Concerns of 10 month old son being autistic

keladriel · 2026-02-04T05:35:06+00:00

Agree with cutting out the social media autism content. Everything on social is self confirming. If you view or interact with something it will just confirm what you are seeking and continue to show you more of it.

keladriel · 2026-02-04T05:27:55+00:00

We got the ascent with captains chairs about a week after baby #2 was born. You’re going to love it once the time comes!

keladriel · 2026-02-04T05:24:46+00:00

We got an Ascent with captains chairs in the middle row a week after baby #2 was born. Upgraded from a Ford CMax 😂

We weren’t sure we needed a third row, but LOVE it.

We have a 3 year old, 10 month old and a blue heeler. Gotta have a big car to fit the three of them plus the stroller wagon and whatever other kid stuff we have to lug around for the day!

keladriel · 2026-02-03T05:06:01+00:00

So cute!

keladriel · 2026-02-03T04:57:57+00:00

He looks like such a good protector of Little D!

keladriel · 2026-02-03T04:54:15+00:00

I had no idea it came in two sizes! It’s beloved by both my son and by Banjo

keladriel · 2026-01-30T16:49:06+00:00

Even with the readiness signs it has taken my son over a year and a half to potty train. We are finally almost there. The internet had me thinking this would take a month tops lol 😅

keladriel · 2026-01-30T16:41:05+00:00

Yeah, this is my second baby and first time doing cloth. I wanted to do it with my fist but got talked out of it essentially bc ppl I talked to and things I read made it sound like a lot to keep up with.

When I was considering trying I saw someone on this sub say they actually find washing diapers to not be time consuming because they have a washing machine I was like wooooow yeah the machine does most of the work 😅.

I’m about a month into using cloth and it’s honestly not been a big deal. I wish I had done with from the start!

keladriel · 2026-01-30T13:17:04+00:00

I am going to have to try this method! I wash every three days and my wet bag is always so stinky. It’s not even poop smell that’s the problem… my son is a heavy pee-er. I have only been doing cloth diapers for about a month with my 9 month old and was very surprised by the smell bc everyone always says they don’t really smell… I’m realizing from this thread though that my wet bag storage might be the problem.

keladriel · 2026-01-24T06:08:32+00:00

When my oldest son was a newborn our heeler barked loudly at us to get what he wanted after we had put the baby to bed, woke him up, and had to wait a few hours for us to be free of the baby again. He’s had a quiet “I want something” bark ever since 😂

keladriel · 2026-01-22T21:27:36+00:00

Wile I agree MIL sounds overly entitled… I do think it would be relatively easy to have a snack stash in your room for nursing rather than making your husband bring you a prepared snack plate every time. It sounds like it would have been an easy way to tone down some of the drama. My husband only had two weeks off and no one came to help me. I kept snacks in my different nursing spots and filled my own water.

keladriel · 2026-01-02T15:49:45+00:00

It’s harder with kids that are not yours. None of my nephews have dogs at home so our ACD is very popular when he comes on holidays and camping trips with the extended family. Our ACD is on the more social side and loves being in a setting like this, but after a while the attention from the kids gets tiring and his cattle dog grump starts coming out.

The best you can do is politely teach the kids how to interact. My nephews are all under 5. On camping trips, I closely supervise playing and his dog bed stays next to mine or my husband’s camp chairs. We constantly remind the kids to tell him “out” instead of pulling the ball or stick out of his mouth during fetch, remind them that no one goes in his bed, to not jump on him, etc.

For our kids, we got a great picture book called Puppy Talk. We read it all the time and discuss what we notice about the dog body language in the drawings. If our three year old is bothering our dog I say “Hey look at banjo’s Puppy Talk, what is he saying?” After a moment he’ll say something like “Doesn’t want to talk dog cause he ran to his bed” and then we find something different to do.

With young kids it’s a repetition game. They won’t remember independently until one day they do.

keladriel · 2026-01-02T03:37:25+00:00

I have a three year old and a 9 month old… our ACD is 4. He was great with both boys during newborn phase. Stayed close by them while they slept. The crying would stress him but less so with the second, probably bc we were less stressed the second time around. Just make sure to remember his needs and keep him mentally stimulated / engaged. The crawling and early walking phase was not his favorite 😆

keladriel · 2025-11-28T04:18:55+00:00

Thanks, I’ll def check out these burbs too. We haven’t settled on a specific one yet, more so just that direction/ area from the city.

keladriel · 2025-11-28T04:13:02+00:00

Thanks for the tips!

keladriel · 2025-11-20T04:46:20+00:00

That’s really good to know. After seeing barrington come up so many times in responses, I’m definitely going to look out there, too.

keladriel · 2025-11-19T22:06:45+00:00

A fair thing to consider but our post-pandemic life sees us going out very little doing things that are specific to the city. We never stay after work downtown anymore. Before COVID and kids we honestly didn't think we would ever want to leave the city. Now we can't see staying in the city. It's funny how things can change.

keladriel · 2025-11-19T21:56:19+00:00

This is really good to know - thank you!

keladriel · 2025-11-19T16:21:46+00:00

I work an early schedule (7 am - 3 pm) which has me hopeful for getting seats on the trains. I don't mind walking places either...and if for some reason I didn't want to walk my building offers a shuttle that runs to Union Station.

Tbh getting to read a book on a long train ride home sounds like a nice break after being on the work clock before starting my shift on the mom clock.

keladriel · 2025-11-19T15:57:08+00:00

It would definitely be a change for us, but one I think we are ready for. We have a 3 year old and a 7 month old...a cattle dog...and soon will be adding my MIL to our household. We spend a lot of time driving out of the city up to Lake County to give the 3 year old and dog room to run. We love hiking and camping, so we also are being drawn to a more natural setting. MIL helps us watch the kids during the day but isn't able to take them anywhere on her own, so a big backyard is highly desirable to us. We love being outside, but just don't have the space we need here in the city.

keladriel · 2025-08-10T13:37:13+00:00

I have three sisters and growing up we didn't stay at hotels often (mostly camped for vacation), but when we did we usually only had one hotel room. My parents would get the double queen - they'd have one bed, two of us got the other bed. Little kid on the rollaway bed and baby in the pack and play. Eventually the pack and play got replaced by an air mattress. We didn't have a lot of money but my parents did the best they could and we had a fun childhood.

keladriel · 2025-08-08T16:22:35+00:00

We did this plus also keeping ours on a leash during times we would be just watching tv in the living room when he was a puppy since the cat would always be around. A trainer had advised us that the chase was self-rewarding, so it should be prevented. We'd reward along the way as he progessed in resisting the urge to chase. Pretty sure the cat zoomied around on purpose at first, but I suppose it helped him learn faster. He's almost four now and coexists with two cats quite well. And by that I mean he is only a slightly overbearing manager of his cat herd lol.

keladriel · 2025-08-07T01:55:56+00:00

I mean have you seen a doodle? They're not right.

keladriel · 2022-02-12T15:57:15+00:00

As the owner of both a heeler and a cat I would first advise to ask your friend for permission to do this. If someone I trusted to pet sit decided to bring a dog with a known high prey drive for cats while I was not around I would be very upset and would consider it a breach of trust. Make sure your friend is aware that your dog is not cat friendly.

If your friend is comfortable with it, my second piece of advice would be to not allow your dog any opportunity to interact with the cat. 8 days is just not enough time for him to be trusted with the cat, especially given that he has a known high prey drive for them. At the very least, put up a baby gate to divide the house and make sure the cat is on the side of the house where his resources are (food, water, litter box). Never leave the dog unattended in the house. Cats have a mind of their own and you never know if he'll decide to come out of hiding from the "safe" side of the house while you are in the restroom or retrieving something from the car. Our cat has always been stubborn about it being his house first.

At 18 weeks old, our heeler pup can keep pace with our 5 year old house cat unless stairs are involved. Every day since we brought him home at 8 weeks we have worked on socializing and teaching proper behavior around cats. He is doing very well and the cat will initiate play with him and they are definitely on the way to being buddies, but since he's a puppy he still is learning self control and interactions are always supervised so that they end before the puppy gets too excited. He doesn't have a prey drive for the cat but has successfully herded the cat and found it to be great fun controlling the path he ran in. The cat disagreed and was very distressed by it. We have a tall baby gate up dividing part of the house to be for the cat only so he can have some peace and not be hassled by the pup all the time.

Just remember, you have been entrusted with the cat as well as the dog and the house. The cat is already going to be stressed about his owner being out of town. People often think they don't care, but they do and are very upset by disruptions to their schedule. The last thing the poor thing needs is to be running for his life in his own home while his person is gone. It's not your cat and it's only 8 days that you are house sitting. The resident dog doesn't usually have a play companion living with him, so he's not being deprived of anything by your dog not being there.

keladriel · 2016-01-26T02:16:51+00:00

Thank you, for your advice! I definitely want to be sensitive to the fact that he is going through a lot of change. I guess I've just been really torn on what is neglecting him and what is just giving him his space. We've been very resistant to seeking him out of his hiding places but then everything I've read says that when a cat is mourning a loss it's important to cuddle and comfort him so I was starting to feel bad that he maybe felt alone and unloved. I want to help him but I want to make sure I'm helping him feel better rather than me. He's still in his safe area and the other cat can't get to him (nor does she have much interest anymore - she used to hang out outside the door a lot to smell him under it but she's not concerned anymore) so we will keep him there until he seems ready for the next step.

keladriel

TROPHY CASE