Man, your post brought back all the memories. I used to joke that I should’ve just duct taped a bib to my kid, but honestly, it felt like I was doing laundry every time I blinked. I hear you on the weird paranoia about mildew—once I left a bag of soggy bibs in the car for a day and let’s just say... lesson learned. I started running smaller loads too, even if it felt a bit wasteful. Hot wash and dryer on high, just to be safe.
I tried those silicone bibs for about five minutes, but my little one would rip them off and then get mad about it. Back to the soft cotton ones, even though they were basically drool sponges. I did eventually start using those little burp cloths as emergency bibs—it didn’t look cute, but it worked in a pinch.
Honestly, I think you nailed it. Sometimes you just have to accept the chaos and know it’s not forever. I still find random bibs in drawers and bags, like some weird parenting souvenir.
Sometimes you just have to accept the chaos and know it’s not forever.
That’s honestly what keeps me going right now. I’m in the thick of it and everything feels so messy, but hearing it’s temporary helps a lot. I keep stressing about things like mildew too, but maybe I need to let some of that go. Thanks for the reminder that it’s okay to just do what works, even if it’s not “perfect.”
I totally get the stress over stuff like mildew—honestly, I used to obsess over every weird smell or damp spot. At some point, I just had to accept that my standards for “clean” were gonna take a hit during teething. Half the time I was just happy if everyone was wearing pants and nobody was actively crying, including me.
It’s wild how much pressure we put on ourselves to keep everything together when life is just... not cooperating. I started giving myself permission to let things slide (within reason—like, if the laundry pile isn’t moving but everyone has clean socks, that’s a win). Teething is brutal and it really does feel endless, but it passes. And honestly, once you get through it, you’ll barely remember how chaotic it was—except maybe when you step on an old teether in the dark.
Hang in there. “Perfect” is overrated anyway.
Honestly, I relate way too much to the “everyone wearing pants” standard. During teething, I remember just hoping for a few hours of peace and maybe a tiny nap. Clean house? That was a distant dream. My kid would gnaw on literally anything—remote controls, shoes, you name it—and I swear there were teethers in every room (and under the couch cushions).
Funny thing is, as someone who’s spent way too much time in dental chairs myself, I kept worrying about her teeth coming in “right.” Like, what if all that chewing made them crooked? Spoiler: didn’t matter at all.
Curious—did anyone else’s kid totally refuse those fancy teething toys and just want to chew on random stuff? Or was that just my little gremlin?
Mine was exactly the same—she wanted nothing to do with the cute, chilled teething rings I bought. All that money on “safe” chew toys and she’d just crawl straight for the TV remote or, weirdly, her brother’s shoes (which... gross). I used to stress about germs and whether it’d mess up her bite too, but honestly, now that she’s older, her teeth are fine. I think half my living room was just random stuff she’d gnawed on during that phase.
The sleep deprivation is real though. I remember thinking a clean house was just for people without kids under two. You’re definitely not alone in hoping for a nap over anything else—sometimes surviving meant letting the chaos happen and just rolling with it.