Toddler advice thread

[al255]

We're in the same boat (god I seem to have a lot of the same problems as other people)

It's weird because bedtime used to be so easy, and no matter what time I put her down she'd nod off. Now we have like an hour and a half of talking to herself, which then descends into crying because she's tired herself out and gone past the point of overtiredness. It drives me nuts as I can't relax until I know she's zonked.

THIS IS ME!!!!!hope it’s gets easier for you xxxxx

 

[Rlaw1978]

Does anyone have any advice on how to drop the night feeds. My one year old- only just turned one, wakes 2/3 times a night to feed- bottle fed. And it’s probably my fault but he associates settling to sleep with a bottle. Which makes night times hard. We really need to break the habit. He drinks very little in the day, despite it being offered and available at all times. And saves himself for all fluids at night.

 

[tspnwn]

Not quite sure I'm allowed to post here since I don't have kids of my own but could do with some advice on how to help my best friend with her toddler.

I suppose the issue is that she never tells her little girl (3) "no" and babies her to the point where the daycare have even stepped in and warned her that she is holding her back and they need to see improvements because she's so far behind everyone in her group. LO is only just toilet training now, and she won't feed herself either. She won't sit at the table, she get up and runs around and then my friend follows her around with the fork with food on it! Mealtimes have become unbearable because the little one tries to take my fork away and feed me with it (not her fault, of course she's copying mum) and my friend gets annoyed if I don't let her or say no. This, as you can imagine, has created a very entitled attitude in the little one - she will get really angry if you don't do what she wants you to do, it's as if she doesn't understand why you won't follow her commands because she's so used to her mum doing so. I was playing with her once while my friend was cooking but I had to use the bathroom quickly, and said as much, then she had a complete meltdown. When I came back from the bathroom, my friend had a go at me asking "couldn't you have just waited a few minutes, she's really cranky now"!

I've overheard mutual friends' kids say they don't want to play with her because she's "a baby" and even seen them push her away on occasions. I'd never dream of interfering because it's not my place but another big issue is that any type of negative wording, my friend regards it as "a telling off". Even the other day, I stepped in only because it was an emergency and told her not to run ahead while friend was distracted because she was about to run into the road and I got a very stern "don't tell her off please"! I'm really at my wit's end, I don't really want to lose her over this but it's looking like I might have to stop hanging out with her because being around it all the time is just maddening. Is there anything else I could do at all to help the situation? It's not just about my annoyance either, obviously the biggest problem is what could end up happening to the LO, like she's being held back so much because of this and it's a detriment to her development. I'm not a parent and even I can see it. Sorry for the rant, I don't want to talk to my other "mum friends" about it because I don't want it to seem like I'm judging her, I really do want to be supportive, but it's so hard

 

[Kim Mild]

Can you get things like Netflix on them?

I know it might sound a silly question but what makes them a kids tablet?
Is it restricted apps ect?

They have a robust case . And are more expensive.

I got my young one an alba android tablet from argos. They watch a bit YouTube and use the purple mash

 

[I’mThankyou_]

That makes sense, obviously we want to make sure her ankles are supported correctly. I just couldn't make sense of her saying she'd been told to get boots like Dr martens and then saying converse are fine when converse offer no support. We have trainers for her which in my opinion do offer the correct support but I'd rather make sure we've got her in the right shoes than potentially cause her pain.

My son often wore converse and honestly he's never had a problem in them as the soles are quite hard. I found with my sons docs they actually caused him more pain as they were really hard for him to get his feet in even when we sized up x2.

 

[Jellybean093]

My boy is 15 months and he had a viral infection about 5 weeks now, constant runny nose, congested, chesty cough (he’s been checked by numerous doctors and there’s no infection or anything to worry about) we’ve spent a small fortune on OTC medicines but nothing seems to be helping.
he wakes 4-5 times a night, screaming and crying, I worry it’s cause he can’t breath properly and he panics. For fear of sounding selfish here My husband and I are seriously exhausted from no sleep, he’s super clingy all day aswell so I can’t keep up with the housework, it’s all getting on top of me and I’m worried il break at some point! I work part time too in a hospital and work days & night shifts so as you can imagine it’s hardwork! Just wondered if anyone else’s little one has had a viral infection and how long was it before they started to feel better?
I feel bad for him because he’s off his food, drinking more milk & just generally not himself, I really want him to start feeling better so he can enjoy his days rather than just crying all day and being unhappy. I hate seeing him like this, I feel so helpless

Have they said anything about his adenoids? My eldest was like this and she had them taken out

 

[Justwannaseescreenshots]

Thanks @Definitelyme I think it's difficult as I live in a city and there just doesn't seem to be any quiet roads in proximity we do go to the park where I let him off the lead (lol) but his recall isn't very good there either

It drives me nuts - he will even bolt from my doorstep when I'm trying to get my key in the door so I know he's partly looking for a reaction!

Our sons sound exactly the same other than the speaking part - my son is 2 years and 3 months and no words just sounds so very delayed. He is a freedom fighter though lol he will dart as soon as I let him off the leash but we live along a canal so he has learnt to walk along the path and I think he’s aware that he really doesn’t want to fall in the water but he loves to throw stones and sticks in it.
I do what has already been mentioned above and let him run wild in the parks and recreation grounds and then when we are walking home I put the reins back on and tbh he usually wants to be carried then so I put him in the buggy - I too have a baby (7 months) who I put in the carrier so I understand your struggle.
I invested in a second hand double buggy off fb marketplace and it’s been a life saver so if you’ve got the room I would maybe get a cheap one. I always thought I’d never be that mum that carts round a double but it really makes it easier and for where we live it’s very diverse so although we’re along a canal we are in London so it can be busy and being able to pop them both in and wheel them about is handy and I’m not breaking my back!!

 

[PillowsofFluff]

My son suffers chronic tonsillitis and unfortunately it does come on extremely fast so both doctors could have been right although doesn’t take away from the shocking care you received! The fact she was gagging on her food and has a raging temperature suggests tonsil inflammation and probably bacterial (you can’t always see the puss so don’t worry!)

Has she had amoxycillin recently by any chance? It’s unusual for them to prescribe Pen V from the get go in my experience as it’s absolutely vile. We’ve just been prescribed it but only after x2 other rounds of antibiotics for tonsillitis that won’t shift. Go back to the docs and ask for different ones. A nasty bout of tonsillitis can be completely awful and can lead to nastier infections so she needs to have them if she does have it so worth a shot asking for different ones. Hope she feels better soon! Lots of treats and rewards for taking it, we find chocolate buttons work a treat (also should just say tonsillitis can make them vomit easier anyway so if she’s feeling crappy anyway it’s a whole concoction for not a happy toddler!!) Xxx

Thank you. No, she's never had anti biotics before at all, we were expecting amoxycillin ourselves and were surprised to get this. I'll ask in the morning for something else

Thanks

 

[al255]

@al255, I have no advice as we are in the thick of naptime scheduling woe too, but I just wanted to say try not to stress too much (easier said than done!) All will come good in the end xx

She‘s at nursery tomorrow, then my Dads Friday as I’m at work so it’s just Saturday day I have to deal with naps for. Then next week not until Wednesday every cloud!!!

Why is it they suddenly don’t need a nap? It’s gone from 3 hours to an hour in 4 months

 

[Pinkii]

Yeah, I intend to keep it set to certain times anyway.

Curious about it needed WiFi though as she likes to watch Netflix in the car on long journeys

You could always connect it to your phone personal hotspot (if you have iphone and enough data )

We got our little girl a very cheap 2nd generation ipad second hand on ebay, but it was in great condition and when we had minor issue with something they were more than happy for us to send back and fix at no extra cost.

Worth looking into that as well.

 

[Jellybean093]

Toddler bean (3 in September) has started to play in his room a lot more as we’ve had to take toys up due to the baby stuff taking over. There isn’t anything dangerous in his room, but after reading another thread, I’ve feel a bit neglectful he’s in a bed so can get in and out when he wants. His bedroom is also upstairs, and he’s very confident on the stairs and we’ve always taught him how to use them properly
Does anyone think he’s too young? Obviously we check on him, and he doesn’t stay up for long

 

[Snippysnips]

Not sure if this has been covered or not, but looking for some advice on anyone who has toddlers with ADHD, what age were they when you realised they may have this an what are the early signs etc, are they diagnosed or did you decide yourself based on behaviour?

I have a 14mo neice, an she is on the go like constant morning to night, it's incredible hard to get her down for naps as she fights it horrendously an you can tell she's tried but she refuses it, I have also noticed more an more recently that nothing seems to keep her intrested for long, she needs to have a entire room full of toys to go between to be happy, an each toy maybe gets looked at for a few minutes before it's tossed an she needs another, I don't know if she's just a extremely energetic toddler or if maybe these are little signs I should be keeping a eye on, she is still quite young so maybe she just wants to run around an explore so many different things but knowing what I should look out for might help in knowing the difference

I haven't said anything yet cause obvs I don't know an my family don't take kindly to mentioning anything like this, even though I myself would have no problems with it but I get that everyone always wants the "perfectly normal" child an can take it badly if they aren't

But I am genuinely curious about her behaviour an if this is somthing others have dealt with, her energy for a kid her age is honestly insane

 

[al255]

Guess I’m the only one who’s toddler loves calpol

She will have it during the day mixed in Juice but nighttime is impossible. I dread it when she wakes up in pain or a temp cos it’s literally impossible. She isn’t at the age where she will take something from a teet at 4am

 

[SwizzleMalarkey]

Does anyone know any good online resources for help with speech delay/SALT? We have a referral for my 2.5 year old but the waiting list is months and I’d love to do some extra stuff at home in the mean time. We already read to him loads, he loves books. We chat to him and narrate what we’re doing, what he’s doing etc. He can say a lot of words, just doesn’t use them in sentences or communicate very well. Thanks. x

 

[Emsie]

Does anyone else have a sleep talker? I googled it ... big mistake... and it can be a sign of stress. And also pretty normal. So now I'm obviously panicking over what my toddler could be stressing about!

 

[xoxo GG]

Hi all

My daughter (2.5) has got chicken pox, she’s fine in herself, no temp etc.. I’ve given her an oat bath and got some lotion for it. Is it just a waiting game to see how many more come out over the next few days? We’ve got Haven on Monday for a week and I’m still going - we aren’t doing stay and play so we will just stay away from people like we do anyway usually and thankfully it’s not school hols. The spots started on Tuesday and google says 5 days contagious, but more have appeared on her back today, her pubic area and bum is really sore.. I can’t move the holiday so if we don’t go I’ll lose what I’ve paid and I’ll still have to take annual leave as she can’t go to nursery so seems abit of a waste not going, (providing she isn’t unwell..). Anyone got any tips for chickenpox? I don’t want them to spread further or onto her face but it’s impossible isn’t it??

Nothing you can do to stop them from popping up, but my little girl had them a few months back and the best thing I found for her was PoxClin mousse. She ended up with loads in her scalp and it was the easiest thing to apply but it helped dry the ones on her body out quite quickly. I got her lots of easy food to eat so I did actually get some Ellas Kitchen pouches as she was quite lethargic and she did have 3/4 spots in her mouth as well so I avoided anything too acidic and just went with the flow with how she felt that day. Even tho she didn’t ever want one we made sure she had an oat bath each day to try help soothe the spots x

 

[Sailorontheseasea]

I agree on capping the nap and finishing it before 2pm. Also maybe limiting it to no more than 90 minutes? By the time my son was two years 4 months I was capping the nap at an hour, he's not two years 6 months and has completely dropped it. Does he wake really early?

We did an hour today until 2 and he went to sleep without pissing about (rejoice) but we were at my mums until 8 so I’ll reserve my judgement! He doesn’t wake early at all, if anything quite late for a toddler anywhere between 7:30-8:30 and is actually really difficult to wake up when you need to! My eldest was a similar age to yours when he dropped the nap completely so maybe it’s on the horizon….

 

[Ss1471]

we blocked vlad and his brother!



Because I’m a lazy slug, I waited until Littlepotato told me he wanted a bed. When he was 2.5yrs we went to Florida on holiday and he kept asking to sleep in a “mummy and daddy bed” as we were all in the same room. We took the side down on his bedside crib and then 6 months later, we bought him a bed. It sounds like him gripping the side and crying might be a sign.

controversially I never stayed with my son until he fell asleep, I’ve always left him to it. Now he’s older I’ve said he can play in his room and then he puts himself to bed. When he was tiny, I’d let him take a toy into bed like hot wheels or a truck, and often he would fall asleep with it in his hands. Littlepotato takes after his mummy and is a slug, so has always slept well.

Haha thank you! Tbf when he does go down he sleeps so well so like another poster I’m worried it will all go downhill if I put him in a bed too early but I hate the thought of him going to sleep upset and scared his cot does transition to a toddler bed so might just take the side down and if it makes anything worse could always go back to cot I suppose!

 

[BettyCrockerr]

Anyone know the best thing for teething, neice is having a hell of a time with her side an back teeth coming in, today's been bad, she had some calpol this morning an I gave her some Ashton an parsons before her lunch, we've tried bongela an she has those teething things you keep in the freezer but she's just getting fussy an am finding food to be hard as well, not sure the best things to give her, last night the chicken set her off an she's not had much today, tried some scrambled egg but can only get half down her before it's thrown accross the room

Anbesol Liquid 10ml - Boots

Buy Anbesol Liquid 10ml collect Advantage Card Points for every £1 you spend.

www.boots.com

This stuff is the best we found. Rub it into the sore gums and it works really quickly to provide pain relief. That and calpol. Give soft stuff to eat if solid stuff isn’t going down - soft fruits, yoghurts etc

 

[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