I don’t know that there is a universal way to handle it. But historically none of our babysitters would eat food from our fridge/pantry unless I specifically set it on the counter or made them a plate or said “I got this for you”.
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Oh, I wanted to report back that it wasn’t HFM! We took TR to the pediatrician, who claimed it looked like a post-viral rash. The rash stayed very tiny bumps and only on his calf and thighs and butt, never the actual hand or foot or mouth. We hadn’t noticed a virus except a mild runny nose and very mild maybe fever, but then we ran into a baby friend walking him who said they’d just had the same rash (and they’d played together the prior weekend). So we dodged that one, but Spore got strep, and was the most miserable little thing for a few days. Now we’re finally emerging from that black hole, but TR has a runny nose again. I got spoiled from a very healthy winter/spring!
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Ugh. D2 gets “post viral rash” all the time. Every single virus she gets, even if she never has any viral symptoms at all except for the rash. The doctor said kids that age pretty much have a virus in their system all the time, even if they aren’t exhibiting any symptoms.
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This tracks 
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Accurate. 
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My daughter (19 months) has very long hair. I cut her bangs once a few months ago. But now we’re back to her hair being in her eyes (down to her nose) if I don’t put it up. So I’m torn between a) putting her hair up every day into a cindy-lou-who type look and b) cutting bangs again. I’m sure this is a perennial and very low-stakes issue. Anyone have an opinion or experience?
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I just pull it back each day and try to train their hair to part, so the hair goes to the side instead of straight down into their face. Neither of my girls have ever had their bangs cut. I hate bangs because they have to be cut every few weeks to consistently keep hair out of the eyes!
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Eldest I cut her bangs and finally gave up and let them grow. We used clips and stuff until it grew out. It’s way easier now.
Youngest I just left her hair alone and now at 3 she has a cute little bob situation going on.
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My baby velociraptor taught her self to open doors yesterday to gain access to the room where Mommy was painting.
She is also trying to climb out of the crib so we need to move to a toddler bed. I’m really worried about her leaving the room and like climbing into the washing machine or climbing the shelves and fallng down or something. Are there non-fire-hazard ways of keeping a little one in their room? Gates are no good because then the door has to be open (fire hazard, too much noise and light, cat could get in) and also I’m pretty sure she could climb it anyway.
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This is very controversial. But I have stairs and there’s dangerous shit in our house, and if there’s a fire I want to know exactly where my kid is. We have an exterior door knob lock and used it as she got used to staying in her room. A firefighter isn’t going to be deterred by a hollow core door and we can easily open it. To me, it was the safest option.
ETA this is what we have. We also were able to only use the bottom latch and she couldn’t work out moving the handle up, so it was only half locked actually.
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It’s such a touchy subject! Thank you for sharing!
We have traditional door knobs with locks- Is the door knob lock in the picture different than turning the knob around and locking it from the outside?
I don’t love that this means my adolescents will probably want/need to lock themselves in their rooms all the time to preserve their treasures and keep the baby from eating Legos, but such is life…
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Ours don’t have locks at all, so turning a knob around wasn’t an option. I imagine it would achieve the same thing though.
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I turned around the knobs on both girls doors.
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We used a plastic thing that went on the knob and kind of spun freely unless turned in a certain way. Easy for an adult and a toddler couldn’t open it. This: https://www.homedepot.com/p/Safety-1st-Parent-Grip-Charcoal-Door-Knob-Covers-4-Pack-HS325/309495990
I thought about fire safety and came down in the same camp as Bracken joy above, that I wanted to know exactly where they were (in their room). Not like they were going to be able to navigate an escape without me anyway.
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We have the same thing on raviolis door already because there was no configuration of furniture that worked for his room that wasn’t Crib Right Next To Door
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We did a door monkey for B1. It kept him in, but with a gap so we could hear him. B2 we ultimately didn’t do anything but things were pretty safe from the boys’ room to our room
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We (still) use the round doorknob covers that prevent a kid from turning the handle. We have one on her bedroom door and one on her closet door. Her bedroom opens directly into two different staircases (split level house) and I’m not willing to risk her being near those stairs without us knowing about it.
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I know this has been discussed before, but is the consensus that the legit Nugget couches are better than the assorted knock-off brands that exist?
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I’m also wondering this. Especially RE: Costco knockoff
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Absolutely yes. The Costco one in particular is very thin, very floppy, and much smaller.
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