u/cinnamondolcecoffeee

I have previously sent quite a few cleanout kits from 2018-2023 (apparently I had sent 16 cleanout kits). When I look back, none of them had the $15 processing fee. My payout fees ranged anywhere from $10-60 dollars per kit. I never expected a lot of money. I sent things I knew I didnt have the time to try to sell myself. It was nice to put $20 or whatever I earned towards a purchase.

So anyways, I recently sent 2 clean out kits that are at the end of their selling window. I havent made $15 to cover the fee from either kit. I sent a good amount of items. Nothing super high end, but normal and mid-tier brands, cute items, no brands on the no payout list. I did lower the price on quite a few items, because they had jacked up the price really high for certain items. My rule of thumb is if i think it is a reasonable price that i would pay.

I essentially donated all my items to ThredUp. I would have much rather donated to a local womans charity, which is what I will be doing moving forward.

I see posts like this all the time, but I just wanted to share my disappointment somewhere.

I have an almost 13 month old. His sleep has been a journey. Long story short, i cosleep with him for the time being. Being a SAHM and cosleeping basically makes me feel like I am “on” all the time. My husband goes on dad duty when he gets off work at 5, but I usually end up catching up on stuff around the house or cooking dinner. I dont really feel like I can relax until I put baby in the crib (he starts the night in the crib and then I cosleep with him when I go to bed). He very consistently wakes up 2 hours after he goes to bed (if not sooner). After that, we cant always get him back in his crib so I normally end up just going to bed with him or my husband and I take turns holding him while we sit on the couch and watch TV. Also, im not really looking for solutions for his sleep as the point of this post.

So all that to say, theres basically this 2 hour window every night where I feel like its the only down time I have and I feel like I truly let myself relax. I have had trouble relaxing up until recently. Lately, I like to take a bath. I would like to start reading more. Sometimes I watch TV with my husband. I had barely drank alcohol since baby came along. Maybe 3 drinks the entire first year of his life. Then the past few weeks, I have had some very stressful days when I have ended up having a glass of wine at the end of the day as a way of winding down. I had become very sober curious before pregnancy, after realizing some patterns of my drinking I didnt like. I didnt like that I sometimes used alcohol to unwind. So I dont want to go down that path again. I dont really see alcohol fitting into my current lifestyle.

So I need some ideas for how to decompress and unwind at the end of the day.

Its definitely hard adjusting to this new SAHP life where there really isnt clocking out of work!

Were going to do our first hotel stay this weekend and im a little stressed about the sleep situation. I sleep on a very low profile futon on the floor with my 12 month old at home. He rolls a lot in his sleep and every time he wakes at night he immediately sits up, crawls, even stands on the rare occasion. I usually wake when he does, but sometimes i wake and find him sitting on the floor on the side of the bed…no clue what his manner of exit from the bed was…

We have done some traveling to families houses and had luck with just putting a mattress on the floor. I also slept with him once on a high normal bed that was against the wall. I put him on the wall side and it wasnt a problem.

Also, my husband does not want to entertain the idea of our baby sleeping between us. Husband is a fairly large guy and feels like he sleeps too deep and moves to much in his sleep. I am more comfortable with the idea than he is after all the books ive read about sleep. But not trying to start an argument right now.

So ideally we can put the mattress on the floor at the hotel.

But im planning for the event that there is not enough space to do that. I assume the bed will not be against a wall. So I bought these inflatable travel bumpers and I set them up today and I am so worried that my little guy would easily crawl over them in the night. And fall off the bed.

Any suggestions? Should i buy a bedrail? Not sure if we would be able to fit that in the car for travel

Just looking for some new ideas. I have a very active, very mobile, very high emotion and energy 12 month old. I use the phrase “all gas and no breaks” to describe him a lot lol. Anyways, sleep has been pretty poor lately. I woke up feeling exhausted and am just like “what are we going to do all day?”. Since having a mini me watching me all the time, I have become hyper aware of how much im on my phone. Pre-kid I would just lay on the couch and scroll and watch TV on a day like today. But I dont want him to see me scrolling my phone. I also try to really keep screen time minimal. He watches ms rachel and sesame street occasionally, but in short 10-15min allotments and only when really desperate. Usually, on a day like today, I will go get a coffee and maybe walk around somewhere. Getting out into a new environment really helps both of us. But I cant always go spend money. Im also exhausted and lacking motivation to get up and out of the house. For outdoor activities, its pretty hot out where we live still and if we go to a playground i use a lot of energy following him around while he runs wild lol

I nursed my 12 month old (while in his baby carrier) in the middle of multiple Walmart aisles today. The only other time I have been bold enough to nurse in public was at the zoo - and even then I found a secluded corner. So I just wanted to share somewhere because I honestly feel empowered!

I recently taught myself to nurse him while wearing him in a baby carrier. I feel like that was the start of my empowerment journey. He knows how to sign “milk” and occasionally will have a day while he does it a lot. He also really has a knack for deciding he needs to nurse in the middle of stores. So anyways he kept signing milk in Walmart today. I was nowhere near done shopping. Since I had him in a baby carrier, I initially stood in the bathroom to just nurse him in the carrier. That was my first time ever going to a bathroom to nurse and I feel kind of icky about it and wish I didnt do it. And then, the rest of our walmart trip, this child of mine kept signing milk every 2 minutes. I finally just decided to nurse him while shopping. I doubt anyone even noticed since I did it in the carrier. I wish I had just done this sooner instead of stopping a whole shoplifting trip to go to the car or find a dressing room to nurse in!

My family is going to a college football game next weekend that will be during peak sunlight. I think temperature be in the 80s (F). My 12 month old will be a lap child. I am wondering what carrier might be good for the game. My main concern is the heat. But he also is a very curious guy and likes to see things, so im not sure if he might not like being faced towards my husband and I.

My daily carrier is a H&P lark. My husband actually has his own lark as well. So the pros of that is that we both are comfortable using it. I can also back carry on the lark.

I also have a girasol wrapmysol and stokke limas. I can do high back carries with those, so baby could see things better. Husband has never used them so I would have to help him when its his turn to carry.

My other option is a wildbird ring sling that I never got the hang of. I havent tried it in months but think I might have an easier time since my baby is a lot bigger and more mobile since I last tried. I was actually wondering if this might be the best option in terms of breathability since it is linen. I have just read some comments on here that it might not be as supportive for a toddler?

Also should I get one of those fans that can attach to a carrier?

Any other tips? I can only bring one smallish, clear bag with me.

…and I feel like I have peaked in multi tasking mom life haha. Just had to tell someone because no one else in my real life would be as excited!

And are there any non-organic foods at certain stores you think are better quality than other stores in terms of high quality produce with less pesticides, or high quality grocery items without a lot of additives? For example: I think the Bell & Evans air chilled chicken that is not organic is good quality. I buy the value pack.

I got a little obsessed with buying everything organic when my baby started eating solids. He is almost 1 now and we have gone over our grocery budget every week. I really need to get our budget into check. Im thinking about prioritizing organic for things like berries. Would love to hear what others do!

I have been posting here occasionally to vent, throughout my sleep journey with my wonderful wakeful baby. I was feeling particularly burned out last week. He is 11 months old and still wakes every 2 hours, occasionally goes 3 hours (I normally dont look at the clock, but I occasionally do). I started co-sleeping around 3-4 months for my own survival l. My husband and I were walking zombies. It truly saved us and now I usually enjoy it. Although, I have had periods of burnout.

Anyways, I think I was also feeling some pressure from family. I really value my own mothers opinion about most things. She is supportive of whatever I do as a parent and supports me co-sleeping. However, she had been encouraging me to try to get my baby to sleep in his own room more (he starts the night in the crib and then comes to sleep with me when im ready for bed). She thinks he will end up in my bed forever if I dont. Also my in-laws are a completely different story - we straight up lie to them about our baby’s sleep at this point. And then we recently did some family traveling and I was a little embarrassed every time people asked about his sleep. Why do people care about sleep so much!

My husband is supportive of whatever I want to do with sleep because I am the main person doing nights. He enjoys both baby and I in the room with him.

So with the burnout + outside pressure, I decided to set up our floor bed in my babys room and see if a floor bed was the magic solution I keep reading about. For one week I attempted to go to bed in my own bed and then just join my baby when he woke. Well it wasnt a magic sleep solution! He still woke every two hours and I ended up sleeping in his room all night. My husband missed us and said he felt lonely. The few times I went to bed in my own bed, I felt like I was fighting my instincts being so separate from my baby.

Today, I decided - what am I doing? Why am I letting what other people (mostly my mother and in-laws) think affect my parenting?!

So my husband and I just moved our floor bed back to our bedroom (baby and I sleep on a floor bed next to my husband in the regular bed). Im now laying next to my baby and I feel at peace. My husband is excited he wont be alone tonight. He said he missed seeing our baby in the morning.

I think things will naturally fall into place when they should. Im glad Im following my instincts for what is right for my family and not letting my brief burnout and pressure from my family affect things!

If you read my ramblings - thanks :)

I posted this in another sub, but think I might get some responses from people with differing views on normal baby sleep. So I want to post here too -

My baby is 11 months old. I’ve thankfully been pretty successful with breastfeeding up until this point (aside from the fact that one of my boobs has been rejected and I am a crazy lady with one huge boob and one small boob!). I plan to keep going strong with breastfeeding as long as my baby wants for the next year at least. I don’t want to night wean until 18 months because I have read it is easier to do when baby is a little more communicative. He also isnt huge into solids yet and I think he gets some calories from night feeds.

That being said, this kid wakes up every 2 hours for the past few months. Prior to that, he woke hourly. My husband and I thought we were going to die at one point! He slept great until he hit the 4 month sleep regression early and I havent slept more than 3 hours in a row since then. It ended out working best for our family that I just co-sleep and nurse baby back to sleep with all the wakes. It ended up being more work for my when my husband tried to help with wakes. Our baby also had a period where he flat out would not fall asleep with my husband. Thats improving a little bit. My husband lets me sleep in or helps me get extra sleep in various ways.

So anyways, ive been feeling kind of burned out lately. We decided to see if he we can transition our baby to his crib. I moved our floor mattress into his nursery and sleep on it next to him. I have only given it about a week, but he still wakes up every 2 hours all night. I end up giving in and letting him sleep with me on the floor the rest of the night because it makes the wakings easier on me. I keep thinking if I persist with trying to put him back in the crib after every waking, maybe he will start doing longer stretches.

I believe it is normal for babies to wake at night and need comfort from their parents. However, mama has barely slept in a year. Is it silly for me to hope that my baby will start sleeping longer stretches before i night wean?

I taught him to sign “milk”. Im working on other signs, but right now its the only one that stuck. It caught on about 2 months ago or so. He signs it all the time, all day long. I think it has come to mean multiple things because its his only form of communication. He does do it when he truly wants milk. However, he also does it when tired and needs to nap, when he wants mama to pick him up, etc. He even does it to my husband now and were no quite sure what it is communicating.

Anyways, that was just some background info. So he signs milk all day long. A few weeks ago, I stopped offering to nurse him each time and would start just acknowledging I understood his sign. If he persists, then i assume its truly a sign for milk and I nurse him.

Well yesterday, he kept saying he wanted milk and he would then give me a little “gentle” bite on my nipple. I call it a gentle bite because it doesnt hurt. He does it very slowly and lightly like he is testing the waters. He has done it a handful of times over the past couple weeks, but yesterday it suddenly happened a lot in one day. When he does it, i stop, look him in the eye and calmly but seriously say “no. We do not bite.” Then i usually end the nursing session for a bit.

When i tried to put him to bed yesterday , he did it twice in a row. He signed he wanted to nurse, but he didnt even try to nurse. He just did his gentle little bite and then looked at me. So of course i told him
“No. We dont bite.” And then stopped and tried to rock him to sleep. He kept persisting with signing milk. So i assumed he was truly needing milk now. Offered to nurse him. Same thing happened again! So i told him no. And then i got my husband to try to rock him to sleep. And my baby screamed and screamed and cried. He historically doesnt let me husband get him to sleep unless he is really tired. So i let my husband try to get him to sleep for maybe 5 min, but since he was screaming the whole time I ended up taking baby back. Then, baby truly did nurse and fell right asleep.

Okay, then this morning. We woke up. He signs milk. And then he did it again! He didnt even try to nurse and did his little testing the water bite.

Any advice? Im hoping its just a phase. I dont really want to end my nursing journey over something like this.

Im doing a combo of baby led weaning and purees with my baby. I prefer to cook his food, but dont always have time in reality. When I have looked for purees to buy, the baby food aisle in most stores is pouch city. Im trying to avoid pouches and would prefer glass jars. The glass jars (especially if organic) are pretty limited to a few fruits.
I would love to find some pureed organic vegetables in glass because that is what is harder to have time to make - harder to cook/steam veggies and puree than to just puree some fruit that doesnt need cooked. Any recommendations?

TLDR: having trouble finding vegetable puree thats not in a pouch. Mostly finding fruit in glass jars. If i find purees veggies its always carrot and sweet potato.

He is 11 months this week and something suddenly clicked with solids. He nursed every 2 hours or during the day until now! (night is a whole different ballgame still 🙃) I thought I would be relieved but im kind of sad!

He is doing a food challenge for an allergy and we have to sit in the waiting room of the office for 3-4 hours. I feel like i cant just set up a pack n play in a waiting room. I have no clue what to do to keep him busy the whole time. It is first thing in the morning so he probably wont nap or will nap at the very end. He crawls and cruises but i dont want him crawling around the medical office floor obviously. But he also is not chill enough to just sit on my lap for that long!

My baby will be 11 months next week. We have been co-sleeping since around 3 months on a floor futon. He starts his night out in the crib and then I bring him to the futon with me when I am ready for bed. I have very deeply enjoyed this time sleeping with my baby. I am so glad it happened and I will always think back to how precious it has been to lay next to him. That being said, I am progressively burning out. My baby has always been a very wakeful sleeper. Since around 12 weeks, he has never done more than a 3-3.5 hour stretch. There were a few months he woke hourly or less and I honestly dont know how I survived. We never got the hang of side lying nursing - i could never get him to do it. I still occasionally try and it just never works out. He also only nurses from one boob, which makes positions limited. So I basically sit upright in the bed every time he wakes to nurse him. And then we lay back down and go back to sleep. For the past 1-2 months he rolls away from me all night long. He seems to like his own space. About once a week I decide to see how long he will last in the crib at night. However, I end up deciding im exhausted and to just bring him to the futon with me after his first or second wakeup. I question if he would sleep better if I let him try to sleep in the crib all night, but im stuck in this loop where im too tired to try it and have to run back and forth to his room as needed.

Im thinking about putting my futon in his bedroom tonight, next to the crib, and just sleeping there and responding to wakeups while he stays in the crib for sleep. Just to see if things improve for him sleep-wise.

Has anyone tried anything like this?
Any suggestions?

I fully understand and agree that it is normal for babies to wake at night. Especially breastfed babies. I understand it is biological for babies to want to sleep near their mom. I think he now understands that I always come respond to him when he sleeps in his crib. He used to cry every time he woke alone in the crib. Now he just silently sits there and seems to just wait for my husband or I to come. Which is why I am hoping if we do transition to the crib he knows I exist outside of his room and will respond to him as needed.

And yes, my husband offers to help. I have just ended up doing nights by myself by choice because i don’t want to pump bottles of milk and sometimes our baby wont go back to sleep for my husband. Its just easier for me to do nights.

If the crib thing doesnt work, my other thought is to have my husband start doing a full night shift once a week on the weekend so that I can have a full night of sleep.

Anyways, im just feeling really tired all the time lately. Im burned out. It has been almost a year since I have slept more than 3-4 hours at a time.

Thanks if you have read my very long post!

My baby is almost 11 months and I keep waiting for things to get easier and they never do. I barely ever get a minute to myself. I feel like I cant keep up with anything. My baby is extremely clingy right now. Fusses most of the day. Im basically baby wearing all the time and having trouble keeping up with the house. And I still think about divorcing my husband once a week when annoyed at him. I think he feels like he is drowning in his own way. We just bought a house and every weekend when I wish he would give me a break, he ends up doing all this household stuff that needs done, fixing things around the house, and helping me catch up on all the chores I havent been able to do during the week. He does do baby duty. He gives me breaks to go take a bubble bath when I need it. Orders us dinner when I havent been able to cook. Even my hormones are still all over the place. I guess maybe I just wasnt prepared for the reality of being the primary parent. Maybe I am just not coping with motherhood well. I feel like I have barely done anything for myself in the past year. My baby still doesnt sleep and we dont want to sleep train. So whenever baby goes to bed, I end up just getting ready for bed myself because Im exhausted. I dont ever sit and hangout with my husband in the evenings (yes, he helped with night shifts in the beginning, but co-sleeping ended out working best for us so I take the night shift by choice). I feel like our relationship has suffered. We are never intimate because im always exhausted or dont feel like it. Or I am just annoyed with him. He is never pushy about it. But I do miss how close we used to be. I guess I just needed to vent. Today is a particularly rough day. Baby is super fussy. I am coming down with some sort of cold. Husband and I basically divided up household chores and baby duty and neither of us have had any downtime yet. The only reason im writing this is because im literally pacing around the house wearing my fussy baby in the carrier. Im usually more positive than this. I know all babies have their own timing. And I know all babies have different temperaments. But this has just been way harder than I ever imagined. We wanted another kid, but I just cant picture how we would handle adding another kid in the mix. Anyways, thanks for reading my exhausted rant.

I primarily nurse at the breast. However, I have always had a small freezer stash for when my parents occasionally watch my baby. We went on a 3 day trip and came back to realize I had accidentally left our freezer door cracked open and everything in the freezer thawed! Its really sad to lose milk like that. My baby is 10 months old and it was probably only 4 bottles worth of milk. So its not a huge deal. But nonetheless sad to lose it. I can’t even imagine what people feel like who lose even larger quantities and rely on pumped milk :(