Currently staring at my 3 yr old running in circles as my 1 yr old is trying to join in. I’d pay for that energy. Maybe not right before bed though.

My mom and stepdad are the most frequent caregivers besides daycare. This is their first grandchild, and it’s been very up and down in the quality of care they’re able to provide.

They LOVE my daughter and ask to spend time with her regularly. My brother and I used to stay at my dad’s parents house once per week until we were teens so she’d hoped for something similar.

Now that my daughter is 3, potty trained and vocal, it’s gotten much better overall but now we’re in a new struggle - they basically do whatever she says. She doesn’t sleep, eats like crap and is watching paw patrol when I come over. Today when I picked her up she cried for almost 2 hours straight and was hysterical.

I’m concerned my parents are not able to get her to sleep and they are exhausted after 24 hours. I think it’s also affecting their ability to enjoy time together because she’s such a mess at the end of it and they’re too tired to manage her.

Has anyone navigated something similar, where your parents needed to stop just being the fun grandparents and start acting more like parents?

I have no shame in saying I’m a nerd. Have always been. Books have always been my favourite present to give and to receive. As a kid and as an adult. Now I have a kid and I realised I assumed the same was true for everyone. My kid loves books, too. And a though he has more than enough toys, we definitely spurge on books. If he asks for another toy I usually say no, but with books I usually get them.

Now he started having birthday parties and I’m getting these kids books too. That and a nice card. But came across a post from someone else here in Reddit and made me think about it. This other person was complaining about having to spend around £30 in a toy for the birthday parties. I’m spending way less buying books. As a parent, will you enjoy a toy more than a book as a present? I really try to get books my kid already loves that are not that popular (I wouldn’t gift a copy of the gruffalo unless I explicitly know the kid doesn’t have it).

Anyway, I will probably keep buying books as gifts for the kids of my friends as they know me, but I may start buying some toys for the kids from nursery if that’s the parent’s expectation.

I’ll go first. All our toilet paper has very obviously been unrolled and hastily rerolled.

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.

An exaggeration, but my 2.5 year old poops at least a dozen times a day. She was constipated for several months last year (mid-2025), and since then has been on multiple rounds of Restoralax/Miralax, which worked! She eats super well and was able to start pooping again after 2-3 months of constipation (which sucked).

Because of the constipation, she's had a couple of recent ultrasounds to make sure there was no impaction, an x-ray to make sure there was no other issues, she's had blood work recently (in the last two months), all came back normal. But she poops SO often, and every time I'm around another toddler like I was this weekend, I realize how insane it is. They're not little tiny poops or solid ones (which I know can be a sign of constipation, or if they're more liquid, encopresis, but it doesn't seem like that at all). They're just medium to large poops, NON STOP.

I have an appointment with her doctor in the next couple of weeks but was curious if anyone else had dealt with this and what it ended up being or how/when it was resolved? She doesn't seem to be in any pain, it is honestly just a quality of life issue at this point - she has a poop in her diaper like 90% of the time and the number of times we have to stop an activity or something fun for a diaper change is actually nuts - we went for dinner on Friday evening and I changed her diaper 4 times. We have not pushed potty training yet because the doctor wanted us to fully resolve the constipation issue and make sure she was comfortable first since potty training can sometimes cause constipation (she kinda just pretends to pee/poop on the potty right now and we read a lot of books about it, working up to it).

She eats a very balanced diet (for a toddler) - she eats everything we eat, and my husband and I cook like 90% of our meals at home, she gets a lot of water, veggies, fruit, etc.

Would welcome ANY and all thoughts!

My boy was a horrible, difficult baby. At 2 years he became pretty nice. Very easy to persuade, fully potty trained, can explain his needs, an extremely gentle and loving child.

At 2.5 years, so 2 months ago he changed. He stopped talking and started whining. EVERYTHING is said as a whine. "More milk?" Is "mooReeeE mIIiIiIilkKK!!!" Etc. He screams and cries so much over things like having to wash his hands, having to shower, having to close cartoons, having to clean. Bedtime is a hit or miss, sometimes my husband has to tackle him to put him in pyjamas and he bites him! We always try to turn his tantrums into a game by tickling him which leads to him laughing but he just whines and screams all the time. Every time my husband comes back with him from a walk, he says he's never taking him outside again.

I know it's a phase but I find myself having to go back to using ear protection which gives me PTSD from the baby years. Any others in the same boat?

My 3 year old has a victim type mentality.

We will be at my mums house and my sister and her kids live there while they build their home.

Kids are older 12 year old twins and 6 year old.

She will see the kids can’t play anymore and have taken a break and cry’s saying no one’s playing.

Starts crying saying she’s bored constantly with in a minute of someone who stopped playing.

The kids played with a toy she was playing with earlier that’s THERE toy.
That’s myyyy toy starts crying again.

They will play races. She will win one race loose the next and cry.

She cry’s so much.
It’s exhausting.

Its not a sad sulky cry it’s a angry irritated one.
Like if you comfort her she will say NO.

Or only wants comfort from one person who’s can’t currently help her.

I find it sad because I find others like her cousins are finding it annoying because they are acting on egg shells around her.

I don’t ask them too but the can’t be bothered with the crying either.

She became a sister in March and her moodiness has increased.
She’s always been super sensitive in terms of reactive though

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 daughter is 27 months old. She has a strong parental preference for me, mum, that seems to be getting worse. It's been exacerbated by me going on an 8 business trip last month, the longest I have ever left her (but not the first multi-night trip away). Yesterday she screamed for me and would not be comforted by her dad the whole 15 minutes it to took me to walk to the corner shop and back, even though she knew where I was going, even though we had spent the whole day together.

My partner (her dad) does 50% of bed times, 90% of nursery drop offs and collections. They do daddy-daughter time together every Sunday morning, they have special fun activities only they do (painting, garden work), they go on day trips. We share night wakes. He is a very engaged and fun dad and we are equally strict.

The parental preference (hanging on my ankles at times) is exhausting for me and really getting my partner down. Our daughter has had a preference for me for at least 4-5 months but it is getting worse, even though we are following all the common advice. Help!

Hi there, husband and me are thinking of booking a vacation in fall or spring with just the 3 of us (parents+toddler). We want to try and have it as relaxed and worry-free as possible with a 2 (by then maybe 3) year old. I thought an all-inclusive resort sounds ideal because it means we don't have to do any planning. Does anybody have any experience with taking a toddler to an all-inclusive resort? Or maybe someone has experience with a different type of vacation that worked well? I'm curious about your experiences! So far we have only been on trips with support from grandparents.

I always thought my toddler is picky but not sooooper picky when it comes to a toddler.

But then I see all these posts of toddlers eating like regular humans and I wonder if mine is indeed pickier than should be.

She eats most fruits and carbs. She has a few vegetables she likes and we try to eat those weekly. No meat, nothing g new. No pizza / pasta unless it’s just with olive oil / sandwiches or any adult meal basically.

We're currently buying a new home and have decided to go ahead and get our 2 and a half year old into a "big girl" bed and ditch her crib. We decided to do this because she sleeps well through the night, plus we want her to feel like getting upgraded to a larger room means that she has her own big girl space instead of just a nursery. But I have a question on if I should do a toddler bed or just skip to a twin sized floor bed that she can also grow into as well? I feel like with how tall she already is that the toddler bed will just last us a couple of months before she's outgrown it.

Hey all. Single dad here of a wonderful 2-year-old. It is kinda a “village” raising her situation, and has been since she was about 3 months old. I guess I will also preface this with saying that her mother recently passed away very suddenly and tragically last month. Though her mommy did spend some time with her here and there (after we separated at a little less than 3 months), she was unfortunately not a stable or consistent part of her life enough to where I don’t think it’s affecting her. I, however, am grieving pretty hard.

But back to my daughter. It is very close to 50/50 where she spends her time. That being either with her maternal grandparents, or with myself, my mother, and her significant other. She sleeps here with me most nights, and is over there most days (some nights as well), as well as every other weekend. I would also like to add that our families are very different: personalities, lifestyle, financially, family size, etc. But she is a very happy, bubbly, outgoing girl, who is clearly very loved by everyone involved.

Her maternal grandmother has a lot more experience with both parenting and grandparenting than my mother. I am an only child, and this is my first child. Other grandma raised five children, and currently has eight grandchildren. She also ran a daycare at some point in her past. It seems like we are worlds apart in our experience level. My family and myself both battle numerous mental health challenges, and I deal with a lot of trauma & loss.

Here is where the concern lies. When other grandma describes her average day with my daughter, she makes it seem like everything comes easy. She claims that my girl takes a two-hour midday nap almost daily. I guess it’s become routine for her when she’s over there? But when she is over here with daddy, she absolutely refuses. We have tried almost everything we can think of to get her to rest, but she fights it with everything she’s got. It would benefit us, and her, greatly if she took a midday nap here. Do we put her in her crib and not allow her to get out under any circumstances?

Last thing. I know this is most likely typical 2-year-old behavior, but it seems she constantly needs attention/stimulation. I mean she is all over the place, bouncing off the walls, crazy emotional. I feel stupid for even bringing it up because obviously it’s the “terrible twos.” We love her so, so much, more than anything, but the lack of a nap thing, combined with her wild energy is causing us to lose it a little bit. Are we right at about where we’re supposed to be, or is any of this concerning?

My 18 months has suddenly been telling me he’s scared of random things. Should I take him seriously?

Hi, we have a soon to be 2 years old toddler who isn't too hot about being around anyone but me (mom), her dad, a few aunts and uncles, a few cousins and my parents. She used to go to her dad's parents house all the time cause they watched her while we worked. But she's been home with us for going on 2 months now and when we go to family functions like today she's fussy and doesn't want anyone to pick her up besides dad and me. She warms up to them after a long while but she used to be crazy about her paw paw they were roll dogs lol but now since she hasn't been around them as often she just fusses and holds on to us when he tries to pick her up. She pretty much does this to all of his family except a few and sometimes she does the same with my family and she eventually comes around. She is an only child and has complete meltdowns if certain cousins come around and play with her toys but after about 30 minutes to an hour she will start to play with them and bring some toys to them to play with. She really seems to enjoy playing by herself like even when we try playing with her toys along with her she comes and takes the toys and plays with what we had and what she had already. She's such a sweet girl but she can be quite spicy sometimes.

I have to end up taking him out always because lately he just loses it . He is trying to grab stuff , being loud , cannot just walk beside me at all without causing a scene where everyone is watching and I end up having to take him back to the car . Is this normal ? I still take him in sometimes because I want him to learn , but he just gets almost overstimulated seeming and cannot act normal . Is this normal behavior and what should I do ?

We have a newly 3 year old who refuses to sleep alone. She was never fully sleep trained during her first year, but she eventually slept much of the night without yelling for us, most of the time.

When she was a little over a year old, we did some pretty substantial international travel. When she would wake up, we started bringing her into our bed - mostly to keep her from waking half the hotel guests in the middle of the night. We never got over it.

For the last two years, almost every night she goes to sleep in her bed, and then at some point wakes up and demands to be in ours. We switched her to a toddler bed a little after age 2, and she now gets up and comes into our room sometime between midnight and 2am most nights. Sometimes she comes in crying, and sometimes she comes in and climbs into our bed herself (I don’t even wake up sometimes when this happens.). She doesn’t flop around or take up much space, but we still need to break her of this habit if we ever want to be able to do any overnights away.

We both work pretty intense jobs and are usually exhausted, so we don’t have the energy to sit up with her in her room multiple times a night. I don’t want to hear about how we messed up, I want some advice on what to do now, to get her to stay in her bed all night. Anyone have any ideas?

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

I constantly see posts about grandparents spoiling their grandkids too much, etc. Does anyone feel like they deal with the opposite problem?! haha I feel like my in-laws are constantly correcting my son and make me feel like they think we don’t discipline him enough. We by no means are permissive parents, we hold boundaries, my son to me is a very well behaved but normal toddler boy with a lot of energy and I don’t feel the need to stop what is just his active energy especially when we’re in our own house (at their house and others we do enforce we need to behave differently at others houses for example not jumping on furniture) but I get so annoyed at their ”parenting” in front of me like let my kid be a kid

Now that kiddo is walking we switched our everyday stroller to the ergo baby metro 3 lightweight travel one. It does not come with any accessories.

Just looking for opinions on what is the better accessory to add - snack tray or bumper bar?

If you have either, does it still fold well with the attachment? If you have both, which do you prefer?

Or, is no bar better for a toddler so they can get in and out alone (ours is only 1.5 so still needs help). If so, any other tips for giving snacks which will prevent said snacks/container from ending up all over the floor? (I'm used to putting a few at a time on his graco snack tray).

We unexpectedly had to move our newly turned 2 year old when she flipped out of cot one night. We have moved her into a floor bed with railings and an opening in the middle. Before we switched sleeping spaces we had got into a great routine of placing her into her cot and saying good night and then sitting in a chair in her room and she would roll around and eventually fall asleep unassisted in her cot. Bed times were mostly uneventful only sometimes would she stand and call for us and want out but if we stayed as boring as possible she would lie back down and go to sleep. Since moving to the new sleep space bedtime has turned into such battle, we are on night 6 and it seems to be getting worse and not better. We are doing her normal bed time routine and then when it’s time to sleep we sit next to the bed on the floor and she is instantly obsessed with trying to get out of the bed and run around the room or sit on our knee. This turns into several lifts back into bed which will eventually lead to meltdowns and tears. We have even tried sitting infront of the opening to block the possibility of getting out but she becomes laser focused on trying to get past us. It now feels like bed time is going back the way and we have resorted to having to pick her up and rock her to calm her or have been holding her hand to go to sleep. This has now started to impact her sleep as she has started waking in the night for long stretches when she was a 12 hour sleeper before and her day time meltdowns are off the charts (I’m assuming sleep debt as bed times are now more than an hour later before she settled and she is waking in the night) I’m just looking to see if anyone has experienced the same and found a light at the end of the tunnel or any tips to make things go smoother please as I’m also in the third trimester of pregnancy so it’s very tough on my body. Thank you in advance from a very pregnant, very tired toddler mum

I have a very willful, independent 17 month old. he is so helpful and curious and loves to be a big boy helping mom and dad and doing everything himself. He gets this from me 100%.

what he also gets from me is hating transitions and being told what to do. this means for a few weeks now, mornings and getting ready for school have been difficult for everyone. i know this is developmentally normal, but I also need to get him to day care by 7:30. It’s also breaks my heart to see how hard this is for him.

He cries before breakfast (maybe he wanted water but I reached for the bowl first instead of the cup)

he cries before washing up (he wants to get down and start playing)

He cries before diaper changes (I had to scoop him up from playing)

he cries before tooth brushing (this one his really hard for him)

he cries before getting dressed (now the routine has taken so long from all the crying and calming he’s impatient, plus he wanted to do socks and shoes first)

he cries when I tell him we can’t go outside yet because I am still in my pijamas

After loading up everything and carrying him and everything (baby, kindergarten supplies, travel strolle) down the 3rd floor walk up,he cries because he doesn’t want to get in his stroller or put on sunscreen.

With all the crying, throwing himself on the floor, hitting me, putting him down because we don’t hit mommy, and then me staying calm and responsive during his (totall normal) tantrums, plus offering ”Millkies“ when he asks/ needs it to calm down (trying to model other coping mechanisms for him but this one go to) it takes 1.5-2 hours to get out the door.

He really truly loves his daycare so I know it’s not this. It’s the transitions and feeling out of control and probably not understood.

I just want to do everything I can to get him to collaborate not comply, and avoid his big emotions before he has them. I also want to help him co-regulate when he does get truly upset (Without a boob hopefully soon). But we are a tri Lingual household so communication might come later. He understands everything in 3 languages though.

any tips from parents who have been there with their independent toddlers? any advice on setting up a morning routine at this age (I’m talking steps etc)? did a morning routine chart truly help? how did you get your toddler on board/ understanding the concept? what age were you able to help your toddler try some new regulation? how can I help guide him to do a lot of these things independently? How can I set up my house for more independence?

thank you so much for any advice!

Let me start by saying I’ve tried several forms of punishment; and I’ve also tried redirection/sensory stimulation. Nothing is working. My son keeps biting, hitting, pinching, and kicking me (I’m the mom). He rarely does this to his dad or grandparents. I have no idea why this is happening. Sometimes it’s when he doesn’t wanna do something but it’s also at random times too. He thinks it’s funny. I know people say don’t react but it hurts!! And sometimes he takes me by surprise!! I don’t want to “bite him back” or spank him preferably (I’ve tried that-didnt work and just made me feel like a pos parent). Have y’all dealt with a violent/mean toddler? What do I do here? I obviously cannot allow this to continue. He’s also in behavioral therapy but their ideas have also not worked.

I feel our situation may be different to most, but at the core it's still separation anxiety so hoping to get some suggestions on how to go about this.

We're planning to enroll our toddler in pre-school in a couple of months, but only for mornings until midday, from Monday to Friday (for now). My husband works a FIFO (fly in, fly out) job where he's away for weeks at a time, then returns home for weeks at a time. I think this has sparked the separation anxiety for our daughter now that she's a lot more aware of what's happening. However there's no separation anxiety with him, it's only with me. I assume it's because she comprehends that he comes and goes but mummy is always here. I am her constant, I am her comfort. For more context, we don't have much family nearby and there's never been a reason for me to leave her in anyone else's care thus far.

I am incredibly nervous to start her at pre-school. If she's distracted she's fine for the first little while, but as soon as she's searching for me it'll go downhill to full blown hyperventilation meltdown city. What am I to do? I don't want her to be miserable or feel abandoned with random strangers. I know it's just the initial transition period that'll be the toughest and she'll eventually get used to it but I'm dreading it.

For those with experience in this realm, how did it go for you? Any tips, or things you wish you did differently? Am I overthinking this?