Gender differences - do boys explore more than girls?

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I do not want to start a rucus or anything, I am just genuinely interested if there is a gender difference.

My 13mth old DS explores everywhere, put a pile of toys in front of him and he will go off to find the sockets, DVDs, remotes, curtains etc. He's a nightmare in other people's houses, I am following him around constantly and feel like I am saying 'no' all day. This is in contrast to his cousin, a girl, who sits and plays with toys for far longer and didn't go off as much, when she was starting to toddle.

A couple of friends I was talking to reckon there is a bit of a gender thing here, that boys tend to go off more and grab things they shouldn't and explore more.

I just wondered for those of you with a son and a daughter, whether you agree or disagree?

I know all of these things are relative, not exclusive and a huge generalisation, but I am genuinely interested whether there is anything in this. I really don't want to start too heated a debate, just experiences really.

Thanks

Well DD is like your DS. Very inquisitive and downright lethal most of the time. She hardly ever sits for a while and plays with a toy, unless of course it's something she shouldn't have. So she doesn't follow that idea

I knew my sample of two wasn't statistically robust

Well, dd was, and still is, far more inquistive than ds!

But she would also play with toys for a reasonable amount of time.

I don't have a daughter but neither of my two boys were much for getting into things they shouldn't have and neither were big 'climbers' although DS1 had a thing for stairs. I have never had to resort to plug caps or anything. They mostly responded to no so I didn't have to keep saying it too.

Gosh that sounds really smug or else they sound really boring, sat on the floor like blobs.They did wander off and they did explore but they didn't seem to have the deathwish gene!

Or maybe it is down to parenting style and expectation. They were always playing peekaboo behind the curtains. DS1 used to pull all the CD's out at my mother's house and we used to build towers with them so I suppose they did do what you are suggesting but we encouraged them.

IME ds did everything opposite to dd.

She was a "sit and play with toys" girl.

Ds was a "let's see what's down the drain" boy.

I have had to rescue ds from far more dangerous/exploratory situations than dd, eg. falling over walls, headfirst down the stairs, falling into streams, dropping into ditches etc.

well it seems that it depends on the child him/herself, thanks for responding

No..my DD explores from morning until night - she is the most curious child i have ever met, by a long way!!

Reading back over what I wrote, I'm beginning to wonder if ds is just terribly clumsy!

I think there you may find a tendency towards your observations in the differences between boys and girls BUT, as always with gender differences, the differences within gender are greater than the differences between gender.

I.e. the difference between the least adventurous girl and most adventurous girl is a lot more than between the average boy and the average girl. IYSWIM.

For the record, my son fits your stereotype.

BabyDragon fits your explorer description. She's a girl

my ds is so so inquisitive, he is never ever still, he would trash the place if i left him to it! he is also a complete danger freak and hates to be told no. my friend's little boy is totally the oposite though so i think it's more a personality thing rather than a gender thing.

There is statistical gender difference. That's scientifically proven. But people and babies are also indivduals who calibrate their own preferences and so there will always be those who deviate from the norm. Most boys don't have a preference for girls toys for instance, but that doesn't mean aome (a minority) will. That's the 'norm'.

some I mean

My DD walked at 8 1/2 months and was truly in to everything. I too had to follow her around all the time saying 'no' as she was constantly on the go and explored everything. She would empty drawers, open cupboards and pour stuff everywhere. She had terrible tantrums and was generally hard work. I was exasperated. She is now 4 1/2 and a girly girl who loves to draw and dance and get dressed up.

DS was a really placid baby with a longer attention span than DD. He plays more on his own and occupies himself better than DD. HOWEVER... He is also a bloody menace, he climbs on everything, takes things apart, pulled my Christmas tree over 3 times in 2 days, is horrid to my cats and chases them everywhere, tries to get out of the front door, ruined my gas fire by taking it apart (literally) and wears me out. They are totally different, my son is very charming but much more physically hard work than my DD who emotionally sucks the life out of me.

I love them both deeply. But my goodness they are hard work.

I know quite a lot of babies the same age as our DS and I would say on average, the girls are more likely to sit and play with toys whereas the boys are more likely to be exploring, BUT as some of the others have said, that is only on average and there are big variations with some of the girls being very active/explorational and some of the boys also being more "sitty". Our DS is definitely in the explorers' camp though, he loves being up and about and has very little patience for sitting and playing (even if he plays with toys he prefers to do it standing up!).