Don't touch!

[Salazar]

I told my daughter yesterday that I am going to change her name to Don't Touch because it seems like that's all I ever say to her. She's two and into everything. The only positive thing I can say is that when I tell her not to touch something, she won't. But she immediately moves on to something else. With Christmas right around the corner, I have no idea what we're going to do about the tree. Any suggestions?

 

[Daniel]

Make sure it is teathered to the wall very soundly and don't use any glass bulbs within her reach. You'll still have to tell her several times a day not to touch it but at least she won't get hurt. You might also want to make sure that there are special Christmas decorations out that she can touch because you can't have everything be off limits!

 

[Whoowap]

I told my daughter yesterday that I am going to change her name to Don't Touch because it seems like that's all I ever say to her.

Ha ha... This reminds me of one of Bill Cosby's jokes. He said that, because of his father's bad temper, when he was a child he thought that his name was Jesus Christ.

Now, all joking aside, I suggest that you also explain to your daughter (as best as one can in order to make a two-year-old understand) the reasons why you don't want her to touch certain things. Tell her that those objects are dangerous, complicated, that daddy will teach her how to use those objects when she is a little older, that she could "make a boo-boo" if she touches them...

 

[the matrix]

That's tricky. What I have done is let my child touch (unless it is life threatening) or just explain to him why he shouldn't touch it. I think even at that age they understand. If you trust that they will make the right choice, they will make the right choice. It's hard to do, but once you do it, it will get easier.

 

[Rod]

Doesn't it feel like you are constantly on edge that they are going to hurt themselves? I got pretty stressed out at this stage and found it easier to just not have much on display. That's not the best solution though.

 

[Howard]

I think that it's excellent that she understands what "don't touch" means. Maybe when you tell her that if you give her something it's OK for her to have, she would start to know the difference?

 

[Pascallist]

Howard has a good point here. I think there should be some (attractive) things in the house she CAN touch. I don't know what she would think if she couldn't touch anything in her own home.

 

[Bear]

My daughter is about to be three and we are "still" doing a lot of this, and her 8 month old brother is right behind her. For the tree, we use all non-breakable ornaments and don't do lights or decorations at the bottom. We made some ornaments with her to put on the bottom that she can touch.

 

[Andersson]

I still tell my girl that and sometimes I have to tell her three times in a row, its like she is hard of hearing or just selective hearing. I can not believe how many kids do this though, I never remember being that bad.