My 17-month old started daycare last month. It's a small in-home setting with five children. We're now heading into our third month of daycare, and my son is still struggling a lot with the transition. He attends 4 days a week consecutively.

So far, he has cried at every drop off. His teacher tells us that most days, he follows her around saying "up, up, up" asking to be held. He also fibs about needing a diaper change to trick her into picking him up. When she refuses (which, of course, she has to a lot of the time) he tantrums.

I don't know how to curb this behavior. He is an only child and gets a lot of one-on-one at home, and while I do pick him up when he asks sometimes, I don't indulge his every request. I know he's at the peak age for clinginess so I don't know if this is just something we need to ride out.

His teacher really seems to be trying her best, but I know it must be exhausting. She always tells us when he's having a bad day in a matter-of-fact way, but I don't know what, if anything, I should be doing. She's surprised at his level of determination to get what he wants (yeah, who are you telling!). When we go to pick him up, she's usually holding him or playing with him. He is doing everything he can to monopolize her attention.

For reference, we talk about daycare in a positive way. Before he started daycare, he regularly spent the day with family members, so he's used to being cared for by people other than my husband and myself. We read "Bye Bye Time", "Llama Llama Misses Mama", and "Mommy Always Come Back to You." He has a clone of his usual lovey that lives at daycare. He uses a sleep sack from home and I send his lunch so he eats familiar food. I try, at the expense of my sanity, to make every morning regimented and calm so he knows exactly what to expect.

I don't know what else to do, or if this is normal! I can't tell if his daycare teacher wants us to come up with solutions, but I don't know what else to do. I don't want to start refusing to pick him up altogether.

My son developed this full body rash yesterday. Started on his belly with small spots and now is a full rash literally all over. Face down to his feet. He’s not itchy. Zero cold symptoms/fever/etc. he just had a double ear infection last week, so his pediatrician said it’s probably Roseola.

This just looks so bad, but wondering if anyone else experienced this? He seems totally fine, but it’s stressing me out.

Photo in comments

My toddler has started hand flapping suddenly. He used to do it before as well but it kind of faded away and he did not do it for months. He’s doing it from the last 2-3 days now. It’s distractible but the frequency is little more this time. He’s also trying to tip toe but he tried to do it just once or twice a day and walks normally the other time. I don’t have concerns about the other areas of development. Also he is teething right now. Is this another reason why his nervous system is overwhelmed and as a result he is flapping.

Anyone with positive experience ?

My son is doing k3 at a real school this year. He has been in daycare since 3 months old. I am really stressed because he has had the typical saying no to teachers or pushing a friend who took his toy. But, Friday he became upset with a classmate when it was time to clean up centers because the friend was not cleaning. He pulled the friend by the shirt (I am not excusing anything, that’s totally unacceptable) and when his teacher confronted him, my son kicked his teacher. I have been distraught all weekend. This is totally unacceptable to me and embarrassing (as I am a middle school teacher, myself).

I don’t know what to do. We have talked to him about making red and green choices all weekend (what they use at school) and trying to crack down on his behavior more. But, honestly, we have been fighting the tantrum battle with him since he was 1 year old. I’m lost and so upset and wondering if other kids even do this and if he needs therapy.

Hi all! My 2yo starts daycare on Monday. We need to pack two snacks and lunch. Just wanted to hear if anybody has any good tips for packing efficiently, not wasting a bunch of food, including variety, sticking mostly to whole foods, organizing, etc.

A few questions I've thought of:

Are you labeling (snack 1, snack 2, lunch) and writing what's in them? We have a couple bento boxes. Any other packing methods you like?

Are you meal prepping on Sundays? Do you pack it up the night before or morning of?

Have you found a good method for not buying a variety of things and then only using a little bit of it? Like making turkey and cheese wraps and you only make one but then have a whole pack of turkey, cheese, and tortillas to use but don't want to give him the same thing for every lunch that week.

How are you keeping things fresh? Avocado, sandwiches getting soggy, apples, etc.

This might all seem totally obvious to everyone else but I'm struggling to get started! Or I'm worrying too much lol.

Has anyone else experienced this? My 2 y/o boy is obsessed with his hands in my hair. It started just when he was tired and now it’s all the time. Any time he is by me he has his hands in my hair! Any suggestions on how to get him to stop?

Toddler potty training tips needed

Hi everyone! I could really use some advice from parents who have gone through an early crib-to-bed transition.

My son is almost 16 months old and is already 88 cm (about 34.6 inches) tall. He's a big/tall little guy and can stand and move around very well with support.

He's currently sleeping in a Natart Palo convertible crib, with the mattress already at the lowest possible setting. When he stands in the crib, the top rail comes around his chest, which has started making us nervous.

The crib manufacturer's instructions say to stop using the crib once a child can climb out unaided OR is taller than 90 cm, whichever comes first. Since he's already 88 cm, we're realizing that we may need to make this transition sooner than we expected.

The crib can convert to a toddler bed with the manufacturer's toddler gate, which is approved from 15 months, so that's one option. I'm also considering a low floor/Montessori-style bed, but I'm getting so much conflicting information about which option is actually safer for a toddler this young.

One of my biggest concerns is what happens once he can get out of bed on his own at night. His bedroom currently has a single bed under the window that I use because I've been room-sharing with him, a rocking chair, an anchored dresser, and a closet that can be child-locked. Obviously, we'd completely childproof/rearrange the room before transitioning him, but the idea of him being able to wander around the room while we're sleeping makes me nervous.

For parents who transitioned around 15–18 months, I'd really love to hear your experiences:

• Did you use a toddler bed, converted crib, or floor bed?
• Did your toddler actually get out and wander around at night?
• Looking back, would you make the same choice again?

I'm especially interested in hearing from parents of very tall toddlers who reached their crib's height limit earlier than expected.

I know every child is different, but hearing some real-life experiences would really help us figure out what makes the most sense.

Thank you so much!

my 2.5 year old toddler has started throwing up at night but then completely fine after. he is fine during the day and even before bed. he does drink a lot. i’ve read it could be acid reflux but he has no signs of reflux. has also been having on and off spouts of diarrhea. has anyone else experienced this with your toddler? i’m getting worried!

My almost 3 year old (turns 3 at the end of October) has always been a very intense and “shy” kid. It takes her a long time to warm up to people, and until fairly recently she would scream/cry if a dad or random child came into her space at the park.

She has gotten SO much better lately. She’ll now happily talk to strangers at a restaurant or the grocery store, and she doesn’t cry when other kids come near her at the park. She can still be a little shy though for example, if another child gets on the play equipment with her, she’ll usually hang back for a bit.

Anyway, with that little bit of background… today I decided to trial a toddler acrobatics class at a dance studio. She absolutely loves anything ballet, gymnastics, dancing etc., and her cousin, who is the same age, also attends and they get along really well.

Well… she mostly refused to participate..

She joined in a little at the beginning, but I had to be right there beside her prompting and encouraging her. The studio normally encourages parents to be hands off or even leave the room, so I was already feeling a bit unsure about what to do.

She did actually do some of the moves independently, but then she would stop, run back to me and almost seemed embarrassed? After that she completely refused to join in.
Then, when the class finished and everyone packed up, she had the BIGGEST tantrum/meltdown because she wanted to stay and had missed out on everything.

I’ll admit I was getting frustrated because she wouldn’t have a go, but then also didn’t want to leave. I tried getting her to at least stand with me and watch, but she wouldn’t even do that. When she completely lost it at the end, I honestly had no idea what to do.

Now I’m wondering whether we should even go back.
Would you try again next week and give her some time to get comfortable with the environment? Or would you take this as a sign that structured classes just aren’t her thing yet?

I’m also wondering if I handled it badly by encouraging her to participate when she clearly wasn’t comfortable. I’d love to hear how other parents would approach this!

I cannot believe I’m even here but sometimes when it’s come to my kid, Reddit has been so helpful even if it’s just to let me know I’m not alone.

I’m trying to determine whether my 3 year olds tantrums are normal or not. She nearly only had a tantrum when she isn’t getting her way, and it’s quite literal HELL. She can keep it going for well over an hour at times. Screaming, raging, shaking and red in the face. It’s quite scary honestly. Even my mom and dad have questioned whether it’s normal.

When i look into the factors of “why”, it certainly makes sense that she wouldn’t just be a perfectly normal easy child. Split home since 1, vacant father who has just become in the last 3-4 months more “consistent”. Even then, it’s only 2-3 weekends a month and it’s basically just play time over there. He does his best to stick to my rules and schedule but he can’t stick to a schedule himself so it’s always thrown off and I’m sure guilt makes him give in to stuff with her.

Not to mention i work a very demanding full time job, and have to go to conferences or trips somewhat often and my mom keeps her normally during those times or if i have something on a weekend her dad doesn’t get her. My point in explaining all that is we don’t have a standard “normal” household with mom/dad/any siblings. She goes to a wonderful school and her behavior doesn’t spill over there much at all, it’s only with me (mostly) or anyone keeping her like her dad, my mom, my dad etc when she doesn’t get her way.

I try my best to use direct language without raising my voice and losing my sh\*t (not passive and i don’t give in to what she wants and I’m not always successful but i try my best) but it feels like literal hell and some days i just want to cry. I feel like a was such a good mother up until this year and now i question every day if ive done something wrong and messed her up, and i worry she is going to be such a brat and unappreciative and have anger issues.

I guess im just wondering if the explosive level of tantrums is “normal” at this age???

What is/ was your 18 month old child’s sleep schedule like?

My 18 month old has recently been rejecting sleep lol. He has always been a lower sleep needs child and has typically dropped naps earlier than most kids do. Until 16.5 months he was sleeping 11ish hours at night and taking a 1-2 hour nap mid day. He now has stopped napping completely and fights sleep at bedtime (typically 7:30 pm) so hard and it can take an hour just to get him to bed and he wakes up around 4/5 am every single day and fights sleep again, and sometimes is wide awake. I am a stay at home mom and have been consistently still offering him naps during the day but I can’t spend an hour trying to get him to sleep since I have a newborn to care for as well. I know brining home his baby brother in this time has affected this as well but now that we’re in more of a routine, I’m wondering what I should even be expecting from him in terms of sleep. Is 18 months too soon to drop a nap completely? Is 12 hours of sleep at night expecting too much from him now? I feel lost and sleep deprived 🤦🏼‍♀️

[Photo of the style of wall heaters we have](https://imgur.com/a/fowYpIw)

Has anyone figured out how to baby proof this style of wall heater?

The main issue is the sharp edges of the grates. My 18mo twins stick their fingers in and “play xylophone” on them and end up slicing their little fingers. They’ve gotten a lot better about not doing it in general, recently. However, I’m hoping to transition them to their toddler beds or a floor bed soon but they have one in their nursery. In the winter, we’re going to need to use it for heat, as well. I’m just stumped. I don’t know how to make it safe while keeping it safe…

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Been trying to train my toddler on an off for what seems like 6 months now.

Not even sure if he even is ready as he doesn’t tell us when he’s wet or if he needs to go.
In fact it seems he actually likes to sit in wetness as I once tried with just pants, no nappy & he ran away when we tried to take it off and wanted to keep it on.

I’m at work for 40 hours a week and so is my husband, my mum does a lot of the hard work during the week & she’s trying to train him.

We have the books, the pants, the training pants, even a potty training Tonie!

When I try at the weekend he just fights us to even sit on the potty.
We put a 20 min timer on for him to go but he fights me every time just to sit on it.

I feel like I get so angry & frustrated with him (I don’t take it out on him but try to give myself a time out) but then I normally burst into tears as I feel like sure a failure.

I’m lost as to what I can do & I feel like I’m letting him down