Comments on: Ask Your Parenting Questions Here

By: beth

beth — Wed, 13 May 2009 17:19:36 +0000

This morning my son was speaking roughly to me, so I told him to speak nicely. His response was “tell Dad to talk nicely to me, and I will talk nicely. I have learned from him how to talk. He told me to shut my mouth yesterday. Then he told me to shut up.” This has been a constant battle for me. And I am losing it, in both senses. My husband does not speak nicely to me or the kids. He raises his voice. He is never pleasant. When I talk to him about this he denies it, or if he agrees with me he says that’s just the way he is and I have to accept it.. Well, I do not find it acceptable, I do not want my kids to end up like him. What can I do?

By: Janel

Janel — Thu, 30 Apr 2009 16:21:28 +0000

What do you do in the car when your kids are fighting in the backseat?

By: Tracy

Tracy — Mon, 20 Apr 2009 15:09:59 +0000

Victoria-
Our 3 year old daughter did the same thing. After too many sleepless nights and too much coffee, we introduced the “sleep fairy”. We purchased the sleep fairy book from Amazon and would read it every night before bed and left out a bag for the sleep fairy to put a treat in. Then on any night she slept in her bed all night, there would be a treat in the bag (ranging from a sheet of stickers, lollipop, small toy). The $30 in toys were VERY worth it. The “sleep fairy” even works on vacation as their sleep schedules tend to get a little messed up.

We also purchased a timer that we hooked up to a lamp in her room. She is not allowed to get out of bed until the light comes on. They sell a goodnight light online, but the timer is much cheaper.

Good luck!!!

By: vanessa

vanessa — Sun, 19 Apr 2009 03:53:51 +0000

Oh my Marie I have one! How to get your children to sit quietly for an hour/hour and a half at a time. Like at church, special occasions, etc. I swear I am going to get kicked out of church if I can’t keep my 3 yr old from being such a loud mouth ;)

By: Marie

Marie — Sun, 19 Apr 2009 03:43:10 +0000

Great questions everyone! Thanks for commenting and emailing. There will be upcoming posts that will hopefully address and answers all of your questions. Keep them coming if you’ve got more!

By: Onna

Onna — Sun, 19 Apr 2009 00:54:15 +0000

Marie – What a nice idea! Already I can see how this will be helpful to so many mom’s!! Everybody has questions at one time or another!! Kids are there own creatures-and as soon as we have them figured out they change!!

Becky-Perhaps playdough is something that might be good to try if he won’t eat it, you know your child best-some 17 months olds will eat it, some won’t. Another great thing is big plastic tupperware with objects to put in and take out. That is always a favorite at that age. I know my son LOVED anything with wheels at that time and loved to play with cars and truck for hours! Water play is also very entertaining-but can get messy! If you have a stool at your kitchen sink and you can see him from there you can watch while he plays with a sink half full of water and some cups and funnels. I can think of more, but I’ll stop now! lol!! Best of luck.

Onna

By: Becky

Becky — Fri, 17 Apr 2009 18:57:19 +0000

Thank you for doing this! I, myself, am a teacher but don’t know the first thing about toddlers. I have a 17 month old and I do work at home for an online school. I am looking for activities or ideas on how to keep my little guy learning and playing, without the TV, when I need to focus on my students. Thanks so very much and have a wonderful weekend!

By: Amber

Amber — Fri, 17 Apr 2009 04:34:37 +0000

Victoria
My three year old has been doing the same thing. Have you tried taking her straight back to her room and sitting with her for a minute or two? Also, we lay a stack of books by Alora’s bed so she has a quiet something to grab first thing in the morning!

By: Victoria

Victoria — Thu, 16 Apr 2009 21:35:00 +0000

Our 3 year old has been getting up at the wee hours of the morning (between 2:00 and 6:00) almost every night for the last 6 months or so. She comes into our room and wants to either get in bed with us (which we don’t allow) or, if it’s closer to 6:00, she tells us the sun is up and it is time to get up. She frequently will wake up her sister (16 months old who shares a room). Any advice on how to get her to stay in her bed until a certain time or at least until I come and get her, but still have her be quiet enough in her room so she doesn’t wake up her sister?

By: Sheena

Sheena — Thu, 16 Apr 2009 21:00:18 +0000

I really need help with my almost 3 year old. I just had our second baby 4 months ago and my 3 year old is REALLY acting up. I can’t get her to listen to anything I tell her to do and she has tantrums about the littlest thing. I know that part of this is normal 2-3 year old stuff, but it’s getting out of hand. I try to spend as much alone time with her as I can to give her attention while my baby sleeps, but I don’t know what else to do. Time-out, distraction? What works best. Thank you so much.