Trapped toddler parents: puddlesuits splashing towards spring

[WeSearchedHereWeSearchedThere]

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

@BertieBotts congratulations, glad all is going well with your pregnancy.
@Zarinea I have a 14 month old DS2 too and agree it's not so much activities but discoveries!
We have the plastic ball pit balls which he loves putting in and taking out of boxes, we also take the cushions off the sofa and make a little ball pit area which he loves climbing all over.

Pasta shaker- dry pasta in empty plastic bottles.

Stickers- he is really starting to enjoy putting stickers on things. Window gel stickers are good too.

Balloons- loves them.

Oh on the subject of wall tubes, cut some old loo rolls or kitchen roll tubes in half and masking tape them to a wall. Doesn't damage the paint but you can make a good trail for marbles or ping pong balls. Or you can do it on the side of a bit of furniture if you want to be extra sure.

THANK YOU for ideas. Pipe cleaners and ping pong balls are now in my Amazon basket...

Window gel stickers, do they get stuck to themselves or will they peel off easily? I've seen them in home bargains but haven't bought them as I know toddler will full on kick off if it sticks to itself then can't be undone!!!

Thanks for the ideas and it's reassuring to see others have found 14 months a tricky age to entertain. He adores ball pit balls so I'll definitely try them with some baking trays.

Another favourite here is bubbles. They are good for ticking off another 10 minutes of the day. Hopefully when he finally decides to walk activities might last longer.

I have to admit I often find it insanely difficult to find enough stuff to get through the day. He now only naps once and his attention span is soooo short so it sometimes feels like we've done a million different things and yet when I look at the clock it's only 10am.

@PinkDaydreams window gel stickers peel really easily and stick easily to the window no problem (sometimes just fall back off the window) can be a bit fiddly sometimes and obviously depending on the age of the little person, they might try to eat them but ok for a few minutes fun.

Pop-up play house and tunnel also good for that age if you've got the space.

Keep a beady eye on FB marketplace or any other local sales sites - join a few groups. I've had some absolute bargains off there, our house is slowly beginning to resemble a nursery :o

Latest additions are IKEA play tunnel, and a slide bed with tent attachment. He won't sleep in it yet, he's still in a cotbed with the side on, but it will come in useful once the baby is bigger, and in the meantime it's a fantastic play addition! Ride on toys are also a big hit. I like the IKEA tunnel because you can fold it down for storage.

Friends have had success with ball pits - travel cot, inflatable paddling pool or pop up tent thing can contain the balls. And mini trampolines!

At about age 1 there are some god awful "activity tables" which they absolutely love but are a bit of a monstrosity. FB marketplace is great for those because you can sell them on again once they're past that age.

Check out the 5 minute mum website. A lifesaver!

Keep a beady eye on FB marketplace or any other local sales sites - join a few groups. I've had some absolute bargains off there, our house is slowly beginning to resemble a nursery

I'm really envious you've had such great bargains. Anything being sold on places like FB market place and gumtree etc around here appear to have all massively increased in price as they have a captive audience willing to spend a fortune who cant buy stuff from many other places.

I've been keeping an eye out for stuff like a slide or pop up playhouse fpr the summer and I honestly cannot remember the last time I saw something for free or cheap enough to consider a bargain.

Hi can I join you all please! I have at home a nearly four year old and also a nearly two year old who has significant delay in everything inc physically. She’s under a specialist paediatrician but lockdown is delaying everything and I really struggle to now HOW to help her as I don’t know what’s wrong if that makes sense. She behaves very much like a 9-10 month old. But bigger and with two year tantrums too.
We’ve just finished playing with play dough, next is making some new - we make a fresh colour/scent every week and this afternoon’s choice is green colour and lime scent...should be nicely zingy. Then it’s a play upstairs as a change from downstairs and then later we are giving all the My Little Ponies a bubble bath in the sink...that activity lasts a while but she wants me with her at all times and youngest makes that difficult. I’m so glad I found this thread.

We've had some decent stuff from FB marketplace here. DH is always horrified at the amount of toys DD has, but I've told him that he can only judge once he's tried to look after her with the same toys for months on end with nothing else to do. He quickly runs back upstairs to hide in his office

@MrsOmelette very interested in the scented playdoh?? Do you just add in essential oils to the mixture or something, sounds really cool!

@drumst1ck yep just essential oils. You can also change texture by adding things like coffee granules or dried herbs. My favourite is purple play dough with lavender oil and some dried lavender in it too. Chamomile in yellow is nice too.

Quick website recommendation, www.bbc.co.uk/tiny-happy-people/activities/zjh8hbk lots of activity ideas for different ages

@MrsOmelette thanks, I'll have to have a go at some point!

Bit of an unrelated question but does anyone else use the cheeky wipes reuseable baby wipes? We have been using them for over a year now and are finding they are starting to go quite scratchy. Has anyone else found this/have any ideas on how to soften them up?

@drumst1ck either soak them in some white vinegar and water or sling in the washer with some vinegar in place if your wash powder

@drumst1ck I tumble dry them... have you tried vinegar? That works quite well to soften things which you don’t want to use fabric conditioner on.

@MrsOmelette my last batch of homemade play dough has just got dry, I think I’ll have to try your scent idea! I like the idea of a weekly batch too.

@MonkeyPuddle @WeSearchedHereWeSearchedThere I do tumble try them but will give the vinegar a go, thank you!!

Bought some cheapo kids foam rollers for DD to do some painting with. Haven't even got the paints out yet and she's obsessed with them. Is currently rollering the fridge. Might just leave her to it and forget the paint, less mess to clean up the better!

Checking in. Have booked an annual leave day whilst ds at nursery and dh on half term - so far I have slept and put a full face of make up on and feeling pretty good. Ds has been lovely since that awful day a week or so ago, think he's settling into the routine again.

I took ds to meet my mum at a local garden centre this week, he loved it - got to choose a few books and ran around the outside bit looking at the water features. Such simple joys! Can't wait for summer and splash parks.

Yesterday we did some painting then turned the page into paper lanterns, ds helped with the cutting under my supervision.

I'm getting such itchy feet now numbers are coming down (though isn't funy how perspective changes as in the first lock down the current numbers would have been terrifying! I just want to go and stay at my mums house for a night or two with ds, we used to do it once a week and he loved it.

Loving the scented playdoufh ideas by the way!

@Zarinea

Hello! Anyone got ideas to keep a 14 month old busy? Lots of the messy play ideas sound great in theory, but I suspect she'd just eat the mud/ rice/ kinetic sand.

Trying to think what ds liked at that age:

when I put some water and food colouring in various (double bagged!) Food bags pressed flat is and taped them to the windows to poke and squish.

Ball pit and balls (bonus points if you have a little slide

Posting things (cardboard box with slit cut and some cardboard shapes?

Messy play thats safe to eat? Ie cook a batch of spaghetti (add colour if desired) cool and tip onto a tough tray or into a plastic tub?

@drumst1ck I do my towels with some white vinegar when I can be bothered to get them fluffed back up. You’re not using fabric conditioner on them are you? Mine don’t like it.

We’ve been to the park for a couple of hours along with the whole of West Yorkshire judging by how busy it was.

Have had a big row with DP as I got a whole 4 hours sleep last night and he’s —fucking shit— not the best at empathy and had a go as I was being ‘snippy.’

I’ve shoved some haribo to DS, put Thomas the tank engine on the telly, DD is finally asleep, my nipple must stay in her mouth or she wakes up. I am done being mummy. I’ll be getting a bath tonight and DP can deal with the kids.

@MonkeyPuddle no, no fabric conditioner. Do you find they smell a bit funky after the vinegar or do they come out okay?
Sorry it's been a rough one. Enjoy the bath tonight and take some time for you!

@drumst1ck no they don’t smell, I generally soak them in a tub for a bit and then just bang them in a hot wash, my washer takes ages so they’re well rinsed.

Thank you, a friend bought me some fancy bath bombs for Christmas so I’m going to use of of those and shut the world away.

19MO here, wasn’t keen in on the pipecleaners and cullinder but we have had success with fetching the slide indoors, building towers out of toilet rolls and posting pasta through holes in a cardboard box 😂🙈