Baby just crazy about shaking...EVERYTHING!!!

[JulieL]

Maybe it's just boys or maybe it's all little ones around oneish. Or maybe it's just Anthony, but this little guy loves to shake everything. He has a LeapStart table he just loves to shake and a cube toy by Partents Mag. from Target that he loves, but I have to watch him like a hawk because he shook it so hard it fell over!!! It scared me half to death! He didn't get hurt, Thank God!!! The cubed toy is made out of wood and is pretty heavy (10 lbs or so) but not heavy enough not to budge. I told my DH that we have to find a way to weigh it down. In the kitchen he tries to shake the bakers rack, and he shakes the gates as well. He is just a shaking crazy little guy. Ok question, is this just a stage??? I am scared he is going to shake something like a chair and have it fall over on him. I tell him no, but he just grins. Sometimes he stops. But I am scared even though I am there all the time, that I will not see him shake something dangerous and really get hurt. Anyone else going through this???

-JulieL
mama to Anthony 3/23/02

[flagger]

I would imagine it is just a stage. Does NO not work at all? My question at what point does he learn consequences for his actions? Did the falling over Leapstart table not frighten him enough not to do it again? I wonder within reason if something fell over on him it would not harm him but scare him enough not to do it again?

As a child I learned pretty quickly that touching something HOT meant not to touch it again. (Hood of the car, coil burners on the stove, oven door, etc.)

[simplemama]

my 13 month old son is into throwing. he throws EVERYTHING. it started a few months ago, and it used to be kind of cute, his throwing teeny toys just a few feet. now that he's older and stronger, he throws heavier, bigger objects farther away, sometimes across the room! i've gotten hit by some books and a fire engine. it actually did hurt. nobody told me that being a mother is a dangerous business!

in any case, i think your baby's shaking is similar to mine's throwing. i do think it's a phase, but it can be a long phase, and i, too, am worried that he'd throw something and hurt someone, like another baby/child when we're having a playdate or something.

so.... you're not the only one. my strategy has been to simply remove the objects that seem dangerous, and when he throws things he should not throw, tell him firmly, "no, you can't throw this".

however, since we have a few balls he IS allowed to throw, it may be giving him a mixed message, and he may be having difficulty differentiating. i dunno......