Trapped toddler parents: Inspiration and support needed through the summer hols!!

[PinkDaydreams]

Following on from the previous trapped toddler thread!
Sorry for rubbish title!

Gosh I hope everyone feels better tomorrow @Chocolatetrifle (and your poor DS) @Camomila, @Motherofmonsters (enjoy your night of peace!!). Completely understandable to be a bit moody @squishymamma, it is SO HARD being very pregnant with a toddler, personally I found it harder than having a newborn & a toddler. Strange that your DS doesnt want to play with MiL while you are there - do you think he thinks you may be going to leave, would telling him you are staying with him help? My DD used to be like this sometimes and that helped.
We had a nice day today, DH took DD swimming while I took DS for a drizzly walk then we went for lunch in a turkish restaurant. If anyone has netflix their christmas animation “Robin Robin” is worth watching I thought.

Morning everyone, how is everyone?

@squishymamma, are you ok? Hope you are feeling better after some sleep. It's really hard when the two's kick in. My dS2 is the same at the moment. Try to get some rest if you can.

@Lostthetastefordahlias, glad you had a good day yesterday and you enjoyed your lunch out.

My ds1 has an ear infection, he was given more antibiotics yesterday. I'm still waiting for his ENT referral too. Could be the 4th antibiotics since September....I've lost count.

We had a disturbed night but up and playing doctors with the superhero toys.

I've been on this thread since February and just want to say thank you all for 'being there', I find it really helps me to share our experiences both good and bad x

Yesterday we managed to make this snow scene, I got some pretend snow and trees and Santa from Hobbycraft. Thought we could add our Happyland Christmas figures too.

Morning!

I'm feeling much better this morning, I feel like doing things instead of sitting down.

I love your snow scene @chocolatetrifle, you are really good at doing crafts with them.
Sorry your DS is back on the antibiotics, hopefully his referral will come through soon.

I love this thread it's kept me sane, it's nice to have somewhere were everyone gets it.

That snow scene is lovely!! It's been snowing here in the north west for about half an hour now, don't think it'll stick as the ground is already wet.

I don't suppose anyone has any tips please? Son has a patch of eczema on his cheek that comes and goes. His skin under his bottom lip/chin is so sore. It's been coming and going, I manage to clear it up with sudocrem over night but in nursery it comes back as I don't think theyre wiping food/muck off. Anyway since a change in weather under his lip is so red and dry, I've tried sudocrem over night but that's not working. I've done three nights with vaseline but that's not doing much either. Had running round to do yesterday so he was outside quite a bit and today it looks so sore. Problem is he has sensory difficulties so i cant put anything on during the day as he can't cope with the feeling. Linking back to the eczema, do you think the aveeno cream I use for the eczema would help his lip/chin? Please help! What else can i try?

@pinkdaydreams - DS gets a bit of eczema type dribble rash from being at school/wiping his snot across his face. The best thing so far I have found is child's farm, baby moisturiser. I just put a bit on in the evening and it seems to make a big difference. It's made a difference on my nose from blowing it so much to

@PinkDaydreams it's sticking a bit on the ground here at the moment but my two are not well enough go out in it!

How about E45 repair cream? I think that's for eczema.

Perhaps this? Have you tried it before? I've used E45 on DS1 for very dry skin patches.

Lovely snow scene @chocolatetrifle

@Pinkdaydreams DS1 had a similar thing last year, the pharmacist suggested savlon to heal it (in your case maybe when he is asleep) and then when it's better keeping it moisturized.

We have had a nice morning - the tea and coffee (and running around the hall with the other kids eating biscuits) in the hall after church is finally back. It was one of the things DS1 had missed most from before Covid so I am very happy for him

DS1 is having some YouTube time now, DS2 is napping so I am going to get as much housework done as I can in an hour! (DH has just got the train to work).

Thank you all so much for the fast replies, I'll go to Asda later and buy it all!!!! I was worrying about it being impetigo, but I do defo think it's a dribble rash/weather, feel a bit more confident now knowing others on here have experienced it too, thank you!

Ooo biscuit and tea sounds perfect @Camomila. I always think tea tastes nicer made by someone else rather than myself, prob a psychological thing though!!😂

How is everyone feeling today? We had a 3am wakeup and DS has got a cold but apart from that ok. I really agree about this thread @Chocolatetrifle - its such a relief to catch up with it and see other people having the same issues you are! Lovely snow scene. @PinkDaydreams my Ds sometimes gets horrible patches of dry skin/ eczema round his mouth, my cousin who is a nurse recommended Cetraben and that has been great - its not cheap but worth a go if other stuff is not working.

We stuck leftover cotton balls onto a pic of santa which was a super easy christmas craft the 3yr old could do on her own - if anyone else has any hanging around from baby times! Also we did go back to sleep after 3am just to be clear - not been up since then thank goodness although that has happened to us before!

Hello all!

@Lostthetastefordahlias we've tried telling DS we're not leaving but he's not having any of it, I think it must be related to that though as MIL is our go to babysitter...hope DS feels better soon. Love the Santa craft, I'll add that into my mental list of crafts we can do!

@Chocolatetrifle how is your DS today? Really hope his referral comes through soon. The snow scene looks wonderful, really good idea!

@Motherofmonsters glad you're feeling better.

@PinkDaydreams hope you get the rash sorted soon, I agree it sounds like a dribble rash. Don't have any suggestions better than what the others have said - here in Norway because it can get so cold, they do special cold cream you can put on them that protects the skin (it probably exists in the UK too) but since your DS has sensory difficulties I don't think he'll be happy with that. Might be worth a try if all else fails. I also think tea tastes better when someone else makes it so it's not just you!!

I love this thread, it's pretty much the only one I post on. Like having the best support behind you!

Here's the attempt at a Christmas tree we did the other day for grandparents, I had to carefully steer DS's fingers because he would have happily smushed everything into a brown mess it's not quite a Christmas tree but hopefully they'll get the idea.

We had a lovely weekend and I'm trying to take it slow today and get stuff down out of storage for the baby, pack our hospital bags etc. DS is at nursery, he's now in the routine of letting us take off his outer clothes and then running off without so much as a goodbye...but I'll take that over crying any day!

Hope everyone has a good day.

Hi everyone,
@Lostthetastefordahlias I love the Santa picture, it looks great.

@squishymamma your Christmas card looks really good too.

No news here. DS1 has been to preschool, and seems much better now thank god, dS2 is still chesty. I'm a bit zombie like, have had bad headaches since my booster jab on Friday evening.

Really cold so might have to be an afternoon in to give boys chance to get fully better. I'm going to get out the Christmas magic painting book and paint sticks, see of we can make some pictures. We have also started watching the Christmas songs on YouTube etc

Hope everyone is having s nice day so far.

Is it bedtime yet? Zzzzzzzzzzzz

DS had an eye test at school today and they think he's got reduced vision in his right eye so now awaiting an appointment from the hospital. Just to add something else on top of everything. I'm also 98% sure he's going to have a cough tomorrow to.

I've been for a dog walk with DD and my friend and her baby. I then trekked 30mins each way to the next town to pick up a load of stuff of marketplace for DS. So now I have far to much for DS and nothing for DD.

Hope your headache is feeling better @chocolatetrifle

@Motherofmonsters,I'm feeling better now thank you.

Ah, the hospital will let you know what's best for your DS. Did they indicate how much his vision is reduced in that eye? I hope he doesn't get the cough and you have a peaceful night.

I find aged 2 to be hard for gift buying, too old for babyish type toys but so many say 3+ I find. DS1 absolutely loves the imaginext superhero stuff which you suggested to me so thank you! dS2 is 2 next week, got him a large play farm with animals which I think is she suitable and other bits.

Didn't do much today. The magic painting lasted one second as dS2 completed his so quickly by pouring the water cup all over the pictures. Got the pans out fir some drumming and luckily no weeing in them today.

My dS2 is spluttering away so see how the night goes.

@squishymamma have you packed your hospital bag? Really not long to go for you now.

Sleep well everyone hopefully.

Oh and Ds1's preschool sent an email today saying a parent had reported a case of threadworms. Are they very contagious? He better not bring those home. The thought of it makes me feel sick.

@Motherofmonsters hope your DS is okay and the cough stays away! When it rains it pours eh. Fingers crossed it's not too different from the left eye and is easily remedied with glasses etc. It's good that they do eye tests at school now, I had bad eyesight for ages before finally convincing my mum I needed a test and DH managed to go 27 years with bad vision that gave him migraines because nobody thought to test his eyes until we met

@Chocolatetrifle I've never experienced threadworms but just looked them up and it made me feel sick too! I guess it depends on the hygiene levels but I think with the COVID measures and focus on cleanliness your DS is probably not at high risk of getting it.

In terms of toys for almost 2 year olds, we've bought DS a train set for Christmas. He loves anything with wheels too so cars etc are a big winner. Other things he plays with a lot are toy kitchens, puzzles, a doll and pram, and he loves climbing - if we lived in a bigger place we'd buy those cool climbing block things, like these: www.amazon.co.uk/COSTWAY-Colorful-Childrens-Educational-Preschoolers/dp/B08FX3MMN5?tag=mumsnetforu03-21

I had a very productive day today, managed to pack all the bags and sort out all baby's things so now he has somewhere to sleep etc! Just missing food for when I'm in labour and a portable changing trolley - we're repurposing an IKEA 3 tier wheeled trolley we have and packing it with nappies etc so we can change baby in the middle of the night (as our changing table is in DS' room).

Tonight DS whined his way through dinner for no apparent reason and I got so annoyed - only barely held my cool and was a bit snappy. DH was also annoyed at him so it wasn't the best dinner mood! It's insane how fast they switch between giggling away and whining. Going to be a fun year or two, I can tell already!

Hope everyone has a good and restful night!

DD went full tantrum on the school run, like I've never seen her do before. One of the other mums offered to take DS to class for me as I was struggling to get her to do anything. I was getting a lot of sympathetic looks.

@Motherofmonsters, oh no, sending you support.. it's so hard when that happens. My dS2 is at the arching back, sliding out of the car seat stage when I try to get him in.

Not done much today so far but we have been for a McDonald's car picnic.

We have been to the library but now we are watching Paw Patrol already. Have got absolutely no energy today! Feeling that stress when you have a great deal of admin to do but can’t get anything done due to DC.
Hope your nerves have reovered @Motherofmonsters! I get so sweaty when DD melts down in public but everyone has been there right?!!
Keeping my fingers crossed for you on the threadworm front @Chocolatetrifle! Bleurgh!!

Just tried to bake a lemon box cake with both DS1 and ds2, note to self- don't bother in future.

Oh gosh yes @Lostthetastefordahlias, I get sweaty too, I had to drag DS1 to the car after he was lying on the floor of a car park and wouldn't get up!