Babies gone wild!

[kath68]

How old was DC before you would, say, take a shower while your DC roamed your home unrestrained? I just did this today.

DS is almost two. I had to take a shower this morning and DH had already left for work. There was no way DS was going to willingly stay in his high chair/crib/whatever while I took my shower this morning. I didn't want to fight about it. So I dumped out a favorite puzzle and fired up Thomas the Train on the t.v. I quickly took my shower, and you know what? He was *fine.* Didn't even miss me, or budge from his spot.

I am just sort of wondering when this milestone (having your kid out of your eyesight/hearing for five minutes or so) normally occurs for people? I kinda feel like it is a big deal, although I don't plan on doing it regularly. And I wouldn't have done it, except for the reliable zombie effect Thomas has on DS.

Thoughts?

[deenass]

I did it at 16 mos when i learned that DS would sit still during a video. Signing Times came out and I got a shower every other day!

[allthetimemom]

I've done this with my nearly 2 DD. I've put the TV on, left some nonchoaking hazard snacks, toys, and rushed into the shower for 10 minutes or less. She's been fine and hasn't gotten into anything.

That being said, I'm not actually comfortable with it because there's plenty that could be gotten into, potentially harmfully. Ideally, I'd say 3 years old to be trustworthy, but there are times when you just have to take a shower, really quick, and it will probably be okay.

I used to put her in a child cage, but she managed to dismantle it, creating more of a hazard than leaving her loose.

[hautemama15]

I think my kids were around 2 or 2.5 when I did that, with the bathroom door open, yelling every couple of minutes to them asking if they were okay or to come to the door so I could see they were still alive!!! Believe me, I took showers in record time!!! Or, I would just wait til they were down for a nap and take my time. With the door open of course! No privacy in our house!!

[aliceinwonderland]

I'd do it in a heartbeat in my house (or even a room!) were childproofed. He is out of my sight when (say) I go upstairs to use the bathroom, and I know he is following me up the stairs...


What time is Tomas the Train? We are of the "want my kid to watch TV but he's not interested" persuasion. I have turned Sesame Street on on Fridays and he looks on for a second before loosing interest. Which is good, as I myself am driven to maddness by those creatures with those voices--But he loves his "choo-choo twains" so Thomas might work. Hmm.

[CiderLogan]

I haven't done this yet, and my DD is 2.5. I thought I'd be able to by this age, but she won't sit still for any tv show/dvd long enough to really keep her interest. I let her play alone in her playroom while I'm making dinner or running upstairs to get something, but I haven't attempted the shower yet. Lately, I just bring her into the shower with me and bathe her too. It keeps her occupied and gets us both clean at the same time!

Jenny
Mom to Julia, 8/03
...and another GIRL due 5/29/06!

[TraciG]

I haven't done it yet & Sydney is 28 months, I guess I could shower but I'd be rushing like a lunatic & it wouldn't be worth it !

[KrisM]

He doesn't roam the house, but he is out in our bedroom and the bathroom. I'd be nervous having him downstairs when I'm up. Usually though, he just washes his hands and brushes his teeth (loves this) while I shower. He's 22 months.

[ErinMC]

I haven't let him roam the house, but I will shut the door to my bedroom, put Elmo or Thomas on the tv in my room, and shower in the master bath. I still call out to him every minute or so, and he'll wander back and forth between the bedroom and bathroom. I think I'd be too nervous leaving him alone in rest of the house, not knowing what he could get into.

That being said, I *have* left him alone in the living room while I ran out to the get the mail. (The mailbox is at the street.) That's only for a minute though.

Erin

Mom to Chase Feb. 04

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[lilycat88]

Ditto. I do it now and have since DD was about 16-17 months old. Not the entire house, but the 2 bathrooms and 4 bedrooms upstairs. We do gate off the stairs. We're also hoping for *some* interest in TV at some point. Currently, Elmo will hold her attention for about 3 minutes.

Jamelin
DD Susanna 6/29/04

[kath68]

I think if we had stairs it would be a different story. That would freak me out.

We aren't well child-proofed either, but he (knocks wood) doesn't go exploring much. That's why I haven't bothered. I know what he is likely to do, and those things I have covered. Things are pushed back on the kitchen counter, and the low drawers are all filled with stuff he can play with. He will climb onto chairs now, so I am a little worried about him falling and bonking his head. And getting to things in my pile of cr@p on the dining table. Must do something about that pile.

As for Thomas, here anyway it is on once a week on Sunday mornings. But, I have it Tivo'd (oh, how I love Tivo). Alternatively, the one thing that sends Charlie into serious zombie-dom is Barney. I *can't stand* watching it, though, so I rarely turn it on -- just in emergency situations when I can't take any more toddler time (two times so far).

[tbriese]

our house is fairly small so i can gate off an area that only allows access to her room, our room, the hallway, and the bathroom all of which are babyproofed. i leave the bathroom door open. DD is 15 months and i've done this for awhile. i don't rush my shower nor do i take long/luxurious ones either.

while i feel my house is fairly well proofed, i don't think i'd allow her unrestrained access for more than 1-2 minutes....i do occasionally grab laundry from downstairs while she's still upstairs or run something upstairs while we are down but that's about the limit to my comfort zone :-)

[caheinz]

When this became an issue (DH started leaving the house for work at early early early hours), I switched to nighttime showers. So, I don't do it. But DS is glued to me in the mornings, so I'm afraid he'd try to climb in with me! (And I'm not really kidding... he can climb into the tub -- has done it chasing cats!) And we are reasonably childproofed.

[jbowman]

I don't remember how old Ellie was when I first did it (probably around Charlie's age), but I've done it several times. We live in a single-story home and our house is childproofed. I try to keep her in the bathroom with me, but I've never been too worried if she walks out (and I shower quickly). Now that we have two little ones, I try to wake up a little earlier and take a shower while DH watches them.

[aliceinwonderland]

I know, people (including us!) are so paranoid about stairs...I was pretty chill about it till I saw that movie "In America"--oy. We put up a gate 30% of the time, but watch him closely due to the movie-induced paranoia.

I must say it is due to the lack of gates that DS learnt to go up and down the stairs very very early.

I think we might invest in a Thomas DVD. Thanks for the tip/clue!

[Marisa6826]

About 2-1/2. We have a master bathroom, so I would just have Sophie sit on my bed and watch TV or a video while I left the bathroom door open. I'd yell out to her every once in a while to make sure she was still there. ;)

I do try and make sure that I'm within ear shot and I leave the door cracked so that, God forbid, she could come get me if she needed to.

Congrats on the new-found freedom! ;)

-m

[lizajane]

about 2. schuyler roams the house as he pleases now, at almost 3. dylan roams a little while i check email or load laundry. as in, he walks in the circle through living/dining/kitchen/foyer and makes little noises. i would not leave them both for a shower because dylan climbs. before he climbed, i left schuyler in charge of dylan while i had a shower ONE time because i was so desperate. i locked them into the play area with gates. schuyler always tells me if dylan is up to no good if i step out of the room for a minute.

mostly, i just shower with my kids.

[jennifer_r]

My DD is a bit younger than your child but I don't leave her alone still for more than a minute at time and even then, it is quite rare. I just bring her into the bathroom with me. We have a couple of baskets of toys in there so she occupies herself while I'm showering.

I think my DS (it's hard for me to remember back that far) was about 3 before I started leaving him alone in a room for any decent length of time.

Jennifer

Mom to:
Christopher 12/29/89
Adelaide 8/23/04
Bronwyn 11/9/05

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[kath68]

Maybe rent one from the library first to see if DS likes it? And if *you* can tolerate it? Honestly, Thomas can drive me nuts, too -- but mostly for the very authoritarian message in it (don't you dare cause confusion and delay!). You'll see what I mean when you watch a few episodes. I've been meaning to post about it one of these days.

[muskiesusan]

At whatever age they could open doors by themselves, which I don't remember!!! I set things out in the bathroom for them to play with (tampons are a favorite), and will also turn on the tv in our bedroom. If these items do not hold their attention and they can open the door, I don't freak out about it.

ETA: This reminds me of a thread I have been wanting to start about "when are they old enough." Thank you! I am off to compose.

Susan
Mom to Nick 10/01
& Alex 04/04

[kath68]

This has only become an issue because of DH's new job -- he used to work from home. Now he has a 1+ hour commute. We haven't figured out a morning routine that works yet. DH has to be out the door a full hour before Charlie and me. The other thing is Charlie has just started complaining about being in a high chair -- in the past I have taken my shower while he eats his breakfast. But that isn't working so well anymore if he won't tolerate a high chair.

Showering at night is a good idea. I might be able to swing that.

[s7714]

I used to keep my older DD (now 3yo) locked in the master bedroom/bath area while I was taking a shower. I still do that most of the time, but on occassion she is allowed to have free reign of the upper level (with the gate at the top of the stairs closed). Once last week I decided to let her roam free in the entire house--just to see how she'd react. She did fine, except she happily showed me that she'd poured herself a couple bowl fulls of Pirate Booty as I'd left the bag sitting on the breakfast table. She ate practically a whole bag. Needless to say she wasn't that hungry the rest of the day!

I've gotten more lax on the containment issue since DD2 came along. DD1 has free reign of the house whenever I'm in the nursery putting DD2 down for a nap and she always does fine. (I leave the nursery door ajar so I can hear what she's up to though.) The only reason I'm hesitant to do it all the time for showers is that I can't hear what she's up to when I'm in the shower.

Jennifer
Mommy to
DD 3/03
DD 6/05

Calling fellow BBB SoCal moms...we'd love to meet you!
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[new_mommy25]

I started doing this when DS was around 2. Our upstairs has two bedrooms and a bathroom. The stairs have a gate. Both bedrooms are pretty well baby proofed. DS usually just stays in his room and plays trains while I take a quick shower. I leave the bathroom door open and he usually pops in to say 'hi' a few times.

[mudder17]

Umm...I think I'm a bad mom because I've been doing it since Kaya was around 18 months, I think it was. At first, I let her stay in the bathroom with me with her toys and it was fine. Even now, if I'm taking a shower she will wander in and out while I finish the shower. In any case, the shower is basically the time when Kaya will be out of my eyesight for 10 minutes or so. The house at this point is mostly toddler proofed and also we have a ranch style house so I can basically hear her from any room (although perhaps not with the shower on...but I could definitely hear her if she shouted or something like that).

I think when I first started doing it with her not in the bathroom with me, it was Signing Times that I let her watch while I showered. Sometimes when I got out, she was still watching Signing Times. But other times, she wandered into the living room and was playing with her other toys. But I think in general, I'm probably more laid-back than other parents. And I think it may also depend on the child--Kaya is usually a pretty careful child and yes, accidents can happen, but she's not usually one to rush headlong into things.


Eileen

http://www.mothering.com/discussions/images/smilies/candle.gif for Leah
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Kaya's a cousin! 10/1/05, 5lb13oz

[holliam]

Our bathroom and bedroom are weird. There is a huge doorway between them with no door. Then a large garden tub and a glass shower stall.

We have been showering in the shower stall with our bedroom door closed since DD was 8 months old. In the beginning, we would just sit her next to the shower and she would watch us shower and we would chat.

When she started to crawl, we just put up some roadblocks in the doorway to the bedroom.

Now at 18 months, she just wanders around the whole upstairs (gated) while we shower. Mostly she hangs out sitting on the step to the garden tub, chatting with us, getting us to fill up her cups with water, spilling them on the floor, soaking them up with a towel, etc. Chasing kitties, etc. :) But, we are both usually home when we are showering but usually the other adult is downstairs.

So, I think the combination of our open bathroom, her personality, and both being home has made us comfortable early on. Plus, we refused to use bouncy seats, exersaucers, etc. and she doesn't watch TV so we had to make it work!

Holli

[mmaimp]

WHYY used to have Thomas on Sundays but the last two Sundays it has not been on. PBS Sprout has 10 min Thomas' through out the day. I checked it out yesterday because we TIVO Thomas and we have not had a new one in two weeks.

[Melanie]

At almost two, he would sit in the bathroom and play with toys. Around age two and a half/three, he would sit on my bed and play with toys. Now he's four and he's allowed free reign, but he and I both prefer he stay in my room unless there's a compelling reason.

I wanted to make sure he fully understood not to go outside or open the door if someone rang/knocked before he was out in the house while I could not hear.