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Praise Glob, the thread is back. I need some advice that doesn't amount to "lock the kid in his room and let him scream for a while." Obviously the last thing we need is more sleepytime drama, but what I'm looking for is a little different. PART THE FIRST. Sometimes it seems like every other kid on the planet plays hard for a while and then falls asleep in the middle of stacking blocks or something. Not my kid. He's 8 months old now and has never been real good about falling and staying asleep unless he was physically on an adult human being. Here lately, though, he's abandoned every effort to sleep separately, whether in his pack-and-play for naps or his sidecarred crib for bedtime. I've tried wearing him (he hates being confined by a baby carrier; I've tried wraps, slings, soft-structured, mei tais, even a Bjorn crotchdangler. He won't stay in them anymore). I've tried swaddling him, but he's really too big and active to swaddle now, and fights his way out if I try. I've tried a number of bedtime rituals (had to stop these when it became clear the fighting sleep was becoming part of the ritual), including the 4Bs (bath, book, boob, bed). I've tried shushing, white noise, light music, vibration. I've tried letting Daddy put him to bed (he gets as far as the mattress' surface before realizing I'm not there and waking up to play with Daddy). I've tried feeding him more. I've tried rocking, bouncing, dancing. He doesn't fall asleep in his carseat (again, hates being strapped in) or I'd try the car. Literally the only things that seem to put him to sleep are: A) I go to bed with him and nurse him to sleep. B) Daddy goes to bed with him and holds him while he screams bloody murder and eventually pretty much passes out. (I ABSOLUTELY HATE THIS. But I work full time and my husband stays home with him, so this happens at least once a day.) C) My husband was hospitalized for a week, and I found someone to babysit who has a baby about Arthur's age. After a day of hard playing he'd go to bed really easily and sleep for 7 or 8 hours. That was the best month  Unfortunately we can't afford a babysitter anymore so that's out.Now, I don't mind nursing the boy to sleep. What I am having trouble dealing with is watching how tired he is and how much he wants and needs to sleep but just refuses (or doesn't understand how) to do it. If this is all that works, I'll happily do it, but I also have to help make dinner, eat some and feed some to the kid, get washed and brushed, help get the kid washed and brushed, get my stuff organized for the next day's work, and clean my pumping equipment. By that time it's ten o'clock and the kid is frantic to sleep. I've got no time to unwind myself. How do you lovely people keep yourselves sane when confronted with a non-sleeper? PART THE SECOND. One plan that I've been trying to get hubs to participate in is to take the kid and get out of the house and do some activities during the day while I'm out. But I think he got the postpartum depression that passed me over. Literally all he has to say about anything since about a month before the baby came is "I'm tired." I won't go into how lovely that makes me feel, since I have a baby dangling off my nipple all night and work 9 hours a day. I'm mainly concerned that the baby might not be getting the stimulation he needs and that he might just be bored out of his gourd. I've suggested swimming classes, the gym, the park, shopping, whatever. Nope, he's too tired to do any of that, and by the way he didn't start dinner because he didn't know what to eat. I've been depressed all my life, so I know how he feels, but goddammit I need help and all the negativity really drags me down. What can I do or say to get him the gently caress out of the house with the baby? I'm sorry to whine, but I have no one to turn to about this stuff. The booger in question, just so I feel better when I look at this terrible post: 
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Sep 21, 2012 21:51
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Yeah, complicating things is that we're very rural and meetup choices are limited. But there is a gym that provides childcare, and a wildlife refuge nearby. I'd be happy for them to just go for a walk once a day, if nothing else. He tries to get some household projects done, but yeah, sometimes he does spend a good portion of the day on a videogame. He just finished his Master's this May, so he wasn't working, but he was pretty burned-out by the end. I've suggested looking for work, and he'll consider a job if I look it up for him and supply all the info, but he won't apply, and he won't look himself. We did really want one of us to stay home with Arthur, and I have a more lucrative job than his degree will probably net him, so that's why I'm working & he's at home. As far as the babysitter goes I think all she did was read and sing to them some, maybe play a few games. The rest was just the babies playing. Her little girl was a little ahead of Arthur physically and I think the competition was good for him...in that month he started crawling AND pulling up!
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Sep 22, 2012 01:00
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enitsirk posted:Have you tried laying down with him when he's tired, nursing him to sleep, and then popping him off the nipple and leaving the room? If I pop him off the nipple, he instantly wakes up and fumbles around until it's back in his mouth (usually biting me for my presumption) and if it's entirely gone or replaced by a paci he cries. He'll pull away when he's good and ready, and god help you if you take him off before that. enitsirk posted:If you can get your husband on board with helping you with some of your prep stuff for the next day that would help also. Even if you just had a list of things that were absolutely necessary and asked him to do those in the event that you can't escape the baby.  I already usually have to tell him to make a particular food for dinner, or write out a meal plan. If I haven't done that he will usually text me to see if I want anything in particular, and if I'm too busy or wiped to come up with anything that's when he gets confused. I tried again this weekend to ask him to get out of the house with the kid, maybe go do some activities, at least take a walk once a day. He doesn't see the point of doing activities with an 8-month-old--"he doesn't know what he's looking at and doesn't care"--but I will keep nagging anyway. Frankly I think he needs work. We are going to look at a few job postings this week. All of this will definitely come to a head soon, as he is just sucking the joy out of this whole experience, and on top of that nothing I do is a good idea or will work out or be right and that is really getting to me. Open enrollment is next month, maybe once I get him on my insurance we can afford to send him to talk to someone. Hopefully I can get him to change something subtly and not have to just confront him, as I always just melt down in tears at any kind of confrontation. I really am at a loss. We've been married almost 6 years and this is the first real problem I've ever had with him, but I almost dread going home in the evenings now. Lyz posted:I've had great luck with the Arm & Hammer diaper pail. My only complaint is the pail fills up faster than the bag, which is pretty wasteful so I take the bag out and continue to use it which lets some stink out. We have a Diaper Champ for the disposables, but for our cloth diapers we just use a Lowe's 5-gallon bucket with a lid. The sposies pail smells a bit but we don't smell a thing out of that Lowe's bucket.
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Sep 24, 2012 14:38
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Andrias Scheuchzeri posted:Well...remember, he's been spending all day cleaning up the baby's messes. I don't mean this in the sense of it being a competition for who's more tired--I know, you're working all day too--but good god am I ready for my husband to switch over to doing childcare stuff when he gets home from work. You're right, I said that badly. Sorry hubby  I've tried to present the need to get out of the house both ways--I tried again this weekend to suggest that he must be getting a touch of cabin fever and wouldn't he like to go to the gym or the wildlife refuge or something, and he replied something like "ummmmm...nnnnnnnno, I'm fine here." He did get to go out by himself for a while yesterday to hang out with a friend. Hopefully it did him some good. Ugggh the more I think about it the more I guess we are going to have to Sit Down and Have A Talk  I'm not going to leave him or anything, but the big relationship conversations have never been A Thing We Do. I will have to think about how. Thanks everyone for your suggestions.
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Sep 24, 2012 17:24
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My husband just texted me to tell me that he caught our son in the cat room. He may, or may not, have had himself a little shitsnack. (He's fine--apparently cat poop is some of the safest poop he could have ingested, so we just have to watch him for a week or two to make sure he didn't get any kind of parasitic infection. There will be much brushing of teeth before goodnight kisses, though!)
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Oct 11, 2012 18:27
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What's the oldest you guys have swaddled? I am tempted to start putting my 9-month-old back into the Sleep Sack, arms-out with the swaddly bit wrapped around his middle, to see if it helps him fall asleep and stay there without having to gnaw on my boob. We swaddled consistently until he started rolling over and haven't done it in a few months. I think he might be a zombie in training. He throws a fit if you offer a paci or teething ring but he loves to try to chew on my boob or arm or knee or the cats or whatever living flesh happens to be near his mouth.
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Oct 29, 2012 14:46
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Ben Davis posted:We swaddled later than most, until around 6 months, and then switched to sleepsacks. Does he have a lovey? That helped our little guy when we transitioned out of them. We started off having him hold a bunny while I nursed him, then put it in the crib with him, with one ear tucked into his mouth to chew on. Now 2 months later, he only hugs it and doesn't need to chew. He has rejected all efforts to get him to bond with any comfort object or teether...he requires almost constant human companionship. (In a pinch, a small dog will do.) I love that he needs Mommy so much, but it does wear on you after a while and I'm starting to get worried about his mental state. (Not that a 9-month-old has much of a mental state, but you know mom-guilt.) One thing he does seem to love is a used dryer sheet, but I'm not comfortable letting him chew on that and it doesn't lull him to sleep anyway, he just wants to run it through his hands. Kids are weird.
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Oct 29, 2012 18:13
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SassySally posted:I would like to clarify based on what I read in the article. I breastfeed and when he's waking up at night, if I can get him awake enough, I feed him. So when he's being the fussy, won't-sleep-in-his-own-bed-self, he's got a full tummy. Waking up more makes sense now, based on the article, but why can't I get him to sleep in his own bed? He's in our room still in the bassinet part of a pack 'n play. Some kids just don't. Arthur's almost 13 months and I can count on one hand the times he's slept all night in his own bed. We've tried an Arm's Reach, a pack and play, and three different cribs; we've tried tiring him out, filling him up; we've tried training him with the seahorse and with a Sleep Sheep; keeping one of my shirts in the crib; different bedtime routines; everything short of CIO. He's just not interested. He wants the warmth and comfort of Mommy or Daddy (preferably Mommy because I have the tits). At least now he usually only wakes up one or two times a night and suckles just long enough to fall back asleep (he will not take a pacifier). There are a lot of things you can try, and I do urge you to try them, but try not to beat yourself up if they don't work after a good-faith effort...it is INCREDIBLY FRUSTRATING but it may just be something he'll have to grow out of.
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Jan 29, 2013 16:13
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Konomex posted:Have you tried a baby hot water bottle? Worked on my daughter (up until Mom wanted to sleep with her due to anxiety issues) and I'm told it worked on me as a kid. I think Arthur's problem is that he is my child. I was a very, um, strong-willed kid, I wanted what I wanted and that was it. Hot water bottles, those rice-and-lavender warm packs, long firm pillows, pre-warmed bed, no dice, gotta have Mommy. (My mother is laughing at me.) But they work great for other babies, SassySally, so you should maybe try them!  Apologies for incoming text wall... I know we have some PI crossover in here, so I want to ask/vent about this. We have 3 cats, two 5-year-old brothers and a little 2-year-old girl. The boys are pretty easy; they were literally born in a barn and love being outside so after some internal struggle and a lot of aggravation we've let them become indoor-outdoor cats. It's less stress for us and for them, and there aren't many dangers out where we live so they're pretty safe. Little Hachi, though, is a bit of a problem. We think she was separated from her mother very early; I found her under the hood of my car one morning after I'd driven the eight miles to work, but we don't know where she came from. It was obvious she'd been alone for a while, though, because she didn't have any life skills. Had to be taught to play and scratch litter, still wanted to suck a little bit instead of eat, etc. She's still skittish and shy, but is becoming a little more confident now that the boys aren't in the house as much, and should prove to be a great solitary cat. BUT. She also has not mastered the art of the litterbox. She will poo poo in there all day (until she decides not to, in which case she will poo poo on the floor of the room the boxes are in), but when it comes to pee time, she somehow manages to pee either directly on the floor or down the outside of the box so that pee gets under the box. Now, if I were the one doing most of the cat cleanup, I would probably just put up with this. But I'm not. I work full-time and my husband stays home with our son and also does most of the cat-room cleaning, and he is at the end of his patience. He feels like between Arthur and three cats all he does all day is deal with excrement. Hachi's so skittish that if you enter the bathroom while she's in there she'll run away, so it's hard to see how we could train her to use the box better, and with Arthur getting more and more mobile it's hard to find the time anyway. Plus with him not working and the medical bills from an emergency last year, our finances are really stretched, and we can't afford to keep getting three cats' vaccinations updated, and flea/tick meds, and better food (Hachi has awful dandruff and I know better food would help). My husband is really getting stressed and angry and has decided he wants her gone, and is at the point where he doesn't particularly care where she goes. We tried letting her out and she is not cool with it. Hubby was all for taking her to the shelter, but I don't know that they don't euthanize so I put my foot down there. So now I am trying to rehome her instead, preferably with a childless person or family. I feel just awful about it, but I also don't feel like I have any "skin in the game," so to speak, because I'm not the one knee-deep in piss all day. It's definitely not good to have hubby get stressed and snap at her or Arthur. (Though I do wonder what he's going to do when Art's old enough to have accidents. Are we gonna send him away too?) I would love to hear from anyone who has gone through this. On one hand I know she will probably do better in a different home. On the other hand I feel like we're maybe terrible irresponsible people for trying to get rid of her just because she doesn't piss where we want her to.
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Jan 29, 2013 18:55
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Lyz posted:Also, if you have the space, consider more than one litter box. We have 4. One's even in a bathtub. E: In a moment of desperation we even considered just filling that tub with litter, but decided that we do want to sell this shitheap one day and we don't want to have to replace the tub.
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Jan 29, 2013 20:09
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Andrias Scheuchzeri posted:Using a tall Rubbermaid/Sterilite/whatever bin, like Lyz mentioned, really cuts down on the pees-over-the-side problem. Ditto those enclosed-type boxes. Of our 4 boxes, two are "regular size," one is a tall Rubbermaid and one is this thing. Unfortunately she can't get into the tall one...she is full-grown but very small with short little legs (which may be part of the overall problem). We have an enclosed one too but can't get her to use it. If nothing else, she is tolerating the baby okay. Of the 3 cats she's not the most likely to scratch him up when he pulls her fur, and thanks to experience with her he is learning to be more gentle with all the cats--her fuzz feels nice to his little cheeks, and she's starting to sit on our laps and let him rub his head on her fur. :3
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Jan 29, 2013 20:37
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My mom claims that any fruit/veg that starts with P is good for producing poop. Obviously this is "old folks" wisdom and not scientifically backed up, but peaches and plums can get the mail moving as well as prunes can. I've had good results with peaches; my son loved them pureed and cooked up warm like applesauce, and loves them now chunked up and lightly sauteed with a bit of cinnamon, and they've never failed to produce a level 3 hazmat situation in the diaper. E: I do know that prunes are dried plums  I differentiated because if a kid doesn't like one they might like the other.
Chicken McNobody fucked around with this message at 20:46 on Feb 1, 2013 |
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Feb 1, 2013 16:01
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My 13-month-old son does it when he's practicing walking without assistance, every time. He looks like he's riding a motorcycle
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Feb 19, 2013 20:35
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My son watches Sid The Science Kid. And only Sid. No time for or interest in any other TV show. (Except Doctor Who, and then he only pays attention to the theme song because my husband watched it a lot when he was keeping him during the day.) It's not terribly annoying and it is very educational--I love that it recognizes and celebrates that little kids are natural scientists, and encourages them to ask lots of questions. (I know I will probably regret it when my kid can actually ask questions.) On food weirdness: He used to eat or at least try anything I put in front of him. Cooked or raw veg, any kind of fruit, weird grains, whatever. I was so happy because I was a really picky eater as a kid. Now all he wants is bread, blueberries, and vanilla wafers. He's 15 months old...hope he grows out of it soon.
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Apr 10, 2013 20:44
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Can you guys post your favorite toddler cough and cold remedies? My 15-month-old has been sick off and on for the last month, and at this point it could not be more transparent that the pediatricians give gently caress zero. To be fair, as they told me this morning, it probably is viral and they'd just be treating symptoms...but it's the symptoms that are making him miserable, and I'd like to maybe treat that a little so he doesn't feel so bad. He's had congestion, runny nose, coughing and sneezing, for a few days each week, for the last month. Every now and then he's also run fever of about 100-102 degrees, and he had an ear infection at one point which has been successfully treated. They thought he might have allergies, but allergies don't usually come with fever. He's on Zyrtec for them anyway. In light of the recent scary things coming out about giving babies cough medicine I don't want to load him up on it too much (although it is very tempting...I gave him a quarter teaspoon of Little Colds last night and he actually slept all night for the...4th time? in his short life). We have a cold mist humidifier but it doesn't seem to help much. What works for your little ones?
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May 6, 2013 19:12
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Ariza posted:Also, make sure you're cleaning your cold most humidifier at least a few times a week with bleach, preferably every day. They're basically bacteria incubators and then it just gets spread all over the room. It's good your pediatricians didn't just give you antibiotics to make you happy. That's what they did when I was a kid. I may just quit using the humidifier altogether...it's soaking my floor anyway. If the warm ones are any better I may switch. I definitely didn't want antibiotics for a probably viral infection. Mainly I just wish the docs and nurses at that clinic would at least pretend to care that the kids feel bad, and offer suggestions to ease the symptoms, instead of just "Call us if he runs a high fever, bye." I guess seeing so many sick kids every day would desensitize them though, and they are busy. My mom's a nurse and always feels bad for the kids she has to see so I might be biased. We will definitely try the honey-based remedies. We have good local honey that should help with any allergies as well. Maybe warm, weak tea with honey and lemon, as long as I'm careful about what type of tea it is?
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May 6, 2013 20:42
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Beichan posted:My son required patting for literally up to two hours per night to go to sleep until into his second year, and then one night like a light switch he didn't need us anymore. He just lay down and fell asleep alone and the patting was over forever and he still falls asleep happily by himself at nearly 4. She will learn to self-soothe when she is ready to, I promise. She will at some point stop needing to eat overnight, and she'll learn that you'll still be there if she needs you and it's not so scary to go to sleep by herself. Just wanted to thank you for this post. My son is almost 17 months old now and STILL will not just lie down and go to sleep, and last night he literally nursed all night long, I don't know if he actually got any sleep at all. He fights sleep literally kicking and screaming and I can't even be near him at bedtime anymore because he just won't quit, he wants to stay up and nurse. Dad has to put him to bed and it is still an ordeal of an hour or more. We have tried every sleep method except CIO, he won't take a pacifier instead of my boob, nor will he suck his thumb, he has no lovey, he's rejected 3 cribs...It was just a bad night (on top of a lot of other bad nights) and I needed this encouragement. Deep breath and back into the fray.
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May 28, 2013 16:07
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Last weekend, we took our 18-month-old with us to visit friends who have a 2-year-old. She was drinking water from a bottle. At some point, Arthur nabbed her bottle and drank it dry, pretty much in a single instance. Now, he never showed much attachment to the bottle--when we first tried to introduce it at 3 months, he didn't want anything to do with it--and was never really successful in drinking from it on his own, and transitioned to a sippy cup very easily and quickly. He hadn't had a bottle probably since Christmas before this. But he seemed to really enjoy it, even turning his nose up at his sippy when we offered it instead. So now I'm wondering, did we cut out bottles too soon? Would it be a bad thing to give him a little bottle every day? Might it help him finally wean himself from the breast? (I'm willing to let him nurse as long as he needs to...but personally, I'm "done.") A search is bringing up mainly pages on how to cut out bottles after 18 months. Plus, good lord, it's already been 18 months! I have a little dude instead of a slightly large baby!  
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Jul 10, 2013 21:18
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Professor Bananas posted:I think that to help him adjust to daycare I should be trying harder now with routines, sleep and giving him bottles. But I really really want to just coddle and baby him for our last month together, though I'm scared I'll hand him over and he won't eat or sleep (and they'll think I'm a terrible mother). My kid is also an awful sleeper, so when he started staying with a babysitter during the day, I was concerned that he wouldn't nap. Turned out to be no problem. When he first started, he was with a SAHM with a little girl his own age, and she had the time and patience to cuddle and rock him to sleep. He wouldn't always sleep for very long--sometimes only 15 or 30 minutes--but he would sleep. His new in-home daycare has three or four other kids and he reportedly just lies on his mat at naptime and off to sleep he goes--sometimes for 3 or 4 hours. This is unheard-of at home still; he won't sleep for that long unless he's very tired AND we are sleeping with him. He also played hard-to-get with the bottle, and again, the answer proved to be "Mom, get out of the way, you are not for bottles, this nice lady is allowed." So I guess what I'm saying is just enjoy being with your baby for now and let later take care of itself. It's hard to imagine what they would possibly do without us, but usually they do just fine.
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Jul 30, 2013 22:51
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Alterian posted:I'm looking for Convertible Car Seat recommendations that don't break the bank, but are still safe. We're going to have to buy one now, and then another one in a couple months. (One for each car) I feel kinda bad not wanting to spend $300 on a car seat, but we don't really have the money for that right now, but we need at least one new one. Check your local health department--I just found out that mine gives away carseats for free. You may have to get your name on a list and wait, but that at least would work for your second carseat, right? My town also has a Facebook swap group just for children's items, and I have found a Graco MyRide 65 there for $40 that is within expiration, hasn't been in an accident, and isn't in awful condition. Maybe try that?
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Aug 9, 2013 21:07
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My boy is 19 months old now, and still nursing, which is beautiful and fine and all that, but I'm not sure why. Apart from the comfort aspect, which I definitely don't discount because he is mighty attached to Mama, there is no milk coming out of there, and really hasn't been for a while now. I do work full time, but he nurses a few times in the evenings, pretty much all night long, and on the weekends, if I'm sitting down, he's tugging at my shirt. So basically if I am stationary and he can reach boobs, he's trying to get boobs, and he's so happy when he gets one out, and so sad if I refuse him. What I'm wondering is, how long is he going to keep this up if there's no milk happening? I have been very dedicated to letting him gradually let go at his own pace rather than cutting him off, but nursing is becoming very uncomfortable and even painful as it's pretty much just dry sucking. He won't take a pacifier. Am I supposed to wean him now? Kellymom is my usual go-to but I'm not finding anything about this particular problem, apart from this: http://kellymom.com/bf/normal/toddlernursing/ which still maybe seems to assume that milk is being produced...
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Aug 19, 2013 21:33
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Chickalicious posted:Yeah, I agree with skeetied. We only nurse every few days and I can still express the tiniest bit of milk. Just because you don't feel engorged or see milk dribbles doesn't mean he isn't getting any. If you're nursing multiple times a day, I can't see how he isn't getting at least some milk. I'm sure he is getting *some* milk, but it has to be trace amounts...I don't even see evidence of milk when he pulls away to grin at me, and if I try to pump I *might* barely cover the bottom of the bottle, but usually not. It's definitely not enough for him to get full, or even get noticeable amounts of nutrition. Is even that little bitty taste enough to keep him going, comfort aside? (I mean, I guess it must be, since he is, but for how long?) I guess I will have to wait and see, and keep going with the night weaning process (thanks skeetied for the link!).
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Aug 20, 2013 22:11
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Chickalicious posted:The few times I tried to pump when my kid was older, I barely covered the bottom of the bottle too. My supply was tailored to exactly what he needed was my theory, no more, no less. And of course, pumps are much less efficient than babies, especially toddlers. But it's up to you for how long he can keep going. It's a nursing relationship, and relationships have more than one person's needs who have to be met. In the beginning, the baby's needs have priority, but as they get older, it becomes a little more equal, and you get to set limits as one of the partners in the relationship. For me at this point it's more of an "ugh, this again, can I not have two minutes without being touc hed" coupled with the pain and itchiness that comes with his mouthful of teeth, and of course the instant guilt that this is just another thing I gotta do instead of a beautiful LLL poster moment. But at not-quite-2 Arthur doesn't really care yet what hurts Mama (just today he slapped me full in the face when I picked him up from daycare). Time, I hope, will be the cure for both problems. Time and patience, and increased recognition of Daddy as someone who can also give comfort, which is slowly happening.
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Aug 21, 2013 03:43
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Lullabee posted:thanks for the suggestions. Since we didn't start feeding purees until 6 months he's just starting to learn to chew, and I don't feel comfortable giving him chewy things until he's got a better hang of it. Are you making your own meat purees, or buying it ready-made? Making it yourself might be a little less gross (I'm not confident). My kid won't touch any meat that is "stringy" in texture, so cubes of beef, pork, or chicken are out, and he'll only occasionally eat chicken nuggets or fish, and now he's started turning his nose up at chickpeas and lentils and the like, so I don't even know what. He doesn't seem to like peanut butter because it sticks to him. (He does love boiled peanuts, but they smell so bad while they're cooking. Sigh.) Until he (please lord) outgrows all this I guess I will stick to dairy for his protein needs. Will your son eat eggs? Scrambled and even hardboiled eggs are easy for babies to eat. Arthur loves a good stinky hardboiled egg. (Maybe I should just start making him strictly stinky food!)
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Sep 5, 2013 22:55
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Oxford Comma posted:How do you guys explain death to your kids? You could go with the popular Sagan quote, the idea that we are made of starstuff and are thus connected to everything else that is made of starstuff. I think it's a beautiful concept. My boy's not 2 yet but I bought this book because I liked the illustrations and the message; it might help you help your son by explaining that the dog will go back to the "stardust" from which he is made and become part of everything.
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Oct 18, 2013 14:30
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AlistairCookie posted:As for death chat--There is a clip out in the Interwebs in B&W with Mr. Rogers talking about the Kennedy assassination. It has Betty Aberlin blowing up a balloon, and then letting the air out for Daniel Tiger. People are like the balloon. When the balloon loses it's air, it's empty. But the balloon's air doesn't disappear--it goes into the room and just joins all the rest of the air. We can't see the balloon's air anymore, because it's empty, but that doesn't mean it's gone. Nothing is ever gone (we just change state.) That's how it is when people die. Our bodies are like empty balloons, but we don't disappear, we join all the rest of everything. It's the same sentiment as Sagan's stardust, but maybe a bit more approachable of an analogy for little kids. Good ol' Mr. Rogers; what a treasure he was. drat, Mr. Rogers was awesome. Is there anybody on TV now who even approximates the kind of work Mr. Rogers did? I get sad sometimes that there doesn't seem to be anyone like that for Arthur to grow up with. We've been DVRing Mr. Rogers reruns and also Daniel Tiger's Neighborhood, which isn't nearly as good. (Yes, we do limit his TV time.)
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Oct 22, 2013 14:50
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Here's what happens when you make a reluctant and cranky kid trick-or-treat: He was tired, he wasn't thrilled with the crowds and with talking to strangers, he hates wearing hats, and it was generally kind of a miserable experience. I wanted so badly to get a good picture of him smiling and looking cute. Did.not.happen. Next year we will be taking it much more slowly and hopefully we can all be much happier, and certainly if he kicks up any kind of fuss he can stay at home. (also, someone please post your cute and happy child enjoying Halloween!)
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Nov 1, 2013 15:14
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Does enzymatic cleaner (like Nature's Miracle) work as well on barf odors as it does on pet odors? If not, what works best for you? My toddler's had a tummy bug this week, throwing up mostly at night, and he sleeps with us, so he barfs on us (read: me. all the time), and we all smell just terrible. I'm sick myself, and was so tired last night I just Febreezed the mattress and pillows, laid down extra towels, and went to bed, but the smell...it has defeated Febreeze.
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Nov 8, 2013 18:26
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Solkanar512 posted:I'm in the Seattle area as well, so maybe the answer simply is "my peer group is loving stupid". I'm in Mississippi and there is apparently a large group of anti-vaxxers here. So maybe "they are stupid" combined with a healthy dose of "BIG GUMMINT  ". It's really frustrating because you can't force on these people the information they're denying themselves--the studies "proving" a link between vaccines and autism have been debunked, vaccines are safe and effective for the vast majority of people, etc.--but it sucks to keep your kids apart just because their parents are dumb. If you can stand it, it might help to find out why a specific parent you might otherwise like is anti-vaccine. My boss is heavily anti-vax for his child because both he and his wife have had bad reactions to some vaccines, so there is a plausible possibility that they would affect the child badly too. It spiraled from there and now he has joined a "vaccine rights" group and they plan to homeschool the kid. Thanks to our dumbass health care system people are also dubious of receiving any medical care. Since profit is a motive, people think any time you go to the doctor you'll be going back there soon, like they're dishonest mechanics who intentionally leave that hole in your radiator so you'll have to go back. Not saying some aren't, but people (at least here) resent that they're required to pay for vaccination and that they'll probably get sick if they do. I personally would not waste time saying much about it, beyond pointing out that vaccines don't cause autism--you might as well beat your head against a brick wall--and telling them that you'll be avoiding them and their kids if you come into contact with sick people, or if their kids are sick (because you don't want to infect other kids with their diseases that could become extinct if people would just vaccinate their drat kids). These are the people that in a different situation would be the bikers who refuse to wear helmets, or the drivers that refuse to wear seatbelts, or the parents praying for their kid with pneumonia instead of taking her to the hospital. You can't make 'em and you'll just frustrate yourself trying. e - I said a lot of words that amount to "what FishBulb said"
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Dec 11, 2013 21:29
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A dear friend of mine has a 10-week-old baby who was born with esophageal atresia, type B--there are about 8 cm between the end of his esophagus and the top of his stomach. It's bad enough that he will have to go to Boston to have a special treatment done so that the condition can be corrected soon (rather than having to wait a year, during which time he can only eat via feeding tube and can't go home), and he has a lot of complicating factors. They have good insurance, but they live in Texas and if they can't raise money they'll have to drop him off in Boston and come get him when he's had the surgery. Obviously not a great situation. They have had to move several times in the last few years and are financially pretty much tapped out. She has set up a GoFundMe--would it be okay if I posted the link in the thread? (Or on the Facebook group, if that's more acceptable?) We raised over $4000 in 2 days with it, but it's a drop in the bucket of what they will need.
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Dec 20, 2013 19:28
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EVG posted:Pfffffft, what fun is that? Really just looking for suggestions of toys/books your kids may have loved around that age. My son is turning 2 in a week and he is just entering the wonderful world of Butts are Hilarious. I'm getting him Chicken Cheeks by Michael Ian Black. If you feel butts are beneath him (ha ha) there is tons of merch of little-kid versions of superheroes, stuff that Dad can enjoy with him. Maybe a set of those Hulk hands? Or, appeal to Mom's science-ness and get him an ant farm. I know my kid would be constantly pulling me over to watch the "bugs", if he had one.
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Jan 6, 2014 16:54
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VorpalBunny posted:Why not consider foster/adopt? There is always this. The time sink is still there (vastly different) but you bypass the difficult baby stages and, if you're really worried about your genes, that isn't a problem. And you get the added benefit of knowing you are helping an existing needy child. Downsides: it's expensive, kid comes with his own problems and possibility of existing family drama. But I understand the urge to have one of your own. You're never going to be rich enough, sane enough, or ready enough to have a baby; you have to pretty much do what you can and then take the leap. But it is totally okay to have an only child too. My husband is an only and says he's never really felt the lack of a brother or sister, and indeed is glad not to have one after encountering my...problematic brother.
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Jan 13, 2014 16:39
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I hate a kid birthday party because every other kid at the party gets mad that they aren't getting presents and little goodie bags never seem to placate them. My son went to his first not-his-birthday party earlier this year and even though we got him his own cool toy AND bought extra to give to the other kids, he still whined until the birthday boy's grandpa (who admittedly is very fond of Arthur) gave him one of the poor kid's balloons and a toy horsie. And for his own 2nd birthday he was so overstimulated and tired that he was no fun at all. From now on unless he expressly asks otherwise birthday parties are just a nice dinner and dessert with his grandmas.
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Mar 25, 2014 15:53
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flashy_mcflash posted:Never thought I'd be the parent that digs childrens programming more than my kid, but here I am watching Peg + Cat and my daughter does not give a gently caress. My son is just about sick of Peppa Pig but welp
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Apr 17, 2014 22:11
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photomikey posted:In summary... go to the pool when it's cold. Make truck noises when you pee. Stick your fingers through the kitten cage at the pet store. Eat (some) marshmallows for dinner. It makes the rest of the poo poo easier to say no to. This is poetry. I am working very hard at this; my husband and I find it very easy to fall into the "NO all the time" trap. It's hard, especially if you were raised in a NO environment. It's almost a reflex at this point. What helps me is to take a deep breath and count to five. If I'm still bothered by whatever he's doing I go ahead and say no and redirect. Otherwise I just try to smile and say "heh, you're silly" and he goes "Yeah!" and we both move on. Obviously this does not apply to situations that are potentially dangerous, like if he tries to teabag the dog (this is a more common problem than I would have thought) or jump onto the hot stove. Reserve your nos for them. 
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Aug 19, 2014 17:59
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squarerandom posted:So two weeks ago my wife and I just had our first kid, a baby girl named Stella. Now I always sleep talked, and would tell really weird stories, and have full conversations but not remember them, since I was a young kid. This past year in boot camp, I would apparently do pushups and arm stretches in my sleep. But now, now I full on sleep walk. You were just in boot camp, you have three jobs and a new baby? That's an awful lot of stress, that's probably why you're sleepwalking. I've always slept poorly but only sleepwalk when there's a ton of stress. I think it's totally normal to wake up and have a mini-freakout about the baby, especially if you're not in the room with them, but the sleepwalking seems a little outside that range.I'd look into the sleep study, or maybe getting a prescription for a sleep med if you tolerate them/have at least 8 hours in which you can sleep uninterrupted. (I don't know if that's more likely because you sleep in a separate room, or less likely due to your schedule.) Ambien makes some people do crazy things but it worked wonders for me. If you can't afford or schedule those, maybe look into stress-reduction techniques and/or meditation? "Hypnosis" was really helpful for me, too. (Really it was just guided relaxation but it was really helpful in a lasting way and I sleep much better.)
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Nov 4, 2014 17:27
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photomikey posted:For the uninitiated, there is a helicopter mom movement out there around car seats wherein nothing you can do outside of going to the fire station and actually hiring an off-duty firefighter to ride around clutching your infant in the jaws of life is enough to protect them. You can post your carseat questions, and maybe, between the condescension and the aggravation, get a few answers, but be ready for the cattiness. Hi! My neighbor's granddaughter (Buttercup, 3 years old and a real cutie) was recently killed because her mom didn't work the carseat properly. She was only going a mile or two down the road, got into an accident, and Buttercup was thrown around and her head was badly injured. She spent several days in a coma before she died. Now her mom is up on charges and will probably either do time or be institutionalized for a while. Not to mention she doesn't have a daughter anymore. It's less about condescension and aggravation and cattiness (wtf?) than it is about trying to make sure people's children don't get hurt because they could have done one little thing just a little bit differently. Can you imagine having that on your conscience? I can't. I don't think you'll see anyone here making GBS threads on you because you aren't rear-facing your 12-year-old. Certainly though if someone sees you doing something blatantly stupid re: carseats they might call you out and they are absolutely right to do it.
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Nov 11, 2014 17:26
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jassi007 posted:It is good advice. I actually said the same thing. I even went to so far as to suggest where to take a carseat to be checked in the state of Pennsylvania. "Catty," aside from being kinda sexist, really doesn't apply here. "Catty" would be "OMG did you SEE the pattern on her carseat cover? SO last year!" Things like "small mistakes in installation and buckling can lead to big consequences"? Not catty. That middle ground only exists as far as you can control road conditions, weather, traffic, etc. It ain't real big. Why push it?
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Nov 11, 2014 18:58
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Hot Dog Day #82 posted:Has anyone here used that ABCMouse.com service? My two year old girls are in love with the Bubble Guppies and that company seems to plaster themselves all over NickJR programming. I wouldn't want to expose my kids to that much screen time, but I guess the advertising is starting to batter me down since with every commercial I start thinking more and more about their service... My friend, a kindergarten teacher, uses it in class sometimes. She loves it. I probably wouldn't pay for it but I'm a cheap bastard. If you have the Amazon Appstore, you can probably get very similar activities on the free app of the day--I've been using that for months and my phone (and soon my son's new Kindle Fire, THANKS MOM IN LAW I GUESS) is chock full of educational apps he loves.
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Dec 12, 2014 16:44
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Illuminado posted:Speaking of Sleep, the wife and I are now doing without! About 3 weeks ago, baby was the best sleeper in the world, would usually go 8-10 hours, waking up only about 2-3 times a week. But, she caught a cold; while she was sick, it was no joy to get her to sleep, and that sleep never lasted. Thankfully, the wife was able to get her to sleep with some gratuitous use of our cushy recliner with pillows. Now that she's recovered from the cold, she will still wake up after 2-3 hours of sleep, and will not stay asleep, waking up every 30-60 minutes until morning. We had one of these, but from day 1 (i.e., there was no "trigger event"). The only thing that worked for us was time (oh lord, so much time) and cosleeping. He'll be 3 next month; only in the last 6 months or so has he began going to bed without literally fighting us or requiring us to turn in for the night alongside him. Some babies just want to be with you alllllllllllllll the time. (ALL the time.) Putting them to sleep is pushing them away, and they do. not. like it, no matter how tired they are. Hell, only in the last couple of months could you ask my son if he was tired and have him answer honestly "yes". Alternative hypothesis: When my son gets over an illness he seems to want to go full-tilt-boogie to make up for lost time. Maybe it will pass once she's used to feeling better again? My suggestion basically is if she won't sleep if you put her down, don't put her down. Sleep with her in the well-barriered recliner or in your bed. Try again later. As wonderful as it feels to successfully get your kid to sleep alone (I assume, we've only accomplished it a handful of times), it feels a lot better for everyone to be well-rested. Do the necessary in the short-term. This won't last forever.
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Dec 15, 2014 22:48
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