9 month old - should we be encouraging behaviour?

[sahknowme]

Our boy is 9 months old (almost 10 months) and has started crawling everywhere now. He always seems to head towards areas he shouldn't (e.g. to some electronics devices like the hi-fi, computers, mobiles, remote controls) and does his best to whack them, or pull out and throw things (like pulling books off the bookshelf).

Is there anything we can/should be doing in terms of discipline? I don't think there's any point as he wouldn't understand the word "no", and I don't mind it now - just thinking about when he gets older. Guess I'm looking for reassurance that the behaviour now isn't how he'll be when he's >5 years old.

As gently as possible....Why would you ever think this will continue till 5yo and why would disciplining him even cross your mind?!

He is curious, it's normal for his age. Babyproof anything dangerous or precious to you and let him get on with it. It's very easy to make safe and fun areas for him to explore, e.g. fill a low cupboard with tupplewear and let him enjoy taking them all out and putting them back in.

I blame my DM. I've been a relatively confident first time mum, but nothing spreads doubt quite like my DM being disapproving!

As Booboostwo, plus he most definitely can learn 'no' at 10mo. DD2 said her first word correctly and in context at 10mo. She understood quite a bit I said to her by then: bedtime, milk, snack, lunch, her name etc etc. A firm 'no' and remove the does work, although you will need to do it many times if it's something particularly attractive. I can rarely be arsed with that technique however, so just remove anything immediately dangerous and closely supervise the exploration of anything remaining until the novelty wears off!