Oct 08 - It's all about weeeeee!!! Hopefully in potties but who knows!

[50ftQueenie]

Hello! It's me. I thought I'd start a thread which is VERY cheeky for someone who's not been around for AGES!

That's a lot of smoothie star! Am I unusual to worry about the sugar content in that? I only let my lot have one smoothie OR cup/carton of juice a day, except if we're at a party. I bet you make your smoothies yourself don't you? Do they contain a lot of banana? If so, I would try missing it out for a couple of weeks and see if it makes a difference.
And I would definitely offer more water instead of at least one of the smoothies.
Ds1 has 2 breastfeeds a day (no idea of volume obv), an innocent smoothie carton with breakfast, and then generally squash throughout the day (I'd prefer it if he had water, but he doesn't seem to like it so goes thirsty instead and then catches up once I offer squash!).

DD likes water too, often she'll ask for that over squash, and the sleight of hand I use to minimise the nesquik has been honed over years they love mixing it.
Cartons are very popular too, i tend to do fruit puree stuff more as a pudding instead of a smoothie so the drink of water/squash is extra to the fruit IFSWIM.

csws it's either a home made smoothie or one of the innocent smoothies (the ones in the tube) so those don't have added sugar. But I take the point that fruit has a lot of sugar... he does eat loads of fruit.
The ones I make at home don't have a lot of banana. I often put veg in as well to home made smoothies (sometimes I make juices also with fruit and veg and dilute them).

BUT, he does eat a banana most days... I'll try cutting bananas out if that will help.

Q likes water and will drink it when he's thirsty with the same interest and vigour as diluted juice or milk... he just doesn't drink a lot.

I'm still too precious to give Q squash
aspartame fears
I know the day will come...
I give Q a mixed fruit salad as his dessert ("pudding") most nights because he asks for it. Maybe he has too much fruit. ugh
What do I substitute and give him instead of fruit if that's the problem? He'll still be hungry.

Oh I'd still give him fruit freely star, just not so much as smoothies. I only meant natural fruit sugar, but it really mounts up in a smoothie because they take so much fruit and are so easily drinkable!

Just try cutting back on the bananas for a bit and see if it helps.
And I don't buy squash with aspartame :). Dh goes most weeks to Asda specifically to buy their diet lemonade for me as it doesn't contain aspartame. The only drink that I knowingly have aspartame in is diet caffeine free coke, because the only alternative I found was the asda one which I didn't like (or I couldn't find caffeine free - can't quite remember).

What is the squash without artificial sweetener? Very interested (for myself :) ).
I see what you mean about smoothies as it's more fruit at once. I'll give him just one per day instead of 2. They are the small little innocent brand tubes that look like the packaging that those frube things come in, so not a lot anyway. And of my home made smoothie I'd say he has 2/3 cup. But that's a mix if fruit and veg.

I've investigated. Unfortunately I'm just as unhappy with sucralose and saccharin as they have just as much evidence against them as aspartame. I am an artificial additives snob it seems. I know Q will someday inject all of these into his body... But for now, he'll eat like me.

Is there a squash with no artificial sweetener? I would love that as it's cheap. And need to save money! :)

star as you outed yourself first, i'll also admit that i'm still pfb about F having squash but I do believe Rocks Organic is sweetener-free but not cheap.

eg http://www.rocksorganic.com/index.asp?section=Products&ID=75

Brilliant cake - it uses organic sugar and no sweeteners. But as it's expensive, Defeats the point for me.
I just don't like the idea of artificial sweeteners (aspartame,sucralose, any other fancy words they use for it) I'd rather he have sugar if I had to make a choice.

Star I give Emma very dilute carton fruit juice (about 5 or 10:1 water:juice)... tastes a bit rank to me as its so dilute but she doesn't know any better and it does encourage her to drink

not sure on the cost front, but i am a bit funny about additives (couldn't give a monkley's about me funnily enough... just not the kids). Was at a 3rd birthday party the other week and there were fruitshoots on the tables (the clear ones with aspartame in them) and i was literally chasing emma round with a bottle of dilute juice while she was minesweeping all the other toddlers' fruitshoots

the other thing i do is put drinks into as fruitshoot style bottle, Emma loves drinking out of those (sainsbury's do 'kids' water in little bottles so i just bought some a re-fill them)

and re-fill

Yes I do diluted juice (and have given a carton when out) but make sure that nothing I buy for Q has any artificial sweeteners or additives. If he has some when he's at a party or wherever, I try like you Ksal, to give him something without poison better, but I'm ok with it if he has it once per year if it does happen. Also like you, Ksal, I'm not as bothered about it with my own diet. I tend to stay away from sweeteners and additives as a rule, but I'm not fussed if I eat something with crap in it as I would be for Q.

I've tried getting Q to drink more this morning already. But it's not working. He is truly not bothered if it's water or diluted juice or milk or whatever liquid flavour it is. He just drinks when he wants to and I'm just not convinced that it's enough . Not sure how to get him to drink more.

Well I think all of your dc's are doing well with their drinking as I have a stubborn child who will only drink milk and a mininimal water. He refuses milk out of a cup and so still has 3 bottles a day. I'm aware this is developmentally wrong and a bit but he hardly drinks any water so if I took away the bottles would be drinking hardly anything. Sometimes I stress about his addiciton to a bottle but mostly I just think he will drop them when he is ready, or when I am more able to have a rational conversation with him about it.

Surprisingly he got a sticker at Nursery yesterday for having milk out of a cup but when I said he could try at home he said "we don't have blue cups". I think the bottle is a comfort thing really.

So HP I share you angst. In between milk which is given early morning, mid afternoon before a nap and bedtime I have to bribe, make a game, force J to have some water. I have tried squash/real fruit juice and in despereration to widen his fluid exposure diet lemonade. All is met with a firm "I don't like it" without even tasting it

With regards to the poo though J's are mainly solid and he seems to go quite easily so I can't really help there.

Back at work this week and am on day off today but working Am going back full time in Sept, not really my choice but stupidly said I would when negotiating 4 days again last year, and I atually think it would be easier to be there 5 days as I always seem to be cramming things in on my day off.

Sorry am grumpy girl old lady today!

Waitrose hi juice star. Don't think it has sweeteners.

Just checked and I'm right :).

PP at "we don't have blue cups". I'd put out an array of shades of blue for him to choose from the next day . Then nursery will have given him a red one!

Q doesn't drink that much milk - only has it in the mornings. And he does drink water with meals and at night, so I guess it could be worse!

PP, I will now stop complaining because your situation sounds much more difficult. Do you think that once the bottles are all taken away that he will have other drinks? Does he take water in a bottle?

It all looks good except for the potassium sorbate and sodium metabisulphite. I told you I'm precious about this stuff with Q. But that's a good one to know. I might try it myself! And yes, I know that he will probably someday have loads of it and there will be nothing that I can do.

Thank goodness for Innocent. And, is it "Feel Good" juice? or "good juice" can't remember what it is ... but was on sale recently and no additives.

No, actually, sometimes Q has a half of a small cup of milk after dinner, actually. But that's usually oatmilk. Could oatmilk be causing the odd poo? He also has porridge a lot. Maybe I'll try different breakfasts.

He really struggled and cried over a poo last night. Tears streaming down his face every time he poos I just feel so awful for him. :(

HP I don't worry too much to be honest as his milk intake is high so he is getting a lot of fluid that way. J is a very strongwilled child, he refused puree and blw himself in his own time pretty much, ignored any attempts at potty training until he was ready and was then dry in about 4 days. I am hoping that either he will decide that he is too big for bottles and accept milk or more water or something from a cup or that within the next few months I can wean him off bottles with a cunning story I've stolen from a friend about baby foxes (we have a lot round here) needing his bottles.

Actually what will probably happen is he will go off bottles of milk and straight onto fruitshoots or red bull I love my baby boy to pieces but I sometimes look in his eyes and see that many battles of wills lay ahead.

The crying when pooing is horrible though, are your health visitors any use? If so maybe they would have some hints and tips.

Oh and he will only have water out of a cup, never a bottle. Slight OCD too I think! Not that I want him to have anything else out of a bottle!

Oat milk had the opposite effect on F funnily enough star but it def sounds worth trying to cut out

Can I ask you all about sleep please? F's driving me up the wall right now:

Does your toddler still nap? If so how long for and at what time?

How much sleep at night and from when til when?

Do they wake up night?

How easily do they go down to sleep?

My answers:

Does your toddler still nap? If so how long for and at what time?
Yes, from 12 til 1-2. A bit later at nursery but usually a shorter nap.

How much sleep at night and from when til when?
About 7.45pm til 7amish up until recently when he's taken to waking at 6am or even earlier, often to do a poo :(

Sometimes he will go back to sleep again til 7am (with the aid of the trusty groclock)

Do they wake up night?
Until a month or two ago, F used to come in our bed at some point in the night. We got him out of the habit using a sticker chart and now he either sleeps thru or wakes up and comes into us but we can settle him back to sleep in his bed quickly.

How easily do they go down to sleep?
Naps are a disaster now, it's like a battle of wills but the fact he'll often then sleep for 2 hours suggests he needs it. I've got A napping at the the same time so I'm loathe to drop F's before I absolutely have to! At night, he's much less willful but sometimes takes a while to drop off. Annoyingly dh gets into the habit of sitting in his room (by the door not the bed) til he drops off so he can be up there ages. Dh is harder to train than F.

star - you could try freezing diluted juice into lolly moulds, that's both sneaky and exciting
cakes
re sleep, DD dropped her nap quite recently but every now and again will sleep for 2 hours - usually at nursery, i don't bother to put her down at home any more during the day. Sometimes we have "quiet time" with CBeebies early afternoon.
She goes down same time as the boys so normally so 7.30/7.45ish. She sleeps till 6.30/7 but entertains herself till I go in just before 8. She's in a cot so can't escape though
She does not wake during the night when healthy.
They all know the Rule.
No-one disturbs Mummy at night unless they are vomiting or bleeding.

i have just got back from the dentist. Horrid time. I'm typing like thish ash only one shide of mouth awake....

ouch pepper hope it feels better soon.

i like your Rule , i'm too ruddy soft, i know it.

Did you drop the nap because it was too hard to get her down?