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Toddlers: 24 Months+
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Is there any way to stop this?

alisonadaalisonada member
in Toddlers: 24 Months+

I'm home on maternity leave with my 18 month old and newborn. We spend most of our time in our living room, which is baby-gated off where it connects to a hallway and the kitchen. My newborn nurses ALOT so my older DD is left to run around the living room on her own (she's always within my view).

Well, lately her favorite thing is to take her toys and throw them all over the gates so they end up in piles in the hallway and kitchen. This becomes a hazard for me as I climb over the gates carrying the baby, or lift her over the gates (they're a pain to keep taking down and putting up). So I keep putting the toys back in her box in the living room, and she of course does it again. I've tried not giving them back after she throws them over (after warning her that if she throws them they'll be gone and she won't be able to play with them) but then I feel so bad because she's already bored enough sitting in the living room while I nurse the baby, I don't want to make her do it without any toys even.

Am I just being too much of a softie? Any suggestions?

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Re: Is there any way to stop this?

  • PaigeC1981PaigeC1981

    Aw, that smart little one is testing you!!!  I do get your point though about your feeling bad that she's bored while you're feeding the baby.  What about reading to her while you nurse?  Or looking through photo albums of her when she was a baby and telling her stories of what she was like as a baby, etc?  That kind of thing...

    I wouldn't keep putting the toys back, but I'm not going to judge you b/c I don't have two little ones!!! 

    Lilypie Fifth Birthday tickers
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  • JulieandBenJulieandBen member

    Honestly I would give her this. She's bored and if this is the worst she's doing then I would let it be. She's going to get bored with it soon enough. Maybe not soon enough for you, but still soon enough. Be glad she's not throwing herself on the floor in a fit every time you nurse.

     A friend of mine always gets her daughter a snack and drink when she's about to nurse. I don't know if that would work for you or not.
     

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  • neverblushedneverblushed member

    Don't let guilt stop you from enforcing limits.  If you don't want her to toss the toys "overboard", tell her the toys will be taken away if she tosses them over.  Then stick with it.  Take them away until the next meal -- just long enough to make an impression on her.  She'll get the hint!

    Then, set up a laundry basket for her to toss toys into and then dump out.  Or coach her to toss them over the arm of the couch.

    "You can't do _________ but you CAN do ___________" is a nice script for helping young toddlers learn boundaries.

    High School English teacher and mom of 2 kids:

    DD, born 9/06/00 -- 12th grade
    DS, born 8/25/04 -- 7th grade
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