Pre-Christmas Madness

I am suffering from the pre-christmas madness. I don't have any real time to blog before the holiday. So, expect more regular posts after the 25th!

-Veronica

Extended Breastfeeding

I want to defend the face that I intend to breastfeed Valerie as long as she needs me to.

First off, here is a good article: https://kellymom.com/ages/older-infant/ebf-benefits/

The American Academy of Family Physicians says "Breastfeeding should ideally continue beyond infancy, but this is not the cultural norm in the United States and requires ongoing support and encouragement. It has been estimated that a natural weaning age for humans is between two and seven years. Family physicians should be knowledgeable regarding the ongoing benefits to the child of extended breastfeeding, including continued immune protection, better social adjustment, and having a sustainable food source in times of emergency. The longer women breastfeed, the greater the decrease in their risk of breast cancer.”  

I think that should just about justify the face that all mothers should be feeding their children for much longer. I would extend that age to be open ended, and let the child tell you when they no longer feel the need to feed. 

I have had no problem feeding my sixteen year old niece, Beth, and have told her that I am here if she ever need to bond. It helps her immune system, and it helps me stay healthy too. She has yet to get sick since she came to stay with us. 

I rest my case. 

-Veronica

Delayed potty training

I have spoken before about how I don't think kids should be potty trained until they are ready. I don't think there needs to be a closed limit on that either. If Valerie wants to stay in diapers until high school, then why shouldn't she? I would think that could start changing herself at some point if she wanted some independence, but at the same time, I wouldn't mind changing her the whole time either. This is also the same reason that I have no problem putting eight year old Bailey, or even sixteen year old Beth back in diapers if they need them.

I recently got an email from a Social Worker from Child Services, named Fran, here in the great state of Ohio, about a case that she had this past summer.

A seventeen year old girl, from California, was road tripping with some boys across the country. The boys wouldn't pull over to let her use the potty and forced her to stick her bottom of out the car window, and poop. It turns out, a Highway patrolman was driving behind them, and got a very dirty windshield. 

He pulled them over and questioned the teenagers. It turns out that the girl was the only one under eighteen, so he arrested the boys for child endangerment and neglect. He took the girl to the police station, when they found out that she was from out of state, and her parents could not come to get her for a week they called me. When I found her sitting on a chair, wrapped in a pink baby blanket, with her pants and panties around her ankles. After I stood her up and inspected her, I found that she had poop still smeared all over her bottom. I asked her how old she was, she said seventeen.

I looked at her sternly and said, "No one taught you hoe to wipe your bottom? I know five year olds who know how to wipe their bottoms better than this." I told her to wait there, I went to the car and grabbed my diaper bag. I saw her eyes get huge as I walked in with the pink diaper bag and a nursery print changing pad. I spread the changing pad on the couch, and pulled out a container of baby wipes. I wiped her standing up, dismissing all of her excuses about why she wasn't acting mature, before I asked her if she needed to use the potty before I dressed her. She made a stink about how she was a big girl and could dress herself, but I told her that if that was true, she wouldn't have been standing with her pants and panties around her who knows how long. 

I told her, "Since you don't know how to wipe, I'm going to put you in diapers so we can do it for you." Before instructing her to lay on the changing pad. "Little girls who don't know how or where to go potty have to wear diapers." She gave in and laid down on the changing mat. I took a baby diaper out of the diaper bag and slid it under her bottom, and finished wiping her, before putting rash cream all over her bottom, followed by baby powder, before taping the diaper snugly around her little waist. 

I walked her out to my car in just her t-shirt and baby diaper, before getting her strapped into the carseat. She put up a fuss about that too, but I told her that toddlers have to sit in a carseat by law. I explained to her that a week as a toddler should be a fitting punishment for her immature behavior. I took her to a foster home, where she would be with some other children in diapers. Her foster mother was already looking after three other girls still in diapers, ages five, three and two. 

She stayed there for a few days, until I learned that she was enjoying her punishment too much, so I made room for her at one of our Orphanages, and went and picked her up. I stripped her naked, and put her in cloth diaper, before taking her in just her diaper out the car, and driving her to Orphanage where she stayed as a seventeen month old, for the rest of her time in Ohio. 

-Fan

I although I don't believe in diaper punishment, I think that this girl got what she deserved. She did something very immature, and she learned her lesson, that she should not take her freedom as a teenager for granted.

-Veronica

Beth and Weekend Update

It was a pretty laid back weekend. Nothing of note happened at the nursery on Sunday. As far as Beth, I ended up keeping her in diapers until Friday afternoon, when I gave her the choice to go back to being a big girl.

As we left off on Thursday, I had just breastfed Beth and Valerie, and left them to watch TV in the playpen. They had been there long enough that I figured it was time for a diaper check. I went down to the living room and grabbed the diaper bag that I keep next to the couch. As I approached the playpen I could smell at least one of my toddlers had a present for me in their diaper. I took the changing mat out of the diaper bag and laid it on the floor next to the playpen.

I decided to check Beth first. I popped a pacifier into her mouth and stood her up in the playpen. I felt the seat of her diaper through her overalls. It didn't feel lumpy, but it did feel wet, so I lifted her out and laid her on the changing mat. I unsnapped the crotch of her overalls and rolled them up over her belly, to expose her diaper. It was definitely wet. I grabbed a fresh diaper and wipes from the diaper bag. I untaped Beth's diaper, and grabbed her by her ankles. I pulled her diaper down and saw that she was just wet. I wiped her clean and taped the new diaper on her, snapping her overalls back up. I put her back in the playpen and changed Valerie's messy bottom.

I left the girls to watch some more TV while I cleaned around the house a little. I went to the kitchen, and installed a booster seat one of the chairs at the kitchen table. I decided to get the girls in the kitchen before getting lunch started. I grabbed Valerie first, and strapped her into the booster seat. I put her bib on her, and gave her a sippy cup of milk, and placed a handful of cheerios on the placemat in front of her to snack on.

I went back to the playpen and grabbed Beth, setting her on my hip. I patted her bottom as I carried her to the kitchen, sitting her in the highchair, and strapping her in. I put a bib on her as well, and locked the tray into place. I scattered some cheerios on the tray, and gave her a baby bottle of milk instead of a sippy cup, to reinforce her immature behavior. I watcher her blush as she picked up her bottle and started sucking on the nipple, while her younger cousin was sitting in a booster seat with a sippy cup.

I started making lunch, settling on some lentil soup. I heated up the soup on the stove. I put it two plastic bowls. I gave one to Valerie, who can feed herself, and let her eat. I brought the other bowl over to Beth and set it down on her tray. "Is baby Beth ready for her soup!" I cooed loading up the plastic toddler spoon, "Here comes the choo choo!"

I fed Beth the whole bowl of soup, cooing to her the whole time, causing her to visibly blush out of embarrassment. I purposely made sure to make her a little messy, getting soup around her face and on her bib. "Such a messy baby!" I teased as I left her to put the empty bowl in the sink. I went to the living room and grabbed two baby wipes from the diaper bag, and came back to the kitchen. I wiped off Beth's face and hands before removing her bib. I did the same to Valerie.

"I think its nap time for my two little ones!" I cooed. I grabbed Valerie first, checking her diaper as I carried her up to the nursery. She was still dry and clean, so I took off her overalls and laid her in her crib in just her t-shirt and diaper. I went back down to the kitchen to get Beth ready for her nap. I took the tray off the highchair, and undid the five point harness. I lifted Beth out of the seat and carried her up the nursery. I stood her on the floor and took off her overalls, and saw that her diaper was wet again. I put her on the changing table and changed her into one of the Swaddlers Overnight diapers she wears at night, and put her in the crib with Valerie.

I watched the two of them on the nanny cam, and about an hour into their nap, I saw Beth sit up, holding her stomach. I watched as she got up onto her feet and squatted down. I could see the seat of her diaper expand. I saw Valerie start to wake up, and look at Beth, who looked like she was upset. Then something amazing happened. I watched as Valerie pulled Beth back, causing her to fall into her messy bottom. Valerie helped her lay back down, and stuck a pacifier into Beth's mouth. I watched as they both went back to sleep, with Beth rhythmically sucking on the pacifier.

I came back in two hours to wake them up, to find that both girls were still asleep, and Beth was still sucking on the binky that Valerie shoved in her mouth. I woke both girls up, and changed their diapers, getting them dressed again, and letting them play for the rest of the evening until dinner.

By the time I gave Beth a chance to be a big girl again, then next day, she was very happy, and promised not be fussy again.  That remains to be seen. I told her if she acts immature like that again, she would be a toddler for a week next time.

-Veronica

Beth Update

As you all know, my niece, Beth, has been staying with us for a little over one month. She has been been pretty consistently wetting her bed every night since she's been staying here. As you, know, I started putting her in diapers at night, and since then, she has woken up wet every morning. Its unclear if she is wetting her bed, or just using the diaper, because once she's in her diaper, she's not allowed to use the potty until morning. I also require anyone getting their diaper changed to have a pacifier in their mouth. That goes for Valerie, Bailey, and even Beth.

Since I started diapering Beth for bed, I have been doing when I put Valerie to bed, and I do it on Valerie's changing table. Valerie goes to bed at 7pm every night, so at 6:45, I take the two of them to Valerie's nursery and get them ready for bed. I change Valerie from her Pampers Cruisers into her Swaddlers Overnights, and sleeper before putting her in her crib for the night, I sometimes will let her breastfeed before bed. Once Valerie is changed, I let her play on the floor while I get Beth up on the changing table. Once Beth is on the table, I take off her clothes, and wipe down her diaper area with a baby wipe. I take another Swaddlers Overnights from the stacker and tape it onto her, honestly, its no different than when I change Valerie, then I send Beth to her room to put on her PJ's. She can stay up as late as she wants, but she's usually in bed by 10pm.

When its morning, Valerie is usually up much earlier than Beth, so I change her and get her dressed for the day. When its time for Beth to get up, I wake her up gently, and take her by the hand to the nursery to be changed. I get her up on the table and take off her PJs, and then change her wet diaper. I have to admit, there were one or two times where I was a bit tired, and was kinda running on autopilot, and accidentally put Beth into a fresh Pampers Cruiser in the morning. Since Beth had a pacifier in her mouth, she can't really tell me that I'm doing something wrong. When that happens, I don't want to waste a diaper, so Beth gets to be a toddler for the morning, she has to use her diaper, and then can get her panties back when she's done.

Since its getting colder out, I bought Beth a footed sleeper to match Valerie. I decided to put her in it last night after diapering for bed. I got Valerie changed as normal, and then got Beth up onto the table. I popped the pacifier into her mouth and started undressing her as I always do. I got her taped into her diaper, and then grabbed the sleeper. I saw her eyes get big as soon as she saw the sleeper and she started to fuss.

I said, "Beth, whats wrong, you're acting fussier than your cousin? I thought you were a big girl?" She kept fussing and trying to squirm away, but I always use the safety strap on the changing table. "Well I guess I don't have any big girls here then." I said as I put the sleeper on her, and zipped it up. I go lifted her onto my hip and carried her to Valerie's crib, laying her down inside. I put Valerie in, as well and raised the side. I went to the kitchen and made two bottles of milk, and brought them up to the nursery for the girls. I set them down in the crib, started the mobile, turned on the baby monitor, and turned out the lights.

This morning I went into the nursery to get my little girls up, and found two girls with very wet diapers, still asleep with two empty bottles. I decided that I would have Beth spend the rest of the day as a two year old, to help her appreciate her freedoms of being a teenager. I got both girls changed into fresh diapers, and dressed them in overalls. I put Beth on one hip, and Valerie on the other and sat on the rocking chair for their morning feeding. I undid my blouse and bra and let each of then take a nipple. Valerie latched on right away, but I had to coax Beth a little bit, but she eventually latched on and started nursing. When both sides were drained I burped my two girls, and checked diapers. Both were still clean and dry, so I put them down in the living room playpen to watch Sprout. I think it may be time for another diaper check.

I'll fill you in on how things went next week.

-Veronica

Having a busy day today, Hope everyone is doing well. Will try for a real post tomorrow.

-Veronica

The soap dodger

I was lurking on some parenting forums recently, and I saw a post from a mother concerned that her daughter was not keeping up with her personal hygiene. The girl in question, is fifteen years old, and refuses to wash, or brush her teeth. In a weeks worth of laundry, her mother didn't even find one pair of underwear in there. She was at her wits end, and didn't know what to do to get her daughter to be clean.

I have shared my thoughts on teenagers not acting their age. It's obvious that this girl is not acting like a fifteen year old should, and should be treated how she's acting. Let's brake it down. First off, she can't seem to dress herself correctly. I would say that leaves her at five years old or younger. As far as not bathing herself, I have always been told that children should not wash themselves without supervision until nine or ten years old. I think it's safe to say that I would start treating her like she was five again. That would mean, bathing her, picking out her clothes, and dressing her myself. Eventually she will get embarrassed of you treating her like a five year old, and start wanting to get her independence back. If that doesn't work, then start doing more things for her, like taking her to the bathroom, and wiping her when she's done. Eventually, she will want to be a big girl again.

-Veronica

Weekend Update

Hi everyone. Hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving. It was nice to have some time with family. I have been going through some more emails, and will have some good posts for you all this week.

Stay tuned!

-Veronica

Weekend Update

Hi everyone, hope everyone had a great pre-turkey day weekend. I spent most of the day Saturday getting things ready to have family over. This will be the only post this week. It took me longer than usually to write this on Monday, sorry.

We had a very interesting day at the nursery on Sunday, though. I was getting the nursery set up, along with two other mothers. We weren't expecting a lot of kids today, as many families had already started their Thanksgiving travels. We did get some out-of-towners who came to our church for the first time. I heard some commotion out in the hallway, when a woman came to our nursery, towing an upset looking teenage girl behind her.

I went to the door to greet them. "Hi, how many I help you?" I asked.

"Hi, I would like to put my daughter, Allison into the nursery for today. She doesn't seem to remember how to be a big girl." The lady said.

"Well, we usually don't have an age limit, but we do require all children in the nursery to be in diapers, so I'm afraid that the next oldest child would only be three years old?" I explained. I could see her daughter's face turn bright red.

"Thats okay. Do you have any big enough for my little one?" The mother asked. I looked Allison up and down, and nodded. She should be thin enough for size six baby diapers. She was wearing a dark blue knee length dress, with navy leggings, and black flats. She was maybe a few inches under five feet tall, and about 80 pounds.

"How long will Allison be staying with us?" I asked.

"Until after bible study." The woman responded.

"Okay, I just have a few more questions for you, which will seem silly, but we have to ask them." I started, "Does Allison have any allergies we should know about?" The woman shook her head no. "Okay, great. Allison will be getting lunch after her morning nap, but would you like her to be fed a bottle before her morning and afternoon naps?"

The woman smiled, "That would be great."

"One last one, would you like her to be breastfed?" I blushed a little asking that.

"You guys do that?" The woman asked.

"Yes, I still breastfeed my two year old, and some of the other mothers who work in the nursery are still lactating too. It's not too common, but some mothers ask us to."

 "Yeah, you can feed her. Thanks so much." She pulled Allison closer to the door and gave me the teen's hand.

"No need to worry, we'll take good care of little Allison." I said as she walked away. I walked the girl into the nursery, shutting the bottom of the dutch door. I walked her over to the changing table and turned to look her in the eyes. "You understand whats going to happen now?"

She looked around and nodded, before swallowing and opening her mouth. "You...you're going to put a diaper on me?"

"Such a smart girl! Thats right, we're going to get you a nice, soft, diapee, so you can enjoy yourself, without having to worry about anything!" I cooed. I slipped my hands under her armpits and lifted her up onto the changing table. I took her shoes off, setting them in a cubby next to the table. I turned her so she could lay down. I hiked her dress up, exposing the her belly and the top of her leggings, before pulling the safety strap over her stomach. Once she was secure, I pulled off her leggings and panties. I pulled her panties out from her leggings, and noticed they were a little damp.

I set her leggings aside, after making sure they were dry. I showed her the damp panties, "Looks like someone had a little accident already? Good thing we're putting you in a diapee!" I cooed. I put the panties in a plastic bag, and set them in the cubby with her shoes. I grabbed a Luvs size 6 from under the table and set it down next to her head. As I grabbed some baby wipes to clean her up, I could see her looking over at her diaper. I grabbed her by the ankles and started to wipe her diaper area.

"Thats your diapee! Yes it is!" I cooed as she looked at the the diaper. "Soon, its gonna be a snugly taped around your little tushie! Ready for you to make me a nice present!" I continued wiping her front side, before pushing her knees to her chest. "Time to get that tushie clean!" I cooed as I wiped her bottom. Once she was clean, I grabbed the diaper and slid it under her. I lowered her legs down to set her bottom on the diaper, before quickly pulling it up between her legs and taping it up. I grabbed her leggings and pulled them up her legs and over her diaper.

I undid the safety strap and sat her up on the changing table. I could see that she was still embarrassed. Her diaper was crinkling loudly with every move she made, and the bulge was very noticeable through her leggings. "Hey, its going to be fine. Everyone else here is wearing a diaper too, so, just enjoy it, let us just take care of you." I said as I put her hair into pigtails with pink bows. She nodded to me. "Thats a good girl." I said, lifting her off the table, and carrying her across the room on my hip to a playpen, putting her in with an eighteen month old boy.

"This is Davy, he's one and half. You two play nice!" I said, giving the seat of a diaper a firm pat, before sitting her down on the floor of the playpen. I went to make my rounds and check on the other kids. It was pretty light today we only had four kids today, just Allison, Davy, Valerie, and a six month old girl who was currently occupying a baby swing in the corner. I decided that I only needed one helper today, and sent Davy's mom get a day off. I asked Mary if she wanted to focus on the infant, and I would take care of the other three. She agreed. I went and made a sippy cup of juice for Valerie and brought it to where she was sitting and coloring in a bible activity book.

I sat down and watched the kids for a bit. I noticed that Allison was actually playing with some of the toys in the playpen. I checked my watch, it was almost time for morning naps. I went over and prepared three bottles of formula. I gave one to Mary to give to the infant, before giving one to Davy in the playpen. I lifted Allison out and carried her to a rocking chair, sitting down, and positioning her on my lap, laying her back to rest her head against my chest. I took the bottle of formula and held it up to her mouth.

"Does baby want her baba?" I cooed, bumping the nipple onto her lips. "We gotta make sure baby has a nice full tummy for nap time!"

I kept bumping Allison's lips until she accepted the nipple and started drinking. I rocked her gently as she drank, patting her bottom as she drank. I could tell that her diaper was still dry and clean. I figured she would probably want to go before her nap. "Allison, do you need to use the potty?"

I watched as the teenager blushed from behind her baby bottle, as she nodded slightly. I gave the seat of her diaper another pat. "Okay, then go, I'll change you before your nap." I watched as she blushed more, and started squirming a bit, but soon I felt her diaper start to grow warm as her bladder let loose. "Such a good girl!" I cooed, patting her wet diaper.

Once her bottle was empty, I shifted her up onto my shoulder and started to burp her. I bounced her on my knee as I patted her back. After a little bit, she let out a burp. "Good girl!" I cooed, "Lets get you into a dry diaper."

I stood up and carried her to the changing table, repeating the same process as before, cleaning her up, and putting her into a fresh diaper. This time, I left her leggings off. Once she was in a fresh diaper, I grabbed a pacifier from a jar above the changing table and stuck it into her mouth, before carrying her to the nap room, laying her down in a crib.

I put Davy and Valerie down for their naps too, and went to clean up the nursery a bit. I my timer beeped when it was time to get the little ones up. The infant's mother came to pick her up right away, and Vinny came and took Valerie home. It was just Davy and Allison, I took Allison's nap time pacifier from her, and took her to the playpen, since she was dry, leaving her in just her dress and diaper. Davy was wet, so Mary changed him, putting him back in the playpen with Allison. I had Mary watch Davy and Allison while I prepared their lunches. I got four jars of baby food warmed up for the two of them.

I went to get Allison, and saw that she had a pacifier in her mouth now. I picked her up and checked her diaper, She was still dry, and I didn't feel any presents in the seat of her diaper. As I picked her up, Mary explained her the pacifier. "She was starting to babble, so I gave he a pacifier." She said.

"Oh okay." I said as I carried her to one of the highchairs. I sat her down, and pulled her dress over her head, and off, leaving her in just her diaper. "We don't want to get your pretty dress dirty!" I cooed as I fastened a bib around her neck, and strapped her into the highchair. I could see she was visibly embarrassed as I locked the tray in place. I started spooning the baby food into her mouth. I gave her a jar of carrots and a jar of prunes. Once she was done, I grabbed a baby wipe and cleaned off her face. I took off her bib and set it down next to the sink. I took the tray off her highchair and unstrapped her. I saw that her diaper was a wet. I picked her up and patted her diaper. "Looks like someone had a little accident?" She blushed. I stuck a finger in the leg of her diaper, and checked it. "Just a little damp. Not time to change yet." I cooed as I carried her over to the rocking chair again. "How about we wash down those num nums?"

I sat down in the rocker, and positioned Allison on my lap, like before, but this time, I grabbed a baby blanket, and tucked one end behind my shoulder, and draped the other end over her head. I reached under the blanket and unbuttoned my blouse, and unsnapping my nursing bra. I took my free hand and held the back of her head, guiding it to my nipple. Once it was in her mouth, she waisted no time sucking. I held on to the back of her head with one hand, and patted the seat of her diaper with the other, as I rocked in the chair. I saw Mary give me a smile from across the room as she cleaned up Davy.

After draining the left one, I repositioned Allison to work on the right one. I could feel her diaper start to get wetter as she nursed. Once she was done, I pulled her off, and buttoned up, before removing the blanket and burping her again. "Lets get that wet diapee taken care of!" I cooed taking her to the changing table. I changed her, and put her dress back on, setting her back in the playpen.

I watched her play for a bit, before taking her to take an afternoon nap. I went to wake up both Allison and Davy an hour later, and could smell that someone made a stinky. I checked Davy first, but was just damp. I put him in an exersaucer in the playroom, before going to back to Allison. I could see her blushing as I approached the crib. "Did somebody make a present in their diapee for me?" I cooed as I stood her up in the crib, lifted up her dress, and opened the back of her diaper. "Yes you did! Somebody made a big stinky!" I lifted her onto my hip, patting her messy bottom as I carried her to the changing table.

Just as I was wiping her bottom, Allison's mother came to pick her up. Mary let her in, and I let her finish changing her daughter's diaper. She thanked me for everything today, and left. That was a very interesting day.

-Veronica

No real post today

Today got away from me and I didn't have a chance to prepare a post. I'll see y'all Monday!

-Veronica

Bedwetting Step-Daughter, Email

I got a very nice email from a lady named Sondra, who wrote me about her step-daughter, Megan, who was fourteen at the time, came to live with her and her three year old daughter, Lily.

Hi, Veronica, I could not help but see the parallels between your situation, with your niece, Beth, and what I went through back in January of 2005 with my step-daughter, Megan. Megan was a bit different, in that she has a rare for of dwarfism. At fourteen years old, she was only three foot five inches tall, and only weighed forty six pounds. 

Things started off on the wrong foot. After picking up Megan from the airport, we were pulled over by a policeman, for not having Megan in an appropriate carseat. I did my best to explain to the officer that she was not a child, and had a disability, but he kept ignoring me. Unfortunately, the delay from the traffic stop caused Megan to wet her pants. I begrudgingly accepted the citation, and proceeded on to the next rest stop, so Megan could clean up a bit. I went to the trunk, and grabbed her a fresh pair of panties and pajama pants from her suitcase, as well as the travel pack of baby wipes from Lily's diaper bag. I let her go into the bathroom and clean up. I put her wet clothes in a plastic bag, and stuck it in the diaper bag. 

I decided to let Megan take a break, while I went and did some shopping. After seeing what Megan called clothes, I decided that her entirely black wardrobe was not appropriate for a child, and was set to replace it.  I went to Walmart, to get her a carseat, as well as some new clothes. I noticed, from her panties that she wore size 3T/4T which is about the same size as Lily as well. I got everything that wasn't overly babyish. Before I left, and I bought a case of Pampers Cruisers for Lily. 

I really was having trouble internally trying to figure out how to take care of Megan, since she was same size as Lily, my maternal instincts were to just treat her like another toddler, but at the same time, I had to remember that although she was pint sized, she was still a teenager, and that came with lots of emotional baggage. On the other hand, I own a daycare center in town, and I usually deal with potty accidents with a set of rules. I just wasn't sure if I should use the same rules I have for preschoolers to apply to my teenage step-daughter.

It didn't help that her first night with me, she wet the bed. Interestingly, i had just gotten an email from a parenting forum about bedwetting, so I filled out their form, with information about Megan. By the the next day, I already had a plethora of replies from other mothers who had similar situations. The majority of them suggested putting Megan back into diapers until she seemed ready to use the potty again. I just wasn't sure how she was going to react to wearing diapers, but after replying to all of the advice, I got one more email, this was from a woman named Meredith, who had her step-daughter move in when she was getting ready to start potty training her son. She waited for a morning when her step-daughter was dry, before asking for her help. They asked her if she would wear diapers with her little brother for a while, before potty training alongside him, to help him master the potty. This was one of the best ideas I had heard yet. 

One night, I went in to Lilys nursery to check on her when she was crying. After I calmed her down, I checked to see if Megan was wet. She was still, dry, which gave me an idea. I grabbed one of Lily's Pampers and put it on Megan as she slept. I came back early, before Megan woke up, and checked on her again. Sure enough, her diaper was wet. I quickly changed her into her panties and pajama pants. I came back in to her room ten minutes later, to wake her up, praising her for staying dry. I told her to go and run to the potty and meet me in the kitchen. 

When Megan came in, I sat her down and talked to her about Meredith's idea. I was planning on taking her and Lily to daycare today, for my first day back since Megan arrived. It would be easier on me and my if Megan would be just another toddler.  I explained to her that because of her disability, Lily didn't really understand that she was also a big girl, and not a little girl like her. I explained that if Lily saw Megan using the potty like her, it may help her get trained faster. Then I dropped the bomb, I told her that Lily needs to see that she's the same as her, and that I know that she doesn't need diapers, but I asked if she would be willing to wear them, and be treated like Lily for a little bit before we started training them both. At first she was defensive, and wasn't sure about my idea. Feeling self-conscious, I told her to forget I asked. Right then, I watched as she grabbed her crotch and ran to the potty. I brought some clothes to the bathroom for her to wear to daycare. I was offering for her to soak in a nice warm bath, when she said that she agreed to help with Lily. I told her not to worry about it, and just relax. I went to go and get Lily changed and ready for the day. I grabbed another diaper and carried it to the bathroom, setting it on top of Megan's clothes. I kneeled down next to the tub and washed Megan. When she was clean, I drained the water, and lifted her to her feet to dry her off. I asked her one last time if she was sure she wanted to help. She said yes, and I grabbed the diaper from on top of the pile of clothes. I told her that she didn't have to use the diaper, and could still tell me if she had to use the potty. I laid her on a towel on the floor and slid the diaper under her bottom, pulled it up between her legs, and taped it closed. After getting the diaper on her, I dressed her, laying down like I do with Lily. 

Once I had her standing there. There was really no way anyone would be able to tell that she was any older than four, at most. I had Megan play in the nursery as I gave Lily a bath. When I had Lily dressed and ready to go, I had the two girls sitting next to each other on the bed while I packed their diaper bag. It was hard to tell that Megan wasn't a toddler, she looked so cute, waddling after me as we went to go to daycare. I got both girls into their carseats and drove to daycare. 

Once we were at daycare, I instructed Holly, my employee to treat Megan like any other toddler. I saw her check Megan's diaper a few times, and gave her sippy cups to drink from. Holly said that Megan even used the potty. I saw Holly put Megan down for a nap in one of the playpens. Megan told me she had to use the potty after nap time, but when it was her turn to go, I found that her diaper was wet. She seemed a bit upset, so i offered to put her into underpants for the afternoon. She agreed, and I put her in a pull-up. I offered to take her home for the afternoon, since it seemed like her first day at daycare was a little much for her. She agreed and we grabbed Lily and left. 

I stopped at McDonalds, and got a booster seat for Megan, and highchair for Lily. I got them both happy meals. After that I took the girls to Walmart. I got everything I needed to potty train the girls: Pull-Ups, cloth training pants, two potty chairs, and potty training Elmo. Before we left, I asked Megan if she wanted to use the potty, but I saw that her Pull-up had leaked onto her pants. I took the girls to bathroom and got Megan onto the changing table. I cleaned her up and taped her in to a fresh Pamper. I took her back to the cart wearing just her t-shirt and diaper, sitting her in the seat. We checked out and went back to the car. 

I put the girls in the playpen to watch Sesame Street while I unloaded the purchases. Not long after I was putting the girls' pull-ups away, I got a call from Holly saying that she needed me back at the daycare. I told her I would be over as soon as possible. I went over and checked the girls's diapers. Lily was wet, and Megan was dry. I took Lily to get changed, and came back with a set of overalls for Megan. These had snaps on the crotch for easier diaper changes. I got Megan dressed and we went back to daycare.  

As I was getting ready for afternoon nap time, Megan came to me asking to use the potty. I told her that I couldn't take her right now, and to ask Holly, or our other employee, Lisa. I guess Lisa and Holly were both busy, because I saw Megan go back to the playroom. When it was time to get the little ones down for their afternoon naps, we went around checking and changing diapers. I saw Lisa go to Megan, and check her diaper. I saw her put a pacifier into Megan's mouth before carrying her over to the changing table. I asked her if everything was okay, and she said that it was, but Megan made a stinky and needed to be changed before her nap. I saw Megan hiding her face as Lisa unsnapped her overalls and get started changing her messy diaper. I took the boy I was changing to a nearby playpen to nap. I got busy with the other little ones, but saw Megan later, sucking on a bottle of formula in one of the cribs in the nap room. 

We wore diapers full time for about two weeks before we started potty training again. It worked out pretty well, both Megan and Lily were pretty quick to use the potty, and were full trained in about a month. 

Hope my story helps you with Beth!
-Sondra

Yes, that is quite eye opening. I really like how you didn't pressure into diapers. I think many parents could learn from your example!

-Veronica

Dealing with Teenage bedwetting, an email

I got an interesting email over the weekend from my post on Friday. It is from a teenager named Candice, who has struggled with bedwetting. She recently stayed with her grandmother, who had different ways of dealing her issues, than her parents.



Hi Miss Veronica, my name is Candice, and I saw your blog post about teenagers who wet the bed, so I thought that I would email you to tell you my story.

I am fifteen years old, and live in Waukesha, Wisconsin. My parents had to go out of town for a week this past summer, so I was sent to stay with my grandmother in Green Bay. I didn't realize that my cousin, Samantha was staying with her as well. Samatha is four, and is struggling to potty train. Things went pretty normal until bed time. My grandmother asked Samantha and I to come to the nursery she keeps for my younger cousins. She told me wait, as she undressed Samantha and put her in night time, all in one cloth training pants, before dressing her in her pajamas. Grandma turned to me and told me that it was my turn. She told me to just relax. I stood there as she completely undressed me, before holding an identical pair of training pants for me to step into. I took a deep breath and slipped my feet into the leg holes, and my Grandma pulled them up over my hips. They were really thick between my legs. I stood there as Grandma checked the fit. Once she was satisfied, she put a set of pajamas on me and led me over to the toddler bed that Samantha was sleeping. Grandma explained that if we were dry in the morning, we would be able to sleep without our training pants, but if we were wet, we would be in full time potty training. I got in bed, and Grandma raised the side rail.

Of course, the next morning, I woke up wet. It was nice, that the training pants were able to hold everything. I could feel that Samantha was wet too. All we could do was wait until Grandma came in. When she did, she pulled back the covers and checked our training pants. She said, "Well, it looks like I have two wet little ones, don't I? I think you two need to take a step backwards, so you can appreciate using the potty like big girls."

I didn't understand what she meant, but I watched as she lifted Samantha out of the bed and carried her to the changing table, where she as cleaned up and pinned into cloth diapers, and set down on the floor in just her diaper. Grandma came over and picked me up as well,  and carried me over to the table next, and did the same thing, I ended up standing next to Samantha, also wearing just a cloth diaper.

Grandma explained, "I want you two to realize how good you how good you have it. For the rest of the day, you will be wearing and using your diapers. Tomorrow, we will try the potty." While you are in diapers, you be getting bottle feedings, naps and any thing else a baby does."

I had never been more embarrassed. I had to use the diapers, all day, for not just wetting. And wasn't allowed to tell Grandma when I used my diaper. I had to wait for her check me. I had two naps, in the crib that day. I ate baby food in a highchair, and got fed four bottles of baby formula. 

The next morning, Samantha and I were put in cloth training pants, and t-shirts. Grandma had a potty chair set up for us in the living room, where we could go, with permission. Daytime accidents were never an issue for me, and didn't have any trouble making it to the potty, but, Grandma said that if one of us fails, we both do. So, if Samantha had more than two accidents in a day, we would both end up back in diapers for the rest of the day. 

I did my best go get Samantha to the potty. By the time I was supposed to go home, I had been dry for two nights, and Samantha had been dry during the day for 3 days.

-Candice 


I think her Grandmother had the right idea. It helped her with her bedwetting, and her cousin to was able to have a positive role model to imitate. I don't agree with potty training children before they're ready, but it seems like Samantha made the decision to be like her cousin.

I will have another email for you tomorrow!

-Veronica

Weekend Update

This was honestly a pretty uneventful weekend. Its been cold here, so Bailey and Valerie have not been able to play outside too much. And since we're not going anywhere where there's not a bathroom, Bailey hasn't had any accidents and had to be put in diapers at all. Beth has almost been like a big sister to both girls, keeping an eye on them for me.

The church nursery was equally uneventful. Nothing special happened.

On another note, I did get quite a few emails from people with their stories. I even had some teenagers who were put back in diapers for a time email with their stories. I will post them in the days to come.

-Veronica

Sorry for missing a few days

I just wanted to apologize for missing blogging a for a few days. I am honestly just busy with taking care of Beth and Valerie, and not having time to write every day at the moment. 

I invite anyone who has had to deal with bedwetting teenager, or a day wetting teenager to write in, at veronica.costello.ohio@gmail.com

Beth hasn't had any day time wetting issues, yet, but she did have a close call the other day. We were in the car, running errands, and she leaked a little into her panties, while we were stuck in traffic. I offered her one of Valerie's diapers when we got to the store, but she declined, saying that she would be fine until we got home. 

Let me know if you have any suggestions. 

-Veronica

Beth Update

Short post today.  Beth's bedwetting has been under control with her wearing diapers at night. She seems to have gotten used to it. She doesn't mind when I diaper her each night, and clean her up in the morning.

I did finally catch Beth sucking her thumb as she slept the other night. I am not going to worry about it, until she starts to suck it during the day.

Bailey came over yesterday, since she was off school, but I will talk about that tomorrow.

Again, sorry for the short post. See y'all tomorrow.

-Veronica

Weekend Update

Sorry for not posting on Wednesday, I got caught up in preparations for our trip on Thursday. So, lets get started.

First of all, I know that I had mentioned in my last post that I was trying to figure out how to get Beth to wear diapers at night. I ended up taking Mirah's advise, and confronting Beth before she went to bed on Tuesday night, asking her if she would wear a diaper, since she had wet the previous two nights. I told her that taking responsibility for her wetting was the mature thing to do, and if wouldn't be responsible for her own actions, she would lose some of her teenage privileges. She took the hint and let me diaper her.  Once I got her diapered, I tucked her in and went to bed. I got up and came into her room to check on her, and sure enough, her diaper was wet. I cleaned her up and let her get dressed for the day. I spent most of it, getting ready for our trip the next day, and diapered her again that night.


I want to start talking about preparing your family for a long, General Aviation flight. We flew on a rented Cirrus SR-22. We installed two carseats on the rear bench seat. You need to make sure that your carseat is FAA approved and inversion tested. We kept Valerie and Beth in the carseats for the flight. Tests, and accident data has shown that a five point harness carseat have saved the lives of children in survivable aircraft accidents, with forces in excess of 40 Gs. I also bought an iPad mount, and loaded the iPad with episodes of Sesame Street, and Peppa Pig that the girls to watched during the 2 and half hour flight.

The flight time brings me to the my second point, there are no bathrooms on General Aviation aircraft, and no pit stops along the way. I know for a fact that I would have a hard time holding it that long, I don't know men like Vinny do it. Thats why I put Beth in a diaper for the flight. After waking her up on the morning of our flight, I checked her night time diaper, as I had the day before, but instead of just cleaning her up and letting her get dressed, I put a fresh diaper on her, and then dressed her in a pair of overalls, and pink t-shit, before putting her hair into pigtails and pink bows.

On top of that, I wore a diaper as well. Thats right. I put MYSELF in diapers for the flight. Honestly, I am glad that I did. It gave me peace of mind, and I proved myself right. I ended up having to wet my diaper before we landed. As for Beth and Valerie, unsurprisingly, both were wet, but Beth had made a stinky! Valerie had too, but that wasn't surprising. When we landed in Chicago, I grabbed the diaper bag and took the girls into the women's restroom at the private terminal (FBO as they say in the aviation world). I pulled the down the changing station and laid down a changing pad. I lifted Valerie up onto the changing station and started to unsnap the crotch of her overalls, pulling them up over her diaper, before getting her cleaned up and changed into a fresh diaper. I set her down, and tossed her used diaper into the trash. I turned my attention to Beth. I undid the shoulder straps of her overalls, and let them drop. I lifted her up and laid her on the changing station, before popping a pacifier in her mouth and setting to work on cleaning her up. Just as I was doing that, a lady came in to use the restroom. I could see Beth blush as I had her legs in the air, wiping the poop off her bottom.
"Two in diapers, huh?" the woman asked as she walked past.

"Yeah, just had both of them make stinkies in their diapees on the flight." I said, half cooing to Beth.

"How old are they?" The woman asked.

"Valerie, over here," I said as I pointed, "is two, and this one," I said as I finished wiping the poo from Beth's crack, "Is sixteen. I put her in a diaper for the flight from Ohio, since two and half hours is a bit too long, even for a teenager to hold it."

The woman smiled. "Well, I guess somebody gets to be a toddler for the day then! How lucky!" The woman cooed Beth before heading into a stall.

I reached into the diaper bag to grab Beth a fresh pair of panties, only to realize that I didn't put any in there. "I'm sorry, Beth, but I forgot to put any of your panties in here. I guess its another diapee for you!" I grabbed one of Valerie's Pampers Crusiers, instead of another Swaddler's Overnight, like Beth had been wearing, and taped it on her. I got Beth off the table, and put her Overalls back on her. I was just about ask Beth to watch Valerie while I changed out of my diaper, but then the woman came out of the stall.

I turned to her and asked, "Would you mind watching the girls while I use the restroom?" She agreed and I went into a stall, still carrying the diaper bag. I took off my diaper and disposed of it in the trash in the stall. I wiped myself, and pulled on my panties and Jeans. I flushed the toilet for effect, and opened the stall. I thanked the lady and took the girls back to Vinny. When we got to the hotel,  I checked Valerie and Beth's diaperes. Valerie was wet, but Beth was dry. I changed Valerie, and took off Beth's diaper, putting her into her panties.

We had so much fun sightseeing and spending time in Chicago. The flight back was pretty much the same. Beth, Valerie and I were all wet by the time we landed in Marion on Sunday Afternoon.

Because we got back on Sunday afternoon, I didn't work at the nursery this weekend.

Hope you enjoyed the travel tips! See y'all tomorrow.

-Veronica

Beth's Behavior

As you all know, my niece, Beth is living with us now. She has been with for three nights so far and has wet the bed on two of them. I have been looking for suggestion on how to deal with it, and I just wanted to start by thanking everyone for the wonderful emails.

Let me share some with you. The first is from a nice woman named Mirah, from San Diego.

Hello Veronica,

  I am sorry to hear about the issues you are having with your niece, Beth, and her bedwetting. I had a similar situation some years ago, when my fourteen year old niece, Renee came to visit me and my daughter Amy. My daughter Amy, was five at the time, and still in diapers full time, since I did not feel that she was ready for potty training, a view that I can see we both share. Well, when Renee first came to visit, her mother had already warned me about her bedwetting. I wanted to let her prove her maturity to me. Her first night there, I did exactly what you did, I waited in her room while she showered, with a diaper and changing supplies, and gave her a choice. I offered her the diaper at night, to keep her bed dry and let her sleep soundly. She would only have to wear them at night. She asked what her other option was, too embarrassed to wear a diaper to bed. I told her that she was more than welcome to go to bed without a diaper, but, if she woke up wet, I would put her back into diapers full time for the rest of her stay, and treat her like the same as Amy. I told that teenagers should not be wetting their beds at her age, and if she was going wet without taking precautions, then she must still be a baby, like her cousin. 

She told me that she wasn't a baby, and felt comfortable sleeping in her panties. I told her that if that was her decision, then I would respect it. I took the diaper and left her to sleep. I went to check on her the next morning, and no surprise, she was wet. I told her to go and take a shower, and then come and find me. While she was cleaning up, I put her wet sheets in the laundry. She showed up in the laundry room, in just her towel. I took her by the hand to Amy's nursery, and straight to the changing table. I could see she was tearing up a bit. I told her not to think of this as a punishment, I told her that that by being a toddler again, she was getting the emotional support that she needed. I took off her towel and lifted her onto the table. 

I told her "Once I get you all powdered and into a fresh diaper you can enjoy the rest of the day without worrying."

I grabbed one of Amy's diapers from her stacker and grabbed Renee's ankles and powdered and diapered her. I got her off the changing table and checked the leak guards and fit of the diaper before saying "There, Baby os in a fresh diaper and ready to enjoy her day!" I walked her to her room and dressed her for the day.

Veronica, I encourage you to make a similar offer to Beth, and if she makes the wrong choice, don't be afraid to start treating her the same as Valerie. 

-Mirah


I don't know if I will go as far as putting Beth in diapers full time for refusing to wear diapers at night, while I do agree with Mirah, that children should be treated how they're acting, I feel like making an exception for now.  I am going to strongly suggest that Beth wear a diaper tonight. I am also going to have her wear a diaper for the flight to Chicago on Thursday too.

As far as Beth's thumb sucking, I haven't caught her doing it yet, but as soon as I do, I'm going to insist on her using a pacifier instead.

Finally, I want to talk about Carseats. I know that its a controversial position, but I believe a child, regardless of age, should still be in a carseat as long as they still fit. Which is why, even at sixteen, Beth has been riding around in a five point harness carseat.

See y'all tomorrow!

-Veronica

Weekend Update

This has been a crazy weekend! In addition to packing and organizing for our trip to Chicago this week, I also had to prepare for Beth coming to visit, or an indeterminate amount of time, as well as working in the Church nursery twice this weekend, once on Saturday for a wedding, and then like normal on Sunday!

Lets start with the wedding. I went to the church at around noon on Saturday. Since it was a wedding, I was working the Nursery alone. I got there early and got everything set up. Making sure the changing table was fully stocked and that we had plenty of baby food and formula. The ceremony was supposed to start at 5:00, but the wedding party would be arriving between 1:00 and 1:30, including the two flower girls, who I was told were going to be staying in the nursery until it was time for the ceremony. I was told there may be some other little ones who will need supervision during the ceremony, and definitely during the reception, which as also at the Church, but there should not be more than 4 little ones. I asked what they wanted me to do with the little ones before the ceremony, and was told to give them a nap at 3:00, then dinner following the ceremony, and I could put them to bed at 7:00, the wedding would be over by 9:00 and the parents didn't mind baby food and formula for dinner, or picking up their sleeping little ones.

Once I got set up, one mother came to drop off Flower girl number 1, her name was Annie, she was two years old. She was quite adorable! Her mother handed me a flower girl dress on a hanger, and told me that I should put it on her right before the ceremony, so it doesn't get dirty. She handed me a bag with a change of clothes and pajamas for later that night. The lady told that she threw in Pajamas for Hailey, the other flower girl. I put the bag aside, without opening it, and put Annie in a playpen while I waited for Hailey to arrive. I squatted next to the playpen, trying to entertain Annie when I heard some commotion from the hallway. I heard what sounded like a teenager complaining to her mother.

"Mom! Why do I have to do this! Im fourteen years old! Im not a little girl?" She complained.

"Your aunt wanted you and your cousin to be in the wedding, and you're not old enough to be a bride's maid, so this is the only other option." The mother lectured.

"But why do I have to stay in the nursery?" The teen asked.

"Because, thats the rules, flower girls stay in the nursery, until the ceremony, and for the reception. I'm sure you'll have fun! You and Annie will look so cute walking down the aisle together!" The mom  said as she and her daughter arrived at the doorway of the nursery.

I got up and went to the nursery dutch door. "You must be Hailey" I said, looking at a very short, skinny teen girl.

"Yes, thanks so much for watching the girls!" The mother said. I looked her, a little concerned. I opened the bottom half of the dutch door, and let Hailey in, telling her that to make her self at home.

I stepped out into the hall for a moment, to speak to Hailey's mom. "I just wanted to ask you about Hailey. I don't want to be rude, but we have a rule that everyone in the nursery has to be in diapers."

The mother said, "Yes I know. Just treat Hailey the same as Annie for the night. Diapers, naps, bottles, what ever you need to do. My sister essentially wants Annie and Hailey to be twins tonight."

I was shocked, but nodded. "Does Hailey know any of this?"

"No, good luck!" The woman said, turning around and heading to the bridal suite. Wow...this was not going to be fun, I thought to myself.

I took a deep breath and walked back into the nursery, closing the bottom half of the door behind me. I walked over to Hailey, who was kneeling next to the playpen that Annie was in. I put my hand gently on Hailey's shoulder. "Honey, can you come with me for a moment?"

Hailey stood up. I took her by the hand, which caused her to blush as I walked to over to the nearest changing table. "Honey, I know this is not what you want to hear, but there are some rules here in the nursery that you are going to have to follow." I waited for her to look at me before continuing. "Your mommy and auntie want you and Annie to be twins for today. Thats why they put you in the nursery. One of our rules here is that all the children we watch must be in diapers." I watched her cheeks get even redder. " I know you're a big girl, who knows how to use the potty, but we both need to follow the rules, okay?" I could see tears starting to form in the corners of her eyes. "I know its hard, but I promise it wont be that bad!" She meekly nodded. "Good girl." I said before giving her a hug. "I'm going to get you changed now, okay?" She nodded again.

I took a deep breath and lifted Hailey onto the changing table. I quickly pulled the safety strap over her stomach and and put on my gloves. I got her stripped out of her sweat pants and panties, before grabbing a Luvs size 6 diaper from under the table, setting it next to her head. I grabbed a baby wipe and lifted her by the ankles. I did my best to make sure she was clean, before grabbing the diaper and sliding under her bottom. I pulled it up between her legs and taped it snugly around her waist. I ran my fingers through the leak guards to make sure they weren't bunched up, before putting her sweats back on her and pulling them over her diaper. I unstrapped her and lifted her off the table, standing her up. You could easily see the bulge of the diaper in her crotch and bottom, as well as the top of the diaper sticking up over the waist of her pants. I took her by the hand, and walked her over to a kiddie chair, to do her hair. As she walked her diaper crinkled as she moved. I did it into pigtails, with baby pink bows, to match Annie. I finished the ensemble with a pacifier that I clipped to the collar of her t-shirt. I lifted her up, and carried her on my hip over to the playpen and set her down with Annie.

I let the girls play for an hour before I came over to check their diapers. I checked Annie, first, she was a little damp, but not bad enough to change, I figured I would just change her before her nap. And then I did the same to Hailey, finding her dry. I did notice that she as squirming a bit, so I reminded her that all of her poopies and pee pees belonged in her diapee, and that she should just go.

I went to the kitchenette and prepared two bottles of formula, bringing them both over to the playpen, and handing them to Hailey and Annie. Annie took hers and started nursing right away, but Hailey just sat there with hers. I gave her a little time to do it herself, before taking matters into my own hands. I lifted Hailey out of the playpen, and carried her to a rocking chair on the other side of the nursery. I sat down, and laid her across my lap. I took the bottle and started bumping her lips with it, cooing "Come on baby, its good for you!" She finally accepted the nipple and started nursing the bottle. I gently rocked back and forth in the chair as she drank, holding the bottle for her wile patting her diapered bottom with other hand. As she was drinking I felt her diaper start to get warm. I smiled at her and lot her continue drinking. Once the bottle was empty, I put a rag over my shoulder and started burping her. To my surprise she actually spit up a little. I cleaned her off, before carrying her to the changing table where I got her into a dry diaper before laying down for a nap in an empty crib, leaving her in just her t-shirt and diaper. I went over and changed Annie and put her down for a nap as well.

While the girls were sleeping I got two highchairs set up for their dinner, as well as laying out both of their flower girl outfits. Both girls had matching dresses, with matching ruffled diaper covers, white tights, and black Mary-Jane shoes.

When it was time to get the girls up, I noticed that Annie was wet again, but Hailey was still dry. I woke up Annie first, and changed her, before strapping her into a highchair. I went and work up Hailey, praising her for staying dry, and put her in the other highchair. I put bibs on both girls, and then spoon fed both of them three jars of baby food. One of chicken, One of carrots, and one of prunes. I cleaned their faces and hands with baby wipes before putting them back in the playpen.

Before long, I could smell that I somebody had made a stinky. I went over to the playpen to investigate, and it turned out both girls were messy. I changed them both, this time, leaving them in just their diapers, since I would have to dress them for the ceremony soon. Annie's mother came about 10 minutes later, asking if I needed help getting the little ones ready. I told her that would be great. I worked on Hailey, and she dressed her daughter, and soon, both girls were dressed identically.

After the Ceremony, both girls were brought back, both had wet diaper, as I got them out of their dresses. I changed them both, and put them into their pajamas, which for both girls were matching footed sleepers. I had to say, Hailey looked adorable in her sleeper with a big diaper bulge! I let the girls play until 6:30, then checked and changed both of their diapers before putting them down for the night.

Both girls were sound asleep when their mommies came and took them home at the end of then the night.  I could not believe that had happened. The next day at the nursery was pretty normal, and nothing of interest happened.


As I said before, my Niece, Beth is now staying with us. After I got home from the wedding I told her to start getting ready for bed. My brother had told me that she had been wetting the bed sporadically. I didn't want to pressure her, but I thought that maybe I could give her the option of wearing some protection to bed. I went to Valerie's room and grabbed one of her Swaddlers Overnight diapers, and walked into the guest room. I sat down on the bed setting the diaper down next to me, and waited for Beth to finish in the bathroom. When Beth walked in, her eyes got huge, and her face turned red. I patted the bed next to me and asked her to sit down. I told her that her dad told me about her recent bedwetting, and that I just wanted her to be comfortable. I told her that I wanted to give her the choice, of wearing a diaper to bed, and not worrying about a wet bed. She told me that she didn't think she was going to wet, and didn't need a diaper. I smiled and told her I respected her decision, and left her to go to bed. She was dry the next morning, but she we the bed last night.

I am planning to go in and offer her the diaper again, now that she has wet at our house. What do you think we should do? Feel free to comment or email me at veronica.costello.ohio@gmail.com

Lets see if you have any other suggestions. See y'all tomorrow!
-Veronica

Swimming Lessons

I am a huge advocate of swimming lessons, and children learning to swim at a young age. Valerie has been taking swimming lessons since she was two months old! She loves the water so much, and she is getting really good at it. I am still a bit protective of her in the water though, and still want her to wear floatation whenever she's in the pool. Its important that she knows how to swim without the floatation, but I want her to have it on just in case. I never let her swim alone either, I am always right in the water next to her. Depending on the situation, I either prefer a floatsuit, for when we're in the pool and I am around, or a US Coast Guard approved life jacket for open water.

Last time my niece, Beth, came to visit last summer, I found out that she didn't know how to swim! I couldn't believe that! I had to take Valerie to her swim lesson at the community center, so I took Beth with us, to see if I could get her signed up for a class. It turned out that the only class available was for infants, up to two years old. I asked if they could make an exception for a fifteen year old. They had no problem with it, but warned me that Beth probably would not like some of the class requirements. I was told that the children were to be dropped off at the community center daycare 30 minutes before the swim lesson time, since many of the other kids in the community daycare already. Once all of the swimmers were at the daycare, they are loaded into a large, 8 seat stroller and taken to the pool area, where the attendants change each student into their swim gear, and then take them out to the pool area. The attendant reiterated that Beth would be in the crawler class of the daycare of half an hour, before being strapped into a stroller, and taken to the locker room where she would be undressed, and changed by a daycare attendant. Then, she added the kicker. The students were required to wear a one-piece floatsuit and a swim diaper. After the lesson, the children would be bathed, re-diapered and dressed, before being taken back to the daycare. I told her that I had problem with that. She gave me the forms, and signed Beth and Valerie up.

I knew this was going to be an exciting experience for Beth, so I instructed her to write down her experience in her a journal after I picked her up and took her home. Here is an excerpt from her journal:

My aunt made me go to swimming lessons today with my one year old cousin. I wasn't sure what to expect, but my aunt asked me to write down my experience, so I would never forget what happened, although I don't think I need to write it to not forget it...

Auntie Veronica dropped me and Valerie off at the Community Center daycare. A very nice lady named Chloe picked up Valerie, and took my hand, walking me back to the "Crawler" room of the daycare, usually reserved for children between six months and eighteen months old. I knew that nothing good was going to come of this as soon as Chloe had called me "little one." She was only five or six year older than me! Anyway, the half hour before we went to the pool wasn't bad. Valerie and I were given blue ankle bands to signify that we were part of the swim class. She was placed in a playpen and I was told to just relax until it was time to go. I ended up just standing and chatting with the three ladies who were in charge of the daycare class. They said that their shift would be over before I got back, so it would be a different set of people who would be watching me after swimming. Before I knew it, I was told to stand at the front of the room. Soon a large, eight seat stroller was wheeled in. Since I was the largest, I was lifted into the one of the rear seats and strapped in with the five point harness. It was a little tight, but I managed to fit. They strapped Valerie in next to me. Once they had the other kids loaded up, they started to push us to the pool building. 

I want to say that riding in a stroller was an interesting experience, but it wasn't my first time riding in one recently... When we got to the pool area, the attendants took us to the women's locker room, and straight to the baby changing area. They started from the front, taking the babies one at a time, out of the stroller, laying them on the changing table. They would strip them down to their diaper, then change them into a swim diaper, and dress them in a one piece bodysuit with floats sewn in. Every time the Attendants would change a diaper, they would coo to the baby about the state of their diaper. Once they were in their swim gear, they were put back in their seat, and strapped back in. Soon it was my turn.

Chloe put the baby in front of me back in his seat, before turning her attention to me. She unstrapped me, and instead of letting me stand, She lifted me up by my armpits, cooing to me that I'm such a big girl, and laid me down on the changing station. Without even saying anything, Chloe started to undress me, starting with my t-shirt, and bikini top, and then she laid me back and started to take off my shorts. leaving me in just my bikini bottoms. I will never forget what she said next! "Oh my, this wont do at all? What was your Auntie thinking sending you here without a diapee? What if you made an oopsie in your pants?" 

I literally died.

She took off my bottoms and grabbed a baby wipe, taking my ankles in one hand, and lifting my butt off the changing station, and wiping it thoroughly with the other. Once I was cleaned to her satisfaction, she reached into the bag of Pampers Splashers next to me and pulled one out. She showed me the diaper before threading my legs through the holes, and pulling it up my legs and over my hips. She reached into Valerie's diaper bag and pulled out one one-piece bodysuits. She threaded me into, and and zipped it up. I could see the bulge of the swim diaper around my waist. I felt like such a baby. Soon I was strapped back into the stroller and we were all wheeled outside to the pool.

I was eventually placed in the water, but was held by the swim instructor the whole time, who was pretty much just floating me around. It was actually a big calming. I don't think I'm afraid of the water anymore, if thats the silver lining of all of this. Just when I thought it was getting better, it got worse. 

When we were done in the pool, we were handed off to another attendant, who carried us into the locker room to where a baby bath was set up. I was stripped out of my bodysuit, and stood there, while attendant, this time an older woman in her 50's, pulled open the back of my swim diaper and cooed at me for being all clean, before ripping the sides of the diaper, letting it fall to the floor. She lifted me up and sat me in the bath. I was almost laughing because I barely fit in there, but I was too embarrassed.  I sat there as the woman washed me from head to toe, before lifting me out of the tub. She quickly wrapped me in a towel, and laid me on the changing station, next to multiple open bags of diapers. Once I was laying down, she used to the towel to dry me off before letting it fall to the sides. She looked me over and reached into one of the packages. I was about to say something, when she pushed a pacifier into my mouth. I watched in horror as she unfolded the diaper and grabbed me by the ankles, sliding the diaper under my butt and pulling it up between my legs, before taping it. I wasn't expecting a baby diaper to fit me, but it did. She smiled at me as she put my t-shirt and shorts back on me, and placed me in the final open seat in the stroller. Once I was strapped in, we were taken back to the daycare. 

Thankfully Auntie Veronica was there to pick us up right away, and I was able to take the diaper off. Strangest experience of my life!

Elizabeth Costello 8/3/2018

If she still doesn't know how to swim, you can bet she's going for another class! Good to know that Baby Dry size six fit her as well, since she's still struggling with her bedwetting. I think thats enough for today! Have a good weekend, and see y'all monday!

-Veronica

Halloween!

Tomorrow is Halloween! I just wanted to wish everyone a safe time out there with their little ones!

Don't let them eat the candy! Replace it when they get home with store bought, or a healthier treat!

I would also encourage children with weak bladders to wear protection under their costumes, to prevent accidents from scares, or from long outings between potty breaks.

Good luck out there! Sorry for the short post, but I have a lot of prep to do before Beth comes on Saturday.

See y'all tomorrow!

-Veronica

Potty Training regression and our upcoming trip

I have a two part post for you all today!

The first part was inspired by discussion with Katherine, about potty training regression.

What is it you ask? In a nutshell, potty training regression is a condition that is most common in children who are recently potty trained, start to back track, when a baby or toddler or introduced into their life, either a younger sibling, cousin or playmate. The children start to have daytime or night time potty accidents, in an attempted to get more attention, more specifically, the same type of attention that the baby is getting. While there is a general consensus on the cause of the problem, the potential solutions are highly contended. Some people believe that you need to do everything you can to stop your child from slipping backwards. I don't understand why some people are so uptight about potty training? Like the people who freak out if their baby is not potty trained by the time they're one year old. You should NEVER force a child do anything they don't want to do. If your child is still having accidents, thats fine, it just means that they're not ready to use the potty, and they will do it on their time. You, as a parent, just need to be supportive and patient.  I can not understand why there is such a negative stigma around wearing diapers?

Like I said, earlier, this behavior is most common in children ages 3-6, but can present in children as old as 18. A great example is my friend Ruth, and her three daughters. Her youngest, four years old, started having potty training setbacks, due to her not being ready to train, and had to be put back into diapers. Her oldest, seventeen, started having accidents soon after, and had to be put back into diapers as well. I am confident that both girls will be out of diapers and using the potty again, when they feel they are ready.

I think that this also a good explanation for Bailey's behavior. She see's Valerie, and wants to get the same attention she gets, so she had an accident on their first playdate, and then never objected to diapers or any other "babyish" treatment since then. And thats fine, she needs to grow at her own pace, and if that means taking steps backwards every once in a while, who am I to argue?


On to my other topic! Vacation time! Vinny is planning to fly us to Chicago for a few days next week so that he can get some cross country navigation time for is instrument rating. The flight time from Marion to Chicago, Midway is about two and a half hours in a typical single engine general aviation (GA) aircraft. We will be gone from the 7th to the 10th, so there will be no post on Thursday next week.

I noticed that there aren't a lot of blog posts about traveling on GA air travel with kids, so I will do some research and share that with you all in the coming days. My niece, Beth, is also coming to stay with us starting Saturday, so we are going to have to take her into account when we are traveling as well.

Stay tuned for more on that! See y'all soon!

-Veronica

Weekend Update

First of all, sorry for missing Friday's post. Fridays are really tough for me, since my husband, Vinny, is off work on Fridays. I think, moving forward, I will just be posting Monday through Thursday. If that changes, I will let you know.

Okay, time for the weekend update! This was a pretty busy weekend, between Valerie and Bailey going to the zoo on Saturday, to my second weekend at the church nursery.

I was keeping a close eye on the weather for the zoo, since the early forecasts were calling for rain. Thankfully, it ended up being a pretty nice day, with temperatures in the lower 60's. I started the day a bit earlier than usual, feeding Valerie her breakfast before Bailey was going to arrive.

When Bailey did arrive, I sent her to play with Valerie in her room, while I had a quick chat with Katherine.  I asked her one more time if it was okay for me to diaper Bailey for the zoo, she said it was no problem. I told her potty training regression is common for older kids who spend time with younger ones, and asked if has been a problem at home. I was relieved to hear that it wasn't an issue, and that she was interested to do further research into that condition. I told her I would write a future post about it. Katherine gave me a change of clothes for Bailey, just in case, which I put in Valerie's diaper bag that I had pre-packed.

Once Katherine left, I went to Valerie's room to check on the girls. I put Valerie up on the changing table and changed her out of her wet diaper. Then I got Bailey up on the table and put her into a diaper for the day as well, something that she seemed excited for. With both little ones in dry diapers and ready to go, I herded then down to the car and got them into the carseats. I put the diaper bag in the passenger seat, and set off for the zoo.

The zoo was pretty fun! We got to see all sorts of animals. Bailey seemed to have no problem being a toddler for the day. She didn't put up any fuss about riding in the stroller.  Even when it came to using her diapers, she seemed to have no problem, she never told me when she went potty, so I had to check her whenever I would check Valerie. Bailey wet just as often as Valerie, and even made a stinky at one point! Bailey is so easy going! It was a joy to take care of her for the day.

When we got home, I changed Bailey back into her panties, and let her go play with Valerie. I told her to let me know if she had to use the potty this time. She did, but being eight, I let her go on her own. Katherine came and picker her up before dinner time. She was happy that Bailey had a good time, said that we should do more of this in the future.

On Sunday, I worked another day at the nursery. Nothing interesting happened, except that I was asked if I could help out in the nursery next Saturday for a wedding, I agreed, thinking that would be fun.

Hope everyone else had a good weekend! See y'all tomorrow!

-Veronica

A Surprise Playdate

So, yesterday, Katherine surprised me with a phone call that she had to work late, and go out with clients, and was wondering if I could pick up Bailey at school and watch her. Ever since we met at the park on Saturday, Katherine and I have become fast friends. We have been chatting almost every day. She is a real estate agent, so her schedule is very flexible. We have been able to get coffee and chat almost every day. She has told me that she would be interested in writing some posts on the blog some time, or starting her own blog. When she asked if I could help, I told her that I was delighted, and Valerie would be happy to play with Bailey after school. I figured that this would be a good dry run for Saturday as well.

At two in the afternoon, I woke Valerie up from her afternoon nap, and changed her into a fresh diaper. I put got her dressed to go out. I put her in a pair of jeans and t-shirt. I got her into her carseat, and we drove off to pick up Bailey from school. I saw her standing at the curb. I parked near her and got out. She came up to me, saying that her mom had called the school to let her know I was coming. I smiled at her and opened the back door, after taking her book bag. She came over, but stopped short of getting in. I asked her what was wrong, and she blushed, asking if I had a booster seat. I told her no, and she reluctantly climbed into the carseat. I smiled and strapped her in with the five point harness. I got back in the driver's seat, and looked at the two girls in the rearview mirror. I could see that Bailey was a little embarrassed. "Sweetie, thanks for being a big girl and not putting up a fuss. Valerie is still a little girl, and our rules for her friends are also, more or less, geared for a younger audience." She looked at Valerie and smiled, and said that she understood. I told her that she was a good girl, and drove home.

Once we got home, I parked the car in the garage, and got out, letting Bailey out of her carseat first, followed by Valerie. I led the girls into the house by the hand. I asked Bailey if she had any homework to do. Bailey said no. I asked what the girls wanted to do. The girls said that they wanted to play outside. I suggested we could go to the park, but I needed to get some things done first. I put Valerie in her playpen, and turned the tv on sprout. I noticed that Bailey, was kinda just standing there, unsure of what to do with herself, so I lifted her up and put her in the playpen with Valerie.

I went about my usual chores, putting away laundry, and straightening up the house. When I got back to the living room, I saw Bailey standing in the playpen with wet pants. She looked a little embarrassed with herself. I asked her what happened, and she told me that she was too distracted playing with Valerie, and didn't realize she had to go until it was too late. At first, I wasn't quite sure what to do. Bailey didn't have a spare set of clothes with her. Valerie is pretty big for her age, and Bailey is pretty average, so maybe she could fit into something of Valerie's.

I lifted Bailey out of the playpen and took her by the hand to Valerie's room. I took a deep breath and told her that this was not a punishment, but we needed to get her in something dry, and that meant, as far as underwear was concerned, one of Valerie's diapers. She honestly seemed a little too excited about that...but maybe it was just me. I asked her if she wanted help getting undressed, to which she said yes, so I took off her jeans and panties, since only those were wet. I lifted her onto the changing table and set to work cleaning her off with baby wipes. I grabbed one of Valerie's Pampers Baby Dry diapers from her stacker and unfolded it. I grabbed Bailey by her ankles and slid the diaper under her, pulling it up between her legs and taped it shut. Not a bad fit. I checked the leak guards and lifted Bailey off the table. I went over to Valerie's closet and searched through it, until I found a long sundress. I pulled that out and went to dresser and pulled out some white tights. I took Bailey's shirt off and put the dress over her. On Valerie to comes down to her mid calf, on Bailey, it was just above the knee. I sat her down on the changing table again and worked the tights up her legs and over her diaper. Once she was dressed I got down on her level and told her "Bailey, now that you're wearing a diaper, that means you don't need to tell me when you need to use the potty. Just go in your diapee and I will check and change you when I do the same to Valerie." She just smiled and nodded, I gave her a pat on her padded bottom as I walked her back to the living room. It was a little cute to hear her crinkle the whole way. I threw her clothes in the wash before going to get the stroller ready.

The thought had occurred to me that maybe we should put Bailey in diapers preemptively for our trip to the zoo on Saturday. While she and Valerie were chatting through the mesh of the playpen. I went and grabbed the diaper bag and put it under the stroller. I picked up Valerie from the playpen and strapped her into the stroller before having Bailey sit down, and strapping her in as well. Since she was wearing a dress, the straps made it ride up, and showed off her diaper, I tried to fix it, since she's an older girl, but it just wasn't working, so I gave up on it.

The park was pretty uneventful. Both girls ended up wet after a while, but I just changed them when we got home. By the time we got back the washer was done, and I put Bailey's clothes in the dryer. The dryer was done before long, and I had Bailey dressed back in her regular clothes, and big girl panties.  When Katherine came, I told her what happened, and apologized, but she said its fine, and I did the right thing. I asked her if she would be okay with Bailey wearing a diaper for the zoo trip, to which she also said no problem.  Glad my maternal instincts were right!

See y'all tomorrow!

-Veronica

Preparing for Family Outings

Hi everyone!

Today is going to be a short post. I want to talk about what you need to do ton prepare for an outing with your little ones. I am going to use Valerie and Bailey as an example for this, since I am taking them both to the Columbus Zoo this Saturday.

To refresh everyone's memory, Valerie, is my daughter, she's two years old, and still very much rambunctious, active toddler. Bailey, is Valerie's new friend. She's eight years old. Not to state the obvious, but the biggest difference between Valerie and Bailey is that Valerie is still in diapers, and Bailey, according to her mommy, has been potty trained since she was three. With that in mind, let's start with packing Valerie's diaper bag.

The first thing in the diaper bag should be diapers, obviously. My caveat to that is that since I am bringing two girls to the zoo, even though one of them has been potty trained for years, I would still want to bring enough diapers for both of them, in case of accidents. Accidents can happen to a child at any age, so it's best to be prepared. If we were going somewhere where there would be a lot of waiting in line, I would suggest putting a child like Bailey into diapers preemptively, but since its just the zoo, we'll just keep them as a backup for now. As a side note, if it was going to be more than an hour drive, I would also suggest diapers for an older child, but since its about 50 minutes from Marion, I don't think that would be needed either. It goes without saying that a changing pad, and wipes would also be required.

I would bring a sippy cup for each child, which can be refilled at the drinking fountains, to keep the little ones hydrated. One pacifier and pacifier clip for each child, in case they get fussy. I know its controversial to give an older kid a pacifier, but I feel that immature behavior requires an appropriate response. If Bailey acts like a fussy toddler, then I have no problem treating her like one, not that I expect her to be a problem, she's a sweet girl. Finally, I would bring a fresh set of clothes for each girl. I prefer a sundress, since it's simple, and it's just one item to pack, as opposed to a top and bottoms. I will make sure to have a back up dress for each girl. I also still like to put a bib on Valerie whenever she eats to protect her clothes, so I would bring an extra for Bailey too. I would also throw some snacks in there for the two of them, as well as some distractions. Finally I would also bring sunscreen. Sunburns are no fun.

Itemized list:
-Diapers (At least 4 per child)
-Wipes (Both Baby wipes and sanitizing wipes)
-Changing pad
-Bibs (One per child)
-Pacifiers and Pacifier clips (One per child)
-Sippy Cup (One per child, plus one spare)
-Extra Dresses/Clothes (one for each girl)
-Snacks
-Distractions (toy, or coloring book/crayons)
-Sunscreen

Other considerations

I am used to entertaining Valerie's friends, both at home, and on outings. We have a double wide stroller that we use for when we go on outings with Valerie's friends, as well as two carseats installed in my car. I am going to bring the double stroller, just incase both girls get tired of walking. Bailey should have no problem fitting into either the carseat or stroller.

I know this, because my Niece, Beth, who is now sixteen, fit into both when she was fifteen, and was throwing a tantrum before we went to the mall. Like I said earlier, I am a firm believer that kids should be treated how they act. Since Beth was acting like a toddler, I treated her like one. I popped a pacifier into her mouth, and clipped it to her shirt, before I strapped her into the carseat for the car ride to the mall, before strapping her into stroller once we got there. I told her that if she was going to throw tantrums like that, she could suck on her binkie quietly while the grownups do their shopping. I have to admit that theres a little part of me that likes to embarrass her. At one point, Valerie made a stinky, and I could smell it. I pushed the stroller to a family restroom, and waited in line behind a couple other mothers. I walked to front of the stroller and pinched my nose, looking right at Beth, saying "Did somebody make me a present?" I unstrapped her and leaned her forward, pulling out the back of her shorts and panties, and peeing inside, before announcing, "Nope, no stinkies back here!" I strapped Beth back in before checking Valerie the same way, announcing to the other mothers around, "I found the stinky butt!" I got a few chuckles out of it. Figuring Beth learned her lesson, I let her out of the stroller, and took her pacifier back. She was well behaved for the rest of the shopping trip.

Sorry for the tangent.  The stroller can also double as Sun protection for the little ones. Just strap them in and pull the cover down! Its pretty easy.

Well, I hope that helps anyone who is taking care of two little ones, at different stages. I will let everyone know next week how things went with the trip to the zoo!

See y'all tomorrow!

-Veronica

Bedwetting Solutions, focusing on the symptoms first, then tackle the cause

Let’s talk about bedwetting for a bit. There seems to be very little consensus as to how to deal with children with bedwetting. It seems like people are too concerned with finding the root cause of the issue, instead of taking the necessary steps to limit the damage of the symptoms both to the child’s bed, and to their self worth/self-esteem.  It also seems that people tend to try and consider age as part of how they solve the problem. For instance, "My child is 10 year old, they're too old to be wetting the bed." This is not true, and it doesn't natter if your child is six or sixteen, the solution should not change.

For example, for very young children, it’s considered a just fact of life that children will take longer to get night time trained, vs daytime trained. This is why you see some children up to five or six years old still wearing diapers or pull-ups at night. 

When kids get older, we tend to second guess our instincts as to how to handle night time accidents. We try bedwetting alarms and medications. Age should not be a variable that needs to be considered in this equation. If a child is wetting his or her bed, they should be first and foremost protected. Its much better for the mental wellbeing for them to wake up with a wet diaper, than a wet bed. 

We need to stop telling our kids that diapers are for babies, and should be something that they should feel embarrassed for wearing. This is the opposite of the message we should be sending to them. Diapers are nothing but a tool, there should be no positive or negative connotation to them. I read blog posts and articles about how parents are potty training their kids at insanely early ages, to get away from diapers. A child will use the potty when and only when they are ready. Not when you are ready.  You don’t want to change diapers? Then don’t have kids. 

I asked my Brother, Robert about Beth’s bedwetting, and he said that so far its only been sporadic, and has wet the bed now 4 times in the last month. I asked him what he was doing for her. He said nothing. If she were my daughter, I would have had her back in diapers at night after the 2nd wet night, but that’s just me. We’ll have to see how things are going when she comes to stay with us. 

My little girl, Valerie is two. She has no interest in using the potty any time soon, which is fine. She still has plenty of time to figure out when is ready. Until now, she hasn’t been exposed to any potty trained friends, so her playdate with  Bailey should be interesting. 

In other news, the story that Mary told me on Sunday, has got Vinny and I talking about thinking of adopting a brother or sister for Valerie. We haven’t really thought too much about it, only that it’s worth looking into. I am going to do some research and see where that leads me. 

Well, I think that will do it for today.

-Veronica

Weekend Update

Hi everyone! 

I hope you all had a blessed weekend! I surely did!

I took Valerie to the park on Saturday and she made a new friend! A little 8 year old girl named Bailey. At first I was surprised at how nice she was, playing with a younger girl like Valerie, but they really got along well. I went and sat down and got to know Bailey’s mommy, Katherine. She was very nice as well. It turns out, she live just a block over from us. I asked her if she thought that Bailey would like to come and play with Valerie some time, since there is quite the age difference between the two of them. She said that she didn’t see a problem with that. 

I warned Katherine that since Valerie was much younger, and still very much a toddler, that we weren’t used to having an older kid around the house, and Bailey may have to follow some rules that she may be too old for. Katherine didn’t think that would be an issue. I told her to make sure that Bailey had an extra change of clothes with her when she came to play. We are going to have her over on Next Saturday to go ton the Columbus Zoo. 

In other News, my husband, Vinny, has his private Pilot’s license, and has been working towards his instrument rating! He is almost done with his training, and will be be completing the required hours soon! When that happens, we will start planning some family vacations where we can fly ourselves! ! Wont’t that be fun.  Stay tuned for some posts about General Aviation flying with children, and how to cope with long GA flights, as soon as I get some good ideas! 

Vinny and I are pretty involved with our church, and Like I mentioned earlier, I wanted to start working in the church Nursery, to get practice for when I open my home daycare. This was the first weekend that I would be working in the nursery, and it was great! 

It was myself and one of the other mommy’s talking care of 6 little ones, including Valerie. I don’t know how other parishes run their nursery, but ours is very relaxed. We don’t have any set age limit for the little ones. The only requirement is that any child, regardless of age, who is placed in the nursery, has to wear diapers, and go through the same routine as the other little ones. The little ones are dropped off at the nursery, and are either put in playpens or rockers if they’re under one year old. If they’re toddlers, they get to play in the main area. We give the little ones a morning bottle of formula, and morning nap. The older kids get sippy cups of juice. Everyone gets a morning nap. We have enough cribs for 8 little ones to have their own space. Some kids get picked up after services. Those who stay longer, while their parents are in bible study, get a lunch, followed by another nap. We only have two highchairs, so we start with the youngest first, and work our way up to older kids.  The younger ones get another bottle formula before being put down for an afternoon nap. 

I have been told that sometimes we get the some of the older children who are getting baptized, since they are supposed to be babies in the eyes of God, on the day of their Baptism, they spend the morning in the nursery with the other little ones, until its time for them to go to the Chapel to get baptized, then they come back and play unit their parents are ready to take them home. Mary, the other mother who works in the nursery, told me that last year they had a fifteen year old girl who was adopted from Romania, and she spent the day in the nursery. I was fascinated by this, I asked her to explain to me how that worked.

Mary said the girl was treated just like any other baby under one year old, she was in diapers, and a dress, with a pacifier on a lanyard clipped to her dress. She was placed in a playpen with a one year old girl. Mary said that the girl didn’t speak English, so it was just like any other baby that was babbling, and was responded to by cooing. She would check the girl’s diaper whenever she made her rounds. Ethel, an older lady who used to run the nurser, fed the girl a morning bottle of formula, before burping her. She was sent to the chapel for her baptism after her bottle. Mary said they the must have checked her diaper 5 or six times before she was wet. The girl was put down in one of the cribs for her morning nap after coming back from being baptized. Mary was the one to go and check on on her after her nap, finder her diaper wet. She carried her to the changing table and changed her, before putting her in a playpen again. Since her new parents were going to meeting with the minister after services, she was still there after most of the little ones were picked up. Ethel get her out of her playpen and into a highchair for lunch, since was technically one of the youngest. Ethel put a bib on her and fed her 2 jars of baby food, prunes and strained carrots, before giving her to Mary for her afternoon bottle. Mary said she remembered that she was a little fussy during her feeding, but eventually ate both jars of food. Mary said she took her to a rocking chair and fed her her bottle of formula, while rocking her. After burping her, she was put down for her afternoon nap in one of the cribs. Mary said that after 20 minutes, she heard the girl crying on the baby monitor, and went in to check on her. Turns out, the little one just had just made a stinky and needed to be changed. 

I couldn’t believe that! It must have been quite the sight to see! Mary said that its not very common for us to get baptisms that old. She said that the girl was only in the nursery that day, before going back to being a big girl. She’s learned English and is on the church’s youth group now. I wonder of I will ever get to see something like that in the nursery? 

In other news, it looks like my niece, Beth, is going to be coming to stay with us some time after Halloween. We are still trying to figure out how we are going to handle this, since Robert doesn’t know how long Beth is going to be with us yet. I will let you know as soon as I know more. 

Thanks to listening to my little weekend update! See y’all tomorrow!

-Veronica