Last week we finally got Claire in to see a specialist (Pediatric GI doctor). I made her appointment 2 months ago and was hoping all her issues would be gone before now. Oh well. It was a great appointment. In case you aren't aware of her issues - she cries really hard every time she needs to poo - which has made potty training a little easier since we know it's coming hours before but it's horrible to watch her cry. She has always had issues with constipation and we have had her on Milk of Magnesia since November. Anyways, her appointment was great and the doc said she has a "sluggish colon" but nothing else so we need to give her a high fiber diet. I realize this is healthy and everyone should eat like this .... but she is still short a few teeth (4 on top, 2 on bottom and her 4 molars but lots missing in between) so high fiber foods aren't her favorite. But we are on it - I even bought whole grain mac-n-cheese which has 4 grams of fiber instead of 1 per serving. Who knew? So basically we need to keep her on a light laxative until she gets over the fear of pooping.
The best part of the visit, aside from the fact that there is nothing really wrong with Claire, is that the doc had lots of good advice for potty training. He suggested that we have different types of rewards (star stickers for trying and special stickers for going) as well as secondary rewards like nickles for trying and quarters for going. And trust me I am all about buying off my kids if they will potty train. We are trying these tactics on Luke so hopefully now he'll at least try to potty train. He still only has 4 stickers on his chart...pathetic.
Another funny side note to the whole chart thing is that Tayson (who is very competitive) is really bugged that Luke and Claire have charts and he doesn't. He asked me if he could have a potty chart and I of course said no. So instead he rubs it in. He told Luke that he didn't need a chart when he was potty training and I even caught him lecturing Claire about not needing a chart to potty train (like she was as bad as Luke or something). So I told Tayson that she isn't even 2 and he was 3 when he potty trained so he should lay off her a little. But I did decide that since he is competitive and there is something I really want him to do we'll start a chart for him - a book chart. Every book he reads (we help with the big words) he can get a sticker and for every 10 stickers he can get a little something. His first prize is a General Grievous action figure (he's very into Star Wars right now). I'd say the chart works for Tayson because this morning right when he woke up he came in and told me he wanted to read a book and we got one in before school this morning! Yippee. Now if it would only work with Luke my life would be perfect!!!
3 comments:
Sorry to hear about Claire. I can kind of relate to the issues you've been having - Ethan has had trouble pooping for a while now too. He has the 4 molars, 4 teeth on top and 3 on the bottom (and he turns 2 in April), so I can totally relate to the chewing/eating issues. He has trouble breaking down a lot of things, like veggies (which is a bummer). Our Dr. told us to give him Miralax (which is now sold over the counter) to help him soften things up a bit. That really seems to help...though you have to keep on top of it to keep things moving. Maybe some day Ethan's teeth will decide to come in & we'll be in business.
Glad to hear about the whole grain mac & cheese. Definitely something I'll try with him too. Keep us posted on how things go.
That's what the pediatric GI doc told us to use too so we're on Miralax for now until who knows when. But she gets a little better every week.
Oh yeah, we have been doing the Miralax thing with Parker for nearly a year now. At first we started out using it every day, then moved to every other or every 3 days. Works like a charm! Good luck!
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