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Toddlers: 12 - 24 Months
star1123
member
he's becoming a hoarder!
star1123
member
Last week my son started to INSIST on carrying this ball around with him. And if he doesn't have it he was asking, "ball?" "ball?" "ball?" all the time. I finally had enough because this ball traveled with him everywhere he went - the playground, the grocery store and even sat with him at dinner. It was annoying. He was only going to daycare once a week during the summer and I finally mentioned it to his DC provider. She said a lot of kids go through this that go to DC because they are used to their toys being taken away. I then noticed he does this type of hoarding if he is playing with his cars on his race track. He will hold onto a few and put the rest down the track. I have tried taking them from him and he doesn't get upset about it, but then will grab them as soon as I put them down.
I finally said no and was tough about not carrying his ball around and he seems fine, but DH thinks I'm being mean. I just don't want to create a habit with him for carrying a ball around.
I don't even know what I am really asking here, but I guess I am wondering if anyone else experienced this stage and if you have any advice??
My son just turned 21 months.
Oh, and he honestly doesn't seem overly bothered by it. I hid his two favorite balls that he loves carrying around last night and he has been fine all day and only asked me about them once. DH just is making me feel bad about it.
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Re: he's becoming a hoarder!
Honestly, I'm team H. I think you're being a little bit harsh on the kid.
It's a very common kid phase. My LO for example carries pails around all day. Her 3 sandbox ones and whatever empty ice cream pails she fishes out of the closet. She has like 4 on each arm at any given moment...lol. My neice who is 2 is obsessed with hairclips and must have 8 at any given moment.
Also working in daycare, I've known kids that have had to load up half the house before coming or they NEED 3 cars, six pairs of shoes, a My Little Pony and 5 million accessories to match it.
It won't last too long, so I say let them be. They're still learning object permanence and "Mine" so that's where it all stems from. They're also learning about having "favorites."
I guess my rule is you can drag whatever you want (within reason) around the house/yard but it's not allowed out in public. I don't see the harm at home.
I am also on team H on this one. My ds needed to carry around his fork for a few weeks after he started using them. It was just new and exciting and HIS, he felt ownership I'm thinking because dh and I use grown up forks and he uses a baby fork. I did find it weird at first because it seemed like an odd comfort item. But he has moved on since and it really wasn't a big deal.
My ds doesn't go to daycare or have siblings. But I imagine if he did he would "hoard" more items to keep others from taking them. Just imagine if every time you set down your pen at work someone came along and took it without asking or giving it back. You would probably stop letting go of it. Right? Idk, I try and think of things ds does in a way that makes sense as an adult.
Ha! That's so cute. My Los biggest comfort item is her sippy. Like can't function without it, won't lay down needs to know where it is in sight at all times love.
I thought it was soooo weird at first to be attached but then I figured WTH? Why Not/ Easy to haul, easy to clean and if it's lost there's more to be had at Target. 
My thoughts exactly! It became a family joke that ds was always prepared for take out because we had so many forks in the car. I would allow him to put them beside him if we went out, but he couldn't hold onto it (I didn't want him to hurt himself while I was driving) and couldn't take it into stores.
I agree this is really common. I remember when my younger brother was obsessed with keys. He had this set of random keys that he took everywhere, and once, when he left them at an ice cream stand, he was so inconsolable that my parents drove back to get them even though it was almost an hour out of the way.
I think it is OK to let him carry the ball around. At about the time he started crawling, DS desperately tried to also carry one or two small balls around with him from point A to point B. He actually perfected crawling with the balls in his fists. He enjoyed that a lot. He eventually moved on to other objects... and now he doesn't have too much of an attachment to anything at the moment.
I don't think your LO is becoming a hoarder
I would just let things "play out" here.
ETA: too much attention to the matter might have the opposite effect you are looking for too...
Thanks so much ladies! I feel a lot better now
Oh, and the pen thing made total sense and I laughed at that. I am a teacher, so I literally do have pens "walking" off ALL the time! I am actually a hoarder of my pens because of it, so that analogy made perfect sense to me.
Mine wants to take his pajamas everywhere.
I made a "leave them in the car" rule and he's been okay with that as long as they go with us in the car. Whatever. I guess it makes him happy and less screaming for me to deal with. 