June 2008: new year, new diets, new resolutions, but when push comes to shove creme eggs are still the solution!

[KnittingRocks]

Sorry, couldn't cope with Christmas anymore!

Oh, yes, the thing.
I'm going to have a party tonight!

Funny, I don't feel sick at all!

Bet you don't get a hangover either . Cheers

Keepcalm I am at the nursery woman! I would have been put out, too. She is an idiot if she thinks just because he hasn't wee'd on the potty yet that he is not ready. He probably sits there thinking 'what have you put me on this thing for you stupid woman, I don't need to go' .

T and E never showed any signs of being ready, I just forced them . You just have to spend a few days in the house, no nappies except for bedtime and be ready to deal with lots of accidents! Don't be despondent if you don't get far this weekend - two days is not much. But if he has had a couple of wees on the potty or more then send him to nursery on Monday in no nappy and with a few pairs of trousers. Don't put him back in nappies.

I'm still trying to crack Theo's whining. he sat on the stairs for 15 mins tonight just before tea moaning 'cuddle cuddle'. He had wanted to count up the stairs but I told him I was too busy making tea. So he just sat there whining. I told him to come down and have a cuddle on the sofa if he wanted a cuddle. He just continued to whine on the stairs, so I threatened him with time out, he didn't stop so he went in his room for 2mins. After he came out he came downstairs quite happily and ate his tea with no whining at all!

So jealous of you seeing Amber's twins Dewin!!

Hello. I've got mastitis. I have spent yesterday and today aching and going hot and cold (plus sore patch on boob which I had convinced myself was a bruise from a romping toddler).. Yesterday I thought it was a cold bug then this morning i was fine-ish, then this afternoon I was under 2 duvets freezing cold. Thankfully the PILs are here so I called the dr at 5.15, popped in, got a prescription and made it to Boots. I was home by 6.20! Not feeling completely awful so I'm lucky as I know it can be bad. The dr wrote down various instructions one of which is "rest", so when DH is looking lazy I am waving the piece of paper at him. A good weekend for the Pils to be here though. I may get some quality time in bed.

oh Spider! good job you got it treated straight away!! Hope the anti-bs kick in quickly, good timing though with extra adults about - I'd spend the whole weekend in bed if I were you!

Oh, what a shame Spider. Glad to hear that you've got extra support this weekend though. Hope you get plenty of rest.

Thanks Neenz - we actually have four days before S is back at nursery, so we'll see how we get on. Several accidents this morning, but I expected that. He's had one wee in the potty, but about 10 minutes after that he had an accident. If he's weeing that frequently maybe he's not ready after all? Going to have lunch shortly, so thought I might encourage him to sit on the potty for a while afterwards and let me know when he's had a wee. Good or bad idea? Who knows! He was very pleased to get some choc buttons after his wee in the potty earlier!

Keep going keepcalm, you'll get there. He probably hadn't completely emptied on the potty as it was a new experience!

Thanks Biscuits. He had another wee in the potty a bit later - a lot more than the first time. Lots of accidents to though but that's ok - we don't have carpets downstairs .

For those of you that are already past this particular hurdle - do you think we'd be better off letting him run around with a bare bum at home for a bit or keep pants and trousers on?

I think keep at least pants on, that way he'll get the damp sensation when he has an accident.

Yeah and if he has a poo the undies will catch it! That's great that he has had a couple of wees on the potty - it took us about five days to get to that stage! He is definitely ready - you just have to persevere.

I have had a tough day again with T&E. It seems to be mealtimes that are flashpoints. I am trying to get them to sit at the table but sometimes they just won't sit up or they whine for their yogurt or a drink or the toilet, and I am trying to feed Daniel too... it is stressful. I don't mind if they don't eat anything as long as they don't moan all the time. Do you think they should be sitting up at the table now when asked? I was thinking of using time out but wondered whether it is just their age and they will grow out of it as they get older. What rules do you have for mealtimes and how do you enforce them?

On the plus side Daniel has slept through the last two nights! I put a fleecy sleepsuit on him over his babygro cos it felt really cold in his room.

neenz mealtimes are our worst time of day too. C is very fidgity and up and down from her chair we return her to her chair, and occasionally she has to go on the naughty step if she has messed about too much. She is not a great eater, although we have recently discovered that we can get her to try new things by giving her a round of applause for trying it! (drama queen already loving an audience I think!) tbh she doesn't have a big appetite anyway so even when it's her favourite things like mac and cheese or cottage pie she often doesn't eat much then so a few mouthfuls is a victory for us.

Mealtimes have been a bit of a sticking point here too Neenz. S has been difficult around mealtimes for a long time with one thing and another, although he's generally good at eating different things. We did go through a very tough period of getting S to the table. He would basically have a tantrum when we told him it was time for dinner, get a time out, then come to the table after that a bit upset and end up sitting on DH's knee while eating. It now seems to have finally paid off - he will now usually come to the table and eat his dinner, although there's a fair bit of messing about. I try and keep a fairly consistent line - it's dinner then yogurt then octonauts then ready for bed. Skipping any stages means straight to bed. It's taken a good while to get to this stage though. We only insist on eating at the table at dinner. For lunch we let him eat at his little table and play with toys etc.

I think today's potty training has gone as well as can be expected on day 1. Lots of accidents - I think we've gone through 7 or 8 pairs of pants, but a lot of that has been just us figuring out when/how often to get him on the potty. He's been quite happy to go on the potty and sit on it for a wee while. He started off the day not telling/noticing when he had a wee, but by the end of the day he was pretty much telling us straight away if he'd had an accident. We had about 5 wees in the potty I think. Later in the day he was playing and took himself off to the potty without prompting, after 5 mins he had a wee. Does that all sound ok?

We'll see how it goes tomorrow. We're fairly relaxed about it all, though I'd be delighted to prove the nursery woman wrong I feel a bit out of my comfort zone though - not really sure about what I should be doing

Hadn't thought about pants catching poo though - good point. Thankfully you could normally set your watch by S's bowel movements, and it's usually very obvious when he's having a poo so fingers crossed for no poo accidents! He was funny today at one point while sitting on the potty, he passed wind a couple of times and said 'I did it, I did a poo!'.

Oh, and like Biscuits, lots of rounds of applause or high fives and general praise when he tries something new, eats dinner without fuss, comes to the table without any bother etc.

Thanks for mealtime tips - I was wondering whether I was expecting too much from them but I think probably not. We did have a lovely lunch out last week where they sat so well - we even managed two courses they were being so good! But other times they are horrid (well just T mostly ).

Keepcalm it sounds like S is doing brilliantly, well done. It does sound like a lot of wees tho! Does he drink a lot or do you think he was stopping himself after starting to wee in his pants. If he did that is a good sign too, and if he is noticing he is wet and telling you straight that is great. You will crack it - just don't put a nappy back on.

Sounds like S is doing brilliantly! I agree with neenz, just don't put nappies back on now.

I did think that it was a lot of wees - sometimes two or three in the space of 15 minutes or so which really caught me by surprise! Quite dribbly wees though, so maybe he was stopping himself? He had much bigger wees on his potty this afternoon.

Watching with interest KeepCalm, starting PT on Weds this week...

Spider - hope you feel 100% soon. Hope everyone looks after you well, incl MIL.

LOL at smelling like babies. I smell like baby - puke and milk! Good to hear Amber is doing well.

Soooo tired, my sis is coming from the UK in a fortnight and I am too shattered to think of anything for her to bring me over.

Day 2 update. S doesnt want to wear pants today. He doesn't like it when they get wet. He's asking for a nappy and keeps putting any pants I get out back in his drawer. Managed to bribe him on to the potty with bowl of choc buttons.

Keepcalm - s is doing really well! A bit of wanting nappies is normal. I'm a firm believer in using treats to reinforce things - it's a big deal for them to give up the ease of peeing whenever and he's probably a big frustrated.

Neenz- we're strict on mealtimes here. We all have to stay at the tables together and there's no toys otherwise it's straight to bed. F will occasionally act up and we put him in his bed and he always comes out in five minutes and participates. That being said, we do play games as a family while we are eating. the boys pretend to be invisible etc. It's great if they can learn to sit because then you can take them out for meals.

KeepCalm sorry not been able to post but have been reading your potty training posts!
There is a massive amount of wee on the first day. Loads, mostly on pants and the floor, IME!

4 days should be enough to get him ready for nursery - but give them loads and loads of pants and trousers.

Didn't get demands for nappies here - but Abdn says it's normal (and I guess it is).

Neenz mealtimes - we have issues here. There's only one (and usually I don't have backup), and I've been giving in a fair bit. He wants telly, or refuses to eat. He doesn't get alternatives if he won't eat the main (but today, eg, he got yoghurt because he's not too well today). But sometimes he's just lovely, sits in his chair, eats his food etc. Breakfast and lunch is fine, it's just suppertime usually. If we're at my parents and he's refusing to sit in his chair/eat etc he sometimes climbs out, and just gets ignored, no toys or anything. He has to wait for everyone to finish eating before getting any attention.

Maya, creme eggs surely ? I've never lived abroad so not really sure what things you would miss. Brits abroad always seem to say that the tea/chocolate/crisps/snacks aren't the same. Do you like sleb/gossip mags? Maybe some UK ones? M&S percy pigs?

Day 2 of potty training going well. No accidents so far. I'm amazed at the difference between yesterday and today. We're still encouraging him to go on the potty very regularly - maybe every 20-30 mins, but I think he's only had 3 wees today unlike the frequent dribbles of yesterday. Treats have done the trick re: getting him to go on the potty and wear pants - he's stopped asking for his nappy now.

Sorry, I'm turning into a potty training bore! I'm sure all of you who have already done it managed to do so without posting a blow-by-blow account .

Haha no I recall I posted a blow by blow account too keepcalm! He is doing really well. Reminding him every 30mins good idea. Mine never asked for nappies but I would have just said no you don't wear nappies now. You're doing great.

Teatime is the worst meal for us too. Usually cos they don't like what's on offer. But they are getting much better at trying new things. Esther had quinoa and broccoli for tea, Theo had just spaghetti hoops . They rejected the veggie sausages (again). But they were pretty well behaved so not too stressful tonight. There was a piece of broccoli left over so I gave it to daniel and he demolished it! The twins were never this good with finger food. So I gave him a big piece of pear too and he had a right good go at that. It is a lot easier to just give him a bit of what everyone else is having ie blw. I am still spoonfeeding him the sweet potato tho of course! He woke at 12 and 5 last night having slept thru the previous two nights but fingers crossed for tonight.

Abdn, good to know you are strict with mealtimes. What do you do if they want to get down from the table almost straight away?

Lol at neenz turning into a BLW convert!

spider, big sympathies on the mastitis - had it with M and it was just hideous. Hope you're being well supported and P is being ok.

Finding all the potty training chat v helpful - have read the GF book and will be binning the nappies for A a week tomorrow (half term). I had a v funny chat with my mum last week about PT and stressing that A "wasn't ready". She just gave me a look and said that when she was doing PT they didn't wait for the kids to be ready they just did it when it suited them! My twin brothers were both fully PT two months after their second birthday so it obviously worked for her .

I do think perhaps we can all be guilty of over-analysing parenting decisions nowadays because we are simply bombarded with too much conflicting and confusing information. What do you think?

Oh and A is in a bed now - and doing really well . Had a couple of difficult nights but he's now sleeping 8 til 8 ! Unfortunately M is still waking by 6am but we're not expecting miracles with him!

M is doing really well except the sleep - he's walking much more confidently now and has loads of words already, which is such a relief after all the stress we had with A's speech.

Hope all well with everyone else .

Neenz and blw!!!! Love it! I think it's the whatever suits aecond time approach though.

Neenz, the option is stay in bed or eat nicely (while we play games though - it's not like we're forcing them into little grown ups). We're pretty strict sometimes I think and both boys know that we won't give in once we've drawn the line. We'd put toys in the time out closet if they acted up further. But I think it's the precedent thing. We're really struggling at the moment getting ds1 to sit nicely and listen to the childrens talk at church. I think it's because when he was younger we
just let him goof around at our feet quietly. Now he thinks that's acceptable. So even though they're good at dinner, there's always issues.

at Neenz the newly converted BLWer!

Great news on the sleep Knitting. I'm glad A has taken well to his bed, I was wondering how he was getting on. I think the internet is both a curse and a blessing. It's brilliant having access to so much information but it can confuddle you at the same time. Parenting has moved on a lot since our parents generation (sugary rusks in a bottle with the teat cut open anyone? ), but that doesn't mean we still can't learn lots of invaluable stuff from them either.

Ok, so back on the potty training (sorry!) - any tips on what to expect/how to approach day 3? DH will be home alone with S, so I'd like to give him a few pointers. How often should we be encouraging S to go on the potty? How quickly after drinks/mealtimes is it good to get them to go on? How long to leave him on if he's not had a wee? I know they're all different obv, but any pointers welcome!

I guess at this stage S is just learning a bit of bladder control, but when do they normally start letting you know when they need to go? I don't want to have any unrealistic expectations!

I was having a look at the potty threads earlier, and was a bit at the price of some potties! We've gone with a cheapy Boots one which seems to do the job for now. Is it worth getting one of those pricey travel potties for out and about do you think?

Apologies again for going on about potty training so much!