u/anniiebananie

Hello! I'm an American living abroad with no intention to return to the US (so more immigrant than expat).

I recently had a baby who will be raised in France; she will be a French citizen like her father. I am wondering what to do about declaring her birth to the US or not.

I would love to hear from others in this situation about their experiences declaring (or not) their US-eligible children born abroad.

YES, I know that legally she is a US citizen whether we want her to be or not, and I am supposed to declare her. Yes, I know (and worry) that not doing the paperwork can cause trouble and complications at the border. We have family in the US and will visit regularly, so right now it's likely I will go through with the paperwork.

But I also know several young adults for whom the US dual citizenship has become a huge tax and financial burden to the point they strongly regret it. And while I've seen many commenters say "just let the child decide later if they want to renounce", that's not so easy either. We'd be happy to pay the fee for her, but it's a long process and I've heard she might have trouble entering the US while it's ongoing (which would again be a problem later on since family visits will continue). So she might be stuck with it almost permanently, or at least for a long time.

Ultimately I think we'll probably declare her and deal with the headache later on, but I'm especially interested by anyone who's gone the opposite route. Or anyone who has been able to travel to the US while renouncing citizenship. Thanks for reading!

Hello! I have a 5-week old baby. I got a secondhand Ergobaby Embrace carrier before she was born based on a lot of positive feedback I saw online (carrier try-ons or lending libraries aren't really a thing where I live). We've been able to set it up and use it per the instructions, but I kind of hate it because the fabric on my shoulders is constantly slipping and doesn't want to stay in place. I feel like I can barely lift my arms, even just to mid-height (not up high or above my shoulders) without it slipping.

Does anyone have a) advice for reducing this slippage with the Embrace or b) another carrier rec for this age (wrap, structured carrier, whatever else) that doesn't have the same shoulder slippage? Bonus if it's a carrier where you can actually lift your arms up above shoulder height, though that's not a necessity.

Thank you!