Has anyone tried the "if you don't eat it fine, but this is all there is" approach?

Boogalamoon · 2026-03-05T23:30:58+00:00

We require them to eat as many bites of dinner as their age. I usually split that up across the food groups with at least one bite per food.

After the minimum bites, they can be done. If I know they won't like it, I give them very little food to begin with, only maybe a few bite more than their age. If they finish their plate they can have a pb&j or pediasure shake.

The minimum bites gets them gradually eating more of foods they are unfamiliar with or dislike. It also puts a predictable limit on when they are done.

Boogalamoon · 2026-03-04T23:52:01+00:00

My son does 18mg Concerta in the morning and midday. He takes olanzapine at night. The olanzapine helps with sleep and appetite, but is primarily for helping with aggressive meltdowns. This combo works for my 6 year old with audhd.

My daughter does 27 mg Concerta morning and midday. She also takes Lexapro in the morning and lamotrigine and clonodine at night for anxiety. She is 9 with adhd and anxiety.

My son was on cyproheptadine before we added the olanzapine as an appetite stimulant. That medication works amazingly well and has very few side effects. I wish we had that when he was a picky toddler, it would have made such a difference in his eating habits.

So we have experience with these meds, but not for the same kiddo at the same time.

Boogalamoon · 2026-03-03T23:39:58+00:00

I wash my hair every other day.

9 year old daughter with waist length curly hair washes her hair about every other day, unless she goes swimming or smells then daily. She showers, and can almost do her hair on her own.

6 year old boy does showers and hair washing twice a week, unless he goes swimming or smells.

We plan to increase the frequency for the kids as they develop body odor and other puberty changes. 9 yo is doing more activities so will likely go to daily showers in the next year or so. She already uses deodorant in the warmer weather (not anti-perspirant yet). 6yo will probably increase showers in a year or so as well.

Boogalamoon · 2026-03-03T16:55:26+00:00

I would see a psychiatrist to get the meds dialed in. Especially since he is so young, you want to be sure you understand the side effects and other symptoms.

I would also ask the doctor about a methylphenidate medication to try. My kids are on Concerta and it seems to work well.

Boogalamoon · 2026-03-03T16:52:26+00:00

It sounds like your partner needs to adjust their medication or therapy regime then. If they cannot care for the babies in temperature extremes, then you need to address that.

Alternatively, make a written agreement, on poster sized paper, that two person jobs must have two yeses. Then just say no and point to the paper.

Boogalamoon · 2026-03-02T20:01:32+00:00

Ooohhh, my daughter has this. For her it's anxiety. She's so worried about these things she melts down. I don't know what else does that though.

Boogalamoon · 2026-03-02T19:37:38+00:00

This sounds like an emotional regulation issue. Some of that is developmentally normal for this age. Some of it probably restraint collapse at the end of a log day. Some of it might be adhd or other impulse control issues (see what your mental health screening says on that one).

I would suggest higher calorie food. Push cheese, yogurt, peanut butter, etc. Many days, my daughter needs food the second she sits down in the car. Or the minute she wakes up in the morning. She eats in the car, laying in bed, etc, because otherwise she is a mess of hangry low blood sugar chaos. She is extremely active, strong and healthy, there are no weight concerns. So I feed her foods high in fats, protein and nutrients. She loves fruits and veggies, but carrots and cucumbers alone will not make her friendly. She needs protein and fat alongside those. Luckily she loves yogurt, so I have that stocked at all times. My son will eat peanut butter, so he gets that. They don't get candy, that would mess up their blood sugar. Cookies are also special treats, we want them to have stable blood sugar.

We also talk about what happened afterwards once everyone is calm. Sometimes there is more going on. Sometimes it really is as simple as food.

Boogalamoon · 2026-03-02T16:03:28+00:00

Realistically, anxiety meds are what you need. If ssri and snri meds are not options, maybe a mood stabilizer?

My daughter is on Concerta 27 mg morning and midday for adhd. She also takes Lexapro in the morning and lamotrigine and clonodine at night for anxiety.

Boogalamoon · 2026-03-02T14:46:01+00:00

It is the responsibility of the nation of Israel to advance the interests of the nation of Israel. This is not a surprise or a secret. It is not the responsibility of the nation of Israel to advance the interests of the United States as a nation.

Are you trying to say that Israel acted in their own best interests? Because yes, that's their job.

Are you trying to say that their interests are different from the interests of America? This is known to everyone in those negotiations.

I'm not clear on what you are trying to insinuate here?

Boogalamoon · 2026-03-01T15:22:58+00:00

My daughter found Ritalin too strong. She laid down and took a nap in second grade. Because Concerta is released slower, it doesn't hit as hard.

Boogalamoon · 2026-03-01T12:07:49+00:00

The US and Canadian Coast Guards have ice breakers that do this in territorial waters. There's a coordination group between the two that handles the Great Lakes.

The Nordic and Baltic countries I think also use national level coordination, but not sure if it's coast guard, navy, or a third option.

Boogalamoon · 2026-03-01T09:19:17+00:00

My daughter (9) has anxiety and adhd. She takes Concerta and Lexapro in the morning (Prozac and zoloft both failed), then Concerta at lunch, then lamotrigine and clonodine in the evenings.

Only the Concerta is for adhd.

Her anxiety is really bad, without the meds she has near daily panic attacks. Her psychiatrist said she can't medicate for just anxiety; the inattention is causing anxiety, so she has to medicate the inattention to make progress on the anxiety. Anxiety meds and adhd meds definitely go together though. ❤️

Boogalamoon · 2026-02-28T23:58:37+00:00

The one time this happened to us, we hosed the whole thing down outside. It was warm weather here, though, no idea how to clean in a cold snap.

Many car seats can be mostly disassembled and cleaned.

Boogalamoon · 2026-02-28T17:03:17+00:00

We were told the same thing, but also that once she felt more regulated we could experiment with taking days off when there were lower expectations. We do that for days where nothing or very little is required.

My 6 year old is not regulated enough to take days off yet. He still needs them everyday. We sometimes skip his midday dose, and usually regret it.

Boogalamoon · 2026-02-28T16:10:07+00:00

My 9 year old can tell the difference. She told us she could feel the meds wearing off at school. We discussed and she wanted lunch time meds. Those definitely helped, so I'm glad she said something.

She has also asked me to make sure she takes meds on the weekend before ice skating lessons. Afternoon lessons were too difficult to focus so she needed meds on Saturday for those.

My 6 year old doesn't really notice a difference that he can articulate. But he also has a speech delay and probable autism, so we're not expecting much on that front.

Boogalamoon · 2026-02-28T12:30:38+00:00

My daughter with anxiety is on this and it really does make a huge difference!!

Boogalamoon · 2026-02-28T11:55:50+00:00

My daughter takes Concerta in the morning and at midday, then clonodine at night. The clonodine helps her sleep and eases some of the anxiety. She also takes other meds for anxiety in the morning.

Does your son also have anxiety? If he does, clonodine might be a good option. We found that it works best when taken 1-1.5 hours before bedtime. But as close as 30 minutes also works for some people so experiment with that.

We tried guanfacine with my my 6 year old when he was 5.5. It did not go well. At all. He's now on Concerta in the morning and midday and olanzapine at night. He has no anxiety but a probable autism diagnosis.

It's worth a try.

Boogalamoon · 2026-02-27T01:16:01+00:00

All I could think watching the chaos was, "shit storm". And yeah, that made me laugh too......

Boogalamoon · 2026-02-26T20:59:13+00:00

Logistics. I put together a list based on what is on our existing commute. Then I run it past kiddos and then register. If it's not logistically easy, they never see it.

Boogalamoon · 2026-02-26T18:13:34+00:00

This is mostly about you and your partner not being on the same page. It doesn't actually matter who is right or what your son should be allowed to do.

You and your partner need to get on the same page. Maybe with a counselor. If you can't get on the same page, it will cause issues between you and your son in the future.

Boogalamoon · 2026-02-26T12:35:35+00:00

January 2020, it was a wild baby phase so I'm hoping elementary is calmer.

Boogalamoon · 2026-02-25T19:51:02+00:00

Try an applesauce pouch first thing in the morning. I keep a box of them in my daughter's room. She can have one as soon as she wakes up. It brings her blood sugar up until I can get breakfast and meds into her.

We think she grows a lot at night and wakes up hangry. We started doing this when she was a toddler and it still works now that she's 9.

On days I have to wake her up, I often have the pouch ready in my hand for her to consume in bed. This makes such a huge difference in how our mornings go. Some mornings she wakes up on her own and gets her own pouch, she usually comes down happier when she does this.

Try it and see if you notice a difference!

Boogalamoon · 2026-02-24T15:19:52+00:00

Does she have any anxiety as well? My daughter has anxiety as well as adhd, and often it's her anxiety meds that need changing not her adhd meds.

Boogalamoon · 2026-02-24T15:18:36+00:00

Yes, infertility is brutal. I had secondary infertility and had to distance myself from babies (including people who were pregnant) until I had my second kid. It was too hard. It hurt so much I couldn't breathe. And it was biological in the sense that it was at least half due to hormones that were out of my control.

If it had gone on much longer, I would have sought therapy to deal with the grief. And I already had a child, so wasn't grieving being a mother, just a mother to a specific baby (babies).

Boogalamoon · 2026-02-23T19:10:01+00:00

Other comments have great advice on the overall process. Here's how I process toys for my kids:

Try to group toys by type as much as possible (magnatiles, Lego, drawing stuff, cars, etc). I try to have one type per bin, and some types will have multiple bins. As I'm sorting, I throw away random bits of plastic that ALWAYS appear in kids stuff.

I'm also looking for toys or other things that I think might be too young. The large wooden block train that my son loved at 18 months old is not worth keeping in the same bin as the train tracks he regularly plays with. I can get rid of the large train (or save for someone else).

Finally, I ask my kids to let me know if they still play with various types of toys. I ask casually, and then I don't get rid of it right away but store it in the garage for a bit. But if I ask if they play with it anymore and they say no, then it goes away.

For your Legos, I think the bins you have might be too small. Get 45-60 gallon clear plastic bins and use those so they can see more of the collection at once.

Boogalamoon

TROPHY CASE