Big Fat Positive podcast episode 90: Toddler on the Move: Running, Climbing, Escaping

Toddler on the Move: Running, Climbing, Escaping – Ep. 90

March 23, 2020

Listen Now:

In the special segment “It Takes a Village,” Laura and Shanna ask each other and listeners for help with parenting dilemmas they are currently facing. Also, Shanna talks about her toddler’s recent word explosion, and Laura discusses her toddler’s progress toward dropping down to one nap a day. Finally, the moms reveal their BFPs and BFNs for the week. Shanna’s toddler is 14 months and one week old, and Laura’s toddler is 13 months and 2 weeks old.

This episode’s show notes – https://bigfatpositivepodcast.com/ep-90/ | Get social – Instagram – https://www.instagram.com/bfppodcast/ | Facebook – https://www.facebook.com/groups/bigfatpositivepodcast/ | Email – [email protected] | Our mom-tested ultimate baby registry list – https://bigfatpositivepodcast.com/registry/

Show Notes:

This episode's sponsors:

Episode Transcript

Laura

Hi, welcome to Big Fat Positive with Shanna and Laura. This week, we have our weekly check-ins. We have our special segment. It takes a village where we talk about a potential big life change for Shanna. And we close with our BFPs and BFNs for the week. Let's get to it. Hey everyone, welcome to the show. This is episode 90. Hello, Shanna. Hi. What's been going on with you? How old is your toddler?

Shanna

My toddler is 14 months and one week, and we recovered from last week where she was very sick, and I was sick, and her fevers were spiked, right? So Cici's feeling a lot better. Oh, good. Yes, just her mood is back up. No fevers. The cough is gone. That amoxicillin, what you call pink gold, Pink gold. Oh my God. God bless it. I'm just like so grateful that that is behind us. Knock on wood, everyone in the house is well right now. So yay. That's amazing. Yes, yes. An interesting thing I noticed though that I wanted to bring up to you because I know that you like that book, Burnout. Is that what it's called? Yeah, Burnout by the Nagoski, Nagoski sisters. Yeah, Amelia and Emily. Is that right? That sounds right. Now I did not read it all. I read some of it because it's hard for me to finish books these days.

But what I remember about the beginning of it is they talk about the distinction between the stress you feel and the stressor, like the thing that causes the stress. The stressor can end, but that feeling, the stress feeling in your body can continue until you finish that cycle. Right?

Laura

The stressor is an external thing that causes the stress. The stress is an internal physiological response inside your body. That doesn't necessarily go away when the stressor goes away.

Shanna

Right. And this experience has been a perfect example of that for me because I mentioned I had a really hard time with everything last week, and now she's better, and all of that stressor is gone and over, but I cannot recover. I am at a heightened state of alert. The stress is there constantly. I'm feeling very anxious.

I don't know what to do to make it stop. Obviously, I'm feeling happier, but I can feel that stress response still coursing through my body.

Laura

Well, if you don't have time to read the book, I have realized that they put out a podcast.

Shanna

No way, really?

Laura

Yes. Oh, that sounds brilliant. And I really want to get them on the show. Like, this is one of my goals. Oh, my gosh. How cool would that be? OK, so their podcast is called The Feminist Survival Project 2020. And it's a lot of the stuff in the book, right? So they go through every episode and kind of talk about, like, basically a chapter in the book. And so you can listen to it. Let's see. See all episodes. So episode one is called separate the stress from the stressor.

Shanna

Oh, my God.

Laura

Right. But perfect. Episode two is called complete the stress response cycle. And they go through, I think it's 10 concrete ways you can actually complete the stress response cycle.

Shanna

OK.

Laura

So you need to go listen ASAP.

Shanna

OK. Oh, I'm sorry.

Laura

It's a dozen. And there are wide range. You know, like the classic one is go for a run. But that's something I'm never going to do.

Shanna

In my old life, 100%, that would always make me feel better, or just some kind of hard cardio exercise, because I like that kind of thing. But now I just can't. I just don't do that anymore. So yeah, I need another way.

Laura

Yeah. So they have lots of other ways. So I think you should go listen and report back, see if it helps.

Shanna

Oh, I really hope it does. And yes, I will report back. But it's been very interesting for me to see that situation ended, but the situation brewing in my body didn't.

Laura

Is it helping at least to recognize it? Like I feel like, yeah, yeah, because I feel like a lot of times when you're anxious or stressed, you're like, oh, why? Why? I should be able to just bounce back. I should just be able to get over it. And when you realize, no, your body needs you to do something about this or else it's going to stick around. It's like, oh, OK. It's not just my resilience. It's my body needs me to do this. It's like, I got to pee. You can't just like, you're like, oh, my blood is so full. How am I going to fix it? Wait longer.

Shanna

Just buck up. Yeah, I'll be fine. Yeah. Yeah, it really does. I love that distinction and I love being able to recognize it in my life and it makes me feel like maybe I'll have a little more control instead of just wallowing in these ambiguous feelings. That's great. Yeah, so that's really cool. The other thing this week is just a fun little update with CECE. My theory is always that her language skills take a backseat when she's sick or working on a motor skill. And it usually pans out, like once she starts feeling better, there's more of a language explosion. So I was really relieved to see that this week, like, She's been really interested in learning words and stuff. So just a couple words. She's been saying ball. She's really, really, really into balls. You know, anytime she sees a ball, she knows which books of hers have balls in them. She'll go and find the book and be like, bath.

She loves her bath. Mood, just like your guys. So she sees a cow. And she knows eyes, ice, ice. Oh, that's a cute ice nose. Yeah, it's so cute. And another cute thing she's done is my mom, her Nana, taught her this. She was, Nana was trying to teach her Nana, right? So she would touch her own chest and say Nana, and then touch Cece's chest and go Cece and say her name. And then Nana, Cece. And Cece picked up on that immediately. So now whenever she hears her name, she touches her chest like that's me that's me and like she'll touch me and go mama yeah touch daddy and go dad dad it's like where's mama and she'll touch my chest and then i'm like cece and she touches her own and it's just oh god it's cute and i wanted to share that little delight after the storm

Laura

Oh, Nina. It's easy. Yeah.

Shanna

Oh, yeah. She does say Nana. She says pop pop. Like I said, I don't have a list going. So who knows? And they come in and out like last week. It was like, row, row, row. And, you know, this week it's, she doesn't care about row, row, row as much. So it's interesting to see what comes and goes. Oh, that's so cute.

Laura

I love little baby words. I also love when they don't quite get them right.

Shanna

Like I, oh, I know. I know. It's so cute. And like moo is more like moo.

And I think she says doggie now like Gigi Oh God don't ever change don't grow up to be 25 years old and be like

Laura

Look at that GGG at the park.

Shanna

It's like, what are you talking about? So that's it for me this week. What about you? What are you guys up to? How old's your toddler?

Laura

He is 13 months and two weeks and oh boy. Oh man.

Shanna

We're never on an upswing at the same time, it seems. This is why we never see each other. This is true. I don't think I've seen you since his birthday party.

Laura

I realized, no, we saw each other at our little friend, our other friend's birthday party, Jenny's baby. The day after your baby's birthday party. No, no, they had it the week later because they were out of town.

Shanna

Oh, right, right, right.

Laura

So it's been a whole extra week. Yeah, you're good. So, I mean, yeah, it's been a long time. And this week, our problem was he got his first, like, real tummy bug.

Shanna

No! Oh, God, you're going to make me talk about

Laura

No, I'm not because actually it was only the poops. He only had diarrhea. Oh, good.

Shanna

I could talk about poops all day long.

Laura

Yeah.

No, yeah, I was surprised because I was like getting emotionally prepared for there to be, you know, the thing that shall not be named for Shanna.

Shanna

But no, for the audience who doesn't know, she's talking about throw up. I'm a vomit phobe. I have a legit vomit phobia. I'm better now, but still like, you know, eeks me out. So.

Laura

Yeah, so we try not to talk about it in detail, but luckily we don't have to today because, you know, honestly, at first I thought it was like a virus or something, but now I think it might have just been something he ate, like working through his bowels in a unpleasant way, because it only lasted for like 36 hours and he was just like, extra cranky and wanted to like nurse nonstop but otherwise fine like he still was running around and had forceful of energy no fever or anything. That's good. Our forensic analysis of the poop made us think that maybe it was an old tangerine that he ate because I think a caregiver gave him

tangerine that had been sitting in a bowl like usually we keep our tangerines in the fridge and there was one sitting in a bowl and I think I saw like my nanny give it to him and I remember thinking like oh how old is that and then I was like oh whatever he's eating it how like how bad could it be oh gosh I mean I wouldn't think that a tangerine you'd think it'd be acidic enough that it wouldn't make you sick but who knows so hmm so that was not too fun that's not fun You know, and he had a couple poops in the middle of the night, so we had to, you know, be up in the middle of the night.

Shanna

Did he get diaper rash or anything from it?

Laura

No, thankfully. I mean, we were slathering the diaper cream on him because, you know, proactively, so that was good. But, you know, he managed to be okay. I think because he cried. Usually, he doesn't, like, let us know when he pooped. We have to look for it. But because I think these were so unpleasant, he let us know. And so it didn't sit on his skin very long. Yeah.

Shanna

Mm-hmm.

Laura

Yeah. And then he continues to struggle with having two naps. And I think I mentioned that I was going to do it for one more week, which was supposed to be this week. Yeah. But it's getting hard. He's been rejecting it. I'm just trying to get through this week so we can attend all of our noon classes that I had scheduled, and then we can switch to one nap. But it's really, like you said, it's so stressful because I never know if he's going to take the second nap. That means I never know if he's going to get enough sleep, that I'm all stressed out, and then he's all sick. That's been a bit of a drain on me this week because- Yeah. The feeling of watching the monitor and seeing if they'll settle is so stressful. And one of the days, I think he cried for like 30 minutes. And it wasn't straight crying, but it was like he'd cry. Then he put his head down.

And I'd be like, cool, I'd like start the timers like my nap tracking app. And then like a minute later, he'd be standing again in the crib. I'm like, oh, and then like I'd be giving him a minute to settle thinking, Maybe he'll settle and he does put his head down like oh great it was it's like a half hour of that and so yeah But at the end when I finally gave in was like look you're definitely not gonna nap I felt terrible for letting him cry for a half hour, but it's like Every time he was tricking me into thinking he was falling back asleep, and I wanted to give him a chance, you know, huh?

Shanna

Oh, that's so tricky.

Laura

So this is the afternoon nap or the morning nap? The afternoon nap. Morning nap, he's fine. And that's why I was like, oh, maybe he's not ready for one nap because by 9 30, he's like rubbing his eyes, like ready to start doing nap time routine. So I don't even know. But I think we just have to do it next week. And I kind of just made an executive decision and started signing him up for morning activities.

Shanna

How good, well, there you go. Starting next week, so. That'll help ease your transition too, because you seem to really want to hold on to those last few noon classes. So you can move into the morning classes. Oh, we're not giving up classes, Shanna. No, never, never. Overscheduled or nothing. You fit in perfectly in the LA mom life.

Laura

Yes, yeah. I just got to cart him around from thing to thing until he hates me for it. No, actually, we don't, we do like, maybe three things a week, which, you know, it can feel like a lot sometimes, but we make sure to have downtime. And honestly, he loves them. So yeah, that's how we do it.

Shanna

And it's not like you're forcing him to practice piano for three hours a day or something.

Laura

Not yet. No, just kidding. Anyway, so that's my week, but he's feeling better. His poops are back to normal. Everyone can be reassured by that. Good, good, good. We have survived our first tubby bug or whatever it was. Do you want to take a break and come back with our special segment? I do.

Shanna

We're back and we have this week's special segment. It takes a village where Laura and I need help in the parenting realms. We ask each other for advice and we're asking listeners to help us with advice on these couple things that we are struggling with right now. Laura, what is going on with you? What do you need some help and advice with? Okay.

Laura

So I need help with some, I don't know if it's discipline or just redirection. My specific problem is that my baby, now that he is walking really well, he likes to pick things up and run with them. And sometimes they're safe and sometimes they're not, but Like for example, if he finds the remote, he's so excited and he grabs the remote and we try to keep it out of his way, but you know, it'll end up in his hands one way or another. And then he runs with it. And if I try to like take it away, the remote is a specific problem because it's got like this weird sensor on it that brings a cursor up on the screen, like a bright pink cursor that my cat thinks is a laser pointer. So like I don't mind that much he turns the TV on but then he's running around and this later pointer like thing is moving around on the screen and my cat is trying to knock over our expensive flat screen TV.

Like a whole comedy of errors. I mean it's funny if it wasn't for you know the TV getting destroyed so and everyone gets upset because you know.

Cory really loves the TV, and the cat wants to pounce on the TV. Then the cat pounces on the TV, Cory gets upset at the cat. I get upset at Cory because I don't want him yelling at the cat. Meanwhile, this problem has not been solved because my baby is still running around gleefully with the remote.

That's one example. Another is like credit card, so like steal a credit card out of our wallet and sometimes I'll just let him run around with it. But there's often times where he'll get a thing he's really not supposed to have. Like for example, the top of pouches, right? That's a perfect example. Yeah. Those are choking hazards, right? And you do your best to keep them out of the reach of the babies, but somehow they find them no matter what. Like there's just, you know, you're not perfect. I'm not, I'm not perfect news flash. So I try to take it out of his hands and you can't do the whole like, I don't know. I have had no success doing the whole redirection thing being like, I see you want, you know, acknowledging the feeling. I see you have that, you have that cap in your hands, but you can't have it because it's a choking hazard.

So I'm going to take it and I'm going to give you this toy. No, that does not work. What happened? What does he do? I, if I try to grab it, he runs away laughing, like laughing hysterically. Like it's the funniest thing that's ever happened. And then he'll start to like move it towards his mouth. And if I try to get it from him, he starts hysterically laughing. And then I know that like my reaction is the thing that he's like laughing about, but I can't not take the choking hazard out of his hand, right? So I like sort of lurch towards him, try to get it. And then he bolts away laughing. And then when I finally get it, I have to basically, you know, pry it out of his hands. And then he loses his mind like oh no the whole toddler tantrum situation where he like

Flops not a full tantrum where he like literally can't get out of it, but like flopping on the floor his arms above his head, you know Like it's on his stomach kicking like I've ruined his life. Oh, yeah Meanwhile he's surrounded by every toy on the planet that's in his living room that you know the house is his thing But he wants this one thing And I just don't know what to do about it. I don't know how to handle it. Oh my gosh. What do you say when you're trying to take it from him? So, you know, I try to do the like, I see you want to play with that, but that's not a toy. That's unsafe. And so I have to take it from you because it's a choking hazard and then I try to give him another toy.

Shanna

Uh-huh.

Laura

Does not work.

Shanna

Man, that's so tricky. One thing I have learned, I think from the book, one of my favorite books, by the way, it's How to Talk So Little Kids Will Listen. I need to read that. Oh my God. Everyone keeps recommending it. It's really, really good. I read How to Talk So Kids Will Listen and Listen So Kids Will Talk. I've read that before, but that's a little for older kids. This one is geared towards younger kids. So it's really good. One thing, is fewer words, fewer words. They kind of respond better when you don't like, not to insult you, but blab on. And I do it too, I totally do it too. And I'm trying to think of like what I would do in the situation, not that I am any perfect expert or anything, but I think what I do is I grab it, I say, no, no, choking hazard. And like that's it. Like every time it's like, nope, choking hazard and just like take it.

I don't know if that will help, but sometimes I think just like the firmness and the lack of explanation kind of like seals in their mind that you mean serious business and like this ends immediately. Okay. And then yeah, I guess you do just got to kind of accept the tantrum until they move out of it that part. I never know what the hell do how to deal with that.

Laura

And then he does like, I'll try to pick him up to talk, you know, to like talk to him. Maybe I'm trying to talk to him too much, but like, I'll try to, you know, comfort him or something. And he does that like slippery fish thing where he like puts his arms up. How do they do that? It's like they basically dislocate their shoulders so that he can slip out of your grip and they're impossible to hold on to.

Shanna

I know, we call it going boneless. One of our favorite books by Mo Willems is about a little toddler and she's throwing a tantrum and he calls it going boneless. I'm like, oh, that's so perfect. Like they just like go like this limp noodle and it's so hard to freaking hold them when they're like that.

Laura

It's like the best defense mechanism designed to make it impossible to hold them. They know how to get under your skin, man. Oh, they do.

Shanna

It's such a young age too. It's like, dude, you've been alive one year and you've already like learned how to push my buttons. What? I think you're a genius. Yeah.

Laura

Oh, so that's what I need help with. Listeners have you successfully figured out how to redirect or just, I don't know, stop. a toddler from picking up freaking choking hazards and thinking it's a fun game to run away with them? We want to know. Yes, please. Let us know. We need help. Well, Laura needs help.

Shanna

I need help. Shanna. I need help with something else.

Laura

Yeah, so tell me what you need help with. What's going on?

Shanna

OK, so I have been obsessed with a current situation that's come up in my life. And it's gotten me a little bit freaked out and confused and in need of some advice. OK, we're here for you. We are looking to put our house on the market and sell it and move closer to work. So not out of the state, Laura, don't worry.

Laura

Oh, my heart was racing, Shanna. I hate that. I feel like every once in a while you threaten to move to Austin, Texas or like Portland. And I'm like, don't leave me, even though I haven't seen you since January.

Shanna

I know. We'd probably see each other more if we lived out of state. We'd be motivated to take vacations to see each other. So for a variety of reasons, mostly the commute, I know I work from home, but my husband works in the office and L goes to preschool at the preschool at work right so their commute is really long it's like 40 to 45 minutes each way and it just It's kind of taking a toll on the family. It's exhausting to do that. I did it for a while until I went on maternity leave. And I hated it. It would piss me off every day. Yeah, it's a long drive. It is a long drive. And I feel really bad that I'm subjecting my four-year-old to it. And then CeCe, when she's old enough, she's going to go there too, hopefully, so then she'll be subjected to it. And it's just long days.

So anyway, that's some of the mindset behind why we're moving and I just want to be closer really to like the neighborhoods that I'm used to living in LA and a little bit closer to my friends and stuff. I feel a little bit distant out here in the burbs. You live and learn, right? You make a decision, you try something out, you buy a big house a little far away and then realize maybe having a backyard isn't like the number one priority in my life anymore. Yeah.

Laura

And you need a master bathroom, man.

Shanna

Yeah. Oh, that's on my wish list. You better believe it. Yeah. Yeah. My current house for listeners who don't know, I don't have a master bathroom. So. You share it with the kids. I share it with the kids. Yeah. We have another bathroom, but it's on the other side of the house. Okay. So I'm finally leading up to what I really need help with. The whole move in selling the house, I'm kind of excited. I've moved probably 15 times in my life since leaving home. You guys are serial movers. You move all the time. Since I've met you, I think I've probably moved 10 times. I moved on average like two years.

Laura

Yeah, yeah.

Shanna

Yeah, it's really crazy.

Laura

I'm mentally going through all the places you've lived. That's a lot of places.

Shanna

A lot of apartments. A lot. For some reason, to put it in perspective, I was thinking, how many times have I moved since I got my dog Chili? Chilly has moved with us seven times. This is gonna be his eighth move with us. The dog is only, I've only had the dog like 10 years. It's just, it's bananas. So I'm a serial mover. And so part of it, that excites me. I like change and stuff, you know, and trying to improve what I'm dissatisfied with. So what's kind of freaking me out, though, is we want to move to a smaller place because the neighborhoods we're looking at are more expensive. So we'll probably be looking at a condo or a townhouse and fewer bedrooms. So my girls are probably going to have to share a bedroom. And I am freaking out about that. I just am not sure how that's going to go over. That's a really good question.

Laura

I mean, that's a consideration for us about like whether or not to have another kid because we have a two bedroom house. So like where would the other kid go? Yeah. But so many people share rooms.

Shanna

They do. And I'm trying to look through posts in my mom's group about people who've talked about this before because, you know, it's a common question, I think. And a lot of the moms are like, you know, they adjust better than you think they will. And seems to be like it's OK. Like a lot of people are living with this situation and it's all right. Yeah. Yeah. It's, it's okay. But like, how is bedtime going to go? I'll go to bed later than CeCe. CeCe's in a crib and it's just, there's so many unknowns. And Alice kind of still a little bit learning to be gentle with CeCe. She's kind of aggressive with her. Her jealousy, I think comes out. Sometimes she's a little too harsh with her, even though she loves her a lot. So I'm just like, oh my gosh. Is Cece gonna get thrown off the top of a bunk bed? I don't know. No, no.

Laura

I doubt it. They might think it's a fun adventure. Like I definitely think framing it that way for Elle would be important, right? Being like, how fun you get to share a room with your sister? Like, oh, you must have been so lonely in separate rooms.

Shanna

Oh, that's good.

Laura

Right? Yeah. You know, my brother and I voluntarily shared a room till I was like five, I want to say.

Shanna

Really? Oh, that's so cute.

Laura

Yeah. We didn't want to sleep in different rooms, so.

Shanna

Yeah, maybe that will. I mean, Elle definitely is a people person. She loves being around people. And I think that, yeah, she might like that. And I've already been like planting the idea of exciting bunk beds in her head, you know, and she's very excited about the idea of having a bunk bed. So yeah, that's what I need my village to help me out with this week, so please help.

Laura

Yes, if you want to let us know how to solve our problems, please get in touch. We are on Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook at BFPpodcast, or you can send us an email. You won't be great if you include a voice memo in that email to contact at BigBatPositivePodcast.com.

Shanna

All right, Laura, should we take a break and come back with our BFPs and BFNs? I think we should.

Laura

And we are back, so we close every show with our BigBat positives or BigBat negatives of the week. Shanna, do you have a BFP or a BFN for us?

Shanna

BFP. Yes. I mentioned in a previous episode that after going to your baby's first birthday party, I fell in love with that like fort buildable couch thing they had at the play area called the Nugget. The Nugget. Remember me?

Laura

Has the Nugget arrived? Yes.

Shanna

Oh my God. Okay, so for those of you who didn't hear that episode or forgot, it's this, it's like, it's two large long pieces of thick foam about 80 inches long and they both are foldable in the middle. So you can like lay them out like a couch or you can fold them up and make like walls of a fort. And then it comes with like these two foam triangle, like little cushion seats. So I fell in love with this thing, because I just love the idea of having something low on the ground that I can get down on the floor with the kids and being comfortable. Something that they can use their imaginations and build forts out of and stuff, especially Elle. Oh my God, she's just so physical and loves that kind of stuff. So right after your party, I went home, I looked up what this thing was, found it. It was in hot demand, and it was on back order.

And they were like, you have to wait 14 weeks for your order. So I was so bummed. I'm like, well, I'll just put my order in now, and I'll forget about it, and then it'll come. It came in six weeks, and so I am so excited. Bonus. I swear I love it just as much as my kids do. L is over the moon with this thing. I mean, we have made tents, forts, slides, tunnels, couches, chairs. resting areas. There's just so much you can do with this thing. And it is an awesome thing to have in the house to occupy my kids. And even Cece likes it. You know, I'm always trying to do up my living room with shit for her to do while I'm trying to work. So this is another great thing she can I make a little tent for her and put a chair in there, and she loves to go in her little cave and sit and look at books and stuff. Oh, that's so fun. It is. What color did you get?

I got lagoon, which is kind of like a dusty teal blue. I like that. That's my color scheme. Yeah, I love it. And it was one of the only colors left that was available for back order. And it just happened to be one of my favorite colors, so I lucked out.

Laura

That's so great. I am definitely interested in one. I just don't think I have the space and also I don't think my guy is old enough to appreciate as much as L is, you know, I think maybe it's a future. purchase, maybe a future birthday present or something. Yeah, I think that's a great idea. Okay, so it's not like a cheap item, right? It's not like an inexpensive purchase, if I recall.

Shanna

Nope, it's not the cheapest thing in the world. I want to say it was about 200 to 20, something like that.

Laura

So, okay, so what I want to know is like, what justifies 220? Like, I know that you can do all these things, but like, sell me on this a little bit, because it is, it does seem like a big purchase.

Shanna

Yes, it does for a kids play area. Well, part of it is I love it so much and I just became obsessed with it when I saw it. And so that's part of it. Like I'm getting something we could both use.

Laura

And it kind of doubles as furniture too. Like if you think about it as furniture, it's actually pretty inexpensive furniture.

Shanna

Yes, it is. I mean, it's kind of the size of a couch. It's just low on the ground and it has two foam levels so you can take it off. It's just so versatile. I don't know. I love that it offers hours of entertainment.

Laura

Well, yeah. Well, also, you can't be the only person who thinks it's worth it since there was a freaking 14 week that turned into a six week backlog, right?

Shanna

And it's just so unique too. I think that's the thing is no one else is making something like this. Well, there might be a knockoff now. I found something similar, but it wasn't. the kind of material that I wanted. It's kind of a washable, velourish, I don't know. Velour. Like no, not velour, like microfiber. You know, like very soft.

Laura

Okay, yeah, yeah, yeah.

Shanna

Well, you'll have to post some pictures of it so we can see the glory. Yes, I will. All the different configurations that we've made out of it. And yeah, we just really love it. Not an ad. We should. We should know it's really not an ad. I feel like I'm recording an ad, but I'm just like really in love with it.

Laura

I wish it was an ad that way I could get a free nugget. I know nugget.

Shanna

Oh, all right, what about you? Do you have a BFP or BFN? I have a BFP.

Laura

Okay. Mine is much more affordable than yours. Okay, good. But it's also a product that I purchased on Amazon for $12.95 and it is something called the Roost Finger Guard, Finger Pinch Preventor, and like it has all these other keywords, Baby Proofing Door Hinge Pinch Guard. Oh, okay. So what it is, I had a problem, which is if you recall from five minutes ago, I was talking about how my baby likes to pick items up and run around with them gleefully. Well, one of the things he likes to pick up and run around with are door stops. Oh, OK. And we would use door stops to keep the, you know, like traditional sort of they were like rubber door stops that we wedge under the door so that they'd stay open. I got them originally so the cats wouldn't lock themselves in bedrooms and end up peeing everywhere. And now, you know, we do it so that he doesn't get his fingers pinched.

And he also has started locking me out of his room. Like he can just, he doesn't know what he's doing, but he's like fiddling with the door. And he ends up like closing the door and turning the knob. Luckily, it's one of those internal locks where you just take a coin, you know, and turn it. But I was like, so we need the doorstop. But he kept pulling this doorstop out and then like running around and eating it. And I was just like, ugh. It's not a choking hazard, but it's dirty. It's been on the ground. You kick it in with your shoe and all that stuff. Gross. So I was like, there has to be a solution. And the internet has come through again with their solution. So what this is, it's a, it looks sort of like a lemon wedge or like an orange wedge. If you think about it, like that's the shape of it.

Shanna

Oh, okay.

Laura

And it has a little, it's made out of rubber and then it has a little like hook on the back. And what you do is you hang it inside like the hinge, like you hang it on the hinge on the inside of the door so that when the door closes, it just can't close all the way. Oh, I see. Okay. And it's better that, you know, those foam things that you can put on the like actual edge of the door to stop fingers from getting pinched. It keeps it much more open than those, you know. But it works really, really well. They come in a two pack and it's so, it's, you hanging on the higher hinge so the baby can't get it. The toddler can't get it. Brilliant. So I'm really pleased. I was trying to come up with all these weird solutions. I was like, can I tie a rope and do this and try to find it anchored somewhere? And then finally, I was like, there has to be a solution. Yeah.

And in this day and age, there's always a solution. So yes, this is the Roost. It's R-H-O-O-S-T Roost finger guard. And it's the only one I could find that was like this, but it was an up high, you know, an up high door stop. So it also has a lot of good reviews from janitors, apparently, who need to like prop doors open. while they like wax floors or wash floors, but they can't have a floor-based doorstop. So there you go. So if that's a problem you have, get this thing. We'll put a link to it on our website. Yes, please. I want one. Of course. And yeah, I think that's it for me. I'm pretty straightforward on this. Just like, don't shut the door and lock it on your mom, please.

Shanna

I've heard of people reversing the door knobs. on their room or like the kids room and stuff so that the lock is on the outside instead of on the inside.

Laura

Smart, smart. I will say we have an exterior door. Like every room in our house has an exterior door. So worst case scenario, I just like go out with my house key and get in that door. So I'm not too worried.

Shanna

Yeah. Well, shall we wrap it up? Let's do it. Once again, if you have any advice to give us or any input thoughts on our parenting problems, you know we want to hear from you. Laura, once again, where can everyone reach us?

Laura

We are on Instagram, Twitter, and Facebook at BFP Podcast. We are also on Facebook with a community group. Just search Big Fat Positive Community, request to join, and I will add you. We also have an email address you can send us a voicemail at or just a plain old email, but voicemails are so much fun. Contact at bigfatpositivepodcast.com or go to our website, bigfatpositivepodcast.com.

Shanna

And if you love the BFP podcast, spread the word. If you know someone who's trying to conceive, who's newly pregnant, a new parent, let them know about the Big Fat Positive podcast. Thank you so much for sharing and caring. Oh God, that was stupid.

Big Fat Positive was produced by Laura Birek, Sean and Michael and Steve Yager. We'll see you next week, everyone. Bye. Bye.