Things I have no idea how to do with Alan

[lesliepear]

- Teach him NOT to throw his food
- How to get him to understand NO - not to go do it again and not to throw a hissy fit when you tell him no
- How to teach him to eat with a spoon and then a fork
- How to toilet train him
- How to find a safe space when I'm taking a shower in the morning. He's outgrowing the exersaucer, he isn't happy stuck in the crib and the best we can do is gate off a hall and let him play there...parts of the place just aren't childsafe at this point :( Or do I start showering at night?

Sigh.

Comments

[ginky.livejournal.com]

He will eventually figure out the food thing. We skipped the spoon and went to the fork because it's something you can make food stick to. He was about 18-24 months before both of those happened.

I always take a shower before Trey leaves. You could also bring him into the shower with you.

You've got a while for potty training.

[dstroy.livejournal.com]

what amy said. Except I occasionally let Felix have a short fork/spoon while he eats and he mostly fingered it for ages but got used to playing with the fork. Expect a mess though.

[iterrible.livejournal.com]

To teach him how to not throw his food and understand no you have to be really patient. When he does something you don't like take his hand away, or take whatever he is holding away from him and say "we don't do ___" and then move him away from the area. It's a lot of work and patience but it works. Also buy saying we don't instead of no, it means he won't pick up on the word no as soon. This is what we did with alex and he didn't start saying no until after he turned two.

with potty training take your cues from him, he will let you know when he's ready and it's better than pushing him even if he potty trains later. If you are concerned about gettting started now; buy him a potty chair and let him play with it and get comfortable with it. Take him to the bathroom with you when you go and encourage your husband to do this as well, explain things to him and make him feel comfortable in the bathroom. Also encourage him to tell you when he wants his diaper changed, recognising when they are wet or poopy is one of the first steps to potty training (alex is 26 months and is just now doing this phoebe has done it since she was born). Don't put too much stress on him, it will delay the process.

I always take phoebe in the shower with me and either let her play at my feet (I pick her up whenever I rinse soap off) or I let her stand at the side of the tub so that I can see her.

[lesliepear.livejournal.com]

I'm not comfortable taking Alan in the shower now because it is moldy and the drain cover is loose. Once the repairs are made, I may try that. Several days a week I'm alone with Alan from 7 Am until I leave with him for daycare/work sometime around 8-815 AM and it isn't always easy getting both of us ready.

[iterrible.livejournal.com]

I'm at home all day and I still have a hard time getting ready by the time it's time to go get robert, so I understand about the getting ready thing. It usually takes me at least an hour to get all of us ready.

[datagoddess.livejournal.com]

How to get him to understand NO - not to go do it again and not to throw a hissy fit when you tell him no

IANAParent, but I think this one isn't possible until he gets a good sense that he's not the center of the universe, which happens around 2-3, I think. Of the kids I've been around, that seems to be the time when they start understanding that actions have consequences, and that parents are not just an extension of themselves.

[itsmegidget.livejournal.com]

My kids used to throw a fit when we told them no, but if you ignre the fit, and hthey figure out they aren't going tochnge your mind by throwing the fit.. it usually doesn't last long.

He will definitely let you know when he is ready to ptty trin, my MIL was living with us 2 yrs ago and she pushed Jake nd pushed jake to go potty and it backfired on her, he would do itin his pants all the time then it would just happen when he wanted attenttion from her while I was working. So I put my foot down and told her no. But at 3.5 he decided he wanted to go potty. and has gone ever since no problems.

With both our kids we gave them the plastic baby spoons and forks from an early age, they plyed with them moving the food around then would eat with fingers but they learned to eat with them soon after that.

As for showering, I used to get up early and tke one before the baby would get up, but my kids slept threw the night from day 1 and pretty much got up at the same time everyday. When I needed more rest and didn't get up earlier I would tke the baby in the shower with me, I had 1 of those baby seats for the tub and would give them a couple toys. Sometimes I put the gate up in the livingroom, but it was baby proof.
You could shower at night too. But I need a shower to wake up.

[yeoww.livejournal.com]

- Teach him NOT to throw his food - saying "No" very firmly teachers that it's wrong to do it- which doesn't always outweigh the great fun this appears to be for babies! Eventually they do outgrow it; it just seems like that day is never going to come when you're in the middle of it.

- How to get him to understand NO - not to go do it again and not to throw a hissy fit when you tell him no - this is an ongoing process in my experience. Kids don't like to hear "no" when they get older, either. The hissy fits just become more vocal. I hate to tell you this, but there is a reason they call it "the terrible twos" - only I think they meant the first two years, not just while kids are 2 years old!

- How to teach him to eat with a spoon and then a fork - we did spoons for a long time because forks were just too complicated at first. But what happens is that they see other little guys using forks and they want to, too.

- How to toilet train him - we took the easy way out. We let our kids take the lead. And as with so many other things, when they see other kids not wearing diapers or using the potty they want to, too.

- How to find a safe space when I'm taking a shower in the morning. He's outgrowing the exersaucer, he isn't happy stuck in the crib and the best we can do is gate off a hall and let him play there...parts of the place just aren't childsafe at this point :( Or do I start showering at night? - can he just come into the bathroom with you while you shower? If that won't work, the other option (which I used) is showering at night, as you mentioned.

[kanga2roos.livejournal.com]

I'm not sure how old Alan is, but the way I found to stop Violet (15 months now) from throwing food was to give it to her in smaller amounts. I found that she gets bored or something when I give her a lot of food on the tray, so she throws it.

I haven't tackled the spoon/fork thing and I don't recall how I taught my other girls how to use one. I do give her one sometimes, but she mostly just pretends to eat with it rather than actually use it for food. (And chew on it, too. ;)

His crib or playpen is the only place for him while you're in the shower. Don't worry if he's not happy. You can't help that. (I know it's not easy, though..) Give him books, a cup to drink out of and/or a toy to distract him. I also found that Violet will stop whining after being put in her crib after you shut the door.

-kanga