(Here she is with Nanny this week!)
· She laughs and smiles at us so much. My husband Hugh will pick her up and run with her around the house and backyard as if she's Super Laney, and TALK ABOUT A LAUGH! She is the happiest baby. I cannot believe how joyful she is sometimes. It's such a blessing! I believe she's happiest when we sing to her. She LOVES to be sung to. She also is quite the talker now. I can't help but smile when I hear these sweet sounds that are coming from her mouth. Seems like every other day there is a new sound. We've yet to take on sign language, but I think about it daily. I just need to do it.
· Laney is such a busy body! She won’t stop until I say “night-night time” and give her a bottle of breast milk before naptime. She’s 100% on the go! She loves to entertain herself. After I calm her down, and when she’s in her crib, that’s when the fun begins. She’ll cry when I leave the room for about 2 seconds and then she’s talking to her toys. She’ll flip the light switch on and off, she’ll bounce on her knees while holding onto the crib as she listens to her voice go up and down, she’ll pull off the cloth crib-bar protector (that’s attached by velcro all the way down, mind you), and today I while I was pumping, I heard all kinds of loud racket going on in there. I had no idea what it could be, and it startled me a bit. Come to find out, she was reaching her hand through the crib slats and playing with the hangers that were hanging on her door knob. I had no idea she could even reach them! The other morning I came into her room to get her and she had unzipped herself out of her pj’s. She was standing there smiling from ear to ear with her pj’s at her ankles. I couldn’t believe it! Today she took her pants off during her nap time. Is that normal for an almost 11 month old baby?
· Concerning food, she’s the best eater! Leah, you’ve encouraged me to be a bit more of a disciplinarian when it comes to knocking off her sippy cup from her high chair. She loves doing it. She loves to eat bite-size broccoli florets and pick them up. She loves to feed herself. I’m so thankful that I have a baby who loves to eat! If she really likes what she’s eating, she’ll talk all the way through picking it up, munching on it and picking up another one. We are needing to transition to sippy cups, but haven’t had the time to really invest in reading up on how to transition. Any suggestions? Any good sippy cups that you’d recommend? (I know that I won’t invest in any more Nuby sippy cups. They leak terribly!!!)
19 comments:
Hollie, we actually really like the Nuby ones,... once we figured out why they were leaking. I had to take a look inside the top, and the clear, nipple part wasn't secured all the way. We also really liked a Gerber version that had a soft, chewy spout. Maggie didn't know what to do with cups that had a firmer spout. The soft spouts/nipples made transition much easier.
Shannon
My son is now 29 months old. We started with soft-tipped sippies around 13 months and he did excellent! As soon as he got the hang of it, he quickly started chewing on the soft-tips so we moved to the hard ones and have been ever since! We liked the soft-tipped ones with the handles (I think they're by Gerber). Also, continue to pray she eats well...the real test happens when they turn 2. My son ate everything I put in front of him, then he turned 2 and it's a MAJOR challenge to get him to eat anything other than starches and dairy products. However, this is common among all of my friends, which makes me wonder if any studies have been done on the needs of 2 year old bodies. Literally, I have 5 friends with children at the same age or older and they all live off of dairy, crackers, potatoes, and a VERY rare protein (my son refuses everything except chicken). In fact, I tricked my son into eating green beans by calls them "green french fries" (what is it with kids and fries?). The good news is my friends said the eating habits change back to normal around 3 to 3 1/2. Good Luck with the sippies...they can be frustrating, but just stick with it! Once you start, don't go back!!
Hey Hollie - I am thinking that maybe Samuel is weird in this area b/c I never had an issue with him (but then again, he also never had a bottle). I had him drink straight from a cup starting at around 7 months (no lid and obviously I held it and tipped it for him). Then I just got him so disposable cups and we use those. They are not leak proof, but I also don't let him carry them around everywhere - he has them at mealtime and keeps them upright, and I give him water throughout the day in them. Try to see if Laney will sip straight out of a cup - this may help disassociate the bottle to sippy cup transition.
First I just want to say I love this blog, I check it often. I have a 21 month old and baby on the way. It is so nice to hear from other moms.
I too loved the Nuby to start with. The top did have to be put on prefect or it leaked. The soft nible was a easy transition from a bottle and breast (I was doing both). But I then went straight to the straw sippy cups. My doctor says those are suppose to be the best for their teeth and it was easier for my little girl to drink from. I did have to warm up her formula and then milk for her to drink it. And she wouldn't drink water by itself, so I would put like four ounces of water and a splash of juice in the cup.
Good luck with the transition every kid is different, you just have to find what works for Laney.
hollie, we love the nuby over here. it leaks unless the top is in place exactly, but we love the thing. i am also very impressed with the new nalgene sippy. but they're pricy. i think i may get J one more of those.
Link:
http://www.montkid.com/site/nalgene_grip_gulp_sippy.html
as for eating, we are in our picky stage now. at first he LOVED everything...now he survives on chicken, starches and dairy (as the previous poster mentioned). it's difficult but you choose your battles.
Laney is beautiful, and at such a great age! enjoy, enjoy, enjoy!
I'm glad Maggie isn't the only one who's starting to refuse everything but dairy and starches. (She's 17 months.) Good to know we're normal over here.
I try to add nutritious things (like veggie purees, wheat germ, boiled egg yolk, etc.) to the things she WILL eat (like oatmeal and Mac-n-cheese.)
Hollie (and others)-
You may already know about it...but this is a great site for toddler eating:
www.wholesometoddlerfood.com
I used this related site when Will was just starting to eat.
www.wholesomebabyfood.com
But their toddler site definitely reinforces what everyone here seems to be saying about the pickiness of toddler eating. I've noticed (and read on the site) that Will seems to eat much less for dinner than other meals and this is normal. I think its a really helpful (and fairly accurate) website! I especially liked the link to the left that says "nutritional needs for growing toddlers." Very interesting...
Hey Hollie,
Laney is so cute. You guys have to come up to visit us and so Landen can get another kiss! We have tried a number of straw sippy cups, soft & hard spout cups too. I would just caution you to find out what kind of plastic they are made from to make sure that they aren't #3,#6, or #7. Chemicals from those plastics mix with whatever your little one is drinking. I have called comapanies to find out. -Court
Great feedback Ladies! Thanks for the advice! I love the softenss of the nubies, but since Nubies have two little cut outs in the lid that have to be aligned with the ring, and just when you think it's aligned, you twist that cap and it's off again. Grr! Laney will also push on the soft part and the water comes pouring out all over her.
Thanks for the advice about the chemicals. Great advice Court! I love research'n Mamas!
Wait...any comments about Laney taking her clothes off? Today I walked in there and she had taken her pants off. Maybe all babies do this, but I didn't think they did it when they were 10.5 months old. It's hilarious!
Here's another blog that I've read before...they give a good summary of the plastic issue that Court mentioned:
www.zrecs.blogspot.com
Search for "sippy cup showdown" in the search bar (I couldn't fit the whole link in the comment window).
We have used the Munchkin sippys they mention and the Avent. The Avent worked really well in the beginning when we first made the switch. Now we use a lot of the Munchkin cups. My favorite as far as not leaking are anything Playtex, but they are not considered "safe" as far as plastics go. I would love to try some of the Kleen Kanteens or Born Free, but they are rather pricey.
One thing I do is to (try) not wash our sippy cups in the dishwasher. The repeated heating of the plastic is one thing that can contribute to breaking down the chemicals that are supposedly dangerous. So, that is one step you can take if you are worried about these types of plastics.
Thanks for bringing this up Court!
Good dealing with the clothes. My daughter is almost 2 1/2 and we can't keep clothes on her at naptime and bedtime! We've switched to zip up pj's that are inside out and backward any time she goes down and she can still manage to get them off. Most recently, she ripped them trying to get out of them.
When she first started taking off her clothes, we switched to onesies at naptime, which took her a while to figure out.
You may be another one who has a little engineer on your hands! Cabinet latches may be next, watch out! Just do your best to stay one step ahead of her. Good luck and know that you're not alone
Hey, I was just browsing your blog and wanted to say, that when my son (now 5 years old) was about nine months old, he started taking his clothes off.. (and still prefers to run around the house in underware) we resorted to buttoning onesies backwards or else he would have that along with his diaper off... and squat where ever he fancied and dump!!! So, yes, I have been through that experience at a young age and think what makes it hard is you can't really reason with them yet!!! Good Luck
Hey Hollie, your daughter is soo cute! I have a question -- when ya'll were talking about cloth diapers you mentioned something about a rice layer insert or something that you use and can just peel the poop off the diapers...what were you talking about and where do you find them? Thanks,
Meagan
Meagan,
The liners that I use are these:
http://www.cottonbabies.com/product_info.php?cPath=37&products_id=702
If that link doesn't show up, then they are at www.cottonbabies.com and you click on "diaper accessories" and they are the "Flushable Diaper Liners." The brand is Imse Vimse, but there are probably other brands of similar items.
I don't use them with every diaper. Mainly when we need to use rash cream. I also cut mine to fit the pocket diapers. They are large and are meant to be folded around a prefold diaper, but they are very easily cut. Someone gave me a roll of these when I first started cloth 8 months ago and I have yet to run out. Good luck!
Meagan,
Yes, I use rice liners and made the transition once Laney started on solids, for you then have the peanut-butter poo consistency. You can get them at almost all cloth diapering websites: www.cottonbabies.com, www.punkinbutt.com (etc...)
The pro to the liner is that it does peel right off and you throw it AWAY! Oh, I loved just not dealing with it. Even though at 6 months Laney had started on solids, her poos were still kinda messy, so some would get on the diaper, but the bulk of it on the liner. Blow-outs are another story. The con to the liner is that it's just not very soft. I wouldn't say it's too abrasive, but it's not a cushy, comfy cotton up to your baby's bum. But if you think about it, it's only a season, for soon you'll have little pebbles on your hands that you can roll into the toilet, so the liners would be needed then.
If you wanted something softer, you could go to Walmart and get a half of a yard, maybe even 1/4 of a yard, of MICROFLEECE. Cut them into doublers(strips of fabric) big enough to cover up the diaper area and long enough to grow into. Be sure you get MICROfleece and not just fleece b/c you'll get pilling on the "fleece". Microfleece doesn't seem to pill up as easily. Your dipes are protected from staining and the microfleece keeps the wet feeling off of their bums. Granted, you can't throw away the microfleece, but it peels off pretty easily. You can blast it off with a potty sprayer(something I still have to get). I used the microfleece for naps, when I knew she wasn't going to poo and esp at night. Here's my night-night dipe set up in the order of what's touching the skin all the way to the diaper cover-- (talk about a big bum!)
-microfleece liner next to skin
-hemp babies doubler for extra absorbancy
-prefold snappied to her
-another prefold for extra absorbancy
-Bummis Super Whisper Wrap
I mean, my girl has a HUGE bum and sometimes I feel bad for her, as if it's a hindrance, but she doesn't seem to mind it. It bothers me more than it bothers her b/c by the time I put the diaper on, she's ready for her bed.
Did that help any? That's a good question!!!!
Thanks Christina and Hollie; that was a huge help! Karis starts solids in three weeks and I wanted to be prepared :) I'll definitely try the liners.
Meg
I am a little late in this, and I am not a parent. I am a developmental therapist with birth to three year olds and deal with the transition to cup issue a lot. The best advice I can give is to make sure you give any kind of liquid you plan for her to drink in a sippy cup when you are starting. I have had a lot of families only giving water and still giving milk from the bottle. This has created a HUGE problem because we are having to retrain the child that milk can come from the cup as well as a bottle.
On another note, I really enjoy this site. It is great for when I am helping my families. Do you guys mind if I give it out as a resource to my families and people at church?
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