Toddler advice thread #5

[strawberrysunshine_x]

What age is he? We use the type is scissors below and it helps that they spring back. I never fuss if they have their fingers and thumb in the wrong section, and they almost always hold them upside down to begin with. Just lots and lots of practise will see it right. The scissors below we would use successfully from age 2 - depending on your definition of success that is! They cut with them, but like I said they take time to work out the kinks. Non sharp play dough scissors can be a good intro as well

Spring-Loaded Scissors

Art and craft supplies to keep the kids busy, including craft essentials, seasonal crafts and much more. Fundraising products and pocket money toys also available.

www.bakerross.co.uk

---


It would be a no for me. Nothing to do with their relationship dynamics, simply because it hasn’t happened before and your son may not be comfortable all day.

I have got similar scissors to those. They came with a crafts set. He is 4!! But I don’t think nursery have shown him. He was putting one finger in on each hand and doing it that way bless him I showed him woth one hand and he cut one piece and then had enough

 

[Definitelyme]

I have got similar scissors to those. They came with a crafts set. He is 4!! But I don’t think nursery have shown him. He was putting one finger in on each hand and doing it that way bless him I showed him woth one hand and he cut one piece and then had enough

It’s hard work for their little fingers! But such a good hand strengthening exercise for them before they start writing. Try giving him loads of different things to cut like ribbon, toilet roll tubes etc

 

[LilyRose1234]

Trying to get toddler R booked in for ballet classes and/or toddler gymnastics as she loves dancing and being active, but WHY are they all term time only, and most importantly only during the week. Trying to find a toddler class local to us on a weekend is like a needle in a haystack. In this day and age, it’s hardly unusual for both parents to have to go back to work so why is there no provision for this. Sorry for the rant but it makes me feel a bit sad that she’s missing out on activities she’d absolutely love and thrive at (although I accept at her age they’re not exactly essential) so I can buy food and pay the mortgage

 

[al255]

Trying to get toddler R booked in for ballet classes and/or toddler gymnastics as she loves dancing and being active, but WHY are they all term time only, and most importantly only during the week. Trying to find a toddler class local to us on a weekend is like a needle in a haystack. In this day and age, it’s hardly unusual for both parents to have to go back to work so why is there no provision for this. Sorry for the rant but it makes me feel a bit sad that she’s missing out on activities she’d absolutely love and thrive at (although I accept at her age they’re not exactly essential) so I can buy food and pay the mortgage

I find this too!! I'm lucky to work 3 days a week but when she starts school next year, swimming lessons will be 1 evening a week as can't really do them on a weekend. It's hard work!

Is there a 3.5 year old sleep regression?! mini A has slept rubbish for 2 weeks straight, up at 5:30am this morning, up early yesterday morning, she's shattered! It's school hols so no swimming or toddler groups so our days have been fairly relaxed. She's over emotional and can't stop yawning!! She went to bed at half 7 last night (usual time)... I'm considering 7pm tonight 🫤

 

[Kit123]

My toddler is very stern so when a kid has taken something off of her she will tell them off.
Don't know where she gets it from cause I hate confrontation!

 

[jackieweaver’sauthority]

My toddler is very stern so when a kid has taken something off of her she will tell them off.
Don't know where she gets it from cause I hate confrontation!

Love that for her! Hope it continues.

 

[DaisyDaisy87]

Trying to get toddler R booked in for ballet classes and/or toddler gymnastics as she loves dancing and being active, but WHY are they all term time only, and most importantly only during the week. Trying to find a toddler class local to us on a weekend is like a needle in a haystack. In this day and age, it’s hardly unusual for both parents to have to go back to work so why is there no provision for this. Sorry for the rant but it makes me feel a bit sad that she’s missing out on activities she’d absolutely love and thrive at (although I accept at her age they’re not exactly essential) so I can buy food and pay the mortgage

Have you got a trampoline place near you? There’s quite a few that do toddler sessions during the holidays both weekday and weekends here at least!

 

[ImDavidBrent]

Trying to get toddler R booked in for ballet classes and/or toddler gymnastics as she loves dancing and being active, but WHY are they all term time only, and most importantly only during the week. Trying to find a toddler class local to us on a weekend is like a needle in a haystack. In this day and age, it’s hardly unusual for both parents to have to go back to work so why is there no provision for this. Sorry for the rant but it makes me feel a bit sad that she’s missing out on activities she’d absolutely love and thrive at (although I accept at her age they’re not exactly essential) so I can buy food and pay the mortgage

I feel you here. I signed my toddler up for a ballet class on a Saturday morning (the only one near us) and then received an email saying they’ve dropped the Saturday class but have space on their Tuesday morning class…not helpful but thanks .
---
I know this is quite random and I’m probably overthinking it, but can anyone recommend a certain potty that’s worked for their toddler? I know there are loads out there and I should just buy one.

 

[al255]

I feel you here. I signed my toddler up for a ballet class on a Saturday morning (the only one near us) and then received an email saying they’ve dropped the Saturday class but have space on their Tuesday morning class…not helpful but thanks .
---
I know this is quite random and I’m probably overthinking it, but can anyone recommend a certain potty that’s worked for their toddler? I know there are loads out there and I should just buy one.

We've just got a standard potty, her dad has one that "flushes" tbh i found for us it makes no odds. If they're gunna use it they'll use it

 

[LilyRose1234]

Have you got a trampoline place near you? There’s quite a few that do toddler sessions during the holidays both weekday and weekends here at least!

No sadly not! Does sound fab though!! I do get it because who wants to work on the weekend, but also it would be nice for there to be some provision for weekend classes

 

[ImDavidBrent]

We've just got a standard potty, her dad has one that "flushes" tbh i found for us it makes no odds. If they're gunna use it they'll use it

Thank you. I was tossing between a “bog” standard potty or one of those ones that looks like a mini toilet and tbh I think I’m just trying to put off the inevitable. Thanks for your reply.

 

[mg89]

I've got a 2.5 year old - I wondered if anyone else has a similar situation where their toddler will not play independently at all at home? He won't even go onto the mat (which is literally 1m from the sofa) to play on his own. He will only play if myself and OH join in. We've tried letting him moan/whinge and he ends up hanging off us/pulling us, us playing with him for 15/20 mins and then explaining we are going to do a job in kitchen and retreating, sitting there but only joining in when he actively asks us to. I feel like I've tried everything I'm not asking for hours of it, even 5 mins at this point would be welcome. My back is broken from being on the floor for hours! Any tips/solidarity welcome. I should add he's generally quite a cautious child, takes a while to warm up, is like this at External stay and plays we go to as well. Though at nursery is completely independent and does his own thing. Thanks in advance!

 

[Trombolese]

Hello I haven’t posted on this thread before, but I’m wondering if anyone’s toddler has had issues with their tonsils and had to have surgery this young? My 18 month old has had tonsillitis quite a lot, he’s had to have antibiotics more times than I’d like but it doesn’t go on it’s own, we have ended up in hospital a few times now with a raging temperature that doesn’t go down. We have been referred to ENT by our GP, and the doctors in hospital this week put through a referral too. I’m hearing mixed things about whether they will do something or not, so has anyone had similar issues? He barely eats anything other than yoghurt because his tonsils are so big he struggles to swallow, you can see he’s in pain and he gulps really loudly when just swallowing saliva. He also snorts a lot too, which I think it probably linked.

 

[Definitelyme]

I feel you here. I signed my toddler up for a ballet class on a Saturday morning (the only one near us) and then received an email saying they’ve dropped the Saturday class but have space on their Tuesday morning class…not helpful but thanks .
---
I know this is quite random and I’m probably overthinking it, but can anyone recommend a certain potty that’s worked for their toddler? I know there are loads out there and I should just buy one.

I really like the ikea ones. We have the little one for the car and the bigger green and white one for the house. The bigger one comes apart so you just carry part to the toilet to empty it.

 

[AllTheBest2022]

Hello I haven’t posted on this thread before, but I’m wondering if anyone’s toddler has had issues with their tonsils and had to have surgery this young? My 18 month old has had tonsillitis quite a lot, he’s had to have antibiotics more times than I’d like but it doesn’t go on it’s own, we have ended up in hospital a few times now with a raging temperature that doesn’t go down. We have been referred to ENT by our GP, and the doctors in hospital this week put through a referral too. I’m hearing mixed things about whether they will do something or not, so has anyone had similar issues? He barely eats anything other than yoghurt because his tonsils are so big he struggles to swallow, you can see he’s in pain and he gulps really loudly when just swallowing saliva. He also snorts a lot too, which I think it probably linked.

My son always struggled with tonsillitis, throat infections, chest infections, ear infections, etc. It got to the point the GP had to stop prescribing antibiotics as he was worried he'd become immune to them. His tonsils were always enlarged and so were his adenoids, he barely ate and would always breathe loudly, especially at night. In the end they did a blood test to find out why he was getting so many infections and turns out some of his 1 year immunisations failed so he had to be revaccinated. He is now 3.5 years old and we've had no issues with tonsillitis etc. They were about to add him to the wait list to have his tonsils and adenoids removed but that is no longer necessary.

 

[Definitelyme]

I've got a 2.5 year old - I wondered if anyone else has a similar situation where their toddler will not play independently at all at home? He won't even go onto the mat (which is literally 1m from the sofa) to play on his own. He will only play if myself and OH join in. We've tried letting him moan/whinge and he ends up hanging off us/pulling us, us playing with him for 15/20 mins and then explaining we are going to do a job in kitchen and retreating, sitting there but only joining in when he actively asks us to. I feel like I've tried everything I'm not asking for hours of it, even 5 mins at this point would be welcome. My back is broken from being on the floor for hours! Any tips/solidarity welcome. I should add he's generally quite a cautious child, takes a while to warm up, is like this at External stay and plays we go to as well. Though at nursery is completely independent and does his own thing. Thanks in advance!

I think some kids just aren’t great at this. Neither of my girls has been good at independent playing, whereas both of my boys have been. The girls would have preferred practical tasks - like being given a spray bottle of water and a cloth and helping to “clean”. Neither of them ever would have been much interested in toys.
I think having realistic expectations for age can help too. They say the time you can expect a child to spend on play/an activity alone is their age in minutes plus 2. So that’s 4.5 minutes at that age as a rough guide. Certainly my own 2yo (he’ll be 2.5 in October) can spend 5-10 minutes alone sometimes, other times it’s a minute.
You’re doing the right thing engaging in play then stepping away, that’s one of your best bets to get a few minutes.
Other tips would be to make sure you have lots of open ended toys so play can more easily flow on once he is alone.

 

[mg89]

I think some kids just aren’t great at this. Neither of my girls has been good at independent playing, whereas both of my boys have been. The girls would have preferred practical tasks - like being given a spray bottle of water and a cloth and helping to “clean”. Neither of them ever would have been much interested in toys.
I think having realistic expectations for age can help too. They say the time you can expect a child to spend on play/an activity alone is their age in minutes plus 2. So that’s 4.5 minutes at that age as a rough guide. Certainly my own 2yo (he’ll be 2.5 in October) can spend 5-10 minutes alone sometimes, other times it’s a minute.
You’re doing the right thing engaging in play then stepping away, that’s one of your best bets to get a few minutes.
Other tips would be to make sure you have lots of open ended toys so play can more easily flow on once he is alone.

Thanks for your reply! I'm definitely realistic about what is a good amount of time, we just don't seem to get 1 minute of it just feels a bit draining each day! I've organised the toys so they're not as overwhelming and recently got some new bits in as thought maybe he was outgrowing some toys. I'll keep going!

 

[Upintheair83]

1st day of potty training, got my little boys nappy off and he's not done a wee all morning!!! Is this normal?? I keep putting him on the potty but he won't stay on for long. Any tips? Is he holding it in?

 

[Trombolese]

My son always struggled with tonsillitis, throat infections, chest infections, ear infections, etc. It got to the point the GP had to stop prescribing antibiotics as he was worried he'd become immune to them. His tonsils were always enlarged and so were his adenoids, he barely ate and would always breathe loudly, especially at night. In the end they did a blood test to find out why he was getting so many infections and turns out some of his 1 year immunisations failed so he had to be revaccinated. He is now 3.5 years old and we've had no issues with tonsillitis etc. They were about to add him to the wait list to have his tonsils and adenoids removed but that is no longer necessary.

thanks for this, it’s not something that I would have ever considered! We are at that point now where I don’t think they going to give any more antibiotics for that reason. I’ll push for some blood tests, glad to hear your little one is better now.

 

[Definitelyme]

1st day of potty training, got my little boys nappy off and he's not done a wee all morning!!! Is this normal?? I keep putting him on the potty but he won't stay on for long. Any tips? Is he holding it in?

Is he drinking plenty? Offer things like melon, ice lollies etc as well to increase fluids to make sure he is getting lots through.
If he’s holding it that’s a really good sign that he is able to control his bladder already!