Help me with what's normal!

[hjdong]

Hi all - Jamie has his 2 year appointment coming up and I was thinking I would post some of my concerns here first to save some time. I hope no one minds.

1. Jamie has diarrhea about once a week to once every other week (since the week before Easter). He was tested for parasites upon coming home. It's always in the afternoon and usually only 1 or 2 times before going back to normal.
2. How long does it take 2 year molars to come in? I think his have been coming in for about 3 weeks. Some days it seems to bother him and some days he hardly notices. Almost everytime it bothers him I would swear that they are almost through, but not yet.

3. He never refers to himself - either by name or pronoun. He says other people's names but not his own. It jsut strikes me as odd.

4. When he tilts his head back to drink from a sippy (or bottle when we were at that stage) he goes cross eyed.

5. Now that he can ask for food, do I let him have it when he asks? Or, do I continue with our eating schedule? (He eats A LOT. When we first came home with him he was not on the charts for height and 5th percentile for weight and our ped. said, "Well, now that he's on an American diet, maybe he'll lose some weight" - yeah, lots of people lose weight going from a Chinese diet to an American one!).

TIA

[christic]

Well I can cross one off your list for you...

>3. He never refers to himself - either by name or pronoun. He says other people's names but not his own. It jsut strikes me as odd.

Alice was not doing this either at Jamie's age. She refers to herself now (at 2 yr + almost 4 months) but only with her middle name, Hope, which is much easier to pronounce. "Jamie"'s probably a tough one to say too. She uses "I" now also, but not until fairly recently. If I remember right "my" and "mine" came first and then the rest.

Good luck!

[luvbeinmama]

Well, let's see...

1) I don't know, it's abnormal for my kids to have a really solid poop, so I don't think periodic diarrhea is concern for alarm. Does it give him a rash?

2) The 2 yr molars are about the same as the other molars, could be a month or longer. What you describe sounds typical.

5) I would not vary from your schedule as long as he is getting enough to eat. It is great that he is asking and you can occassionally say yes and praise his words, of course, but you don't want the him to be continually snacking either (for your sanity). If he's used to the schedule and he gets enough to eat, I would continue with it. Saying no or not now is okay.

[Karenn]

Well, here's the ones I have thoughts on-

2. FOREVER! Colin's been working on his last 2 year molar for weeks now! He started getting the first ones around 18 mos! About that time he suddenly started chewing on his hands and I couldn't figure out why, until I looked in his mouth!

3. Colin refers to himself as "dah-dah" This particular "dah-dah" has a slightly different intonation than the ones that refer to "Elmo" "truck" and about a third of the rest of the words in his vocabulary. So, I'm not sure if that counts or not! ;)

5. I try to keep Colin on an eating schedule as much as possible. I find that he actually eats more if he doesn't snack between meals. (We've been really bad about this lately and he's been cranky as a result!) Also, if I am dilligent about sticking to the schedule and letting him eat as much as he wants at those times (3 meals & 2 snacks), he generally doesn't ask to snack.

How are things going with the toddler bed? I keep wondering about you! Are you getting more sleep?

[Melanie]

1. Diarrhea as in soft-stool or liquid stool?

2. At 31 Months Ds has no sign of 2nd year molars, but I know with his canines it took MONTHS. These were the only teeth that he ever had classic "teething" symptoms with, and it went off and on for over 6 months.

3. I would think that's just a developmental milestone he's not reached yet.

4. Don't people sometimes go cross-eyed when looking at things up-close? Just a thought, I don't know since my eyes are like that naturally.

5. I give my son food whenever he asks. If you are concerned about his caloric intake, maybe offer healthier things like carrot sticks, etc. Ds is pretty easy-going (okay, sometimes) about snacks and will accept substitutions for his actual requests (ahem...most times...now I'm thinknig of this morning's no-cereal meltdown...*chuckle*)

[hjdong]

The toddler bed was a miserable failure; he was trerriefied of it. So, as someone suggested, we moved him to a tiwn bed on the floor. The twin bed had already been in the room, so he seemed fine with it. One sort of odd thing though, he peed on the bed (o.k., maybe that's not the odd part) and so I had to change the comforter and the sheets. They weren't dry by bedtime so I put a different comforter on. He would not lie down on it - freaked out - so I just let him lay on the white sheet. I have visions of him at 20 with this ratty old comforter lyng on a twin mattress on the floor. I'm certainly going to avoid changing anything!

As to Melanie's question - he generally has soft stools, unless he's constipated. These range from (sorry if this is TMI) liquid like water (rare) and like the consistency of - I don't know - more losse than yogurt, more solid than water - like a melting smoothie (although not that color LOL).

Also, do most people feed 3 meals and 2 snacks, because I think that's what Jamie is wanting (I used to do 3 meals and 1 snack) but he is begging for food between breakfast and lunch. Should I just add a snack there?

Thanks again,

[Melanie]

I'd be concerned enough to make a phone call, about the watery stools. I mean, at first I am sure he was going through so many changes and adaptations, but it's been a while now, so I might be concerned enough to call. Could it be a food allergy? The others, I've noticed Ds' varies as well. His digestion seems to be very sensitive to foods and their congestive (or not) side effects.

I would do 2 snacks...we try to. We are not scheduled at all, so sometimes Ds wakes from nap too close too dinner, so then we don't, or sometimes he falls asleep before lunch (i feel so guilty then!), but in general I think the 5 meals a day thing is healthy.

[cara1]

Regarding snacks, I say let the kid snack. At daycare, they provide two snacks, around 10am, and around 3 or 4ish when they wake up from nap. BUT, DS lately insists on crackers (he knows where they are) as soon as I drop him off, and I soon as I pick him up. So, what's a few crackers or a few raisins?

Yes, it's normal to go crosseyed if you look at something close up. It's called convergence.

HTH.

[Karenn]

Don't know a thing about the poop question, but I can talk about snacks! :)

I love the morning snack! It's actually one of Colin's bigger meals! But I did want to clarify, while I try to keep Colin on an eating schedule, I do also feed him if he asks for a snack. Really, though the only days he asks for food when it's not mealtime are the days where he hasn't gotten his meals at regular intervals (special events, parties, vacations, etc.), so I'm fairly confident that he's hungry if he's asking. I've read that most toddlers like to eat every 2 1/2 - 3 hours and that seems to hold true for Colin. If I feed him that often, he's usually a happy camper between meals and not interested in eating at non meal times.

[mamahill]

2. Ainsleigh started on her 2-year molars about the time she turned 2. They are coming in ONE AT A TIME, and taking about a month (or more) each. She has 2 right now, and one on the top shows signs of emerging.

3. I wouldn't be worried. He's the center of the universe :).

4. Again - wouldn't be worried. He's probably looking at the cup.

Those are the three I (sort of) know about. Good luck! And yeah, the obesity of rates in China are just a bazillion times higher than in America. Yeaaaaaahhhhh. (rolls eyes)