Potty Training Adventures Part 5

Posted on April 10, 2012 by James

Our little one has progressed marvelously since my last entry on the potty training subject. She now uses the big toilet all by herself, wipes her own bottom and doesn’t even need to let us know anymore.

In addition if she makes a mess she cleans it up with the toilet bush and disinfectant and when she is done with that she even cooks dinner and cleans the house. We just sit around and watch TV. Can you believe that ! We really have done an excellent job…

Back in reality we are not even close. The closest she has come to using the damn thing is, as I mentioned earlier, as a hat. It also makes an excellent pretend bath for her stuffed toys and a pretty good car but as there are no wheels she can’t travel very far in it.

We have even tried to place the potty in areas where we know she likes to squat in her nappy (e.g. in a closet and behind the bedroom door) but to no avail. The preferred option for the toilet is still the bathtub or the nappy so obviously at this point in time we encourage the nappy.

When on the change table she does however say “Potty-poo”
“Yes darling, potty-poo”
“Potty poo potty poo potty poo potty poo potty poo”
“Do you need to do a poo?” we ask expectantly.
“Yes”
“Would you like to use the potty?”
“No”
“Would you like to sit on the potty?”
“No”
“Isn’t the potty nice?”
“No”
“Would you like to sit on the potty with your nappy on?”
“No”
“Won’t it be good when you don’t have to wear a nappy anymore?”
“No”
“Do you really need to do a poo?”
“No”
“Would you like to play with your toys?”
“Aahh…Yes!”

Patiently waiting……

Posted in Toilet training | Tagged , , , , , | 2 Comments

Exersize For Infants

Posted on April 4, 2012 by James

Plopping your bub on its tummy is great exercise for them. It not only strengthens their backs and necks but studies have shown a marked improvement in physical co-ordination and reflexes for bubs that have had tummy time in the first year of their lives.

It’s not difficult to see how it works. We used to place our bub face down on the carpeted floor on a yoga mat. She would then squirm and wriggle and you could see the little muscles on her back and arms straining and flexing as she tried to hold her head up.

She would do this for as long as she could before letting herself flop to the floor again for a short rest before repeating the sequence again and again.

After a few weeks she would even try to hold her legs up at the same time so it looked like she was free falling in a sky dive position. She just loved it.

She would only ever last about five minutes but that was five minutes of excellent exercise after which she would usually have a nice long sleep.

Make sure that you have a soft surface for them to lie on as they can come down pretty hard on their faces the first couple of times and you don’t want any squashed noses or bumped heads from getting them to practice on the hard floor surfaces so a nice thick towel or spongy mat of some kind is ideal.

We always tried to stay in close supervision and encourage our bubs’ efforts as it can be a little scary for them lying face down on the floor especially if they have never done this before.

We also lay on the floor in front of her and did the same movements so she could see what it was she was supposed to be doing. It wasn’t long before our daughter was far better at this mock free falling than us. When you actually do this exercise yourself you realize just how much strength is required.

The important thing is to make it a fun part of your awake routine with your bub. If they do this for five minutes every time they are awake that can add up to more than 20 minutes of solid exercise a day which is great for growing muscles and bones.

It can also help them to sleep better and also aids in the development of the crawling mechanism as they naturally start to drag themselves around the floor as they get stronger. It can also be a lot of fun to watch!

One and two and three and…

Posted in Development | Tagged , , , , , | Leave a comment

Toddler Feeding Techniques – Help

Posted on April 4, 2012 by James

Toddler feedingAllowing your toddler to help with the preparation of meals can be a great way to involve them in the cooking and subsequently the eating process. I have found that our toddler gets much more excited about eating the food when she can see it being prepared.

One of her favourite meals is fish fingers but only if she can see them being cooked. On the couple of occasions that I have put her in her highchair and dropped the finished product on her plate it has been rejected.

On the other hand when she can see them bubbling away in the oven she gets so excited that she can hardly contain herself and it can be quite a struggle to get her to wait until they are ready. Needless to say when they are finally ready they are devoured.

The same goes for another one of her likes – fried mushrooms in butter (Yum!). She loves to watch me cut the mushrooms and go through the process of heating the pan, melting the butter, adding the herbs and tossing the mushrooms until they are ready.

We verbalize all the steps and she even helps me add the herbs most of which end up on the floor. Once again by the time the meal is ready she can’t wait to eat it. I have also tried to make these in advance but she will only eat them if she can ‘cook’ them herself.

It may just be idiosyncratic of our little one but I feel that if your toddler is involved in the processes surrounding eating they may be much more inclined to actually eat the food that they have helped prepare.

It is certainly worth a try and it can be a great deal of fun as well as a potential solution to toddler feeding –  one of the biggest battles of toddler hood.

Here we come junior masterchef…

Posted in Toddler Feeding | Tagged , , , , , , , | 1 Comment