Insatiable curiousity

[celandine]

Ds, 8 months, has developed a delight for looking and touching everything and anything as soon as he is picked up. He loves being taken around on 'house tours' and investigating grown-up things, e.g. spicerack, lightswitches, wallpaper, inside cupboards etc. He wants to look at and touch EVERYTHING, getting so excited as soon as he sees something of interest, and if I try to put him down he protests. This would go on for ages... sigh, but I try to satisfy his curiosity as much as I can bear

I realise this is completely normal but I do have a query on it. He often reaches out for things which are delicate or up really high (e.g. there's an antique teddy peeping over a high shelf near the ceiling and as soon as I pick him up he reaches up to it). In anyone's experience is it best to satisfy his curiosity for these things by showing him these things, or just ignoring them and hoping he eventually does too. I want to be consistent in either approach but don't know if I'm setting myself up for trouble if I sometimes show him things which I really don't want to keep showing him.

I'd say if it's dangerous and he's NEVER going to be allowed to touch it, now's a good time to say a firm 'no.' If it's so/so i.e. he could touch it with you around too I'd let him but always keep it out of his reach in general, or preferably when he gets mobile, out of his sight too! You also have to be slightly sensitive to what it will be like going to other people's homes when he is mobile. We were v. generous with what we let dd handle but other people have not been so much so and it's caused some tears. So getting them used to an odd no seems a good idea.

That's true - I guess setting limits at home will let him know that certain things are also out of bounds around other's houses.

I do let him see most things while with me, but once he's seen it once he just wants to see it again...and again...and I seem to be constantly picking him up to let him see stuff!!

We rarely moved anything or had things out of bounds with dd as she was always very careful and also cautious, despite being curious. She always wanted one of us to look at new things with her. We always repeated the words CAREFUL and GENTLY and can honestly say in 7 years we have had not a single breakage! My mum is delighted as she never had to move ornaments etc.

Now ds is a completely different kettle of fish
He is 15 months old and is like a bull in a china shop. Consequently we are more careful with things with him but are of the opinion he still has to learn. For instance dh has a Chewbacca the Wookie mug which he adores, we don't use it and it sits on a shelf. Ds has always found it fascinating but we have set a firm rule on this one. He can look with us holding him, but isn't allowed to touch. Even when he really gets annoyed we don't give in and distract him with something else.
We also have a cupboard in the living room which just shuts to, doesnt lock or anything. I'd really rather he didn't go in it, although he wouldn't hurt himself or anything if he did. So whenever he went to it we just kept on repeating "NO". Now he still goes near it, but just looks and says very seriously "NO".
HTH

I vote to 'move it'. There are more important battles to fight than trying to teach an 8-month-old to stifle their impulses.

I agree,out of sight, out of mind. From my experience, I could have said no all day and it made no difference. Your ds sounds like my dd at that age. When she started crwling at 9 months, she always remembered where she saw the object she wanted to investigate and would crawl there to try and get it. That's when all the gates and child locks were fitted. I gave her things from my drawer to look at which I thought were safe, ie a little box, different containers because all they do is chew it!!, mine did anyway. She was then satisfied. BTW it is still going on and she is 22 months in a few days, although if they know what is in the drawer, cupboard and have investigated enough they will get bored with it.

Good Luck!