Please help me with my weekends alone with 16 month old

[alonragaun]

I am exhausted. Grandparents involved but often away, like this weekend. Most people with families. I’m alone. I honestly feel so depressed it’s Saturday morning. Ds can’t walk far yet, not sure if relevant. I literally don’t know what to do. Used to be so good at coming up with things but I just feel like there’s nothing he properly enjoys yet like a zoo trip etc so it’s just a battle of a weekend. Please help :(

Swimming or walks or shopping or soft play! Lots to do and break up day with nap times

Soft play/library/play cafe
Home by lunch
Nap and you nap too at the same time

Soft play is always so busy on a weekend though and I can’t leave him to play while I watch as he can’t properly climb etc yet.

I usually go shopping with him it’s just so lonely and ends up being expensive

Remember those times, so tiring. Best thinh. Go out. Hard if you are tired but try to get out. Park, forest, local pond to see ducks... try to get out. Go to the pool, that would pass a few hours. At my local pool area they have a soft play area, children love it there.
Can you meet up with a friend for coffee? Can you invite a friend with a child for a play date and pizza?

@Bangbangchittychitty thanks. When will it get better?

Swimming is definitely a good one. And library

Have you done play dough at home? Or even a long splashy bath in the middle of the day?

Kids showing at the cinema?

If you're a single parent, can his dad have him at weekends?

Swimming is good as it takes a big chunk of the day even if you are only in the pool for 45 minutes. Have a hot chocolate afterwards and he might have a good chill out when you get home.

Omg I remember how long weekends felt with dd at that age and I had DH there too!

I found she was quite happy to people watch from the pram, so used to put her in the pram and walk around town.

Another good one was Ikea, she opened and closed all the drawers

In better weather, playground with a sandpit kills a lot of time for minimal chasing around

dc2 was that age on lockdown 😮

My baby is similar age (17 months). I always try and get out in the mornings on a weekend. Soft play is usually quiet first thing and then she will have a couple of hour nap just after lunch then we maybe go for a walk to the park in the afternoon if the weather is ok. Museum/art gallery - usually have toddler areas. Baby cinema, a few farms local to me are doing reduced price entry due to time of year so we are going to a farm this morning and taking packed lunch. Walk in the woods is a good one too. It's hard though and can be lonely so sending love x

I found about 2.5 their attention span got better

Go out. Always go out. You get to clear your head a bit and at least get a walk in.

when at home, stack a bunch of cushions, blankets, pillows etc next to the couch. Teach your child to climb up and dive off. Make a tent with a bedsheet over a coffee table.

I used to go to the community fridges on a Saturday morning and could have a chat with the volunteers and got a tea and biscuits. if you’ve not got a community fridge there might a church doing teas and coffees.
Then a walk round town for a few other bits of shopping.
Local art galleries and talk about the pictures together or local museum. Mine would be about that age when I started taking them to museums and now that’s where they want to go at the weekend.

Sunday I often go for lunch in the local supermarket at this time of year. In warmer weather we go to the forest or seaside.

I remember this feeling so wellbwith my first who is now a teen. My Dh was working weekends so it was just me and an toddler all day. Yes OP its lonely and boring and the days are very long. But the best thing is to divide the day into four chunks. In the morning you will drive to a pond or river and feed the duck or collect leaves and twigs. Then back and bake biscuits and messy wash up with a bowl on the floor. Then screens (don't feel guilt about screens ,there's some very good educational stuff), then afternoon have a playbath with crayons to draw on the bath or a teat set, then get her to 'help' clean by giving her wipes whilst you do some. Then screens a bit more, then maybe some gardening which is basically playing in mud.

Yes it is boring, but like all things with parenting, this phase will pass. At some point you sign them up for rugby tots or dance class and that's most of a weekend morning done.

I'd do a tour of the local churches until I found a friendly one with weekend play. We're not particularly religious but the local Methodist one was a lifeline when DD was little. It was 50p or a £1 I think, and such lovely people.

What a teacher or nursery teacher would do is divide the day into one hour slots, each with an activity (could be "bath" or "look at sticks"). Time passes better with a schedule.

I have a DH and just to let you know weekends at this age with DS1 were horrendous as well. I’m so sorry you are having to do this on your own! It was also winter time. He didn’t want to be constrained for long but equally couldn’t walk very far at all (like a hundred metres at a time tops). They still aren’t interested in playing and they can’t really chat to you but they need so much supervision/interaction.

It does get better. As they get more resilient, more able to chat and the weather improves it’ll get better.

Wrapped up for a walk in the park and push on the swings.

Art gallery

Break the day into blocks.

We do / did repetitive things at weekends.

Sat and Sunday mornings followed the same pattern

Walk to supermarket / fruit and veg market & get bits
Go see ducks
Coffee and pastry around 10.30
Playground
Lunch

Nap
Afternoon "activity" - garden centre, visit friend, run errands, play Doh and toys
Dinner
Cartoons
Big bath
Bed

It was really hard at this age once they hit 18/19m it gets easier
Summer helps too.

Our local library did a free story session on Saturday morning for little ones.
We also went to the park but as dd wasn't walking it was a pain.
Lots of trips to the supermarket toy aisle, garden centres and pets at home
It got easier a month later when she started walking

Yes this. Find some places you fancy looking around then take him in the pushchair and let him toddle about outside together whilst you have a takeaway coffee at the end.

Swimming
Library
Detested soft play personally. Lazy parents who let their monsters knock down little ones!
Sensory play/water play at home

At that age I found it so important to get out of the house every day, even just for a walk.

Try to break the day up - mornings go swimming or soft play (you go in with toddlers to the latter too), then lunch or coffee/snacks, nap for DS in pram if he will and then you have a peaceful wander around the shops/have another coffee and read a book/surf the net etc, or go home and you also have a lie down/relax in front of tv/read.

Afternoons - pop DS in a puddle suit and go to a park, feed the ducks, playground, garden, mud kitchen in your garden depending on temperatures etc. Home for some play time - bath with lots of bubbles, get a play tunnel/tent for DS or throw sheets over dining table, play with Duplo or building blocks, bake some basic biscuits and encourage him to pour and stir (messy but my DS likes doing this), ride-on vehicle in the house if space allows, etc.

Other places to visit are the library, farm parks, garden centres often have children’s play areas now plus you can have a coffee, explore playgrounds further away from your home, some museums have good facilities for children, get yourself on local Facebook groups to look for news on things to do or perhaps put a post on yourself asking for ideas for toddlers locally.

Charity shops are good for toys to try out and see if they take DS' interest without breaking the bank.

Does your library have anything on?

Mine is just over two and still can’t do softplay alone - he can climb fine now but needs me with him because there’s other kids/he might get stuck. We’re a while away from being able to watch him as he plays. It seems to be 3 that most places don’t require an adult to be actively with them.

No grandparent interest at all here so I often have him by myself. Just break the day into chunks. The park for the swings, a cafe, libraries often have a singing/reading class at the weekend, that type of thing ❤️