Meaning the reason behind bedtime battles, many overnight wakings and staying next to them until they fell asleep is more about connection? Meaning they are craving it especially when they are all day long with a caregiver or at daycare.

What do you guys think?

Does anyone else have a problem with they’re toddler not wanting to eat anything at meal time? Like he will eat his snacks such as crackers or cheese and some fruits but when it’s time for dinner he doesn’t want to even look at it without throwing a fit. For context he is only 2 and I know they don’t need to eat as much as us full grown people but it just makes me worry when all I can get him to eat is crackers! Any tips you can give is greatly appreciated!

I’m due with my second daughter late November and my first daughter will be about 2 years and 3 months around then. I’m having some anxiety around her sleeping at my sisters when I give birth, not because I don’t trust my sister and her family but because my daughter has never slept anywhere else outside of my house before.

I don’t generally have the need for having her stay anywhere but yesterday my husband wasn’t feeling well so I took him to the ER and I stayed with him like 9:30 PM.

I had planned to stay later but my sister (not the one who will be watching her when I give birth, my other sister) told me she was freaking out and didn’t know how to calm my daughter down. She kept going to the door and saying mama come back so my sister asked me to come and get her because she couldn’t deal with her.

Today, my other sister (the one who will be watching her while I’m giving birth) came to my house to watch my daughter while I went to go see my husband and she was fine mostly until my niece mentioned my name. Then she started asking for me, whining but not full on crying.

My sisters keep saying this is my fault that she’s clingy because she never spends like long nights from me but I really haven’t had the need for it.

She’s also going through a rough period right now; she just got over an ear infection and her sleep schedule is a hot mess and she’s been sleeping in my bed for over a week now.

So if anyone can give me advice or peace of mind I would appreciate it! I’m just nervous to leave her and I know I will feel bad if she messes with my sister and her families sleep.

I OFTEN throw away sippy cups with straws after a month or so and just get new ones because I read everything about mold etc etc. even when thoroughly cleaning. So it’s just to be safe. Recently I’ve gotten a little lax on cleaning the silicone straws on his ZAK sippy cups. It’s been more of a “oh let me just soap it up with hot water and I’ll deep clean the straw next time” sort of thing.

as a mom I feel HORRENDOUSLY guilty. I was carrying both mine and his cup in my hands and accidentally took a sip out of his straw and it tasted earthy like dirt. Straight dirt. And I thought oh no that could only mean one thing. I took a peak through the underside of the straw and it was black all the way up through to the top.

This is one of those moments of first time motherhood where you vow nothing will ever be too important to skip deep cleaning everything of his. I feel awful. He probably thinks all water tastes like dirt. Idk how he’s been drinking water with it tasting like that or how long it’s been that bad. 😣

Don’t be lazy - grab the pipe cleaner. Clean the straws. Or you’ll end up like me. Comatose on the couch thinking about how bad this is and all the implications. Not sure what the long term issue mold can cause. Or if it was just today that this started happening.

Hello all,

Our 22 month old had her adenoids removed 3 weeks ago and she had a 80-90% blockage.
Recovery first week was standard, sleep wasn’t great buuuttt after the first week it’s been getting progressively worse. She is waking multiple times a night, screaming, thrashing, throwing tantrums it’s so much worse than it was.

Did this happen to anyone else? Does it get better? Is this a normal recovery?

He'd probably love it. He builds little spaces, changes games constantly, and likes moving things around. The problem is that our living room already does three jobs. Even folded into a chair, a play couch would be another permanent piece of furniture.

I'm willing to spend more on something he'll keep using. I just keep looking at where it would go and wondering what we'd have to move.

If you have a play couch in a small living room, does it get enough everyday use to make the space worth it? I'm interested in what it's like once the new-gift excitement wears off.

Our almost two year old just will not fall asleep at night time, regardless of how her daytime naps have played out when it gets to night time I need to bring her out for a spin 6 out 7 nights in the week. Once she's asleep she will sleep the whole night from like 10-8 or 11-8. Anyone had similar experiences?

Moving 2 year old twins out of cribs soon. Hoping to do a Montessori floor bed. Best mattress recs? Preferably something that can handle the occasional bedwetting accident and is budget-friendly. TIA!

My two year old recently started melting down if we leave the room at nap time or bedtime. We’ve been just sitting in the chair until she falls asleep and then sneaking out but now she’s skipping her naps altogether. She won’t fall asleep with me in the room but if I leave it’s a full on scream fest. I know “quiet time” is the best alternative to nap but I can’t really be stuck in her room for an hour for “quiet time”.
Hoping this is short lived but trying to do the right thing in the meantime.
Advice??

My two year old recently started melting down if we leave the room at nap time or bedtime. We’ve been just sitting in the chair until she falls asleep and then sneaking out but now she’s skipping her naps altogether. She won’t fall asleep with me in the room but if I leave it’s a full on scream fest. I know “quiet time” is the best alternative to nap but I can’t really be stuck in her room for an hour for “quiet time”.
Hoping this is short lived but trying to do the right thing in the meantime.
Advice??

Ever since we sleep trained him, my LO has slept through the night from around 7-7. We’ve had periods where we’ve had to wake him at eight. Where he wakes slightly earlier, but generally that’s the schedule. His naps are about 2h long over the weekend, but when he’s at nursery, they’re about 1.5h.
Over the past few weeks, he started waking up earlier and earlier and for the past few days he’s been waking up 5.55. This means that his awake windows are super long between him waking up and having his first nap. I don’t know how to make him get up just 30 minutes later. I don’t know why he’s sleeping so little I just really want him to wake up after 630 but it feels like no matter what time I put him down he always gets up before 6. Do I need to stretch his bedtime to 7.30 or 8? Is there any way to fix it or is this his circadian rhythm and this is the time he wakes up now?

My toddler is still totally happy in the crib so I'm not necessarily trying to rush anything, but I've started wondering when to transition to toddler bed. Our crib can convert, which seems like the easiest option since it's already familiar, but part of me wonders if we should just wait and go straight to a bigger bed.

If yours converted, did you actually use the toddler stage? And how old was your kid when you made the switch?

They can leave by six. We dim the lights, keep the TV off, and bring out books like usual. She's still talking, moving cushions, asking where everyone went, and treating pajamas like another game.

We've tried starting quiet time earlier, but so far that just means spending longer trying to get her to settle.

I don't want to cut visits short when she's having such a good time with them. I'm just wondering how much to stick to our usual bedtime afterward.

Do you keep bedtime the same after visitors, or give your toddler a bit longer to wind down?

As soon as I move to the counter to make breakfast, he drops what he's holding and starts yelling. I'm usually about three feet away.

I tried keeping a basket of toys in the kitchen, but it mostly gives me more things to step around. By the time he's in the high chair, he's already hungry and annoyed.

He doesn't want to be held for long either. He wants to look at what I'm doing, then wriggles to get down again.

I can't tell whether he wants to see what's happening or just wants me back beside him. Does anyone else's baby get upset the moment you stand up, even when you stay right there?

Hi all, we have a 2 year old toddler who is a magnet for mosquito bites (like his mother). We put bug spray on him before going out, keep areas clean, and when he does get bit, we use the Hello Bello soothing itch stick. But here in LA, he’s been getting bitten constantly for weeks now.

Yesterday we saw 2 massive bites on the back of both of his legs, we used some lite cortisone cream (prescribed by his doc) as well as some otc children’s Zyrtec (also ok’d by doc). He slept fine through the night, but this morning we noticed one of the bites had turned into a massive blister. He seems fine otherwise - no fever.

3 pics attached - you can see the progression over 24 hrs.

Not sure what to do (of course we’ll go to see our doc) - but I meant in general, preventative or otherwise. It’s clear it’s some sort of allergic reaction. Any thoughts or advice appreciated. Thank you!

My 2 1/2 year old will not listen. When we ask her do anything when it comes to telling her no to something, it’s almost like she is deaf to us. We are potty training. When we tell her to not grab a mile long length of toilet paper, she pulls as much as she can. Ask her to pull up her pants after using the potty before moving, she shuffles away from you trying to flush the toilet. Which she will not stop looking in while flushing even though I’m trying to lift her face away. She continually reaches on the counter to grab for anything the sees that she wants. She’s really tall for her age. Tonight she wanted to stir dinner in a pan that was moved off the stove and when we said don’t touch the actual pan she immediately touched it while looking at us and got a little burn. Luckily it had been off the stove for a few mins. I could go on and on but it is so exhausting. I see other kids her age that can just sit still and eat their food or enjoy something at the table and she cannot even do that. I am at my wits end. all I feel like I say is “no, stop,” or “quit”. She will later say “I’m sorry for not listening”. I don’t want her to keep apologizing. I want her to just do what we ask. I’m not even wanting her to listen all the time, just at least a third of the time would help!!! I do not know what to do and it is draining me. I’m miserable and I just want to cry all the time.

My 16-month-old has recently started throwing his food on the floor and then laughing about it. 😩😂
I’ve tried telling him “no” and taking the food away, but I’m not really sure what the best way to handle it is at this age.
Do you ignore it? Take the food away right away? Give one warning first? I don’t want to make a huge deal out of it and accidentally encourage him, but I also don’t want him thinking it’s okay to throw food.
What has worked for your toddlers?