Food for thought (pun intended).

What if we paid one cent per calorie in the foods we eat and drink?

Wouldn’t this drastically change the way most of us eat and drink?  The complaint has always been that healthy food costs more than unhealthy food, which is greatly due to supply and demand.  Also, it would likely make consumers much more aware of their daily caloric intake.  Thus us all making much wiser choices with our eating and drinking habits.

Granted, this isn’t a realistic way of selling and purchasing food due to supply and demand but I could also see this would drastically change our demands and would force companies to change their supply.

From a consumer stand point, I see our food system in America as an frighteningly flawed system.  There aren’t two sides, or three sides, or four sides of this issue.  The best way I have found to visually describe our flawed food system is a big bowl of spaghetti.

One noodle (or perhaps, even the pasta sauce of your choosing) in the bowl would be GMOs (Genetically Modified Organisms).  In recent years, you have possibly heard something about this subject.  Let me begin by saying, I believe (or wish to believe) that the initial creation of GMOs was to help grow food in hostile environments to help feed people in regions that just can’t grow enough food for their populations.  However, these resources are in the hands of very large companies with questionable ethics (ie. Monsanto and its many sub-companies).

If you have ever driven through the midwest, you are surrounded by miles upon miles of beautiful fields of corn and soy beans.  Notice there are few farmers selling their bounty on the corners.  This is because their product is not meant for human consumption.

Spending most of my summers in Iowa, I thought it was odd that none of the corn I ate while I was there was actually grown in Iowa.  Granted, it was not harvest season that time of year but I had learned, and at the time, accepted, that the majority of the corn grown in Iowa, was never meant for us to eat.

Fast forward through the years, I am now in the wellness field and have gradually become more aware of, not only how our bodies function, but also how our food system operates in this country.  We have this large over growth of corn and soy beans to make the huge amounts of processed foods that we as Americans not only eat, but are even addicted to. These processed foods as well as GMO based produce has reduced the price of our “food”.  This should be fantastic, right?  I used the quotes around the word food due to the fact, we should not be considering, for example, Froot Loops food.

So there are a couple of noodles in the bowl of spaghetti to think about.  Now what about this noodle for thought?  Much of the corn and soy beans are grown to feed our other food sources.  If you speak with a farmer in the midwest, they refer to animals as beef, pork, and chicken, rather than cows, pigs, okay, I’ll give them chicken.  These animals were never meant to consume these foods as their base diet, which has reeked havoc on their digestive system and made them sick, (here comes another noodle) plus their living conditions have made their illnesses spread quickly to the other “beef” and “pork”, so enter in antibiotic fed livestock.  We then consume these ill animals as well as the “food” and antibiotics they were fed.

Some more noodles for thought.  These huge GMO and pesticide companies have very wealthy CEOs, presidents, and so on that are salt and peppered within our government and help operate how food is distributed and labeled for us, the consumers.

The details to all of these “noodles” I am listing are truly endless.  So I bring you back to my initial question.  What if we paid one cent per calorie in the foods we eat and drink?  All of these processed, inexpensive foods we eat, would suddenly be much pricier than fresh produce and even some meats.  This would mean our farm industry would have to revise the way they farm to meet the demands in order to remain lucrative. Big corporations would have to find new ways to improve their bottom line.

It is often a financial struggle in our home to feed our family.  A conversation I had with my husband about this was, “Stop comparing the cost of garbage to the cost of food, of course garbage is going to be cheaper,” when he was asking why we couldn’t just eat HamberHelper every day to save money.

Elimination Communication with a Twist... and a drag

Today, I was doing many household chores while my almost 7 month old and 2 year old girls played with their toys in the living room.

My toddler yells repeatedly that the baby needs to use the potty.  I have heard that it is common that elimination communication siblings tend to also be in tune to when their younger siblings need to go.  Today was just one of those days I couldn't take advantage and proceeded to do what I was doing and tell my toddler I would be there in a minute.

As I finish my task, I hear my girls babbling a scuffling about (I assume just playing).  I take a peek at my girls and sure enough, my toddler has dragged my baby to the little potty I keep by the front door.  I run toward them, trying to conceal my laughter (I don't want to encourage my toddler to do this lol).  Once I am there, I absolutely can't hide my laughter.  My toddler had undressed the baby as well as take her cloth diaper cover off.  While looking around, I also see a clean diaper on the floor which tells me she was going to attempt to change her baby sister all by herself!

Through all of this process, my baby NEVER protested or cried.  I joke a lot that my toddler can't do wrong by my baby.  If she actually makes the baby cry then, holy moly, she must be doing something especially rough.

Sure enough, the baby had a SLIGHTLY wet diaper, to which I changed her and continued to get her dressed.  I also tried "talking" with my two year old that, though I appreciate her trying to help, to please not undress or drag sister about the room.

My toddler was quite proud of herself but agreed that she wouldn't do that again... though, she's two... I doubt she understood/meant it haha

Ho Hum

None of us know what we are doing. Just when we think we have it figured out, our little ones chuck a wrench at our face just to make a point lol

A few days in a row, my toddler had a dry diaper after her nap. She was quite proud of herself. So I thought I would put her in a cloth diaper for her nap. She's never been in cloth diapers but I always hear that cloth diapered babies are easier to EC w and potty train. Well... She took the diaper off during her nap and peed all over her bed. Fail.

Put her back in disposables during her naps and, again, a few days in a row of dry diapers and she requested to wear undies to bed. So I let her but w a cloth diaper cover over just in case. Fail.

While we are out, she wears pull ups but she almost never uses them. Having an infant, I don't feel that I can always get her to the potty in time. It's so rare she uses her pull up that I really want to play with having big girl undies outings. She is in undies full time while awake at home. She takes herself to here lil potty or if she has to poo, she tells me so I put her on the toilet (no clue why she prefers it that way but super handy for mama!).

Dare I tempt fate and take her out of the house in undies?
Being an EC family, many of the potty training techniques get lost on us and our children but perhaps someone out there has tips for me! Much appreciated! :)

Unforeseen Obstacles

I never assumed that Elimination Communication would be for everyone.  I share so others that are interested can learn and share with me.  However, I have come to discover that there are people that don't understand what Elimination Communication truly is, make assumptions and in turn criticize the practice and/or me for practicing it.

I find myself becoming defensive about EC.  It is just a tool to keep in my parenting belt.  Just like a preference of bottle, brand of clothing, style of car seat, etc.  Though not everyone is interested in it, it works for my family.  I don't understand why others have to be critical of it.  It seems that many see it as a form of some kind of torture, or that I'm not letting my baby be a baby, etc.

EC is not to be compared with "traditional" potty training.  There is no battle with it.  The only battle might be finding the time to be consistent with it... but even then, you don't have to be consistent with EC for it to be beneficial.

As for not letting my baby be a baby.  For one, I'm not inflicting any sort of harm on my child by allowing them to go to the bathroom outside of their diaper.  The diaper staple of babyhood isn't an old staple.  It's actually quite new in the grand view of things.  Many cultures practice some form of EC all over the developed world.

Someone asked in an open forum what the point of putting a baby on a potty is:
The point of EC is a way to learn to communicate with your baby.  It allows for a natural potty "training" experience.  Since there are so many different ways of practicing this, is can also just be a way to introduce the potty early on so that it isn't so frightening later on or a battle.  It's just another natural transition.

I asked what the point of using diapers is, but no one answered.  I'm open to hearing some thoughts on that though, please.  It might help me understand more why people are so opposed to the way I have chosen to care for my children.

EC Milestones for my 5 month old!

I haven't been super consistent w EC w my new tiny but now that she is bigger and not as "floppy", it's a bit easier. The other day, she poo'd on cue in the potty! And she is old enough now that she was aware of what she was doing! Yay!
It was also the day we started using cloth diapers! So it was a very exciting day for us!!

Elimination Communication with my now two year old!

After bringing home our second born when our toddler was about 20 months old, she had a bit of a digression with the potty.  For the most part, she still did well but she went from being almost completely out of diapers to needing them almost always.

I am happy to report that we are once again out of diapers (except sleep times)!  She finally has gotten to the stage of being able to get herself on her little potty so I just have that out for her and when we are at home, she just wears undies for easy access.  I have tried this before and it worked okay but she kept wanting to play with the potty (yuck) so I didn't keep it out unless I could closely monitor her.  Now I just keep her potty out and she will go then tell me!  It's quite exciting lol

She does still "play" with the potty but instead of touching it w her hands, knocking it over, etc, now she actually will take down her undies and sit on it just to sit on it, which isn't a big deal :)

With sleep times, I don't know if I will ever "train" her or just wait until she is ready to get out of bed, go potty, and get back in bed all on her own.  She is a great sleeper and I don't want to mess with that.  I have heard from many mamas that their little ones started waking up w dry diapers, no training necessary.  So I figure I will just wait and see but please comment any suggestions you may have about it!

Disclaimer:  When we go out, I put my daughter in pull-ups.  I NEVER recommend pull-ups BUT since I also have an infant that I wear, I can't always get my toddler on the potty in time.

ECing with a toddler and infant has left for little time to blog!

My newest baby is just over 3 months now.  We aren't regularly using the potty yet because I also have a toddler so it just a little rough to make the routine out of it.

That being said, I have caught several pees and a couple of poo's in the potty with my 3 month old!  It is so exciting and her big sister gets excited for her as well!

My oldest will be two soon and she is being kind of a stinker about the potty now.  Fortunately, she still poo's in the potty but we don't always catch pees.  She also signs for potty to get out of situations, either when she is scared, over stimulated, or in trouble.  When you tell her to go to time out, suddenly she has to go potty.  Of course she doesn't go unless you actually put her in time out.  Then she does just out of spite lol... oh the life of a toddler.  Today, she was unhappy with me because I was nursing my youngest and she really wanted me to read her a book (that I'd already read 3 times that hour).  Since I wouldn't get up to get the book, she went into her room and peed on the floor.  Well... at least she is communicating I guess...

She got out of the habit of wearing undies after the new baby came home but I have been finding that she does so much better if I have her in her undies and it helps keep me more in tune to her potty needs. I do like that she can sign potty and uses it when she is uncomfortable and just needs to go to a "safe" place though.

Recent Obstacles and Successes with EC

For about a month, my 1.5 year old has been in undies at home.  We still have her in diapers when we are out and for sleep times.  While we are out, she still will usually signal when she needs to go and almost never goes in her diaper at all.

At home, she is in undies and it is incredibly rare she will wet them. An "obstacle" we have been facing with her is that she has figured out how to get what she wants haha!  If we are busy doing other things, she will sign for potty and we will say to go to the bathroom and she will bypass it and run into her room.  So, basically she will use "potty" as a sign for "follow me" :)  Which is cute the first couple of times but gets exhausting after a while.

We also use Time Out at our house.  She will sign for anything while in time out to find a reason to get out.  She would sign for "potty" too and then, I swear to you, would make herself go!  So I started keeping a little potty near by but out of site where we go for time out.  This has worked, though, now I think she will purposefully do things to go into time out just to use the little potty!  Toddlers can be so manipulative!  (Her face is quite priceless too when she is in time out.  She batts her eyes and desperately tries to appear perfectly innocent.  She gets this from her daddy lol)

So those obstacles really aren't that bad.  Mostly they are funny, yet occasionally tiring.  The other obstacle is that when we recently had Grandpa watch her, she wet through 3 undies until he gave up and just put a diaper on her.  Either she doesn't sign for him or he doesn't catch the sign.  She will sign to me when we are out at Costco on the other end of the store and can hold it until we get to the potty, so I don't think it's that he doesn't move fast enough.  There just isn't that communication there.  We rarely leave her with anyone so I don't know if she just isn't sure about communicating with other people in general about needing to go or if it was just a fluke, etc.

Natural Birth

This blog is inspired by the swarm of new mommy's to be that have recently contacted me because they are newly pregnant and hoping for natural births! :D  So excited for them!

Quick background as to why I am partial to natural birth:

I'm a licensed massage therapist and have specialize in pre and postnatal massage for several years.  I was having many clients coming to me after having their babies with issues in regards to their epidurals.  It never even dawned on me some of the complications there can be when receiving an epidural.  Many anesthesiologists will attest that they have never witnessed an issue with epidurals and even OBs, however, if you have complications/pain/discomfort from your previous epidural, you don't go back to the anasteseologism or even your OB.  You start seeing other specialists to deal with your pain/discomfort.

Most of my clients that had issues had minor back issues they didn't realize they had prior to giving birth, such as spina bifida or even mild scoliosis.  This was a red flag for myself since I actually have BOTH!  So I started doing research.

I began this research years before becoming pregnant for the first time.  Then once I was pregnant, I became shocked... appalled even, at how I was treated in this world while striving to have a natural birth (during a boring old normal healthy pregnancy).

Because I had to FIGHT, yes fight, for my right to birth naturally, I have become a bit of an advocate.  I never meant to but it was insane how I was laughed at by medical professionals and the general public in my quest for natural birth.  Don't get me wrong, if something is wrong, that is absolutely what medical intervention is for and thank God for it but if nothing is wrong, please DON'T TOUCH ME!

If you so desire a natural birth, here are some recommendations for you to consider:

First, do your homework.  The first thing I did (other than all the research I had done in the past) was talk with my husband to be sure he too was on board with me.  Having a support system is key.  We discussed what we were both okay with and not okay with.  My husband is not completely against natural birth but with my medical history, he is not comfortable with home birth for us (though he recently said that perhaps he will be more open to it for a 3rd or more children, as we are expecting our second any day now).

After we came to some agreements, we then hired a doula.  Real quick, there is a distinct difference between a doula and a midwife.  A doula is there to be your support person through your pregnancy, labor, birth and AFTER.  They also know medical terms and can take the time to translate things for you when typically, nurses at the hospital don't always have the time to do so (not that they don't have the care or passion to do so, just not the time).

I've heard people counter this recommendation by saying how supportive their significant others are, which is fantastic.  However, even my husband, who by the way is the most amazing man I've ever met and incredibly supportive all through my pregnancies, birth, and being a father and husband, and so on, has never been pregnant, never given birth, and never lactated.  Even he attested to this while we were expecting our first.  He told me that he worried that no matter how supportive he would be, he would always feel incredibly helpless because he just didn't fully understand what I was going through.  It was so humble and loving of him to express this and be supportive of my wish to have a doula.

My doula was with me all through my pregnancy.  She answered all my bizarre first time mama questions, came to our home for birth classes (more one on one was also awesome), etc.  She helped me know where to go and what questions to ask when looking for where I would deliver and what doctor/midwife I would have, etc.

Technically, I did the next part backwards but I did this for a reason.  When you are having a hospital birth, your doctor is not there through most of your labor.  He or she is there pretty much for the main event and that's it.  So most of your laboring process, you are dealing with the hospital staff.  So I decided to tour all of the hospitals in my area that my insurance covered.  After touring five hospitals I found one that was absolutely amazing in every way.  A couple of the hospitals I toured literally laughed at me or the tour guide would look me up and down with a judgmental gaze any time I asked questions, such as "Do you have a squatting bar."  I got a lot of "This must be your first" comments.  I started feeling bullied and helpless already and I was only in my first trimester at this point.  As I said though, I did find a hospital that was absolutely amazing and supportive of what I was looking for as well as prepared for any possible emergency situations (such as having two ORs in the maternity ward).

After finding "my" hospital, I asked the tour guide and other mom's in the group the best way to find natural birth friendly doctors/midwives.  The tour guide technically couldn't offer specific information about that but some of the other mother's on the tour helped me and the guide gave me a website to find doctors/midwives that delivered in that hospital.  I made a list of everyone my insurance would cover and called around to schedule interview appointments.  It was shocking how many of them were going to charge me a full copay just to interview them (most of those, I did not schedule the interview with because I didn't see the point in paying $25-50 to ask someone a few questions).

I continued seeing my current doctor for all of my routine check ups and did not inform her that I was looking for care else where for my birth.  In my interviews, I never expressed any of my birth preferences.  I had a list of questions that I actually found on Babycenter.com and just highlighted what was important to me.

Once I found my doctor (much to both my husband and my relief), that doctor's office took care of getting my paperwork from my previous doctor and I never had to deal with anything uncomfortable with my previous doctor.  My previous doctor, by the way, was an amazing doctor but when it came to my wishes for birth, it was clear there was no way I could successfully have a natural birth in her care.  It wasn't because I wasn't healthy enough for it, or anything of that nature but because she had never witnessed or experienced many natural births.  Her practice was very large and deal mostly with induced labors and scheduled cesarean sections.

I finished the last half of my pregnancy with my new doctor and my doula.  My doula helped me come up with my Birth Preferences.  If you haven't noticed, I say Birth Preferences rather than Birth Plan.  Partly, this is due to people that would always try to scare me with, "You can't plan your labor/birth," etc, which to an extent, is true but they were missing the point so saying preferences just gave them the knowledge that clearly I understand that if something is wrong, I am open to intervention.

If you truly want a natural birth, whether it is at home, birth center, or hospital, DO NOT WING IT.  Inform yourself.  Try to get some information of medical terms that will be used around you while you are in labor (this is another reason it is fantastic to have a doula, they can advocate for you while you are in the throws of labor AND be supportive and assuring to you if intervention is necessary).

Many hospitals will "bully" pregnant women into signing for things they don't actually want or need.  They are just doing their job and it is what it is.  I was incredibly fortunate that at "my" hospital, the triage nurse I had, though she did want me to sign for things "just in case I changed my mind" was patient and supportive of my wishes.  In fact, I came in on a Saturday night in active labor and she tried getting me to sign something for the epidural just in case.  Again, it was a Saturday night, the end of her shift, yet this woman was not pestering me (remember, I am in the throws of active labor at this point too).  I didn't feel bullied or even annoyed.  She did ask me during a contraction what my pain scale was and I groaned, "FIVE!" to which she laughed and said, "Okay, no epidural for you!"  She was amazing!!! Had I been in a different state of mind, I would have gotten her name and sent her a basket of goodies or something as a big thank you after having my daughter!

Back to the DO NOT WING IT comment.

80-90% of births have some form of intervention (necessary intervention should be less than 15%).  If you go into your pregnancy not doing any research, asking questions, interviewing care providers, touring hospitals, etc and just expect them to follow your wishes when you come in in labor, you are likely to be out of luck.  Most OBs and hospital staff members have not witnessed a natural birth or have only seen them on such rare occasion that they aren't even comfortable with natural birth.  So keep yourself informed and find providers that are familiar with your wishes.

Remember me saying not to express you birth preferences while interviewing doctors/midwives? This is because you want to choose someone that is well practiced in what you're hoping for with your birth.  Example, as I said, I'm a licensed massage therapist.  I have certain modalities I specialize in and others that I am not that comfortable with.  It isn't that I am not a qualified therapist, but there is no cookie-cutter massage.  Every therapist has their own protocols they more often practice and are familiar and comfortable with. Same with doctors and other care providers.

There are of course more tips but leave a comment with more specific questions so I don't go on and on forever and ever :)

Tips for expecting parents!

These were some of my favorite tips I got from other parents when expecting my daughter.  There were a TON more that were also fantastic but these are my favorites! Please share some of your favorite tips as well!!!

Layer the baby's mattress fitted waterproof pad, fitted sheet, fitted waterproof pad, fitted sheet. This way, if there is a mess to clean in the middle of the night, you can just take off the top layer and have clean sheets ready for baby instantly and can even put off the serious clean up part for morning.

When purchasing a car seat, if you have a smaller cab vehicle (compact car, most trucks, etc), go to the baby store near you and have them place several styles of car seats in your car to see which actually fit safely.

Don't get caught up in brands. What works for one baby or one family, may not work for you. Before investing in bottles (or other objects), get 1 or 2 from several different brands. Once you find what works best for you, then make the investment necessary to meet your needs.

Big Girl Undies!!!

My daughter's undies came in a few days ago.  We still diaper when she sleeps and when we are on the go but at home she wears the undies.  She is amazing!!!

I will say, she does use all of this against me sometimes.  When we sit in time out, she will sign for potty just to be able to get out of time out and sometimes she will even pee so now I keep her potty handy near time out.  I don't use the potty as time out though but if she signs, then I put her on it.  Thankfully, she is still happy w the potty but my hesitation w potty-ing during time out was that she would start thinking that the potty was time out and therefore something negative but haven't had any issues w it.

Last night, she walked into the living room and by the way she was walking, I was just about to ask, "Do you need to go potty?" but before I could she signed.  She did start in her undies but no big deal.  She's still learning how to gauge it.

She is still really good in public, even though she is in diapers in public.  Even today, we were at the park and pretty far from the restrooms and she signed.  I do find that letting her walk seems to help her hold it but she wanted to be carried today.  I got her there, set her up, she still had a dry diaper and she still went in the potty!  So she knows when she needs to go and is usually really good about communicating with us about it.  But is so nice doing this and NOT ever feeling it necessary to discipline or reward her for her potty habits (we do praise her and get excited when she goes, of course).

Exciting Updates on EC!

We started using the Pottete (sp) Plus potty seat when we are out and about and have had amazing success!!!

Yesterday, my husband and I were running errands with our daughter in tote and THREE times, she signed "potty" and I took her to the bathroom every time.  Two of the times, I really didn't expect to catch it because we were so far from the bathroom but when she signs, I always take her anyway.

She went ALL THREE TIMES!!!!  One of the times, I was obviously in the stall with her and was so excited when she started going that I was praising her and saying what a good girl and big girl she was, etc.  When we came out of the stall, there was another woman waiting for a stall and she did a double take when she saw how little my daughter was! It was pretty adorable :)

Last night, as soon as we got home from errands, we finally got online and ordered our daughter some big girl training undies (I can't find any in stores in her size since she is 18 months old).  I can't wait to start using them (at least just at home for now).

This week is supposed to be super warm so perhaps we will just have naked time at home until her undies get here!  We shall see... that is a lot of work after all haha

Dealing with aches and pains of pregnancy

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MCSFobwvQTg

Quick background about myself:

I'm a licensed massage therapist, specialize in pre and postnatal massage.

I'm also very into nutrition and fitness.

Along w my studies of anatomy and movement, I also have MANY old injuries.  Some caused from rough play (like a jet ski accident, mountain climbing, etc) and others genetic (like that I have an extra lumbar vertebrae which has caused scoliosis plus I also have mild spina bifida).
Despite my injuries and health issues (severe chronic asthma), I stay active.  The more active I am, the better my body feels and functions.

Through pregnancy, I continue my regular fitness routines (modify when needed) which includes yoga.  This morning, I was going to participate in my usual work out routines but my joints have been popping and just hurting in general.  One of the reasons our joints are hurting is from the elastin our bodies are releasing to allow our bodies to open up to eventually let baby out.  Another reasons for the pains we feel is that our bodies are rapidly changing which hurts PLUS with that change, our circulation is changing as well so our muscles are being deprived oxygenated blood they need to function properly.  Massage and movement encourage oxygenated blood to these muscles.

As I was saying about my pain this morning, I was woken up all through the night from the sounds of my joints poppy and the growing discomfort I'm feeling.  So this morning, instead of getting into one of my more strength training routines, I jumped on YouTube to find a video to help me out and found this video.  I just finished it and WOW! I feel so much better so I wanted to share w you!

Elimination Communication Continues....

Over the weekend, I finally found a travel potty seat that is working out for us.

It is a Potette Plus seat. The reasons I like it:

• It folds up but not where baby sits so as not to pinch
• It also can be a seat on it's own.  It comes w bags so that if you are on a road trip or somewhere where you can't get to an actual toilet, it becomes one on it's own
• So far, it fits on top of all toilets I've tried.
• My daughter is comfortable on it and we have had several catches on it!
• Other fold up seats I've tried, she obviously didn't feel comfortable on.  I think because the other travel seat I got folded up so when she sat on it, it would give a little.  It never did pinch her but I worried it might so we discontinued using that seat.

Our other obstacle we are facing:

We can't find 18 month big girl undies in stores.  I have found some online which seem fine but I prefer buying something like this that I can see in person and kind of eye ball if they will actually fit her.  She is outgrowing 18 month clothing but she is a lean baby so I don't know that 2T would fit her right.

Oddly, I can find 2T undies but if I want the thicker training type undies, I can only find 3T and 4T.  Since I don't know that we will successfully catch all pees in the beginning, I'd much rather use the training undies.

PICTURES: So I am working on getting pictures on here of some of the seats we use.

I highly recommend the type of seats that are saddle shaped so that baby sort of straddles it.  It is just easier and more comfortable for them in the beginning.  I also stick to plain designs.  I don't want the colors, bells and whistles.  I feel like I would have to later "train" her to sit on a regular toilet without the fancy stuff.  You know what I mean?

This was my daughter's first potty.  She doesn't use it much at all now because shortly after getting this, I found a seat that inserts into the actual toilet.  It is kind of a pain to have to clean out a little potty when you can just as easily use the actual toilet and simply flush when done :D

I will be using this seat again soon though.  Once I get more into "training" her, I will keep it on a waterproof pad wherever she happens to be playing to help us have more successful catches.  Also, once she expresses interest in using the potty at night, I might just put this in her room on a waterproof pad so she doesn't have to go into the bathroom (young children in the bathroom alone makes me nervous).

OH!!! Before I forget, during the summer, we often will just have naked time to help me learn her cues better and have more catches.  Last summer, just before my daughter first birthday, she was sitting on this potty and right after she finished, she stood up and RAN to me! Her first steps! :D

It was a very exciting day :)

THIS IS MY FAVORITE!!!

This is an insert by Nuby.  I actually have ONLY seen this at Once Upon a Child (purchased new).  Cleaning out the little Bjorn potty was still easier than clean up w a diaper BUT I am a germ-a-phobe and cleaning and sanitizing after every catch was just getting to be too much.

This is what the Nuby looks like once inserted into your toilet.  I have come across toilets it doesn't fit but usually it fits other toilets.  As you can probably tell though, this is kind of an awkward seat to travel with so we only brought it with us when going to friends/families homes.

PS: Someone recently told me that this photo makes the seat look like a "creepy mouth" lol! Well, this angle just isn't the best I suppose.  My daughter doesn't find it creepy but I had to laugh at the comment because, in this picture, it actually does look like that pink slime thing from Ghostbusters 2 that jumped out of the bathtub!

Potette Plus

I haven't taken a picture of the travel seat we just got but here is a link I hope works to take you to it.  So far, we do like it.  I don't LOVE it but we've had catches with it and she seems to like it okay (still prefers her Nuby seat of course).

Baby Food Recipe site!

I love this site and actually still go to it in regards to my toddler's food sometimes so I thought I'd share. It has a TON of info about introducing foods to babies!

http://wholesomebabyfood.momtastic.com/pearbabyfoodrecipes.htm#.URLnyI6f_zI

Toddler Eating Habits Tips

So, I didn't mean to call my ENTIRE blog Early Potty Training.  I'm a licensed massage therapist, I don't "do" computers. So forgive me :)

The title of this post, if I knew how to give it an official title:

Quick background: I have severe health problems and other health problems (including diabetes) runs in my family so healthy eating habits are extremely important to me.

Everyone that knows my daughter knows that she is a piggy!!! We don't know where it all goes because she is still pretty lean but WOW!  I do believe that, for the most part, I am just lucky to have a hearty eater but thought I'd share some of my tips and hope you can share some tips with me as well.  I'm sure my daughter will go through picky eating phases and I want as much advice as possible!

First of all, I completely believe in consistency.  I know we hear this all the time but I feel like many people struggle with this and don't always know when or how to follow through with consistency.  I know I struggle with being consistent as well.

My daughter has a schedule/routine that we stick to 99% of the time (obviously when she's ill or for certain occasions this is altered).  So that is part of our consistency.  The other consistent thing we do for our daughter (almost 18 months) is EVERY lunch and dinner we first offer her veggies.  While she eats (or sometimes doesn't eat and just plays), I go back into the kitchen and continue making the rest of her meal.  Typically, she shares whatever I am also eating but there are times I am just not eating at the same time or my meal is far to spicy (we love spicy in this house).  Once her meal is ready, I kind of determine if she is finished w the veggies before I actually bring it to her.

(Even if little one doesn't take to a certain food the first few times, still offer it occasionally.  Their tastes and preferences change a lot from day to day!)

If she is clearly done but has left overs, I mix her veggies in w her main course.  When she still allowed me to feed her, I would actually mix the veggies on the spoon or fork w her main course.  She watched me always put the left over peas/green beans/etc on the spoon w her meal and over time insisted SHE wanted to be the one to place her veggies on the utensil.  Very adorable :)  So she was even tricking herself into eating them.

Once she is done w her meal, I offer her some fruit.  When she is all finished w that and if she has done very well w her meal, I offer her a "cookie" (typically an animal cracker or something like that).

I asked her doctor if it was okay to not offer her other foods if she isn't taking to what we are eating.  Because she is a healthy size, the doctor did okay for me to do this.  There are some things I just already know she isn't interested in (though I will still offer it to her if we are having it) and we avoid having that as her main meal.  Also, because she is still so young and not able to completely communicate, we still offer her snacks between meals, especially when she didn't care for the meal we offered her, but we make sure there is plenty of a gap so it doesn't seem like she is getting a replacement meal, make sense?

Another trick: When we started solid foods, we started w just pureed veggies and fruits.  Around nine months, we had her checked for food allergies and after that, started introducing a little bit of other foods as well.  Every time we sat down to feed her, we would first offer her puree veggies and always end w puree fruit.

Also, everyone kept asking me what my daughter's favorite juice was and I still hadn't offered her juice.  In f ear that I was keeping my daughter from something she needed, I talked w her doctor again.  She told me that juice really should only be used for medicinal purposes and to continue offering water.

Since my daughter first started on solid foods, I kept a sippy cup of water available for her to drink at her leisure and had one handy while feeding her solids as well.  I still do this with her and she now drinks 20+ oz a day!  On a couple of occasions, I have offered her juice (watered down a bit) and she just isn't interested most of the time. This is actually a good thing because she gets most of her calories from her actual food and isn't developing the craving for sweet/tart things as much.

So these are my tips to encouraging healthy eating for toddlers.  Please share any suggestions that you have had success with with your little ones!

Elimination Communication

Bare with me folks, this is my first time blogging.

While pregnant with my daughter, I couldn't help but ask my husband's grandma how on earth she "potty trained" her first born by the time he was 9 months old.  She is sweet and gentle, so I knew there was no power struggle or force behind what she did but I couldn't grasp how this was possible.

Apparently, all she did was start putting him on the potty when he was able to sit up on his own.  Her way of doing so was to put him on the potty while she and her husband would be in the bathroom getting ready in the morning.  When he would go in the potty, they would praise him and over time, he just preferred the potty.

When my daughter was coming up to the age of being able to sit up, I was talking w a friend about my plan to do what grandma did and she told me she had friends that did this with their child.  Apparently they read a book. DiaperFreeBaby and said I should check it out.  Which I did of course!

To be honest, there were some terrific suggestions in this book but I was becoming more and more overwhelmed by some of the "off the wall" ideas they were suggesting.  They discuss the term Elimination Communication (or EC for short).  It is all about learning your child's cues, etc.  The whole theory started in India (but other cultures practice it as well).

I happen to have a couple of clients that are from India and are mamas so I asked them about it.  They each were thrilled when I asked them about this!  They couldn't wait to share what worked for them.  I explained some of what the book was suggesting I do and expressed how overwhelming that seemed to me.  Each of them (I asked them separately) suggested I just put baby on the potty after she wakes up and after she eats (that is when they likely have to go anyway) and use diapers in between.

I have been doing this since my daughter could sit up on her own and my husband and I can't remember the last time we changed a poopy diaper!  She is about 17 months old now and though she still typically pees in her diaper, she is beginning to signal us even when she needs to use the potty to pee.  On the rare occasion she needs to poo between potty breaks, she signals us in horror, like "DO SOMETHING!" LOL It is quite exciting to see her communicate with us (though she doesn't communicate with us the way the book suggested, BUT even the book explains that every baby is going to communicate differently.

So a little progress report: I mentioned she is almost 17 months old and is beginning to signal us even when she needs to pee in the potty.  I have decided to give actual training a shot now. We are getting her big girl undies soon and just going to test the waters for at least a week.  Another reason we have decided this, it seems like there are many times we go to change her and even her diaper is dry so clearly she prefers the potty to wetting herself.

Personal Theories:
I believe we train our babies to go in diapers.  It isn't natural and no one wants to poo or pee themselves yet we essentially force our infants to do so.  My intentions with sitting her on the potty wasn't to start training her but you hear all of the time about the struggles parents have with training their toddlers later.  I figured I would at least just introduce her to the potty from the get go so she doesn't know any different and it isn't something to force her into later.  Think of it like this, all your life, you have been going to the bathroom in your pants and then one day, your parents say this isn't okay and you have to use the toilet/potty.  No wonder it can be such a scary thing for some kids and such a struggle for so many families.

I do get people that believe I am "forcing" my baby to do something she isn't ready for but I promise this is not the case at all.  When she did have a wet or dirty diaper, she would cry as an infant.  That is the first sign of communication and further tells me that she simply had no desire to go in her pants... which who wants to?

Some other insights:
I started this process when my milk was drying up and it was obvious I wouldn't be able to continue breast feeding much longer.  I was heartbroken that such a strong bond was about to be broken between my baby and me.  When I started trying EC, it actually became an amazing way for us to bond in a different way!  For starters, when she was sitting on the potty, I would read to her, have her play with bath toys, we'd sing, etc.  We both had a ton of fun!

First time I ever put her on the potty, I really didn't expect anything to happen but sure enough she immediately poo'd in the potty!!! She was barely 6 months old and I simply held her over the toilet and she literally went in that instant!  She looked up at me completely surprised then laughed.  It was exciting for both of us.  I continued putting her on the potty but never did so expecting results every time, nor did I get results every time.  Most of the time I sat her down, she was excited to do so.  Occasionally, she would straighten and protest to which I simply didn't sit her down that time.  Obviously she either didn't need to go or just wasn't interested in the potty at that time. Again, I wasn't "training" her so much as introducing so I saw no point in making anything about it a negative experience for either of us.  We never went through rewards and disciplines about the potty situation at anytime, though anytime she went, I couldn't help but clap and say "Yay!" for her.  Even almost a year later, it is still exciting every time she goes!