Nothing in the ears, but you can clean the pinna (outer structure) and wipe any drips coming from the canal with a soft washcloth.
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Oh dear. For my car seat’s straps/buckle design I would probably have a basin of warm water with dish soap, unthread the buckle as much as I can. Then flip the car seat on its side to soak the strap in the basin and scrub with toothbrush.
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This is exactly what I did when Bella vomited in her car seat. I removed all of the padding/cloth parts and put them in the wash and then I un-threaded the straps and soaked them plus the buckle in soapy water
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Haha I resemble this comment right now. I do feel fine and yet I know it’s all artificial. The first time I get 8 hours in a row I’m sure it’s all going to come tumbling* down.
*tumbling autocorrected to timbits and yes please, I would like some timbits.
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I would like both the tim bits and the 8 hours of sleep. Excellent idea, having both.
I appreciate the sleep ideas! I ended up finding this website the most useful for “why is baby sleeping like this?”:
Um, given the way Pumpkin slept last night (much better for no clear reason), I’m pretty sure she’s just been sick! I might also have another look into bottles because we haven’t used them much and she didn’t really get the hang of it when Ponder tried to feed her on the weekend (I have only pumped a couple of times because she started waking while I was pumping, or I literally couldn’t stay up late enough to fill up with enough milk to pump a feed’s worth).
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Ooh, I didn’t think of flipping it on its side!
Thankfully, he had a rag in his lap (I didn’t trust him to hold a bucket in the car) so it really just got on him and the straps. Unfortunately, the straps didn’t come off. So I ended up: 1. finding the manual, which was impressively useless; 2. finding a YouTube video, which was far more helpful; 3. removing the cloth parts to give me better access to the straps; 4. vacuuming it; and 5. scrubbing the dried-up vomit crevices with an old toothbrush as @dahlia suggested in another venue. That actually worked really well. It’s now sitting out in the sun so 
that will get the smell out.
Thankfully the weather has been really cooperative. It was hot on Monday, so the smell would’ve been much worse if we’d had to leave bits of vomit in the hot car while at the doctor’s office. And it rained yesterday, but the rain stopped before the doctor’s appointment.
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I have a sleep related question.
Pikelet is a late person. Late to bed, late to wake up. This has always been her body clock and we’ve not fought it because until recently it hasn’t been an issue and she seems happier and better in control of her emotions when she follows what seems to be her natural body clock.
We are usually a little late to Kindy though which is mostly ok because it’s pretty flexible and relaxed (but sometimes it’s still a panicked rush). When she starts school next year however the 8:45am start time is much stricter. Pikelet left to wake naturally won’t emerge from her bed until after 8am, not enough time to get ready, fed and walk to school. I don’t want to start everyday with us jolting her awake, trying to get her ready while she is still waking up, and rushing her out the door.
Does anyone have experiences with a late waking child and keeping on schedule?
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This is a reason a friend of mine switched to homeschooling. Although her kid was more extreme- like wake at 10 naturally. He was so exhausted all the time she finally gave up.
Aka no advice but commiseration, it’s hard when the world doesn’t line up with your circadian rhythm.
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How long is the walk to school?
My kids were out of the house in 45 minutes - they had their clothes set out the night before so they got up, got dressed, had a bowl of cereal, and hit the road.
Don’t turn on the TVs before school, is my advice - it really slows things down.
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10 minutes for me, I haven’t tried with pikelet and a school bag but I presume longer.
We struggle to get out the door before 8:40am at the moment. We have her breakfast ready to go in the fridge when she wakes up and clothes ready but it’s still such a sloooow event 
Ah so she’s not just a late waker but a slow to wake person as well. Can she sleep in her kindy clothes?
I used to sleep in my school uniform, this definitely could speed us up. She is pretty particular about what she wears when (including to bed 
) so the approach will be key. Thank you!
I’m sure part of the slow mornings has to do with us being preoccupied with getting ourselves and the baby ready. I hope by the time she starts school she is a bit more independent when it comes to getting ready 
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Maybe start setting an alarm 5 minutes earlier every few weeks until you get to the right time? And make a chart that reminds her what to do in the morning and hand out stickers if she’s ready on time?
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Is there some sort of alarm clock that might help, either one of those “sunrise” clocks or one that can play music?
I’m a slow to wake person and I do much better if I can just listen to the radio in the mornings for thirty minutes. As an adult I listen to the news and I may or may not pay attention to any particular story but after thirty minutes I definitely feel like my brain is more “on”. If you have an idea of how long it takes her to go from “technically awake” to “actually awake and with it” then that can help you figure out when to have the light or music start.
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I wonder if you can make her a breakfast that she can eat while walking? Like a toaster pastry/hand pie sort of thing?
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In winter here my son never woke on his own before 8am and school started around 7 or so. Moving his bedtime and wake time gradually over a couple months was key for less crabbiness. Using a bright light on a timer to come on 30 minutes or so before he needed to wake also helped. Going to bed earlier was the most important piece for us though.
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One of my kids was not a morning person. I made sure he was in bed by 7pm and did what Cranky suggested in the morning.
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We have smart lights so I can automate this! Excellent. Thank you!
Today was overcast and Pikelet’s room is on the southwest, it was still like night in there at 8am with the lights off.
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I have to admit I still use a lot of strategies people have mentioned for myself. If I had no external obligations, I’d naturally rise with the sun and go to sleep an hour or so after dark, but that is not modern life regardless of where our natural sleep cycles fall 
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Speaking of sleep, we are on the 5th day in a row of 4:45am wakeups. Feeding, rocking, and cuddling do not work. He just wants to practice his new proto-crawling skills. I’ve also been delaying first feed by 10m every day. At least today he is starting to doze off as I rock him in car seat at the end of his feed, so I can snooze. What doooooo?
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