The kid thread: Planning, pregnancy & parenting

[steph08]

We have a little potty, plus one that goes on the actual toilet. They are used about half and half, sometimes with a little balancing on the side thrown in. haha!

That's for Chloe - Harper just uses the big potty now (50/50 seat/balancing). 

The little potty was good for Harper because she was a little afraid at first of her poop leaving her body not contained in a diaper! haha! I actually would put a diaper in the little potty to get her used to pooping on it! 

Chloe is doing well with potty training - I had to interrupt typing this because she had to poop! bahaha

[andi9899]

Aug 2, 2018 10:10:01 GMT -5 NomoreDramaQ1015 said:

We use the potty seat for the regular toilet.  We don't have room in the bathroom to fit a potty chair and personally they make me gag.   ML insisted on trying one with Gwen but she never showed any interest she wanted to use "the big girl potty". 

Abby used the potty seat for about two minutes then decided she did not like it.   She prefers balancing on the edge of the toilet.   Whatever works.

Same! We had a potty seat, but I can't with those. Plus the girls were more interested in being big girls and using the regular toilet.

[chen35]

I’m 11 years older than my youngest brother, so I remember him potty training and using the little potty. So gross. Like Andi, I just can’t with that.

[taz157]

We used the seat cover thing on a regular toilet for Ir along with steps. We kept one in a bathroom on each floor of our house to make it easier for us.

[taz157]

Ir turns 7 on Sunday and she’s going to have 4 friends over. Hopefully they can play outside. (Weather looks good for it now.) We will have water balloons, sprinkler, and we already have a playground. I was thinking of getting an inflatable pool (my cousin had a small one but Ir loved it) and water guns.

Any other ideas?

[Sam_2.0]

THat sounds like a lot of fun, Taz! We did something similar for A's birthday last year. I let the kids tie-dye shirts and it was a big hit. I just got a couple packs of plain white boys under shirts and the dye kit from Michaels. There are some instructions for how to twist up the shirts to get different designs and that seemed to work out well.

[cael]

A Thomas potty seat! we have oval toilets so I'll have to find a seat that'll fit ovals.. and a step stool definitely. I need one of those so he can wash his hands at the sink too and maybe start brushing his teeth well/by himself someday Thanks for the advice! I'll probably just start with a seat on the toilet and skip the small potty.

I'm starting to think depending how he does over his first month or two in daycare, I may look into a speech eval for him. He says nothing clearly except mama and dada and is progressing with new words, but veeeery slowly and they're unrecognizable unless you know his 'language', lol. Lot of extra syllables and repetition of similar-sounding things in his words. Doesn't say any simple strings, except since I've been prompting him to say love you mama ("whoa-whoa-ma!"). One of my SIL's kids was in speech for a few years, and I remember her feeling badly she didn't notice earlier and get him started with it at a younger age, she felt he could've caught up quicker if he'd started a bit earlier. I don't want to delay too long if he could get a little help to start doing better with it. This shit is hard - figuring out the line between being over-concerned and not concerned enough..

[cael]

Aug 2, 2018 11:09:37 GMT -5 taz157 said:

Ir turns 7 on Sunday and she’s going to have 4 friends over. Hopefully they can play outside. (Weather looks good for it now.) We will have water balloons, sprinkler, and we already have a playground. I was thinking of getting an inflatable pool (my cousin had a small one but Ir loved it) and water guns.

Any other ideas?

Sounds fun! Are they too old for bubbles? Could get some of those things that make the giant bubbles!

[NomoreDramaQ1015]

How old is Ant?   From what I was told here they generally do not start therapy till around 4 or 5 unless your child has a diagnosed developmental issue such as autism.  I am sure if you shop around enough you could find someone but what I was told is that starting earlier can actually do more harm than good  because you interfere with normal development.

 Most parents don't catch it because we hear our kids every day and automatically translate.   Since we translate kids aren't in any rush to progress because why fix what isn't broken?  When he gets around other kids and has to compete to be understood his speech will likely explode.

Our speech therapist said that the majority of kids age out of speech by second grade no matter when they start.  "early detection" is only really beneficial if there are additional developmental issues.   Regular kids with speech issues are just fine starting in preschool or kindergarten.

[NomoreDramaQ1015]

And Abby just told me that she had a "big poop in her butt" but it's okay because it came out and she flushed it.   She also informed me that you cannot eat poop.   Thanks for the PSA kid.

[Sam_2.0]

HAHAHAH! Kids are awesome.

[raeoflyte]

Taz--we've done that most for of C's parties and it's been fun.  We add some squirt guns with the pool, and a bubble machine (just the little ones you get at the grocery store--although this might be the year I buy a big one.  I just love those things!)

[cktc]

I have a lot of friends doing Early Intervention for various reasons. I think the eval is free. You are in the MA area right?

www.mass.gov/orgs/early-intervention-division

[raeoflyte]

Aug 2, 2018 12:08:08 GMT -5 NomoreDramaQ1015 said:

How old is Ant?   From what I was told here they generally do not start therapy till around 4 or 5 unless your child has a diagnosed developmental issue such as autism.  I am sure if you shop around enough you could find someone but what I was told is that starting earlier can actually do more harm than good  because you interfere with normal development.

 Most parents don't catch it because we hear our kids every day and automatically translate.   Since we translate kids aren't in any rush to progress because why fix what isn't broken?  When he gets around other kids and has to compete to be understood his speech will likely explode.

Our speech therapist said that the majority of kids age out of speech by second grade no matter when they start.  "early detection" is only really beneficial if there are additional developmental issues.   Regular kids with speech issues are just fine starting in preschool or kindergarten.

The evals can be done earlier though so you have a better grasp if there are concerns.  We went through everything but the actual appointment with C and had definite concerns about his speech.  The question form had enough on it for me to realize we were still lucky with the minimal issues we were having, but if his language hadn't taken off the way it did we would have done the evaluation.  I have 0 exposure to little kids, and he wasn't in daycare so there was no normal to compare him to or professional to bounce things off of.  The pediatrician sees them for 20 minutes once a year and it's at that age when they know a shot could be coming so he sure as heck wasn't going to talk to her.  

I'd do the eval if you have concerns (assuming the child is 2.5 or older).  

[gs11rmb]

cael I'd do the evaluation.  You come across as the sort of mother who does not over-react and go into panic mode about what could potentially be 'wrong' with their kid.  Your instincts appear to be telling you that his speech isn't quite right.  Go ahead and have him evaluated.  If there are no delays then your fears will be put to rest.  If there is a problem then you can start him on the path of speech therapy.  

[cael]

Drama, yeah kids here get speech way younger than that if they need it, maybe we just have good/well funded EI programs? Ant's 2 now, I keep going back and forth on he's just slow and boys take longer etc., but then have been seeing a lot of friend's kids and other kids at his soon to be daycare who say simple sentences, or at least have more clear words. And cktc yep, we are, thanks!

I definitely think people jump to get EI for their kids when the issue may be like, mild or tentative? A girl I know has a girl Ant's age and a boy who's 1, and since her girl got an eval and has some other issues they're working with, they had the baby get one like a year ago when he was 9-10 months, and he qualified because they said he should've been saying mama by that age   which seems a little weird to me. And Rae, yeah Ant was screaming when we had his checkup in June so I barely was able to get two words into the doctor when he asked about his speech, so I have no idea what the doctor's thoughts on it would be. Ant only said more a few times for more stickers while we were there, otherwise he just screamed, ha. He doesn't have any other things we're concerned about at this point, just the speech.. I am going to give him a little time after starting daycare and see how he does before deciding. He starts in a week and a half big boy! He loves wearing his backpack lol..

[cael]

On a different note, I'm sitting here paralyzed by too much to do and no idea where to start. My boss's last day is a week from tomorrow, and I'm off his last two days here, which I can't change because I have out of town friends visiting. I get to be in charge until they hire someone and I'm surprised the panic hasn't set in yet. I have plenty of support, in other health directors from the surrounding towns, my board etc., but still. It might be great or it might be a disaster, and hopefully our board hires someone soon so I don't have to do this through October, which is always a shitshow here.  We have the special meeting tonight to appoint me so I won't be getting home until even later tonight, 8:30 earliest. Ant is at our friends' boat club today so he's living the life, eating hot dogs in his diaper and in and out of the kiddie pool they have, and I'm jealous, lol.

[lurkyloo]

In our state, early intervention goes by whether there is at least a 25% delay from average.  The evaluation probably isn’t a bad idea, it will either give you peace of mind or let you know that you should consider getting him some services.

Language isn’t a linear thing though-it’s commonly referred to as an explosion which is pretty accurate.  DS had about 20 words at 2 (if you count moo and neigh, lol)  but several hundred at 2.5.  Typically you worry if the child isn’t forming two word phrases by 2.5, I think?  DS wasn’t, so we scheduled the eval, and in the month it took for the appt to roll around he was suddenly up to 4 word sentences.

Wasn’t Ant the really terrible sleeper?  I’m a firm believer that crappy sleepers tend to be at the late end of the development curve.  

[Chocolate Lover]

Aug 1, 2018 20:07:05 GMT -5 steph08 said:

Aug 1, 2018 16:42:57 GMT -5 minnesotapaintlady said:

Older son had that.  He wasn't sick from it though, but he had the brightest red cheeks for quite a while. 

No, that is fifths disease.

Roseola is a high fever and general fussiness, once that goes away, the kid breaks out in a spotted rash on their torso/back that doesn't seem to bother them.

Kids are weird.

That's it! Such a weird name for a rash. I'm glad someone remembered what it was called.

[Chocolate Lover]

Aug 2, 2018 6:40:02 GMT -5 Lizard Queen said:

Aug 1, 2018 21:22:03 GMT -5 justme said:

I'm not on meds, but my therapist diagnosed me (about a year in he asked me if I ever thought I was add and I had to calm down from laughing to say I've been saying that for 15+ years and everyone said I was crazy). I suppose I'd have to go to a psychiatrist or talk to my primary care if I wanted drugs for it. Frankly, my only real problem from it is cleaning (I suck at it and it somehow takes all my add stuff that works great in other areas to almost debilitating). I've never asked if it's something you can take as needed or not... it'd be nice to take a pill some Saturday and knock out the shit I suck at.

My therapist mentioned a Ted talk about it that was really great. I still need to watch it.

Eta I've chatted with him a bit about it and it seems add presents differently in females.... and not just the lack of hyperactivity. So it goes undiagnosed a lot. Especially since it's one of those spectrums that's not the same for everyone.

Do you know what things lead your therapist to that?  I mentioned to my DH last night that I might be, and he said no way. I wouldn't be able to do pixel art like I've been doing, if I was. I think he's wrong. The pixel art keeps me occupied, and distracts me from other stuff that I should be doing instead.

Just an FYI, my poster child for ADHD can focus like crazy on things he finds interesting. I know others have covered it all (and I LOVE Hallowell's list) but anyway.... 

My mom always describes her ADD as "I go to make the bed and remember halfway through that the clothes need to go in the dryer and go do that then I see something else to do and do that and all the way through the day until I go to get in bed and it's still only half made". (She had more stuff in her example, but she can't even eat a whole meal without getting up 16 times to do something so she won't forget to do it.)

[Knee Deep in Water Chloe]

Jul 31, 2018 23:02:22 GMT -5 Sam_2.0 said:

My Molly Bear for Aubree came today. Her birthday is 2 weeks away. I am a fucking mess. I put it off all day while at work, but have been ugly crying for the last 2 hours. I cant open it yet. But I really want to. I just hold the box. 4.5 lbs is heavy.

Hugs. Which aren't ever going to be enough, but it's all I have. 

[Knee Deep in Water Chloe]

Aug 2, 2018 13:27:51 GMT -5 cael said:

On a different note, I'm sitting here paralyzed by too much to do and no idea where to start. My boss's last day is a week from tomorrow, and I'm off his last two days here, which I can't change because I have out of town friends visiting. I get to be in charge until they hire someone and I'm surprised the panic hasn't set in yet. I have plenty of support, in other health directors from the surrounding towns, my board etc., but still. It might be great or it might be a disaster, and hopefully our board hires someone soon so I don't have to do this through October, which is always a shitshow here.  We have the special meeting tonight to appoint me so I won't be getting home until even later tonight, 8:30 earliest. Ant is at our friends' boat club today so he's living the life, eating hot dogs in his diaper and in and out of the kiddie pool they have, and I'm jealous, lol.

Do you want the job permanently? 
Are they compensating for the interim role?

[cael]

Aug 2, 2018 14:35:33 GMT -5 Knee Deep in Water Chloe said:

Aug 2, 2018 13:27:51 GMT -5 cael said:

On a different note, I'm sitting here paralyzed by too much to do and no idea where to start. My boss's last day is a week from tomorrow, and I'm off his last two days here, which I can't change because I have out of town friends visiting. I get to be in charge until they hire someone and I'm surprised the panic hasn't set in yet. I have plenty of support, in other health directors from the surrounding towns, my board etc., but still. It might be great or it might be a disaster, and hopefully our board hires someone soon so I don't have to do this through October, which is always a shitshow here.  We have the special meeting tonight to appoint me so I won't be getting home until even later tonight, 8:30 earliest. Ant is at our friends' boat club today so he's living the life, eating hot dogs in his diaper and in and out of the kiddie pool they have, and I'm jealous, lol.

Do you want the job permanently? 
Are they compensating for the interim role?

Nope lol, and luckily yes, since I'm in a union. My board chair actually wanted to be sure I didn't get screwed out of the out of grade pay, so that's good.

We have a former coworker, who only left because he had nowhere to move up to here, who is hoping to get the position and be able to come back. Board chair seems enthusiastic about the idea and we're all dying at the possibility of getting the ol' band back together, so fingers crossed that works out for all of us. Obviously they're under no obligation to hire him, but I think we can make a good case for his experience here and relationships he already has being a huge plus. We had a lot of problems when my boss first started but things have gotten much better, so even though I'm happier at the possibility of our other guy coming back, I will miss my boss. He said he's only a call away if I need help too so that's good.

[Sam_2.0]

Aug 2, 2018 6:40:02 GMT -5 Lizard Queen said:

Aug 1, 2018 21:22:03 GMT -5 justme said:

I'm not on meds, but my therapist diagnosed me (about a year in he asked me if I ever thought I was add and I had to calm down from laughing to say I've been saying that for 15+ years and everyone said I was crazy). I suppose I'd have to go to a psychiatrist or talk to my primary care if I wanted drugs for it. Frankly, my only real problem from it is cleaning (I suck at it and it somehow takes all my add stuff that works great in other areas to almost debilitating). I've never asked if it's something you can take as needed or not... it'd be nice to take a pill some Saturday and knock out the shit I suck at.

My therapist mentioned a Ted talk about it that was really great. I still need to watch it.

Eta I've chatted with him a bit about it and it seems add presents differently in females.... and not just the lack of hyperactivity. So it goes undiagnosed a lot. Especially since it's one of those spectrums that's not the same for everyone.

Do you know what things lead your therapist to that?  I mentioned to my DH last night that I might be, and he said no way. I wouldn't be able to do pixel art like I've been doing, if I was. I think he's wrong. The pixel art keeps me occupied, and distracts me from other stuff that I should be doing instead.

And...now thanks to you...I have this app and I have been thoroughly distracted from work today

[andi9899]

Aug 2, 2018 12:08:08 GMT -5 NomoreDramaQ1015 said:

How old is Ant?   From what I was told here they generally do not start therapy till around 4 or 5 unless your child has a diagnosed developmental issue such as autism.  I am sure if you shop around enough you could find someone but what I was told is that starting earlier can actually do more harm than good  because you interfere with normal development.

 Most parents don't catch it because we hear our kids every day and automatically translate.   Since we translate kids aren't in any rush to progress because why fix what isn't broken?  When he gets around other kids and has to compete to be understood his speech will likely explode.

Our speech therapist said that the majority of kids age out of speech by second grade no matter when they start.  "early detection" is only really beneficial if there are additional developmental issues.   Regular kids with speech issues are just fine starting in preschool or kindergarten.

My niece was like this for the longest time. She was 3 to 4 before she actually started talking. She didn't even really speak much gibberish little kids do. Once she did start talking, the floodgates opened and she hasn't shut up since! My dad always just said she didn't have anything to say before.

[NastyWoman]

Aug 2, 2018 11:48:54 GMT -5 cael said:

A Thomas potty seat! we have oval toilets so I'll have to find a seat that'll fit ovals.. and a step stool definitely. I need one of those so he can wash his hands at the sink too and maybe start brushing his teeth well/by himself someday Thanks for the advice! I'll probably just start with a seat on the toilet and skip the small potty.

I'm starting to think depending how he does over his first month or two in daycare, I may look into a speech eval for him. He says nothing clearly except mama and dada and is progressing with new words, but veeeery slowly and they're unrecognizable unless you know his 'language', lol. Lot of extra syllables and repetition of similar-sounding things in his words. Doesn't say any simple strings, except since I've been prompting him to say love you mama ("whoa-whoa-ma!"). One of my SIL's kids was in speech for a few years, and I remember her feeling badly she didn't notice earlier and get him started with it at a younger age, she felt he could've caught up quicker if he'd started a bit earlier. I don't want to delay too long if he could get a little help to start doing better with it. This shit is hard - figuring out the line between being over-concerned and not concerned enough..

I have this (and an oval seat as well on my toilet):

www.amazon.com/Fisher-Price-Thomas-Friends-Clean-Potty/dp/B00F2MQ5SM/ref=sr_1_2_a_it?ie=UTF8&qid=1533244007&sr=8-2&keywords=potty+seat+thomas+the+train

There is also a Thomas stool to go with it, which I don't have. But if my sons were still that young I might have gotten that as well...

[cael]

Aug 2, 2018 16:09:07 GMT -5 NastyWoman said:

Aug 2, 2018 11:48:54 GMT -5 cael said:

A Thomas potty seat! we have oval toilets so I'll have to find a seat that'll fit ovals.. and a step stool definitely. I need one of those so he can wash his hands at the sink too and maybe start brushing his teeth well/by himself someday Thanks for the advice! I'll probably just start with a seat on the toilet and skip the small potty.

I'm starting to think depending how he does over his first month or two in daycare, I may look into a speech eval for him. He says nothing clearly except mama and dada and is progressing with new words, but veeeery slowly and they're unrecognizable unless you know his 'language', lol. Lot of extra syllables and repetition of similar-sounding things in his words. Doesn't say any simple strings, except since I've been prompting him to say love you mama ("whoa-whoa-ma!"). One of my SIL's kids was in speech for a few years, and I remember her feeling badly she didn't notice earlier and get him started with it at a younger age, she felt he could've caught up quicker if he'd started a bit earlier. I don't want to delay too long if he could get a little help to start doing better with it. This shit is hard - figuring out the line between being over-concerned and not concerned enough..

I have this (and an oval seat as well on my toilet):

www.amazon.com/Fisher-Price-Thomas-Friends-Clean-Potty/dp/B00F2MQ5SM/ref=sr_1_2_a_it?ie=UTF8&qid=1533244007&sr=8-2&keywords=potty+seat+thomas+the+train

There is also a Thomas stool to go with it, which I don't have. But if my sons were still that young I might have gotten that as well...

You have this same one, and it fits your oval toilet?! I will probably be purchasing this shortly then

[NastyWoman]

cael → yes. There is some sort of little insert that you need to remove (very easy. I did it and I am clumsy) but then it fits an oval seat. If you leave it in it fits a round seat

[cael]

That is great, thanks so much!

[Lizard Queen]

Aug 2, 2018 14:56:24 GMT -5 Sam_2.0 said:

Aug 2, 2018 6:40:02 GMT -5 Lizard Queen said:

Do you know what things lead your therapist to that?  I mentioned to my DH last night that I might be, and he said no way. I wouldn't be able to do pixel art like I've been doing, if I was. I think he's wrong. The pixel art keeps me occupied, and distracts me from other stuff that I should be doing instead.

And...now thanks to you...I have this app and I have been thoroughly distracted from work today

Lol, my kids do that to me with these apps.