u/Significant-Toe2648

Any other moms here with a lot of strollers? Which ones do you have and which are used for what? I don’t know it happened, I guess I just like having options and being prepared but I have so many, the garage is filling up. I even sold a few recently. I am about to have three 4 & under, so that’s part of it. In my defense, I’ve bought most of them used.

The ones I have right now are:

BOB single jogger
BOB double jogger
Joovy quool (three seat option)
Several umbrella strollers
Wonderfold WD 4

I also had the Joovy caboose but sold that.

Looking for sister name for sisters Isabel and Eloise. Prefer a three syllable name.

Can’t be Adeline, Amelia, Juliet, Emmeline, or Madeline (though we love those names).

Looking for ways to prepare for my third birth. I had an epidural and relentless back labor with my first two. I was induced with my second and may need to be again (I know that’s controversial however I will plan to follow what my OB says given how things went with my second regarding the need for induction).

With my first birth, I did the whole hypnobirthing course through my hospital, did the Miles circuit, bounced on a ball, etc. I found hypnobirthing completely useless upon actually being in labor, perhaps due to the nonstop back contractions, I just wasn’t prepared for that. I had also listened to Ina May’s Guide beforehand. It was nice to hear a few birth stories, but both of my births were so different than anything described, it didn’t help very much.

Then with my second, I just went in blind, was worried about the induction, wasn’t allowed to move around because the nurses didn’t want to adjust the monitors, so I eventually gave in and got the epidural.

All that said, I strongly want to avoid the epidural this time for personal reasons. I’m wanting to get prepared but I guess I just don’t know where to start, especially knowing I will likely have an induction so my experience won’t be “all natural.” The Bradley Method sounds interesting, is that what y’all would recommend?

Full disclosure, I don’t know how much my husband will be on board with it, and I’m only about 6 weeks out from birth. He did do some counter pressure for my first birth. He’s a good man! But he has a very demanding career.

Say there are 6 to 8 holes in multiple studs spanning across a garage wall (maybe even the majority of the studs) would there be any concern about weakening the structure?

I’m shocked! lol. I remember my stepdaughter having to waste time on this every day when she was younger and I thought it was silly then. I feel like schools have become only more dependent on it since then, and perhaps most importantly, it’s their main excuse for getting tablets in every kindergartner’s hands during school hours.

3 year old has been potty trained for pee for almost a year. Has no issues going to the potty, but will not sit on it “just to try”. She will only sit on it when she needs to go. If we try to have her sit at random times, she won’t actually go, so I just follow her lead and let her go when she needs to vs trying to arbitrarily force potty times. So that’s where we’re at with pee, basically 100% success.

We have been working on poop training for a long time. Leading up to this point she would hide and poop in undies, but we addressed that and are now at the point where she will request a pull up and poop in the bathroom. The problem is, she is vehemently against sitting to poop. Trying to get her to sit to poop just ends in hysterics and a lot of negativity around pooping (read: withholding). Same thing if we try to do pants-free.

She already eats tons and tons of fiber and drinks lots of water so no issue there, I don’t think it would be possible to increase fiber intake.

She has no issue going in her undies, so wearing undies won’t solve the problem.

When she does go, there is really no mess, we just put the poop in the potty and flush, take the pull-up outside, and there’s minimal wiping needed. So having her be part of the clean up isn’t a deterrent in any way.

We’ve tried every bribe under the sun including a very exciting new toy. Star charts as well.

Looking for that next step that can link going in the bathroom with actually sitting to poop.

My almost four year old has been potty trained for #1 for about 6-8 months now, and I’m so proud of her. She is not the type that can just be sat on the potty and gets very mad if the potty is suggested (like hey, let’s try sitting on the potty), so it was pretty tough for a while. Not that it’s a big deal that she gets mad, it just doesn’t lend itself to pottying, and I know this often leads to withholding and severe constipation, which I want to avoid. No use swapping one problem for a worse one.

That all being said, she hasn’t gotten the hang of pooping on the potty just yet. Won’t even try it. She gets very upset about the suggestion of pooping on the potty (again, totally fine, but she won’t do it because she’s so upset). We’ve read all the books over the past year and tried lots of bribery as well (that worked for pee). Star charts are a complete nonstarter.

Months ago, in order to entice her when candy didn’t work, I bought her a figurine set for her absolute favorite show. It’s virtually the only show she’s watched for months (we do about 30 mins a day), and she’s always using different mediums to make the characters (play dough, coloring, blocks, legos). She would love this figure set more than anything. But I already designated it her toy for when she goes #2 on the potty, and we are as far from that as we ever have been.

Bottom line—would it be very silly of me to hide the toy for a while and pull it out for an upcoming birthday? It’s not that we’re giving up, more so that this particular reward doesn’t seem to be working and I know she won’t be in this toy phase forever.

Alternative idea, only let her play with the new toy (or one like it) while on the potty? I’m just worried it would be hard with #2 because you don’t always have to go.

Extra info: We aren’t doing a traditional drop-off preschool or pre-k (we do one where the parents stay and it’s only 1-2 hours) so it’s not the end of the world that she’s not fully trained, but I would really like her to be.

It’s too hot here to spend time outside by the time the kids get up. I work out in the early morning before they wake and can barely take the heat then. I’m also pregnant so I need to be a bit more careful. We try to spend most of the summer up north but we still have some weeks here.

No pool available, the splash pad is absolutely dominated by daycares with much older kids, and the park is too hot. Tried an indoor playground, immediately all came down with norovirus.

We have a water table, kinetic sand, lots of preschool at home curriculum, and we do play dates.

Our days have gotten a little too unscheduled though and everyone is going stir crazy. What else is there to do in this dang heat? We are only here a few years for my husband’s work so I’m not used to it/don’t have strategies in place.

We also don’t do daycare so lots of time on our hands! We’re not allowed at our local story time because we have more than one child. Our library leaves a lot to be desired in general, since there’s no kids area, so we have to be silent which isn’t realistic right now.

I was planning on taking my kids to GLC. However, the recent news about fights in the bathroom leading to a shooting give me pause. I’m pregnant so I’m even more safety-minded than usual right now.

I haven’t been since childhood, but figured it was a nice shopping mall, like being at Somerset or Twelve Oaks, more or less. Maybe a slight step down but not a major difference. Has it turned into a place where trouble is stirred up regularly?

Obviously, these types of things can happen anywhere, I’m just wondering if this is a case where no one is surprised, or are fights and that sort of thing a pretty common occurrence?

I’m looking for any specific recommendations on a backpack that works well as a diaper bag for 3+. I like to pack outfit changes in the bag as well so it ends up taking up quite a bit of room.

I was looking for ones with doctor bag style openings to make them easier to get stuff out of, but that style is just too hard to find. I have a basic diaper bag right now and it’s not good, hard to get things out of and too small.

4 year old, one year old, and pregnant.

I find myself longingly looking at playsets like the ones I grew up with, but our yard is quite sloped, so it would be a huge pain and expense to install one.
We’ll only be here for 2 more years (and then will be renting out the house) so my husband doesn’t want to invest in anything or put in anything permanent—totally understandable but hard. I’m so bummed because being outside with my siblings on our playscape is a major part of my childhood memories.

There is one decent local park, but it’s undergoing renovations and honestly it’s getting a little repetitive. The other park (which is a bit of a drive anyway) was taken over by homeless people and isn’t really safe anymore. There’s also a dog park there and people let their big dogs run off leash, compounding the safety issue.

We tried an indoor play center and despite washing hands, we all got norovirus about two days after. Being pregnant and about to have a newborn, I just don’t want to risk that again, it was truly awful. Those are also expensive and far away.

We have a little indoor/outdoor slide, tunnel, mini toddler trampoline, sandbox, etc, but it’s just not enough, especially because everything but the sandbox has to be taken out and put away every day, which isn’t great for impromptu play. For a while I tried one of those (very expensive!) Step2 playsets but my 4 year old is way too old for those.

We also have lots of indoor toys (stepping stones, ride on toys) but we live in a place with no storage—no attic or basement, so anything like a jungle jumparoo is out of the question. Plus I just want to be outside sometimes.

Has anyone made anything work with a sloped backyard? Just not sure what a good solution is here.

Just thinking through this—I’ll have a new 4 year old (currently 35lbs), 1.5 year old, and newborn this fall. Typically I keep my newborn in the infant seat until 5-6 months at which point it is just too heavy on my pelvic floor to carry the seat+baby, so I switch to a convertible.

So at the time I switch, my oldest will be about 4.5, maybe 40lbs max. She is currently rear facing.

Should I go ahead and add a third Britax Poplar S to my registry now (to get the discount), or will something different be better for my oldest at that point? I know technically the weight limit is like 60lbs, and I don’t think she’ll max out the height, but I guess I’m just curious what the norm is, or if there are options I’m overlooking. Should I put a high back booster on the registry instead?

I guess another thing to consider is the rear-facing limits. She is rear-facing currently and the limit on the poplar s is 50lbs. I’m a little worried about the fit with three across rear-facing in my Toyota Highlander, but it should just about fit. The seats don’t fit rear-facing in the way back, in my experience.

First a disclaimer—please don’t recommend babywearing or having the oldest walk/bike/use a rider board/go in the jogging stroller basket as those aren’t options for us right now. My three year old still happily rides in a stroller and it’s the only way she will nap, so I need a recline feature.

I am looking for a stroller for long walks on not-perfectly-even sidewalks. I need three dedicated seats and it would be nice to have a fourth as a sometimes option for an older child (or have that room for storage).

I am ok with something being heavy to push as it enhances my workout.

I have a Toyota Highlander but plan on switching to a minivan in the future.

What has been your favorite stroller for three kids 3 and under?

So far I’ve looked at the Zoe triple, Valco with Joey seat, Larktale Caravan, and Wonderfold Elite W4. Leaning toward the Wonderfold.

I’m looking for an option that combines the best of both worlds or is in the middle ground between a double jogging stroller and a Wonderfold W4 wagon. It would need all-terrain tires for old, bumpy sidewalks and a recline feature.

We will need 3 dedicated seats (not a jump seat or rider board), with a fourth seat being nice but not needed all the time.

I’m conflicted, because on one hand we really could use the space and features provided by a Wonderfold W4, but I’m worried I’ll avoid using it due to the size and bulk.

We have been trying out a Jeep wagon but my kids hate it because of the straight back and lack of footwell. It only has two seats so it wouldn’t work anyway.

The Zoe strollers with 3 seats have tires that are great for a mall, but not practical for bumpy sidewalks.

I’m also very interested in being talked in to the Wonderfold if anyone wants to weigh in!

We are a family of many girls. All the girls so far have 3 syllable firsts + 3 syllable middles, so if you are going to say either of these make for too long a name, it’s falling on deaf ears.

Another girl coming soon, I can’t wait.

My husband said either name is fine. I prefer Emmeline (em-muh-leen) as a name, but I like the ring of Isabel Emilia better. Then I think, that’s silly, I should just go with the name I truly like more. Then part of me thinks I should save Emmeline in case with have another girl.

Here’s my hesitation on that—we already have a Madeline. Would those names be too close (Emmeline and Madeline)?

I forgot to ask my doctor this yesterday, and obviously what she says is the most important, but I’m just wondering how it went for others. If you gave birth after age 35, did your doctor really push for an induction at 39 weeks?

I had an induction last time because baby was 10lbs so we had to get her out. Not sure if I will have another big baby. If I do, I know I won’t be allowed to go longer than 35 weeks (sorry meant 39).

I don’t really want an induction because obviously you can’t use the birthing tub and at my hospital they wouldn’t allow me to use the mobile monitor so I had to stay perfectly still in bed; all my pain management strategies got thrown out the window.

I ended up getting the epidural twice but really want to avoid it this time for reasons specific to me and my situation (not because I think I’ll win a “prize”).

Anyone who has been through multiple births unmedicated, did subsequent labors and births ever get any easier?

My first birth was incredibly painful back labor that felt like all the typical things you hear. Like my back was being ripped in two but over the course of 5 hours. Then with my second birth I wasn’t allowed to move, I had to stay in bed for the monitor, which made things really really hard. I was managing the pain really well with movement but after I was no longer allowed to move, I had to give up and get the epidural.

Because I had an induction last time, many of the other forms of pain management like a birthing tub were not available to me, not sure if that will be the case this time or not.

The place where I grew up has a top-tier library system, many kids have a stay at home parent, there’s nice (free!) pools for residents only, and just so much to do. As many kids as you have, you can bring.

We are temporarily (probably 2-3 more years) living somewhere else for my husband’s job and let’s just say, it’s very different from where I grew up. It could be worse so I try not to complain. But I just feel bad about all the missed opportunities for my oldest.

But my biggest pet peeve here is that all the free community events and classes are exclusively for only children! Practically speaking, you are not allowed to come if you have more than one child (unless neither parent works apparently, dual non-working parents can bring 2). Story time at all the libraries, free art classes at the museum, and several other fun things I’ve found for enrichment are off-limits to us. We do some paid classes too, but with 3+ kids, having to pay full or nearly full cost for each sibling gets extremely expensive, and it’s frustrating when there are free events available as an alternative that we already fund with our taxes.

We have a family rule of no (non-grandma) babysitters until after a certain age, so we’re just dealing with it for now. Plus, that still wouldn’t be fair because all the kids should get to be in on the experience.

I get it, a lot of the kids here are not well behaved (or rather, their parents don’t do their job) and that rule probably has to be enforced to keep the chaos to a minimum. But I really dislike the promotion of small families and the exclusion of the majority of families. Community programs are so helpful for homeschoolers especially, and I’m sad we’re missing out.

Is this how it is where anyone else lives, or is it just us? Anyway, I’m just bummed about it and needed to vent to my fellow homeschool families.