Wednesday, January 13, 2010

Hitting, Bottles, and Walking?

Darling and may I say nearly perfect Lindsey needs your advice with three questions.

#1- My daughter likes to swing her arms and hit us. Sometimes she does it when she doesn't like something but sometimes I know she doesn't mean it. I feel like she is so young to be doing this. How do I teach my 14 month old not to hit?

#2- I know I don't need to take her off a bottle completely yet because she is 14 months and was a preemie. She usually has 3 bottles a day and takes about 4-5oz with each bottle. And all of them are before naps and bedtime. She likes using a sippy cup but she loves her bottle. I asked her doctor at her 1yr appointment and she said not to worry about it yet. When should I worry about it and start transitiong from 3 bottles to 2 and so on and how do I transition?

#3- My daughter was 8 weeks premature and so there are some things that have taken her a little bit longer to do. I haven't worried at all about it because she is very active and happy. She will walk across furniture and with the help of a little toy train will walk across the room. All of the walking usually is done on her tippy toes. We try to get her to walk from dad to me (a very very short distance) but she just sort of falls and seems to have no desire to walk on her own yet. I guess I just want to know if anyone has been in the same boat or any advice on the matter?. How do I help my daughter feel comfortable walking on her own and how can I make it easier for her?

7 comments:

  1. #1 Hitting: It's hard to teach your kids not to hit. But sometimes you have to look at their motivation behind doing it, more than their actions. If they're just trying to have fun, she may just need to learn how to physically play in a different way.

    #2 As long as you're not using the bottle as a crutch (for either her or you) and she needs it I say go for it and don't worry!

    #3 Some kids who aren't preemies don't walk at 14 months. Sounds like she's starting to get the mechanics right and just needs to gain confidence in herself. She'll get there!

    NOTE: The statements above were NOT given by someone who actually knows what they're doing.

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  2. My little boy, who was NOT a preemie didn't walk until he was almost 16 months. It drove me crazy. Even though I knew he was growing and progressing, it just still is worrisom. My advice would be to be patient and let her do it when she's ready. With my son, we continued to work with him and tried to make it fun, but in the end, it had to be his idea and he had to be good and ready. Good luck!

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  3. Walking and Bottles I say are uncertain until 18 months of age. A preemie of course is a little behind that, so she definately has time and is making good progress! At 18 months I would begin consulting with her doctor if she hasn't made progress walking from now until then. Agreed with the others that you HAVE to make it fun! She'll catch on and it sounds like she's doing great! With the bottle I believe that 2 is too old to have a bottle anymore. So if she still needs it nutritionally, I think its too early to start worry about weaning her off that!

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  4. We would put Hallie against a wall standing up and see if she would take a step. We only did it a few times and just for fun because we were in no rush. Also she has a walker toy that she pushes around. It's not one where you put her inside and she walks with support. It is the kind where she just walks behind pushing it and holding on for support. We got it at a thrift store and she still loves it so totally worth a purchase in my mind.
    As for the bottles, I agree with the other moms. No rush. When it does come time to weaning I would just take one a day until gradually it's just before bedtime. With Hallie and breastfeeding I tried that because I knew it was best but she was too stubborn so I just had to go cold turkey. I stressed about it big time but now looking back I wish I hadn't. It all works out.
    As far as the hitting goes-time out worked wonders for us. We would tell her she had a choice and then if she continued we would put her in her bedroom and close the door for like 30 seconds. She would cry and then after then time was up we would get her out. She learned fast that she didn't like time out and would obey.

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  5. Regarding the walking, both my daughters started at different ages, I think it just depends on each child. You just have to reassure them and keep practicing.

    With the hitting thing, we try timeouts too with our oldest, and it works most times because she hates being put in her room with the door shut.

    With the bottles I wouldn't worry too much either like everyone else said. I just got my duaghter off of breastfeeding and she is 14 months old too! I just slowly, over a few months, started giving her regular milk in a sippy cup once a day and at first she hated it, but then when I cut off the nursing, she was hungry and took it. They will eat from whatever you give them if they are hungry enough, which is easy to say and hard to do of course because I know it makes you feel like a bad Mom, but it works! Good luck!

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  6. I guess I am a big worrier. I just need to be patient. She really is doing so good and I am lucky to be her mom. Thanks everyone!

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  7. I would try totally ignoring your daughter when she swings at you the next few times. At that age, she may be too young to truely understand a punishment. If she doesn't get attention (even negative attention) from it, she may just move on.
    Walking- my twins didn't walk very early & I didn't encourage them to either. I would let your child crawl & feel proud of herself when she does walk along the furniture or take a couple steps on her own. as she gets braver, she will eventually take a few more steps for toys out of reach & stuff like that. Trust me- you will look back and cherish the days before she's running around!

    When you are really ready to get rid of the bottle for good, look for an upcoming event like a trip or something out of the ordinary to disrupt your normal schedule. It's easier to let things like bottles or binkies just "vanish" at a time like this. She might have a hard couple of days, but with other things going on it is a good distraction.

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