June 2013: Here come the terrible twos!

[HungryHorace]

New thread. :-)

DD's usual nap-time is straight after lunch, and she usually has lunch at 11.30am.

Bean, I was just going to say that I'm tempted by those travel beds as DD seems too big for our travel cot now. We're going away overnight in just over a week (taking DD to Peppa Pig World). But we might just take the travel cot this time as she'll have DS in the same room for the first time and I think everything changing at once might be too much. I've no idea how it'll work with us all in the same room! We've avoided staying overnight when visiting family so far (have just had a long day which although hard beats packing for everyone and the stress of it all).

The thought of us all sleeping in the same room fills me with horror. Absolute horror!

Oh I LOVE the daytime nap hours. I have feelings for the daytime nap hours. The idea that he'll drop them sometime is horrifying. The payoff is he only sleeps 730-7 (in reality is awake till around 8pm) but he's happy to sit and chat in his cot till we get him up at 8am so it's all ok.

We are having early discussions bout taking the side off the cot - I think we'll just get a pool noodle and stick it under the cot sheet in order to stop him rolling off. He should be ok with that and the cot is pretty low to the ground anyway so if he falls off it's not too far. Having said all that we aren't doing anything till he starts attempting to climb out - hasn't happened yet! He's getting awfully big in the cot but so far so ok...

All in one room is fun. Tremendously so. I love it.

#canyouspotthesarcasm

What on this earth is a pool noodle.

I can imagine, hungry! I'm dreading it!

Pool noodle (I know what you mean) is a good idea. But DD would then realise that there's a sheet on her cotbed and it would probably all be pulled up within minutes. Luckily her cotbed is large, but she needs it that size to accommodate all of her teddies! I'm not sure DD will ever attempt to climb out of it.

DD pretends she's going to climb out of she's having a tantrum in there, but has never really done it seriously!

A pool noodle is a long foam thing that's shaped like a noodle. About 3 inches diameter. You'll definitely have seen one if you did any aquanatal.

Rae, 'he ONLY sleeps 7.30-7'?! Holy hell, count yourself lucky!
I think I quite like the side being off the cot. DS slept from about 8-4.30am then came through (no tears) and was ushered back to bed (again with no tears) and went back to sleep till about 7am. To me this small disturbance at 4.30 is better than the getting up for the day at 5.30, I think? Hopefully we'll get to the point where he goes through till 7 without needing reassurance. That was night 1 without the cot side.

Sunbeam. That was my thought too!

DS seems (based purely on last night) to like the autonomy of a sideless cot. He got into bed when he was ready last night, and lay down to listen to his story. He usually howls when he wakes up but was able to come through to us which was nice all round.

Christ I think I'm guilty of a humblebrag, for which I sincerely apologise!

Nah, Raeside Enjoy the sleep that you get. I don't begrudge anyone else's sleep...I just would like a smidge more for myself!

No, Rae - I know it wasn't meant that way!

Night two of sideless cot and bedtime has taken an hour To be honest I'm not sure he was ready for sleep at 7 this evening, but he most definitely is now!

It could have taken just as long with the side on to be honest (they occasionally do) but after a mega long day, I just want my dinner!!! And gin.

We have a sleep refuser just now. Ten minutes of silly screaming last night became an hour of silly screaming tonight. She spends most of it opening the door screaming shutting the door howling mummy mummy or alternatively daddy daddy depending on who was mean enough to put her there.

The lead up to bedtime is still super lovely though.

She also refuses to nap during the daytime for DH and is then a super monster for him all afternoon.

I've taught her that her middle name is rat bag not Anne.

So my question of the day: why, when tired, will a toddler not just go to sleep??? and stay asleep?? I would give good money to have 10-12hrs in bed

DS woke shortly after midnight last night, hysterical about a mystery something, spent half an hr dragging me from room to room then decided that the only safe place to sleep was the sofa. So he slept there, and I slept on the floor next to him incase he rolled off it. Which blatently didn't work because when he got up at 4, I didn't realise until he was leaving the room!

Managed another couple of hrs on the sofa with him but good lord I'm tired and stiff today. My 34yr old bones say 'no thanks' to that sort of nonsense.

Oh jeezo that sounds rough. If it makes you feel any better my child went to sleep behind her door last night she was so upset at having been put to bed. Thankfully once she's asleep I can pick her up and put her into bed.

Have you tried moving him once he's asleep?

I put Polly down for a nap yesterday and she was screaming and shouting about how she didn't want to go to bed. The worst bit was shouting 'me sad' which was terrible! Two mins later fast asleep. They just don't know what's good for them.

Cup hat I didn't think yours was into TV that much? As in I didn't think she was knocking through 40 episodes of peppa a day?!? I suspect we will go to PP world at some point as its near my in laws. But I can't face a two hour drive and an overnight stay just yet. I will be very interested to hear how you find it. She will either love it or find massive peppa people everywhere thoroughly disturbing...!

Behind the door? Brilliant!

Sometimes moving him works. We don't always try because we're so tired that the potential of more angst puts us off. To be fair, that is a very unusual night. Thank goodness.

With the benefit of daylight and coffee, I can be more understanding. He's just been moved into a new room at nursery. This, as well as being the third nursery room in 2 months, is a big move from upstairs with the babies and tweenies to downstairs with toddlers and preschool. It's busier, noisier, etc. He has shorter naps there (they've halved). Drop off used to be easy. Now he sobs when I leave.

For DS, his world has changed massively. He will settle again. I just hope it's soon!

Bean, we didn't let DD watch TV until she turned two a month or so ago (following NHS guidelines - which obviously you can't follow for the second child anyway!). Mean parents! But she already loves Peppa Pig so we thought it'd be nice for her to have a trip there. Guilt after DS taking up so much of our attention for the past month? Never! . We've bought her quite a few DVDs as we don't really want her watching adverts (we never watch them ourselves), and she's still only allowed to watch a bit first thing in the morning. Actually, thinking about it, she did know Peppa before watching the TV show as she has a few of the books.

We know a few people who have gone with two year olds and they've had a great time. I've also known children to be scared to death of massive dressed up characters though so it will be interesting to see how she reacts!

The NHS has guidelines re TV viewing?! Who knew?!

We only watch CBeebies, Frozen and The Snowman and Snowdog here so no ads to worry about.

I can't stand adverts either. Everything is on sky plus here! Guidelines on TV watching? Really? Who knew! Polly had no interest until about 18 months. How I wish she had when I had morning sickness! Now she will knock through an hour but that's about it. At the moment TV is strictly Wimbledon and Tour De France so she's just got to suck it up!

I'm generally horrified at the cost of that sort of place. We have an activity farm near us which is £14.50 each for us and £16.50 for her. Ended up buying membership at 26 quid a month instead. Can't do that for every place we go!

Yes! I don't think they actually say why though. Probably aimed at those who would let their children watch it all day and do nothing else.

www.nhs.uk/conditions/pregnancy-and-baby/pages/play-ideas-and-reading.aspx#close

"TV
Consider limiting your child’s TV viewing to less than two hours a day from two years old, and ideally no TV viewing before the age of two.
TV can entertain your child and give you a bit of time to do other things. Try not to have it on all the time, though. Always know what your child is watching. When possible, watch with your child so that you can talk together about what you’re watching.
TV is not recommended for children under two years old."

I saw it on another page originally though.

DH only wants her to watch cbeebies. I've ordered some DVDs of programmes I liked when I was younger too: Rainbow, Sooty etc. Hadn't thought of Frozen - how long does your DD pay attention to it for, hungry? I can't imagine DD sitting through a film yet.

And just to make clear that we in no way judge others who let younger children watch tv! We're just guideline abiding people! And DD was so laid back that it was easy to keep to.

And hungry, does your DD watch The Snowman and the Snowdog year-round? As DD wants to sing Jingle Bells whenever she sees a bell and it reminds her! We've sang it in public in summer!

Yep. It's on repeat at the moment! She loves it (if she sits still to watch it; she doesn't like to be still!).

We have NT membership at £8 a month and Wetlands Trust at £5.50 a month here. Nothing hideously extortionate.

I know the zoo or other touristy things like Knowsley Safari Park are stupidly dear though.