Terrible 2S - Plano,TX

Hi E.,
I was in the same boat, mine are 17 months apart. We found great interest in the geo track trains (from target),the mega leggo's (they are bigger and easier to stack, also at target) and age appropriate puzzels have bigger pieces and are easier to fit together. We played with these toys together during the babies nap time and it was our special time together.

Good luck.

My 2 1/2 yo son also gets bored with his toys. He never really was interested in them as much as stuff around the house. He'd rather get up in a chair and try on my make up or take a bath or run around out side with son balls. He is just getting to the pretend play stage. He loves play dough, crayons, blocks and helping me cook and clean. My son needs some direction, so I will give him a duster and tell him to dust the house or something that keeps him busy that doesn't require toys. Sometimes (when its not too hot) I will go in the back yard and pretent to play soccer with him. Its more of a keep away game but he loves it. This of course will be hard for you for until the baby gets little bigger. I sometimes have to take him in his room and pull out a toy like blocks and get him started. I think they run out of ideas.

I do take him part-time to day care now so he wont be so bored. He loves to learn and have the interaction of the teachers and other kids. Plus the singing and dancing is alot of fun. Its not the same if I did the same activity at home. Maybe a MDO program so you can have a little time to yourself and the new baby and your son can learn to play with his toys. I find the cost washes out because I am not running around trying to find fun things for us to do during the day and spending money, when I shouldn't be, to keep it interesting (like going to lunch or the mall or getting a new toy).

Congrats on the new baby and good luck,
T. Lee

It may be the baby transition even more than the age. It's hard for kids to adjust to sharing attention, and it can show up in a lot of different way. Sometimes the problem is that they have too many toys rather than too little, and they are overwhelmed by them. You can try boxing some up and rotating the stash so that things seem new again. You can also keep a special box of toys that are pulled out just when you're tending to the baby. Reading to him while you're feeding the baby is nice as well.

Even though you don't want to get out and around at this point, you could definitely get out early in the morning after breakfast and take a walk before it gets too hot. Put the baby in a sling/carrier and head out.

Hang in there - it does get easier.

Hi we have a 2 1/2 year old and a 9 month old and we have the same issue she wants to go go go and does not want to play with the toys she has. We have a big trunk and I hide some of the toys and when she starts to get bored with the old toys I trade them out with the toys in the trunk. She freaks out and thinks that she got all new toys and it really gives me peace to do things I need to do around the house and with the baby. You can also take some card board and crayons (when the baby is sleeping) and make him a ramp or a flat road/street for his trucks and toys to drive on. Hope this helps you out.

I am having the same problem. My son will be 2 in a couple of months and I have a 4 month old daughter. We have regular toys, learning toys, and special toys. All are kept in different places. We put our son in a mother's day out program 2 days a week this year. He loves it and we are trying to keep the same schedule at home. 15-20 intervals with activities. He can play with regular toys any time, the learning toys are different activites we do with him where there is more one on one interaction with him while the baby is sleeping, and the special toys are pulled out when regular toys are put away. We taught him to put his toys away before lunch, before special toys, and before bath time. We made it really fun for him. With this way we have notice that he does not get as bored with more consistency and teaching him responsibility. But, a couple of weeks ago we bought him so fish. 2 male bettas and a split tank they make for bettas that came with everything. He LOVES the fish and feeds them in the morning when he feeds the dogs and in the evening when he feeds the dogs. We put them on his little table in the kitchen and he will sit there and watch them for about 45 min in the morning and 45 min in the afternoon. It has not gooten old yet, and for less than $15 at Wal Mart I have a little bit more sanity during the day than I used to.

We also work with him on helping us with little things and I think that makes him feel needed and as special now that there is a little girl that occupies Mommy's time as well. We always praise him and clap our hands when he helps us. He gets so excited to help for a few minutes that it is easier for him to then go back to his toys for another 30 min and forget he got bored with them earlier.

Movies are also a special treat. We let him watch baby einstein videos and since we had him listening to classical music while I was pregnant and in the first couple of months, he thinks it is the coolest thing to sit with his baby sister and watch baby bach or baby beetoven. This has taught him that his sister is here to stay and he can do things with her like Mommy and Daddy do.

Good Luck

Could you possibly take him to Gymboree or GymKids classes? You could take him to the park and put your baby in a sling. I'm not a big advocate of TV, but does he watch any? You could buy some educational movies like Little Einsteins or LeapFrog to entertain him a bit. Good luck!

Hit the bookstore -- There are a TON of books out there for entertaining toddlers... if you want a list of my favorites shoot me an e-mail... I've got a ton of them! It's amazing what fun things you CAN do at home (I've been using them b/c it's just too freakin hot to go outside to do anything else)....

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