My kids are tall and skinny and good brands for them have been Old Navy and Wonder Nation (Walmart). I don’t think there was much difference between 2T and 24 months in a lot of brands, maybe even exactly the same for some.
2 Likes
Everyones advice is great and I would try all the bits that are easy and look into it at 18 months, both my kids said barely anything understandable until that point and home based activities were fine. Not that we did nothing, but we just did home stuff and observation, no worrying.
5 Likes
Yep, we were assessed multiple times (I want to say at 15, 17, and 22 months? Something like that) and she kept being just under the bar for therapy each time so we would reevaluate again later. She was just a late talker. The big factor that kept them happy each time was her receptive language was really good- apparently that’s a hallmark of a lot of late talkers, they don’t say much but they understand a lot and that’s less worrisome/better chance of just picking up and needing no therapy to catch up.
2 Likes
We evaluate yearly at our allergist’s office. G was allergic to egg, peanut, almond, sesame/tahini, and other tree nuts.
From the pediatrician we got a referral to an allergist’s office where they confirmed the allergy through skin and blood testing. Then, we got an Epi-Pen (actually the Auvi-Q brand which is better for littler kids) and avoided ingesting all those foods.
FARE is a good nonprofit org with a lot of resources. I also am part of several Facebook groups that helped a lot.
Based on the levels in skin/blood testing, we either did food trials at home or at the allergist’s office. Blood levels at 18 months weren’t significantly different. We just did food trials all summer, in the allergist’s office for borderline levels and at home with very minimal levels of reaction in blood testing. Food trials = eat allergen in certain concentrations under supervision (either us parents at home or supervised bythe nurse/doctor at the allergist’s office). He just passed several challenges at 3. We still have baked egg and peanut as allergies.
3 Likes
The doctor said to try it again within a week or so, have Benadryl and Benadryl lotion on hand. I like the idea of doing it during hours I know they are open.
He said not to be too worried about the other nightshades yet and because it was just a skin reaction it could have been a skin sensitivity but not a full allergy.
The fact that it cleared up quickly after a bath is promising.
Thanks everyone for your advice!
5 Likes
My sister in law had a baby who was likely to be allergic, so she did her allergy exposures in the parking lot of the children’s urgent care. Kiddo was/is allergic, so it ended up being a good thing.
5 Likes
I was just going to say this! A friend did PB the first 3 times in the parking lot of the pediatric hospital as a lil picnic.
3 Likes
Has anyone done the move the bedtime earlier thing for an overtired tot waking up too early?like the risk of moving from a 530-6 wake time to 430 is awful. But the current situation also sucks. Pls help.
3 Likes
YES! It helped! We moved bedtime radically earlier (it had gotten as late as like 8:30, we moved it to 7) and added immediate before teeth brushing yogurt or cheese, and that helped for a while- it got us from 4:30am wakeups daily to like 5-5:30 for a while, plus more total sleep overall.
5 Likes
Anyone who lives in Colorado and has a new baby / is currently contributing to a 529 through CollegeInvest, today is the first day you can apply to the Matching Grant program for 2024.
If you meet the income requirements, you get a 100% match of up to $500 of contributions in 2024.
Don’t forget, 529 contributions are tax deductible in CO, and they’ve recently changed the federal rules so you can roll up to $35k over into a Roth IRA if the funds aren’t used for educational expenses.
6 Likes
Oh noooo for some reason I thought they weren’t yax deductible so my older kids still have VA plans. Well, by the time we get our electric upgrade rebates we might not owe anything!
1 Like
Thanks for the reminder. Last year I did it on New Year’s Eve! I got it in just in time! Also - if your child is under 2 there is a different program that deposits $1000 into their account! I did this one for both girls and then got notified that D2 qualified for that one and they switched her to that plan instead.
3 Likes
Ooh, that’s awesome! I wish I’d known about that 
I totally forgot about the match application last year (after applying for 2022), so I set myself a calendar reminder for today, haha. Free money is great, especially for your kids! Everyone should get it
3 Likes
I agree! Everyone should get it! I was starting to second guess myself because I just looked up the program, it’s called First Steps, and the website says it will deposit $100 for every child born in CO. But I swear I remembered getting $1000. I just looked up the account statements and the 2023 First Steps Deposit was $1000! It looks like they have changed it to $100 now though 
I missed it for D1. I didn’t know about the matching grant or anything when she was under 2.
3 Likes
Dang, you Colorado folk have it good. New Hampshire is all " live free or die " coupled with "go away, we don’t want to pay for it. "
7 Likes
It’s almost trick or treating time! Help me social with other real live in person humans. (Oh no the caffeine is finally kicking in, prepare for stream of consciousness posting.)
In our neighborhood the houses don’t do candy but the nice neighborhood next to ours is amazing and goes all out so we just walk over. The last few years our household has gone trick or treating with another household two doors down with kids around the same age. Last year we invited one other household, then another neighbor family was leaving at the same time so we said to join us. Another two houses nearby were obviously trick or treating like a minute different than us, lol.
This year I was thinking of being more intentional about meeting up but my house is kind of the wrong direction to serve as a meet up point. Like I could drop a physical note by each of the houses that I know has kids (or, eep, talk to them in person!!!) that we’re going to walk over starting at X time. If we stay together as a group, fine, if people want to go off on their own at whatever time, also fine. Could we just meet at X corner in the back of our neighborhood? Or should I actually like have a fifteen minute hang out at my house? Or … I dunno. I did pick up a pack of glowie necklaces recently on impulse so I’d actually have a hand out for the kids which would be kinda fun.
But I kinda know some of our neighbors by face, a handful by name. I’d like to try to meet more people. Over the summer one neighbor went door to door and invited everyone to his fireworks show - great move on his part because he’s been doing it for years without actually inviting people so we got all the noise regardless. This year a ton of people came out with lawn chairs, kids were prepared and Kiddo even got to hit the button at one point to launch a round of fireworks which he will remember forever. I don’t think people chatted with other households though. Anyway, the fireworks thing kind of inspired me to do a more intentional thing this year.
I should also figure out what night trick or treating actually is since the 31st is a Tuesday…
5 Likes
I would leave a note with your phone number and the corner you plan to meet at.
Put a line in the note like “we would love to trick or treat with you, please text me if you plan to join so we know to look for you!”
Then if someone gets delayed but still wants to meet up, they can text you after the fact too.
5 Likes
Yesterday at work we were being given instruction on the appropriate use of our OTs. So to speak. And there were examples of goals (for children) that were not appropriate, and why. So I just thought I’d share this: " Toilet training goals for any children under 4 who have typical motor development (Not a delayed skill)"
In case anyone is worrying about toilet training their kid. From the perspective of professionals who help children with developmental delays, if your kid is under 4 and they are not yet potty trained, that is considered normal/in range, however you want to call it.
This was not a question, sorry, but I thought maybe some might like to hear that and this seemed like a good place for it.
14 Likes
Do you know < how many accidents a day is considered potty trained?
My nearly 4 year old has an accident about every other day at daycare, but they’re usually “barely” accidents. His underwear has a small wet spot and his shorts are dry. He actively tells his teacher that he needs new pants. He is reminded to go potty on a regular interval and readily complies.
At home, he has more accidents, and bigger ones, and fights us when we suggest he goes to the potty at regular intervals. We make an effort not to shame, but sometimes it feels like it’s gone too far. We’ll ask him to go potty, he says no, then 5 minutes later - accident. He says “but I like to wait until I have to go really badly.” In a very calm and matter-of-fact tone. 
I wonder if there’s something physiological going on but he’s mostly fine at daycare? So maybe just a power struggle?
3 Likes
Tuffo Muddy Buddy… has anyone owned 4T and 5T? Is there a huge difference in size? I’m thinking about skipping 4T. We have 24 m and 3T and there is not a huge difference (but our brand is cloudveil for those). L needs bigger, but mainly for next year, I want to watch sales and second hand.
1 Like