Two questions for you smart people today. Please feel free to add yours.
1. DD (almost 5) is going through an intensely picky period for eating. We’ve been managing ok I thought but she has completely flatlined in terms of weight gain. In 10 months she has gained 2 lbs and she wasn’t exactly big to begin with (usually between 35-50th percentile on the charts). She’s getting taller, but she’s looking very skinny. My Mom suggested I should start giving her fortified milkshakes like Carnation breakfast or Ensure. We’ve been struggling with the quarantine since lunch at school was always her best meal (peer pressure works marvellously on her). She is always complaining that she is hungry and then just picks at her food. She will inhale McNuggets and Cheezies if given the chance, but that’s not how life works. When she goes through a growth spurt period she will eat anything and everything we put in front of her, so I know she will eat the food we make. Last growth spurt was in January though so it’s been awhile. Any thoughts?
2. DS is 10 months old and my linea nigra is as dark as the day he was born. It came on strong with DD but was gone after 4 months and I’ve tried exfoliating this thing off and it’s not budging. Am I doomed?
On #1, I also have lower % weight kids. I got stressed about it when DD was <3rd % at 12m, but other than that low point I've tried to be pretty relaxed about it. Both kids have bounced between the 5-10%, 10-15%, and 15-20% ranges most of their lives, depending on where they are with growth spurts. I would not really worry about supplementing at 35-50th%. It does not seem necessary. The most supplementing I ever did was extra food during "eat all the things" phases, cooking everything in butter, and stirring in whole milk greek yogurt/avocado, that kind of thing, and trying to serve things like eggs (fat & protein) more than carbs. Especially if she eats more on her own during growth spurts I would try to trust that her body is telling her what she needs and she is getting it.
My 1 y/o DS reliably out-eats his 4.5 y/o sister at dinner every day. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ They're both healthy, both tall, both lean.
aprilsails, my pedi basically said as long as the kid maintains their curve, they're not worried. I say this because we've had many years of her only gaining 0-2 lbs year to year, but shooting up 4 inches in height. She went from a great eater to a picky eater. I would not add anything such as ensure because I don't want to have that association with food. Mostly we focus on the food groups with her and balance. I also find offering a muffin cup style plate works best for lunch. She's 7 and this has been on-going for several years.
Post by expectantsteelerfan on Jul 7, 2020 10:28:26 GMT -5
I've got a kid who was loosing weight from lack of appetite as a side effect from ADHD meds, and we tried all the shakes and supplements out there, and he didn't love any of them. If she's not actually loosing, I wouldn't worry too much. I'd make sure to find a few healthy options that you are ok with, and make those 'anytime' foods that she can get herself and eat regardless of if she finished a meal or whatever. For us, those items are apples/applesauce, carrots and cucumbers, and danimal smoothies (which I know aren't that healthy, but neither of my kids gets enough dairy so this is always an option for them) and just keep offering healthy stuff for meals and limit snacks to if they ate a decent meal already.
I wouldn’t go to pediasure or anything like that, but I did add butter and oil generously when Ds1 was 5-6 bc he similarly is so picky. Smoothies with whole milk yogurt, banana, and pb are also a good alternative to the ensure type drinks.
He ended up gaining like 5 pounds in that year which was a TON for him. He’s always been on the 25-30% curve but had fallen a bit, and then he was back in it.
1. How is her growth curve? Is she falling off her chart or getting close to 10%? All 3 of my kids were insanely picky eaters (and so is my husband, and I was pretty picky/ had food sensory issues as a kid). My stepson hit less than 3% / failure to thrive around age 10 but is now a perfectly healthy weight adult who eats lots of things. You may want to talk to your pediatrician about recommendations for pediasure, etc. It can get them calories but may impact their appetite so they eat less of other foods. You can also fortify milk - add powdered milk to whole milk, upping the calories without a kid noticing. Add chocolate on occasion if they are willing to drink chocolate milk. Ice cream is also great for weight gain. We’ve tried lots of different yogurts and currently my kids will drink the dannon kids drinkable ones. My 4 year old only wants nuggets too, and won’t eat any other meat. I often serve nuggets for one meal a day, with varying side dishes that are healthy and hit all the other food groups. If he hates everything on his plate, he’ll throw a fit and refuse to eat. If I can get him to eat something he likes, like nuggets, he’s more likely to keep eating. As long as he’s had a bite or a few bites of each thing on his plate, I don’t push it. If he asks for snacks later, I offer something he didn’t finish. If I’ve tried to get him to eat more and he won’t, and he asks to be excused, I say it’s your choice. You can eat xyz more and get dessert, or don’t. I’d say choose your battles, but the goal is to get them to eat without a battle. Quarantine kids may be less active and need less food than normal. I know from my other kids he won’t eat only nuggets for the rest of his life, but it’s a source of protein now. Don’t give up and keep rotating in new things. Show them new things and let them pick (I usually do this at the store, but you could show them pictures due to Covid).
On fb, I follow Rachel.Rothman.Bloom who is a pediatric dietician and she has lots of advice, but it’s definitely modern parenting and not the way our parent raised us with food (ie, eat everything on your plate). We use a hybrid, but she helps provide a lot of strategies I wouldn’t have thought of. She also teaches about proper portion size for kids, which is way less than a lot of adults think it is.
2. I don’t have personal experience but I’ve heard from friends who’ve had it for more than a year.
On #1 I think offering healthy choices throughout the day can help. Be careful with the sugar content in some of those. You don’t want her to gain weight just to gain weight. Things like the Greek yogurt drinks or probiotic drinks may be a better solution. Both of my boys are grazers and don’t ever eat a lot at one meal. So I always have yogurt, cottage cheese, string cheese, fruit, granola bars, and other snacks on hand. I hate it but I get that they don’t fill up at a meal like adults and also recognize several smaller meals is technically healthier.
Oh. One other thing that helps both of my kids when they’re picky, is to let them choose and help make a healthy dinner. It makes both of them more invested in eating it!
It’s pretty normal for kids to shoot up snd be skinny, then fill out slowly. Is her pedi worried? 5 is probably old enough to get her help in planning and prepping meals. Maybe if she is given some choice and ownership, and invests some labor, she’ll open up her list of foods she likes.
If you don’t already, check out Kids Eat in Color on Instagram. She has lots of info on feeding kids and picky eaters. We don’t follow 100% of what she does, but they are all good suggestions.
Any tricks to get DD (3) to poop in the potty? She’s done it a couple times successfully since January but almost never asks to go. One day last week she asked several times to go poop, which is rare for her, then once she was on the toilet said she didn’t have to go after all, lather rinse repeat. So clearly she had to poop but was afraid for some reason to actually do it. She always just holds it for nap time and bed time when she’s in a diaper.
We promised her she can have a big girl bed and pick out her own pink bedsheets if she gets rid of diapers, which she seems excited about, but it’s not enough to motivate her.
Is there anything else we can do, or is this just one of those things we have to wait out? MH is also a nervous wreck and thinks she’ll be going to college in diapers, which is ridiculous because she’s only THREE, so that’s also a hell of a lot of fun to deal with.
Both my kids are picky. My older one is lower on the charts and my younger one (almost 3) is now in the 40th percentile but that is only because he still drinks lots of milk and one 4oz bottle a day of toddler formula (not my best parenting choice). I don’t worry too much. I just make sure they have healthy options.
My question is how to teach an almost 3 year old patience. He asks for something and then if I don’t respond the way he wants he immediately ramps it up to screaming his request. This often happens when I’m working and on the phone. The few times he is patient I heap praise on him, but more often than not he’s screaming.
Any tricks to get DD (3) to poop in the potty? She’s done it a couple times successfully since January but almost never asks to go. One day last week she asked several times to go poop, which is rare for her, then once she was on the toilet said she didn’t have to go after all, lather rinse repeat. So clearly she had to poop but was afraid for some reason to actually do it. She always just holds it for nap time and bed time when she’s in a diaper.
We promised her she can have a big girl bed and pick out her own pink bedsheets if she gets rid of diapers, which she seems excited about, but it’s not enough to motivate her.
Is there anything else we can do, or is this just one of those things we have to wait out? MH is also a nervous wreck and thinks she’ll be going to college in diapers, which is ridiculous because she’s only THREE, so that’s also a hell of a lot of fun to deal with.
My sister’s oldest was afraid to poop on the potty. She was over 4 when she finally did it regularly. The pediatrician said it was a common fear and to allow her to poop how she felt comfortable to avoid constipation (constipation can be painful and reinforce the fear to go). So, for a long while, she’d ask for a pullup when she had to go and that was that.
I think it was just time and constant encouragement that got her over the fear. She’s 8 Now and quite normal - promise!
Any tricks to get DD (3) to poop in the potty? She’s done it a couple times successfully since January but almost never asks to go. One day last week she asked several times to go poop, which is rare for her, then once she was on the toilet said she didn’t have to go after all, lather rinse repeat. So clearly she had to poop but was afraid for some reason to actually do it. She always just holds it for nap time and bed time when she’s in a diaper.
We promised her she can have a big girl bed and pick out her own pink bedsheets if she gets rid of diapers, which she seems excited about, but it’s not enough to motivate her.
Is there anything else we can do, or is this just one of those things we have to wait out? MH is also a nervous wreck and thinks she’ll be going to college in diapers, which is ridiculous because she’s only THREE, so that’s also a hell of a lot of fun to deal with.
You may have more success by promising an immediate, high-value reward (e.g. candy) each time she goes, rather than a reward once she gives up diapers. That will likely mean giving her candy at like 7 a.m. a couple times, but IME you can phase it out pretty quickly once they gets over their fear.
New daycare Covid rules are that bedding is sent home daily instead of at the end of the week. I’m getting sick of washing them daily but I don’t have enough extra to send new ones without washing. Do you think it’s necessary to actually wash them every day? I was thinking maybe I could freshen them up in just the dryer?
New daycare Covid rules are that bedding is sent home daily instead of at the end of the week. I’m getting sick of washing them daily but I don’t have enough extra to send new ones without washing. Do you think it’s necessary to actually wash them every day? I was thinking maybe I could freshen them up in just the dryer?
New daycare Covid rules are that bedding is sent home daily instead of at the end of the week. I’m getting sick of washing them daily but I don’t have enough extra to send new ones without washing. Do you think it’s necessary to actually wash them every day? I was thinking maybe I could freshen them up in just the dryer?
Yes, I think you need to wash them. What kind of bedding? Like just a crib sheet? I would look into buying more so you don’t have to wash daily.
Any tricks to get DD (3) to poop in the potty? She’s done it a couple times successfully since January but almost never asks to go. One day last week she asked several times to go poop, which is rare for her, then once she was on the toilet said she didn’t have to go after all, lather rinse repeat. So clearly she had to poop but was afraid for some reason to actually do it. She always just holds it for nap time and bed time when she’s in a diaper.
We promised her she can have a big girl bed and pick out her own pink bedsheets if she gets rid of diapers, which she seems excited about, but it’s not enough to motivate her.
Is there anything else we can do, or is this just one of those things we have to wait out? MH is also a nervous wreck and thinks she’ll be going to college in diapers, which is ridiculous because she’s only THREE, so that’s also a hell of a lot of fun to deal with.
You may have more success by promising an immediate, high-value reward (e.g. candy) each time she goes, rather than a reward once she gives up diapers. That will likely mean giving her candy at like 7 a.m. a couple times, but IME you can phase it out pretty quickly once they gets over their fear.
Thanks - we’ve tried jellybeans and M&Ms too but no deal.
You may have more success by promising an immediate, high-value reward (e.g. candy) each time she goes, rather than a reward once she gives up diapers. That will likely mean giving her candy at like 7 a.m. a couple times, but IME you can phase it out pretty quickly once they gets over their fear.
Thanks - we’ve tried jellybeans and M&Ms too but no deal.
I’m copying and pasting something I posted a few months ago. It’s definitely not my finest parenting hour but nothing else was working. DD was 3 in November.
******
My daughter was pee trained for over a year and just started pooping in the potty at the end of March.
She would ask for a diaper to poop, I would give it to her and she would poop and we would go on with our day. She never had a poop accident. In the beginning with potty training she would just wait us out until nap or bedtime and then go in that diaper since she wasn’t sleep trained. The pediatrician warned against forcing the issue because she sees so many kids with constipation issues.
However, after about two weeks on quarantine I was in a shitty (pun intended) mood and decided I was done changing her diaper. She asked for a diaper to poop in right before bed (she had recently started sleeping without a diaper). I told her no and put her on the potty. It was pretty much the worst half hour of my life with her screaming and crying and even eventually throwing up, but she pooped on the potty. And we haven’t had any issues since then.
I mean definitely not my finest parenting hour but I really wish I had pushed the issue sooner.
Post by thoseareradishes on Jul 7, 2020 18:30:02 GMT -5
mbcdefg, I followed the Oh Crap method and she talks a lot about reluctant poopers. One thing she recommends is giving them a high fat smoothie to help them poop without much straining. She talks about it on her website if you want to give it a read.
mbcdefg DS1 was the same and when he was 3.5 we started a prize treasure chest, fondly known as the poop treasure chest. At first the toys in it were things he really wanted, like a paw patrol car, and as he got more used to pooping in the potty, they became cheaper (like I’d order a kids meal for myself and put the toy in the box, party favors, hot wheels, dollar store stuff). I also stopped bringing it up after a while, so he’d only get a toy if he remembered. Eventually I stopped refilling it and told him he was an awesome pooper and the treasure chest would run out and be retired.
Mrs.flang I’d definitely wash it, but old also get more so I could always have a clean one to rotate in without having to do laundry every night. If they are using a cot sheet and not a crib sheet, I’d ask if they can tell you where to get more, or if you can just use a crib sheet instead.
Both my kids are picky. My older one is lower on the charts and my younger one (almost 3) is now in the 40th percentile but that is only because he still drinks lots of milk and one 4oz bottle a day of toddler formula (not my best parenting choice). I don’t worry too much. I just make sure they have healthy options.
My question is how to teach an almost 3 year old patience. He asks for something and then if I don’t respond the way he wants he immediately ramps it up to screaming his request. This often happens when I’m working and on the phone. The few times he is patient I heap praise on him, but more often than not he’s screaming.
We are struggling with a screaming when not getting his way 4 year old lately, and lack of patience is a part of that, although part of his issue is wanting to be in control of everything. For patience, there are lots of kids books about it, show and songs like Daniel Tiger, and role playing / patience stretching exercises you can do. For my kid, it helps to get down on his level and look him in the eyes so he knows he’s being acknowledged and I ask for him to acknowledge that I’m telling him to wait and not just being too busy for him.
New daycare Covid rules are that bedding is sent home daily instead of at the end of the week. I’m getting sick of washing them daily but I don’t have enough extra to send new ones without washing. Do you think it’s necessary to actually wash them every day? I was thinking maybe I could freshen them up in just the dryer?
I don't wash DD's. They're also keeping everything in her backpack, instead of a cubby. I figure it's just easier for them to send it all home daily, I didn't think it was an invitation to wash it daily.
New daycare Covid rules are that bedding is sent home daily instead of at the end of the week. I’m getting sick of washing them daily but I don’t have enough extra to send new ones without washing. Do you think it’s necessary to actually wash them every day? I was thinking maybe I could freshen them up in just the dryer?
I'd put it in a hot dryer for 20 minutes and call it good.
Post by blondemoment123 on Jul 8, 2020 18:51:21 GMT -5
Speaking of potty training, any tips on PTing a 2.5 year old who has some developmental delays (that never gets easier to say, btw)?
He has no concept of pee, but is able to tell us when he’s pooped. He brings a diaper and lays down. On (rare) occasion, he’ll sit fully clothed on the potty and poop but has a meltdown when we try to sit on it naked.
Speaking of potty training, any tips on PTing a 2.5 year old who has some developmental delays (that never gets easier to say, btw)?
He has no concept of pee, but is able to tell us when he’s pooped. He brings a diaper and lays down. On (rare) occasion, he’ll sit fully clothed on the potty and poop but has a meltdown when we try to sit on it naked.
My nephew has developmental delays that eventually resulted in an autism diagnosis and he trained pretty easily a little before 3.5. I don’t have any advice but I wouldn’t worry about it yet.
What age do kids start reliably dressing themselves? My 2 yr old *can* dress herself, but if I left it up to her it could take literally all day. I never know if I’m coddling her by dressing her, or if I should force it a little more to be done on her own.
What age do kids start reliably dressing themselves? My 2 yr old *can* dress herself, but if I left it up to her it could take literally all day. I never know if I’m coddling her by dressing her, or if I should force it a little more to be done on her own.
My 4 year old dresses himself. My older son is 7 and honestly I dressed him most days until covid bc he took so dang long and we had places to be.
What age do kids start reliably dressing themselves? My 2 yr old *can* dress herself, but if I left it up to her it could take literally all day. I never know if I’m coddling her by dressing her, or if I should force it a little more to be done on her own.
A only just started dressing herself at 4. I will still insist on dressing her if she stalls beyond a reasonable amount of time. And she only just learned buttons and I'm glad I didn't struggle to teach her how to do those earlier.