Who Needs Parenting Books?

I have decided to stop reading parenting books.  While they are nice and happy and sometimes work for some kids, I've learned that not every kid fits into the nice little mold these books go on and on about.  While some strategies do work, I often find myself overwhelmed with all of the differing opinions and the plethora of strategies to try.  My new parenting helpers?  My children's therapists!

Looking back on our time in Colombia and in our first couple of months home, I regret a lot of things about how we parented.  Although, honestly, I think every parent looks back at some of the things they did with their kids in the past with regret.  OK, some perfect parent out there just shook their head NO.  If so, this blog just isn't for you.

We used to get so worked up when Katie squirmed and squirmed and refused to go to sleep while in Colombia and during the first couple of months home.  Now we understand that she CAN'T shut down her brain and needs to still learn strategies to help herself do this.  Until today, every time she held something on the roof of her mouth, I could feel my body tensing.  Now I know that sometimes it is the only way she can feel something in her mouth and most of the time it is because she simply doesn't use her tongue correctly yet. 

Today marked a big movement in our growing empathy for Katie.  I took her to Thrive Place, a therapy center in Pittsburgh that focuses on sensory and feeding issues.  Perfect for Katie since she has both!  We spent three hours there while an OT, a feeding therapist, and a dietician asked lots of questions, evaluated Katie, and came up with a plan for her future work there and at home.  Instead of one day a week, Katie will attend this therapy center 3 days a week for several weeks.  They believe in an intensive approach to therapy, and after seeing how great the staff was today, I'm excited to see if their approach works! 

One cool thing that happened in therapy today was that the staff worked with Katie with movement of her body before she ate food, and she barely hoarded anything in her mouth, and get this - she spoke more clearly!  For example, instead of saying NANA for banana, she actually sounded out the entire word and said BA-NA-NA.  My mouth about dropped open.

We will still keep working with the Early Intervention folks until Katie turns 3 and graduates to the next level.  What the next level will be is still up in the air as we are still making decisions and figuring out what is best for Katie.  Please pray that God will give us clear direction on what is best for her needs right now.

Another exciting development is that we have discovered the wonders of melatonin.  As you all know, one of Katie's biggest struggles is falling asleep.  She would often somersault and make really loud noises for 1-2 hours before falling falling asleep from exhaustion.  Then she would wake up on several nights at 1, 2, or 3 in the morning and do the same behavior, sometimes never going back to sleep.  Our doctor and one of Katie's therapists recommended melatonin, so we decided to give it a try.  Heck, we were desperate and several sleep-deprived, so we were willing to try anything!  So, we gave her the doctor's recommended dose, and within 30 minutes, she was sound asleep.  She didn't even somesault, but just lay there quietly until she fell asleep.  It was a miracle!  It has now worked for almost a week, and we are just amazed. 

Unfortunately, melatonin tends to stop working after awhile, so we will take her off of it when that starts to happen and then put her back on it a week later.  The therapists today gave me some great ideas to help her fall asleep during that week, so I'm not as scared about it now.

Things are definitely looking up right now.  We are beginning to understand our daughter more, and with understanding comes empathy, and with empathy, we are responding better and more appropriately. 

A special thanks to all those working with Katie and helping to make her childhood a better one and who are helping us "write" a personalized parenting book for our Katie and our Rosa.  We are so grateful!