Anyone else stuck at home all day with toddler?

[katymf]

So I'm due any day now with DD, and we have a 20mo DS. DH works all day, so it's just me and DS at home. I do not know what to do with him..I feel so guilty and boring and like a horrible mother because I'm pretty much a couch potato at this point. I've just run out of things to do with him, plus we only have one car and DH has it during the day for work so we're stuck inside. Sometimes maybe about once a week we'll have a playdate where one of my friends comes over with their toddler, and that's nice. But other then that, we just sit around, watch some kid shows and read books, or draw..not much else to do!? Kind of can't wait for DD to get here, that way it will give DS something to look forward to and to keep him company.

[raisingcropsandbabies]

With winter here we stay indoors a lot more too. My boys are: 2, 4, and 5 and Baby Girl is 1.

Playdough is fun. If you get a tray, your tot can play with it beside you while you are resting on the couch. That way you can keep an eye on him and help him learn to play with it (we do homemade playdough so if they take a bite or two, we know what is in it!).

Building obstacle courses through the house is fun and burns tots' energy. Just put a tunnel with a blanket over it on the floor, or throw a bunch of pillows/beanbags in the middle of the room and let your kid go wild. You can rest on the couch while watching him.

Put on music for him and give him various shakey instruments (rattles, pots and pans for drums, tamborines)

Bake with him... time consuming, but they have fun with it.

Water play is fun at this age too. Fill up your kitchen sink and give him measuring cups and spoons. Put a towel on the floor first.

If I think of more, I'll reply again, but that's all I got for now! Having so many so close in age has kind of blurred a lot of memories!

[Sarahknavy]

I had to go back and make sure I didn't type this...

My son is a may baby and I am due with my daughter in Feb.... We only have one car... My husband works all day...

I am so bored!!!

[irishdancemomma]

Originally Posted by raisingcropsandbabies With winter here we stay indoors a lot more too. My boys are: 2, 4, and 5 and Baby Girl is 1. Playdough is fun. If you get a tray, your tot can play with it beside you while you are resting on the couch. That way you can keep an eye on him and help him learn to play with it (we do homemade playdough so if they take a bite or two, we know what is in it!). Building obstacle courses through the house is fun and burns tots' energy. Just put a tunnel with a blanket over it on the floor, or throw a bunch of pillows/beanbags in the middle of the room and let your kid go wild. You can rest on the couch while watching him. Put on music for him and give him various shakey instruments (rattles, pots and pans for drums, tamborines) Bake with him... time consuming, but they have fun with it. Water play is fun at this age too. Fill up your kitchen sink and give him measuring cups and spoons. Put a towel on the floor first. If I think of more, I'll reply again, but that's all I got for now! Having so many so close in age has kind of blurred a lot of memories!

I used to be a nanny for four little boys. They really liked all of the above. We also made a "city" for their toy cars to drive through with construction paper streets and buildings made of empty boxes covered with paper and decorated by them. They loved to play with that and add to it. We would build tents with chairs and blankets. Sometimes we would do simple craft projects when I felt like cleaning up.

I let my son play in a big container of rice with sand toys. We finger paint in the tub with colored cool whip. When it's warm enough we go on walks.

Could you take your husband to work a couple times a week so you have a car? That way you could join a play group, go to mommy and me classes at the library, go walk around the mall, or go to the park.

[SaraElise]

I feel you! We had one car at one point when we had a 3 year old, 2 year old and nb.

Here are things they liked to do:
Dance party
playdoh
bubbles
build forts
blanket picnics on the living room floor
color, cut, glue (didn't matter what it was, they just liked to do those things )
shaving cream on the table (or in the tub)
playing with about 2" of water in the sink
helping me cook or bake
making cards to send to family members
eye spy
hide and seek with a toy (put it in a visible but hard to see right away spot and have them try to find it)

I know we had more on our list, I'll come back if I think of them. As soon as it was warm enough not to freeze, we went for daily walks which helped too.

[Kelsey5783]

Originally Posted by irishdancemomma Could you take your husband to work a couple times a week so you have a car? That way you could join a play group, go to mommy and me classes at the library, go walk around the mall, or go to the park.

This. Check out meetup.com where you can search for a group or make your own and connect with other moms in your area for activities and playdates. A walk with my LO and other moms and coffee meetups once a week keep me sane!

[lilannies mama]

I'm with our toddler all day also. Though I do have my own car so we get out maybe once or twice a week but we just built a house so we can't spend lots of money. So a few things we do is playtime with her toys, then we have a reading time. We have a craft time she loves doing sticker books. Then we have some sort of learning time. Ill give her about 30 mins- 1 hour of TV time depending on chores I need done.

[omahonycm]

We live at the end of a lane at the end of a lane in the country. And I don't drive. Stuck is just the word for it. I have a two and a half year old and a 4 month old. Some days are very very hard.

[katymf]

Originally Posted by irishdancemomma I used to be a nanny for four little boys. They really liked all of the above. We also made a "city" for their toy cars to drive through with construction paper streets and buildings made of empty boxes covered with paper and decorated by them. They loved to play with that and add to it. We would build tents with chairs and blankets. Sometimes we would do simple craft projects when I felt like cleaning up. I let my son play in a big container of rice with sand toys. We finger paint in the tub with colored cool whip. When it's warm enough we go on walks. Could you take your husband to work a couple times a week so you have a car? That way you could join a play group, go to mommy and me classes at the library, go walk around the mall, or go to the park.

Well, DH gets up at 5 every morning..so i'd hate to have to wake DS up that early and get him ready and haul him out the door in the freezing cold! plus, this is our last week as a 3 person family and honestly, i dont see me being able to wake up DS and DD that early to bring DH to work..we've done it a couple times in the past but I just feel bad waking him up!

[katymf]

Thanks for all the ideas! We'll be trying some of these tomorrow...I'll let you all know how some of these activities go!