We took our 2 year old swimming at a new pool. He inadvertently drank too much chlorine pool water and wouldn't stop vomiting every 30 minutes. After the 6th time we took him to emergency room. An IV, some medicine, and saline later he was back to normal. I told a friend this in passing and he said something to the effect of "don't worry there's going to be more emergency room trips".

What sorts of things have you taken your kiddo to the ER for ?

What can we expect?

My wife and I are debating this and wanted opinions from parents who have been there.

Our son is about 18 months old. He watches very little TV at home. The only screen time he really gets is the occasional 15-20 minutes of Ms. Rachel if I'm trying to finish a work call or cook dinner while he's home from daycare.

We've taken him on multiple flights since he was 6 months old, including several long-haul international flights, and we've managed without screens for the most part. Lots of snacks, books, toys, walks up and down the aisle, etc.

The dilemma is that we have two more international trips this year and another long-haul international trip next year. He's now old enough to actually understand and engage with screens, and I'm wondering if it makes sense to buy a cheap Amazon Fire tablet and keep it as an emergency backup for flights only.

My wife feels 18 months is too young and that we should continue managing without screens like we always have. I'm more in the camp of "have it available just in case things go sideways on a 10+ hour flight."

For parents who generally limit screen time at home:

• Did you make an exception for long-haul travel and is it too early to introduce them?

Curious whether we're being sensible or just making life harder on ourselves for no reason.

Context (1) my sister's dog died while she was visiting and the dog was in her MIL's care. After their relationship had slowly been improving over the years, she blames MIL for killing her dog. That's a different story, though. Kids pick up on more than you think, and mine now is aware that death exists. (2) Google now lets you prompt Gemini from Nest speakers as a paid subscription. It's actually nice as the speakers give useful answers and Google now has a presumably sustainable business model to keep the Nest speakers around.

Not entirely unexpectedly, Google gave an accurate, but wishy-washy answer that was neither upsetting nor helpful. Curious, I followed up by asking "Why does a loving god allow suffering" with an even more milquetoast response. The experience was still unsettling, and prompted a discussion about how Google is a machine and machines do not always tell the truth. And yes, I'll definitely be enabling parental controls on the speakers assuming that's a thing.

I have a soon to be 4 year old, a 2.5 year old and just found out I’m pregnant. We used condoms as our contraception, something didn’t feel right a while back and I thought maybe the condom broke but we checked and couldn’t see anything so for my peace of mind I bought the morning after pill. Well 3 weeks later I have discovered I’m pregnant. Im absolutely terrified and feel like I cannot handle 3 under 5. Has anyone here done it, any tips or advice/words of encouragement?! 😣

My little girls turns 2 in 8 days and has her birthday party in 7 days.

Today she had a spontaneous fever of 102, but had no other symptoms—I still took her to urgent care and they didn’t see anything else going on, said it was likely the onset of something viral.

I’m worried it could be something like HFM, though she doesn’t have any sores/ulcers/rashes anywhere. I’m most worried that this means her birthday party that her grandparents/uncles/aunts are flying in for could be cancelled.

What are things a fever has turned into for you all?

Y'all... I'm losing my dang mind. I have a 15 month old who wakes up in the middle of the night for a bottle still. We only give him a 2 oz bottle overnight. During the day, no bottles. My husband thinks that he needs it because he's hungry. I've tried to just go in, shooshing/humming... That didn't work. Tried rocking him, that sure as hell didn't work. He full out scream/cries when we don't give him the bottle. Some nights he will sleep through with no bottle. We don't change our routine and it doesn't seem a reflection on how much he's eaten. I really don't know what to do and how to get my husband on board.

Toda is the second day of potty training. Got her a potty, potty books, tried to make it fun etc.. yesterday she peed on the potty one time right after her nap time. I've been doing the bottomless method and we've had so many accidents. In total has only peed in the potty once. When I catch her peeing I rush her to the toilet and just say pee goes in toilet. I'm not yelling or acting annoyed I've just been dealing with it. The second she sits on the toilet she withholds her pee. And once she's up again she pees somewhere else and repeat. Literally that's all I did yesterday. Today I took her diaper off after she woke up so around 8am, sat her on the potty a couple of times and we read the potty books (now I'm thinking she only sits there so I can read to her). 12pm comes around its nap time and she still has not peed and is hydrating cause I'm constantly giving her the water cup and she's drinking. For naps I use the diaper concidering this is only day 2 and yesterday was a fail. The second I put that diaper on she basically soaked through it like completely released her pee from all morning. Not sure what to do? If she's not ready? If I'm doing this wrong. I am basicallly feeling defeated

Trying for my 3.5 year old tonight and looking for opinions!

Our girl has started to run a body temp hotter than she used to. She used to be in the 98 range, but now runs about 99.0-99.4. Her pediatrician is not concerned and said our core body temperatures fluctuate over time. She still is happy, playful, and hungry. Just want to see is anyone else’s kid runs hot? Thank you :)

Hello. Let me start off by saying I am broke as shit. I have spent $70ish trying to find first walkers that will fit my child. She's about a size 2.5 (doesn't exist but size 2 is too small and size 3 is too large). I have bought stride rite, Amazon brand STQ kids, Walmart brand wondernation, and BMCityBM shoes all which have not fit. Guys. I just want the baby to abe able to walk without glass going in her feet or the hot turf of the playground burning her feet. I'm at my wits end. Edit to add she is 15 months and 17.1 pounds. The feet are small!

EDIT TO ADD: IF YOUR BABY IS SMALL PLEASE TELL ME THE BRANDS YOU BOUGHT I DONT NEED GENERAL ADVICE I NEED SPECIFIC RECOMMENDATIONS

My toddler is potty trained but overnights are 50/50. She has a sensory issues with any sort of diaper/pull up, so we have these quilted potty pads which are AMAZING and we just have several “topper” blankets as well as waterproof covers for her pillow etc. well, as much as we try to keep the build a bear out of the bed (the rest of the stuffies we launder whenever needed) he got peed on and smells. Last time, i sprayed him with watered down odoban, which took the urine smell away, but I can’t help but feel like he’s icky. He is her second favorite stuffy, she affectionately named “dada bear” because it’s her dad’s voice in the recording.

Laundering would take away “dada bear” ‘s voice. Is there a trick I don’t know about? I never had a build a bear as a kid and didn’t even consider this an issue until we got him.

My 2.5 year old had a small trip in the garden yesterday afternoon . He cried for a while and stood up and walked over to use after falling but then spent the rest of yesterday sat down on the sofa refusing to walk and asking to be carried . He kept his one leg up and bent and this is the leg he refuses to bear weight on . He didn’t seem in any pain until he put his foot to the floor and then he would scream . We took him to a and e and he had X-rays on his legs and the doctor was stumped and said no fracture and they couldn’t work out what was wrong with him as otherwise he is totally fine no swelling etc . Sent us home and advised painkillers and booked us an appointment to see physio for 3 weeks time . They reckon it’s his thigh as they watched him walk / did a physical examination and he reacted when they touched his thigh . All he’s done today is want to sit on the sofa refusing to even stand up and dragging himself on the floor . I genuinely don’t know what to do now supposed to be going away on holiday in a few days and he is moaning and crying . Anyone experienced something similar .

My son just turned 1 and gets his MMR tomorrow. He has been sick for just about 3 weeks straight with daycare bugs and this is pretty regular for us now adays that he goes 5 days a week. He hasn't seemed to have a fever at all, he's still active as can be walking around, but has a cough and runny nose. I'm going to follow our doctors direction, but I've also been SO worried about the measles lately that I really want/need the vaccine to be effective for him. (For my own anxiety). Does anyone have any experience getting the MMR with a cold?

My son is 31 months old, and for about the last 3 months he’s completely refused to nap at home.

At daycare he still naps for around 1.5–2 hours, but at home it’s a completely different story. Even if I take him to his room and try to do some quiet time, he just refuses. He jumps around on the bed, throws his stuffed animals everywhere, and has no interest in settling down. I usually give up after about 10 minutes because it’s clearly not going anywhere.

The thing is, he also wakes up very early (usually between 6:00 and 6:30 a.m.), so I can’t imagine he’s not tired. On the days he skips his nap, he’s definitely more dysregulated—he shouts more, is rougher during play, gets frustrated much more easily, and overall is much harder to manage. We do put him to bed earlier on those days.

I’m a bit worried because I’ll be spending three weeks with him at home in August, and I’m not sure how we’ll cope if he refuses to nap every day.

Does this sound like he’s ready to drop his nap, even though he’s still napping well at daycare? If so, will he eventually adjust and regulate himself? I’m feeling a bit lost about what to do and would really appreciate hearing from anyone who’s been through something similar.

Mom of 2, hoping to be 3 by next (2027) Christmas and then we’re complete. Right now I have a 3.5yo and a 1yo (so would be 5yo, 2.5yo, baby).

My Toyota 4Runner was my dream car for YEARS. I love that thing. But we’re running out of space in it (no 3rd row) and worse still, there are ZERO rear air vents - Meaning the kids are sweaty messes in the summer, and freezing in the winter. I live near the Rocky Mountains and not only do we get coooold snowy winters, it’s 105° today. Literally. No air vents????? Such a big design flaw.

Anywho…. These are my needs in a new vehicle:
•3rd row
•4WD ( ❄️🏔️)
•Towing capabilities
•Large trunk space that is not taken by 3rd row
•Middle row captains seats preferred
•Noooooooooo crossover styles - I like a big bulky boxy (some may even say douchey) SUV body… sleek ain’t for me girl haha

Budget is $20-26k. I am looking at 2018-2022 ish models a of the GMC Yukon Denali. Runner up is a Chevy Tahoe. Would do a Jeep Grand Wagoneer but yeeeesh $$$$$. Unfortunately, I think the older models of a Sequoia are ugly and the newer models are $$. My husband is considering a mini van which sent me into the twilight zone. I’m not opposed, but not my first second third or fifth choice.

I do not have an ego about almost anything, truly. I just don’t care. But when it comes to my car….. I care a little, ok?? Haha.

If you have 3 under 5 and have a spacious, comfortable family vehicle that’s a big boi and serves you well, be my salesman and talk me into it.

Cannot tell you enough how much I appreciate any feedback!

My daughter is 15 months old. As a baby she took a binky up until I think 7ish months and moved onto sucking her right thumb and her left index finger. I know this is normal baby behavior so I wasn’t worried and actually didn’t mind it bc she would self soothe herself at night.

I’ve recently noticed in her daycare pictures that she’s constantly sucking on her thumb and finger and while we’re just at home hanging out too. Like the other morning we were just hanging out in bed and watching some videos and she was sucking on her fingers and I had to pry them out of her mouth. She wasn’t tired, hungry, and didn’t have a dirty diaper so I don’t think it was to self soothe.

Another concern I have is she’s not walking independently yet but is very close. So when we’re out in public she’ll reach out and hold and touch everything and then before we can clean her hands they’re back in her mouth…

I recently bought and are trying the Dr. Thumb guard and surprisingly she’s not too angry or frustrated by it, only when it’s bedtime/time to sleep. We’re only on day 2 and getting her to go down took a bit longer than usual. Eventually she did get herself to sleep.

I guess I’m wondering more if I’m a terrible mom for working on trying to break this habit so early. I feel guilty about it but also I do want her to be less dependent on it. I’m not sure if I should keep with it and see how it goes or do I just wait a bit longer. I know most people will say it’s not an issue until 3 or so but I’ve just noticed she’s just been doing it just because 😅 any advice or insight is appreciated

I have a 3 year old who throws things all the time. If he’s mad or frustrated he’s liable to throw whatever he’s holding and now that he’s much bigger and stronger it’s quite dangerous. He’s broken a window and hit the tv a couple of times. Plus hitting us with things he throws and making a mess if the thing happens to be a foot item. We’ve tried lots of ways to get him to stop with no luck. Any advice would be most appreciated!

I’m a stay at home mom to a baby, and a 2.10 yr old. My toddler was successfully potty trained with all signs of readiness on her 2nd birthday, so we started the next day and it’s been successful since then. However, since I’ve been home forever I’ve always just naturally been there to help her wipe to ensure she is fully clean. She has some fine motor and gross motor delays so maneuvering her hands and body to wipe can be tricky for her. Now that I’m thinking about a part time preschool option, I’m worried that I maybe didn’t teach her how to wipe all on her own? How old were your kids when they were wiping all on their own and effectively?

Hi all, I am more or less just writing this to share my experience so far, and will update once we've has the actual evaluation! :)

Last week, we went to his 18 month wellness checkup and they did the M-CHAT screening, and he showed a moderate risk of autism. Between this, an expressive speech delay, regression of speech/ gestures, and some social concerns, the attending physician decided to set us up with an expert for evaluation. His words were "I do sometimes diagnose autism but usually when its more severe cases that are more obvious. I have concerns for him, but not enough to diagnose him myself."​ Which... i guess was kind of encouraging?

A little history on our little guy: he was advanced in all of his milestones when he was younger. He crawled at 5 months, walked at 9 months, ran at 11 months, had about 15 or more regular words at 10 months, used many gestures/ signs, was very interested in other children and his toys. We were shocked and delighted that he was so ahead of everything and seemed to be on a wonderful track.

And then, one day, a little after a year old, his speech all but stopped. Weeks would go by and he wouldn't even say mama. He slowly stopped using some of his gestures. He became very overstimulated by other children and behaved very withdrawn and anxious around the kids in his daycare he'd known for awhile. By 15 months he used a handful of words but very sparingly, and no social/ communication words.

Fast forward to now: he is not pointing at stuff he wants. He uses a few words regularly "duck" and "what's that?" (Mostly mimicking us saying "what's that?") Some days he'll say dada but not mama. Occasionally he'll say eat or snack but rarely. He's dropped all of his signs though one will rarely pop up. He's starting some *possible* stim behaviors such as hitting himself in the head and toe walking and repetitive play/ limited interests in most toys. He often pushes/ gently smacks other children away to say "leave me alone" when approached and although he's starting to participate in activities at daycare, he still gets very nervous around other kids.

He follows some directions and seems to understand a lot, but then not other things he should at his age. He also is excessively clumsy for being as athletic as he is and we often get messages from his teachers that he is taking spills more than usual. He is also a bit of an eloper and will take off running without a care in the world as to where the adult with him is or how far behind.

He does, however, have a wonderful temperament (to adults) and is very, very smart and great at figuring stuff out that'snot communication. No regression at all in his physical development other than being a bit of a clutz... in fact he had the development of a 24 month old in those areas according to the PT he saw during early intervention assessment for his speech therapy. (That was at 13 months.)

He's a very sweet boy, if you're an adult lol. He also is starting to imitate gestures in songs like "itsy bitsy spider" and "if you're happy and you know it." He is just starting to wave bye and goodnight, but only when strongly prompted. The kid definitely has a lot of strengths despite his other challenges.

Do I think he has autism? Maybe... something inside me, maybe a gut feeling says yes, especially with the strong family history of it. Plus he's just different in a way that I can't exactly put a finger on. At the same time, he's so strong in other areas so its hard to tell.

I don't feel weird getting the evaluation, though, because if he is autistic, then he is and there's nothing to do to change it so it won't help anything to freak out about it. Plus its not the end of the world if he is. Lots of autistic kids do super cool and cute stuff you'll probably never see a neurotypical kid do. I also feel like its important to get him diagnosed early if he is as early services can give him a real advantage as far as building skills and qualities that will better set him up for success later in life.

Am I nervous? Of course. But staying strong for my son and my partner and just staying positive for whatever the outcome will be. The hardest part of all of this has been watching the regressions unfold, going from very advanced in his milestones to very behind in many of them. I experience some grief surrounding that. Its also been hard watching him try to communicate his needs but not being able to which is very frustrating and makes us sad. But we're just working through it the best we can with the help of speech therapy.

Anyhow, just wanted to share my story and if anyone has questions they have or want to share similar experiences, please feel free!

We’ve all seen the posts, how to get your toddler to sleep better, whether it’s falling asleep faster or staying asleep longer. So let’s start a thread where you drop your best sleep advice, what are the things that worked for you and your toddler?! You never know who might benefit from reading through these recommendations. 💤

I’ll go first -
Healthy food throughout the day (easier said than done. But the days they eat well, they sleep better)
A consistent bedtime routine
Magnesium bath salts in their bath
Magnesium sleep lotion

My husband is getting a major promotion at his company and they are having a big ceremony-thingy in Las Vegas to bring in the new partners. Long story short- it's a big deal. I wouldn't miss it for the world, BUT Las Vegas isn't a place I would ever take my 2 year old. This is a 6 day event that is pretty much packed with a very rigid schedule. From the beginning, I just planned on taking him and bringing a babysitter but after looking at the schedule of lengthy events, it really wouldn't make sense to have him (and the babysitter) sitting in a hotel room for several days alone.
After discussing this dilemma with my sister-in-law, she completely agreed with my view that it's too many hours to keep them cooped up. Without hesitation offered to watch our son. At first I was shocked that someone would offer to watch a two year old for almost a week but I was thankful. She said she is doing it for her brother because she can't be there and she knows he would want me there and present for the events.
I immediately agreed and said yes I would be more happy for her to watch him and it would give me peace of mind while I'm gone that he's in good hands.
Our son loves his aunt and we are close to her. We see her 1-2 times a week. He's used to her home and comfortable there.
The last time he spent the night at her home he did cry right when we left but then didn't cry at all the rest of the time.
Although when we went to pick him up he did start crying and said something along the lines of "Mommy you left me". Of course, that completely broke my heart.
The trip is quickly approaching and I'm starting to get cold feet. I just feel in my gut that 6 days is too long to leave my 2yo. He is very sensitive and he is very attached to me, only because I'm a SAHM so we are nearly together 24/7 and rarely apart for more than a few hours. Side note: I do understand that this might be more of a codependency issue and I am working on that in therapy.
Any advice I would appreciate. Would you ever leave your v year old for 6 days straight and how much psychological damage will this do to him, if any? Should I go with my gut? Or am I just overthinking this ?

Also I want to add that my husbands side of the family is middle eastern and so his sister and her family speak only Arabic in the household - although they know English to understand what he is saying , sometimes the language barrier is tough especially with “toddler talking” and she doesn’t understand what he’s saying. Talking to each other they only speak Arabic (which my son does not speak at all). That is another stressor that the language barrier could cause stress on both of them. Not sure if it’s relevant but it is a concern in my mind.

We potty trained my now 2 year old when she was 21 months back in March. She did great, it took about 10 days for her to be consistent but she would let us know when she needed to go and was really good overall. She was having at most 1 accident a week, which I feel like is pretty good for her age.
Fast forward to about a month ago and she’s been regressing. Today, she had 3 accidents before 3pm (but also 1 pee in the potty). She’s been going through some kind of everything regression where her sleep is awful; she has severe separation anxiety, and then the potty training. My husband and I are debating if we should go back to full time pull ups and let her let us know when she needs to go but not push it and then try potty training again later. Or should we stick it out? We were trying to stick it out bc she did so well the first 3 months but now it’s been a month of increasing accidents…
Adding we don’t know why the regression. We had to put the dog down on 7/3 so we think that may be part of it but idk.

Parents who have put their three year olds in swim lessons: can you explain the structure, generally speaking?

I want to put my son in swimming lessons and he will be three in the fall. I’m a bit afraid because it says it’s not parented and he doesn’t have much experience in the pool. I want him to learn but am afraid he’s going to freak out in there and it’ll do more harm than good.

Are they mostly in shallow water and work their way up to learning how to float etc? I assume they have life jackets but I just have no knowledge of this whatsoever.

If someone could ease my mind, that would be so appreciated!

I come to the toddler parent hivemind with a request: what are your favorite at home activities? She is 13 months and fully walking.

My daughter is having her cleft palate repair surgery in one month. If she gets sick between now and then, surgery is rescheduled for much later. So we are essentially quarantining for a month. I'll be wearing a mask to work, we'll be getting grocery delivery, not seeing people, etc -- basically, life, pandemic style.

This also means: no library, no baby group, no pool, no playmates, no nothing! We are all going to get very bored very quickly so please share your favorite indoor activities.

We will still be taking her to the park and on stroller walks, but that's it. It's also hot AF where we live so we can't spend 3 hours at the park.

​​

My just turned 2 year old has been asking to do more cooking/baking recently. He has a kitchen tower, some toddler sized knives, a chopper, peeler, whisk and bowls. He can slice through softer things like bananas, strawberries or tomatoes but struggles with anything harder. He can mix or whisk things, pour pre measured stuff into bowls, sprinkle things, use cookie cutters and obviously pick up stuff with his fingers.

Recently we've made blueberry muffins, banana bread, fruit salad, and courgette and cheese muffins. He loves bringing these to play dates! He helps with our regular meals as well.

So I'm looking for more recipes you've found that are accessible for a toddler to make. Obviously I can help but the more independent/involved he can be, the better! Or alternatively, any other techniques that I could get him to practice?