PS Mommy thread with toddlers 12-36 months

[mayerling]

Wow! 24 ounces! In the UK, the recommendation for 6-12 months is only 600ml (which is only 20.2 ounces) and I assume it's even less after one year. I wonder why it differs so much.

 

[noelwr]

hi Mommies! my little girl is getting so big now. she didn't grow that much the first six months we moved to Singapore, but after Christmas, she's grown 3 cm! she's still short compared to Western kids, but bigger than the average Asian kid.

S enjoyed her Easter egg hunt so much, that we ended up having to do it 4x! she kept coming back asking "Find eggs, OK?" we had to do it in our living room, though, because it was pouring down with rain outside.

we've been to dance class 3x and every time it's different. the first time she spent most of the class playing tag with another little girl who was even more hyper than she. the second time, she kept pulling my arm asking if we could go. the third time, she finally did most of the "dance" moves and even danced with the teacher. a 40-minute class is quite a long time for the small ones to pay continuous attention.

so here's a pic of S busting a move in the stereo section of an electronics store. of course, this was right after her first dance class where she didn't bother to dance much there.


we also took her to a water park and she and Daddy had a great time!

 

[mayerling]

Another toddler question - can't believe I'm going to be part of this thread in under three months! - : could anyone recommend a good book for the toddler years?

 

[Skippy123]

Another toddler question - can't believe I'm going to be part of this thread in under three months! - : could anyone recommend a good book for the toddler years?

I haven't read any books, I try to be consistant and do cause and effect sort of things, like if they throw things, they need to pick them up or timeout. If they do things I don't want I pick them up and remove them because sometimes they won't stop. Like they love to pound on the grandfather clock glass so I pick them up and and explain why we don't do that, I do it a lot and now they get the point. Like tonight one of my sons threw his dinner and my husband told him to pick it up. He won't so he directed him over to the food on the floor and picked it up with him, they did it together. We also do time outs for them to cool down. Having twins makes it tough sometimes to follow through but I notice if I do then the more they listen and do the right thing. Someone told me 1-2-3 Magic was good; we have it and I have been meaning to read it but I can't find it. Do you have Baby Centre? I think sometimes they give good tips too. Don't worry you will do great!!! Toddlers can be trying sometimes but they are also a lot of fun

NOEL she is so cute!

thanks about the boys turning 2; I can't believe it. On the 20th we will have a little party and their twin girlfriends are coming to their party! I became friends w/this momma in the NICU so our twins are only 2 weeks apart in age.

Ladies I am loving all the stories and pics!!!!

 

[pancake]

Back later for a proper post, but Mayerling - about 500ml is our recommendation here. Should also be getting dairy in the diet - cheese, yoghurt, etc.

 

[mayerling]

Thanks, Pancake. It looks like the UK differs again because I just checked the recommendation for formula after 12 months and it's only 300ml. I don't know if it's different for whole milk...

 

[pancake]

Mayerling, don't get tied up in knots about it. The long and the short of it is that a) you need enough dairy to maintain an adequate calcium intake, and b) babies shouldn't have too much cow's milk because it will suppress their appetite for food and put them at risk of iron deficiency.

 

[mayerling]

Mayerling, don't get tied up in knots about it. The long and the short of it is that a) you need enough dairy to maintain an adequate calcium intake, and b) babies shouldn't have too much cow's milk because it will suppress their appetite for food and put them at risk of iron deficiency.

Does this mean that it's best to stick with formula past 1 year?

 

[pancake]

No it doesn't. In the context of a varied diet, cow's milk is the recommended milk source. There's a heck of a lot of marketing of toddler formulas, but if the kid is eating properly, there's no benefit. And if the kid isn't eating properly, formula is not the answer!

 

[Kunzite]

Skippy, happy early birthday to E & M I can't believe your little babies are going to be 2!!!

LC, E is adorable in the picture, he looks like he's conducting a very important business call

2 fun O things for the day:

1. Apparently I tell this kid I love him A LOT. If I hug him, he immediately say his version of I love you. If I kiss his head, I love you. If I look at him and smile.... you guessed it, I love you! Anything remotely affectionate and he tells me he loves me before I even speak

2. The phrase in a minute. This was so helpful in the beginning because we were finally communicating that something would happen as soon as I could get to it. He would get worked up because he wanted a banana, for example, while the babies were eating. No problem, in a minute. Oh how the tables have turned! Ollie, it's time for bed... in a minute! Ollie, we need to change your diaper... in a minute! What's even funnier is that when I tell him an outright no to something he tells me, "In a minute. Dada, home!" Basically saying no problem, dada will do it when he gets home! Cheeky monkey!

 

[lliang_chi]

Kunzite, I love your little man. He's hilarious! I love hearing about him, and just imagine Ethan getting old enough for all of the same mischief and monkey business!

Skippy, Happy birthday to M&E tomorrow! 2 yrs I can hardly believe it!

AFU: this weekend Ethan decided that he didn't want to take his 2nd nap. It was also kinda rough since we weren't at home during either time. I'm hoping this weekend will be a little more normal, or we might have to start working on the transition to just 1 nap. He does it at daycare, but I think at home it's more calm and relaxed so he can let himself get sleepy earlier.

 

[lliang_chi]

Skippy, happy birthday to your little guys! Big 2 birthday for your twins

 

[Skippy123]

Skippy, happy birthday to your little guys! Big 2 birthday for your twins

thank you, LC, you are so sweet to remember! I have a question, if you don't mind me asking. Did you and your sis always celebrate your birthday together? I wonder what most twins do? I just got to thinking when they get older, what I will do if one wants a swim party and the other wants roller skate party. The boys had a great day! They ate lots of cake!

LC we moved to 1 nap at 1 1/2 years but sometimes before then they took 1 nap every once in awhile.

Kunzite, awww O is so cute!

 

[lliang_chi]

Skippy, TBH we didn't have a lot of birthday parties growing up, e.g. invite friends, decorations, games, etc. But the few we did they were joint parties. We always celebrated our birthday with family, and of course that was shared. It wasn't really a party per se because we didn't have an extra special meal, decorations etc, but we did get gifts, and maybe even cake (I can't remember). I guess that's why I don't feel a need as an adult to be like "it's MY special day, DAMNIT!" Anyway, as they get older they might have diverging interests for parties, but TBH growing up together, it's very likely they'll have the same likes/dislikes. And you can always make it a game or use it as a sharing opportunity between the boys. It's really easy to "give up my turn" if I'm giving it up to my sister, y'know?

 

[NewEnglandLady]

Noel, such adorable photos of S! The picture of her busting a move is hilarious! K loooves to dance at home. But in class? She stands there like a wooden pole and I'm the one breaking a sweat dancing because I'm trying to entice her. And pics of little girls with their daddies always melt my heart.

Mayerling, the only toddler-specific book I've read is The Happiest Toddler on the Block, which I didn't really love. I took away some tactics, but am not gung-ho about it. I've also read toddler sections of other books like the Wonder Weeks and another book called Touchpoints, which is helpful, but slightly outdated. I also ended up taking a few cues from the book Bringing Up Bebe, which isn't a parenting book, per se, but still helpful. I plan to get the book 1-2-3 Magic in relation to discipline specifically, but haven't yet. My parenting style tends to be a hodge-podge of tactics with a heavy dose of common sense and knowing what K responds to...and I'm sure I'm screwing it all up.

Oh, and milk amounts--I talked about this with my doc since K wasn't drinking a lot of milk. He said to aim for 16 oz. or so, but yogurt, cheese, etc., should have enough calcium. I gave K some Havarti cheese with dill in it for awhile because I heard dill was high in calcium, haha. She still varies--some days she has 16 oz. and some days only 6 oz. (she gets water at daycare).

LC, I love that pic of E. He looks like a little stock trader! The transition to 1 nap has been a little challenging for us. She's been on 1 nap at daycare for a while (since 10 months or so, which I still think is too early and had our daycare provider trying 2 naps until K was a year). K was resisting her morning nap at home, so I decided to just drop it and move her to 1 nap. But then she had a growth spurt and was SO TIRED, so she went back to 2 naps for a week. Now she's teething like crazy and is really fussy, but wont' sleep. I tried putting her down for 2 naps on Sunday because she just seemed miserable, but she wouldn't go down. I think we're done with 2 naps now, but the transition has been tougher than expected (I thought she'd take right to it being that she has done 1 at daycare for so long).

Skippy, I'm so glad the boys had a great b-day party, it must have been wonderful seeing your NICU friends and their twins!

Pancake, how are you?

AFU, I feel like we are in the 7th ring of teething hell. I remember our mom group instructor telling us that usually the first 2 incisors are the worst. So when K's came in at 6 months, they were a little tough, but not that awful. The toughest part was that they just seemed to take awhile to come in. So then more incisors came in, more discomfort, but not awful. Then her molars came in at 1 year. Those seemed to really bother her. I felt awful for her, especially since it was tougher to get things back in her mouth. But we made it through and I was eager to have a break.

Except I didn't get a break! Both of her upper canines have been coming in for at least a week now. And they don't seem right on the cusp of breaking through, so I think we have another week (I refuse to think that it could possibly be longer). And these canines? THEY HURT! K will put her hands to her mouth and just cry these big tears. I've been giving her Hyland's teething pills, giving her lots of cold things to chew on. I even lifted the "pacifiers at naptime only" rule and am letting her use a paci at other times of the day sinced it seems to help. Plus, I break out the Motrin when needed because I hate to see her in pain.

Oh, and she had allergies this weekend. So the doc recommended I give her some Benadryl. The poor thing was basically on Motrin and Benadryl all weekend.

 

[lliang_chi]

NEL Ethan's been doing 1 nap @ daycare for the past few months as well. Probably since 10.5 or 11 months? But on the weekends he was consistently doing 2 naps. It seems like he's really ready to transition to 1 nap though. The past 2 weekends we've been "go go go" so it might have messed with our nap attempts. Hoping next weekend will be easier.
Oh poor K with the canines! IT doesn't seem like Ethan's got his molars coming in yet, and he's still working on the 2nd pair of bottoms. Touch wood, he seems to be OK in the teething dept. I hope K's pop through soon. I 100% hear you about being heartbroken when they're in pain.
What did K have an allergic reaction to?

Pancake, Hello friend! How's S doing? How's the job? Hoping you guys are doing well.

AFU: we went to the zoo yesterday! One of my good friend's son turned 2 yesterday so we used it as an excuse for family zoo trip also. Sis, DH, and FIL, plus friend and birthday boy. After the zoo, the babies and girls went out for lunch. It was a great birthday for the little guy. We call him Ethan's cousin since he won't have real cousins close by. And our friends are so dear to us (much closer relationship than SIL). It's so sweet to see Ethan and "Cousin J" run around together. J's 10 months older than Ethan so he's always running after him and trying to do with Big Cousin J is doing. SO CUTE!



~LC

 

[Skippy123]

NEL, I am sorry she has allergies. We used benadryl and now that they are 2 zyrtec is great. sorry about the teeth poor K!

LC, awww, I love the zoo pic! looks like fun. Has the rain stopped? I have seen crazy flooding pics, I hope everyone is safe. Thanks for your thoughts on the bday's! It sounds like you had great birthdays; I don't like it is all about me but I do want to make them feel special so I am sure I will find a good balance. I love how close you and your sister are to each other!!!

 

[lliang_chi]

Skippy, post pics of the boys' birthday party!!! So much fun! And I have really good feeling that M&E will be super close just like I am with my sis. You can see how sweet they are to each other in your pictures.
It's STILL RAINING here! We got a break for 3 days, then rain again. We live in a 3rd story condo, but we had some leaking issues which is annoying.

 

[Skippy123]

Skippy, post pics of the boys' birthday party!!! So much fun! And I have really good feeling that M&E will be super close just like I am with my sis. You can see how sweet they are to each other in your pictures.
It's STILL RAINING here! We got a break for 3 days, then rain again. We live in a 3rd story condo, but we had some leaking issues which is annoying.

Oh no! I hope the rain stops; it looks terrible in pictures I have seen! I posted a few on fb if you get a chance to see. aww, thanks; I think they will be close too. They are giving each other hugs which I love; I will try to post a pic but my computer crashed so I am having to learn a new operating system and figure out the pic stuff, oh boy! lol

 

[lliang_chi]

Skippy, I'm bummed about the rain because I miss the sunshine but I really think we needed the rain here in the Midwest so I"m not going to complain too much. I just wish we could get a few days of beautiful weather in between.

AFU, Ethan's been eating up a storm. We started giving him food in a bowl a few weeks ago. It's funny, sis was watching him and say, he ate everything so nicely when I just put ALL his food in his bowl. So I tried it and immediately turned the bowl over... on his head.

 

[pancake]

LC - hahahaha! Too funny! (and messy... but so cute!)

Girls, I've been so slack about posting. I think since returning to work I've been kind of shocked by how little free time I now have - I've lost touch with my irl mothers' group too, must try and plan my day off a bit better.

We're doing well. I'm working 3.5 days/week. My MIL has been away for the last 7 weeks so my mum has been looking after S for 3 days a week, and she's just started daycare on the fourth day. So far we are doing half-days (9am to 12/1pmish). Unfortunately the start of daycare also coincided with the start of horrendous awful separation anxiety! So my easygoing, chilled out Dot, who had been perfectly happy during her daycare orientation sessions, suddenly went on complete strike! The first official day, she went on strike - wouldn't eat, drink, or sleep. Thankfully things are improving. She still screams when I leave (although she does this when I leave her at any time, so it's not a daycare thing) and she won't nap at daycare yet, but she now eats and drinks and plays. Small victories.

Life with her is super-exciting and fun at the moment. She is starting to talk quite a lot - has animal noises for lion, snake, dog, sheep, cow, chicken, bee, says "flower", "ball", "shoes", "Mum", "Dad", "Pa", "Nana", "Grandma" (in Vietnamese), "Row row row", a few other things. When she isn't saying recognisable words she is giving us a running commentary in Dot-speak about the goings on in her life. Very chatty little thing!

Not walking yet but standing unsupported. DH was a late walker (close to a year and a half) so in keeping with the rest of her motor development she looks to be following suit!

I'm still BFing, but have stopped expressing. So S now has early morning and bedtime BFs, and then will have 1 or 2 small feeds during the day when I'm home with her. On the days I'm at work she doesn't have any milk feeds during the day as she is totally disinterested in drinking cow's milk. Equally, she was totally disinterested in drinking EBM as well, so I figured that expressing was a bit pointless!

I am enjoying work, but not enough to change my feeling that I'd rather be a SAHM!

Even when I don't post I am definitely reading along with all of you and I love looking at the photos and reading about what you're all up to!

 

[lliang_chi]

Pancake, wow you've got QUITE a chatterbox there! Ethan barely says ANYTHING. But he's very interactive, loves pointing and beams at us when he does something he's proud of. A little bit of chattering when he's in the mood, but for the most part he's a quiet baby. Unless he's pissed. Aw, poor Dot not digging the daycare. Don't worry, she'll eventually get used to it. It took Ethan a full 2 months to start napping @ daycare, and he was much much younger. Plus I'm sure daycare is very familiar with separation anxiety.

 

[bobbin]

Hi Mamas!

I cannot believe that I now belong in this thread! How did that happen?

I have no delusion that I'll be able to keep up and be a regular poster, but I will be reading along and popping my head in now and then.

Charlotte turned 1 last Monday, 22 April. We have been having a bit of an extravaganza with her birthday. At the end of March we did a cake smash/family photo shoot, last Saturday we had a morning tea birthday party with family in our home town, on her birthday we took her to the zoo, tomorrow we are having a joint birthday party for all the babies in my mother's group and on Sunday we are having a lunch with family in our current town. 4 cakes all up for Miss C! I have posted some photos below.

Every time I post I say how much of a joy she is and it just keeps getting better

She has been walking for 3 months ish now, and is running and trying her best to climb too. She says Mama (mum, mummy etc too), dada (Dad and daddy too - dada is her favourite word at the moment and everyone and everything good to her has been labelled dada), bye bye, and has said up and ta a few times, but not consistently.

Her play is getting more advanced and into copying style - she brushes her hair, and ours, holds anything she is holding up to her ear like a phone when she hears the phone ring (or when she is actually holding her most prized treasures - our mobiles), does 'round and round the garden' on her palms and ours (can't say the words properly, but makes similar sounds and circles her fingers on our palms) and dances to any beat she can - even us reading her a book.

She has become very affectionate and loves giving cuddles -she will give cuddles to me, her dad and the dogs if we ask her too also. She is following/responding to other instructions - like give this to XX person, where is XX? Put this in the bath etc.

She is very social and just wants to stop and say hello to everyone she sees, complete with a big smile and usually some touching - she will put her hand on their knees, or hug their legs. Everyone that is, except my MIL and FIL, because they STILL won't listen when we tell them that she needs a bit of time to warm up to people before they pick her up. They refuse to just let her settle in and play with her for a while before trying to pick her up. The moment I walk in with her they try to take her from my arms, which puts her on edge and she is a bit wary of them. It is sad for them as they don't get to see the happy, social, loving little girl that everyone else does simply because they refuse to listen to us.

I just love her so! And yet have absolutely zero desire for another child at this point.

And sorry for the overload of photos - I tried to limit myself to only a few, but I love all of them

 

[Skippy123]

Happy 1st birthday!!! Those are fantastic pictures!

 

[lliang_chi]

Bobbin, welcome to toddlerhood! C looks adorable, of course, and lucky lucky girl to get so many cakes! Good thing she won't remember this too much so can't expect it every year, LOL! Sorry the ILs don't listen to you but as C gets older, maybe she'll warm up to them a little more. I definitely feel that way with Ethan and MIL. She's wheelchair bound so she really can't carry Ethan like the rest of us do, and she can't really hold him up straight. We've found that sitting him next to her so she can talk to and play with him helps, but I definitely feel like she hasn't bonded with him very much.

AFU, today I met a DH's friend's 5 month old boy, M. She and her husband had a family BBQ and we kind of crashed it (well, we were invited, but were the only non-family member). Anyway, it was a ton of fun, and Ethan was just WONDERFUL the whole time we were there. He kept walking back and forth between their living room and their family room, pushing buttons on toys and dancing to music. He was totally charming and everyone thought he was just adorable. #OneProudMama

Oh of the ladies there laughed and said Ethan totally leads with his belly when he walks, and he totally does. LOL.

 

[Kunzite]

bobbin, happy birthday to C! It looks like she had a great time.

Does anyone want to talk to me about potty training? Specifically how to tell if a kid is ready? O doesn't act even close to ready, is never dry, never says when he's going, and refuses to sit on the potty. I keep telling myself (and others who feel the need to comment) that he's not showing signs of being ready, but I'm starting to doubt myself and wondering if he's just playing me.

 

[Skippy123]

K, my husband and I have been talking potty training like the signs of being ready. He says that one of the signs is putting things back where they belong (according to baby center), also letting you know they don't like to be wet or pooped. I heard if you do potty train the best way is to keep them nekid since they don't like the feeling of peeing on themselves and some sort of reward system. We aren't ready yet since the boys just turned 2 but at the end of summer I want to try. http://www.babycenter.com/0_potty-training-what-works_4397.bc

maybe LovesVintage will chime in.

 

[geri]

Kunzite - we potty trained C just before she turned 2. It was summer time here and I was home on holidays and had time to dedicate to it so thought we would give it a try, but I was perfectly happy to drop it if it didn't work. In terms of signs of readiness:
- she could go long periods without being wet, although not necessarily when she slept
- she could follow instructions well
- she was talking in proper sentences so she could tell us when she wanted things
- she had some interest in the potty/toilet but she had been like this on and off since 18 months, but she hated it when we tried to make her sit on it
- she had started pooing on the potty. The first couple of times was because we knew what her poo face looked like and managed to get her on in time but once she had done it a couple of times she understood and started to tell us when she needed to do a poo, but not a wee.

So she had a few signs of readiness but not all of them. For example, she hated having her nappy changed so she could happily have stayed in a wet nappy all day!

When we started, we let her run around naked at home (we have wooden floors) and took the potty into whichever room she was in and asked regularly whether she needed to go. For the first two days she peed everywhere and I was about to give up when on the third day we were distracted and all of a sudden she just walked over with the potty full of wee and asked if she could flush it down the toilet! From there she just got it. We went on like this for about 2 weeks, where she was naked or in undies at home but in nappies when we went out. Since she was having hardly any accidents (maybe one every couple of days), we then got rid of the nappies except for sleeps. She had one minor regression about 2 months later but has otherwise been fine. I feel like we were very lucky though. The girl we nanny share with, who is the same age, is still regularly having accidents months later because I think she just wasn't ready.

So, based on my limited experience, I think they need some signs of readiness, but I don't think they need to satisfy all of them. O is still only young and you will know when is the right time for him and for your family to give it a try. You could always give it a try and stop if it isn't working but with young twins to look after I probably wouldn't be rushing it! Good luck.

 

[lliang_chi]

Kunzite, what potty are you thinking of getting? I think I'm going to get a potty seat and try popping Ethan on it in the morning. Just so he gets used to sitting on the potty. He usually has a poop in the morning and it'd be nice if we can catch that in a potty instead of having to change his diaper. Right now my goal is to get him used to the idea of "Wake up! Diaper change then eat." Before it was Wake up. bottle of water. Eat then diaper change. Then he dropped the bottle and I tried introducing the diaper. He's hungry so he doesn't fancy the pit stop in the bathroom, so I change him on the living room floor. My goal is to slowly move him into the bathroom for changes, and then for potty. He's young still but I'd rather try now, while he's still somewhat compliant. He's got quite the personality so I scared of him being willful and defiant.

 

[geri]

LC - My logic for trying early was for exactly the reasons you mentioned re defiance!

We have just moved C into her big girl bed because she was climbing out of her cot and I am just waiting to see whether the defiance kicks in about not getting out of bed!