Sept 08 - Our LO's are nearly 2, and they're hiding to do a poo (is it time for potty training, not until it stops this raining)

[ninja]

I started it!! (I'm going away to London with just DD1 tomorrow so I want to know where you all are when we get back.

3 toddler free days!!

My dilemma of the day is that C won't nap in the daytime most days, so days are quite long atm!!!!

mrsa makes a good point...perhaps N is filling up on formula??

Ds1 used to have 2 cups of warm milk in the morning and I really struggled to get any breakfast into him. It took his paediatrician to point out to me that perhaps I should cut him down to 1 cup in the morning (which my dh was dead against as ds1 had lots of feeding issues as a baby) and lo and behold he ate more after we dropped it to 1 cup only. ds1 still has a cup of warm milk morning and night!!

N sounds very determined!!! Toby also has a way of shouting "mama" that brooks no argument!!

Do you feel that N would benefit from a referral to a paediatrician? If he can actually eat the food but is just choosing not to then tough love may be the only way.

Do you think N might need ABs if his fever is not receeding?

Hi guys!!!

N's fever has been reduced!!! I'm soo happy. it's been 6 hours of no meds!

Everyone is right, I need to get down with some tough love. I'm too much of a pansy and wilt at the thought of confrontation from a 2 year old. If this is what he does to me at 26, I wonder what he'll do to be at 96.

Genius idea of hiding the pram, you know It's really never crossed my mind.

He's only on 12 ounces of formula a day -- but i'll reduce them to 8 and see if anything changes, and see if i can reduce those to 6. (i would love to never have to feed him formula again actually).

We also had to reduce ds milk intake as he was happily guzzling 6-8 sippy cups a day. It took horrendous constipation for us to realise that we needed to cut it down. There were tantrums. But he soon learnt. And now he doesn't ask for it so much.
eandz once you start putting your foot down with one thing you may find that other issues start sorting themselves out.

Ds currently in the bath singing balamory. Singing is a recently acquired skill. As is his ability to 'kiss it better' - which helps defuse the tension after he's whacked me and I've shouted ow at the top of my voice.

DD nearly fell asleep on the kitchen floor and asked to go to bed at 5:45 and went straight to sleep. Either she's ill or she'll be up at 5:45am, both are bad!

eandz as well as hiding the buggy can you throw away the pizza hut box and eat throw away the pringles? If they are simply not an option then its easier to for you to have the strength to say no. When we've realised we've got into bad habits its taken a couple of days of total misery while the kids fight the new regime but when they realise you're serious, and they're hungry, things do change. We're here to hold your hand every step of the way! Also pringles are quite salty so if you take those away, his milk intake/thirst might decrease?

eandz Don't worry about being manipulated by your DS, toddlers are huge learning curves. I should know better these days but both mine can still get me in such a tizz I just back down for the sake of an easy life. Requests for cbeebies at the end of the day = pushover mummy, food thrown on the floor = mummy (sometimes) picks it up, picks off any fluff and puts it back on their plate... etc etc. On good days I can be supernanny, but there are many occasions where I cannot be arsed just don't have the energy to battle with them.

Since N was sick he wasn't eating anything much anyway. So I think hiding the pringles from now on will start. I've put away the pram too.

you'll be hearing a lot from me in the next few days. a whole lot.

:) lets hope you guys aren't sick of me already, because there will be a whole lot of me.

Eandz keep it coming. Thread has been a bit quiet lately anyway!

And I second Carrie's recomendation re pringles. We've found that if there is something in the house that we'd rather C not eat, she spots it a mile off but if we hide it or don't buy it, she soon forgets about. We had terrible trouble with demands for harribo for the few days after a party .

C fell asleep at the table last night and had no tea at all (though she hadn't had a daytime nap). She then woke us coughing around 1am.
I went in but she was still asleep and just kept on coughing in her sleep. We didn't know what to do. Her pillow was raised a bit to help but DP and I had to just listen to her as it wasn't waking her up (she can sleep through an earthquake, am dreading her teen years- getting her up for school).
Any other suggestions as to what to do? If I pick her up to help her, she just demands to be put back to bed. She must have coughed for more than an hour.

MrsA - being a cougher myself I'd just leave her - there's not a lot you can do. Being disturbed will probably just make it worse.

EandZ eating is such an emotive subject as all kids have to eat and so they suss out that it's an easy way to control you. It will get better (I was a very fussy child) and I would say that it's not a problem having a limiyed diet as long as it's healthy and other things are offered. Tell N that he'll like it after Christmas/when he's 3 .... and he might well believe you (my dd did). And don't show that it bothers you (easier said than done)

I find that snuggling up with the kids in front of the tele at night with a bowl of chopped up fruit JUST FOR ME makes that fruit irresistable!!

:)

no pringles in sight and has only been offered a very small amount of milk this morning (formula) about 3 ounces. on his plate he has ham, some fruit and soy yogurt. (we've been at this since 7am this morning). i took him off the table at 7:30 for his morning walk, ran some errands. offered him grapes and apples during the outing. for lunch (around noon the same plate was placed in front of him + carrots). he's refusing all food on his plate. so now it's almost three and he hasn't eaten anything, but has finished his 3 ounces of milk and is now drinking a lot of water. i'll be taking that away in a few minutes.

lets see what happens.

Eandz well done! You should be proud of yourself (and don't worry if you have a bad day and give in, we all do when we're tired etc).

I'm not sure what he can and can't eat but we cook lots of traditional style home-cooked comfort food (no good for my weight!) like cauliflower and broccoli cheese, stews, soups, bread and butter, cheese on toast, beans on toast with grilled tomatoes, humous and dips, poached egg and toast soldiers etc etc. there are loads of tempting foods that are as moreish as crips and pizza (and there's nothing wrong with the odd parcel of fish, chips & peas ).
Home cooking is really easy once you have a go and there are loads of receipes on mumsnet. We have a breadmaker, so make our own bread which is amazing warm from the 'maker'! Soups are also much easier to cook than you might think.

You can even get N involved with the cooking eg helping to prepare the veg, rinsing it and putting in the pan etc etc.

And I think Ninja's comment about having a bowl of fruit as only for me a great idea - they always want what doesn't belong to them.

I feel very positive for you. My ideas may not suit you or you may need to take things slowly, but I'm sure you have brighter days ahead
Keep posting here!!

Aww, thank you MrsA

I think the only me fruit bowl is a wonderful idea -- will be trying that in an hour.

As far as cooking -- it's soo hard to find things N can eat. it'll be grilled chicken wings, carrots and rice tonight for the little one.

tomorrow i'll be making jerk wings and plantains (but only if he actually eats dinner tonight)

fingers crossed.

Great to hear from you eandz!

Sorry to hear about woes with N. A has turned into a fussy bread-product-obsessed toddler (if anyone recalls the Toaster in Red Dwarf, it's very similar...) - I find the easiest thing to do for lunch is to leave it where he can reach it and go do something else. And not expect him to eat much for dinner. He doesn't like lumps in his food - it has to be all-chewy like actual pieces of meat, or bagels, or smooth. Favourites are slices of omelette, peanut butter, hummus, falafels, roast pork, banana, yoghurt and Innocent Fruit Tubes, who I need to buy shares in as A has 2-3 a day and has the most wonderful bowel movements now
I figure he gets about 1 'proper' meal a week (apart from breakfast and nursery meals) with sitting down with people and eating or not, so as long as he tastes new things every now and then I try not to worry.

But I'm very, very glad I have a family member who is now an energetic teenager (and has always been incredibly healthy), but was a horrendously fussy eater - from age 3 it was chips/potato/bread/cereal, with the odd sweet thing, cheddar, and cheese+tomato pizza. A bit of orange juice. Nothing else for the next decade. The dietitician he was referred to said it was OK, just add a multivitamin and try really hard to not stress over it. He's a bit less fussy now, but so much healthier than his omnivorous siblings that it's made it easier for me to chill.

My brother ate nothing but peanut butter and marmite sandwiches for years and is now the most healthy, strong, tall, intelligent adult!

DD's quote of the day "when I'm a mummy I like you, i'll have bigger pants!"

Will second that...my dbro ate nothing but monster munch and ketchup sandwiches for 3 years. He is now 6 feet tall and built like the proverbial brick building!!

carrie Very funny. Sorry.

eandz There was a panorama programme on BBC about 3 years ago and on "fussy" eaters -it featured the consultant at Brimingham childrens hospital and she was so sensible and straight forward about it all....it made me feel so much better as ds1 has always had quite a limited diet (albeit quite a healthy one) she bascailly said that as long as a child is eating, has certain food they like and is growing and alert and happy, it doesnt really matter what they eat. Her attitude was that getting young children to eat food is about getting the calories into them to give them the energy to learn and grow. Ok, neither of my dc eat salad, meat or anything else I would really like them to eat BUT they eat. Lots of carbs here too (seems commmon!!) and I make sure they both have a vitamin supplement each day as toby wont eat meat and ds1 wont eat fruit. Toby also doesnt drink milk (makes him sick) and his appetite is all over the place at the moment as he is ill.

ds1 's first day at school staying all day. I miss him so much and so does Toby. I feel like I am missing my right arm Hope he is ok today.

Been in the loft. Am slightly horrified at how much the dc have for xmas...ok, the most expensive thing they each have is £20 but they have LOTS of £3/5/7 stuff too!! Oh dear.....dh will have one of his spasms on xmas eve!

Toby still quite poorly....not eating much but drinking lots.

Just had a scare - just discovered M taking her doll for a walk.

She'd put it in the buggy and was heading towards the garden. I went in to put the shopping away then went outside to check on her and she's managed to open the 3 foot gate and was on the otherside of the road heading away.

She wasn't very happy at being brought home.

She can open the back door as well so we'll have to be soooo careful to lock everything

how can they scare us so much???

On a funnier note this morning was trying to wrap up her baby and it wasn't going how she planned and I heard her muttering 'Oh for Goodness sake!'

She's stopped sleeping with me now (she does for the childminder still ), you'd think she'd be tired after walking a couple of miles this morning to the toddler group .....

ninja
It's eaily done - i am probably too protective at C cos she runs given half the chance so there are bolts on every door/gate and she's not allowed to walk on a pavement unless she holds my hand. i keep trying to let her have a little freedom but she always runs....
Places like the zoo are fab cos she can run where she likes.

Just got back from my 1st acupuncturist appt. Was very thorough! She's based at a farm in the middle of nowhere and was quite relaxing. I didn;t realise she'd do my feet though - I haven't cut my toe nails or taken old polish off...you know when you keep meaning to do something .
Keeping an open mind and going back next week.

that's the thing, it has a lock she's just a little houdini. I dread to think how far she would have got, she'd probably have gone for a walk and come back happy as Larry, she's far too confident

Scary tho' luckily it's quiet where we live and a lot of people know her so I think she'd have been spotted. Trying not to think about that tho'

A question for those of you with dc with nintendo things....Is £150 a good price for a dsi, accessories set and 3 games???

I need to stop buying xmas gifts. Or sell a kidney

ninja I did what your dd did except I walked out of the front gate with my baby bro in my pram (it was a silver cross one though!) My mum still hyperventilates when I talk about it

Anyone else got a bookworm? A has gone to bed with 'Where is Baby Bear', after 'reading' it at me nearly word-perfect, three times. The other day it was the London Zoo map leaflet.

My parents say I started reading when I was about a month older than he is, which is a scary prospect (lots of unsuitable stuff to hide...) Although my mum asked yesterday 'Do you think he's interested in engineering and computers, or might he be normal?' - thanks mum.

Some friends have offered to teach A how to play football so he doesn't get picked on at school for being crap, but I think you just need to want to practice. I've certainly kicked a ball more since I had A than in the whole rest of my life, and A really isn't interested, except in picking a ball up and running off with it. I do get amused when he nicks a ball off older boys in the playground and all these 8-year-olds stand there dumbstruck because obv they can't just shove him out the way and grab, so I do quite a bit of running after him to bring it back!

Had 3 people at work ask whether I was having another baby today. Loads of people are escaping the crap morale and movement/promotion freeze by getting pregnant so it wasn't a daft question but was a bit much.

I escaped when I was 2 and got quite far before my dad found me (I knew he'd be home from work soon and went to meet him!)

"Do you think he's interested in engineering and computers, or might he be normal?" Hilarious
My mum says I started speaking at 6 months and I think she reckons I was properly talking by about 1.

I'd say he's a bit young for football training surely?!

ninja maybe you get a tracking device for next time? In all seriousness, it can be bloody scary.

bec how was ds1's day today? Do you think you'll get used to it being just you and ds2 for a while? I remember that program, luckily I don't stress too much about what ds eats as it balances out over the week (bit like his sleep).

eandz how is the pringles ban going? Reducing milk will definitely boost his appetite for solids.

nc we've got ds name down for little kickers, are they in your area? He's been on the waiting list for three months now. He loves tumble tots so I'm hoping another structured physical activity will be just as popular with him.

Have just had the grumpiest boy for the last three days (didn't go to sleep till 11pm yesterday). But he finally did a poo this evening. Not without a struggle, poor thing. Anyone else have a reluctant pooer? We have to sit him on the toilet to get him to do a poo as he usually refuses to do it in his nappy. Its awful when he wont go. He spends all day trying to hold it in, then inevitably refuses to eat or get into the buggy or carseat because he's so uncomfortable. And yes, we do bribes but if he's insistent on holding it in no amount of promises of chocolate will get him to budge.
Think we may attempt full toilet training at Christmas. As we're practically halfway there.

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