Age specific questions from about 1 year to about 3 years. Younger: infant. Older: pre-schooler.
61
votes
16answers
4k views
How can you deal with tantrums without spanking?
My son just turned 2, and he started throwing more tantrums on us.
He doesn't eat well or drink enough milk ... and he is becoming more adamant and says "No" more often. If we force him to drink ...
50
votes
12answers
3k views
Should you let a toddler win?
We've started playing some simple games with my 2-year-old son, including a simple age-appropriate matching game.
He enjoys playing, but seems (to me, at least) more focused on playing over winning. ...
31
votes
11answers
4k views
What is a positive way to handle a boy who acts like a girl?
My 3yo regularly plays and acts like a girl. For example, he likes to take his arm out of one sleeve on his shirt and pretend he's a princess. He loves to dress up in his mom and sister's clothes. He ...
29
votes
28answers
5k views
How can I brush my toddlers' teeth when he won't let me?
My toddler doesn't like to get his teeth brushed. How do I get him to be more cooperative?
He knows it's part of the bedtime routine and doesn't try to avoid it. He will happily grab and hold out his ...
29
votes
9answers
2k views
How do you respond to a toddler who endlessly says “why?”?
My wife and I had joked about expecting endless "why?" questions from our son while we were expecting, and I thought I was prepared for it.
In fact, I thought the stereotypical constant flow of "why? ...
25
votes
9answers
677 views
Reasoning vs “because I say so”
Raising our two-year-old, my wife and I have slightly different views on how to get our child to obey instructions, such as "get in the car seat" and "put on your shirt."
One of us feels that it is ...
24
votes
17answers
2k views
What are some do's and dont's for an effective bedtime ritual?
I think most parents agree that it's helpful to follow some fixed ritual when putting a child to bed.
What elements in such rituals are particularly useful, and what should be avoided?
There are ...
24
votes
8answers
10k views
Why does my infant wake crying the instant we put him in his bed?
This is probably a classic but here goes. Some time between midnight and three my 9 month old will wake crying. Often he is hungry or has gas and can be fairly easily consoled and falls asleep in our ...
21
votes
9answers
3k views
How can I stop my two year old from taking off his diaper in bed?
Recently, my two-year-old son has been taking off his diaper at nap time. It's usually full and dirty and makes a big mess. He has managed to do it while wearing all types of pants (even overalls). ...
20
votes
7answers
3k views
How do you teach a toddler rhythm and melody?
My 1 year old daughter loves all kinds of music and rhythm. She dances and "plays" enthusiastically on both guitars, the piano and her toy glockenspiel. This has, since she was just four month, always ...
19
votes
8answers
983 views
Why do kids always do things which we tell them NOT to do?
This is the kind of behaviour which I have seen in lot of kids including mine (2 year old).
When I tell him NOT to hold a knife, he will make sure he does it. If I tell him not to spill milk on the ...
18
votes
13answers
1k views
How do my wife and I stop our son from learning to swear from us?
My wife and I both tend to have... colorful language (for me it tends to be far worse when driving). Our son just turned one, and is starting to become more verbal. He's not quite at the point where ...
18
votes
3answers
266 views
Is it reasonable/common for a daycare to show TV shows during the day?
My son is 18-months-old and he is in a daycare room with kids 16-months to 2.5 years. Most days when I pick him up they are watching TV. The shows range from somewhat educational (Dora, Sesame St.) ...
18
votes
12answers
1k views
What are some tips for making an international flight with a toddler?
We're traveling from SF to Paris (direct) with our 20-month old soon. What are tips for surviving the flight and not having everyone hate us?
17
votes
8answers
486 views
How do we teach a pre-schooler about money and shopping?
When I go to a store with my four year old son he wants to buy a lot of stuff he sees. Also he constantly claims that he needs a new toy. How do I explain to him that we can't buy everything we want?
17
votes
3answers
4k views
How do you potty train for overnight?
My three year old is well on her way to being potty trained. She rarely has any accidents, , at least during the day. My wife and I put her in pull ups to sleep at night.
My question is, whats the ...
17
votes
5answers
779 views
How do you handle unsupervised, poorly behaved children in public play areas?
This is closely related to this question. However, that primarily deals with interactions at relatively controlled, private functions. This question is more focused on the feeding-frenzy style chaos ...
16
votes
5answers
3k views
How can I potty train a 12 month old?
I want to potty train much earlier than is common, when my son is 12 to 14 months old. What's the best way to go about it?
16
votes
8answers
778 views
Which breeds of dog are safe to have around a toddler?
Which breeds of dog are safe to have around when raising a small child?
16
votes
4answers
11k views
What should I be teaching my two year old?
My two year old daughter has never been to a daycare, so everything she knows is something that me, my husband, or her grandparents have taught her. She sees very little interaction with other kids ...
15
votes
7answers
736 views
How can I negotiate with a toddler successfully?
Recently our 2.5 daughter started being really annoying about doing simple daily things, like brushing her teeth, dressing, undressing, putting on shoes to go out, etc. Often we need to negotiate up ...
15
votes
9answers
18k views
How do you know when it is time to take a child to the Doctor?
Our children have recently been sick and I am wondering when is the right time to take them to the doctor. They both have had runny noses with coughs, diarrhea, and fevers off and on for a week, ...
15
votes
9answers
4k views
How can I stop my toddler from playing with electrical outlets and plugs?
My 2.5-year-old son has this weird fascination with electrical outlets and power bars. I tried telling him that it's dangerous (he understand and can identify dangerous objects and situations, and ...
15
votes
8answers
2k views
How can I get my son to stay in bed at bedtime?
Lately my 4.5 year old son has started getting back up after bed time.
Frequently we will go through the entire bedtime ritual, including a bath, pajamas, brushing teeth, books, and then being tucked ...
15
votes
8answers
506 views
What do we do when timeouts are not effective?
We have a three year old toddler, and he has just seemed to realize that timeouts are nothing more than him sitting in a corner for a few minutes. He has recently started doing a whole suite of bad ...
15
votes
4answers
446 views
How can I tell parents of a 1-year-old that they're doing it wrong?
Without getting into the circumstances, my wife's step sister and her husband are living with us while he's between orders with the US army. She's 28 and he's 42.
While they're living with us, it's ...
15
votes
5answers
2k views
At what age can/should a child be able to clean themselves after bowel movements?
How can parents find the right time to encourage a child to clean itself after bowel movements?
Our son is nearly 4 years old and it is still difficult for him to get to the toilet early enough (see ...
15
votes
5answers
1k views
How can a young child be taught not to bully?
How can an 18 month old be taught that bullying is not ok? He seems to like causing the trouble it brings upon him, and bullying, mean acts also seem to please him. He likes to sit on his younger ...
14
votes
7answers
1k views
How to remove Toddler's attraction for iPhone /iPad?
I have a 2 year old boy.
When he sees iPhone and iPad, he is literally glued to it for hours on end. And he is so stubborn that it is difficult for us to get him leave these instruments.
Usually I ...
14
votes
6answers
3k views
When should a child stop using a pacifier, and how can I help with this transition?
I am curious how a child can be helped to move on from his/her pacifier, and what age is a good age to do this?
14
votes
7answers
528 views
How to react to “cruelty” of a toddler?
My son is two and a half years old and is not in general of the violent type. However he regularly enjoys showing "cruelty". By that I mean that regularly when he "by accident" (let's stay positive) ...
14
votes
4answers
8k views
Getting a 2-year-old back to sleep in the middle of the night
We have always had trouble with our little boy not sleeping through the night. He will do it in spells (every night for a week, then not at all for a fortnight). But he has recently developed a ...
13
votes
7answers
3k views
At what age does a toddler stop being a toddler?
I just told someone on parenting that a baby becomes a toddler when it starts moving around. The question which came back was "what age does a toddler stop being a toddler?".
That got me searching, ...
13
votes
5answers
3k views
At what age should opposite-sex siblings stop bathing together?
When should I stop bathing my son and daughter together? What signs can I watch for that would indicate that they should be separate? Also, what are the average ages in the US and other countries and ...
13
votes
8answers
4k views
How to calm a toddler before bedtime?
I don't know about older children, but toddlers often get more agitated as they get more tired and by the time they are in bed it can take a while before they actually sleep.
I often read that taking ...
13
votes
4answers
418 views
When upgrading our toddler from a cot to a bed, how do we keep him in his bed?
We want to convert our son's cot into a bed this weekend (starting Friday evening). We think it's time to transition because he often tries to climb out (but fails yet), and during daytime playing he ...
13
votes
5answers
442 views
What are some suggestions for helping with potty training?
I have been potty training my daughter over the past few days and its not going to well. How can I figure out if she is just not ready for it or I should try other techniques. We came up with a ...
13
votes
1answer
447 views
Why does my son behave better when he's alone with one parent than with both?
Whenever I'm alone with my son, we play, have fun, and he even plays alone with his toys for a long time; this also happens when my wife is alone with him.
However, when we are both present, he ...
13
votes
4answers
1k views
How can we potty-train our pre-schooler outside the home?
We're having problems with our 3.5 year-old boy concerning potty training:
Since his birth it seems, that being cleaned is much more unpleasing to him than running around with brimful diapers for ...
12
votes
5answers
398 views
How to begin reading to an active toddler?
Occasionally I come across an article describing that parents read to their kids. I like that, but I am not sure how and when to start doing so.
In fact, this question is not really about my son, ...
12
votes
7answers
501 views
Can a toddler spend too much time with books?
Back when we were still expecting our son to be born, we were told all about how important it was to read to our son, even before he was born.
Being avid readers ourselves, my wife and I felt this ...
12
votes
7answers
966 views
Why don't kids like vegetables?
I am sure there are children out there who do like munching on broccolis and feasting on spinach, but most of the children I know don't like veggies. Mine are especially suspicious of anything ...
12
votes
3answers
692 views
How can we discipline our toddler?
TL;DR version: Toddler doesn't understand disciplining. Help needed.
At 22 months, our toddler is incredibly active and always has been. He's also mostly very well-behaved, especially when being ...
12
votes
5answers
6k views
How do I teach my child to speak in sentences?
My son is 2.3yrs. Right now we keep reading books for him. He pays attention only for some time. We also keep teaching letters and numbers during his bed time or during his bath. When asked he repeats ...
12
votes
4answers
393 views
My son witnessed a friend receiving corporal punishment; how do I prevent this from sending the wrong message?
As I was picking my son up from daycare the other day, another boy's "Nanny" (grandmother, I presume) was picking him up at the same time. The boy was playing, and grabbing on to other children's ...
11
votes
6answers
1k views
How to better engage myself with my 15 month old
My 15 month old toddler is very active and I often find it challenging to match his pace.
He seems to get bored with his toys very quickly. Earlier he used to be very much interested in my laptop and ...
11
votes
9answers
1k views
When should I transition a 2 year old toddler from the cot to a bed?
My son turned 2 today, and we have been considering for a long time to transition him to a bed. Specially since he already sleeps in a bed at the daycare.
I am afraid that he will not want to stay in ...
11
votes
7answers
6k views
How can I get my toddler to sleep later in the mornings?
My son, now 15 months old, was sleeping through the night, and waking up consistently at 6am. However, over the past few months he had been gradually waking up earlier. Now he wakes up consistently ...
11
votes
4answers
649 views
What should I consider when flying with an infant?
My wife and I will be traveling to the US next month and we're going to take two flights, probably one of 2 hrs and the other 4.
Although my 7-months-old son already sits by himself, I'm not sure I ...
11
votes
7answers
9k views
How can my toddler learn to stay under the blanket at night?
My 2yo son slept in a sleeping bag (see image below) until around 1½ years old, then he didn't like that anymore so we switched to using a blanket. He moves around so much while sleeping that the ...
