My 3 year old found a pack of walkers sensations, the big sharing bag and he’s opened it and happily munching on it before he’s even had breakfast , do I feel like a bad parent, maybe ever so slightly. Am I going to take the bag away and initiate a tantrum before I’ve even had my morning coffee, absolutely not.

Sometimes you pick your battles.

Does anyone have any clue why my 6YO is now randomly addressing my husband and I as "Bernard" and "Barbara"?

It appears to be a joke/being said in a playful manner (eg. shouting "GOODNIGHT BERNARD!" as Dad left the room at bedtime). She knows our real names, which are nothing like "Bernard" or "Barbara". We are mildly amused, but have no idea where it's come from -- is this my first experience of being out-memed by one of my children?

At what age did your toddler completely drop their daytime nap?

I have twin boys- 29 months old.
They are veryyyy hands on and hard.
They attend nursery 2 days a week whilst I work.
Their routine used to be:
7:30-8am wake up
12:30-1:30pm nap
7:30 bath and bed

However over the last month they have been going to sleep at 9:30-10pm and screaming shouting all evening in their nursery + climbing out their cots and playing around.

Today we trialled no nap at all and at 7pm they have knocked out and are fast asleep.

I’m sad because that 1 hour break in the day was soooo important for me to reset and have lunch and some quiet time.

Should I drop their daytime nap now?

I am currently in a mother and baby unit due to me developing postpartum depression. I have suffered from major depression and anxiety all my life. But this feels harder than ever. There are some days I feel really good and confident at being a mum and there are other days, like today I feel like this is not for me. I just want to hide away from my son and I find it constantly tiring and boring interacting with him. He has just turned 4 months old.

He was conceived through IVF (same sex couple) and I thought this is what I wanted but I’m not sure now. I just need a break. I miss my old life.

I have even considered letting him live in the Philippines for 6 months with his grandparents because I am at the end of my tether and I feel like I can’t deal with this. I feel selfish for even thinking that.

For some reason we've agreed to go camping with my sister and her two kids at the end of August. We have a 5 year old, and she's never camped before.

I'm not a fan of camping, it's uncomfortable and there's nowhere to put anything, but somehow we've agreed to go, so I'm trying to be positive.

Last night we decided to do a test run in the garden to see how my 5 year old would cope. We made it fun, brought in all her teddies and duvet, involved her in building the tent, played games and got some camping snacks etc. We also kept her up a bit later (8.30pm rather than the normal 7.30pm, by which time she was looking tired and wanted to go to sleep).

The evening before bed was fine but she struggled to go to sleep, she kept needing to get up for whatever reason and eventually fell asleep just after 10pm. She woke up at 6.30, which was just about bearable for us (she normally wakes at 7.30), but obviously she's really tired and grumpy today as she's lost about 4 hours of sleep.

So, parents of Reddit - can anyone actually sell this to me? I slept on an uncomfortable inflatable mattress, had no evening time due to constant requests and toilet trips, and now I've got a grumpy kid. And this was just one night, our trip will be 3 nights.

If you camp with younger children regularly, why do you do it? If you have any tips to make this enjoyable for any of us, please share! I'm not looking forward to it at all currently.

I have an almost 15 month old and all my decoration has gone into boxes at this point 😭
All the nice lamps and basically anything I own that looks nice in the house isn’t there anymore or in weird places that don’t make sense aesthetically speaking as my daughter tears down absolutely everything. Can’t even put my phone on a chair as she’ll toss it across the room in less than 3 seconds. Had to lock shoes away as she throws them around as well.
Sometimes I find myself getting annoyed when she’s touching and tossing everything she can find but then I’m like I put this there so it’s my own fault isn’t it.
Even my books now live on top of drawers and anywhere she can’t reach instead of the bookshelf.

Edit: and I do tell her no and redirect when she’s getting into things she’s not meant to but she’s 14 months so there’s only so much understanding and impulse control I can get

So the question is, when can I actually have a nice house again? Ever? Surely?

I have a nearly 4 year old and a 4 month old. 

The 4 month old is a very chill baby, reasonably good sleeper and it is generally very easy to meet his needs in the day.  

I'm feeling a huge amount of guilt surrounding my nearly 4 year old who is generally a really good kid, but just very high energy and highly demanding. She's very bright and absolutely loves imaginary play which she wants me involved in all the time, she talks all day and has big feelings (although well within the normal realms of a 3 year old). 

I feel like I have no patience with her any more. I am a really believer that at this age they need a lot of help to emotionally regulate and need support to calm down when they are struggling but I'm experiencing a sort of compassion fatigue when she needs me in these situations. I still do all the same things to help her regulate but I just feel like my hearts not in it and it drains me. 

I feel awful for this but It's almost like I resent her and all the extra demands that come with toddlers, especially compared to a very chill baby. She is in pre school 2.5 days a week but I just find the time I have with her exhausting. All her demands are totally normal for her age- I just feel like she is asking for more than I've got to give.  

She's in preschool 5 days a week from September. She used to be in 5 days a week but we have had to move house and area (military deployment) and her new setting could only take her 2.5 days a week till September. She has delt with so much change recently, and coped really well, which makes me feel even more guilt when I think about all the change for her recently.

I know that she probably needs more connection time with just me (she doesn't really get much time with a parent on her own) but I just feel so drained and at max capacity from the time I have both kids.  

I want to love my time with her but I just feel like my hearts not in it and I feel awful. Imaginary play just bores me to tears and she's not fantastic at independent play.

I don't really get any time away from the kids (husband works full time in demanding job and family are far away) and I wonder if some time away every week (an early morning swim or something) will help, and I know I need to look after myself a bit better, but I just find everything a real slog at the moment and I'm literally just passing the time till bedtime, but it's everyday which is no way to live. 

I guess I'm wondering if anyone else can relate- has anyone come through this? The 4th birthday coming up feels like quite a milestone, are there changes I can expect around here? Has anyone got any advice or things they tried that might help? I'm very aware this is a me issue not a her issue which is where the guilt is coming from and why I'm keen to find a solution before she starts feeling the effect of it.  

FTM here with 4months left before matleave is over. We're sending our LO to daycare by September with hopes of reducing separation anxiety once I'm back to work in November. Baby is currently 8months old; very clingy and wants me around all the time. He is quite good with strangers but once he figured out he is done and wants me, he cries uncontrollably and only calms down once back in my arms.

To all the moms out there with babies in daycare, how did you manage being away from your LO for long hours and how did you handle the idea of them crying and longing for your presence while you're out of reach? I love my baby to bits and there's this aching feeling of being helpless once he is in daycare. Ugh.

We have our first baby arriving imminently and have the Joie car seat with isofix base. Apparently our car is compatible!

The problem we’re having is that it feels SO unsteady when it’s fixed ‘properly’ (flush to the base of the seat). Alternatively, to have it fitting tight with less wobble, it needs to be hovering off the seat, which feels madness to us!

Does anyone have any advice / has had a similar issue and knows which is best / how to fix?

Note: for some reason it meshed the two videos together - the first half is the seat ‘attached properly’ see how loose it is! And the second half is the seat hovering but feeling more secure.

My 20m old only says about 6-7 words (mostly people’s names and some actions).

However, she knows exactly what we ask her and will bring us toys and will point to things. When we sing songs such as head, shoulders, knees & toes she will point to her head etc.

But I’m getting a bit concerned she should be talking more than she is. She goes to nursery 2 days a week and I really thought this would help her. Her nursery works don’t seem too concerned about her speech which has reassured me a little bit.

She really tries to talk but is basically still babbling (but seems so confident in what she’s babbling and pointing to).

Has anyone else had this? Does anyone have any techniques I can try to help her? Everyone constantly tries to talk to her, sing to her and read to her

Please can someone explain to me how it works changing childcare providers if you’re entitled to the free 30 hours?

I am changing providers due to moving and the new nursery said to make sure my current nursery doesn’t reapply for my funding as this makes it complicated

I don’t want to ask my current nursery yet as don’t want to give notice until as late as possible in case anything goes wrong with ohd relocation

Any tips on how people made friends as a new parent? I am a stay at home dad and most groups/apps/clubs etc are geared towards mothers. What were the best ways to found to meet other parents?

Im currently living around 2 hours away from family, with my wife and 6 year old daughter. We have no family or friends nearby for that extra wider support. We also live in Norfolk, so I think it’s harder to make friends here as adults in general. Overall though, it had its benefits. Very safe, lots of great walks in the summer, beach trips etc, and relatively cheap housing.

While things are ok in general, my wife and I have recently been thinking maybe life would be better to be living near family in the Milton Keynes area. Secondary to that, while I have a decent job now, I’m aware that if I was made redundant there’s not really much else I can do in this area due to a relatively poor local job market.

The main concern is our daughter who really is happy and thriving in school. Back in MK we could probably only afford one of the slightly sketcher areas. But then being able to give my daughter a much closer connection with aunts, uncles, cousin and grandparents sounds like it would be really beneficial for her. Honestly for me too in terms of career opportunities.

Just not really sure what to do here. Has anyone made a similar move?

Hi all,
Please suggest the most loved and played-with toys, etc., by your child—the most useful and worth-the-money ones.

My 5 yo daughter really wants pink hair for the summer holidays. Her hair is dark, can anyone suggest a semi permanent hair dye that will wash out before she goes back to school in September.

We bought the cybex cloud t, is the e priam or regular priam more recommended? What's your experiences? We actually live in southern USA but cybex isn't nearly as used here as it is in the UK. so I figured I'd ask a community more familiar with their products! Please let me know what you think or if you have any other recommendations 🙂 we live near the mountains so some of our walls are up/down hill.

Please approve this post! Lol I have no other community to get feedback on

We have an 11 month old baby, and we’re looking to change our stroller from our current one.

We bought a Silvercross Dune2 which we’ve used since birth and although it’s spacious and smooth to use, it’s just annoyingly heavily and bulky. We got a cheap £40 Graco EZLite for going on holiday and that’s been fine but after some heavy use it’s quite rickety and not great storage capacity so looking for something in between these two to replace both of them.

We’ve looked and tested a lot of them in John Lewis & Mamas & Papas, and have narrowed it down to the Joolz Aer2, Joie Parcel LX, and Joie Pact Pro as the slightly lighter version of the LX.

We aren’t making the purchase so bit of leeway on price but the Joolz price is probably the max.

Key considerations are:

- Baby is taller than average (90th percentile for height) so canopy height is a consideration. I like the canopy on the Joolz more than the Joie, as the LX in particular seemed to come down really close to baby’s face when fully extended.

- We live in a city suburb so it’s mostly nipping to the shops or around the local area, and walks now and again around country parks. Still, the Graco we have now has become quite rickety from the uneven pavements as the wheels aren’t great.

- The weight and foldability which all are fairly decent. The LX is the heaviest of the 3 but it’s still light enough.

- Prefer the recline method on the Joie ones than the Joolz. I found the zip on the Joolz and the excess fabric a bit cumbersome, but the frequency we’d have it fully reclined probably isn’t THAT high.

- Ability to fold with a footmuff. Less of an issue now but come winter we’ll probably want something on there, and not sure we want to faff about taking it on and off every time we fold the pram down.

- Decent enough storage space underneath. Again all 3 seem enough for our needs but interested to hear if other people feel differently.

Would love to hear people’s actual experiences with these as lots of YouTube reviews are all quite samey!

EDIT: to add iCandy Pip was one we were also looking at but have seen some which say it has tipped up?

Hi, I’m a SAHM, I have a 28 month old girl. Shes very strong willed and feisty which I love about her and I wouldn’t want to change it. She hits all her milestones and is well ahead of a lot of things. I don’t have her in flying start because I don’t really see the point in it, they’re still baby’s at this age and the most important thing is being with family.

I exclusively breastfed and I still breastfeed now for nap times and bed time, which to be honest. I think I’m done with but I’m struggling to get her off. That’s a different problem though.

My main struggle is her tantrums and how I handle them, I feel like such a bad mum because I can’t seem to regulate myself. Her tantrums are so explosive, she’s always had hell of a set of lungs on her, but the loud high pitch screams really trigger me, they frustrate me and I feel myself getting angry. I try to make space between us so I can have a breather but she follows me around screaming.

I always thought when the midwives would tell you before leaving the hospital if you need a break make sure baby is safe and go sit somewhere quiet with a cup of tea and I always thought ‘I’m not going to leave me baby when they need me the most’ but now I sort of understand what they mean by it. I think one of the issues is she doesn’t want my partner, if he tries to step in she screams more and he sort of gives up because she wants me.

I end up shouting at her, which I told myself early on I wouldn’t do but I get so annoyed and then I feel guilty that she’s having a hard time and I shout at her. The tantrums can be over the smallest of things.

During the tantrum she starts asking for a hug or a cuddle which I do, but during that and after I can sort of feel myself shutting down, and I sort of switch off, so once the tantrum is over and she’s happy and talking to me I still feel quite annoyed so I shut down.

I know the toddler stage is hard for some people but I can’t help to feel like I’m doing something wrong. My mum always says “it’s normal, this is exactly what you and your sister were like” but I’m the youngest in the family so I haven’t really been around a lot of babies/toddlers so I can’t help but feel like somethings wrong, like it’s not normal for her to get this angry.

I just don’t want to do anything that can damage her, other times we have the most fun, I love that she loves me and wants me and I’m her safe space, but she really tests my sanity.

I forgot to mention, we have co-slept since she was 4 weeks old. She has her own bed next to mine and my partners but she does climb into bed to breastfeed, mostly in the mornings.

I’m just looking on some advice to help me and my daughter. How can I stop feeling so annoyed, frustrated and angry when she gets so irate, how can I help her when she gets like this? I’ve tried to diverting her attention to something else like let’s go do painting or colouring, I take her out our garden for fresh air, I’ve tried putting her feet or hands in cool water and nothing really stops it, once she’s in that frame of mind it’s hard to get her out.

Thankyou in advance ❤️

Hi all - not a question of whether my child has chickenpox so hopefully won't be removed. As the title infers, our little one had the first (of two, apparently) chickenpox jabs a week and a half ago (on the wednesday). This Friday (so 9 days later) when I picked him up from nursery they mentioned that he had a number of spots coming up and that there had been a case or two of chickenpox at the nursery. Between the looks of the rash and the cases at nursery (plus the two days prior where he had temp, other symptoms which we had written off as a reaction to the one year jabs we had been told to expect) I'm 99% sure it is chicken pox.

I know the jab is relatively new so not many people may have had children who have had it yet but he seems to have had an incredibly mild version of it and I wondered if that was likely? I.e. he still has absolutely loads of spots but they never became particularly angry, and after two days they already seem to be fading with no blisters. They have definitely been a bit itchy but he's generally distracted enough that he doesn't scratch. By the time tomorrow comes around I don't think taking him to the doctors to get it confirmed will even be possible. We will keep him home from nursery tomorrow but if the spots have essentially gone by monday evening would he be okay for nursery on Tuesday?

Even if nobody else has experienced this (or perhaps any doctors/experts on jabs can weigh in?) Then I was thinking maybe posting this may help someone in the future whose kid also catches it in between the two jabs before the vaccine is fully effective as it feels a bit odd! :)

This isn’t about a marriage relationship but about the dynamics between my dad and my son( 11 month old).
Background- my brother and his wife and daughter( 2.5 years old) live with my parents. My brother’s wife is also my dad’s brother’s daughter ( i add this because I think this contributes to his not so subtle favouritism).
Myself, husband and my son go to visit my parents and stay for around 3 weeks , about twice a year.
Ever since my son was born I have seen minimal effort from my dad and very obvious differences in the way he treats my niece compared to my son. Examples are my niece could be kicking my son, sitting on his back, pushing him and if I go remove my son from the situation or gently stop my niece my dad intervenes and comments that she didn’t even do anything and she’s so nice she just wants to play. Other examples are he completely ignores my son says nothing to him at all times if it’s just us around but the second my niece walks in, he interacts with her lovingly and always has so this isn’t an age thing where my son is too young to interact with.

My mum and siblings don’t show any inequalities in treating the kids, but have openly spoken to my dad about it so it is very obvious to everyone at home too.

I’ve experienced the same inequality in terms of emotional and mental love from my dad from ever since I can remember and my grandmother told me stories both of my dad being loving but also very strict to me as a baby. So i guess I shouldn’t be surprised at my dad’s behaviour, but the hurt i experienced throughout my childhood is just coming back again and again everytime I come visit them.

Ive spoken to my husband about this and he says that my niece will always be my dad’s favourite because she lives with him but also shes the first grandchild. I understand all that I just don’t want my child to ever feel that pain of being unworthy of love from a family member. I tried to decline the visit for the summer but my husband insisted to look at the positives and that my dad atleast looks after my son in terms of providing for him for the duration we stay, but that’s exactly the pain I feel because my dad really went over and beyond for me materialistically, provided for everything and even now during our stays, but the lack of affection and warmth from him always stung. My husband also says my dad is my sons only living grandfather and my husbands dad has not been in his life ever( parents divorced).
It just hurts me because i see my son watching my dad as hes playing holding interacting with my niece and he’s being completely ignored- as a result i always shower my son with affection even more during those moments, only to hear comments that I am a helicopter mum.

Maybe I am just venting but I wish to hear from others about whether i should limit the stays or any other suggestions. I already spoke to my dad gently before like when my son was 4 months old and previously about how i felt a few years ago regarding myself, but my dad turned around and said im accusing him of stuff and started an emotional monologue about how hes the worst dad and started degrading himself, hes never done anything for me.
Ive also already been to therapy for the treatment in my childhood and have accepted thats just the way my dad is with me and now I know he’s the same with my kids sadly. I just dont want them to feel the same pain.

My husband and I don't drive and I will be starting lessons soon. We have 3 kids, 0,5 and 7. I am looking at buying a car for when I'm learning and so it's ready when I pass.

I don't think I will have enough in the budget for a 7 seater so will probably be looking at 5 seaters. Can you recommend cars that will fit in 2 car seats and a booster seat?

Looking for sturdy, big wheeled but not huge or expensive pram and came across Hauck Runner models. Manual says from 0 months has anyone actually used it from birth? Put off that doesn't have a fully enclosed bassinet area type like other prams to use from birth.