[backwoodsmama]

How do you moms of 2 (or more) keep the littler one from getting into the older ones things? My DS is 14 mos and very determined to get all the things his 3 1/2 year old sister plays with. She can't paint or color or play tea party without him trying to climb over her to get at her things. She gets understandably upset, he gets understandably frustrated, and I go insane because I feel badly for both of them! My only solution is to only do "big girl" things when he naps, but I feel like I should be able to figure something out. If I get something really cool for him to do while she's playing, then she also wants to play with it. But if it's not really cool, then he's not distracted enough to leave her alone. He can now climb up onto the beds and kitchen table and we have a really small house so there's nowhere for her to go to be alone. I have tried letting him in on her play, but he eats the crayons, totally dismantles the tea party, and I can't even imagine trying to paint with him! Will he ever get over trying to keep up with big sister?

 

[annethcz]

Depends on what they are playing. If at all possible, I encourage the older kids to include the toddler. I help when neccesary. For example, if the are building blocks and toddler wants to play, I start by giving toddler a single block to see if that will satisfy her needs. If it doesn't, we go from there. Older kids build a towers, and take turns knocking it over.

If compromise doesn't work, I do one of 3 things:
1. Remove the toddler from the situation.
2. Tell the kids that if they don't want to play with the toddler, they need to move elsewhere (either to a bedroom & close the door, or put their toys on the dining room table- as a sidenote: we are currently using folding chairs so we can put away chairs not currently in use, otherwise DD will climb onto the table to join her siblings)
3. We come up with a new activity that ALL of the kids can do together.

It's a balancing act, but for the most part, my older kids are very tolerant of their baby sister. I've done my best to encourage cooperation.