May Wobblers

[LaraW]

I will get us started this month.

Here are our stats:

Me: Lara - 34
DH: Jeff - 36 (37 this month :) )
DD: Natalie - 3 1/2
DS: Colin - 15 months

Colin is walking! :) Well, he's walking I would say about 25-30% of the time. We had his 15 month checkup last week, and the doctor would like to see him walking more within the month. We are supposed to follow up by phone at the end of May to assess his walking. I guess there could be some concern about muscle weakness in his legs if he is not increasing the amount he is walking by then.

She also seemed to be a bit concerned about his speech. I'm not sure how much of this comes into play, but Colin just seems to be much more introverted than Natalie. Plus, Natalie talks a LOT. I told her that we joke that Colin doesn't need to talk because Natalie talks enough for both of them.

She said that she'd like to see him using 1-2 more words in the next month as well. One thing that DH and I have really made an effort to do every day is to do more one-on-one time with him reading, pointing out pictures in books, etc. This is really hard to do with an older sib around, but we do try and read to him without Natalie around everyday. Mostly it seems to work out that its at bedtime, and the other parent is getting Natalie ready for bed.

She said that if we ask him to point out the cat in a book and he can do it, and doing animal sounds would "count" as well.

So, to that end we have a book that has a lot of animals/sounds in it. He will flip to the last page all the while saying "oooooooh". The last page has owls on it, and he will point at the owls and say "oooooh", so I think he's getting it. I feel so guilty that Colin just seems to get so much less 1 on 1 time with both DH and me than Natalie does/did....I don't really know what to do about it. :( I feel kind of responsible about the fact that he's just not talking or walking as well as Natalie was at the same age.

If there are any other moms on this thread (or lurkers) who have more than 1 child, I would appreciate any thoughts on how to carve out this 1 on 1 time with the younger one.

Happy May, everyone! :)

[mst]

me: Meredith, 32
DH: 37
DD: Ilyssa, 17 months

Thanks for getting us started Lara. First of all, don't feel guilty about Colin. (I know, easier said than done!) Having one child, or having more than one child each has trade-offs. Although you would be able to spend more time with Colin, he would not have a friend/foe in Natalie, and would not be watching her model things. In that case, you might be saying, "wow- if only Colin had someone else to watch doing these things!" I think there is no winning, just guilt all around. If it makes you feel any better- Ilyssa is almost 18 months, and still not even standing. And, I am a stay-at-home mom with no other kids. Kids have their own schedule, no matter how we try to change it.

As for us, we are doing lots of food challenges. Question about milk. You know how with formula, once the kid drink some, you have to throw the rest out within the hour? Is the same true of milk? How long can milk sit out before I throw it out?

Ilyssa is just the shyest little girl. I take her to playgroups and classes, and she sits on me the whole time. We brought her to an event that had babysitting last week, and we could see her, but she couldn't see us. Anyway, this child sat in the EXACT same position for three hours. With no toys. Just sat there, did not crawl at all. The other night, my friend watched her. Ilyssa would not talk, smile or interact. She just cuddled with my friend. She even made me friend feed her fingerfoods! Today, I tried to get Ilyssa to let my mother feed her with a spoon, and Ilyssa threw a fit. (She knows my mother very well.) I am not sure if I should give her the attention that she is craving, and let her feel secure and loved, and let her venture out more when she is ready- or if I should be forcing her away from me. Like, at our early intervention playgroup, I tried to get Ilyssa to do the craft (she enjoyed it the week before), I stood right behind her. She shimmied off the chair, and laid on her stomach- throwing a major tantrum. I let her scream for a bit, and then I picked her up. I told her that I was not happy with her behavior, blah, blah. But, in the end, she ended up spending a good amount of playgroup in my arms. Any thoughts?

[LaraW]

Thanks for the thoughts, Meredith. I appreciate it. I agree that there is probably no winning :o

As for milk. This is me: if I find a rogue glass of milk sitting out on the table or counter, I go by whether it still feels cool to the touch. If it does, I stick it back in the fridge. If it doesn't I throw it out. Very scientific, eh? ;)

I don't know that i have too much advice for playgroups. I would probably tend to let her do whatever on her own and not force it. Are you sitting with the other kids playing or talking to the moms? Maybe if there are other kids who are playing nearby, she would feel comfortable playing if you sat on the floor with her on your lap and showed her how to interact/play with them. That might work?

[lisas3575]

Meredith, I don't have much advice for you, either. I agree with Lara that you should probably just let her do whatever is comfortable for her, but if you don't want to hold her the whole time so you can visit, etc. then set that boundary. She can sit quietly, play with the other kids, play by herself or any of the other choices. People come in all varieties of outgoing-ness, and it sounds like she's just wired to be on the shy side. Kudos to you for giving her lots of opportunities to be around other people though.

Lara, I think your Dr. is a nut job. ;) :D My older brothers were exactly that way-- the oldest one talked and talked and talked so the younger one didn't need to. Colin is FINE. And he's getting just as much attention as Natalie did-- there's another person in the house talking to him, interacting with him and teaching him things. Natalie! I think kids learn more from other kids than adults a lot of the time. He may never talk as much as she does-- not everyone is a talker. Owen didn't start walking until 15 mos too, and now he walks 99% of the time. Don't stress yourself out. He's fine. FINE. Fine.

[gertdog]

Lara, I think your Dr. is a nut job. ;) :D My older brothers were exactly that way-- the oldest one talked and talked and talked so the younger one didn't need to. Colin is FINE. And he's getting just as much attention as Natalie did-- there's another person in the house talking to him, interacting with him and teaching him things. Natalie! I think kids learn more from other kids than adults a lot of the time. He may never talk as much as she does-- not everyone is a talker. Owen didn't start walking until 15 mos too, and now he walks 99% of the time. Don't stress yourself out. He's fine. FINE. Fine.

I totally, totally agree with Lisa. As an older sibling I can tell you that I talked for and over my younger sister for years. And I've always been more outgoing and, well, noisier, but we're both perfectly normal adults. (At least in my opinion we are!) :) Colin's doing just fine. "Can walk but doesn't always choose to right now" is totally different from "can't walk" developmentally speaking.

Somewhere my parents have an audiotape on which my dad asks me to sing a song (I was about 5) and then he asks my sister something (she was 2 1/2). What you hear next is ME trying to answer for her, followed by my sister saying "Gooooo away Suki (that was what she called me), go awaaaaaaay... ME talk, ME!"

Which is not to say that carving out some one-on-one time with each child is a bad thing- and it sounds like bedtime is a great time for that right now. But please don't beat yourself up or feel guilty over it!

[LaraW]

OK, guys. Thanks. I needed to hear that. :o You are right that Colin is probably fine. And since Natalie is the only point of reference I have, its really hard to not think about what she was doing at this age, compare and worry. You know? I have to remind myself that they are both individuals and I also do think Natalie hit some of those milestones (walking and talking in particular) on the early end of the spectrum.

[Molli526]

Lara,

I could have written your post - it is so hard to carve out that 1-1 time with him and when we do have it, he mostly wants to play and not sit and read books. He is cruising, but not walking by himself/.

[JanetJ]

me: Janet, 32
DH: Ali, 36
DD: Maya , 14.5 months

We just got back from our trip to CA to visit DH's family and it went really well. She did better on the plane then we could have hoped for, especially considering we had to wait on the plane for quite a while so a family (2 adults, 6 children under the age of 7 or 8) could be deplaned since one child had an active case of chicken pox. She slept pretty well considering the new space, being in the pack n play, and being on a different schedule. She sure seems glad to be home though and had fun today rediscovering all her toys. Stephanie, we took a day trip to Cambria and loved it just as much as we did on our honeymoon! We are hoping to go back in the fall to stay a few days.

Things are going well here. Maya is really into climbing things now and can get places I never would have thought possible. It's fun to watch her, but scary at the same time since the girl has no fear. She has added "no" to her vocabulary which leads me to a question:

Most of her words are said in multiples, as in "nononono" or "dogdogdogdog" or "boonboonboon" (balloon). Is this normal? Does this "count" as a word? Yes, I'm obviously still worrying about her language development.

Laura, I'm late on this, but I agree with the others about your doctor. The part about his walking seems off to me. I only have one child so I can't speak from experience, but I think Colin is getting so much from having a sibling and I'm sure he gets lots of attention from Natalie that is invaluable to his development.

Meredith, I also agree with others on letting Ilyssa do what she is comfortable with at playgroups. I like the idea of sitting with her and trying to help engage her with others or with toys available, that seems like a happy medium.

Here are a couple pics from our trip. Maya at the beach at Morro Bay and splashing in the pool:

http://images.kodakgallery.com/photos3320/4/28/65/41/4/8/804416528403_0_ALB.jpg
http://images.kodakgallery.com/photos3320/4/28/65/3/77/2/277036528403_0_ALB.jpg

[Jessica]

I think we have a wobbler on our hands!

Me (Jessica): 36 (last week :eek: )
DH: 34
DS: Adam, 11 months today

Adam is crawling and doing some cruising and solo standing. Most of this happened within the last two weeks. He is babbling but no real words yet, although he recognizes some words when we say them to him. He loves grabbing people's noses and I am not sure if I need to get him to stop doing that or if it is OK.

We've had some sleep regression but I think that is related to our recent trip to see relatives (Lara--we went to Hickory Park again) and also I am trying to remove one of his four nursings.

Looking forward to learning from all you experienced moms!

[ggs830]

Happy May all!

Me: Gouri, 31
DH: 31
DD: Shaelyn, 16 months
DS: Jahan, 6 weeks

Things are going very well for my little wobbler. Shaelyn's finally adjusted to Jahan's presence, and our eating/sleeping issues have resolved themselves. She's cutting another tooth (#5), but it hasn't seemed to really bother her that much, which is good. After much procrastination, we cut out her last bottle (the one right before bed) w/o any problems, so I think she was more than ready to drop it.

She is also talking and signing like crazy now, which is such fun. The latest addition to her vocabulary is "socks," except she doesn't quite say it right--- she actually says "c0ck." :p Which is fine, except yesterday we took the kids to get pictures taken, and while we were waiting, Shaelyn kept pointing to her socks, saying "Mama, c0cks!:. I was slightly mortified.

Our only real issues are behavioral-- screaming when we say no, throwing food at meal times, whining when we don't (or can't) respond right away. I think she's still too young to understand time out, but redirection isn't really producing any results. It's getting a bit frustrating, because I know she understands what I'm saying, but she deliberately ignores me. Sigh-- I guess we've hit that "terrible twos" phase.

A question: we haven't introduced meat into Shaelyn's diet yet, mostly because DH and I aren't big meat eaters, and also because it took her so long for her teeth to come in, and we were concerned about her ability to chew meat w/o teeth. But, I think we are ready for her to try meat. She doesn't have any molars yet, so I'm not sure what to give her. I thought ground beef would be a good start, it's not so chewy. But what about chicken? Any tips?

[gertdog]

She is also talking and signing like crazy now, which is such fun. The latest addition to her vocabulary is "socks," except she doesn't quite say it right--- she actually says "c0ck." :p

Heh- that's Ryan's word for peacock. Luckily peacocks aren't as common as socks so he has less reason to yell it out than Shaelyn does!! :p

Janet, wow- that family had SIX kids under the age of 8 with them? I can't imagine- traveling with just one baby is work enough for me! I am guessing the de-planing wasn't their choice if they'd already made it onto the plane? Glad you enjoyed Cambria (again)!

I had the pleasure of meeting Jessica and Adam yesterday, and I can confirm that he is most definitely a wobbler, and adorable to boot. (And yes, my nose was duly inspected.) :)

[DanaSD]

we're here but recovering from an exhausting week (DH traveling, me with horrible allergies and DS being a terrible-2)

me, Dana 36
DH, 36
DS, Brendan, 16 months

Acting much more like a toddler these days in good ways and bad. He's having a language explosion (words and signs) with a new word every few days and using his words a lot more. He's also been great about cleaning up his toys and loves to point to him body parts or find everyone's belly button. He's really into animal sounds (will name animals by their sounds more than by using their name) and when teaching him the rooster sound had second thoughts when I heard it come from his mouth.

The last few days though he's been experiencing the 'terrible-2s' - using the word no no-stop (even singing it in his crib during the night), hitting me and messing with the stereo/TV controls (which he does when he wants to act up). This weekend he got his first time-outs - I decided it was time. When I would tell him no and redirect, he was laughing back at me or hitting me while screaming no. All 4 of his molars are coming in so this may be whats causing some of this acting up. He also hasn't been eating much and has increased his milk consuption (drank about 20 ounces before he would go to sleep last night). Eating has also been a challenge - throwing food.

gertdog - I saw your post about your LO learning to climb. We've been in a similar situation - he's so mobile and has been for awhile but it hasn't yet occured to him to try to climb which has me surprised but thankful. but he'll figure it out soon enough.

so with Brendan I've never really had to force change of habits - if I wait long enough he finally changes (taking a bottle, eating, sippy cup, etc). So I've kept with the bottle in the evening and use sippy cups during the day. I keep trying the sippy in the evening but he refuses. So I'm thinking I need to force it since he's 16 months. Also, I think I need to find a way to get him to drink more milk during the day instead of at night - he drinks a few ounces with meals and lots of water between meals (all from sippys or cups with straws). any thoughts or advice?

mst - does this mean you've switched to milk? we use the same sippy all day and just keep sticking it in the fridge. If we leave it out too long (feels warm) then I'll toss. Whats left at the end of the day I toss.

[honeygirl1971]

Hi Ladies!

How are we defining Wobblers? I don't know if I should post here or keep posting on New Moms. Lucas is not quite 9 mos, but crawls fast, stands, cruises some (around the crib, along the couch), and is very, very active. :D He only has 4 teeth, so most of his food is still mush, although he does self feed Veggie Puffs, Biter Biscuits, or a crust of baguette bread (what the French recommend for teething--figures, doesn't it? LOL). He says Ma-ma and Da-da but I don't think he really knows what they mean yet--just part of his repertoire of interesting sounds, I think. ;) He does seem to understand some things I say though. I've started using some signs, but although he looks at me intently when I do it, I haven't seen a whole lot of response to them yet.

Jessica, Lucas grabs noses too. When he does it gently, I let him, but sometimes he grabs hard and scratches. I'm working on teaching him, "Gentle!" but so far, not too much success. :o

Biting is another issue we are having! I give him teething rings, rubber toys, biter biscuits, and plenty of stuff to gnaw on, but he still bites me a lot! For a while he was biting every time he nursed (ouch!!), but that has been getting better lately, but he still bites my fingers, my neck, my arm, etc. I say "No! No biting!" every time, looking him right in the eyes, but he just laughs! Any suggestions for Baby Dracula? :confused:

[mst]

Honeygirl- Feel free to join in with us! There is also a "scooters" thread which is between the "new moms" and the "wobblers".

Dana- I am a superstitious girl, so I am afraid to say that Ilyssa is ok with milk, but so far the challenge is going well. Ilyssa was sick this week, including an ER visit, and I was thrilled when Ilyssa was running a fever because it meant that it was not from the milk. But, since she is sick, I have backed off of the dairy again.

Ilyssa is also throwing tantrums. Face down. Usually when she wants to be carried somewhere, and I tell her that she can crawl. One woman at playgroup was nice. As Ilyssa was facedown and screaming, the woman remarked, "huh. My daughter throws tantrums on her back."

Janet- I love the pictures of Maya. She's so cute. Is that your DH?

Gouri- My nephew had major speech issues (still does). Anyway, he was at his therapist once, and he kept repeating (quite proudly) "FOCK OFF! FOCK OFF!" Then, the therapist realized he took his sock off.:D

[JanetJ]

Janet- I love the pictures of Maya. She's so cute. Is that your DH?



Yes, that's Ali, my DH. :)

I will keep my fingers crossed for you that the milk challenge continues to go well. Hope Ilyssa feels better soon!

Gouri, Maya has really liked chicken. We started out with chicken done in the crockpot since it gets so tender and the rotisserie chickens from the grocery store. We give her small pieces or shreds and make sure they are moist. Ground beef and turkey are also good. Meatloaf is a favorite, as is turkey cheeseburgers.

[DanaSD]

Ilyssa is also throwing tantrums. Face down. Usually when she wants to be carried somewhere, and I tell her that she can crawl. One woman at playgroup was nice. As Ilyssa was facedown and screaming, the woman remarked, "huh. My daughter throws tantrums on her back."


Brendan has perfected the tantrum - he throws himself on the floor and rolls back and forth. He also likes to throw himself into my lap and do the same thing. Its so dramatic that sometimes we just laugh.

[mst]

Janet- your husband is cute!

Dana- I also think Ilyssa's tantrums are kind of funny. I was afraid to say it, because you know I will not think it is cute in six more months!

Gouri- We give Ilyssa deli meats that I rip into small pieces. I buy the Hillshire Farm because it does not have soy in it. But, you could probably just get at the deli counter. Easy as anything- and you can have variety. We also get ground beef and turkey at Whole Foods- season it up, make burgers, and then freeze them and defrost one at a time. (I am a bigger believer in the freezer!) Ilyssa has been eating meat like this for a long time. No teeth issues- but I do break it into smaller pieces, but that is because my husband has a phobia of Ilyssa choking.

[LaraW]

Can I just say that I don't think Colin has thrown a temper tantrum?

He definitely will protest if we take something away from him, but I have not seen a full-out tantrum from him. Before you get upset with me, let me tell you that he has an older sister who throws enough tantrums for her, Colin and 2 or 3 other kids. :rolleyes: Colin just watches her when she is going at it, and looks at her like "what the he** is wrong with you?" :D

[Jessica]

Adam isn't into tantrums yet but he screams when we change his diaper. He is quite happy playing in a diaper that could easily bring Hazmat crews to our house, but he screeches when we change it and no toys or songs seem to quell the shrieks.

Other than that, he is doing really well. He gave me a nice Mother's Day gift and slept till 7:30 on Sunday morning. Happy (belated) Mother's Day to all of you!!

[DanaSD]

Hope everyone had a great mother's day

Brendan was up for trying new food this weekend and he ate chili and ham - big steps for him. Kind of surprised about the chili because we tried taco meat and he made such a horrible face and he's never eaten anything that is a mixture of foods before (everything has to be plain).

His newest favorite thing to do is puzzles - about a week ago he learned how to puzzles (they have to be ones where the picture of the piece is shown under where the pice goes). He loves them and will do them over and over and over.... We have the Melissa and Doug sound puzzles (annoying but he loves them) and the chunky puzzles (these are cute).

Unfortantely its already gotten too hot around here for outside play unless its in the pool - so this weekend we went to splash parks and mall indoor play centers. I need to come up with more ideas to do this summer. This week we're going to a place called Imagination Ave - its a kid play center set up like a little town.

[lisas3575]

The latest addition to her vocabulary is "socks," except she doesn't quite say it right--- she actually says "c0ck." :p

I laughed thinking about you this weekend Gouri. Owen has started trying to say blueberries, and it comes out more like "b00bies". LMAO. :D

Hope everyone had a great mother's day. I have to say I was a bit disappointed in DH's effort and am trying to figure out if I want to complain or not. :o All I really wanted was a thank you-- simple acknowledgment that I do a lot around here. Sigh.

Kim, are you lurking? I could really use some encouragement about meal time and I know that you can relate. Owen has turned so picky. Probably not as picky as Rex was (how is that coming, btw?), but all he'll eat is cheese, cheese, cheese, and fruit. Occasionally a little pasta. Yogurt. And some cheese. It sucks trying to get a meal together, since basically it's three separate things for three people. He doesn't eat much at any meal period, and I'm too afraid to go cold-turkey with Child of Mine, knowing that he'll go hungry rather than eat what we're eating. He's 17 mos. Should I just accept that the next few weeks will be h#ll and quit enabling him now? I don't want this to be an ongoing thing as he grows older. Help!

PS: I tried the suggestion of ketchup to dip things in, and he wouldn't even try it. :(

[LaraW]

Lisa, what kinds of things are you and Cory having for dinner? That might give me some ideas for suggestions.

I think you mentioned that Owen likes cheese ;) and so maybe you could try giving him some bread or toast with melted cheese on it (like an open-faced grilled cheese) in addition to whatever you are serving for dinner. Maybe try melting cheese over broccoli for a while, or buttering veggies heavily so he gets used to eating them and then backing off the butter.

Does he like bread? Or, maybe a big bowl of cottage cheese along with whatever you are serving for dinner. Does he like breakfast food? Maybe you guys could have breakfast for dinner once or twice a week.

The rule in our house is that you have to have some of everything that we are having for dinner on your plate. Obviously this doesn't really "apply" to Colin in that he can't protest what is on his plate the way Natalie can. We just tell her that if she doesn't like it, she doesn't have to eat it. I would say that 7 times out of 10 she eats whatever it was she was squawking about.

[lisas3575]

Hi Lara,
Tried the toasted bread with cheese last night and it was all flung off the tray to be gobbled up by the dogs. :rolleyes: How dare I foul his cheese (seez!) with nasty bread.

Cory and I eat a huge variety of things, since I'm vegetarian and he is not. He'll have grilled chicken, hamburgers, meatloaf, lasagna, steak... I'll have bean dishes of all sorts, fish, enchiladas/fajitas, pasta. Owen won't eat any kind of meat or fish, no salad, no beans, no tofu. He eats cheese, with a side of cheese. Sigh.

He will eat spaghetti (sometimes), fettucini alfredo, cheese pizza, scrambled eggs (with cheese) but I'll weigh 800 pounds if I eat that every night with him, and it's too much to prepare one of those things along with my food. I've already had to give up cooking for Cory-- he's on his own for food. I guess what I'm really after is some direction if it's time to start being bad cop about the food and if he goes hungry, so be it. :(

[gertdog]

Lisa, I'll trade your sympathies on the obstinate behavior (on the Toddler thread) and send some sympathy your way on the eating thing! At least the dogs are indiscriminate eaters. Someone appreciates your cooking! :D

While Ryan is a good eater overall, he is asserting his tastes more and more. Some meals he eats everything, other meals almost nothing. Sometimes he rejects the exact same dish that he ate with gusto 24 hours earlier. But the fact that he can eat virtually no dinner and doesn't wake up starving in the morning kind of strengthens my resolve- he gets the meal I give him, end of story. Last night, for example, I gave him gnocchi with asparagus and parmesan. He ate it happily on Sunday. Last night I saw him eat two bites. He ate 4 large strawberries, two bites of the gnocchi, no asparagus, about 4 oz. of milk and that was his meal. He dumped the remaining gnocchi on the floor. He doesn't yet understand when I tell him that he doesn't have to eat it, and that if he doesn't want it he can leave it on his plate. When there's something on his plate he doesn't want, he takes handfuls and drops them to the floor where Gertie scarfs them up (bless her, she may be blind, but she can find Ryan's castoffs no problem!). When he does this, the meal ends. Period.

So... could you try planning a day's worth of meals where one meal will definitely contain things Owen will eat in abundance, but the other meals move out of his comfort zone more? Another option could be to just limit the amount of cheese at the meal- "the cheese is all gone now, but you can have some bread, or some broccoli or strawberries- what would you like?" If he doesn't eat anything else, at least you know he had some cheese calories. Ryan seems generally accepting when I tell him his favorite elements are "all gone" (he gets diaper rash from some fruit so I cut him off after a certain amount) and will move on to other items on his plate after a quick screech of displeasure.

Will he eat mac and cheese? Sometimes I mix peas or chopped broccoli into it for Ryan. Sometimes he eats the veggies; other times he systematically removes every bit of green stuff and sets it on his tray.

[DanaSD]

Because Brendan has an early bedtime (we start getting ready at 530-545) there's no way I can have dinner for the family ready at 5 and DH does get home to 530 or later. I hate that we're not involving him in meals and I wonder if we did if it would help him to eat more foods. He had seemed to want to move his bedtime back but thats also when the hitting and frustration outbreaks started so we've gone back to the early bedtime and he's been in a better mood.

For dinner he usually eats 1-2 meatballs (Trader Joes frozen turkey meatballs), some fruit and crackers. We haven't been able to get him to eat the chili again so that was a one time thing. He'll also eat chicken nuggets, sometimes plain chicken (and once chicken at Rubios). We've tried sandwiches with cheese, jelly, meat, etc but he always pulls it apart and will only eat the bread. Everything else goes on the floor. No pasta, no cheese.

lunch is yogurt and fruit. breakfast is cereal (cheerios, kix, kashi) or a waffle with fruit. Snack will be pumpkin bread or a nutrigrain bar.

he eats the same thing almost every day.

I tried the dipping thing and he just smeared his fingers in it and wouldn't try the waffle after I dipped it in syrup (I was starting with something sweet and then hoping to transition the dipping concept to veggies).

chili, ham, mexican rice, carrots (sprinkled with salt) have been one time things.

I'm not ready to just offer him only our meals (which I can't do anyway because of his early bedtime) because he just doesn't eat and then will make up for it with milk (doubling what he drink before bed and hten waking up at 2 am for more). I won't let him cry if its because he's hungry so I give him milk - I'm not up for offering food in the middle of the night.

[LaraW]

Dana, when we were dealing with the early bedtime interfering with family dinners, we did 2 things. First, we ate a different meal as a family. It was usually breakfast, and lunch as our schedules allowed it. The other thing we did is that the baby got leftovers of the meal we ate the night before. That way even though they weren't eating the same food we ate that day, it was still the same food (if that makes sense). Maybe you could try eating a different meal together, and that might help.

[ggs830]

We go through periods of pickiness as well, although not as bad as what you've described, Lisa. I second what Stephanie said about making sure that you offer his favorite foods at one meal, and new foods at another. We've been doing that for awhile now, and I feel much better knowing that I can count on Shaelyn eating well at least once per day (usually dinner, so that we don't have hunger induced night wakings, and also to avoid meltdowns, since she is usually too tired to deal w/new foods anyways).

I also make sure I offer Shaelyn whatever we are eating for dinner the next day for lunch (or sometimes dinner, if it's something I know she likes). It makes my life much easier, since I don't have to cook multiple meals, and it gets her accustomed to our tastes in food (we tend towards the spicy, which she seems to have inherited). The other thing I make sure to do is to sit with her during her meals, even if I'm not eating. I've noticed that she eats better when someone is with her, then without. That might help as well.

Shaelyn gets a warning when she drops/throws her food on the ground. If she does it a second time, the meal is over. Same w/her sippy of milk. If she throws it once, she gets a warning. Second time, it gets taken away. She's really cut down on throwing the sippy since we started doing this (haven't seen a change in food throwing, though!).

Is Owen gaining weight appropriately? What does your ped say? Hugs to you. :( Very frustrating, I know.

[DanaSD]

thanks Lara - those are some good ideas. I'll give them a try. I was all set to start meals at 530 because I thought he was changing his schedule but it looks like we're back to early bedtime.

Brendan seems to eat better if I'm not sitting with him. If I'm cleaning the kitchen he eats more and will try more foods. Now if we're out to eat as a family (the few times we all eat with him) he has tried and eaten more foods. Mostly I think he acts up the most with me (this applies to non-eating situations as well). But overall I think family meals would be really good for him.

Do your kids sit through your entire meal? We've learned to eat really fast when we eat out but I hate rushing. But Brendan isn't one to sit still for long though he is getting a little bit better about this.

[lisas3575]

Dana, we have to eat fast too. Owen is usually better at restaurants though because he's really social and loves to look around at the decor and people. At home, it's a rush though. We don't let him get down and run around until each of us is done eating.

Sounds like we're having a lot of the same struggles! I think I have the only kid in America that won't eat hotdogs or chicken nuggets. :eek:

[DanaSD]

Sounds like we're having a lot of the same struggles! I think I have the only kid in America that won't eat hotdogs or chicken nuggets. :eek:


thats not a bad thing.

thats what I used to think when Brendan wouldn't eat cake or chocolate! and everyone made comments since thats my business. But he has since converted and loves junk food - his favorites right now are icecream and french fries. my philosphy right now is at least its exposing him to new tastes and he's trying new things, :rolleyes:

he's now gotten bored with bananas which used to be his favorite. He could eat 3 a day, :eek: When he wouldn't eat anything else this is what we gave him. Now his favorite is blueberries but they're so expensive.

[Jessica]

Lisa---We have the opposite issue with Adam at restaurants. He loves to watch the people and it is hard to get him to focus on his food.

We have a hard time with family meals during the week. DH usually does not get home from work until 7 or later, and Adam goes to bed by 7:30. Sometimes I will eat with Adam or at least have a snack, and he and I eat breakfast together and sometimes lunch. So I feel he is getting the social meal experience, and my hope is that eventually he will want to eat a little later and DH can get home earlier and we can build in a family dinner.

[LaraW]

Lisa and Dana, I had another thought last night at dinner. Colin seems to eat better if he feeds himself with a fork and/or spoon. He does need some help getting food onto the fork, but he likes to hold it himself. That might be an idea for you...

[DanaSD]

yes, the fork and spoon have been a huge help for us. He likes to eat his yogurt with a spoon so we both have a spoon and he gets a little in and I sneak in some too. Lately its how he's been eating his meat - I'll stab it with the fork and hand it to him. Sometimes he's able to stab it himself.

[gertdog]

Uh-oh- we have yet to give Ryan a fork. In fact I'm not sure we even have a toddler fork. I guess I better find one soon! He's still mastering the spoon- would much rather use his hands.

Here's how NOT to encourage your child to eat a variety of foods. Last night I made a pasta and asparagus dish (lemon, goat cheese, chives... and crushed red pepper). Well, it turned out *really* spicy w/ the crushed red pepper. Tonight when I brought Ryan home from daycare, I heated some up for him, totally forgetting that it was overly spicy. He ate some, and then suddenly started saying "eh-eh-eh!" and scraping his tongue. I felt so bad!!! :( I quickly removed the pasta and gave him something else... he kept asking for the pasta, though. I think he liked it- the heat is kind of sneaky and you don't notice it til after you have a few bites- and didn't understand that the pasta was what burned his mouth!

[Megan James]

I got some of the cheap plastic forks and Rebecca does like to use them. As for spoons I love these spoons:
http://ec1.images-amazon.com/images/I/31D37Y3413L._AA280_.jpg
They are the Sassy Baby Less Mess Toddler Spoon 2 Pack, Multiple Colors
and were like $4 for the set.
The handle is curved just right so that you stand a chance of the food staying on. Some days using a spoon and a fork makes all the difference other days it doesn't.

Rebecca is a decent eater, she's gotten way more picky in the last couple of months and I try not to let it bug me. I will admit that I don't try to cook her thing I think she will like very often. Once I make these pan fried tofu and sweet potatoe cakes that were so good and she wanted nothing to do with them. I tried not to get upset as I scraped all that tofu and sweet potatoes into the trash...

The one thing I try to remind myself is that it is great that she only eats when she is hungry and only what she is hungry for, if only I always did the same!

[ggs830]

We've been a quiet bunch this month!

We've had a difficult few nights, since Shaelyn has been cutting 4 teeth simultaneously (two of them are molars, I think). She also had a cold on top of that. :( So, four nights in a row she woke up around 1 a.m., and was up for about 2.5-3 hours, alternately crying and babbling. We were in and out of her room, trying this and that to get her to sleep, and nothing seemed to work. Overall, she hasn't seemed like her teeth are bothering her-- no excessive drooling, chewing, or other signs of pain. But, I have no other explanation for these bizarre night wakings, so I think it was her teeth. Luckily, last night was a normal night, so I hope things are back to normal.

Shaelyn has been talking like crazy, and it seems like she's saying a new word everyday. Over the weekend, she added "go" to her vocabulary, and yesterday, it was "cup" and "want". She's signing really well also, which I think is so adorable. It's been such fun hearing her start to speak recognizable words, but at the same time, I am really going to miss her non-stop baby babble.

How are all the picky eaters doing?

[lisas3575]

Not great here. :( Our short list of tolerated foods is getting shorter. On a slightly positive note, DH has finally come around that we shouldn't be catering to a picky eater, so I think we're gearing up mentally for a rough few weeks (hopefully that's all) where he eats what we're eating or he goes hungry. :( I wish I wasn't so frustrated, it colors my attitude about the whole day. I spend way too much time each day obsessing about his lack of eating, and what I'm going to try to get him to eat at the next meal.

Thanks for the suggestion about the silverware. Just in the past couple weeks Owen has taken an interest in using a spoon, but I forget to give him a fork. Will try that tonight and see how it goes.

Otherwise things are going really well. He's still a great sleeper, and he's picking up new words all the time. He never got into signing, but he might still pick it up, I guess.

[DanaSD]

ugh, I just hate mealtimes.

Its not just the limited variety of foods (which doesn't really bother me) but that there are times he doesn't eat much - its more that he's challenging me. He'll start to throw the food on the floor. Usually I give him a warning and after the second time meal is over. But if he doesn't get enough to eat, he makes up for it with milk later and I want him to be eating food and not milk.

We eat dinner out recently and another DH had the TV on in the adjoining room and both times meals were great because he was distracted and ate without challenging me. He also eats better for my au pair. they say they will challenge the person the most who they feel closest too, great...

Last night he ate sweet potato fries which is a big step.

He's also been easily frustrated lately and hitting more. I knew he had 4 molars coming in but today I notice he also has 2 bottom teeth coming - so 6 teeth at once is most likely the cause behind this.

Once Brendan gets through the teething, I'm going to get stricter about the eating. Less special meals, when food gets throw thats the end, and no making up for meals with milk (but he's still in the good range for milk its just the he drinks it ALL before bed).

unrelated topic but since some of you know about my business, I have big news - I'm opening for business July 1st! I'm very excited and also overwhelmed with the amount of work I need to get done before I open.

[Jessica]

We've also entered the Food Throwing zone. When Adam starts tossing food off the tray, we take it away and spoon feed him. He prefers finger food so this has slowed the food-tossing a little bit.

We haven't done much with a spoon yet but he is starting to "ask" and so I will give him the spoon with some cereal or something on it. He eats it but then he gets confused because the food on the spoon is gone and he doesn't quite understand that he has to put more onto the spoon.

[Megan James]

I am looking for something for Rebecca to wear when playing at the beach at my parents or DH's parents cottage. I want something so she floats a little when she tumbles over in the water but not a full life jacket (I or DH or a grandparents will always be right there). There are all sorts of products on the market and I am a bit leaning towards one of the swim vest with floation but wanted some advice from people who have tried this.

Thanks
Megan

[mst]

Yay Dana! I am so excited to hear about your adventures. I know you will be so successful!

As for us, I feel as though we are straddling the wobbler/toddler line in terms of our issues. Although, I prefer to think of Ilyssa as a wobbler. Toddler sounds so old!

She's doing great. Her allergies are doing well, so we have actually been feeding her in restaurants. Ilyssa is loving it. She tried a smoothie the other day, and she was in seventh heaven. She is taking more steps on her own too. She also spent the day with my inlaws (we had a wedding) and we all survived.

I am just floored with how much easier life is when I can feed Ilyssa off of our plates. We are still bringing her food bag with us, in case we have trouble accomodating her egg allergy, and the other foods that she has yet to try.

Ilyssa is working on forks/spoons. When can I change her to real forks and spoons?

[LaraW]

Meredith, I started both of my kids on "regular" forks and spoons. The forks I give Colin are salad forks just b/c they are smaller, and he gets the teaspoons from our silverware. This worked well for Natalie as well, and she just recently switched to a "big" fork. I also just give them the salad plates for their food. Again, Natalie just switched to a big dinner plate recently and it was only b/c I didn't have any clean salad plates so I gave her a big one.

That is so great that Ilyssa is doing well with her allergies. I'm sure that is a big relief for you.

Congratulations on your business, Dana. That is great!

I was just re-reading my post from the beginning of this month, where I was concerned about Colin's walking. He was walking, but only 25-30% of the time. Well, he's pretty much walking all the time now, so I guess my worries were for naught :o I need to call the doctor this week to follow up with her, since she asked me to do that.

He has started also getting himself into a standing position from on the floor, without pulling up on something. He did it over the weekend at the swimming pool of all places. Our pool has these big "floatie" things for little kids. They are made out of the same stuff that kickboards are made out of but they are bigger, maybe 2 square feet, and are cut into different shapes such as a frog or a butterfly. Well, Colin was on one of those and decided to stand up on it :rolleyes: We have an entire house full of solid floor, but where does he decide to practice standing up? On this smallish piece of foam while floating in the pool.

[DanaSD]

thanks mst and Lara - I'm excited.

Lara - you mean you give your kids real plates? are they breakable? I had great plans for all that until I met my son. bowls and plates get banged on the tray and then launched. If they have food on them, that gest launched first.

Though the last few evenings have been much better. We cut back on his afternoon snack - I realized he was doing too much grazing. And I've been putting out a plate (plastic) with choices though the choices have been all foods he likes but I've decided to work on behaviour first and then work on food selections. I also pulled him up to the table instead of using the tray. He ate ok and no food was thrown and no screaming no and hitting. We're also working on "all done" instead of throwing the food on the floor. The thing that is the hardest for him is to keep food on the plate that he doesn't want to eat - he prefers to put this on the table or floor. how did his habits get so horrible - well at least I'm trying to work on it and he does eat (instead of just formula which was our issue a few months ago).

I know there have been lots of travel discussion on the threads but just quickly whats the name of the wheels that you can attach a carseat to? Also, anyone have any issues with a Britax fitting on a place seat? We're going to try a trip to NJ in July - just the two of us to go visit my dad and sisters.

[LaraW]

Yea, I give them real plates. Colin sometimes gets a plastic bowl, but for the most part they both get regular plates. I don't really remember why or how we got started on it, but it was probably more when Natalie started sitting at the table and needed a plate. We haven't had too many casualties - 1 saucer, 1 bowl and 1 coffee cup (Natalie was eating ice cream out of it). I'm going to be buying new dishes in another 1 1/2 years so I am not too worried if things get broken.

Colin's food is always served on a plate, but I often end up putting the food right on his tray - the plate usually stays on the table and its just there for portioning out his food, if that makes sense.

Dana, I think Colin does the same thing - sweeping the food off the tray when he's done eating. I hold his hand down and say "no" but he just smiles sweetly at me and continues to do it. I just take the food away, and get him down. I'm working on teaching him to sign "all done" but he is pretty sporadic so far.

[DanaSD]

Brendan knows the sign and the words. But instead he starts to toss the food and then when I ask him if he's all done, he'll say and sign it. working on it. meals have been better lately though. And the plate has been in front of him and it hasn't been thrown yet (it is plastic though just in case).

And today when I went to get him upstairs at 5 (he was with our au pair) he ran over to me signing the word for eat. Its great when they can communicate - before he would start mishaving as his way of telling us he was hungry. Also, he's getting through the teething and we're back on a good sleep schedule so things are getting a little better.

he's having a word and sign explosion so this is great!

[MinEaston]

Anna does not like food items to be touching each other on her plate, let alone having food on there she doesn't want! She is much better these days at just putting it on the table if she doesn't want it, instead of tossing it. And, she's over 2. Dana - as Brendan's communication improves you'll find it easier.

I think gertdog has the most experience w/flying. The wheely thingy (is that the technical term ?:rolleyes: ) is called GoGo Kidz and she loves it. I'm not sure what kind of carseat she has but maybe she'll check in here soon. EmilyK has a Britax but I'm not sure if she's taken Gavin on a plane.

I have just purchased one of those FAA-approved harnesses for our next airplane trip, because even though Anna's short, she is able to kick the seat in front of her when she's sitting in her carseat. Plus, she's very capable of walking on her own, and she's also still light enough to carry comfortably, so we've decided we don't want to schlep the carseat around. With this harness, too, Anna can sit in the middle seat, and that way we can both entertain her.