Very early in my second pregnancy, and I was at the petting zoo with my 11 month old when I realized…should I be around farm animals/outdoor cats while pregnant? Not worried right now since it’s so early but I did buy a summer membership to visit the farm and my LO loves it so I’ll be bummed if it’s not safe as my pregnancy continues. Im a big proponent of germs and exposure to beef up the gut biodiversity for my son, but wondering if it’s dangerous for me to:/

Has anyone naturally treated fungus on the skin? My baby has a spot on his nose. We are close with a child who had two fungal spots on her skin, but her parents didn’t realize what it was until a few days ago and now my son caught it. Has anyone tried any remedies and been successful?

I’m applying colloidal silver, and I was thinking about doing coconut oil, but not sure if that will help it dry or be too moist for it.

Also, any advice on how to not get it to spread? Would love for our whole family to not have fungus growing on us lol

Edited to add that we are willing to use OTC fungal cream, obviously, but would love to try something natural before heading that route.

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Hello everyone 👋! I will be leasing a new apartment in August, and I want to have all matching cleaning products. I have seen numerous debates online, but I am still not clear.

Are Method or Seventh Generation cleaning products the best? Why?

Thank you so much for your time, and I hope you have a great day 😊.

Does anyone have a safe sleep approved crib rail cover they like? Baby has started gnawing on the crib and has definitely already eaten some paint.
I tried buying a "silicon" one from amazon and... I just really, really don't think it was silicon. Didn't smell right and I know what silicon is supposed to look and feel like... this was not it. I'm being extra picky because it's literally going in his mouth. Are ones like these dangerous for safe sleeping? https://lizandroo.com/collections/crib-rail-covers

My 6month-old has two bottom teeth. I am wondering if I should be using a tiny bit of toothpaste when brushing them. If yes, any recommendations??

Currently in the 3rd trimester of my second pregnancy. My first was 22 months ago and I had a fast labor and very severe postpartum hemorrhage. This time around my midwives are wanting to do “active management” after baby is delivered and immediately give me a shot of pitocin. Is there any downside to this? Any side effects or things I should be aware of? Obviously wanting to avoid a hemorrhage this time around so any advice is welcome!

Is it safe? Thinking of going in my 22nd week. I had my first miscarriage while I was traveling so I have a superstition.

any chlorine filter that goes behind the shower head that you all like? im not interested in one that is the shower head itself. thanks!

Hello everyone, I have been pulling my hair out in an attempt to find a perfect cleaning product. I know something like Pinesol or bleach would actually KILL and DISINFECTANT when using it to clean. I, however, am not comfortable using a product like that in my house with the off gassing and allergy issues associated with them.

What can I use in my house to clean my floors that is both non toxic / food safe, but also kill bacteria and viruses.

Does such an item even exist? It could be a bit of an oxymoron I guess, a non toxic disinfectant.

Currently TTC and having severe anxiety about all the toxins in my home (eg. we just bought a new mattress and it was not organic but it was the most comfortable one we tried and I'm tired of back pain, now I am thinking I should have looked harder).

How do you reconcile that you'll never get it perfect and stop stressing?

I’ve been avoiding giving baby a full water bath yet as I wanted to avoid stripping his skin too early. It seems like he has more dry skin (but could also be newborn peeling). We’ve given him the occasional wipe down with a wet cloth if he’s had accidents and peed on himself/in his hair and that seems to be clean him well - our doula mentioned it was fine to do just a wipe down with water for pee.

Well last night (exactly 2 weeks old) he vomitted/spat up a lot after a large feed and it went all in his hair. I used some baby wipes to clean it as it was 12:30am but his hair smells a bit like spit up and I’m thinking it’s probably time for a proper bath. I was curious for mom’s who did their first bath, did you use baby bath products or just water? I want to be very minimal about products used on him at such a young age. So far after sponge baths I just apply my breast milk on him.

I have very gentle fragrance free baby wash by green beaver. I was thinking of using the smallest amount to clean his hair and mixing some breast milk in the bath? What are your suggestions? No product, use the products, etc?

Just found out Biokleen was discontinued :( This was a great plant-based, HE-safe powder detergent with enzymes for us. Anyone know of any good alternatives to try out?

Edit to clarify: Biokleen powder laundry detergent, not all Biokleen products.

Hello! This sub is really great and I appreciate all of the humanity here. I won’t have a mom or lots of family to give me advice or tips (like what to do with a 4 month old velcro baby?) … and I’m due in October.

Could you give me:

1. your hardest earned advice (beyond “everything will be ok”)

2. your most genius newborn mom hacks that you feel like a superstar about figuring out?

3. registry must have

I look up to you all!

my daughter is 12 weeks old and it feels like my happy, content, cuddly newborn has just completely disappeared😭 she is “mad” most of the time it seems- when i babywear, she squirms around and grunts and whines, when i lay her on her belly for tummy time she is happy for .5 seconds and then gets all frustrated, when we just hold her when we are sitting down she freaks out. my mom says that it’s because she is bored and want to sit up on her own and that i should get a bouncer or bumbo/sit me up seat for her so she can get upright and independent. that makes a lot of sense because she loves when we kind of sit her up on one of our legs or prop her up (supervised of course!) with pillows, and she does “crunches” every time we lay her on her back, but i feel like every pediatrician/pediatric ot i see online says that any kind of container toy is really really bad for muscle development, even the ones that keep their hips in a healthy position. i would love to babywear more but she just really doesn’t like it as much as she used to and when she whines when i’m wearing her it is like, right there in my ear and is so overstimulating especially after a long day! does anyone have any advice for getting through this stage? or helping them learn to sit on their own faster? i just want her to be happy, this is killing me!

Hi please could you recommend a natural laundry detergent not filled with chemicals and artificial crap that's toxic for our skin and overall health? I'm in the UK if it makes a difference

We’re traveling with our 4.5 month LO in a couple of weeks (first flight) and I would love some recs for hand wipes for on the go — especially bc now he’s getting his little hands on everything and then putting them straight into his mouth. I don’t love the idea of using hand sanitizer on him or something with too much alcohol.

Is there something that is alcohol free, baby safe, and can effectively kill germs? I saw babyganics has something but would love some input.

So I’ve been using blue lizard sunscreen for myself snd my 2 toddlers for the last couple years. However now that my baby is 18 months he loathes getting sunscreen put on and tbh he’s way too strong for me leading to it be a really undesirable experience for us both.

Is there a brand that makes good mineral sunscreen in spray form?

Is spray sunscreen always terrible for the earth?

Not trying to hurt mama nay nay or my kids but damn this is about to be a daily struggle I can already tell.

Ideas? I do already use the makeup brush for application trick but he doesn’t think it’s as fun as he did last summer lol.

Thanks to anyone who’s already figured this out and wants to share.

I'm especially concerned about the Eucalyptus oil in the 9 Elements.

Edited to add that I'm all out of Ecos Free and Clear and was wondering if I could use these temporarily. I've always been under the impression that essential oils are harmful to infants, especially Eucalyptus.

Hi all!

Kind of a weird question but I wonder if this is something others here have thought about? We currently live in an era that views aging super negatively especially women’s aging. I hope to have a more positive/neutral outlook but also know what to expect with menopause and etc. I’m only mid 30’s but just at a moment where I feel abruptly older if that makes sense? Anyone have any thoughts, book recommendations, perspectives on middle age and beyond?

I’m just over 40 weeks and my OB would like to induce me before I get to 41 weeks. Before we entertain a medical induction, I wanted to see if moms have had luck with natural induction methods. And candidly, I would really like to have the baby this week because it’s been a looooong 40 weeks! My doula said some of her other clients have had luck with a regime of sex in the morning, a protein heavy breakfast and using their breast pump for 20 minutes after that. Any recommendations would be greatly appreciated!

Genuinely curious what people think, and what some alternative strategies are to reviewing products safety profile.

I’m familiar with some of the arguments, but it doesn’t seem realistic to be come versed on all common chemical toxins and i have valued the convenience of the EWG system.

Any alternatives? Can’t seem to find anything. Prefer not to have to do a load of laundry with a cloth wipe, although that’s what I’ve been doing. Thanks!!

I know there are lot of Elk and Friends fans here. I’m about to make my first purchase from them and noticed that quite a few of their items are sold out on the website. All of their bowls, non-divided porcelain plates, and bento boxes are sold out and several of their cup and other plate options are as well. For those that have been purchasing from Elk and Friends for a while, does this happen often? Essentially just wondering if I can expect some of these things to come back in stock! Thanks!

My MIL wants to give our 9 mo sweets, like small buys of ice cream, cake, or frosting. She's been respectful when I decline, and I think she comes from a place of wanting to give him a treat/something special. I'm wondering if there is anything I can gift her that she can give LO that is sweet and healthy. I was thinking popsicle molds and recipes for yogurt/fruit pops or something that can be their own special treat together; I would love some other ideas!
Any strategies work for anyone in a similar scenario?

Please be nice, I swear I'm moderately granola even though I use screens sometimes.

I have to do bedtime solo for a feral 2.5 year old and a 3 month old because my husband works at that time.

I can't put them down together obviously because baby is too small and their schedules are different. Toddler will NOT stay in her room without me and baby will NOT go to sleep with toddler bouncing around the bed.

The only thing that has worked without chaos and meltdowns/extreme stress is this: put baby down in my room while toddler watches a very chill show on my phone in her room with the backlight down low.

My question is are there any other shows you would recommend that are very chill? Right now I'm putting Kipper on (prime video). It's very low key for the most part and simple graphics.

My daughter is a year and 4 months and I am realizing that I may not be doing the best job of making sure my daughter is meeting milestones. Like I play with her, we read, we go outside, but how do you find activities that will help them develop and meet key milestones? How do you find what milestones you should be meeting? I just want to make sure I'm providing the best routine and I honestly don't know how to develop it.

Any resources you use would be super helpful!

What dishwasher pods do you use please? Looking to be as natural as possible but not ready to give up on clean dishes from our dishwasher, haha.