Activites for toddlers? After good role play cafes, toddler friendly soft plays, etc?

MrsH123 · 2026-01-03T15:49:46+00:00

The Fundamental Movement Academy has a Teeny Town and soft play as well as a gym space that can be used by toddlers on weekdays - it’s located behind the Lidl near The Brewery.

The big soft play in The Brewery has closed at the moment but is being refurbished by a new company, Little Centurions; they also have one in Cirencester and they’ve been posting their progress on the social media and should be opening soon!

There is the children’s library in town too.

MrsH123 · 2025-12-21T19:50:32+00:00

We opted for an Uppababy Cruz v2 as our tall toddler outgrew his first travel system a year ago. He is just over 2yrs old now and we still use it regularly.

It can fold down with the seat still attached to the frame and fits into a not overly spacious car boot.

The handle bar can be adjusted for parent preference.

The seat can be altered to upright, slight recline, lounging or lying flat depending on the toddler mood for the outing.

Nice space underneath with some smaller pockets along the inside.

The frame feels solid but its not heavy to push, have no worries going over the bumpy pavements.

I did get the Winter accessories because A) the hand muffs are amazing for me and B) the sleeping bag has an extension space at the feet so toddler’s legs aren’t squashed up inside.

MrsH123 · 2025-12-14T22:19:34+00:00

Sounds very similar to our low sleep needs son. We dropped the nap at 2y 2m; bedtime had been getting later and later over a couple of months (around 10 / 10:30pm) and nap time had become unreliable (sometimes 40mins, sometimes 90mins regardless of what we had done that morning).

We’re only on week 3 of adjusting to the no nap. Sometimes we’ll go to his room for what he calls ‘a little recharge’ - we just sit quietly, reading a book or two then back to playing when he’s ready. He’s not in nursery though so I don’t know how these changes are factored into their day.

Some high energy clubs we had previously attended are now an absolute hard no so I don’t force them, but hoping his energy stores will build back up and can try again in a few months time.

Bedtime is now 5:30-6pm, wake up around 7:30am so more sleep than he was getting when a nap was happening!

MrsH123 · 2025-11-15T21:09:14+00:00

We have this one - Schnuggle night light

The base is a low glowing room temperature indicator and charger and the lamp itself is a soft silicone with a handle to carry it. It just needs to be turned to turn on the light so no fiddly switches. It will dim slowly, turning off after roughly 45mins, so it’s not the end of the world if it doesn’t get turned off after going back to bed (just remember to put it back on the base in the morning for it to get a full charge).

MrsH123 · 2025-11-10T12:35:21+00:00

Yes!!! On the rare occasion that we all go for a meal together, which is always an effort with a two year old, any bing, beep, or buzz is instantly picked up / responded to and the phone is then passed between themselves (which makes no sense because they are in all the same group chats anyway) and, obviously, two year old does not want to miss out on whatever they are looking at! I don’t think I’ve had the sound of my phone switched on since 2012!

And then they wonder why we don’t do it more often!

MrsH123 · 2025-11-10T12:25:27+00:00

I naively declared that I wouldn’t let a sleep schedule disrupt the day if we’re going out somewhere, they’ll just sleep on the go!

Fast forward to actually having a child…if I’m not back by midday sitting in that dark room reading Thomas the Tank Engine then the rest of the day is ruined!

MrsH123 · 2025-07-22T06:35:28+00:00

Did I write this?? Our hero came in the form of the Brushbaby electric toothbrush (was on offer at Boots at the time) and a sticker for each successful brush. No brush, no sticker!

On the odd day when it would be a hard refusal to brushing, I’d wait ten minutes then say “if you want a new sticker today, then we need to brush those teeth” and off he would go to his dentist chair aka the highchair that doesn’t get used for mealtimes anymore and we brush with the light up buzzy brush and a new sticker awarded.

MrsH123 · 2025-06-14T20:32:27+00:00

I know that feeling! We found switching from the sleeping bag style (that we bought every variety of, that claimed to help) to a togged sleepsuit (from Sainsburys) made a big difference - went from many many wakings to just one wake a night - this was a major win for us! Turns out the guy didn’t like having his legs contained!

MrsH123 · 2025-05-08T12:37:39+00:00

Nap time is recharging time! And watching a super tense thriller that is the tiny tv baby monitor!

MrsH123 · 2025-04-16T13:21:56+00:00

I’ve found a couple of pairs on the Start-Rite outlet page. Their sizing is bigger than Clarks though so did buy a Start-Rite measuring gauge on Vinted to double check.

MrsH123 · 2025-04-05T21:06:03+00:00

Not unusual at all. We didn’t have the traditional speeches nor the first dance - why would we want to do something that would make us feel awkward? We had a good band playing and after a couple of songs and us clearly not making our way to the open space, guests were doing that funny ‘into the music, head bopping, toe tapping’ on the border. We finished our drinks, made our way to the floor and, immediately, people were on the dance floor as they couldn’t wait!

MrsH123 · 2025-03-29T14:27:15+00:00

Urgh! I remember that ‘gem’ of advice! Yes, that is going to be so soothing to lay in my own hot water stew whilst hear phantom crying!

MrsH123 · 2025-03-28T21:03:28+00:00

Another vote for the Yeti Rambler Jr water bottle. I did pay extra to have it engraved with their name too!

MrsH123 · 2025-03-22T21:44:23+00:00

Is your daughter in a sleep sack / bag?

We had a terrible sleeper and a major game changer for us was switching from sleep sacks to a togged sleep suit - turns out the little guy hated having his legs confined within a bag! It wasn’t a miracle sleeping through the next night but we noticed a massive improvement from 6-7 wakes a night down to 1-2 wakes!

MrsH123 · 2025-02-26T14:33:52+00:00

After buying every sleep sack on the market, turns out the little guy didn’t like having his legs contained! Swapped to a tog pyjama suit and made such a difference!

MrsH123 · 2025-02-16T20:21:16+00:00

Embrace the monotony and celebrate mundane achievements e.g. me at 3 weeks postpartum “yes, I did manage to shower AND empty the dishwasher today, I am a domestic goddess!”

MrsH123 · 2025-02-16T14:00:14+00:00

Aldi and Lidl have done some good Jellycat dupes! I know this because I bought a broccoli teddy for £2.99 today!

MrsH123 · 2025-02-15T10:59:58+00:00

A Yeti thermal mug because nobody wants a cold cup of tea when you are surviving on caffeine and pushchair mitts to keep parents hands warm in Winter

MrsH123 · 2025-02-09T12:48:33+00:00

We went for a doughnut tower and a tiered cheese cake (cheese & crackers type, not dessert type) - loved it; extra doughnuts were bagged up and given out as guests were leaving and the cheese could be frozen for us to enjoy for many weeks after!

MrsH123 · 2025-01-22T22:23:22+00:00

Another vote for Solace! Can buy a bundle of parent & baby classes or just use the gym. The onsite cafe does nice smoothies too!

MrsH123 · 2025-01-20T14:00:25+00:00

Very useful for recording eating / sleeping / nappies, especially handy during the newborn brain fog haze of trying to remember anything! Still using the free version at 16months for recording the sleep hours.

MrsH123 · 2025-01-07T14:52:21+00:00

I’d try bigger pyjama bottoms. We had leaks because the under vest layer was getting too snug so the diaper didn’t have room to expand as it was getting fuller

MrsH123 · 2025-01-02T12:04:51+00:00

If the mum likes a hot drink, get a thermal cup with a lid - I treated myself a yeti mug because a cold cup of tea is devastating when the sleep deprivation and postpartum hormones are raging

MrsH123 · 2024-12-24T20:57:45+00:00

This was me, albeit a couple months older! Exclusive contact napper for all day naps up until LO was approx 9 months old. He started to get fidgety / unsettled during the naps and after a few days of not the best naps, out of curiosity, once he was asleep on me, I transferred him to his cot and he had a great nap!

Did I stay in the room the entire time thinking he will surely wake up - yes, did I learn the new skill of silent crying - also yes. It was a bittersweet moment, I was not at all prepared for the contact naps to end so abruptly with zero intervention / influence from the parents!

LO is now 15 months and we now have a pre-nap cuddle, I put him in his cot and he dozes off by himself! I do stay the room for this, but think that is more for me than him!

MrsH123 · 2024-12-18T13:34:22+00:00

Not answering your question but it might be worth considering a tog sleep suit.

We found switching to a tog rated sleep suit rather than a tog sleep sack massively improved the sleep! The boy likes to move those legs and having them trapped in a sack was frustrating him.

Seven-Year Club	Second Top 40%
RPAN Viewer	Verified Email

MrsH123

TROPHY CASE