individual bottles ahead of time allows time for the bubbles to go down.
Cheese is hit or miss. I ate a 1/2 of a grilled cheese and got really sick. I ate a slice of American cheese and was fine. I had pizza and was ok, but then a few slices from a brick of cheddar cheese and sick again. I should just avoid it all together, but I love dairy too much. Also, I somehow forget that dairy is giving me problems. I'm not really sure how I forget, but it happens more often than I should admit.
Edge of my seat, freaking out. I kept telling my husband, "this stress can't be good for the baby" and he kept telling me I was crazy.
First time mom to a human but have been a puppy mamma for over 12 years
Anyway, @LeahKnits we plan on keeping our guest bed (full size) in the nursery, and having it available when people stay -- in those cases the baby will just move into our room for the night I'm assuming. I do like the idea one pp had about decorating it to look more "day bed" like, with pillows along the side and such! I definitely plan on trying to make it fit with the nursery decor.
@AnnaS930 I agree that's too old for those kind of pictures, unfortunately there are just too many creepers out there for me to feel safe about that. To each their own, but I personally wouldn't.
I'm hopelessly confused about what to wear to DH's cousin's wedding.
The wedding is in the afternoon at an orchard with the reception in a barn, but the invitation says formal attire. What the what?
She knows two of her guests are pregnant. It's going to be summer (early summer, but still hot) so long dresses and suits are going to be miserable outside. And then there's the whole venue thing (which is not formal at all).
DH is supposed to call and find out what the hell I'm supposed to wear, but I'm banging my head against the wall. He thinks she doesn't know what formal actually means, which is possible, but I'm freaking out. I was having a hard enough time planning my outfit to start with.
I'd originally planned on a knee length faux wrap dress with elbow length sleeves in a deep blue gingham print (cute for an orchard) and sandals. Now I'm thinking I'll have to wear a long dress, which either means one of my jersey maxi dresses (I just picked up a nice dressy casual one yesterday from A Pea in The Pod that would be the best I could manage; it's sleeveless with an empire waist and has an all over large chrysanthemum print in muted navy and ivory) or spending money on something I'm going to wear all of once.
Shoes, I don't even know. There's no way in hell I can wear heels and even ballet flats hurt my feet right now. So it looks like flat sandals and hoping no one looks too closely at my feet.
● IUI #2: BFP - early M/C
● IUI #3: BFN
● IUI #4: BFN
● IVF/FET #1 (2 transferred): BFP! TWINS!
● FET #2 (1 transferred): BFP! BOY #3!
● Natural #1: BFP - M/C @ 8 weeks
● Natural #2: BFP - M/C @ 5w5d
As for your dress, formal doesn't have to be long, so it sounds like the wrap dress could definitely work if dressed up with jewelry or accessories. What about wedges instead of heels?
Luckily, our friend has a giant pickup truck and we don't live far away from BRU, so we can make multiple trips if we need to. DH thinks we can fit everything in his Subaru Outback and I'm just shaking my head.
● IUI #2: BFP - early M/C
● IUI #3: BFN
● IUI #4: BFN
● IVF/FET #1 (2 transferred): BFP! TWINS!
● FET #2 (1 transferred): BFP! BOY #3!
● Natural #1: BFP - M/C @ 8 weeks
● Natural #2: BFP - M/C @ 5w5d
I may have to look for some wedges. I almost never wear anything but flats since I have super loose ligaments in my ankles that lead to frequent accidents (sprains, strains, torn ligaments) when I'm not standing flat on the ground, but I'll give it a try if she wants something fancier than sandals.
I'm guessing that as long as I don't do what my best friend's GF did at our wedding and show up in a polo shirt and khakis with tennis shoes, and make an effort to look nice, that I should be able to make it work.
I tend to get very anxious about social situations, so I'm probably freaking out a bit more than is necessary.
● IUI #2: BFP - early M/C
● IUI #3: BFN
● IUI #4: BFN
● IVF/FET #1 (2 transferred): BFP! TWINS!
● FET #2 (1 transferred): BFP! BOY #3!
● Natural #1: BFP - M/C @ 8 weeks
● Natural #2: BFP - M/C @ 5w5d
https://m.target.com/p/women-s-sam-libby-shae-quarter-strap-sandals/-/A-50220882
Any of you mini-crib-users sidecar it to your bed for co-sleeping? I've been trying to figure out if that would work. Probably I need to go to a store and take measurements. But I'm hoping it might be an option and would love to hear experiences if anyone has any.