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The idea of potty training scares most parents. Most children will be ready to begin potty training right aroud the time they are suffering from the infamous “terrible twos”. Many of us parents can’t imagine how it is possible to successfully potty train a little person who is already off the wall rambunctious. Apparently it is possible, countless toddlers are successfully potty trained everyday, and both parent and child live to tell about it.
Knowing the basics of potty training and being prepared for what might be thrown your way will help make the process both smooth and painless for both you and your toddler.
Is Your Child Ready?
Knowing when you child is ready will be the most important factor in determining if potty training will be easy and successful or a long drawn out battle that ends with everyone in tears. Look for these common signs that indicate your child may be ready to tackle potty training:
- Shows signs of knowing when he/she has to go to the bathroom.
- Can verbalize enough to communicate that he/she has to go.
- Can sit quietly for several minutes at a time.
- Communicates when he/she needs a diaper change.
- Isn’t resistent to using the toilet or potty.
- Has dry periods of at least 3-4 hours.
- Has regular, well-formed bowel movements.
- Can follow simple instructions.
Make Sure You Have All The Right Equipment:
Successful potty training requires the right equipment. The grown-up toilet may seem a bit daunting to your child at first. Invest in a good child-size potty or a special adaptor seat for your regular toilet. The convenient thing about the child-size potty is that they can get on and off on their own. Consider taking your child with you to help pick out the potty they want (it will help them feel part of the process).
Helping Your Child Grasp the Basics:
Potty training will only be successful if your child understands what is expected of him/her and he/she knows what to do. Take a lot of time before you begin the actual potty training to teach your child the basics. You can do this by reading books about potty training with your child (there are several great ones out there), demonstrating the basics of using the potty while your child is fully clothed (you can try having them sit on the potty with their clothes on every time you go to the bathroom and talk to them about what you are doing), and let them try it out “for fun” before you get down to business by letting them sit on the potty naked before bath time or before you get dressed in the morning. Your child is more likely to catch on to the potty training if they understand a little bit about it before hand.
Don’t Get Discouraged by Setbacks:
Accidents are inevitable. Even a completely potty trained child may have a setback every now and then. Don’t be discouraged and don’t get upset with your child. Explain to them that accidents happen and re-explain the basics of using the potty again. Potty training doesn’t happen over night (for most children) so it will take some time. Being prepared for that and handling setbacks with ease and grace will help make the transition a smooth one for your child.
Get Excited and Use Rewards:
Children love to be rewarded for doing “good”, it is part of human nature. How you reward them is up to you and up to what works best for your child. Making sure your child knows you are happy with them for learning to be a big boy or girl will encourage them to keep at the potty training. Don’t be afraid be make a fool of yourself by singing their praises and jumping up and down for joy!
Most children will begin showing signs of being ready for potty training around the age of 2 to 2.5. Some, of course may be ready sooner and some later. Starting too soon may result in a lot of setbacks and the process taking a long time. Only you will know when your child is ready.
What tricks worked for your when you were potty training your child? Do you have any suggestions for those of us about to embark on this process in the coming months.
Temper tantrums are par for the course with toddlers. As they begin to understand how the world works, what they like and don’t like and gain a little independence their lack of communication skills, frustrations and they fact they often live on a fine line with their emotions can lead to temper tantrums. Toddlers throw tantrums for all kinds of reasons from being upset because you are withholding something they want to being overstressed and not knowing how to express that. The key to dealing with your toddlers tantrums is figuring out what triggers them and finding a way to resolve the tantrum without giving in.
We’ve all been there, walking through the store with our toddler screaming at the top of their lungs. We’re embarrassed and want nothing more than to make them stop. We’ve also all witnessed this happening to another parent, feeling bad for them and wanting to just say to them “It’s ok, I’ve been there.” Parents often fear they are raising “that child” the holy terror that can’t be controlled. But fear not, every toddler throws a tantrum every now and then.
So, what can a parent do to help control the tantrums? Here are a few tips:
- Keep your cool. I know it can be hard sometimes, but if you react strongly to their tantrum you are showing them that, that is the way to react when you are mad, upset, frustrated, etc. Staying calm and reacting with a cool head is the best approach.
- Don’t give into unreasonable demands in order to stop the tantrum. You are the adult and make the rules. If you said no to something or took something away don’t back down just because your child throws a fit.
- Attempt to use distraction (this won’t always work). If your child is throwing a fit because they can’t play with a certain toy try to get their attention with another toy.
- If time-outs work for your child then try that. Sometimes have a few minutes alone to just get their emotions out is helpful.
- Get down on their level and talk about the situation once they have calmed down a bit, and offer them an alternative. Say something like “I understand that you are upset that we can’t go outside right now, but how about we color instead.”
- Avoid tantrum triggers. If your child always melts down when she is hungry or tired plan ahead. Make sure she eats when she is hungry and try to avoid having her be overtired by making sure she gets enough sleep.
It is impossible to avoid all tantrums, they will happen now and again. Keeping your cool during the tantrum, talking about it afterwards and avoiding tantrum triggers will at least help reduce the number of tantrums and make those that do happen a little more bearable.
What do you do when your toddler has a meltdown? What works best to avoid them and then curb them when they do happen?
When your child starts losing their first baby teeth it is an occasion worth being celebrated. Many children will leave their tooth under the pillow when the go to sleep and wake up to find a little money tucked under the pillow where the tooth once hid. That’s how things worked when I was little, it is how things still work. However, have you considered becoming a little creative with the idea of the tooth fairy? Shaking things up a bit, making a big deal out of a lost tooth, bringing the kids in on the fun.
Children typically begin losing their baby teeth around age 5-6. Children this age are right smack dab in the middle of believing in the magic of things like Santa Claus, the Tooth Fairy and the Easter Bunny. This makes becoming a little creative in your approach to the Tooth Fairy all the more fun. Here are a few suggestions on things you can do to mark the special occasion of a lost baby tooth:
- Have your kids make a special little container to store their tooth under their pillow. Buy a small box at your local craft store and a bunch of stuff for your child to decorate it with.
- Create a letter from the Tooth Fairy to put on your child’s pillow along with whatever little treasure she will be leaving. This website has some great letters you can print off if you don’t want to write your own.
- Create a certificate to give your child when they lose their first tooth.
- Consider leaving something a little different under their pillow like a book, a coloring book, a little toy.
- Fairies leave behind fairy dust. Sprinkle a small amount of sparkles on their pillow and on the floor as a sign the Tooth Fairy made an appearance.
- Make your kids a special breakfast to commenorate the lost tooth event. Pancakes shaped like teeth!
Whatever you decide to do just remember that this is a pretty big deal for your child, especially if they are losing their first tooth. Making the experience special for them doesn’t have to mean leaving few bucks under their pillow. Doing a few special things for them will mean more to them later than any money left under the pillow.
What does the Tooth Fairy leave at your house?
City Garden in downtown St. Louis, located at 10th and Market.
This past weekend we headed downtown for a little local St. Louis fun. The weather was unseasonably cool so it seemed like the perfect chance to walk around the Arch grounds and then stroll up Market St. to check out the new City Garden.
You can just see the Arch in the background.
I had heard a little about the new City Garden but wasn’t entirely sure what to expect. Admittedly we don’t spend much time downtown. I hadn’t been down in a while. It was nice. The City Garden was awesome. I have to say that I wasn’t quite sure how cool it would be and was very pleasantly surprised. A whole two block area between 10th and 12th streets along Market has been taken over. There are several large sculptures, a water fountain for kids to run through, a couple of beautiful gardens with meandering paths through them, and several water features. Maya loved the water fountain and the bunny sculptures!
kissing the bunny statue
Just like almost everything in St. Louis it is free to enjoy the City Garden. I think the park is a great addition to the downtown area and will be a draw for families. The place was busy while we were there, but not too busy so we were able to enjoy everything. Beautifying downtown St. Louis is an important mission. The more there is to do down there the more people will head on down and enjoy themselves. City Garden is a great start.
If you live in the St. Louis area or are visiting the area I would recommend checking out the City Garden. It is great for kids, they will love the cool sculptures and the fun water features. There are several nice family-friendly restaurants close by so you grab some lunch or dinner after checking out the garden. On a hot day the City Garden’s water fountain is a great way for the kids (and grown ups to cool off).
After you get over that initial bumpy start to breastfeeding things tend to smooth out and breastfeeding life is good, easy. Your baby will often nuzzle in close, close her eyes and just nurse quietly. This easy breastfeeding with continue for several months. Then one day you’ll realize that your baby has suddenly become distracted by everything and breastfeeding will become a bit of a challenge again.
At around 4-5 months babies become much more aware of their surroundings and become interested in what is going on around them, even when busy nursing. Things like other people in the room, the dog or cat running around, the television can all become more interesting than your breast and will result in your baby letting go of their latch to look around and see what is happening. It can be frustrating not only because the nursing sessions will often become longer when your baby is constantly stopping and starting but also those quick unlatchings can be painful.
Every baby (well almost anyway) will go through this phase. My daughter went through it at about4 months old. I had to change up our breastfeeding routine and we were able to settle back into a nice, quiet routine that worked. Luckily this is one of the easier breastfeeding challenges to over come. With a little creativity and making a few changes you can easily nurse your baby through this distracted period.
Here are a few tips on nursing a distracted baby:
- Nurse in a quiet spot with few distractions. If you were used to nursing in the living room talking to your husband and watching television consider switching to nursing in your child’s bedroom.
- If there are distractions in the room try to position yourself so that the distractions are not in your baby’s line of sight.
- Make eye contact with your baby and softly talk to him, this will help keep his focus on you and the task at hand.
- Allow your baby to play with something like a favorite toy or blanket. If their focus is on that favorite, fun item they are less likely to be distracted by what is going on around them.
- Consider using a blanket or a breastfeeding cover, especially if you are in a place where the distractions are plentiful, to help keep out the distracting sights and sounds.
- If your baby is easily distracted by noises consider playing a calming cd or use a white noise machine during nursing to help drown out the outside noises.
Although it can be frustrating and you may want to just give up try to work through. You are doing the best thing for your baby by breastfeeding, keep it up. Bottlefed babies get distracted too. Just switch up your routine a bit and work with your baby to keep your nursing sessions quiet and enjoyable.