Toddler advice thread

[quinzel]

What sort of age does everyone recommend trying potty training? My boy was 2 in October and is showing a lot of signs. He’s peed in the potty twice now but admittedly we have not been the most consistent with it!

 

[Kim Mild]

You could do sharpie on the labels and then cut them out when you sell, or I use a stamp from stamptastic with our surname on it on the labels.

I write it on the edge of the label but now in worried someone from school will take the wrong jumper home and cut it off so they can keep it

 

[BettyCrockerr]

thanks for your advice everyone!!

She won’t fall asleep at 11, I’ve got no chance that’s only 4 hours of awake time and we generally have a busy morning too. I think the latter is better - shes gunna be shattered off 1 hour she okly
Had one hour 25 today and she was tearful all afternoon!! Fml feel like I can’t win really

Maybe try not to be quite so ridged with the schedule. Instead of trying to put her down for a sleep (in the cot) or whatever at a set time maybe just let it flow a bit? A half hour nap on the sofa infront of the tv or whatever is still fine. If you are finding she’s grumpy after she wakes sometimes it just take perseverance - give it a few days and see how it goes?

 

[Wishwash]

Hi everyone,

Does anyone have advice on helping to teach a very boisterous 2 year old boy on how to walk alongside me safely?

My son is exactly 2.5 years and I am having to use reins, or the pram still with him as I absolutely cannot trust him to walk alongside me safely. He will bolt, and refuses to hold my hand. Doesn't seem to retain any concept of road safety.
I've got a small baby too, who I'm currently putting in a sling so I can use the pram for my son. This makes it even more difficult as the sling means if he does bolt I struggle to run after him! Any tips?
Am I expecting too much? I see similar aged and younger walking alongside their parents, but he just won't do it.
He is smart for his age, and his language is very developed but there is no reasoning with him at all

 

[Rlaw1978]

Mine was still really wakeful until I stopped nightfeeding at 20 months. She’s still not the best sleeper, especially if she’s teething or unwell but much better compared to then.

Can I ask how you stopped the night feeds? Did you just slowly reduce? I’ve been told they wake out of habit for feeds at this age, I don’t know how true that is. I suspect he just isn’t that tired, if we have a busier day he sleeps a little better.

 

[Snippysnips]

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

 

[Blair-Waldorf]

Does she have a nightlight? You may have said

Yeah she does, it’s on x

 

[Definitelyme]

Hi all,

Need some advice. My daughters sleep was going so well until the last few nights.

To make it easier:

-She wakes up between 6 and 7
-She needs 6-7 hours of awake time between waking up and naptime

Then I thought it was the same for naptime and bedtime but it gets past 6 hours and it’s half 8, 8:45pm and she’s still not asleep! It’s driving me mad. I get no evening now, cutting her nap to 1 hour 20 doesn’t help and she wakes up in an awful mood and tearful cos she’s so tired still. I can’t exactly start getting her up before 6am as that’s unfair and I certainly don’t wanna be up before at that time either!

Bedtime just seems to be later and I feel like I’m going wrong somewhere. We have the same bedtime routine as majority of parents, bath, pjs, book and bed. She’s usually in bed with a book for 7:45pm giving her time to wind down and then I say goodnight and take the book away. Her room isn’t bright etc no other external things keeping her awake.

I guess I either have to cut naptime down more? But then she’s exhausted all afternoon which isn’t fair or just live with a late bedtime. Does anyone have a solution that I’ve not thought of please? Bedtime used to be 8pm on the dot no issues but it seems to be getting later x

What age is she? Usually when I notice bedtime creeping later it is time to think about cutting nap out, at least some days (which usually happens around age 3 for my kids). I would also start making sure they don’t sleep past a certain point, say 2pm, and maybe even try putting them down for nap earlier if they still need the long sleep.

 

[Sailorontheseasea]

Funny you say this actually, cause yeah he does snore loudly, it sounds rattly. He’s asleep as we speak in the car seat and it’s awful, and that’s him asleep propped up, he’s worse at night! His doctor really doesn’t want to do anything to help him, he said he will see him again in 6 months time to check he’s ok and that’s it!
I did wonder if it was maybe asthma or sleep apnea! Which is Scary to think about! Is it quite common in toddlers?

My toddler is at his worst propped up or on his side even though actually it’s meant to help clear the airways - it deffo doesn’t! Film him asleep next time and especially if he stops breathing for long pauses/wakes up coughing and spluttering etc so you can show your GP. If you’re concerned then push for an ENT referral and they will do a sleep study (just an oximeter on his toe while he’s asleep), most toddlers if they have it only suffer mildly so don’t need their tonsils/adenoids removing and it won’t affect their daily lives but if it’s severe then you’ll probably find he’s more tired in the day, behaviour is a bit erratic and grumpy, wakes up loads at night etc and they’ll want to know about it! I’m not sure if it’s common or not, I’m not sure it’s common to have it severely though as a toddler. I know that people laugh off snoring in toddlers but actually it’s not normal (I used to joke about my 18mo snoring like a dog ) It’s better to get him on the system now as ENT appointments are like gold dust (at least they are where I am!) and most kids aren’t seen until they’re 3+!

Sorry this is so long but just wanted to say that OSA is nothing to worry about in the short term, it’s terrifying watching them sleep but nothing bad is going to happen to them. The longer term affects if really quite bad though so definitely keep going back to your GP and push it if you’re concerned! Xx

 

[al255]

It might be a phase or she might be ready to drop the nap. It sounds like it’s really stressing you out so I think the best thing for you would be to try and go with the flow. If you really do want her to be asleep before 8 you’ll need to cap the nap. Seeing them overtired and cranky isn’t fun but the transition to no nap isn’t smooth sailing sadly. My daughter completely stopped napping at 18 months and was a rough few months for us getting her to last til 6pm but was worth it.

she defo still need a sleep or else she would be falling asleep at 3pm and that’s no good for anyone. It’s just the time she’s finally going to sleep is so late she’s gunna have a 50 min nap today but thats Her own fault for messing around urgh I actually can’t wait until she doesn’t nap!

 

[GlennCoco]

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 can download a certain amount that you can watch without WiFi. We do it with MiniGlenCoco when we do long journeys. Think we had about 6 different programmes and about 5 episodes (depending on length of episodes etc).

We've also got Disney Plus and Amazon Prime on her tablet that you can also download from so that she cam watch without WiFi.

Just make sure that everything is downloaded and working before you set off. Many times we've forgotten and it's been a nightmare although you can use the hot spot on your phone but it is very slow

 

[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.

 

[al255]

I’m SO stressed out. My daughter (2.5) is still taking forever to go for a nap, she was shattered at half 12 and after lunch she went straight to bed. She’s been fuming for 30 mins, messing around, now she’s sobbing and overtired. I was meant to not let her sleep past half 1 but that’s out the window today!! Bedtime should be 8pm and if she sleeps past half 1 bedtime is gunna be half 8-9pm. I am fed up. I can’t get the balance right at all and for the first time in her life it’s a mess. We’ve had a busy morning at role play and she was tired but now she’s overtired and moody, bedtime will be a disaster!

If I let her nap for half an hour she will be livid and the afternoon will just be a write off and that’s not fair on anyone. Bedtime being late means she’s gunna be tired tomorrow as she’s at nursery so have to be up at usual time half 6!! I just can’t win.

 

[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]

My 3 year old hasn’t slept though in her bed since September. I’ve mentioned this before, I’m over it now, but I’m wondering if anyone else has been through this and when does it end
So she goes to bed in her own bed around 7:30pm. But anytime between say 11-2 she wakes up and either comes into our room or cries in her room for one of us to go and get her. We’re lucky enough to have a spare room so my other half will just go in there and I take her into our bed when this happens. She does go back asleep straight away till about 6:30/7 but yeah was just keen to hear similar experiences, surely this won’t go on forever? She has been out of nappies day and night for about 10 months and doesn’t nap during the day anymore x

also echo the comments about potty training, don’t start until you think they’re definitely ready. I’ve only got one child though so can’t really compare

From my experience, I've just had to go cold turkey with things like that.
I waited til she was around 3ish so I knew she understood more.

Have you thought about a gro clock?
We started using it just before she turned 3. It took about a week of her to get used to it. We're now over a year in of using it and she hasn't left her room until 7am every day.
(apart from the odd occasion she can't find her Teddy)


Another question, did you wait until she was dry at night to remove the nappies?
She's 4 in Feb and still in nappies at night

 

[WhatABore]

Thinking about getting my nearly 4 year old a kids tablet for her birthday for doing things like Reading Eggs. Does anyone have any recommendations?

 

[al255]

So she’s gone to sleep tonight just now, over 6 hours after she woke up from her nap. Is it worth seeing how she is off 1 hour 15 mins nap tomorrow? I really want to claw bedtime back to 8pm hmmmmm.

Sorry forgot to add she’s 2 years and 4 months x

 

[Jellybean093]

The eldest was in and out of his room at that age & we never had any issues. He Probably enjoys the break away from baby bean!

This is true! And I can’t blame him! Never had it with the kid. He loved being downstairs. We had a bigger front room then and toys everywhere

 

[peachhes]

Not really an advice thing but if your kid went to nursery did you name label everything?? I’m looking at his wardrobe now and he’s got about 3000 pairs of trousers I thought about just naming things like coats, fleeces, bag etc. I’m clueless!

 

[al255]

Stop the nap - try to keep her active during the day and then see how long she lasts into the evening. She may well flake out at 6pm and that might be bedtime!!! Are you away somewhere warm?

i can’t stop the nap, she’s still having 1.5 hours generally and without it she’s a nightmare! I just think letting her nap too long yesterday didn’t help ‍ we are out all day in the pool and running round the park, busier than home she’s just been exhausted atm but maybe need to remember too much naptime impacts bedtime, just felt mean cos she was shattered!

Yeah we are in Majorca, we’ve got aircon at night but I don’t think it’s strong enough hmmm. I don’t wanna share a bed again with her