u/notanniebananie

Hi again!

So I posted last week about when/how to add to my stash and got some great advice, thank you all so much🙂

A couple of people made a great point about picking diapers that are conducive with EC since that’s something we’re implementing, and it made me think of another lifestyle practice of ours that cloth diapering might impact— baby wearing! I’ve read that compression leaks can be an issue with baby wearing?

My girl spends a lot of time in a carrier (all of her naps, all of our outings, while I do chores, etc.) so it’s definitely a huge and very important part of our lifestyle that I don’t want to compromise. I’m especially worried about her naps because a) she can nap for up to 2 hours b) I don’t want her sleep disturbed by excessive wetness, and c) if the carrier gets soiled at any point it would be impossible to launder and have ready before her next nap.

Are there any types of diapers that might be more/less conducive with extended babywearing? Any at higher/lower risk of leaks in general?

TIA❤️

Hi again,

So I posted last week about my general situation— trying to raise my infant daughter bilingual in English and Arabic using OPOL as an English/non-Arabic speaker while my Syrian husband has limited time to spend speaking Arabic with her— but have an Arabic learning specific question that might be better for other Arabic speaking families in particular.

One of the main suggestions on my other post was for my husband to read Arabic books with her. Of course, reading to little ones is amazing for language acquisition— I read to her extensively in English, we have more books than we have space for and I keep buying more😅 There’s truly no shortage of wonderful children’s books in English (makes sense as we live in Canada). However, when I go to buy Arabic children’s books, I’m running into an issue. For one thing there don’t seem to be too many options, but more importantly I can’t find a single one in the Syrian dialect. Most are MSA I presume, but some (very few) are Lebanese specific.

I’m concerned about my husband reading to her with vocabulary that won’t be useful in her daily speech and comprehension. Those of you who know Arabic know that the dialects can differ quite a bit from each other. This actually also makes finding learning supports/resources difficult for me as an adult learner! As I said in my last post, I’m paranoid about confusing her and/or causing delays. I worry that getting input of words that are essentially functionally useless for her right now will be unhelpful if not harmful by taking away from exposure to actually useful words.

Has anyone dealt with this issue? What resources did you use to support your infant’s development of their Arabic dialect? I would like to share some with my husband!

TIA🙂

Hi all,

For some background: my 8 month old daughter, husband, and I live in Canada. I was born here and speak English (first language) and French (second language, not fully fluent), my husband was born in Syria and moved to Canada as a teenager— he speaks Arabic (first language) and English (second language, fully fluent). We set out to do OPOL (me English, husband Arabic) but 8 months in and my daughter is overwhelmingly exposed to English, and lots of it. Which is great! But I’m worried about the Arabic.

I’m a SAHM and spend practically every waking moment with my daughter (also every sleeping moment as we cosleep hahaha), chatting away in English. My husband on the other hand works 8am to 6 or 7pm, and since she goes to sleep at 7:30 or 8pm he unfortunately doesn’t get much time with her on weekdays, especially because I do bedtime. On weekends he has more time (although he works half days on Saturdays), however this is our family time so him and I are chatting to each other, and to her, in English. Also, admittedly, I’m a huge chatterbox and often overtake my husband in this regard.

My daughter is also exposed to lots of English via outings, my family, and my best friend. Ironically, because my family lives in a different city, I speak to them more often (daily calls/Facetimes) than I do to my in laws who speak Arabic and live in the same city as us (weekly in-person visits). My best friend also lives in the same city as us and I see her more often than my in laws, she is also a huge chatterbox so lots of exposure to English that way.

Now for ways I can potentially expose her to more Arabic: I do know very limited Arabic— how to say I [don’t] want/need/like/know, this/that, here/there, come/go, who/what/when/where/why/how, eat/drink, wait, enough, some common nouns (foods, animals, body parts, household items), yes/no, etc. I’m thinking to maybe try subbing some English words that I use very often with my daughter to Arabic. For example, instead of saying “do you want apple?” I could say “bideek tufaha?” and could model her saying “bidee tufaha” instead of “I want apple”. Instead of “where’s Baba?” I could say “weyn Baba?” or “shu/meen had” instead of “what/who is that?” and model her replying with the Arabic word. I’m very, very paranoid about confusing her though, or causing delays, if I’m unable to stay perfectly consistent.

Would something like this even support a broader grasp on Arabic anyways?

Any other advice?

TIA!

Are there any on the market? Even my favourite non-toxic brand Attitude uses them in their conditioners— behentrimonium methosulfate, fifth on the ingredient list! I can’t for the life of me find any conditioners that don’t use them, but I don’t want them close to my family and I😬

TIA!

Hi all,

So I’ve been giving my 7.5 month old EBF baby girl iron supplements to ensure that she’s getting enough iron while being able to avoid pushing too hard on iron rich foods (which she’s not really into yet).

But now I’m reading this from La Leche League (https://www.lllc.ca/iron-and-breastfeeding):

“Some babies given iron supplements experience digestive upsets, such as vomiting and diarrhea. These supplements can change the balance of the gut flora. Your milk contains two proteins that bind with iron in your baby’s gut. This prevents harmful iron-loving bacteria from multiplying. When iron supplements are given to a breastfed baby, these proteins are overwhelmed by the extra iron in the baby’s gut. This allows harmful iron-loving bacteria to thrive.”

Ensuring iron sufficiency and a healthy gut flora for my girl are both extremely, extremely important to me. Is this statement from LLL evidence based? How impactful are iron supplements in baby’s gut flora?

ETA: There have been studies done which seem to show a negative impact (ex. https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC10887499/) but I’m struggling to interpret them. How significant are the impacts? Are they enough to induce negative outcomes for babies?😞

TIA, I would really appreciate any help.

Hi all,

I posted a few weeks ago about babyproofing the bed I share with my now 7.5 month old girl and got some great tips, however, I’ve ultimately decided to move us onto the floor!

The issue (and the reason I was very much hoping to be able to babyproof the bed) is that we have a very limited amount of floor space available, as shown in my last post. A double mattress is theoretically possible but the logistics would be truly nightmarish. So, I’m thinking to do a twin and am feeling pretty good about it! I discovered that Newton makes a twin mattress out of the same material as their crib mattresses which is amazing for my peace of mind vis a vis bed firmness safety. And we only use a sliver of the queen bed anyways since I’m in the cuddle curl with my girl right up against me, so currently the smaller mattress isn’t an issue.

But looking down the line— will I regret a twin when I’m sharing it with an 18 month old? I don’t think I’ll feel comfortable babyproofing the bed with rails until closer to 2 years old so I think we’ll be on the floor until then.

TIA❤️

Does anyone have experience with this specific seat liner? Is it compatible with other stroller brands?

Now that it’s summer and baby girl is bare skinned more, I’d love to reduce her direct contact with the synthetic fibre of our Uppababy Vista’s seat, especially when it’s hot/she’s sweating! I know Uppababy is a reputable brand (why we picked it!) and I’m not overly concerned with whatever is in the seat, but we like to sub in natural fibres where we can and this would be an easy way to. Plus cotton seems much more comfy anyway!

TIA❤️

Does anyone have experience with this specific nursing cover? I love Mushie and that their nursing cover is muslin for breathability, but want to make sure it isn’t see through at all as I find muslin can be in direct sunlight.

I love and 1000% support fellow moms that breastfeed proudly without cover in public, it’s just that I cover myself/dress modestly for religious reasons so this is an extension of that practice for me personally!

TIA❤️

If you guys don’t mind🙂

So my baby girl is newly 7 months old and I’ve been wanting to transition to cloth diapering and ECing with her for a while now but have felt too overwhelmed to pull the trigger!

I’m feeling more confident about cloth diapering now because we did switch to cloth wipes while my girl had a diaper rash and I absolutely love it. I’m laundering wipes every couple of days anyway, so I figure why not make it a full load with diapers!

The ECing, however, I’m less confident about. It would be amazing because my girl poops several times a day and I’m starting to burn out with changing poopy diapers. Her bum also obviously doesn’t appreciate it! But she rarely shows signs that she needs to poop and there is no real schedule to it, although she does pretty reliably poop right after waking up in the morning. So I’m just feeling overwhelmed at the prospect of holding her over the potty with no idea of whether or not she actually needs it. We do lots of diaper free time already to let her bum and privates breathe after changes, but I haven’t learned much from it vis a vis signs of pee or poop.

Just need some encouragement, would especially love if anyone in a similar position to us wants to share their experience and how their journeys went!

TIA❤️

Hi all,

So my SIL’s wedding is coming up and we are planning to bring my 6 month old baby girl for the first couple of hours just to take some family photos. My MIL suggested that she wear the adorable fancy white dress that her then-6-month-old niece wore to my other SIL’s wedding last year, and I enthusiastically agreed.

This weekend she dropped off the dress and I’ve just discovered that it’s from SHEIN and smells extremely strongly of laundry fragrance (the kind of smell that doesn’t come out). Both of these are huge no-nos in our household and especially for our girl.

I’m extremely torn on what to do. I really, really don’t feel comfortable with her wearing the dress, but I also really don’t feel comfortable telling my husband’s family the reason. For some additional context, there are sensitive cultural family dynamics at play. We have to be especially careful to not cause offence.

I worry that my discomfort with the dress would come off as judgment. I don’t judge them whatsoever— my husband’s uncle and aunt are amazing parents— but honestly, I would feel self-conscious if someone wasn’t comfortable dressing their kid in my kid’s clothes as if something was wrong with them.

My husband doesn’t think it’s a big deal because it’s only a couple of hours. His cousin probably wears SHEIN and laundry fragrances every day and is such a happy and healthy little girl! But I have OCD and get very hung up on things like this. My husband said if it really makes me anxious he can go to his parents with an excuse.

But what excuse? Or is this OCD and I should just let go and put her in the dress? WWYD?

ETA: I just want to add that my in-laws are truly lovely people and they are very respectful of my and my husband’s boundaries. They would respect if I wasn’t comfortable with the dress, but they are quite sensitive and I do think it would cause offence which is a particularly big no-no in their culture. If it were my parents, for better or for worse I would just be honest regardless if it would offend them, lol.

Hi all,

My baby girl has nearly outgrown her Ergobaby Embrace so we are on the market for a new carrier! I was originally planning to get another SSC (specifically the Lark) since we do love the Embrace, but I now have my eye on a meh dai. I love their versatility and they seem like the best of both worlds between SSCs and stretchy wrap style carriers (our favourite type).

I have a few concerns I need to address before committing but here’s one of my main ones:

With all the fabric around the waist, are meh dais still comfy for lounging around the house? Baby girl naps exclusively in her carrier and I’m hoping to keep it up as long as she enjoys/allows it. While she’s napping I like to sit down and relax on the couch with her so it’s very important to me that our new carrier be comfy for this! I’ve read that some waterfall style carriers with those chunky waist bands aren’t comfortable for sitting down which would obviously be a big problem for us. Wondering if a meh dai might have the same issue?

TIA❤️

I would be extremely grateful!! Sorry this is long I just want to give some context and also need to rant a little bit!

So for whatever reason I tend to develop a significant build up of boogers (ie. dried, solidified mucus) inside my nose that can be extremely irritating. They are so large that they block my nasal passage, cause my nose to itch ferociously, and can be felt from literally the outside of my nose😫

Well most recently blowing my nose wasn’t doing the trick and I simply couldn’t take it anymore so I went in there to remove them manually (sorry, gross). In my frustration I was quite aggressive which caused my nose to bleed and set off an even worse problem than the boogers— large, hard scabs.

The scabs were problematic in the exact same way as the boogers, causing blockages and itchiness but way worse. They were severely interfering with my ability to nose breathe so I had to get them out, though I tried stick to blowing my nose only or at least being extremely gentle.

This didn’t seem to help and set off an even worse problem because I ended up developing sinusitis. Constant congestion with pressure/sinus headaches and a nose running with bright yellow mucus. I initially thought it was an infection because of the mucus colour but apparently all the colour means is there are white blood cells in the area? So now I wonder if it was caused by the ongoing inflammation in my nose from the scabs.

It took 2+weeks but I finally got past it and things seemed better/healed. But now the irritating build up of boogers has restarted!! I desperately don’t want to trigger another round of scabbing and sinusitis but I physically and mentally can’t take the feeling of these huge, hard boogers.

Does anyone have any ideas and/or suggestions for what is causing this build up and how I can ease my discomfort without making things worse😪

It surely can’t come down to pain tolerance and/or birthing techniques entirely?

I gave birth to my baby girl 5 months ago but am reflecting on my L&D after hearing about my friend’s birth which happened last night (and went very well, both mom+baby are doing great 🎉💞).

My friend texted me about 12 hours after she went into labour (after being induced) that she was at 4cm and had “still no pain” despite having been started on oxytocin. Meanwhile, 12 hours after I went into labour (was not induced), also at 4cm, I was in blinding pain, screaming, throwing up from the pain, and unable to walk or even stand😅.

We are the same age, both FTMs, both of our babies were facing backwards and very low down. My friend was only 38 weeks (induced early due to worries of cholestasis) while I was 40+3 so my babe was probably bigger at birth. Both babies are girls, if that makes any difference. I was not particularly anxious about L&D, my friend was.

My friend went on to deliver without pain medication about 5 hours later. I, thank God, got an epidural shortly after I finally hit 4cm and went on to deliver 12 hours later. I’m interested in trying unmedicated when we (God willing) give my baby girl a sibling but with the extreme level of pain I had from so early on I absolutely would/could not.

What gives??

As far as I know, my friend and I have similar pain tolerances (moderate)🤷‍♀️.

Hi all,

So I figure this must be a pretty common issue and I see lots of posts about it on other subs but I can’t find any on this one! I would love to hear from you guys because we practice attachment parenting and it’s very much a priority for me.

So my baby girl is almost 5 months old and while she can entertain herself for short stretches, after about 10 minutes at the maximum she’ll start to get fussy and will cry before long if I’m not able to intervene fast enough.

For this reason, cooking is a huge challenge. I ping pong back and forth between baby and the task at hand but it’s not enough to “placate” her. It stresses us both out when I’m not able to give her undivided attention😅

It got so stressful in fact that I stopped cooking entirely quite early on. Unfortunately my husband and I have been living off of takeout because he gets home from work too late for either of us to cook at that point.

But as baby is quickly approaching 6 months old and solids, I’m desperate to figure out cooking in a way that works for both of us (ie. without tears+minimal fussing from baby) because I plan to make her meals from scratch.

Any suggestions??

TIA❤️

ETA: Just to note I have tried setting up baby in a swing in the kitchen (with plenty of toys) and talking/singing to her constantly but I said earlier it’s not enough to “placate” her haha, this girl wants undivided attention! Also we love babywearing and she’s in the carrier often during the day (including for naps) but I’m not comfortable having her so close when I’m chopping onions, handling raw meat, or cooking at the stove which is a significant portion of what I need to do for meals!