Awesome! I’m learning a lot for when I have a kid his age haha. Definitely going to be thinking about this for Meowlet for… the indefinite future.
I really like this suite of products. I haven’t done like, a huge dive yet (I just happen to have lots of tech policy friends who talk about this all the time), but it has monitoring for the whole family for screentime and phones that are “smart” but that have all the features you mentioned built in.
ETA: There was a whole SCARE THING regarding YouTube Kids based on some crazy stat that I heard in this course and I called one of my friends who works in the US Gov’t and has to weigh in on kids safety, and it was extremely illuminating. Primarily that depending on what part of the gov’t you’re in influences the perspective you have generally on the tech, usually juxtaposed between tech being extremely important to kids connectin with each other and their mental health, but also needing so many safeguards!
Secondarily validating when she said that even the people in gov’t working on the actual policies that affect kids are often like “Man we donno what to do, just doing our best” when it comes to tech and their own kids.
Oh thank you! I think DH mentioned something like this, I’ll see if this one is on his radar. DH is the tech guru/implementer in our house, and I’m more of the policy setter haha.
I feel seen haha! It is tough now trying to let him grown and gain independence vs still seeing him as a little kid. When I think of the things I was battling in 6th and 7th grade, whew, it’s a lot.
Bark is definitely an option we’ve been looking at.
An issue for us has been managing the phone as a phone vs as screen time. LB likes to text with his friends and it’s too limiting to keep that to the old screen time hours but then we don’t really know what he’s doing on there and it’s just a source of friction for everyone.
Another issue is that now he likes to keep his door closed so we REALLY don’t know what he’s doing. I should be better about having him keep his phone out of there when he’s in there with the door closed.
Oh, that’s something I hadn’t thought much about yet, thank you! Nemo just started the door closed thing too. 99% of the time when I go in though he is just listening to a podcast or music and playing Lego (my baby!) but that will inevitably change.
That is my 13yo’s absolute favorite thing. He took apart ALL his Lego sets, including his Saturn V rocket, which took a couple of weeks and now is putting them back together one at a time. With his audiobook playing.
Something I heard that resonates a lot with me is teaching kids to use devices for making, not just consuming. If you understand how something is made, you’re likely going to be a more critical consumer. Also that makes the device a tool for your own expression or invention, not only a portal to a world of someone else’s algorithms or social judgement.
My SIL was able to get in with the high risk doctor pretty quickly for a repeat ultrasound and follow up.
Good news
The ultrasound confirmed the spot on the heart and the club foot. But the kidney size was within normal range this time. The baby was moving a lot in the first ultrasound, and the doctor thinks the original measurement was likely off due to that.
Also, her bloodwork came back as negative/low risk for Down Syndrome. Between her age, the bloodwork, and ruling out enlarged kidneys, they do not think it’s likely that the baby has Down Syndrome or any of the other genetic disorders they were looking at. At this point they do not think she needs an amnio.
The club foot will need treatment after the baby is born, but with bracing and possibly surgery, it should be correctible. They’re not concerned about the spot on the heart because it shows up in a certain percentage of healthy babies, and the actual heart anatomy is perfect. So for now, she’s back to her midwife for the rest of the pregnancy, and baby will see a specialist about the club foot after they are born.
Thanks so much to everyone who responded, I really appreciate it. It was a roller coaster of a week!
Does anyone remember the glue/water for paint pots that had a funny lid like a munchkin to reduce spills/keep fingers out? Where are they sold? What are they called? My mastermind does not have them and I wants them.
I think the only advice I’ve seen that’s not already shared here is don’t actually get it for his birthday (goes for other gifting events like Christmas too). Treat it like gaining a privilege/responsibility that can be curtailed or revoked for not following the agreement with the responsibility. More like a driver’s license.
So you’re not putting strings on or revoking a gift, but recognizing the benefit and maturity (not just age) for a new tool that can be dangerous and must be used wisely.
When my kids were teens, all computers and game console belonged to me, and while I was a gracious sharer (especially since I am not at all interested in games) I reserved the right to suspend that.
So, right about 9 1/2 months or so, my milk supply took a huge dip that was not period related. Probably due to stress and/or a nasty cold. I haven’t been able to restore my supply by pumping more often, power pumping, etc, so I’m resigned to the lower supply. I also decided that since my supply is dipping anyway I’m going down from 3 pumping sessions to 2 during the day.
I’m supplementing the bottles I send to daycare with formula, but trying to figure out what to do on weekends. Do I give an additional bottle feeding during the day in addition to breast feeding? I don’t really want to breastfeed and then bottle feed in one session because that seems inefficient. Thoughts?
If you want to maximize the amount of breast milk going into the baby, then you will definitely need to breastfeed first and then top off with a bottle. Alternatively, you could breastfeed before meals and offer a bottle. Is a snack or something like that. I think by that age, sometimes I just gave a bottle of formula and I only breastfeed if I thought it was a time when baby would be receptive and we would get decent results.
BabyCenter seems to think that I might want to potty train my 19 month old and is sending me tips about it? Yikes. I have tried to potty train a 20 month old before, never again.
But. The time is coming. These are the questions I wish to crowd source, from people who have potty trained more recently than 2015.
Has anyone successfully potty trained WITHOUT the little plastic potty? Can I go straight to the toilet insert, especially if my child is tall and coordinated?
1a. If I do that, what kind of stool do I need? Can I just use a Squatty Potty?
My adolescents have been asking for a Squatty Potty, and would find having a plastic potty in their bathroom, to be deeply offensive.
Timing! These are the times I am considering and I welcome any thoughts. Baby turns 2 on July 28.
-This year in August/September, when it is warm and we are back from vacation.
-January 2025, after the holidays, baby will be 2 1/2- but it will be cold.
I realize that baby’s own temperament will play an important role but interested to hear people’s experiences, suggestions, etc. I already have swapped out my toilet seats for ones with the built-in toddler seat (I really hated my toilet seats- the new ones you can sit on while baby takes a bath or whatever).
