Archive for September, 2008

Potty Training? Cloth diapers to the rescue!!!

I am about to venture into waters that may be shark infested… potty training. Given that I currently have no experience in this department, I decided that at the very least, I would read everything I could and pick the brains of all the parents I know that have “been there done that got the t-shirt” before I attempt to train the twins. Double the fun, right?

One thing that kept popping up again and again in my research was a debate over pull-ups (disposable training pants). The argument is that a child that is wearing pull-ups won’t experience the full glory of having an accident, in fact they may not even know when they’ve had an accident because pull-ups are so absorbent, so they will take much longer to potty train. Seemed to make sense to me, however, I can see the benefit in using the pull-ups as who wants to clean up after “accidents”?

Further reading from the anti-pull-up camp had some more sensible advice which was to use cloth diapers instead of pull-ups during potty training (if you aren’t already). This allows the child to easily recognize when they’ve had an accident and takes care of the mess issue. All you need are a few cloth diapers and a diaper cover and you’re set.

Results from this camp are quite impressive. Kids that potty train much quicker and once trained, rarely have an accident. I have shared this info to a few of my friends in the throws of potty training and they have found it to be the most effective method they’ve tried thus far.

Interestingly enough, the other day I had just put one of the twins in her cloth diaper and I hadn’t managed to get the diaper cover on yet because she crawled away, the next thing I knew she came crawling past without a diaper. Grumbling to myself about Alicia’s newfound talent to take off her own diaper, I picked up the diaper to put it back on her and alas! it was soaking wet. She had wet herself and then removed the diaper. This was enough to convince me that there won’t be pull-ups in our house during potty training. Cloth it is! Now to figure the rest of it out…

Beyond Mum-Mums and Cheerios

With a hungry toddler running around it seems to me that the Canadian Food Pyramid should add a fifth group to its guide: finger food.  Right around the time that my little guy was beginning to expand his palate past pureed millet and peas (more on that later) we were running around from one Christmas dinner to another.  We have a family history of food allergies so I have been very hesitant and slow in introducing some of the more common allergens to my kids.  Combine that with my ideals to serve up nutritious and organic food and this results in a recipe for “bring-your-own-dinner”, at least where my toddlers are concerned.  But what to bring that is quick, packs well, as well as packing a nutritious punch?  After much googling of recipes and pouring over a stack of cook books I have come up with a few suggestions.  These will hopefully help take you beyond the obvious crackers, rice cakes and bite-sized cereal and on to some ideas on how to incorporate some diversity and nutrition into finger food.