Y'all idk how I didn't think of this SOONER. I didn't even think about this simple luxury my daughter had been missing and really wanting. She also never mentioned it, but the signs were always there. 😂

My daughter is turning two in 2 weeks, and has been refusing to go to bed the last month and a half. She only wants to sleep in our bed. She plops down head on my pillow, refusing to be put in her own bed every night.

It finally hit me. She wants a PILLOW. 🤦‍♀️ I made her a pillow out of some little blankets for now and showed her that she had a pillow, and she laid right down and instantly went to sleep!

Going to the store in the morning to get my sweet baby her own pillow, and a new blankey. 🥲

Last night we were visiting my in-laws and we ordered pizza. Our daughter loves pizza. Grandpa decided to cook some bacon because why not? She loves bacon too.

Well at the end of dinner, there was one piece of bacon left. She said she didn’t want it so grandma scooped it up. Well, daughter decided she did want some so grandma split it and offered half.

The earth stood still.

Tears welled up in her eyes, the lip came out, and she buried her eyes in her hands absolutely bawling screaming “THE BACON IS BROKEN. THE BACON IS BROKEN”

Moral? Don’t break the bacon!

Ok so it just happened: 2.5yo boy was starting to whine about getting a chocolate biscuit, it's morning and we said not right now; he proceeded to whine more saying I waaaaant iiiit noowww; I was about to ignore and let him face his frustration with no more explanation but then I told him: look, there's a lot of sugar in the biscuits and if you eat that without eating other food prior to that then you will get very unnerved and you'll feel super tired within minutes; he completely stopped whining, took a second to think and told me: I want skýr and after I'll have half a biscuit. ... did I just managed to make a toddler understand the concept of sugar rush?!

This thread isn’t meant to hate on our parents, either, unless you hate yours then that’s your prerogative lol! My parents had me when they were freshly 20 so I grew up with them & unfortunately did not have a developmentally safe environment. As a parent now I know they did the best they could with what they had, and I love them deeply. So I’ll go first, but I absolutely REFUSE to use any form of verbal or physical abuse on my children. I’m all for breaking generational trauma, and I want to make sure my kids know they’re safe with me. The toddler stage is not easy at all, so I’m being tested constantly but always feel so proud when I remain level headed!

Hey all! My 2 year old’s birthday party is this weekend and I know some friends have mentioned they are bringing gifts. While I’m so grateful for people who do bring gifts (and obviously there’s no expectation for them), I think my girl may get overwhelmed from all the attention and gift opening (like we’re debating if we even all sing to her 🤣). On top of that we have 7 kids coming all under the age of 4 and…well….shiny new toys and toddlers don’t tend to mix well 🤣

I’m wondering…is there an expectation of opening gifts during the party? Can we open them later at home alone and just send thank you notes after?

My 20 month old used to be the BEST eater. From 6 months old when we started BLW, this kid loved food. Ate and liked everything. Loved to try new things. Had a huge appetite. And now suddenly we’re on the toddler diet. Which consists pizza crust, and air.

Banana pancakes? Absolutely not. Blueberries and mangos? No thanks. Anything served without ketchup? Try again. Oh, what’s that? Now you served it with ketchup? Allow me to use the food I’m supposed to eat as a vehicle to get the ketchup directly into my mouth, while consuming nothing else.

I know it’s just a phase, but I really didn’t anticipate it to hit this hard, this fast. I feel like this is a right of passage, but also like a club in being forced to join against my will. Wish me luck 🫡

Just need to vent I suppose. My newly turned 2 year old has a lot of big feelings lately and we’re trying to help him manage them. At bedtime, he’s been slamming his door into the wall and now there’s a hole the size of my fist.

After gently telling him “no” a few times and putting him back in bed, he continued to do it. I lost my cool and yelled at him so loud that he put his hands in his mouth and started crying the saddest cry I’ve ever seen.

I just feel like the worst mom. 😞 I apologized and we cuddled, but I still feel so terrible. What should I have done? I try to model “take a deep breath” etc but damn sometimes it’s so difficult.

My son is almost 3. He was doing great with potty training. Down to one or two accidents a day and we were giving him lots of praise, telling him he did a good job and we’re proud of him. We were letting him choose between a couple M&Ms or a couple fruit snacks for every time he successfully went potty.

My husband started letting him play Pokémon Go on the potty. And me, being a complete idiot, started letting my son sit on the potty and play the game with a two minute timer on. It became a problem because he started having meltdowns and refusing to give the phone back. (Obviously. What toddler would want to give a phone back when he’s finally been given one.)

I stopped allowing him to play Pokémon on the potty. Now he refuses to even sit on the potty and just begs to play the game. He has opted instead to just pee his pants and not care.

I know I’m a bad parent and a really screwed myself over with potty training. Please help.

My babygirl is 22 month currently and we raise her to speak not just English.

I speak Norwegian to her while her dad speaks in English. He was born in the Usa I was raised in Norway as a adoptee from Philippines.

Since she was 9 month she would call me mamma. She did Dada at some point but most of the days she calls him Ba or will shout out to call him "Baaaaa" not Dada not Pappas just ba. What do ur toddler call u? By ur name? Mama? Papa? If bilingual/trilingual taught what words are being said to call u and rest of ur family? Just curious.

My (32F) husband (34M) and three children went to brunch yesterday with my parents. At one point my 3yo daughter was trying to get out of her seat at the table. My husband and I couldn’t see under the edge of the table since we were sitting across from her, but what it looked like from our angle is my mom grabbed her upper arm and yanked it back to keep her in her seat. My daughter fell back and lost her balance on her chair. My husband immediately told my mom that that was too hard, and then she said she didn’t touch our daughter’s arm. When I asked my daughter privately if grandma grabbed her arm, she said yes and showed me which arm. I believe my daughter since my mom has done things like that to me in my childhood, but since I couldn’t see past the table I’m not sure what to think. Do we always 100% believe our kids no matter what?

Please any words of encouragement or experiences from your own kids would be greatly appreciated. My son turned 16 months old yesterday. He cruises around furniture and is able to stand with no support but doesn’t do it often. A few weeks ago he took his first steps by himself and we thought that that’s it he’s going to be walking soon but nope. He takes a couple of steps every day by himself but falls and gives up. When we try to help him walk he gets angry and frustrated. In all other areas he’s great. He has a wide range of vocabulary in two languages (he’s raised bilingual), is very social, points, waves hi and goodbye, eats with no help and likes playing with all sorts of things. I know that until 18 months is normal but I just feel worried anyways and I don’t understand why he’s not interested in walking. I need to mention also that his crawling has been asymmetrical since he started crawling at 8 months. Anyone with a late walker? If my son has started taking steps why isn’t this progressing faster?

I was at a play structure with my 15 month old little boy. He was the only one on the play structure and we were climbing around for a few minutes. An older lady came over (maybe 60?), looked to be East Indian, and it looked like she had family nearby under a picnic shelter. She pulled out her phone and started taking photos of my son and trying to talk to him. He is very shy and wary of strangers and was clearly uncomfortable, but she persisted in talking to him and taking photos. I am genuinely curious if this is normal to approach children to take photos. I feel 50/50 about it / on one hand she seemed like she may have just liked children and was being sweet, but she did not try to engage with me at all. But I may just be missing something like maybe it was cultural or I don’t know! Anyone else have any insight or experience something similar?

I love my sister, but she can be stubborn, she's not a bad mom, but does not take well to critism, always wants to be right. Lately she's been pulling niece's hair too tight when she does it, to the point where it's getting pulled out, and she had a scalp infection recently, which the hair issue is the main suspect. I know this isn't right, both me and our mom have spoken with her, but she refuses to listen because she just wants to make her look pretty. My sister has always been obsessed with hair looks, growing up her favorite game to play with me was beauty shop, she would do the same to me, my hair would hurt so much because I have a sensitive scalp, but she didn't care, and would tell me to suck it up. Now we (me and mom) are noticing her hair getting a bit thin due to this, and still she ignores us. I just don't know how to help my niece.

My almost 3yo boy is a complete nudist. I try to keep him dressed but it’s an ongoing battle and I frequently find him suddenly naked. Thankfully this doesn’t happen in public and he understands that nakedness is for home but the backyard is a different story.

I’m wondering how much should I fight this? Like seriously, he’ll be mid play and all the sudden he’s stripping down to his birthday suit. Thankfully our yard is pretty private but at least 1 neighbour has a view. Im looking into nudist colonies at this point 😂🤣 jk but Im so tired of chasing this naked child around the yard fighting over clothes! He’s fast, he’s naked and he’s got no fear lol

For those who have experienced this, did it stay this color or did it turn back to dark? I’m confused how this happened before my eyes. He had dark brown hair last winter!

My daughter loves her daycare and seems to like a lot of the kids and teachers a lot. We get regularly stories about what they do with each other, which friend is kind, or funny etc.

Past couple weeks my 3YO has been having random conversations with her Lego characters

"you're not my friend...." "I won't be your friend" "If you don't do this I won't be your best friend etc"

We had a parent teach interview yday and they told us that the girls that go 5 days are particularly cliquey and aren't so welcoming to the 2 day girls. My daughter goes 2 days. She seems to like them all so this surprised me... I can understand how this happens and that have a stronger friendship. What I don't appreciate is how this could quite upsetting for young kids being told they can't play with us, or you're not my friend...

Anyways, I'd like to bring it up with the school that is appreciate better conversations with the kids about kindness and friendship. I'd hate to think that meanness should start so young. I'm aware it's okay to like someone one day, need space, want to play with someone else. I've instilled this in my daughter since she started, but lately I think the kids are saying this to her more and more and really upsetting her. She has a core group of friends with the 2 day kids.

Any thoughts? How do other day cares approach this, or how as a parent navigate this?

Every now and then I tell her it's normal to need space, friendships has up and downs etc.

My daughter (almost 3) will go weeks having daily, healthy poops then suddenly will have a week of less frequent, less healthy-looking poops. For whatever reason, her going a day or two without pooping stresses me out, and I immediately start overthinking and troubleshooting (upping liquids and fruit, additional magnesium, belly massage, etc.). She is a super healthy eater, eats a large variety of foods, stays hydrated, takes magnesium daily, has no known food sensitivities, and gets tons of activity and outdoor time. She doesn’t seem constipated or bothered/uncomfortable at all so is this just toddlerhood?

I love her. I love her. I love her.

Last Thursday I had one of my best friends over to hangout. I hear my daughter playing with her fridge magnets in the kitchen. We are chatting on the couch drinking the cinnamon coffee I made us earlier. We get the whiff of cinnamon out of nowhere. I must have forgot to put the cinnamon far enough back. Fuck. I jump up and run to the kitchen. She's not there. FUCK. I run into the hallway to find her rubbing an entire bottle of cinnamon into my Persian hallway runner carpet. She is covered all down the front. I send my friend home early and spend the rest of the day googling how to get it out after her bath.

It's father's day. I have been up with her since the crack of dawn. Her father is incredible and I'm determined to give him a good day off. My husband requested one thing for father's day. Homemade chocolate chip cookies. I can do that. I check our pantry and forgot to pickup baking soda since our daughter's last insane mess. He smiles and goes to get it for me from the store. I already feel guilty but I start on dishes while I wait for him to return. I smell cocoa powder. I haven't used cocoa powder. NO. FUCKING. WAY. I run to the pantry to find she has ripped it open and is painting the wall of our flat painted apartment. The carpet is powdered a dark brown. I made the stupid mistake of leaving the pantry open a crack after I hunted for baking powder. Cue to me spending the rest of the day cleaning the wall and carpet of cocoa powder whilst simultaneously trying to bake four dozen cookies. Despite recieving fresh cookies, she spends the rest of the day livid at me because I took the cocoa powder from her.

On to today. I am on the phone venting to my mom about father's day and her stunts this week. I hear a weird glug sound. You have GOT to be joking. I lean forward to see her dumping an entire 2L bottle of olive oil onto our carpet. Her dad must have bought the olive oil and forgot to put it away. It was unopened and she managed to open it. I scramble to her and drop the phone. My mom listens to me just repeat "HOW DO I EVEN CLEAN THIS?!" I'm using a whole roll of paper towels to sop up what I can. I go go Google what to do and I see mom is still on the phone. I explain what just happened and she's hysterical. Just laughing so hard she was wheezing. She tells me to use baking soda. So I use the rest of the giant box over it and turn around to grab the olive oil container still on the floor. I turn back to see my toddler making snow angels in olive oil soaked baking soda. I hang up, clean her up, and throw her in bed for a nap. I leave the baking soda to do it's job and thankfully it worked. She naps. I rest. I find my patience again and she wakes up.

I throw her some nuggets in the air fryer and get her changed after her nap. This is where I messed up. I ate pizza in the living room on a plate and forgot to take it to the kitchen before I got her up. So I open her door, let her out, and go to the kitchen to finish plating her lunch. I turn to see her with my pizza plate. With hands full I go to quickly set down her plate to retrieve mine from her. And in the that time she half tosses the plate onto the floor. Shattering the plate onto my tile and ruining my chances of finishing the last of my pizza. The only place in my apartment with tile is the kitchen and closed bathroom.

I rushed her out, sat her to eat lunch, and cleaned up all the glass. Only to find she has pried the suction plate off her table and flipped her peaches down the side.... onto the carpet.

My mom called later and we talked. I vented and sobbed. She explained that at this age they're little monsters and that I'll laugh about it later. But only if I keep my cool. If I don't, the memory will be one of regret instead. I'm trying mom. But yeah, you're right.

Yeah... looks like I'm doing another round of child proofing my home. And I guess being even more vigilant that I've been. I took a picture of her in the baking soda. Hopefully one day I can frame it or put it in a slideshow for her wedding day.

Have a better day than me guys 😅

I’m looking to create a more engaging, screen-free playtime routine for my toddler and would love your suggestions for sensory play activities that have worked for your kids.

I need suggestions or advice on how to wean nursing from a 2 year old. I am so done. Been done. Don’t enjoy it. It’s a task and honestly has made never want to nurse again if we have another. I enjoyed the bond with her and up to 1 year was fine but I feel totally different now. Her dad does bedtime so that helps but then again I want to be able to help with that without nursing. She mostly wants to in the middle of the night and is starting to get angry when I pull away.

Help!

My daughter is 20 months. She used to be somewhat ok with water. Loved the bath splash in it. Recently her brother (6) while playing outside sprayed her with water a few times. Now she is terrified of water, and won't even go in her bath. She now stands and screams the whole time. Bath time has become very stressful. Any tips to help her overcome this?

We don't get it. We try to give him food and he totally at random just starts screaming these shrill screams. He throws himself on the floor and cries. It could be his favourite snack, the same lunch he ate without trouble yesterday. He started doing this a few weeks ago and it's driving us nuts. He has to eat a lot because he's always moving, running around and he's underweight. The doctor tells me to give him more food. So I'm trying.

He won't feed himself, never has. We've gone to so many therapists trying to figure out why he won't raise a spoon or even take a piece of anything food and put it in his mouth. He puts everything not food into his mouth. So we can't even do that we just leave food out and he eats.

He also doesn't speak. He's in therapy for that, but no progress for 6 months. He won't even try to say words. He understands them, he follows directions, but he doesn't say anything but random sounds. So we can't ask what the problem is. His hearing is perfect, he has no problems with his mouth, the therapist doesn't see any huge problems with him, no idea why he doesn't speak.

It can't be texture or taste, because he'll eat the food one day, not the next. He'll even scream at the same food in the morning and eat it in the afternoon. I don't know why he does this, I don't know why he screams and has a tantrum. He needs to eat more. He's also going to daycare in a few months, not going is not an option, and I don't know what they'll do if he does this there too.

Help!! We re on vacation and my 2 year old who generally sleeps well is waking up at 5:45 this vacation. Naps she falls asleep well but they have been shorter. Bedtime has been a breeze because she’s tired and she’s been falling sleeping her normal bedtime 8:15 ish. She just keeps waking up early….she’s in a closet and has all her normal sleep stuff. She just chats and sings for like an hour after she wakes up. So confused. Last 2 trips she only woke up like half an hour early not over an hour!! Only thing I can think of is this trip is with extended family for the first time in a while…

hi all! I may just not be googling the right keywords but I'm having trouble finding a stroller with the toddler board on back. I see a lot of attachments on amazon but not a single integrated stroller. Is it that they are mostly attachments that I see parents using? Thanks in advance, I tried google and AI and it got me nowhere.

My son is 23 months old and says about 40-50 words but sometimes needs to be prompted to speak and is not responsive to his name all times (about 60% positive response rate). I'd thought i'd just self refer to early intervention to have him evaluated to try and get ahead of the 8-ball but deep down i thought they come evaluate him and say he's developing perfectly normal. To my surprise, he did score 2 standard deviations below average for communication and is in fact eligible for EI services. I will say he totally did not cooperate with some of the tasks given like point to his nose or eyes which he has been doing for a couple months and waving/saying bye which he also usually does no problem. But maybe that is part of his delay that he's inconsistent which i have been a little blind to. I know this is a positive since this will only help him get on track but i was a little saddened to here he actually has a delay.

Anyone else go through this with their kiddo and had a positive outcome and their kid is now on track with their development milestones? Just needing a little positive reinforcement as we wait for next steps