PS Mommy thread with toddlers 12-36 months

[Kunzite]

Jgator, I totally feel you on the sleep right now! E was up 3 times last night. He's been cutting his molars for two months now!! It's horrible. I have no idea what to do with him anymore. Ibuprofen doesn't seem to help and we can't sleep train him while he's in pain. As for rinsing hair, this is something we've talked to M's OT about a number of times (he has sensory issues with his head being messed with in general). She said that it's totally normal for babies and toddlers to not like having their hair rinsed because it's such an overwhelming sensation. She suggested that we either try a visor or just use a wash cloth to slowly rinse. We tried the visor and I think on a normal kid it would be a great solution, I have no idea how that would make her a wimp!! It didn't work for M though because he doesn't like hats. On another note I wanted to report back to you that O was recently diagnosed with slight strabismus after being diagnosed pseudo strabismus around a year old. I know K was too so I just wanted to let you know to keep an eye on it. I thought we'd been watching it closely but since he has the weird skin by the bridge of his nose we hadn't noticed a difference. In pictures it looks like the left eye is crossing, but his left eye is actually the dominant one and it's the right that has problems! He's currently wearing a patch 2 hours a day to try to avoid surgery

I know I'm late to the Halloween photos but here are my raccoons and stop light. O turned 3 yesterday so I figured I could post one picture of him (bad mommy! I figure it's the bottom of the page, it will only be seen by a couple of people!!)



ETA, I lied, 2 of O because I think he looks like a doll with his patch on. When he sees a pirate somewhere he gets excited and says, "Like Ollie!!"

 

[amc80]

I think half of my news feed on FB is about kids not sleeping. Is it the change in whether? Time change? Who knows. B has been awful the past few nights. Last night was better- I was only up once for about 20 minutes.

 

[JGator]

Kunzite, thanks for chiming in on the visor and the sleep deprivation empathy! The doctor said K's top tooth is coming in so I'm sure she's been extra needy due to that, but it's just so exhausting. Good luck to you with E's molars - hope you get some sleep too. Your boys are just so handsome and adorable. O is so cute with his patch. I had to wear a patch and glasses growing up as I have strabismus and glasses/contacts corrects it for me now. I also went to eye exercises every week to help get the two eyes to work together better. I hope O does not need surgery - that's another surgery I had as a kid in addition to the ear tubes. All of these things I really hope K does not inherit!

AMC, I feel your pain. It must be a combo of the time change, and maybe there is a full moon out too! Who knows? Hope all the kiddos start getting some sleep so we can get some rest too! How is B feeling after all the vomiting? I"m sorry I totally missed responding to you on that - blame it on my sleep deprivation. I hope he is on the mend.

 

[amc80]

Thanks JGator. He seems fine...his appetite isn't back yet but things are getting better. Oh, except I woke up today feeling sick so I think I have whatever he had. DH is sick as well. Hoping we are all better soon since we leave on vacation next Thursday for a trip we've been planning for over a year.

 

[FrekeChild]

Hah! I meant to add a picture last night. My bad!

 

[JGator]

Freke, absolutely precious, she is!!!! (that's my attempt at yoda-ese)

AMC, sorry to hear you are sick. I hope you and DH recover quickly before your trip.

 

[jfo]

Freke, thanks for the update on your daughter! A sounds like a total ham and she looks so cute in her Yoda costume. I love hearing about the older kiddos so I know what I have the pleasure of looking forward to—good and bad! I can’t wait for L’s personality to continue to come out more and more.

Jgator, ugh, I’m sorry that it was another bad night. It sound like K is definitely pulling herself up to stand consistently now. I wonder if that development is disturbing her sleep too like her learning to sit up? As far as rinsing the hair in the tub, I know that my nephews would hate it when they were younger (and my 4 year old nephew still hates it), so I think how they got around it was lathering and rinsing his head separately in the sink (tipping his head back like when you have your hair washed at the salon) and then taking a bath to wash up everything else. But Kunzite brings up an interesting point—is it the sensation of the water on her head/in her hair, or is it the water running over her face? I started really early with L where I would count to 3 and then pour the water over her head and then she knew to expect it rather than being surprised and that seemed to help.

Kunzite, I love seeing the photos of your boys! O looks so cute with his eye patch. I hope that he will not need surgery. Early on, L looked cross-eyed in photos and so we took her to see a pediatric ophthalmologist and she was diagnosed with pseudostrabismus too.

Amc, I’m sorry that you guys are sick now. Hopefully getting it now will mean that you will be over it by the time you are on your cruise!

AFU, L seems less interested in practicing walking and more interested in hiking up her leg on the coffee table like she’s in barre class.

 

[mayerling]

When you say the food-throwing stops, when exactly does that happen? N still throws his food on the ground, especially when he's bored. Also, when do they start to entertain themselves a bit more?

 

[amc80]

When you say the food-throwing stops, when exactly does that happen? N still throws his food on the ground, especially when he's bored. Also, when do they start to entertain themselves a bit more?

B even throws food he likes. He will throw some, then realize what it is, then eat some, then throw some more. Sigh. He is able to entertain himself for a while. He has a container of wooden blocks with cutout shapes for a lid. If I dump the blocks out he will spend a good 15 minutes putting them all back.

 

[JGator]

Jfo, K is standing up all the time now. She pulls up on just about any furniture, and she loves to cruise. We got a shampoo visor and used it last night. She still cried, but she didn't jump up or try to get out of the tub this time. I think it was a success, and hopefully she will get used to it over time. That's too funny that L is using your coffee table for ballet practice. K seems to like to have her feet up too. She will put them up in her high chair or car seat. Is your 1-year doctor appointment today? Good luck. Ours is later this AM.

Mayerling, K throws food a lot too. Particularly if she's tired or not really hungry. And, I know she's not hungry if she throws Cheerios which are her favorite food. That is usually the last thing I give her to find out if I should give up on feeding her or not.

AMC, I hope you and your DH are feeling better so that you can enjoy your vacation.

AFU, K may have 2 new teeth. I saw the top one or something white on the top and K's nanny said she saw the 2nd bottom one today. K refused to open her mouth or smile when I tried to look today though. So, we may be up to 3 teeth! She didn't sleep well at night all weekend, but she had a decent nap yesterday for me so that was encouraging. She is still scooting (I don't think she will ever crawl), and stands up all the time now when she has furniture to grab. K has 2 different sets of stacking blocks from her birthday, and she enjoys knocking them over and putting them inside each other. The one set includes little figurines that match the animals printed on the sides of the blocks - http://www.fatbraintoys.com/toy_companies/papo/djeco_topanimo_6_cubes_6_animals.cfm?source=google_pla&kwid=PAP096&gclid=CNK-jJD73LoCFW_NOgodPCcACg It's really cute. We have a trip coming up over Thanksgiving to Europe to see my in-laws so I'm starting to think about what to pack and how we will survive the plane rides. K has only flown once to Florida and that was a 2-hour flight - we will have one long flight and a short flight and then 12 days at the in-laws! Wish me luck.

 

[NewEnglandLady]

Freke, that is such an adorable photo! It sounds like she's really her own little person now...she just seems like such a comical, upbeat kid. Can't wait to see pics of the party!

Oh, and Mayerling, I was just going over milestones with our daycare provider last week and at Katie's age, she's expected to entertain herself for 20 - 40 minutes at a time. I think for 12 - 18 months, it's 15 - 30. I'm not really sure how many times per day the independent play is expected.

Question for you all about big kid beds. While going through the "milestones" sheet with K's daycare provider, the topic of a "big kid" bed came up. I think at the 21-month mark it said "may be ready for a big kid bed". I'm not comfortable transitioning K to her toddler bed until I can effectively communicate with her, which I have a feeling won't be until she's 2.5 or so. K makes no attempt to climb out of her crib...in fact, she really likes her crib. I assume holding off on the toddler bed is fine? Just curious what you all are doing.

 

[mayerling]

Now, I'm worried. N is 16 months and the longest he will ever entertain himself is about 5 mins at a time (and even that doesn't happen very often).

 

[NewEnglandLady]

Mayerling, I really would not worry about it. I mean, if you are worried, you can try to foster more independent play (starting activities that he can then continue on his own, saving his favorite activities for independent play, etc.). Amc mentioned that B loves putting things away, so he'll do that on his own...K does the exact same thing. But I do think some kids just find interaction to be much more stimulating than independent play. K loves "helping" me in the kitchen. So I bought her a play kitchen, that way when I'm cooking, she can pretend play in her own kitchen. She loves using her play kitchen...if I'm right next to her. But if I'm in the real kitchen, she wants to be in there with me. So I've sort of given up that battle and am fine letting her play in the real kitchen if I'm in there. So she's still right next to me (what she wants), but at least she's playing on her own (what I want).

 

[jfo]

Mayerling, I think that NEL’s suggestions for independent play make a lot of sense. Another thing that I’ve noticed is that if I get too many toys out at once for L to play with, she’ll jump around playing with a few for a few minutes each, and then she’ll lose interest and then try to come find me, so if I just get out one or two of her more favorite toys (shape sorter, stacking cups, or books), she’ll stay engaged longer with each one. I eventually want to get her a play kitchen too, but for now, I’ve set up two shelves in the kitchen that are at her level and contain her food/snacks and other child-friendly stuff and she can stand there and pull out all of her stuff and play with them while I’m cooking, etc. It’s kind of a life saver because she can easily spend 10-15 minutes pulling out everything, shaking things, banging them together, and attempting to put them back on the shelf.

JGator, our 1 year appointment is scheduled for tomorrow morning. You’ll have to let me know how it goes with K today. I’m assuming there’s several vaccination shots and I know that L will also get her flu shot tomorrow too. That’s great that the shampoo visor worked well for you guys. That’s a big trip coming up over the holidays! I am jealous that you are going to Europe. Does K have a passport already? DH was suggesting that we take L on a long weekend trip, potentially out of the country (to go somewhere warm, like St. Martin) in about a month or so and the thought of trying to figure that all out is stressing me out. I also need to start the passport process for her. I don’t know if we’ll actually end up making that happen though. We already have two road trips coming up in which driving time alone will be between 5-7 hours and I’m not looking forward to that. Anyway, everything I’ve read about flying with young kids on longer flights is to have plenty of back-ups. So, bring travel-ready toys/books that she hasn’t played with for a while or are new for the trip, extra changes of clothes/diapers, and food/snacks. I know that some of my friends with older toddlers have told me that their iPad has been a life-saver. I’m sure the other more experienced mamas will have good advice. L has only flown a 2 hour flight to Florida too when she was around 9 months old and we were lucky in that she slept for at least half of each flight.

NEL, I was just looking into when to transition kids from cribs to toddler beds because L is still sleeping in a mini-crib, which she is rapidly outgrowing. So we were trying to figure out what to focus on—just get a regular full-sized crib or get a convertible? We ended up going with a convertible, but I don’t imagine we’ll transition her to the toddler bed for a long while yet. I think most experts agree that transitioning too early can wreak havoc on a formerly good sleeper’s sleep. I read that you should switch to a toddler bed when your kid keeps consistently trying to climb out of the crib (therefore, it’s dangerous to keep them in the crib), but if you don’t have a climber, then it’s really a matter of cognitive maturity (since they sometimes wake up at night and want to play and when they’re in a crib, they can’t get out, but if you only have a toddler rail, then they may get up and walk around the room in the middle of the night) and every kid is different. Most sites I read suggest that there’s no rush—wait until they’re at least 2, or closer 3 if possible. I’d be interested in hearing what other mom’s ended up doing.

Amc, hope you all are feeling better! Hi to MP and the rest of you ladies!

 

[JGator]

NEL, how old do you think is a good age for the kitchen? We want to get one for our K, but I thought I should wait till she is 2. Do you think a 1-year old would play in a toy kitchen? It's an idea for a Christmas gift - she'll be 14 months old then. I saw a nice kitchen at Costco recently.

Jfo, I just got back from K's appointment. She is 22 lbs and 30.5 inches. Her head circumference is less than 30%, but the doctor wasn't concerned as that's been consistent. Her weight is in the high 60s and length was 89%, I think. She was a lot less cooperative with the doctor exam this time around. The doctor had a hard time looking in her ears, etc. We got some advice to try to let K cry at night for incremental times like 5, 10, 15 mins. She said the separation anxiety at night is normal with her not letting my DH go to her at night. She said the teething and developmental milestones are probably part of the sleep issues though. She has 2 bottom teeth and the top one hasn't come in yet, but her gums are swollen so that should be coming in soon. The doctor said we could try Benadryl on our flight, but to give it to K before the flight to test it as some babies get hyper on Benadryl and we would not want to find that out on the airplane. Also, she suggested we get K off bottles first, and then get her switched completely to milk, and then get her off her pacifier. She said she prefers the sippy cups with straws as they are less like a bottle than the other ones with the soft tips. She said she should no longer have the pacifier at 2 years old. So, we'll start working on these in the order she suggested. And, she got 3 shots - we did the flu shot last week which is a 2-part shot - the 2nd half has to be done a month later.

AFU, I forgot to mention, K started learning to climb stairs this weekend. She hasn't mastered it yet, but she can get up a few steps before slipping - we had my DH help her/supervise this over the weekend. I thought it was funny that she can climb stairs, but not crawl since it sure looks like crawling to me!

 

[NewEnglandLady]

Jgator, sounds like the appointment went well! How is the transition from bottles to a sippy going for you? Interesting that she said no pacis past two. I've been afraid to take away the paci for sleep, but K has been wanting it less and less in the past couple of months, which is good. Also, it's cute that K is climbing stairs. Way back when my K was a newborn and starting physical therapy for her torticollis, there were some soft stairs in the physical therapy room. I asked the PT what they were used for and she said many babies will crawl up stairs before crawling on a flat surface because the incline makes it easier.

As for the kitchen, has K started to pretend play at all? K didn't start wanting to pretend to cook until she was maybe 17 months? We meant to get her a kitchen around that time, but for some reason things were just busy and we ended up not getting it for her until she was 20 months. She likes it, and she definitely pretends to cook in it, but I think she'll get even more use out of it when she's a little older. If K is into pretend play, I think she'll like it.

I will warn you: it took me about 5 hours to put our play kitchen together (and I felt I was going along pretty quickly). And it's not really one of those things that two people can work on at the same time. I kept thinking "Man, if I were trying to put this together while K slept on Christmas Eve, I'd have to give up before Christmas morning!" So if it's one of those things you want constructed by Christmas morning, you'll probably want to do it ahead of time and hide it somewhere!

jfo, we have a convertible crib, too, and I like knowing that when K's ready for the transition, it will be relatively easy (at least she's already familiar with her crib). And K is such a good sleeper that the idea of doing anything to jeopardize that is not appealing. She's going to be moving out of her nursery and into her "big girl" room in the next few weeks, and I think that will probably be transition enough. I'm hoping not to have to make any more transitions for at least 6 months, so hopefully she won't start climbing out of her crib anytime soon.

Oh, and we've been talking about getting K a passport forever. I've had the forms on my desk at home for at least 6 months. Now with the new baby on the way, I keep putting it off because I figure I may as well do both at once.

 

[JGator]

Jfo, I forgot to answer you about passport. K has a passport - she got it several months ago. My DH wanted K to be able to travel if anything happened with his parents and we needed to go without notice. We made an appt at a post office that processes the applications, and brought 2 passport pictures with us that we took at home. I think we got the passport 2-3 weeks later in the mail. It was pretty easy, and they are good for 5 years.

NEL, thanks for advice on the kitchen and the heads up on the assembly difficulty. K is not pretend playing yet so I'll have to think about it. I think it would be a great Christmas gift. Also, on the crib, if K is not getting out of the crib on her own, I would keep her in there as long as you can. I remember my niece was climbing out of her crib shortly after she was 1 year old so they switched her to a toddler bed at that time, but if you have no safety concerns, keep her in the crib. The transition to sippy has been so-so. She has been using one for a while with water, but we just started putting milk into it, and she just takes a sip or two at a time so she's not really getting much milk in a day out of the sippy - maybe 2-4 ounces total. Thanks for the info on the stairs - that makes complete sense!

 

[amc80]

Jfo- We just got B's passport and it took 13 days without any expedited processing. My renewal took a whopping 15 days. And his passport picture is so freaking cute.

When did everyone flip their crib mattresses? Ours has an infant and toddler side. The infant side is hard as a rock. I flipped it yesterday because B seems to prefer softer beds, but I don't know if it's really too early to do so. I'm very interested in the crib/toddler bed conversation. We have a convertible crib and I'd love to keep B in it until potential #2 comes along...then B will move to something else (?) and the baby will go in the crib. But I really doubt we will be able to keep him in there without converting it. He's at the height limit (or just under) and as of yesterday has started holding onto the railing and jumping as high as he can go. I think it was LC who suggested flipping the crib so the higher back rail is facing out. We might end up doing that.

Our household is pretty much recovered. B still has this hacking cough but it seems to be getting better. DH and I both got that cold and a stomach thing as well...Thank goodness B has slept through the night the past two nights, so I've been able to get some sleep.

 

[jfo]

NEL, what play kitchen did you end up getting? Taking 5 hours to put it together does not sound like fun! I am thinking that we are going to hold off on a play kitchen for now. L’s pretend play currently is limited to pretending to pick up the phone and talk and using the otoscope to check my and daddy’s ears (I bought her a play doctor’s set in hopes of acclimating her to the doctor’s office—she currently is absolutely terrified of the doctor’s office after her frequent visits over the summer with her recurring ear infections that inevitably ended with an antibiotic shot). I would imagine that moving your daughter from the nursery to her own big girl room is definitely going to be a big transition for her as you mentioned. If you have a good sleeper on your hands, I wouldn’t rock the boat. I’m slightly nervous about moving L from the mini-crib to the regular sized crib--she also uses a mini-crib at daycare and a pack and play whenever we stay anywhere outside the house)--so I don’t know if it will seem too vast for her although I guess she’ll just have to adapt.

JGator, it sounds like K is growing well! I bet L and K are about the same size still. When we went to the pediatrician a week ago to investigate her fever, she weighed 21 lbs, 15 oz. Did the pediatrician mention anything about any other methods to help K sleep through the night that didn’t involve some form of CIO or do you feel comfortable with that approach? It really does sound like K is rapidly making some development leaps with the pulling up, cruising and climbing stairs! That’s interesting what your pediatrician said about transitioning to sippy cups with straws versus the sippies with soft spouts. I meant to break out the Zoli straw cup again this weekend and I forgot. Maybe I’ll try this evening at dinner time with some water. I’d love to have her using regular cups with a straw or something all the time. The NUK sippy cups that she loves so much really are very much like a bottle.

JGator and amc, you both have convinced me that there’s no reason to wait on the passport. Did everyone take their own photos?

amc, I never even knew that there were two sides to a crib mattress. Is that always the case? Glad to hear that everyone seems to be on the mend. Ha, it doesn’t surprise me that B would be trying to jump his way out of the crib  You may want to do the LC suggestion just to keep him in the crib a little longer.

 

[amc80]

[quote="jfo|1384206962|3554511"

JGator and amc, you both have convinced me that there’s no reason to wait on the passport. Did everyone take their own photos?

amc, I never even knew that there were two sides to a crib mattress. Is that always the case? Glad to hear that everyone seems to be on the mend. Ha, it doesn’t surprise me that B would be trying to jump his way out of the crib  You may want to do the LC suggestion just to keep him in the crib a little longer.[/quote]

We got his done at Costco. It was quite a battle since he has to be alone in the pic and getting him to stand still anywhere is a challenge. But they turned out really cute.

Not all crib mattresses have that feature, so don't be surprised if yours doesn't.

 

[monarch64]

Excellent shots of Halloween costumed babies! We didn't take Alex trick-or-treating this year, choosing to stay home and pass out candy instead. She is fond of wearing a pink cowgirl hat and boots, but the only pics I have of her in them she's only wearing a diaper otherwise so not posting online. Here is a bad phone pic from a few weeks ago, though:

She's also a food thrower. I have to crate our dog now during meal times because the dog and the baby are in cahoots. The dog is also gaining weight and I just refuse to let that become an issue.

I have turned her mattress several times. Probably 4 or 5 since she started sleeping in her crib a year (a year?! that can't be right, sob) ago, so about every 3 months. I don't even know what's recommended, I just do it sort of seasonally. Like, I just did it when I put away some fall decorations, and I'll do it again in January when I put away holiday stuff.

She is thisclose to being off the bottle. I've spent the past two weeks trying out new sippies and putting her to bed with nothing at all. She hated two of the ones I posted about recently which were the most expensive, but loved a Nuby insulated 9 oz one from Target that cost $4.50. I kind of figured it was going to go that way because I was looking at stuff that I thought she'd like and I should know that whatever mom thinks is cool is definitely not cool even when you're a toddler. Anyway, this last week we've had success in only giving her one actual bottle with a little water in it at night.

She thinks everything is a potty now. She either wants to go in the bathroom and sit on her potty, take it out and play with it (it's clean, don't worry) or she wants to sit on the dog's water bowl. It's weird and hilarious at the same time.

We've been looking at play kitchens as well. I pinned a few today, am currently looking at Kid Kraft and Melissa and Doug.

 

[mayerling]

Loving all the pics!

What toy promoting independent/pretend play for boys would you suggest?

 

[amc80]

Loving all the pics! What toy promoting independent/pretend play for boys would you suggest?

B loves his shape sorter and his mega blocks (giant Legos). He has this and loves it-

http://www.amazon.com/Kidoozie-G02033-Funtime-Tractor/dp/B000063JQJ/ref=cm_cr_pr_product_top

 

[JGator]

Jfo, the pediatrician recommended playing music (possibly all night), white noise sound machine, books, bedtime routine, dimming lights, etc. We are already playing the Pandora Lullaby channel and have a giraffe sound machine which we have set to white noise. We do not let them run all night so we could try that. She said it's up to our comfort level on the crying. I got up last night with K at 130, 300, 530, and 630 before moving her to our bed - I had to put the paci back in and pat her back to sleep all of the times except for a 3am 3 oz bottle and the 630am transfer to our bed. I think I'm going to have to resort to CIO at some point, but I feel badly knowing she's teething right now and with the upcoming trip to Europe in a couple weeks with a 6 hour time change, but I really can't keep this up! I keep saying that though, don't I? I am so lucky I work from home.

AMC, I have the 2-sided crib mattress. I was just wondering when to flip as I guess now that they are one they are considered Toddlers so you should probably go ahead and try it. And, let me know how it goes!

Monnie, A is so cute. Love the pigtails! Good luck with potty training. I am not looking forward to that phase!

Mayerling, check this site out for some ideas - Top Toys for 1-year old boys - http://www.fatbraintoys.com/toys/toys_by_ages/boys/top_picks_1.cfm
2-year old boys - http://www.fatbraintoys.com/toys/toys_by_ages/boys/top_picks_2.cfm

 

[NewEnglandLady]

NEL, what play kitchen did you end up getting? Taking 5 hours to put it together does not sound like fun! I am thinking that we are going to hold off on a play kitchen for now.

We ended up getting the Kid Kraft Uptown Espresso kitchen. I read in the Amazon reviews that it takes FOREVER to put together, so I think there are kitchens that won't take as much time! My daycare provider found her play kitchen at a consignment store for $20...and it was already assembled.

Finally posting a Halloween pic...better late than never, I guess. This was at the end of the day, so she was tired and refused to wear her shoes. Oh, and you can see, she prefers the real kitchen.

 

[jfo]

amc, ah, that makes sense. I don't think the new crib mattress we bought has that feature. I'd imagine that B is old enough now to be able to sleep on the softer side. I imagine the infant side is hard as a rock to prevent SIDS.

Monarch, Alex is SO cute with her pigtails! How old is she again—17 months or so, right? That’s great that she is so interested in the potty.

NEL, Katie looks ADORABLE in her poodle skirt and ponytail! I looked up the kitchen you have, and it looks really cool… I can see why you’d get it despite the assembly time!

JGator, we run a sound machine for L all night. I honestly have no idea of it helps or not, but we’ve been doing it for many months now, so I’ll keep doing it. It seems to me that if they're uncomfortable, sick, in pain, etc. they are going to wake up anyway though. I’m glad that you work from home too. That many wake-ups is exhausting!

AFU, L had her 1 year old appointment this morning. She’s 21 lb, 13 oz and 30.5 inches long, so basically identical to JGator’s K! No concerns and she’s growing well. She got popped with 3 shots today including the flu shot. They said something about her potentially running a fever today due to the flu shot, but then also running a delayed fever anywhere between 5-10 days from now from the other vaccines with a 1 in 2500 chance of a seizure. I think it's because of the combination of vaccines. Anyone ever heard of that?!

The pediatrician said it'd be a good idea to schedule a pediatric dental appointment. Apparently, it's good to do around a year old, so I just made an appointment for a couple of weeks from now. Has anyone else gone to the dentist yet?

 

[mayerling]

Thanks for the toy suggestions, everyone!

JGator, where in Europe are you flying to? DH and I just booked our trip to the West Coast of the US for the holidays and I'm already dreading it, especially the leg of the trip which involves an 11-hour flight from London to LA! I'm actually in denial right now because I have no idea how we're going to survive it with an almost 18-month-old.

 

[JGator]

Mayerling, maybe try the Benadryl my pediatrician suggested - she said to try it out ahead of time to make sure it doesn't make your baby hyper. We are flying to Switzerland via London from the East Coast of the US. So, it's a shorter trip than you have planned.

Jfo, good luck with the shot aftermath. K was fine - she slept longer than usual for her afternoon nap, but that was the extent of the impact to her. I was hoping she would sleep more at night! I can't believe L and K are almost birthday twins and height/weight twins too! Our doctor didn't say anything about the dentist - maybe because K has so few teeth - only 2! We go back for her next pediatrician appt at 15 months and before that for her flu shot part 2 next month so I'll ask when we see the doctor next.

NEL, K is so beautiful and too cute in her Halloween costume! I think I saw the kitchen you have on Costco.com. I'm going to look in the store again as I know they have some for Christmas. K's birthday is only 2 months before Christmas so it's hard to spread out the big gifts - I guess you have that problem too with your K turning 2 in February.

 

[FrekeChild]

I keep trying to catch up and failing. Gotta keep this quick because she just awoke and is bellowing at me. Lol.

We got her the following for her birthday/Christmas:

-Leap Pad (older version)
-4 books
-number puzzle
-action figures (Wonder Woman and some others)
-Cupcake kitchen ($40 from Amazon)
-clothes - winter stuff
-Tricycle
-helmet
-coloring book
-Dora doll

This whole birthday being right before Christmas is going to be the death of me.

 

[jfo]

JGator, thanks! I really get a kick out of how close in age and size K and L are! So, L slept longer for her afternoon nap yesterday too. I noticed a little bit of a rash below her belly button when I gave her a bath last night, but I forgot to check this morning. Otherwise, hopefully she doesn’t have any other reaction in the coming days. I read more into the vaccines she received and one of them was the MMRV (measles, mumps, rubella and varicella aka Chickenpox) vaccine. That’s the one that apparently has higher rates of side effects like fever and a measles-like rash 5-12 days after the vaccine is administered versus getting the MMR and chicken pox vaccines separately. Ugh. I’m starting to kick myself for potentially making a hasty decision to get the MMRV versus the MMR and chickenpox vaccines separately. It would have been 4 sticks versus 3, but it’s the short term pain of an additional shot versus an increased possibility of having those side effects. I guess I can’t do anything about it now but hope for the best and not make myself sick thinking about the possibilities.

Mayerling, I wish you the best for traveling during the holidays with your little one. That is a long flight, but here's to hoping that N will sleep a lot and be easily entertained!

Freke, wow, A is a lucky little girl! It sounds like she's getting a lot of good stuff for her birthday/Christmas!