What "Rules" have you broken?

[bluestarfish18]

We've all heard them. "Live by the rules". I'm such a "whatever works" parent that sometimes those rules, although intended to be helpful, are just so darn breakable! So spill 'em!

I'm guilty of letting my 2 month old sleep on his belly. Only because he hates being on his back, his crib mattress is hard enough, and he's been able to hold his head up and turn it since day 1.

[clc053103]

My almost 3 year old still sleeps with a pacifier.

[Jen841]

I have given up on fruits and veggies a bit for my 2 yr old. PB sandwiches are his staple.

[SnuggleBuggles]

Another tummy sleeper here.

I plan to introduce peanut butter before 2 years.

I use bribery when it makes sense.

I am sure there are more. :)

Beth

[mamaoftwins]

I swore before the boys were born that I would never let them sleep in bed with us. Well, one week into being home guess what we were doing? Letting them sleep on us at night in our bed. Was the only way we could get any sleep at all, even though it wasn't great sleep. We also had Twin B sleeping in the swing regularly for awhile b/c we could not get him to stop crying.

[mdb78]

Also guilty of tummy sleeping. We think she sleeps better that way. When she's on her back she kicks the mattress too much and of course since its firm it wakes her up.

[sarahsthreads]

TV. I swore up and down when DD was a newborn that she wouldn't watch TV until she was school-aged and could really protest about it. Um. She's watching TV right now...and has since I found Signing Time when she was 7 or 8 months old...

And I let her give up her binky on her own, which wasn't until she was close to 3.

Oh, and snacks in the car. I was sure I was going to have the cleanest mommy-car ever. Uh-huh. Every time I have to move the carseat I'm amazed at the sheer volume of crumbs in the seat cracks.

I'm sure there are more. I've definitely turned into a "whatever gets you through the day" kind of mom.

Sarah :)

[kijip]

My son used a pacifier for nearly 3 years.

We let my nearly 5 year old sleep with us for most of the night. He used to sleep in his own room just fine, now he wants to be with us and I am un-inclined to make an issue out of it.

[KrystalS]

Tummy sleeper here too. DD was a horrible sleeper til around 1mo when I finally said forget it and put her on her tummy, she slept thru the night after that.
I let her keep the binky til she was 3.5
And the worst one according to my family, I cater to her picky eating. If I don't let her eat what she likes then she just won't eat, she doesn't eat unhealthy but she only eats about 5 things.

[elizabethkott]

DS still has a "ba" (bottle) for naps and nighttime.
I know the kid won't take it to college.
I brush his teeth.
It makes him happy. So I don't care!
:D

[Laurel]

nak. Too many to count here. Some of the highlights:
-I ate sushi (rarely) and drank black tea (daily) and wine (twice) while pregnant. I'm breastfeeding, but occasionally have a couple drinks.
-co-sleeping without taking every possible precaution
-tummy sleeping
-not feeding either DC "rice cereal", ignored most of ped's advice on solids
-neither of my kids can fall asleep without some help from a parent
-we weren't going to do sugar before kindergarten. HA!
-ditto for TV, not before school-age. Double HA!
-While it isn't our usual thing, I have taken both kids on airplanes without their carseats. I have taken 4 year-old DD in a Cab without a carseat.
-DD isn't a big eater and rarely asks for food unless she is having a growth spurt. There are days where I have forgotten lunch until 2 or 3 in the afternoon.
-I have no motivation to push DD's nighttime potty training. I don't care if it means she will still be sleeping in diapers in college, DS already has me up 2-3 times a night.

Despite all this, I think I am a fantastic mom. So is everyone else here!

[mamaoftwins]

I bet there are a ton of tummy-sleepers out there! And we all slept on our tummies as babies. After all, that was the "rule" then!

We do put the boys on their bellies now, started after they started rolling themselves over. Now we just skip the back thing, since they always go right to their bellies anyway!

[wolverine2]

Bribery.
I bribe DS to go to the bathroom, sleep all night, get out the door, etc...

[Piglet]

DS1 was a tummy sleeper from 8 weeks on (and slept through the night from there on in). DS2 and DD both had pillows in their beds (but slept on their backs) from a pretty early age. DS1 still sucks his thumb occasionally and DS2 is rarely seen without his fingers in his mouth. Bribery is AWESOME! I am sure there are many more, but I do them so often, they cease to be breaking the rules, and just become the rules, LOL!

[LarsMal]

1) Almost 3yo DS still uses a paci- and not just at bedtime! AND he's in speech therapy (bad mommy!)

2) I am totally guilty of bribery and also empty threats. DS likes to climb around in the van instead of getting in his carseat, so I always say, "If you don't get in your seat Mr. Policeman is going to come and get you." Terrible, I know!

3) My kids watch TV while they eat. It was bad for a while, I would put it on at all meals, now it's just occassionally, but I swore I would never do that!

4) My kids have been sleeping with blankets since they were about 6 months old.

5) While they are still pretty good about fruits and veggies, on the days when I don't feel like fighting the battle, it's Pop Tarts and fruit cups for lunch. Sometimes mini-oreos.

I'm sure there are more!

[trales]

I have been in cabs without a carseat many, many times.

I have flown without a carseat

DD sleeps with us

DD feeds the dogs and sometimes puts the food back in her mouth.

Last night after 15 hours straight of mommy and DD time, I had her watching me play curious george games on the computer while she happily pushed random buttons.

Sometimes I wipe the floor clean and put her meal on it.

[Piglet]

Sometimes I wipe the floor clean and put her meal on it.

Hey at least you wipe it! I have seriously been eying dog dishes for DD - she LOVES to eat food on the floor, but I feel bad that she spills the bowl and then proceeds to eat what she spills. Dog dishes seem like they would help that problem ;)

[Drag0nflygirl]

Uhh...you're supposed to use carseats on airplanes??? :duh:

[ThreeofUs]

Tummy sleeping.
Co-sleeping.

We took precautions with both, but fie on those darn rules! It was the only way for any of us to sleep, so we just went with it.

Television.

Barney and Calliou on PBS are my saviors now that I'm getting so little sleep - I can lay down or do my exercises or both. But I let DS watch them before I got pg again just because he seemed to like them so much and it provided conversation fodder.

[StantonHyde]

What ones haven't I broken? Never driven without car seats. Didn't do drugs or drink every day when I was pregnant....

Ok, they watch videos with dinner and lunch, I let DD have fruit snacks at night and don't brush her teeth if I have already done so. DD slept in the swing for 6 mos. DS had a morning bottle till he was 4. Have done the no car seat on the airplane. There is a rule against bribery??;) I try to get DS to eat one vegetable...a day! I let DC jump on the bed--and DS fell off once and broke his wrist. (and DH is an ER MD--shouldn't we know better?)

I am sure there are a gazillion others I have bent/broken etc. Basically, my rule of thumb is: Will it hurt you or others in the next 15 minutes? Will it turn you into an axe murderer? If not, knock your socks off!

[mamabelle]

Let's see...

Cabs without carseats

Tv with meals

Bribery, both kids were potty trained with the help of m&ms

Dd was night trained while still sleeping in the crib because I forgot to put a diaper on her before bed when #2 was just a few days old and dh was at work. She woke up dry so I figured she was night trained. Slept in the Crib for 9 mos after that. Guess they do not need to be in a bed before night training.

For about 6 months my dd did not wear (gasp!) underpants anywhere, even went to preschool that way. It was not worth the battle and she has issues with seams and anything snug or bunched up.

My kids eat some sweet treat everyday, on top of the chocolate milk dd has with meals. They are pretty healthy eaters and skinny little stringbeans and good brushers so what is the harm. It makes us all happy.

Oh, and I question my peds advice if it does not seem right and ususally I am right.

[elephantmeg]

-DS watches TV with bfst and supper. We eat together in the evening. I feel really bad about this. It started pregnant and has continued so I can pump/eat/feed DD.
-we eat a fair amt of hotdogs (and not nitrite free)
-I let DS play in the gravel driveway (DH hates this)
-DD is screaming, got to go

[maestramommy]

Besides her lovey, Arwyn has two (little) stuffed animals in her crib, and has since she we weeks old. Dora has slept with a blanket since she was 15 months old.

With Dora I was super careful about allergenic foods, but I fed Arwyn eggs, fish, and shrimp at 10-11 months, and gave her food with boiled peanuts last week. Dora's been eating kettle corn from the farmers market for over a month now, and she's been eating whole peanuts since before she was two. I have not cut grapes for her since she was about 18 months(before that I just never fed her grapes), and I don't cut hotdogs either. She's been eating PB since about 14 months.

Um, I think that's it for now:loveeyes:

[DrSally]

I have to say with this preg, I eat lunchmeat and bluecheese. DS watches way more tv than I'd like. I wanted to hold out until age 2, but made it to age 1 before introducing it. Ds has also started eating hotdogs at family gatherings this summer and loves them. No one else buys the nitrate free, however.

[mudder17]

Fun post!

Let's see--umm...both girls walk around the house while eating. :nono: Yes, I know it can be messy and I try to limit them to snack trap type things, but you know how it goes. For regular meals we do have them sit at the table and I'm finally getting better about that.

With Kaya, she had a stuffed lamb in her crib starting at 6 months and that was it until she was a year old. After which she put the craziest things in her crib! With Mika, she has had lovies, stuffed animals, baby pillows, books, etc., since she was a baby. It keeps her happy and she seems to sleep well with all that stuff in there, LOL.

When we first got our new car, the rule was no food in the car. Yeah right! I'd go insane if the girls couldn't eat in the car! Every once in a while, we'll take out the car seats to clean out the crumbs and food and whatever else is back there. We finally decided that a car was a mode of transportation and we're planning on keeping this car until it dies, so there you have it.

While I didn't touch any alcohol or caffeine while pregnant, with Mika, I've definitely had my glass of wine or beer after she goes to sleep. Heck, she's had a sip of beer or wine and she'll say, "Yummy! More!" :ROTFLMAO: Hmm...maybe that's my fault?

As for food intro--unfortunately, I've had to be MUCH more careful with #2 because she has food allergies. Totally sucks, although because I'm BF'ing, I dropped all my preggo weight and then some very easily because of the very limited diet I was on! Silver lining, right?

[carolinamama]

Depends on whose rules I suppose but I break alot.

Nursed ds anytime he wanted it - and I even let him comfort suck for hours at a time. It's how I actually read a few books in his first year.

Co-slept here and there.

Bottle until 2.5 in am and pm before bed. DS hasn't really drank milk since we took them away as I knew would most likely happen.

He had ice cream for dinner tonight - he needs his dairy, right? :)

He eats cashews - loves them.

More tv watching than I ever thought I would allow my kids to watch.

Not a rule, but I thought it was funny - took ds to ice cream place tonight in dirty clothes with a dirty face cause he had been playing in the sandbox and the dirt for an hour before we left. Before I had ds, I swore my kids would always have cute clothes on, hair brushed and look perfect. Ha! How I've changed in the last 2 1/2 years.

DS eats in front of the tv during the day.

I clean up ds's messes most of the time because it just takes too much energy and effort to get him to do it.

I am sure I am missing some since I am quite laid back (about everything except carseats) but that's all that comes to mind right now.

[TahliasMom]

i let dd watch at least an hour of tv on sat and sun morning so i can get an extra hour of sleep. i work 2 jobs and usually get 4-5 hrs a sleep during the week so by the weekend i'm desperate for sleep.

some days we have cottage cheese and peaches for dinner, some days it's cheese quesedia or pancakes or ham sandwiches and horror, sometimes a frozen dinner. i just don't have time or energy to cook dinner during the week.

we're always rushing in the morning so dd eats in the car, yogurt, cereal, fruit. so much for clean car.

even at 4 yrs old i have to help dd fall alseep and some nights i'm too tired and just let her sleep in my bed. i start my 2nd job at 9pm so i need her alseep by 8:30pm.

well back to work!

[kransden]

Once upon a time I worked for a marketing research company. I can't believe all of you use bribery to get your kids to do things! I never stoop to that sort of behavior!!! I use incentives instead ;). Somtimes there are even bonuses thrown in for exceeding performance expectations :).

[elephantmeg]

Once upon a time I worked for a marketing research company. I can't believe all of you use bribery to get your kids to do things! I never stoop to that sort of behavior!!! I use incentives instead ;). Somtimes there are even bonuses thrown in for exceeding performance expectations :).

I gave DS a reward (chocolate) for listening to me and going from the car and into the house (instead of running to the backyard which is what he wanted to do-I was floored-I usually have to drag him kicking and screaming inside)

dd is napping on her stomach in her crib, DS is eating and watching tractors. I'm online. If he catches me on the computer he wants to watch tractors or puppies on You Tube.

I let DD scream through my am (getting dressed etc) routine-I haven't figured out a way to keep her happy through it, so I put her on her belly and call it tummy time. I should get up before the kids do and get dressed but I just can't make myself get any less sleep than I do.