How often do you take your toddler out and about ?

[mummyquestions]

I'm wondering what other parents routines are ?

If your little one goes to nursery for example- do you take them out and about shopping / soft play / playground every weekend, on both days ?

Or if little one is staying home with you, what do you get up to on a daily basis ?

Mine is about to turn 2 and just trying to gage if we do enough.

Hi OP, I’ve read this thread with interest as I have a son the same age.

He is at nursery 3 days a week and with me the other 4 - across those 4 days we might do two small activities e.g swimming and trip to local farm then a couple of short walks mixed in. We also try and visit family once a week.

He finds nursery quite tiring so likes to be home on his ‘days off’ but I do like him to get a bit of fresh air.

It’s hard though as he has such a short attention span, I’d love to go to the park and hang out for a couple of hours but after 20 mins he’s done! I feel puzzled with these posters whose little ones can go out walking the streets or on their balance bikes as mine would last 5 mins. Would love to do that!

@mummyquestions

Thanks everyone ! Super interesting responses.

On a rainy day like today, it's hard to take them out.

But it's also tiring to keep them in. It's tough isn't it !

We went puddle jumping for a bit this morning. Obviously you have to steel yourself and get everyone's waterproofs on. But it's worth the effort. And then you can come back inside for a hot chocolate

My DS turned 2 last month and is in nursery/with MIL 3 days a week.

I have one day a week with just me and him when we go to an outdoor toddler group in the morning and that's normally quite enough. Home for lunch and nap until about 3pm, then playing inside eg with playdough, play kitchen, reading/watching TV together, "hide and seek" (he hasn't really got the concept of this and has to tell me where to hide), or "helping" me with housework or cooking. DH gets in at about 5.30pm which breaks things up a bit.

DH has a day off work on a different day and they tend to go to the supermarket for the main weekly shop with a quick stop at the park on the way back in the morning, then as above in the afternoon.

At weekends we'll tend to do a trip to park/woods/museum/maybe something like soft play or the zoo on at least one of the mornings but not necessarily both, especially if the weather is as grim as it is now.

When DD was a toddler I made it a point of going somewhere on days she didn't go to nursery (she usually did 3 days a week at Nursery). Places we went to:
Park
Playground
Baby and toddler groups (though mostly we woke up too late for those...)
Soft play
Play date if anyone was available
Library rhyme times
Shopping

It was more for my sake than hers..I'd go crazy if I didn't go anywhere all day long.

It's definitely personal to each child and parent. With mine, I have found that they like a rough routine to the day at the weekend which typically is: activity in the morning (football class/swimming/playground/soft play/museum), lunch and then nap or quiet time, then usually play at home till bedtime

We usually went mid morning around ten or eleven am and sometimes had lunch outside and would then go home after lunch.

We go out about 9ish every morning they're at home, getting back by 12-1pm. Lazy afternoons of crafts, cooking etc.

It works for our family (other routines really, really don't), but it makes it difficult to see people who aren't early risers.

@mummyquestions my littlest is a lockdown baby so soft play was shut for ages when he was teeny. We never really got in the habit - even now they are open to my mind it's basically Covid waiting to happen! And because of going back to work full time after each DC I lost touch with all my mummy friends so we don't meet up with other people at soft play etc. I expect we'll have to go more when people start having parties etc there. We're very rural so it's a long way to go though.

[quote ISaidDontLickTheBin]@mummyquestions my littlest is a lockdown baby so soft play was shut for ages when he was teeny. We never really got in the habit - even now they are open to my mind it's basically Covid waiting to happen! And because of going back to work full time after each DC I lost touch with all my mummy friends so we don't meet up with other people at soft play etc. I expect we'll have to go more when people start having parties etc there. We're very rural so it's a long way to go though.[/quote]
Got you. Those are the reasons we haven't gone either !

I’m at home with a 17 month old and 3 year old. We go out every other day maybe. My MH isn’t in a strong place so it takes a lot for me to fight with them putting waterproofs and boots on only for them to pull them off straight away. My youngest hates having anything on his head, hands or feet so the cold weather is obviously an issue and he screams a lot because even if I relent and take the hat, mittens and shoes off he cries from scratch about being cold. It’s really frustrating. I don’t have the car during the week either because DH needs it for work so I’m stuck with crappy PT in my area which limits us a lot.

We go to a group at the library most Wednesday’s, only miss it if one of us is sick. Usually pop to the park afterwards for a walk if it isn’t pissing it down. There aren’t many other local groups I can easily get to that don’t cost a fortune so that’s the only one really. Sometimes just go for a walk on the field behind our house to get out. We go out somewhere every weekend.

DD turned 2 at the start of the first lockdown so for a lot of that year we didn’t “go” anywhere at all, although we did try and get outside most days for a walk or to play in the garden.

Now she’s 3.5 so not really a toddler anymore- she goes to nursery 4 days a week, has 1 day with her dad (which is usually in the house) and then at the weekend we usually go out each day but often it’s just a ride to the corner shop on her scooter or a trip to the local library. I can’t be doing big days out all the time, tires me out!

Hi, OP. We're moving your thread over to Chat now.

I’m a sahm and my lo goes to nursery 9 to 3 2 days a week. It’s very rare we don’t do something or go somewhere and usually due to illness. She goes on the school run twice a day a week do something else too like gymnastics, toddler group or swimming. Unlike my oldest my is not very good in the cold even when well wrapped up so we tend to shorted outdoor things in winter now but when it’s warmer we will be out doors for hours at a time.

I think it's an unusual UK thing to have toddlers often inside all or most of the day - and probably part of the reason that child obesity rocketed during lockdown. My family in Scandinavia have kids outdoors all the times, all weathers - lots of nurseries are full time forest schools and even in sub-zero temperatures, babies are put down for naps outdoors in prams!

It's good for kids to spend time outside each day, even if it's just a walk to the shops. For protection against short sightedness, they actually recommend 3+ hours outdoors each day. Just like adults, it's good for mental health and overall fitness too!

On days at home with my toddler, I always try to have one 'activity' out in addition to walking/scooting the school runs, rarely soft play especially since covid, but things like meeting a friend in a playground, some puddle jumping in the park, a walk to the library or post office. Every week or so we do an adventure day where we go on a special trip somewhere like a big park that's further away, museum, friend's house etc.

@overtherubicon - it's even worse in the US. I am on an American parenting forum where there are loads of people saying "my 3 year old is badly behaved and doesn't sit still all day while I work, what should I do?"

3 year old has nursery 5 mornings a week and in afternoons does swimming one day, riding one day and ballet one day.

18 month old is with me and does ballet one day, swimming one day and a baby music class another day. Plus obviously all of us do visits to friends, play dates, trips to various places. I really have to leave the house every day if possible because otherwise they destroy it and everyone gets very bored.

When mine was toddler age we did swimming and on Mondays then home for lunch afternoon the in park. Play group on Tuesday morning then either lunch out with friends or (a different) park, sometimes I'd skip the playgroup and do one of the museums (science/natural history/ horniam), only used soft play if it was tipping it down.

Out at least once a day at weekends/days off with DS (20 mo). Might be toddler group, soft play, swimming or library but equally might just be the weekly shop or the park round the corner. It’s more for my own sanity then his .

Usually go out at 9:30ish, home at 11:30 for lunch and nap. If our in afternoon it’ll be short. Maybe 45 mins or an hour tops at 15:30ish.

DD turned 2 last month and our routine is:
Mon am - swimming lesson
Tue am - nursery
Wed am - nursery
Thu am - nursery
Fri am - toddler dance/music group thing

Depending on what the weather is like, we might go for a walk after her nap or go to softplay for an hour.
Weekends tend to be quite chilled, unless there's a birthday party to go to, we have lazyish morning and then go for a walk round the park/go play in FIL's garden/visit family in the afternoon.

When the weather gets warmer, there will probably be lots of playing in our garden with the paddling pool and garden toys

Most days, even if it's just the garden for playing out. They're at nursery 3 days and 1 grandparent day. If both of us are home, we do NT, EH or long walks. If it's just me with DH at work (shifts), out might just be walk to Tesco/town/the library/park.
My eldest is quite happy just to be around the house and garden. He's more a sit quietly almost 4 year old than a loud energetic one.

At least once a day. We usually go to soft play once / twice a week during the weekdays and have a toddler group on a Tuesday. Always go for a walk in the pram in the mornings, usually to walk dh to the train station for 8.30 which is a two mile round trip.

I remember headlines a while ago about how children in the UK on average spend less time outside each day than prisoners do! We have a dog so we have to go for at least one walk during the day. I have a 3 year old and a 15 month old. 3yo does 2.5 days at nursery and when he isn’t at nursery we do at least one “activity” a day (playgroup, soft play, visit grandparents or friends etc) as well as our walk (which is sometimes tied in to trip to the play park but the dog hates that!). At the weekend they have swimming lessons one day and we usually go shopping/do errands and then have one more lazy day.

We’ve actually been isolating due to covid in the house for the past few weeks and it’s made me realise how much I rely on getting out every day for my mental health!! Even just a trip around the block on his balance bike helps so much. My eldest really struggles with the cold though so winters are much harder - how do people get their young kids to spend so long outdoors when it’s cold?! We have proper thermals etc but still can’t manage more than an hour in one go!

@Lazydaisydaydream what kind of proper thermals? Some here are still a bit rubbish - after a few failed attempts I now buy second hand merino and silk, they last so well that I can still often sell on after my third has finished with them. Washing has to be cold, but they need far less washing than synthetics, outside of toilet training. Uniqlo also has some good ones, their thinner ones aren't that warm but a good layer under a wool/merino one for a sensitive skinned child, they also have good lined trousers and joggers (they come up big). The other thing that UK families often don't seem to do is lots of layering, if you want them to last all morning, it's better to have to take off a few layers because warming them up can be impossible - thermal trousers under regular ones, winter boots instead of normal shoes, neoprene Welly alternatives like Bogs, snowsuit style all in ones or waterproof trousers on top of normal ones, balaclavas instead of hats, and absolutely non negotiable mittens/gloves make a huge difference. For a whole morning out I'll usually plan a strategic warming up in the middle, either with a shop/cafe or a thermos of milky hot chocolate to share. Lastly, the more active they are the less cold they'll get, so it's better if they walk or scoot than sit in a buggy, or if they are in one, get them a warm blanket so they can hop out ready to play.

I'm a sahm to my 2 year old DD.
She goes to playgroup two mornings a week and a class one morning a week. Other than that we just go for walks, to the shops or visiting family on the other days. I try and get out with her at least for a daily walk just so we're not going demented in the house.