Children and screens 🤯

My 3yo is strictly a TV kid, he hasn't ever used a tablet or ipad, phone etc.

We let him have TV but only certain programs, however we don't restrict when he has access to it unless it's mealtimes or near bedtime.

That being said, he actually has very little interest in the TV, only watches a program for 5 minutes, he'd rather play with his toys. He loves toys from TV shows, for example he has all the Paw Patrol figurines, but he's only actually watched a handful of episodes.

We were cuddling and I was showing him photos on my phone from a day out we had the other weekend, which then ended up us looking through all my photos. I let him hold the phone and scroll through them himself and when I tried to take it off him he had the biggest tantrum I've ever seen him have.

He then kept trying to snatch my phone off me which is so unlike him, its like he turned into a different child.

I'm hoping it's just because it was a new thing and not because it was a screen necessarily, but it's definitely made me feel better about my decision to limit his screentime overall. I've given him new things in the past that I've taken away and he's never reacted that way.

How does your child react to screens? I'm curious if you limit your children's screentime, do they act differently when they have access to it?

in our community

Heartbroken

I broke my arm last night. I discharged myself, but they gave me ketemine so I can’t breast feed for 12 hours. And then in the next day or so they said I’ll need surgery which I’m not allowed to feed for 24-48 hours after 😭
I’m so heartbroken. When I came home early morning at 2 my son woke up at 3.. he keeps teaching for me and wanting a feed. This is the wurst feeling ever.i feel like I’m letting him down.

Nursery - when do you start looking?

Hey everyone,

I am super early at 5+1 and live in Bristol and a few people have mentioned nurseries and to basically start booking your place the second you find out you’re pregnant.. is this true? Has anyone started sorting out their nursery place? People have said there are no spaces and I don’t know if it’s a Bristol thing or a UK thing. I’m self employed and have no idea how this is going to work as don’t know how much time I’m going to have off as it’s depends on how much I can save between now and march?

Any advice would be greatly appreciated

Thank you x

Potty training tips

I’ve started potty training my 18 month old. I know it’s early, but I figured that being a SAHM meant I could give her the consistency that it needed, on top of also seeing all the signs. At first, I found it really hard and stressful because I was trying to do all of the “quick” potty training methods, which I guess are great for people with a deadline or time limit.

But I’ve now decided to go down a more relaxed route, so she’s wearing pull ups rather than underwear/naked and I only put her on the potty if she says yes when I ask her, and I (try to) only ask her if she’s due or if I see a cue. It’s going pretty well! She stays dry during outings and over her 2 hour nap, and will have 1-3 toilets in the potty a day.

The thing we’re working on at the moment is - sometimes when I ask her if she needs a wee, we sit on the potty and she doesn’t go (but then goes a couple of minutes after getting up) or we go to sit on the potty and I realise she’s literally just had a wee. So she seems to understand the connection between the question and what her body needs/is doing/has done.

So now I’m looking for tips on how to develop/progress on the skills she has. Has anyone got any weird tricks that helped their kid to wee when they knew they needed to? We’ve only been going for a week, so I appreciate that time is also something that might help her with this!

Marriage advice..

Hey ladies 👋 I’m trying to get some advice or tell me what you would do if you were in my situation. So I’m a stay at home mom, my husband works 5am-3pm. I have 6 month old and 8yr old boys who I care for all day, on top of doing 99% of household chores. I’m responsible for 100% of bedtime routines, I make the appointments, I do the laundry, dishes, tidy everything up every single day. My husband gets home from work and either naps or sits on the couch and watches TV. Sometimes he cooks dinner which is nice, and takes out the trash if I bug him enough. That’s it. He doesn’t EVER take the baby to give me a break unless I basically beg for it, and even then it’s like 10-20 minutes max. I’m raising these kids alone other than him providing income.
I’ve tried to tell him that I need him to meet me half way, I need help running the household, I’m not supposed to be raising this baby alone. I even specifically told him “I want you to come home and WANT to spend time with your kids and me”. He then does the dishes or vacuums or something of the sort for a day or two and then back to nothing. I’m so over this 🥲 I’m exhausted.

10 month old with hand, foot & mouth

Just wondering if anyone’s baby who is on solids now has hand foot and mouth?? We were doing so well with solids and now she has hand foot and mouth, I think she must have blisters in her mouth as she will only eat yogurt. I’m hoping we won’t go back to the beginning of weaning! I’ve tried making purées of very bland veg etc and giving it to her heaped with yogurt but she’s just not having it 😞. It took so long to get where we were pre HF&M…

HELP! In desperate need of advice!

I’m gonna try to be brief. I have been married for 4 years and the last two have been horribly difficult. We have many different problems, but the main one is that he has a big anger issue and is often very verbally aggressive and verbally abusive. It has never become physical, but he always gets extremely loud and throws things on walls or glass doors sometimes, and I do get scared. I’ve never had a relationship like this before, my mental health is deteriorated and I am truly traumatized at this point. I have no doubt that I absolutely need to separate from him, I’ve been wanting that for a while. However, we have two small children together - a toddler and a 6 month old baby (!!!) and I am terrified of the idea of not having them full time and not seeing them every day. I’ve been a SAHM and financially supported by him, I have no money. To make things even harder, my entire family is abroad in another country. I’m desperate and don’t know what to do… he would definitely want the babies half of the time with him and I can’t even stand the thought of not having them live with me full time. I don’t have money to hire a lawyer or rent a place. I need help and advice.

Thank you SO MUCH in advance.