Trapped toddler parents of the fabled Winter 2020/2021. Puddle suits at the ready..hello Christmas!

[footprintsintheslow]

New thread as the other one is running out.

A place to find find and share ideas of how to get through these crazy times with lockdowns and babies and toddlers.

New members welcome.

Footprints the snow - you can make foam v easily with the water from tinned beans or tinned chickpeas (it's called aquafaba and can be an egg substitute also)
Put it in you electric heaters/Kenwood etc until it froths up.
Or whisk up bubble bath - this is amazing actually it gets really big.

Add food coloyto either. Just a drop doesn't seem to stain.

I've never been brave enough to do indoors..

But have made triple coloured batch of foam and put in a big box on the side of the bath with plastic cups, cutlery etc. This was probaythe most fun afternoon of the whole of the first lockdown , they played for hours!

By way of introduction I'm sahm (but craving work and using my brain!) With a nearly two year old boy, and a six yr old girl, DH student working from home .

I feel a lot more positive after my rant the other day. Thank you for understanding, you lovely lot

Camomila, I'm absolutely a fixer and planner too- it's a bit awful sometimes, as when friends come and have a moan, I practically present them with a five year plan, in bullet points, when all they wanted was to moan. But I can only allow myself a carefully timed amount of catastrophising and wallowing in self pity before I start with the practical solutions.

Which, so far, have been

• tidying out the craft drawers and organising things into little tubs and bags. I have more than I realised. I have decided to abandon themed crafts and activities for the next month or two, because January is a nowt of a month anyway, and I've so much to use up.

• briefly subscribed to Twinkl core membership - used to be on the thing all the time for my old job, but hadn't quite made the connection between using it for activities at home for little DD. Printed out and laminated a good few resources, including play dough mats, and noted that there are a lot of toilet training resources for when that glorious day is upon us.

• Reshuffling and decluttering, especially toddler play areas. Ok, riddle me this. Our house is small. We are quite tidy,and although not minimalist by any means, ethical concerns re buying random shit, plus lack of storage, mean we genuinely don't have piles of stuff. Yet on any given day, a decluttering sweep of the house will result in no less than three bags for life in my car boot, charity shop bound. I don't even know how.

Small activities which have recently been successful: played a sorting game with dried pasta shapes and our coloured Ikea cups,playdough on newly laminated playmats, sprouted some microgreens, pushed DD2 around the garden in the wheelbarrow for HOURS, cut back my perennial border and employed DD as courier between border and compost heap. Lots of puzzles and reading of new books. She absolutely adores the Orchard Toys post office game we got her for Christmas it kept her occupied for ages, both playing with us and on her own, I'd really recommend it

One thing I really need to get on with is more focus on our speech and language therapy tasks (DS just-turned-3 chats constantly but his use of actual words and sentences is delayed). One thing they suggested was a ‘sound of the week’. So we could choose P, and have pizza, pasta, peas etc at meals, do painting and so on, giving lots of opportunities to repeat that sound over the week. So if anyone has any great ideas of activities (and foods) which would go with sounds, please throw them at me! Or the other areas we’re looking at are verbs and adjectives (he mostly has nouns) and rhyming. @ReallySpicyCurry might Twinkl resources lend themselves to this kind of thing?

Yes, very much so. I used it for just that reason in my old job (slightly older children, but SEN meant they were at all sorts of language/developmental levels) and there's a lot of quite typical "schooly" stuff of course, but a lot that's adaptable to non academic settings - in fact, one of the things I downloaded for DD was a set of playdough mats, each with a letter and a picture of something beginning with that letter - m for mud etc - the idea being that you form your playdough over the letter, then use more playdough to make a muddy puddle, sound it out and all that. That was in the toddler resource pack. There's a lot of other bits and pieces that, off the top of my head, you could adapt with SALT in mind

I've just typed SALT into the search bar, and yep, a ton of stuff has popped up!

They also have book bag resource packs, which are a great way to introduce lots of rhyming activities. One of the really simple things I do with DD, I have a bag of nursery rhyme finger puppets, and we match them to the picture in our nursery rhyme book and sing whichever one it is. I love a good puppet. In an alternative universe I would love to be a speech and language therapist- I had the opportunity to do a module at university, which I could have used towards a post grad, but idiot head here didn't do it and has regretted it ever since.

Hello all. Hope we are well and not cracking up too much.
Our Christmas was pretty good, all things considered. I dropped DS at his dads at 2pm and got merrily pissed with my mum. At one point I was approximately 75% roast potato.

I debated getting the tree down today while DS was at his dads, likely a much easier job with him around, he bloody loves the tree as well but I want the space back. And the kids need the space with all the gifts they got. We’ve had to get another 2x4 kallax unit today, so building that took place of putting the tree away. He’s at nursery Wednesday so will do it then.

DD is now 8w. She is not a fan of sleep but loves a good vomit. She’s breastfed but gets hiccups after each feed, regurgitates after each feed and at random times during the day. In frankly a bit sick of us both smelling like sick. She’s got her 8 week check in a few days so I’m going to badger them for some sort of meds, she’s clearly in pain with it, crying and arching her back. I’ve got a f2f breastfeeding session in the new year to get the feeding checked.

We’ve got a trip to the park planned for tomorrow, different one to our usual one, but further away. Exciting times. Will have bags for life in the baby bag to sit on.

DS got lots of games and some kinetic sand for Christmas so I’m going to get those out at opportune moments, get some proper 1-2-1 time in while DD naps.

@ReallySpicyCurry brilliant, thank you !

@MonkeyPuddle we’ve taken our tree down early. Love it, but just want space! Hope you get meds sorted for DD - mine is on gaviscon (his reflux would go six feet across a room!), which a lot of people say just bungs them up but we’ve found works brilliantly once you find the right dose.

Following for solidarity and inspiration. I have a 3 year old and a just turned 1 year old, and am finding even going to parks tricky. The one year old isn't walking properly yet, so can't run around outside, but also hates been in the pushchair for too long. It's too cold and wet to crawl on the ground. Really tricky balance between getting outside for the sake of the older one, but having to tolerate a crabby baby. Food usually helps!

I'm meeting a lot of resistance from the 3 year old when I try and get him to play some of his games (Orchard Toys) or do jigsaws. I think Christmas has tired him out and overwhelmed him a bit.

Haven't had the tuff tray out for a while, I don't have a stand but you've influenced me on this thread!

Laid here with my 10 week old wondering how to entertain the 2 year old now it's freezing so thanks for the thread! Will try and contribute but more likely will just steal ideas 🤣

@BullshitVivienne. 1 is difficult . At one, we put DS in a waterproof snowsuit with waterproof hand and shoe covers and then let him go! Rubber dog paw protectors (large size) are great for protecting little hands and then they can't pick things like cigarette ends up - DSIS, who is a dog-owner, gave me that idea . And of course, the more they crawl, the better they sleep.

Hope you don’t mind me joining - this feed just popped up. I hadn’t thought of looking for one before. Covid has really thrown a huge spanner in the works for my family but had also had unexpected benefits too. I was pregnant at the very start of everything in Feb/March. I started wfh (part-time job, 3 days a week) and pulled DS (2, almost 3) out of nursery a full fortnight before the first national lockdown as I was concerned. I have asthma and he gets Viral Induced Wheeze - basically any time he gets a cold we end up in hospital for a few days on oxygen. It was getting to the point where we were in hospital every other week, so I was obviously worried about him catching covid and still am. His consultant still recommends that he is shielded.

Fast forward to today, DS is still at home with me and now 4 month old DD. Not had a single day of childcare in 10 months but also haven’t had a single hospital trip with DS as he hasn’t caught any colds. DH wfh and is extremely supportive. DS is a very lovely, chatty little thing and I’m enjoying this unexpected extra time with him. Tantrums are daily but fairly short lived and are usually due to hunger, tiredness, frustration. We had about 6 months of no tv as it was causing huge blowups when eventually turned off in favour of another activity.going outside etc. Introduced it again over Christmas and he’s getting on much better with it, actually loses interest and goes off to find a toy.

It’s tricky with having the baby but I do try and keep DS as entertained as possible. Crafts, jigsaws, walks, imaginary play, helping me around the house. He loves books and sticker books too which is helpful for when I’m bfing on the sofa. He loves DD and seems very well adjusted around having a sibling.

I’m not sure what I’m asking for here, I think i probably would just like to feel less alone. Other mums that I know still have their kids in nursery, are seeing family, are meeting up for takeaway coffees and the park etc while I feel like my DS’ life is on hold. I worry about him missing out on socialising. Prior to this he had been at nursery for a year. I do have a place for him at pre-school in April depending on how things are. It’s probably all in my head but I’m sure other people think I’m super paranoid about covid and am overly cautious. No one really seems to understand or sympathise with my situation and are largely going about in their usual way. I would say roll on the vaccine but I’m bfing so who knows when it will be advisable to have it. Thankyou if you’ve read this far!

@porcelinaofthevastoceanss. Welcome! Sorry to hear you're having a tough time . Your DS sounds lovely! My own DS is turning 3 in a week or so.

It must be tough with a shielded toddler since so much more is out of bounds - playground, nursery etc. Sounds like you're absolutely doing the right thing for your son, though. My own DS is a disgustingly healthy little creature and his nursery has essentially moved outdoors into the woods and garden, so I'm happy with him going. But we all have to make our own risk assessments for our own child(ren) and you have a little one in the mix too... So don't let anyone make you feel that you're being ridiculous.

It may only be for a couple more months if the AstraZeneca vaccine is approved and rolled out to those who are shielding. So you may be able to send him off in April with a light heart. Maybe just take each day as it comes until then.

@MessAllOver dog paw protectors are genius. She doesn't actually have a puddle suit or waterproof all in one, so that's on the list for today.

@PinkDaydreams I've never heard of mouldable soap. I'll look into it, we have a b and m bargains near us.

@Motherofmonsters don't feel bad, you want them to independent and you can finish that story today and say how proud you are that he was so grown up

@Souperspooker I'd never thought of using aquafaba. I know it well as we are vegans (I'm not an annoying dick though) and I made delicious meringues with it for Christmas. It's amazing you can't taste the difference at all. Thanks for making me think of using it for play!

@ReallySpicyCurry we sound like twins.
🎄 I feel like I can fix anyone's problems very simply but when it's my turn to moan I just want to get it off my chest and be heard.
🎄my toddler loves nothing more than glue, sequins, pom-poms and paper to make her own craft with no agenda at all.
🎄I love the sound of your craft organisation and it's a joy to use when it's all neat and tidy.
🎄I've been looking at Twinkl for a while but when our last printer broke we didn't replace it. We hardly ever needed printing and could use the works printers when needed. Now I'm a SAHM and H works from home we might get one. I really want the playdough mats from there.
🎄 maybe you need to join the decluttering one item a day thread on MN. It's changed my life and I'm on day 112 now. Very manageable and keeps you accountable.
🎄lastly we also love the post office game and for that matter all of the orchard games. They come up often on fb marketplace too.

@WeSearchedHereWeSearchedThere how about playing guess the action. You'd probably need an older child or adult to model the behaviours you want.
So like charades really, you stand up and pretend to run. The audience has to guess what you are doing. It's how I teach Welsh verbs.
Or I feel a bingo game would be good for verbs. Possibly there's one on twinkl or are you arty?

@MonkeyPuddle lovely to hear the baby update. I hope the feeding reflux gets fixed ASAP. Let us know what happens as I've never heard of it in breastfed babies. How are you coping with two?

@BullshitVivienne definitely get a stand if you can. How about a jigsaw left on the tuff spot? Then don't even mention it or acknowledge it's there. It might spark an interest.

Thrilled to see the new members join. Welcome everyone. No doubt I'll be getting tips of coping with two from you all.

@WeSearchedHereWeSearchedThere DS's speech and language is a bit delayed too. Something suggested for verbs was using photos of DS and other people he'd recognise doing everyday things. I've been showing him old photos and videos on my phone which he likes.

@BullshitVivienne balancing the needs of a 3 year old and a 1 year old in the park sounds tough. DS is 3 and will do jigsaws (only the ones he's chosen though, heaven forbid I suggest a different one!) but no luck with games yet. Something he likes us having something to listen to at the same time, we have a nursery rhymes CD and a few audio books and seems to help him sit and focus a bit longer.

@porcelinaofthevastoceanss shielding sounds sensible, but sympathy for the lack of contact. I imagine it's pretty full on with a baby and DS and he sounds like a lovely little boy (may try and get some tips for 3 year old and baby as I'm due in March!)

Anyone else got snow this morning? DS was going to go to nursery but we're staying at home to avoid collecting him (options would be a longish slippy walk in the dark or unnecessary driving and car park that's awkward at the best of times). Been out already but struggle a bit with gloves for him, he doesn't seem to get putting them on and he can't really do much in his mittens - any tips?

Thankyou @MessAllOver - really appreciate your kind words. I’m doing ok just days - got to keep the energy and positivity up for the little ones.

@footprintsintheslow Glad to have found this thread! My DS is also very fond of glue and sequins - I spent the whole of last week finding them around the house. I also know what you mean about just needing to be heard.

@prettygirlincrimsonrose Congratulations on your imminent arrival! I can definitely share some tips and things that have helped me manage DS and tiny DD. Sticker books are your friend - and magazines, especially CBeebies which is pretty reliable for good stickers and easy activities. A small table and chairs from IKEA is the focus of our activities most days - DS will happily sit there with glue and sparkly things whilst I’m bfing and I involve him in baby changing and baths etc. Can’t recommend a Lascal buggy board highly enough too. I had visions of DD sleeping snugly in a sling like DS had done and then being able to take DS out for walks but alas, she hates slings - so the pram and buggy board has really saved us.

@porcelinaofthevastoceanss thanks! I'm also hoping DD likes a sling, we don't actually have a pram atm (last time was a borrowed one but that's not an option - planning to look for something second hand nearer the time), but thanks for reminding me to get a bit more prepared for DD to have awkward preferences!

I was wondering about 'managing' how DS plays (again not a perfect word), because I don't feel like we're getting it right. I try and find things where I'm happy for him to do what he wants and he can explore, like playing with dough or sand on a particular tray or something, but with those sort of games and more generally there seems to be lots of stopping him do things (throwing things, dropping stuff on the floor that I'd rather not waste, not being gentle, both with toys and things like kitchen cupboards). I'm definitely more comfortable sitting reading stories and doing jigsaws with him. I'm torn between feeling it's reasonable to teach him to take care of him of things and feeling like I'm making things too limited.

Does that make sense?

Mother of monsters, don't feel bad. You can't be every where all the time. My dd1 now jokes how she wishes I had octopus arms, just not enough to go round. Your guilt doesn't serve anyone, definitely not you.

Today is tricky. On days like this I sometimes have a brandy in my afternoon tea! Today I'm going to have double tea and a sit down and vent on MN instead.

I've had this notion about changing dd1 bed - age 6 to be able to squeeze in ds2 age v nearly 2 in her room as well. Plan this year sometime is to convert loft but this is 'pending' while house is repaired before bring improved as we have neglected it for years..
Da is currently bed sharing with me, DH has moved to sitting room floor (on excellent foam Mattress we stash behind sofa.) Da not the best sleeper but nothing like as bad as his sister who barely slept for three years. DH downstairs has worked well as he has ups and downs with mental health which has affected his degree /work from home and him underslept doesn't work for any of us. However marriage wise it's definitely time to get back to sleeping together.
Long story short, after agonising between midsleepeer with floor bed underneath for ds (fancy name for futon) and alternative of trundle bed I opted for mid sleeper. I didn't fancy proper bunks and I don't want to climb up the top for cuddles! And thought the under story if midsleepeer would be a fun den in the daytime. Hope I didn't make the wrong choice - they live to snuggle up together in the morning and can't really do this in mid sleeper as top is too high... arrrr I'm anticipating significant ly less sleep for a few nights as they get used to it.

Perhaps I completely ban the toddler from the top? It's higher than I thought it would be.

Picked it up on FB marketplace the other day to learn it is third hand.. hmm put together today and it's wobbly as anything. I'm going to have to bolt it to the walls or something now which is miles from ideal with both kids at home parenting solo as usual. DH had v particular ideas involving a fretwork screen and 'just get a carpenter' to make it safe and sturdy. Not realising that it would be months of waiting for someone else to do it!!

I get so irritated by DH being here yet locked away, he appears for regular tea breaks and gets cross with me if I can't properly converse with him (if I'm absorbed in something during rare moment without child hanging off me) yet I'm not allowed to knock on his door to ask something in his working hours... God sorry I really am ranting.

Anyway bit if positivity , I've got the dinner the instant pot, found something both kids seem to be enjoying on telly (lovely kung Fu Panda series on prime) and I'm gathering up my tools and a bit of trusty baton. The bed will be fixed by bedtime!!
Err I've got an hour?!??
Wish me luck....

We have settled into a some what routine where I try and do either a messy play Activty or a walk in the morning.
If we haven't been out then in the afternoon before dinner we do dancing, musical instruments or today, I found cosmic kids do a toddler style yoga, mines a bit young but with some help, older toddlers might like this.
They also do a older version. It's on YouTube.

Hello/ welcome new folk

DS1 made himself a fort of sofa cushions and DS2 (11 months!) learnt to climb on to the coffee table today. Never have DH and I wanted softplay to be open as much as today

(with optional brandy) for all. I will be having some of my Christmas Baileys when the DC are asleep.

Waiting for 5pm so DH can watch DS2 and I can persuade DS1 to dismantle the fort/tidy up.

Thank you foots and souper. He was jolly when he woke up and very proud of himself as he had changed his t-shirt himself.

That sounds like a nightmare to sort souper best of luck. I love an instant pot, I have two!!

I bought DS a load of Mr potato heads second hand and we've played with them most of the day. I've also given in and bought a new tuff tray with stand, they were only £35 on Amazon and DH couldn't build a stand for less

@footprintsintheslow you definitely need a printer. And a laminator. And a big box of printing paper and laminating pouches 😁 I love mine. I laminated choice samples of big DD's finger paintings from younger days, and I was hooked. I would laminate the cat if he'd lie flat enough. Twinkl is fab. Totally worth a fiver subscription for a few months, until I milk it dry. And I shall definitely have a look at the decluttering thread! The joys of a house that is heavy on garden, but light on, well, actual house.

@porcelinaofthevastoceanss welcome, and my goodness, that sounds really, really tough. I so hope things have improved by tbe time nursery start date rolls round. I can't imagine how difficult it's been

@prettygirlincrimsonrose I know what you mean about managing play. It's a tricky one but I do think it's fair to teach children to care for the things they use. When DD1 was small, I read a book (can't remember the title) where the author said that she judged it according to intent, respect for the item and one's environment - has the DC just knocked over a box of glitter by accident? Ok, not to worry, let's clean it up and maybe put it over on to the other side of the table while we continue with our picture. Or is the DC lobbing the glitter across the room just to see what happens? Back into the drawer it goes and DC is handed a dustpan, because it's important to care for your immediate environment, to learn not to waste things just because you can, and to care for the tools you use- leads to respect for environment on a wider scale etc etc. But it's all very natural consequences, which I like- basically you fuck it up therefore you clean it up. I loosely followed that advice, and once DD got old enough to understand why she wasn't just allowed to wreck the place, it was fine. I did always have a garden though, so if she was in a destructive mood I would get her to go outside and chuck tennis balls at the wall, or stamp in mud or something. I think it takes a while but they do get it eventually. I also find that the best time to do crafty and delicate things is during the sweet spot in the day when they've worked off a bit of energy, but aren't really tired

@Camomila we had the soft play longing the other day too- days when both children and parents are just dying to DO something that doesn't involve getting drenched or frozen.

@Souperspooker you sound like I did a few months ago when I was having a massive debate/crisis over beds and rooms etc - just go for it and give it a shot, that's what I did in the end and I'm so glad because DD2 now sleeps through in her own room most nights

Generally catching up - I am at the thought of toddlers rampaging around parks in dog paw protectors as their harassed mothers sip tea and brandy. Though I must say, I fired a shot or two of Carolan's into my afternoon coffee a few times over Christmas, and very nice it was too.

Who was talking about taking their tree down? Was it me actually? It's on my mind, that's why I'd love to have the space to keep mine up until twelfth night, mum and dad always did when I was a kid, but I've had to reshuffle DD's table and play area and things are wedged everywhere, there's a wheelybug in my laundry basket, the tree is coming down tomorrow

I am loving the dog paw protectors! I always see questions on Facebook about how to protect crawling hands and feet, from now on I shall leap in with these 😀

@prettygirlincrimsonrose photos are a brilliant idea! Much better than me trying to convince him his toy dog is running. I recently bought myself a laminator (big up the laminator crew) so maybe I could make our own flashcards...

I need to tackle the bed question soon. Haven’t shared a bed with DH since I was six months pregnant! DS1 is in with him, I’m in with DS2. We sold the cotbed as DS1 hated it and has always coslept. DS2 meanwhile loves his own space, he’ll be out of the next2me soon and I have nowhere to put him, I assumed he would be in our bed!

@Souperspooker hope the bed went together ok. I use right angle brackets to firm up wobbly flat packs, they might help? I also have the DH at home issue, in our house the one which drives me round the bend is:
DH, appears downstairs, makes coffee, hangs around living room door
Me: “can you hold the baby for a minute so I can pee alone?”
DH “but I am working“

And whoever mentioned the toddler table - brilliant! Ours has been tucked away in a corner but I bet he’d love it if I got it out and set up some crafts on it.

I used my Christmas money to buy a totter and tumble playmat... it is arriving tomorrow and I am excessively excited at no longer having to sit on a hard wooden floor!