Tricks of the Trade

It goes without saying that toddlers don't always do what you want them to - and when they do, it is on their own time table which doesn't always match up with yours. So, like all parents, Ben and I have developed several tricks to help encourage Noah to do what we want him to. Here are some that work most of the time for us:

1) When he doesn't want to get in his high chair or carseat, we say "Hey, Noah, should Daddy (or Mommy) get into your high chair?" to which he laughs and says "Nooooo, you're just a Daddy (Mommy). You're too big! You're just a Daddy (Mommy)!" While he is distracted by the hilarious thought of us in his high chair, he usually climbs right in or lets us put him in.

2) When he's reluctant to eat I'll say "Hey! Is that a giraffe in your mouth? Does the giraffe want a bite?" and he thinks it's pretty fun to feed the giraffe in his mouth so he'll open up.

3) Similar to #2, we pretend we see animals (giraffes, monkeys, hippos) in his mouth that we have to get with his toothbrush. Works every time. Sometimes Noah will chime in with an animal he thinks is in there.

4) If I've had it at the end of the day and I just don't have it in me to do dinner and bath, or if it's getting too late, I'll put Noah in the bathtub and feed him dinner while he's in there. This was also a life-saver during the phase where Noah would eat basically nothing. He would be distracted enough by bath toys that he would let me spoon-feed him in the tub. (His pediatrician thought I was absurd for doing this and he's probably right, but it's hard to accept that they don't want food when they can't communicate yet and you know they haven't eaten a thing! And I definitely didn't want him waking up at night cause he was hungry).

Well, to quote Ben, "I'm sure there are others (seems like we use them all the time) but can't think of others off the top of my head."