Questions 12/4

[Susie]

I have a few, all relating to toddler transitions:

1.  Childproofing products.  I need a few things to step up our childproofing game in Hobbes' room.  I can find them all on Amazon, I know, but if you have any preferences on brand for any of them, please let me know?
- Door knob covers
- Outlet covers for outlets you need to use (e.g. where the monitor is plugged in)
- Latches for keeping dresser drawers closed/no climbing

2.  Pajama stripping.  I've mentioned before that our 2 year old Houdini now strips out of her one piece jammies and diaper in her crib every morning when she wakes up, which she is doing earlier and earlier.  It's really making it hard to get ready for work myself.  We've tried backwards jammies, and she wriggles out without undoing the zipper at all.  I'm thinking about layering a shirt with a less stretchy neckline over the jammies.  Thoughts?

3.  Potty training timing/help.  I am getting really frustrated with the current phase.  She's in a diaper full time, asks to sit on the potty frequently, and although she used to go on the potty successfully, she now almost never does.  She jumps down immediately after sitting on the potty, so she's not really even trying.  We've tried using the potty on demand and at routine times, and books (usually a winner with her) to keep her there a little longer.  No dice on any of it.

It seems like maybe she isn't ready, which is fine.  She just turned 2, she doesn't have to do it now.  But if she isn't going to start potty training yet, I am already SO OVER sitting on the bathroom floor and juggling her back into diapers after 2 second potty sits.  We've been doing it for months already.  And the "potty!" demands that invariably happen when she is covered with food mid-dinner are driving me crazy, especially since they're usually fruitless.

Over the summer she was peeing on the potty a lot more frequently, and she has pooped on the potty a couple times at daycare.  At the same time that we are backsliding on successes, we seem to be increasing the urgency and frequency with which she demands (2 second) potty visits.  Also while she is making no progress on potty use, she's trying to dress without her diaper.  She pulls her pants up before I can get the diaper back on in the bathroom, which is a pain.  There's the diaper stripping in the crib.  She verbalizes (from watching older kids at daycare) that she wants to wear pull-ups/underwear, but I don't think she grasps what it all means.  How do we manage this until she's more ready?  (Or is she more ready than I think?)

[linz]

Dumb question but once your kids are potty trained, do they wear underwear to bed (once they stay dry overnight)?  And if so do you put new underwear on before bed or when they wake up? 

My twins wear a pull up to bed only but have been dry for a long time so I'm ready to not buy anymore. 

[dcn]

Dec 4, 2017 10:20:06 GMT -5 linz said:

Dumb question but once your kids are potty trained, do they wear underwear to bed (once they stay dry overnight)?  And if so do you put new underwear on before bed or when they wake up? 

My twins wear a pull up to bed only but have been dry for a long time so I'm ready to not buy anymore. 

He puts a clean pair on after his bath/shower. He sometimes puts a clean pair on again in the morning when he gets dressed. Which is fine with me bc he’s getting dressed himself. On the random nights he doesn’t take a bath I make sure he puts a clean pair on in the morning.

[mswax]

DS2 had quite a few "false starts" potty training. I'm lazy, so if they have more than a few accidents for more than a few days, I say they are not ready. He also REALLY wanted to wear underwear. We compromised with undies OVER the diaper after PT'ing attempt #2 failed. That seemed to satisfy him.

For the record, attempt #3 shortly before he turned 3 was the winner.

[starryfish]

How was the transition from 1 to 2 children? I have heard from coworkers that its easier going from 1-2 kids than 0-1. We have a pretty easy baby but now she is mobile its getting harder for us to watch her and we can't babyproof everything (can't use a lot of baby gates bc we have an open layout). She also wants me to sit down and play with her instead of her playing by herself (she is almost 1). It is REALLY hard to get anything done around the house anymore. So I am struggling and OMG all i think about is how much harder it will be with a baby and a toddler. So my question is....will it get better? Once she is older and can self play better or for longer periods of time?

[mbcdefg]

Daycare holiday gift question:

My plan for a holiday thank you gift for DD's daycare teachers is to bring in a bag of fresh bagels and a box of coffee one morning when I drop her off, for all the teachers to share. I think that's enough but I'm undecided if I also want to do small gift cards or scratch-off lotto tickets for her specific teachers.

DD has five teachers who are always in the infant room (their days/times rotate). The director and assistant director often step in as floaters. One of the toddler teachers, Miss A, was the infant floater at drop-off every day in Sept/Oct, but lately she hasn't been in the infant room.

So ... if I were to do gift cards/scratchers, who gets them? Just the regular teachers? What about Miss A? The director/asst. director?

I don't have a big budget. I was thinking either a $5 gift card per person for Target or coffee, or a $2/$3 scratch-off ticket. Which do you think would be better? The lotto tix would be better for my budget but I feel like that's just throwing money away so a gc would probably be more useful ... but would a $5 gc even be worth it? I could potentially stretch it to $10pp.

[scm1011]

mbcdefg, I think a gift card would be better, and a $5 gift card is absolutely worth it! Give what you can afford. We're giving to the group gift (our daycare requests cash that can be evenly distributed, that way floaters don't get left out) and then small gift cards with notes to his 2 main teachers, because I loooove them.

My Q, am I overreacting to this daycare scenario? Daycare opens at 7am, which is a big reason we chose it (we both work early hours). Since we began in March, there have been probably 20 times someone hasn't been there at 7am to open (say 10+ minutes late). Today DH and DS waited out in the cold for 30 minutes (we're walkers). Last week there was a day where it was 25 minutes. DH is a teacher and him getting in late means his 6th graders are unattended, getting him in trouble at work. The issue almost always coincides with subway troubles (opener takes the T, as do we). The directors response has mostly been, "the T man, amirite?". Yes, the T is very unreliable, but I feel like there should be a better system in place for this inevitably frequent occurrence. I shouldn't accept this, right?

[Susie]

scm1011 , no, that's not a good enough response from the director.

If you were 10 minutes late, 25 minutes late to pick up, how much would they charge you? I would ask for a discount in that amount, see if that prompts some movement. I mean, is their time at the end of the day more valuable than yours at the beginning? No.

[starryfish]

scm1011 , ummm yea no that is NOT acceptable. I would be LIVID. They need to be there early so they can be ready to open the doors at 7am. I know most places "fine" parents for being late with pickup, so I would expect some type of equal credit to that. I would tell then its unacceptable for them to be late opening since your DH cannot be late for work.

[mbcdefg]

Dec 4, 2017 11:19:57 GMT -5 scm1011 said:

mbcdefg , I think a gift card would be better, and a $5 gift card is absolutely worth it! Give what you can afford. We're giving to the group gift (our daycare requests cash that can be evenly distributed, that way floaters don't get left out) and then small gift cards with notes to his 2 main teachers, because I loooove them.

My Q, am I overreacting to this daycare scenario? Daycare opens at 7am, which is a big reason we chose it (we both work early hours). Since we began in March, there have been probably 20 times someone hasn't been there at 7am to open (say 10+ minutes late). Today DH and DS waited out in the cold for 30 minutes (we're walkers). Last week there was a day where it was 25 minutes. DH is a teacher and him getting in late means his 6th graders are unattended, getting him in trouble at work. The issue almost always coincides with subway troubles (opener takes the T, as do we). The directors response has mostly been, "the T man, amirite?". Yes, the T is very unreliable, but I feel like there should be a better system in place for this inevitably frequent occurrence. I shouldn't accept this, right?

Thanks - glad to hear that $5 would be good. IDK if the other parents are planning anything ... if I knew them better I'd reach out to ask about chipping in as a group, but I don't know most of them well/at all so I'd feel weird talking about money with them. 

Re: daycare, you're not overreacting at all. 25-30 minutes late is absolutely unacceptable, especially since you have to wait out in the cold. 5 minutes here and there is one thing, but you can't jeopardize your jobs just because they're taking their sweet time showing up. I get that the subway/traffic can be an issue but in that case they need to make other arrangements. I would push the issue and remind them that you specifically chose them because they promised they could accommodate you at 7 a.m. (ETA: and ditto those who suggested bringing up payment/asking them if they'd charge you a late pickup fee)

[scm1011]

Susie, I'm exaggerating a bit, the director has been apologetic, but has cited the T as the reason, has offered little in way of a back-up plan, and it keeps happening. They charge $1 a minute for late pick-up, maybe asking for a like discount would spark some change. Good idea.

[janegold]

Dec 4, 2017 10:13:33 GMT -5 Susie said:

- Outlet covers for outlets you need to use (e.g. where the monitor is plugged in)

We have these; we're happy with them: www.amazon.com/gp/product/B011WLTCHW/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o01_s01?ie=UTF8&psc=1 


scm1011, so completely unacceptable, especially so frequently.  Time to make waves.  

[dcn]

scm1011 what! No. Ours opens at 5:45 and there’s just no way they could be late. People rely on them being there. Unacceptable.

[dcn]

Dec 4, 2017 10:40:17 GMT -5 starryfish said:

How was the transition from 1 to 2 children? I have heard from coworkers that its easier going from 1-2 kids than 0-1. We have a pretty easy baby but now she is mobile its getting harder for us to watch her and we can't babyproof everything (can't use a lot of baby gates bc we have an open layout). She also wants me to sit down and play with her instead of her playing by herself (she is almost 1). It is REALLY hard to get anything done around the house anymore. So I am struggling and OMG all i think about is how much harder it will be with a baby and a toddler. So my question is....will it get better? Once she is older and can self play better or for longer periods of time?

Um well it wasn’t the easiest transition but for us it was better than going from 0-1 bc we at least had an idea of what to expect, knew everything was a phase and temporary etc.

I wouldn’t count on getting things done around the house at first that’s for sure. When ds2 was a newborn if I fed everyone and ran the dishwasher it was a good day. We were definitely in survival mode for awhile.

[starryfish]

Dec 4, 2017 11:44:06 GMT -5 dcn said:

Dec 4, 2017 10:40:17 GMT -5 starryfish said:

How was the transition from 1 to 2 children? I have heard from coworkers that its easier going from 1-2 kids than 0-1. We have a pretty easy baby but now she is mobile its getting harder for us to watch her and we can't babyproof everything (can't use a lot of baby gates bc we have an open layout). She also wants me to sit down and play with her instead of her playing by herself (she is almost 1). It is REALLY hard to get anything done around the house anymore. So I am struggling and OMG all i think about is how much harder it will be with a baby and a toddler. So my question is....will it get better? Once she is older and can self play better or for longer periods of time?

Um well it wasn’t the easiest transition but for us it was better than going from 0-1 bc we at least had an idea of what to expect, knew everything was a phase and temporary etc.

I wouldn’t count on getting things done around the house at first that’s for sure. When ds2 was a newborn if I fed everyone and ran the dishwasher it was a good day. We were definitely in survival mode for awhile.

Thanks. I dont mind not getting stuff done in the beginning, just worried about long term. Right now we are able to get stuff done bc one person watches the baby and the other one does work around the house. I am worried when we have 2 children and its harder to get stuff done....Also financially daycare for 2 is $$$ and we would be able to do so much more if we just had 1 child.....We are both 80% sure we want a second, but that is decreasing each day....and we have IF to deal with again too....so its just tough all around. 

[dcn]

Dec 4, 2017 11:50:19 GMT -5 starryfish said:

Dec 4, 2017 11:44:06 GMT -5 dcn said:

Um well it wasn’t the easiest transition but for us it was better than going from 0-1 bc we at least had an idea of what to expect, knew everything was a phase and temporary etc.

I wouldn’t count on getting things done around the house at first that’s for sure. When ds2 was a newborn if I fed everyone and ran the dishwasher it was a good day. We were definitely in survival mode for awhile.

Thanks. I dont mind not getting stuff done in the beginning, just worried about long term. Right now we are able to get stuff done bc one person watches the baby and the other one does work around the house. I am worried when we have 2 children and its harder to get stuff done....Also financially daycare for 2 is $$$ and we would be able to do so much more if we just had 1 child.....We are both 80% sure we want a second, but that is decreasing each day....and we have IF to deal with again too....so its just tough all around. 

Yeah mine are 3 years apart bc anything closer than that was overwhelming for me to even consider. You figure it out and adapt somehow

[starryfish]

dcn, at age 2 or 3, are they able to play independently or at least not have to hover and watch them like a hawk compared to a crawling baby?

[vtdiamond]

Susie, for the outlets that we use we have the childproof boxes that go over them, otherwise the kids would unplug stuff. For the outlets we don't use regularly we have the slide locks like janegold posted.

scm1011, I would be pissed about daycare opening late and would light it up, that is so frustrating, especially now with it being so cold out.

My question is how to best child-proof a fireplace that we would like to use. Our new home has a wood burning fireplace that we'd like to use after having it inspected. What gate or screen would work best, I'm thinking of doing a gate that I could mount to the wall around it.

[jordylee]

mbcdefg - I think a $5 gift card is fine and will be appreciated. I would write them a nice note to go along with it.

@scm1012 - oh hell to the no. That is totally unacceptable. I would ask for a meeting with the director to let them know that the issue is problematic, you want to know what their plan is for making sure it doesn’t happen in the future, and let them know that you expect compensation / credit for the time that they were late. That is seriously so unprofessional. There has been one time when the early teacher in DD’s room was running late, so the director and a floater took the kids until she arrived. We received an email apology that day, even though it was seriously no big deal. For the entire center to not open on time? That is bananas.

[scm1011]

I didn't realize you moved, vtdiamond - congrats! Still in the same area?

[jordylee]

Is it normal for baby teeth to come in a random order? DD currently has 3 teeth across the bottom and 1 is getting ready to pop through any second on top. I always thought of them coming in pairs.

[vtdiamond]

Dec 4, 2017 12:13:04 GMT -5 scm1011 said:

I didn't realize you moved, vtdiamond - congrats! Still in the same area?

Yup, moved 2 towns north this spring - NA!

[icedcoffee]

vtdiamond we did a gate around the whole fireplace since we also like to use ours. We got this one and mounted to the walls on either side.

www.walmart.com/ip/Regalo-Extra-Wide-Baby-Gate-Playard-192-with-Walk-Through-Door/14894742

My only complaint is you can only take panels out in multiples of 2. Ideally it would be better if we could have taken out 1 so it's a little too big, but we made it work.

[ohgillian]

Dec 4, 2017 10:20:06 GMT -5 linz said:

Dumb question but once your kids are potty trained, do they wear underwear to bed (once they stay dry overnight)?  And if so do you put new underwear on before bed or when they wake up? 

My twins wear a pull up to bed only but have been dry for a long time so I'm ready to not buy anymore. 

Mine wear undies to bed; they put on a new pair at night after bath (if it's a bath night) and then a new pair again in the AM. That may be overkill, but they, um, aren't great wipers yet so I'm good with it. 

[ohgillian]

Shopkins: I thought one of the things about Shopkins is that there are lots of them, so you never know which ones you'll get in a package. I ordered 2 of "Season 6 12-pack" from Target last week and now that they've arrived, and not only were they identical, they were both identical to the set I gave DD for her bday a few weeks ago. So are there only 12 Shopkins per season? If so, who's in the 20-packs?

I ordered 2 of the 20-packs the other day when they were $4 each at Amazon. They're going to be identical, aren't they?

[scm1011]

Dec 4, 2017 12:13:58 GMT -5 jordylee said:

Is it normal for baby teeth to come in a random order? DD currently has 3 teeth across the bottom and 1 is getting ready to pop through any second on top. I always thought of them coming in pairs.

I think so. For a while I was paranoid DS might be missing one of his middle teeth, because only one came in, then he got the 2 on either side of the middle teeth. Finally the other middle tooth broke through weeks later.

[noodleoo]

Dec 4, 2017 12:00:12 GMT -5 starryfish said:

dcn , at age 2 or 3, are they able to play independently or at least not have to hover and watch them like a hawk compared to a crawling baby?

Speaking for my DD, yes. For us, 12-18 months was one of the hardest phases. Dd was mobile, but not independent and it was so frustrating, for both of us. Things started to improve around 18 months as her language improved and things are a lot better after 2.  Now at 2.5, she’s starting to get stubborn and throw more tantrums, but it is still easier to deal with than the 12-18 month phase. We both want 2 kids and I couldn’t even think about it until she was over 2. We just started trying recently.  Dd is still a handful, but she’s also very helpful and can play by herself for short periods of time so things just feel easier. 

[dcn]

Dec 4, 2017 12:00:12 GMT -5 starryfish said:

dcn, at age 2 or 3, are they able to play independently or at least not have to hover and watch them like a hawk compared to a crawling baby?

Yes! Definitely can leave them for longer as they get older. Also Ds1 watched a lot of tv when ds2 was born.

[raangoli]

How long does the "No!" phase last with an almost 2 year old? BB says "No!" when she often means yes. I remind her that perhaps she meant to say yes when she said no. For the most part, it's fine since I always still offer things when she says no, but I don't want to seem pushy either and let her set her boundary.

Also, she's started the putting herself against the wall when she's upset phase. Yesterday it was because I said she would need to go on a plane to go to Minnie Mouse's house, so she pointed to the door and said "plane!" like she wanted to go now. I told her gently that it wasn't possible right away, which made her go to a corner against the chair and wall and mope. I felt so bad, but I get that she is also exploring feelings. I said I know she is disappointed, and we can go another time and distracted her by counting polka dots on MH's socks (which she enjoyed, weirdo). Normal toddler behavior as well?

[lacey]

I have a couple toddler questions (21 months):

1. We have a bunch of megablocks. Is there a natural progression to duplo, or is this an either/or toy?
2. Last Friday DD slept until 2:00pm (we woke her, Saturday she woke at 10:00am and Sunday we woke her at 10:30am. We thought it was just teething (canines) maybe fighting a cold or traveling (foe the day) for Thanksgiving. This weekend we woke her around 10:30am and 1:30pm. What gives? The teething is real, and she has a slight runny nose, but no fever or major illness. Is happy and aware while awake and is going to bed around 8:00pm. Is she dying? Do I wake her up? Let her sleep? My husband ate a peaceful lunch and watched an entire non-cartoon movie. Someone tell me to let her sleep.