[blparent] Tooth Brushing and To Allison

Wed Mar 23 18:32:27 UTC 2016

Back in the day, we had little finger tooth brushes that we would use.  We also encouraged the girls to chew on the brushes for starters so they could get used to the feel of the brush and the tast of the toothpaste.

Judy

-----Original Message-----
From: BlParent [mailto:blparent-bounces at nfbnet.org] On Behalf Of Jessica Reed via BlParent
Sent: Wednesday, March 23, 2016 12:03 PM
To: 'Blind Parents Mailing List'
Cc: Jessica Reed
Subject: [blparent] Tooth Brushing and To Allison

Hey All,

My daughter Lila will be two next week.  I think she has twelve or fourteen teeth. For some time tooth brushing has been a huge headache in our house.
The problem is not just that she is a toddler and hates it and won't sit still, I can't figure out how to brush her teeth using a regular toddler brush.  I had no trouble when it was the finger type, but now with it having that little bit of a stick I am lost.  How do you begin to aim the brush on the teeth?  So far I avoid brushing her teeth like the plague!  I have my husband or anyone else sighted do it at all costs!  What have you done?  Am I the only one who has had an issue with this?  

Switching gears...

Allison,
I don't get to hop on the computer very much lately with Lila around.  I have been reading your messages and pretty much everything you are bringing up is stuff I also have worked through or continue to work through.  Since we know each other in person, I hope it's not strange that I offer my
number.  (540-661-8876)   Sometimes having a listening ear or just someone
to bounce texts to is all it takes for a Mama to maintain her groove.  I would love to catch up! I would be happy to share what I have learned with mom's clubs and wagons.  I had the same issues you are referring to.

Happy Spring All!

-----Original Message-----
From: BlParent [mailto:blparent-bounces at nfbnet.org] On Behalf Of Allison via BlParent
Sent: Monday, March 21, 2016 2:14 AM
To: 'Blind Parents Mailing List'
Cc: Allison
Subject: Re: [blparent] Stroller Fail!

Thanks everybody for your replies. My husband and I used the stroller again this past Saturday and had a bit more luck. He pulled the stroller this time and he had more patients for it than I. It is getting a bit less awful with practice, but it is still cumbersome. Plus it was kind of a nightmare to get on and off of the bus. So I still wore Allyssa in the baby carrier most of the trip because she and I like that best for now. However, I am genuinely concerned that I won't be able to wear her long-term because she is already
13 pounds at ten weeks and because I am prone to back pain due to a childhood spent hunched over large print books. Wearing is a good solution for now though. 

Thanks Steve for your description of locking stroller wheels. Yours made most sense to me and I'll experiment with that next time we're out. 

I liked folks suggestions about umbrella strollers, frame packs, and wagons.
If anyone has any specific brand recommendations I'd love to hear them. I'm not sure where to find such items and would appreciate any shortcuts that will keep me from much Google searching. 

Lastly, several folks on this list emphasized that I need not feel pressured to travel out alone with my baby. Thanks, I appreciate that reassurance.
Even so, I genuinely would like to be able to travel with just the 2 of us.
I don't feel I have anything to prove, and I am not opposed to asking for help. Believe me I'm happy to travel with a friend, family member,  or colleague when it's convenient and I have been doing that when I can. But is it so unreasonable to fantasize about being able to travel with just me and my baby? It is something I enjoy. Sometimes there just isn't anyone else available to travel with, and I would prefer not to sit at home simply because others aren't free to go out with us. Example, last Tuesday evening there was a mom's group meeting that I really wanted to go to. I've been there a few times and I enjoy it. I find that going to it helps me feel more balanced and happy. The first two times I went to it, I had my dad drive me and baby.  That was nice while it lasted. However, last Tuesday, my dad was unavailable, my husband and best friend were both at work, another good friend had plans, and my reader was on vacation. And it seemed a shame not to go simply because I didn't have anybody to go with. I would have gladly asked for help from someone if I could have thought up someone who might be interested and available, but I don't exactly know a plethora of people who have so much free time that they can travel with me and my baby each time I want to go out somewhere. So since Tuesday's weather was beautiful, I gathered my car seat and my front carrier and took Uber to the next town where the meeting was. And Allyssa and I enjoyed ourselves so I was glad I went. Sure traveling with someone else would have been easier, but I still think going just us was better than not going at all. Does anyone else agree? Or am I strange for wanting to travel with just me and baby sometimes? I don't think I'm trying to make a point about independence, I just like getting out. 

Anyway, I'm feeling ok with traveling for now, but I am genuinely concerned that my ability to wear my baby is finite due to my back problems. It's already a bit painful, and baby is only 13 pounds. I've tried 3 different carriers so far, and I'm open to trying others, but I suspect that there is an end to a thing that I'll reach sooner than I'd like. So I'll need to find an alternate way to travel with baby eventually, and I'm thinking my wobbly Graco stroller may not be it. 

Again, tips and suggestions are appreciated. 

Thanks,
Allison

-----Original Message-----
From: BlParent [mailto:blparent-bounces at nfbnet.org] On Behalf Of Jo Elizabeth Pinto via BlParent
Sent: Thursday, March 17, 2016 4:04 PM
To: Blind Parents Mailing List <blparent at nfbnet.org>
Cc: Jo Elizabeth Pinto <jopinto at msn.com>
Subject: Re: [blparent] Stroller Fail!

I would have been nervous with my tiny baby in a stroller, before her neck strength was good.  I used an umbrella stroller when I was walking by myself for short distances because of its light weight and easy maneuverability pulling it behind me, but I wouldn't have trusted it with a very young baby.

I didn't travel much alone when my baby was in her early infancy because the weather was still cold and I had to recover from a C-section, so she had gained sufficient neck strength by the time we ventured out into the big wide world.  When she was very tiny and I needed to go out, I asked a friend to go with me and help me carry the baby.  I had made grand plans before my daughter was born about how I would use a baby carrier and put the diaper bag over my right shoulder with my purse, leaving my left arm free for my guide dog, but the soreness from my C-section and the ice left from the March weather proved to be too much for me, and neither of the baby carriers I had bought worked well for me once the baby arrived.  And guess what? 
Nobody cared.  I felt like I had failed the independence test at first, but then I realized the only person conducting the test was me.  So to heck with it.  I got out, I got my errands done, I felt better, Nanna got to see the baby, that was all that mattered.  Later on I learned to pull a stroller, but learning to ask for help was one of the best things I ever did for myself as a new mom.

Jo Elizabeth

"The Bright Side of Darkness"
is my newly published novel,
available in Kindle, audio, and paperback formats at Amazon.com.
-----Original Message-----
From: Judy Jones via BlParent
Sent: Thursday, March 17, 2016 2:42 PM
To: Blind Parents Mailing List
Cc: Judy Jones
Subject: Re: [blparent] Stroller Fail!

We didn't even start with our girls in the stroller until they were probably closer to a year old, plus we used our packs most of the time.  Their preference, wanting to be close.

Judy

-----Original Message-----
From: BlParent [mailto:blparent-bounces at nfbnet.org] On Behalf Of Star Gazer via BlParent
Sent: Thursday, March 17, 2016 2:24 PM
To: 'Blind Parents Mailing List'
Cc: Star Gazer
Subject: Re: [blparent] Stroller Fail!

Hi Steve. That's why the carseats that snap on top of the stroller are so popular, if it is safe for a car, it's safe for a baby at walking speed. All this being said, I was anxious about having my girls in the stroller when they were tiny. I have no idea why.

-----Original Message-----
From: BlParent [mailto:blparent-bounces at nfbnet.org] On Behalf Of Steve Jacobson via BlParent
Sent: Thursday, March 17, 2016 3:53 PM
To: 'Blind Parents Mailing List' <blparent at nfbnet.org>
Cc: Steve Jacobson <steve.jacobson at visi.com>
Subject: Re: [blparent] Stroller Fail!

Allison,

Check the wheels on your stroller.  On some of these strollers, each wheel has a lock that keeps the wheel from swiveling left to right.  If all four wheels are allowed to swivel, this will cause the exact behavior that you are observing.  You would not want to lock all four wheels because turning would then become very difficult.  I found that when pulling the stroller, it worked best to lock the wheels that are on the end of the stroller away from the handle.  When pushing the stroller, locking the wheels nearest the handle works best.  However, you might want to experiment to see which works best for you.

On the strollers I have seen, the lock is sort of a slide just above the wheel that cam be moved up and down.  The slide will only lock the wheel when the wheel is turned so that the wheel is parallel to the stroller, in other words, oriented as they need to be when you are traveling in a straight line.

I am almost certain this is the problem you are having, so if you do not find any kind of lock, check the instructions in case it is done in a way that is not obvious.

In some ways, though, I might be a little hesitant to wheel a baby that young around in a stroller.  My kids arrived when they were older, though, so I am not a good judge of this.  I only know that when kids are very young, you don't always know what they are doing in a stroller.  If they can be restrained in a way that you feel is safe, this might be an issue.
However, to have their head at at a bad angle when you hit a bump in the sidewalk might not be so great for a baby whose neck strength is not completely developed.  However, I'm an old dad whose kids are grown, and some of the more current parents here might have better advice.

Best regards,

Steve

-----Original Message-----
From: BlParent [mailto:blparent-bounces at nfbnet.org] On Behalf Of Allison via BlParent
Sent: Wednesday, March 16, 2016 10:27 PM
To: 'Blind Parents Mailing List' <blparent at nfbnet.org>
Cc: Allison <allison82 at cox.net>
Subject: [blparent] Stroller Fail!

Hi Everybody,

My daughter, Allyssa, is 9 weeks old now. I love my baby. It turns out that I also love getting out of my house sometimes. I had a lot of great plans for this when I was pregnant, plans about how I could successfully get out in the world with my child, and I can now safely say that almost none of them have worked out. LOL.

I tried a bunch of strollers at a local store before my daughter, Allyssa, was born. I bought a Graco Click Connect in the end because it seemed like the best balance of usability and affordability that I could find at the time. It has a stroller with a car seat that clicks right into and out of it. I tested it at the store with my cane and verified that I could in fact pull it behind me. I also tried it on the sidewalk in front of my house when

I brought it home. Great, right? Yeah, only great because it did not yet have a baby in it. I tried it with said baby in it last weekend and it was less than successful. The stroller now wobbles and wavers when I try to pull

it behind me. It is only slightly less awful when I pull it next to me, but when it's next to me, I worry that my cane arc isn't wide enough to safely cover me and baby both because the stroller takes up a lot of space.
Moreover, the stroller was nearly impossible to manage when encountering anything other than a 100% flat surface, and turning or changing directions was something like trying to heard cats. As a result, I've mostly been wearing Allyssa in a front carrier when I'm out. I like this option a lot because she's safe, my hands are free, and Allyssa likes it, but I'm worried

that my body won't allow me to wear her as she grows heavier. Pretty much every carrier I've tried pulls on my neck or shoulders at least a little.
Sooner or later, I will probably want to travel with her in a stroller. And so far, the stroller has been a bit of a fail as it zigs and zags all over the place. I could buy a new one, but buying multiple strollers will get expensive quickly. Does anyone have any solutions for this stroller craziness? Does it get better somehow? Will I become that blind mom who never leaves the house alone with her kids? Please please tell me that is not my future. If I start to think that it is, I may be tempted to drown myself in my breast milk. So please share some words of wisdom!

Thanks,
Allison

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