Parenting Catch-all

Our son powered his way through the bitter.

...damn, son.

Teaching perseverance - 1
Making thumbsucking go away - 0

Best mobile money can buy: a helium-filled Mylar balloon with a chip clip. She loves wiggling her legs and watching the balloon bounce around.

IMAGE(https://i.imgur.com/JXsYvvD.jpg)

On the other end of the spectrum, I walked my son to school for the last time today. His sister graduated two years ago so it was the last time since we started doing this eight years ago.

It's pretty dusty in my office this morning.

Wink_and_the_Gun wrote:

Our son powered his way through the bitter.
:(

My son is on he spectrum. He’s six and he needs the thumb sucking for comfort. There’s no way I’m taking that away from him, I have bigger battles to fight.

We are taking our two year old to Great Wolf Lodge for a couple of days later this month. Any advice?

First time she will have slept overnight away from home so it will be interesting to see how she handles it. She is a pretty intense kid and routine driven.

We bought a kid sized fold-away cot and had her sleep on it a few times in her bedroom then took it on our trip. That bit of home went a long way to making the time away easier.

Antichulius wrote:

We bought a kid sized fold-away cot and had her sleep on it a few times in her bedroom then took it on our trip. That bit of home went a long way to making the time away easier.

This.

When I bought my daughter her sleeping bag, we had it out during the daytime for her to play with and get accustomed to, and we did "backyard campout" where I pitched the tent in the back yard and we slept in it. Even with all that, the first couple of camping trips were sleepless affairs for Daddy.

Likewise, we had a pack'n'play that we carted around when she was going to be sleeping away from home indoors. I took that whole thing to England last year and she slept great in it.

My wife and I officially joined the parent club just over a month ago, with the arrival of our little girl. Couldn't be happier or prouder!

IMAGE(http://i.imgur.com/S4lu0QF.jpg)

Unfortunately she has recently decided that she doesn't want to sleep in her bassinet for more than 30 minutes. And she seems to want to comfort-suck a lot so we're considering putting her onto a pacifier soon, despite having initial reservations.

Our pediatrician kind of laughs at the idea of "nipple confusion" as the reason not to use a pacifier. Use it.

In all things remember: You will be a much better human being, much less parent, if you get some sleep.

Agree with Roo, my 2 kids have been enthusiastic pacifier users with no consequences that we can see. Whatever gets you and your kid sleep is good. Congrats!

Also, my favorite sleep tool and recommendation is the Rock and Play Sleeper. We stumbled upon this when our first was refusing to sleep in the various bassinet-like things we had foolishly purchased before her birth. At around two weeks old we put her in a Rock and Play at a friend's suggestion and bam, hours of sleep. Both my girls slept in them until they outgrew them, somewhere in the 4-6 month range. Totally worth it.

I'd say the only problem with pacifier are the possible costs it can inflict later on needing braces.

Our daughter never used one but sucked her thumb until her first year of kindergarten, she wanted to stop but just couldn't. My wife ended up taking a few colourful knitted gloves and cutting all the fingers off leaving only the thumbs on. My daughter called it a thumb buster she wore it on her right hand every day to school and bed. It broke her habit within a month.

Other kids in her class that didn't have thumb sucking issues would ask to wear one just wanting it for fashion. We had multiple parents come up and ask us about it because their child requested a thumb buster like Addison.

Unfortunately the thumb sucking still caused enough damage for her to need braces for a year or so, but she's all good now at 9.

That's really only an issue if they keep using a pacifier once they start getting their adult teeth in.

Stengah wrote:

That's really only an issue if they keep using a pacifier once they start getting their adult teeth in.

For our daughter it caused issues with her pallet not the actual teeth so she required an expander. Our dentist did mention that it can also cause issues with adult teeth and the way the come in as well. I'm not dentist or orthodontist though. I just know it was cited as an issue for us.

Earlier today I stepped out of the shower to find Baby No. 2 dunking the clasp end of his soother strap into the toilet...

That is all.

I may borrow the thumb buster idea. I like it.

Wink_and_the_Gun wrote:

Our son powered his way through the bitter.
:(

My wife as a kid did the same so did her sisters. Thankfully we don't have thumb suckers. Had one paci kid and one no paci but religious bottle at bed time kid. Good luck. Mine are fighters. Had luck with sending off paci as well but was 3.

Stengah wrote:

That's really only an issue if they keep using a pacifier once they start getting their adult teeth in.

I would think the ecstasy might have longer lasting effects but their milage at a rave may vary.

Rave wrote:
Stengah wrote:

That's really only an issue if they keep using a pacifier once they start getting their adult teeth in.

For our daughter it caused issues with her pallet not the actual teeth so she required an expander. Our dentist did mention that it can also cause issues with adult teeth and the way the come in as well. I'm not dentist or orthodontist though. I just know it was cited as an issue for us.

A similar situation happened with me when I was younger. I didn't suck my thumb but my middle and ring fingers together. It messed up my pallet AND my teeth. I needed an expander while my adult teeth came in and had to wear face gear to bring my top jaw forward to fix the underbite the sucking created.

Starting to potty train the little guy... any tips?

UpToIsomorphism wrote:

Starting to potty train the little guy... any tips?

Pees mean prizes!

You get a sticker to put on your potty when you use it. Get enough stickers, win a prize!

Jonman wrote:
UpToIsomorphism wrote:

Starting to potty train the little guy... any tips?

Pees mean prizes!

You get a sticker to put on your potty when you use it. Get enough stickers, win a prize!

Yep yep yep. Bribery, praise, lots of asking and reminding early on.

And probably the big one— when he’s ready, he’s ready. It’s all the simpler when he’s leading the charge.

Tips on getting a 7 year to calm down / stop arguing when she doesn't get her way?

Rave wrote:

I'd say the only problem with pacifier are the possible costs it can inflict later on needing braces.

That's one of the main reasons we're a little hesitant to use one. And apparently potential risk of speech issues. My understanding of it all is that the science on all this isn't exactly settled (or even good), so I'm not sure where I stand. Our hospital advised to wait until she's 6 weeks, so we might start introducing one next week. Having said all that, our kid's probably going to need braces regardless, given her parents genes.

halfwaywrong wrote:
Rave wrote:

I'd say the only problem with pacifier are the possible costs it can inflict later on needing braces.

That's one of the main reasons we're a little hesitant to use one. And apparently potential risk of speech issues. My understanding of it all is that the science on all this isn't exactly settled (or even good), so I'm not sure where I stand. Our hospital advised to wait until she's 6 weeks, so we might start introducing one next week. Having said all that, our kid's probably going to need braces regardless, given her parents genes.

We really didn't want to use a pacifier because of this worry but as they said in Jurassic Park life finds a way, and my daughter found her thumb.

If it's not one thing it could very well be another, some people think a pacifier is easier to break then a thumb since you can physically remove it from the equation. So maybe having that before thumb sucking becomes a subconscious habit would be easier. If a pacifier works for your baby I don't think you should rule it out just out of fear of braces. If it's the only way for your child to find comfort and you get a break it's really hard to put a price on that.

jrralls wrote:

Tips on getting a 7 year to calm down / stop arguing when she doesn't get her way?

Drink?
Oh for the kid, we do various things, usually in the following order.
Counting to 10.
Calm down time, basically timeouts but named differently.
Actual timeouts.
Take away stuff for a bit.
Take away stuff for longer.

lunchbox12682 wrote:
jrralls wrote:

Tips on getting a 7 year to calm down / stop arguing when she doesn't get her way?

Drink?
Oh for the kid, we do various things, usually in the following order.
Counting to 10.
Calm down time, basically timeouts but named differently.
Actual timeouts.
Take away stuff for a bit.
Take away stuff for longer.

Good stuff. One thing I'd add is to try making it very clear to her that you are listening to whatever she saying, regardless of how unreasonable it is. I've found it helpful with our just turned 6 year old to just say, "I hear you" before saying anything else. I think it can help to de-escalate the situation a bit.

Chairman_Mao wrote:
lunchbox12682 wrote:
jrralls wrote:

Tips on getting a 7 year to calm down / stop arguing when she doesn't get her way?

Drink?
Oh for the kid, we do various things, usually in the following order.
Counting to 10.
Calm down time, basically timeouts but named differently.
Actual timeouts.
Take away stuff for a bit.
Take away stuff for longer.

Good stuff. One thing I'd add is to try making it very clear to her that you are listening to whatever she saying, regardless of how unreasonable it is. I've found it helpful with our just turned 6 year old to just say, "I hear you" before saying anything else. I think it can help to de-escalate the situation a bit.

Excellent point.
For both our kids, boy and girl,we also try to make them understand than emotiin,crying, etc. are ok, but they can't be out of control. My son will get a relatively minor injury and act like he lost an arm.

Putting g a different spin on JR's issue:

Our 5yo is having a heck of a time listening/cooperating at pre-K, specifically listening to teachers and showing respect (he just ignores them and gets on the bottom of the daily behavior pyramid).

He is not like this at T-ball, Tae Kwon Do, swimming lessons. And this is not how he's been at school in the past (always the sweetest kid, very considerate and deferential to authority figures). He will try to push it at home but responds well to our interventions and does better. Example: Memorial day weekend, Friday was awful (no listening, disrespectful to DW). We talked, and rest of weekend went awesome (to include him asking/pointing out how he was listening/cooperating).

We have taken toys, other privileges in response to specific instances (Tball game, stories, etc) and would rank our home as bring pretty good in setting out appropriate boundaries (no screens, no sweets, consistent boundaries, healthy structure).

We think he's got too many activities (our fault) and will be actively cutting back extra curricular activities over the summer in prep for Kindergarten.

Thoughts?