Crying Uncle!

[yellowperch]

My 15 month old is a madman. You know what it is like--when you are picking up the cereal he's spilled he's pulling the napkins out of the drawer. You go the rest room, and the newpapers have been pulled out of recycling, you turn your head and the little genius has shoved a chair over to the counter and has snatched a bag of chocolate chips out of the cabinet. He loves the fridge, computer, cell phone. He loves pulling books off the bookshelves (ad we have lots of them). When he's not enjoying himself in these ways he wants to be held or carried.

 

It's kinda crazy here at the moment.

 

You'd think by now I'd know what to do at this stage, but I don't.

 

Advice?

[ktgrok]

Baby proof!!! Yes, you need to correct him when you can, but as you have clearly pointed out you can't do that all the time. And correcting him after the fact is pointless. So baby proof!! An easy thing to do with the books is to make sure the bottom rows are sooooo full that the books are squished in too hard to pull out easily. I bungeed our dining room chairs together for a few months when my son was that age, because he also would use them to get on the counter. He grew out of it, but for safety reasons I'm glad we did what we did. As for entertaining him it sounds like he is in the "take things out of other things" phase. So put a bunch of crumpled pieces of paper in a cardboard box, put some rags in an old gift bag, etc. Let him pull those out to his hearts content. And give him lots of baths, the water play helps to get that energy out.

 

I know some will say you shouldn't baby proof so you can teach them what not to do, but when you have the kind of kid you are describing that would be a full time job, because they are constantly coming up with new and exciting ways to get into trouble. Save your sanity and his and baby proof.

[Parrothead]

I'll take him off your hands for a few hours so you can regroup (and quite possibly do just a bit of baby proofing.) Send along his snow suit and mittens. I'll have dd build him a snow fort.

[SonshineLearner]

Ok, not what you were asking for... but remember to secure bookshelfs, dressers... tvs.... because as crazy as he is.... well... that's the kinda kid that crawls up... and God forbid... if it's not nailed in the wall... there can be problems.... go ahead... and just get everything taken care of...

 

I'm taking it he crawls out of playpens?? Because if not, I'd have a playpen to set him inside of when you're running to the restroom. You may have to "tomatoe stake" him till he's older. If you can't be right there, have it be one of your kids to "keep him right here" for 10 minutes... or whatever..

 

:)

[yellowperch]

My house is as baby proofed as it was when my other children were this age (we lived in different places but the type of baby proofing is the same) but you have all hit the nail on the head. This little fellow is a different guy.

 

He's much more active and climby than the others were. We also had different set ups. When my two older guy were younger our apartment was so small I could see everything, even from the bathroom. When my next two were babies I had a clip-on booster that I could attach to the large lip of the counter so the babies were up there with me when I cooked. The kitchen was big enough for a small play area. I don't have that kitchen anymore (I miss it!).

 

Bookshelves are attached, but they need to be stuffed, and the front-facing baskets stashed for a while. I need to check the dressers--we don't have many b/c we use the closets, but we have a couple. And I need to rearrange food, not for safety as much as my own sanity.

 

The playpen has been in the basement but I will take it up. I'm thinking of buying one of those learning towers so he can be next to me when I cook. They are so expensive, and this is my last baby so I wonder if it is worth the investment. (The counters can't take the clip-on booster) I'm also thinking of buying a ergo because he likes to be held and my sling isn't quite comfy for me since he's a 25 pounder. I'll probably buy one, not both.

 

My children do play very well with him, and they keep him amused for happy, short stretches.

 

I was thinking that I just had amnesia, but he really is a new creature for me. I need to restrategize.

[Alphabetika]

My advice: Move in next door to me. I've got your ds's twin sister living at my house. They'll play together. Maybe.

[Susan C.]

Dh's aunt had four kids (grown, older than us), some were a little wild, and she had work she had to do..... so she put them in the playpen and put the playpen upside down over them......

[TheReader]

If you don't mind wearing him, get the Ergo. You'll love it and it will save your sanity.

 

Also, one thing I did with my youngest at that age was to turn on the water in the tub, NOT put the plug in, and let him play. We'd do that during school time some days, and sit in the hallway just outside the bathroom so we could still see him, and by so doing we could get school done and him still be happy.

 

I know you aren't asking how to get school done, but that's a thought that might entertain him when you need it to.

 

Do you have baby gates? We invested in baby gates and baby proofed one room really, really well. When I needed to be busy (go to the bathroom, cooking dinner, etc.) I'd put him in there. We kept his toys in that room, including a small bookshelf that had stuff he *could* pull down.

 

I don't know that, with a climber, I'd get one of those stands for the kitchen. If you don't want him scooting chairs over, you really don't want something that's going to live scooted up to the counter. I'd skip that, and instead come up with something he can do on the floor or at the table while you are cooking. A bean box or rice box with cups and scoops and things? Water colors? Play dough? Cups to stack and knock down, stack and knock down? Keep him busy, but I would definitely skip the platform thing since he's already climbing.

 

Best of luck, and know that he will eventually calm down some.