To ask. What age is most difficult to look after during lockdown?

[louise5754]

Those with primary age children I think it's will be hard to remember back to having babies and we haven't had the teen years yet to compare.

But.....

I reckon the most difficult age to keep entertained would be the toddlers 1.5-3 ish?!

Anyone else?

TakeMeOn
Short fuse?! God yes, me too!

Thinking of my own DC I would have said that younger years, and particularly toddler years would have been fine with a garden . Teenagers difficult as they know better than you , particularly if they are separated from BF/GF.

It is looking back over the years, and you forget how, we have become more relaxed. Mine are 7 and 11. The 11 Year old is mini version of my DH argumentative moody and lost without any sport activity, no home learning now as they are on holiday!! I feel guilty as they are stuck on their iPad and Xbox all day and pop out in the garden for an hour trash it and come back in Again 😄 I am doing the daily chores and on my phone watching Michael macintyre and Graham Norton to cheer me up and not eat too much.. 😄I am addicted to the Harry Styles album and avoiding exercise. My DH is going on his daily run for hours!! 😄 Then running out of decent things to watch on Netflix.. so stressful 😄😄😄💙 only joking just trying to be positive under the circumstances. P.S could they possibly invent a mute button so I don’t have to listen to the arguing 😄💙

Something like this really highlights how some parents struggle to engage their children and rely too much on things like soft play centres and toddler groups etc

Absolute bollocks. I also had 3 under 5 (now 3 under 7). I have spent every day of the last 6.5 years with at least one at home full time, usually two, very often all three. I do not struggle to engage with them at all. We do crafts, play doh, small world play, drawing, planting seeds in the garden... all that stuff. It’s still different to doing it in the middle of a global pandemic, when you’re worried about family and friends getting ill and dying, when you’re worried about how you’re going to keep a roof over your head, when your children have been taken out of the only routines they’ve ever known, when they can’t see family members they’re used to seeing, when they’ve gone from full time school to no school at all in the space of two days, when parents are trying to work from home... have a bit of empathy.

It's like flying with children - any age from crawling to watching a whole Disney video in one sitting is awful. But primary school age is hard too, with the pressure to educate as well as occupy. Mine are all 12 and up, and I feel great sympathy for those who have really little ones.

Yes, great to see the dicks come out to play.

There’s nothing like parenting your children under very difficult circumstances, trying to work from home at the same time and on top of that, having some arsehole pile on to judge your best efforts.

Trying to work from home with my nearly 2 year old is definitely difficult. My 4 year old already has the capacity to occupy herself more. That said I have been trying to do some reception level maths and phonics with her. She hasn’t started school yet but is bright and I am keen for her to have a good start. That is difficult to fit in with everything. I guess all ages have there own challenges. On the whole though it is more difficult with my toddler.

I have a 3 month old and a 4.5 year old. I think either on their own would be fine, the combination are exhausting as both need very different attention. I'm very grateful though that the baby isn't older and mobile and the 4.5 year old isn't younger and unable to play independently occasionally

I have a 2yr DD and a 3 yr DD both shielding for 12 weeks as extremely vulnerable. I'm trying to pace myself but it is SO tough.
3yr DD has started to become insular and not wanting to go outside in the front - but is fine in our back garden.
She's at pre school normally so this is a huge change for her.
It's really taking its toll.

no judgement @Marieo. Touch a nerve did I?

I think all ages have their own problems. We have a 5 year old. The struggle is real. Our 17 year old is fine though and keeping himself entertained.

Of course this depends on the kid.

My 3.5 yr old has been fine. He's happy being at home with me, and although his Dad is working, he loves that he's doing so from home so can have lunch with us & be around at bedtime. 7m old DD is also happy being at home where she can try to roll over and eat all the books.

But. We are so lucky. We have a garden with a climbing frame with slide & swing, a sand table, a house with plenty of space, a drive big enough for DS to ride his bike round.

My sisters two are fine too, she does a lot of crafts and baking and gardening on weekends and is good at filling time & they are happy to get on with their school work.

Different kids have different needs and personalities, age is only one factor.

I have a nearly 17 month old and an 11 year old , toddlers are full on anyway and lockdown hasn't really made much of a difference to our routine , (I am a stay at home mum anyway ) we often play in the garden , with empty boxes , go for walks , I feel at that age anything can be entertaining and she has no idea there is anything different , had she been a couple of years older than I feel maybe she would miss certain things , nursery, playground etc.

With the 11 year old it's more about controlling screen time , getting her involved in activities, at the end of each day I definitely always feel the most guilty about if I have done enough with/for her than the toddler.

Families who have special needs children - all the time, lockdown or no lockdown.

In terms of trying to work at home around them I'd say anything fro around d 6 months- where they do more than eat sleep and grin from a bouncy cradle right through to 9/10yrs when they can do their work independently so long as they are separated from siblings.
I tears of attitude I'm guessing parents of teenagers are having g it pretty brought right now if my lreteen is anything to go by!!

I have a highly sensitive clingy mopey 4.5 yr old and a 15 month old wild child bull in a china shop.. so it is intense yes. On the one hand I am a SAHM with a DH who works from home, so while it doesn’t always feel much has changed in my life, now I am completely shattered by 5pm every day! Never quite realised how much I valued the 3 days of nursery my oldest was doing 😅

Definitely the 5 year old in our house at the moment. The 13 year old is the easiest. I may be looking at it through rose tinted glasses but when mine were toddlers they were just as happy in the garden with a bowl of water and some plastic cups as they were at soft play or the park.

Dealing with a 14 mo, 4 year old, 6 year old and DM.
DM grumpy as hell, 14mo will cry constantly unless on me and 4 year old practising his tantrums like its going out of fashion. its pretty grim but Im safe and just happy to be healthy

I have a 6 year old, 5 year old and 2 year old. Husband is hospital Doctor so I'm full time caring for the kids whilst trying to hold down full time job working from home. Feel like my head is going to explode with the competing demands. Can see how it must be hard to have teenagers though in a different way.

I think it's very dependant on individuals!
I have a 2.5yr old at home and he's genuinely been no bother. He's very independent, happy to play on his own for long periods of time, good attention span for watching animation or toddler tv and this afternoon sat tucked under my arm just snuggling for an hour while I did a conference video call.

As a baby however he was an absolute nightmare and made me genuinely suicidal. I would not have survived this.

I’m not finding an 8 or 10 year old much bother.

Teenagers are tough in their own way (my two are polar opposites and tend to bicker) but hats off to anyone coping with toddlers! As a single mum with two under four, I really relied on my parents having them for a weekly sleepover, my mental health was really fragile, and I would not have coped. When dc3 was a toddler I did daily toddler groups for routine and adult company, and again I can’t imagine how tough this lockdown would have been with all three. I’m in awe of parents juggling wfh, home school, plus babies and / or toddlers.
or or if you prefer!

I have a non sleeping 6 mo plus a 2 year old. And no garden.... send help.....

DS is 3 3/4, it is hard, he was at preschool 2 full days & 3 half days a week and loved it. He understands that we can't do things "because of the germs" but obviously doesn't understand a lot. His attitude has been awful, so much screaming etc, he is probably worried/upset/scared but can't put it into words, I try to talk to him about it but it's difficult.

However, at least I don't feel pressure to keep up with schoolwork like I would if he was older - preschool send suggested tasks, which we can do or not, which is perfect. And I'm glad he isn't young enough to need formula & nappies etc - he's still in nappies at night but we've a couple of packs.

It really depends on the family situation
Young children (Pre the school age) but with one stay at home parent/or one furloughed parent would be relatively fine (yes you have to think up a lot of activities) however if you had 2 parents trying to work it can quickly turn into a total nightmare.
Older children easier in terms of they can occupy themselves however in terms of missing friends/activities and having a bigger impact on education is worse.