Is there anything you regret not doing sooner?

[Mettie]

Dd is 8 months old and I am trying to make sure I introduce her to, or get her used to, certain activities from a young age.

Is there anything that you regret not introducing your bub to from an early age that has later caused issues?

I think I have the 'basics' covered: she has started swimming lessons and water familiarisation (we have a pool at home so we would be crazy not to do this!); I try to read to her every day because I really want her to grow up loving books; I try to play all sorts of music in preference to having the tv on as background noise; we are doing BLW and so far so good!; we have pets so she is able to interact with animals; we go to a playgroup so she is socialising with other babies and adults.

I am asking because a friend with a bub the same age made an offhand comment the other day along the lines of "we can't do that because I never introduced him early enough".

TIA for your suggestions

[chicken and eggs mum]

Hats
Hair bushes and hair clips etc
Shoes (soft soled ones)
Socks (anything that can be pulled off really!!)

[Areca]

I wish I insisted that DH taught our kids Spanish more...now they're 6, 4 and 2 and barely know any of it despite it being DH's first language and now my FIL is coming to visit for 3 weeks after Christmas and won't be able to communicate to his grandkids....regret, regret, regret.

BTW - on the book thing...I read to my DD1 for half an hour every day and she would sit up and listen and was always enthusiastic. She's 6 now and has almost zero interest in books. She'll listen to a story or two before bed but that's it and she's rarely excited about it. My 4 year old is the same, although she's more excited about the night time story..my 2 year old...he has never been interested in listening to a story. Despite me breastfeeding him while I read to my girls every night for the first few months of his life as soon as he was mobile enough to get away from me that's exactly what's he's done. I don't know what happened and I hope your DD has more interest in books as she gets older than my kids but be prepared for her to not enjoy reading...I wasn't prepared for it at all!!!

[AppleIsleSMum]

Sunblock! Erk putting sunblock on most children I know is a struggle

[Mettie]

Wow, just a few replies and so many things I haven't thought of as potential issues! Hats and sunblock for a start - we use them when needed but living where I do there hasn't been a need to use them daily, in her life so far anyway :)

My mum's native language is not English and I wish she had taught me another language when I was little, it's too hard to learn a new tongue as an adult. Any advice from people on how to teach your child a language that you can't yourself speak? Are classes or tapes etc better?

I hadn't even considered the possibility that dd might not enjoy books... hmmm. We'll keep an eye on that ;)

[Starter]

As someone said above hats and sunblock can never start too early.

[Adoreshim]

A Toothbrush, even if its just to chew on and get use to the feeling of it in her mouth

[Eleven Eleven]

Subbing!

[MuminMind]

Working harder at ensuring DD becomes bilingual! She is only young (only two) but her English is so much more dominant and I worry that it is going to become more difficult to teach her the second language now.

[singlemumma82]

With a DD I have to say I wish I had got her used to having her hair brushed but as she was basically bald until 2 and didn't need a hair cut until almost 4 I never had to brush her hair daily, now at 8 it is a struggle every morning.

[2BabyBears]

Sunglasses.. Baby Banz are great. At 8 mths my twins kept them on, but didn't use them often enough, now at 18mths, they pull them off. Will be putting them on my 4 mth old every time he's outside now. Thanx for reminding me!! :smiliedance:

[Penny88]

Subscribing!

[FearlessLeader]

while these are some good suggestions, please OP don't stress too much about any of them. Children are crazy fickle creatures, you can introduce them to healthy foods, books, get them to self-settle, they can be great with animals, love the water, wear their hat all day, whatever. Then one day they will turn on you and say "you know what, mum? I'm over it!" I don't think it's got anything to do with being "used" to things and more to do with the crazy whims of toddlers :gonnagetit:


apart from languages. I think if you want kids to be bilingual the earlier the better!

[share a book]

Not for me, but many people don't put hats on them which is one of the biggest issues I have come across.

[Mopoke]

ive been putting a hat on ds (almost 10 months) for a while now but he always pulls them off. grr!! i thought i was starting early to get him used to them but it hasnt worked. any ideas to help keep them on?

i second what FearlessLeader said, we have been brushing DS teeth ever since he got them, at first he loved it but now he keeps trying to grab the brush and moves his head back away from the brush. we wrap him up in a towel (after shower) and hold him in front of us so his hands are enclosed and he cant move his head back

[Theboys&me]

Swimming lessons ... my DS1 is sh!t scared of pools and the beach now.

Oh and speaking of sh!it - toilet training is doing my head in!! But now sure I could have helped that??!!

[proud-mum]

ive been putting a hat on ds (almost 10 months) for a while now but he always pulls them off. grr!! i thought i was starting early to get him used to them but it hasnt worked. any ideas to help keep them on?

Buy the hats that you can tie up underneath their neck, that way they are much harder to get off :) that's the only way DS will ever keep a hat on (not that there has been a need for them lately, the weather has been sooo crap!)


Sent from my iPhone, using Tapatalk

[Witwicky]

while these are some good suggestions, please OP don't stress too much about any of them. Children are crazy fickle creatures, you can introduce them to healthy foods, books, get them to self-settle, they can be great with animals, love the water, wear their hat all day, whatever. Then one day they will turn on you and say "you know what, mum? I'm over it!" I don't think it's got anything to do with being "used" to things and more to do with the crazy whims of toddlers :gonnagetit:


apart from languages. I think if you want kids to be bilingual the earlier the better!

^^THIS.

Honestly, don't stress. I was so fussed about making sure DS1 did swimming from an early age so that he would get 'used to the water' and *eventually* he liked swimming and loved being in the pool. Then winter came and it was too cold, and he wouldn't go in the heated pool. After winter we tried to take him swimming again and he would not have a bar of it. He literally screams blue murder if we try to get him into a swimming pool. We don't push him, but I cringe at how much energy I spent making sure he swam from an early age, when it was really quite pointless :rolleyes:.

I also agree with second languages - the younger the better, their minds are like sponges. We are all learning Italian in our house at the moment and DS1 picks it up way quicker than me. We left a friends house the other day and he came out with "Ci vediamo"! :eek: (roughly means 'see you later'). I need to practice otherwise I won't be able to understand him before long :laughing:

[stretch]

Hats and sunglasses! DD hates both!

Hair brushing also, but this is getting better now!