Trapped Toddler Parents of Winter 2020/21 Support Thread - Puddlesuits at the ready!

[ReallySpicyCurry]

Are you the parent of a small child who doesn't yet sit still for more than five minutes? Do local lockdowns mean there are no baby and toddler groups for miles? Are you sick of walking the same three routes every day since March? Then come and join our support thread! I have started this after some of us had a good moan on a thread in AIBU ("To be worried about staying sane stuck inside all winter with a 2 year old?") because I thought it might be nice to share ideas/activities/general moans and concerns, over what is probably going to be a tricky winter for those of us with babies and toddlers.

Don't forget the answer to all your prayers though... The ever reliable puddlesuit. Puddlesuits are absolutely mandatory this year, and you are expected to wrestle your child into one and make them jump in puddles daily. If your child goes blue with cold, administer a swift dose of hot chocolate and hope your local Amazon delivery driver gets move on with your latest order of kinetic sand/playdough/ball pit/stickers. Failing all else, Peppa Pig is omniscient, omnipotent, and omnipresent, in October as in March.

[Fruggalo]

Waves hello with a just turned two year old, although she’s in nursery three days a week and so we’re a million miles better than when we were in lockdown with two older children and two full time jobs to be doing from home.

My eldest was this age when I bought wellies for me. If you haven’t got them I’d absolutely recommend getting them. If you have fat calves then you can get extra wide ones.

I got a lined puddle suit from a company called ielm, recommended by someone on here. It’s brilliant.

But puddle suit on wet slide tends to go too fast.

We’re going to be doing a lot of bread making.

[ReallySpicyCurry]

EssentialHummus yes! Car picnics have always been a staple in my family, due to the thrifty steak and the tendency to staycation.

They're a bit of an institution now, and my teen swears that car picnic sandwiches are the best sandwiches.

We've been touring playparks within a 15 mile radius and combining them with a car picnic and a visit to any nearby landmarks, even really hopeless ones (we're going to the most uninspiring stone circle in the world tomorrow. In a field, up a dirt track)

Nancydowns mine ate everything too at that age. It is really frustrating. You can make a sort of playsand if you whizz up a box of cheerios. She could eat that, and it could be a post asteroid strike landscape for the dinos

[ReallySpicyCurry]

I've also a box of that Gellibaff stuff but I'm saving it for an emergency

[Janaih]

Those bags of craft pom poms are good for treasure hunts, indoors or out.

[Siablue]

Joining as I have a two year old. I am a single mum so am trying to avoid going crazy on my own with the little one.

[Hardbackwriter]

Joining! I have a two year old and am 25 weeks pregnant with fairly bad SPD, which is limiting the number of puddles I wish to jump in... He also woke up with a bad cough this morning so we had to do a test (were lucky to get a slot quite quickly) and are now at the beginning of a self-isolation period of unknown length... I'll be regretting getting bored with puddle jumping when we're literally staring at the walls all day!

[Hardbackwriter]

Our main activity is baking, which we both enjoy greatly but is doing nothing to slow down my pregnancy weight gain...

[OhToBeASeahorse]

How does baking go with a 2 year old?

[Hardbackwriter]

Pretty well, but he's very food motivated (which means greedy with a very sweet tooth, like his mum ) so will be very well-behaved if he knows he gets to eat some of the batter off the spoon/bowl at the end... He loves stirring so he stands on his step watching me weigh stuff etc and then I put the bowl on the floor and we 'take turns' stirring (he dips the spoon in and out and I actually stir). I wouldn't offer what we make to anyone outside the family, though, because I suspect it's not a fully hygienic process! He's nearly 2.5. He also loves using the cutters to cut out shapes so we make a lot of biscuits, including cheese ones when I think we ought to give the sugar a rest

[ReallySpicyCurry]

I find baking is OK if you don't mind a bit of mess. I give mine a small plastic bowl and spatula and a little bit of the mix, so she can splatter it around and yell MIX MIX while I do some of the trickier bits, then she can join in with the rest of the pouring, rolling, cutting etc. Did put on a stone in lockdown though. Plain biscuits are good to make because they can ice them too. Mine is obsessed with Bing and we got loads of edible Bing decorations back in April which lasted us a good while.

The booster seat I have for the kitchen table is brilliant too, she gets so much more involved. I was looking at those learning tower things but they're a fortune, booster seat does the same job nicely.

Someone on the other thread was saying they'd signed up to Whirli, the toy swapping thing? I had a brief look and they seem to have some really good toys you can borrow, big things like Pikler triangles too, but it seemed a bit complicated and I didn't really grasp how it worked - does anyone know anything more about it?

[ReallySpicyCurry]

Hardbackwriter what's your cheese biscuit recipe?

[OhRosalind]

What is kinetic sand? We have regular sand, is it significantly different?

A tuff tray has been a great investment here, too, it keeps the mess contained indoors and out and DS stays focused on activities for ages. Lots of pouring (lentils, rice, sand, water with cucumber slices etc in), painting and stamping, building sites with trucks, car/animal washing station etc.

We struggle with physical indoor activities, floors are all stone so running/leaping around can be dangerous. Considering a balance board or Pikler triangle or something, DS needs an outlet.

[OhRosalind]

For a cheap learning tower, screw two ikea stools together, we use ours constantly.

[ReallySpicyCurry]

I'd love a tuff tray on a stand, but we'd have absolutely nowhere to put it, we're stuck for room as it is. We got a smaller square potting tray from the garden centre though, I put it on the table and it works well enough though I can't just leave her to it quite the same.

[ReallySpicyCurry]

Kinetic sand is mouldable sand. I never bothered with it because I thought it was the same as the normal stuff, but it's therepeutic levels of relaxing, we're all obsessed with it now and DH and the reen were fighting over apple scented one earlier (maybe I should take them out for a splash in their puddle suits)

[MessAllOver]

Lots of good ideas here. Making a list. We have some toy construction vehicles for the sandpit (currently covered and waterlogged) so will clean them up, bring them and then check the cupboard for any out-of-date food they can be used to transport.

[Hardbackwriter]

We've tried a few but recently I did this one - www.bbc.co.uk/food/recipes/parmesan_biscuits_54963 - but with all cheddar rather than the parmesan and a bit of paprika rather than the mustard because I'm not keen on mustard and they worked well. I made the dough the night before because it's all just in the food processor so DS was only involved in the rolling out and cutting but I have a huge cutter collection (I went through a baking phase in my early 20s and people kept buying me 'quirky' shapes of cutters as gifts) so picking the shapes out, discussing them, etc helped to elongate it as an activity!

[KindergartenKop]

Top tip: go to a charity shop and get some jigsaws that look too easy for your child. They will do them easily while you can drink tea!

[ReallySpicyCurry]

They look lovely, I think I'll give them a try and they can accompany us on the car picnics.

I also have quite the collection of cutters thanks to my penchant for making seasonal themed playdough in an old job. The acorn one will work well with those, I think

[60sPony]

Following too! 3 year old and newborn imminent....

[FolkSongSweet]

We bake scones a lot - can be sugar free and involves kneading, rolling and cutting, all of which my 2.5 year old loves. And you can throw in some raisins/other dried fruit for a bit of interest. Plus they bake really quickly and make a nice afternoon snack.

I think the new baby is going to pretty much live in the sling.

[happylittlechick]

Bread baking is good as you need to knead it for 10+mins so my toddler can take out his frustration as can I (mixture divided to make two loafs)

[happylittlechick]

A good one for the garden is a garden safari. We made binoculars out of toilet tubes in the morning and then I hid 10 plastic animals in the garden. If the weather is rubbish you can hover in the door way with a cup of tea. Toddler can then hide them for you to find. (Or drop them randomly on the floor as my two year old did)

[randomsabreuse]

For those that are pregnant/have newborns, this

www.zipusin.co.uk/?gclid=CjwKCAjwoc_8BRAcEiwAzJevtSCToukDl26NFD4cP0HU9gbOLsU48fgM_smaJa5DCSWZbjN1mTaFSxoC0xwQAvD_BwE

was my absolute saviour for slings/late pregnancy. You check what type zip your coat has, attach it between the sadly distant parts of your coat and you have a babywearing coat (or coats if you have several with the same zip) for around £30 from Amazon.

I have a very active 5 year old and a not quite 2 year old. 2 year old is obsessed by puddles, doesn't care if he's wearing wellies or not. 5 year old loves school, but obviously we have the risk of being stuck at home!

We have a trampoline in the garden. Best thing ever, unless it's really wet. Grass is very very swampy already which will be a pain.

On the subject of wellies I love my neoprene wellies with vibram sole. Called Hoggs and purchased from a farm shop. Not quite as expensive as Grubs. Definitely need a boot jack though!

Toddler's favourite activity is emptying toy boxes, followed by emptying bookcases and shredding books. He also loves attacking his sister's elaborate games, but she tends to claim any toy he is playing with, although she does usually swap it for something else - which quite often gets launched at her head with an offended screech.

Other favourite games are experimenting with methods of getting off furniture (feet first is so boring) and seeing how many pictures can be reached if you climb all the furniture!

They do play quite nicely sometimes, just not if I'm trying to do dinner or sort the kitchen!

[happylittlechick]

I have bought some toe warmers as my feet are always cold in wellies.