Author Topic: 11 month old-Can not take anywhere anymore!!  (Read 1900 times)

0 Members and 1 Guest are viewing this topic.

Offline TDR'smom

  • Bottle Feeding
  • Resident BW Chatterbox!
  • *****
  • Showing Appreciation 184
  • Gender: Female
  • Posts: 5397
  • Location: Southeast
11 month old-Can not take anywhere anymore!!
« on: May 07, 2006, 18:15:05 pm »
We are having a hard time taking our 11 month old ds anywhere anymore.  Whether it be at a restaurant or to the mall which are 2 activities DH and I enjoy the most.  DS will fuss and whine and yell out loud.  We make sure it is right after a good nap so that he is not tired.  We bring his lunch/dinner so he will not be hungry.  We end up giving him snacks (Cheerios, Crackers) CONSTANTLY to try and keep him entertained in his stroller or highchair.  This is a habit that I do not want to get into!  We attach toys to his stroller and bring along toys to restaurants.  He will usually just yank them off and throw them to the ground.  >:(

He is spirited/textbook which I'm sure explains alot of it.  However, it does not make things any easier when we are out.

We never go out for very long as we understand how tiring it can be for a little one.  Therefore we are lucky if we spend 1 1/2 hours at the mall or 45 minutes to an hour in a restaurant.  However at 11 months....?!?!?!  Shouldn't he be able to handle this?? ???

Are DH and I being unreasonable?!?!?! :-[

Please help!!!
Judy







Offline Caroline-Charlies Mummy

  • Resident BW Chatterbox!
  • *****
  • Showing Appreciation 315
  • Gender: Female
  • Posts: 7056
  • Charles Arthur 23rd March 2005
  • Location: Newbury, Berkshire
    • Twitter
Re: 11 month old-Can not take anywhere anymore!!
« Reply #1 on: May 07, 2006, 18:57:22 pm »
I don't think you are being unreasonable, I try to take ds out often, just to make sure he's used to it if nothing else.

I hope this will be some small comfort to you - ds went through a very similar phase at this age. I think it was to do with his desire to do things being stronger than his ability. He wanted to walk everywhere, but he couldn't, so I think he was frustrated and felt out of control. Now he can (tentatively) toddle about holding onto things, he's much happier.

I do things like take him out of the pram/highchair whenever he didn't need to be in, b/c he gets fed up in there, sit him on your lap, or on the floor if it's clean/safe enough, and save the pram/chair for when you need your hands free. Also, can he nap in the pram? If you go out during one of his nap times, and he takes it in the pram, then you get a good chunk of time to wander around the shops. As long as you don't do this every day (I do it about once a week), then it shouldn't upset his routine. Then, when he wakes up is the time to go and eat. We always try to eat together, with him in the highchair, it takes a bit longer b/c you're faffing about with his food a lot, but I think it's good for him to learn that families eat together, and it saves him getting bored whilst you eat.

Can you save certain toys just for when you are out? Or even give some forbidden toys (like your mobile phone, etc). This might help keep his interest for longer.

I also take him for a walk around the restaurant while we are waiting for our meals (either carrying or him toddling holding onto my hands). This helps keep his interest, and it helps to make the restaurant not such an unfamiliar environment to him so he relaxes a bit. Point things out and tell him about things, and if people look friendly, say hello.

HTH, hopefully it's just a phase  :)
Caroline :)





"Mama exhorted her children at every opportunity to 'jump at de sun.' We might not land on the sun, but at least we would get off the ground." -- Zora Neale Hurston

Offline TDR'smom

  • Bottle Feeding
  • Resident BW Chatterbox!
  • *****
  • Showing Appreciation 184
  • Gender: Female
  • Posts: 5397
  • Location: Southeast
Re: 11 month old-Can not take anywhere anymore!!
« Reply #2 on: May 07, 2006, 23:26:16 pm »
Thank you so much for your support Caroline!

I did not even think of walking him around the restaurant.  That is a great idea.

He will only nap in his crib or sometimes his car seat.  Any ideas on how to get him to sleep in his stroller/pram once in a while?  It would be so nice not having to feel rushed in the stores.  Especially since we are usually shopping for him!!!  >:(
Judy







Offline Caroline-Charlies Mummy

  • Resident BW Chatterbox!
  • *****
  • Showing Appreciation 315
  • Gender: Female
  • Posts: 7056
  • Charles Arthur 23rd March 2005
  • Location: Newbury, Berkshire
    • Twitter
Re: 11 month old-Can not take anywhere anymore!!
« Reply #3 on: May 07, 2006, 23:33:06 pm »
Hi again,

To get ds to sleep in his pram is a bit of a work of art, as he's so used to his cot, but if it's nap-time, he gets a little drink of juice, then his dummy (paci), I drop the back of the pram so he's lying flat, and then cover it up with the raincover or a blanket. It still often takes him a little while to go to sleep, and you've got to keep the pram moving until he does ::). This is not very good BW advice, btw, so I hope no-one thinks badly of me :-[, like I said, I don't do it too often, but you've got to do these things sometimes to keep your own sanity ;).

Hope it works for you  :)
Caroline :)





"Mama exhorted her children at every opportunity to 'jump at de sun.' We might not land on the sun, but at least we would get off the ground." -- Zora Neale Hurston

Offline TDR'smom

  • Bottle Feeding
  • Resident BW Chatterbox!
  • *****
  • Showing Appreciation 184
  • Gender: Female
  • Posts: 5397
  • Location: Southeast
Re: 11 month old-Can not take anywhere anymore!!
« Reply #4 on: May 07, 2006, 23:37:36 pm »
Thanks!!  I will try it for sure and keep you posted!

Judy







Offline Baby John

  • New & Learning The Ropes!
  • *
  • Showing Appreciation 1
  • Gender: Female
  • Posts: 8
  • Location:
    • Baby John's First Days On Earth
Re: 11 month old-Can not take anywhere anymore!!
« Reply #5 on: May 14, 2006, 08:21:11 am »
My baby couldn't sleep in the first stroller (very expensive) that we bought. He would sleep in my parents' El Cheapo stroller, and here's the reason .... the cheap stroller had cheap wobbly tires that bounced just a bit when the stroller moves! The expensive stroller had ultra smooth tires. He still can't sleep in it (sigh!) and gets cranky after sitting about 20 mins in it.

Yes, yes, I know, we shouldn't encourage things that might become props  ;D but hey, it works!

Jasmin

Offline Marisa's Mom

  • Resident BW Chatterbox!
  • *****
  • Showing Appreciation 19
  • Gender: Female
  • Posts: 536
  • Location: Northern California
Re: 11 month old-Can not take anywhere anymore!!
« Reply #6 on: May 14, 2006, 15:42:16 pm »
DD was like that before too, however, it got much better after she turned 1 yrs old (that seemed to be the turning point for us, she could sleep better during the night, she really transitioned into full time solids, etc). Going out got better once DD could stand cuz then she wasn't limited to us holding her, being in the carrier, or in the stroller (which she hated!).

Does your son stand or walk yet? I bet his standing or walking will ameliorate his behavior during outings.

When we went out to restaurants before DD could stand, we would have to hold her (either while sitting, standing, or walking around) until our food arrived. We only put her in the high chair once our food arrived, that way it minimized the amount of time she had to spend strapped to the high chair and thus made for a much happier baby. Puting her in the high chair from the moment we reached the table until the end of the meal would have been a guarantee for fussiness. ... It got easier after DD could stand as we'd let her stand and walk a little bit (holding on the chair or us). She seemed to enjoy the freedom to move towards where she wanted to go.

We like going to the mall also, and DD hated being in the stroller, so most of the time we were either holding her or wearing her in the Ergo Baby Carrier. This made for much happier strolls at the mall as she was sorta being held (and not strapped into the stroller) and she had a good vantage point to observe the world around her. I think it also helped that she was more at eye level with other people who would come up to wave/play to/with her, and that made her happy, smile, grin, or laugh. Sometimes we'd have to let her hold onto something (a "toy" of her choosing  ;) ) and that would appease her for a while. If she got tired, she just fell asleep in the carrier, we'd just cover her with the sleeping hood.

http://www.ergobabycarrier.com/ (NAYY)

Marie


Offline maggieruth

  • Resident BW Chatterbox!
  • *****
  • Showing Appreciation 251
  • Gender: Female
  • Posts: 5878
  • Location: Canadian living in Durham, UK
Re: 11 month old-Can not take anywhere anymore!!
« Reply #7 on: May 14, 2006, 19:26:37 pm »
i have just gotten back from dinner out with my ILs, my normally easy going son has started to yell or scream- LOUDLY!  he does it when someone has something he hasn't got, when he sees food, when he sees keys, when he is bored etc etc, goodness, it was embarasing as up until now taking him out has been no big dea!!!!  we eventually did the walking thing and he WAS happier so long as he was eating (or throwing food on the floor!  ::))
just wanted to let you know i know what you are going through.  i guess next time i will be ready!  game on!

Offline TDR'smom

  • Bottle Feeding
  • Resident BW Chatterbox!
  • *****
  • Showing Appreciation 184
  • Gender: Female
  • Posts: 5397
  • Location: Southeast
Re: 11 month old-Can not take anywhere anymore!!
« Reply #8 on: May 14, 2006, 21:17:25 pm »
Thank you all so much for you advice and support.

Marisa's Mom,
DS just starting walking about a week ago and I think that has been part of the "problem".  We have kept him cooped up in the stroller and high chair whenever we go anywhere. He would rather be free to walk around and push the stroller instead of riding.  Now we know to try and give him a little freedom to walk around and explore.  I just don't want to become one of those parent's who let's their kids run wild in a restaurant and bother the other people. :-[

Thanks again everyone!!!  Will keep you all posted.



Judy