More stuff about boobies
 

Thanks for that image. I will treasure it.

More stuff about boobies
 

Are you trying to pretend you are still in your teen years?

More stuff about boobies
 

Thanks for that image. I will treasure it.

Reading Material
 

Here's a fabulous book that no one's mentioned: BABY 411.
It's by the author of BabyBargains (Denise Fields) and a very practical pediatrician Dr. Ari Brown.

The subtitle of the book is "Clear Answers and Smart Advice for Your Baby's First Year" which is dead on. I have a bookshelf of patenting books (I have a 1 yr old) and this book is BY FAR the most informative, least insulting and has the most balanced and down-to-earth tone of all of my books. As far as I'm concerned it's the only book any parent of a newborn would ever need. It's also a lot of fun to read (I'm not kidding, the authors have a genuine sense of humor).

Breastfeeding stuff
 

A recent search for info on gentian violet (yay, yeast!) turned up Dr. Jack Newman. Here's his stuff: http://www.bflrc.com/newman/articles.htm Very helpful. I'll be calling my local compounding pharmacy for some All-Purpose Nipple Ointment on Monday. Gosh, they might even be open tomorrow.

tm

Breastfeeding stuff
 

Purple breasticles. That's Hot.

Potty Training
 

When did those of you with potty-trained kids start? How did you introduce the idea to the kid, if she/he was fairly young? Mine is 18mos and I am dying to get him day-trained, but I'm not sure I am up for it with a new baby to deal with. He seems interested in his little potty as well as the big ones. If I had tile all over I think I might just put him in undies and try that route, but alas, we have carpet. Any ideas?

Potty Training
 

18 mos is way ambitious. I've known one kid who did this at that age. She was a girl and a second child (two factors in the plus column, upon which you cannot capitalize here), but she also had accidents until she turned 4. I regard it as incontrovertible proof of my parenting superiority that our first was trained shortly after 3 and has had precious few accidents.

Wait until the child expresses an interest in Special Underpants. Without this critical leverage, success is not assured.

Potty Training
 

We started putting Magnus on the potty after meals (when he would usually poop) at about 16 months. We would read books to him until he pooped or we could tell he wasn't going to (usually not very long). Then we usually didn't stick him on the potty again that day, since he was usually a once-a-day pooper. That whole year you could probably count on your fingers the number of poopy diapers we changed.

Oh--and we've never used a stand-alone potty. I'm not into cleaning up shit, so we've always used (and my mom used for all of us) a seat that fits on the regular toilet. I highly recommend the one from Baby Bjorn. When we started, it was just hard enough for him to get on and off the toilet by himself that he didn't think to do it without us => no wandering poopy-bottomed child. You can see the benefit of this.

We waited a while to tackle the pee issue--it just seemed so not urgent. We finally did it when he got out of preschool for the summer a few months short of his fourth birthday. The benefit of waiting was that he was really really ready and it was relatively painless--only a few accidents and he was very shortly able to go entirely by himself with no reminders and no one needed to help him pull up his pants, etc. We still maintained a strict after-lunch poop schedule, but this summer (approaching 5) he's gotten away from that. Sometimes I'll remind him that he should try to go before we're going to be out for a long time, but generally he just goes when he needs to. Now if we can just get the bum-wiping thing completely mastered . . . .

tm

ETA that cornstarch works pretty well for cleaning up pee accidents, even on carpet. Some people swear by baking soda, but I never tried it. Maybe when little Thor gets to that stage in a couple of years.

EATA that he's still wearing a pull-up at night. I come from a family of bedwetters (one brother did it regularly until about age 12) and don't like doing laundry every day, so I haven't been pushing this issue. Suggestions? Do we just need to try it and see what happens? I seem to recall talking about it with him and agreeing that he should start at age 5. In that case, I may be doing lots of laundry next week.

Potty Training
 

Start as early as possible. Don't listen to the disposable-diaper-company propaganda that seems to suggest that you wait until the child is "ready".

Potty Training
 

I sort of feel better now. I've been wondering when a 4 year old might make it through the night. Periodic success, but I haven't wanted to wash sheets in the middle of the night, so I'm still allowing the nighttime pullups. I waited until over 2 to start trying the daytime, but the second time around I think I'm going to start as early as possible - #2 is overall a more predictable and obedient one, plus there is the "want to be like the big sibling" factor that, as someone said, cannot be underestimated.

I've been ignoring chiding from my mother for years, who claimed the kids in my family wree all day-trained by 18 months.

Potty Training
 

HAHAHAHA HAHAHAHAHA.

Oh sorry, I thought you were speaking in general terms.

Potty Training
 

Are you telling me I'm deluded and that the second one is really going to be a terror, more of a challenge than the first? Say it isn't so, or I'm heading to the doc for meds now.

Potty Training
 

Make sure you get refills.

Potty Training
 

Damn you. This is the only thing that gets me from bedtime to bedtime - the prospect of #2 never giving me the same experiences #1 is.