Parent Thread

Why not give the grand parents an account number for the college fund? Can't fault them for wanting to spoil their grand child. They won't be around forever.

I wouldn't worry about it Tuco until it actually happens.

When we get a bit too much we just put them in the closet. But we still have a ton of toys, but they are small or stuffed animals. They fit in a bin easily enough.

Tuco_sl said:

Wife is due in a couple weeks. Anyone have any good book suggestions on parenting? Especially focused on the first year or two? It's a boy if the books are commonly gender typed.

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I thought I already posted this, but this one is great:
Be Prepared: A Practical Handbook for New Dads - Kindle edition by Gary Greenberg, Jeannie Hayden. Humor Entertainment Kindle eBooks @ Amazon.com.

No info overload, just the essentials you need.

Draegan_sl said:

There are only three people you should listen to. Your doctor for technical things, your wife and yourself. People will never stop giving you advice. Take it, catalog it, and compare it to your own experience. My daughter is 19 months now and my second is only 2 months away. I'm looking back and I felt the same way, but once your son is here, everything will be much easier. It's just a lot of staying on point and staying awake. The being led astray doesn't even factor in.

The only thing that really scared the fuck out of me was SIDs.

There aren't any big fuckups honestly if you're a level headed person. Make sure the baby is warm all the time. Make sure your house is clean so you or mom doesn't trip on anything. Make sure mom is comfortable and stress free as possible (especially if you plan on breast feeding). Make sure the baby is sleeping on his back and is swaddled properly.

Common sense in my opinion but it's good that you're worried. Helps to keep you alert.

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Yeah fundamentally there aren't a whole lot of "holy shit don't do that." Kids are pretty sturdy. It's a mind fuck but eventually you figure out you won't break your kid

Like if you want a short list of stuff that comes to mind that isn't controversial/opinion based:

1. Baby sleeps on back. No crib bumpers no blankets in the crib (swaddling is fine but no loose things) etc. Basically SIDS info.
2. No honey until age 1.
3. Only infant tylenol until about 6 mos - no infant ibuprofen until then unless doc says ok.
4. No submersible baths until the cord stump has fallen off - until then only washcloth/sponge baths. Target temp for bath water is 98-100 degrees.
5. No cows milk until at/ a round 1 year of age. Anemia risk.
6. Learn infant CPR.
7. No bulky coats/layers on baby while in the car seat (ejection risk) - and those pad things for the straps and a whole bunch of other fluff stuff is a no no too - can invalidate warranty. If you can get local FD/PD to inspect your car seat install (nice to have, not a must).
8. Do NOT put the baby car seat on top of a shopping cart. Major tipping risk and serious risk of injury to baby.
9. Warming up bottles can be done in several different ways - as long as you avoid the microwave you're fine. (The mechanics of how a microwave works denatures the proteins and therefore destroys some of the nutritional value). Also don't vigorously shake while warming.
10. Guidelines for storage and shelf life of breastmilk can be found here:LLLI | What are the LLLI guidelines for storing my pumped milk?Once defrosted breastmilk should be used within 24 hours and never refrozen.


Those would be like my top ten just anecdotal things that aren't like 'advicey' but just here's some fact shit that's good to know.

Etoille_sl said:

8. Do NOT put the baby car seat on top of a shopping cart. Major tipping risk and serious risk of injury to baby.

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I did this for a while until we got a new carseat that wouldn't lock onto the bar on shopping carts, then started just putting the baby in the cart. I never really thought of it as a tipping risk since the lock was engaged, but looking back I realize that no matter what it was bad practice and I shouldn't have done it. If something had happened the guilt would have killed me.

I did it also, but the carts in my suburban area aren't narrow, so there isn't a flip risk. If anything, a baby seat perched atop a shopping cart is SAFER than a kid sitting in the seat built into said cart. The reason is the baby + seat is lighter than the child and it isn't moving around the way a toddler moves. Much safer.

I got the kids kindle for my daughter for xmas and was setting it up this morning. Anyone know if you can install apps beyond the freetime unlimited stuff onto the kids profile? Mainly looking to add netflix and youtube

Well, being that it's an Amazon unit, I'm sure you have the Amazon Appstore on the thing. You should be able to download whatever you need from the store. As an added bonus, they give away a paid app for free every day. I've gotten some good shit from it on my normal Android phone.

lindz_sl said:

I got the kids kindle for my daughter for xmas and was setting it up this morning. Anyone know if you can install apps beyond the freetime unlimited stuff onto the kids profile? Mainly looking to add netflix and youtube

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You can install any apps that you want, you just have to flag them while in "parent mode" so that your child can have access to them. By default, you can only download Amazon-approved "kid" apps from within a kids account on the tablet, and that does not include Youtube, Facebook, or any of that type of stuff. That all has to be done from the parental settings.

Yeah I got my oldest the kids Nexus 3 (rooting my old Kindle proved to be... problematic... I guess i have failed as a parent...) and am setting it up now, she's going to shit when she gets this.

I am not sure how to mitigate the disappointment my middle girl will have when my oldest opens this. My plan right now is just to give her my old kindle with a new case that she will like and lock it down with parental controls, but I expect that may not be enough. I got her some cool stuff that I know she will like, but it seems like this is so big that she may be pissed. We will find out.

Etoille_sl said:

Warming up bottles can be done in several different ways - as long as you avoid the microwave you're fine. (The mechanics of how a microwave works denatures the proteins and therefore destroys some of the nutritional value).

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This isn't really true. The denaturing of proteins is a symptom of heat, not a special property of microwaves. As long as you don't overheat the food, your proteins are safe. The bigger risk with microwaving bottles is uneven heating. Babies' mouths are very delicate and if they suck in a pocket of unexpectedly hot milk/formula they can get burned.

Edit: Microwaving anything in plastic containers is being shown as a bad idea, but this isn't specific to baby milk/formula.

joeboo_sl said:

You can install any apps that you want, you just have to flag them while in "parent mode" so that your child can have access to them. By default, you can only download Amazon-approved "kid" apps from within a kids account on the tablet, and that does not include Youtube, Facebook, or any of that type of stuff. That all has to be done from the parental settings.

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Ah that's what I was missing. Thank you!

Captain Suave_sl said:

This isn't really true. The denaturing of proteins is a symptom of heat, not a special property of microwaves. As long as you don't overheat the food, your proteins are safe. The bigger risk with microwaving bottles is uneven heating. Babies' mouths are very delicate and if they suck in a pocket of unexpectedly hot milk/formula they can get burned.

Edit: Microwaving anything in plastic containers is being shown as a bad idea, but this isn't specific to baby milk/formula.

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I don't get it... how do parents not know to mix/shake/stir the bottle after using the microwave to make sure it's all evenly heated? Then you still test it on the back of your wrist? I understand they say stay away from microwaves, but 10 seconds give or take on the size of the bottle, compared to 3+ minutes in a bottle warmer. I'll take the microwave every time, and just not be stupid about it.

Really, there is no reason to heat a bottle. Parents do that for themselves, because they make the assumption that warm milk is better for or more easily tolerated by the kid. The kid gives no fucks. I burned the fuck out of myself with a bottle warmer (worst purchase ever) before our pediatrician turned us on to that bit of info.

But he also told us to never microwave it ever because, even if you shake it, there can be pockets of molten hot milk that will melt your baby's insides and cause you literally hours of discomfort as you sit in those awful emergency room chairs. Not worth it.

My aunt used to never heat up the bottles. Her theory was that if she likes cold milk why wouldn't the kid?

chaos_sl said:

Really, there is no reason to heat a bottle. Parents do that for themselves, because they make the assumption that warm milk is better for or more easily tolerated by the kid. The kid gives no fucks. I burned the fuck out of myself with a bottle warmer (worst purchase ever) before our pediatrician turned us on to that bit of info.

But he also told us to never microwave it ever because, even if you shake it, there can be pockets of molten hot milk that will melt your baby's insides and cause you literally hours of discomfort as you sit in those awful emergency room chairs. Not worth it.

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I agree with you. My comments come from our first child. Our second is now 4 months old, and she gets room temp water/formula, or cold. There is no heating involved. My 20 month loves cold milk from the fridge.

We did room temp. The only heat the bottles saw was for sterilization which we did the the microwave.

chaos_sl said:

Really, there is no reason to heat a bottle. Parents do that for themselves, because they make the assumption that warm milk is better for or more easily tolerated by the kid. The kid gives no fucks.

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No, some kids will take it cold, but not all. Or I should say they'll won't take it as willingly. Some kids have a difficult transition from boob to bottle and changing the temperature of the product is just one more hurdle in that equation.