Thursday, March 11, 2010

Current Cameron challenges

We really are in a wonderful stage so don't let the title of this post fool you! But like all parents, nothing is ever perfect. First of all, diarrhea was the name of the game with the antibiotic she has been on for the double ear infection. What did that result in? A truly terrible case of diaper rash. Cameron has had very slight cases over the last 10 months but this....this defies words. It it everywhere. And it's not just red, it is truly a rash with the bumps and the swelling. Poor thing. She has been tolerating it well but aside from putting diaper rash cream on every day, is there something else you would recommend?

Another challenge with Cameron is her lack of napping at daycare. Yes, I know I sound like a broken record but it is starting to really impact our evening time. Cameron has usually been napping just once a day and an hour isn't enough. On the weekends she sleeps 2 hours in the morning and 3 in the afternoon. 1/5 of her normal time is miserable for her, me and DH. DH whisks her home and put her right to bed, usually around 4:30 PM. Cameron sleeps for an hour and I go wake her up. Wake a sleeping baby? Damn right. I refuse to impact her 7 PM bedtime. I need downtime too! Cameron is clingy and whiny and doesn't want to eat anything other than her bottle, fruit and goldfish. If I leave the room for a minute she starts full on bawling. It's distressing. Any advice?

Cameron is also going through a big mommy phase. I am trying to mitigate it as much as possible by passing her off to DH but it's harder in the evenings because of how tired and cranky she is. Has anyone successfully managed the mommy phases? I at least don't want her to cry when passing her off!

Lastly we are starting to see the refusal and throwing of food off the highchair tray. I put some pasta down in front of Cameron the other day and she picked up the entire clump and threw it right down. I'll also see her sneak her hand down next to her side to drop other pieces of food onto the chair itself. Smart, crafty little girl. I read Child of Mine and want to adhere to its recommendations that I as the parent provide the food and it is up to Cameron to eat. But I totally cave because I hate to see her eat nothing for dinner which is oftentimes what would happen if I didn't put out more Cameron friendly food. How have other parents handled this? Keep in mind she's only 11 months....is it really time to start those food battles?

7 comments:

Amanda said...

she could be going through some separation anxiety its about that stage for her. Holden went through his first and was bawly all the time when I would put him down or leave the room. Good news is it only lasted about 2 weeks and now he is pretty much back to normal. Holden is doing the food throwing now too but only when he doesn't want to eat, so we stop. I think if she is eating well at daycare I wouldn't worry too much about dinner. I'm sorry about the nap situation, hopefully a more experienced mom has some good suggestions because I don't know what to tell you.

Rebecca M. said...

Diaper rash - Dominick had a HORIBLE case of it after his second round of shots caused some diarrhea. His bottom was so red, swollen and even bleeding like it had been rubbed with sandpaper! Here's how we soothed his bottom. We use triple paste. This is the BEST diaper cream out there. A tub costs about $30, but well worth it. After you wipe, make sure to let their little bottom air dry, and even pat it try with a cloth diaper/wash cloth. I even blew on his little hiney. He seemed to like that. Once dry, lather on the triple paste like icing. Do not be stingy. Do this after EVERY diaper change. Dominick's was cleared up in less than a day. If you can, try some diaper free time. It's easier with girls, and when they're not crawling. Good luck!

Mommy, Esq. said...

Our Baby Nurse swore by using warm water to wipe (after you get the mess off of course), letting it air dry, then diapering. We don't get diaper rash (don't jinx me!) so I can't say more than that.

LauraC said...

On the feeding front, at each meal we would offer them 3-5 options. It doesn't have to be labor intensive, a typical meal would be

dairy (cheese or yogurt)
starch (bread or rice or pasta)
protein (meatballs are great for this age, chicken, etc)
veggie
fruit

in little clumps (Alex doesn't like his food touching). We made sure at least two of the things were things we knew they liked. Those other spots gave us opportunities to introduce new foods to the boys. Then if they ate all fruit or all cheese, I was fine because that's what they needed.

But really, between 10-18 months, a lot of food ended up on the floor. At least you have a dog! We just had to clean it up.

Don't know what to tell you on everything else. We had lots of missed naps and cranky times during the first year of day care. It tends to even out when they move to the toddler room and go to one nap there. The dark room and quiet time seems to help them sleep longer.

Don't forget the time change is this weekend! So that will throw off the schedule too!

Merri Ann said...

When my oldest had her first case of diaper rash our pedi told us to stop wiping her so much ... her advice was to not ever wipe her if her diaper was just wet and of course to make sure that she was totally dry before putting on her diaper. I discovered later that she would always get a red bum if I gave her apple juice ... even diluted.

My experience with the whole food issue is that it comes and goes ... my three go through periods of eating well and periods where they seem to only want bread and water. When they were little, I worried about them going to bed on an empty tummy and waking up during the night so I would give them Pediasure or milk before bed. We actually still have milk before bed every night ... for basically the same reason ... we have dinner at 5 and they need something to hold them until morning.

I hope the nap issue sorts itself out quickly ... all of mine went to one long midday nap at about this age ... but it was loads of crankiness getting there ...

Hang in there ...

Stephanie said...

Cornstarch powder and the clear diaper creme (not Desitin -white kind). Jesse has had maybe one diaper rash in all his 18 months.

Jesse is STILL having issues with eating all his food. Every day is different. Sometimes, he will scarf everything in front of him. Other days, I barely get stuff on the tray and he's sticking down the side of his chair (ugh). It's not a hill I want to die on and since he's in the "normal" (60th percentile) for weight, I'm not gonna worry.

Danielle said...

I only read the diarrhea part of your post - Lotrimin! Get it and use it. The way you describe it it's not a diaper rash because of the diarrhea it's a yeast infection because of the antibiotics. B had this the only time he took an antibiotic and we called the doc and described it and she said Lotrimin. Worked almost immediately! Call your ped just to check, but that's what I recommend. All the diaper cream and cornstarch in the world didn't help B's poor bum when he had it and Lortimin cleared it right up.

Ok read the rest. On the eating - this will probably be a battle you'll be fighting for awhile. B eats nothing for dinner ALL THE TIME. He makes up for it. Offer her different types of food and if she doesn't eat it, there's not much you can do. Lots of kids snack all day and get full that way. Our ped assures us that grazing as a toddler doesn't mean he'll eat that way his whole life.