Parenting Check-in July 6

[karlamo]

Good Monday Morning!

How was everyone's weekend?

Parenting
foodislove
megd893
calsurb
andstilltrying
jazibel
kh826
karlamo
jgy
sherminator
mahler5
wittyandwaiting
kona
strings
mrsnorris
2mrsks (mrs&mrsk)
jennicole
amberreva

QOTW:  Did you go to or host any fourth of July festivities?

[karlamo]

Hi Gang! R is 16 months going on 3!

He is either loving life or throwing a tantrum when he doesn't get what he wants. I'm guessing this is what life is like with teenagers!

We have made leaps and bounds in the sleep dept. Now remember this is what progress looks like for us. I'm sure for some of you this looks like sleep hell, lol.
He has been going down to nap and sleep while awake which is awesome. Before we had to rock/nurse him for like 20min-1 hour to get him down. Now we just put him in his crib and he falls asleep on his own. At night he is sleeping from around 7pm-2am and then nurses for 5 min then back down in his crib till around 4:45ish. We are trying to get him to stay in his crib after this last wake up but we are failing at it. So for now, he's in bed with us at 4:45am.

In the past week I have had 2 nights that I was able to sleep 7 hours straight. It was GLORIOUS!! Women on my BMB are complaining about 3rd Tri insomnia and I'm over here like, I'm getting the best sleep I've had in 16 months!

When did you all start using toothpaste with your littles? We have been only using water but I think it's time to start. I have a dentist appt scheduled already but I'm curious now.

QOTW: This was the first fourth of July where we didn't travel. Normally we are either in Chicago or Indiana visting family. It was nice to stay home and relax, but it did feel weird not doing anything special.

[mahler5]

C is 16 months and all of a sudden we are in sleeping hell.

She was sleeping through the night and rarely waking up since she was about 11 months, except if teething or sick. Then she would still go to bed fine in the crib usually but would wake mid night and want to lay with us for a few minutes, and once she was sleepy we could put her back down.

Since last Tuesday she has screamed bloody murder if I put her down in her crib, even when she is sleepy ( which used to be no problem). She has to be full on out. And she has been waking anytime between 9 and 1 and refusing to go back to sleep in the crib. So I have been sleeping with her on this twin mattress in her room and neither of us has slept well. She tosses and turns etc.
Last night I couldn't even get her in the crib once since we let her sleep in the car on way home from my mom's. I don't think it is a coincidence that this has happened right after she started daycare. Although the internet has mentioned there is an 18 month sleep regression so maybe that is part of it.

PLEASE SOMEONE HELP!! Stringy, karlamo ? Do you all have any suggestions on dealing with sleep defiant behavior at approx 16 months.

We did a little bit of crying it out when she was younger (8 months) which helped a lot but I'm afraid she may be too old for it now.

Maybe I just need to put her in the crib initially and let her cry for awhile. I did that for 15 minutes the other night but L couldn't take it. Which kind if pissed me off because I have been the one losing the most sleep in this arrangement but I think she is on board now. But I am so exhausted now (not to mention feeling guilty I put C in day care) that I don't know if I can stomach it.

[2brides]

We started using a smear of kids toothpaste as as soon as they had teeth. Around 2y, we added a bit more and by 3y a pea sized amount.

G really learned how to ride his bike well and took the initiative to go practice his turns this weekend. So cute. It is so fun to watch the boys and their BFF race their bikes down the street. Reminds me of my childhood.

And C made some great strides in getting past his fear of dogs. Our BFFs have 2 dogs and both boys have been terrified of them for years. About 3 weeks ago, Gray got past it and is 100% fine. C actually pet the dogs this weekend and was fine being in the same room as they were. Now they are asking to spend the night with their BFF (they haven't spent the night there in years because of the dogs.)

QOTD: Most of the 4th was low key - shopping/lunch/errands because of rain. Then we went to a minor league baseball game and fireworks with friends. It took us nearly an hour to get out of the parking lot so it was 11:20 when we finally got home. The kids didn't even put on pjs, but crawled into their beds fully dressed. Yesterday was super fun. It was a birthday party for the boys' BFF and we hung out all day with them and continued to hang out/swim/drink/watch the World Cup after everyone else had left.

[karlamo]

mahler5, Ugh! You truly have my sympthay on sleep issues. It could be daycare in the sense that she misses you during the day and wants to be with you at night or it could just be plain old, toddler acting like a toddler stuff.

How we handle the crying is by setting our iphone for 5 min, then when the alarm goes off, one of us goes in and puts paci back in and pats his bum till he's calm. 80% of the time this works, but the other 20% of the time he loses his sh*t when we leave the room. If he's still crying we increase to 10 min then 15 min, repeating the same routine. This is what we have been doing for R all along so he knows what to expect from us. It sucks hearing them cry.

As for the MOTN stuff with L, I swear when they d/c you from the hospital after giving birth they should warn you not to make any big decisions about weather to divorce or murder you partner in the MOTN. LOL I say this with humor but seriously it is sooo hard when you are both exhausted and sleep deprived. We try to avoid any resentment by taking turns with each wake up. She'll do the first 5 min, then I do the 10 min mark, repeat. The wake ups suck especially with me being pregnant and wanting all the sleep but it's what works for our relationship.

[mahler5]

karlamo-- thanks! We previously did the 5, 10, 15 min thing so I guess we will start doing it again. She is just so much different now bye I'm sure it will eventually work.

[kh826]

William is 13 months (he also thinks he is going on 2 or 3 though - this boy, I am telling you! So much personality, I don't know how he can fit it all in that little body!)

We started toothpaste about 6 weeks ago, but we haven't been super consistent, and need to be better. We got the strawberry flavored Tom's of Maine stuff that doesn't have fluoride. Our pedi urged us to get fluoride toothpaste, but we wanted to hold off.

I think we are on the verge of a vocabulary explosion. He is consistently putting two words together now ("Hi Mama"... "Bye Reee" - for our dog ... my personal favorite "No Mama")... he is mimicking more and more words and has started saying the words that he is signing when he signs to us -- he will say "more" while signing for more, he will say "eat" while signing to eat if he is hungry. When I sing to him, he kind of hums along and tries to repeat 1/2 of the words that I am singing. It is really cute.

He has starting pushing kitchen chairs around the kitchen and over to the counter. He can't climb up onto the chairs yet (or he hasn't tried), but I fear that is next... He has this little rocking chair in the family room that we have had to relocate out of the room b/c he created a little game for himself where he would stand on the chair and tip it backward so that he would fall back into the dog's bed. I don't even know how he figured this out, but we kept redirecting him and moving the chair, and he would move the chair back in front of the dog's bed and do it again. So the chair is now in the dining room for the time being.

He has also started doing this thing that I can only describe as testing us... he will start to do something that he knows he shouldn't do (putting a wooden block in his mouth, reach for a chord to something, open the kitchen trash can, etc.) it is almost like he starts to do it in slow motion and he looks at us the whole time that he is starting to slowly do the thing he knows is "not ok" and just looks at us with this smirk on his face. When we start to tell him he shouldn't do it, he will say "NO!" and then start laughing hysterically. He laughs so hard he sometimes puts his head down on the floor laughing. It is so ridiculous, and so funny, but also a little worrisome, because clearly he is testing boundaries and thinks it is funny... My FIL says he is "spunky" ... I think that is a good word for it.

He is still a really good eater, but he will randomly decide that he doesn't want certain foods at certain times. He LOVES blueberries, and typically gobbles them up. On Saturday we were out for lunch and brought a container of blueberries for him, and he refused to eat a single one of them (first time ever!), but then yesterday he happily ate blueberries after dinner like nothing ever happened with them the day before. He has done the same thing on occasion with green beans and a few other of his usual favorite foods. For one meal he decides he wants no part of them, but then he is right back to gobbling them up the next day or sometimes the next meal on the same day. I honestly think it is just more of him "finding his voice" and showing us that he likes certain things, dislikes certain things, and has opinions about everything. That might be reading too much into it, but that is what it feels like.

He is such a love bug, and he loves to climb all over us and give us hugs and kisses all the time. Also, if we ask him to give us a kiss, he stops what he is doing and comes over and gives us a kiss on the nose, the cheek or the lips. It is really cute.

QOTW: We went to my in-laws' on Friday and took William swimming in their pool. He was in there for 2 hours and didn't want to get out. That boy loves the water! Other than that, we stayed close to home and ran a few errands, had some good family play time, etc. Nothing too exciting. We decided against attending fireworks this year, because we didn't want to mess with bedtime. It was a good choice for us, and honestly, I think I would have been tired/grouchy anyway. We all do better when we stick to our routine, and I am exhausted in the evenings these days.

[Stringy]

Mahler- I can write more later but my first thought is separation anxiety- especially with a new day care routine. Separation anxiety has a peak at 18 months, give or take a few- so it may just be that. Of course that is hard to give advice for- she just wants to know you are close. More later.

[Stringy]

I'm back - mahler5, - in addition to separation anxiety yea - it may just be toddler development. If there's one thing I learned its that nothing is permanent. Even now that M sometimes STTN (ya know, at 27 months) - she just as often doesn't. When she was 16-18 months it was HARD. So was from about 5 months on, actually. But by 16 months she knew what the crib was all about and freaked out in it. We never once put her in and had her put herself to sleep. She was actually switched to a toddler bed at 18 months in desperation. It was always rock to sleep (nurse when younger) and pray the transfer worked. There was a period she woke up exactly one hour after going back to sleep and was super upset. Then a period around 18 months where we thought it was night terrors and she was so so so upset we had to turn all the lights on and get toys out to calm her down.

Unfortunately I don't have much advice except do what you need. If sleeping with/next to her gets you better sleep than not, do it. she won't be sleeping with you when shes 15, I promise. If rocking to sleep and transferring works, do it. If crying works, do it. We couldn't CIO cuz she'd puke and we didn't feel comfortable with that level of upset. But now we know how much she can cry/whine vs getting real upset. but its easier now cuz she can talk.

If you are in the same room but ignoring her, is that better? So like she can see you but she's in her crib and supposed to be going to sleep - but you are there with her? In the end, we did that and progressively talked to her less (repeating "time to rest" a million times and nothing else) and touched her less until one day I could finally leave. It took a while.

All the hugs on sleepiness. Its the worst.

[mahler5]

Thanks, Stringy! That was helpful. We did let her CIO tonight for about. 30 minutes (5,10,15 increments) and no vomiting, so here is hoping that will help. iDK though. The middle of the night I may end up in there with her. She will not tolerate me in the room and her in the crib unfortunately.

The level of freak out is definitely worse, and I almost caved but she is sleeping soundly now. We don't have a video monitor though which makes it hard. I had to sneak in after she stopped crying to make sure she was ok but not wake her!

I guess it's never too late to get a video monitor!

[karlamo]

mahler5, I didn't want a video monitor and now that we have one I can't imagine not having one. It has saved me lots of grey hairs.

[kh826]

I will jump in also to add that I am OBSESSED with our video monitor. It was one of the best purchases that we made. It really puts me at ease to be able to see him wiggling around, etc. in his crib. We also put him down awake most of the time, and I like to just watch and know when he is asleep and when he is still playing in his crib. Agree that it is a grey hair saver for sure!

[kona]

Jumping in here on the video monitor discussion. Any suggestions on brand or type? DW really wants one but they are so expensive.

[kh826]

We have this one and we love it: www.summerinfant.com/summer-infant/monitoring/video/touchscreen-digital-video-monitor

They go on sale a lot at Babies R Us and Target, and sometimes you can also find a coupon.

[karlamo]

kona, we upgraded ours last week. We originally had the Motorola one that comes with 1 camera. With Moka on the way we bought their newest version that has multiple cameras and you can rotate the lens remotely which is huge. We paid $215 with Amazon Prime and sold our old one for $50.

[andstilltrying]

Hi everybody! Sorry I've been distant. 6 month old twin boys are exhausting...

So things have been going a little more smoothly around here. Finally got boys on a schedule and both are napping at same time. Woo boo! I joined a parents of multiples group in our area that's super helpful! My kids were not sleeping because they were over tired. Fun...

We are making our own baby food and it's going well. Boys love: carrots, peas, sweet potato, squash, zucchini, oatmeal, pears, peaches, apricots. They do NOT like banana or mango.

Matt is obsessed with Thomas the tank engine already! And Drew loves monkeys. So curious George is fun! Matt only smiles and giggles when Thomas is on so I'm positive he knows him! Sarah found a theme park that's opening next month up north that's Alllll based on Thomas. If he doesn't out grow it, that will be a fun trip for him!

Boys at 6 month well visit are: M- 18lbs and D-16lbs! Not bad for 2 months premature! We meet with GI doc again next week to see how D is doing with allergies.

Qotw: We did nothing. Went to lunch with my sister and then home for the day and enjoyed a quiet evening of just the 2 of us. It was stormy here every night last weekend.

[Deleted]

Whats going on w my 4 1/2 yr old? He is super into science words- say for example you put some meat on his plate. Hmm carnivores eat meat, they have sharp teeth and smell things... and so on. Broccoli? For herbivores of course, with flat teeth for chewing. Alot of his games are now centered on predators vs prey.

[wittyandwaiting]

Jul 11, 2015 0:40:24 GMT -5 @sherminator said:

Whats going on w my 4 1/2 yr old? He is super into science words- say for example you put some meat on his plate. Hmm carnivores eat meat, they have sharp teeth and smell things... and so on. Broccoli? For herbivores of course, with flat teeth for chewing. Alot of his games are now centered on predators vs prey.

DS went through this stage too! Honestly, when I read this I thought that I could've been reading about my own son.