Toddler advice thread

[WhatABore]

My toddler doesn’t eat dinner. He has breakfast and lunch. Come to dinner he is not interested! We’ve tried everything, but he’s just not hungry. He doesn’t snack much during the day. It’s so frustrating
And it’s not just toddlers with the food. My nearly 13 year old will love something one day. Next week I make it, she will look as though I’ve poisoned her
My 6 year old refuses to eat veg, but I’d good with fruit, so I’m not too bothered
It’s annoying as they’ve always been good eaters as babies

I'm not sure if it's an age thing but my 4yo has only been eating dinners for maybe the past year.
Before that, she'd maybe have 1 bite of something and have had enough. Not even like she'd ask for something sweet after. She just wouldn't want it.

I don't know what's wrong with my kids. None of them are keen on food.
The complete opposite to me. Food is life

 

[Definitelyme]

See I’m not much keen on meals myself. I’m all about the snack foods

 

[WhatABore]

See I’m not much keen on meals myself. I’m all about the snack foods

They're not even interested in snacks.
I let them have control of how much they want and my 4yo will go and get a bowl and put 2 smarties in it. And she's like "No. That's enough"
Then half the time, doesn't even eat them
They never ask for sweets or chocolate or anything
They're broken

All of the kids, including Everleigh now, will always eat the veg first and usually, if they leave food, it's rarely the veg. That's normally all gone

 

[al255]

My daughter won’t eat a sandwich for me but will eat one for her dad and nursery she’s having me right on

 

[xoxo GG]

My daughter won’t eat a sandwich for me but will eat one for her dad and nursery she’s having me right on

My daughter is the same. She eats all sorts at nursery and at my mums, then she gets home and everything is disgusting and yucky

 

[ChattyMammy]

So I’ve booked my sons birthday party for 2 weeks time, he’ll be 2 over the jubilee weekend. Had to book it months in advance and I decided to go for a place near us that’s a small soft play area you can hire out for 2 hours, I didn’t want to have to cherry pick kids from nursery etc so this was the best option without having to pay per head. I sent out nursery invites to everyone he has sessions with so 19 kids in total and so far only 2 of the mums have text me saying they can make it now I’m flapping that I’ve spent all of this money hiring this place out and with some other friends outside of nursery there’s going to be 6 kids there?! Has anyone ever found people to not rsvp but turn up on the day? I’m going to be gutted if hardly anyone turns up

 

[Jellybean093]

I'm not sure if it's an age thing but my 4yo has only been eating dinners for maybe the past year.
Before that, she'd maybe have 1 bite of something and have had enough. Not even like she'd ask for something sweet after. She just wouldn't want it.

I don't know what's wrong with my kids. None of them are keen on food.
The complete opposite to me. Food is life

I just don’t want him to end up like the other 2 who don’t eat, or moan with everything I put in front of them
I am such a foodie. I love food. Breakfast, lunch, dinner and everything in between
I think my problem with the boys, is that I was pregnant when kid was 3. I was pregnant when toddler was 18 months, and the pregnancies floor me and I get ‘lazy’ and just do things to make life easier. The. They get used to the quick foods and won’t eat like they did
I have no excuse for my eldest, apart from her being at that awkward age. She does well with fruit and veg though!

 

[al255]

SO. I’ve been trialling waking my daughter up at 2pm. 1 hour 15 nap and bedtime is still well past 8pm.. lights out at 7.45pm and even that isn’t helping. Do I cut it down further to an hour?

 

[WhatABore]

SO. I’ve been trialling waking my daughter up at 2pm. 1 hour 15 nap and bedtime is still well past 8pm.. lights out at 7.45pm and even that isn’t helping. Do I cut it down further to an hour?

I would say so. It's worth a try.

Can you start her bedtime routine earlier?
Do lights out at 7.30?
My 4yo has always taken at least half an hour to settle down

 

[al255]

I would say so. It's worth a try.

Can you start her bedtime routine earlier?
Do lights out at 7.30?
My 4yo has always taken at least half an hour to settle down

I’ll do that tomorrow night. She’s back at nursery after 2 weeks off due to being on hols so I think being busier all day will be a shock she’s usually quite tired after nursery days! Should I keep naptime at 1 hour 15 or cap It further?I need to make a plan to tell nursery what to do and I just can’t decide. She needs to be up by 2pm defo

 

[WhatABore]

I’ll do that tomorrow night. She’s back at nursery after 2 weeks off due to being on hols so I think being busier all day will be a shock she’s usually quite tired after nursery days! Should I keep naptime at 1 hour 15 or cap It further?I need to make a plan to tell nursery what to do and I just can’t decide. She needs to be up by 2pm defo

If she's tired after nursery normally, maybe keep her nap the same but just move her bedtime back a little so she's settling down a little earlier?
I feel like most stuff with kids is just trial and error.
Wing it until it works

 

[Bec3007]

I know this probably isn’t all that helpful but my now 4yo dropped all naps by 2. I’d say transitioning from more to less naps was easier when I stopped focusing on it so much. I know that’s easier said than done when you’re in the middle of it all but so many days I spent making sure we were home or in the car for nap times and I regret it all From around 18 months his bed time has been 7pm and his last nap would always be just before or just after lunch and waking no later than 2pm.

Oh how I miss the napping stage

 

[BettyCrockerr]

SO. I’ve been trialling waking my daughter up at 2pm. 1 hour 15 nap and bedtime is still well past 8pm.. lights out at 7.45pm and even that isn’t helping. Do I cut it down further to an hour?

Yes.
What’s her bedtime routine like? What time does she have dinner?

I would try an hours nap and up by 1pm.

Dinnner at 5pm

quiet play until 6.45pm

up for a bath, teeth washed, into jammies etc and then straight into bed - snuggle down to read a book with her etc - no playing after bathtime, no tv, no screens and keep everything very quiet and chilled.

 

[mg89]

Hi everyone, I've got a 17 month old - been great reading all your experiences!

 

[al255]

Yes.
What’s her bedtime routine like? What time does she have dinner?

I would try an hours nap and up by 1pm.

Dinnner at 5pm

quiet play until 6.45pm

up for a bath, teeth washed, into jammies etc and then straight into bed - snuggle down to read a book with her etc - no playing after bathtime, no tv, no screens and keep everything very quiet and chilled.

She won’t go to sleep at 12pm. It’s 1pm at the moment even if she’s up at 6. So its been like this today:

1pm-2:15pm (nap)
Playtime tv etc
Tea at 5:15pm (a bit later as I found if I did it earlier she was starving by bedtime lol)
Bath straight after tea 6:15ish usually
Then dried, little bit of tv, cereal, teeth and soon as cereal is finished it’s into her room (no tv etc) to read a book, this is generally at 7:45pm and she used to take 15 mins to settle down but I’m going to put her into bed at 7:30pm instead to give her the extra 15 mins to settle down.

I’ll shift everything back by 15 mins anyway after nap time. She’s my first child so I literally am like wtf One hour nap I can cope with, however she doesn’t sleep well in the car. But then saying that we are usually out and about all morning doing something so it’s home for her our lunch and then naptime at 1 so I don’t really need her to nap in the car. Generally we are local whenever we do stuff!

 

[BettyCrockerr]

She won’t go to sleep at 12pm. It’s 1pm at the moment even if she’s up at 6. So its been like this today:

1pm-2:15pm (nap)
Playtime tv etc
Tea at 5:15pm (a bit later as I found if I did it earlier she was starving by bedtime lol)
Bath straight after tea 6:15ish usually
Then dried, little bit of tv, cereal, teeth and soon as cereal is finished it’s into her room (no tv etc) to read a book, this is generally at 7:45pm and she used to take 15 mins to settle down but I’m going to put her into bed at 7:30pm instead to give her the extra 15 mins to settle down.

I’ll shift everything back by 15 mins anyway after nap time. She’s my first child so I literally am like wtf One hour nap I can cope with, however she doesn’t sleep well in the car. But then saying that we are usually out and about all morning doing something so it’s home for her our lunch and then naptime at 1 so I don’t really need her to nap in the car. Generally we are local whenever we do stuff!

Try doing dinner time at 5ish and then letting her play after. Then offer a snack BEFORE bath time. Let her eat a slice of toast or whatever. Then, do bath & teeth and straight to bed then. You want to make a clear distinction between awake time and sleep time - bath and into jammies should signal the end of play time/tv time/eating etc.

Also just keep in mind that kids go through stages and sometimes they just will not do what you want them to no matter what you try and you just have to roll with it! I had months of doing the whole bedtime routine where one wouldn’t sleep unless I was there and some nights I wasn’t getting out of the room until gone 9pm!!!!!

 

[anon0503]

Hi guys,

New to this thread. I’m just wondering if anyone can advise on possible autism? Or more specifically, how many symptoms of autism can actually be normal development things?

My daughter is showing a lot of signs of autism and I’m not sure what to do.

 

[BettyCrockerr]

Hi guys,

New to this thread. I’m just wondering if anyone can advise on possible autism? Or more specifically, how many symptoms of autism can actually be normal development things?

My daughter is showing a lot of signs of autism and I’m not sure what to do.

How old is your daughter and what things are you noticing that is making you think she may be on the spectrum?

 

[anon0503]

How old is your daughter and what things are you noticing that is making you think she may be on the spectrum?

She’s 19 months old, I’m noticing things like head shaking, wanting to be upside down looking through her legs, playing with the wheels of a toy, she eats most foods in a certain way, (will eat meat first, then sides or whatever, will not mix the two) yesterday I noticed she started walking in circles, she has a speech delay (she babbles a lot but hasn’t said any words yet) and has an aversion to messy play (will touch things if I put them on her hand or put her hand into it but I can’t say she enjoys it?) she used to flap her hands but I can’t say I’ve seen her do that recently but I’m going to watch out for it today, it may well be that she’s still doing it and I’ve overlooked it.

 

[al255]

She’s 19 months old, I’m noticing things like head shaking, wanting to be upside down looking through her legs, playing with the wheels of a toy, she eats most foods in a certain way, (will eat meat first, then sides or whatever, will not mix the two) yesterday I noticed she started walking in circles, she has a speech delay (she babbles a lot but hasn’t said any words yet) and has an aversion to messy play (will touch things if I put them on her hand or put her hand into it but I can’t say she enjoys it?) she used to flap her hands but I can’t say I’ve seen her do that recently but I’m going to watch out for it today, it may well be that she’s still doing it and I’ve overlooked it.

Talk her HV&GP, they don’t do a great deal at a young age anyway from what I gather talking to a few people I know who’s children display austistic traits. Once (if?) she goes nursery they will pick it up too and go from there also x

Just wanted to say thanks for the naptime advice. She’s napping for an hour 12:30-1:30pm after lunch and bedtime is 8pm. Last night she fell asleep at 7:55pm and I felt so glad it’s worked. She’s sleeping till 6:30-7am too. I thought she would be grumpy after an hours nap but she seems ok. Now to keep a 2.5 year old occupied most of the day

We are going to a role play centre today so looking forward to that and will go and see my Dad later on! Raining her so glad I’ve booked something indoors.