The non crawler to crawler has opened a whole new bag of adventures for me as of late,and the most treachurous is my little guys obsession with wires and outlets. I was wondering if there's any way to potentialy deter him from them. Any way to make them less appealing. Some part of me believes since they're off limits that it makes it all the more interesting to him. As soon as he manages to super crawl to say, a lamp wire, he wants to then explore it with his mouth.
There are some outlets that are just not plausible to have blocked just cause of their placement in the house,and things like the oil heater that is plugged in needs to stay plugged in to regulate the temperature so we don't freeze.
have any of you come up with good solutions to this problem?
They have outlet covers for outlets that are being used. I think I got mine a walmart. You can also wrap the extra part of the cord inside of it. That is what I had to use because my daughter could have cared less about the ones not being used she always wanted the ones that were being used. They are made by Safety 1st.
AmyG
Hopefully you have plugged all the outlets that aren't being used with outlet covers. If not, do so now. It's natural curiousity, wanting to stick things in holes, pull on wires and put things back together. It's how they learn. There are full outlet covers that encompass the faceplate and snap and lock over an outlet in use, so all you see from the outside is the cord, but the plug is actually covered/locked into the outlet. It's cumbersome for adults to use, but it does provide the extra measure of safety so enquiring minds and fingers can't access things. The oil heater needs to be fenced off so he doesn't use that to pull himself upon when learning how to walk. It's hot and it could tip. Not a good thing to have near an inquisitive toddler.
You have a little mouse also! Lol that is what we called our son for many months. If we didn't see him all we had to do was look under the computer desk and there he was chewing on wires like a rat!
Our solution as odd as it may sound was letting him have an old cord to carry around the house. He was infatuated with them for almost a half a year but now at 19 months he could care less for them. Our daughter never had this problem so I don't know how common it is but that is what we ended up doing. I swear all of his pictures from 7 months to 13 had him carrying his cord.
Best of luck
Go to Babies'r-us and ask for help. If that does work go to Frys and ask for help. There is help out there somewhere. If you can't find help try duct tape until he understands "no".
I totally know what you're talking about! some things can be moved, but other things are very difficult to unplug or relocate. The thing that has worked for me is using toys or furniture to block access to the outlet. I have some larger toys like a incrediblock or exersaucer that my baby wasn't able to move and I would put it in front of the outlet so he couldn't reach the cord or outlet. Moving furniture in front of it also works. I keep my 13 month olds from pushing buttons on the dvd player by putting large baskets filled with toys in front of it - they can't reach it over the baskets (because they are standing too far away) and also it's distracting because they end up playing with the toys instead. You have to watch them closely if you do this because at some poing they might be able to get around it, but it works fora long time(for me anyway). Good luck!
I'm right there with you. My 9 mo old, who started crawling by 6, loves nothing more than wires & hoses. He has unplugged my breast pump (while in use) more than once. He sits in the driveway and plays with the water hose. We try to keep the "bad" wires out of the way and find "good" ones, or ways, for him to play. We try to keep furniture infront of outlets in use, and have covers in the ones not in use. I am lucky in that Duncan is still a binky baby, and as long as he has his binky in his mouth, he won't put anything else in. This has been a great thing when at playdates with older neighbors (chocking hazard toys).
Now, he is standing, cruising, and trying to walk. His curiosity has not subsided. When he starts pulling on things I don't want him too, like the fire place guard, I say "no. thank you. That's not for pulling/climbing" than I move him to an area or toy that is acceptable. We just purchased some standing toys this week to help with this. I try to be gentle but firm with the discipline. Using "No. Thank You." and explaining/ redirecting. Sometimes I find myself giving a very strong NO. If it gets really bad, and the redirecting turns into a game for Duncan, I'll move him to a different room altogether and read a bood or something. Try to compleetely change/dissolve the situation. Babies can be very determined. They say to praise the good behavior as much as,if not more than, shunning the bad behavior. "I like the way you are playing with your toys". I think I say "No. thank you that is not a toy" as much as I say anything else. Anyway, I'm starting to ramble, and I'm sure you are ready to move on.
Speaking of moving on, try to take peace in knowing that this is only a temporary time in your life. Adjustments and sacrifices are being made. Three years may feel long at the time, but in the grand sceme of the universe, its only 10% of my current life so far. My grandma lived to be 88. I think I can handle rearranging the furniture and putting away the knick knacks for a couple of those. I'm sorry if that sounds snarky. I don't mean to be, just trying to give a different perspective.
M.,
Target, WalMart, Babies R us, and probably any home improvement store has what you need for the outlets. They are not quite clear, are plastic, and plug into the outlets to cover them up. Just looked them up and whaddaya know, they're called outlet plugs. Anyway, you can get a 30 count pack of them at Babies for $1.99. My kids are 5 years and almost 20 months and I still have them in use.
As for the cords, I'd try to keep them out of sight, out of mind as best as possible.
Hope this helps,
Melissa
This can be such a stressful time.. The inbetweens when they can get to somethings, but not to others.
I saw a few people have suggested the little white covers for the outlets. Those are great and will work for outlets not in use. We still use them.
However, for outlets that have something already plugged in, there is an different outlet cover that you can use. I don't remember where I got it, but most hardware stores should have one. Where the prongs of a plug go in, there is a feature where it slides over and blocks access to the "holes" where the electricity is accessed. When you want to plug something in, you move it over and use it, but if it is pulled out, it covers itself.
Its hard to explain, but here is one type of these. http://perfectlysafe.stores.yahoo.net/79211-safeplate.html The important part is to get one that automatically slides.
We also got a special set of power surge strips (the ones you plug your computer into) We found some that, although they don't automatically slide over when the plug is removed, you can move the ones you aren't moving over and block them.
I wish you luck!!
Our way out of this phase was just to let it pass. I plugged the outlets not being used, blocked the ones I could and just tried to keep her away from the others. I would occasionally find her chewing on one, but without any bottom teeth she wasn't going to do much damage to it (or it to her). Once she got more efficient crawling, then walking, she lost interest in cords...but gained interest in a whole host of other things.
When my daughter started crawling/crusing/walking, we invested in one of those Superyard XT's you can buy them at babies r us for about $70. There is plenty of room for baby to crawl, and play safely with toys inside, it's great for those times that you just want a break from chasing baby around! It was a lifesaver for us, she still plays in her's at almost 1.
