PS Mommy thread with toddlers 12-36 months

[lliang_chi]

Geri, is C in daycare? Ethan's in daycare, and I'm not sure how to do the potty learning with daycare. I'd love to have them sit him on the potty, even for a few mins during the day. But it's a lot to ask the teachers when they have a classroom full of kiddos to oversee. The potties are kind of set off to the side for privacy, so they'd really need another person *just* to take Ethan to the potty. I'm sure they'll do it if I ask, but I dunno how consistent or what not. Well, no harm in asking.

In our news: Ethan's moving on up to the toddler class He's been doing great so far, at least that's what the teachers have been telling me. I'm still trying, but failing at getting him down @ 7PM. It's more like 7:30 especially since J puts him down. If J didn't he'd hardly have any time with Ethan. I'm not trying to be that sympathetic though because J can just leave at reasonable hour and spend time with him. it's not like they chain him to the desk or something

 

[pancake]

LC just popping in to say that, in response to your earlier question about 2 naps and the transition to 1 - we've been going through the transition for the last 6-8 weeks or something, and at times it has been REALLY bad (a week with no naps at all was not that fun!), but we're not established on one nap a day and it's working really well. I found that for ages, Dot would display her usual tired signs around the time of her morning nap, but would then cry and scream and refuse the nap (no matter how tired she was). She'd then struggle through until she eventually slept in the afternoon, but as I said, there was a full week (about 3 weeks ago) when she simply wouldn't go down at all. We went on holiday last week (we needed it so badly!) and worked on it a bit - which mostly meant putting her down consistently within a 90 minute window (between 11 and 12:30) and letting her CIO. She started having 90-120 minute naps and is now doing the same at home. She's happy and has adjusted really well - no more sleepiness at 9:30/10am, and gets through comfortably to bedtime (still 7pm or just a little earlier).

 

[NewEnglandLady]

Lordy, I haven't even thought about potty training. The only interest K has shown in the toilet is that she loves to bang on the lid when I've forgotten to close the bathroom door. Maybe I should start introducing some signs or something--those could be funny. I have a feeling she'll be ready for potty training the minute we have another baby.

We ended up moving K's bedtime back to 7:30 or even 7:45 some nights. There was a perfect storm of events that motivated us to start experimenting: K moving to 1 nap, daylight savings time, interrupted sleep due to teething. In the end, 7:30 works best for us and I selfishly like having an extra half of an hour in the evenings

 

[Kunzite]

Skippy, thanks for the list. I think that's why I'm so confused, he meets most of the things listed except the ones that seem most important like staying dry, dislikes being wet, and isn't resistant to sitting on the potty. It's just hard to know when to push and when to wait.

geri, thank you so much! It's amazing to hear that C didn't want to sit on the potty and didn't mind a dirty diaper but you were still successful! I think part of what I'm dreading about the process is that O refuses to be naked or just in a diaper. He has a fit if you try to leave his pants off! I think I might order some Blueberry training pants and try to convince him they're big boy shorts or something

LC, we have a little training potty that a friend gave me and that's what I've been trying to get him to sit on. He's agreed to sit on it twice now, but never for very long. Now when I ask him if he wants to sit on his potty he tells me, tomorrow!! I'm going to order a potty seat for the toilet too but he's a little hesitant about being in the bathroom for very long. There was an incident about a month ago where O and DH got stuck in the bathroom because the door knob broke while they were in there and I think he's still a little traumatized over it I think it's great that you're making a plan for E already, I wish we would have been in a place to do that too when O was younger.

 

[lliang_chi]

Kunzite, if O doesn't seem to care about being wet or dry, can you add a layer of cotton (old t-shirt or something) in his diaper? That way he has that wet clammy feeling next to his skin and that might motivate him to avoid it. Just a thought.

So Ethan is onto 1 nap on the weekends, but he pretty much falls asleep on himself @ 10AM and won't take a nap @ 4PM. I know he goes until 12N at daycare, but I can't seem to push him past 11AM at home. Any ideas?

 

[NewEnglandLady]

For us, activity is what keeps K from falling asleep. Usually I run errands before her mid-day nap, which she likes (she loves Target and the grocery store), but I also try to do more fun things. We have a music class on Friday mornings. We went to the zoo in the morning last Saturday. So long as something interesting is going on, she'll stay awake and not even fuss too much.

 

[geri]

LC - C is at home with a nanny so I think that really helped in terms of being able to focus consistently on toilet training. I would just talk to your daycare when you are ready about what they are able to do. I know a few people who had more success with toilet training at childcare than at home, maybe it's seeing other kids do it or using toilets that are the right size for little people?

Kunzite - C would run around naked all day if she could! Interestingly, now that she is toilet trained she can't wait to get her nappy off first thing in the morning so she now has that sense of not liking being wet.

 

[Skippy123]

Happy Mother's day ladies!!!

 

[NewEnglandLady]

How was everybody's mothers' day? Nothing too exciting at our house--pretty much business as usual, except we went to the in-laws' for dinner.

I think our teething reprieve is over. It was nice while it lasted, but the past two days K has been eating like a bird, not sleeping well and putting her fingers in her mouth while crying. I don't even know which teeth are coming in...the last ones to come in were her upper canines, so I guess it would be her lower canines, but didn't notice any swelling when I briefly checked this morning. I'd be a happy mama if her second molars didn't come in for another year.

 

[lliang_chi]

I got to spend Mothers' Day in a car driving back from Toronto. Ethan handled the trip like a champ though. Yay!

NEL, sorry sweet Katie is going through a rough patch for teething. Maybe the doc can take a guess when you go in for your 15m well baby.

Skippy, happy Mother's Day! Hope you had a sweet day with your two boys. You must post some more pictures

Geri, Sounds like C's really got her stuff together with the PTing. I hope things are easy for us when we start with Ethan. I'm hoping the day care can help us, but I really don't think they're too enthused to work with kids as young as Ethan.

Ethan's getting his bottom molars. I saw them poking through this weekend. Poor baby!

That's it for now. Meeting break over. I'll post later tonight

 

[Loves Vintage]

K, my husband and I have been talking potty training like the signs of being ready. He says that one of the signs is putting things back where they belong (according to baby center), also letting you know they don't like to be wet or pooped. I heard if you do potty train the best way is to keep them nekid since they don't like the feeling of peeing on themselves and some sort of reward system. We aren't ready yet since the boys just turned 2 but at the end of summer I want to try. http://www.babycenter.com/0_potty-training-what-works_4397.bc

maybe LovesVintage will chime in.

A little late, but I'm finally here with my thoughts on PT'g and PT'g in daycare as well.

I don't recall how old she was exactly, but it was somewhere around 1.5 where S started using the potty. I would put her on, and sometimes, she had success. Not knowing anything about PT'g, I thought we were on our way. She lost interst in it, however, and I now think we just had a few random successes in a row, but she was not really ready.

At the time, I had mentioned it to her teacher, whose facial expression in response is forever embedded in my memory! Haha! She clearly thought it was too early. Anyway, they did take her to the potty then, but they reported that she just giggled about it. As it turns out, the daycare, per state regulation, is not allowed to use little pottys or even those little potty seats. They put the kid on a regular toilet and teach them how to hold themselves up. I do not think she would have been coordinated enough to accomplish that (holding herself up) at 1.5, but my memory is a little fuzzy these days, not sure. Also, the room she was in at the time did not have a bathroom attached, so coordinating this was not easy, and they dropped it, so did I and so did S.

She's in a 2 yr old room now. Some of the kids are almost 3. About a month ago, they started putting her on the potty every half hour. I never did this at home. We did every hour on our best days. Within a few weeks, she was using the potty regularly with a few accidents in pull-ups over night, and a few where I probably should have put her on the potty more regularly. She is now at the point where she tells us when she needs to go! And, will go over to it and use it on her own! She still needs help with cleaning up and then we have a stool for her to get up to the sink to wash her hands.

This was a VERY EASY process. So easy, that I attributed all of the success to daycare. They really lead the effort, told me what to do at home, etc. She's still only there 2 days per week. I was really curious about this "daycare effect". It's like an event there, all of the kids going to use the potty. Even the teachers get cheers from the kids when they come out of the bathroom! Haha. So, I was convinced that all of the kids being together like that, makes it easier for them to learn. Curious about this, I asked her teacher the other day if all the kids in her room were PT'd, and she said no, that some of the older kids have no interest in it at all. I was really surprised by this! It makes me conclude that what they say is really true -- kids ARE ready when they're ready. I think it's fine to expose kids to the potty early, but if it becomes a really difficult process, then I think that's a sign the kid is not ready. I remember being really worried at 1.5 that maybe we were missing an opportunity, that somehow if I did something wrong then, and if she was truly ready then and we missed it, then we would have a much harder time later. Like most worry, I guess that worry was for no reason.

As far as potty types, we have two of these: http://www.amazon.com/BabyBjörn-055...68715261&sr=8-1&keywords=baby+born+with+potty They also have these at Target in the store. She will use these vs. a regular toilet interchangeably, which also surprises me.

 

[NewEnglandLady]

Question for you fellow toddler moms: when does the phase where things need to be a particular way start? And did your kids go through a stage where they were easily frightened? Also, does separation anxiety come and go in waves?

That was more than one question, but we're fighting through a few things in our household. First, my sensitive daughter is...well, sensitive. When the weather started warming up, we put a fan in K's room. Turns out, I think she was terrified of the fan. She scream cried for nearly an hour even after we took it out of her room (it was bedtime) and now cries every time we put her in her crib, though only for a minute.

Maybe she just hates going in her crib now. For months and months, she never said a peep when we put her in her crib. Now she gives us frustrated screams.

Second, she used to like being dropped off at daycare. If another kid was there, she'd wiggle out of my arms. Now when I drop her off, she screams. She couldn't care less if another kid was there. When I get home, she practically clings to me all night. Last night she ate half of an apple while holding onto my legs. I don't know if it's a phase or if something happened at daycare that scared her. The daycare provider says she thinks K is responding to teeth pain, but I don't know. Teeth get the blame for everything, it seems.

So, fun screaming times in our house lately.

 

[lliang_chi]

LV wow, sounds GREAT that PTing went really smoothly. Lucky you! And I can see how "peer pressure" will help get her into potty training faster.

NEL, aw poor sweet K. I'm not sure if what to say about the crib and fan. It definitely seems like she's the type that needs to get used to something first. When she gets a new toy, how does she act? Does she leave it there for a while and look at/study it first? Does she start playing with it right away and start pushing buttons etc? Maybe try bringing the fan into her room but not turning it on. Let her look at it. Then turn it on while holding her. Eventually you'll need a fan in her room, unless you guys just crank your A/C enough to keep her at a comfortable temp even in the hot months.
Re: crying @ drop off, Ethan is DEFINITELY more clingy now. He'll hold onto my leg as I'm walking also. So when I take him to daycare, I don't carry him into the room. I put him down about 20 ft away and let him walk with me. And he walks INTO his classroom on his own. So far whenever I did that he's responded much better to joining the activity in class. Normally I'll make it a game and chase him into the classroom, or I'll just walk there, open the door and call him in.
Teething pain might make her more sensitive/jumpy. Like when I have a headache and my phone keeps ringing, I end up answering it, "WHAT?!?" because I just want to be left alone. Have you tried acetaminophen or ibuprofen for the teething pain?

I'm hoping to get Ethan used to a potty. He has epic(and I do mean EPIC) poops first thing in the morning. I really would LOVE to catch that in the potty because it is a MESS changing his diaper 1st thing in the morning. He doesn't want to be changed, and it's a seriously large and messy BM. But he's already all pooped by the time I get him when he cries. Not sure if I should just get him when he frist wakes up. He usually wakes and hangs out for a min or two. That's probably when he's pooping. Any suggestions?

AFU, Ethan had his 15 month appointment. 24lbs (75th percentile), 32 inches (75th percentile) and still his giant noggin:20 inches (95th percentile). He didn't like this doctor as much as our normal one, so he cried pretty much his whole appointment with her. She was the "Grab him and hold him down" philosophy for bedside care. I didn't like that at all. His regular doctor is much more, "Let's get him comfortable" and talks to him etc.

 

[pancake]

NEL, what you're describing is totally normal at this age even for the most easygoing of babies! I'll use Sylvie as an example, haha. When she was about 11 months old, I started bringing her in to the daycare centre to get used to it. She LOVED it - couldn't care less whether I was there or not, ate hungrily, played happily, charmed the socks off everyone. So I thought that when she actually started it would be no problem. So wrong. She developed HORRENDOUS separation anxiety and just SCREAMED and SCREAMED and SCREAMED - went on strike, wouldn't eat wouldn't sleep. She still cries bitterly when I leave now, but the intensity has dropped quite a bit - in general, not just for daycare. That said, when I come home to her from a day of work she sticks to me like glue and is attached to the breast as much as possible, haha. Doesn't matter whether she's been with my mum, my MIL, or daycare -- becomes the incredible velcro baby. Other than that, she's still as cruisy and smiley as ever, so it's just a separation thing.

With naps we had about 6 weeks of revolting screaming when bed was even suggested, and then full-out screaming once we put her down. It has only settled down in the last week and a half, coinciding with her first significant illness (she had roseola, or 6th disease, last week).

But it comes and goes with age. Peak is 12-18 months. Hang in there!

 

[lliang_chi]

Pancake, Aw, you're poor sweet S. Your S and NEL's K seem to me to be the happiest sweetest babies ever. Sorry you both are going through such separation anxiety. I'm not sure if it's because Ethan's a boy or what, but he's been relatively peaceful and untouched by separation anxiety (touch wood). He's definitely expressing a preference for me over most people though. "Eh, eh eh" and reaching for mama. Most of the time I *love* it, but there are times when I just need him to go to someone else so I can get sh!t done.

Also wanted to say, Ethan's still not talking much. Like at all. Daycare said he said "Hi" to one of the directors. He never does for us. So I'm not sure what he said. He did say "Aye" to one of his old infant teachers, so maybe that's "Hi?" But he NEVER says it to me, daddy or Auntie L (my sis) whom he sees almost everyday. The pedi said he should be saying like 6 words by now, but they'll re-evaluate at 18 months.

Also wanted to include some pics from his 15m appointment.

 

[NewEnglandLady]

Thank you, ladies, hearing that your kiddos are going through something similar really helps. I was feeling bad/guilty, but it really does seem like it's just a phase.

LC, today I tried having K walk in (liked that idea), but once she was in, the waterworks started. I want her to feel secure without crossing into the coddling territory, so I do some soothing, but don't want to go overboard.

Oh, the fan incident seems isolated. I still have no idea why it scared her, but I put a different (quieter) fan in last week and she's completely fine with it. I hope she doesn't freak out when we put the air conditioner in her room. And she loves new toys. Just not new people

ETA: adorable pictures of E! K isn't talking much, either. She'll repeat words, but they don't really mean anything to her. She still only consistently uses maybe 5 to 10 words.

Pancake, sounds like K is in a similar phase as S right now. Luckily K hasn't been losing much sleep--she will cry when I put her in her crib (at night or for naps), but she only protests until she hears me go downstairs. Then I think she knows it's game over and will play with her lovies until she falls asleep. But you are right--the rest of the day she's pretty happy. I even feel like some of the issues I was dealing with a month ago (independence, knowing exactly what she wants), are easier now. I've also heard it gets easier at 18 months, which is great, but I'm still really enjoying every single day.

 

[lliang_chi]

NEL aw, poor K. Seems like this is just a phase and she'll be back to her sweet smiley self. Ethan has recently just started to give kisses that aren't all slobbery and open mouth. He still doens't pucker and kiss but now he makes the kissing noise.

 

[FrekeChild]

Not a ton going on over here, but wanted to say hi since I haven't posted in a long time!

A is 18 months old now and I want my baby back! She's 32 inches tall, 24 pounds 5 ounces, head is still in the 99th percentile and a bundle of gogogo energy. She runs, has a pretty decent vocabulary (moo and meow count too, right?) and can reach things on the edge of the counter tops. Which is awful for me. hahahaha!!!!! She babbles with the occasional word almost nonstop now, so I tend to tune her out most of the time...bad mommy. But that's the best indication that she's awake!

NEL, I'm sorry K is giving you such grief. I think it's a phase too. Any little change seems to freak them out. Cries at anything. Does she have tantrums yet?

LC - E is getting so big!!!! He's going to be a looker for sure, so you'd better buy something to keep the little girls away!

Pancake - how's S doing? Keeping you busy it sounds like!

 

[monarch64]

Alexandra turned one last weekend, so I thought I'd stop by this thread (I've lurked here for several months now) to say hello!

We had a nice, open-house party for her, about 75 in attendance, at our home. It took lots of planning, but we were really happy with everything and enjoyed the company of many family members, friends, and neighbors who've been involved in her life since birth. She's a total extrovert who very much thrives on socializing already, so she was happy being passed around and playing with her little friends and those from every other age group. I made her giant cupcake, and my mother brought my grandmother's hand-embroidered tablecloth from the 1960's for us to use. My maternal grandmother died before I was born, so it was wonderful to have part of her there and to think she was there in spirit to see her great-granddaughter turn one. The weather was a little cool and slightly rainy, but held off enough that we were able to hang about 50 paper lanterns all over the place (I have a fetish for those things!)

She started walking for real mid-May. Now she's following me everywhere but up the stairs since she hasn't mastered that yet. Words include: Daisy, Da-da, Nana (grandma), uh-oh, I see?, w's at? (what's that?). She's a gigglepuss and laughs hysterically at anything unexpected (throwing a ball, me making funny sounds, Daisy chasing stuff), and tries to imitate any sound we make, like sneezing, coughing, pbbbttt noises, etc. She's a pretty fun young lady.

I'm still working very part-time, and the schedule is going well for us. I joined a meetup group with 130 other moms in it and we've been going to activities (trail hikes, playdates, story time at the libray mostly), and it's allowed me to make even more friends in our neighborhood. Amazing how much your network expands when you have a child! I've also been gardening like mad, and expect to harvest first crops of sugar snap peas and beets in the next two weeks. My husband built me another raised bed just for tomatoes, and I got all my plants in last week. Some early varieties are already bearing fruit! I'm stockpiling ball jars so that I can learn how to can this year. I also put in a new 3x12 flower bed on one side of the house, and the seeds I started are flourishing in that one. We installed a rain barrel yesterday to offset some of the watering costs and to conserve, of course. It's shaping up to be a great summer.

I look forward to continuing to interact with you all here!

 

[Skippy123]

LC - I Love E, so precious!!!

Monnie, HAPPY HAPPY Birthday to your beautiful girl

 

[NewEnglandLady]

Monnie, the party sounds perfect! Looks like it was a lot of fun and it's so great that C enjoyed it! Did she love her cake?

And great job with all of the gardening!! Do you take C out with you when you're working outdoors? We've been doing a lot of outdoor work (more maintenance than anything else) and if D and I both need to be outside we have to wait for her to nap. I need like a giant playpen outside or something

Freke, little A is getting so big!! She sounds so adorable. The babbling is so cute. We've been lucky in the tantrum department--we had a few when she was just learning to walk (I think her newfound independence was a factor), but lately she's been very happy go lucky. She does have them occasionally at daycare, but her caretaker and I are aligned on how we address them, so that is good.

My goal is to post some pics this week! I need to download a bunch from my camera.

 

[Lauren8211]

Haven't been on PS in ages! So amazing to see how grown up all the babies are! Love seeing all the pictures! Going to try and catch up a bit in here and update!

 

[monarch64]

NEL, I typically don't take her outside when I'm working on stuff. She has been trying to climb out of the pack 'n play lately so I can't really turn my back on her and get anything done. I wait for nap time, or do things early in the morning before she gets up, or wait for my husband to get home so he can take over for a bit. Right now we even have a little time after she goes to bed until it's totally dark outside, so we're taking advantage of that as well. A giant playpen would be really cool, though, I think you might be onto something.

 

[lliang_chi]

NEL and Monnie, totally jealous of your yards for your girls to play in. Ethan loves getting messy so he'd be all about having a yard. He'll just have to wait until we get into a house.

Monnie, love the pics of sweet C and her party! Wow, I can't believe you had that many people over! DH would freak out if 70 people ended up coming to our house. To me, the more the merrier, but he's totally not used to entertaining.

Freke, glad to hear A is doing so well. 18 months, wow, she's growing up so fast! And meow and moo definitely counts as a vocabulary. What do you do with your stove and A reaching for the knobs? I pull all the knobs off my stove, but when I'm cooking, Ethan still tries to play with it.

Attaching some pics from our Brooklyn/Long Island holiday this past weekend. We visited two sets of friends (one of James, Brooklyn, and one of mine, LI). The LI friends have a son who's 6 months older than Ethan (2-months adjusted) so Ethan got to play with all of his cousin's toys. They were SO CUTE together.

 

[NewEnglandLady]

LC, I love those photos! E looks so cute on that rocker! Did you guys have a fun time on your trip?

Monnie, good to know you haven't figured out how to get yardwork done with a toddler, either. Katie loves being outdoors, but getting her all sunblocked up and then watching her every 30 seconds to make sure she isn't eating mulch is too tiring.

Elle, great to see you around!

I promised a pic, so last night I downloaded some photos we've taken over the past couple of weeks. Long story short, we've gotten lax with taking photos. This one is awful, but it's the only one where she's looking at the camera. Reading is her favorite activity ever. Every day when we get home, she gets a book and runs to this giant bear so I'll read to her. It's so cute.

 

[lliang_chi]

NEL Adorable picture of Miss K! Great to hear she LOVES books. Ethan's the same way too. How is she liking the piano. Does D still play to her?

Freke & Elle we'll let you off for not posting in these parts but we need pics of your darling not-so-baby-anymore babies.

 

[NewEnglandLady]

LC, she still loves the piano. And music in general. I need to get some pics of her dancing. She spins in circles until she falls down, then laughs. She wants me to sing ALL THE TIME (she now uses the "more" sign as a "mom, sing to me" sign). She even tries to sing along: when I sing Old MacDonald she sings the " E-I-E-I-O" part, but she says "E-I-E-I-E". Does E love music? Is he as demanding about being sung to?

Of course, in our music class K is as quiet as a church mouse.

 

[lliang_chi]

NEL, Ethan "dances" to music, but doesn't sing along. He does enjoy hearing music, but I don't get the same reaction when I'm singing to him. Although I only sing to him as an unsuccessful distraction technique like during diaper changes or when he's fussy. We haven't gone to any music classes. He has music time @ daycare and loves banging on drums etc. He still doesn't have the speech thing yet, so he can't really sing but he totally sways to a beat.

 

[Kunzite]

Monarch, happy birthday to A!

Can anyone spare a little dust? M has to get an MRI and I'm super gutted about it. I'm usually pretty good about taking all of their appointments in stride, but I can't shake the worry from this one for some reason

And how in the world do I have THREE toddlers that qualify for this thread??

 

[NewEnglandLady]

M and E are soooo cute! I loved the pics you posted in the 0 - 12 month thread. Happy first b-day to both of them!

I have plenty of dust to spare--why does M need the MRI? Will he need to be sedated? I didn't realize anything was wrong--tons and tons of dust to you!