BY THE TIME your little one reaches toddler and preschool age, they’re well able to tell you what they want. And that’s where the trouble starts, from dealing with tantrums to navigating playdates. That’s why it can be so helpful to hear how other parents are getting through it all.
Our Toddler and Preschool Parents Panel is made up of parents with little ones from 24 months up to age five.
This week: What one parenting app or resource would you recommend to other new parents?
I used the What To Expect app when I was pregnant with both of my boys: You join a “home board” where everyone is due in the same month, that way you are all going through it at the same time. The home boards tend to stay quite active until the babies turn one. Some of the threads can be quite helpful but with over 100,000 members on each home board, it’s good to take it all with a pinch of salt.
- Kaisu Healy
Gina Ford’s The Complete Sleep Guide helped me in the early days of parenting: When my twins were a few months old l, I resorted to this book to get them into a routine. I didn’t stick to it rigidly (or I never would have left the house) but I did find it great and having them in a good routine really paid off.
- Joanne Burke
No Sex, No Sleep: So You’re Going To Be A Father gave me a much-needed laugh: You might as well have some humour! To be honest though, we have lots of books but I learned more from practical experience along the way.
- Ger Lowry
Those booklets from the public health nurse are actually pretty helpful: I found the free HSE guides given out by our public health nurse really helpful, they are full of practical advice and answers to everyday questions.
- Nicola Barry
I loved What To Expect When You’re Expecting: I found this book [by Heidi Eisenberg Murkoff] really useful while pregnant. To be honest though, nothing satisfied me as much as It’s Not Your Fault, Toddlers Are Assholes by Bunmi Laditan which I read a bit later on. This was laugh out loud hilarious (so much so my toddler would ask me what book I was laughing at and still talks about that “funny book about toddlers”).
- Emily Lewis
My mum gave me her copy of Penelope Leach’s Your Baby And Child: She used the same copy when I was a baby, and I have found it invaluable. It’s a classic and it’s my bible. Leach’s book is written in a very empathetic voice, it’s an encyclopedia of everything you need to know from birth to five, and it’s nicely balanced in a way that makes you feel supported as a parent while equipping you to raise a happy and healthy child at the same time. I have the original version but I believe it’s been updated in recent years too, I would highly recommend it to parents of newborns upwards.
- Juliet Ward
If you only use one resource, make it WhatsApp: Parenting resources mainly come in the form of WhatsApp groups for me! Support more than instructions are welcomed in this house.
- Michelle O’Brien
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