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anon says
Probably more of a question for moms with older kids, but how did you ease your kid into having a part-time or summer job? I started working at 12 (farm life), so my experiences are not very relevant. I have a rising 9th grader. In my state, kids can start working at 14, so my first inclination is GET OUT THERE AND DO IT, SON. However, he is a very young 14, in terms of maturity. Also relevant to the conversation is that he has ADHD. I think he would be eaten alive if he worked in fast food or something similar, and he’s balking at the idea of getting a job. Is it horrible to let him have another year to gain some maturity before working in the summer? We have told him that he needs to do something, like volunteer work, which also was met with lots of grumbling. He also has a couple of school-sponsored activity camps, but that fills maybe 2 weeks of the summer. And, frankly, he needs to learn that life isn’t all about him.
I don’t feel particularly sympathetic to the whines of “but I don’t wanna!” While he is an incredibly bright kid, I want him to learn how to apply that work ethic beyond academics. I guess I’m frustrated because I see friends’ kids (who are similar in age) being excited about getting out there and doing something more grown-up. But my kid would go to day camp forever if we let him and he hadn’t aged out of all of them.
Anon says
Some jobs that come to mind for that age are attendant at local berry picking farms/produce stands, camp counselor for a town camp, ball boy/caddy/towel stocker at a swim or golf club, etc. Basically, a seasonal pop up job that isn’t retail. At that age I was basically just babysitting (though I did it frequently all year).
To answer your question, I don’t think it’s bad to give him another summer “off”, and maybe you could increase his responsibilities at home instead. You can also set parameters as needed, like limiting screentime and requiring him to choose X activities to partake in. Childhood is so short and whether he starts working at 14 or 15 doesn’t make much of a difference.
go for it says
My kid was similar, and could not find employment (purportedly).
We felt the kid HAD to do something other than be a couch potato.
Ended up volunteering at a local YMCA camp and parlayed that into a summer camp counselor job for the next 3 years.
If that was not an acceptable option for kid, the grown ups had an epic list of house needs that would
be on kids “to do” mandate! Not surprisingly, volunteering at the camp was far more appealing.
Anonymous says
If he would love to go to day camp forever, can he be a counselor in training? Even if he doesn’t get paid, it would be a good experience.
Anon says
+1 to this. I was a counselor in training at that age, and then an actual counselor for the next three summers. It was a great transition and got me out of the house with relatively low pressure and a built-in social circle. It was a few years ago, but I assume these things are still pretty much the same!
Boston Legal Eagle says
Yes, this. Counselor in training, then counselor, is a great option for kids who love to run around, be outside and be around kids. There is a camp near us where teens can be one on one counselors to kids with special needs, which I hear is an excellent experience for all involved.
anon says
I think it would, too. When I’ve presented it in the past, he’s all “but I want to DO the things, not help other kids with the things!” Sigh. Like I said, he’s a young’un.
Anonymous says
I’d just say “you’ve aged out of being a camper so doing the things yourself is not an option. Your choices are to be a counselor in training or find another job or register for summer school.”
Anon says
If he’s a young at heart guy, maybe just let him do the camps again? I routinely feel grateful that my tween is still “young,” as compared to many other kids her age, in terms of her interests and activities. It feels emotionally hard to be a kid these days between social media, texting, etc. Why not let him play at day camps for another year? It is a problem that may fix itself, once he naturally finds himself to be one of the older kids or oldest kid in the group.
anon says
He’s aged out of most camps! If I could send him, I probably would.
Anon says
yea it is not like your kid is 17. maybe it was bad my parents did this but the summer i was heading into high school i did some volunteer work and went on a summer sleepaway program.
Anon says
Crud, yeah just saw that he’s aged out. One of my favorite summers ever was the first year my brother and I were old enough to be able to stay home alone, so probably around your son’s age. My mom worked from like 7 to 3 that year, and she’d leave a “list” for us every morning. My brother and I would wake up late, then sit at the breakfast table eating terrible food and making a huge mess. We’d always procrastinate getting our “list” done, so we’d sit for hours at the table talking or making each other laugh or whatever. Usually around 1:30, we’d panic and race through the chores — it was like, water the garden, weed, mow the lawn, do dishes, wash and fold laundry, and we each had math books that we had to finish 15 problems every day. HATED the math problems most of all.
If we didn’t get through the list, she’d take the cord with her to work to the one TV we had in the house the next day. We goofed around a lot, we had a lot of fun, and it was truly a “summer” in the sense that we had a ton of free time, a little responsibility, and it made us a lot closer as siblings. We still joke about some of the shenanigans from that summer, and that seeing my mom’s handwriting on a piece of paper on the kitchen table immediately makes us think “Oh no, what do we have to do today?” Actually seeing our progress/how the days unfolded probably would have driven her crazy if she was home (and now would drive me crazy as a parent), so YMMV if you work from home and do this plan. Sort of like, no one actually wants to see how the sausage is made/where the laundry is folded….
Anon says
He hasn’t aged out of sleepaway camps. I’d look into those.
Anonymous says
+1 for sleepaway camp. 14 is the perfect age for a lot of the more adventurous or academic ones. Camp is a great for developing maturity and independence.
Clementine says
I don’t think it’s bad to give him a summer off.
Frankly, I started working full time every summer when I was 14… I’m now 38 and the last summer I had totally off I was 13 years old. There’s a part of me that wishes I had allowed myself to be a kid for a while longer.
I think that a more fun job or volunteer gig – especially one involving the outdoors and being active – would be good but I wouldn’t be pushing him into fast food or retail. I’m thinking volunteering as an umpire or ref at little kids’ t-ball or soccer games, ball caddy or pool boy, volunteering to mow lawns for elderly neighbors type stuff.
anon says
OP here, and I really do get this. My childhood summers essentially ended at 13, which is kind of sad, actually.
Anonymous says
Yes it is. I don’t think kids need to work at 14. They need to contribute to the household and occupy their time but I don’t work hard so that my kids also need to be getting jobs as children.
Anon says
+1 There is value in working menial jobs and earning your own paycheck, but I won’t force the issue until 16 (though will allow earlier if they really want the money.) I will let my 14yos be children…which doesn’t mean being on screens all day, but means playing outside and reading books and making up games and managing their own boredom (the things children do). And yes I will also enlist them with chores around the house.
Anonymous says
This is all great if you have the sort of kid who will do chores and be active and do creative things on their own. A lot of kids, especially some with ADHD, will just choose to sit around playing video games and their parents will have to constantly nag them to get them to do anything. These kids benefit from the structure of school, camp, or a job.
Cerulean says
Look into local parks and rec departments, they probably hire teens for the summer. I worked at the pool in high school and it was great.
Anonymous says
I think you are on the right track insisting that he do something structured. If he does not come up with a plan himself, which might include summer school or enrichment courses, I’d choose something active and outdoor-focused like a camp CIT program or working at the golf course and make him apply and do it.
I would not push him to get a fast food or customer service job at this age.
Anonymous says
I think at 14 you can give him another year. Summer after my freshman year in high school was spent at the pool, at friends houses, tons of reading, and church youth group. I started working at 15. First year was in a relative’s office, second job was at an amusement park. Pretty much everyone in my (affluent) town worked from ages 15 on, it was expected by their parents. So you wouldn’t really have anyone to hang out with if you weren’t working…
Anon says
In my area the local zoo has term internships that are a good combo of camp and work.
Anon says
Teen*
Anon says
Maybe unpopular opinion, but my parents didn’t make me work in high school and I won’t make my kids work. My high school summers were a mix of sleepaway camps, academic things (college classes and internships in research labs) and training for my sport, with a reasonable amount of downtime. Kids work so hard these days that I think it’s ok for them to veg a bit in the summer, and while I understand that they need to do something productive it doesn’t need to be full time or paid work.
Spirograph says
FWIW, given the “I want to do the fun, not help kids do the fun”protests .. I was a sleep away summer camp counselor for several years. CITs especially, and counselors too, to a large extent, still get to do all the fun stuff! (I think CITs were technically still campers, not staff, they just paid way less because they’re partially earning their keep.) You’re still part of the capture the flag game, you just also put out the cones to delineate the no-man’s-land. The only thing I didn’t get to participate in was the pool time, because I was a lifeguard.
That said, there’s nothing wrong with a 14 year old not having a steady summer job. My first regular job was when I was about 16. Before that, I just babysat, helped out at Safety Town or VBS for a week here and there, did some odd helper things at the neighbor’s print shop for a few hours, etc.
Anonymous says
Can he drive? Is there any work within walking/biking/public transport distance? Those are the first questions to answer. If he’s at all capable, maybe he could pick up odd jobs like mowing lawns or washing cars. It’s easy to advertise on Facebook/Nextdoor now.
Lil says
There was a discussion on New Orleans with kids a few weeks ago and it inspired me to make last minute spring break plans! We leave in 2 weeks and staying 3 days in Marigny with a 7&4 year old and active grandma. None of us have visited New Orleans before. It sounds like we should plan on city park+ museum, maybe the zoo in lieu of swamp tour, and riding the trolley/ferry/eating delicious food? 4 year old still naps but can go without a nap. We are planning on public transit/walking as live in DC but let me know if that’s a bad call. Also welcome dinner options for parents after the kids go to bed! Thank you!
Anonymous says
We’re big walkers but Marigny is pretty far from both zoo and City Park. I’d take the trolley to Magazine on zoo day and don’t miss Audubon park. I like Atchafalaya and Superior Seafood for dinner, but there are tons of options. Try a poboy for lunch!
Anonymous says
New Orleans is a great walking city! For dinner, we really enjoyed Meril.
Anon says
I was the poster that recently went, and has been a bunch, but this was my first time with kids. I took my older kid (6). I lived in the DMV for ~7 years, and find NOLA similar in that you likely need access to a car if you live there, but if you’re visiting you can get by with walking/public transit (the streetcar and bus served us well) and the occasional rideshare. We had a friend pick us up from the airport, and we took an Uber back.
We did the swamp tour over the zoo, mostly because we have a fantastic city zoo (as you do in D.C., too). We saw many alligators in the wild!
I’ll let others post on restaurants – NOLA has so many options!
Lil says
Thanks for the inspiration! I liked the idea of the Swamp Tour and the 7 year old would love it. Which one did you do? 4 year old doesn’t weigh enough for an airboat but we could split up.
Anon says
We did the pontoon boat (which is for all ages) through Cajun Encounters, with the transportation; there’s a bus that does pick-up from set locations. Excellent all around, highly recommend. I feel like I learned so much! It inspired me to check out more local nature like Battaria Preserve (SC’s recco) on another trip.
Anon. says
My time to comment and stop lurking has arrived! I live in NO and my kids are 7 and 4, so I think I can help. I do not think you should rely on transit, but if you’re ok with Ubers you will be fine. Marigny to even parts of the Quarter (like the Aquarium) is a haul. My recommendations for kids/ things my kids like:
– Aquarium of the Americas with Insectarium add-on, especially if it’s hot
– Audubon Zoo is great (and check swamp tour ages, some air boats won’t take kids younger than 5) – we prefer zoo over aquarium, but depends on what you have where you live
– City Park is an amazing gem. Plan to spend hours there – the Oak Grove behind Cafe Du Monde is a local favorite for kids to climb huge oak trees (with a side of beignets), the NOMA Sculpture Garden is free and outdoors and incredible for wandering. Louisiana Children’s Museum is new-ish and outstanding but I’d only go if you’re really wanting something indoors, as the rest of the park is just glorious for these few weeks a year before it’s unbearably hot. Storyland is an old school New Orleans classic with fairy tale characters to play in and around.
– Not to be pedantic but we call it the streetcar, definitely worth a ride if your kids are interested in that.
– Ferry to Algiers Point and get tacos at Barracuda Tacos in Algiers Point
I’ll check back later to see if you have any other questions.
SC says
Also in New Orleans, and +1 to all of this. If your AirBNB offers parking, I would rent a car. Many of these things are pretty spread out and not particularly near the Marigny (though nothing is that far by car).
For attractions, I’ll add Vue Orleans. It’s a great, small, interactive museum with fantastic views of the river and the city. You could easily do that and then either the aquarium/ insectarium or take the ferry to Algiers Point.
I’ll throw out a few restaurants my 8 year old likes.
– Camellia Grill
– Company Burger
– Theo’s Pizza
– Pizza Delicious
– High Hat Cafe
– Cafe Navarre
– Blue Oak BBQ (if you’re coming from a non-bbq state–I will not pretend this competes with bbq from states like TX, NC, TN, KS, etc!)
– District Donuts/ District All Day
– Dat Dog
– Picnic Provisions & Whiskey (delicious but weirdly named, since you eat on premises, at regular tables, and the emphasis is on the food, not the drinks)
– Ralphs on the Park, if you’re looking for a nicer meal at a place that welcomes kids (I’d recommend brunch and then exploring City Park)
Lil says
Posting late- but thank you so much for the detailed responses from the locals! I am usually a spreadsheet queen planner, and this is a total impulse trip. :-) Marigny is a little further from the French Quarter than I thought but uber is fine; we have a saferider vest for the little one. We have both the National Zoo and Baltimore Aquarium near us and have visited a lot, so probably won’t prioritize this trip.
Here is what I am thinking..
Day 1: Vue Orleans + Ferry to Algiers point for tacos, depending on kid’s level of energy, Audubon Park/zoo.
Day 2: Swamp tour via Cajuns Encounters. Dat Dog for lunch, naptime for the little one.
Day 3: Cafe du Monde in the park, City Park+ Ralphs for late lunch (not visiting during the week)
Sound good for a first visit?
Anon. says
This sounds good – I’m the anon with the 4 and 7 year old. If you want something in the park you don’t have to drive to, the cafe at NOMA (called… wait for it… Cafe NOMA) is run by the same people who own Ralph’s on the Park and it’s a counter service situation which is better for my kids than Ralph’s (I had my wedding reception at Ralph’s so I love it – not a statement on Ralph’s!). You don’t have to enter the museum to go to the Cafe, there’s an entrance on the side.
SC says
This sounds great to me!
I’ll note that Barracuda Tacos also has margaritas, which you can get to-go. And it’s across from a neighborhood playground called Confetti Park, which is a nice stopping point if the kids want to run off some energy.
If you’re in City Park, you can walk to Ralphs–it’s just across the street. It is a nicer restaurant, but it has a kid’s menu, so I guess it just depends on your kids. Also, there’s a streetcar line that runs between downtown and City Park, if you’re interested in riding it.
GCA says
We took kid 1 to New Orleans for a wedding a few summers ago when he was 3. The zoo was a big hit, as was the water park at the zoo (though it may not be open for the season yet when you go). We enjoyed taking the ferry to Algiers Point, and the streetcar is great fun for kids. We ate at Dat Dog, Cafe Fleur de Lis, and Atchafalaya, and had ice cream every day. Never made it to City Park, alas, but had a lovely time nonetheless.
Anon says
Cafe Fleur de Lis’s fried green tomato eggs benedict is one of the best things I’ve ever eaten. I still think about it on a regular basis! Atchafalya was also amazing.
I’m saving all these recs, since our 2025 spring break is a cruise out of NOLA.
Anon. says
Ok, this is SO fascinating to me. I work very close to Cafe Fleur De Lis (like, steps away) and know zero people (including the dozens at my office) who have been there and there are lines regularly out the door. Somehow they got on a list and people go! I guess I need to try it??
Anon says
At the time I went it had really excellent Yelp reviews and I assume a lot of tourists found it that way? I guess it’s not so much a local place.
Anonymous says
I was recently promoted to managing a new team ; which should be exciting but I am also in my first trimester and haven’t told anyone. Has anyone experienced this and when did you ultimately tell your employer you were pregnant? And what about your new team, who I am sure you will be annoyed their new manager is taking leave.
Anonymous says
I wouldn’t tell them any earlier than you usually would. Get settled. Do a good job. Tell them at 20 weeks.
NYCer says
+1. And realistically, I doubt that many people will be annoyed that their new manager is taking leave.
Anon says
I took a new role in my first trimester (last year) managing a new team (20 people) and told my boss at 16 weeks and my immediate reports at 20 weeks. I then started to slowly tell people across the rest of the org. No one seemed to mind. I think it’s easiest on your team when you have a clear plan of who will take over while you’re out, etc. I worked with my manager to have this in place by 24 weeks-ish.
busybee says
What were your experiences transitioning from a crib to a toddler bed? We started with my 2.5 year old daughter on Monday and the last two nights have been ROUGH at bedtime. Not staying in bed, it becomes a game, I end up in bed with her until she falls asleep and then I sneak out. That is not going to work for me for several reasons! I know that different kids respond to change differently, but I’d love to hear your experiences.
Anon says
We switched DS #2 from a PnP to a toddler bed around Thanksgiving. It was fine. Then, he turned 3 in December, and was fine…until after the holidays. He’d run out of the bed, stand by the door and cry/pull the doorknob (for some reason he didn’t open the door, and I’m not mad about it), etc.
The wise people here told me to…let it be. For a few nights, he cried for decreasing intervals (25 minutes, 15 minutes, etc.) and fell asleep on the floor. Then, he fell asleep on the floor, but woke up and put himself in bed. Eventually, he…stayed in bed.
I also made sure the room is as safe as possible and I literally removed ALL toys and have not returned them.
Anon says
+1 to all of this. My 3 year old also did not come out of the bedroom despite being able to open the door. She spent one night on the floor. Couple of nights crying before and after that. We first tried to stay in the room with her until she fell asleep, but that was never successful for us. She would take forever to fall asleep, wake up when we left, wake up through the night when we weren’t there and cry, etc., so we stopped that very quickly. We had maybe a week of rough nights before she got the hang of it.
busybee says
I’m hoping it’s just a week! She definitely will open the door, and had a screaming meltdown when we locked it and she couldn’t get out. She’s never been a great sleeper but bedtime has never been a battle. I’m already dreading tonight, ugh
Anony says
I think every child is really different with this (a bunch of my son’s friends transitioned around the same time he did so we were all talking about it at a third birthday at one point and everyone had a very different experience), but mine weirdly did SO much better once we got an adult bed rather than a toddler bed (which was his crib with the conversion set). We had a really disrupted month of sleep that started with initially rejecting the crib, and then in the end getting the larger bed solved it.
Anonymous says
Yes to a real bed.
anon says
Not much advice, just commiseration. My kid started diving headfirst out of his crib at around 20 months, so we had to transition with very little warning. What had helped: setting up a video monitor (which we never actually used when he was a baby) and removing all the toys and distractions (which was originally a side effect of moving the furniture). We broke the pattern of mommy-lying-in-bed-until-kiddo-falls-asleep once, with about 5 days where I sat in an armchair and he was allowed to come cuddle me as long as he wanted, but I put him back in his own bed just before he fell asleep. But on the other hand, it still takes up to an hour to get him to sleep, and he still tries to get my goat by laying down to sleep on the floor. Toddlers gonna toddler, I guess.
Anon says
+1 to the monitor – I am the Anon at 12:58, and we installed a monitor at the top of his closet that can essentially pan through the entire room.
When he was a baby we had a very low tech monitor. Around 2 we had to get rid of it because kid pulled it off where it was posted (while in his PnP)…
anon says
We did crib to toddler bed a little before 3 for our son. He’s typically a good sleeper and fairly obedient so take this with a grain of salt.. For bedtime, he gets 2 stories and then snuggles for a few minutes before he needs to go in his bed and fall asleep on his own. We have the hatch and practiced a couple nights in the crib that he couldn’t call for us until it turned green at 6:30. Same rules for the toddler bed. He has a cheap alarm clock so he can see the time (now that he can recognize numbers). He’s allowed to get up and play with quiet toys or “read” books in his room, but he can’t come wake us up until 6:30. It probably took a couple weeks for him to fully agree, and we still occasionally have early mornings. We basically had to re sleep train him.
He’s potty trained now, and he’s allowed to get up and use the hall bathroom if he needs it, but again can’t wake up mom and dad until the green light. Since he is generally good, we will get up with him in the middle of the night if he has a bad dream or doesn’t feel well.
I’ve asked him about moving into a twin bed from the toddler bed and he specifically said not until his 4th birthday this summer.
Anonymous says
DD was 3 and it went fine but she’s my very compliant child. DS is strong willed and switched at maybe 2.75. It was a disaster but he was climbing out. I would have to lay in there with him for like a month.
Anonymous says
What kind of blankets does she have and are they tucked in? We moved our kid to a twin bed at 2y3mo because she was climbing out of the crib. We had a real comforter, blanket, and flat sheet that were tucked in all along the wall side to keep her from rolling into the gap between the bed and the wall. I think the heavy covers that were tucked in tightly had an effect similar to that of a weighted blanket, and encouraged her to feel cozy and stay in bed. I don’t think she’d have been nearly as good at staying in bed if we’d just used a loose toddler blanket.
Anonymous says
Switched at age 4. Take side off the crib and use as a toddler bed the month before their birthday and if they can stay in bed, then they get the twin bed for their birthday. We used twin beds and an armchair rocker in each room to avoid requests to lay down with them at night.
2/3 kids learned to climb out of their cribs before age 4 but DH built a wooden extension and we dropped the mattresses to the floor so we could use the cribs longer.
Anonymous says
I was convinced it was going to be a struggle so put it off, thinking eventually my son would try to climb out. But he never did, which should have been our clue. We finally converted his crib to a toddler bed around age 3.5, still bracing for the worst. For a solid 6 months after that he still yelled at us for him to come get him out of bed when he woke up in the morning, not seeming to realize he could just get out by himself. He’s an odd child that still doesn’t like french fries.
Lying says
How do you address lying in young kids? My 5 year old has been making up elaborate stories, sometimes to get out of trouble and sometimes for no reason at all. I know it’s developmentally appropriate but it’s frustrating.
Anon says
One key is to limit the opportunities for lying. If you know she did something, don’t ask or push her to admit it. Eg, “Hmm, seems you were eager to have a cookie and took one. I guess that will have to be instead of your dessert tonight, and I’ll put them up higher now. Please remember to ask.” rather than “Did you take a cookie without asking? Why did you do that?”
Spinning tales is a favorite pastimes for 5yos, and it’s less intentionally lying than it is projecting what they wish had happened or using their imagination.
(Maybe you think this is too “gentle”, but you can still go ahead and apply whatever consequence works for your family. But instead of focusing on lying, focus on the deed.)
Anonymous says
One thing my 5 year old does is tell extremely elaborate yarns about his stuffed animal’s life and about his invented country. It seems to scratch that itch for him of telling us invented stories but we’re obviously aware they are not true (eg, I went fishing with Momo (stuffy) this weekend- we drove to the mountain and slept in a tent! – I see no harm in that because Momo is a stuffed dog and it’s obvious it’s pretend).Can you encourage some kind of imaginary world to use as a backdrop?
anon says
For that age, some version of “yeah, I bet you wish that’s how it was,” or “wouldn’t it be funny if that was true?” or ignoring for harmless flights of fantasy said as if real.
Anonymous says
This. My daughter used to get hopping mad about other kids lying in kindergarten and my stock response was “kids your age often say things they wish were true.”
Anon says
I was like your kid, but I told elaborate lies for years, from elementary well into my teen years. For me it was because my parents issued harsh punishments when I made mistakes and rewarded me when I was “perfect.” Not saying any of this applies to you or your kid, just my experience. Does your kid know it’s ok to make mistakes? Do you thank him when he tells the truth and takes responsibility?
Anon says
dr. becky had a good podcast episode on this. a lot of the time if it impacts absolutely nothing i say something like “wow that’s interesting” or “wouldnt that be fun”. my 5 year old does the same thing. a lot of “my teacher said x, y and z…”
Anon says
When did you start letting your baby sleep with a stuffed animal/lovey? My 10 month old daughter has a hard time soothing herself back to sleep, and I think her lovey would help. But I know the AAP recommendation is not for the first year. Did you follow this recommendation?
Vicky Austin says
DS is one today and I’ve been letting him have a lovey in crib for a week or two now, so…almost.
Can you give it a try during a weekend nap when you can check on her periodically?
Anon says
happy birthday!
Abby says
Happy Birthday to your little one!!!
Anon says
So honestly, we didn’t. But my daughter has one of those small cotton gauze loveys with a lion face on it – it’s super lightweight and breathable. We gave it a lot sooner than that – around 6 months? She started to sleep much better. She loves the lovey and knows it’s time for sleep time whenever we take it out. We have a spare lovey for daycare and another spare in case one gets lost or is dirty.
Anon says
Yep. We gifted our daughter her lovey as her first birthday present (which I totally recommend!).
Anon says
We did follow that rec, but it wasn’t hard because my kid didn’t have any interest in stuffies before she was 1.
Anon says
Many people here have chosen to ignore certain AAP recommendations that don’t work for them during the infant years. 10 month olds are pretty similar to 12 month olds in terms of physical development, and usually can move their head or body in the rare instance that a lovey is blocking their breathing. But you know your child best.
SC says
I’m pretty sure this recommendation is new in the last 8 years. We gave DS a lovey once he could roll over and lift himself up on his hands. (He wasn’t in a sleep sack that would prevent this.) I think he was around 6 months old.
Anon says
We gave our kid a lovey well before a year, but she was also walking at 8.5 months. By 9.5 months she could traverse a playground, climb a ladder and go down a slide. She was also playing pretend with baby dolls and giving them bottles by around the same time. Developmentally she was more than ready. But all babies develop at their own pace and I’d probably feel differently if I had a kid who was on a different timeline.
For what it’s worth she’s 10 yo now and still sleeps with her lovey.
Rainforest Vacation? says
A couple weeks ago someone was looking for spring break ideas and I believe Clementine suggested Puerto Rico, which is intriguing and I am thinking about it for next year. I haven’t traveled around the Caribbean very much. We did a safari in India earlier this year and loved seeing the tigers and other animals. Would we be able to do a similar experience in the El Yunque rainforest? I know there won’t be tigers, but will there be other animals besides small reptiles/amphibians and birds? Would we have better chances to see wildlife in DR or Jamaica? I know Hawaii is also an option if we want to see wildlife but I prefer the Caribbean for the shorter flight. We are from Midwest and the places above have direct flights. DS will be 4.
Anon says
El Yunque is mostly trees, plants and waterfalls. It was a little challenging for us to get to, and honestly I’m not sure I’d bother driving over with kids, but doable. I’ve been thinking PR to go with my kids, too, but will stay at a hotel on the water and we’d probably spend most of the time swimming or exploring old San Juan.
Anon says
I just reread and saw you have one young kid. If you are an adventurous family and he’s up for walking it could be fun. But I would not schlep my four kids, as there’s not much worse than being in the middle of the woods with melting down kids outnumbering the adults!
Anon says
+1 El Yunque is not that exciting. Go to Costa Rica instead.
Anonymous says
If you want wildlife go to Costa Rica. Don’t waste your time with DR or or PR.
Anon says
I’ve traveled to 20+ Caribbean islands. The Caribbean is not a big wildlife destination unless you count stuff seen while snorkeling (fish and turtles/rays if you get lucky). Costa Rica is the best bet and you can see sloths there, but otherwise it will mostly be reptiles, amphibians and birds. It’s definitely not going to compare to a safari in India.
It’s not a spring break destination but imo Alaska is the best place in the US for a safari-like experience. We saw several types of bears, moose, caribou, whales, sea otters, puffins, porpoises and more on our trip there.
Trips says
co-sign Costa Rica. It’s an easy, direct flight from much of the US. With that age kid, you won’t be able to do all the active things, but if you are up for a splurge, it’s worth spending one night at the Peace Lodge on your way in or out of San Jose and doing the animal feeding. You won’t need more than one night
For a longer trip at another time, check out Elephant Hills in Thailand.
do you have info on your India safari you can share?
OP says
Went to Tadoba-Andhari Tiger Reserve in central India. Worked with Foliage Outdoors travel agency, which coordinated our entire trip including transportation, lodging (Tadoba Jungle Camp) and safari permits. Highly recommend!