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We were told to get him in within six months of his first tooth erupting. I think he was 13ish months when we took him in. We went to a pediatric dentist, they were great with him, looked at all his teeth, the overall health of teeth/mouth/gums, did a fluoride treatment paste on his teeth, told us to come back in a couple of years. 
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Apr 22, 2015 21:06
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Our local ped dentist told us to start at 18 months, and we go every 6 months after so they can nip any problems in the bud. I've been taking them regularly so they get used to the chair, hear it from a professional that they need to brush and floss every day, etc.
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Apr 22, 2015 21:41
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Our son's first visit was right after he turned 2 & we got him on our dental insurance. The dentist just looked at his teeth, gave us the lecture about how fruit snacks are terrible for teeth & we were on our way. We'll go back every 6 months since its fully covered with insurance just to get him used to sitting in the chair & having someone else look in his mouth.
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Apr 23, 2015 00:27
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My son didn't have his first dentist appointment until he was about five or six, mostly because he didn't have insurance for a while (insurance provider got laid off and COBRA is holy poo poo expensive) and out of pocket costs for dentists are insane. He goes now to a local pediatric dentist who actually takes Medicaid, which is pretty much the health care equivalent of finding a unicorn. If he needs actual work done, he goes to one of the two clinics in the area who do dentistry under general anesthesia, which is pretty much the best thing ever when it comes to disabilities + dentistry work.
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Apr 23, 2015 00:55
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Regarding keeping our 34-month-old from napping: I appreciate the advice. Though I get the impression that more often than not, my wife doesn't keep the kid from napping simply because she doesn't have the energy to because of the 7-month-old. We're also trying a bit harder on the consequences for frivolously calling us to her room. We'll see how it goes. (Though the 7-month-old is really where our sleep deprivation hits) Regarding the dentist, what our dentist has said is to bring in a kid once they're old enough to sit still for a haircut. (Our 34-month-old has neither gotten a haircut nor had a dentist appointment) It's a bit odd how across-the-map dentists seem to be, based on this thread. Maybe there's just not much of a consensus?  She does, however, more or less kind of understand the idea of brushing, and we have her attempting to brush almost every day. I kind of feel like that's slightly more important than visiting the dentist.
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Apr 23, 2015 04:36
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The American Academy of Pediatric Dentists says: "When should I take my child to the dentist for the first check-up? In order to prevent dental problems, your child should see a pediatric dentist when the first tooth appears, or no later than his/her first birthday." Their website for parents is https://www.mychildrensteeth.org The site is worth checking out. Incidentally, my little guy just turned one and has been twice. First at 5 months because I was concerned about a tooth that had been through the gum for over a month but hadn't progressed any further than the initial eruption. And second for a six month check at 1 year. He has a mouth full of teeth though.
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Apr 23, 2015 05:17
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When we asked our pediatrician when to go to the dentist he said he goes by the old standard of 3 years old as there's nothing they can do before then. *shrugs*
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Apr 23, 2015 05:20
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Sigh, we had packed our bags and prepared for a week long stay at Tampere university hospital, when we got there (230km one way trip) for the kids hand surgeries and after all that the anesthesiologist canceled the procedures because they had colds. We where half expecting it, but they said a cold as long as it's not a fever could be OK, but at the "finish line" they felled us. Now we apparently gotta wait until autumn because they had to arrange a lot of strings to get this particular surgeon and he even had collegaues from Oxford and Oulu visiting, in part for this procedure (pollicization on one and thumb reconstruction on the other). So good thing we didn't check in the hotel at least. And we managed to get the same taxi back. Good thing the state covered the majority of the travel costs so it was only 16 euros per trip for us. e:because I wanna post pictures, here's them in the taxi on the way back   I suppose we have to start cutting their hair soon, several people have asked if they're boys or girls, and one thought they where girls. His Divine Shadow fucked around with this message at 07:19 on Apr 23, 2015 |
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Apr 23, 2015 06:16
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Despite wearing a very manly looking batman shirt and khaki cargo pants, my kid got called "batgirl" once.
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Apr 23, 2015 12:31
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I have never heard anyone refer to a toddler as a 34-month-old.
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Apr 23, 2015 12:38
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As a 305-month-old I'm very offended.
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Apr 23, 2015 12:40
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There is a reason that guidelines for infant oral care have changed. From the AAPD: "Most parents are well aware of the importance of taking care of their children’s teeth, so it comes as a shock when they learn their toddlers have cavities during a checkup. Tooth decay among young children is on the rise—and many experts believe that sippy cups containing sugary beverages are responsible." "In fact, a report from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) comparing the dental health of Americans in 1988-1994 and 1999-2002 found that while cavities decreased among older children, cavities in two- to five-year-olds actually increased 15.2 percent." (It has risen higher since 2002 which is why they recently changed their toothpaste guidelines to include a smear of fluoridated toothpaste for infants as soon as the first tooth erupts, regardless of age) "Hunke views the misuse of sippy cups as just the symptom of a larger issue—the fact that many parents wait too long before taking their children to the dentist for the first time. The AAPD recommends that a child’s first dental visit occur shortly after the first tooth erupts and no later than the child’s first birthday. But according to the 2005 National Survey of Children’s Health (NSHC), only 10 percent of 1-yearolds and 23.8 percent of 2-yearolds had been taken for a preventive dental care visit in the past year. At the first visit, the pediatric dentist provides information about proper sippy cup use as part of the presentation of a complete program of preventive home care. The dentist also checks the child’s teeth to make sure they’re developing properly." The thing is, the world changes. Parent practices change (the sippy cup as we know it now wasn't around 30 years ago, it took off about 20 years ago) and new research is done so best practices change. It's good to be fluid in our definitions of what is best practice as parents. All that being said, if you read the AAPD website, you'll probably learn everything the dentist would tell you. I would still want a pair of eyes to look at the teeth, but that's me. It's your call. Here's the page I quoted: http://www.mychildrensteeth.org/education/sippycup/
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Apr 23, 2015 13:30
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So I have this question in my head, and I know its sort of silly, the obvious answer is "when they're ready" but anyway. I am looking forward to when I can read my boys books with stories I enjoyed. Like Narnia, Indian in the Cupboard, Harry Potter, etc. My older boy is 3.5, what age do they (roughly) have the comprehension and attention span? I know this is a super subjective question, I'm just kind of tired of kids books and would rather read him a real story at bedtime.
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Apr 23, 2015 13:57
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jassi007 posted:So I have this question in my head, and I know its sort of silly, the obvious answer is "when they're ready" but anyway. I am looking forward to when I can read my boys books with stories I enjoyed. Like Narnia, Indian in the Cupboard, Harry Potter, etc. My older boy is 3.5, what age do they (roughly) have the comprehension and attention span? I know this is a super subjective question, I'm just kind of tired of kids books and would rather read him a real story at bedtime. It sounds like you're better off asking "can they follow a story split across days?"
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Apr 23, 2015 14:22
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By 1st grade (age 6 or 7), most kids can sit through lower level chapter book read-alouds. It does really vary, so I would say to go ahead and try it now with no expectations and be willing to walk away from it if it is too much. You can just say something like, "Oh, it looks like you're not ready for this book. That's okay, we can try it again in a few months. Let's pick a different book!" This is actually a good lesson for kids as it will help them to get a sense of how to pick a just right book for themselves as they get older. A lot of young kids will pick books that look cool, but are way too hard for them. Then they get discouraged and turned off from reading. Showing them it is okay to put a book aside for later will help inoculate them from that tragedy. Also, don't rule out all chapter books because one fails. It is all about high interest with read-alouds. Most 3.5 year-olds can handle 10 minutes of focus, so theoretically they could handle a short chapter. The question is if it will capture their interest.
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Apr 23, 2015 14:36
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/\/\ My oldest routinely picks books way past his level; no need for him to be discouraged though--that's what me and Dad are for.  I read all sorts of things aloud to him. Science books about animals or the natural world are a particularly tedious favorite of his. jassi007 posted:So I have this question in my head, and I know its sort of silly, the obvious answer is "when they're ready" but anyway. I am looking forward to when I can read my boys books with stories I enjoyed. Like Narnia, Indian in the Cupboard, Harry Potter, etc. My older boy is 3.5, what age do they (roughly) have the comprehension and attention span? I know this is a super subjective question, I'm just kind of tired of kids books and would rather read him a real story at bedtime. My 4 y.o. cannot do books without pictures; length of reading isn't the problem, but they must have a picture on every page. But I'm reading chapter books aloud to my about-to-be-7 y.o. and he loves it. It took until part way through this school year for him. We're going to read The Hobbit over the summer.  He's reading Junie B Jones books to himself/aloud to me now (which are funny little chapter books for younger elementary schoolers; I recommend them. Her little voice and internal monologue are very amusing to me.) So, somewhere between 4 and 7, for us.I also suggest getting some kids books that don't make you nuts to read; some are much, much better than others. Mo Willems books are really good. SkippyJon Jones books are funny; just embrace the Spanglish and go over the top reading in an outrageous Spanish accent. We also like Michal Ian Black's books (Chickencheeks, The Purple Kangaroo.) Both my boys love Fly Guy. The Splat books aren't bad either.
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Apr 23, 2015 15:38
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Hdip posted:When we asked our pediatrician when to go to the dentist he said he goes by the old standard of 3 years old as there's nothing they can do before then. *shrugs* My three year old has been thrice and got a full exam, cleaning, and fluoride the last two times. The first time, at 12 mo, was just education.
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Apr 23, 2015 16:11
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Every time I'm in the Target dollar section, I look for those abridged books with pictures in them. My latest purchases were Alice in Wonderland and Treasure Island. The chapters are relatively short, there is an image in each chapter, and it's something my husband can read one chapter a night for a week at the kids' bedtime. Funny enough, they still get bored with the stories so my husband keeps going back to Gulliver's Travels between other books. But I also look at it as an investment, something they can read when they develop reading skills. I also don't want to be that rear end in a top hat parent who assigns their kids homework during vacations and stuff, but I'd love to see my kids reading a book a week when they are older. Which is ironic, considering I haven't read a book since I had kids.
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Apr 23, 2015 16:33
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VorpalBunny posted:Which is ironic, considering I haven't read a book since I had kids. Yeah. Remember books? Real books? Things with lots of words, and no pictures? We are just chomping at the bit for when we have two independent readers and can institute Family Book Time where everyone reads their own books for a bit after dinner. I really do love reading to my kids (it might be my favorite thing to do with them), but...adult books. When I was a kid, I remember piling through two or three Nancy Drew books a week over summer break. Tim's so close to being able to do that. I have high hopes for The Hobbit really sparking his little brain. I have an old illustrated copy that has a full color spread for every chapter, so I think it may even draw Liam in. Speaking of books, I was called for jury duty Monday and Tuesday this week (wasn't picked), so I was stuck in room for two days with nothing to do. Mandatory nothingness! I read three books, in two days (Liminal States, The Colour of Magic, and Mort.) I hadn't read a grown up book in years...it felt good, man. It felt good. And they were good books. Edit: Dentist chat. I am the worst parent? Tim didn't go until he was 4; Liam will go for the first time this summer--at age 4. (I figured, don't take them until they are capable of cooperating.) My dentist said before age 3, all they do is count teeth and look for obvious issues and just try to get the kids to not be afraid. He doesn't do fluoride until their adult teeth start coming in. I guess they all have their own prerogatives. And for the record, Tim's teeth were fine at the first visit, and I assume Liam's will be too. We've brushed them since they were little bitty (Tim does his own now; Liam does his own, and then gets some extra help.) AlistairCookie fucked around with this message at 21:11 on Apr 23, 2015 |
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Apr 23, 2015 21:05
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My 3-year-old and 14-month-old don't give two shits about books. More specifically, they don't give two shits when I read books to them. They'll totally sit still and attentive if my husband reads to them. There are all kinds of books I can't wait to read to them but nooooo. The pediatric dentist I use said to start bringing kids in once they're two. I might take my 14-month-old in earlier because I'm getting a little worried. He fights having his teeth brushed pretty much every time and I'm afraid we'll fail to get all of the back teeth properly clean every day once they come in. The 3-year-old has dentinogenesis imperfecta so going in every time he chips a tooth gets him frequent examinations and makes it easier to stay on top of things. I have a potty training question. My 3-year-old WAS making progress potty training. Apparently that was just because he liked flushing the toilet so much because now that that process is no longer new and exciting, he couldn't care less. He will happily pee wherever he happens to be, whether he's wearing pull ups, cloth training pants, underwear, or nothing at all. He will hold poop in if he isn't wearing anything, but otherwise he doesn't care then, either. We've tried rewards and no rewards. I tried reminding him to go to the potty every couple hours as my pediatrician suggested, then every hour, then every 20-30 minutes. He'll often squeeze a few drops out on the toilet, then a few minutes later leave a huge puddle on the floor. He just doesn't seem very interested in the whole thing anymore. Does it sound like I should just back off for a while and try again after a break? Try a different method? I feel like I'm missing something obvious.
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Apr 24, 2015 19:36
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Ansiktsburk posted:I have a potty training question. My 3-year-old WAS making progress potty training. Apparently that was just because he liked flushing the toilet so much because now that that process is no longer new and exciting, he couldn't care less. He will happily pee wherever he happens to be, whether he's wearing pull ups, cloth training pants, underwear, or nothing at all. He will hold poop in if he isn't wearing anything, but otherwise he doesn't care then, either. We've tried rewards and no rewards. I tried reminding him to go to the potty every couple hours as my pediatrician suggested, then every hour, then every 20-30 minutes. He'll often squeeze a few drops out on the toilet, then a few minutes later leave a huge puddle on the floor. He just doesn't seem very interested in the whole thing anymore. Our three year old did the same thing. The fun wore off and he just didn't care about wetting himself. I'd say back off and try again in a few months. I didn't have mind pee trained until he was 4, and then poop trained a few months later. I think waiting as long as we did made it really easy to get it all done quickly.
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Apr 25, 2015 04:35
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I'm having a real problem with my 18 month old son at this point. All he wants to do is destroy stuff including my desktop, laptop, cell phones, tablets, wallets, and anything else of value he gets his hands on. I am also having trouble getting him to nap, he gets up at 8:30am and I play hard with him all morning, then we have lunch between 11:30-12:00 after which I try to get him to lay down but all he does is jump around in his bed. If I try to lay down with him about 35% of the time he passes out the rest of the time he just lays there poking me in the eyes. He goes to bed between 8:00pm-9:30pm almost every night. On the weekends we let our little girl stay up a little later since there is no school so he stays up also. Is this wrong? Can anyone help me please? I the crabbiness and tantrums are starting to drive me crazy.
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Apr 25, 2015 17:52
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VorpalBunny posted:Our three year old did the same thing. The fun wore off and he just didn't care about wetting himself. I'd say back off and try again in a few months. I didn't have mind pee trained until he was 4, and then poop trained a few months later. I think waiting as long as we did made it really easy to get it all done quickly. Yeah, our oldest has been difficult to potty train. I think part of the problem is he has trouble with his clothes, so he found it easier to just wet himself. Or maybe he has trouble distinguishing which sensations mean potty time, since there are a lot of false alarms. It certainly was nerve-wracking taking a partially potty trained kid across town on the bus.
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Apr 25, 2015 18:06
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Bigfabdaddy posted:I'm having a real problem with my 18 month old son at this point. All he wants to do is destroy stuff including my desktop, laptop, cell phones, tablets, wallets, and anything else of value he gets his hands on. I am also having trouble getting him to nap, he gets up at 8:30am and I play hard with him all morning, then we have lunch between 11:30-12:00 after which I try to get him to lay down but all he does is jump around in his bed. If I try to lay down with him about 35% of the time he passes out the rest of the time he just lays there poking me in the eyes. He goes to bed between 8:00pm-9:30pm almost every night. On the weekends we let our little girl stay up a little later since there is no school so he stays up also. Is this wrong? Can anyone help me please? I the crabbiness and tantrums are starting to drive me crazy. Crabbiness and tantrums are par for the course for 18 months. As is wanting to get into anything and everything. Perhaps try shifting nap time back at bit? My kiddo is up at 6:30, naps from 12-2, and then bedtime is 7. If we tried to put him down for a nap 3-4 hours after waking it would only work maybe 20% of the time. Edit: we also do consistent 7 pm bedtime every day of the week. Consistency and routine is best for kids and sleep.
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Apr 25, 2015 19:34
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The part I just do not get about our 7-month-old son is why he is so utterly temperamental. Hold him in a particular position (that really hurts my wrist/shoulder after a while), and he's quiet. Change to a different position, and he struggles to get out of my arms. Put him on the ground? END OF THE loving WORLD. It is just so frustrating that frequently, there's nothing wrong with him except that he's out of someone's arms. And that someone needs to be standing—sit down, and it's wrath and tears. As someone who can, in general, only stand to be in physical contact with other people for a relatively short time each day (I'm sensitive, I guess), it's really wearing to have to constantly be cuddling my kids. Especially the one who can't tell me what's actually wrong. Also, just yesterday the wife of one of my coworkers was telling me how much she adores little kids and it's so adorable how I have them. I told her it's not all sunshine and rainbows (and she clearly didn't have children of her own), and then ended up going home to my daughter poop finger painting half her room.  Can I just skip ahead to like, 5 or 6 and keep them there for a few years until they catch up?
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Apr 26, 2015 03:25
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sheri posted:Crabbiness and tantrums are par for the course for 18 months. As is wanting to get into anything and everything. Consistency is very lacking in my house to say the least. I know its something that I as the parent must fix be fore the kids will begin to understand it or even want to have anything to do with it. Thank you very much for your input I will try to put it in place as soon as tomorrow.
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Apr 26, 2015 07:28
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Axiem posted:It is just so frustrating that frequently, there's nothing wrong with him except that he's out of someone's arms. And that someone needs to be standing—sit down, and it's wrath and tears. I used to joke that my baby was allergic to floors, she was the exact same way. It's really draining. Though as soon as she could move about on her own, she flipped completely, and only wanted to crawl and walk and run and play, and had NO patience for cuddles of any kind. There was a period of a couple of months where wouldn't even sit on our laps. Hopefully you've got an equally anti-social kid in your future  I'm just glad mine has turned into a cuddlebug again, I love closeness and cuddles, so for me the months of "get off me, mum, I'm busy!" (well, I assume thats what the sceeching meant) were pretty frustrating.
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Apr 26, 2015 08:40
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Let's talk eating. My three year old doesn't. Well, he doesn't eat most meals. We're not overly concerned about that. He does eventually eat, his height/weight is fine, and we do keep snacks away unless he has something healthy. But the new development is he has an absolute nutty if we take the food away from the table. He can sit there for an hour. Eat a bite or two. But refuses to leave the table, and has a meltdown if we take the food away. He also has a meltdown if we leave him alone. So far, we've been really fortunate and haven't had any real tantrums until now. He's doesn't get the concept "if you want your food, then eat it". Last night we tried a timer to tell us when dinner was over. No good. Sometimes (but not most) he'll bing-eat at the last second.
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Apr 26, 2015 14:00
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You just need to be consistent. Alex sometimes gets upset when we take her dinner away 15 minutes after she goes to play, but we just say "you weren't eating it, so we thought you were all done. Do you want more?" She'll eat 1 more bite then proclaim "all done!" and run off. "Baby lead weaning" really worked great for us. We have two great eaters! Volmarias fucked around with this message at 14:23 on Apr 26, 2015 |
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Apr 26, 2015 14:10
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Gounads posted:Let's talk eating. My three year old doesn't. Well, he doesn't eat most meals. We're not overly concerned about that. He does eventually eat, his height/weight is fine, and we do keep snacks away unless he has something healthy. Neither does mine. We just be strict. There are no snacks if dinner isn't eaten. There is also no takebacks, meaning if he decided at 8:30pm he's hungry now and wants to finish his dinner because he'd like a snack, tough. If they eat all their dinner, at dinner time, we usually offer some small treat, a couple jellybeans a lolipop etc. We allow him to have it now or later (guess which he takes) We still struggle with him, and I know tempting him with treats to eat isn't great, but we have gone multiple nights of crying for HOURS over a plate of untouched food. He's gone to bed hungry more than one night. At least now we're in a pattern where we can get him to eat something approaching a reasonable meal at meal time. We don't let him eat it later because we were getting into a stupid habit of doing that every night. He'd refuse dinner, we'd put it away, at 8pm he'd ask for a snack, we'd tell him he didn't eat dinner, he'd demand to eat his dinner. So now he eats dinner at dinner time, and he can have a small treat after or save it for later, and that is it.
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Apr 26, 2015 14:34
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Cutting the hairs of toddlers is hard, but with the help of a clipper it was doable. Bye bye long haired boys.
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Apr 26, 2015 16:33
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Gounads posted:Let's talk eating. My three year old doesn't. ... I am literally counting down the months until my boy turns four, because we have a battle over EVERY SINGLE THING. Not the same things every day, of course, because that would be too simple. Sometimes it's about eating, or going to the bathroom, or sleeping, or the fact that I didn't respond to each of the 386 times he said "Mummy". Everyone talks about the terrible twos but they were a walk in the park compared to the non-stop drama of my three-year-old. The previous posters are right, setting boundaries around mealtimes and then keeping those boundaries consistent is the only way to get through. But yeah, three year olds. Sheesh.
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Apr 26, 2015 21:07
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kirsty posted:But yeah, three year olds. Sheesh. Apparently they're all like this.
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Apr 26, 2015 21:18
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I even lied a bit.. he's three on Tuesday.
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Apr 26, 2015 21:54
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Oh god Alex turns 3 in May and she's already starting this stuff 
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Apr 26, 2015 22:25
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We just stick to the rules we make. They feel totally ineffective at times, but someday they won't be 3, and having rules that we don't flex on will hopefully pay off. One day he'll just eat his loving dinner and then I'll give him a few jelly beans and peace will reign in the kingdom. Until his tiny rear end in a top hat brother starts doing it :P
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Apr 26, 2015 23:12
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I ended up buying a Beco Gemini carrier and it is fantastic. My son is 19lbs now and I can front-carry him for an hour without even a hint of back or shoulder pain! Plus, it can do forward-facing which he loves (for shorter periods of time, of course). We attended an baby sleep workshop this weekend. It wasn't quite as helpful as I'd hoped, but I guess there's no magic cure for this sort of thing anyway. It did help me identify one issue - dude isn't getting enough formula during the day and wakes up more often to make up for it at night. He's just so busy with crawling and playing that even if I offer him a bottle, he often doesn't take it because oh hey the cat is over there let's pet it! So I think I'm going to start taking him to a quiet room for his daytime feeds to reduce distractions.
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Apr 27, 2015 01:06
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VorpalBunny posted:Our three year old did the same thing. The fun wore off and he just didn't care about wetting himself. I'd say back off and try again in a few months. I didn't have mind pee trained until he was 4, and then poop trained a few months later. I think waiting as long as we did made it really easy to get it all done quickly. I'm really glad to see someone else dealt with the same thing at the same age, because I was beginning to think I'd done something to derail his potty training. We don't know a whole lot of people with kids the same age so I can't get a good gauge on this sort of thing. Googling has been more stressful than helpful in this instance. When you tried again, did you wait for cues from your son first or did you just start again after a certain amount of time?
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Apr 27, 2015 05:59
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Gah, Anna is 2 y 3 months, and she has whiny/screechy days already. 2 more years of this?  I'm hoping it was just because she's had some tough bouts of sickness the last couple of months though, now that she's better and eating properly again she's much more happy.
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Apr 27, 2015 06:50
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OK so nothing worked. My boy was up till after midnight. 
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Apr 27, 2015 09:00
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