How to keep 2 year old entertained all day

[Karma1387]

Just looking for some useful ideas and suggestions. Sorry for the long post.

Prior to getting pregnant with DC2 I never let my DC1 watch tv besides the occasional Miss rachel when he first woke up. Unfortunately when I got pregnant between sickness, pain and exhaustion we basically live off the TV currently.

DC2 is due in a few weeks and I would really like to try to cut back down on the TV. He loves watching a film but I don't want to continue with all day having it on.

Thankfully he goes to nursery 3 days a week so he gets a break then and we try to go to my dads once a week but it does mean hes having at least 3 days with an insane amount of TV.

But I find it very hard to know what to do for 10 hours a day with him. Hes not big enough to go around soft play yet on his own and we don't have a lot of groups etc around us that aren't pricey (and honestly I hate them). Hes extremely energetic and its become very noticeable that his behaviour is getting bad when we are just spending whole days inside.

So any suggestions on how to keep a very energetic 2 year old entertained (whilst having a newborn) would be greatly appreciated.

I would love to know how to get a almost 2 year old to help get himself dressed. I tackle a crocodile at every nappy and clothes change. Even if he knows hes going out he will not willingly take his clothes off or put them on. Im still having to hold him on the floor and stop him rolling away every 2 seconds.

Everyone elses parks sound lovely. Ours is a tiny thing with barely anything in it. I think we may need to drive to somewhere else to find a better one!

I brought him a lovely indoor climbing frame with slide. He plays on it a bit but he would rather climb me or the sofa 🙈

Get him to nap in the car?

Also, I don’t know if this is what it’s like in your normal life but almost every suggestion any poster has been met with “I can’t do that”. Maybe try changing it to “I will try it a few times and see what happens”?

Your situation is not unique, lots of us have had/ currently have a 2 year old and a newborn and we all get on with it without hours and hours of TV. It will definitely be affecting his behaviour, he will probably be a much calmer child with 30 mins of TV a day and 3 hours of outside time!

We have a non slip matt in there but he still manages to fall. Does your little one not just throw water out the bath if they have cups and stuff? He loves to pour water all over the sides!

Why does he have to come back for his nap? Does he sleep in the car, pushchair, on a comfy blanket on the floor?

Have you got garden centres or pet shops near by? Those sort of places are really good when you have toddlers.

Definitely look out for playgroups and stay and play type things, they’re good for meeting other mums as well.

I think children are a bit like dogs in that they need a good walk every day 😉😂

You have to make this a priority. You need to have a support network for all sorts of scenarios - if there's an emergency, for example, and you need a school pick-up.

The easiest time to make friends is when your little ones are tiny and everyone is pretty much in the same boat.

You can go to a toddler group and basically just follow your child around. But one day, someone will speak to you...

I would love to know how to get a almost 2 year old to help get himself dressed.
haha fair enough, I don’t mean actually helping but just getting them used to things. At 18m my eldest was helping to pull tops over their head, telling me what body part to put different items on sitting down and putting their foot in the air for socks, or taking socks and trousers off, getting arms out of the sleeves themselves, all of it with mixed success but I tried to make a game out of it and it gave us something to do. I appreciate they’re not all the same though

If you went out at 10, you could leave at 12 and he could nap in the car on the way home? Or to a place for lunch. Don’t go home for it.

At that age our week was something like:

Monday Gymnastics class
Lunch
walk to the park or lake to feed the ducks
Tv

Tuesday
Music class
Shops
cafe, nap on way home
TV

Weds
Toddler group
lunch, nap
grandparents house

Thursday
toddler sensory
lunch
nap
meet a friend at park or house
dinner

Friday
Legoland or local toddler activity park all day (nap in the buggy at some stage)
come home to play with toys

Etc!

I was out of the house as much as possible

You do seem very keen on shutting down every suggestion 🙈 I’m guessing this is a you problem rather than a Ds problem.

Do you struggle socially? Lack confidence?

He's being a physicist - learning about solids, liquids and gases, and gravity! It's what children are supposed to do.

Ride on toys or a scooter.
Instruments and singing nursery rhymes with actions
Pretend cooking with saucepans spoons and dry pasta. Pouring cups of tea (water) with a toy tea set.
Stacking blocks and building towers then knocking them over
Indoor play tunnels and tents
Push a doll around in a push chair, put it to bed, read it a story
play shops (tins from the cupboad) send him to the shop to buy different items which he collects from the table and brings to you.
Keep him engaged at the park by getting him to roll a ball down the slide. Push a teddy on the swing etc.

Get him helping to make the snacks / meals - put some crackers on the plate for you, put some on the plate for Mummy etc.

At this age you sort of need to teach them to play.

It's v hard being pregnant with a two year old. Mine are 2years 2months between them. It's easier with the newborn compared to being pregnant.

His nap could be cut and you will need to be less rigid with the nap once baby is here. Does he nap in the car? I would drive somewhere over nap time to do something in the afternoon. Our days look like this

Wake up, breakfast
20 mins ISH playtime with toys
Get dressed
Out about 9, either to do a food shop, library, church hall playgroup, feed the ducks, collect park treasures (pine cones etc), morning snack picnic in the park, meet a friend, toddler cinema, museum, take the bus somewhere, charity shop mooching. Home by 11.30.
Lunch
Either nap at home or in the car going somewhere. If at home, afternoon activities tend to be books, play dough, colouring, finger painting, baking/mixing, washing up, forts, sticker books
We do watch TV in and amongst that but never later than 5pm and never more than 1hour in one sitting.

It's really hard but you will find your rhythm, and it will get much easier once he's closer to three! All you need is structure and fresh air every day, you can do it!

Btw you say your garden can't be played in as it's too wet and muddy, you need to get him some rain suit/muddy clothes and just lean into it!

On inside days i have used since she was two an indoor trampoline with my granddaughter. You can get excellent condition ones free or very cheap on freecycle or marketplace. We set it up and she always asks for it with lively dance music e.g. rockng all over the world. This helps her use up some energy. Also important to write a guide or plan forthe day imo. So trampoline, making cornflake cakes ( i weigh out the ingedients before) one of the cheap pop up tents and cushions etc.Theni dont feel gulty when she watches tv or plays on my tablet ( i osometimes suggest itifi need a break) if shes been watching too much i pretend the tv is broken for a while.

If you have a lidl nearby the toddlers love the mini shopping trolleys. Only go when you dont need much shopping and its fun. Ditto ikea

You might not want to but if you say roughly where you are people might have suggestions in the area. I find local Facebook groups are brilliant for ideas of places I hadn’t heard of.

Mine is a similar age and here are some of the things we do:

AT HOME

Drawing - usually wants me to draw while she bosses me about
Pretend shop / cafe/ tea party /doctors
Reading
listening to the Toni box
Cuddling/silly songs/putting things on our heads/singing
Letting her help with chores Obvs not actually helpful in any way
Football in the garden or rolling a light ball inside
Ride on car thing in or out
Sticker book
dance party

OUT
library
cafe
playgroup
playground
Country park
Friends
Museum
Walk by the river
sandcastles
Softplay at the leisure centre

It sounds to me (forgive me if I’m wrong) that you’re tired and a bit anxious, and maybe that means that if your little one doesn’t like something the first time you just give up on it? Do persist. The park is totally different in a waterproof puddlesuit and wellies off vinted and on a sunny day with a football. If he doesn’t like one he might like the other.
Have a look at free stuff local sites or FB marketplace - one of those cars which have been around for decades will be a winner come the spring. (Like this: https://www.smythstoys.com/uk/en-gb/outdoor/ride-ons/little-tikes-cozy-coupe-car-classic-ride-on/p/249265)

He needs to learn to be bored. That’s why he can’t play.

Have limited stuff out.

If he is jumping on you and hurting you- that’s not on. It’s behaviour you need to correct.

I have a child who was exactly the same so I’m not coming at this from a ‘smug’ angle. My child was a legitimate terrorist. But we really just had to push through the boredom, deal with the mess and gradually teach/model putting things back together.

Yes things would get thrown
yes water would be poured out the bath

you correct and accept you’re going to have some tidying up to do

my sofa and shelves would be climbed on, so I bought soft play pieces. I prioritised making the garden safe and even put down gross astroturf so it was usable in all weathers.

its exhausting having a child like this and you’ve had some really good ideas so far

You really don’t want an older child who can’t play with a sibling in the mix. Yes they are not yet 2, but it starts now

I agree that a child needs encounter some boredom daily, but not all day. Hopefully you will be less of a playmate when DC2 is around and mobile.

If he likes sand then definitely look into the tuff tray, keeps it all well contained (as much as sand can be contained). We used to use it for kinetic sand.

He doesn't necessarily hurt me when hes jumping (although at 35 weeks pregnant its a struggle) its more the sort of play he is looking for it being thrown around and chased across the floor which just isnt doable at the moment or with the baby.

He can play with himself but generally only if I leave the room.

With the pots and pans and water throwing. How do you teach thats its wrong? If he does it are you then taking them straight out the bath even if you havent washed them fully or back in the living room on his own if hes throwing saucepans and lids around etc?

He didnt seem to mind his sandpit in the summer. Hadnt considered it in the house in winter!

Also it's totally normal for children his age to still look to adults for guidance on playing and to want you to be involved or nearby. Being bored isn't quite the same concept at this age. You're mostly only looking at very short bursts of play whether alone or not. Yep, it's relentless.

I’ve found that sticker books are a winner! Get one with over 500 stickers! That’s the main thing which will keep him entertained when I’m stuck feeding the baby. He can sit next to me and i can help and it keeps him calm!! Xx

That is the hope but I know there is no guarantee!

I used to love going to a playgroup at that age. It would tire mine out and then maybe we’d have some lunch and then back home for some chill time, bit of playing then dinner bath etc. We also enjoyed pre schooler gymnastics where they’d just get to run around for an hour. It was like soft play but all kids the same age and contained space so much easier