If I don't let Daniel play with something, it's out of concern for his safety. Magazines and newspapers are printed with toxic chemicals, keys have lead, stuff like that. But it's not because I want to teach him to respect "stuff".

 

I've very big on 'respecting' things which have some sort of permanent value. But still - I let my 1 year old play with EVERYTHING. That doesn't mean I let her destroy things. I really hate it when kids break their toys and waste things (I have a good friend who lets her kids just break everything because she doesn't want to limit them). I don't let her stand on toys or books. But she is allowed to rip up newspaper.

I let her play with remotes and phones and all sorts of other non-baby things. But we still help her to treat them with respect and not wreck them. So she's not allowed to have my glasses - because they are too easily broken (and we don't have the money to replace them right now). She's allowed to carry around real drinking glasses - but she can't also have a metal spoon because the glass would break.

 

I will only say that letting her play ith the glasses may not be such a good idea if they are absolutely nescessary ,mine are I'm legally blind without them, and cannot be replaced easily. My older DS destroyed mine, I had no $ and had to get the lion's club to help me replace them and it took 2 weeks for them to be made because of my perscription. That was two weeks that I could not work, drive, or basically do anything. It sucked. Other than that I don't limit my kis playthings unless it is dangerous. I do not let them rip up books however because i want to teach them to respect books (just in case tey are not mine), I think you should be careful with letting her rip up magazines because they are so much like a book and one day you could find your books riped up too. Other than that i hate the attitude that Children must not touch things.

 

I think we are the same as you all. We let dd play with anything. If it's out, it's fair game. She has her own phone book to rip up. However she's only 5 mos and so I don't have to worry about her going into my room to get books to rip up yet. I don't know, I think some of this is all about exploring different textures and sounds. I'm pretty laid back though. Some of my mom friends aren't that way.

 

My DD's favorite toy is the remote control... I don't like her to play w/ it b/c it's plastic and so I will usually just offer her a wooden block or another toy to replace it. She's 10 months, so she cries if you just take things away from her. We let her play w/ most things, like spoons (currently in 2nd place for favorite) and bowls and whatever is in the cabinets (rubbermaid tops which she uses under one hand while crawling, good noises!)... She loves books and magazines but most of our books belong to relatives or the library so I keep them up high.

 

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Originally Posted by Meems My DD's favorite toy is the remote control... I don't like her to play w/ it b/c it's plastic and so I will usually just offer her a wooden block or another toy to replace it. She's 10 months, so she cries if you just take things away from her. We let her play w/ most things, like spoons (currently in 2nd place for favorite) and bowls and whatever is in the cabinets (rubbermaid tops which she uses under one hand while crawling, good noises!)... She loves books and magazines but most of our books belong to relatives or the library so I keep them up high.

yeah, we let her play with the remote all the time

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Have you ever given your LO's a box of tissues? You might actually find ten minutes to read your magazine.

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One tissue at a time...

(my kids play with everything. Especially things that are not toys.)

 

Most anything, yes

 

We let DD play with most anything, unless it's easily breakable or expensive, like our digital camera. We are much more careful at other people's houses, though, because I want to be respectful of their things.

 

Um yeah. LOL DS plays with whatever. No plastic bags, no plugged in electrical cords, no cat food. I think thats all that is off limits. LOL

 

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Originally Posted by MommytoTwo Um yeah. LOL DS plays with whatever. No plastic bags, no plugged in electrical cords, no cat food. I think thats all that is off limits. LOL

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With dd1 i was more uptight- probably like the play group mothers you described. but this time around I let baby play with a variety of things- I don't get all worked up, unless it dangerous of course.

 

My DS's current favorite activity is to press all the buttons on the answering machine. He'll hit speakerphone and then laugh hysterically when that obnoxious <eh eh eh eh eh eh eh> sound of the phone being off the hook too long comes on. How could you say no to that?

 

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Originally Posted by readytobedone it's always interesting to me to see how parents handle their little babies messing with everything. i pretty much just let DD get into whatever, as long as it won't hurt her, and as long as it's not something super-important (like my dissertation--if i had one ). she chews and shreds our magazines, and i just watch to make sure she's not eating it. if i actually want to read it at some point (i mean, who has time anyway these days, but that's a whole other thread!), i'll take it away before she completely destroys it. DH lets her play with his glasses, just watches her with them so she doesn't hurt herself or break them. ditto the remote control. we're just very hands-off about it, both of us, even though we've never discussed how to handle it. but i notice at playgroup, and when we're around other adults (like my parents), it seems a lot of adults are just of the mindset that you need to keep babies from messing with things that aren't "theirs." i guess the logic is it's teaching them a "bad habit" that they can play with daddy's glasses or whatever? but i guess i don't see it that way. all taking things from her seems to do is upset her, and i try not to upset her unless it's necessary. i figure at some point she's just going to lose interest in trying to eat magazines anyway. no use stressing over it.

as long as it won't hurt her she can play with it. she loves pulling my glasses off my face. her dad's comb and toothbrush are other favourites, we finally bought her her very own toothbrush. she loves emptying the magazine rack. the only time i "stifle" her urge to raid things is at playgroup. if she starts to raid another baby's diaper bag or car seat. although, that's also for sanitary reasons so she doesn't pull out another baby's bag of dirty diapers (we almost all use cloth at playgroup, how cool is that?

)

 

Let them play with everything as long as it's not dangerous. Kids don't understand respect or material possessions until they are much older anyway, so it's up to parents to keep valuables out of reach. When we go somewhere and my dd is into things, we just leave and go home or outside to play where she can get into anything. She is 2 now and much more well behaved and has more self control than kids around her who were constantly told no, etc. Be careful with the paper. When dd was younger she bit some paper and started to choke on it before I could stop her.

 

I have my limits. I don't believe in destroying things just for the sake of destryong them or just because it is "fun". We don't use tissues (we use cloth) but if we did - it would be wasteful to let my baby sit and waste an entire box. Even though I agree that a baby is too young to understand "wasteful"...if I let her do it when she is a baby, when do I stop it? Why not just stop it in the beginning? Why not *start out* trying to teach respect?

That said, if my baby was interested in our cloth tissues, I would have no problem handing her a box and a pile of tissues to play with. It isn't that I have a problem with playing with things that aren't "meant" for baby. It's just that I have my limits.

I don't let my baby's play with our phone because I've actually had my baby call 911 before. It's a funny story but too long for this post.

But I woudln't have a problem giving them a spare phone to play with. I don't let them play with my remote because I don't want the channels changed while I am trying to watch tv..but I have no problem giving them a spare remote.

I don't let them play with magazines because (A) I don't want her eating the chemicals used in the bleaching and printing process and (B) there again, it is wasteful. Once I finish the magazine, others could happily use it.

If they pick up something that isn't "for baby" I don't automatically grab it from them. I stop and think about it first and then make my decision. I also try to teach them to be "gentle" rather than just grabbing it. If they want to drink out of a real glass then I will sit with them at the table and show them how - but they must sit at the table with me. I'll give a little and they give a little as well. Does that makes sense?

Lastly, I don't believe in placating a baby just so that I don't "upset" them. Not always getting your way is a part of life. I would never upset my baby on purpose just to "teach them a lesson" and I would rather distract them or offer them something else rather than to be abrupt. But that said, I have no problem with saying "No for baby" and gently removing something from their hands.

 

when my babies pulled all the tissues out, I just stuffed them back in. No waste.

 

i do to a point, i dont let him have remotes anymore, he fried our old one with slober. Hes not allowed the phone because i dont need 911 called, hes not allowed daddys glasses because dh needs them and we dont have enough money to replace them. I figure he has plenty of toys and things he can touch and play with, that a few things being no-nos are fine.

 

As long as it's safe and I'm there, yes. Anything. I let him eat my hair, play with the Christmas bows, grab papers or bags and shake them. I don't think he is old enough to form "bad habits."

Otherwise, wouldn't we all be soiling our pants out of "bad habits"? Maybe some of the moms in the playgroup are doing the "disciplining" for show.

 

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Originally Posted by MommytoTwo when my babies pulled all the tissues out, I just stuffed them back in. No waste.

I guess I was thinking of my slobbery babies.

If they had a box of tissue, by the time they finished, it would be reduced to a big pile of wet blobs of tissue.

 

My DS greatly prefers anything that is not marketed as a toy. Wooden spooks, the plastic spatula, a toothbrush, the lid off of anything, my water bottle, whatever his dad is holding....

Why stop them from exploring if it's not going to do any harm?

 

We're pretty laid back about that sort of thing. As long as he is not destroying anything we want/need whole, we're all good. He gets paper, books, pringles cans, shoes, etc...

When we're at other people's houses we go by their rules. Bummer as it sometimes is, but oh well.

 

My baby loved to play with my cell phone. Open. Shut. Open. Shut. Open. Shut. He loved the beeps and the light. Well, his drool ruined it, and I had to buy a new phone, which I wasn't too excited about. So, I don't let him play wiht cell phones anymore, or my home phone, or the remotes.

Oh and I now lock the desk drawers b/c he was getting into the drawers while I was on MDC and chewing on the box of staples.

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I read the title to this post and then looked over and saw my son chewing happily on the dog's collar.

Fortunately, he lost interest before I had to take it away.

 

My deal is , it is not just MY home, but OUR home. I make sure safety comes first of course. BUt beyond that, I think they learn well manipulating things hands on. I do have a rule that the things on my shelves in my bedroom and the things on my desk are hands off. But beyond that, its usually okay. My younger two really do not play with toys at all, they are far more fascinated with tupperware, pans, xmas ornaments, shoes, etc....

 

My deal is , it is not just MY home, but OUR home.

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I always think it's weird when people say things like, "don't make a mess on MY carpet" and the like.