to think babies know which one is the real remote control?

[sethstarkaddersmum]

Same goes for keys, phones etc.
If you try to fob them off with an old broken one they will not be interested.
Oh, and same with paper too. They have a sixth sense about which bit of the Sunday paper is the tv guide and will chew that one in preference to the motoring section that nobody wants.

yep - they know. I gave my DS a dummy phone when he was about 9 months - identical to my mobile but didnt work. He knew - still went for mine!
DS2 has just chewed DH's Viz in favour of the tv guide. DH will not be happy...

They do know.

i completely agree with you!! i thought i was going mad but my DD really knows the real one from the fake one.

i also think my DD is sabotaging my post she hears it then crawls to the hall and then rips it up or pours juice over it and its never the junk mail its the important stuff

I have several theories about the remote:

1. it's the weight of the one with the battery compared to the empty one
2. they can detect the electromagnetic signals
3. they watch us more carefully than we think

how they know about the post is a mystery. you would think a baby would be taken in by those ones that say on the envelope 'You have won a prize! Ring this number to find out how to claim!!!!'

true mine only ever wanted to shove real keys in their mouths not the shiny clean toy plastic ones.yuk.

Definitely no.3 sethstarkaddersmum.

ha ha, mine has just had a go at husband's Viz too!

Yep, DD can unerringly tell the difference between my real blackberry and the old one I try to fob her off with.

also older siblings' soft toys - ds2 does not want dd's unloved elephant but is desperate to get his hands on ds1's beloved Floppy Rabbit, even though they're made of the same fabric and are both similarly floppy and grabable.

yes! my 9 month old can not only accurately distinguish between the old, dead phone, and mummy's new working phone, but he can grab the remote control, turnround, aim it at the TV, and then flick stations until he gets to babestation. I kid you not. Or last week when I had wimbledon on and he turned the volume to maximum in a quiet moment - I nearly went through the ceiling when Murray hit the ball!

Babestation! ROFL!
I suppose he thinks it is baby station and likes looking at the breasts.

yup, it's quite disturbing actually - I didn't even know there was such a channel on freeview! I left the room for a second the other day and came back to see him playing in the lounge whilst semi-nude women writhed around on the screen behind him was repulsive!

My daughter seemed to have a thing for Nigeria Movies - whenever she got hold of the remote, we'd end up watching very poorly filmed (but dramatic) action from Abuja. I was amazed (and very puzzled) by her consistent ability to select it.

I finally realised that the channel was 333 ... right where her sticky little thumb was grasping the remote

Have since mentioned this to a friend, who nearly fell off his chair at the coincidence: it solved quite a significant mystery for him .

They've changed the channel recently, so she's been thwarted. Ha! Still broke my last two mobiles, though

As to why they go for the working ones: they can see which item we (or their siblings) have selected. DD (18m) will follow her brother (4) around, clamouring for every little thing he picks up, but quickly discarding it as soon as he moves onto to something else. He is incredibly patient with her, although has learnt to pick up something really crappy in her view, then go for the choice items when she's distracted

Ha! I have fobbed my baby off with a battery-free unused remote control. I clearly have uberspecial parenting skills

But what I can't figure out is why the building blocks are so much fun right near the door where people will trip over or stand on baby/building blocks, but if you move said baby and said building blocks to the centre of the room out of everyone's way, the baby loses interest and attempts to eat a plant instead.

or a very gullible baby

kveta

Tigerfeet: it's the risk of disaster. She may have been watching Nigeria Movies: they like a bit of orchestrated crisis.

Druzhok - another Nigerian movies fan in our house . How funny!

I like the idea of a gullible baby

ha ha, wish mine was more gullible. he's far too clever for his own good. has almost worked out how to open the baby proof stair gate - he knows where to put pressure on the handle, but not that it has to be on both sides of the handle yet. and worked out how the key fob opened the car the other day.

we dealt with all of that - not easily i admit - but now at 17 mo she has taken to evicting me or dh from the coveted armchair by the TV ....

Oh yes: DD can pop the boot of the car open with the keys.

Usually from the kitchen, so I have no idea that the car is inviting all and sundry to help themselves ...

Crazycatlady: There are 3 of them, then! Maybe there is an underground Film Appreciation Society.