15 month old needs constant entertainment

[CathyandHeathcliff]

My 15 month old needs constant attention. He brings us book after book from the moment he gets up until bedtime. If we don’t read to him, he chucks it at us. We say no and give it back to him or try and distract him, but he just screams and stamps his feet.
I’m really happy he’s interested in books, but this is so incredibly draining.
He can sometimes be distracted with CBeebies , but usually he just wants more entertaining. I’m exhausted.
Today we have read almost every book on the shelf, maybe twice (he has lots), we’ve been to the library this morning, he had an hour and 15 minute nap, then lunch, then more bringing us books, we then went to the park to play and now we’re back home again, he’s constantly bringing us books again.
I’ve tried getting him to do some scribbling with a crayon, but he just tries to eat it. We do singing and nursery rhymes etc, but ultimately all he wants is to be read to!

Oh bless you, but you don't have to read a book just because he wants one! It's really ok to say no and it doesn't harm a toddler to be a little frustrated.

Get some toys out and get on with something else! He won't learn to play independently if he doesn't get the opportunity.

It sounds harsh but let him throw a tantrum and ignore him. If you keep giving in it will never stop

Ah he sounds great OP! I love reading so I have a lot of sympathy with him

How about looking on YouTube for videos of people reading children's books (there are loads) - would that work to distract him?

Yeah, I’d just ride the frustration out, to be honest. 15 months is still very young, though, so he will want entertaining a lot of the time.

@RubyandMax oh he’s got plenty of toys out all the time, but he’s not interested in any of them really. Sometimes he plays. But often he goes straight back to the books. I feel like we’ve got ourselves into a cycle here.

DD loves books but she 'reads' them by herself a lot. Have you got any books with buttons and flaps he can do himself? Felt flaps and the 'Listen to the...' range of books are great. DD can easily spend 30+ mins pressing the buttons on her sound books happily by herself and just sitting turning pages and lifting flaps.

Mine is 20 months old and she was exactly the same a few months ago. She loves her books as well! About two or three months ago, something clicked and she started playing a little bit more independently day by day. It helped when I let her have a bit more space to explore (we live in a two bed flat and I was basically keeping her in the living room) - allowing her to potter into other rooms on her own seemed to give her a bit more interest in things other than me! Another breakthrough was playing with her teddies and the ironing basket. Sounds weird and a bit specific but one day I put her in the plastic ironing basket just to be silly and filled it full of teddies and it sparked a game that she will happily play by herself for 30 minutes at a time. She puts all the teddies in! Then she takes all the teddies out! Puts them in! Takes them out! You get the idea. I think your little one is just about to hit the next stage where he will start to spend more time playing on his own. It’s exhausting but hang in there - it will pass xxxx

And yes, I'd just let him be cross occasionally - it won't do any harm. Do you do any baby sign language? We taught the 'all done' sign, so when we are finished with something, be it dinner or an activity together, I do the 'all done' sign and she knows that's it finished for now.

You need to let them work through the positives and negatives of occupying themselves even if there are some tears and tantrums. Occupying a child all the time is as unhealthy as letting them watch TV all day

Might be worth checking out Play Hooray on Facebook. She has tons of ideas for entertaining small people. None tricky to set up either but will hopefully give you a bit of variety from the books.

@CathyandHeathcliff I would ask yourself, what is the worst that will happen if you say no to him? He will have a tantrum? Honestly there are going to be a lot of tantrums between now and 3

You can break a cycle by saying "no". "Two more books then mummy is going to drink her coffee/fold the laundry/cook dinner". Once he knows you mean it and he can't change your mind by screaming, he will adapt.

I wouldn't give a book back if he chucks it at you though - say no and take it away.

Be firm with him! You’re letting him rule your lives. Kids shouldn’t expect to be entertained all their waking hours.

I feel your pain! 16 months and if we don't do as he wants then he throws a massive tantrum. It's awful. So I've channeled his energy into helping with jobs around the house. He now helps me put the washing on, and away again and gets a duster and gots around the skirting boards. Just about channelling the energy in the right way for them. After the book phase, I'm so bored of the "rabbits nap" flap lifting book!

He does sound sweet but I can understand your exhaustion!
I wondered whether you could maybe move the books elsewhere for a while maybe at night so in the morning he doesn't go straight to the books? Would it then be easier to get him interested in playing with interactive toys or some other activity?
Then introduce the books again once he starts to show interest in other things to hopefully create more of a balance.

He's only a baby and he wants entertaining, mine was none stop at that age. He needed to be engaged constantly or he'd be creating havoc, sometimes he'd be engaged and also creating havoc. Its fine to say no/not now and let him tantrum, it won't damage him.

Mine never played with toys either, he was (and still is) a messer, just like messing with things, usually things he's not allowed. He's three now and at least had the language to communicate properly so that's am improvement

My DD a month or so older has been trying that for a couple of months, so I choose the 4 books I want to read. I then read them all with one or two twice then refuse to read anymore. I simply tell her I'm not reading anymore and redirect her to some of her toys. I may have to play with them at the beginning to distract her from the fact I'm not reading to her but she eventually plays on her own. She currently likes putting her rubber blocks and any others toys that will fit in a bag, toddling around with it and then emptying it then repeating. I also rotate her toys weekly so she has a different set of toys to play with every week for about 4 weeks.

Audio books? You can get those computer ones that read the pages out and have buttons for sound effects.

My DS was like this, hate to say it but we let him away with it and he is now almost 7 and cannot amuse himself at all, ever.

Try distracting with something else? Or download lots of the cebeebies bedtime stories and show him them?