Emma's just at that age where she is mobile & the most exciting things in the loungeroom are the DVD player & stereo. I have moved most things out of reach, but she can still reach the buttons on some things. I realise over time we will have to teach her that she is not allowed to play with them, but at the moment it's hard to know where to start!
How did you teach your babies that they aren't allowed to touch certain things> ATM I just say 'no' & move her away to play with something else...
Yeah thats what we do, say no and then try to distract. Its not working so well now, and to be honest the TV and DVD get a hammering from her! Its all about the big things I spose. Keeping her away from things that can harm her rather than stuff that just annoys us. Love the photo in your ticker - it shows that she is happy getting into stuff!
You will find your house will get more and more baby proof now, things lifted up high, knobs taken off cabinets etc. It drives me mental that I have to battle to get my cutlery drawer open, but what can you do wiht a toddler in the house!
Thanks Fi. yeah, i guess over time it will get easier as the house just becomes more baby proof. It's so hard to distract her though!!! Baby toys aren't nearly as exciting as the rest of the world!!!!
LOL we bought a cabinet to put things in and we lock it. The TV is just high enough that she sometimes pulls a chair up to it & climbs on it to point to the TV. When she was younger we just piled chairs up in front to avoid the fight.
We just say no and sometimes quite often he listens actually. If he's tired though he starts to cry when we say no....it's so cute that I end up laughing (do I sound like a mean mummy?) If he's in a not listening mood I try and distract him. I think the important thing is to say it firmly with a serious voice. I think a lot of people say no in a nice voice so it doesn't sound any different from normal iykwim??
Yep, Kristie that makes sense, I agree. (and yep, I can't help but laugh sometimes too! )
Theresa - that's actually a good idea. We have an old remote for a heater that doesn't work anymore & I have often 'swapped' the real one with that when she has found it & it has worked. So will keep that one going on..
christy - the cabinet sounds like the best solution LOL. I don't think we'll be getting one but I wish we were!!!
We just said no from the beginning and kept consistent with it. Zander very very rarely will go for the DVD player now. I do find though if we say "aaah" he will stop sooner than to a no! Now he will come and tell me when he has touched something he shouldn't - he'll come to me & say "don't touch" and wave his arm then walk to what it was.
Maybe Lily should get some lessons of Zander lol. We have always said no to Lily when she does something she shouldn't, she used to stop but now its a different story. She will say 'ah ah' and shake her head no at us but continue what she is doing, so cheeky. so will take her away and she will go berserk, then go and do it again when we are not looking. It's hard too coz we can't move the tv's(we have 2) or the DVD player or the computers(she keeps opening and closing the CD drawer!).
I think consistancy is definately the key, you have to do it over & over & over again until they realise you are not going to give in. Zander still has his naughty moments & his latest thing to do it to flick the powerpoints in the hallway because I'm not usually in there to catch him. As horrible as it sounds, a very loud scary no can do wonders. I had to do it twice with Zander a few weeks ago when he was playing with another powerpoint. The first time I walked up behind him, picked him up yelled no and put him down a few steps away from where he was. He went straight back to the powerpoint, so I did it again, this time the no was louder and a bit scarier. He had a bit of a cry for a few seconds, then got over it and he has not touched that powerpoint since
We haven't "childproofed" our house at all except that we have locks on the kitchen cupboards with chemicals and I make sure the bathroom/toilet doors are closed. The way we figure it is that he needs to learn what he can and can't touch without us having to rearrange everything. Just looking round the loungeroom now there is the DVD player, set-top box, foxtel box, DVDs, speakers, tissues and heater (turned on) all within easy reach to toddler hands. I won't even mention the kitchen because people are often horrified when they realise what is at toddler level! We often go to friends houses and we are the first to have children so none of them have their houses set up for chidren and he does very well. We just keep the rules the same as at home whenever we are out. Of course it's hard when there are all these new & interesting things to look at and touch, but he has learnt that when someone tells him no they mean it.
Sarah, thank you so much for going into all of that. I too would really like to be able to have areas of the house that are 'normal' & believe that Emma will just have to learn what she is not allowed to touch.
It's just good to hear from someone who is further along than us....so consisitency is the key!
Absolutely definately consistancy!! I had to train daddy a bit because he wasn't bothered so much with Zander playing with the DVDs whereas I didn't want him to. We had a bit of a discussion about what was / wasn't allowed after Zander got a bit confused with being allowed to touch something with daddy but not with mummy.
ARgh can you train Matilda's Daddy as well??? He is always letting her play with DVD's even though I discussed with him that it wasnt allowed. He just gives in.
Teaching them 'out of bounds'
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