I can’t stop thinking of how I am gonna recover from c-section with a 2 year old.
I do have my mom around but her age and her hearing disability make it hard for her to handle my toddler.
Pls give some suggestions for activities that can be done with an ACTIVE 2 year old, keeping in mind the following challenges.
I will have limited movement and I can’t stand, sit easily. Running is out of the question.
he does not like listening to stories. He loves books and seeing pics
I would love to do crafts that would not require major cleanup and would not mess up the carpet or walls.
pls share any Islamic poems or other nursery rhymes. I know 0 poems.
he loves jumping and running and hopping around and I love that he does that it gets his energy out but I won’t be.able to do that with him. Any tips in this regard?
We live in an apt so I can’t buy those big toys even if I wanted to.
P.S : how soon can we introduce Wii , is it something doable for a 2 year old.
give him coloring book and colors (pencils or crayons) to color, he can sit by you color. Play nursery rhymes on the computer/laptop, he can sing along dance, jump, hop and move around. Get him some play-dough to play with, blocks, and other toys to play with. Ask your mom to have him help set the dinner, little kids love that.
*Building 'towees' (towers) with blocks.She can easily spend some time doing that.
*Color books & crayons.They do not need any special clean up.Although you would want to keep an eye that he does not run away to a wall with one in his hand.
*Maybe introduce playdoh.Wont need to much clean up.
*puzzles.
*mine loves reading books and looking at pictures in them.Maybe get him one if he does not have it where he can keep busy with it for a while.For example her ABC book has ABC for her to read,colors,objects,if there are animals then animal sounds.She can spend some good time going through that one book.
*if he has to watch TV,make him watch something he can learn something from.My daughter has a set of DVDs (I think they are Baby Genius,not sure though).One of them has kids singing and dancing to nursery rhymes and she loooooves that.I have actually put that on for her when I need to get something done and have her out of my way.You might be able to find similar stuff online.
Do not know about Wii.
I kid you not,if I was close I would have taken your kid and mine to the playground and given them a ball and they would run after it and be totally tired by the time they got back home...and then ZzzzzZZzzzzzzZZ..!
My advice is do du'a, put himmat in and carry on being strong ... this should help you and family ... but more often than not a distraction created for a child will lead to them being trained wrongly or untrained ... My wife is dead against DVDs for children younger than 3 years, and the worst ones are the ones that make children quiet and focused on the screens, because they are like putting them in a trance ...
dvd of cartoons if he can sit and watch .. if he cant.. ipad his butt.. my son will watch stuf on the ipad like cartoons and educational stuff but cant watch a dvd .. cuz he doesnt have the control to stop watching something and put something else on by himself. ipad gives him taht control.
blocks.
play dough.
color self book.. all you need is water and paint brush.. u sweep the ppaer with some water and color appears by itself.
scissors and paper.. lots of it.. let him go wild.
i know what you are going through.. i went through this myself .. nothing will help 100% but you will get through this... i promise :)
^^The OP had major surgery,has two kids to look after and as mentioned her mom has limitations due to her own health.As much as I believe in the power of prayer,she will need some time (a few weeks atleast) to recover and be her usual 100% effectively functional.And until that happens she has to take it easy and there is nothing wrong is using temporary shortcuts.
I am not an advocate of kids being glued to screens (TV or computers) all the time,but in this case if she needs to get the 2 yo distracted for an hour or so during the day,I don't see how it will make the kid 'quiet' or develop any other issues.
^^The OP had major surgery,has two kids to look after and as mentioned her mom has limitations due to her own health.As much as I believe in the power of prayer,she will need some time (a few weeks atleast) to recover and be her usual 100% effectively functional.And until that happens she has to take it easy and there is nothing wrong is using temporary shortcuts.
I am not an advocate of kids being glued to screens (TV or computers) all the time,but in this case if she needs to get the 2 yo distracted for an hour or so during the day,I don't see how it will make the kid 'quiet' or develop any other issues.
Just my two cents...:)
The power of du'a is as strong as you believe it to be ...
Besides I find that babies are quite sensitive to these things ... OP will notice a change in her 2 year old ... who will inshaAllah start to help and behave ... Sometimes it is can be useful to get your older child involved in helping out with the younger one and being a good older sister. She will also bond with the new arrival ... there is no reason why you can't tie in nappy change time and clothes changing time and washing time as part of a joint experience.
autumn, can you get him involved with activities you do with the baby? maybe get him interested in things like that… ?
Also, I have to agree with khawa… you could give him an iPad and put some kiddie games on for him. They keep a child intrigued for awhile… and Wii is a good idea as well :k: munchkin got into that before she was 2 and it really helped with her eye and hand coordindation… so cant really lose there. And you wont have to be running around after him. You can sit there with bubba 1 and 2 and let bubba1 play games… you could also get involved with teaching him and talking to him while he’s playing…
JazakAllah khair everyone.
Chips I so wish u were close by. Jr absolutely loves playing ball. Outdoors. Could you check.the DVD series and let me know the name I might get it at my local library.
Psyah, I do believe in the power of duaa and was and am.dead set against kids watching tv and I have seen them turn into zombies. But being in the hospital for 5 days my mom and husband have turned to cartoons for relief. I DO NOT wish to do that once I get back home that is why I opened this topic. I do plan in involving him in changing diaper and other activities but he is at an age where he wants to take over. And I need other activities to keep him entertained as well as feeling that he is still the Apple of my eye.
Khawa, he doesn't get the ipad. Puraaney waqtoun ka bacha hai yeh. He keeps pressing the home button and then we r back to square one in terms of playing or watching something on the iPad.
Guys can you suggest some puzzles. I do have access to toys r us. And also DVDs that have kids jumping up and down.
get him one of those leap frog or other "toy" laptops from toysrus. they have games, songs, activities on them to keep kids busy and learn at the same time.
its a great age for a toddler to be. when indoors, mine does a lot of pretend-play, almost non-stop unless she's sleepy or hungry, but leaves behind big messes. which she helps clean up sometimes, but really... she's 2 yrs old. playdough, finger painting etc are just tedious coz she plays for 10 mins maybe, and it takes just as long putting it all away.
she has friends her age, and putting them together at the playground is the best thing ever coz they play nicely for a long time. and i enjoy taking her outside for walks, they tend to be very curious at this age and can spend ages just watching ants and bugs and flowers and what not. mine doesn't watch tv for long even if we put kids shows or whatever on. she loves playing with water, so sometimes before bath time i set her up with some shallow bowls and water toys in the bathroom floor.
this might be controversial, but if you can find a good daycare/preschool nearby, sending your toddler there for even half the day might help. he'll make tons of friends his age, and have a lot of activities to do. and you'll have plenty to talk about with him.
if you're willing to use tech devices, then iPhones, iPads, and Kindle Fires have proved absorbing to my daughter, as well as anything that involves music. The devices have coloring apps, bubble apps, puzzle apps, and all sorts of games featuring favorite tv and storybook characters.
She also LOVES her basketball and hoop. We have a toddler one that we use outside (thta could be indoor too if you have some space). We also have one in her bathtub. You can get the little kind to really put anywhere. Balls and balloons keep herbusy for hours, though she doses prefer to have someone to play with.
Wooden blocks. I bought them a long time ago for my boys when they were toddlers and they’re like 8 and 6 years old now and still play with them almost everyday.
Putting him/her in a half day activity outside the home might help too. They are beginning to socialize at this age and will be content to play outside and have a routine outside the home.
