to think it's odd that a child without SN...

[CheerfulYank]

who is 3 years and 4 months old, still sleeps in a crib and eats in high chair?

And I dress him every morning...for speed! That way we can go from fast asleep to the school gate in 30 minutes.

I know he can dress himself perfectly well as he does it 3 times a week after PE and twice a week after swimming so I don't think my helping in the morning has delayed his development in any way. It just makes the morning smoother and faster.

If mine could fit in a crib they would still be in one. Why take them out? They're safer as they can't fall out and they can't escape

as for the high chair dd is still crammed in to one at nearly 3 and I will continue for as long as I can fit her in. She just run around and gets food everywhere and meal times take days hours otherwise.

however, my ds is the eldest of 3 ( other two are 17 months and almost 12 weeks so I'm using a double buggy for them etc) and neighbours kid is an only.

Nah depends on the family. My excuse for keeping them in a double buggy and highchairs etc is that I am too knackered from having 2 small ones (whilst being heavily pregnant). Mine are nearly 3 and nearly2. I am due in a few weeks. If I can keep them restrained a much as possible I will.

I often think if I had an only child I'd be able to spend all the time in the world nurting them in some sort of clever montessori type way but I'd probably just mn all day like I do now

On the basis that I was with a 7yo boy last week who managed to get himself in (and out again!) of a high chair, they're obviously going to be big enough for a 3.6yo.

Some children like the security of the cot, dd1 was moved out just before dd2 was born (dd2 was in moses basket for first 6 months, but we didn't want to move dd1 out and immediately put dd2 in) and she asked to go back again because she preferred it, even with all the fuss we made abotu her fantastic new bed and wasn't she grown up now.*

If we hadn't needed the cot, we might well have let her stay in it when she asked.

*It only took a couple of weeks before she preferred it, but we'd have probably let her decide if we could have.

"gets put in buggy, wheeled out to car and strapped into car seat, buggy folded and put in boot, reverse it for when they come home. from car to front door is perhaps 7 foot, maybe 8 at a push"

Bloomin' 'eck. Just... why?

DS1 hated the cot and barely slept in it. At about 15 months we gave up and he slept on a futon. DS2 was totally different. I finally evicted him from his cot when he was 4 3/4 and was about to start school and I had a 6month old DS3 who really needed it! DS3 was in it until about 2 1/2.

My ds has sn he sleeps in a toddler bed but does eat in a high chair but it's the ikea one so more of a chair with a tray .. The op means a cot , to be honest I could fit in my ds cot so that isn't that much of a big deal

my dd is three and still.uses a highchair quite often, she fits it fine and when we are out i will often use one as it means she is at the right height to sit near/at the table etc plus it means she cant keep getting down from the table.

she has never slept in a cot though. meh its just a non issue.

she is one of five childrrn btw.

My ds is 3.2 and only this week have we converted his cotbed from a cot to a bed. Until last week he was quite content in it, but had a few bad days with him wanting to get out and trying to climb out which wasn't safe so te time had come.
He is unfortunately is also still in nappies - he simply isn't ready as he has no inclination of when he needs to go and would happily sit in a dirty nappy if we let him.
No SN here, just every child is different.

A bit younger, but my DS is 2.5 and still sleeps in a giant pack n play. Why the jibbins would I move him when a. We have a newborn on the way and b. He sleeps 11-12 hours at night in there, plus takes a 2-3 hour nap. I'll move him to a toddler bed when he either gets too big or starts to climb out, neither of which is an immediate concern.

DS is 3.5 and always sits in a high chair at my parent's house because otherwise he is too low down at the table (at home we have a tripp trapp style chair.

Ds was in his cot until way past 3. It was big enough - he didn't try and climb out so I didn't see the need. I moved him to a bed when he was out of nappies at night as it didn't seem fair to trap him if he needed the toilet. Now he is in our bed every night as he can get out!!
No high chair though.
we do use a pushchair though (3 3/4) occasionally...

by using a booster seat on a normal chair you are effectively making the chair into a high chair anyway.

ds1 is 14, 5" 7 and uses a trip trap chair as do my three other boys aged 11, 9 and 5 so actually they all sit on highchairs...

Seems very unusual, especially the highchair.

dd was in her cot bed until she was 7. converted though. ds was in a converted cot until 5 both have sn that mean they are not able to use the top bunk of bunkbeds and their room does not fit two single beds in.

Nothing to do with being an only child. My DD is (so far) an only, but had stopped using her cot, highchair and sippy cup by 2. At 2.10 we do still use the buggy a bit because I often walk quite long distances, but we don't use it for shorter journeys.

However all children are different. For instance, a very petite toddler may struggle to reach the table sitting on an ordinary dining chair, and a toddler who was inclined to get out of bed and wander around at night might be safer in a cot.

I am in a v bad mood, admittedly, but the comment about "only" children being babies more?! So very smug.

I's say it's unusual

Are you worried about this child?

Thank you Nynaevesister for posting exactly what I was thinking. It's bloody depressing isn't it. The whole oooooooo are they an...only...

Your kid can be 99 % perfect but one bad day and it must be because their an only.

Dd was almost a ginger only, she'd have been completely fucked then.

For what it's worth dd was in a toddler bed at 18 months and barely used the buggy past 2. [v.v.v.grumpy face]

I wasn't having a go at "onlys" it just seemed likely to me to be a factor as kids with no siblings would have the option to sleep in a cot, for instance, much longer than a child who's got to be evicted for the next baby

could say the same for the last born child, they've got that bit longer than their sibling/s got (providing they have a small age gap)

Belacoros - I have no idea.
I've seen him playing in the garden once or twice, but any time I meet them out and about he's always in the pram. I feel a bit sad for him really.

Yes - another one getting a bit tired of the "only" thing - OP mentions it in each post after all.

FWIW my DD is an only but was still in a cot bed by 18 months....Had nothing to do with her being an only or not though and entirely down to her as an individual child with her own individual needs/requirements. Her high chahir however we had until last year - she was 11y. Tripp Trapp chair - It never did have a tray - just pushed up to the table. I could sit in it; was big enough for an adult.

Uh, no, I didn't mention it in each post at all.

The only reason I mentioned it at all is in terms of them thinking she's younger than she is (which I put down to neither of them being around children at all before they had her) and that when they have another, the tininess of the baby next to their 4 year old will make them realize she isn't a baby. It was not a dig at only children, DS was an only for 6 years and for quite some time I thought he always would be!

Cory no I don't think there are undiagnosed SN. I've worked with lots of kids with SN and though the little girl seems a bit "young" for her age it's nothing I would call a developmental delay or place on the autistic spectrum or anything like that.

It is a non issue and I didn't mean to imply that it wasn't. As I said, I just always have a knee jerk "hmm that's a bit odd" feeling when I see a picture of her in a highchair or when my friend talks about the crib, and just wanted to know if it was odd or my reaction was! :)

Don't think odd to be in a cot (American crib) at that age if child is happy with that. I only moved my son at age 3 but he would have been happy in it for longer.

Re: highchair perhaps a little more odd but again if the child wants to sit in it no harm.