Toddler advice thread

[Definitelyme]

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!

Mine all started using the toilet just after turning 2, so I’d say now is a great time. Definitely work on being consistent, decide when you want to do it and then ditch the nappies. “Oh Crap Potty Training” is a good read

first time poster on this thread. My daughter will be 3 in a couple of weeks and has been potty/toilet trained with wees for a good 5/6 months now. But she will not poo unless she has a nappy/pull-up on. I’ve tried encouraging, bribing etc and it just ends up in a huge meltdown. Has anyone else had this? I’ve read that I’m not supposed to force it and she’ll eventually just do it, but it’s worrying me me.

Definitely don’t force it, and bribery/rewards probably won’t work as once they stop then the motivation to poo in the toilet stops too. I would say start slowly, it’s obviously a comfort thing and taking it away suddenly may cause more issues than it solves. So does she ask for a nappy to poo in? If so, pop it on and then take her in to the bathroom to go. Next step would be to sit on the potty/toilet while wearing the nappy, next step sit on potty/toilet with the nappy on but open, and then remove the nappy altogether. Slow steps to allow her to get used to the feeling of sitting down to poo (instead of standing which is how toddlers mostly go) and the place she’ll be doing it.
I would also steer clear of heaping too much praise on, maybe more along the lines of “you’ve done your poo at the toilet, that’s where daddy and I and XYZ do our poo as well”.

Littlepotato has a temper mind you. A baby scratched his face at soft play and he was pointing at this baby going “YOURE A BAD BABY A BADDIE BABY!!!!!” While I’m trying to carry him going “hes not worf it babez c’mon hun let’s get you a ribena” like a drunk girl on a night out

I have so missed LittlePotato stories!

 

[nurseren]

I have so missed LittlePotato stories!

He was FUMING. Finger pointing and everything!

 

[Justwannaseescreenshots]

Thanks to everyone who replied to my initial post! we are most days not bothering with a nap and it's working quite well! Also regarding his speech, . Really helped hearing of other experiences and knowing we are not alone! My son has actually come on leaps and bounds with his speech in the last couple of months. He was 2 in october and every day he says something new. We are still not getting sentences just single words but he is saying so many I couldn't even keep count. I do notice sometimes he just says the beginning of the word, for example for teeth he will say "teee" but he is getting there and I am really happy with his progress!

Also loving how much more aware of christmas he is this year. This is his 3rd christmas but definitely the first year he has known there is something going on! I am seriously struggling for places to hide his presents as we don't have the biggest house! We also can't wrap anything until christmas eve because if he sees a wrapped present he will instantly want to open it whether it's for him or not lol.

Is there anything you did differently to bring on this progress? Mine was 2 in November and still only says Ga Da Ma Ba. He does only a few hours of nursery each week but I don’t know what I can do to help get just one word where he attributes it correctly. He understands me when I ask him things and so knows if I’m asking if he is hungry or wants water etc but has no desire to say anything other than his usual sounds.

 

[Dollenganger]

Is there anything you did differently to bring on this progress? Mine was 2 in November and still only says Ga Da Ma Ba. He does only a few hours of nursery each week but I don’t know what I can do to help get just one word where he attributes it correctly. He understands me when I ask him things and so knows if I’m asking if he is hungry or wants water etc but has no desire to say anything other than his usual sounds.

Toddlers differ so, so much. None of my older children spoke much at just 2 but my youngest child speaks in 6-7 word sentences at just 2. I wasn’t ready for her!

Language development is much more important than speech. If your child is communicating with you in other ways and understands what you’re saying to him then he’s absolutely fine and everything else will follow. His speech will probably come all at once. He may be concentrating on motor skills too at the moment.

 

[Definitelyme]

Is there anything you did differently to bring on this progress? Mine was 2 in November and still only says Ga Da Ma Ba. He does only a few hours of nursery each week but I don’t know what I can do to help get just one word where he attributes it correctly. He understands me when I ask him things and so knows if I’m asking if he is hungry or wants water etc but has no desire to say anything other than his usual sounds.

Understanding is great, it means his receptive speech is coming along really well. Just keep talking to him and giving him chances to talk, even if it’s just his babble, which I’m sure you’re doing anyway. A few things I’ve learned over the years from SALT, if he has a sound for drink, for example, and makes it to ask for a drink, respond with the word like “Drink. You would like me to get you a drink, I can do that now.” Try not to ask too many questions for responses, instead sportscast what is happening, and use lots of descriptive words yourself eg instead of “let’s play with the cars” something like “let’s see if we can find the big yellow car and the tiny orange car to play with”.

 

[Jellybean093]

Is there anything you did differently to bring on this progress? Mine was 2 in November and still only says Ga Da Ma Ba. He does only a few hours of nursery each week but I don’t know what I can do to help get just one word where he attributes it correctly. He understands me when I ask him things and so knows if I’m asking if he is hungry or wants water etc but has no desire to say anything other than his usual sounds.

My youngest doesn’t talk in sentences. He was 2 in September. We are currently going through hearing specialists who, in October said he had glue ear. He understands everything, but his speech (sentence wise) just isn’t there. He says quite a few words now, and has learnt to count to 10, can say his colours and recognises and tells me some shapes
My middle was the same, not as bad, but as soon as he started preschool, he didn’t stop talking! He was also very advanced in other ways

 

[quinzel]

Is there anything you did differently to bring on this progress? Mine was 2 in November and still only says Ga Da Ma Ba. He does only a few hours of nursery each week but I don’t know what I can do to help get just one word where he attributes it correctly. He understands me when I ask him things and so knows if I’m asking if he is hungry or wants water etc but has no desire to say anything other than his usual sounds.

Admittedly we cut his screen time out a lot. I think it was a mix of that and just him being at the age where he was ready to start saying more words? It's so hard not to compare to other kids but I think it is really helpful to try to stop doing that too. They go at their own pace. You could reach out to your health visitor though to let them know your concerns and they can tell you if there are any referrals that can be done?

 

[quinzel]

I’m wondering if anyones little one has a comforter? My son (was 2 in Oct) has a muslin bunny comforter that he is obsessed with. I don’t have an issue with it but he insists on taking it everywhere, even to nursery. It is even hard to part him with it to get it washed. Now he has also picked up a little dog stuffed toy when we were at IKEA last week and has latched onto this too ‍

 

[nurseren]

I’m wondering if anyones little one has a comforter? My son (was 2 in Oct) has a muslin bunny comforter that he is obsessed with. I don’t have an issue with it but he insists on taking it everywhere, even to nursery. It is even hard to part him with it to get it washed. Now he has also picked up a little dog stuffed toy when we were at IKEA last week and has latched onto this too ‍

my son is 5 in May, and he has Babbit. It’s a rabbit toy, and it goes everywhere with him. We have two so they rotate, but he knows Babbit 1 and Babbit 2 and will ask for 1 at bedtime and 2 for car journeys. Babbit doesn’t go to school or parties, but comes everywhere else. Babbit even has a stamp in his passport and a photo with Winnie the Pooh at Disney.

the way I see it is that I’m 36 and I sleep with a cuddly stitch. This stitch brings me so much comfort and I took it into hospital with me for all my surgeries. If I’m 36 and I need comfort, then he can have Babbit until he’s old. people have commented on it and I tell them to piss off

my son does develop attachment to random things. A whisk, screwdriver, plug, a mouldy orange…

I do recommend you get two of his favourite toy and rotate them. X

 

[hol20x]

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!

I tried with my daughter a couple of times but she wasn’t ready til she turned 3, she hated the toilet but she happily used the potty. Now she uses either depending on her mood. If he is using the potty I’d take that as my green light to ditch nappies and put him in pants, be consistent and he’ll be trained in no time!

 

[Jellybean093]

I’m wondering if anyones little one has a comforter? My son (was 2 in Oct) has a muslin bunny comforter that he is obsessed with. I don’t have an issue with it but he insists on taking it everywhere, even to nursery. It is even hard to part him with it to get it washed. Now he has also picked up a little dog stuffed toy when we were at IKEA last week and has latched onto this too ‍

My eldest is 12 and still sleeps with her muzzys. Doesn’t take them out with her, just for bed time

 

[peachhes]

I fear this may be a long post so sorry in advance!
My little boy is 3 soon and his speech is non existent at the moment. He turned 1 during the first lockdown so he’s technically missed out a vital year or so. He doesn’t start nursery til Spring (hoping this brings on his speech) can anyone maybe recommend any activities/apps/books that have helped with your child’s speech?
Also he’s not potty trained yet. Haven’t even tried. Any tips would also be great.

 

[Jellybean093]

I fear this may be a long post so sorry in advance!
My little boy is 3 soon and his speech is non existent at the moment. He turned 1 during the first lockdown so he’s technically missed out a vital year or so. He doesn’t start nursery til Spring (hoping this brings on his speech) can anyone maybe recommend any activities/apps/books that have helped with your child’s speech?
Also he’s not potty trained yet. Haven’t even tried. Any tips would also be great.

Little baby bum on Netflix is really good. My 2 year old picked up the colours and shapes from there
Potty training - give yourself a week of full on if you can. Ask every half hour if he needs the toilet. Sticker/reward charts, let him pick his own potty

 

[WhatABore]

I fear this may be a long post so sorry in advance!
My little boy is 3 soon and his speech is non existent at the moment. He turned 1 during the first lockdown so he’s technically missed out a vital year or so. He doesn’t start nursery til Spring (hoping this brings on his speech) can anyone maybe recommend any activities/apps/books that have helped with your child’s speech?
Also he’s not potty trained yet. Haven’t even tried. Any tips would also be great.

Tbh, it sounds terrible, but my daughter picked up a lot from TV she went from talking jibberish to talking sentences within months

With potty training though, personally I'd wait until he's got the speech to be able to tell you he needs to go

 

[Definitelyme]

I fear this may be a long post so sorry in advance!
My little boy is 3 soon and his speech is non existent at the moment. He turned 1 during the first lockdown so he’s technically missed out a vital year or so. He doesn’t start nursery til Spring (hoping this brings on his speech) can anyone maybe recommend any activities/apps/books that have helped with your child’s speech?
Also he’s not potty trained yet. Haven’t even tried. Any tips would also be great.

Have you asked for a referral to speech and language therapy? They’ll be able to help you with strategies to bring him on.
Books with repetitive words would probably be a big help, so something like “we’re going on a bear hunt” which has the same phrase repeatedly, that sort of thing. Same with songs that have repetitive segments in them. Nursery rhymes are also supposed to be great for speech, shops like The Works always have big books of nursery rhymes.

For potty training I always recommend “Oh Crap, Potty Training”. I always give it a re-read when we are getting to that age with my kids, it’s got lots of good info and strategies in it.

 

[miamae]

Those of you with toddlers at nursery how do you manage potty training both at home and nursery? I work 4 days a week so I'm planning to start my 2 year old on my day off on Weds, do you think his nursery would be fine implementing it there? My eldest was potty trained in 3 days (no idea how, she just cracked it) and that was 6 years ago so it feels all new to me!

 

[BettyCrockerr]

Those of you with toddlers at nursery how do you manage potty training both at home and nursery? I work 4 days a week so I'm planning to start my 2 year old on my day off on Weds, do you think his nursery would be fine implementing it there? My eldest was potty trained in 3 days (no idea how, she just cracked it) and that was 6 years ago so it feels all new to me!

Do it when you can keep them off for a good 5/6/7 days at home. I wouldn’t bother trying to do it across home and nursery.

 

[watermelon sugar]

I fear this may be a long post so sorry in advance!
My little boy is 3 soon and his speech is non existent at the moment. He turned 1 during the first lockdown so he’s technically missed out a vital year or so. He doesn’t start nursery til Spring (hoping this brings on his speech) can anyone maybe recommend any activities/apps/books that have helped with your child’s speech?
Also he’s not potty trained yet. Haven’t even tried. Any tips would also be great.

I found yakka dee on CBeebies really helped my little boy with his speech! I’ve put some compilations of it on YouTube and it’s really brought his speech on

 

[BettyCrockerr]

I fear this may be a long post so sorry in advance!
My little boy is 3 soon and his speech is non existent at the moment. He turned 1 during the first lockdown so he’s technically missed out a vital year or so. He doesn’t start nursery til Spring (hoping this brings on his speech) can anyone maybe recommend any activities/apps/books that have helped with your child’s speech?
Also he’s not potty trained yet. Haven’t even tried. Any tips would also be great.

Do you sit and talk to him? Pick up objects and sound out what it is in front of him? Does he make noises that he uses for specific items? (Like making the mmmmmm sounds to signify mummy for example??)

 

[Definitelyme]

Those of you with toddlers at nursery how do you manage potty training both at home and nursery? I work 4 days a week so I'm planning to start my 2 year old on my day off on Weds, do you think his nursery would be fine implementing it there? My eldest was potty trained in 3 days (no idea how, she just cracked it) and that was 6 years ago so it feels all new to me!

Maybe better off starting him over a weekend when you have the two days off at a time. Speak to nursery beforehand and ask them for details on how they do it so it’s consistent across the board - what words do they use, do they do potty, big toilet, both. What do they do with accidents etc. Remember they do this all the time, and work between nursery and home with parents doing it all the time, so they’ll have no problems going along with it when you feel it’s time. I don’t subscribe to the “stay at home” theory. All mine have learnt as part of our every day life, going out and about as normal, and never had any issues, all 3 using the toilet well before 2 and a half. But I agree every time we go again with the next child I feel totally clueless about what to do!