BabyBoy turned one a few weeks ago. He's crawling and walking around furniture... and, oh yes, moving furniture if it's in his way.
We have an open floorplan. Great for the light and space, not so great when you're trying to contain a very active child in the family room. Preferably with the family.
We have a Pack 'N Play, and we do use the playpen part for short periods when we have to do laundry run to the bathroom. Problem is, he screams bloody murder the entire time he's in there, which stresses everyone (and all three cats) out.
We've constructed a few different barriers over the last two weeks to try and contain BabyBoy in the family room. A combination of the Pack 'N Play and a wide baby gate worked at first, but he quickly learned how to push the gate aside after watching us do it. Next, we tried using a baby seat in front of the gate... that only slowed him down a little. Now, we're using two toy bins that are almost twice his size, and yet, BabyBoy will work and work until he can push them out of the way and make his great escape.
We've actually watched him sit and study us as we go in/around/over whatever the barrier is, and a few minutes later, he's over there doing the same thing himself. DH says that he watched BabyBoy following his Big Sister in the kitchen, and after watching her, he knew exactly where to pull to open the cabinet doors. I foresee him becoming one of those kids who takes apart the toaster, just to see how it works. Mark my words.
In the meantime, I'll be trying to figure out how to contain him somewhere. Any ideas would be greatly appreciated!
*lol* My youngest son was just like your Houdini. The only place where he would stay put was in the crib because he got so sad when we put him there that he just would cry his lungs out and not try to escape. Putting him in the crib worked until he was about 3 years old... Apart from that, no clues -sorry!
ReplyDeleteTake care and God bless!
Oh, I wish I had some suggestions. My Hypertot has been doing that since he was 8 months old, and now his 1 year old sister is doing it. Only a playpen would never, ever have contained Hypertot. He has broken through every child safety device ever created.
ReplyDeleteJust came across your blog from Sharon at The Bird's Nest. This blog post sounds just like us with our soon-to-be on Thursday 1-yr old son. We try hard to keep him contained to the living room, and have FINALLY got a system that works--a baby gate at the stairs (sounds simple but it was hard to find one that would work on our stairs and even still we had to get creative with it) and turned over coffee table between the couch and wall, It took us quite awhile to get to this though as our sweet Eli figured out how to push through anything we set up. We tried turned-over chairs blocked with heavy things like Daddy's toolbox but even that he could push through, and a turned-over piano bench but it only took him about 5 minutes to figure out how to climb on top of it! But I think we've finally got it, and he plays sooo much better when he contained and we don't have to constantly discipline him for getting into things he shouldn't. Hope you find something that works for your home!
ReplyDeleteFunny :) I have a just-turned-1 Year old daughter who, though not quite as Houdini as your son, definitely makes her way through our house with the greatest of ease. She's like lightning in her little walker on our hardwood floors... Wish I had some great ideas for you but other than duct tape (which really isn't a great idea...) i'm fresh out. :)
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