Toddlers and Popsicles

With summer on its way, no doubt that you will be faced with the issue of popsicles (or other frozen treats) and toddlers. These two things seem made for each other. You can almost hear the groans of mothers all over, though, when they contemplate the mess and the extra sugar involved when toddlers and popsicles get together. Here are some tips to help parents and kids alike enjoy this little staple of summer. To help contain the mess, you can fashion your own drip tray. Use plastic lids from formula, small oatmeal containers or other packaging. Cut a slit … Continue reading →

Adventures in Potty Training: Day 3

When you are potty training, there are many milestones. Fortunately, we hit a big one today. After another dry night (actually, all of the nights have been dry, thankfully), our little potty trainee decided to let it all go, all over the living room floor first thing in the morning. Truth be told, it was more the fault of the adults, since we were so busy trying to get everyone ready during the morning rush. Our little guy said frantically, “I’m going!” And, well, he went. I don’t believe in yelling or strong words for potty accidents, so we just … Continue reading →

Adventures in Potty Training: Day 2

You know how they always say that you can lead a child to the potty but you can’t make him go? What do you do when you are convinced that your young potty trainee would rather hold it in instead of use the potty? The second day of potty training went relatively smoothly, with more things getting into the potty, less things getting on the floor and no things actually getting on me. I see this last fact as a reason to celebrate and a sign that the training will get easier. Once again we had another dry nap. However, … Continue reading →

Adventures in Potty Training: Day 1: Evening

How do you manage potty training when someone else has to take over? This is a bit of the dilemma we faced going into the evening on Day 1. I am happy to report that our little one made it through his nap completely dry. I put training underwear on him for his nap (thick cotton underwear, not pull up diapers). Because I didn’t want to risk the couch where he normally naps, I set up a tent in the living room and placed a thick blanket inside the tent. Fortunately the blanket wasn’t needed. Things went well for the … Continue reading →

Adventures in Potty Training: Day 1, Morning

Well, the day has finally arrived. It is time to potty train our youngest child. Here are my experiences and adventures, practically as they happen. I have been waiting for the weather to warm up past the 50 degree mark for a stretch of at least three days before I started potty training. This is because I have found that one of the quickest methods for training involves letting the child run around with a long shirt on and a bare bottom, something that just doesn’t work when it is cold. It so happens that we are in the middle … Continue reading →

Another Batch of Tips About Getting A Toddler to Eat

It seems that you guys just can’t get enough ideas about getting your toddler or preschooler to eat good food. There must be a lot of picky kids out there (okay, which kids aren’t right?). I am more than happy to oblige with another batch of tips about getting a toddler to eat. Hopefully, some of these ideas will work for you. Magic Animals Creatively transform your food into funny animals or different characters. I find that this tends to me my last resort when a stubborn child won’t eat a certain food no matter how many times I offer … Continue reading →

Even More Ways to Get a Toddler to Eat

Do you have a picky eater in your house? Some days I used to think that my children would waste away to nothing. But I refuse to be a short order cook or to serve them food that isn’t nutritionally balanced. So, here are more tricks and tips that have worked for my family and the family of some of my mom friends. Hopefully there is something in here that you can use if you have a picky toddler. Rabbit Wants His Carrot In the last post, I talked about how having Wall-E plate really helped get dinner devoured by … Continue reading →

More Ways to Get a Toddler to Eat

We have all heard about hiding good foods into standard fare, such as extra vegetables in pasta sauce (one of my least favorite ways of getting a child to eat, since it involves trickery rather than changing habits), but what are some other ways of getting that picky toddler to love new and healthy food? Here are some of the methods that have worked for my family and/or the families of some of my close mom friends. The Clean Your Plate Club, Updated When I was a child, I was told that if I finished everything on my plate that … Continue reading →

Why Your Toddler Hits

Whether your toddler regularly hits you or other children, the behavior can be quiet disconcerting. You may feel as though other parents see your child as a problem child. But the reality is that hitting is not an unusual behavior for many toddlers. And sometimes the usual discipline methods, such as time outs may not seem to work. When a toddler hits, it is important to be consistent about the behavior not being acceptable. At the same time, it can be helpful when you understand some of the motivation behind the hitting behavior. He may be curious about other people … Continue reading →

Curbing the Gimmies

Is your toddler or preschooler having a bad case of the gimmies, where she wants every toy, snack or object in the store. Shopping with a young child can be tough, especially if the child has a melt down whenever he can’t have everything he sees. Here are some techniques for curbing the gimmies and setting limits. The both of you will be happier for it. Delayed gratification is tough for a toddler or preschooler. They don’t have the emotional maturity to handle all of the temptation, and they don’t understand why they shouldn’t have something. One way to cut … Continue reading →