Hi Tammy,
<br />Hang in there! This, I think, is one of the hardest parts of raising a kid with CF. We don't want to battle cause we want life to be as good as possible with our kids. Plus, the way you respond now will set the stage for years to come.
<br />
<br />These battles over meds, food, etc. are what "drove" me to write a book about this very issue ("Parenting Children with Health Issues" by Foster Cline MD and Lisa Greene). I wish I could answer your question in a nutshell here, but it truly takes a book to give you the tools you need to deal with this now and over the next several years.
<br />
<br />It's available for free in many places so don't feel like you have to buy it (but if you want to, amazon is cheapest). It's in most public libraries, many hospital libraries, and alot of the CF clinics have it now as well. We have been presenting our teachings at CF clinics and children's hospitals all over the country and I will be presenting in Ireland in April (can you believe it???!).
<br />
<br />What we teach is based on Love and Logic which is amazing for solving power struggles and promoting responsibility. Go to: www.loveandlogic.com There's lots of free articles and a great, free audio download, too. FUNNY!!!
<br />
<br />And, go to our website at www.ParentingChildrenWithHealthIssues.com for a free audio download which was recorded at a CF conference which will help ALOT and many articles which will also help.
<br />
<br />Email me privately if you want to talk and I'll send you my phone number. I can give you some ideas that will help you through these hard times.
<br />
<br />And, I just have to share this new book review which I just stumbled across online. I think this mom is hilarius! Maybe it will give you some hope:
<br />
<br />"So parenting is hard. Parenting kids with average issues is hard. But parenting children with health issues throws in a whole new barrel of monkeys. We don't have the option of not enforcing rules when it comes to their diets or medications. It's not like fudging a bedtime a little or "just this once" to an extra scoop of ice cream or another movie. A scoop of ice cream could mean a night up spent in pain for your child or even death.
<br />
<br />This is too real. It's hard to not want to throw my own tantrum sometimes. Being a mom is hard enough without explaining to a 2 year old why he can't have cake at a birthday party or pizza at a friend's house.
<br />
<br />We have been a Love and Logic household since I met my friend Logan and her two darling but spirited daughters. Something about the peace in that household made me beg for whatever drug she was giving her children. Instead of the bottle of whiskey I was pretty sure she was spiking their milk cups with, she handed my her copy of "Parenting with Love and Logic".
<br />
<br />Secretly I was hoping for the whiskey.
<br />
<br />This parenting style has seen us through some challenging child phases but while looking for some advice on their website, I stumbled across a book that had just been released. "Parenting Children with Health Issues" is something that every doctor needs to hand to parents coping with a child with any sort of long-term or severe health issues. It gives you the tools to really help that child deal with the day-to-day living that comes with chronic health issues.
<br />
<br />So, no more battles on medication taking, or off-limit foods. Not that Landon doesn't test it out every once in a while, or that I don't wimp out occasionally either. But, along with this book, some God-given grace and a pound of good chocolate (mine not Landon's) Landon will be a healthy man who knows how to feed himself in a way that will keep him healthy and strong, even when mom's not there.
<br />
<br />Some of the examples given can seem harsh when you live with a two year old. Just remember that age-appropriate applies here too. So don't hand over the medication responsibility to a five year old or let a three year old plan his entire diet for the week. But a five year old could choose which pills to take first and a three year old could decide which day to have his chicken hotdogs.
<br />
<br />Hope this helps but let's get back to something we can control. COOKING!"
<br />
<br /><a target=_blank class=ftalternatingbarlinklarge href="http://funkyfoodallergies.blog...-allergies.html
">"><a target=_blank class=ftalternatingbarlinklarge href="http://funkyfoodallergies.blogspot.com/2009/02/parenting-kids-with-food-allergies.html
<br /><br ">http://funkyfoodallergies.blog...ergies.html
</a><br /></a>
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
