Baby Toys

Hello H., My grandson is now 3 and he had a FASCINATION with any cords (hair dryer, vacuums, etc.) we just watched him by the outlets and himself for his safety but let him explore,(I bought safety items for the wall outlets to protect him) then he went to wanting to only play with vacuums and now he plays outside a lot and has drifted away from these things and is playing with toys again. Just let him be himself and relax Mom he'll be ok. Hope this makes you feel better. And yes we were worried too but he's fine.
J.

It sounds very normal to me. Though at eight months, I wouldn't say that he is doing it b/c he knows it is wrong. I think he is just honestly curious. Though children do tend to gravitate toward things that Mommy and Daddy make a fuss out of, just to try and figure out what it is about the item or action that they are making such a fuss over. I think you are doing the right thing. Get him his own cord and let him play with it while supervised. This phase shouldn't last too long, then he'll be into the next thing. Good luck

A. C.

go to onestepahead.com there are some child proofing things in there for cords and organzing them. If they are not as visible, he won't want them. Give that a try, I hope it works and good luck!

It could be both. The fact that he knows he'll get your attention, and everybody always wants what they can't have. It starts as babies, as you can see. Good luck, and keep him safe from the cords.

I have five and they all loved playing with the cords to lamps or the cable that was hooked to the tv. Overall parenting is about consistency, on any issue that you want enforced, it will become tiring but keep moving your son away from the cords and tell him No! Our second son once wrapped the cord around his neck, luckily I came up on him within seconds of him doing it, so they can be dangerous. I wouldn't buy the cords and attach them to anything, that will only confuse him. When we bought our children toys a lot of times the age range was higher than what age the child was (not by more than a year), we tried to find things that interested them. Try finding something that is a station type play, ie push toy or play yard, instead of a small single toy. Our twins were 9 months when we bought the see through blocks and they have different things inside the blocks (Fisher Price), they also sell a wagon that lights up and makes music that the blocks go in, the twins loved it and it kept them busy from 10- 20 minutes at a time,which is long for their age!! :) My friends daughter has the same blocks but with a hippo (I think) push toy and it picks the blocks up! Anyway, I wish you the best and it is normal for your son to be doing this but you just have to remove him from temptation, which will be the story of his life! LOL! Good luck!

Hi, I am a mother of 3 boys ages 11, 6 and 1. My boys went through this same kind of stage at this age. My youngest is obsessed with cell phones, house phones, TV buttons and the remote controls. All the things he shouldn't have! We gave him a old cell phone but he knows that it doesn't make noise or have lights for that matter. I think infants should learn at a very early age what is a "no no" and what is not. Cords can be very dangerous and I think if you buy him some it would only feed his curiousity. Try offering him tupperware bowls in a cabinet that he can play in himself. The cord thing... well maybe you can find one of those bears/dolls that teach children to tie, buckle and snap clothes. It would have string on it for the laces. Or a shoe with laces. But I am not sure I would enable this rather than try to distract him and force his attention on something safer. Tell him "no no" every time and he will eventually give up... it takes being consistent! Kids love a challenge...and moms usually break! They seem to learn that at a very young age.
T.

No, they just like cords! My son is finially leaving the lamp cord alone after several months and 1 new lamp!! Your son isn't old enough to understand that he shouldn't play with them or to do it to push your buttons. But I wouldn't give him the rope or anything else similar cause it will encourage him to continue to play with the cords in the house and could be very dangerous. The key is to stay consistant. You see him at the cord, tell him no touch, and move him well away from it and give him a toy to play with. If you see him headed for the cord tell him no touch. He'll probably stop and look at you all cute like and then move towards it again. If he does, tell him no touch again. If he makes it to the cord then remove him. You will feel like a broken record after about 10 mins of this and the is normal. But after some time he should stop when you tell him no. Then after some time he will find something else to get into that he shouldn't!! If he ins't playing with his toys go out and buy him something new. A push toy might be a good option. He may not be able to push it around right now but he can sit up and play with the buttons and stuff on it for now.

Good luck!!
S.

My son is also 8 months old and he is the EXACT same way. Once he started really paying attention to things he has been attracted to cords, plastic bags, boxes, my laptop, my cell phone, the cats and anything else other than his toys. I think its more of them exploring and figuring out what things are. I think the best you can do is keep him away from those things. Try to get the cables off the floor and keep other things out of his reach. They have baby gates that can block off you entertainment section. Also what I did was, I paid attention to the things that he was really into and try to buy him TOYS that are similar. We also have certain rooms we cant keep baby proof so we limit the area that he can freely crawl in. And something I dont mind him playing with, I just keep a good eye on him. We gave him a cell phone that we dont use any more, he plays with papers but we make sure he doesnt eat any, I keep my dvds in a book so he play with the old cases. Its really just a matter of watching him and if he is content and I know he cant get hurt buy what he has then I will let him have fun. I think its all just a stage they go through. Good Luck!

First of all...all babies like to play with cords at some point. Just don't encourage it! buying rope or other cords will just make him think it is ok. They aren't toys, it is dangerous!! He could wrap it around his neck and sufficate before you know it. What kind of toys does he have? I am sure that there are some that he plays with. Even if he is only 8 months old, tell him no and mean it! Cord and rope are one the the last things to let any baby play with! He will stop going after the cords if you keep stopping him and directing his attention to something else.

I think it sounds pretty normal. I have a 3 yr old son, and he's never liked toys, except for duplo blocks. His favorite things to play with were things around the house...broom, phone, keys, you name it! I would suggest getting a jump rope, the lightweight cheap kind, and maybe even attach something to one end so that he can drag the object. He may just like the physics of playing with cords.