Child Constipation Remedy

Just want to mention I updated some information in an earlier post about child constipation remedies.

Potty Training, How to Clean a Potty Chair

My 4 year old has been potty trained for quite some time. I'm very proud of him as he pretty much did it on his own. Potty training is something you just can't push. You can guide them, but you pretty much have to wait for them to be ready. I figured night time would take a while since I wasn't about to wake my son during the night to go. One night he decided he didn't want to wear a diaper, so I let him go without one just to test him. He stayed dry for a few nights, then would be wet, then dry. It didn't take too long before he just stayed dry every night.
I opted for the potty chair over the toilet seat potty only because my son is very curious and would get into everything in the bathroom.
The potty is a pain in the butt when it comes to cleaning. Even though I keep it empty and rinsed out, it doesn't take very long for the potty bowl to become stained. I tried spraying it with lysol cleaner, letting it set a bit and then scrubbing. That works pretty good, but what worked the best was white vinegar. Just fill the potty bowl with white vinegar, let it set overnight and rinse with water. The potty should be remarkably clean. I know I was impressed.
BTW, if you are trying to choose a potty, buy a plain cheap model, as you will probably just want to throw it away once potty training is over. Even though I try to keep it clean, the potty isn't something I'm going to hang on to. Some potty chairs have all the bells and whistles with sounds and make believe flushing that sell for about $50. Watching my son's poor aim at times makes me glad I just opted for the cheap model.


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Picky Eater

Got a picky eater? My 4 year old is an extremely picky eater. He pretty much lives off of cheese and crackers. He hasn't touched a vegetable in months and is now starting to reject fruit. He also eats meat sparingly. He's in the 10th percentile for weight, so he's thin, but not underweight at least.
While doing some Christmas shopping at Amazon.com, I came across a book called The Sneaky Chef. Great book! You puree various fruits, vegetables and beans and add them to various recipes. So far I've made the mac n cheese, pizza and chocolate chip cookies. I was very impressed with all 3 recipes. The mac n cheese contained carrots and sweet potatoes. The pizza contained white kidney beans, carrots and sweet potatoes and the chocolate chip cookies contained white kidney beans and dried berries. In all 3 recipes no one would ever guess the secret ingredients. If you ask me, everything tasted better than the normal recipe. Unfortunately, my son wouldn't eat the mac n cheese or the pizza, but he chowed down 3 of the chocolate chip cookies when they came out of the oven. Today he did even ate a tuna fish sandwich with wheat germ.
Next, I'm going to try burgers with spinach and blueberries, brownies with spinach and blueberries and french fries with cornmeal.
I don't like sneaking secret ingredients into my son's food, but everything else I've tried has failed, so I'm really glad I bought The Sneaky Chef. It's a good way to ensure your child or you or your spouse eat healthy.

BTW, I just discovered the author, Missy Chase Lapine, has a 2nd book out. The reviews say it is even better than the first. I will definitely be ordering it.

Tongue Tied Baby

My new baby is now 11 months old already. This year sure has flown by. He's now babbling away saying mama, baba, crawling like a maniac and standing up.
Shortly after his 9 month checkup, I took him to an ear, nose, throat specialist to clip his tongue, since his ped diagnosed him as being tongue tied. You have the option of having the tongue clipped in the hospital or in the office. It's a very simple procedure, so I opted for the office. According to the specialist, the tissue which is clipped doesn't have much feeling, no nerves. Getting clipped just feels like being tapped on the hand. He said no pain reliever was necessary. My son cried & cried, poor thing, but afterwards he was fine, not cranky or anything. If I had known the specialist wasn't going to give him anything, I would have given him Tylenol before we went. For the procedure, you set the baby in your lap & try to hold him still, the doc uses scissors and tweezers and just clips the tissue. My son had a small area of white tissue on the bottom of his mouth, which went away after it was healed. His tongue is now free to move. I guess it's better to get the procedure done while young, rather than wait and have to go through speech therapy. I also read that the procedure is more complex and involves stitches if done when they are older. Be prepared for the bill though. This specialist charged $500 for the 5 minute procedure and $168 for looking in his mouth to verify he was tongue tied. Almost $700 total. Pretty crazy.


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Make your own baby food

My baby is now 8 1/2 months old already. Gosh, wonder why that amount of time goes so slow when you're pregnant.
He's been on solid foods for about 3 months now. I started him out slow because he was so sensitive to what I ate. Thankfully he seems to be past that now. I haven't tried cabbage or broccoli yet, but hurray I can eat chocolate now.
I started him out on jarred baby food, just because he wasn't eating too much and jarred baby food is so quick & easy. Now that his appetite has increased, I'm making his baby food. The jarred baby food gets expensive pretty quick. I bought 4 pears for around $1.50. The amount of baby food it made would have cost arountd $5.00, so over time, making your own baby food saves quite a bit of money. Making your own baby food is so easy too and it probably tastes better.
Basically, you peel the fruit or vegetable, if you want to, cut into chunks, put in a pan, with a little bit of water and cook for a few minutes until soft, or put in a bowl with a little bit of water and microwave for a few minutes. Dump the contents of the pan/bowl into a blender and puree.
The book, Super Baby Food, is the bible of making your own baby food. It contains everything you would ever want to know. There is even a crash course in nutrition section. It suggests freezing the puree in ice cube trays and then store in the ice cube tray or baggies or whatever. I did that with my first son and it was kind of a pain putting the puree in the ice cube trays, waiting until it's frozen and then putting in containers or baggies. What I'm doing this time around is pouring the puree into the empty baby food jars I've been saving. Fill the jars with the puree, freeze and when you need a jar just pull it out of the freezer and thaw. So far, it has been working out great. Much less time consuming than the ice cube tray method.

For recipe ideas, I really like the book Blender Baby Food. The recipes are simple and don't call for bizarre ingredients. So far I've made pears, peaches, nectarines, applesauce, green beans, zucchini and bsnanas. Bananas are the easiest to make because they don't need to be cooked, just unpeel, throw in the blender and puree. Bananas should be fed to your baby everyday as they are a super food. Avocados should also be fed everyday as they help with brain development. Avocados mixed with bananas are great.
Mixing different fruits together along with rice or oatmeal cereal and formula/breast milk is a good way to mix things up and is also a good way to get a little extra fluid in the baby if they are rejecting the bottle or breast.


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Tongue Tied, Child Constipation Remedy

2 weeks ago my baby had his 6 month checkup and we found out he is tongue tied. What that means is the tissue connecting his tongue to his mouth is to close to the front of his tongue. He should start sometime before his 9 month checkup, so for now I have to pay attention to the way he talks. If it sounds like there is a problem, the tissue will need to be clipped. Apparently it is a quick, in office procedure. The area is numbed and the tissue is clipped. Sounds painful, but much better than years of speech therapy.
I also asked the ped several questions about my 3 year old. For quite some time he's been pooping daily these ballish turds. I suspected he's constipated. Turns out I was right. He's probably not getting enough fluids. His ped recommended grape juice, especially white grape juice. My son's not much of an eater or drinker, so the hard part is getting him to drink the grape juice. So far it has seemed to help some. The ped also recommended Miralax. Apparently it's a tasteless, sugary powder available over the counter. You add it to the child's juice or water and it helps with the constipation. I haven't tried it yet, but may at some point.
I've also started him on a vitamin. I picked up a bottle of Walmart's generic version of the Flinstone vitamins. Unfortunately, my son didn't care for the taste, so I picked up a bottle of the Flinstone gummy vitamins. My son has had gummy worms before, so I told him the vitamins were just like them only gummy bears. Worked like a charm. If you are thinking of giving your child a multivitamin, I highly recommend the Flinstone gummy vitamins. Check with your ped first though before giving your child any vitamins.


Constipation Update:

Just want to note that Miralax is kind of like a laxative, so it shouldn't be used for an extended length of time. I just used it for a couple of days until my son's poop was normal. In order to kepp him regular, the amount of fiber needs to be increased. A 4 year old needs 9 grams of fiber per day. He is such a picky eater, that is easier said than done. His ped recommended a fiber supplement called Benefiber. It's a white, tasteless fiber which I add to his juice. 2 tsp per 8 oz contains 3 grams of fiber. Since Benefiber is a fiber supplement and not a laxative, I use it daily. So far, it has helped.
Other high fiber foods to try besides the obvious fruits, vegetables and beans are:

- Cheerios - 3 grams fiber per serving
- Wheat Thins - These are great. My son loves these topped with EZ Cheez or dipped in french onion dip. There are several different flavors and shapes. The octagon shaped wheat thins contain 5 grams of fiber per serving. There are also various flavors of square wheat thins which contain 1 to 2 grams of fiber per serving.
- Whole Grain Bread
- Fiber added yogurt
- Nutrigrain fruit bars - 2 grams of fiber per bar
- Oatmeal

BPA free baby bottles

The BPA free Sassy Baby MAM baby bottles I ordered arrived a few days ago. Unfortunately, my son doesn't seem to like the nipple much. The nipple is a bit strange looking. It's a bit long lengthwise and narrow in the width with flat areas on the front and back. The bottles are also wide neck. With the first try, my son did finish the bottle. After the first few sucks, he didn't seem to have a problem. The next attempt was the first feeding of the day. Maybe he was just too hungry, but we gave up after a few sucks and some crying. The next feeding we got about halfway through the bottle before giving up. He finished the bottle at the next feeding though. I think if I persisted, he could get used to them without a problem. I'm not so sure I'm going to though.
The MAM bottles are very nice though. They are easier to clean than the Dr. Brown bottles. The bottom of the bottle unscrews and it contains a rubber valve.The valve does not have any tiny holes. It is easy to clean. Then there is just the bottle, nipple and collar. The markings are easy to read, but they are not as detailed as the Dr. Brown bottles. The MAM bottles only have markings for every ounce and half ounce and the corresponding ml marks. If you are switching from breast to bottle and your baby is not used to any other nipples, the Sassy Baby MAM bottles are definitely worth a try.
Walmart has a Parent's Choice brand BPA free bottles, a 3 pack for $2.96. I picked up a pack tonight and they work great with the standard Dr. Brown nipples and inserts. No leaking and the venting system works just fine. The Walmart Parent's Choice brand BPA free bottles are 9 oz. bottles, but a bit short for the 8 oz. Dr. Brown inserts. I have 2 4 oz. inserts, so I tried using them and they work just fine. I did take an insert from one of the 8 oz. bottles and cut it down. It's kind of a pain to cut down, but doable. Since the Walmart Parent's Choice brand BPA free bottles are so cheap and work with the Dr. Brown nipples and inserts, I think I'm just going to use them. My only complaint about the Parent's Choice brand BPA free bottles is the markings are very difficult to see. The markings are raised, but they are the same color as the bottle. For a cheap BPA free bottle, compatible with the Dr. Brown inserts, I guess I can live with it.
BTW, my son had his 4 month checkup last week, so I asked his doctor what she thought about switching to BPA free bottles and she hadn't even heard about BPA leeching because there haven't been any articles about it in the medical journals. She said it was a media thing and to use BPA free bottles if it made me feel better. Not exactly very reassuring.