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My 18 month old HATES other toddlers

WAmummy — Wed, 30 May 2012 21:23:20 GMT

Hi All,
I am desperate! My 18 month old girl seems to HATE other toddlers. It's progressively getting worse. She goes to daycare twice a week when I am at work and goes to the crèche when I am at the gym along with other other activities during the week where she has interaction with other toddlers. I thought that interaction would make her better with toddlers but nope!! It's like she has this bubble around her and if any other toddler gets in (or even near) she screams at them and will hit them if they get close enough... Daycare have even told me on 2 occasions she has gone to bite but they have manage to stop her before it goes any further. I am sooo upset with this situation as I am trying everything to stop it but nothin is working. I have alot of support but still feel 100% alone cause noone else's toddler I know have gone through this... It's got to the point I don't want to socialise with my mates who have got kids (which is all of them!) because she is so bad. At te best of times she does have a little temper on her and she does throw her tantrums quite often when she doesn't get her way but that doesn't bother me as I sort of know how to deal with those.
If ANYONE can shed some light or give any kind of advise that would be great!!!! Cheers

how to teach my 28 month old toddler to share?

nebula_228 — Wed, 30 May 2012 07:48:11 GMT

Hi all,

I am literally stressed out. I have a 28 month old who completely refuses to part with the things
(his cars,blanket and cars) that he is playing with. Ours is a joint family. My niece(18 months) and my nephew(3 yr old) stay with us too. They don't have this sharing issue. The day care lady says my son is well behaved at day care and listens to her.

I have tried giving him timeouts(3 min timeouts), telling him lovingly and encouraging him when he does share during a very few instances. Otherwise he is a good kid.

Is his behavior because of the fact that he doesn't relate to them as siblings. He does not take/snatch others toys but if my niece or nephew touch his things he goes berserk and cries a lot. It takes some time before he calms down.

Is he doing this on purpose. Right now he has the tag of being extremely selfish by everyone including my husband. I am really embarasssed when he does that.

I am really scared that he will become selfish when he becomes big too. Will i be needing some professional help in changing him.

Any advice highly appreciated.

Helping young kids cope with pain

candiceloopstra — Fri, 25 May 2012 20:52:20 GMT

Hi all amazing parents of bubs!

My name is Candice and I am a psychologist looking at how parents help their young kids cope with pain. Parents have a wealth of experience they collect over many stressful and scary experiences and sleepless nights. Massive pats on the back for you! I've spoken to many parents in an Australian hospital emergency department about how they help their kids cope with pain and its been a great experience for me to learn. I've developed a questionnaire about the strategies parents use to help their kids cope and was hoping parents on this forum could help me by completing this questionnaire plus a few others to help me understand more about what influences the strategies parents use. Although this wont benefit you directly, it will help me to add to what we know about the job parents do and to help medical staff better understand and appreciate the role of parents during painful medical procedures. Although, you could enter the draw to win 1 of 2 $100 Coles/Myer OR iTunes voucher.

The set questionnaires take about 30 minutes to complete...I realise its a long one but I would really appreciate your time and knowledge.

You can access the questionnaire online using this URL:

http://survey.qut.edu.au/survey/173393/1703/

Thank you so much for your time and please feel free to contact me if you have any questions.

Best wishes,
Candice Loopstra

candice.loopstra@connect.qut.edu.au

Survey - iPad games for kids

JP89 — Sat, 19 May 2012 20:57:42 GMT

Just a quick survey (17 questions) about smartphone/tablet games for toddlers. This is for a college course, so it would be very helpful if you solve it.

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheet/viewform?formkey=dG42am9UVzJMTXhNbU9KTDVXMFlPSHc6MQ

Can't get my toddler to do her day sleep at home

julzdancernz — Wed, 18 Apr 2012 13:46:47 GMT

Hi Everyone,

I am desperate for some help. My toddler (18months) is super active and I can't seem to get her to have her day sleep at home in her bed. If I was to put her in the pram or car she'd knock out right away. Her sleeps have never been such an issue and I wonder if it's that she's so interested in daily life that she doesn't want to sleep? The other day did a 15min sleep in the car and that was it for the whole day! Of course she was a wreck by late afternoon and super cranky.

Any help would be awesome!

Toddler suddenly HATES day care

alilovesdan — Wed, 11 Apr 2012 13:35:52 GMT

Hello All,

I hope maybe someone/s has had a similar experience and can give me some advice as I am concerned

My daughter has been attending family day are since she was 8 months old, she is now almost 2 and a half. In january, she started getting very anxiuos when I would drop her off which led to tears... three months later, she is now terrible, she sobs and clings. Yesterday she was upset all day, so much so that she wet her pants twice yesterday (she has been toilet trained)

A few things that are probaly impacting on her...

There was a lot of new kids joining in January who were all very upset when being dropped off. The other kids are fine now but she isnt.
we took a 2 week holiday in Feb. I thought the break may have distracted her but it didnt.
My family have been staying with us... she is getting alot of attention at home,

My family leave this week so I am hoping that when home goes back to normal she may. Please note that for over a year she happily attended day care with no issues and besides day care she is a very happy little girl...

She really seems to hvae an issue with her day care provider, wont speak to her, hug her, touch her. I could blame the day care provider but all the other kids seem to be okay and happy and this lady has 17 years expereince with family day care

So if anyone can suggest something.. that would be great

Thanks

2 yr old bad behaviour and park etiquette

mim4 — Fri, 11 May 2012 12:54:00 GMT

Any advice? I was at a park this morning with my twins who are 2.5yrs (i have two others - one at school (6yrs) and one at preschool (4yrs)) and Rory (the boy twin) was doing his usual pushing and biting (charming!) and unfortunately April (the girl twin) decided to do a few too... i did my usual by immediately pulling him away and sitting him down for time out after saying 'naughty - no biting/pushing it hurts' then getting him to say sorry and moving on. I even went up to the mum after the one biting incident to ask if her child was ok and that i was sorry it happened. As usual, however, there was only 5 - 10 minutes until the next incident and so we did it all again and again.

There were two young mums there with their one child of which one then decided to accuse me of being a bad mother who should discipline my children and that i should leave the park. I responded by saying that i was terribly sorry but i have two to look after who are both 2yrs and yes were going through a rough patch but that i also take her point on board. She just talked over me saying it wasn't good enough. She was incredibly rude - and despite what she was saying i felt was ok (as she was protecting her kids) the way she said it was revolting - there are ways of saying things. So even though i was there with a good friend i did leave ..... i just didn't know what to do as i felt incredibly angry and embarrassed too.

Then as i am packing the car they decided to leave too at which point i decided to state my piece that she should communicate more sensitively and that one child was vastly different from twins or more, that i was sorry her child was hurt but that i did act - she said she didn't see me do anything and that it wasn't good enough and so she kept going.

I am very aware of Rory's behaviour and am always a bit on edge going to parks hoping the parents there will be understanding of 2 year old behaviour - i am also finding his ongoing bad behaviour trying. I do believe you have to be repetitive and that at 2 yrs its a hard task teaching them not to do things. I don't think i should give up parks although it would be simpler. I am not against it but don't believe in the current society that you can smack your kids in public (and i don't think with Rory that teaches him anything either) i also don't think that leaving a park teaches him anything other than we are moving on - we leave anyway so there is no direct link to the bad behaviour. I do think i need to just hover around him more and i take her point on that - i feel that 2 year olds can be a bit brutish that it is just the stage and that it is more about the mother's reaction - i thought i was doing alright.

Anyway i have never had this happen or seen a mum be so rude before to a complete stranger. So i am asking for any comments or feelings on this type of occurrence? Is there a park etiquette when this happens - both a badly behaving child and an aggressive/confronting mum? I am just keen to get some other parents perspective on this as i do not want it to happen again and i do want to do the right thing by all - i figure there is always opportunity to learn - this being one of them!

15mth old not talking/walking

Sammisunshine — Sat, 28 Jan 2012 10:09:14 GMT

Hi all,
My youngest of three is 15months and although he babbles he only has one functional word 'up' (with hands raised), sometimes he will say 'mama/dada' but this could be for either of us.
He is still cruising, will walk up to three steps between M&D, and walks with a walker by himself, but refuses to walk by himself.
My other two were walking/talking between 12 and 13 months. We are refusing to pick him up, we talk to him constantly, he has exposure to playschool/sesame st etc, we talk to him about picture books etc.
I guess I am seeking confirmation from other parents that this is still normal development?

12 month old still waking frequently for bottles

LJMsmum — Tue, 08 May 2012 20:51:32 GMT

Hi Everyone

My 12 month old daughter still wakes frequently during the night. Sometimes the only way to get her back to sleep is to give her a bottle. She's having 4 bottles per day (three are at night 7pm, midnight and 4am) and everyone tells me that is too many for her age. My maternal and child health nurse wants me to cut back to two and not give her any after 7pm.

Has anyone else had this problem? How did you go about getting your baby to sleep through the night?

Thanks

18mo tantrums only for mum

Pomo — Wed, 25 Apr 2012 10:59:02 GMT

Hi, I have a lovely 18 month old boy who's behaviour is starting to make me wonder...

He has tantrums where he just screams and cries at the drop of a hat, but he only has them for me. Not every day, but often enough. Mornings are the worst. He'll often scream his head off for breakfast while Im doing everything I can to get it ready for him in a flash while trying to distract him with pleasant chatter or something else (breakfast is just Weetbix milk & yoghurt, it's not that time consuming!). But if it's not that it's something else. Two to three tantrums per morning is pretty standard.

The annoying thing is he seems to reserve this special behaviour just for me. His dad works away. If dad is home and gets up to give him breakfast (which he hasn't actually being doing very often at all), there is not a tantrum in sight. Not even a whinge.The morning's go smoothly.

I've also had problems with waking up early. Six o'clock is kind of my limit, but the little one often wakes up between 5 and 5:40. I will give him a drink of water, give him his dummy and encourage him to go back to sleep. Occasionally that will work but more often he'll start screaming and demanding breakfast as soon as I try it. This morning just for a change, his dad got up for him when he woke at 5:40. He did just what I would do...water, dummy, whisper "its still dark, its time to sleep" and leave. The little one went back to sleep till 7...lay around in his cot talking till 8:20...sounds like he has fallen back to sleep. It's now 9. Absolutely unheard of.

I do everything I can to give the little one as much attention as possible. Some things I know I just cant do while he is awake...like using the computer. That's fine with me, I just dont bother trying to do some things around him. The only time he doesnt have my full attention is when Im doing essentials like showering (30 seconds worth), cooking dinner, organising his lunch/snacks for the day etc and even then Im always talking to him, showing him what Im doing, teaching him new words, singing a song, just doing whatever to keep him involved. And the rest of the time I am focusing on him. Reading, playing, going to the park....So the issue is not that he gets more attention from dad (In fact dad CAN use his computer and the kid will happily play around him while he does).

Im at a loss. I feel furious. I feel hurt. Instead of having a bit of extra sleep while dad does breakfast, Ive been laying in bed listening to how perfect the little one is being and crying, wondering what on earth Im doing wrong.

Any advice would be appreciated.

toddler 3 years frequent infection lose weight cough abdominal pain

TomBelgium — Wed, 25 Jan 2012 02:00:36 GMT

Hi all,

our daughter is 3 years and three months. She never went to daycare and was never ill a lot the first two year and a half. Since september she is going to school (kindergarten). From 26th of September 2011, she almost have been sick the whole time.
26/09: infection of throat
==> 3 week schools
==> 1 week home, another infection of throat
==> 2 weeks school
==> bronchitis (one week home)
==> 3 week school
==> another throat infection
This was around somewhere around november. Blood work was done and they noticed she had not enought iron so we had to give a iron supplement daily. The next 4 weeks she was fine.
Beginning of december, she started coughing really bad with high fever==> another bronchitis. She had to take antibiotics. One week later (fever went away), the couhing wouldn't stop.
Doctor prescribed aerosol (Flixotide). We gave this for four weeks but things didn't get better. She also complained of some abdominal pain (once a day but there is really no pointing out where this is coming from. It is also very vague because one minute later the complaint is gone and she doesn't talk about it for the rest of the day)

In january we went to the pediatracian again since the coughing wouldn't stop. The we noticed that over the last months, she lost 1 lbs. However, she grew with 1 inch during that same time.
The ped ordered new blood work, a PH test, an X-ray and a test for cystic fibrosis. These were done on 13/01/2012
All results were fine (blood, RX, muco) except for the PH test which showed elevation during her coughing periods (which are really bad at night. Even leads to vomiting sometimes.). So he wrote a prescription for omeprazole.
Wonder by wonder, the coughin get better at night. But.....

Last monday she got high fever again. Back to the ped on thursday. Again some bronchitis. Back to aerosol. This weekend, she was fine again, not too much coughing, but yesterday, again fever came up in the morning 101.4. Yesterday back to the ped (we are getting overworried now), now her throat was red so she is fighting another infection (according the pediatrician).
The day before we had dinner with the family and also my brother and his wife got a sore throat now so she probably got it there.
Her fever didn't come back and she is playing all day so she doesn't seem sick.
The peditracian says it is just all a coïncidence and that she is probably building her resistance. Also it is winter here so it is a season for all these illnesses).
Her weight was also taken yesterday but this was the same the last three weeks. She stills complains once in two days of her belly but that's only a snapshot since one minute later she seemed to forget that she mentioned it. She eats good, has not problem with pooping or peeing, ... Still, this keeps us worry. The pediatrician always presses everywhere on her belly but doesn't find anything abnormal.

Anyway, a long story but we are just curious if there are any other people who experience this with their toddler?
We also are becoming very anxious and every day we are scared if the she looks funny that something else is showing up.
Also, we are very scared that there is another serious condition going on which the doc overlooked but can this be the case since so many tests were done already?

All comments are welcome. Thanks!!

Anyone for Speech Therapy?

mysweetboy — Mon, 06 Feb 2012 13:26:44 GMT

Hi, I have just started Speech Therapy with my, just turned 2 year old Son. I would like to hear from anyone else who has had a child in speech therapy and how things have progressed.

My child said a few words about 6 months ago, and then stopped and has not said anything since. He still babbles in his baby voice, but no distinctive words. Has anyone else had a similar experience? I would like to hear from anyone regarding either enquiry. Thanks.

The 'V' Word

Yummy Mummy — Wed, 09 Feb 2011 15:46:15 GMT

I am having troubles getting my son to eat his vegetables. He will be 3 next month and I feel like he should be eating them by now!!!

Okay, so it's my fault, I know. As a baby, my son ate enough vegetables to feed an African village. But as he got older he suddenly realised he could refuse things and it's be tough ever since. So we ended up resorting to hiding veges in meals. He currently only eats Bolognaise, quiches, sausages, nuggets, chips (homemade) and corn on the cob. As you can imagine, dinner time if very boring and unadventurous for him, just the way he likes it.

This week though, we have decided to try and be tougher, so each day this week we have all sat at the dinner table to eat the same meal. My partner and I normally eat quite spicy food, or elaborate meals so they aren't really kid friendly. But we compromised this week and have gone back to basics in the name of vegetables.

Monday we had meat balls, homemade baked carrot and potato chips, and corn on cob. He flatly refused to even try the meat balls. Ate a couple of potato chips and the corn.

Tuesday we had sausages, mashed potato, brocolli. He ate sausages for dinner. Wouldn't even try the mash or broc. Tried bribes, tried getting firm, tried being casual. Nothing is working.

Any ideas on how I can get him to eat ....or at least just even try and bit. It seems an impossible task. I can't disguise them forever now can I?

toddler sleeping

gretzles — Thu, 23 Feb 2012 15:54:14 GMT

Most of the information about toddler sleep is about how to get them to sleep more. but my dilemma is about too much sleep.

My husband leaces home at 7am and as the mornings get darker, my daughter (16mths old) is sleeping later and isn't awake when my husband leaves for work.

I'm worried that during winter she will be asleep when he leaves and asleep when he gets home, so he won't get to see her during the week.

should I wake her up or keep her awake to slend time with her dad?

When head banging is a problem?

flyawayjay — Wed, 28 Mar 2012 21:00:12 GMT

My 2 year old bangs his head on the floor, cot or wall when he is having a tantrum. This isn't his only means of protest but it has become somewhat regular. He is otherwise healthy, normal and living in an emotionally balanced house.

When do you think I need to worry about his head banging?

Help!

youtube for toddler viewing?

ether — Wed, 11 Jan 2012 08:13:27 GMT

hi, my 2 year old LOVES youtube. Any suggestions about how this could backfire??

there are tons of videos to keep them entertained on there and can actually teach them...

like this series....teaches about numbers and shapes and stuff
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w_-lz2BI2Co

and this one my son thinks is hilarious...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x4HaDhqc_Js

I know there's nothing wrong with these videos, but I worry as he gets older he'll want more and more web content...and it might be hard to filter the stuff he shouldn't see...

thoughts?
et

Please give me some tips

C-Mac — Thu, 15 Dec 2011 15:29:32 GMT

Please please I need tips on helping my 18 month old in learning how not to do certain things. Before I start I do want to just preface this by saying I am completely aware that at this age it is a normal exploration stage and I am also not talking about your everyday oops you shouldnt do that kind of activity but more the poterntially dangerous kind such as touching a hot oven, extreme climbing, running on a road, not holding hands etc etc.

My daughter as amazing as she is, is exhausting me and that makes it difficult to enjoy our time together. She is a very very strong willed child, I would almost go as far as to say she is almost physically stronger than me and while that might sound impossible I mean it in that if you try to cuddle/hold her back from doing something she wants to she will wildly thrash about, kick, punch, bite until you cant hold her anymore. She has the most full on squealing meltdown tantrums I have ever seen in my life. She is an adventurous child which I dont really want to hold her back from being but for example at the minute she is a climber. Now we have babyproofed our house as far as we can and beyond. All our cupboards have child locks (but she can break them and can also slide her hands in even with the lock - skinny minnie) I have taken to having to duct taped up my draws to stop her climbing on, have now had to put my dining table chairs away, have had to confiscate the high chair and now have caught her climbing on our entertainment unit which I cant physically put away short of gutting our whole house. She understands when you are asking her not to do something but will do it anyway. For example she will walk up to the oven (switched on) and put her hand near it and go "oh, hot!" and I will be like yes its hot - dont touch and then she will touch it anyway. She will go to do something she is not allowed to do and will actually look at you and go nooooo and then laughs and does it anyway. Even going out in public is a handful as she will not go in a pram (she will climb out of a moving pram) but doesnt want to hold my hand to walk alone and will literally sit in a carpark and have a meltdown because of it.

I do realise this is just her starting to assert her independence and like i said I am happy to ignore certain things but this dangerous stuff I feel like I dont know how to teach her that it is potentially dangerous to do these things. I have done the no, stop, I've tried loud noise eg uh uh! I've done ignoring bad behaviour,and overly praising good behaviour, I've done a smack when its really bad. Distraction does not work at all in this house. I've tried yelling. I've tried peacefully talking and explaining it to her. It does not matter at all, she will just carry on again and again. I uderstand she is so young but because of how adventurous and no fear, its just getting to me. It started at about 10 months and has no sign of abating at all. I spoke to some girls from my MG and they said oh yes we had that but we told our kids repeatedly for a few times and then they just got bored and stopped doing it, but that doesnt happen here. I am at the point where I dont want to go out because its just easier/more stress free to stay home. And at home I dont do anything except follow her around taking her away from things she shouldnt be doing, instead of actually enjoying being with her.

Please any advice or other suggestions. Or is it just something to wait through and "one day" she will just click?

Dropping the morning nap

Toby'sMum — Fri, 02 Mar 2012 09:59:56 GMT

My son is 16 months old and I feel its time to consider dropping his morning nap. This is because he has started waking up earlier in the morning- 5:15am today! I feel dropping the morning nap would help him sleep better at night.

How do I go about this without making him overtired? I need to merge a 9am nap for 30-45 mins and a 2pm nap for an hour into one long one! I'd probably aim for 2 hours just after lunch.

Any tips on how to do this gently?

vicious cycle with food / breast feeding problem

dakini67 — Sun, 26 Feb 2012 20:26:25 GMT

Hi there,
I hope someone can help. We are having problems with our little boy eating. He is 2 years and 3 months old. He is also being breast fed. The problems with the eating started around 9 months ago after a lot of ear infections. While he was sick all he wanted was milk and dairy and we (unfortunately) gave it to him. We are still having problems getting him to eat a normal meal again.
We recently saw a nutritionalist who suggested we cut down on the dairy, which we have done. He is now only having about 300mls of milk a day. This did initially increase his appetite – and for a few days he was eating quite good amounts of food. Then suddenly he started to want to breast feed all of the time.
So we are trying to wean him, at least down to a more manageable amount of breast feeding. I feel like it is a vicious circle which I need to break.
The nutritionalist advised us to give him his dinner, like tonight, and then if he doesn’t eat it let him go hungry, and he will eat it next time. This may be sound. Except that if he doesn’t have his dinner I end up awake all night with him at my breast. The other thing is that he is not eating many foods he used to. No vegis etc. Will eat fruit, weetbix and crackers but anything beyond that is a bit random, despite us offering him good meals -esp at dinner.
I’m not sure what to do to break this sleep deprived cycle. The temptation is to give him something to eat, anything, that he will put in his belly....but I know that letting him rice crackers (for example) is not going to create good eating habits either.
If anyone can help or make any suggestions on any of the above I would be very grateful.

19mth old that screams whenever food is coming

cbnbb — Mon, 19 Dec 2011 21:11:17 GMT

Hi, wondering if anyone had tips about how to calm our daughter down before meal times?

Irrespective of how hungry she is or what mood she is in, once she sees food being prepared or is put in her high chair she starts to scream in paniced tone (not scared or upset). If the food isn't served quickly she often gets so upset she can't calm herself down sufficiently to eat her food. This can happen anytime she sees other people eating also (even if she has recently finished).

She has reacted this way pretty much since birth (naturally) however suprised we haven't been able to calm her a little by now. We seem to be able to reason or lead by example about how to behave for other things, however patience is definitely not her virtue with eating

Ideas/tips much appreciated.

CnB

Underweight 28month old.

nas1980 — Sun, 05 Feb 2012 22:09:43 GMT

Hi, My son just got into his 28th month last week. Weighed him today and his weight was only 10.5 kilograms. I know this is not the right weight for a 28month old. I am feeding him well and also he loves to have normal milk though he is still breastfed twice or 3 times a day. He is active, intelligent and a lovely boy otherwise but I am concerned about his weight. Is there something that needs to be done in this regard? I am thinking of taking him to his regular GP but then again as I said he seems active and healthy otherwise. Just seems like a skinny boy overall. Please suggest.

Child Safety Engineering

engineer22 — Tue, 31 Jan 2012 05:08:57 GMT

I am a mechanical engineering student currently tasked with working on a year long design project. I'm very interested in safety design and would greatly appreciate any input parents might have concerning problems you would love to see solved or possibly any improvements you would like to see made to existing child safety technologies. Thanks for your time and I hope I can be of help.

Frank

13 month old waking every night between 3 and 4am!!

blakey1273 — Fri, 06 Jan 2012 08:27:28 GMT

Ever since our 13 month old turned one he's gotten into this "habit" of waking every night between 3 and 4am screaming at the top of his lungs and not wanting to go back to sleep unless he's with us.....

Is anyone else going through the same thing and have you resolved the issues?

Converting toddler from cot to bed

sab1974 — Wed, 19 Jan 2011 17:17:09 GMT

Hello, I have a 16 month old girl and we are due to have our second at the end of April. We are wanting to put our little one into a bed before bub arrives. She will be 19 months plus when bub arrives.

Does anyone have any ideas on how we should do this and what ideas there are out there to assist us in this transition.

She settles really well now when putting her in her cot and she drifts off herself but I don't know how to teach her this when she will be able to get out of her bed when she wants?????

Look forward to positive ideas.

Shelley

Ideas for "Dress Ups" Box

Irisgalaxy — Mon, 11 Jul 2011 11:23:43 GMT

With Winter limiting our journeys out the house I thought I'd put together a "dress ups" box for my almost 3 year old Son. I'm looking for ideas for what to put in it - what has been a surprise hit or used the most. I also have a baby girl, so looking for things that she will also one day play with. Thanks

Pushing and Hitting at Daycare

bebe — Fri, 30 Sep 2011 06:48:48 GMT

We have a boy who has just turned 2. He is constantly pushing and hitting other kids at daycare. The carers at the centre are at a loss... so are we. The behaviour is strange, he doesn't seem to do it out of aggression, frustration or attention. He does it with a smile on his face. When the carers explain to him that what he has done is wrong and try to discipline him he says 'yes' and will willingly and quite happily sit in timeout. As soon as they turn their backs he is at it again. He may do it 10 or more times in a day!
We experienced this same problem around the age of 12months, at a different daycare while we were living interstate... the behaviour stopped when we moved interstate 3 months ago and has only just begun again.
Generally he is a happy kid, with a good vocab and empathy.
The carers have become quite concerned because they don't know how to handle the situation and he is upsetting the other kids. We are at a loss too... whenever we bring up the topic with him he changes the subject and pretends to give us biscuits!
WHAT DO WE DO?

Washing Bath Toys

megs46a — Tue, 02 Dec 2008 13:05:03 GMT

Hi all. My little ones bath toys (ie - the squeezy ones - ducks and other animals) have a hideous green / black mould type stuff inside them. Obviously, unless I actually cut the toys in half, I cannot seem to get the stuff out. Have tried boiling hot water and soaking for days etc.

Any tips?

Every now and then when we squeeze a toy, a big bit of "stuff" comes flying out into the bath. ewwwwwwwwwwwwwww - really disgusting, so i have hidden them and we use other toys, but she constantly wants her animals to play with in the bath.

What do you all do? Is it a case of throw them out and replace every 6-12 months? Or is there magical cure for cleaning out the inside of bath toys?

Hope to hear from you all.

Travel concerns

trees8 — Sat, 15 May 2010 22:25:42 GMT

My son and I will be going on a trip in September...without dad!!! This will be our sons first plane trip. When we travel, he will be 2 and a half. One concern I have is that he will hate the plane...mainly the noise. He loves seeing planes in the sky, but I think it will be a different story once we are on there. I have a portable dvd player and will be teaching him to use earphones so hopefully that will help. The battery won't last the flight though so I'm not sure what I'll do if he hates the flight once it runs out!!!
The other concern I have is that I have to get connecting flights and will be changing at Melbourne airport (very busy, plus waiting between flights). I am terrified that I will lose him while checking in etc... I am not a fan of harnesses but would consider some sort of link from his wrist to mine. Where can you buy those types of links? I wouldn't mind getting an id band too... I have never been where I am going so it will all be new to me, which means I need to find where I'm going and make sure I don't lose my boy. I probably wouldn't worry so much if I wasn't going on my own, knew where I was going and if he wasn't at the age he will be. Has anyone else traveled for the first time with a 2 and a half year old, connecting flights etc... Maybe I'm overreacting and everything will be ok, but it doesn't stop me stressing about it now.

My 1 year old and swearing

katrina1807 — Sun, 13 Nov 2011 11:22:02 GMT

Hello,

My partner can't seem to stop swearing around our one year old and now that our son is starting to learn words I am beginning to panic. I keep reminding my partner not to swear but I am afraid that he will get upset with my nagging. I just don't understand why every sentence has to contain the F word! We have been to couples councelling and the psychologist said to my partner exactly what I have been saying to him - that swearing around our son is not healthy for him.

My partner has been swearing like this for years and years, he used to associate with people that talk the same way (thank god he doesnt now).

I am not sure what to do. Has anyone else been in this situation?

could he be gifted?

bensmum — Fri, 15 Aug 2008 13:20:53 GMT

my 2 1/2 year old son is extremely clever, im not blowing my own trumpet but i have been told by his dare care centre and by others who have worked with children that he might be gifted. im worried about giving him the label and i don't know where to start to help him achieve his best. he is already doing pre school related activities and can talk better than most 5 year olds. i want to stimulate him enough but i also want him to be a 2 year old.

are there any mums out there with 'gifted' kids that could give me some advise.

guess what??

shellbelle85 — Mon, 21 Nov 2011 16:21:08 GMT

hey everyone...

i just have to tell someone, since i cant tell anyone else yet, and you guys have had to listen to me complain a lil bit.. so i have just discovered that im pregnant! it's my second one and in case u cant tell im soo excited!im about 5 weeks by my calculations but have to book dr appt this week and get a dating scan etc asap.. i know its early days so im pacing myself but there it is.. the journey to having two kids begins......any sage advice??

TV or no TV?

Fri, 09 Jan 2009 17:41:10 GMT

Hi, I'm not a fan of TV for my 16 month old toddler, so he rarely watches any.

My problem is his closest playmate has a 60 inch telly running constantly in the lounge/play areas during their playdates. Every few minutes the kids stop playing & stare at the TV (usually on Nickleodon JR or other kiddie programmes).

My friend knows I'm not keen on TV for my tot, and I recently mentioned it again, in a lighthearted way, however the TV's still running whenever we go over for a playdate.

If the weather allows it I take the kids outside but, as her garden isn't fenced, most of their play is inside. As she shares a car, I usually visit her.

Her tot watches a few hours of telly or DVD's a day. I've not ever commented on it, as it's her choice to make for her child.

I don't feel it's fair to ask her to turn the TV off in her own house. At the same time, I feel frustrated as I love the kids spending time together, just dislike the constant TV.

Recently, my friend's asked me to play video games with her during the kids' playdate. I've said I'm not keen, as I'd prefer to chat with her and play with the kids, or enjoy watching them play during their time together, but it keeps coming on up.

I don't know how to seriously broach the topic of my dislike of this much screen time in front of the kids, further, without offending her.

Any advice would help.

Little ones' clothes

Loving little ones — Wed, 19 Oct 2011 12:11:16 GMT

Hi everyone, I am a mum to be and currently something interesting occurred to me.

I just found out I’m pregnant. I’m so excited because this is my first baby! I have a long way to go before my new little baby arrives. I am a fashion designer and I would love to make little cute garments for my baby. Since I want the sex of my baby to be a surprise, if I want to start designing for my baby, I probably would have to keep the designs sex neutral.

Please help me and give me some ideas of what garment styles and colours you think would be suitable for both boys and girls and what patterns and thread colours would be sex neutral.

I have been visiting baby clothing stores. Sections were divided into either baby pink or baby blue. Nothing is really sex neutral.

There are a lot of questions going on in my mind. For example, I wont mind dressing my baby boy (if the baby would be a boy) in a white T-shirt with a little cute pink patch on the chest or putting my little girl (if the baby would be a girl) in little t-shirt with blue owl at the front. I’m so curious about what sex neutral patterns, colours or symbol you would put your kids in.

Do you mind pink threads for the patch works on your baby boy’s jumpsuits? Do you mind a little car on your girl’s little shirt?

I am so excited and I can’t even sleep because there are so many question marks in my mind!!!!!!!

18mnth old not settling at night & waking lots.

Madeleines Mum — Sun, 30 Oct 2011 20:36:44 GMT

My daughter is 18 months and has decided she doesn't need a sleep at daycare anymore, but on the weekend will sleep for us for around 1 1/2 - 2 hours or so, and is now taking about an hour to settle at night. As I type this my hubby is sitting in her room with her trying to get her to sleep.
Any ideas, strategies, anything. We are both so tired she wakes so much at night with rolling wind in her tummy.

Toilet training no. 2's for a 2yr 8 months old

naomihill — Mon, 07 Nov 2011 08:36:42 GMT

Hi,

I have a little boy who will be 3 in febuary. He has been wee toilet trained since April, and is even trained dry over night. We have been very lucky at how quicly he picked up being dry.

I am having great problems with the poo training. When I put him on the toilet it ends in tears, and there is great resistance. I am sure he knows when he is doing it as he goes away to a quiet place and does it in his undies. I'm starting to get at my wits end of cleaning the mess and am looking for strategies to ecourage him to do poos in the potty/toilet NOT his undies.

Several times when we've been outside he's actually squatted on the lawn to do a poo (what a shock to see!) so I'm sure he knows when he needs to do it.

Any suggestions will be greatly appreciated, thanks.

Naomi

how to dry up breastmilk supply?

shellbelle85 — Tue, 06 Sep 2011 15:25:52 GMT

hey all.. I havent breastfed my daughter for about 7.5 months now but i think i may need some answers.. when i weaned her i had heard of tablets you can take to dry up your milk but, never having done it before, decided to just let nature take its course. i reasoned that surely if she's not feeding anymore the milk will dry up by itself. is this correct, or is it necessary to take something? the reason i ask is that recently, during a routine boob health inspection, something told me to squeeze my nipple and when i did, milk came out. i have been trying to get pregnant and was wondering, if my milk never dried up properly, could this still be acting as a natural contraception? or is this a sign of me possibly being pregnant again? sorry for all the questions, but i need some insight!any one got any ideas? they'd be much appreciated, thats for sure!

My 32 month old won't sleep at night...

Melita — Wed, 19 Oct 2011 07:16:17 GMT

My 32mth old girl has always been a great sleeper at night until the past couple months.
We have our bedtime routine in place and she goes to bed around 7:30pm (sometimes earlier if she seems sleepy) but everynight she wakes crying around 11-12 and walks into our room sobbing. We cuddle her and try and put her back to bed, but she will not settle in her bed again, and after many attempts, always ends up in our bed. This is making our sleep so hard, because she tosses and turns all night long. She is well at the moment and not teething right now either.
We've tried soft music, different night lights, changing curtains, lying next to her in her bed, but nothing works.

I would LOVE any ideas on how we can try and get her to sleep in her bed all night again.

Thanks everyone

Severe separation anxiety at daycare

DaveB — Wed, 05 Oct 2011 18:17:32 GMT

Hi, Am hoping someone might be able to offer some advice. My wife and I both work full time, and until last week or 18 month old boy was being cared for at home by my mother-in-law every day. She has now had to leave for a few months, so we have started him (and his 4 yr old brother) at a daycare centre.

We did a couple of short practice sessions with us present, and it went fine. But basically since starting full time he has more or less cried non stop the whole time hes been there. The staff have said that usually they calm down by the 3rd day..and so its obviously an extreme case of separation anxiety. My biggest concern now is they might turn around and say they cant care for him...and we dont have any obvious alternative apart from quitting one of our jobs.

At the moment we have agreed to come in tomorrow and spend more time with him there, and maybe ease him in a bit more with 1/2 days off work etc...but I dont know how long it might take him.

Anyone been through similar thing?...he really is so distressed there...just runs to the gate and wants to leave all the time....not drinking etc

Dave B

Hard to put to bed and sleep waking

Mandy41 — Mon, 10 Oct 2011 07:57:00 GMT

My 13 month old son used to be a pretty good sleeper but since he has mastered the art of standing he wont settle at night and is also waking at around 3-4am like he is sleep walking and wont self settle. He used to sleep from 8pm to 6/7am most nights. Going down with little to no fuss. He started rocking on all fours and headbanging about 2 months ago which created a few issues but now it has progressed to standing in his cot crying out to avoid going to sleep (the battle often lasts for up to 2hrs) and then when i finally get him to sleep he then wakes himself at night at around 3/4am like he is sleep walking or moving in the cot and wont go back to sleep. We move him back down the cot but this then wakes him and it can take up to an hour to resettle him. He is also now waking at 6am.... has anyone got any ideas please??

My worst nightmare at day care

vick_heart — Sat, 15 Oct 2011 21:37:10 GMT

I'm trying to find a day care centre that can care for my 1 year old 2 days a week so I can work.
I tried one place but wasn't comfortable (while I was there observing, the carer handed me a 6 week old and asked me to put him to bed in the nursery!!!)

I've finally got a spot one day a week so far at a different place and felt quite good about it.
I left bub there for a few hours the first day and came back early to make payment. When I walked past the room, I saw my child completely inconsolable. I thought I would wait to see what they do ... and while I watched the carer looked over to her and said "stop that". Hmmm.... so I went in and saved her.

My biggest fear is that at day care my child will be upset and not comforted... and that is exactly what happened.

I haven't said anything to the centre because I don't want to be a pain/ over protective parent... but i feel sick about sending her back.

Thoughts?