Tag Archives: teaching

How Not to Start Baby-Led Weaning with your Baby

05/19/2016 R.C. Liley 16 Comments

This was originally posted on May 18, 2014. Thankfully, we are long past the baby-led weaning days!

I’m writing this from the comfort of our couch on Saturday night after a long and busy, but mostly good day. Avery is as mobile as she can be without being able to crawl, and she surprises us by sitting right up immediately after we set her down.

Crazy kid, we love her so much, but she can really wear us out! It helps that I’m celebrating World Whiskey Day with my Breckenridge Distillery Bourbon to wind things down though.

So, um, yeah, baby-led weaning (BLW), is not off to a great start for us. I get that this was our first day and first try and blah, blah, but I still got my hopes up ready to watch Avery grasp a green bean and eat it like she does her red plastic bird.

But the exact opposite happened; she refused to even touch the food I set in front of her! Mommy’s water cup? Sure, she’ll grab at and try to put it in her mouth all day! Food you are actually supposed to put in your mouth? Nope, not having it.

What did we do wrong that made her so repulsed by our food offering? I’m not certain, but maybe trying right at her bedtime had something to do with it. What do you think?

Not to mention her usual 2 – 3 hour morning nap only lasted 1 hour; in which she cried some during that hour. A tired baby is a cranky baby as all parents know, and that’s what we had for parts of the day.

I want to sleep, but I also don't!!! — I want to sleep, but I also don’t!!!

Okay, she wasn’t fussy all day, but she had several of her “moments” just to let us know she was tired and not happy. Since she obviously didn’t want to be in her jumper (see picture above), we moved her to her play yard to give her freedom to move around and practice her sitting up skills.

She got right to sitting up, but still cried while doing so. I had several things cooking in the kitchen and Going Mom was hard at work cleaning the living room, so we had to let her cry for a few minutes. Then Kelley turned on the vacuum which always gets Avery to quiet down and look around.

Ahhh, the loud whir of a vacuum never sounded so good. Apparently Avery thought so too; we looked over and she was sound asleep!

We haven’t had to use the consoling power of the vacuum for a while now, and it surprised us to see how passed out she was! Obviously, I had to give it my thumbs up of approval.

Kelley didn’t want to turn off the vacuum while she slept, so now we have a really clean living room! The nap helped, but it wasn’t even 30 minutes, so we weren’t too hopeful for a happy Avery.

We finished our to-do’s and went for a walk with Avery in the Onya Outback where she had a 15 minute power nap. Upon our return, it was just past 7pm and Kelley went to clean up as I put the highchair together. Avery commenced with crying…

30 minutes later (about the time we usually get her to bed), we strapped her in the highchair for the first time and excitedly prepared for our first BLW experience! I don’t think she was too excited though….

I had steamed a bunch of organic baby carrots, green beans, and broccoli earlier, so I pulled a few pieces of each to serve her.

Avery was already in fuss-mode as I brought the veggies to her, and it only increased with each passing second. I at least expected to see her grab at one of the specimen in front of her, but to no avail. She wouldn’t even look at them!

Pretty sure I knew the reason, I told Going Mom it was just her bib making her upset. Simple solution, just remove the bib, right?

Wrong. I gave this the thumbs down of disapproval. Not being one to accept no for an answer, or “no” as expressed by a baby, I tried dangling a green bean in front of her to get her attention.

If a baby can look repulsed, this is the look. Her hands remained idle making sure she didn’t give even the slightest reach to raise our hopes. On the last straw, I attempted to show her how the food is meant for her mouth, but she wasn’t too receptive.

Might as well of been a cigar because she wasn’t having it. At this point, we called our first attempt a failure and gave up. Luckily, our pet box turtle, Tash, was looking for some good food and she happily accepted Avery’s outcast veggies.

I spent a little time playing with Avery before her bath, and then she seemed to cheer up for a while! And she made sure to put everything around her in her mouth; figures. But our time was limited and only our dog, Abby, could keep Avery from letting out another whine.

Dog kisses just make everything better, huh? Unless you’re me, I don’t care for the kisses too much.

So if you’re about to introduce your baby to solids for the first time, don’t do like us and try when it’s their bedtime. Even more so if their naps have been short or even non-existent! At that point, it’s just smart to put it off for one more day and save everyone the stress.

And that’s what we’re doing. As you read this, we will be making our second, and hopefully successful, attempt at introducing Avery to solids. Avery is usually the happiest in the morning, so at least we should see some smiles! As always, I’ll let you know how it goes.

Any tips on how to get your baby interested in grabbing food?

Do you have any first time baby successes or failures to share?

Books, Life, Parenting

Pee on the Floor: A Potty Training Story

09/03/2015 R.C. Liley 8 Comments

We’ve been off and on with our attempt at potty training for Avery, but as she gets closer to being two, I figure we should start trying a little more. We bought an appropriately named book, Potty, in hopes she’d read it / look at the pictures and instantly want to be like the baby in the story.

She really enjoys the book, but seems to enjoy flipping to the kitty and doggy more than inspecting the use of the potty. She’ll flip right to the pages with an animal and point them out immediately.

We’re proud and happy she’s knowledgeable about animals and all, but Going Mom and I are aiming for diaper changing freedom here! The other day, I finally decided to get serious about potty training our little girl by following The Easiest Potty Training Method that Modern Alternative Mama wrote about.

Basically, it’s just get them naked, don’t make going potty a big ordeal, have a potty available, don’t try and reward them (this could make them only go potty for a treat and not using the potty when their bodies show a sign of needing to go), and ignore them by NOT asking them 50 million times if they need to go. Basically, everything we’ve been guilty of doing thus far.

So, I set out her potty in the kitchen (I was cooking as usual), got her naked, and put her Potty book down for a little incentive/reading material.

Right away, she gravitated to the toilet giving the impression she was ready to do just as the baby in the book and go potty! Just a minor course correction for her foot was all I offered, nothing about going pee or poo.

With her foot out and butt down, she took to reading. Yes, my plan was working!

As usual, she pointed out the kitty and doggy, but then continued on flipping the pages. All good signs, my anticipation grew by the second!

Uh oh, I think I spooked her a little. What? Is it soooo weird to sit around snapping photos of your naked toddler on the pot?

Don’t answer that, I just read the question out loud, and yes, yes it is weird. C’mon, you can’t tell me I’m the only parent out there that does this. Right? Right?

Whatever the case, she quickly recovered and continued sitting and flipping through the pages. Ooo, it was a good page, the part where he goes in the potty and proclaims “I did it!” This part gets her excited, which, subsequently, make us excited thinking how she gets it and it will start using potty from here on out.

Her face was beaming with pride as if she can and will go potty. I felt like this was it!

Well, even if it was, it wasn’t. Right after that page, she stood up from the toilet and sat right back down next to her pink plastic throne.

But at least it’s a good sign she still had the book, right? Wrong!

I’ll spare you the pictures (I actually did not take anymore), but what followed was a stream of pee right next to her potty. I quickly cleaned her legs and feet (yes, she made pee prints across the floor), and then the floor.

Trying extremely hard to remain calm, I caved and mentioned using the potty to go pee or poo so it doesn’t get on her legs or the floor. You could tell she was frustrated with not having a diaper to catch her refuse, so I thought an explanation would help. I even pointed out how the baby does it with the diaper off in her book.

I went back to doing chores around the house trying my best to ignore my nude toddler with a full bladder, but had to draw the line when she climbed the couch. She thought it was funny, but I only saw another potential clean-up.

With Avery back down and running around, I carried on around the house only to have her come up and give me a hug while saying “Hi.” That’s her “I know I did something wrong but look how cute I am” sign. I’m not one to turn down a hug, so I hugged her back then went looking for wet spot. This time it was the carpet in the playroom.

So, potty training, even if it is “the easiest method”, is not so easy. More hugs and “Hi’s” followed by a pee puddle search party continued for a while before nap time that day. I haven’t tried again since, but know consistency is key. Maybe just a little closer to two years old, then we’ll start again.

Do you have any potty training fail or success stories to share?

Do you like having a small potty like we have or a seat made for the large toilet? I think I’d like to get a seat for her to go on the real potty soon.

Vlog

Explaining Flying to Toddlers: Avery & Daddy Ep. 7

08/08/2015 R.C. Liley 4 Comments

One of the biggest fears most parents of toddlers face is traveling with them. I say this with very little experience and only hearing from a handful of other parents’ scary ventures, but figure it’s a safe assumption. Am I wrong?

I recorded a video of me explaining flying to Avery in order to help prepare her for her first time on a plane. In retrospect, it probably helped nothing, and maybe as you read/watch this, that’s being confirmed. But hey, if not for her, I feel better after at least trying to explain flying.

Think I did a good job at explaining? The toy plane running into the wall doesn’t exactly portray a realistic flight, but at least it looks like a plane. The ear popping, loud noise making, and turbulence can only come with experience. Crap, I just upped my anxiety. Good thing Going Mom will be there to help us both!

Well, I’m off and ready to enjoy time with my family in Colorado. Hope to get lots of hiking and kayaking and awesome coffee in while there. Kelley told me not to plan anything on Wednesday, the day before we return, so I’m excited to see what she has planned.

Not sure when I’ll post about our trip, but stay tuned!

Have a great week!