Friday, January 11, 2008

"She puked all over her bed, damn you, JINX!"

For real. She did. Just like I said earlier. When will I learn to respect the jinx? I think at some point it stops being superstition and starts being factual.

Looks like a looooong night ahead. Vomiting wires her. She threw up around 11:30, so we might be in bed by 2 or so.

Here's a bit of a bright spot, though. Josh came home late tonight, after I had given KayTar her inhaler, which she was none to pleased with. When he got home, she said, "I take the medicine ona my mouth. Feel better, Daddy!" which is totally spontaneous AND relating an experience. Rock on, KayTar.

Since it is technically Saturday, here's a song:




The storm is coming but I don't mind.
People are dying, I close my blinds.

All that I know is I'm breathing now.

I want to change the world...instead I sleep.
I want to believe in more than you and me.

But all that I know is I'm breathing.
All I can do is keep breathing.
All we can do is keep breathing now.

All that I know is I'm breathing.
All I can do is keep breathing.
All we can do is keep breathing now.

All we can do is keep breathing
All we can do is keep breathing
All we can do is keep breathing
All we can do is keep breathing.
All we can do is keep breathing now.

-Keep Breathing, Ingrid Michaelson

***ETA: I need some advice. Is there anyone out there reading that has a special kiddo they've had to wean from the bottle? As soon as we are past this illness, we are going to have to. She is biting her bottle nipples now and I'm having mini panic attacks about the thought of the tips of one popping off and going down her windpipe. (Don't worry, we DO throw them away once she's mangled them, and we replace it with a new one) AGH! Soooo, we're going to have to give this weaning thing a try. My problem is her stubbornness. The pediatrician and I have discussed this a few times and decided to let her continue to use the bottle, because it keeps her hydrated and a vast percentage of her calories come through it. If we take it away and she strikes? Well, it could be bad news. But it can't be safe for her to keep masticating her nipples either. Any advice? Any old pros done this? For BubTar it was a breeze, but KayTar has this will of steel and I'm worried a bit. I don't the same old tricks are going to work. The good news is finally, she can drink from a sippy and a straw, although she has a hard time with a lot of sippy cups and the amount of strength it takes to get fluids from it. She still has low tone in her mouth. But she CAN do it now, it just isn't her preferred method. Has anyone ever ended up in the hospital for dehydration due to weaning? LOL. Because, well, I wouldn't put it past our girl. Sigh. HELP PLEASE!

24 comments:

painted maypole said...

oh, poor kaytar!

Run ANC said...

Oh dear, I'm sorry. We are constantly coming in contact with The Jinx. I hope she feels better soon, and gets the diagnosis you need in time.

Katie said...

well good heavens Kyla!

Hope the morning is better for you both!

Kristin said...

Oh no...you're kidding me!!! Darn jinx! Poor KayTar.

As for the bottle thing...the only thing I can think of is to play off of how much she loves to imitate. So...perhaps BubTar "Mmmmm yum, this is good milk from a sippy cup" or her cousins or aunts or whoever you can get your hands on? I dunno...

That's why we had to take away the pacifier with Easton...he was chewing them and making little choking hazards. Somehow at that point taking it away was a total non-issue. I know that's what we hope for with KayTar...I hope she does okay. Go find a pirate sippy (Disney store/Pirates of the Carribbean) maybe?

Good luck!

Anonymous said...

The Jinx is at it again!
No idea on the bottle as Ethan would never take one, he went from nursing to sippy cups. I'll keep my fingers crossed that she goes for it.

kittenpie said...

Oh no! That is terrible.

My only pieces of possible advice for the weaning would be:
- try the Avent soft spout, which is flexible, so more like a nipple and designed for the transition
-skip the sippy and go for the lunch drink containers with a flip-up straw, like the one from Rubbermaid, and juice boxes
-make it a treat or a game for the first week or two to see if that helps her get past the reluctance

Anonymous said...

Bug was tubed, so I never had to deal with this issue...that and he had no suck reflex...or swallow. So we never dealt with the bottle issue.

Hang in there.

Janet said...

Suckage.

I'm sorry. And I have no advice on the bottles, either. Elyse would never take one and I forget how I weaned the other two.

Be well over there, okay?

Anonymous said...

Ooo dear me. That was a very long time ago for us but we certainly had two 'iron wills' to deal with. Best wishes and best of luck

Julie said...

That jinx is sooooo strong. Zoe had a puke-fest in bed last night too! Sensitivity to, of all things, Kraft Mac and Cheese (I think). I thought of you all as I clean up, ugh! I was hoping I took the hit for you, ha ha.

flutter said...

Oh little girl.....

Anonymous said...

how about giving her something safer to chew on so that she gets that oral stimulation? It might be that she's chewing to meet a sensory need and you could maybe reduce the chewing on things like nipples so she can either use a bottle or a sipple with a bottle like spout.

When I did clinicals we used to make "chewies" for kids by taking the metal ring off of rubber key chains (the ones you get free with your car), threading that onto cleaned aquarium tubing and putting it on as a necklace. The kid could chew on either part safely. One kid actually chewed on soft and well cleaned puppy toys (ring shaped ones).

Just an idea from an OT who doesn't even work with kids and shouldn't say anything :)

Bon said...

um, hope you got some sleep?

and the jinx...i know what you mean about starting to believe it's factual. i have my own petty versions of same, and they still suck. yours...sucks big.

not much help with the bottle transition stuff...though the idea of a replacement chewie sounds good to my untrained ear. do any of her medical caregivers have any suggestions, or is that not within the realm of their considerations? seeing as you're afraid of dehydration, it seems kinda worth their while...

hang in there, Kyla.

natalie said...

I have no advice whatsoever about the bottle thing...M weaned herself.

However, I did see something today that might be useful...what about those OLD tupperware cups that are just the small plastic cup with the white plastic lid? There is no drip-less feature, so no sucking required (well, only a little sucking). I dunno...just an idea.

The culprit said...

We just managed to wean our little biter off the bottle. He big sister had no problem, but little sister didn't want to give it up. But she's 15 months and the pediatrician said it was time.
We about had it done before Christmas, gradually, by at first cutting back to just an 8-ounce bottle in the morning and one a night with a 4-ouncer at lunch. After week we cut out the lunch bottle. After another week we cut out the morning bottle. Little sister and the rest of the family got the jinx too before we cut out the evening bottle.
She was severely dehydrated, so we gave up for two weeks until she was better and Christmas/New years was done. She wouldn't do sippies before, but we managed to get her on them somehow during that time (the tupperware ones are pretty good even though they leak all over)

Finally, two weeks ago we cut back to just the night bottle and then last week we cut it out all together. It was tougher on me than Little Sister. I made sure she watched me throw them in the trash outside. She stood there holding her hands on her head with a shocked look, but she got the message. She immediately started using the sippies and just sort of gave up on the bottles. I think the important part was making sure she knew there were no more bottles to fall back on.
If my advice helps at all and you need more, feel free to visit my blog and leave a message. I'll be up and around until late.

The culprit said...

Sorry, should have looked at your blog a little closer before using the jinx thing in earlier post -- we just had a nasty flu. Still hope the advice on bottle weaning is somewhat useful.

~aj~ said...

Darn that jinx!!! Hate to hear of her being so sick. Feel better soon, KayTar!

We never had to deal with bottle/paci weaning, so I'm probably not much help. The only thing I thought of is to find cup(s) that don't require a lot of sucking. Unforutnately, they probably rules out most of the spill proof ones.

I've found that some of Adam's are even hard for me to suck hard enough to get liquid out. However, there are some where the liquid comes out quite easily. Maybe that would be a help to her?

InTheFastLane said...

Jack Jack has always favored those sippies that at "squishy". Avent has some and if you take the seal out of the inside (the part that makes the spill proof) they prob. wouldn't require too much sucking. Or there is another brand "Nuby" here in Indiana that is supposed to be a transitional sippy and it is textured a lot like a bottle nipple.

Arkie Mama said...

My son was a nipple-biter too -- mine and the bottle's.

I also used the soft spout. It seemed to be a nice compromise.

Kat said...

I LOVE that song. LOVE it!
Um. We've never used bottles. My boys went straight from breastfeeding to sippy cups at one year.
Maybe you could put all the bottles in a baggy and then have her exchange them for some super cool toy she always wanted.
Or explain to her that she is a BIG GIRL now and that some other babies NEED her bottles. So she should trade her bottles in for a BIG GIRL cup and give her bottles to babies that need them.
???
I don't know. I'm reaching here.
Good luck!

moplans said...

The jinx just has a power of its own. Some people look at me like I am crazy when I mention it but once you have felt its wrath you are always wary.

Amazing about the spontaneous speech though.

Looks like you've got some good tips on the bottle but you are kind of backed into a corner here with the dehydration risk. A bit like if we don't offer Julia bottles she'll never take one but if we do we risk her aspirating.
fun times babe. One day we shall look back on this but I don't know if we will laugh.

Girlplustwo said...

oh babe. i hate head puking. it's only happened to me once, but i remember it well.

hope everyone knocks all this crazy stuff off soon.

Anonymous said...

I could have written this post myself. I can't remember exactly when we FINALLY weaned Emma off of the bottle...I think it was right before she was 3. We used the Gerber sippy cups that have a completely rubber spout...and funny handles. We started off not using the no-drip stopper, then I put it in, but I started by cutting a part of the rubber part out so it would still come out fairly easy...and just worked up to it. With Emma I gave her a lot of milk shakes through a straw to build up her jaw muscles too. I started with making them pretty runny...and we worked up to thicker and thicker. Emma is now 4 1/2, and she still gets most of her calories through liquid...we use Carnation Instant Breakfast. I have just..in the last month taken away her night time cup. Her teeth are a mess....but you do what you have to do when you have a child who's nutritional needs are constanly in your thoughts.

Good luck on the weaning...e-mail me if I can be of any help. My e-mail address is foley@q.com

Anonymous said...

When it was time to wean my son, as a single mom, I was at a loss as to what to do. One of my friends took him to the store, and helped him choose a drinking glass with an attached straw, but told him, he had to give up his bottle, or he couldn't use it. It was a real turning point. I'm thinking, have a support system built up to reinforce however you decide to do it. Two heads are always better than one. BTW I really enjoyed meeting you and talking to you at MDCQII. -AnotherMom