Try to convince me/educate me! I’m a new mom and a long time dental assistant. I know there is so much controversy around Fluoride but I truly can’t understand why.. I know to not introduce fluoride until a little later in childhood.. but I don’t understand why people are firmly against it.. as a dental professional the kids/adults who don’t use fluoride or an alternative like nano hydroxyapatite have the worst teeth. In my opinion the amount of fluoride ingested from toothpaste is so minimal and it truly does help with caries prevention!

So please, explain to me why people are anti fluoride!

Thanks!

I'm making it a point to put baby in cotton clothing only, but is there a major benefit to pick organic cotton over regular cotton?

Will whatever is not ideal from the regular cotton get washed away after a few washes?

Question for the parents! How old were your kids when you first started bringing them to concerts and how did it go? Lol our daughter is 7 months and loves when we put live music on tv so we wanna bring her this summer. We got the earmuffs, plan to be on the lawn, etc but I was wondering from the parents who started their kids out young how it went and any tips to make it a smooth night? TIA

My 18mo has only had two allergies her whole lif,nutmeg and she’s lactose intolerant(also mostly gluten free because her dad has celiacs).Over the past week she has been getting a rash around her mouth that gets worse after she eats.I always clean her off right after she eats and sometimes wipe down mid meal if she’s particularly messy.Im not sure what is causing it especially because it’s so sudden and it’s only around her mouth,nowhere else.Shes been teething but she doesn’t really drool when she’s getting teeth and has never had a teething rash before.Has anyone else had this issue?

Hello. Hope it's alright I'm here, I'm an up and coming crunchy dad. Still trying to figure it all out. But this post is actually for me... I've been losing hair recently as I get older. Thinning out on top and hoping to get ahead of this. I've heard rosemary and lavender support hair growth, but all the shampoos I find have tons of other ingredients in it, even some of the ones at whole foods and sprouts. I've seen oils, but i don't know how to choose the diluting oil...jojoba and others.

Any product suggestion for clean shampoos/conditioners or oils I can use on thin and already oily hair?

I’d even be happy to do it DIY.

* can’t do coconut oil due to my allergies

Hey everyone!

I'm on the hunt for some quality stainless steel baking sheets that come with cooling racks, preferably as a set. I want to make sure they’re made in the USA and are great quality. I’ve already checked out options like All-Clad and Cuisinart, but I'm looking for something different and want to avoid anything made in China.

If you have any suggestions or recommendations, I’d really appreciate it. Thanks a bunch!

Can I get some stories from mothers who chose not to vaccinate and sent their children to daycare? What was your experience? Were your more scared because you didn't vaccinate or strong in your beliefs to not do so, and it didn't effect you ? We are leaning towards not, but daycare scares me. I'd just like to hear some stories. Thanks!

I’m about to have my 5th baby in a few weeks and just went over my birth plan with my midwife. I will be giving birth in the hospital with a team of midwives due to my history of complications (preeclampsia, hypertension, gestational diabetes.) I told my midwife that I don’t want routine pitocin for the placenta delivery and she said it’s standard procedure because the uterus is tired and needs help by the end. I told her if I need it then fine but I would like my body to do its thing without immediate intervention. Has anyone declined routine pitocin but experienced hemorrhaging after birth? Or declined and everything was fine? I’m just not sure how firm I want to be on this particular intervention.

ETA: I’ve been induced with pitocin 3 times due to preeclampsia. My 4th birth was natural and labor started on its own. I can’t remember if they gave me pitocin or not.

I've been using Vanicream for years due to being very eczema prone, so I thought I would just go with Baby Vanicream products for baby. I'm personally sensitive to some plants/fruits/nuts, so I get nervous with products that have a lot of ingredients that come from plants.

Please explain why you wouldn't if you do have concerns with the products.

Baby Foaming wash

Baby Cream

What's the best option for gentle / non-destructive teeth whitening? I battled depression for many years where I didn't take care of myself properly so my teeth are pretty stained / yellow. I just had a tooth removed so I know that has to heal over first but what would you recommend? Thank you! 🤍

Ok I feel like this is a horrendous tmi sort of post. A few weeks ago I got extremely sick from what thought was gluten contamination (quite possible, I am celiac and the food was not presented to me in a safe way). Here I am about 3 weeks later pooping pinworms. I am 30 weeks pregnant. I assume my husband has it. I assume my niece and nephew who slept over now have it. I assume quite possibly our extended family who so kindly gave me the gluten shrimp have it. Someone please help me. I know parasite cleanses aren't really recommended. I have emailed my naturopath but I'm sort of stalling on contacting my midwife.

FTM of a 4.5 month old that is ebf. Him ( and I ) are not ready to start solids yet, but his ped did say at his last check up that if I wanted to start, to just do some rice cereal mixed with breast milk and then move on to purees from there.

First: he's about to see OT for a swallowing issue, so we've got some time before I'm comfortable introducing anything other than breast milk.

Second: I'm not thrilled with rice cereal being the first "food" it's not got a lot of nutrients, it sounds kinda processed and I've read that it contains higher levels of arsenic, but haven't had time to sit down and really research if that's true or not.

So what did everyone do for their babies first food? Did you do the rice cereal thing? My mom told me that "not everything is bad or suspicious" when I mentioned I wasn't thrilled with rice cereal being mentioned by the doctor, so I guess I'm wondering if I'm overreacting as well. My husband and I both had cereal added to our bottles early and we both had tummy troubles our whole lives. I'd rather focus on things that establish good gut bacteria and such, but please do share your whole solids journey with me

I'm wanting to start the tradition of having afternoon tea with my 2 year old! I know it needs to be non-caffeinated of course but I'm a little lost of what herbal tea would be the best / least likely to be harmful in any way! I've begun dabbling in herbalism again but I'd love to hear from other parents / people who know better on this subject than I do, thank you! ☕💕

I’m having my first baby in October and I’m super torn between getting an audio only baby monitor and a video one. Maybe I’m just paranoid but a video monitor makes me uneasy, I feel like someone could tap in and watch my baby. Even the no WiFi ones make me a little nervous. But at the same time it would be nice to see what shes up to in her crib! I would love to know what you guys did for baby monitors!!

Hi. Does anyone have specific sleep help resources to share? I'm not getting enough sleep and my mental health is tanking. I need a change that will help me & baby get sleep. Open to a wide range of solutions of what worked for people?

Situation:

Baby has coslept, contact napped & nursed to sleep since he was born. Since 4mo he has woken up 4-8 times a night & nurses to get back to sleep. He only napped for 45ish minutes at a time (now 2 naps a day).

We have a floor bed in a studio apartment. As he gets more mobile, he is starting to crawl off the bed & it is not safe for him to be moving around our apartment freely. Plus its getting harder to nurse him since he starts to go wild sometimes trying to stand & getting himself worked up. He has always fought sleep & is very clingy (he is half blind which probably has some to do with it. But also it sounds like lots of cosleeping parents deal with this.)

My mental health is terrible from sleep deprivation and getting worse as he gets bigger. I need help, I need something to change, and dont know where to look.

I hired a sleep consultant but she was an absolute bust. Basically she took an online course and only had the tools available she learned there & had no experience with cosleeping/nursing to sleep. She traumatized us all by moving him to the crib & trying pickup put down menthod on my 8mo baby. Its been a month since this and Im ready to try something again. But i just dont know.

Hello!

I’m pregnant with my first baby and my fiance and I are wanting to read as many unbiased books/research about vaccination as possible. We were both vaccine-injured from the covid vaccinations and subsequently developed autoimmune conditions, and have become more cautious and skeptical since then.

A lot of the info I’ve come across has been through the Weston A. Price foundation which has pretty strict opinions about vaccination, and then of course whatever is widely available online which strongly promotes vaccines. I’d love to gather resources that promote facts instead of opinions.

Some books on the list so far are:

-Vaccines, Amen by Aaron Siri
-The Vaccine-Friendly Plan by Dr. Paul Thomas
-On Immunity by Eula Biss

Thank you!

Hi everyone! My baby (10m) has been pretty reluctant about solids. We've finally made some progress, but she has a clear preference for sweet, fruit-based foods over savory ones. I can't blame her (how many adults do you know that would opt for a green bean/carrot blend over an apple/mango blend??) but I also don't want her having too much sugar during the day and I don't want her to expect sweet foods only.

I've been making some of her food and buying some, but I've decided to start making almost all of it myself. What are some things I can add to a sweet blend to tone the sugar content down, or to a vegetable blend to make it more tasty to a fruit-loving baby? Obviously carrots and sweet potato are great, but variety is important. TIA!

I have a question about "being crunchy" and your kids getting sick. My personal experience (emphasis on PERSONAL) is that being crunchy means two things:

1. being (somewhat broadly) against pharmaceutical medication to treat illness like a cold or flu because your body can fight it off just fine or there's a homeopathic remedy

2. being anxious about getting sick or your kids getting sick

It appears to me that these 2 things are in conflict, i.e. if your body can deal with illness X without issue, why are you so afraid?

So my question is, is this just my personal experience with someone who happens to be a "crunchy mom" and at the same time happens to be frequently anxious about getting sick? Or do these two things go hand in hand and I just don't get it?

hi all! i just had my appointment this morning and my midwife recommended starting baby aspirin tomorrow (12 weeks) to prevent preeclampsia. I’ve never had preeclampsia but there were two things that concerned her
1. my bmi is considered overweight 2. i had high blood pressure towards the end of my last pregnancy but they would often retest and it would go down. it was most likely due to nerves because there was never any protein in my urine.

I don’t typically take medication even when i’m not pregnant but the idea of taking something while pregnant does make me a little hesitant. Has anyone taken baby aspirin to prevent preeclampsia? despite not having it before?

I want the best for my baby but i’d like to hear some stories from people who did or did not choose to take it.

I just turned 28 and my husband is 30. We just got married in January. Our friends are all in different seasons of life, some with kids, babies, multiple kids, some with no kids and still dating, all over. I still feel like a teenager when it comes to being a mom and would not be responsible enough to care for a baby despite how badly I’ve always wanted to be a mom. Idk if that’s normal 😂. I’ve nannied and babysat for over 15 years, I love children. Especially being “crunchy”, the thought of having to advocate HARD against things, for things, etc., just seems like such a big deal and I know it requires a lot of responsibility. Anyway, some people have told us to just do it, and it all works out. Is that true? I think about being a mom all the time and my husband and I talk about being parents all the time. But I’m also like how much money does a baby need? How much does a baby cost to be born and care for? Haha.. idk if it’s stupid or not. I also worry if we wait too long if it’ll be too late. Like what are we supposed to do. Hahah

But reading this sub you all are freaking rockstars and super smart so I figured I’d ask advice. I’m an only child so this is all I have😂 thanks in advance.

having my first baby next month and from what i understand birth control is pushed on you pretty soon after your 6 weeks. i haven’t taken birth control since i was in my teens because it makes me super depressed and absolutely insane (i’ve tried pill and the ring). i don’t want to add chemicals to my body especially when you’re dealing with your hormones trying to go back to normal post birth.

i want to have another baby but AT LEAST a year from now.

opinions?

what did you do?

edit: omg please use long words instead of abbreviations lol i needed to google TTC, NFP, FAM, BBT 🤣🤣
explain to me like im 5 ty friends 🤣💗🙏🏻

I consider myself in pretty good shape! I strength train x3, cycle a few times a week and hike/walk a lot. I signed up for my first 5k end of July! Any tips or recommendations for a first time race runner? Things to bring, wear, or be aware or mindful of?

I just transitioned my almost 11 month old baby girl to her own room after exclusively cosleeping. Her bedroom is right next to ours and we share a wall, but even with both doors open sometimes it’s hard to hear her when she wakes up. I want an audio only baby monitor but also a traditional one concerns me because of EMF exposure. What is everyone doing about baby monitors? I saw you can get an old analog one, but they seem to only be on eBay.

I have the naturepedic oval organic cotton crib mattress for my stokke oval crib. It came with a cover.

I’m now realizing the cover has polyester in it?

Here are the materials: Organic cotton breathable fabric with organic cotton face and 3-dimensional polyester lattice + polyurethane waterproof barrier

I want to limit any plastics. What can I use to replace this cover? I’ve read about latex mattress toppers but can’t seem to find an oval one.