1. Forks
Moms of toddlers… what kind of forks to your little ones use? Currently we have a slew of those crappy plastic Take and Toss forks (I’m sorry… but those suckers just don’t cut it for poking into anything other than a heavily boiled sweet potato), and 2 or 3 different metal forks that are toddler sized. Mind you, I haven’t actually LOOKED, but where in the world would one go to find non-plastic toddler sized forks? All the toddler/baby aisles have are plastic.
2. Cough Meds
Porter has had a slight cough at night (mostly when he is sleeping) and we were out of Robitussin Cough. I went to the store to pick up a few taste-bud pleasing foods today and picked up some Pediatric Robitussin for him, and the cashier says “OH did you see on the news where they were saying not to give any of these types of meds to kids under the age of 6?” Well, I still bought the meds for Porter. What are your opinions on this? Read about it at CNN and MSNBC.
3. Water in the night.
Here is where I *really* need your suggestions. For the past month or so, Porter has been waking up occasionally (ok, a few times a week) around midnight, and is crying for “Waber” (water). Now, for the first week or so we just gave him a sippy cup and put him back to bed. Then I noticed that he started leaking through is diapers on the mornings after he’d had water at night (not just el cheap diapers.. but Huggies too). So, I tried a few nights just letting him have a sip of water out of a big cup and sometimes that tides him over, sometimes he goes into a fit for a cup of water.
Last night was a tough night. He woke up, I tried to give him water out of a real cup, he dumped it down the front of himself so we had to change his pj’s. After that I got him a sippy cup, put him in bed and went to give him some medicine for his cough and fill up his humidifier. Ryan got all ticked because Porter was still crying in bed and he thought I hadn’t given him his cup.
So, after all is fixed, we’re in bed and I bring up the cup in bed topic. Heres a *tiny* reinactment of our conversation:
Nic: You know, we really shouldn’t be giving him a cup of water to sleep with. When we start potty training we’ll probably need to cut off liquids around 7pm
Ry: Thats ridiculous. YOU wouldn’t go without water from 7pm until the morning. Why don’t you try to do that every night. He gets thirsty!
N: 7pm is only a half hour before his bedtime. I would be fine if I stopped drinking anything half an hour before bedtime.
R: He gets thirsty. All he has is a few sips of water in his cup.
N: Ok, fine. You can be in charge of all the potty training if you don’t think its an issue. And when your son is 6 and still wearing pullups and peeing in class, I’ll tell him to talk to you about it. And when he’s 10 and can’t go to sleepovers because he pees the bed at night at his friends house, I’ll tell him to talk to you about those cups of water in bed. (of course, this was followed by us cracking up because I totally was being overly dramatic and sarcastic)
So, we never really “resolved” the issue. I’m sure Porter will be asking for water tonight. What do I do? Do I “Just Say NO!?” or is it fine until we really start potty training (which probably won’t be for awhile. Frankly, I’m lazy). Did any of you ever have kids that wanted water when the slept? Did the WAKE UP NUMEROUS NIGHTS A WEEK crying for water???
HELP!
nicolebarczak.com 
1. Not sure where to find metal forks. We have four. From random places… free gift with kid’s magazines and two hand-me-downs that were actually from a set of silverware that included tiny toddler forks.
I just looked up on ebay and there’s a ton of silverware.
http://cgi.ebay.com/
Winnie-Pooh-Disney-First-Year-fork-and-spoon-utensil-A_
W0QQitemZ220154505176QQihZ012QQcategoryZ117385QQssPageName
ZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem
or here
http://www.flatwareoutlet.com/category
/9?p=FON07CGG&s=gglch&gclid=CO3WzKuV744CFSSaZQod1R8PYA
2. I never liked giving my kids much cold medicine. It was always last resort. I really only gave cough meds if they really weren’t sleeping because of it. I use the humidifier for colds and coughs (and add the vick’s vaposteam) and it usually works well enough. I heard about the FDA thing, but didn’t read it. I wonder about how many of those deaths were due to an actual reaction to the drugs, or if it was mis-dosing. It’s always made me nervous anyway.
3. I made a point of never getting into the night time water in the first place, just because I was thinking ahead to someday pottytraining and I just don’t like to create habits I’ll have to break later. Sawyer has about a half cup of milk before bed and I’m trying to whittle that down already. No water at night. I know he drinks plenty during the day, and he usually takes his last sip after brushing his teeth. I guess my kids have never asked for water at night because it’s never been offered. Once in a great while Savannah might tell me she’s thirsty and I just tell her we’ll have a big drink first thing in the morning.
I’d say if you don’t like the water habit, it’s just like weaning from a bottle or pacifier… eventually you just make it not an option anymore.
one) i hate using those take and toss with tucker now. they barely serve the purpose. i do have a couple sets that are the metal bottom and big knobby handle (can’t find a link anywhere). they seem to work okay.
two) i have given tucker robitussin pediatric cough & cold once. i am a big fan of baby vick’s and the vapor patches you can put right on their pillow or pj’s. they give off a vapor, but are not messy at all. i also use vapor bath when he has a cough too. i’m a huge vapor fan i guess. i didn’t read the fda thing either but then again i don’t really use cough medicine much.
three) tucker will usually have water/milk before bed. lately, he hasn’t wanted as much as in the past. there have been times he has woke up and wanted milk and we have given it to him. i agree with you that when we start potty training, we’ll have to cut him off from liquids a while before bedtime. i think that would be the smart thing to do, but who is staying we will be smart when he is screaming for something to drink? 🙂 kidding. oh, i’m so nervous about the whole potty training thing! isn’t there just a switch you can flip? please?
1) We have those take and toss forks as well, and just recently I started seeing that Lukas is having a hard time picking some foods up with them. I’ll have to look for some metal ones as well. I even gave him our smallest metal one tonight, but he gave it back saying it was “Too big”.
2) We’ve always used the Tylenol Multi-symptom cold medicine for Lukas whenever he gets sick. Which has only been about 3 times. I don’t think there should be that much of a scare with it, just make sure you are dosing correctly for his weight.
3) Lukas will still get about 1/2 warm milk at night before he goes to bed and sometimes wakes up around 4:30 and asks for milk then too. I usually will give him about 1/4 cup of warm milk then and he might not even finish that. He doesnt like water at all! Never has! So i always have put a little juice in it to flavor it up. but I think he’s just a custom to getting milk at night because I breastfed him for 12 mos and he slept in bed with us the majority of the time until that point. During the night when he’d wake up and want milk, I’d be right there to give him warm milk. I’m going to have to start to stop the milk during the night, but it would be much easier if he would eat better at dinner time. I hate thinking that he’s going to bed hungry, so I ‘ve kinda justified that he can have milk during the night to hold his stomach over. Sorry for the rambling!
1. Forks; I have a 3-piece Oneida flatware set that used to be mine that is, um, let’s just say old enough to be VERY classic! All 3 of the kids have used the set & I have put it away in hope that some day when Granny Lina (ugh!) passes the set down to her little ones. I have picked up a few stub-sets & disposables in the past-no good, but to me a salad fork works just fine. The kids wound up w/ my fork & food 1/2 the time anyways 🙂
2. Cough syrup; my Pediatrician recommends Triaminic for coughs; um Hello there are 1001 Triaminic’s! So, I take my pick as to which one sounds best!
3. Water in bed; when they were younger they had sippy cups 1/2 full of water only in bed & I was fine w/ that as long as it was w/a fresh diaper RIGHT BEFORE BED…. Now NO WAY! Get up & get yourself a sip & your bottom had best hit the toilet next so we don’t sleep through an accident. Isaac “The oldest child in history to potty train” doesn’t ask for water after bed much-but Lydia does a lot!
1. Forks? we just use our fingers
2. On this subject, I do know that all the problems with cold meds are b/c parents are overdosing their kids and they are not recommended by the FDA b/c they haven’t been studied in kids (who is gonna let them test something on THEIR baby?) In the pharmacy I recommend Triaminic b/c the pharmacist can dose it down to like 15lbs or so. Also, once Porter is 2, there are some new fun stuff to try like dissolvable strips, melt aways, oh and those cool mucinex pellet things that melt instantly/kids can’t spit them out 🙂 If you need a dose of some kind of medicine, just let me know the ingredients/strenghts and I will happily dose it for you 😉
3. My son was a big sippy cup water drinker…and his diapers were always SOAKED! But somehow, magically, after becoming potty trained, he just figured out how to not go at night in his bed-he didn’t like waking up all wet and cold, i think. Now that kid can hold so much pee, you’d think he was a grown man. And, amazingly, unlike me he doesn’t have to go in the morning the second his eyes open. He usually waits about 1/2 hour to even go! It really is an amazing thing! GOOD LUCK!
1. Forks. If you check out the wonderful Target you can go to where there dishes/ect are and there are kids sets. Real metal forks and spoons. We have a zillion of them. A little more costly than the toss and take but they can actually spear food.
2. Yeah, I drug my kids when needed. The rule is basically for idiots who can’t figure out how to dose.
3. We have the water battle every night with the boys still. They have a get out of bed free pass and can use it 1 time for whatever they want…it’s usually water. Porter is too young for that but I would give him a cup with just a little water in it. Basically because I’m lazy.
This is coming from experience…let the daddy comments go in one ear and out the other!!! It saves you from alot of pain and frustration.
Forks – OK, I’ve solved this problem! So the kiddie forks are too dull, they can’t stab things. And the regular forks are too long and heavy. I tried everything then had a brainstorm – plastic forks! Like the kind you would bring to a picnic. Got a pack of the disposable and just wash them and reuse them. Light and they can still stab!
Water. Tough one. M has some milk before bed but could care less about it – I make him cause he never drinks milk! Thing with the whole water thing is it can be one of those things.. I just need some water… I just need a snack.. you know, that sort of thing. Also, is he eating enough? Try a small snack before bed – he might be confusing hunger with thirst as water might give him the full feeling.
Ok, go to Target dollar section, they have metal ones with a halloween theme. I got some xmas ones a while ago and they work perfect, they are cheap and have lasted for several months.
The cough syrup, well I read the articles and there is no conclusive evidence telling me why I shouldn’t… I use Pediacare per my doctor’s recommendations. I don’t usually use it at all though.
As far as the sippy, just refuse. He’ll get over it. I know, easier said than done, but he’ll soon forget, and by the way, I agree with you 100%.