I don't understand how childproofing works when you have a preschooler! help!

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the older DS gets the more he likes TINY toys! teeny tiney bitty toys! but LOADS of them

how? just how?

and they are to share a room too - DS brings his teeny tiny toys to bed and somehow sleeps in a bed full of the little bits??? he is going to hand them to his baby brother/sister isn't he?

I'm looking around my home and I just don't understand how DC2 can be safe whilst still allowing DS1 to play independantly???

do people with pre-schoolers and crawlers who don't live in huge homes have storage solutions nailed to their ceilings or something?

The small bits get played with on the dining room table, and we eat in the kitchen.

When DS2 started moving, DS1 (2.5 at that time) was told DS2 was too little to play with them, and he should keep his special big boy toys on the table. He's never handed them over! Maybe I just have an amenable toddler?

there is no table big enough for DS's toys! and I don't wanna be constantly getting out and putting away toys for DS1 (out and away from where? where can one store all the small toys that 3/4/5 year olds love?)

it wouldn't be fair to get rid of DS's toys because of a new child? that would cause even more problems!

there's lego, theres a train set, there's a farm set, there's a horse set, there's other animls/aliens/figures, there's all the little wee cars, there's the magnet board and wee magnet letters, there's all his pens etc, there's his play doh, mr potato head, other non lego connectey stuff, random "prescious" pebbles and bits of crap..

Loads of plastic crates with lids or basket put up on shelves.

When he wants to play with farm stuff he has to put lego back in the box first.

how can he put the lego back if its up high on a shelf?

he already has shelves and boxes, but they're all floor level so he can get them out and put them back

too low for a mobile baby to be pulling at, and I don't understand how we'ld fit them to the wall higher up?

Lego is for special Daddy Mummy and DC1 time while DC2 has a nap.

but where is it the rest of the time?

I had my two close together and so dd had no small toys until ds was past the danger stage.

Would a playpen help?

no! a mobile baby needs to be mobile sometimes to learn to be more mobile, play pens are for cooking hot food and going to the loo! at some point it needs to be able to roam in it's own home

not IN! not going to the loo IN! for me to go to the loo in the bathroom!

I have this problem too - beautiful playroom all set out for dd1 to access by herself - now at convenient baby choking height!

Chill OP! Plenty of people have more than one child, you'll manage.

We have them on bookcases (crates sideways). If they have those clickable lids they'll have a job getting into them, for a while anyway.

somehow, and I don't quite know how, DS2 was fine with DS1's teeny tiny bits of toys and lego. We couldn't possibly keep DS2 and the toys apart, so we kept a keen eye and drilled DS1 to say 'NO DS2, NOT IN YOUR MOUTH' at every opportunity. It worked somehow.

I know people do.. but I just can't work it out when I look around me! DS wont have his own room to store his big boy toys in and there's no playroom or any more up high storage!

Put Lego in the playpen, let ds go in to play and keep baby out.

.... I'm gonna need a few more playpens...

Rest of the time Lego is in a locked cupboard. Locking toy cupboard is a godsend!

My 2nd child has learnt NO much more quickly than the first.

My rule is baby friendly (so homeland etc, okay - marbles, no) downstair. Anything not baby safe goes in their bedroom. If baby is in the bedroom he's in his cot, and DD knows not to give him anything but his special bunny.

It's fine.

How old is your elder child? On a good weather day, take all his lego outside for him to play with and you stay in with the littlie.

Also, how old is the younger dc? Low level boxes with lids should be 'off limits' and it may mean a bit of "no, come here" and moving, but they need to learn too.

Happyland not homeland

Dyac

no garden