- kombi socks plus a bit big on boots.
- copy everything ms. Rachel does while waiting for a real professional
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Yeah I’ve heard great things about Ms Rachel.
Other things you can do are reading books like a teacher (your mouth and the book pages facing kiddo) which I was told helps in a very different way than reading with kiddo in your lap.
Let kiddo put her hands all over your face and in your mouth while making sounds like “ma ma ma ma”
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Thanks Cranky! I’m less worried about my child embarrassing me, as I am about him accidentally saying something sacreligious to people who very sincerely believe in it and have little exposure to culture outside of that. And I’m worried about him not understanding how to position the multiple belief systems because some of the people are really afraid for him
I’m also from a similar mix of religions, but my grandparents and other elders on each side were more worldly and something shocking from a child wouldn’t have made them actually fear for the child’s life and soul. I think I will get the DK kids book @BiblioFeroz suggested which will help him contextualize modern religions with the ancient religions we’ve been learning.
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On yes this reminds me of a tip I heard from an EI professional, using a cup as the example word.
If the child wants a cup, hold it next to your face and say clearly “Cup… Cup.” which should hopefully encourage the child to say cup. Then after a half second (basically giving them a chance to say it) give them the cup.
So even if the kids doesn’t say it, you’re not holding on to it forever and making them frustrated. It’s just an opportunity and maybe something happens internally, maybe they’ll say it next time.
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Does anyone have advice for teaching an almost four year old how to swim themselves? Any websites or YouTube videos that have been helpful?
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Thanks all for the speech advice! One wants to feel like one is doing something.
Another sizing question: if I have a tall skinny baby, should I skip size 24 month and get 2T instead? She runs pretty true to size for her age for pants and shirts but anything that’s like a romper or onesie she tends to outgrow early.
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We had a swim instructor this summer for my almost 3 year old. Here’s what she worked on individually. They are almost ready to start putting these pieces together but it’s getting cold.
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Kicking with a parent holding → kicking with a noodle or kickboard (parent holding the noodle) as kicking gets stronger
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Starfish floating on backs with head on parents shoulder and full support under backs–> starfish floating on backs with parents only holding head for support–> starfish floating on stomach (once head dunks were a skill kid could do too)
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Crab crawling on the wall → “super kid” one arm on the wall and push off to a parent close by
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“Humpty Dumpty” sitting on the wall and tipping into a parent → standing with toes on the edge and jumping into arms → toes on the edge and jumping into a noddle with parent right behind it to catch
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Blowing bubbles on the steps → Dunking head under at the steps to grab sinking toys
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“Scooping ice cream” with arms on the steps.
As different pieces we’re mastered, they started putting them together. Like kicking across when blowing bubbles.
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Are you looking for videos/websites to teach you how to teach the 4 year old? I don’t have any of those but I taught swim lessons and coached and lifeguarded for years. I would look at the YMCA levels which are available online.
First thing is just getting comfortable with water: splashing, blowing bubbles, going under, jumping in, etc. This is a key step and can take many weeks.
Learn to float - starting with support of the core that then gets taken away
Work on kicking while holding on to the wall and then holding on to arms or preferably a board.
Work on arm strokes starting standing in the shallow end then while supporting their body and kicking
Then very very short swims to from the wall independently. Form is not important at first and it will be a doggy paddle.
Most of all, keep it fun! A lot of kids are motivated by songs and swimming towards a toy or ball. Also communicate! Tell them what they’re going to do - trust is huge.
If all of this seems overwhelming, lessons! Also, kids sometimes learn better from an adult who is not their parent. Even though I had a lot of experience with teaching swimming, my son still took lessons and learned best from a teacher - although I did the water familiarity stuff.
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Brand has mattered more than size for us, but potentially yes.
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We don’t have danger access to water, so we took a very slow “joy first” approach. A lot of just playing splashing while being held, “baby fish” hanging onto people’s backs, jumping in from the side, throwing balls from the steps (to learn to tolerate being splashed in the face, too). As she got bigger and more confident we added in kicking work with pool noodles and kick boards. We opted to not introduce water wings or a life jacket in the water during this time so she didn’t risk gaining any false confidence on it. This approach was heavily based on ample time to play in pools and no risk of unsupervised water access.
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This was true for us. We stalled out on face in water until lessons when a teacher pushed her way more than she would tolerate from us.
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@Sunflower, @hollaynia @Bracken_Joy thank you for the responses. I might make these suggestions into a bulleted list and print them out for when we go. I imagine it’s going to be a mix of instruction and just playing around in the pool to keep it fun.
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Baby had an instant reaction to eggplant tonight, rashes/hives everywhere the eggplant touched. After reading up on it, this is unusual but not unheard of and some kids have reactions to either the histamines in eggplant or they have a reaction to all nightshade plants.
We are going to talk to the doctor about it and avoid nightshades for a bit. My question: if a kid is going to grow out of an allergy, how do you know if they will and when? How would you reintroduce the allergen later?
It’s not a big deal if he can’t have eggplant, it’s not a very common vegetable. But tomatoes and peppers are much more common!
Our plan for introducing other nightshades will be to rub them on his arm before feeding it to him.
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Oh no! With D2 her allergy symptoms were all gastro so we reintroduced when the doctor gave us the go ahead and then just waited for fussy cranky baby signs. We determined allergy to soy dairy and eggs at 2 months old. Doctor let us reintroduce soy and eggs at 9 months (one at a time obvs) but she didn’t let us try dairy until 12 months. Anytime she still showed signs at the initial reintroduction (she did with eggs and dairy) we waited 6 weeks and then tried again. She grew out of all of them by 15 months
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I’ve heard mixed info on the skin intro- that it might be more likely to sensitize them versus oral intake? I’d ask your doc on that one.
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Definitely talk to your doctor and hopefully an allergist! It can even be a one time thing.
Allergy protocols are changing SO FAST. But I had to avoid nightshades for about 5 years and it was terrible.
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Okay good info. We will do nothing until talking to the doc!
We will keep feeding foods that have not had a reaction until we can talk to them.
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Don’t panic! What I thought was hives was just a skin irritation. No allergies detected. 
that it’s that simple for you! Was the eggplant seasoned? Cuckoo struggled with paprika for a while (ie, it wasn’t the crab in the crab cakes, it was the Old Bay!)
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It was just eggplant and olive oil!! I made a seasoned batch for us (salt and garlic powder) but but his on his own tray!
We weren’t being super careful about cross contamination so the spatula could have touched other stuff as we were cooking.
It could have just been a skin irritation! We took pictures and will show the doctor. It also cleared up really quickly once he was in the bath.
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Pipsqueak had less common allergies (mild FPIES reaction to eggs). After the second time it happened our pediatrician sent us to an allergist who did some skin tests and sent us on our way with instructions to try eggs again in 6 months.
I’m super cautious so we introduced it through and egg “allergy ladder” (basically small controlled doses) and everything is fine.
So yeah, tell your pediatrician and they can help you suss it out and make a plan.
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