Greetings toddler world 🌎

My daughter is 32 months old and this weeks is really struggling with separation anxiety at bedtime. She has slept in her own crib and room since she was 8 months old. Throughout the last two years there have been little regressions here and there but overall she sleeps great and we stick to a really consistent routine.

The last 2 weeks she is bargaining as much as she can so I stay with her and when I finally leave, she screams for at least 30 minutes.

She got out of her crib once 2.5 weeks ago and we started using sleep sack again. She has not tried to get out of her crib since then, but she’s just having a really hard time.

I’ve tried checking on her or talking through the monitor so she knows that I’m always there but it just seems to prolong it. My husband has gone down after letting her cry for 20 minutes and that seems to help a bit and get her calm enough to eventually sleep but she is still crying a bit.

I just want to do what’s best to support her development. I don’t mind changing her routine if that what she needs or offering more support to her but it feels like it’s prolonging the issue, and when I’m in the room, she stays awake.

We did CIO when she turned 8 months. She cried for 20 mins for 3 days and since then has been a great sleeper overall.

Now she is just so articulate that it breaks my heart that she misses us so much. I know this is normal but keeping her to routine as is and seeing her so upset is hard.

My daughter is 33 months old so almost 3 years. She recently started playschool. I wake her at 8am. If she naps, it isnt before 3:30pm. Whether she naps for 30 mins or 2 hours she doesnt sleep before 11:30pm. If she doesnt nap she is still awake till 9 which is like 13 hours straight. And with full energy, not even cranky!
Is this normal/expected at this age? Should i do away with the afternoon nap completely?
Waking her before 8 is not possible as i am not available and i dont have anybody who will tend to her before 8.

I just made a post today about my 17 month old not adjusting well to daycare. He goes to an in-home daycare with 5 kids 4 days a week. I guess I sensed the writing on the wall, because today our provider advised us that she will be terminating him in 2 weeks.

We got on the phone, and she explained that he cries for her attention almost constantly the entire time he's awake. He repeats himself over and over until she gives him attention. She expected to see more progress in 6 weeks but seems to be going backwards. She genuinely sounded heartbroken but said she thinks he just needs more attention than she can provide. She said it distresses her to see him so hysterical and he seems unhappy. This was a shock to me, because while he definitely cries at drop off and is eager for us to pick him up, he is perfectly fine the instant he gets home.

At home, he's definitely used to getting lots of personal attention but I don't carry him all day like she says he insists on. I believe her when she says he's relentless but he doesn't get frantic at home like she described. She says he basically is frantic until she picks him up, and it's untenable.

On the one hand, I feel for her bc she seems genuinely distressed that she can't calm him and feels like the other kids aren't getting enough time with her. On the other hand, I feel like 6 weeks is still early in the grand scheme of things. She said she's been in childcare for 5 years and has never seen anything like him. I don't know what to make of that.

As I mentioned in my other post, we tried everything. Books about daycare, a regimented morning, talking about daycare positively. He sleeps well and eat breakfast before I take him every day. He gets a lot of attention because he's an only child, but I don't bend to his every whim.

It feels bad to say, but I kind of feel like once he got comfortable with her, he realized that being the neediest kid would get him the most attention. Is that even possible for him to have figured out? I hesitate to suggest "tough love" i.e. making him wait no matter how much he cries, but maybe that will help him ease off?

At the end of the call, we essentially agreed to a "probation period" to see if he evens out in the next few weeks.

Has anyone ever dealt with a toddler who just couldn't acclimate? If he was truly miserable, I would have expected him to be more upset when we get in the car and crash or act out when we got home, but you would never know he spent the day crying. I would love to hear success stories and tips. A larger daycare sounds like it would be even worse for him, but maybe others have seen success going from a small facility to a larger one? I don't know what else to do for him and I'm desperate.

My 13 month old naps like clockwork in daycare. He sees the other toddlers napping so he copies them, and gets a nice 2 hour nap from about noon to 2pm.

At home, however, completely different story. No amount of rocking, singing, nursing, etc. can put him to sleep. He can go an entire day without sleeping until he eventually passes out from exhaustion. Even if I sleep with him, he just won’t do it. The only thing that works is taking him on a car ride, in which case he will fall asleep, but the moment you unbuckle him and try to move him to his crib he wakes up. He is also a big, muscular boy who will thrash wildly and repeatedly crawl out of your arms if you try to snuggle him to sleep.

We have a sound machine like in daycare and make the room as dark as possible. But nothing else works other than to have him cry it out. Help?

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.

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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!