Tired of stuff in my drinks!

[Storm Bride]

Does anybody have any suggestions for this one?

DS2 is 2.5. He loves water and fluids and such. For the last few months, he's had the habit of dropping things - usually toys, but not always - in my drinks. He'll put toys in my water glass, and pull them out, dripping water everywhere. Then, he'll put them back in and take them out again. My water becomes undrinkable, and he splashes everywhere. He does this all the time.

Just now, he walked up and tried to drop a toy in my coffee. I saw him and blocked it, but it was close. I've talked to him about coffee being hot, and he gets that, but he is only 2.5 - not much impulse control and he forgets that my coffee is hot, yk?

This is so frustrating. I almost went nuts after Aaron was stillborn, while I was recovering from the section...trying to keep a glass of water beside me was pretty much impossible, and getting up was even more so.

I realize he's going to stop this eventually, but does anybody have any tips for dealing with it? Right now, I just take the toys out (if I don't catch him in time) and tell him that toys are for playing with and my water is for drinking. If he does it again, I usually put the toy up for a while, but that's really not logical, because it's not about that particular toy, yk? He'll just go get another block or something and do it again.

I'd really like to be able to have a water glass "on the go"...

[abac]

You might buy one of those travel mugs that has a cover.

[Storm Bride]

I'll see if I can find one with a wide base. I have one I use sometimes in the van, but it's way too "tippy" to use around ds2. He also loves to spill things (I've cleaned up milk every day this week, and I lose track of how many water spills we have), and I really don't want him to burn himself. The stuff in my water is driving me crazy, but it's the coffee that really freaks me out.

[abac]

You can get covered travel mugs that have a closing thingy on top too. You can get ones that slide shut, or ones that have a little flap that you close and it has a little plug that fills the hole. I use the Alpine beer ones to give ds his milk. They're thermal too, so it avoids spills and keeps drinks cool. You could also set him up with a cup of water on a towel on the floor just for playing.

[WuWei]

Set up a water table for him? We have one of those under-the-bed storage containers, like Rubermaid. I fill it with water; and put in a bunch of measuring cups, spoons, little teapot, funnels, etc. You could put towels under it and place it on the floor. Or, push a chair up to the kitchen sink to play in the water (pad the area with towels!). Or put all those play things in the bathtub and let him go at it! Meet the need to explore water, splashing, etc without the mess.


Pat

[Limabean1975]

Urrrrgh, I totally understand your frustration!! My 2-year-old has been a water-lover since spring. I don't have a great solution - but I've been able to limit it by being in the habit of putting my glass or mug far back on my desk or the counter, out of reach. It's become such an ingrained habit I don't even think about it. And my bedside water has a tightly screwed on cover.

Have you experienced this joy yet?: DS figured out that even if he was not provided with an open cup, to have fun with puddles, he could fill his mouth with water from a straw then spit it on things! The couch, inside toys, the floor..... Heh.

Eta: I have done things like WuWei suggested, but he takes cupp or ladelfuls of water and transports them about the house. So we do baths...there's a lake on the bathroom floor, but I can cope with that. And trips to the public pool.

[ma_Donna]

ITA with the covered cup and when my boys get the need for water play they spend a lot of time in the tub!

Good luck

[Ruthla]

I second (third? twentieth?) the suggestion for a cup with a lid for yourself. Could you give him his own bowl or cup of water to play with, set up on something that won't get ruined when he spills or splashes? Something like a waterproof placemat with a small towel over it- and THEN his cup for water play. This way he'll still get his sensory input, which won't happen if you cover your own cup and don't also give him his own water to play with.

[Cherie2]

I have the same problem, my way of protecting my glass is finding a high shelf to set it on.

[Storm Bride]

High shelves don't work. DD can get to almost any shelf on the main floor (the only two she can't reach are one inside the hall closet - not practical for my drinks, and one end of the bookshelf - which is already covered in stuff we don't want the kids to get into. Once she can reach it, it's fair game for ds2, because she likes to play games with him, and knows that he likes liquids.

We try to let him have water play, but he doesn't keep it contained...and if his sister gets upset about something, she'll dump it. (She gets frustrated over ds2 not playing things the "right" way, or saying something the wrong way, or not wanting to play with her.) We spend a lot of time cleaning up water. His need for water play is huge, and very hard to fill around here...especially since he needs to spill and splash! The summer will be better - we have a water table on the patio, but it's too cold for that right now.

More baths aren't a bad idea, but I need to work on me before I can do that. I hate giving the kids their baths. It always seems to end up with someone splashing someone else in the face, lots of tears, etc. DH usually bathes them, and I haven't given them that many "recreational" baths. I'll keep that in mind, though.

The passive "better mug" approach may be the best. I hope he outgrows this sooner, not later!

[Cherie2]

when my ds was little my dh installed some 5 foot high shelves around the house... i could never have survived my ds's toddler without them lol

[Storm Bride]

Originally Posted by Limabean1975

Have you experienced this joy yet?: DS figured out that even if he was not provided with an open cup, to have fun with puddles, he could fill his mouth with water from a straw then spit it on things! The couch, inside toys, the floor..... Heh.

Oh, yes - I've experienced the joy. He loves to spit things back out, usually liquids, thankfully. It doesn't matter how he gets it into his mouth - open cup, sippy cup, spoon - he'll store it like a cute little chipmunk, then...blech. He does it with water, milk, juice (fortunately, we don't drink much juice) and even egg nog over Christmas. Blech.