when do babies learn the meaning of no?!

[waiting4bambino]

my dd has just started crawling, and much as i dont want to restrict her in a playpen, it is doing my head in! All i seem to do is say No! Dont touch that! She loves the Sky box, remotes and stereo stuff etc.. I know its normal and i'm so proud of her development but my sanity is going out the window!!! What do other parents do? Cover stuff with chicken wire?!

yah just baby proof or move things.

your house might look upsde down or empty for a bit but it save you going bald.

maybe if catch Dd in the act of doing somethign that is a NO stop her and point to it and say NO in her eyes and that its naughty or whatever and send her in anotehr direction, do it evough times she'll eventually get it

DS is almost 11 months old and he does know what 'NO' means. If we say no to him, he will stop and look at us and sometimes, he will continue going for whatever he is going for (he loves the Sky box, remotes, wires too and daddy's home entertainment system, DH is convinced he will come home to a broken volume dial one day!) but mostly he seems to now stop what he is heading for and head for another direction so he does understand. This has only happened in the last week or so though.

DD is 12 months and knows exactly what no means. However, it's such a delightful little game to stop when mummy says no, then give a big grin and go for it anyway.

Mine got hang at about 10 months. Now at 13 months completely know (doesnt mean he listens though) Think it has as much to do with the tone of voice as the word IYSWIM (bit like dogs )

DS is 17 months and has known the meaning of 'no' for, oooh, about six months.

He treats it as more of an observation than anything else. In fact, it's quite handy because he says 'no' AS HE'S ABOUT TO DO the thing he isn't meant to. So at least I know when to pounce.

My play pen was a life saver for a few months.

It is not so much understanding 'no' (ds2 can do this at 11mo) but having the impulse control to stop doing/touching whatever exciting thing he's up to. I don't think this even begins to kick in before 18mo tbh

Babyproof.

I think by the time they're in their mid-20's they get the hang of it....

Maybe have a think about whether you really need to say no all the time. I kind of saved it for when it really needed saying and let her play merry hell with eg the remotes so that I didn't feel like I was just trotting out "no no no no" all the time!

babyproof and save 'no' for when you really need it

IME if their day is a constant litany of 'no's it loses its impact

Now dd is 18m I can say 'Please put that down' 'Please don't climb on that' etc, which work and mean that when I need to use 'no' for more serious things it has an instant effect...

Agree - dd is 15 mo and has known what 'no' means for a while. Sometimes she'll stop, other times it's a cheeky grin and she'll do it anyway Have had to ask DP to stop just saying 'no' as a reflex though as she definitely pays less attention to it the more she hears it. It just becomes a meaningless bleat to her then i think.

DS (now 18) first word was 'NO'. 'Well' said my Mum,'what do you expect, it's probably what he hears most often'

DD first work was 'tangu' or 'thank you'. But she doesn't understand 'no' (15 years old now).

jjou I had to ask my DH not to use it so much as well!

My DD first communication was shaking her head...

"Do you want a sleep now?" would be met with a very serious shake of the head (sweet though).

At 18 months she has only just started nodding for yes!

I used to smile grimly at those people who could just say No and the baby responded. Agree absolutely with Mrs Badger.
Babyproof the house then you can relax.
I moved everything, locked every cupboard, barricaded the t.v. etc.