what do you do with your 2.5 yo

[danmae]

my ds is lovely. every day i am not at work we try to do something together ie baking, outdoor play, paninting (you get the idea)

the problam is over the last month he has become obsessed with fireman sam. it must be on 24/7 even though he does not always watch it he has all the toys and refusses to play with anything else. he is now called sam (not his name)

is this a phase? will he grow out of it? also getting very difficult about food refusing to eat old faves.

should i just run with this or take a harder stance ie getting rid of dvds and toys for a while.

Ds goes through phases of being obsessed with certain TV shows. He's 3.5, btw.
I tend to go with it, within reason. It is still early in the year - I find in spring and summer, we are out in the garden all the time which he much prefers, and of course then there is no telly!

Food - yep, ds started the fussiness around that age. Sounds normal. DOn't make too much of an issue of it, or he'll do it all the more for attention. Maybe set out a few rules like no pudding if you don't eat your dinner, or he must sit for 5 minutes at dinner time even if he doesn't eat much. Whatever seems acceptable to you as a family.

Good luck - it is a challenging time, but fun too.

turn the tv off and get out. my ds would have bob the buidler on all day if let him. Ti be honest i think he won't grow out it unless you turn the tv off. it'll be tough at first but well worth it.

instead we go to a different toddler group every morning - have you checked them out - usually a couple of quid in a church hall, or local childrens centre. Or to feed the ducks, run in park etc etc
library
soft play
trip to costa for a coffee and a story
friends round for coffee

my ds spends HOURS playing with his wooden train set

good luck
its a hard age!

We have been Bob the Builder and Postman Pat (but only Special Delivery Service, dontcha know...)

It is a pain. He will get over it though.

They way we got through it was to switch off the TV sometimes and get out the Bob the Builder hat and tool belt and he happily plays for ages being Bob.

My husband gets a bit when he gets called Wendy.

We also bought some nature DVDs so any telly watching was a completely different experience. i.e. we would sit with him watching seals and polar bears and talking about it, rather than having him watching Bob pretty passively.

Yep, have recently turned off the tv here too. Now only goes on at dinner time. DS will spend literally HOURS playing with his wooden train set too best investment EVER!!!

yep esp if you read a couple of thomas the tank stories to him - he will hen reenact them on the train set. just show him what to do once or twice and away they go. fab.
ikea do cheapola but great wooden train sets