Very active 17 mo

[Sallyjwoods]

Hi everyone,

I know most toddlers are active but my 17 month old daughter seems excessively so. When we go to the supermarket, I see other young kids sitting in the seat, but I have to put my daughter in the basket where she stands up holding on and plays with the food.

Her being very active isn’t a problem in itself but I’m finding it incredibly difficult to keep her occupied all day. She’s not interested in toys at all, I’ve cleared all the toys so as just to offer a few options and I try and model how to play but she’s just not interested. She prefers to climb over me, pull at my clothes, put her hand down my top and try to bite me.

The only thing that does keep her occupied for a short time is food items ( packaged rice etc) but she soon gets bored very quickly.
I try and take her out as much as I can, but I can’t be out of the house all day from 7.30 til 5, so I need some way of occupying her in the house.

She has also started refusing her nap, or she only naps for an hour meaning even more hours that I need to try to entertain her. I love her dearly and don’t want to feel this way, but I find that I just count down the hours until my husband gets home.

When I prepare her food, she fusses around my legs, whining and whingeing which I also find difficult.

Being in lockdown is so isolating as there is no one else to share ideas or just someone who understands.

I’m just wondering if anyone else feels like this or did you have a toddler like this? What did you do? Did they ever settle down at all and start to entertain themselves a bit more?

Hello!
I'm in the same situation as you, however my 20 month old daughter has a huge amount of tantrums behind all of this.
I don't have any advice other then your not alone. Its hard , so so hard but your not alone .

Xxx

Hi @AliceMay83

Thank you for your reply, I’m so sorry to hear that you are struggling too, but I do find that it’s reassuring to know that others are also experiencing the same thing. I wonder if things will improve once we can get out to soft play etc? I hope so.

Have you looked at big little feelings on Instagram? I think they have some good advice for helping to calm tantrums xx

How about ways for her to be active inside the house, rather than toys? Can you make a game of running up and down the hall? Build an obstacle course (over a cushion, under a chair, doesn't have to be too complicated)? I will admit that we let our wee one ride her scuttlebug in the kitchen this winter. We also had a tunnel made out of a large cardboard box – she crawled through it, slithered through it, rolled a ball threw it, pushed her old toddle truck through it. Action songs can also be a good option, especially if you're cooking or something and need to try to eke out a few more minutes.

Can she 'help' you with chores at all ('help' here is defined as not slowing you down so much you're going backwards)? They often like to be involved and chores can be quite physical. Mine enjoyed helping sweep, wiping things down, putting washing in the machine/basket, putting shopping away, etc.

If you have space, I've known people to put a small toddler garden slide inside the house, or a toddler trampoline. There are also 'pikler triangle' type indoor climbing frames that fold for storage.

In one of the parenting book I had bought for DC1, there was this epigraph
" You will spend the first two years teaching your child how to walk and talk and the following telling them to sit and shut up"