Tips on Toddlers

Entertaining your toddler.

2009-05-11T13:04:00.002+10:00

Here are some of the many things that I do to keep my toddler out of 'trouble'

Now, of course we can't always spend 24/7 with our children, but I like to spend as much time with them as possible. What you do with your child will also depend on their gender what things they are interested in but there are so many activities available for all genres.

Outdoor Activities

My daughter loves to play outside. So we have a swing set, trampoline and a rocking slug. We also have digging tools (like you would take to the beach) and I allow some of her toys outside to help her enjoy her play.

Another activity is playing dolls. We put 'baby' to bed, nurse her, feed her, rock her to sleep. Push her around in the pram. With certain dolls I will allow this to go on outside as the pram we have is all plastic and easily cleaned.

We also play tiggy. This is a fun and energetic activity that helps promote exercise even at a young age.

On warmer days, I get a big plastic mixing bowl, or used ice cream container and fill it with water. Kids love water, and with something so small there is less chance of drowning for younger children. We play with cups and spoons, make cups of tea, even mud pies. This helps to develop creative imaginations skills in children which helps build their brain activity.

Indoor Activities

If the weather is not so nice, playing inside might be a better option.

Some of the things you can do is play with dolls, as mentioned above.
Have tea parties. Kids love this and it is great close interaction with your child. I know my daughter loves to have a 'cup of tea' with mummy.

We have a play kitchen where she can pretend to cook dinner and feed it to me. This is also another great activity for imagination.

Reading a book is a big hit. Kids love the colours, pictures and the interaction with mum/dad. This helps children build listening skills, recognise colours, shapes, animals, anything that is within the book. Also letting your child turn the pages will help to build co-ordination skills.

Hide-and-seek. This is a fun game and the kids love it. As long as you are hiding in a reasonably easy place your child will love finding you, following your sounds.

Wooden puzzles are another great hit. They are fun, bright, colourful and a great thing to help your child learn hand-eye co-ordination, problem solving skills, identifying shapes and pictures.

These are just some of the activities that we do at home. There are many more and I will continue to add more at a later date.
Thank you for reading and I hope I have given you some ideas.

The importance of routines for toddlers

2009-05-06T22:25:00.002+10:00

I am a firm believer of routines for babies and toddlers. Without a routine I think my home life would be a disaster.

For me the most important thing is to make sure my kids go to bed at the same time every night. I know how much sleep they need, and know what they are like if they don't get what they require. There would be many many tantrums that's for sure.

Another thing is to make sure they eat around about the same time every day. So breakfast, lunch and dinner should all be around the same time each day. I know it is hard sometimes, whether it is due to shopping, visitors and an emergency, but a majority of the time is best.

For my toddler at the moment her lunch time will vary and depend on how long she sleeps for but she knows that when she wakes from her sleep, she'll get lunch.

With a routine in place it helps your child to know and expect certain things at certain times. It is easier for them to cope throughout the day if they have an understanding of what is going to happen next. Without a fit routine, your child may be more grumpier, more unsettled, less likely to go to sleep when they really need it, etc. Basically your children will be a lot happier with a firm but easy routine in place.

Just for a quick example, I will give you a run down of a normal day in my household.

7am - Wake up, get 7yo up and getting ready for school
7:30 - Toddler wakes up, plays for about 15mins then breakfast with 7yo.
8am - Gets dressed, hair done then play time for 20mins while I get the baby fed and dressed.
8:40 - Leave to take 7yo to school. Go for our morning walk, visit Mama. At Mama's morning tea is usually given.
10:30/11 - Home and play for half an hour, have a snack before bed.
11:30/12 - Bed time. Sleep for approx 1.5-2 hrs. Get up and have lunch. It may seem like she is having lunch a little late, but she won't eat it before her sleep, she eats more after she wakes up. Then its play time with mummy until its time to get 7yo from school at 3:15pm.
3:45 - Get home, have a snack and play (usually with big sister)
5:30/6 - Dinner time, then about a 15 minute play then its bath time.
7:30pm - BED TIME!!!!!

This routine may not be idea for everyone else but it is what works for me. There is always 1 day a week where the morning/lunch part of the routine gets thrown out the window as it is shopping day, but everything else is the same. The biggest thing I have found with shopping days is the my toddler is a lot more tired and crankier/unsettled. I definitely believe this is due to the fact that our routine isn't the normal one so she doesn't know what to expect next.

Routines aren't just important for when the children are smaller either. Even with my 7yo I have found she copes a lot easier if she knows what to expect.

Anyhow, this is just a basic understanding of why we should all have routines, whether you choose to or not is totally up to you.

Thanks for reading.

20 ways to praise your toddler

2009-05-05T22:44:00.004+10:00

These are some of the many ways to praise your children when you see your child behaving in an appropriate manner.

Praise is very important for many reasons. For myself I know it helps to build confidence in your child, help build happy parent/child relationships. It lets your child know you care and that you are interested in what they have to do and say.
They say when it comes to discipline it should be 80% praise, 20% discipline. The way I believe this works is because if your child misbehaves a great deal, and you give them attention, they are going to continue to do so, if you pay less attention to the 'naughty' behaviour but praise immensely for good behaviour they are going to know that when they are good, mummy/daddy are going to be nice and not growl.

Some of my top 20 Praise Phrases are:

Well done
Good job
I love your work
Brilliant
Excellent
Giving a hug and a kiss
Awesome
Can you show me how you did such a great job?
I'm proud of you!!
High Five!!
Thank you for caring
Thank you for sharing
You played very nicely today
I love it when you .................. (action words of toddlers achievement)
Beautiful work!!
You are so clever!!
Thank you for helping me
You're a top kid!!
WOW, Look at that!!
I love what you have done!!

You may think that toddlers that are younger may not be able to understand these praise phrases but I am sure they understand a lot more than we think at times, and, if they are said with the right tone of voice and a happy face, the kids are going to know that you are pleased with them.

thanks for reading and I hope I have helped.

Comforting hurt or upset toddlers

2009-05-04T21:35:00.001+10:00

There are many many ways to comfort a toddler.

My first and foremost is to give them a HUG. I know I love a hug, so to give one to someone else is just as comforting. This also tells the child that you are them for them whenever they need you and that you love them.

If you toddler seems scared, always try and give them their comfort/security thing. This may be a blanket, toy, dummy etc.

Always talk to your child. Let them know what you are doing. If they are hurt and need a band-aid, tell them you are going to get them one. If you need to go move a toy on the ground explain to them what and why you are doing it. Quite often a child will want to be with you for some time after they have been crying or hurt so explaining why you have to move away from them for a minute is comforting for them. But ALWAYS let them know you are coming back.

Distraction can work too. For example if your toddler has hurt themselves, and whenever they look at their sore they cry, try to distract them as I mentioned in my Tips on Toddler Tantrums post.

Go for a walk. It is a nice way to clear your head and keep your child entertained as well. There are so many things for them to look at while they are sitting in their pram. This is also another way opportunity for you to talk with your child and explain things of the world, even if it seems that they sometimes don't understand.

Thanks for reading and I hope I have helped you somewhat.

Tips on Toddler Tantrums

2009-05-04T21:04:00.002+10:00

Well here I am, offering my own personal experience on toddlers.

I am no profession but I am real. I use my own methods when they work and ask for help when they don't. So here I go with helping you with toddler tantrums.

So you know a bit about me, I am mum of 3 children. A 7yo and 20month old daughters, and a 6 month old son. My 7yo is ADD and very much a handful and had many many toddler tantrums, and my 20month, well, I'm sure you can all guess what her tantrums are like, lol. My 20month has had constant ear infections since she was 5 months old, so has a touch of hearing loss and is off to get grommets within the coming months.

Though talking to friends and professionals I have found that there are many different ways of dealing with toddler tantrums.

Toddlers are constantly needing and wanting your attention and are very full on. If they can't get what they want, then this is when you will know about it.

Some of the things that I have used to calm down my children are:

Ignoring - I know this may seem wrong, but children are after attention, if you give them more attention when they are misbehaving then they are going to continue to misbehave as they get more out of you, therefore more tantrums. If you ignore the behaviour of your child they are less likely to continue as they aren't getting what they wanted. Don't forget to praise your children whenever they are being well bahaved.

Breathing - Sometimes with children it can help to get down to their level and get them to copy your breathing patterns. This not only calms them down, it also distracts them from what they were throwing a tantrum about.

Timeout - From about 18 months old it is considered okay to put your child in time out. I tried this for a short period with my current toddler. When I had our son, she was very jealous. She used to constantly bite and pinch me as she didn't have my constant attention anymore. I always made sure I gave her as much attention as I could. If I was feeding the baby, I would have her sit beside me and read a book with her too so she felt wanted, but, if this didn't work, which sometimes didn't and I was getting covered in bite marks, I would place her in her cot for an amount of time (usually 2 minutes) and tell her that it is naughty to bite mummy and that it hurt. The cot is safest for a toddler as there is nothing they can really hurt themselves on and also they don't really understand the meaning of don't move at 18months old so they can't get out either.

Distraction - I found distraction the best way to end most tantrums with my children. I never gave into them and gave them what they were throwing their tantrum over, but I would try to show them a toy or book and look really interested in it to make them realise that mummy is enjoying that toy so they will too. Or I would go outside and start playing with some of their toys out there. One thing to remember though is that once you have distracted them, don't walk away straight away, show them that you are interested in them and what they are doing.

Smacking is not something I use with my children, I don't believe it is right as they grow up being taught that it is not okay to smack others, so it would be confusing for them if we did it to them.

Thank you for reading and I hope it has helped.