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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. Ugh, eating is a pain in the rear end right now with my two year old. She'll eat, but only Mac and Cheese, Oatmeal, Pancakes, French Toast, or these stupid Yogurts that are like $5 for a box of 4. She'll eat some apples/bannanas at time, but other than that, it's impossible to get her to eat anything new. She'll eat most of her mac and cheese no problem, but I would love for her to eat something different. I hate Mac and Cheese now so drat much. It doesn't sound like it's going to get any better either as she gets closer to three 
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Apr 27, 2015 16:58
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Our 9 month old is having a bit of an eating regression. She loves puffs, but isn't so big on the gerber stage 2's right now. Unless she's being fed by mom...but even then she fights it a bit. If dad is feeding her? Well then it's just right out.
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Apr 27, 2015 17:07
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Ansiktsburk posted: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? We never really pushed it, just put him on the potty morning and night every day. And then we started to realize he was going to go to pre-K this fall and he needed to be potty trained by then, so we really started pushing it again in December. I'd say by mid-January he was pretty much pee-trained, and then by mid-March he was poop-trained. We used Disneyland as incentive. He was older, 4-years old, so he understood cause/effect, consequences, took personal responsibility, etc. When he was 3 and 2, he just didn't get it. But the connection between going on the toilet = Disneyland was a powerful and persuasive force by 4-years old.
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Apr 27, 2015 17:27
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I managed to traumatise my 2 year old with the potty somehow. I put it in the living room then let her run through with no nappy on. She laughed and sat on it, coincidentally started peeing and peed in the potty then completely freaked out and won't be be naked any more without shrieking and wanting carried (unless she is in the bath). It's very odd but hopefully she'll get over it soon.
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Apr 27, 2015 19:06
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momtartin posted:Ugh, eating is a pain in the rear end right now with my two year old. She'll eat, but only Mac and Cheese, Oatmeal, Pancakes, French Toast, or these stupid Yogurts that are like $5 for a box of 4. She'll eat some apples/bannanas at time, but other than that, it's impossible to get her to eat anything new. She'll eat most of her mac and cheese no problem, but I would love for her to eat something different. My almost 4 year old thinks pasta and starch are evil. Have you ever met a toddler that doesn't want to eat Mac "n Cheese and hotdogs? I don't even mind that, if it wasn't a hassle to get him to eat. One of his favorite not poo poo dinners I make is breaded pork chops. He loving loves pork chops. He does not care for red meat, or "I DON'T LIKE BROWN MEAT DADDY!!!" as he puts it. One can only serve so much of chicken, pork chops, and pizza before you go crazy. He will eat fruit, which is good, vegetables, not so much. I know it will change, but our diet is awful, I hate making dinner, and some days i want to starve them a little so they'll be happy to have anything to eat at all. Ahhh toddlers. We started both boys early on the potty, around 6 months. More just to acclimate them to the idea of sitting on it. We'd put it in the living room, get a little stool, put books and toys on and entertain them. With our oldest this transitioned into when he got it, then we started at some point rewarding him with a treat for going. After a fwe months of that the reward wasn't necessary, by 2.5 he was fully potty trained. At this point in time he's had like 1 or 2 accidents in a year? Our younger boy is 22 months and it isn't going as quickly, but he will still sit on the potty. Last week he told my wife "poo!" and she put him on the potty and he pooped. I feel like putting them on it early got over the resistance of just sitting on it that a lot of kids seem to have if they aren't introduced until 18 months or older. jassi007 fucked around with this message at 19:29 on Apr 27, 2015 |
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Apr 27, 2015 19:26
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hookerbot 5000 posted:I managed to traumatise my 2 year old with the potty somehow. Haha, my 21 month old traumatised herself - out of nowhere she suddenly tore off all her clothes and her diaper, sat down on it and pooped, then jumped up, pointed to it in horror and shrieked: "What's that?!" "Your poop, sweetie!" "That's poop?!"  Now she refuses to go near the potty. I hope she forgets by this summer, which is when we plan on starting potty training for real.
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Apr 27, 2015 19:39
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Sockmuppet posted:Haha, my 21 month old traumatised herself - out of nowhere she suddenly tore off all her clothes and her diaper, sat down on it and pooped, then jumped up, pointed to it in horror and shrieked: "What's that?!" "Your poop, sweetie!" "That's poop?!" It must be so confusing when they start realising what horrible things come out of their bodies. I remember Connor being very insistent on showing everyone his poo and explaining that it was poo, not chocolate. I'm hoping the same. The potty is still kicking about in the room and I'll try and slowly get her used to being naked without freaking out again but not suggest sitting on it for a few weeks.
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Apr 27, 2015 20:03
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Yeah, our youngest (20 months) will sit on the potty but not do anything. Our oldest, on the otherhand, only wants to stand up to use it. Which is fine for somethings, but really gross for poop.
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Apr 27, 2015 21:31
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Gothmog1065 posted:Anyone have a recommendation for a baby gate that our cats can get through? Looking at some with pet doors but it looks like they can be closed or something? Or should I just make my fatty cats jump to get through? I know this is a couple of pages ago, but we had this gate because we had an elderly cat with mobility problems....I was looking through my old albums on facebook the other day and look what I found:    Based on the date of the photos, he was 3 years old. Babies are gonna go straight through it. (FWIW, the minigate DOES lock, so what we ended up doing was just locking it and putting a cat tree on each side so they could get over it but he couldn't.) To be fair, it was really nice that it was extra tall, so he couldn't just vault over it like every other gate on the market. Fionnoula fucked around with this message at 00:22 on Apr 28, 2015 |
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Apr 28, 2015 00:16
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sullat posted:Yeah, our youngest (20 months) will sit on the potty but not do anything. Our oldest, on the otherhand, only wants to stand up to use it. Which is fine for somethings, but really gross for poop. My youngest (18 months) will sit on the potty for a while then gets up and will poop and pee on the floor. Its rather bothersome.
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Apr 28, 2015 05:39
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Yeah, my 2.5 year old managed to traumatize himself with the potty as well. He was doing really good at just slowly working up to using it, but around that time he got really comfortable, he decided that the best way to take a dump in his nappy was just sitting right on the floor. Obviously, not much comes out when you're sitting down, so queue a while of not doing much in the nappy, followed by HOLY JESUS WHAT IS THAT?!? in the potty. It's like he's got a T.A.R.D.I.S. for a colon, cause there's no way to physically fit that much poo inside a 2 year old. He did that a few more times, and we were hoping that he'd just decide to use the potty, but he's instead used toddler logic and come to the perfectly valid conclusion that taking big poos on the potty hurts, so he's not gonna do it anymore. Not wanting to turn it into a battle (cause hey, you'll lose every time with a toddler), we just had to go the laxative route to soften things up so he doesn't continue being conspitated due to his chosen crapping method. He wants to crap while sitting on the floor under the table (or my desk while I'm there), and that's just all there is to it. Docs recommended a gentle laxative to keep things moving, and it's been a huge help. Not sure if you can get it in the US, but Movicol (polyethylene glycol) is an amazing thing. It's super gentle, and just draws water into the colon to soften things. Start with an ever increasing dose until you get a poonami, then taper down until the consistency is just right. Stick with that for weeks/months until things have normalised, then taper off and see how you go. Definitely beats chronic constipation and all the problems that go with that like suppositories and enemas. Incidentally, our 7 month old poos on the potty like a champ, almost every night after dinner. She eats, give the old red face grunts, and we sit her on the potty and she drops a cat turd like clockwork. Like all evil parents, we're using this to our advantage, and tapping into the 2.5 year old's jealousy towards his younger sister. So instead of asking him to use the potty, we just have her go, praise her a lot, then cleanup and that's it, no asking him to go. Within a week he was back to demanding that we let him go wee on the potty before bath time, and the past couple days he's been asking to go again before bed as well. I fully expect within another week or two he'll be demanding that we let him go poo as well, cause how dare his little sister get to while he doesn't?! In regards to eating, we're really trying to get him involved in the kitchen, and that seems to help a ton. Takes a lot of willpower to just let a 2 year old do things on their own and not butt in when you know its going to lead to a mess, but he absolutely loves everything about cooking. He gets things out of the fridge and pantry, dumps ingredients into bowls after I measure, stirs things, etc... Scrambled eggs are a favourite right now, and I'm pretty sure he'll be able to crack eggs into a bowl shortly. Cut up some pineapple the other day, and he managed to cut a strip up into pieces quite well with his plastic kiddie knife. Best of all, the pineapple he wouldn't touch when I started cutting it is something he likes to eat. That's a common theme when he helps, even if he just watches
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Apr 28, 2015 08:11
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JBark posted:He did that a few more times, and we were hoping that he'd just decide to use the potty, but he's instead used toddler logic and come to the perfectly valid conclusion that taking big poos on the potty hurts, so he's not gonna do it anymore. Something similar happened to our son, we told him he needed to eat his veggies and drink more water so his poop wouldn't hurt. Worked great. When our son was 20 months we had a first attempt at potty training and failed. We tried again 6 months later, we'd sit him on the potty with a stack of books next to him. We'd go through every book and sometimes he did his business. One morning before the holidays I got stuck waiting for him to poo, he stayed on the potty for 30 minutes, I was already late for work, got him out and he pooed in the living room. I had a chat with him (as serious a chat as you can have with a 2 year old) about how mommy and daddy weren't happy about this, that they would very like him to poo and pee in the potty. A week later we were on holidays, he grabbed my hand and said "poo, dad!" and led me to his potty, he did his thing. Afterwards he held my face with both hands and asked in the sweetest voice: "Do you feel happy, dad?".
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Apr 28, 2015 17:00
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I don't know if there is a separate cloth diapering thread, but there was some talk about cloth diapering in the first few pages so I'm going to ask here. I'm going to be a dad in a few months and I think I want to jump into the whole cloth diapering thing. There is a lot of options, but right now what I'm considering is the Best Bottoms all in two system. Is there anyone with any experience with them? At this point I'm basically trying to find a reason not to use this system since almost everything I've found online was positive and I feel like the negatives are stuff I can live with. But it never hurt to get additional opinions.
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Apr 28, 2015 17:27
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KingColliwog posted:I don't know if there is a separate cloth diapering thread, but there was some talk about cloth diapering in the first few pages so I'm going to ask here. I haven't used that particular system, but quick impressions from looking at it: 1. Go with the snaps, not the velcro. The velcro will wear out before baby outgrows them (at least for the toddler phase), and you'll need to replace the covers. 2. 8 inserts at each size is a little short. We had 24 infant size and 12 toddler size and end up doing laundry every couple days. I'm also not clear on how many covers you're getting, it says 8 but is that 4 small and 4 large? We've found that 4-6 covers for 12 diapers is a good ratio for having both run out at about the same time. 3. For what you're getting, $400 seems expensive. We ordered everything from here, I think you can get something similar for cheaper than that.
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Apr 28, 2015 17:45
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I agree that 8 inserts is not going to be enough. I have 36 prefolds with a 2 month old and we laundry every other day. I could probably stretch it to every third day but I like having extra clean diapers just in case.
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Apr 28, 2015 18:13
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First time I've posted in this thread, hope it's the right one for this... Yesterday I got a phone call from a local public (French Catholic) school that operates on a Montessori model. They have a wait list, and 4 years ago I put my son on it. He's finishing up grade 1 right now, and it turns out they have grade 2 spots available. I have like 2 days to decide, because registration ends this week. For some context of my son's situation: 6 years old with a later birthday (November) Has language delays / possibly disorders that have been assessed by both a psychologist and speech pathologist. Is (finally) receiving support through the school board... This would continue at the new school. Has minor speech delays for which he is receiving support. Presumably this would continue as well. In his testing he scored very high on non-language based metrics (like 90-98th percentile). Currently attends French school and speak French at his mom's house on weekends. Is totally bilingual, but that means he mixes the languages when he can't think of the appropriate word. He's not doing great in school. They only recently figured out that he's not speaking only French because of language problems, rather than because of attitude problems. I'm still not sure his teacher really gets it. I would massively appreciate any anecdotal information people have to share about Montessori schools. I'm meeting them Thursday and am like 90% sure it's worth a shot, but the more I can learn the better. Also, given it's a Catholic school... Anyone have experience with how hard Canadian Catholic schools push the religion? His mom is technically Catholic but not exactly practicing.
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Apr 28, 2015 19:20
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Papercut posted:I haven't used that particular system, but quick impressions from looking at it: 1. Great, that's already what I planned on doing, but I'm glad my initial impressions are confirmed. 2. The current plan is : ~ 10 covers (one size) (180$) // ~20 medium inserts (100$) // ~10 to 20 large inserts depending on how much we think we need then if we like the system (another 50-100$) First few months would be done with gifted disposables until we run out and then prefolds, using the diaper as covers. Then we'd switch to inserts once the medium fit (which is supposedly from 11 pounds) 3. The price seems to be similar or less than similar products (pocket diapers or all in two). But may be I need to do more researtch. We don't think we'd enjoy doing prefolds. Other option would be to get half Best Bottoms and half of some pocket diaper so we have more options/can test stuff out. Also, I am Canadian so choice is limited and/or things are more expensive. As long as it's under 500$ or so then I'm 100% ok with the price. I don't mind spending that much at all. I don't want to spend money for no reason at all, but I'm willing to spend a few hundreds for extra convenience on something that will be done as often as changing diapers. What do you use? Prefolds in covers? Pocket diapers? All in ones? Charmmi posted:I agree that 8 inserts is not going to be enough. I have 36 prefolds with a 2 month old and we laundry every other day. I could probably stretch it to every third day but I like having extra clean diapers just in case. Yeah I wasn't clear. Initial plan is around 20-24 inserts. This should allow us to wash them more or less every other day from what I've read. KingColliwog fucked around with this message at 19:46 on Apr 28, 2015 |
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Apr 28, 2015 19:44
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If you're looking for some cheaper pocket diapers to try out, we've had good luck with Alva and Kawaii. Both sites are pretty terrible but I can confirm you will actually get what you order.  I find the Kawaiis to be a bit bigger and softer than the Alvas, but both brands work as well or better than the few $20 BumGenius pocket diapers we have in the rotation. And at under $10 per piece (usually $6-9 I think) the price is pretty good and I think they each come with one microfiber insert. We've been using a mix of brands for 9 months now and durability seems about equal across the board.
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Apr 28, 2015 20:25
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As a parent of a 6 month old... how do you deal with not knowing things? This is our first, and I think I'm doing the right things, but it freaks me out sometimes that there are so many different opinions on every single thing! Dumbest question ever... this feeling is normal, right? Right now my wife and I have been dealing it with the standard "gently caress it all, we'll do what we think is best" and it works. We got our son sleeping through the night by the third month! Yay! But then every time we visit in-laws (either side) we just get bombarded with "Well have you thought about" or "Well this is what I did with you". Ugh. 
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Apr 28, 2015 20:37
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Finagle posted:As a parent of a 6 month old... how do you deal with not knowing things? This is our first, and I think I'm doing the right things, but it freaks me out sometimes that there are so many different opinions on every single thing! I have a 9 month old. We are just completely loving winging it. So yeah, you're not alone!
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Apr 28, 2015 20:45
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Finagle posted:As a parent of a 6 month old... how do you deal with not knowing things? This is our first, and I think I'm doing the right things, but it freaks me out sometimes that there are so many different opinions on every single thing! Also in the same basket with a 10 month old, our first. Yeah, everything is up in the air. Trust in yourself and also give yourself a break because no one is perfect.
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Apr 28, 2015 21:03
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First kis we obsessively followed the books. Second kid, uh, who has time for that? Youngest has been eating dirt lately. Kinda weird. Anyone seen a kid do that? Reckon it's a phase, hopefully?
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Apr 28, 2015 21:05
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Wingin' it over here as well. Seems like she's holding up so far. 
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Apr 28, 2015 21:39
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Midnight Sun posted:Wingin' it over here as well. Seems like she's holding up so far. Ha god we get so frustrated going to doctors for anything. We haven't had any major issues so far (fingers crossed) but everything we see someone they just sort of gloss over things. I'm all "WE have the loving well being of a child in our hands here... DEAR GOD GIVE ME SPECIFIC INSTRUCTIONS PLEASE!"
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Apr 28, 2015 21:41
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Finagle posted:As a parent of a 6 month old... how do you deal with not knowing things? This is our first, and I think I'm doing the right things, but it freaks me out sometimes that there are so many different opinions on every single thing! There are no right anwers, and there are a lot of bad days and nights. Do your best.
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Apr 28, 2015 21:57
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Finagle posted:As a parent of a 6 month old... how do you deal with not knowing things? This is our first, and I think I'm doing the right things, but it freaks me out sometimes that there are so many different opinions on every single thing! I'm thankful for the fact that I have people I can go to (My older sister primarily) for advice, but they never shove things down your throat. Nobody has really given unsolicited advice so far. Only my paternal grandmother keeps comparing ours to my cousin's second child ("why isn't Colby walking yet, he's already a year old! Atticus (Yes that is his name) has been walking since he was 9 months old!"). It's not like he has an older brother to chase around or anything. Fionnoula posted:I know this is a couple of pages ago, but we had this gate because we had an elderly cat with mobility problems....I was looking through my old albums on facebook the other day and look what I found: Hahaha holy poo poo. That was what I was wondering, how big was that loving gate. I'll just get a normal swing gate, my cats can quit being whiny and jump, and it's not like it's going to be closed 24/7.
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Apr 29, 2015 01:49
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Jordan7hm posted:First time I've posted in this thread, hope it's the right one for this... I can't really speak to the Montessori issue or the Canadian Catholic Schools issue, but I do have a kid receiving special education services and therapies in a public school. It sounds to me like you aren't particularly happy with your son's situation as it stands. Is he currently in the local public school? If you were to pull him out of his current school and put him in the Montessori school only to later find that it wasn't working for him, would there be problems getting him back into his current (or another) school? I would definitely call the department of special education at your local school system and determine what services would look like in a private school setting - would the school board send a therapist to the Montessori school to provide his therapies, or would they send a bus to his school to pick him up and bring him to a public school where services would be provided and then take him back to his private school when therapy is over? If they opt for the transportation, how much of his educational time will be lost on a weekly basis to sitting on a bus? That's a real question, I know people whose children are bused from private school to public school for therapies and then back again, and it's more than 2 hours a week of instructional time lost. My son spent a half a year in a less-than-ideal (i.e. super loving lovely) educational environment - the second half of kindergarten ended up being him just playing with toys in the special ed room with no effort to educate him at all as a result of staffing changes while I screamed bloody murder and eventually reported the school to the state for violations of his federally protected right to an education. It's demoralizing, to see your kid failing to succeed because people don't understand or don't care to learn his needs. In the end, we ended up transferring him to a different school in our local school system and having him repeat kindergarten. I'm so much happier with the situation he's in now, and it has nothing to do with funding or school location...it's all down to a teaching and support staff who go out of their way to do the best they can for him. I guess what I'm saying is: Make sure you do your homework about what his services will look like, maybe talk to the administrators of the Montessori school to be clear they understand that your child has a speech issue and will require special consideration as a result. I don't know anything about special education law in Canada, but in the US I would tell you that if you aren't happy with how his schooling is going right now, you could call a new IEP meeting and change the plan (of course, based on my own experience I will also tell you that changing the IEP isn't necessarily going to *fix* anything, either...but it might. We were rather specifically dealing with a perfect storm of bullshit and staffing changes at that crappy school).
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Apr 29, 2015 03:02
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[quote="KingColliwog" post="444639821"] Best Bottoms all in two system. [/qoute] Never used that system. I (dad) did cloth for 2 years with my son. He's not potty trained yet but having a 2nd baby and getting much busier with work I have switched to disposables for awhile. I've used mostly kawaii's and some other brands too. Apple cheeks. Bum Genius. Rumparooz. Bottom Bumpers. Grovia. Alva. Prefolds and covers. Fitteds and covers for overnight. I'm torn on the name brand diapers. I don't feel they offer a significantly better diapering experience than the 6 dollar kawaii's. That being said there were several growth spurts where my tall (90%) skinny (20%) baby leaked pee regularly for at least a week. That was super annoying. He's leaked in all brands at one point or another though so maybe having a stash of just one brand is a bad idea. I decided about 6 months ago to only buy all in one's everytime I bought new diapers then went on a crazy black friday splurge and have a bunch of relatively unused velcro bum genius elemental all in ones. I should sell those at some point. My thoughts on just looking at the best bottoms system. I prefer the soaker pad to be completely attached instead of a snap. The whole idea of the all in one is take them out of the dryer and they're done. Not search for the right soaker pad to snap in. But if you have mostly one stash it won't be that bad. Sometimes they stay snapped all the way through the wash too which is nice. Even when I was using prefolds I never had a ton of success reusing covers. If you can afford it it's easier to just have a bunch of covers so essentially you're using all in ones. I agree that snaps are the way to go if you plan on using them for a long time. Still you should have 5 or so velcro's around for in-law's/baby sitters to use. My mom didn't like the snaps so I always saved the velcro's for her when she babysat. Pocket diapers are nice for people not used to cloth also. It acts like a regular diaper. No soaker pad flopping around or snapping inserts in or out. 12 diapers a day was common for us. 15 wasn't uncommon though. I started with 32 total and did wash every 2-3 days. When baby #2 got here I had 3 covers and 24 prefolds for her alone. It wasn't quite enough. I didn't like prefolds btw. If it's just pee then it's fine, but poop in a prefold (jelly roll fold) was often getting on the cover so then the cover needed to be changed too and only having 3 it was tight.
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Apr 29, 2015 05:32
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We've used cloth exclusively since the birth of #1 son in 2008, currently on #3 son. Mostly a bunch of different pocket diapers (we've tried out any number of brands) for daytime use, and fitted ones with covers for nighttime. #1 son quit diapers in the same week as #2 was born (he was just over three at the time) and we had a few months with two diaper-users after #3 was born (2 years and 3 months after #2). The amount of extra laundry is not really significant compared to what you have to do anyway when you have young children in the house. We agree that diapers with snaps tend to be longer-lived than Velcro ones; even they are not immortal and we've bought a few new ones every so often, only a few of the first batches we bought back in 2008 are still in use. (Those night-time diapers we use, however -- Mother-ease brand diapers, with a succession of lanolinized wool covers in various sizes, some hand-knitted by grandmothers, some factory-made -- are good as new and could probably last through at least three more babies).
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Apr 29, 2015 08:47
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Jordan7hm posted:First time I've posted in this thread, hope it's the right one for this... I'm a britgoon and went to a Montessori school. For me, I struggled with the Montessori system, as it was based on the child will do what the child wants. If the child wants to paint, he can paint. Wants to learn maths, he can learn maths. I needed structure, as I'm a bit lazy and if given the opportunity wouldn't do anything. I went there from P1-P5 which is 5-10 then from there to a private school, and when I went to the private school I wouldn't sit still as I wasn't used to structure. But I needed it, my parents would vouch that going to somewhere with structure did me the world of good. Now, that could just be the certain school I went to. But for me, I want my children going somewhere which has a good structure, follows curriculum templates. Now, Canada Catholic Montessori might be vastly different that what I experienced. Also, the school I went to got shut down by the Care Inspectorate for child neglect. And there was still people queueing to put their kids there. But, make sure you do your homework.
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Apr 29, 2015 09:25
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Finagle posted:As a parent of a 6 month old... how do you deal with not knowing things? This is our first, and I think I'm doing the right things, but it freaks me out sometimes that there are so many different opinions on every single thing! In the years leading up to marriage and kids, my husband and I were careful to pay attention to those around us with kids. We watched their interactions, talked to each other about stuff we observed, and as the kids grew up we could see what disciplines, habits, activities worked and didn't work. It made stuff like Christmas and the 4th of July much more entertaining, as if we were on some safari or nature cruise. We learned that markers and crayons should really be locked away or only played with outdoors, but not to be left out so the dogs can get them and eat them. We learned that letting a kid snack right before dinner means the kid doesn't want to eat dinner and will whine and cry to leave the table while everyone else is trying to enjoy their meal. We learned that kids not normally exposed to restaurants act like loving lunatics when expected to stay at a table and not run around the restaurant. We learned that kids not raised with animals will have an irrational fear of anything non-human, even kittens and fish. We learned that kids fake cry to get what they want, even as young as 10-months old, and you have to toughen up a bit and learn to see through the shenanigans or you will feed that habit and end up with a whiner. These were invaluable years, and I am grateful my husband was on the same page and we took away the gems that worked and identified the stuff that clearly didn't work. Obviously you're in the poo poo now, but it might be worth a few hours to think of older kids or friends who you think are pretty kick-rear end and figure out what their parents might have done to help make them that way. We actually sat down with my husband's friend to ask how he was raised, because he and his siblings have a strong independent streak and are all a lot of fun, and one of the things that stood out was that their parents made time for themselves, so far as to leave the kids with family members and take 2-week vacations alone without the kids. They loved their kids, but they loved each other as well, and showed the kids that they were fine without them. It's that independence and self-reliance, and self-deprecating humor, that I am hoping to instill in my own kids so I added that tidbit to our big book of anecdotes and will see if we can incorporate it someday, when the kids are a bit older. And really, nobody knows anything. We thought we were hot poo poo as parents, and then my middle child wandered into traffic not once but twice today. It's a loving miracle nothing happened to her, and it deflated our cocky attitudes in an instant. You think you have it all together, your diaper bag full of wipes and backup formula, and your kid just steps off the curb into the street and everything you thought you knew and had prepared for and trained her to do goes out the loving window! I will beat myself up over this for the rest of her life, and even though nothing happened to her, something could have happened to her and I will never forgive myself for even letting something maybe almost happen to her. Welcome to parenthood.
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Apr 29, 2015 09:27
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I googled the weirdest poo poo during the first year of my daughters life. I know some people warn against looking up stuff online, because you'll just convince yourself that your kid has Rare Deadly Dying Syndrome, but for me it was awesome, because no matter how inane my worry de jour was, I'd find page after page of other people asking the exact same stupid thing, and getting the reply: "Don't worry, totally normal, mine did that too!" Now I go: "Eh. We'll see if the rash is still there in the morning."
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Apr 29, 2015 13:04
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I remember being terrified the hospital would let me go home with a tiny infant to care for with little more than a "good luck; you'll be fine."  We're all just flying by the seat of our pants, constantly. Oodles posted:I'm a britgoon and went to a Montessori school. For me, I struggled with the Montessori system, as it was based on the child will do what the child wants. If the child wants to paint, he can paint. Wants to learn maths, he can learn maths. I needed structure, as I'm a bit lazy and if given the opportunity wouldn't do anything. I have a similar story. I have a good friend whose son went to Montessori from K-5, and then when he went to a traditional (although private) middle school; it was terrible for him. Same sort of thing; he wasn't used to the structure. He was used to doing what he wanted. Despite being very smart, his grades were terrible and he was on academic probation and on the verge of being kicked out. For two years. He's in high school now, and is doing well again, but she regrets sending him to Montessori because their way of schooling runs completely contrary to all other school systems, leading to obvious transition stresses. (In my humble opinion, it runs rather contrary to much of adult, professional life as well.)
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Apr 29, 2015 15:12
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Hmm. That's some good feedback, definitely something for me to chew on. Thanks guys. I just confirmed that he would continue to receive services for language and speech, so that's sorted at least. Meeting them tomorrow morning (with him) and will be able to better assess the environment.
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Apr 29, 2015 15:56
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Hdip posted:words of advice Groke posted:words of advice Thanks, this was all valuable info. We might be going for half best bottoms, half cheap pockets diapers KingColliwog fucked around with this message at 13:27 on Apr 30, 2015 |
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Apr 29, 2015 20:57
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VorpalBunny posted:And really, nobody knows anything. We thought we were hot poo poo as parents, and then my middle child wandered into traffic not once but twice today. It's a loving miracle nothing happened to her, and it deflated our cocky attitudes in an instant. You think you have it all together, your diaper bag full of wipes and backup formula, and your kid just steps off the curb into the street and everything you thought you knew and had prepared for and trained her to do goes out the loving window! I will beat myself up over this for the rest of her life, and even though nothing happened to her, something could have happened to her and I will never forgive myself for even letting something maybe almost happen to her. Please don't beat yourself up for this. My daughter did this to me when I was holding her baby sister and she could easily outrun me. It was one of the worst feelings I've ever had. Too scary. Your post was awesome. I did a lot of observing (mostly what not to do) as well, and it is very helpful. Every kid is different though, and the methods that work for a child may not work for others. You need to learn to trust yourself and treat every advise as a suggestion rather than a fact. I took a very "relaxed" approach to parenting and had to learn some common things the hard way, but I much prefer it this way. Sure it may have made some things easier, but I much prefer it over questioning everything. With that said, bedtime stories are the best
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Apr 30, 2015 05:21
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Kitiara posted:With that said, bedtime stories are the best Not when its "let loose the leopard" for the 10th night in a row. And she knows when I make animal noises, and when she knows the lines.
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Apr 30, 2015 08:36
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Oodles posted:Not when its "let loose the leopard" for the 10th night in a row. And she knows when I make animal noises, and when she knows the lines. That's what toddlers do, though. They want to understand the world, and a lot of that involves reproducing the same actions to understand consistency. Do you know how many times I've read the same damned book to Alexandra? And how many times she's actually read it to me, verbatim, through memorization? Like Alex, your child will go through phases of wanting one particular book. Lately, it's whatever Highlights magazine is the most recent. Just be patient and roll with it, and they'll pick another book soon enough. And, enjoy it. It's a nice time to share with your child when they're about as chill as they're going to be all day.
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Apr 30, 2015 11:26
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Some days, with my 2 years and four months old son, within five minutes of him waking up I just know it's going to be one of those days. Today the first tantrum happened when he couldn't close the bedroom door himself because the catch was stuck. Then he wanted ice cream for breakfast. Then we went shopping and he wanted a new toy, but couldn't decide which one he wanted. Then he wanted ice cream for lunch. It wouldn't be so bad, but the half-crying/whining sound he makes when he can't get his own way or do whatever it is he wants to do in these situations REALLY grates on my nerves. He's perfectly capable of expressing himself verbally, but that all goes out the window when he gets frustrated.
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Apr 30, 2015 11:37
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VorpalBunny posted:
Two years ago (about a year before my baby was born), I was at a family vacation in the mountains of North Carolina. The whole fam was there including my 2 year old niece. I was outside building a rocking chair when my brother asked me to watch her for a second (it had just rained and she was walking on the hillside jumping into wet stuff). I watched her for a second and my mind had just spaced. I was in the midst of building this rocking chair and, I wish I had a better excuse, but I just immediately forgot to keep track of her. A few minutes later (I can't really remember ... could have been 5 minutes, could have been 30) I walked outside as two people walked up with my niece in their arms. She was fine, but she had wandered down to the main road and they happened to be passing by in a van and found her about to wander into traffic. That is definitely something that will stick with me for the rest of my life. I was ruined for the next few days (few weeks really). Nobody else really seemed to care too much (my sis in law and brother weren't really pissed at me) and my mom was like "these things happen...when you were 18 months old a neighbor walked up to me and said 'is that your kid on the roof?' and I turned around to see you on our second story roof with your legs dangling off! Your brothers had opened the window and let you out." But dear god that was the single most frightening thing that has ever happened to me. If anything good came out of it, it's that I'm hyper aware of where my daughter is at all times. Not in a helicoptering way, but it's now seared into the back of my brain.
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Apr 30, 2015 15:31
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