September 2014 - Toddlers & Tantrums!

[lilone1234]

Babies are now toddlers at 18 months +, growing and learning new things all the time!

Hi everyone, I've not been on in a while. You even dropped off my I'm on page! Hope you are all okay :)

DS has had his settling in sessions in the toddler room and he loves it, he has well and truly grown out of the baby room. I was worried at first but he loves it so much. The real test will be September as I work term time only so he has got a long break before going into toddlers properly.

Did anyone else read the what did your toddler eat today thread? It made me feel awful! Maybe I'm stuck in a rut but honestly DS eats the same stuff all the time. He just refuses so much at home that I get sick of it and give him stuff I know he'll eat. The annoying thing is he eats everything at nursery, literally anything they give him he will eat. So I know it's not because he doesn't like it. Any tips please? I'd love a child that eats a quesadilla for lunch or an egg muffin, or Greek yoghurt with berries. That just seems so all unattainable here.

Other challenges we are currently facing are him throwing his toys when it doesn't do what he wants, and most recently, hitting me out of frustration. I feel like I'm at a massive turning point for parenting and I need to choose a method and stick to it. I also can't really take him into a shop without strapping him in a trolley or keeping him in the sling. He doesn't run off, he just strops over the tiniest thing, throws himself on the floor and wails. I then try and pick him up and he climbs up me so it's so hard to keep hold of him and buy what I need.

Oh and potty training, nope! He tells me maybe 2-3 times a week that he's done a poo. Other than that, no awareness at all.

Hi all! I read that thread briefly Lilly - I think people boast on them so I wouldn't worry. I tend to make all the same things again too as I don't want to make food just to throw it away! I do keep giving her things she has refused before with things I know she will eat - he might decide he likes them! I have the same issue that DD eats anything for MIL like your DS at nursery!

Potty training - no not yet! I had wondered if she was ready as she always tells me when she has done a poo and a couple of times told me before she actually did it but no awareness of wee at all and will only sit on the potty for about 3 seconds!

Yeah I read that thread, I didn't post made me feel crap about E's eating :( he is still being spoon fed his main meals he just won't do it himself and the times I have refused to do it he won't eat then wakes up in the night hungry which means he wants milk in the night which would be a huge backwards step if we started that again. So I just feed him and praise him massively if he feeds himself. He is now mostly on little dish and anabel karMel micro meals which thankfully a step up from jar shit! Fx the next step is home cooked food. Also he has a really limited amount of ff he will eat but will also perseverE with that!

Good thing he is cute

I don't even bother clicking on those threads as all DS will eat in the way of veg is peas and sweetcorn. Those threads make me feel crap and my boy is doing fine.

Potty training is way off for us, he hides under the table to do a poo and flat out denies he has done one to avoid a nappy change but you can smell him from a mile off!

Am feeling a bit horrible today, he woke very very early so I dozed on the sofa while he pottered around and only opened my eyes when he patted me on the head. Feel like I have been ignoring him!

Not read that thread, and not sure I want to! I only get to feed DD six meals a week, so I do tend to go for her/my/our favourites. She loves fruit. Not quite so great with veg as finger food, but if it is mixed up in a stir fry or risotto she will eat pretty much anything. I probably rely to much on bread products and cheese, but overall I think she eats ok.

Oh, polka, don't worry about having a short nap! It's good for them to be able to occupy themselves sometimes

I think DD has finished having milk as a drink. Feels like the end of an era. She was still having a bottle of toddler milk morning and bedtime. Ages ago, several months ago, she stopped drinking the bedtime milk so we stopped giving it. This last few weeks she's doing the same with morning milk too.

The blessing in this is that we have no 'dropping bottle use' issues, because with stopping drinking milk she has automatically stopped using bottles. The down side is that another of the stages over with. No more cuddling on the sofa with her bottle.

Ergo I'm giving DD loads of cheese at the moment and yoghurt to maintain dairy in her diet. I'm working on cows milk but she's not keen.

I didn't read that thread. It would be the case that if I had given DD something really great that day, I probably would have been drawn to posting on a thread like that. But 'the usual' food I serve isn't terribly inspiring, so wouldn't be worth mentioning on such a thread. That's why the thread seems so boasty - only people with great things to say will post. Its not a true reflection of what folks actually give their children to eat day in and day out.

DS is still taking 8oz in a bottle morning and night but drinks dilute squash etc the rest of the time from cups or sports bottles. I remember the health visitor saying to drop them at one year.........

cookie your cute comment made me smile :)

Okay so you have all made me feel a lot better now. I think you're right fate in that people only post about the good stuff. I am going to try this summer holiday though to vary meals a little more and cut down on the crappy snacks. I did this today and yesterday, yesterday was more successful than today. Tonight he picked out of his chicken and leek pasta bake a piece of bacon to eat, four peas and took one bite of cauliflower. How he isn't howling with hunger I don't know since he had a very active morning. I had to wake him after being asleep for 3.5 hours for his nap, and he still went to bed fine

Toddlers are self regulating though, he may eat more tomorrow. Some days DS stuffs all day and others he isn't that bothered.

A fluctuates a lot with how much he eats at home. Apparently at nursery he finishes his plate everytime and quite often gets seconds, but at home not so much. In fact, he eats more when its on my plate...sometimes I don't bother wasting a plate on him and just put both portions on my plate!

Still on bottles here also, he is on cows milk (has been since 1) and drinks lots, but only out of a bottle. I am trying to cut it down to 2 a day and offer water through the day but it isn't being too successful at home. Again though, at nursery he drinks lots of water. And he will drink water out of a glass if it is mine (can you see a pattern forming!)

DD still has a morning and bedtime bottle. I've been wondering about trying to get rid of it, but she's still quite petite. Sometimes she downs a full 9oz, sometimes she only has a couple.

Totally agree on the fluctuating eating. Some days she eats like her legs are hollow, other days she barely picks at stuff. I used to freak out, but have gotten used to it now.

DD really made me laugh this morning. She was "helping" me sort laundry, and I took her dummy off her sleeping bag (she's strictly only allowed a dummy for sleeping). She looked a bit put out, so I said "let's put it somewhere really safe, where do you think would be a really safe place to put your dummy?" Her response... "In my mouth"!

Is anyone else struggling with trying to suppress giggles when telling off their little ones? DD is perfecting the art of grinning at me or doing something mega cute when I tell her off. This morning I had to say to her "it's not funny, that's very naughty" and inside I was collapsing with laughter!

I'm having some issues around DD moving rooms at nursery, and I'm not sure how or whether to deal with them. It is going well in terms of DD is happy, but I think her current key worker is struggling with it! DD understands most of what is said now, and her keyworker is saying openly how upset she is and how much she misses DD when she's in the bigger room. She is also sometimes there when I do pick up from the toddler room, and she's not really letting the new keyworker do her thing, and sometimes when the new keyworker is trying to ask me something, or I'm trying to tell her something, her old keyworker jumps in. I also get the feeling that she is trying to spend as much time as possible with DD, even when the new keyworker is around and trying to build up a bond with DD. In some ways I think it is lovely. She clearly adores DD and knows her well, and DD does adore her back. But it just seems a little unfair on the new keyworker, and I don't want the move up to be a big emotional thing in DDs eyes. I want it just to be a run of the mill thing that is happening, but her old keyworker is so emotional about it. Actually welling up emotional.

We've got a month of transition to go through. If it was a week I'd just leave it be, but a whole month of this!? Am I being over the top (AIBU!)? Would you do anything, and if so, what?

team how sweet that she has such a lovely key workers, for now I would just leave it i'm sure it will work itself out in the end!

Yes, it is great that she has such a great relationship with her keyworker. I just worry that her keyworker is making this an emotional and upsetting thing for DD as she is doing these things in front of her. I also worry that it is stopping DD building up a relationship with her new keyworker as she is just not letting go. Maybe I'm worrying too much, but it just feels a bit OTT.

We are in the middle of temper tantrum hell at the moment

I worry if you say something it may make the situation very awkward but if course if your dd struggles go bond with her new key worker then that will be an issue. After a rethink i would advise you to go above her current key workers head, either to the room leader (assuming it's not her) or to management and get them to speak to the key worker. That takes you out of the situation and able to avoid and awkwardness

I have to say it is odd how emotional she is, I mean we all like most of the children in our care but it is odd to be that upset about a child moving up.

E climbed up into the train slide thing today, he usually needs help as it has a lip and the stairs are at a funny angle. But he did the whole thing by himself, I both proud and upset! He will be 2 on Saturday
(My baby)

Team I think it's odd and I would speak to the room leader about it. It's sweet but to be frank, inappropriate and unprofessional. I would be annoyed at having to deal with her emotions, but then maybe I'm a bit cold hearted lol. I like my relationships with nursery staff to be friendly but professional. It probably doesn't help that I am the HR officer for the nursery lol...

Yes we are coming up to birthday time again for the thread aren't we?! How are they TWO already. Wow.

I'm not having to suppress giggles when telling DS off but it's hard not to laugh when he says something that I don't really want him saying. E.g. I drizzled ketchup on his dinner in an attempt to bribe him to eat it. This was followed by "oh god oh god oh god oh god". Cue me and DH crying at the dinner table with laughter. So now he says it even more. Great!

Team - I think that is a bit OTT. It's part of her job and she should be able to deal with it. I think you could speak directly to her and just frame it as "oh I'm worried DD may find the transition difficult, I think it's important we are all very positive about it..." For example. DD isn't in nursery yet though so I can't speak from any experience. _
_
I'm guessing I'm going to have to start looking at them as I'd like her to start going when she's 3 once she gets funding. I think it would benefit her but while I am at home for her there is no logic in sending her before that! I'd probably be aiming for her to start January 2018 which would be the term after she turns 3, rather than waiting til September 2018 when she would be turning 4. I'm not sure what I'd be looking at in terms of waiting lists or anything though. Where do I start?!?!

Tantrums - oh yes, constantly. Any sort of trip in the buggy is causing massive strops at the mo too. She just wants to get out but won't wear reins/listen/hold hands/not run into roads etc. I've had to get my big britax buggy out as she can get out of the umbrella stroller now, I can't make the straps tight enough on her and she just sticks her feet under the wheels! It's causing me many headaches right now.

Cookie - 2 already?! Do you have birthday plans?

My DD won't be going to nursery until her funding starts, so January 2018 (term after she turns 3).

When doing it this way (or nursery is only for the benefit of the child rather than it being childcare and needing to fit into specific times for working parents) then I'd definitely recommend a nursery attached to a school. This is mainly because school nurseries are staffed with actual teachers (supported by teaching assistants):- degree educated and under all the performance management expectations of all teachers.

Massive differences to nursery staff. I know loads of quality nursery staff, but the high staff turn over, young age of staff and lack of qualifications in some staff worry me.

All nurseries are play based but in my experience (DC1 and DC2 went to Montessori nursery, DC3 to school nursery) school gave better quality play with an educational basis.

Just got back from our holidays - a week in Anglesey, Wales with 4 children and my MIL. I feel I now need a holiday to rest and recover from the busy, stress of our holiday!!

Not much on the plan for the last 3 weeks of the summer hols. Looking forward to chilling out a bit with the kids.

Thanks Fate. I think I would prefer a school nursery, though the one I have in mind is very popular. When would I need to look at applying/getting on a waiting list? Would you think around now?

Hope you still managed to have fun on your holiday!

In other news - I got a BFP this week! I'm in shock really because we only started TTC in June. So I don't want to get too excited or do anything to jinx it yet. I've only taken one test so far too, going to go & get a digital one tomorrow as I feel much better about seeing the actual word!

Congrats MyGreenSofa

Team I hope you managed to speak to the nursery. It does seem odd behavior from the key worker.

Yes to tantrums. A likes throwing himself on the floor. I tend to ignore if we are in the house, bit more difficult if out and about though. He also doesn't like going in the pram, won't wear reigns, and has a mind of his own as to which way we are walking! Guess this is the fun times of toddler parenting

Wow, congratulations GreenSofa!

I think it's down to individual schools as to how they manage their nursery places and waiting lists. I know my children's school open the waiting list from the child's 2nd birthday and that length of time on the waiting list is a factor in allocating preferences for AM or PM places.

Getting an AM place is really important for us because there is a good chance that if DD gets a PM place I'll have to decline it and go on the waiting list for mornings. All three of my other children have kept their lunchtime nap until 4 years old, so afternoons at nursery just aren't feasible. I'm therefore going to hand in her nursery application form by 9am on the morning of her 2nd birthday, just to be sure!

We are well within in catchment, have siblings in the school and plan for the children to go on to the linked primary school (all criteria for places allocation). So I'm hopeful that even if the nursery continues to be oversubscribed, that we should be ok. Your best bet Green, if you have a school nursery in mind is to pop into the school and chat to the receptionist.

Congratulations greensofa

We had a great day today a garden party at my parents which was great fun and then a bbq later on. We just put E down he is zzzzzz.

Met my friend's 4 week old baby total cutie!!

Brilliant news greensofa!

Congrats green - that's wonderful news!

I managed to bring up the keyworker issue with the nursery manager without actually going to her about it, so hopefully she will sort things out! We were chatting generally about how DD is getting on with the settling in, and I managed to drop in, in a light hearted way " I'm more worried about how keyworker is coping with it than how DD is managing!". The nursery manager had also noticed, and has it under control!

I had a little cry earlier. DD turned to me this morning and said "I not a baby anymore". She had such a big and proud smile on her face, and she looked so grown up. I just thought "no, you're really not a baby anymore", and I had a little moment. Stupid really as I didn't enjoy the small baby phase, and I love the age she is now, but it is all just passing so quickly!

Congratulations green 😊

Any tips on how to stop my child from saying 'oh god' which he may have picked up from me

My only suggestion is to try saying "oh crap" instead. DD seems amazingly to have not picked up on our excessive swearin. Sure she will drop a real clanger for the first time in front of my very anti swearing nan...

We have a long term dispute with one of our neighbours, and DD has picked up on our nickname for her. Not swearing, but certainly not flattering. I'm sure one day she will call her by that name!