Some of the other struggles I’m currently having with our threenager is drinking enough water, eating a balanced diet and poohing.
In December we saw our paed (the amazing Dr Ashley Wewege) and I mentioned that Tristan sometimes complains of a sore tummy but then a little later it goes away. He asked me about Tristan’s water consumption and poohing regularity and to be honest it’s not great. Tristan generally drinks about 500ml of water a day, some days less (he sometimes come home from school with a water bottle that’s barely been touched) and poohs maybe every second to third day. Not ideal! So Ash suggested we make a star chart for Tristan with spaces for 5 cups of water a day and a block for poohing. So far the most number of stars we’ve had in 1 day is 4 stars and the least is 2; we have a long way to go and with him heading back to school next week I’m trying really hard to get the water consumption up and the poohing happen at least every second day but ideal is daily.
What am I trying to do? At each meal & snack he gets half a cup of very diluted Oros to drink. If he finishes his cup he gets a star, simple right? I wish! He’s not only a threenager but a toddler and that means he does what he wants to do with little regard for what I want him to do. Yes it’s not 100% pure water but right now I actually just need to encourage the regular drinking. I will slowly put less & less Oros in but for now it’s helping most of the time.
Poohing is a different story. As I sit here writing this, Tristan hasn’t poohed since Monday, it’s now Thursday. I fear a poohnami when it does eventually happen. I’ve even given him prune squish in a hope it will coax that tummy but it’s a waiting game now.
He gets his Nature’s Nutrition Amazing Superfood Mix daily usually in yoghurt but I guess I need to increase his fibre intake further. Beans are a good source of this as well as linseeds so I think I might need to blitz a bunch up again and add into his daily oats. I used to do this daily when he was much younger and definitely helped so I feel it’s a good option to explore again.
So the other main struggle is the balanced diet, it ties in closely with poohing. (Is it just me or have I said ‘poohing’ a lot? #momlife right?) In regards to vegetables Tristan eats carrots, mielies and cucumber. Fruit he’s happy with banana, apples, strawberries and pretty much anything I can disguise in a smoothie (along with peanut butter). I make myself a smoothie almost daily so it’s not a stretch to make one for him too and save half for the next day; I really need to get my act together. Just typing this is highlighting how slack I’ve become at preparing nutritious food for Tristan.
If you have any additional suggestions or comments you know I always love to hear from you; pop your comments below.
Much love xxx
