Lockdown with a one year old

[EmilyG1989]

I only want to hear from those who are bored shitless and can't entertain their babies for shit because they just eat everything and want to watch the telly all of the time. I've started to mix it up by getting Alexa to play random music so I don't have the drone of love monster going round in my head all day.

One year old, three year old and five year old here. Trying to homeschool the oldest while the two youngest trash the house. Disney+ is basically my nanny and they are eating me out of house and home.

Also. So. Many. Walks.

I'm bored shitless.

You're all cracking me up on my lunch break! Mines been napping since 10 😳 my mums lucky! Lol
I like the cello tape idea! 😆

It's so hard keeping them entertained! I go on lots of walks with my 14mo and try to point out things to her like dogs and birds and give her different leaves to hold while she's in the pram. I also just get loads of platic mixing bowls out of the kitchen cupboards and stack them up and let her play with them, tell her to put her toys in and take them out. One day I just put all the pillows and cushions on the floor and we rolled about in them for a while. I find just simple things like that can be enough to amuse them (sometimes for 10 minutes!) But yes lots of tv helps too!

@Mamabear04 I like the idea of giving him leaves to hold 🍂 I too just lay on the floor with all the cushions so he can climb on me 😂

I bought him the ninky nonk train which has bubbles come out of it, need to fill it up again for him. That can be my task for later, I'll get excited for that 😂

I have DD, 14 months. Been teaching her baby signing. She's learnt the sign for book, amazing! Except now she wants another story every 5 minutes and I know them all off by heart and its driving me insane

@KatieKat88 aw wow that's amazing though! What do you use to teach them? Xx

I also have a 12mo OP who has spent her entire life in lockdown.

I also don't seem to have the type of 12 mo InstaMums have. Mine doesn't seem to care for activities or any of the sensory things I put together for her.

I feel like I spend all day feeding her? Boob, snacks or meals 🤷🏻‍♀️

The times we're not preparing/eating food, walking in the pushchair or watching Cbeebies, she basically follows me around the room as I do chores. This lasts about ten minutes before I have to get down on the floor with her and play/sit with her. And like pp, I have no need to hoover because she tries to eat all floor debris.

I will say I've found back carrying quite useful. She'll sit on my back for an hour while I do jobs. It's a learning curve tho. (Learning how to back carry if you're on your own!) but I mastered it after a few YouTube videos.

I sympathise!

@hellolittlebaby f**k the instamums, it's all fake 😂
How do you carry her on your back?? With a sling or is she just clinging on? Haha, DS would just fall off 😂

I have a 2yr old but she was 1 last lockdown. We did a lot of stuff in parks, toddlers walk so slowly you can kill an hour going about 100yards by the time they stop to pick up every single stone, twig, leaf and so on. Buy proper warm waterproofs for yourself and the kids, including fleece lined wellies. Didriksons are really good.

We also had a theme for each week ( i know, cringe, but it was how we got through it) so one week we went to the zoo, made a pretend zoo out of all our soft toys, put a live stream of Edinburgh Zoo on the telly and pretended to visit all the animals. Made a picnic pack lunch and ate it.on the living room floor. Wholw thing lasted us about 3 hours on and off so that felt like a major win.

We've not had much success with drawing but finger paints were good and those water pens you can get, aquadoodle I think its called.

We used a lot of amazon boxes to make a castle one day and had a knights/princess theme that week.

Its really bloody exhausting but we did have fun too and looking back have some happy memories despite being stuck in so much. At least now playparks are still open and you can use childcare so its not 7days a week!

My kids also totally pick up on if I'm feeling shit and so to get through a day without me losing it and with no toddler tantrums I had to really act like I was enjoying it, which weirdly made me get into it more. Like method acting I suppose!

I was discussing this today saying I think my little one is getting bored because we're just in the house all the time and then when we do go out he's just stuck in a pram for a bit but I don't know what else to do really

I have an 8 month old and it is haaard her whole life has pretty much been lockdown too. Super hard if the weather is shite! Didn’t realise how much I loved baby sensory and swim classes on the few occasions we could go last year I asked friends on Facebook and Instagram for ideas - - we made an indoor sled out of the washing basket and raced up and down the floor with her in it - she loved that! she hated crayons and paint (maybe too young) but she loved messy play - fine milled porridge in a large baking tray and little pots and plastic cookie cutters to make a mess with. A few people suggested mixing cornflour and water to make a sticky mess to play with - add food colouring if you have. Also some said add food colouring to spaghetti and cook it and they can play with it when cooked. Apparently there is edible play dough to buy? We have a bubble machine and some flashing baby sensory toys so we’ve had a baby rave . And as others said out for long walks to the park to see the ducks and dogs which she loves. I have tried to do some homemadebaby sensory stuff - tin foil, bright coloured scarves etc - there are some baby sensory YouTube you can follow and baby yoga. Someone said for those in the UK that Tumbletots do a live join along play Mon/Wed/Fri at 10am - check their Facebook page. Mine watches a hell of a lot of Babytv and Pingu and that’s fine by me!

This thread has made me feel not so alone! I have a 14 month old son and the boredom has been horrendous. It has started to get me down. IHe isn't interested in colouring, he spends his days throwing things, sofa walking and trying to touch anything that isn't toy related! I can never think of.enough good meals and often feel like.im just getting through the day to the one time.i can relax, bedtime.

@Someone1987 totally feel how you're feeling. I don't need ideas, we have lots to do. It's just boredom, I want to take him places. How many things can fill every day, week and month of this 🤦🏻‍♀️ draining!! I tell you what though, this thread has lifted my spirits no end. Amazing how you feel when you're not constantly beating yourself up all of the time xx

Haha no not clinging on 😂 omg! With a carrier, I use a Lillebaby Complete. You put them on the front and have to scoot them round on to your back. It looks impossible at first, takes several practises and then it's easy!

Sometimes I just put her in and spend an hour walking around the house pottering, dancing etc 😂

You all sound amazing. I feel so lucky not to have had a baby in lockdown. Keep going. Can you bubble with anyone?

@hellolittlebaby hahaha did the mental imagine crack you up as much as me?! I'm going to look in to these! Xx

OP it was one of the baby classes we started before first lockdown and have kept it up since - its Tiny Talk and even now its moved online it's been worth doing. Gives us something to do! I've signed up to the BSL online course too as I've really enjoyed it (and I'm a bit of a languages geek anyway!)

@pinkprosseco bubbled with mum for childcare, I work 3 days from home so she has him downstairs. How are are yours? Xx

@KatieKat88 well done you, sounds so interesting and useful! I'd love to see DS do little signs 🥺 xx

It's like wearing a rucksack! Just one that pulls your hair from time to time.

Handy for non-house walks too. I find they stop her clinginess and moaning when she's going through a growth spurt or teething too. 😊

My baby signs too, but only for a milk. She's yet to pick anything else up. It's so easy to do. I just typed Makaton into YouTube. It's remembering to be consistent that's hard!

Milk
Food
Drink
Nappy
More
Finished

I'm trying to teach these and a few animals I learnt from mr tumble.

Yeah it's not too late with signing- it took mine 7 months to finally sign milk back to me but she definitely recognised it a lot sooner and seems to do the signs for the stuff she's interested in now. I'd have thought if you started it with a toddler they'd pick it up a lot more quickly. You just have to be consistent with it really.

@hemhem I've ordered an aqua doodle mat, will report back the interest shown by DS....