Looking for any and all advice on how to effectively wean. LO is coming up in 18m and I’m finally ready and I think they are too. I’ve loved this journey despite the hiccups and hurdles we had, but I’m feeling like it’s time.
Added info, we cosleep and I’m hoping to ultimately end our breastfeeding and cosleeping journey, so bonus points if you’ve got advice for both!
I’m an over-packer by nature lol. Besides the obvious (SPF, clothes, towels, beach toy, etc) what else should I bring? And what have you brought in the past that was a waste of space?
Edit to add: trip to the beach is about 2-3h pending traffic if anyone has recs for car entertainment!
LO is 14m old. This could be me worrying about nothing as a first timer, but here’s what’s going on:
LO is very receptive and smart- not just my opinion but the opinion of our pediatrician and former PT. They can communicate with sounds, a few words, pointing and some sign language. So before this past weekend I thought we were on track for our age group, but now idk?
Our LO has a cousin that’s about a month older, which sometimes feels like a big difference at this stage. We do our best not to compare the two children bc we know every child develops differently, even kids raised in the same household. We saw them and their parents over the weekend, after a few months apart. Immediately I noticed 15m/o cousin can very clearly say ‘hi, no, hello, mama, dada, baby, Pop’ and possibly a few other words I can’t remember now.
My child says ‘Dada, (Occasionally Mama), kitty-kitty, tickle-tickle, bahbah (for baby) and hi/hey’. LO also makes about 8-10 animal noises, and can also sign for ‘more’, ‘all-done,’ and ‘milk’ and I’m trying to incorporate a few other signs like mom, dad, water, & food. I’ve seen plenty of resources online saying animal noises and signs count as words, so part of me is like okay LO is verbal just not saying as many words.
Last night I casually pointed to a family member’s dog and said oh hi, KiKi. LO immediately repeated ‘Kiki’ but when prompted, didn’t say it again.
Am I worried about nothing and LO is on track? Is the cousin advanced? Is my child behind or showing signs of potential speech delays?
Part of me feels like I’m doing too much comparison and freaking myself out. And another part of me is questioning if this is something I bring up to her doctor at her upcoming 15m appointment.
ETA: the responses have quickly put my mind at ease, huge thank you!!
I love her. Truly. She has been so helpful and there for us when my mother hasn’t. And she has taught me so much about being a mom and I’m so grateful. My husband and I love both his parent so much we decided to live next door. Now here’s the rant, because nobody’s perfect, including me.
For context, we are 99% screen free, we try avoiding processed foods whenever possible (mostly sugar), and we always have our stroller parked in front of the house behind our gate. In-laws know this.
Friday after baby’s (14months old) nap I took her to MIL’s. I provided lunch, drinks, sunscreen, hats, etc. I come back after a few hours so I could bring her home for second nap. MIL reports she wasn’t interested in her lunch so she made her a grilled cheese instead… I made a face but didn’t chastise bc okay, not what I would’ve given her but she ate. She also mentioned they went for a quick walk. I assumed they did this in her Little Tikes car like they did earlier in the week.
Husband comes home, in laws order food for everyone for dinner. Baby has leftover lunch and eats 90% for dinner. MIL tells my husband, yes we took her out for a walk in *your* stroller. Meaning the stroller they had for my husband when he was a toddler. So, a stroller that is literally falling apart after 30+ years and we both politely ask her not to do that. And remind her there is an available stroller outside our house at all times. She immediately snaps back with ‘what’s wrong with the old one’?? Without hesitation & before my husband can say anything I reply, ‘it doesn’t have a 5pt harness system, the sun-shield is broken while the new one has UPF50, and it’s not sturdy enough for these awful sidewalks’ She huffs and rolls her eyes & leaves the room to ‘watch the weather’
The following morning the community yard sale is happening around town. Husbands grandmother passed a few months ago and we are all working to clear the ‘junk’ from her house. MIL asks my husband to help, he says okay but can you help with baby. She refuses to come next door to our house to help. Okay fine. But after pulling down half of the items from the attic she asks husband to stop- he replies that we should just get it all now. So he does.
She immediately goes ‘I asked you not to bring everything down’ and he replies ‘okay, we ask you all the time to not do things and you don’t listen’. She, offended, asks ‘like what?’
Of course he says, ‘you constantly have the tv or screens on when we ask not to. You take baby out in an old stroller when we ask you to use the new one. You feed her things we ask you not to’
Again she walks away. She’s a big fan of giving people the silent treatment because it’s worked for her in the past. Husband and I both know it’s toxic and so we just ignore it. So we either give her space or ignore she’s trying to be silent and force interaction.
It’s been two days and she’s still treating me unfairly because of this interaction. Ignoring, being snarky & short with answers. Or simply not talking to my husband or me.
Personally I don’t think it’s fair to treat me this way, I wasn’t even present for the interaction that upset her.
I’m not a petty or an angry person. But I had a traumatic upbringing when it came to my parents and how they reacted to each other, myself and my siblings. So this is all really upsetting. And in my opinion fking childish.
I told my husband this morning I will not be interacting with her today. She doesn’t get to ignore me and expect time with my baby. I’m certainly not using my baby as a pawn or bargaining chip. I’m simply upset that she’s being so rude and unkind to me when I did nothing wrong. I was communicative about the stroller, simply because she asked. I wasn’t rude, I was factual. And if her tiff with my husband is what’s still upsetting her then maybe she can be the 67y/o woman she is and actually communicate with him. But I don’t deserve to be ignored or treated this way because of their argument.
All I want if parenting style to be respected. We’re not asking for the sun and stars. Or anything outlandish?? Just keep the tv off, use the stroller we have available & ready at all times, and feed her the food we provide.