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?

Age 0 - 3 is by far the most demanding.

@MuddlingMackem how do you introduce that? Mine would pitch a fit if I put them in their room and left them.

I’d love an hours peace. It would be actual heaven.

Mine are 11 and 15, which I think is the optimum
Old enough to be independent but not too old that they isn’t do as they’re told
Of course temperament plays a part too

Teens most definitely teens.

Mine are in their early twenties now, and a joy. But those i would least be confined with are grumpy teens.

Most work and entertainment toddlers, but you try a teen, who hates your guts and misses their friends .

78

Kids are easy. Stubborn elderly relatives are a nightmare to look after during lockdown.

1 till 3 is a nightmare. When I had 2 kids in that zone I was surviving from one 5 minute to the next 5 minutes. It was awful as a SAHM. Under lockdown with a home worker added to the mix, complete disaster.

I’m really struggling to work full time from home with my nearly 3 year old. She’s also been potty trained for 9 months but keeps having accidents I think due to the change in routine and nursery always reminding them to go.

A nearly 2 year old and a 10 year old here. I'm thankful I'm not having to work at home whilst entertaining them, but I'm finding it really hard some days to keep them both happy without resorting to screens. I found our 'normal' work/school days really hectic but am definitely missing the routine.

My nearly 3 year old is driving me insane. We usually do 2 playgroups and at least 2 other meet ups with friends during the week. I'll never moan about playgroups again. EVER. 5 year old is pretty chilled. Missing her friends a lot though.

I am finding it awful with a 5 year old and a 7 year old. Just not sued to being stuck indoors at all and being very very whingey.

The teenager is fine, bit whingey but happy to stare at a screen most of the time. Not ideal, but easy to keep her quiet really. Cannot really do that with the little ones, though they have had more screentime than usual

A 3 year old with no access to a garden....... send gin.

I should of added I am also attempting to do 37 hours a week working from home with the 3 year old.

My dh is 58 he's quite hard work

I have an almost four year old.

Send gin.

I think toddlers would be hardest. I have one teen and one almost teen. They have been home for 4 weeks now and are beginning to get bored. They facetime their grandparents and friends most days but still find it hard.
My 11 year old is especially struggling due to autism and depression but at least they have school work and don't need constant supervision.
I think toddlers who need constant attention and supervision with little chance to run off their excess energy would be worse. However it's hard for everyone.

@NoNeedToBeRudeDear, of course they'll pitch a fit when you leave them. They want to be with you.

Introduce it gradually, maybe 10 minutes and then up it each day. If they share it may be harder than if they have their own rooms, depends on their personalities. Also how you pitch it may depend on their temperament. To be fair, I just told mine it was happening and didn't brook any disagreement, but they went straight from naps to that so it wasn't a huge culture shift. I only introduced it originally because DC2 was such a poor napper that when DC1 stopped naps I needed to keep him contained and quiet so he wouldn't disturb DC2. Turned out to be one of the best things I ever did so I made sure I did the same when DC2 dropped naps.

I've got 6, 3 and 8 months.
It's just bloody hard.

I dreamed of having three teenagers and how easy that would be.

And then I read the posts from the parents of teenagers.

And now I'm bloody happy they're all little.

To the parents of teenagers ✊
May the odds be ever in your favour.

I was saying to a friend that with newborn and toddlers this would surely be the perfect storm for PND. I feel v grateful that my kids (10+) can entertain themselves. The teen is missing friends, but shes got whatsapp and zoom and importantly they will understand the situation compared to toddlers and preschoolers.

The age my daughter is.

30 year old with severe problems

DS is nearly 2. His energy is insane. He loves to play outdoors, but unfortunately our garden is tiny & concrete. It's pretty exhausting.

I've got a just turned two year old and DH and I are wfh in split shifts. It's been interesting to say the least! Our son is used to being run at least twice a day and our tiny London garden isn't cutting the mustard! His newfound defiance is pretty bad timing for this lockdown too 😬

Mine are 4 and 5, so i cant comment on older children, but im definitely glad they arent younger. They basically entertain themselves for most of the day. They get along really well most of the time and play together a lot. It helps that we have a garden and the weather has been nice.

The toddler has been easier as completely oblivious and happy to see so much of us, the school age one is more difficult as missing school and friends.

I have a teen. With mine this would have been much easier at either primary age or younger. At 13 much of his life is outside of the family, school, Scout activities and weekends away, martial arts classes. It's the age where they normally are establishing independence and now they are in lockdown with just their parent(s) and possibly sibling(s).