How to keep sensitive 4yo DD's precious toys etc safe from rampant little brother?

[PoppyWearer]

My 4yo DD is quite sensitive. She likes to draw lots of pictures and has pots of pens, crayons and notepads dotted around the house.

She also has a dolls house with lots of little toys inside, and starting to get into smaller Lego and Playmobil. We try to keep as much of it as possible in her bedroom.

My DS is 16mo and he is a big, strong boy for his age. He loves nothing more than throwing DD's crayons and pens around the place (we lose LOADS under the sofas and other heavy furniture), crumpling up her pictures, and wrecking her dolls house. At every opportunity.

DD can't open our internal doors at home, so shutting her into a room when she plays isn't an option. I have now got her a small plastic art chest for her crayons, but she doesn't always use it.

I have also tried distraction methods, keeping some of DS's toys in his room, but of course he just wants to play with his big sister's stuff.

If I put it on a high shelf, she can't reach it. He hates being in his playpen/cot and screams the house down.

Is there any way I can keep DD's things safe from her little thug of a baby bro? Help! Any advice to change his behaviour would be good, and also any recommendations for storage solutions etc!

(He also destroys our stuff, but that's another story.)

I realise ill sound mean but he's being told no right? And just laughing? Or something? You aren't just distracting him are u?

Can some things be shared? So there's a his, hers and ours? Just wondering.... Might help....,

She needs to learn that if she doesn't use the box then he gets it. Store pics away in drawers etc. They can come out again when he's bigger.

Is it just small parts stuff you want to keep away from him? Cos she has to learn to share too...

I'm with laciccolina, it has to be more emphasis on dealing with your ds. However, there has to be a balance, and maybe it's also time to stop having dd's things dotted about the house, a place for everything and all that.
If you put things up high, what's wrong with dd asking you to get them down for her? Things in a household do have to change and evolve over time when another little person comes on the scene.
You do have my sympathy, I had similar with my dd being 5 years older than her little brother, you truly need eyes on the back of your head!

can she sit up at a higher table and play, like dining table - something like that?

I have a 4 yr old and 16 month too (and 3 yr) and tend to get the 4 yr to do his drawing and that kind of thing either up at the dining table or in the kitchen. I dont leave the crayons and things were they all can get at them without asking cos unfortunately my kids have been known to draw on the walls so just not worth it.

I need to get some more high shelves too for the games with smaller peices in and small piece jigsaws etc. it may be annoying for 4 yr old having to ask for stuff down a lot but its also annoying if they want to use something and bits are lost under the sofa cos the little ones have been able to pull it down and mess about with it while noone was looking

we have a 6, 4, and 2yr old DS. the older two have learnt that they only have precious stuff, Lego, colouring etc when either ds3 is asleep or I can actively engage him in not destroying their stuff. 16mnths is still a baby with a very limited understanding and memory of rules and consequences. the distructive stage is perfectly normal and they have limited control over being gentle. our house had evolved as the boys have got older and then when another baby comes along it changes again. it is important to be realistic in your expectations. another suggestion is a stairgate on bedroom doors.

Thanks for the replies.

Yes, am giving 16mo time outs, telling him no, etc. He just laughs.

He is also a climber extraordinaire, and strong, can push our heavy wooden dining chairs back to the table, climb onto them, and up onto the table. Yes, really. And so quickly!

Yes, my DD does need to learn to adapt. She loves her brother to pieces and shares some toys, but is very possessive about newer toys and stuff she sees as girl's toys (she hasn't got that from me!).

They also had some shared toys for Christmas and she has re-jigged her room so that stuff she wants kept safe is higher up.

I think I'm struggling because of the magic combination of a 4yo who is small and not very physically strong and a 16mo who is the opposite - he will be bigger than her by the time he's 3yo, am sure! She can't open doors and can't open stair gates, needs free exit from her room to get to the toilet.

Also don't have great storage at home. Putting stuff up high means putting stuff above my head

We are heading for the same situation wrt to the baby brother overtaking the bigger (but small!) sister. Ds is only 10 months but remarkably determined to get to his sister's things.

I would second the suggestions for dd to sit at the table or go in the playpen. I used to do that to get away from my sister apparently!

We have an almost 3 yr old & 14mth old & recently got the storage shelves from ikea m.ikea.com/gb/en/catalog/products/art/50103086/

They can stand horizontally or vertically. Then we have these boxes
m.ikea.com/gb/en/catalog/products/art/10221591/
In varying colours - some for DS & some for DD. They work well for us