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?

Maybe try asking on local Facebook groups, they will know better than us what’s around. There might be some other parents up for meeting up for a walk with buggies (if outdoor mixing is allowed in your area?). It’s less lonely if you have other people to meet up with.

Some indoor stuff my preschooler enjoyed in lockdown:
Kinetic sand with toys like diggers or dinosaurs in
Making dens, reading books and eating snacks inside
Water play, washing things in bubbles
Throwing paper planes down the stairs
Skittles
Drawing with chalk in the garden or pavement outside
Racing cars round a mat with roads printed on

It’s hard coming up with things to fill eight hours a day so I get where you’re coming from. Nothing much is open round here, playgroups not running again yet, which were a lifesaver in the past. I was relieved when my maternity leave ended so my baby can have interaction with other adults and children at nursery.

If it's only October and your child is already being kept inside it will be a long winter. Even with my older dc autumn is the favourite time to go for walks, kicking the leaves, collecting the pretty ones to take home, collecting conkers etc. DD1 is still in shorts! A pair of wellies and waterproof trousers and you're good to go! Are swimming pools open where you are. We are in a high restriction area in Scotland where things are tighter anyway way but we can still go swimming, to museums, garden centres, historic Scotland/national trust places, walks in the woods, walks by the river, walks in the hills, collecting sea glass at the beach (obviously not all of that is available area dependant but some will be) sports clubs are getting back up and running too so look out for the likes of tumble tots.

Yes true! I will definitely need to go out - I saw a lady take a massive towel to the playground and wipe down All the slides and swings the other day so guess I’ll be doing that too 🙃

Thank you all for your really encouraging messages, it’s inspired me to get creative with her. If I come up with any more ideas in addition to the ones mentioned here I’ll be sure to add xxx

Look again at playgroups, our local one (church hall) reopened last week and I noticed the classes were all starting up after half term like music and toddler dance.

If you have the space, set up a mud kitchen in the garden (and a cleaning space for wiping hands and removing wellies by the back door). My lifesaver was the covered verandah; it got trashed over lockdown with the kids but it also meant we could do a lot of messy play. If you can have a designated area for playing with shaving foam, paint, playdough, glue, bottle shakers and so on, it really reduces stress.

I am also a fan of the loose routine where you have two things to do in the morning, lunch & nap (if that's an option), then something in the afternoon. It does mean thinking ahead the night before but it's much less stressful. I do this now automatically, with a 4 & 7 year old!

My dd loved finding pine cones and doing something with them.
We still make bird feeders out of them every autumn to hang off the tree in our garden. We attach a piece of string to the pine cone then dab peanut butter (lard and suet can be used) and birdseed.

Some things are available virtually a lady I know does a toddlers music group but rather than give up she has shifted it to an online group.

Take it back a hundred years when none of the groups for toddlers existed and try similar activities to then.

...the streets weren't full of cars 100 years ago, children could go outside without fear of being run over. Even in the 80s when I was a child there were fewer cars in residential areas than today

@Lardeedar

Yes true! I will definitely need to go out - I saw a lady take a massive towel to the playground and wipe down All the slides and swings the other day so guess I’ll be doing that too 🙃

Just get an all in one puddle suit. You can put it on over their normal clothes and take it off when they are done :)

@TotorosFurryBehind

Take it back a hundred years when none of the groups for toddlers existed and try similar activities to then.

...the streets weren't full of cars 100 years ago, children could go outside without fear of being run over. Even in the 80s when I was a child there were fewer cars in residential areas than today

And you could go to your friends for a cuppa and let the kids play

Get her a fully body raincoat and wellies and still go out.

I took my lo to the park today. We saw maybe 3 other kids the whole time we were there, we were their ages, and it wasn't even raining today. Its definitely only on mn that people go to the park every day even in a storm!

I’m in the process of buying us all ski jackets and waterproof boots from eBay so we can go out everyday no matter what the weather is like!

Most children in 1920s went to school then did chores. When they played, they played outside and had very little adult involvement. Older siblings looked out for younger siblings from quite a young age. Babies and infants were put in a pram outside and left there for hours. Toys were few and far between. Not as much as a radio, let alone a television.

We have become risk averse perhaps and children had far greater freedom, but also had far stricter rules to adhere to. I'm not sure we can possibly do a straight comparison. The idea of taking a stick to a child nowadays is abhorrent, but it used to happen in schools until at least the late 1960s. Comparing parenting now with parenting then is not possible.

You could contact your local home education community (usually there are Facebook groups) as many families have younger children too who usually aren’t at nursery. They usually know all the best places to take your kids and which are open!

Can anyone recommend good puddlesuits/waterproof trousers for a small15 month old?

Muddy puddles is a good brand but expensive.

We just get Regatta from amazon. They come up big.

Wrap up warm and wellies on go out to the woods for a walk you can still get out in winter !!!

I took my toddler out in pouring rain today, frankly he was happy and I was miserable. My waterproof was drenched after 30 mins I realised I was soaking wet and getting cold. It's not always fun being out in all weathers.

Thanks GreyishDays 👍

I swear by the lidl waterproofs. Never leak and are fleece lined. Very cheap too. We've just passed on a set that have been through both my dc constantly over 6 years and still great condition

Ds used to love putting on his waterproof suit and wellies and going to the park and jumping in puddles and mud.

I remember once he was playing in the big puddles left in a tractor tyre rut. He slipped and fell into the rut and turned over covering every inch of himself in mud and he thought it was hilarious. You don't need soft play or play groups at that age (just make sure to load the car/buggy up with towels!!!).

Unless we have to accept a strict lockdown Spanish or Chinese style, why on earth would anyone be stuck inside all winter?

When it's summer, people forever moan that it's too hot to take a child outside, that there's too much sun, the kids will melt and burn...
Now it's too wet, then it's too cold. Honestly, it's ridiculous.

Just change your routine. Plan to be out mid-day, not too early so it warms up, not too late so it's not dark.

Toddlers in the winter are hard work, unless you particularly enjoy freezing your ass off in a park. Bless my MIL, she takes almost 2yo DD to the park EVERY day while I work. She is my hero; in the school holidays (I’m a teacher) we will try and do something every day but it won’t be the park every time!