Being a new mother I seem to get a lot of advice, which can be helpful, but is also very frustrating when it's from people who are insistent that their way is the BEST way. I also get advice (because I'm an adoptive mother) from those who think that my son is just a stand-in until I get "the real thing." Each week I will post a new question. I'd love it if you'd play along and offer us new mothers your pearls of wisdom.
HERE IS THIS WEEK'S QUESTION:
WHAT DO YOU DO WHEN YOUR CHILD PUTS UP A FIGHT ABOUT BATH TIME OR BRUSHING TEETH?
3 comments:
Isabel just went through a long phase of not liking bath. She would scream and cling to me and not sit down. Did this for Grandpa too. I would let her cling to me for a little bit, maybe a minute or two and then I would sit her down while she fought me. Once she was in 9 times out of 10 she was fine. The times she wasn't her bath was just really short. Now she tries to climb in the tub when it's bath time. I knew it was just a phase so I didn't fight it or get upset with her.
Teeth I'm a little more easy going on. If she is going to put up a big fight then I won't worry about it. She's not eating a lot of sugar so I know if we miss on cleaning it's not going to hurt her much. And she generally loves brushing her teeth so I imagine when she refuses it's due to some teething pain.
We've not had the fight with the bath, but we did with teeth brushing for a little while. We continued to work through it. I talked to the hygienist about it, she suggested maybe the brush tickled and that's why she didn't like it.
Since we don't know her genetics & prenatal care, the teeth thing concerns me. While we don't have much sugar or sticky foods (aka fruit snacks), she could have major crevices in her teeth that cause food to get stuck in there. Also, she has very yellow teeth. It's improved significantly, but still some really yellow spots. It's not from not brushing!!!!
I started singing when we brush and that helps A LOT!! I also have one of the (million) stuffed animals that sing in the bathroom so "Ms. Elephant" sings while we brush our teeth. When she's done, we're all done brushing.
We have been talking about this a lot at work. A coworker is having a very difficult time getting his three year old to brush her teeth (to the tune of three hour show-downs). I think you just have to stick to it and not let it slide- it is harder if you have somewhere to be (i.e. WORK!), but it is super important.
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