[blparent] Michael update

[Dena Wainwright]

If you are at home, I am a huge fan of the feeding in nothing but a diaper 
method. It cuts down on laundry a lot. If in public, large plastic bibs 
(they even have disposable ones) are a great option.

Regarding the changing issue: It will depend on your child, but this is 
something that has the potential to get a whole lot worse before it gets 
better. You really may find that, unless you strap him down to your changing 
table, the only option is to change him on the floor. If you do choose to do 
floor changes, having a change pad on the floor to reinforce the idea of 
"this is where we get changed" can help.

I agree that keeping things as positive as possible is a good idea. However, 
he needs to be changed, and this is just one of those things where he's 
going to have to learn that there are no other choices. I give Elise options 
when I can: "Which book would you like to read?" "Which stuffed animal would 
you like to take to bed?" But there are times when there is only one option 
available to her - mine. I'm not going to ask her: "Would you like to be 
changed, or just hang out in your own filth for another half hour?" I'm not 
going to sing "Old MacDonald" while I'm changing a poopy diaper and she's 
trying to flip herself completely off the change pad.

You don't need to freak out, but you may need to firmly say: "I know that it 
sucks to be changed. You have better things to do with your time than lay 
here. But your diaper is dirty, and the sooner I get it changed, the sooner 
you can go back to whatever it is you want to do." He may not get all of 
that right now, but he'll get the idea that you're hearing that he's 
unhappy, but that he still needs to operate within your boundaries.

With the sitting unassisted issue: Elise was a very late sitter. She did not 
reliably sit until she was about 9 months old. A toy that really helped a 
lot was the Castle Marbleworks toy from Discovery Toys. It has 3 balls with 
bells in them that can be dropped down a series of schutes. As the balls 
move through the maze of schutes, they ring. They come out a door at the 
bottom of the maze. I would drop the balls down the schute, while Elise sat 
in front of it. If she continued to sit, I would let the ball drop all the 
way down the maze to the door. If she flopped over, I would stop the ball 
part way down. So she learned the toy only worked when she was sitting. It 
was an external motivator for her, which I found she really needed, because 
she wasn't especially excited to sit up on her own. If she tipped over while 
playing, she'd just play with the toy laying down.

Hope some of this helps.

Dena

----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Leslie Hamric" <lhamric930 at comcast.net>
To: "'NFBnet Blind Parents Mailing List'" <blparent at nfbnet.org>
Sent: Saturday, December 04, 2010 6:42 PM
Subject: [blparent] Michael update


> Hi all.  I just wanted to give a quick update on Michael.  He's now 
> standing
> with support and he can stand when holding onto something.  He likes to
> babble a lot.  We're still working on him sitting without support but he's
> getting better.  Today was the first time I saw him sit by himself and 
> reach
> for a toy without toppling over.  I got this play yard for him, it's these
> gates that are put together in a circle so he has an area to play and roll
> around and I don't have to be behind him every second.  He also has a 
> little
> piano which he loves to play.  One concern I have is that Michael is at 
> that
> age where he's very wiggly when getting changed.  He also likes to roll 
> over
> on his tummy and I have to keep putting him back on his back.  If I hold 
> him
> in place, he starts to fuss or cry. Has anyone dealt with this issue 
> before?
> Any suggestions would be appreciated.  As for the feeding, it's going 
> great.
> Besides using an infant feeder, I finally figured out a way to feed 
> Michael
> with the spoon that works well for both of us.  The only tough part now is
> making a mess on his clothes.  I use bibs but it's still tough to keep the
> mess down sometimes.  Well, that's about it.  Take care.
>
> Leslie
>
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