r/toddlers

I’ve tried all the things, but girlfriend has such little interest in solids. She’ll pick, take a few bites. Sometimes she’ll do pretty well with the proteins. Even with the expensive and delicious Little Spoon meals. Milk? Takes sips. But pouches? She’ll suck three down in a row. I’m still even giving her a bottle of half formula at night because I stress about her intake. Maybe it’s because she has four molars coming in? But she’s been like this for way longer than that, I just didn’t worry as much before because she was still getting formula.

I mean she can’t be the only one like this, right? 🙃

My husband and I went away for two nights, leaving our 2.5-year-old with his dad and his dad’s wife of two years. This was our first time EVER leaving him overnight which was a big deal for many reasons—-he is special needs, and is grieving the death of my dad which has caused a lot of separation anxiety. we planned this separation with the help of his therapist to make it as safe, predictable and smooth as possible.

My in laws knew this, and we gave them detailed care instructions while also allowing flexibility and encouraging them to have fun.
I even went over a few days before to help them prep the house and get his bed set up. We are not incredibly close with his dad and wife but we were willing to try this.

Yesterday morning on day 1 of
Our trip, we reached out to check in to see how it was going. they told us they planned to take our son fishing 90 minutes away with friends who were camping, but they would just go for the afternoon and evening. I felt anxious about it but tried to be cool with it and tell myself one skipped nap time isn’t the end of the world I asked about sunscreen and a life jacket because they planned to take him on a boat. They hadn’t even considered that he would need a life jacket…..let alone sunscreen 🙄 but I played it cool and I told them where to get everything and told them to have a great time.

Come 8 pm, they hadn’t responded to us. We
Kept asking how things went and how Luca was
Doing. When they texted back they were evasive. We repeated questions about his nap, bedtime, and how bedtime was going at home, and they kept evading our questions. Through enough back and forth we discovered they had brought their camper and planned to stay overnight with him near a reservoir in a remote part of Idaho (with strangers).

They never asked our permission and we not planning on even telling us.
We didn’t even know his exact location or the people they were with. We had to piece together where our two-year-old would be sleeping. When we objected, they were rude and treated us as though we were overbearing.
We told them how upset we were and asked them to bring him home the next morning so my mom could take over and get him back to his routine.

After all of that, They still didn’t return in time for his nap! Apparently My husband’s dad was enjoying fishing and assumed our son would sleep in the car, even though he doesn’t do car naps and it totally disrupts his bedtime. This was after our explicit request to bring him home.

We want him to have fun with family, but taking him away overnight required our agreement. Not asking, not notifying us, and then disregarding our request to bring him home have seriously damaged our trust.
For context, my husband’s dad was not a model dad either….
It took a lot for me to trust him with our son, although we felt comfortable with his wife.

They want to ‘talk it out with us’ and I’m so angry I’m seeing red. Would you find this as upsetting as we did? How would you address it if they keep dismissing your concerns?

I honestly just need some advice. Thank
You!!

Sitting at home at the moment after our son asked for me not to come to the park so he could just go with my husband. “I don’t want mommy to come, only you dad.” It’s a beautiful day out and I would love to be with them, but I’ve been rejected on and off all weekend and am emotionally exhausted. I would give anything to trade places with my husband. Never pictured that this is what motherhood would look like but here we are. Constantly on the outside looking in at my own family, showing up every day trying to be a part of it, and hoping for a few moments of each day where I’m not totally pushed away and rejected.

Sending love to all the other non-preferred parents out there. ❤️ It can be so hard some days. I wish I had known going in so I could have prepared.

Is 14 months too young? I’ve seen conflicting advice on wether they just need to be over 12 months or wether they should be 2 before introducing a pillow

My daughter is just obsessed with pillows, we recently transitioned her to a floor bed but any time I bring my pillow in with me to lie on while I’m settling her she insists on lying on it and falls asleep much quicker. I will then pull it out from under her but I’m wondering can I just get her a toddler pillow at this age (14 months). Was looking at the keababies one

Okay bear with me here. I was thinking the other day how random it is that young kids seem to know SO MUCH about dinosaurs, and that it seems to be a focus when it comes to educating our toddlers about the world... despite dinosaurs having been extinct for an almost incomprehensible amount of time. What 2 or 3 year old doesn't know all about dinosaurs? But how does this even happen? Why are we all so focused on telling our kids about dinosaurs from such a young age?

And it got me wondering, is this a cultural thing? Is this a thing for toddlers around the world, like is dinosaur knowledge just universal? Or is it a country (Western?) specific thing?

I'm in the UK for reference. Would be interested to hear from others from different backgrounds!

My 3 year old has been saying, "that's my space" a lot in the last few days. I assume he learned it at daycare. He mostly directs it to the dog if the dog is on the couch where he wants to be, he says, "that's my space."

Tonight he wasn't settling down for bed so I asked if he wanted to snuggle. In the quietest voice he whispers, "I need my space" and my mama heart broke a little.

My 3-year-old daughter started preschool in July, and since then we’ve noticed a pretty major shift in her personality.

Before preschool, she was extremely social and interactive. She would ALWAYS greet random people in the condo elevator, at the mall, etc. She’d ask people their names, compliment what they were wearing, wish them a good day, and generally just engage with everyone. She became quite well-known in our building because people would always comment on how chatty and friendly she was for such a young child.
Since starting preschool, though, she has become almost the complete opposite around other people.

She actually seems fairly confident at school (drop-offs and pick-ups are smooth) and she apparently communicates quite a lot with her teachers. Her teachers also describe her as one of the happiest kids at school.
But outside of school, she barely talks to anyone anymore. She doesn’t greet neighbours, and if someone asks her a question, she often won’t respond. Instead, she might do some silly actions or just run away.

Her behaviour at home has changed quite a bit too. She seems much more emotional and is very quick to cry or scream over things that previously wouldn’t have bothered her.

I should mention that her transition into preschool itself was incredibly smooth. From literally day one, she happily went into school without much fuss, and we’ve consistently been told that she’s a very happy child there. She also seems to be doing well socially with her teachers.

We’ve also been quite careful about her sleep schedule, diet, etc., so I’m wondering if this could simply be a normal developmental response to starting preschool, or whether there could be something else going on.
Has anyone experienced something similar with their 3-year-old after starting preschool/daycare?

I’d really appreciate hearing other parents’ experiences and whether this is something I should just give her time with, or something worth discussing with her teachers/pediatrician.

Basically my son is 20 months and still knee walking although he can now take a few steps. He’s been referred to London neuromuscular clinic after his CK came back elevated twice (under 1000). Has anyone else been through something similar and can share their experience please?