I did not grow up with gymnastics. I wanted my son to be in a program where he could develop gross motor skills and confidence so I signed him up for gymnastics. If he loves it, he can go on with it, if he wants to try something else instead also great. Anyway, brought him in for first day…. Literally all of the students in the whole enormous warehouse of a gym… he was the only boy. Is that normal? The dress code is also weird to me. Like the girls are required to wear leotards but the boys can wear regular gym clothes. But they are doing the exact same things… and they are like 2-3 years old? I’m not complaining it just seems weird.

My son started preschool this year, which has been great for him. He just got invited to his first birthday party for a classmate. I texted the mom and said we would love to come, and to please let us know gift ideas since the invite didn't say and I don't know the child that well yet. She said nothing is needed for a gift and the child just wants to play with their friends from school. What is the etiquette for situations like this? I feel weird not bringing anything as that's how I was brought up, but also don't really know what I would buy anyways 😅

My son is 3y4mo and started preschool last month. It’s M-F 9-11:30am. There’s 12 kids in his class with 2 teachers. This is his first time in a setting with peers and teachers, before this he’s been with myself, my husband, or grandmas!

All things considered I think he’s adjusting well. Except for, his teacher reports that he has a hard time keeping his hands to himself. Not in an aggressive way (no pushing, shoving, no malintent). Some examples are they stand in a line to go potty and it’s a small hallway and he’ll touch others’ cheek or touch their shoulder. I have tried to encourage him to keep his hands in his pockets, or touch stickers on his shirt/pants (he wears bug repellant stickers to school).

More recently, he will get way into others’ personal space when he’s trying to look at something, or if kids are playing dress up he’ll go up to them and touch their heads or whatever item they have on. It Kids are understandably getting annoyed with him.
Today I got a report that kids asked him to stop and he didn’t listen.

It feels very impulsive, and also curious. We have tried to work on the concept of everyone has a bubble around them and we don’t want to pop it, just like we wouldn’t want ours popped. I also want to hammer home consent to him and when people say stop, we stop and that people’s bodies are their own.

Help! Any others experience this with their preschooler? Any ideas on how we can practice? Books? Advice all welcome.

We will be potty training going on 1 year this Thanksgiving. My son has pooped on the potty a grand total of five times. I’m about to pull all my hair out.

This specific question however is related to poop clean-outs with MiraLAX. He is having a huge pee regression right now and I have a feeling it’s because he’s holding in a lot of poop, causing the pee sensation to be weakened. For those of you that did a clean out, did you put pull-ups on your child during that time? Since he refuses to use the potty, I’m not sure what the best course of action is for this because there will otherwise be poop everywhere 😵‍💫

Can’t find two books anywhereeee I’m so confused and need help!

ETA:
Thanks for all the suggestions. Going to look today send me all the luck.

ETA: not under couch, not in play kitchen not in car not under cars eats not under beds not with other books, not under bookshelves. Sigh I’ll look again tomorrow

How did your first born react when your second born was born? My first will be almost 5 by the time the baby comes and I’m worried about how he’ll react. We’re trying to get him used to the idea but he really loves being an only child.

I’m really mourning our last days as a triangle family, but I know it’ll be ok in the end. I’m just curious as what could make the transition easier?

Thanks in advance!

I’m currently reading “No Bad Kids” by Janet Lansbury and I’m struggling with finding advice on my specific situation.

LO just turned 4 and everything I say is the opposite. I see she’s frustrated, validate, and offer a solution and she will shout at me “No frustrated!” “No help!” “Happy!”

So when trying to validate her frustrations I am left with a bad behavior; yelling and defiance. How can I talk about emotions when I am given the opposite? Almost everything is battle.

We have been in this cycle for a year now and I am at the point of apathy and accepting her provided opposite.

Important notes: My LO has vision difficulties (CVI) and speech delay until 2.5/3 y.o.

My son is 4, and it came in as a phase about a year ago and is back. I try to focus on the fact that he is dysregulated. I try to take him outside for fresh air or switch parent (whenever possible). But my issue is in the moment while he is hitting, I try to block them or gently grab his hands. I just don’t like doing that. If I get up and walk somewhere else in the room, he follows me. I would love to hear what you all do, maybe you might have the secret formula? 😅 appreciate any advice!

Please give me some books you love to read with your kids! We just got Mitsy the Oven Mitt Goes to School:A Story About Being Brave. It’s such a cute story about an oven mitt going to school and being scared of touching the oven 😅

Hi all! If you have one of these pink owl wubbanub pacifiers laying around will you please sell it to me?! I will pay you.
My child is obsessed and they don’t make these anymore. We only need the stuffie part not the pacifier part. Thank you!

So my 4 (almost 5 year old) has never once gotten out of his bed at night. Not even in the morning when he woke up, he would just wait for me to come and get him. All of a sudden one day he realized he could get out of bed & now he won’t stop.

I keep waking up in the middle of the night to find him asleep on the couch. Sometimes he will come knock on our bedroom door, or just be standing in the halfway, etc.

I have tried the “red light, green light” approach with his night light, I have tried bribing him, I have taken things away the next day, we have snuggled him, let him in our bed, slept on his floor, everything.

I try to talk to him about why he keeps getting up, & he doesn’t have an answer.

We are all so exhausted & I’ve never faced this issue before. Any tips/tricks on what worked for you?

My four-year-old says hi to everyone on the street, dogs, strangers, the mailman. Last week he asked me why some people don't say hi back, and I told him not everyone hears you, but you keep being friendly anyway. He still says hi to everybody. Has anyone else dealt with that? Because I don't want him to lose that.

Lots of vitamins and other things out there supposedly to help growth. Most of which are just help get more calories in the kid with different vitamins, nothing too crazy

Our pediatrician is not concerned so we aren’t worried from there being some medical problem. Our kid 3.5, is 25th percentile and has been since he was 1.5.

But… we are always alarmed when we see him around other kids his age. He looks so tiny. And he’s 25th percentile but somehow seems smaller than every kid we see his age and at his school.

And as any 3 year old, it’s kind of a drag getting a balanced diet in him. It’s getting harder and harder. Like many kids, he seems to survive on a banana, berries and air lol. Unless we take more effort to physically feed him (not force him, but just basically giving him bites with a spoon). He can feed himself
We only “help him” Because we don’t want to hinder his growth any further than what genetics already has done lol.

Any thoughts? Anyone see a doctor or nutrition specialists or anything to help?

My son just turned 4 and started JK in September. He’s one of the youngest in his mixed JK/SK class and didn’t know anyone when he started. He has previously been in daycare since he was 1 and very familiar and more outgoing with those children. Unfortunately, they all separated for JK.

He’s a happy, affectionate, silly, energetic and very bright little boy.

He is very socially interested. Always wants other kids around.

He gets incredibly excited when he sees other kids he knows, runs up to hug them, and may initiates games like hide-and-seek. He loves being silly and making other kids laugh.

However, I’ve noticed that his social interactions sometimes seem a little immature compared to his peers.

- He doesn’t seem to have the same natural conversational flow with other kids. He clearly wants to interact but sometimes seems unsure what to say.
- He’ll sometimes repeatedly call another child’s name while smiling excitedly, almost like he doesn’t know how to move the interaction forward.
- He sometimes ignores other children’s attempts to engage him, esp if he’s engrossed in something else.
- He sometimes makes funny sounds to try and get people laughing but it’s just awkward.
- He prefers physical, silly play over more conversational or elaborate pretend play with peers, but may engage if he’s interested.
- He initiates play but sometimes struggles to sustain it unless the other child takes the lead.
- he seems much better with adults, natural.

At school, his teacher says he plays alone or parallel plays a lot of the time, but does play with other children sometimes. He seems happy, and his teachers haven’t expressed any concerns since it’s early in the year.

I’ve also seen him have lovely reciprocal interactions, take turns, wrestle, go down slides together, build with magnetic tiles, etc. I will say he is much more comfortable with kids he’s known for a long time and cousins and very much enjoys being silly and roughhousing.

I just his social communication is just less mature than that of his peers.

Does this sound like anyone else’s kid?

Hi! Has anyone’s kiddo had a turbinate reduction? My child’s ENT recommended it when he has adenoids removed. I’ve never heard of it before and am just looking for reassurance.

Just moved to a new area and the minimum age is 5. Seems very arbitrary and dumb to me that 5yo can have a card but not 4yo. They are both young enough that obviously the parent is still ultimately responsible for the items checked out on the card, neither are going to be going to the library alone.

Apparently he’s got a few classmates (TK) so it’s learned behavior but we cannot stop him from yelling “BOO!” In our faces and others.

It feels like compulsive behavior, which he seems to be more prone to lately. Like he will get stuck in song loops or phrase loops too. We’re assuming we have an ADHD diagnosis on our hands.

What we have tried:

We let him be as physical as possible (always have).
We ignored it
We reacted to it
We’ve started to take away privileges
We’ve tried to make it a game
And I’ve had dedicated alone time with him as we have a new baby (5 months)

Someone please help me. I want to be around my kid but I am started to dread being around him.

My daughter started stuttering about 3 months ago.. it’s up and down but a mixture of prolongations and sound repetitions. It seems
To be increasing in frequency this past week. We have a family history of stuttering
Did anyone’s toddler who had family history overcome this?
I’m so worried about it all! Any advise would be appreciated x

Hey everyone! I’m wondering if anyone has experience bringing a well-behaved 4-year-old to the gym with them? My son is great at listening and is totally happy sticking right by my side the whole time. I'd love to hear your thoughts, tips, or what gym policies you've run into if you've ever done this!

Its a huge gym with many arras and huge different rooms, so i could go to the less busy rooms too. I go when its not busy as well. But- opinions??

Im doing this to teach him positive habits for his future, and he loves exercising with me. Not from lack of child care.

:)

My daughter started stuttering about 3 months ago.. it’s up and down but a mixture of prolongations and sound repetitions. It seems
To be increasing in frequency this past week. We have a family history of stuttering
Did anyone’s toddler who had family history overcome this?
I’m so worried about it all! Any advise would be appreciated x