Too much fun. Can I use him for my baths too?

A reader left a comment on an old post about Ozzie the Octopus spout covers, which look like awesome additions to bathtime. Anyway, the reader wanted to know where to find them. I looked online and can’t find where to buy. I’ve seen a few blog posts, which again, say they are awesome bathtime additions! But as to where to buy them, I found nothing. They’re supposedly put out by Crayola but I couldn’t find them on the website. Does anyone have one? Where did you get it? This would be a cool product for a lot of our toddlers, so if you have any ideas where we can get them, please share. Thanks! Here’s what Ozzie looks like - he attaches to the spout in the bath and water comes out of his tentacles. Very cool.

If your toddler is testing her swearing limits, there are some things you can do to curb the language.

First, don’t laugh! It’s really, really, really hard. But don’t do it.
Second, watch your own language. Again, really hard.
Third, have her substitute foul language for other words, like “Sugar” or “Rats.” I actually have a thirty year old friend who still says “Rats.”
Fourth, you can try time outs if the language doesn’t improve. Again, you really should watch your own language so you don’t look like a hipocrit. Kids are very sensitive to that.
Fifth, just explain why you don’t want to hear that language. Even toddlers can understand certain words are not to be said, espeically in a Chinese restaurant.

I have a hard time taking this bad language seriously. It’s about testing her limits, and I don’t choose to make a huge deal of it. She’ll grow out of it with a little guidance. In the grand scheme of things, it doesn’t seem like a major problem. I know many people will disagree, but I feel confident that I can teach her acceptable social behavior! I’d much rather put up with a few swears than diapers…can

I was flipping through the whole ten channels I get the other night and stumbled on something on NBC. The Baby Borrowers. I had heard of it but hadn’t paid any attention whatsoever, so when I watched it, I was very surprised that real people - real, actual, live people - lent their babies to teenage couples. I have a hard time sharing the blankets with my fiance or the last bit of ice cream with, well, anyone. I can’t imagine sharing Peanut. So I had to continue to watch to see what would possess these normal-looking people to do this. And a teenager. My little sister is 15, and good luck getting her to change a diaper.

Anyway, the idea is that five teenage couples who think it would be really awesome and exciting to have a baby get to actually take care of one for a few days. They live in houses in this weird made-up suburbia or something, and there are cameras on them all the time so parents can go (the parents are in houses down the street) whenever they feel the need to. I got over the part about giving inexperienced teenagers real live children and moved on to making fun of the teenagers. Parents know that having a cute little bundle of joy is HARD!! It’s not like a celebrity baby accessory that you can give to a nanny. They cry, they spit up (one kid was AMAZING at spitting up!!), they poop, they cry some more.

I will give the teenagers a little slack. It is hard to get a six month old baby and have to take care of it. You don’t know the special tricks to getting him to sleep or soothing him. He hasn’t bonded with you. That being said, keep them away from my babies!! Most of them did ok, actually. One girl though about killed me. The baby she and her boyfriend were given was teething. Poor guy. She was trying to feed him and he’s crying and so sad. I have never seen a baby so sad in my life. He was in pain. She just keeps trying to jam the spoon in his mouth. They never once thought to pick him up, soothe him, rub his gums, or even talk to him. She finally said, “Whatever, starve then.” The mama was MAD at that and went over to talk to the girl. She told her that when you have a child, you don’t get to behave that way. You feed the child. No matter if it takes an hour - you feed the child. Understandable, and there was no hitting or yelling involved. The teenager took offense and refused to have anything else to do with the baby for the rest of the time. Her point was that her own baby wouldn’t be so hard. Ok, you’re own baby definately won’t teeth….what???? That made me mad! It also again reminded me that some people think having a baby will help make a relationship better. It is stressful - if I had to save my marriage, having a kid would not even be a consideration. Anyway, hopefully, these teenagers realize all this and don’t reproduce too young! (Not that there aren’t some very responsible, excellent teenage parents. But I’m sure they’d be the first to say how hard it is.)

Anyway, as the show progresses, the teenagers will have to care for toddlers, kids, teenagers, and elderly people. It is kind of interesting, and if you like to watch shows that make you talk back to the tv, this one is for you.

Happy Fourth of July everyone! (Everyone in the US anyway.) Is anyone planning on seeing some fireworks? The town I live in seems to celebrate July 4 two weeks later - on the 19th, there is going to be a parade, fairs, a dance, bands, and all that. Maybe we’ll see fireworks then. Who knows why they do this? Ah well. If you are, make sure you comfort your little toddlers. Big noises are scary to pretty much everyone, and especially so for little kids. Hold them while you watch and explain before hand that they’re going to be loud.

I hope everyone has a fun and safe holiday. What are your plans? Is anyone traveling?

Yesterday, I took Peanut to the beach to hang out and see her grandparents and aunt. You would think I never take this kid anywhere - she kept saying how excited she was! It was a lot of fun, though I have a good sunburn on my shoulders now. Since it’s summer, I’m sure many of you will be making similar trips. It’s so much fun, and since we went to a state park, it was pretty cheap. Here are some good things to keep in mind when you take your little one to the beach:

*SUNSCREEN!! You too, parents. You know how much it hurts to have a sunburn - imagine your kid with one. Ouch for both of you.

**Bring toys. We brought a few buckets and shovels and she was good for hours. I brought a book. If you have someone else to help you, can you at least read while your toddler plays in the sand for a loooong time.

***Bring your bathing suit. I’m pregnant and ENORMOUS, so the last thing I wanted to do was put on a bathing suit. Big mistake. Being in the water is so refreshing, and I know Peanut loves it when I play with her. Next time, I will definately wear it.

****Be preapred with swim diapers. The bathroom was a long way off, so instead of letting Peanut go without, we used a swim diaper. I still asked her periodically if she had to go, and since I’m pregnant, we made a few trips anyway.

*****Bring snacks. Peanut is a snacker. We had sandwiches for lunch, we she picked at. Throughout the afternoon, she would grap a bite. Food = less cranky.

******Speaking of cranky, nap time is not likely on beach days. Good luck trying to get your toddler to lie down for a snooze. I think you just have to forego the nap for the day and deal with a little crankiness afterward. Peanut was so tired she fell asleep in the car, which she has not been doing lately.

The beach is a good place to focus on just playing with your child. I didn’t have a cell phone, laptop, or work, so I could just enjoy being there. That can be hard to do at home when there are so many other distractions.

Have fun! Kids love the beach, and it’s pretty nice for adults too.

I love Katie Holmes. I think she’s the cutest little thing - I want to look like her when I grow up. And Suri is a gorgeous little baby. (I dislike Tom Cruise immensely, though). Anyway, I saw pictures of Suri with a baby bottle. This is one of my pet peeves. I try not to be judgmental about other people’s parenting, but I had to make an exception. When you’re in the public eye, I think a lot of people look at you and what you do with your children. With such a high profile kid, people may think it’s ok to let their two year old have a bottle. It’s not! It is so bad for their teeth. My little sister had a bottle for the longest time, and it caused her to have serious issues with her teeth. It’s called bottle rot and it occurs when children are given a bottle - it can happen to babies too, which is why you should never put your baby to bed with a bottle. Constant exposure to the milk or whatever is in the bottle is damaging to the litle teeth. It just really really bugs me! Don’t let your two year old have a bottle! Not only is it unnecessary, it is not good at all for their teeth. It can be hard to wean your baby off a bottle, but it is harder to have to sit with her while she endures trip after trip to the dentist or oral surgeon. I’m not exaggerating. My sister had to have oral surgery when she was about three or four. My parents were loving parents, but they overindulged her a bit too much, and couldn’t take away her “baba.” Take it away!! When Peanut turned one, I was going to rip it out of her hands! I didn’t but we weaned her away so she was bottle free shortly after she was one.
If your toddler still has a bottle, try to wean her off right away. You’ll save yourself a lot of money in dental bills and your child will be spared a lot of pain. You can try having her go cold turkey - she’ll cry for a while and put up a fuss, but toddlers are resiliant. Otherwise, you can gradually reduce the number of times she gets a bottle a day - don’t let her carry it around with her at all. Buy her a cool drinking cup or water bottle. Toddlers like to be “big kids,” so this may work to help her ditch the bottle. Ask your doctor or dentist for more ideas, but get started on it now. It is really really really bad for toddler’s teeth!!

I’m sure by now, many of you have heard about the tragic case of dry drowning that was in the news. A little boy went swimming and then went home. He complained of feeling tired (and he had defecated in the pool). He went to lie down about an hour after he got out of the pool - it was his first time swimming - and drowned. When I heard about this, I was astounded. How do you drown in your bed? Apparently, he’d gotten water in his lungs while at the pool and showed no signs of respiratory distress (though his soiling himself was probably a symptom or sigh?). His mother went to check on him and he had a white spongy material on his face. He was rushed to the hospital but it was too late. He’d drowned an hour after getting out of the water.

This just really upset me. Obviously, no one wants to hear of a ten year old dying. But the fact that he drowned after getting out of the water is really disturbing. I guess this happens though in 10-15% of drowninig deaths. People can die up to 24 hours after getting a little water in their lungs. And according to the CDC, that can happen to a child in a bath.

My thought was, “How do you know?” If your child seems fine in the water and then gets out, you would think you could stop worrying about drowning at that point. There are signs to look out for: difficulty breathing, fatigue, and changes in behavior. But the latter two could be for a host of reasons: it’s hard to know sometimes. There’s more info on the story here.

This was heartbreaking, and I can’t imagine being that poor kid’s parents. Everyone is talking about warning signs the day after it happened, but they had no idea. I would have no idea: I didn’t even think that was possible. It’s scary how little we can protect our kids.

So, why am I depressing myself and scaring other parents? It’s summertime, and more and more kids are going to be swimming. While this is far from a common occurance, it is always good to know what can happen and how you can spot it before it’s too late. I was talking about this with former Parenting Toddlers writer Randi, and she said her husband’s mother always used to tell him not to lie down for an hour after swimming. I had never heard that before, but apparently an old wives’ tale had some truth in it there.