AdeleMarie88
30-09-2013, 12:03 PM
Hey all, I would love to hear some advice and suggestions on how to deal with my tricky situation. This may be a long post, please bear with me!
I look after three mindees, all the same age (2.5yrs), parents are all friends (met in anti-Natal) and they talk! One of the mindees, a boy, is and has always been the tallest, he looks 4, but his parents are also very over the top safety conscious. He isn't allowed to walk up or down the stairs, they carry him, he isn't allowed to go in the children's paddling pool with out a life jacket, and they have never allowed him to climb. Mom isn't as bad as dad, but still a little over the top. As a result he has always been lacking in confidence, and never taken risks. He walked fairly late, 20months, and the other children often leave him behind when we are at the park, and he just sits on the floor of runs around on the grass.
I worked really hard to encourage him to climb the slide and to hold the banister and walk up the stairs, and he eventually got there. He can also go in the paddling pool now without his life jacket, although I don't think dad is aware of this! And then he went on holiday, for 6 weeks, and he came back last Monday and I expected to see him talking more, and to have matured in those 6 weeks, but actually he has regressed. He won't walk, he won't sit down on the children's table and chairs without losing balance, he won't climb up the slide, and this morning he was trying to get on to the sofa, and when he saw me watching, he held out his arm and whined for help, and when I said "you can do it!" rather than trying to pull himself up he just flopped on the floor and gave up.
He is obviously used to mom and dad doing everything for him, and has got little confidence, but also little willing to try things for himself. It is so frustrating. Especially as he is with his friends, and over the summer they have developed so much. I realise you shouldn't compare, but the stark contrast in their abilities is so clear, it's hard not to. The difference in their abilities have never been this evident. And I know the parents talk, and this little boys mom is always seeking reassurance that her boy isn't far behind where he should be, which pre holiday he wasn't! He doesn't put two words together, which he was starting to before. I can't deny now that he isn't close to acquiring the skills he should really have at this age.
This week he is slightly snotty but generally ok, and I really feel like I need to bite the bullet and mention his lack of confidence in his physical abilities, but I know mom won't listen and will just say that he isn't really himself today, any suggestions on how to broach this?
I look after three mindees, all the same age (2.5yrs), parents are all friends (met in anti-Natal) and they talk! One of the mindees, a boy, is and has always been the tallest, he looks 4, but his parents are also very over the top safety conscious. He isn't allowed to walk up or down the stairs, they carry him, he isn't allowed to go in the children's paddling pool with out a life jacket, and they have never allowed him to climb. Mom isn't as bad as dad, but still a little over the top. As a result he has always been lacking in confidence, and never taken risks. He walked fairly late, 20months, and the other children often leave him behind when we are at the park, and he just sits on the floor of runs around on the grass.
I worked really hard to encourage him to climb the slide and to hold the banister and walk up the stairs, and he eventually got there. He can also go in the paddling pool now without his life jacket, although I don't think dad is aware of this! And then he went on holiday, for 6 weeks, and he came back last Monday and I expected to see him talking more, and to have matured in those 6 weeks, but actually he has regressed. He won't walk, he won't sit down on the children's table and chairs without losing balance, he won't climb up the slide, and this morning he was trying to get on to the sofa, and when he saw me watching, he held out his arm and whined for help, and when I said "you can do it!" rather than trying to pull himself up he just flopped on the floor and gave up.
He is obviously used to mom and dad doing everything for him, and has got little confidence, but also little willing to try things for himself. It is so frustrating. Especially as he is with his friends, and over the summer they have developed so much. I realise you shouldn't compare, but the stark contrast in their abilities is so clear, it's hard not to. The difference in their abilities have never been this evident. And I know the parents talk, and this little boys mom is always seeking reassurance that her boy isn't far behind where he should be, which pre holiday he wasn't! He doesn't put two words together, which he was starting to before. I can't deny now that he isn't close to acquiring the skills he should really have at this age.
This week he is slightly snotty but generally ok, and I really feel like I need to bite the bullet and mention his lack of confidence in his physical abilities, but I know mom won't listen and will just say that he isn't really himself today, any suggestions on how to broach this?