@Bltbear82 Yes! Always alternating between nursing on the go or encouraging him to snuggle and read next to me/drive cars on me/play play doh next to me etc.
Well this should be a good day- shortly after taking this picture: my son puked and had explosive diarrhea all over the couch/ me and now has a fever of 103. Now he's huddled in a ball on the couch watching dinosaur train while I try to figure out where we packed the heavy duty cleaning supplies because we are moving in with my folks in 5 days so everything is in boxes. Also, my husband is trading in our car today so I have no vehicle so please God can this baby pleeeeeease not get whatever this is?!?!
@Bellodomani Yikes! Fx that your son feels better soon and that it's something that she can't catch, like a bout of food poisoning that he can recover from quickly! Poor little guy. Super cute picture though!
Oh no @Bellodomani! Hoping for the best for you and baby and that your son feels better soon. I don't even know how to deal with that - quarantine one? I'm not looking forward to school starting for that reason alone.
@Bellodomani I just went through the same thing with DS1 I quarantined him from everyone and kept everything as clean as possible-lysol disinfectant spray anyone? DS2 and DS3 ended up sleeping in the fifth wheel with DH. DS4 and I stayed in my room that night. No one caught it, thank God. I hope your lo gets over it and that the baby doesn't get it either! Cute pic BTW.
Also I just parked our car at our usual garage and DS1 was screaming like he was being murdered because he didn't want to get out. The garage owner was so concerned and I was just calmly unpacking the car and sorting out how to walk the block to our apartment with a child acting like that, a newborn, and carry all our stuff. toddlers are great, right?
Thanks for the support ladies- as it turned out, this day got a LOT worse before it got better. A while after I posted this I noticed my son's breathing was super rapid, and his chest was caving when he breathed in. I called the pedi, they sent me to the ER. By the time I got there, his lips were turning blue. They said it was probably asthma and prescribed a steroid, which I gave him and he promptly threw up. Managed to get another half dose down the hatch (it tastes like death) but saw no change after 3 hours of waiting and listen to him wheeze and gasp for air. Finally got in to see the pedi, where they said the ER doc should have done a nebulizer treatment on him. They did it in office and showed me how to do it on him, so tonight I have to wake him up every 4 hours and help him breathe this medicine for 15 minutes. Plus I have to continue administering the steroid 2x/ day which is nearly impossible because he just keeps covering his mouth and crying when I try to give it. Plus if I do manage to get him to take it, the doc told me it had the lovely side effect of causing some children to be extremely aggressive and moody. So basically tomorrow should be great too
That's so scary @Bellodomani! I can't believe the ER made you wait so long with a child in respiratory distress, that's absurd. It sounds like you had a rough day, I hope tomorrow is better and he feels better!
Just FYI NYU has a pediatric ER where they expedite cases. My son needs a nebulizer during most colds after a scary episode and we were immediately brought to a room and saw a doctor within 10 minutes. I know it's torture but it gets better I promise. Is he on albuterol? There's an alternative my doctor offered if he didn't respond well behaviorally on it but we've never had an issue. If you're ok with it we allow our son to have an iPad and watch a show of his choice when we start the treatments so it's not so traumatizing.
@bellodomani how terrifying! I can't believe they made you wait that long. I hope he's feeling better soon; what a rough day for a little guy. I second using a distraction during treatments. I had to get them when I was little and they feel weird. I hope he doesn't have bad mood swings from the steroid like your doctor warned you about, but if he does, they should stop pretty quickly once he's off of the medicine. Steroids always made me very weepy/indecisive as a kid when I took them. Lots of hugs, mama!
@Bltbear82 That's good to know about NYU. Yeah, he's on albuterol and doing really well with the nebulizer so far- let him play Toca Band on the iPad during the daytime treatments and just sang him songs during the night time ones. I'm hoping tonight he'll be doing better and I won't have to do it at night. Does your son have to use the albuterol regularly or just when he has a cold/ virus?
@kbrands7 The steroids have been absolutely awful He already has trouble with anger and impulse control and the meds have just amped it up. Last night at bedtime he punched the tv and threw a remote at my head and I'm just like dreading having to do it again tonight.
When we first came home from the hospital DD1 had a huge potty training regression. It got better for awhile and now she's back to peeing her pants every single night. It doesn't matter how often I remind her to go potty, or make her sit on the potty she still does it. At first we tried not making a big deal about it and just moving on but when that didn't work we tried rewarding for not having accidents, and when that didn't work we tried time out, and when that didn't work we started taking away privileges. Nothing is working and I am absolutely at my wits' end. I am so tired of cleaning up pee and washing so many clothes. It's been over a month now. What else can I do?!
@kbrands7@Bellodomani do your toddlers also come and grab your hand to "show you something now" as soon as you start feeding the baby? Between the toddler and the dog I feel like this baby will constantly be fed while I'm walking somewhere.
@Bellodomani we started out just needing it when he was sick, but he just kept getting sick this winter so his doctor developed a plan for us to get through the cold season: budesonide twice a day when he's healthy and albuterol and budesonide every 4 hours when he's sick. He's been consistently healthy since March so we don't need to use it regularly right now but the nebulizer made a massive difference.
Been one heck of a fussy baby day. My toddler at one point said, "I really didn't want you to grow that baby." (That said with emphasis pointing in baby's direction). I asked what I should have grown instead. The reply was a fan.
Been one heck of a fussy baby day. My toddler at one point said, "I really didn't want you to grow that baby." (That said with emphasis pointing in baby's direction). I asked what I should have grown instead. The reply was a fan.
Today my son was pretending to put the baby to bed and he said, "Ok Virginia, I will sing you one more song and then I don't want to hear another word out of your mouth." From the mouths of babes
2 yr olds, man. He was sweet as pie and totally calm this morning. Just as I'm getting stuff ready for us to leave the house, he runs into the bathroom, grabs a bathtime bucket and goes to town with the toilet water like he's trying to save a sinking ship. Water everywhere in seconds. And single people wonder why it takes parents so long to leave the house sometimes!
@kbrands7 it all can happen so fast it blows my mind! This reminds me of the mopping Clorox commercial...
GUYS I DID IT. DH was at class and i had both kids. I waited for the right timing and BAM got the toddler to bed on my own while LO slept in RNP in the hall. No tears no fuss, I felt like super woman.
June momma here. Help leaves this weekend and I'm starting to stress about keeping my toddler occupied during nursing sessions. Any suggestions? What's everyone doing to help their toddlers make it through?
@Rawa1416 I try to keep play focused during nursing: First Look and Find books, coloring, play doh, cars/hot wheels, rolling a big ball back and forth... basically anything that only requires one hand and no chasing. Clusterfeeding sessions can get rough sometimes though because you can only keep a toddler at low energy play for so long.
@Rawa1416 It's mostly just total chaos around here during nursing sessions, although I will say that my toddler was way more out of control when my MIL was here helping out and he chilled it way out once they left, so hopefully yours will do the same. But a few things we do- after breakfast when I nurse baby I let him watch a show since PBS usually has something inoffensive on. We do outings nearly every morning, whether to a park, a friends' house, a coffee shop, and if we are out of the house he entertains himself much better while I nurse her. If we're at home and I need to nurse her, I either have him grab some books and we read while I feed her, or if he's bouncing off the walls I make him go play in the backyard til i'm finished. When it works out with timing I also try to nurse her while he's napping or while we're all eating a meal- you get really good at nursing with one arm while you do a thousand other things with your other arm.
Eta- he's 2.5, so obviously some of these ideas might not work if you have a much younger toddler.
@Rawa1416 I've made a big deal about us holding hands while I nurse the baby. DS is a wild child but for some reason when nothing else works he will just sit and hold my hand, it's so bizarre but it works for us!
@Rawa1416 I've made a big deal about us holding hands while I nurse the baby. DS is a wild child but for some reason when nothing else works he will just sit and hold my hand, it's so bizarre but it works for us!
Can we talk grocery store strategy? Usually I put DS1 in the cart and wear DS2, but I've run into a couple times lately that DS1 has fallen asleep on the way to the store (early!). If I wake him, naptime will be destroyed for the day. If I don't wake him, I can't figure out how to shop because I can't carry him and the baby at once with a cart too. When it was just him, I'd carry his 35lb frame on one side and maneuver the cart with my other side. Now I feel like I just need to head home and try again. Anyone have any tricks or tips?
@kbrands7 how far of a drive do you have? I do same strategy - wear the baby/toddler in the cart. We went at 10 - and nap isn't until 1/2 so there wasn't an issue. I guess I don't have much of a suggestion except my toddler and I talked the whole way to the store about the free cookie she would get once we got to the store. She wouldn't of fallen asleep if her life depended on it
@kbrands7 My son is the king of inconvenient car naps, and if he naps in the car it's like 20-40 min, but if he naps at home it's like 3 hours, so I avoid the car nap at all costs. The only thing right now that is a sure fire keep him awake in the car strategy is to open up my photo/ video folder on my phone and let him watch videos of himself. I REALLY don't like letting him hold my iPhone because it's like an expensive piece of electronic equipment, not a child's toy, but I occasionally employ this as my last resort. We've been doing grocery shopping after naptime anyway lately because then he's well rested and less likely to have a meltdown in the store.
@That1didntcount@Bellodomani Thanks! I guess I'll try to ramp up distractions /incentives on days that I suspect he may be tired. We can't go after his usual naptime without hitting the after-work/early rush hour crowd. I'm just thankful I was able to make the car to bed transfer today without him waking! His usual naps are 2.5-3 hours, but if he sleeps anything in the car, that will count as the nap in his mind even if he awakens far too early.
@Bltbear82 My son has some sort of sixth sense about when she needs to nurse because that is without fail when he needs to poop. I've now wiped him while nursing like 5 times and it never gets any easier.
Yes. Mine too. It is the most annoying thing ever. Kid never pooped this much before ever and every time I nurse toddler is like hey I better poop. It has been going on weeks now.
@Bltbear82 My son has some sort of sixth sense about when she needs to nurse because that is without fail when he needs to poop. I've now wiped him while nursing like 5 times and it never gets any easier.
Yes. Mine too. It is the most annoying thing ever. Kid never pooped this much before ever and every time I nurse toddler is like hey I better poop. It has been going on weeks now.
As I was squatting balancing baby on my quads careful to keep her latched while I wiped the toddler, I www simultaneously proud but also wondering if others are just unlatching and putting the baby down??
Re: Toddlers + newborn
you had a rough day, I hope tomorrow is better and he feels better!
Just FYI NYU has a pediatric ER where they expedite cases. My son needs a nebulizer during most colds after a scary episode and we were immediately brought to a room and saw a doctor within 10 minutes. I know it's torture but it gets better I promise. Is he on albuterol? There's an alternative my doctor offered if he didn't respond well behaviorally on it but we've never had an issue. If you're ok with it we allow our son to have an iPad and watch a show of his choice when we start the treatments so it's not so traumatizing.
@kbrands7 The steroids have been absolutely awful
I hope your little guy feels better soon!!
My toddler at one point said, "I really didn't want you to grow that baby." (That said with emphasis pointing in baby's direction).
I asked what I should have grown instead. The reply was a fan.
GUYS I DID IT. DH was at class and i had both kids. I waited for the right timing and BAM got the toddler to bed on my own while LO slept in RNP in the hall. No tears no fuss, I felt like super woman.
congrats on solo bedtime, feels like you can do anything, right?!
Eta- he's 2.5, so obviously some of these ideas might not work if you have a much younger toddler.