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When my son was little, all I wanted was a day when nobody needed me. Now that he’s older, I look forward to spending the day having fun together. Everything has a season, trust yourself and what you need.

Congratulations!! Keep crushing it mama:)

This sort of one size fits all advice can be so damaging to moms who are trying so hard to maintain breastfeeding while going back to work. I would trust your daycare providers and yourself about what your baby really needs. FWIW, my son is the same age and I’ve been sending two 5 ounce pumped bottles and 2 6 ounce formula bottles for 8 hours of daycare.

I say this as someone who is right there with you in the 4 year old power struggle phase – have you considered that the issue may not be the activity/setting but the amount of decision making power you’re giving him? I’m all for small choices – should I put your shoes on or do you want to do it? – but I’ve been realizing recently that I was spending a lot of time and energy to get my son’s buy-in when really what he craved was a more parent-driven approach. The key here is to allow him not to like it, maybe he doesn’t want to be outside today, oh well, let’s get our shoes on anyway. Once we’re at the park or wherever, chances are there will be something fun to catch his attention.