Anyone try and feed a picky toddler on an international trip? beyondthebump

My son will be 2.5 years when we go on a week and a half trip to Asia. For a portion of the trip we will be in an air-BnB that doesn't have a refrigerator. So, my idea to bring some things from home isn't going to work (cheese, yogurt, ect.). He does eat some rice thankfully, but not often.

Does anyone have any idea's? All I can come up with is a ton of prepackaged food that doesn't need to stay cold. Otherwise, I'm just going to have to wait until he is too hungry to refuse. I can't wait until this phase is over!

Submitted January 18, 2018 at 02:46AM by d-daybuttercup http://ift.tt/2BaBfaM beyondthebump

Mother-In-Law obsessed with grandchild beyondthebump

After a long journey to parenthood, my daughter was born on Oct 18, 2017. The recovery from a medically required c-section for my wife was more challenging then expected. Our daughter is the first and likely only grandchild for both of our parents as my wife and I have both have older sisters who aren’t married. We are older first time parents (early 40’s).

While I am a true believer of “it takes a village...” and I am super grateful and realize we are blessed and fortunate to have loving and supportive grandparents and sisters / sister-in-law I am struggling with the overall in-laws and sister-in-law overbearing presence. I also have seen signs where it seems that my mother-in-law favors my sister-in-law over my wife related to the baby. Possibly because she isn’t married and doesn’t have kids that she has to make glowing comments about my sister-in-law being an aunt with all the baby photos (Facebook) and no comments at all with photos of me or my wife with our baby. ———yes, I’m sure I’ll take a lot of heat for what I’m saying but I just being honest and it truly is a struggle for me and I’m here to seek advice.

Overview

1) My in-laws live within 2-3 miles from us from May/June - Oct/November.

2) My sister-in-law lives 6-8 hours away by car or 1 hour by flight and has decided to visit every two weeks since our daughter’s birth.

3) Culturally maybe my mother in law isn’t used to a hands on son-in-law as in our culture maybe the men usually don’t do as much with the baby etc...

3) The past six weeks (without my in-laws living here) have been the best (although a bit disruptive every two weeks on the weekend with sister in law visits) as my wife is recovered from the c-section and is healing. She loves everything about being a mom with the baby, it is so beautiful as the first few weeks was hard since she couldn’t hold the baby as easily and couldn’t do everything she would want to do etc... we also got to connect and bond as a family of three over the past six weeks.

Birth

From the first week my mother-in-law acted more like a mom and not a grandmother as my wife needed help as she recovered. Because my father-in-law was going to be traveling my mother-in-law moved in for about 3 weeks. Before the baby we generally got along and I’ve know my-in-laws since 1999 and have even traveled on family trips since 2000 and married in 2004. No major issues in the past.

Transitioning to parenthood / grandparenthood etc...

Seems to me the moment the baby was born and once my mother in law moved in is where friction began. Comments to me such as:

1) After dinner, I’ll was the dishes and I jokingly said. Now I get my reward I get to play with the baby...

Mother in law: she’s sleeping don’t bother her

2) I’ll let our dog outside by opening the front door and screen and step back and stay inside and open it to let the dog back in ——10 seconds of total baby expose to cold.

Mother in law: what what are you doing (frantic) it’s cold she’ll catch a cold.

I explained I’m letting the do out, and closing the screen and only a few second of baby exposure to some cold and letting the do back in etc... to me normal and will need to do a few times a day with or without the baby in my hand every day etc...

Note: we don’t live in a truly cold or snowy environment. At the time it was November highs in the high 60’s and lows in the 50’s.

3) before leaving for work or grocery store I want to say bye to my daughter. A quick peck on the cheek or touch her hand.

Mother in law: she’s sleeping don’t bother her

4) my wife asked me to warm up some of her breast milk that was pumped and in the refrigerator and I let my mother in law hold the baby. I come back to get her.

Mother in law: stares at me, mumbles something about handing baby off or something,

My reaction: I step back, put my hands up and back away like uh, ok if you want to bring the baby to “insert wife name”’you can.

Going out to Eat

If the baby gets a bit fussy and she is in the car seat on top of the upside down high chair at a restaurant my mother in law immediately wants to hold the baby. While one could argue she is being helpful what if I or my wife want to hold the baby? She really wouldn’t let us with the statement if we will trade off.

Without the in-laws (past six weeks) we’ve gone out to lunch or dinner a few times and we hold the baby and eat fine and it works... something I think we both enjoy as well.

Open discussion with Mother In Law

About six weeks ago my sister in law tells my wife and I that my mother in law feels miss treated as she feels like we treated her like a maid. First overall I was be ordered around to get the baby bottle and warm up milk as opposed to letting me do any of the feeds when she was around. I helped with dishes and laundry. 90% if the time the mother in law was holding the baby and throughout the day and night. After I went back to work I want my time with the baby at night but it wasn’t easy and when my mother in law offered for me to hold the bay sometime I accepted other times I didn’t even though I wanted to because it was obvious she didn’t want me to or it was an after thought.

I realized my actions or reactions to the issues I listed above made my mother in law feel upset. —- it also made me upset but I’m not a poker player and likely my face said it all...

Moving home

A couple of days before my mother in law moves home (across county) for a month before visiting us this week she literally starts to cry as she is so sad to leave the baby. —I’m not trying to be insensitive as I realize she has nothing but love but I also realize it is likely because she has been doing everything as she wants to do etc...

Christmas card

They want to take photos at the beach, we all go. My wife takes a selfie as she has long arms and mother-in-law holds baby in the shot. I mention maybe we can have someone take our photos as well and suggest my wife hold the baby. We take photos as a group.

Christmas card arrive in mail from grandparents

Front photo: family shot grandma holding baby

Back photos Grandma and grandpa holding baby Baby alone (thank goodness not of my sister in law and baby without us)

I know, who cares it is their Christmas card not mine but something irritated me about it like maybe it would be nice to let her daughter hold her baby in the photo to honor her daughter from become a mother through our long and tough journey.

Facebook interactions

I don’t use faceback much but maybe two posts since the birth of my daughter and one out of the two was a shared post from my wife. The second was a collage of my daughter with one photo of me holding her (a new year message). —I was expressing my love of being a Dad and how hard it was to imagine that she was 10 weeks

Mother in law comment:

“So sad I can’t hold her she is growing so fast”

Wife’s Facebook Post

My wife doesn’t over post maybe 3-4 photos over the past 12 weeks. None of her posts with the baby get any comment from the mother in law.

Sister in Law Facebook posts

My sister in law has likely posted 8-10 photos of her and the baby. Each photo gets at least one glowing comment about how cute she looks with (insert baby name). Or how comfortable (insert baby name looks with her etc...

My frustration: Sure makes me feel that my mother in law for some reason loves to see the baby with my sister in law but could care less that we are the parents and is only sad that she isn’t here to hold the baby on my photos or no comments at all on my wife’s post...??? Okay nit-picking but my gut almost feels like she wishes the baby was my sister in laws. Or maybe she is sad for my sister in law since she is older, not married, not dating etc...

Whatever it is it doesn’t make me feel good. My wife has stayed silent and don’t want to bring it up. However, I know my wife notices as she and her father don’t have the best relations and she has commented in the past in why her Dad comments on her sister’s post and never her posts. Sometimes my wife goes out of the way to post a photo of her dad holding the baby and he never acknowledges her for sharing etc...

Reality and Advice

Okay, many of you would say get over it and who cares... which is what I’m trying to do and realize it doesn’t matter and I should be happy to have such loving grandparents.

My concern: my in-laws are visiting in a few days and I have a business trip and board meeting for a week. At the end of the week my parents are holding a celebration with family and friends of the grandchild.

For the few days I’m home before being gone for a week (already feeling sad) I will have next weekend but am 100% sure we will be spending every hour with the in-laws. The only good thing is for the few days I’m home they won’t move in our house they will stay in their condo. Once I leave they will move in.

1) I have to pick them up at the airport and do dinner with them this week.

How to react, how do remain even tempered and positive with concern about the way the coming days will be likely 80-90% mother in law hiding baby, being at our house etc...

2) A bit concerned about them moving back in Ma/June for six months. I work virtually but have a co-working office space near the house. I’m Sure they will want to see the baby everyday. I’ll be ok with this (generally likely no choice) as I’ll just stop working from my home office and go to my office because I know I’ll be annoyed if they were at the house from 9-8pm everyday.

How do we set up boundaries? What is the right amount of time they should expect to see the grandchild.

I’m sure we will drop the baby off on Friday so we can eat dinner or a movie a couple of times a month in the summer which I’m sure they will love etc...

3) How to let what we established, created, or have as a new parents or a family of three continue with the in-laws being here so much in the Summer?

4) Am I waaaaay off base and everything I feel is just normal and I should just let my mother in law do whatever she wants whenever she wants?

5) I also am ok with the very two week visit me with the sister in law but that to is a bit excessive as sometimes we have friends that want to do something with us, we may what to do a quick trip over a long weekend, we may just want to be home as a family of three on the weekend as it’s my time off from the virtual job etc...

Ways to try to have the every two weeks less frequent without being a jerk?

6) Any overall tips, thoughts, opinions, advice, negative comments to me are welcome or PM me.

Submitted January 14, 2018 at 09:44PM by Imdakine1 http://ift.tt/2mCsqCe beyondthebump

I am in teething hell beyondthebump

FTM with a nearly 7 month old LO who is going through teething hell. We've bought so teethers and he hates them all: teething biscuits, the kind you put in the refrigerator, plastic teethers, teething mittens, etc. He'll put it in his mouth (or we'll help him with it) he nibbles on it and within 2 seconds he gets super frustrated and starts wailing and crying. We keep trying but to no avail. It seems like the teethers just piss him off even more. It took me 3 hours to calm him down today! I feel HORRIBLE for him and I feel myself starting to lose patience.

He's also getting fitted for his helmet in a week because he was a 32 weeker preemie and developed a flat head pretty early, and I just know this is going to make my poor little guy even more cranky. Oi, these next couple of months are going to be hell, aren't they?!

Submitted December 15, 2017 at 10:25AM by governmentflu http://ift.tt/2ClB91U beyondthebump

Baby hacks beyondthebump

What are your best life with baby hacks? Here are a few of mine:

Put clean diaper under dirty diaper when changing a diaper.

Park next to cart return at store so it’s easier to put away the cart with baby.

Store pump parts in refrigerator or cooler during the work day then just wash at night.

Use cloth diaper flats for spit up and just about anything else

Submitted November 26, 2017 at 07:05AM by sunkissed21 http://ift.tt/2k1C6rr beyondthebump

Lock for refrigerator? beyondthebump

Well lo figured out how to open the refrigerator and I can't keep her out. She climbs the shelves to get what she wants, usually milk or cheese. How do I baby proof it? I know we had something when my oldest was little but as I recall it was super permanent and also a pain in the butt for grown people to get into. Is there something that won't mess up my refrigerator that isn't impossible for everyone else to get into.

The little fridge monster.

Submitted September 25, 2017 at 06:14AM by HannahMuch http://ift.tt/2hrc0Nz beyondthebump

Using formula as a temporary top-up to breast milk? beyondthebump

We're taking our 7-month-old to visit our home town in the UK, and I'd like to take advantage of my parents being able to watch her while I visit friends. But that means my daughter taking several bottles a day (she usually only takes one). I don't think I can pump as much as she eats, and don't fancy the idea of sitting on the pump for hours a day, trying to get a stash in the refrigerator. Are there any potential issues with introducing formula at this stage, just for the duration of our trip? Is there a chance that she won't like it? Or that she'll prefer it, and go off breast milk? Do I really have to pump as much as she drinks every single day in order to maintain my supply?

Submitted June 25, 2017 at 02:07AM by katiescarlett78 http://ift.tt/2sOmAQk beyondthebump

What's your pumping routine at work? beyondthebump

Curious to know what different routines you all keep while pumping at work? Frequency of pumping sessions, storage in work refrigerator, how you keep pump parts clean on the job, transporting milk home etc.
Thanks!

Submitted May 30, 2017 at 11:15PM by koalabean567 http://ift.tt/2rkwPgp beyondthebump

"Sexist" breastpumping room beyondthebump

So we finally got my company to set up a legitimate decent pumping room in our office. Until recently, the previous pump room doubled as a room with a couple of desks in it and no lock that was used to administer tests, and the person in it had to constantly worry someone might try to kick her out. Another expectant mom and I approached one of the higher-up female managers and got her to go to bat for us to correct this, and now we have a proper designated pumping room with a lock, a comfortable chair, a shelf to put bottles on, and a mini refrigerator. It's tiny, but we're definitely grateful for the accommodations.

Here's the thing though: some idiot HR person decided that having a room whose sole purpose was for pumping moms was "sexist." Despite the fact that they are legally obligated to provide us with one, apparently we don't want the men in the office to feel left out. So they have labelled the new room as the "Serenity Room," and now anyone can just lay claim to it for naps, phone calls, or whatever other creepy shit someone might decide to do behind a locked door. This pisses me off so much. Why can't they just let us have the damn room? And I know people are using it. I've had to kick multiple people out (at least pumping moms get first dibs) in my couple of weeks back pumping. And when I went in this morning, someone had left the container of disinfectant wipes in the middle of the shelf just wide open. Eww. Do not want to think about some gross person was doing in that room.

Submitted January 17, 2017 at 11:12PM by manguefille http://ift.tt/2k1sdci beyondthebump

I have an idea for a lift-the-flap board book called "Where's My Cup?" beyondthebump

It's a lot like "Where's Spot" only you're a tired parent at the end of the day looking for your child's cup/bottle in various household locations including under the table, inside the fireplace, under the rug, etc. Under each flap is a cute animal saying "no" or a bunch of mislaid toys ... and then at the end there's a disgusting, moldy cup of old milk under the refrigerator! Yaaaaaaay!

Submitted December 12, 2016 at 07:46AM by klaracapybara http://ift.tt/2gqqoPE beyondthebump

Baby drank old breast milk. Now what? beyondthebump

My mom came over last minute to watch LO. In the rush, I forgot to mention the breast milk in the bags was thawed from Sunday morning. (And by now it was late Tuesday afternoon) She ended up giving him 1oz of that milk because she didn't know. It had been refrigerated the whole time since it has been thawed (also thawed in the refrigerator) Should I be concerned? What signs should I look for?

Submitted December 08, 2016 at 02:43AM by Allmydelight http://ift.tt/2h4F09h beyondthebump

I think I am going to have to dump at least 20oz of perfectly good milk :( beyondthebump

FTM, first time travelijg. Please help me see if I can avoid dumping all this milk! I pump more than LO eats to build a stash for the freezer or get a break now and then. I have 15 oz in bottles and storage bags that I have accumulated since Saturday morning. Typically I pump to empty once a day but since we are traveling it is more based on whether I could nurse. Little one usually eats 2-4 oz per feeding, and I typically pump 5 oz from one side and 3-5oz from the other.

We have the bottles in a cooler with an ice pack and they will be transferred to the refrigerator. I hesitate to freeze anything because it may thaw too much traveling home. So fridge is the only option.

I still have six days left before I go home.

I don't see any way to avoid dumping some of it. Do you?

If I have to dump I guess that's my excuse to have some holiday booze.

Submitted November 21, 2016 at 11:38PM by sophia333 http://ift.tt/2eZuF0V beyondthebump

Is this improper for pumping? beyondthebump

My baby is 2 weeks old, and I am pumping after every feeding. What I'm doing about every pump session is half an ounce to an ounce. Instead of bagging every time I pump is it okay to save it in the bottle until the end of the day and then put the big quantity of milk in one bag? I would be putting the bottle in the refrigerator and completely sealing it off, until I'm ready to bag it up and freeze it.

Submitted September 09, 2016 at 11:28PM by Anoxiachan http://ift.tt/2cd7E5e beyondthebump

Is this improper for pumping? beyondthebump

My baby is 2 weeks old, and I am pumping after every feeding. What I'm doing about every pump session is half an ounce to an ounce. Instead of bagging every time I pump is it okay to save it in the bottle until the end of the day and then put the big quantity of milk in one bag? I would be putting the bottle in the refrigerator and completely sealing it off, until I'm ready to bag it up and freeze it.

Submitted September 09, 2016 at 11:28PM by Anoxiachan http://ift.tt/2cd7E5e beyondthebump

Today we learned the hard way... beyondthebump

That LO is now taller than the refrigerator door. I swear he used to walk right under it just days ago.

😂😂😂

They grow so fast don't they?

Submitted August 19, 2016 at 09:27AM by Kayoobe http://ift.tt/2bNzOZf beyondthebump

Today we learned the hard way... beyondthebump

That LO is now taller than the refrigerator door. I swear he used to walk right under it just days ago.

😂😂😂

They grow so fast don't they?

Submitted August 19, 2016 at 09:27AM by Kayoobe http://ift.tt/2bNzOZf beyondthebump

i survived two trans-atlantic flights alone (!) with my 14 month old... my humble travel tips for nearly 3 weeks abroad. beyondthebump

warning this is gonna get long...

i should start out this post by saying my son is really great. he sleeps through the night usually, does great with taking naps (not so good when we're on the go), and he eats anything and everything i give him. so if you're going to travel try to find one of these models.

flights * try to fly red eye if possible. little guy slept the entire flight minus the first 30 minutes. * try your hardest to get a row of seats to yourself! be nice to the ticketing agent, talk to the gate agent, explain that it's your first flight with kiddo and if there are any seats that have an open seat next to them you would be so appreciative to have them! i kept kiddo as a lap baby for both flights cause we can't afford to buy him his own seat. we had a row to ourselves going over (it was an overnight flight) so G could stretch out across two seats to sleep. coming back the entire flight was pretty much booked so he was in my lap the entire 9 1/2 hour flight..that was a little more rough. * the take off and landing pressure didn't really bother my son- he cried less than 5 minutes total for each flight. but i did have a cup of water handy with a straw and had him drink from that. it could have helped, not quite sure. * don't bother bringing kids toys or books- magazines, the tray table, the other fliers drinks or anything that is on their tray table are infinitely more entertaining apparently. * apparently the ipad is worthless for my son since he really doesn't watch tv or play any games or anything yet. YMMV * do bring lots of snacks. snacks are amazing.

strollers vs. carriers * the only time i used my carrier (ergo) was in the airports. this surprised me, i thought i'd use it a lot- especially when there were cobblestone streets and such. but 1) it was too hot to have that heatbox strapped to me for long and 2) i'm pregnant and tired enough as it is so i didn't want to carry a second 25 pound kid around... * the simple cheap umbrella stroller worked great. it was light so toting it up and down stairs wasn't too bad. * the stroller was not metro friendly. at least not in paris where we found it really difficult to find working escalators. so keep that in mind and don't bring a bohemoth.

cribs * i brought my sons pack n play. most hotels and rental houses offered to provide one though. in hindsight, i would try really hard to ensure your lodging offered one. it was a pain lugging that thing around on trains and to and from hotels. * cosleeping would also be advisable if you can do it safely. our son only will successfully fall asleep in bed with us half of the time we attempt it (which isn't often) since he's used to his crib. so we didn't cosleep on our trip.

lodging * having a refrigerator in the room is really nice! it prevents you from having to go out to eat every meal and it allows you to keep milk on hand, snacks, etc.

european attractions * we found Italy to be THE most baby friendly country! Everyone was so super accommodating for the little guy! Every woman stopped to tell me my son was an angel. Someone even told me we looked like the Madonna and child- ha! but seriously, they were so great. Most places let us skip to the front of lines because we have a baby which I have never experienced. * France, not as accommodating. the metro was difficult with a stroller- as i discussed above. but they did let us skip to the front of the line of the Louvre and at the airport for passport control so that's cool.
* neither Italy or France had many high chairs. we found about 2-3 restaurants that had them, otherwise it was all staggered eating. if i had to do this again i would have left the pack n play and brought a travel high chair/booster seat.

adjusting back home * baby boy took a few days to return to sleeping well. we had a day flight coming back and so for a few days after we returned he would wake up for the day at 5 am. we've been home since friday afternoon and last night was the first night he slept through the night until his usual wake up time of around 7:30. so that's 4ish days to get back to schedule. * i just rolled with it and tried to inch his schedule back slowly. i think 4 days is pretty good- the 5 am wake ups were brutal but temporary.

other gear * if this is useful to anyone: for almost 3 weeks of traveling i brought two sippy cups and three spoons. i should have brought a sponge and soap to wash the cups as not all of our lodging had washing facilities. and i'd probably in the future only look for plastic spoons when out and about. * buy new toys, either before and then give them to your kid there, or buy them at the destination. i brought some of kiddos favorites and they were apparently so super boring to him while on the trip. now that we're home they're the best again..go figure.

that's all i got. i wrote this entire post while my son has been napping annnnd he is still napping! whoo!

Submitted July 13, 2016 at 11:44PM by travelingag http://ift.tt/29DC58v beyondthebump

How do you (or did you) prepare water for your baby? beyondthebump

Hi!

My daughter started eating "solids" (mostly prunes mash from a pouch, which I feed with a spoon) about a month ago. However, we still have not properly given her water! (This is okay, since she eats at most half a pouch a day.)

We've been going back and forth about how to prepare the water. We prefer not to give her water straight from the tap, because we have received several letters in the mail over the past few years from our water supplier that the water was contaminated for a few hours on various random dates. My wife suggested mineral water, but I vetoed it, because I heard that bottled water is actually worse than tap water.

Finally, after a bit of research, my wife suggested nursery water. This seemed like a reasonable solution, except that on the packaging it says to boil the water first. But once we boil the water, it takes a long time for the water to cool! It is unreasonable to put the water in the refrigerator, because who knows how many bacteria live there...

So... what do people do?!?!? What did/do you did/do?

There must be an easy method for preparing water for your baby!

Submitted October 22, 2015 at 12:33PM by ShinyBaldMan http://ift.tt/1NoYHTl beyondthebump

Returning to school, a little nervous about my stored stash and baby refusing formula... beyondthebump

In the beginning I will only be going for 4 hours a day, which I should be able to pump to account for. I will be transitioning into 8 or 9 hours a day in a few months when my baby turns 6 months old. My problem breaks down into two problems I guess. The first is that my breast milk spoils extremely easy, if I leave it out for a few minutes it seems to go bad, or even a few hours in the refrigerator. Not sure what the problem is, I've tried scalding it and it doesn't seem to help. It's not uncommon for me to thaw out breast milk and find that it's already gone bad. Not to mention I already have a low supply, it probably takes me a day just to pump out a bottle IF I'm pumping every 2 hours on the dot. Which brings me to part two: my baby will NOT take formula. It doesn't matter what I do. I've tried several brands, I've tried hot, warm, cold. At my wits end I've even tried mixing a little bit of juice in it to entice him, no go. I've tried mixing formula and breastmilk on a very low ratio and it doesn't work, he gets even a whiff of that formula and he's done. Yesterday I left him with my mom for 3 hours and told her to just give him formula, and he cried the whole three hours and refused. Will my baby accept it if he's hungry enough? I feel awful for letting him cry. I would just really like to have a back up plan in case pumping at school doesn't work out.

Submitted August 28, 2015 at 09:18PM by missdovahkiin http://ift.tt/1En2Bvf beyondthebump

My 2 year old is unstoppable and destructive... :( beyondthebump

Im a SAHM and my son turned 2 in April (I also have a 9 month old). He doesn't listen when we tell him no. We've tried spanking, time-outs (in the corner, his crib, and just his room), taking away toys.... Nothing seems to have an affect on him.

If I take him outside he let's the chickens out and chases them. He's destroyed our floors by dragging chairs around the house. He bites someone at least once a day. He throws toys occasionally. He opens drawers that he's not supposed to. He now opens the refrigerator.

I'm feel like I'm constantly fighting a battle that I've already lost. Please tell me I'm not alone or that there is an answer.

Submitted June 23, 2015 at 08:22PM by EmilyLouise3 http://ift.tt/1FyM2Gl beyondthebump

How do you handle tantrums in a child that you can't talk to? beyondthebump

My son will be 18 mo on Wednesday. Until this past Monday, he's been a pretty happy-go-lucky kind of kid. As of Monday however, he's entered the screaming/tantrum portion of our program.

And he throws things. Everything and anything he can get his hands on.

We've been removing small objects when he's mad, attempting to distract him, letting him scream it out while standing a few feet away, encouraging more word usage, etc. But NOTHING seems to work!

All the self-help gurus say 'talk to your child about their feelings'. But he's 18 F'ing months old? Who has a functional conversation with a kid this young? He has great comprehension, but only produces words when he feels like it. We were doing baby sign language but then he just stopped. He'll still do the sign for 'all done' but he's quit using all the other words he learned.

He babbles in word-like meter all the time. Like he's talking, but just in Benjaminese. He still says mama, dada, shoe, go, going and go away fairly regularly. He'll say other new words for a week or two at a clip and then just stop saying them.

All signs point to frustration tantrums because he can't articulate what he wants clearly and I can't always guess what he's pointing at. He also really hates not being able to do what he wants (like opening the refrigerator and poking everything he can reach).

He's also throwing the occasional middle of the night tantrum. At first I thought he was having night terrors, but his behavior doesn't fit the symptom list for genuine night terrors. For example, last night he woke up at 2:30 screaming like someone stabbed him. Just sound asleep to screaming bloody murder in an instant. Hubs tried to get him to calm down for over 10 min. No dice. We changed him, gave him Tylenol (he's been teething off and on), rocked in the chair, walked around the room, etc. Eventually we just put him down on the floor and he ran straight for our room and tried to climb on the bed. We put him in bed with us, but he continued to scream and throw his two favorite toys over and over. At first he wouldn't even nurse, despite digging my boobs out of my shirt. Then he would nurse vigorously for a second or two and then unlatch and scream. We finally got him to to calm down by giving him a little milk and putting on his favorite Big Block Sing Song album. We put him back down in his crib around 3:30 and he slept until 7:15, his usual wake up time.

He's been waking up after every nap and most mornings being a grumpus. 30-45 min of inconsolable screaming. It's driving me bonkers.

So, more experienced moms of reddit, how did you handle this phase? Is there a way to encourage your kiddo to keep using words other than sheer repetition? How long did this period last for you? Any other answers to questions I haven't asked are also welcome.

Submitted May 08, 2015 at 11:11PM by Squintymomma http://ift.tt/1H47CX4 beyondthebump