[Destinye]

On the tail of are you constantly chasing your toddler in public? DD has been going to a couple of different library lapsits for a while and the teachers are great and DD seems to really enjoy the interaction and loves books!

Today I went to the toddler one and they kept wanting them to sit down, its 18 mo to 3 yrs and DD is 17 mo and I thought she might like it.

Anyhow I ended up leaving as it just was not working, and she was about to throw a major tantrum and needed a nap! She will sit for a while but was just standing not bothering anything. I think its a little unreasonable to force your toddler to sit at this age for 20 minutes. I dont think I am going to go to this one for a while if at all, as I just did not like the teacher and her expectations, the other teachers are like oh no its fine you cant expect them to sit for that long at this age. DD will sit down if I ask her to as well, which I think is good at this age, but she wanted to stand so she could see better and I certainly dont want to force her to sit and make it miserable for her.

 

[Ceili]

We go to baby storytime at our library (birth to 18 months) and there are no expectations for the mobile ones to sit still. I don't think I'd go if there were. I agree with you that it's completely unreasonable to expect them to still that long.

 

[Destinye]

Quote:

Originally Posted by boongirl this is why I don't go to these

Well I dont think I will be going to this one! But the other one which is at another library and is for the same age group, is wonderful she has all these Folkanis (sp?) puppets and lets them play with them, and makes it really fun, and am glad I had that experience first!

 

[AdoptChina]

we gave up on ours too....wasn't about to force my toddler to sit and "have fun" listening to books when doing that was anything but fun for him lol

 

[addiesmom]

I've been bringing DD to the library since she was younger than a year and she is now 2.5. The first "storytime" she was in was up to 18 mos and the librarian was great, kept it upbeat and absolutely no expectations were put on the wee ones. The next session was for 2-4 yr olds and they were expected to sit....get this....for 45 minutes. DD was miserable. When she started saying "no no no" when we pulled up to the library, I knew it was time to stop, so we just went to get books and read on our own. She is now 2.5 and can sit for a little while, but still not for the length of time they expect. Sheesh, haven't these people had training in early childhood developement?! I'm looking forward to the summer session b/c it is all ages, outside, picnic storytime that is much more kid-friendly.

 

[Destinye]

Well I definitely am not going to force her to have 'fun' lol it just surprised me and upset me too, as the other ones have been so great. DD is just not a sit-still type of child and has not been forced to sit or been strapped in a swing or anything and am not about to start now! LOL ironically at the baby one the other babies DO mostly sit except for guess who dear dear DD!

Glad she is this way though! It was cute today though as there was another DD about 2 and she kept hugging DD and sitting next to her (when DD did sit down by herself briefly!) and they were really having fun. Oh well! Lots of books at home to read and she can still go to the FUN ones!!

 

[RedWine]

I have tried three different library times. At each one, the toddlers were supposed to sit near their parents. My gorgeous dd has too much energy to sit still like that for any length of time. I received dirty looks from people when she would stand up and walk around...so I gave up on it. Just not for us.

 

[party_of_seven]

My library puts on a wonderful program for the 2-5 year old kids. I always take all of mine, and my 2yo just hangs out on my lap or in the sling. I have found that recently he is happier in the sling just watching what is going on.

 

[Yooper]

I have this problem too and therefore no longer go. My dd not only will not sit on my lap, she is obsessed with taking all of the books off the shelf which really ticks off the library people. Call me a chicken but I avoid any and all situations where I have to constantly remind dd to do anything. It is just too stressful......

 

[GeezerMom]

My first real full-time job was at a public library, many years ago. Nope, the Children's Librarians don't have any "early childhood" training (unless the curriculum's changed a bit since then).

I remember walking past the meeting room during the 3-yr-old story hour once when the door was open. (At our library the kids walked down the hall to story hour w/the Librarian, leaving the Mommies behind.)

The librarian was sitting in a chair, holding the book up next to her head & reading in a very animated way while the 3-yr-olds ran around in circles. Every single child was on his or her feet!

Haven't taken my 16-month-old twins to story hour & not planning to until they're a bit older. They'll sometimes sit for 5 minutes or so while I read to them, but that's about it.

 

[hottmama]

My friend and I took our kids to storytime sometime in February or March. Julian turned two in january and her son turned two in December. Anyway, we were the only parents there that week, except for one other 2 yr. old girl who came halfway through. The storytime is expressly for 2 year olds. Of course, our boys were running around quite a bit, and when it was over, the guy who was doing the story time told us that "There's another storytime on Fridays that would be more appropriate for them", by which he meant the one for babies under 2! We decided to never go back, and my friend complained to the library and the librarian she talked to said there have been other complaints about that guy. It is ridiculous to assume that a 2 yr. old will sit still for a half-hour or more, I know Julian still wouldn't and he's 28.5 months.

 

[Ravin]

The library I often go to has a toddler story time, and though we haven't been yet, the lady who does it (who also does the infant lapsit storytime) said the whole point of it was that they were well aware that toddlers DO NOT SIT STILL and like to run around. So they get their own story time where they aren't running over babies or preschoolers who ARE capable of sitting still for 5 min.
If the person running it has unreasonable expectations, I'd talk to her (him?) about it.
And yes, I have started having to occasionally run after my DD, though I try to encourage HER to be the one following/chasing ME, (usually by putting her in the sling for a while if I have to chase after her and retrieve her) while also providing times/places where it's OKAY for her to run around and go the direction SHE chooses (the park, etc.).

 

[Destinye]

Thanks for all the great replies and glad I am not alone! I am just going to keep going to the baby one at that library and the great toddler one at the other library but dont see this one working out. It seems to depend on the individual doing the class and this class goes from 18 mo to 3 which is a huge age range in terms of sitting still (and other development) and just did not get good vibes from that teacher/librarian. She also said to another toddler who was playing with a toy "we dont want to throw things do we and went on and on" and was almost lecturing her! I really hate the "looks" from other mothers too (its like high school all over again lol) though in general have only met really nice more mainstream Moms but I suspect our differences will become more apparent the older our children get.