I have a 20month old daughter who is the coolest little kid. She has her toddler moments but for the most part she is a delight, the absolute light of my life. She is a mummys girl and is completely attached to me. I may be exaggerating but she doesnt go 10 seconds without wanting to be sitting on me, next to me, touching me, being thrown in the air, piggy back rides just generally all up in my grill. I feel like i may be pregnant and have been pretty uncomfortable, lower back and pelvic pain the last two weeks or so and well, the toddler (who is no small person i might add) has been adding to the pain and its got me thinking - what am i going to do if i am pregnant? Can her constant sitting on my stomach impact the health/growth of the baby? Is this a phase, will she grow out of it? I move her off but shes back with force a few minutes later. I reprimand her but i feel like this isnt a good way to go especially continuing through the pregnancy if it might make her feel like the baby is the cause of my change of attitude towards her. Just looking for advice. Ta guys and gals.
2 Replies
I'm a little confused are you just asking about the "rough play". If she is hurting you then she should be made to stop. Try not to worry too much yet about her been jealous or bitter towards the baby. Yes she can do damage to the baby, she could jump on you, sit on you, accidentally hit you there and this can most definitely do damage to the baby. Yes it's a rare occurrence but trust me I know from personal experience. Repeatedly tell her she is not to sit on your tummy and she needs to be careful. Better to be safe then sorry. And it's good for her to learn now how careful she needs to be, even when the baby is born.
You can teach her to sit on your lap but not let her sit on your tummy. If your thinking about getting pregnant it's a good idea to start working on these things now.
About the age of 2 a put a no being picked up rule in for my son. So if he needed comfort I'd either squat down to his level to give him a hug or we would go sit down together. It takes some time and you have to be firm and follow through but you'll find she isn't missing out on hugs and cuddles they are just in a different position.
At some point teaching her to sit next to you and cuddle rather on your lap is probably a good idea to.
As for independent play get this started by setting her up with a simple toy or activity and once she is settled take a step back for a few seconds then come back into the activity, gradually increase the time you step out for.
It's probably worth it working in just one change at a time it makes it easier to follow through on and it's not a massive change all at once for her.