I'm so curious to hear what everyone's bedtime routines look like. For context, my LO is 2.5 and after lots of trial and error we landed on a timer method of 15 minutes which ends up being 3-5 books.
Hello all,
I have questions related to my 2 year and 3 month old son.
He babbles a lot and says a few words like mama,baba,dada,thank you. He does follow instructions like when I ask him to pass a book he will give it to me but he still won't tell me if he is hungry or needs water.
He flaps his hands while playing but he does gestures as waving hands,high fives, shakehands.etc.
I have recently enrolled him in pre school so that he can interact with his peers. I can see a lot of change in him like his attention span has increased and he started conversing with me. Is this normal for a 2 year old or shall I visit pediatrician to rule out any diagnosis?
I am so worried that I am unable to sleep since a few days.
Just got our NIPT results back and found out our second will be a boy! We’re both excited but shocked! Somehow we’d convinced ourselves we’d have only girls. I grew up with a sister and my husband is an only child, we have no boys in our close family nor do we have any friends with an older sister, younger brother dynamic. Can you help me imagine what this age gap/ gender split might look like for the next few years (or I guess at any time!). I know a lot will depend on their particular personalities but I’d love to hear your experiences.
This got removed from the sleeptraining subreddit so I’m asking here for help
14 month old is definitely ready to fully transition to one nap but has been having early morning wakes anywhere from 5 to 5:45. This makes it extremely hard to make it to one nap even to 11:00 so there are days where I have to squeeze in a late afternoon micro nap (which only seems to overtire him imo). Right now wake windows are 5/5.5. He is not sleep trained and we co-sleep. Do I just keep pushing through until he makes it to 11 even though he’s waking up super early? He’s very sensitive to being overtired as well that’s why I’m hesitant. Any help or advice would be appreciated! Also, can someone do the math? Is he getting enough awake time?
I have a few rainy days going here, so we can’t go much outside, and we have only one car we have to share with the other for work. I am looking for activities we can do at home when it’s raining other than watching TV (I would like to avoid too much screen time).
My kid isn’t yet at a speaking stage, although listening isn’t a problem most of the time. Any ideas to avoid boredom? Activities? Toys? We tried some stuff but because the attention span is still small it looks like I need a huge list of possible activities to cycle through. I googled online but most things seem for slightly older kids.
My son (1 yo) has what I am confident is rotavirus. There have been several kids at school diagnosed (1 is hospitalized). He is vaccinated and seems to be tolerating things well. He is still drinking, wet diapers and eating (slightly less appetite than normal, but I am not worried). He never vomited, but is on his 4th day of diarrhea. It is the most foul, unique diarrhea I have ever seen. It does seem to be improving in color (not so light yellow), and maybe slightly more consistency to it. Sorry for the description, but iykyk. He also just recovered from HFM, and an ear infection so we are going through it. What experiences have others had with rotavirus? Mostly, how long did the diarrhea last?
I'm wondering whether we should get a wagon or double stroller and what kind. Ideally I would still like to have a place to store a large bag. My daughter is fine walking around these days but the stroller still comes in handy when we have a lot of walking to do. What do y'all recommend? TIA
It feels like I am posting every day but Reddit is honestly our only souce of tips, zero family help, so really appreciate your support 🙏.
My 17mo baby started with tantrums, tantrums for nothing and everything. The one in the morning before breakfast happens every day like clockwork. What we have noticed is that if my husband is there, my baby will not calm down, they will demand that he picks them up and will cry desperatily until he does. Since yesterday, I started asking him to leave me alone with them during a tantrum. The baby calms down in 30 seconds, all I do is sit next to them and offer some toys to play, and they start laughing, as if nothing happened. If my husband stays, the baby can go on having a tantrum for at least 15 to 20 minutes.
Ever since we realized this, he feels awful, he hates that he is the reason the baby can't regulate alone, and that he isn't a calming presence. I do understand why it happens, I love and play with my baby but I am usually also handling logistics (food, clothesz etc), and he is usually playing with them during that time, so I think the baby feels closer to him maybe (stab to my heart 🥲)?
He wants to also help them.to calm down but what can he do? How can he be a calming presence for the baby during tantrums?
This is just a vent post. How do people survive on little sleep?? Caffeine makes me sleepy so that’s out.
My 2 year old (26 months) is getting what I’m assuming is her 2 year old molars. For the past 2 nights she’s been waking up screaming.
This kid is like me genetically and LOVES sleep. When she’s out, she’s out. So her waking up at all is out of the norm. And not being able to be resettled has quite literally never happened before. I’ve tried comforting and rocking for up to an hour and she just won’t go back down. I had to resort to co sleeping which sucked for everyone. Ibuprofen isn’t seeming to work for it.
Im also at the stage of pregnancy where everything hurts, im so emotional and cry on and off all day, my belly is annoying, and I was already exhausted before the sleep deprivation.
I feel bad that I’ve really relied on the TV a lot lately. I just don’t know how I’m gonna survive this. I know as a second time mom everything passes and nothing lasts but it’s so hard when you’re in the thick of it.
Thanks for letting me vent yall.
So the reason I'm messaging here and now at a doctor's is because, look, it's been 3-4 days since the initial burn.
Day 2, a blister formed, and he promptly burst it from playing.
Every bandage I put he either rips or sucks on wet.
Then I wrap a bandage and he quickly pulls it off.
I so far have done a decent job keeping it clean.
He has ripped the scar yesterday once but has not done that today as I am more proactive re applying a bandage.
The burn is just on the inner finger. Its not huge but big to notice.
He got burned on my iron and I feel horrible.
So, my little guy is 2 next month and he has no tdap shot at all.
I thought nothing of it then I realized he played in dirt with an open wound thats partically healing but still red.
Im freaking out. I worry enough for him and I just want to know if anyone has gone through that and made it out.
Im not anti v. I wanted to give it to him but my husband wants to delay it and delay it. Is this an emergency or am I over reacting?
We just found out my 4 month old is allergic to cats and of course we have one. We're working on decreasing his exposure to her and I've way has to be related to the couch. My thought was to buy a washable couch cover. This is where the toddler comes in - I honestly don't care that much what it looks like, but his current hobby is tearing all of the cushions off the couch.
Any recommendations for a couch cover that holds up to washing and toddlers? Also the toddler wipes his nose constantly on the velvety couches, so they look pretty gross despite being steam cleaned in December.
Or any recommendations related to cat allergies? So far we have/are planning to:
- keep the cat on our first floor (hardwood floors, no bedrooms)
- deep clean her cat trees & soft sleeping spots
- sweep/vacuum more on that main floor
- deep vacuum carpeted upstairs where the bedrooms are
I know the cat beds have a ton of hair, but I don't want to take away all of her soft places to sleep, so recommendations related to that would be greatly appreciated.
So my toddler is 19 months. We have been awake since 12:30am. It is now 4:30am. She was running around the house playing eating snacking laughing. We were both siting at the table eating breakfast and she just randomly projectile threw up everywhere. No fever. No cough. No gaging. Just randomly throwing up.
My MIL says this is common but I’m still panicking thinking she is sick. After she threw up she went back to eating and playing. Literally acting like nothing happened.
I’m at a loss. I don’t know if this is normal or if we need to get her checked by a professional. But often whenever our 3.5 year old is tired, she has started to want things done a certain way - and will want to try again until it’s done exactly how she had envisioned. Most of the time she will make up how she wants it done after it’s already done. For example, we will be going from the bathroom to the bedroom and I will walk ahead of her to open the door. She will scream that she wanted to open the door first and want us to go back to our positions so she can open it. And she will want us to go back to the exact positions we were in the bathroom. And if we don’t do something exactly how it was previously, she will ask to do it again (go back to the same position and start again). Things like this. It’s getting really tiring. I’m not sure what to do when it happens anymore because whatever we try - nothing changes. We try to offer her lots of options during the day and during bedtime to give her agency and autonomy… but it still happens. HELPPP
Our daughter is 2 years old (27months if that makes a difference) and she is having consistent issues sleeping though the night. It's almost always 2:30am. She will wake up and scream, we go in there and she will just stay away and roll around while we sit in there and we usually loose patience at 2 hours. We have tried ferber and she just screams for 2 hours so we generally sit in there. I will admit me and my husband make plans and either he feels bad and doesn't stick to them or I am exhausted and lose patience and don't stick to them which I know is a problem of its own.
Before bedtime we tub or play. At 7:15 we have one last snack, at 7:30 we put on PJs and start reading books. We have a toddler training clock we call buddy. He goes to sleep at 7:50. Usually about 8 she turns off the light. I cuddle her and sing her a song and then tuck her in bed. A giant struggle has been not touching her while she goes to sleep. She just winds up again. I tried for a week and each night she would wind up about me not holding her hand and she didn't settle easily. So I hold her hand until she falls asleep (anywhere from 8:20-8:50).
Nap is at daycare and I dislike it. She doesn't go down until 1 and sleeps until 2:45-3. I asked for earlier naps and they said they would put her down first so that shifted to 12:30-12:50... I know an earlier and shorter nap would be ideal but I can't do much about it.
Overnight she wakes up at 2:30. We sit in the room and she refuses to sleep. We don't talk to her. When we leave she screams. We were doing ferber but...guess who can now open doors! And some nights (like tonight) she wakes up at 2:30 and just stays awake until school. And she will do that multiple nights in a row which is not good for mom and dad working full time jobs.
I know I need to stop holding her hand and work on moving out of the room. I know we need to do better at night. I was thinking she gets 20 minutes and then we leave. Should I get a child safety lock and do ferber again?
Any advice is much appreciated
I am not enjoying this moment in time. She says no to everything. Won’t help. Does things to sabotage my efforts and my peace.
What am I supposed to do?
For context I’m currently reading the “oh crap” potty training book an there’s a line about toddlers being over scheduled..I do usually plan something for every day am I overdoing it?
Here’s an example of our week:
Monday- outside play date at my cousins house. My SIL also goes so there are three moms and three 2 year old and we play outside together 10am-12:30pm ish
Tuesday - library story time and music time 10am-11:30am
Wednesday- inside play day with the same people from Monday 10am-12:30pm ish
Thursday - outdoor school..basically it’s my child and either my husband or I going to a local preschool for one day and they do an outdoor nature class that we participate in 10:30-12:00pm
Friday - messy farm day..a local farm has a theme day and the kids do a few activities and play around the farm 10-11am
Saturday - farmers market usually in the morning
Sunday - dinner at a family members house
So that’s a typical week I don’t really have days where we are home ALL day. If we don’t have a play date or something I usually bring my child on errands.
Should there be more days that we are home all day?
Hi folks
I’m looking for some outside perspective on a recurring conflict between my husband and myself regarding the safety and supervision of our 2-year-old toddler.
Lately, I’ve been feeling incredibly dissatisfied with his level of childcare.
When I bring up my concerns, he tells me that I’m overreacting. Or he should not have told me something because i overreact. Very rarely (read once), he sincerely admitted lapse in judgement. Most of the times he would either dismiss my concerns or just ignore what i am saying.
Because this happens so consistently, I’m starting to feel gaslit and find myself questioning my own judgment.
I want to list a few specific examples of things he has done recently that I consider to be unsafe, and I would love an honest gut-check on whether my concerns are valid.
1. He will sometimes walk two steps ahead of our toddler on walkways/sidewalks/parks instead of next to or behind him where he can see him and react quickly.
He once fed our toddler a whole coffee bean.
He has left our toddler in our driveway buckled into his car seat, or strapped into his stroller, to run inside the house for a minute to grab something.
He's often distracted while watching our toddler at parks/ balance bike on local trails.
For eg. my husband will spend up to an hour on FaceTime showing him to extended family, rather than keeping his full attention on active supervision.
6. He would lets our toddler run around the park while holding a thick stick in his hand which i feel can cause injuries on face if he ends up falling on it.
To me, these feel like basic safety and supervision lapses for a fast-moving 2-year-old. To him, I'm blowing things out of proportion and bring overly anxious.
How do you handle it when partners have completely different risk tolerances?
Thanks in advance.
My 4 year old had a strange episode last night and I’m looking for shared experiences/outcomes while we wait for follow-up.
She had mild congestion/postnasal drip during the day but otherwise acted normal. Middle of night she woke up saying she was seeing mosquitos/bugs/webs, then later ants/flies/purple or brown spots. At one point she even said she saw Peppa Pig. She would sometimes stare around the room/periphery looking for bugs.
Important details:
• She was awake, coherent, recognized us, followed commands, talked normally, and responded when touched/spoken to.
• No obvious seizure-like movements, no loss of consciousness, no weakness, no vomiting, no headache.
• Symptoms seemed heavily tied to being in bed / waking up / dark bedroom environment.
• She continued intermittently mentioning bugs/spots between ~3–7am while in the bedroom and couldn’t sleep, but once we got her dressed and out of the house she stopped mentioning it entirely. It came back again when we tried to put her back to nap.
• She then acted completely normal for the rest of the day for ~12 hours (playing Legos, watching iPad, car rides, normal interaction) with zero complaints after waking up and getting out of the bedroom
Has anyone had similar episodes in preschoolers? Especially bug/ant/spider visual experiences around bedtime/waking that seemed to last a couple hours and they seemed awake? What ended up being the diagnosis or outcome?
Day 5 of potty training our 26 month old, and going fairly well including successful outings. (Has of course had a few accidents here and there, but less than I expected, tbh). He definitely does best either full bare bottom or at least commando.
So I’m putting in a clothing order for him and wondering how long commando stage lasts? Like can I add a couple packs of underwear in his current size, or safer to hold off for a bit or at least size up?
Hello parents of toddlers!
I have a 2.5 year old boy. He speaks full sentences and has recently been loving to say “shut up.” He heard it on Space Jam, which is his favorite, but he just thinks it’s HILARIOUS. Obviously, I don’t want him using that word, he’s way too young and even as he gets older, it’s not a nice thing to say to someone! So I’ve tried telling him, “We don’t say that word, we can say ‘be quiet please.” I’ve simply ignored him hoping he would realize he’s not going to get the attention he wants from saying that. But, he’s saying it at the store, saying it at school, and when I talk to him about it he just laughs and says it again. 🙃 I have made the mistake of laughing but I corrected myself, said, “mommy isn’t laughing, we say nice words,” and then model nice words.
How would you go about disciplining this? What has worked? Any advice is appreciated!