sadness or euphoria

Is it normal for a 10 year old boy to ask his older brother (28) whom he hasn't seen in two years to ask if he can sit on his knee/lap?
My husband felt kind of awkward when his 10 year old brother asked him that.

My daughter is six months old now and I've been reading to her twice a day. What are your favorite books to read to your children? I want millions!! Reading to her is so much fun and she loves it. Usually, it puts her right to sleep so it's great for naps and bedtime in my house, hehe. And what were YOUR favorite books as a kid?

My favorite is "love you forever" and has been for ages. It makes me cry every time though!

Also, We started her on jars of baby food recently. I've noticed there's ALOT (or so it seems) of sugar in them. Is this something to be worried about? Are there any community's or websites dedicated to making your own baby food? any info would be great :)

Hi moms and moms-to-be!

My hubby and I are TTC our first child. I had a pre-conception session with my OB and she tested me for Rubella immunity. She told me that some people lose their immunity to Rubella over time. Apparently I am one of those people and my blood test shows no immunity whatsoever.

I am freaking out now because I know that if I contract Rubella while pregnant there is a high risk of serious complications. If I get the vaccine and get pregnant within 3 months then the baby is at high risk for fetal abnormalities.

I might be pregnant now and I really dont want to wait another 3 months to conceive. I am also uncomfortable with the possible side effects/interactions of the vaccine itself.

Has anyone encountered this situation before? I work at a child development center as the Admin Asst, which I know makes me more at risk to childhood illnesses/infections.

Any advice/research/personal stories are greatly appreciated!

Thanks so much!

My daughter has her 2 bottom teeth in already. She's now getting a 3rd bottom tooth, but no signs of top teeth. Is this normal? Am I worrying about nothing? She's almost 11 months old. TIA :D

Hello.  My son is turning five this spring. So I need to look for a school for him. I also need to look for a house (now we are renting an apartment). So, too big and interrelated decisions. And I got confused. What is the best strategy in my case: to see some schools in the neighborhood, choose one and then to choose a house in its district. Or instead a home should be a starting point: I choose a home and then explore the school in its area? What worked for you?

I just got some Tom's of Maine Natural Flouride-Free toothpaste for children (silly strawberry) with the intention to use it to brush my almost 13 month-old's teeth. I had previously been using the Baby Orajel Tooth and Gum Cleanser but had heard such great things about Tom's of Maine that I decided to switch. However, my 13 month-old is obviously not going to spit any of the toothpaste out - what goes in will be swallowed. I had assumed this was okay because it's flouride-free and I'd only use a pea sized amount. But I can't find anything on the package or online officially saying it's okay for him to swallow it. So... does anyone know if it's okay?

So I have a question for you mommies out there.
My roommate is going to her mothers for a few weeks and is taking her 3 month old on a plane. She's super anxious about how his ears will react on take-off, landing. Any advice or experiences you ladies have would be much appreciated.
Plus any advice on what to bring on the plane to help entertain him on the flight if he gets cranky would be more then helpful.

Thanks in advance!

My 9 month old daughter is still not crawling. She was born 3 weeks early, and she went to physical therapy for something involving her neck. When I asked the therapist about it, I got some mixed opinions...some said that all babies crawl unless theres something wrong with them...and some said that some don't, they just walk or cruise. Her pediatrician said that her children never crawled, and my mom said I never crawled either, but I don't wanna do the whole "well I turned out fine, so.." thing, lol..I would be less concerned if she cruised or pulled herself up to stand but she doesn't do that, either. She'll stand holding onto my hands really well, so I know she CAN do it but she just never does. Did anyone else have this problem? Her ped. said that if they aren't walking by 18 months, then there might be something to worry about..but some people are saying the opposite and I'm not sure what to believe. 

Ever since i started giving my daughter whole milk, she's been getting constipated alot more. It cant be anything else she's easting since she hasnt been eating anything differently. But she's been really constipated everyday for the last 4-5 days. She finally DOES poop, but after screaming bloody murder for a good 5 minutes. Last night she woke up twice screaming and finally we just brought her into bed with us so we could all get some rest.

Ive tried giving her pear juice, and ive tried giving her prune juice which she hates. The only thing that used to work before was prune and apple juice, but now that doesnt seem to be working. I told the doctor about this at her 1 year checkup and he said to keep an eye on it, and if the prune and apple juice didnt work anymore, to call him back and they can prescribe something.

I would really rather not have to give her medicine if there is something more natural that i can do. Any suggestions?

She just turned a year old btw.

Are you teaching your kids about "stranger danger"? To what extent?

I was thinking about this yesterday as I read an article about a local abduction. A little girl was lured into a van on the promise of seeing kittens.

Last year, a Quebec girl was last seen saying she was going to help a man find his lost puppy.

I had relayed the latter story to my sister, who is 12 year my senior. She gasped in horror and said, "But that's the oldest trick in the book! We were warned about that when I was in elementary school!"

I know that some people don't want to buy into teaching their children to fear other people or whatnot, but I think there has to be a happy medium. I don't think it's unreasonable to teach a child not to talk to strangers and be wary of an adult who they don't know taking too much interest in them, not to mention NEVER going off with one.

Edit with an excellent question from verito295: At what age did you start to teach your kids to be careful regarding strangers?

What are your children's names?

Why did you choose them?


My daughter is named Gwendolyn. We chose the name by accident honestly! We stumbled across it in an online search and simply fell in love with it. We call her Gwen, his parents refer to her as Gwennie and sometimes I say her full name.

I think its old fashioned, unique, and just plain beautiful.

What about you?

I figured I'd post this since it was such a good deal and because I know some of you have kids who are sleeping in Twin size beds

Target is having a HUGE sale on Twin, Xlong Twin and Full size bed sheets. I was there yesterday and they had a whole aisle of bed sheets and comforters for 75% off!

They have pink, grey, green, turqoise, navy, and white bed sheet sets (fitted sheet, regular sheet and two pillow cases) for $3

They have a bunch of different comforters for $5 - $15
I got a comforter that was originally $60, for $14

Along with different colored bed skirts and pillow shams for $4


I told my sister who lives in a different state about it and she went to her Target and they are having the sale there also, so I'm assuming it's a nationwide thing



The sheets feel a bit stiff at first, but I washed them once with Fabric Softner, a cup of salt and a bit of vinegar and they are SOOO soft and fabulous now!


I know with kids it's always useful to have many sheets, so hopefully this will be useful to someone!

"Peds warn about exotic pets and children"

ugh

use commen sense people.

don't let your kid handle these kind of pets till they're older, and don't let the pet run around the house where your child plays.  bath them regularly, and always have your kid (and you the parent) wash they're hands before and after playing petting them.

My baby is normally pretty good with being in the car and crying. She will get antsy once in a while but very rarely has full on crying fits. She had more when she was new born (she is 4.5 months now) but I would just pull over, feed her and then she'd be back to being happy or sleeping.

Last night, after a pretty normal weekend day, she had a non-stop fit in her car seat while in the car. I asked my husband (who was sitting in back with her) to tell me if she turned red and I would pull over and feed her. He eventually told me she was in fact turning red. So I pulled over. As soon as I took her out of the seat she stopped crying. I checked her diaper, fed her, and when she got drowsy I put her back in. She started wailing again. So I took her out, as soon as I did she was happy. I fed her a little more, she got drowsy and I put her back. Again she was wailing. So I gave up and we just drove with her like that.

As soon as we got home I unbuckled her car seat and grabbed her. She was happy and smiling as soon as I did. Like a light switch. This morning she was fine in her car seat on the way to her childcare.

She is teething, but this seems more off than that. She always complains when we belt her in the car seat but never full on crying.

Any body have any thoughts on what could cause this? Should I be concerned? Maybe change car seats?

I scored a SuperYard for less than half price this weekend (yay!); much needed for life with an 11 mth old :)

We've set it up in our living room, which has hardwood floors.
My son has figured out that if he pushes on the SuperYard, it will glide perfectly on the floors, so it ends up being Cai (my bebe) and the SuperYard cruising around the living room, in search of Mumma (not that I'm too far off, just around the corner in the kitchen most of the time).


Any ideas on how to prevent / stop the cruising around? I mean, it's not the worst thing in the world since he can't get into too much harm or trouble with an entire SuperYard surrounding him, but it'd be nice to have him stay put in one spot.

TIA!

My son is one month old today and was 8lbs 2oz at birth, upon leaving the hospital he was 7lbs 11oz and at his two week appointment he was 7lbs 6oz. I was advised by his doctor to up my calories and at exactly 3 weeks of age--- 5 days after his two week appointment, I took him to be weighed again. He had gained only 2 oz in 5 days time, leaving his weight at 7 lbs 8oz. We purchased a Medela pump in Style to attempt to get my supply up and the pump along with homeopathy did work. I contacted my local LLL leader and after speaking with her a few times and correcting some small latch issues I was sure that my son would have gained atleast 4-6 oz like he's supposed to by todays weigh in.

Once again, he only gained 2oz. he's a month old and still 6 oz away from his birth weight. I offer the breast every hour and even took a 'milk day' where all we did was have skin to skin and feed. Why is he not gaining? The doctor says that she thinks its a 'caloric problem' meaning that I'm not eating enough and its all my fault, yada yada---except, my diet is great! I eat plenty of calories and drink TONS of water! She asked me how much milk I was able to pump and I said about an oz and a half a day, while I KNOW that this is no indication of my supply or nutrition (especially when I'm breastfeeding all day) she treated it like it was a terrible sign.

So, she wants me to feed him 10 minutes each breast and THEN follow up with a bottle of formula and write down how many ounces he's eating of formula and the times. She expects him to gain 4oz by Friday when we have another weigh in, and if not then she will start testing him for possible health problems. UGH! I know that this is kind of ridiculous, the baby will not refuse a bottle even if he is full, but the question is can he gain weight I guess. His father was a slow/poor gainer as well, but when I made the doctor aware of this fact she just brushed it aside.

I'm so frustrated and worried about my baby. Any advice would be appreciated and, mostly, I just want to be reassured that I'm not alone and that I'm not the only mother in the world to have gone through this. Has anyone had similar problems getting their newborn to gain weight?

I hope someone will know what I am asking about!

My mother and I are on the hunt for a mat so to speak for my son. He will not sit in a booster/highchair/regular chair for anything. He just wants to explore and eat at his own will. Which I am fine with but food seems to get onto everything. So we are looking for a mat to lay on the floor so he can make a mess and it will be easy to clean. My friend has one for her daughter but she found it at a garage sale. Its not like a nap time mat..I guess its kind of the material of the game Twister (the mat part)? Its like a plastic but its colorful and for kids but its easy to clean. Get what I mean? haha Any idea where to find one? I only looked at Kmart so far with no luck! Thanks!

My son turns 3 in December, right after Christmas.

He LOVES killing bugs. (Well, killing probably isn't the right word, I doubt he has much concept of death.) But he sees a bug, and he wants to smash it. No, he NEEDS to smash it. Ants, flies, crickets, spiders... If he can catch it, he kills it.

My main worry is him getting bit by a spider or something, since all insects are "bug" to him. Any good ways to squash this habit? I've tried explaining to him it's not nice to give bugs 'owies', and he obviously isn't hurting the pets or humans so I'm not really .. worried about it. It's hardly the worst thing he could be doing, but I'd rather it not keep going.

Boys. e____e

my oldest daughter turns 4 next month.
anyway, i heard shrieking sounds and cries from her playroom the other day, and because i was trying to put the baby to a nap i went in there, fully expecting those sounds to be coming from her 2 year old sister, as she loooooves to shriek. However, it was my big girl! I asked her what in the world she was doing, and she said she was killing the princess.
As in, her other dolls were apparently killing the princess doll.
I told her that was really not nice, and rather horrible and asked her not to do that.
and i left the room.
Im just a little in shock and not sure if thats normal?
I dont know where she would have ever learned something like that, or even have an understanding of what killing is.
maybe she doesnt who knows. but it scared me.
we dont watch tv, infact even when we just watch the news or something online we dont do it with the girls around normally.
so i dont know.
anyway i just need to know if ive got trouble on my hands or if im over reacting.

I am interested in finding out how many of you co slept. And if you did, when did you stop? If you stopped, why did you stop?

I co slept with my little boy for about 18 months, and then he wanted his own bed. Then when his dad moved out (we split up about 4 months ago), he started wanting to co sleep again. I really didn't mind because I figured he needed the extra security.

But at the risk of sounding really selfish, I really need to have more space in bed. I sleep really badly because of mental health problems. Lack of sleep really affects my mood :-S

x-posted to attachedparents