Nursery Run

[knackereddad]

Hello Mums.

I'm a dad of a 14 month old little boy, i have a small problem that i'm trying to cope with.

I'm responsible for doing the nursery run every day + pick ups on my way to work. I get on a very busy commuter train everyday, my problem; how do i stop him screaming his face off as soon as we get on the train?

I've tried Baa baa black sheep et al, this works for about five minutes; toys end up on the floor, bribery- works for as long as takes to chew a sultana.

I find it so stressful and am finding the withering looks hard to deal with; i know that it's not his fault but am close to losing it.

Blimey - poor you. I bet the withering looks are really helpful too! Could you give him his breakfast (vaguely non-messy)on the train - such as pieces of satsuma, raisins, apple and banana (if he wouldn't scrunch it into the horrid man next to you's jacket!!) My way of thinking is that if he has his mouth full he can't yell.

Oh - alternatively, how about a mobile DVD player (our car one can run on batteries) if he likes telly - some 14 month olds do.

I was going to say the same - food. I did this for a while and I found a snack breakfast was the only way to guarantee, usually, a relatively quiet journey and minimum scorn from others (though don't worry too much about this - any other parents will understand, and the rest, f* em they'll find out soon enough). At your son's age I would soon feed him a yoghurt or fruit pot as soon as we sat down, then raisins, baby biscuits etc and try and spin it out until your destination is in sight.

Can you encourage train obsession? Little Red Train books, Thomas,... I know none of them are crowded commuter trains!
Or download something funny onto your phone - there is a gruffalo one on the gruffalo website that should make him laugh soon if not now
also photos/videoclips of rest of your family, if you have that kind of phone?

nightmare!!!!!!!!!!!we've got a 14-month-old too
we had to travel from oxford to manchester last weekend on the train, and i found that spinning dS' food out was the best - as per suggestions above
he had a spoonful, his fave cuddly "had a spoonful", I "had a spoonful", and it bought us some peace on a crowded train
the journey back was a dream, as the train was nigh on deserted - it was the crush of people that scared him, so try and keep your cool, and keep him occupied
as for the scornful looks...i find this helps...
"What? You were sat in the corner reading Dostoevsky at this age, were you?"
good luck.

Banana sandwiches work for us!

Thanks for posting back.

The trouble is he has had breakfast before we leave, so sultana's are all he's really in the mood for at 7:30.

The TV scares the crap out of him at the moment; which i'm kinda glad about really, want to avoid his exposure to the Hoobs, Poceyo etc for as long as possible.

I think that the screaming is down to a lack of freedom, at home and at the nursery he has the right to roam, whereas on the train the fact that he can't, as there are too many people and that i won't let him are the factors behind the screaming. Distraction is the way to go but am running out of song's, have even moved on to singing the Clash in the hope he chills.

Save breakfast for the train?

What about a "magic bag" fill a small drawstring bag with a small book, toy, and a box of raisins/sultanas / or a bag of fruit etc - each day something different the excitment will keep hom quiet for a bit at least.

You can just use old toys e hasn't plyed with for a while or buy a couple of small things from charity shops boot sales so that they're new/exciting and change whats in the bag every couple of days etc