Trapped toddler parents: puddlesuits splashing towards spring

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All guardians of toddlers welcome, we offer ideas, activities, and a shoulder to lean on when it all gets too much. We’ve conquered winter, next stop spring!

Continuing from www.mumsnet.com/Talk/_chat/4105179-trapped-toddler-parents-of-the-fabled-winter-2020-2021-puddle-suits-at-the-ready-hello-christmas?pg=1

Well I managed half an hour in my bed last night. I hope everyone else had a much better night. DH is now away for 2 days, it's going to feel like forever.

Sorry I mostly moan about sleep rather than posting ideas on here.

Sorry I mostly moan about sleep rather than posting ideas on here.

I feel like that's all I do at the moment too

As instructed I've written yesterdsy off and I'm hoping today is a vast improvement but given I've we've been up since 5.15 I'm not holding my breath...

As for activities today we are going to hopefully do some taste safe painting if the small person is feeling compliant and maybe go for a trip to the oark if the weather also complies...

@Motherofmonsters @Same4Walls there is a 15 month sleep regression so could we be in the throws of that with the disturbed nights, nap refusal and fussiness? Mine is 15 months next week and is waking a lot at and getting more difficult to nap, plus wont let me out of his sight, thought it was teething but perhaps it's not. Don't quite remember it at this age with DS1.

[quote Chocolatetrifle]**@Motherofmonsters* @Same4Walls* there is a 15 month sleep regression so could we be in the throws of that with the disturbed nights, nap refusal and fussiness? Mine is 15 months next week and is waking a lot at and getting more difficult to nap, plus wont let me out of his sight, thought it was teething but perhaps it's not. Don't quite remember it at this age with DS1.[/quote]
That's interesting to know. I generally pay no heed to when regressions in sleep should occur as he has never been a good sleeper and for a regression to occur there should be something to regress from.

However it is reassuring to know that might be the cause. I've been doing the same as you and attributing everything to him teething. I never know if his behaviour is linked to his teeth or just him being a wotsit.

Ah could definitely be that! I can see some of her top molars through the gums so knowing my luck I'm going to have both.

We managed a bike ride in the woods this afternoon but DS didn't have his listening ears on and was just biking to close to people and into the distance. Managed to get back before it started raining though. He's now playing with his Duplo while I start tea (hide in the kitchen and eat loads of snacks)

Oh. My. God. What is in the water today? Both kids normally go to bed ok (staying there is another matter). But 2 hours in the baby is finally asleep, only if I keep up the regular firm bottom patting. 3 year old I can hear upstairs wailing at Daddy. Argh!

No super ideas here. Apart from: set up toys they’ve not looked at in ages. I got out a car garage which hasn’t been played with in ages, plus some vehicles and dinosaurs. Had them on the coffee table when he got home from preschool and he played happily for ages.

Hope all the sleep-deprived amongst you have a good night tonight.

We haven't done a lot lately. We've been out in the garden a bit and put a few inches of water in the paddling pool with some soil... it's like our own personal muddy puddle and we don't even have to go out! We've got some old mesh shelves that need to be recycled and DS is currently using one as a ramp into the paddling pool. He's enjoying splashing his cars into it.

Something is definitely in the water. It's taken 2 1/2 hours and some awful shouting on my side but they're both asleep. DS was just shouting and crying because his duvet wasn't right and I just couldn't work out what he meant to put it right. He has a very vivid imagination so his duvet is actually a car with a tail... Dd was crying before all this even started.

Tomorrow is going to be a new day and i will not lose my patience and shout. Logically i know it doesn't get me anywhere.

On a positive note a local garden attraction has reopened and we're going to visit tomorrow. Theres farm animals, play equipment and hopefully the takeaway cafe is open. I can't wait for something different to look at.

There’s definitely something in the water. No sleep here.
Tomorrow we will be building the water table I bought and I will sling some dead/dying flowers into the tuff tray with some mud, water, bark chips for DS to be occupied while I build.

DP woke me up last night by purposely putting his cold feet on me, I exclaimed, which woke DD, who then woke every 2 hours all fucking night.
Apparently he’s annoyed at me still for the way I spoke to him in the middle of the night. I am plotting his death. Who the fuck thinks it’s funny to wake up a sleeping mother of a 4 month old who’s not had a full nights sleep in a year. And he’s had the nerve to tell me he’s tired from work today, sitting in the spare room, tapping away at the keyboard, he was watching bloody horse racing at one point. Twat.

@monkeypuddle I've got a shovel and a patio you can use if you want it. I don't know anyone who would have spoken to their DH nicely after that. I like your mud, bark and water idea, DD and DS would both like to mess about with that

@Motherofmonsters sounds like a plan! We’ve just had words where I may have given him some home truths. He’s now trying to be all chatty and engaging. He can engage himself in the washing up.

Found some plastic truck type toys which had been languishing in a flower bed over winter so will present them with much gusto tomorrow.

Anyone else feel relief at bedtime but dread too knowing that the night shift is about to start?

Had an indoors day today as DS1 woke early with high fever after the preschool jabs so we have:

Watched Blippi and Andy's Dinosaur Adventures on repeat.

Played 'sink or float', Blippi's idea not mine , put random small items or toys into bowl of water, would work with paddling pool also to see if they will sink or float. Arguably this is an educational activity.

Marvel Avengers sticker book: Good vs Evil.

Made lemon drizzle cake from a box.

Tomorrow is World Book Day so I'm thinking we could play libraries, sort out all the books, actually read some books and perhaps even try to get DS1 to make a book ( folded piece of paper into quarters and get DS1 to draw/colour picture and tell a story).

In reality will probably just end up outside playing but can try to attempt some of the above.

@Chocolatetrifle I absolutely feel that, about the night shift. It’s the relentless nature of it all. I’m very much looking forward to 8 hours sleep.

I like the sink and float idea, that’s right up DS’s alley.

DS is a massive Andy fan, he’s got an explorer dress up set which has a hat and waistcoat similar to those that Andy wears, we spend a lot of time pretending to jump into clocks....!

@MonkeyPuddle, that's truly terrible, I think your other half needs to spend a few nights on the couch!

@Monkeypuddle sink or float is good as it passes loads of time but it always floods my kitchen floor and 3 year old then likes to get into the sink!

Will be good to do it in the paddling pool though definitely.

How does everyone manage activities with different aged children? I'm really struggling with indoor activities at the moment as 3 year old will sit to do something at the table so I put 14 month old in the high chair but now all he wants to do is climb out of the highchair. Best to let both just wander outside in the garden when possible to be free and do their own thing I think, supervised obviously!

Good luck for the night shift.

Afternoon all.

DP and I had a proper chat last night lots of small irritations when have built up into resentment were brought up and hashed out, feels really positive. He’s struggling with work (understaffed and overworked), working from home and then the kids and the house. Which I understand. But he doesn’t help himself. Anyway.

So far this morning we have built the water table in the garden, note to self do not attempt to do things like this with DS’s assistance in future, however, he played with the table for 30 mins while I drank a coffee and fed DD on the bench.

DS not fussed for tuff tray in the garden, but happily smashed my valentines flowers in the mud kitchen for a bit.

I’m needing to decompress, DD needs feeding and DS struggles to play by himself so I’ve stuck a film on for him so I can just spend a little time not talking to anyone.

Glad to hear you've talked things through monkeypuzzle sometimes getting everything out in the open really helps even of it means having to have strong words.

We've had an up and down morning. Small child had a good night but is now clearly in need of a nap and refusing. I've put him in his cot and left him whinging (thankfully he's not yet decided to cry) in the hope he will give in.

Weve played with bubbles, watched duggee and made paper aeroplanes which he tried to eat and we've read 9 million trillion books because even though I'm no longer teaching my brain still automatically seems to know it's world book day.

Hopefully after a nap we shall go on a nice walk to fatten up the already fat ducks. Poor buggers are probably teetering on the edge of being morbidly obese and if restrictions don't lift soon they will probably start to sink rather than float.

Hopefully after a nap we shall go on a nice walk to fatten up the already fat ducks. Poor buggers are probably teetering on the edge of being morbidly obese and if restrictions don't lift soon they will probably start to sink rather than float.

Maybe Joe Wicks should start some kind of waterfowl fitness regime .

We made mini donuts yesterday which was a hit - we tried out some "healthy" recipes (sweet potato, spinach and banana and carrot and ginger). They all seemed popular but the normal iced ones were the most popular...go figure!

We're going to work on the garden again tomorrow - there's a lot of tidying up to do still given how small it is . We're going to try to set up some sort of homemade water wall on the fence at the weekend using bottles and pipes.

Trying to catch up now and I'm sure everyone had moved on now but:..
@Motherofmonsters everyone has shouted and walked away. It's great that we can be honest about it and thank god we do walk away!

@OhToBeASeahorse agree about sleep it's totally wonderful and solves everything for me. A luxurious 4 hours straight and I can take on the world.

@MonkeyPuddle that doll has given me nightmares even whilst I'm still awake.
Oh and yes men are total dickheads.

Having been up with an awake baby from 3am who then woke the sleeping toddler at 4am I got up and decided to really go for it and bake a cake as the recipe calls for a pint of yoghurt which we had in the fridge (albeit a bit out of date) but fine in this recipe. Anyway part way through baking I can't find the yoghurt that I'd seen just the day before. H had thrown it out because it was out of date. I honestly could've divorced him there and then. I had a little cry and packed away all our baking carnage then made a retaliation purchase of a pink wobble board. That'll teach him.

@Chocolatetrifle when I go to bed I sometimes have a little preemptive cry and what's ahead, just a tear of two as I can't waste any energy on crying at that point.

We broke the rules today and drove ten minutes away for our exercise. God it was wonderful to be somewhere new, I feel exhilarated and frozen to the core.

Anyway the wobble board arrived less than 24 hours later and it's fantastic and she loves it. I bought the smaller starter one as our house is small and packed already.

Hope everyone gets some sleep tonight!

Evening all, just clocked off from the day shift and clocking on now for the night shift.

@MonkeyPuddle, that's good you and DP had a heart to heart. Sometimes we just need to thrash it all out, be heard and get things off our chests. All this working from home can create a pressure cooker atmosphere at times, add kids in the mix and it can very explosive. It's hard work everyone in the same place all day and night.

@Same4Walls, hope you managed to get the nap sorted. Bubbles and Duggee are a good combination.

@MessAllOver, donuts sound delicious, of course the iced ones went down the best!

Today we have had a token buggy board walk, good as both small people are contained in the one place and fresh air is like chocolate to them.

We have had some garden time and played with bouncy balls.

3 year old been asking lots of deep questions today, like why is a beach called a beach? Honestly, I've no idea. He then said, 'stop yawning in my face Mummy', well anyone would working 24 hour shifts.

Hope everyone has a decent night.

Maybe Joe Wicks should start some kind of waterfowl fitness regime

I think they need it, poor things look like they have been fattened up for Christmas as it's only just March.

packed away all our baking carnage then made a retaliation purchase of a pink wobble board. That'll teach him.

I admire your resolve in getting up in the middle of the night to bake! I'm glad DD enjoyed the wobble board how old is she I'm wondering if DS will enjoy one when he finally decides to bloody walk....

hope you managed to get the nap sorted. Bubbles and Duggee are a good combination.

Alas no napping in this house. Well unless you count me and the cats. I'm honestly beginning to think hes dropping his naps entirely as there are now more days without them than days with them. I'm not ready to be in sole charge daily of a non napping, no walking, not really talking child.

Hopefully today will be less of a why day for you. It's a lovely stage when someone elses child is doing it but when it's your own I can imagine it grows tiring very quickly.

@Same4Walls, does your DS like going in his pram/buggy? Would it work taking him for a walk after lunch even if only around the block and he might fall asleep? Then you can get a bit of a break. I find mine are really grouchy without naps so I do tend to do anything to make that nap happen. Ds1 arguably can get through the day but DS2 would never last the day without his.

does your DS like going in his pram/buggy? Would it work taking him for a walk after lunch even if only around the block and he might fall asleep?

Alas I have my doubts. He doesn't mind the pram but he has probably only fell asleep in it no more than 10 times since he moved from the bassinet attachment. We've done whole days out where he's stayed awake the entire time because he's just too bloody nosey to sleep even though he's sitting there rubbing his eyes and yawning his head off.

He's a grouch at the best of times but on days where he hasn't napped at all he's absolutely miserable by 4-5 and stretching him to at least 6 before he goes to bed for the night could well be used as a form of torture.

I have gin. Needed after DD WHINGED from her 6am wake up till nursery, then from nursery till bed.

The nursery staff tell me she was delightful with them though .

She's normally totally lovely so I'm half worn out by her half worried somethings wrong. Most likely I know that she's just a toddler doing her thing...

@Same4Walls she's 2yrs 11months. I think she would have liked it from crawling as she'd have liked using it as a hill.

I'd also do anything if my child napped.