PS Mommy thread with toddlers 12-36 months

[jfo]

Holy smokes, this thread moves quickly these days! I obviously need to check in more often. I don't have much time to comment (even though I want to) on everything, but just wanted to say LC, mlk, monarch and kunzite--love the photos of your cuties! Also, everything that I get to read here is incredibly helpful information. You ladies are amazing--thanks for sharing your stories, experiences and advice.

Real quickly--
mp, good luck with the daycare room transition. I know that with our daycare, they let us know a few weeks in advance what the new schedule was going to be and made some suggestions to have us start working on moving to that schedule (nap and eating) to make it easier for the actual transition, and that helped. I know your SIL runs the daycare that Ev is at, so hopefully they can be flexible as necessary too with the schedule at first. I am crossing my fingers for you that this latest IUI works out for you! But there is always hope even if not... I remember after our third IUI not working, I was feeling really down, and we took a break too... we weren't ready to go to the next step in our personal journey of infertility, and then lo and behold, we got pregnant with L naturally.

Oh and in terms of growth... we don't have L's 15 month appointment until another month from now, but I honestly don't think she's grown in height at all for many months now, but I'm sure she's still gained weight. Dh and I laugh about her little "beer belly". She is drinking whole milk but I'd be curious if our doctor would recommend 2%...

JGator, I'm SO happy for you that things are getting better with K and nightime sleep!! It sounds like getting more food in her during the day has really helped out and she's really enjoying some of the new variety of foods she's getting. Too cute that she's using utensils these days. L is as well and having some reasonable success feeding herself. It has gotten to the point already that she doesn't want me to feed her--she has to do it herself... which I'm fine with except when I'm trying to get her to eat her yogurt quickly so we can get out the door in the morning!

LC, high five to doing a family dinner on a weeknight. I don't know if that will ever happen with our current schedules. It's such a rush in the evenings to get home to eat before the bedtime routine starts. The only time that we seem to have family meals together are on weekends and usually when we are out together for a meal. I'd love to be able to get to eating together with some regularity. I feel like L eats better that way too.

amc, B looks likes he's having a BLAST at gymnastics! Awesome!

Hi to everyone else!

AFU, L has become miss picky eater. She used to eat everything and now... she doesn't want any of her formerly favorite healthy foods like any veggies (she used to LOVE peas or green beans) or chicken, etc. She doesn't even want to eat grapes or strawberries that she used to love. Ugh, I'm sure it's just a phase, but it's frustrating to see all the good food going to waste. Right now, I end up offering something else that I know she will eat although it may not be as healthy just so that i can be sure that she is getting filled up. Otherwise, she ends up coming back to me within 2 hours or less and signing that she's hungry.

 

[FrekeChild]

Good grief, I get sick and neglect this thread for a few days and come back and it exploded!

I will take a picture of the big girl bed as soon as I think about it and post it - probably tomorrow or Sunday.

For now, bed.

 

[mayerling]

Hi everyone,

I'm back from my travels and glad to see this thread has been hopping while I was away! I've loved reading everyone's news and promise to come back and respond to everyone.

Very quickly, we had a good time in California even though having to deal with my in-laws ideas of how to raise N was not always easy. N adjusted to the time difference faster than I thought. For the first 5-6 nights we would be up for 2-3 hours in the middle of the night for play and food, but by the end of the first week he was sleeping through - at first 8-5 but by the end of the second week he was doing 8-7. We've been back for 3 days now, and it's a bit harder (it's harder to adjust traveling west-east than the other way around) because he's not ready to go to bed until around 10, and then by the time we're done with the 2-3 hour MOTN wake-up, it's almost morning which means that nobody is getting enough sleep. I hope it'll be over soon.

One thing that shocked me and I wanted to comment on is the policy that airlines in the US have regarding lap children. In Europe, lap children are fitted with seat belts. I kept asking for them flying to and from the US and kept being told they don't have them!
I thought it was ridiculous that the seatbelt sign would come on, my husband and I would be asked to fasten our seatbelts, but nobody was concerned that N was standing on our laps.

 

[JGator]

Mayer, we flew British Airways to/from and within Europe, and we were given the lap belt extensions for K on all 4 legs of our trip without having to ask for them. They were required from what I gathered. Which airline did you fly?

Freke, get well soon.

Jfo, I'm sorry L has become a picky eater. Hopefully, it's a short phase that she will pass through quickly.

AMC, love the gymnastics pictures. Looks like he had a blast.

AFU, another rough night. K only got one bottle, but she woke up screaming at 2am and couldn't be consoled even with a bottle (she refused it and was about jumping out of my arms) - possibly teething, but she wouldn't take a frozen teether either. My DH decided last night was the night to try to get K used to him again. And, that did not go over well. She cried hysterically for a while on/off with him - he was with her at least 1.5 hours. Then, eventually, I went in to take care of her after he gave up, and she fell asleep after a while but was difficult to get back into her crib! She was up relatively early today considering her rough night of sleep. So, we have a tired little girl today. At least the 2 bottles/night is behind us. Small victories.

 

[dani13]

JG-

Came back to post real quick about the music class. We signed L up for 10 wks of Music Together, and it was wonderful!!!! He really enjoyed himself so much!! All the kids in the class with him are around his age, so it was great!!! Highly recommend it!! Sign K up!!!

 

[mayerling]

Jgator, exactly! European airlines (like British Airways) require belts for lap children but US-based airlines do not. On our way over there, we flew BA so N had a belt. Within the US, and on our way back we flew American Airlines and they said they don't even have lap belts on their planes!

 

[jfo]

mayerling, glad that your travels overall went well. It's amazing to me that there can be such differences in rules around safety. I think it's fantastic that non-US airlines require lap belts for lap children--I never even knew that was a possibility since I have not flown internationally since having L. Seems like such a simple thing to offer.

Dani, it sounds like that music class was a hit! How many children are in a class? Do they give them their own instruments to play?
I should probably look into a music class and a swimming class for the weekends, especially since it's been so crummy outside this winter where we live.

Freke, feel better soon!

JGator, ugh, I'm sorry about another rough night and that K won't let your husband comfort her. I'm sure it's very frustrating for your husband and you can't seem to catch a break because you aren't sleeping during that 1 1/2 hours that K is screaming. If she was refusing the bottle, it's possible she wasn't hungry, but she woke up for another reason and then got upset when it wasn't you trying to comfort her back to sleep.

I'm not a fan of CIO necessarily, but at the same time, I think one of the biggest steps we made in helping L sleep through the night was allowing her to figure out how to fall asleep on her own. This is of course assuming that your LO is getting enough calories during the day, etc. I forget where I read it, but basically it's the idea that if you can put them down drowsy, but not totally asleep at bedtime and they fall asleep on their own, they won't expect that you will be there to help them go back to sleep when they do wake up (for whatever the reason) the middle of the night.

Since letting her fall asleep on her own at bedtime, what I've found is that if L wakes up in the middle of the night (and sometimes she does several times), I will hear her cry out, but she will settle herself after a minute or two. It wasn't always like that, but over time, the actual time for her to settle herself after waking up got shorter and shorter. It's also helped in the mornings, because sometimes she wakes up earlier than normal, and if I'm not ready to get up just yet, I can let her fuss, yap, play, whatever in her crib for up to an hour unless she uses her "COME AND GET ME" cry, which does happen from time to time. Sometimes she will go back to sleep after 10 minutes or so too which is always great. This has worked for naps too now that she is down to one nap because her sleep cycle is about 50 minutes and she'll wake up and she may cry for a few minutes pretty hard, but then she'll go back to sleep for another 45-60 minutes usually.

I will say that I have grown a bit thicker of a skin about listening to her cry (it was really tough at first), but I've also finally figured out how to differentiate between her fussing/being frustrated (from waking up and still being tired), and when she is in pain/not feeling well/needs me (thanks to that period of chronic ear infections and L would wake up at night just screaming in pain). That has helped tremendously obviously even though we still have hiccups from time to time due to illness, teething, growth spurts, etc, but she'll go back to normal sleep after that spell is over.

I hope that K can get some good naps today and has a better night tonight! Big hugs!

 

[dani13]

JFo, there were about 10 children in the class. The age range is supposed to be birth -5yrs I think, but they were mostly age 2-3 range, with one being about 5 and L was the youngest at 15 months. Yep, at one point she brought out the instruments, but the instructor was also singing and playing her guitar a ton, we used a parachute.....it was so super cute, and L was mesmerized!!!

 

[Puppmom]

JGator, I'm sorry K's sleep issues persist. It really can wear on you when your kid doesn't sleep well. When N1 was around that age bedtime and overnights were a nightmare. I would get anxious when I went to bed because I hated the uncertainty of what the overnight would bring. Half the time, I was SO tired just from putting N1 to bed that I would walk straight from his room to mine and go to sleep.

Kunzite, my boys don't play together that much yet but N2 totally looks up to N1 and N1 really is a great big brother. He's very sweet with N2 and LOVES to entertain him. Dinner time has become interesting. It usually involves N1 standing on the window bench dancing and singing for N2. I haven't had time to catch up on this thread so I didn't realize M had some delays. N2 has some low tone and is behind as a result. It seems mild at this time but he's smart enough now that he's compensating for it which is kind of problematic. We need him to use the weak muscles so he can strengthen them but he doesn't like to because it's hard for him. We're supposed to start PT soon so I'm hoping that helps.

LC. congrats! You're in for a fun ride. Thanks for thinking of me. I wish I could read/post more but the nights are busy and I changed jobs to be closer to home and I'm so much busier than I was at my last job. I mean really - they didn't build internet surfing into my schedule.

Freke, what a beauty A is! And a smarty pants to boot. That age was one of my favorites. I love the explosion of language. It really is a very sweet time.

MP, I hope your daycare transition goes well. Our daycare does a gradual transition over the course of a week which has its pros and cons. For N1, we found it was better to just move him. He doesn't do that well with transitions so moving back and forth between the rooms just upsets him.

AFU, I'll try to keep this short. N1 is doing really well. He's 3.5! He's a very sweet boy and funny too! He's coming out of his shell more and more every day. He's still a poor eater which I worry about because he's still in the 75th percentile for weight while only in the 25th percentile for height. We just keep trying. He still says the funniest stuff (which is my favorite part of having a toddler!). He's potty training and really struggled with pooping on the potty. We started rewarding him with Cars. As he got more consistent we started backing off and not giving a reward every time. Friday he pooped on the potty at school and asked me if I had a prize for him. I explained that we don't get a prize for every poop just some poops. His response, "But I did make SOME poops!"

As I mentioned, N2 has some delays as the result of low tone. His legs and trunk have caught up but he uses his arms minimally for anything that requires strength...no pulling up or crawling and doesn't even get on all fours. The PT doesn't think there's an underlying cause based on her initial evaluation. The problem is he much prefers walking (with one hand held) to sitting and reaching and other things that would strengthen his arms. She's discouraged the walking because it works against us in terms of what we're trying to accomplish. Hopefully some PT will catch him up and he'll be off an running...literally! He's a very sweet baby. He's a sleeping machine (Hallelujah!). He loves to clap...like bordering on compulsion. He looks nothing like is big brother and is much smaller too. He currently (at 11 mos) weighs less than N1 did at 6 months. He does have a big head like his bro though! He's very vocal but not many coherent sounds have emerged yet. No mama or dada but he does say "oh yeah"...random, I know. It's from a song he and DH dance to all the time.

Well, so much for short...off to order N2's first birthday invites.

 

[JGator]

Jfo, thanks for the words of encouragement and support on K's sleeping. I think you are completely right. K needs to learn to fall asleep on her own and fall back to sleep on her own. It does kill me to hear her cry, but I know I am doing her a disservice with the way that I respond and the way that I get her to sleep at night. I just need to figure out how to break her of the habit of me helping her fall asleep without WW3 breaking out.

Pupp, you hit the nail on the head. I do feel a sense of anxiety when it's bed time wondering what is in store for the night. And, I do not go to bed early so I'm really setting myself up for exhaustion. Are there any things to look for to identify weak muscles? K never crawled, and she was never into tummy time or rolling over when she was younger. She scoots instead, and I wonder if the doctor has missed something with her. She is starting to learn to walk - she cruises a lot and will walk a couple steps at a time, but she's almost 15 months so I'm a litle worried about her. She isn't in daycare/pre-school so she doesn't see other kids crawling so I thought that might be why she never did, but now I'm wondering about her muscles.

Dani, I'm glad L loved Music Together. We are going to take the trial class the first Saturday in February, and likely sign her up for the next 10 week session starting in April.

AFU, we have not had a repeat STTN. I caved and gave K 2 bottles on Saturday night, and I vowed not to do that on Sunday. I gave her the magic dinner that she had the night she slept all night without any bottles. Well, the dinner didn't do the trick! She was up a lot starting an hour after she went to bed. I sat on the floor next to her crib once while she was standing in the crib screaming. I couldn't help but laugh when she stood there screaming with 1 pacifier in her mouth and another in her hand and she kept putting one in and then the other every 20 seconds or so. We have a double-fisted paci user! It's totally crack cocaine to her, but she didn't stop crying! We have a tough cookie on our hands. She proceeded to wake up and cry every couple hours till the early AM when the wakeups were closer together - I think she was crying for the bottle, and I just didn't give it to her. I tried rocking her, but it would take 30-60 mins to get her back to sleep with her sobbing hysterically. My plan tonight is to give her a bottle before we go to her room and then brush her teeth, and still rock her to sleep, but skip the association with the bottle and sleeping. Then, I'm sure we'll be in for more wake ups for the bottle in the MOTN, but I'm going to really try to hold my ground. DH is going to be away for 3 nights for work so hopefully I can keep my resolve. We went to My Gym this weekend for a class with K. She did much better this time in terms of participation. So, we will likely sign up for that instead of Gymboree. We also signed up for a trial class of Music Together in 2 weeks. The session recently started so I think we have to wait till April now to sign up for the next 10 week class.

 

[lliang_chi]

Hello ladies!!!

JGator, ooh my, sweetie, that's a ROUGH night. It's going to be hard, and it definitely sounds like you have a very headstrong little girl. You have hugs and support here. Keep up with the dinner and eating. Maybe the days with high activity during the day will help her sleep better at night. I can't remember but how many naps during the day does K take. FWIW, I think you're doing the right thing, focusing on her eating, getting her away from the bottles. She's just a very intelligent and strong willed child so she's going to really test you and make you hold your ground. I hope with your DH being OOT, you can stay the course and she'll develop a new habit after the 3 days.

Pupp, oh my goodness, 3.5 YO! How did that happen? N1 sounds like a riot and I agree, I really love the toddler phase. I can't believe N2 is almost ONE!!! How did you get N1 to poop in the potty? We're doing stickers for E and he'll pee in the potty no prob. But he hasn't made any poops in the potty. I even ask him, "E where does stinky poopy go?" And he responds like a champ "In the potty!" But does he poop in the potty??? Nope.

Mayer, I'm glad you had a pretty good visit to California. I hope N adjusts back to the time zone. Holy cow, adults think jetlag is bad, I feel so bad for the kiddos! And I do think that adjustment going EAST is easier than going WEST, but hoping it comes quickly for you.

Freke, feel better. Glad A's adjustment to the big girl bed was easy.

JFO, believe me, my weeknights are the same crazy rushed evenings too. I was quite proud of myself for the one-off weeknight family dinner. Last night we tried ot have a family dinner, but Ethan was way too interested to play, and then he was being a total jerk during dinner. I finally made him eat sitting on my lap. He ate some, but kept feeding me his carrots. Sorry L is being picky with her food now. I'm sure this is just a phase. Ethan goes through stretches where he'll only eat X (like mac n cheese or something). He's OBSESSED with eating strawberries now, but they're so expensive and don't even taste good, so we can't buy any. Of course try explaining this to a 23 month old. It doesn't work.

AMC, Oh my goodness, those pics of B at gymnastics is adorable! I'm seeing how big he is, but he still looks very proportional. I think you said your DH is very tall so that must be where he's getting it from. What do they do at gymnastics? I always thought E would be too young for a gymnastics class but looks like B had a great time.

Kunzite, I'm glad M has an Early Intervention team watching out for him. I really hope the ST helps with his language. Ethan used a lot of signing as well, he was a late talker. It wouldn't surprise me, if you flash forward 3 years, M will be a total chatterbox. If he's so good with visual cues and signing, he'll probably keep his high observational skills. I hope the developmental pedi can get him in sooner.

AFM: Ethan's "Aunt N" (good friend of ours) had dinner with us last night and he was SO EXCITED to see her. He kept running around and pulled out just about ALL his toys to play with. He kept chattering to her and it was adorable. He's talking a lot more now, and is picking up words on his own. It's fun. He loves watching things, so if we go out anywhere, he likes to face the windows so he can watch out at the world outside and comment on it.
In other news, I got a positive HPT this weekend, so DH and I are happy and cautiously optimistic for a new baby in Sept.

 

[Puppmom]

Jgator, the pediatrician was not concerned about N2 at his 9 month visit but said if we were we could get an eval and wrote a script. N1 didn't crawl until he has 1 and walked shortly after but this seemed different. At 11 mos, N2 doesn't even try to pull himself up using his arms. He'll lean against things with his head or shoulder instead and he couldn't get himself from prone to sitting as of three weeks ago. So, to answer your question it was the no attempt at pulling up and the pretty obvious avoidance of using his arms to bear weight or pull. He doesn't get on all fours either. If he puts his knees under him he face plants!

Like K he is not in daycare. He's with my mother in law and wants for nothing. Toy just out of reach? Grandmom to the rescue! Want to stand but can't? Grandmom to the rescue! I've even witnessed her pushing him around in the walker or making the jumperoo bounce for him.

The PT does think that contributes to his issue. And he's probably genetically predisposed to low tone.

LC, N2 was completely pee trained with very few accidents for about 3 months before he would poop on the potty. Then, out of nowhere, he started to. There was a stretch of at least a month where he would try on the potty then poop his pants shortly after.

 

[amc80]

AMC, Oh my goodness, those pics of B at gymnastics is adorable! I'm seeing how big he is, but he still looks very proportional. I think you said your DH is very tall so that must be where he's getting it from. What do they do at gymnastics? I always thought E would be too young for a gymnastics class but looks like B had a great time.

He's definitely proportional. He is very solid and doesn't have a lot of fat. If you saw him you wouldn't realize how heavy he was until you lifted him up. And yes, DH is 6'7", so it is in B's genes to be tall. Definitely sign E up if you think he'd like it. Basically they have a bunch of equipment set up (like a padded balance beam or tunnels to crawl through) and they go through the circuit a few times. Then they can jump from a trampoline into a foam pit. I will take more pictures this week to give a better idea of the equipment. B just has so much energy, anything I can do to get that out of him is well worth it!

JGator- Ugh, I'm so sorry that you are having these issues. I wish there was a magic cure for sleep. B was waking 1-2x per night and then suddenly just stopped. Now, if he wakes up, I just have to rub his back for 30 seconds or so and he's out. I don't remember the last time I gave him a bottle in the middle of the night. And I think when I did he didn't even drink it, so I realized he didn't need it after all. I have no advice other than it will stop, eventually.

 

[FrekeChild]

JGator - does she sleep with any toys? Does she have any items that she really loves to play with that are safe for the crib? Just an idea, but I know when A wakes up in the middle of the night, she ends up playing with her toys and then falls asleep playing. Does that sound at all like something she might do?

What is her motivation for waking up? does she just want a bottle? Cuddles? Your presence?

It's been so long since A has needed a bottle in the middle of the night that I'm not much help in this area. I am sorry you're going through it though - sleep is sacred in my house. Don't mess with Mommy on the weekends.


Here are pics of the current bed set up that we have going on. Those are queen size sheets on a full size bed, so there is lots of give, and you can't really tell easily, but there is a thicker pool noodle under the sheet that is on the outside edge of the mattress to help prevent her from rolling off in the middle of the night. She moves it around to slide off of the bed onto the crib mattress when she's awake. The damn bed is more than 3 feet off the ground, so I'll probably leave it like this for a while, so even though it's not the most exciting aesthetic look, it's reasonably safe. I plan on getting her a stool so she can climb up into bed easily, but for now, it's staying like this. I'm still trying to figure out where to rehang pictures and what else I should add to her room now that it's more "little girl's room" than "nursery". ETA: it's funny how drab and gray the sheets and bedskirt look in the pics - they are "Jade Green" according to the manufacturer, and don't look so gray in real life. More of a lighter teal green.

And a pic of A randomly wearing pink. I don't put her in pink often, but when I do, I kind of go all out. Today she's wearing all blue, and tomorrow she'll probably put her foot down and insist on wearing a superhero shirt.

 

[amc80]

Freke- thank you for sharing those pictures! I think that's what we will end up with. The pool noodle is a great idea. And I love the pigtails

JGator- Freke brought up a good point with toys in the crib. We put a couple of books in with B. I will check the monitor after we put him to bed and he will be laying there, reading one. One of them plays music and occasionally I will wake up to it playing in the middle of the night.

 

[JGator]

Pupp, thanks for the info on N2's muscle weakness. I don't think she has that from your description, but I will ask the doctor at her 15 month next week if she has any concerns with K not crawling yet.

AMC, there was a time when I could do the quick back rub thing with K too. I wish we could go to back to that. Thanks for your support. I think she will learn though so there's hope that we will get more sleep eventually.

Freke, I put a couple stuffed animals including a small rabbit attached to a small blanket which is supposed to be her attachment item, but she never really got that attached to it. I let her hold it during the bottle night feeding, but she really could care less what's in the crib. I may try something else like books as AMC suggested since she LOVES books. I love A's big girl bed and all her stuffed animals! Motivation for waking up likely is me as she just hasn't figured out how to go to sleep without me rocking her/feeding her or the nanny patting her. I used to be a big sleep person - never a morning person. Actually, I used to have insomnia as a kid and I read a lot at night until I got a water bed when I was 12. Maybe that's what I need to get K! My DH is worse than I am about his sleep so we are a bad combination together now that we have K.

AFU, I tried my plan of feeding K a bottle in our family room last night. That didn't work very well. She was too distracted by her toys. So, I gave up and went to our normal bedtime routine, and I only rocked her for 5 mins after she finished the bottle. She was still slightly awake, but pretty drowsy when I put her down. She slept till about 130 when I had to pick her up and rock her in the chair for 5 mins again (much better than usual). She cried a little while I was rocking her, but nowhere near her usual and was pretty much out in 5 mins vs 30-60 the night before. She got up again at 630 and I had to rock her for 10 mins twice, but I figured if she didn't go back to sleep that was okay because it was almost 7am. She slept till her usual time of 715am! So, no bottles and only two wakeups that were much easier than usual. I am very hopeful!!! So, I think maybe now that she's getting more substantial food during the day and possibly getting used to falling asleep partially on her own at night, that we may be on to something. I'm going to try to reduce the amount of rocking after her bottle is finished and go from there for the rest of the week. DH is leaving for his work trip today if the snow doesn't get in the way so it would be nice if K cooperated for a few days (forever!!) for my own sanity.

 

[JGator]

LC, I forgot to reply to your post. A huge congratulations on your pregnancy!!! Wishing you a healthy pregnancy! I'm sure Ethan will make a great big brother. Thanks for your support! K is still taking 2 naps/day. I'm not sure if she's ready for only 1 as she gets really tired and cranky in the AM about 3.5-4 hours after she wakes up. Her first nap is between 30-60 minutes and the 2nd is between 1-2 hours.

 

[lliang_chi]

JG, Hooray for better night with K. It really sounds like you get a few good days, then a few bad. I hope the trend of more good nights continues. What did she do yesterday during the day? Maybe it helped with her better sleeps. Will the weather cooperate for outdoor playtime? Otherwise are there any indoor playgrounds that the nanny can take K too? The more energy she uses up during the day, 1) the more she'll eat and 2) hopefully the more she'll sleep. K definitely sounds like she needs her afternoon nap. All kids are different, but Ethan gave up his AM nap around a year. We adjusted his PM nap earlier to compensate. Now he eats lunch then goes to sleep for 2-ish hours. We also needed to adjust to the toddler room schedule where they only take 1 nap. And LOL about the cranky wake ups. Ethan does the same thing too, where he's just really disorientated and groggy.

Freke, look at your little imp all pretty in pink with little pig tails Her bed does look really high, so I'd also have all those safety nets just in case A gets extra vigorous at night. Great idea to use the crib protector on the footboard. Is the bed A's crib converted to a full sized bed?

AMC, would love to see more pics of B's gymnastics class. Oh and I totally hear you about burning off his energy. I was telling my family that toddlers is the world's untapped renewable energy source. Seriously, where do they get it from?

AFM, DH stayed home with E yesterday during MLK day. They met me for lunch (yay!) during which E was passed out. He woke up when I picked him up to put him in the carrier, so we got him some pasta to eat. No nap for Ethan after his lunch "nap" so DH was like, "It was a long afternoon with no nap." It was kinda nice to have him know what a full day at home with Ethan entails.

 

[amc80]

We are still dealing with the world's pickiest toddler. He refuses to try anything. Apparently at day care he is given what all the other kids eat but won't try any of it. He just sits there and shakes his head. He will eat whatever fruit he is offered. We talked to the teacher and the plan was to not offer B anything else at lunch time, but if he's hungry later on he would get some chicken nuggets. That resulted in no progress, so as of yesterday the new plan is to not offer him anything else. If he doesn't eat what the other kids eat at lunch, he will be offered that same food later on...but no nuggets. Yesterday he ended up only eating some strawberries for lunch. He was so hungry at dinner. I gave him meatballs, which he usually will eat but it takes some work. Well, he scarfed them down. So maybe this new plan might work. What kid doesn't like mac n cheese, grilled cheese, etc.? I look forward to the day when we can go to a restaurant and he will eat something off the menu.

AMC, would love to see more pics of B's gymnastics class. Oh and I totally hear you about burning off his energy. I was telling my family that toddlers is the world's untapped renewable energy source. Seriously, where do they get it from?

Isn't it amazing? He has no medium speed...it's either 5th gear or off. We don't even wind him down before bed. He goes from running around the living room to a very active bath, to running around in his PJs....then right into his crib and he's usually out within 5 minutes. I want 10% of his energy. I could rule the world.

 

[jfo]

Quick drive-by to say:

CONGRATS LC!! How exciting and very happy for you and your family! And ha, isn't it so great when we actually have well thought out plans (i.e. everyone is going to eat special chicken/veggie casserole tonight), and the LO is like, NOPE, not me!

JGator, I am glad that you had some better success last night! Slowly, but surely, you will get K there!!

Puppmom, that is so cute how N1 loves to entertain N2. I hope that if/when we have another, L will be a nice big sister to her sibling. It sounds like

freke, that's a great set up for A. I never even thought it was possible for a 2 year old to be in a full size bed already. That's so great! She looks adorable in pigtails and in pink.

amc, I'm really starting to feel your pain too about the food pickiness although it does vary from day to day. Sometimes I figure if she's hungry enough she'll eat whatever I serve her, but it hasn't happened yet. Boy, I hope this phase passes soon. DH and I LOVE food and all kinds of it.

 

[monarch64]

LC, congrats on soon to be #2! What kind of dog is Quizas, I can't remember? Daisy is a beagle and only 25 lbs, I think Alex outweighs her by a couple lbs now.
Teaching Q "walk away" would be great! I just yell at Daisy "noooo!" LOL! Thanks for the insight on the utensils.

MP--thanks for the utensil info as well. Yeah, I'm pretty stringent about keeping stuff clean and not throwing food all over the place here. Maybe I just need to relax.

Kunzite, aw, E is the sweetest, that picture of him watching O get on the bus almost made me tear up! What a great family you have made!

AMC, wow, B is just too cute!!!!! Love that you keep him so active, he seems like such a sweetheart and so fun!

Dani, glad L is doing well, music class sounds fantastic! Great to hear from you. Tell us more!

JGator, I think we'll stick to sporks for now and thanks for the compliment on the pigtails. It's the only way to keep all her hair out of her face while she eats 92 times a day! if Idon't put it back she gets crusty hair! LOL Glad K's sleep is improving. It will continue. Just when we thought A would never STTN, she did. I keep reminding myself during difficult moments that everything is just a phase. It's worked so far.

jfo, A is now pickier than she used to be as well. I have to disguise green veggies instead of just offering them as I used to. And, one day she'll love something, next day she will hurl it off her plate. Super frustrating for all of us!

mayerling, glad you enjoyed your trip! Hope N is back to his sleep schedule soon.

puppmom Aww love the stories about your N's!

 

[Skippy123]

LC, yay, congrats, so exciting! your son is going to be an awesome big brother!

Kunzite, I agree, the Twin bond is amazing! E&M are starting preschool soon. They were going to start this year but M was in the hospital for a week this summer and Pulmonologist suggested we keep him out of school. M is doing better now so preschool it is! They are so ready for it! How fun for O to be in prek!

 

[monkeyprincess]

JGator, glad to hear you are occasionally having a good night. Just wanted to say you are not alone in your struggles. Ev continues to have trouble sleeping through the night lately. I know we are partially responsible for not working hard enough to make him fall asleep in his crib on his own or stay in his crib when he cries, but I also think that some children are more strong-willed and less easy going. Ev is a bit of a higher maintenance kid, so I can relate to a lot of what you say about K. Hang in there, and hopefully, things will start improving more and more.

I will go back and respond to everyone soon, but just wanted to say I'm enjoying reading about everybody's kiddos! Sounds like we have a great bunch of toddlers

AFU, Ev starts the transition to his new daycare room on Monday, and they are starting to have him occasionally go to the younger toddler room for music and Spanish lessons, and then next week, he will join them for meals and possibly nap time. The following week, he is over there for good. We have finally pretty much kicked the bottle habit, and he no longer uses them at daycare. I think I should take your advice and put them away, so mom and dad don't fall back on it. Also, one funny story. I've mentioned before that Ev will sing the end of a few songs like the EIEIO part of Old McDonald, and phrases from the alphabet song and Wheels no the Bus. Well, I had just assumed he was also doing this at daycare and that's where he learned it, but it turns out he wasn't. So yesterday, he came home with a "Good Work Report" from the music teacher. Apparently, they heard him sing for the first time and were all really excited and kept trying to get him to do it again. I was both proud of him and embarassed for him at the same time Does anybody have the Letter Factory DVD? It is pretty much the only thing we let him watch (and only when we need to distract him to make dinner or get ready in the morning). Ev LOVES it. And he can sing along and make the correct sounds for a lot of the letters now. Just a warning if you do get it, you will have the song "Every letter makes a sound, the A says ah" for the rest of your life!

 

[FrekeChild]

LC - Yes, it was a convertible crib. I can't believe how far off the ground it is- it's much higher than our guest bedroom bed - probably about a foot higher!

AMC - I sooooooo feel your pain. A will eat stuff if she sees other kids eating it (not necessarily us) so really only when she's at daycare will she eat other stuff. Otherwise all she wants are nuggets. She actually eats a lot of random stuff - loves apples, blackberries, kiwi, and will devour those veggie/fruit puree pouches like there is no tomorrow, but veggies and protein...not so good. String cheese is a safe bet, as are smoked gouda slices, but she won't even try fish, beef or anything that's not a nugget. For a while I could get her to eat those mini corndogs, but not for the past couple weeks. I make sure and make a big show out out of what I'm eating and that I like it - especially if it's weird looking.

I remember as a little kid, my dad was the adventurous eater, and my mom was super picky, and I took after my mom. Both my husband and I are pretty adventurous, so hopefully we can both rub off on her. It might just take a while until that's the case. It wasn't until I was 20 and a chef said to me, "You should try anything and everything - you could be missing out on your favorite food." Made sense to me. And sure enough, she was right!

 

[jfo]

Dani, I forgot to respond to your post. 10 kids in the class is a great turnout. I really do think that kids inherently love music. It sounds like a great class--thanks for sharing! I definitely need to look into classes here. L loves music and everytime they have a music class at daycare, the teachers tell me how much L was into it.

Monarch, I too am finding that if I mix the veggies in with pasta that has a tasty sauce, L is more inclined to eat it because she's not thinking about it. But I really wonder if it's become a texture thing too. She recently started to stick her fingers in her mouth and take out whatever it is she put in it, look at it, and then determine whether she wants to a) continue eating it or b) put it back on her tray, c) hand it to me or d) drop/throw it. Also, I have L using either those First Years plastic spoons and forks (that are really like spoons) that are easy for her to feed herself or else a plastic spork. I originally had her using a fairly blunt small metal fork (part of a little kids travel silverware set), but she stuck it too far back in her mouth once after the food accidentally fell off before reaching her mouth and she didn't realize it and caused herself to gag and throw up. It freaked me out completely and that's when we went plastic all the time.

MP, I hope the transition goes well. I imagine it will. That's great that you guys are done with bottles! It's a big step. That is SO cute that Ev sings! Hope you're catching his singing on video. I took your advice and have ordered the Letter Factory dvd. I think it would be right up her alley. She already requests DH and I to sing certain songs to her like "itsy bitsy spider", "row your boat" [she says row row row], and "open and shut them" [she says open, which sounds like O-pa!] (her absolute fave) over and over and over again. She loves to do the hand motions/signs along with the song.

Freke, DH and I feel the same way. Hopefully our eating habits will rub off on L eventually too.

 

[mayerling]

LC, congratulations! Are you hoping for a boy or a girl?

JGator, I'm sorry to hear that K is still having sleep issues. Having said that, I wouldn't say that N is the perfect sleeper either. Before we went to the US he had a couple of months which I thought were great, but they probably weren't great in other people's view. For instance, he would STTN most nights, and when he woke up it was a brief wake up for a paci, and even then he only does about 10 hours per night. I think that's great but I know people think that a 12-hour stretch, every night, is what's required. So maybe it's matter of expectations, I don't know…

Amc, I'm a picky eater but even I get frustrated with N some times because of his weird pickiness. I don't eat certain things. Period. But I have no problem with things I like, even if you offer them to me every single day. N frustrates me because he'll eat something today and not touch it tomorrow.

Freke, I can't believe A is ready for a big girl bed already! N is so not at that stage. He still stands in his crib so I don't' think I can use a toddler bed for a while longer.

AFU, we're slowly beating jet-lag. They say it takes a week for every time zone. It was 10 time zones so I expect a 10-day struggle. It's been 7 days and at least the wake-ups are getting fewer and shorter.
In other news, N's language development is amazing. He has over 100 words, a mixture of both languages. He's doing 2-word-phrases, responding to questions, etc. He's also started running and is also able to entertain himself for longer periods now. I don't know about height and weight so I need to get him measured soon.

 

[JGator]

LC, I'm glad you had a nice lunch with Ethan and that J better appreciates what a full day with Ethan is like!

AMC, it sounds like boys are really active! We don't see that yet as K isn't really walking so she's pretty mellow overall except for her night-time wakeups. She cruises from furniture to furniture and walks around our coffee table, but she's definitely not running anywhere! I'm sure B will suddenly start eating more than chicken nuggets again. Hopefully soon for your sanity!

Jfo, good luck getting L out of her picky eating stage too. I'm sure being around adventurous eaters will rub off on her. We like a lot of different foods too. We tend to consistently go for Asian more than others though - Korean BBQ, Thai, Indian (DH is Indian!), Malaysian (having a hard time finding this in the DC area though), and Japanese/sushi are our favorites. K won't eat rice -she always spits it out so she' s not a good eater for us at Asian restaurants!

Monnie, thank you for the support. I will try to keep repeating to myself - this is just a phase!

Skippy, post some pictures of your sweet boys!

MP, good luck with the daycare transition. I'm sure Ev will do well. I will look into that DVD. We sometimes let K watch Sprout/PBS on the weekends - she likes the Chica Show. K likes Eeiieeiioo too! She says it all the time. She also says something like Apricot - but we don't what she could possibly be trying to say! She's big into clapping and throwing her hands up and saying YAY now too.

Mayer, I read somewhere it's the total sleep time with naps that matters anyway. K currently gets about 10 hours at night at night (not counting her time up) and 1.5-3 over her two naps.

AFU, since I posted, we have had 2 bottle free nights in a row. 2 nights ago, K threw up on me after her bedtime bottle and started breathing heavily like she had a head cold. She had a runny nose all day yesterday and today and woke up a lot 2 nights in a row for rocking/holding. So, I think she doesn't want/remember the bottle at night anymore, and I'm assuming her being sick is causing all the wakeups (knock on wood). Any advice on what to do for her cold? I've been giving her saline drops more often than usual. This is her first cold/runny nose. She has gotten sick twice in the last 2 months after I stopped pumping - I guess those antibodies were helping her stay healthy up till now! Also, K has let her Daddy hold her in the MOTN the last couple of nights too so hopefully this is a new normal!

 

[Puppmom]

AMC, regarding the bed transition-instead of a mattress and box spring we have a thin mattress and bunky board for N2. It's cheaper than a mattress and box spring which is great since it'll probably get peed on and it's only about 12 inches off the ground. We don't have rails up but N2 sleeps on my old maternity pillow so wouldn't roll off as easily as he would otherwise since it kind of makes a little nest for him.

 

[jfo]

mayerling, L also has weird pickiness. Something that she found perfectly delicious the day before, she will shun the next. Wow, N's language development is amazing! That's so fantastic that he is already bi-lingual and knows so many words. I'm sure it makes things easier for both of you since he probably can communicate his needs better.

JGator, L just started singing eieiooo in the last couple of days. Hilarious! Regarding your question re helping K with her cold, we're dealing with that right now too. A few nights ago, L was up for 3 hours in the middle of the night with (what seems like) non-stop coughing. Poor thing. I had to hold her to go back to sleep andit was a bad night for all of us. It's been better since then, but she is still battling a runny nose and wet cough.

Anyway, what I try to do is just keep her as comfortable as possible by trying to keep her nasal passages as clear as possible by regularly using the saline drops and sucking out her nose by using the Nose Frida. I run a cold mist humidifier in her room at night and during naps, and I have put a pillow under the mattress on one end in her crib so that she can have her head elevated to help with the nasal drip and hopefully ease the coughing at night. That was a suggestion from her pediatrician. The only thing about the elevation of the mattress is that I know she moves around a ton in her sleep, so I am not confident that it's doing anything to help. I also try to make sure she drinks a lot of water during the day so she stays hydrated.

I hope that helps and that K feels better soon! Also glad to hear that K is letting her daddy help comfort her recently!

 

[Puppmom]

Mayerling, N1 is a really picky eater. He doesn't even eat foods that most kids eat like pasta, chicken nuggets, eggs let alone fruits and vegetables. We waste so much money on the latter because he'll like apples for a week then decide he's not eating them anymore then we go back to bananas etc. etc. The only vegetable he'll eat is peas. I worry about his weight because he's a little squishy and has an affinity for carbs and sugar.

Monarch, I meant to say this last time but I love your girl and her little piggies! Makes me wish I had a sassy little girl!

JGator, it sounds like K may have skipped crawling since she found another means of getting around. If she's got the strength to pull herself to stand, I doubt she's got tone issues. I don't think it's crazy that she's only cruising and not walking. I think walking is a lot about confidence so she's probably just not ready. Re: keeping comfortable during the cold, we use the nose-frida like JFO and prop up N1. I think I mentioned this but he sleeps on my old maternity pillow which keeps his head about 4 or so inches higher than his bum. He's miserable when he's stuffy because it means he can't suck his thumb.