19 posts tagged “daycare”

It seems like just last week I was mulling over the idea of switching, at least part-time, to cloth diapers. In reality, it's been closer to 14 months since I actually broke down and bought a few BumGenius 3.0 diapers to test. After being so incredibly pleased with the three that I initially ordered, I bought another 12, and we've been using them ever since. I have to admit there are times I wish I had put him in a disposable diaper (gigantic poops and toddler tummy among them), but for the most part, I'm actually used to using them. We've already recouped the cost in savings (including any fluctuations in utilities - which have all gone down over the previous year) and are doing our part to save the planet. Moreover, I really like them!

But diapers (thankfully) are only needed for so long, and The Boy is now at a stage where I really ought to have the option of training pants available to him. Oh, sure, I bought him some Thomas the Tank Engine underpants a few weeks ago, but he's not remotely interested in them - nor should he be because, well, he's not even interested in sitting on the potty! But I've seen him in the mornings, when he's anxious to get into the shower, tugging at the waistband of his diapers, almost in a vain attempt to remove them. (He has also voiced displeasure at having his pants or shorts removed unless he decides it's time for a wardrobe change.)

I spoke to his teacher this morning about pull-up training pants to see what she found to be the easiest to use. (The morning drop-offs got a little bit easier each day, but we'll see what happens on Monday.) Much to my surprise (and to show you how little attention I've paid to disposable training pants), there's a very big difference between Pampers Easy-Ups and Huggies Pull-Ups. While both are equally easy for kids to put on and take off, only Huggies has the easy-off velcro sides to make it easy to clean up accidents (especially the poopy variety). I'm very glad I asked, or else I would have invested a small fortune in the wrong disposable training pants!

Now, in a perfect world, The Boy would train himself in a day and I would only need to buy one package of disposable training pants before he moved on to his Big Boy underpants. Just as ideally, he wouldn't need training pants at all at home and would never need to get up in the middle of the night to use the facilities. However, I am all too well aware that we don't live in that perfect world (I don't, anyway) and, as bright as The Boy is, he's not going to potty train himself overnight. Moreover, he's still likely to have accidents at night once he is trained during the day.

I just don't want to give Kimberly Clark or Proctor & Gamble all my money! (They each get plenty as it is.)

Enter Antsy Pants. Have you heard of them? These are the coolest-looking training pants! They're stuffable, so I can use my existing BumGenius inserts at night (multi-tasking is a must). They have snaps on the sides for easy accident clean up. The sides are elastic garters, just like the disposable kind, so he can step into them like regular underpants. And though they are absorbent, they also leave just enough of a wet feeling so that The Boy will know when he's just peed. (I think he already knows this to some degree.)

Anyway, I just sent in my order for six (they call that a one-day supply, but since I only want to use it at home, it should be plenty, right?) and should receive it sometime next week. I'll write a comprehensive review after we've used them for a while. My initial plan is to give The Boy options - does he want to wear a diaper or Big Boy pants? - and go with whatever he says. I still need to make it clear, of course, that he can only wear his Big Boy pants if he agrees to sit on the potty, but if he doesn't, that's okay, too.

He's showing a little more interest in the potty, but he doesn't seem ready just yet. I'm hoping with some options, though, it will help him feel a little more comfortable about the idea of sitting on the potty with a bare bum.

The Boy is turning two in less than four weeks. With a new number comes a new class, new teachers, and new benchmarks to hit. At this time last year, I was starting to get a little stressed because he wasn't walking and wasn't consistent with using his sippy cup. Now that he happily runs around the house (sometimes literally) and clearly gets enough fluids drinking from his sippy cups, I realize that my anxiety wasn't completely necessary. All the same, the proactive steps I took did ease him into the next classroom, so I spoke with a teacher today from the two-year-old class to identify what skillsets The Boy ought to have before he transitions.

And this is when I learned the big thing in the two-year-old class is potty training.

[sigh]

About five months ago, when The Boy was 18 months old, his teachers asked if I wanted to get him started on potty training. I declined, reasoning that if he wasn't remotely interested in undressing himself, he clearly wasn't interested in using the potty. Fast forward a few months and he's starting to show some interest in removing his clothing, but only when the bathtub is filling or I've dressed him in a shirt or pants that he doesn't want to wear. All the same, as much as he likes playing with toilet paper and flushing the toilet (not simultaneously, thank goodness), he hasn't shown a whole lot of interest in really, um, interacting with it.

So I asked Chris today to swing by Target and pick up a little potty chair. I brought home the seat that fits onto the big toilet, but The Boy seems overwhelmed by the idea of sitting on the big commode. I can't blame him, really. I'm a little leery of things that are three-quarters my height, too.

I'm elated that his teachers at school are going to be working with him on potty training during the day, which will make the whole process go so much faster, especially when The Boy see his classmates going into the bathroom and using the toilet instead of pooping and peeing in their diapers. After all, peer pressure can be a good thing. I just don't know that he's ready, and I really don't want him to get so anxious that it becomes a prolonged (translation: year-long) process.

Of course, he could very well be ready and I just don't recognize any of the signs. Either way, it appears potty training is coming to my house sooner than I expected.

Wish me luck. I think I'm going to need it.

I read this article this morning about 10 children hospitalized after a daycare employee mistakenly gave them windshield wiper fluid, thinking it was Kool Aid.

After being sufficiently appalled at the error (How on earth do you not smell the chemicals as you're pouring it into cups? And how could you miss the writing on the label?), I realized there are a lot of beverages that look like other things, just because of the unnatural food dyes. Someone could have put it in a locker room refrigerator, thinking it was Powerade or Gatorade. If the wiper fluid was green, it could have even been HiC!

This has steeled my resolve to keep The Boy on (soy) milk and water for as long as possible - and certainly for as long as he's in daycare. I may open the list to tomato juice and watered down apple juice in the coming months, but only at home.

And nothing with really crazy colors. That's just a recipe for disaster.

I just got a call from the Food Director at The Boy's day care, and she told me as much, so it must be true!

She had called for clarification about The Boy's food sensitivities. See, there's a number of foods his little body can't tolerate, so I print out a list each week of those foods (and the reactions the center can expect if he ingests any of these foods) and a comprehensive list of no-no's based on the current week's menu. It makes their lives easier, and I can be certain that I've exercised due care in ensuring The Boy doesn't have any adverse reactions for which he might be sent home.

Sometimes the list changes and I get to take something off of it. Sometimes I have to add something. But we let The Boy try different things from time to time, and if he happens to react poorly, it gets added to the list. And if something currently banned is suddenly okay, it gets taken off the list. Either way, I make a point of keeping the list updated each week and giving his school the latest edition.

Oh, and she also said I was really organized. Ha! Do I have his school fooled! I'll bet they probably think The Boy lives in an immaculately kept home, too, with spotless floors, pristine cabinet doors, and nary a speck of dust in sight. (He doesn't, by the way. Are you kidding me? I'm ecstatic if I can muster enough energy to run the vacuum!) No, I'm just really good about keeping files on the computer. I need to work on the physical world now, opposed to the virtual one.

So, I feel good about the care I've taken in ensuring he is safe and healthy at school.

And she said I was a good mommy! Hee hee!

Being a mom means that my life will be full of firsts for many years to come. I've witnessed The Boy's first diaper change (which the nurse in the hospital did as I watched), his first shots, his first smile, his first steps, etc. I think you get the idea.

One first I thought surely wouldn't come for several years (if it even came at all) was his first Behavioral Report. Yes, at the tender age of 17-months, my child brought home with him his very first disciplinary notice. What did he do? He was pushing and hitting the other children.

My son, the Bully.

[sigh]

Chris and I are continuously working with him on using "nice hands" and not hitting people. When he's over-tired (as he was yesterday), he gets mean and cranky and destructive. We all do. (Mean and cranky, anyway. Some are more destructive than others.) When I see him getting cranky, I step in and put him to bed. But, of course, Mommy wasn't there at daycare yesterday to intervene, and Cranky Boy - probably after running around too hard in the playground - pushed and/or hit someone (or several someones) and was written up and reprimanded for it.

I'm not saying anyone deserved it (I hope to lead The Boy down the path of non-violence), nor do I say his actions were justified because he woke up at 3am that morning. I will say, though, that after watching him interact with the other kids this morning, I can see how he could interpret the actions of certain other children as aggressive, unfriendly, or, at least, a violation of his personal space. (Not that he really has any concept of personal space, but just go with me.) I also noticed that there are some kids he seemed to want to High-Five, only the other kid didn't have his hand up at the time and Crispin hit his shoulder, instead.

So, Chris and I have - again - talked to him about not hitting people and using nice hands. It's a process, I know.

Thank goodness there's a Yo Gabba Gabba! segment about it.

My husband just sent me an e-mail:

"Daycare called. Someone brought in cupcakes for the 1 year olds. They called to see if he could have one. I said no. They are giving him rice cakes. Bright idea to give a bunch of 1 year olds cake. They are already somewhat wild when I get there."

I'm counting my lucky stars that The Boy really doesn't know what he's missing.

I get to leave work early today, so I asked my husband to drop off The Boy. I wanted to get to the office early and finish up all my month-end things.

Anyway, when he collected The Boy from school yesterday, he immediately checked The Boy's diaper, as I asked. The teacher was a little taken aback; she had just changed him, after all, and didn't understand why the child's diaper needed checking. My husband explained that I asked him to do it, and, upon opening the diaper, what do you think he saw?

Lots of powder. No A&D.

He asked why they didn't use any ointment, and she insisted that they did. He kindly informed them that we use more than that at home and that she needs to put more on The Boy. Which she did. And then Chris told her to put more. And then some more. And then a little more.

There. That's how much we use at home.

I'm picking him up this afternoon and will change him before we leave there. I'll see if he's got enough ointment on his bottom. And if he doesn't, I'll follow my husband's lead and camly remind them to use a lot of ointment on The Boy, especially when he has a rash, and show them how much to use if necessary. (I figure they should go through about 3 ounces of this stuff a week.)

Right now I just have to keep reminding myself that it will get better. After all, this morning's diaper change was less of a struggle than yesterday's. And, truth be told, his bum doesn't look nearly as bad as it did from other diaper rashes (like last week's or any of the ones that accompanied his stomach bugs). So, it is getting better.

Slowly.

I don't think there's a word that accurately describes my mood. "Livid" is the closest that comes to mind, but even that seems very tame by comparison.

So, what is it that has upset me greatly?

Ugh! Where to begin...

My little boy has sensitive skin. He always has. When he was four months old, he reacted so sharply to wheat proteins in my breastmilk that he broke out into a terrible rash all over his body. The doctors said the proteins aggravated his eczema, and I was put on a very strict diet. (I later learned it was wheat causing all the problems; prior to this, it was a mystery and I couldn't eat anything.)

Since he was two days old, I've used A&D on his bottom. Before that, we used Vaseline in the hospital (but that was more for the circumcision than anything). And he only got diaper rashes during stomach bugs and teething spells, all thanks to the accompanying diarrhea.

The Boy has also been in daycare since he was two months and six days old. (Yes, I know the exact date he first went to school. It's permanently etched into my brain.) The entire time he's been there, I've provided his diapers, his wipes, his ointment, several changes of clothing, and, until he transitioned to the Toddler level, his food. (I still provide his proteins on the days they have fish and snacks on days they're eating oats.)

Ever since the transition to the Toddler level, The Boy has had a diaper rash. Sometimes it's worse than others, but, just as his doctor says, when I see to it that he's properly cleaned and sufficiently coated with a thick layer of A&D, the rash clears within days. It's aggravating (and heartbreaking) to send him to school Monday morning with very little to no diaper rash, only to see it reappear and worsen during the week. This past Friday was the worst. When I changed his diaper on Saturday morning, his bottom was so raw, it was bleeding. He also had a rash on his scrotum, the poor kid. The bleeding was finished Saturday afternoon, and by Sunday evening, the rash was gone from his scrotum and almost gone from his tush. I wrote a note for the teachers (and verbally informed them, too) letting them know that he has a bad diaper rash, and they will need to use extra A&D on him. And, oh, by the way: Here's an extra tub.

Last night, Chris told me that one of the teachers said I need to start using Desitin on my baby's bum. Yes, I know it has zinc oxide, and, yes, I know the medication will help soothe the rash. But it's not going to keep the rash from coming back!

This morning, The Boy pooped en route to school. I signed him in, then proceeded to change him. Oh, what a nightmare.

First, the wipes that I brought suddenly went missing. Last week, I brought in two packs. One was used (I get that), but the other is nowhere to be found. The teacher told me that it must have been used and - didn't she tell me I needed to bring some in on Monday? Never mind the head teacher told her (and me) that there were still some in the cabinet. I still should have brought in wipes for him. (Note to self: bring new package of wipes each Monday along with 30 diapers and see how long it takes before said teacher tells me to stop bringing things for him.)

Second, the A&D tub I gave them two months ago is still not empty. How is this remotely possible? I go through one of those a month - and that's if I'm going easy on the stuff! That first tub wasn't even full when I gave it to them. To be fair, of course, it looks like there's about a day's worth of changes left in it. Well, that's if they use as much as they ought with each change. If they use as much as I suspect they do, it would probably last them another week.

And last - what is it with the Desitin? To hear these teachers go on about it, you would think I was the worst mother in the world for not using it on my child! Never mind that not one medical professional has ever told me that it's the best thing to use (they've never said it was bad, either). I've been told Boudreaux's Butt Paste is a much better product than Desitin (and I'm not opposed to getting this for him, either, since it was highly recommended by two pediatric nurses) - it contains zinc oxide and is much easier to wipe off. But his doctor said A&D is just fine - and a little bit of cornstarch to make sure the skin is nice and dry coupled with a thick layer of A&D is all my baby needs to keep his bottom nice and rash-free.

So, the teachers are going on and on about the Desitin, and one of them pulls out this card: "Do you know Ms L? She's a retired pediatrician. Talk to her, and she'll tell you he needs Desitin."

And I'm thinking to myself, "Funny you should mention her. She was one of The Boy's Infant teachers, and I still talk to her several times a week." So, I agreed to speak Ms L, and I silently resolved to do whatever she suggested.

Well, you know what Ms L said when I told her this story? Well, first, she was outraged. No one, and I mean no one, treats one of her babies' bums like that! She was so upset hearing about his chronic diaper rash because he almost never had diaper rash problems under her watch. And then when I told her that they said I needed to get Desitin for him, she was incredulous. "He don't need Desitin," she said in her broken English. "They need change him - a lot - and put Vaseline or A&D." She shook her head and repeated, "He don't need Desitin. Don't worry. I go talk to them on break and say he need clean and change a lot - every hour if need!"

Then she and Ms. A (both of The Boy's Infant teachers) told me to have Chris occasionally spot check The Boy's diaper when he picks up The Boy in the afternoons and make sure (a) it had recently been changed and he was clean and dry and (b) they put lots of goop on his bum. And if they don't? "He needs to speak to the director," Ms A said, forcefully, "and tell them it's not right that the baby gets home with a bleeding bottom because they aren't changing him! The A&D is enough protection and all he needs! You're a good mom, one of my best here. And he doesn't need anything else." Then Ms A lowered her voice and said, "Make sure your husband tells them, because he's a man and they'll listen to him. With you, they just think you don't know."

I love his old teachers.

According to the sheets they send home each day, it looks like he gets changed frequently enough. But neither Chris nor I think those sheets are entirely accurate. One of my coworkers said I need to take inventory of his diapers at the start of each week and see if the numbers add up. I think I'm going to start doing that. After all, if they're sending home sheets that say he gets 4 to 5 diaper changes a day, my pack of 30 diapers should only last a little more than a week. And if the numbers don't add up, well, it means they're either "growing diapers" (as one of the ladies in Finance says when someone is showing a drastic negative shrink) or not changing him as frequently as they say they are.

If that's the issue (which I really hope it's not), it needs to get fixed immediately. In the meantime, I can only hope that they'll listen to Ms L, change him frequently with a thick layer of ointment, and quit making me feel like I'm to blame for his diaper rash because I'm not using Desitin!

The Boy had a mysterious redness around his right eye and on his red cheek this morning when I took him out of the car. Thankfully, his former Infant teachers let me bring him to their classroom and hang out with him for a while to see if the redness cleared (which it did). Lord knows I had no desire to schlep him back home and to the doctor for what would ultimately be no reason.

It's the strangest thing, and this isn't the first time this has happened. He had a healthy breakfast this morning of peaches, milk, and a bit of breastmilk. I didn't even offer any of the blueberry muffins he greedily devoured the previous morning. And when we left the house, he was perfectly fine - no redness, no rashes, nothing. But when I got him out of the car, half his face was just, well, really pink.

Anyway, I dropped him off in his classroom (one of the Directors even saw him and just remarked how adorable he is - no mention of the pinkness, thank God) and no one made any mention of it there, either.

I just don't know what could possibly trigger what is ultimately a temporary reaction.

I dropped off a very unhappy little boy this morning. In fact, as soon as we got into the classroom, he started to scream in terror and cling to me for dear life. He settled down a bit while I was signing the roster sheet (still holding him, mind you), only to freak out again when one of the teachers reached out to take him from me.

I have my suspicions of the cause of this, aside from the common separation anxiety. Lack of Mommy-time combined with a little cold and generally not feeling too great equals an unhappy baby.

Yesterday, I left work early after vomiting in the bathroom. Thankfully, I made it to the bathroom in order to do it. I cleared off my desk, told my boss I just threw up and needed to go home, and rushed home to my bed (which is not too far from the bathroom, thankfully). I don't know how many times I puked; I just know it wasn't a good scene.

I took The Boy to the doctor yesterday afternoon, and Dr W took a look at me, too. The Boy and I both have colds, and he's getting over the stomach bug that he just gave me. Oh joy, joy, joy. After the appointment, I drove home, called my husband to come out of the house and collect The Boy from my car, and rushed to the bathroom before going to bed. So The Boy did not have any Mommy-time last night (and the fact that I heard my husband tell him "Mommy doesn't want you in there" probably didn't help matters much).

We were fine this morning at the house. He woke up (on his own - I was in no rush to get out of bed this morning), and we cuddled and chatted for a little while before I changed his diaper (poopy - no diarrhea - but still a bad diaper rash) and dressed him in his clothes for school. Before breakfast, we played for a bit (his new favorite toy is an empty paper towel tube), I tried to teach him the word "egg", and he took out all his books from his bookcase. (I was in no shape to try and stop him.) Then, after a hearty breakfast of yogurt, Pirate Booty (because he has suddenly decided not to eat bananas), and a few sips of milk, we piled into the car and were on our way.

He was in such good spirits during the ride over. He pointed out the window and chatted about the things he saw (none of which I, of course, understood), and was otherwise in a great mood. He protested when I tried to clean his face before taking him out of the car, but even when we were on our way to the classroom, he seemed perfectly content.

But the moment we set foot into the room, he burst into tears. I felt so bad.

Even worse is that I'll need to stay late tonight to finish up month-end reporting. I only hope he'll forgive me in the morning!