To think weekends with baby/toddler is so boring

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I feel like we're stuck in a rut and all we do is go to the park over and over again and count down to nap time. What do you do with your baby or toddler at the weekend that you actually find fun/entertaining.

We go for coffee trips out to Costa, browse the charity shops, look for conkers etc. You could go swimming or to a different park? Do a bit of messy play at home? Visit family/friends?

Be careful what you wish for. Enjoy the moments. It goes so fast and one day you'll look back on these days wistfully

We hardly ever did the park, it always seemed to have rained so was wet.
We feed the ducks, craft, conker collecting at the moment, stone collecting to paint, ‘long walk’ (with a packet of crisps/similar bought on route)😀- walk anything up to an hour, poke around local garden centre, We live near an airport viewing park so go there, swimming, baking.
Then usual stuff in playroom.
It is hard when you have baby and toddler but my toddlers never daytime napped except in the car so my daily aim was to tire them out 😂(somehow)

Local beach/park/station (watch trains!) jump on a bus into town, cafe, swimming, National trust places, play doh/drawing at home, visit friends, McDonald’s (I know! Awful parenting!) supermarket shop, soft play, go to grandmas etc but yes sometimes it is tedious!

We go for walls down the woods or beach, bake (dd loves making gingerbread), painting (she paints while I sew...she mostly paints herself so needs bath straight after!), visit family and friends, go to zoo or aquarium, go to a singing group together. Sometimes we just get the bus somewhere as the bus is such a novelty to her, she loves it. Dp will take her out so I get a break and I do same for him. Sometimes she has a sleepover at Granny's which is amazing as then we get a lie in for once (it's a long old day with a toddler when they get up at 5am!!)

Just go wherever you want! Babies and toddlers in buggies/carriers are portable and can nap anywhere. I went hiking around Alaska with mine at one point! Yes trips to the park are popular with the dc's but incorporate that into an outing you will enjoy

As they get a bit older it does get better. Mine are 4 and 2 and I've either grown used to routine or grown to enjoy it! Was harder when they were smaller, especially with a baby and toddler, so many naps/feeding to get around. Now DS only needs one nap which does restrict what we can do a bit, but we just divide the day into two and sometimes just go out for most of the day and play nap roulette! Saturday is classes for DD, DH take them in turns, the other has quality time with DS (sounds sad but I enjoy taking him food shopping and treating us both to a drink and snack), or take him for a walk. Sunday we go out as a family, this morning we are going to a nearby wind farm so that DD and DH can cycle (with DS on the back) snd I can run.

Are you a National Trust member? We've found our membership really helps when wondering what to do.

On rainy days I put DS into his wetsuit so he can splodge. Or we arrange playdates where we can. DD will happily watch films during her rest time so that helps.

So yes, idoes get more enjoyable. I really love our weekends together especially as DH and I both work during the week so it gives us quality family time.

I just took mine to museums and art galleries all the time when we lived in London. What do you want to do yourself, OP? Admittedly it was more of a grind when we moved. I think I spent several decades in the village park.

And ignore anyone who piously says these days will flash past. For many of us the baby/toddler stage is gruesome.

We bake alot, get all the chalk, crayons, glue and glittery bits to do craft, conker picking then painting, stone collecting, out for a bike ride in the forest, visit NT, petting zoos or on the beach with a puddle suit on and all wrapped up.

We take the dog for a walk/go to bookbug in the local library/park/ lunch and shopping. I have to admit, I am looking forward to my DS being older so we can do more. But in a way, I love the simplicity of it all. It doesn't take a lot to keep the kid happy. And when he naps, I do a cuppa, something sweet and a good book.

Are you with your toddler in the week? I work full time so do like even just the Park with my 2 year old.
But otherwise it’s soft play, swimming, local shopping centre, seeing family.
Today we’re actually going to a pumpkin patch.

Babies and toddlers in buggies/carriers are portable and can nap anywhere. I went hiking around Alaska with mine at one point

And ignore all comments like this. Not all children nap let alone 'anywhere'. And as for hiking around alsaska with a toddler

Everything! National Trust, trying out different parks, making cakes, zoo, farm, visiting family, soft play, trampoline park (often have quiet sessions at 9.30), walking over to the next village to poke in the charity shop, swimming. We have a good sling so walk quite a lot. Caravan breaks and nights in Premier Inn / YHA are great too.

We have much more varied weekends now than we did pre-DC.

What would you enjoy and is there a way to make it kid-friendly?

I went hiking around Alaska with mine at one point

Anyway, we hardly ever go to the park, the only place I hate more than the park is soft play. We live in London and enjoy taking toddler ds out on the train at weekends. Museums are a big hit. Cafes. On Sundays we often just veg out and watch films and do a bit of baking.

My ds is really the most well behaved and go with the flow little Child I know. We travelled alot because he was just so easy. But day to do, we just did things we usually did. It often worked out that we did some toddler related activity and then adult thing on the day.
eg. we did park/group activity then usually in the evenings get together at a friends place. All our kids are around the same age so they just played and slept. Or we just stayed in and ordered a nice takeaway with movies.

I leave them with DH and go out on my own....

We usually go to a local NT and do a walk, have a coffee on Saturday. Brunch at weatherspoons is a crowd pleaser (and no washing up). We also visit friends, go to church (which has supervised Creche from 18months so I get some quiet, reflective time), watch a family film and snuggle under the duvet.

Btw I usually find cramming the Morning, going out, coming back home for lunch, nap and then I only really have an hr / bf& a half to fill before dinner bath bed routine

Exactly this!

I find the weekends much easier and more fun as DH is around too. We have one DD aged 2.5 and tend to:
Go for dog walks (often with a nice pub lunch at the end!)
Do stuff in the garden
Go to our local RHS garden
Meet up with friends (some have children, some don’t)
Make a cake
See family (GPs, cousins)

To be honest most of it is things we would have done before DD anyway, it’s just a bit different now.

How old? Since my DD got past 18 months/walking confidently I find weekends ok with things to do farms, soft play, park, see friends with kids.
Before 18 months I struggled though especially when it was just me and DD as she didn’t want to be in the buggy for too long but I found those things harder to do pre walking by myself. Now I’m quite desperate to just get her out the house and running off some energy so I’ll do anything

I posted a very similar thread last weekend! I got some good suggestions but my main conclusion was just to hang on in there because 80% of the suggestions won't work for DS right now as he's too small (15 months). I have found our options have expanded now he's walking, so I'm looking forward to them expanding again when he has the understanding to do an activity like baking or to understand a children's activity at a museum.

I do think how easy you find it also depends on what you'd like to be doing anyway, eg I don't like pottering in the garden but that is a very DS-friendly activity.

I have two, DS1 3.5 and DS2 just turned one. We go for walks (live in an area where there are plenty of parks and places to walk), coffee, see family/friends, occasionally go away for the weekend or to visit in-laws, outings to places like farms, today we are going to a food event in our local forest. There is a Facebook page and blog by a lady based close to me who also has a community group on Facebook where people share ideas - anything like that near you? I get so many ideas of events and stuff to do from there. Can understand why you get bored of doing the same things each weekend, need to mix it up a bit. I’ve found it easier since DS1 doesn’t nap so not having to consider that and DS2 can sleep in buggy/car seat on the go (and he’s a shit sleeper anyway so we don’t have a proper ‘nap routine’).

Do you live rurally OP or in a city? I live fairly centrally in a major city and I think that helps as there is always something going on.