To be worried about staying sane stuck inside all winter with a 2 year old?

[Lardeedar]

Is anyone else struggling at home with a 1-3 year old that isn’t in nursery? My options before were park, playgroup, or friends/family visit at theirs but now The weather is turning I’m just having to keep her inside all day every day and we are both losing our minds!! The playgroups are all shut and now not allowed in anyone’s house.

You know the age where they won’t stick at anything for more than 2 minutes because all they want to do is explore new objects, places, people?! She literally cries when she sees that we’re coming home.

There’s a few outdoor play sessions Thank Goodness but mostly they are shutting everything down. I’m genuinely worried about her development and my mental health being cooped up with her crying continually asking for Hours and hours of tv. Anyone else?

We also go outside loads, hours every day whatever the weather

I agree OP though that it's tough for toddlers not having other children to play with (even though on mumsnet everyone is merrily out in their puddle suits, in real life I find that on wet weeks we don't see another soul for seven days a week!)

She also used to love playing with different toys and crafts etc at stay and play type playgroups. I circulate them at home and try crafts but definitely testing my creativity! New baby due shortly too so it's all going to be interesting but I think it will be ok

There is no reason to be stuck at home. I have never taken a toddler to play group in my life, but we were never stuck in doors. Surely this age group must be the least affected by lockdown.

I agree, you can put them in a puddle suit and wellies but soggy trips to the park are still fucking horrible. I've got a baby too and sitting on a wet bench feeding them in the rain is grim.

@SnuggyBuggy

I agree, you can put them in a puddle suit and wellies but soggy trips to the park are still fucking horrible. I've got a baby too and sitting on a wet bench feeding them in the rain is grim.

But it doesn't rain all day, every day all winter.

Of course stay home if it's really grim, but otherwise dress appropriately and get outside, even if it's only an hour a day.

Surely this age group must be the least affected by lockdown don’t think that’s necessarily true, yes we can roll out the old lines that “we didn’t have softplay in the 60s”...yawn! But our kids have been used to certain activities and then they just stopped....parents get more easily stressed and everyone around them has a mask - all without comprehension. I don’t think they are unaffected at all.

It may not rain everyday but the wetness lingers for days when the weather is cold. We do it regardless just to pass the time but it's still horrible and DD just asks to go home when the park is wet. A lot of her friends are fed up of the park even when the weather's good.

We used to have a good life with different stay and plays, a class a week and people we could visit or invite over. I miss having different options.

I think pp are right that you should aim to be outside as much as possible but some indoor method of letting off steam is useful for when the weather is truly grim... Do you have space for a mini slide or indoor climbing frame? Or a pop up tunnel?

@OnlyFoolsnMothers, toddlers don’t need soft play and activities. It’s more to give the parents a break and that I get.

@SnuggyBuggy

It may not rain everyday but the wetness lingers for days when the weather is cold. We do it regardless just to pass the time but it's still horrible and DD just asks to go home when the park is wet. A lot of her friends are fed up of the park even when the weather's good.

We used to have a good life with different stay and plays, a class a week and people we could visit or invite over. I miss having different options.

I do sympathise but it's not like it's the park or nothing. There are lots of other options but you just need to use your imagination a bit, I think.

I work outside in all weathers and it is horrible when it's pissing it down and blowing a gale but in reality those days are fairly rare - cold days just require lots of layers and a good waterproof to stop the wind. You can get reusable hand warmers for coat pockets and foot warmers for boots.

I appreciate lots of people just hate winter and I got roundly bashed on another thread for suggesting people went out regardless of the weather, but what other option is there if the alternative is just sitting indoors for four months?

I suspect I'll get bashed again on here though for suggesting that

We're in the same boat op and feel your pain.

I'm trying to do somthing with dd everyday and a mix between free stuff, feeding the ducks, grufflo hunt in the woods, playing in the park. And paid stuff, swimming, soft play, farm park.

But she's not getting the social interaction she needs. And outdoor things will get harder when it's colder and wetter. Even the paid for playgroups they're not really allowed to interact with the other children, staying in their own box - which I think may do more damage then good. Dd is now really nervous of other kids (she was shy before) she freaks out of they try and touch her and won't approach other children.

Personally I think all children should be getting 15 hours nursery funding from 2 while the play groups are shut. Because children of working parents are still in nursery, children of low income parents get nursery, but those of us in the middle, that don't work but can't afford nursery, our children are being left stuck at home.

I have applied for nursery funding through the health visitor. They can approve it even if you don't meet the normal criteria, but I don't hold out much hope.

@Pollynextdoor mine did benefit from activities because it allowed her to burn off some energy. She's absolutely restless with boredom and pent up energy unless we manage a decent park session.

Oh and apparently the children centres and gov run playgroups won't reopen until social distancing ends. That's what the hv said.

Funny how they can run a play group when the parents are paying £80 a term but not when it's free or for a small donation at a church.

OK I'll bite, what else is there than the park when stay and plays are cancelled, classes cancelled or moved to zoom and soft plays are fully booked?

Take it back a hundred years when none of the groups for toddlers existed and try similar activities to then. We have so become used to having entertainment laid on a plate ...someone said earlier, jumping in puddles, a walk through the park (coats and wellies), reading, colouring, you can messy play at home as well. What's so bad about a bit of rain?

Make and fly a kite.

Feed the ducks.
Nature stroll - pick up leaves and dry and make a picture with them.
Go on am I Spy hunt - have pictures of things you can see if you can spot.

We're trying to get DD into a community preschool before her 15 hours kick in too, we'll have to pay out of savings but I do think the socialisation is important. She says she really misses playing with other children and we just don't see many in playgrounds in this weather

The problem is now she's really not used to it and no settling in is permitted so will have to take her on her first day and just say bye at the door and leave her in a room full of strangers when she's barely seen anyone but me for what will then be eight months

No need to sit on a wet bench. Buy a spare changing mat. They're very useful when seats are wet. A windproof picnic blanket for when you're sitting down to snack. Find a park with a climbing tower, so you can sit underneath it. Wind proof clothes for you both. Fingerless gloves under thick ones so you can so zips and things without freezing. Flask with a hot drink for you, and a fruit tea for child.
If you've a room with a hard floor at home then buy some ping pong balls! Ikea used to do a folding gym mat for kids. Mine loved a tray of coloured rice at that age, it gets everywhere, but easier to clean than sand. Jugs, funnel and leave them to it. Obstacle course (climb over sofa, crawl under blanket, throw a beanbag in a bucket etc) and at the end add a duplo block to a tower.

I live in Melbourne where we are just now easing out of lockdown. I have a 5 year old, 3 year old and 5 month old. We are lucky enough to have a small backyard, but even so needed to find other activities. I bought this stuff called "Gelli Baff" which is crystals that you put in water and they turn it into fluffy goo type stuff (safe for septic systems). I used to pop them in the bath with that stuff and a bunch of plastic toy animals and they loved it. Easily spent an hour or two doing that. I also found anything tactile/sensory held their attention best. So lots of playdough, putty, kinetic sand etc. Good luck

@SnuggyBuggy

OK I'll bite, what else is there than the park when stay and plays are cancelled, classes cancelled or moved to zoom and soft plays are fully booked?

Pumpkin picking or apple picking. Outdoor mazes. Zoos and farm parks. Go to the beach and build sandcastles. Go up the woods and "hunt" for Gruffalo, or build dens, or slide down the hills on your bottom and get muddy. Go for bike rides. Play Pooh sticks. Find a list online and go out and see if you can spot everything on the list. Find autumn leaves or conkers or acorns.

Mostly free. All outdoors. Not at all restricted by COVID unless you count wearing a mask inside ticket areas of the zoo or farm park.

Go out for wet walks/adventures

It’s what life with kids in the U.K. is like

When we moved here the kids were 4 and 7 and had never done an English winter (rain rain rain), we learned very quickly that you just need wellies and waterproof jackets!

Still, it sucks not being able to meet up (but is that really not allowed where you live?)

toddlers don’t need soft play and activities. It’s more to give the parents a break and that I get.

If toddlers don't need to be out of the house playing, learning and interacting - why does the government usually provide free play groups to all?

No they don't need soft play and expensive days out. But they do need time out of the house, interactions with other adults and children and enrichment through play. You can't provide that all that at home just the two of you.

You also end up with a restless child who's then badly behaved and not sleeping at night because they are not getting enough stimulation. It's like having a dog that you never walk.

I'm very worried that those of us with children that can't acsess nursery during this time are going to be massively behind those that are in nursery, especially with socialisation and confidence.

@SnuggyBuggy I guess it depends where you live but when mine were tiny we spent a lot of time in winter in museums so they could toddle around in the warm and dry. Most had a couple of interactive things for little ones (one had a dolls house and a mock butchers shop fi) and they'd like looking at the animal section. Had an annual pass for a local indoor attraction, again so we could have a couple of hours play in the dry. All these things are still open under T2. Also the city farm.

Thank God mine are past the stage of tantrums over getting dressed into fleecy onsies and puddlesuits and stomping around at half a mile an hour scattered liberally with thrashing on the floor style tantrums. DS1 didn't come into the world with a convenient stamp of ASD on his forehead, and all the unidentified sensory issues were a disaster for happily getting out into winter weather. Some children fucking hate that stuff, let alone doing it relentlessly day in day out for what will be a year of their lives by the time we emerge from this stinking pile of shit.

The winter he turned 2 was a long one with snow regularly happening into April. I was pregnant with SPD which stopped me pushing the buggy because my pelvis couldn't stand the tilt. I was fortunate to still have some groups on to relieve the tedium a few days a week, but there were still days that I would just go to the library for some adult small talk to break the monotony of monologuing at a monosyllabic toddler.

Parenting young children can be incredibly lonely anyway (although toddler groups are their own kind of lonely when everyone turns up in their NCT clique and have no interest in talking to billy-no-mates)

Are your friends strict about these ridiculous puntative rules that eliminate a family's right to social interaction? Because these rules are going to do a lot of social damage over the coming months and gradually destroying maternal mental health and preventing infants from seeing their peers through formative years will do more cumulative harm amongst those demographics than the fucking virus will.

I know it's unpopular on here to like to go outside in the rain but it's all about your mindset (and I sound like my dad when I say things like that 😂).

The UK rarely gets properly cold. If you're wearing the right gear and moving about you won't freeze to death. A good set of waterproofs doesn't have to cost the earth and all you need for boots is wellies and good thick socks. Strip off when you get home and have a warm bath and hot chocolate or cuddle under a blanket and watch a film.

@Nancydowns where does the government provide free play groups? Where I live they are all run by volunteers and you pay per session.

I agree that children need to get out of the house regularly.