September 2014 - Toddlers & Tantrums!

[lilone1234]

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

Yes he was late - also a symptom of hyper mobility apparently. He's been walking properly for about 6 weeks now I think. I'm guessing most of you don't remember what the little ones walking was like 6 weeks in?

E was really wobbly 6 weeks in, he took his first steps at 11 months (9 and half corrected) he went from standing independently in the morning to taking his first steps that evening when I showed dh what he had learned that day and he took steps towards him

We thought he would be up and running in a month but it took ages for him to properly walk, he could walk in between things but not properly walk till around 13 months. He is now ridiculously good on his feet, or climbing, he can jump, walk backwards, run, avoid obstacles, has great balance, and has great stamina. He loves being up and out!

DD was a little late to walking and for the first couple of months she was quite unstable. She was ok inside without shoes on and a rug to bounce off of, but it was a good couple of months before she seemed confident walking outside.

I seem to remember that she quite suddenly improved though. She went from wobbly and uncertain to "right I've got this now" overnight, like something just clicked.

That's helpful to know ladies. Perhaps I am expecting too much. I just see others his age so confident on their feet and it does make you wonder.

LilyBugg sorry to hear you haven't managed to conceive yet. I hope it happens for you soon. xx I also wouldn't worry about hypermobility yet. I think it's pretty normal that children fall over quite a bit in the first few weeks of learning how to walk. DD still falls over now and she took her first steps at 11 months, so I wouldn't worry yet. xx

Regarding toys, DD loves books (especially ones with flaps), and colouring with crayons right now. She's also starting to copy me more and has her own little broom and mop etc which she likes to use.

On a complete aside, DD however is still terrified of our hoover. It is quite a noisy one but I don't know how best to deal with it. I was just trying to avoid hovering when she's around but besides not being very practical, I'm also worried that by not hovering near her she's not getting a chance to get used to it. What would you do?

Oh, I will also be interested in the answers to the hoover question. DS is also terrified of ours, but seemed not to mind my parents cordless air vacuum, so am contemplating buying one of those - seems an expensive option though!

Can I also ask - how are naps for everyone?. A seems to refuse naps quite a lot lately (he didn't nap Sunday or Monday with me or yesterday at nursery). Some days he will just lie down and sleep when he is ready. I used to be able to 'force' a nap on him by pushing him about in his pram, but now he just fights it more when out and about and leans forward to be nosy. Not sure he is ready to give them up just yet though, as when he doesn't nap he gets really cranky later in the evening.

Hmm that's difficult with the Hoover KitKat. Perhaps play with it with her? Get her to turn it on? Turn it on and off and make funny faces about 'silly noisy hoover'?

Walking - there was about 4 weeks between DD's first steps and walking properly at 15 months. She is very confident and hurls herself around but that doesn't mean her confidence matches her skill as she still takes loads of tumbles. Perhaps your DS is just more sensible Lilly!

With the hoover, maybe try just leaving it out and in the area she usually plays with. Get her to incorporate it into her play. The next bit might sound crazy, but bear with me... Can you record the sound of the hoover, then play it at a really low volume, see if she tolerates it, and then increase the volume every couple of days until she gets more used to it? It might also be the rapid start to the noise, so maybe explain that you are turning it on, try to make it into a game - when the hoover gets turned on it is a signal for her getting a big raspberry blown on her tummy, or something else that makes her giggle. If it is the rapid start to the noise and she can't get used to it, maybe use the recording to start on a low volume, get her to turn the volume up so she is in control of the volume, and when it is high and she is ok with it, switch the actual hoover on? Might also help to get her a toy hoover so she can copy you and be a "big girl"? If all else fails - noise reducing headphones in front of CBeebies

Naps are okay at the moment. She just has one a day after her lunch, so she goes down at around 12 noon. She sleeps for 1-2 hours, shorter naps at nursery and longer naps if at home or out in the pushchair.

DD has learned how to give proper "arms around the neck and squeeze" hugs! It is the cutest thing ever and made me feel quite emotional the first time she did it. I may have shed a tear or two!

We have recently got arms around the neck hugs too - it's the best isn't it?!

Place marking :)
Congrats Kitkat! Will have a look through what I've missed when I have a chance to see what I've missed.
Started reduced hours this week and I feel so much better ( the stress/anxiety levels have definitely gone down at last)
DD is real chatterbox and hardly ever quiet. We're trying to learn colours at the moment and everything is red apparently.
She's picked up lots of animal and their noises even though some of them sound like gibberish we know what she means usually ( giraffe is raaf, caterpillar is ca-Dee-daa, butterfly - baa-Dee-Daa etc)
Tantrums every day over the littlest things - no you can't go upstairs by yourself result in a meltdown to the point where she throws herself on the floor like the world is ending....... It's only going to get worse isn't it?
Reading is a favourite thing to do.....as you can see:

We are getting plenty of hysterical wailing as if the world is about to end at the moment. This morning we had two particularly enjoyable episodes. The first was because I wasn't wearing any pyjama bottoms but she was, the second was because she could not remove one of DH's moles.

On the plus side, she can be hilariously funny at the moment. I'm trying to get her used to the whole process of what happens when you go to the toilet in anticipation of toilet training at some point. Yesterday we had the lesson on flushing, at which point she looked into the toilet, waved and said "bye bye poo poo". I started laughing and she looked quite upset that I was laughing at her, so I had to repress my giggles and tell her what a clever girl she is

Zana - very cool reading material When DD started on colours everything was yellow. It is still her default colour if I ask her the colour of something that she doesn't know yet. And every single yellow flower is now a da-da-dil (daffodil).

Oh, and Zana - your DD is just gorgeous!

Wow E's language is no way near that level, he is saying words like: daddy, mama, no, go, teddy, oh and some statements like: oh no, ready steady go, oh dear, let it go (frozen )

He doesn't name colours, or animals! Every animal says grrrr and all vehicles say brrrm.

He is a good problem solver and I think technical like his dad, dh was putting the speakers together and E was watching. E was able to screw in one of the screws, and what I think is super cute when he wants us to open our mouths he opens his so we copy and then tries to shove something in it

And agree that is one cute kid :)

Beautiful girl Zana

Cookie - A's language is about the same as E's. He has started saying Mammy a lot. I love it

Thank you. I'm still convinced that she is too cute to belong to myself and DH but until anyone else claims her we've decided to keep her!
Oh sometimes she just talks pure gibberish and we have no idea what she's on about.

Arms around the neck hugs are priceless ( we've only had them a few weeks ). Also DD now kisses on demand ( usually), but they are still mostly open mouthed and slobbery.

Try as I might I can't get her to be particularly helpful with house work just yet , laundry ends up taken out of the machine and strewn across the floor and the other day she managed to grab the end of the toilet roll and went around the house with it like the Andrex puppy ( I let her too, as DH was supposed to be watching her whilst I got on with a few chores. )

We are going to try for Number 2 in a couple of months. Not sure I'm ready for it all again but by getting any younger.......

There's a thread in Parenting about what you do with your 18 month old, if anyone is interested:

Sanity check what do you do with your 18 month old

DD is currently loving pouring. It's the only thing she wants to do in the bath. No need for toys, she just wants 3 different sized containers and will entertain herself for ages pouring from one into the other.

Looking forward to summer when she can start paddling pool playing.

That's a really interesting thread - thanks FATE!

DD is relatively calm and easy going, but she can kick off when she really makes her mind up over something. Her biggest issue is that she is very impatient, but both DH and I are too, so I guess it is our own fault. She can really get angry if she can't do what she wants immediately. For example, when she's finished eating, she wants to clean up and get down immediately. I try singing a song to her or counting to five to get her to wait, but she really isn't good at waiting at all. Any ideas on how to teach a toddler patience?

We took her to a farm over the weekend to see the baby lambs. She really loved it and although she was quite hesitant around the bigger animals at first, she built up the confidence to feed them by the time we left. They did small animal handling, and I was suprised at how gentle she was. I was expecting the duckling to end up with some form of traumatic brain injury! She was very taken by the pigs. Old McDonald is now all about the pigs.

DD also loves bathtime, although her favourite thing is splashing. DH always baths her, and usually is soaked and needs to change afterwards! On our way home from nursery she starts talking about splashing Daddy, so I think it is one of the highlights of her day

She seems to be doing okay at nursery full time, although she is clearly far more knackered that she used to be when she was only in for the mornings. It is strange being away from her all day, but I'm mega busy at work at the moment and managing to get loads done, so that is distracting me.

DD loves "helping" around the house, although things usually take twice as long when she is helping.

Has anyone else noticed that their child seems to go through periods of not eating too much and periods of stuffing themselves constantly? When she's hungry she walks up to the kitchen door, points at her mouth and says "eat it"

DD hasn't been eating too much recently, but I was thinking about it and she seems to go through these cycles. I think it goes: stuffs herself, has a growth spurt, eats just enough to survive, repeat.

Yes Team to the eating cycles! Frustrating though as I just get to thinking that she's eating nicely then days worth of meals end up in the bin. She's still pretty fussy too but changes her mind about foods often. For example, she used to really like the organix soft oaty bars so I got a few boxes on offer in different flavours and now she's gone off them! And she just does not like sitting down in her high chair to eat. Meal times are not much fun round here!

Hello! Hope you don't mind: I'm an October stowaway as our thread has gone a bit quiet and yours seems to be still in full flow!

Glad we're not the only ones with tantrums: it's so much worse if they're tired but even on a good day it can be exhausting! My DS is constantly frustrated by not being allowed or even physically able to do what bigger children can do. I love taking him to the park but it's hard work because he's constantly trying to climb things he really shouldn't or getting in the way of older kids. Any tips on letting them learn to play without being a killjoy helicopter mum? Or are they still so little that it's OK to follow them around...?

Welcome Bing! Yes, we are a chatty lot

DD tends to be a bit hesitant when bigger children are bombing around her, so we haven't really had to deal with that situation and have no advice I'm afraid!

DD has started saying "love you" in reply when we say it to her! I know she has no idea what it means, but it makes be feel all warm and fuzzy every rim she says it!

Welcome BingleSplodge! Please feel free to join in. I'm really pleased that on this thread we're still chatting, as a lot of us 'know' each other from an antenatal thread originally, so it feels like we've been through a lot together now, but it's nice to have a fresh face.

Thank you for the hoover advice. I think I'm going to just start leaving it in the house so she gets used to seeing it more (rather than it being in the cupboard). Hopefully she will get used to the noise in time.

I'm starting to get genuinely quite concerned by DD's lack of speaking now. Apart from 'uh-ho' 'dada' and 'hello' and 'up' she doesn't say anything, although she babbles a lot. All of your DC's seem much better at talking.

Thank you for the thread link Fate.

Zanashar your DD is gorgeous.

Thanks! I'll try to have a read back and get to know you all a little bit: a job for nap time!

From what I've read elsewhere, the speech in itself isn't a worry. There's quite a broad timeline of normal and it's not linear so they can have sudden bursts of developing quite quickly. Kitkat, does your daughter understand you when you ask her to do simple things "pick up the shoe" or point to things you ask about "where's the dog"? Does she look where you point? Does she point?

Hello Bingles!

I don't tend to follow DD around when she's playing, with the exception of intervening when she does something that could cause her serious harm. On a park, I'd pay a lot of attention to making sure she doesn't go near someone else on a swing, for example.

Climbing I leave her to have a go, unless she gets too high or in a precarious position. I will usually stand at the base of the steps if a slide is very high, but she'll climb up and sort herself out at the top herself, I don't follow her up. She can do our 4f garden slide unsupervised (I'd hear the thud and cries from the kitchen if she did fall off).

I am probably not a great example though. I favour the free range parenting approach that inevitably leads to bumps and scrapes. I'm not concerned with her climbing because I'm not concerned about her falling off stuff she climbs (within reason)

KitKat - really don't worry about her language as long as she has understanding. It will come.

Yes, Kitkat, try not to worry yet. They develop at different times, and it's certainly not unusual for an 18mo to just have a few words.

Both DH and I come from families of early talkers, so I think DD is quite early in her talking ability. It is also the case that DH and I can understand lots of different words that she says, but she doesn't say them clearly enough for anyone else to understand. Lots of her language is also imitation without understanding too.

Does she understand simple instructions, and does she point at things using a single finger? Pointing is one of the earlier stages in language development.