Not to want to child-proof my home

[GodzillasBumcheek]

...because my relatives are visiting and their kids can't keep off my ornaments/bookshelf/electricals etc?

Why do they think i want them to visit if i am going to be constantly rescuing my things from their child? Shouldn't they be doing the running around (at least some of the time), or have taught them by 18 months not to grab everything in sight; and by three years, shouldn't they know NOT to bash electronic equipent on the floor/throw items towards the telly?

ah just do it! Make life easy for everyone why not.

A 3yo can be expected to know not to touch things, an 18mth old not.

If you want them to visit then you need to make things as safe as possible for their DCs otherwise you are not going to have any peace.

ah yours is the kind of house every parent loves to visit with their 18 mo. lets watch the carnage unfold...

I do have a 19 month old btw, your sarcasm cannot touch me, my bingowings are like a shield of steel...

so how do you know aobut this bheaviour
you're not admitting your's does it are you

My 18 month old dd1 would have played lovely and quietly - you would not have to have moved a thing

My 18 month old dd2 would have systematically ripped your house to shreds - you would have had to move or bolt down EVERYTHING!

I would move everything ...t'will save your sanity in the long run ...

My 2YO DS doesn't seem to understand that concept never mind an 18 month old!

Why don't you just put valuable things out of the way for a while rather than actual; baby proofing? I'd expect it if I was visiting.

I will not be held accountable for my child's disobedience PSML

Well, I hate it if other people's kids trash my house, simply because I spent ages and hours of time and patience running round after my ds making sure he learned not to touch stuff like that (yes, I'm one of those boring people who said they weren't going to move stuff and I didn't) so it really pisses me off when other people don't do the same with their dc's!

No...that's the thing. I haven't child-proofed my home besides in winter we have a fireguard. I didn't child-proof my home 11 years ago when we had twins either...we have not yet had a single breakage.

I have a couple of relatives who occaisionally visit (usually separately), one has a 3 yo and one an 18 mo, and they are constantly in my stuff (i have a coffee table by the side of my chair which has papers under it, a bookshelf full of books/DVDs - some are board books which ore ok to touch but invariably end up all over the floor within minutes, etc etc...hot drinks are safe nowhere but in people's hands, which of course means the parent's hands are not free to deal with their child in any way). At one point (and i hope my relative is not reading this because i do actually like her) when the 3 yo was 2, he stuck his hands into my potted plant and dragged mud out of it and all over the floor. That kind of thing.

But saying all that, I would move anytjing I considered precious if other dc's were/are visiting, to save any hassle!! And my things!!

I also don't have anywhere inaccessible to move my entire living room to, unfortunately.

My mum makes a fortress of her cottage every time I come to visit. She pushes large pieces of furniture up against cupboards, tapes things off, creates a towelling barrier around her lavatory and then she follows them round and round making sure they don't touch anything and don't move freely around.

I wouldn't mind but they've never broken anything or ruined stuff. It's very, very stressful visiting my mum because I know she's spending practically every minute expecting my children to trash her house. Consequenstly, I'm hovering over them the whole time with wipes etc.

I have vowed NOT to be this way with my grand children.

godzillasBC lol at bingowings...

my sis and I have kids of similar ages... the problem is that I know what my kids will try and kill themselves on in my house but her kids haven't learnt that falling down the concrete steps does properly hurt and so unless I sort it out before they come there are loads of tears.

an 18 month is as unpredictable as life

I didn't move things with my children. It is just a matter of training them. It takes a lot of patience but they get the message if you are consistent.I would however move stuff for other people's children because a lot of people don't stop them.

To be fair AbbeyA - i have 3 children, the first of which was well 'trained' and didn't touch a thing. The second was (and is) a complete whirlwind and despite 'training' her the exact same way as her sister, she remains untrained!

The 3rd is only 12 months old and seems to be heading the same way as dd2

Please tell me how you "train" an 18mth old to NOT TOUCH THINGS!!!

I would desperately like to know.

Don't ALL 18mth olds touch things? It is normal behaviour in our house for my 19mth old DS to pull soil out of plant pots, open all the cupboards he can in the kitchen and play with whatever is inside, knock over cups of liquid left on low tables, play with the dials on my washing machine, put the newspapers on the floor and tear up the paper. Oh and the list goes on.

I think you should tell these relatives how you feel. If somebody said this before I went to stay with them I would quite frankly prefer to stay away and visit when my DS was a bit older.....

Well in my experience toddlers are toddlers some can stay away and others just muddle around with everything they can. Nothing to do with 'TRAINING' a child.

I found that I could easily train my first dd. I could take her to restaurants, museums, anywhere and as long as I kept an eye and chatted to her about stuff she mustn't touch.

The same hasn't been true of my other three. Maybe because they are boys or maybe because I can't get the one on one vigilance because I have more than one to watch. I'm not sure.

By the way, how completely sad to train your inquisitive toddlers not to touch things!!!!

YANBU. Why should you have to completely change the way you live for someone elses child who is only there occasionally. The parents should be watching their child and stopping him/her from causing too much chaos.

I disagree sophie. It's about training your inquisitive toddlers to be discerning about what they touch. You wouldn't so freely want them exploring dog poo for example.

It's not 'training' a child, it's letting a child gently learn about empathy and respect for other people and their belongings. 18 months is not too young to start this natural skill which they will need in later life...

DS1 at 18 months would not have touched anything untoward, or caused any damage. Very biddable and placid.

DS2 was a human tornado. He would have smelted down your candlesticks and ebayed them before anyone else got up. And then eaten your dining table.

Just move the stuff - not worth the hassle of having to replace anything that gets broken, and will allow your guests to relax a bit more.

I agree with sophie BUT am assuming she meant in the sense of going round a house saying now you mustn't touch this and you mustn't touch that seems a bit like training a dog to me. Children are naturally nosey little buggers not all children can be trained, my DS ignores me if I say don't touch something.

but I think the OP is the kind of person who likes stuff. Some of us really do! Some of us do have piles of Magazines, books, memorabilia we like to have around us and which lives where it lives and to remove it all would be a complete PITA ...