I agree with the curtain and the toys/books by the bedside. Also, what we did was set an alarm clock, so they know that unless that alarm is sounding they should NOT be out of bed.

Good luck. No one wants to be up with toddlers that early :-) 

This is an interesting topic, and I think one you need to REALLY REALLY consider before you commit to it. What has already been said here is a great cautionary tale.

I am ALL for natural options, but you REALLY need to do your research about the facility where you may opt to do this.

My husband is a hospital administrator and the hospital here in town has banned VBAC for two reasons which I'll go into in a minute. The truth however is that a woman in labor can choose what she wants, so even though the hospital's policy is not to allow VBAC it is against the law for the hospital to FORCE a laboring woman to undergo surgery (i.e. c-section).

Now I have several friends whom the OBs or midwives have told them this little piece of info, so they go into labor and insist on VBAC and the hospital must let them. 

Here's why the hospital has banned VBAC (and if you live in a smaller community or are delivering at a smaller hospital you should really find out details). 1. liability (of course) 2. The crew (i.e. surgery support staff (surgical nurses and anasthesiologists) that is on hand in the middle of the night or weekends is not adequate to support this surgery, those people are all on call, which means it could take up to 30 minutes to get the appropriate people into the hospital. Statistics show that in emergency deliveries, the magical number is 7 minutes. So waiting 30 minutes for the appropriate personnel when all you have (with lives on the line) is 7--those numbers don't sound so good to me.

If you live in an urban area this however may not be the case, but if you're considering this you really ought to find out.

Good luck in your decision. Be informed! 

I live in Colorado. Where are you guys heading? We live on the Western Slope (Durango).

My oldest has been in preschool here and my middle child starts this fall. We love where we live. 

Good luck! If you're heading out this way I can certainly tell you alot about the area, but if you guys are looking at the Denver/Colorado Springs area, it's so different from where we are. 

I also smoked for a couple of years. I was a college runner and when all my friends were "trying new things" I never did because I was so dedicated to running. The day I quit Division I athletics was the day I started smoking. Just to be rebellious, I guess. I was 19, maybe 20.

At 22 my grandmother died of lung cancer and I never picked up a cigarette again and I don't think I ever could. After having children I have truly come to know how precious life is, and I don't want to waste anymore of it.

Smoking is one of my biggest regrets. I will never do it again. 

Can you medicate??

No, I'm totally joking! I wish I had some sort of advice for you. My good friend is leaving from here in Colorado for Michigan with her 3 kids and she has a whole "car bag" packed, with every kind of drawing game, "where's waldo" books, DVDs, stories on CD, etc.

 Good luck and safe travels!

My second child required swaddling until she was ridiculously old! Have you ever heard of the Swaddle-Me? It's $10 online, and if you live in a normal town with normal stores you can find it at Babies-R-Us, or any other baby store. We live in the wilderness, so we can only shop online, but I bet you could find it just about anywhere.

It's a little blanket that velcros your child into a swaddle (the way I am describing it it sounds weird, but it's fabulous). My child could NEVER unswaddle herself, so she actually slept. It took finding this to get her to nap, and we were so relieved.  

This happened to one of my friend's little boys and it turned out he had a blockage. I guess at some point he had held his poop, which created some sort of partial blockage. After that he would have either "rabbit turds" as my friend described them, or diarhhea. Either way, because his body wasn't functioning properly he didn't have complete control over his bowels, and had a ton of probs. It was a long-term, but fairly simple and painless rememdy once they diagnosed the prob.

Good luck! 

I think a firm "no" to a biting 14 month old will solve the problem. At 14 months, I doubt this kind of biting is really indicative of anything other than getting teeth, or not knowing that he shouldn't be doing that.

I bet it will stop soon. 

Lisa, I agree with you too. I see so many little girls dressed so trendy (and in clothes that I think are too tight and short) and I can't stand the idea that my little ones want to look like they're 10, when they're 5.

My favorite places to shop (you have to do it online, I don't know if they have stores) for my little ones are Hanna Andersson and Mini Boden. Their clothes are ADORABLE, but totally modest. The girls dresses (which are the only things my girls will wear-dresses) are typically pretty long, but still what I would think you could consider stylish, FOR A CHILD!

Tomorrow my family is leaving on a trip, we're flying to Florida and BOY DO I HATE AIRPLANES. I have spent my whole life traveling, but since I have had kids I am terrified. I am at peace with the idea of what death means, so I don't know why getting on a airplane freaks me out like it does.

Has anyone ever seen the movie, Garden State with Natalie Portman and Zach Braff? The movie opens with his dream of being on an airplane and the plane's crashing in slow motion. Next to him is a mother with a baby that's screaming and everyone on the plane is just resigned to what's happening. I can't get this vision out of my head.

I think it's a total control issue for me. Also, once we get to an airport where they have JETS, not just these little propellar jobbies, I tend to calm down a little.

The last time I flew without my husband we flew in a plane with an open c*ckpit (it censored this word for me-too funny) it (I guess they don't worry about national security on an 8 seater) and I watched the pilots land the plane-it was all over the place-he couldn't even keep the runway in his sights. My father, who is a retired naval flight officer assured me this was normal on such a little plane-STILL!!!!

As you may have figured out by now, I'm completely NUTS about this, my husband is mortified to get on a plane with me (and I can't say I blame him) because I am such a basketcase about this specific situation.

Any words of advice from those of you that may experience a similar breakdown when it comes to flying. Anything! I need the help.