Toddler Archives - Page 2 of 13 - Life with Gremlins

How to Keep Kids from Unbuckling

We’re driving down the road, rocking out to some kid-appropriate beats, headed for the park on a sunny afternoon. And suddenly, a tiny blond head pokes up beside me. I knee-jerk swerve to the side of the road, causing said golden noggin’-ed toddler to go flinging into the front seat beside me. That was the first time my son unbuckled his own seat belt, and, unfortunately, it wasn’t the last. 51 percent of children can unbuckle themselves. 75 percent of those kids are toddlers. 100% of parents aren’t thrilled about that while driving. Don’t worry though, we have some simple suggestions to keep your child from unbuckling.

How to you stop a child from unbuckling their seat belt or car seat straps?

Prevention Gadgets:

In light of those 51 percent of children who at some point unbuckled their own straps while their parents were driving, it’s no surprise that there are actually anti-seat belt removal products available.

Seat belt buckle guards: These simple plastic covers fit over your seat belt’s buckle, making it impossible for the release button to be pressed. You can get different versions to fit the various buckles on different vehicles.

Seat belt removal alarms: This small attachment lets off an annoying sound when the seat belt is unbuckled. They work both to alert you that your child is escaping, and to scare younger children into stopping what they’re doing. Some previous versions of this have been discontinued, but there is a new model out now. If you have a car-seat-aged escape artist, there are also smart car seats these days that do the same thing.

Strap clips and other hints: You can also purchase clips that hold the front straps close to your child’s neck in the case of car seats so they can’t simply slip out of the car seat without unbuckling. If you have a child who is making a habit of escaping from their seat, and you don’t already have a 5-point harness cart seat, it’s recommended you switch over. Five-point car seats offer more straps that prevent that little wiggling out routine many kids do.

Distraction Tactics:

On top of just making escape nigh impossible, it also helps to distract from the desire to escape. A busy child in the car is also far quieter than a bored child in the car.

Magic markers: Crayola makes marker kits that will write only on the special paper that comes with the kit. Personally, I feel the paper is too expensive for regular in-home use, but for a car trip, keeping a clipboard version works well to keep kids busy drawing. As the markers only work on the special paper, your child can’t draw on the windows, seats, and ceiling of your vehicle while you are predisposed driving and can’t stop them either.

Bubbles: You can find small no-spill bubble kits for a few dollars in most department stores. I have yet to find a kid who isn’t entertained by bubbles. The no-spill means no mess, and as most littles are less than adept at bubble blowing, generally they spend more time working on blowing a few bubbles than actually blowing any, so your car likely won’t be covered in soap. Older kids particularly enjoy letting them fly out the window.

Travel games: Magnet-based simple games like chess or shoots and ladders can also be a great distraction if you have a multi-kid car. Alternately, you can try playing games with your kids while you drive such as I Spy. Most typical road trip games can be altered to fit various developmental levels, and even teach things such as colors, numbers, and shapes in the process.

Tablets: Usually, I try to avoid recommending electronics for kids, but on any road trip longer than 10 minutes or so, a cheap tablet with some educational games does wonders for all ages. I’m particularly found of Amazon’s Kindle fire. You can get the basic version with offers for about $50 (though there are frequent sales), throw the case of your choice on there, and your seat belt worries will likely be over.

Car toys: The above are just a few ideas that worked well for my children. What will work for you will really depend on your child. Some kids love toys trucks, others like coloring. Find a toy your child can play with for 10-15 minutes without becoming bored, and make it a “car toy.” This means your toddler only gets to use the toy while in the car, and won’t likely tire of it. It is a good idea, however, to change out your “car toy” every now and then.

Have an idea not on our list? We’d love to hear your tips in the comments section for keeping kids from unbuckling their seat belt as well!

How to Help Kids Learn to Wipe Their Butt

“Mommmmmm! Wipe my butt!” Ah, the glamorous life of parenthood. You know, I felt sort of cheated with my first spawn. We plugged away at potty training, finally ditched diapers, and I thought my days of poop duty were over until spawn 2.0 came around, that is until the first time I was beckoned to the bathroom to wipe a butt. Not enough parents talk about the fact that lots of toddlers have trouble wiping even after potty training. Now well into spawn 4.0, I have found a few things seem to help kids learn to wipe after they use the toilet—though sadly you’ll probably still be washing out some skid marks for awhile…. Speaking of which….

Just when should a kid be able to wipe their own butt?

Like many milestones butt wiping has quite the range. Some kids get it from get-go (not very many), while others struggle with it up into grade school, but school really is the decider. Even preschool teachers are likely going to decline a holler from the bathroom to wipe a butt. This means the ability to wipe one’s butt is a milestone that you don’t want so much to just let happen on its own time, because ideally, your child should have it mostly down by age 4 to 5 depending on when you intend to start school. If your child takes their sweet time, don’t feel too bad, our 6-year-old still preferred to wash his butt in the tub until just a few months back.

Okay, so how are you going to get your child wiping their own butt by age 4?

-Be instructional from the beginning. From the very start of potty training explain to your kiddo how you’re wiping and why. Show them how to hold the paper, which direction to wipe, that they can stand if they need to, that they need to keep wiping until the paper comes back clean, as well as how much toilet paper they really need, and how to properly wash their hands afterward. You’d be surprised how the simple things we don’t really think about as adults can trip up a child learning. Once they get more familiar with the potty and using it, let them wipe, but stand by and supervise at first. Walk them through it if needed until they have it down and just need more practice.

-Buy flushable wipes at first. Like the training wheels of butt wiping these things really are worth the slight expense. You can eventually phase them out, but they can be a great confidence builder. Unfortunately, these aren’t as flushable as implied, especially if you have a septic, so keep a small trash nearby.

-Make the bathroom easy to navigate. Make sure your child can do all their bathroom duties unassisted. This may mean things like a stool for the sink, easy to pump soap, and a simple toilet seat. My kids were not fans of the pick-up stair style chairs, but they loved the built in mini-seat, because it doesn’t look like baby seat and it was easy to use.

-Put a full-body mirror in the bathroom. If you put a mirror in the bathroom your kid can check their own crack for stragglers rather than calling you in to examine spread cheeks. It makes it easy for kids to check that they got it all, is what I mean.

-Offer rewards. The same way you (probably) resorted to some bribery to get your child to potty train, offer a reward for wiping properly—give a reason to try a little harder and skip lazy wipers. This might be the promise of some new cool undies, treats, stickers, whatever works for you. I found undies worked well because I could use character ones, then remind my son not to “get poop on Jake the Pirate.” This worked surprisingly well.

What if it just isn’t working? What do you do then?

-Troubleshoot. Find out if there is a reason your child is having trouble learning. Some kids are grossed out by their own poop (like my shower rinser). Others don’t have the coordination to reach around. Some may have underlying medical issues leading to leaks that make it look like they wipe poorly. Talk with your child, but be careful not to paint the issue as something they’ve done wrong (though some kids are just lazy wipers.)

-Increase the frequency of baths. This isn’t going to help your child learn to wipe, but it will help them smell better and suffer less itchy crack, rashes, and other unpleasantries.

-Make their teachers or care provider aware. If your child does hit school and still is a less than stellar wiper, quietly disclose that to their teacher. Let them know if your child may need a little extra toilet time or to bring a small bag with wet wipes along with them to the bathroom.

-Be patient. All in all the above might help, but it’s no guarantee your child’s going to get it. Be patient, and hang in there.

Kids, Cars, and Heat Stoke: What You Should Know

While leaving your child in the car for a moment is often a legal and moral conundrum in itself, the heat wave hitting the nation has added a new safety factor to the equation. Honestly, living in Alaska where typical weather does not top 70 degrees Fahrenheit or so, there have indeed been times that I have left a sleeping child in my car while stepping out to use a port-a-potty or run into a convenience store where I could see them through the glass. In areas such as mine that are now seeing record highs that residents just aren’t used to, the dangers of leaving an child in a car even for a short time may be unknown.

On average 37 children die of heat stroke or heat exhaustion in hot cars each year, with a total of 669 since 1998. The vast majority of those children– 97 percent–are under the age of 5 with 74 percent being younger than age 3.

How hot can a car get, and when does heat stroke become an concern?

A human being can suffer from heat stroke and die once the surrounding temperature reaches 104 degrees Fahrenheit. A child is more susceptible to heat stroke, because his/her central nervous system (which acts to cool the body in extreme heat) is not fully developed. A study from San Francisco State University found that in temperatures between 72 and 96 degrees a car will increase in heat by approximately 19 degrees in 10 minutes, 29 degrees in 20 minutes, 34 degrees in 30 minutes, and 43 degrees in an hour. That means on a sunny 80 degree day, it may take 20 minutes for a car’s interior to reach lethal temperatures, but in 100 degree heat, it would take mere minutes. The color of the vehicle’s interior may affect this rate. Numerous studies have shown cracking the windows to have little to no affect. Interior temperatures don’t increase at a steady rate either, rather they vary with the external temperature and rate at which the surfaces of the car absorb radiation.

What do you need to know about vehicular heat stroke?

To put it frankly, never leave your child alone in the car in exteme weather. If you absolutely must, leave the car and air-conditioning running and be as quick as possible. That being said, the majority of heat stroke deaths in children are not a result of parents intentionally leaving them in the car. In fact, only 17% are, while 54% are a result of children that were simply forgotten in the car, another 29% were playing in an unattended vehicle, and the remaining 1% are unknown. It’s easy to say, “Oh, I’d never forget my child,” but parenthood can be hectic. It can and does happen– even to parents who said, “I’d never..” It may help to always bring your child in first before groceries, your purse, etc (even if they are napping), refrain from answering calls or texts until you and your child are inside, and talk to your child often while driving.

To keep your child from sneaking into your car unattended, always keep your doors locked and your keys out of reach. You might also try some efforts to prevent toddler escapes.

Next, know the symptoms of heat stroke. These include dizziness, confusion, agitation, an overall sluggish appearance, dry, flushed skin without sweat that is hot to the touch, rapid heartbeat, hallucinations, seizure, and finally unconsciousness. In younger children, such as infants, some of these signs may be hard to spot.

If you suspect your child may be suffering from heat stroke, seek medical help immediately and make efforts to cool their body temperature. This may include removing clothing, applying cool water to the skin, offering cold drinks, cranking the AC, and so on.

Of course, heat stroke can happen outside of cars too. Remember to dress your child accordingly, use sunscreen, stay hydrated, and when not in the car, find cool places to escape the heat as often as possible. Avoiding strenuous activity in peak-heat hours is also recommended.

It’s hot outside, be safe.