rachelwt

I either should be a lot more nervous or, to your point, every kid develops differently. Both my kids have been late language learners. My oldest is going on 6 and is advanced in her kindergarten class. My youngest is going on 2, understands most things and doesn’t really talk more than animal sounds, noises, and sign language. As I said I could get a lot more worried but everything else is looking good so I’m just letting him take his time. I get the anxiety though. It’s hard to judge between what the doctor tells us and what we know sometimes

It’s important to be clear and set boundaries. I think you could do this with the group as a whole but everyone will know who you’re really talking to. I’d pull the specific parents aside and be clear about what’s happening and what your expectation of them is (pay for the toy, address the situation in the moment, whatever you’re seeking). Be open to a conversation with them, try to be curious (they may be really embarrassed already), and talk about next steps if it happens again. Then you need to hold that boundary and the next time something gets broken, follow whatever steps you discussed with them. There may be some hurt feelings but this is also a good example to set for your child around setting boundaries.

I also agree that if I see something with kids in my home, I’ll say something or stop the behavior somehow (take away the toy, intervene in the game). And it’s a good idea to set expectations with the kids up front as well (age appropriately)

I’ve found in my own experience that a lot of people want to give advise even when I don’t want any advice so my first question is always, do you want advice or help or do you want to share?

If the former, what kind of help can I give, if the ladder, I’m here to listen.

When I had my first, I never thought I would do anything but some form of cry it out eventually. When that didn’t work for my and my husband, I started exploring other options (because I was going insane) and landed on co-sleeping which has worked really well for both our kids and ourselves. I found a lot of information on how to do it safely and given our struggles, I felt it was worth it.

So maybe the conversation isn’t, this is what to do, it worked for me. Maybe it’s, (if they want help) have you considered different ways to handle sleep, schedules, cry it out, co-sleeping? Can I help you figure this out?

Not every baby or family is the same and giving advice in this moments can often feel judgemental and overwhelming but that doesn’t mean avoiding offering help.

Speaking of advice giving, I hope this helps