Evening star., 1944-06-14
Thanks to Mrs. J. L. S.,
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Your child is not a problem
child at all. She's only showing
resentment at not being allowed to
pass into her next stage of develop
rnent-the creeper. A recent issue
of Parents Magazine dealt excel
lently with the subject, but since
I read it while in my doctors Of
flee I can't recall the issue date.
Now Is the time to rearrange your
household Into storage 60 the
glass topped coffee table, the beau
tiful pottery, the flower pots and
other breakables usually kept at
child level" The light sockets,
electric wires, gas jets and, in my
case, open-faced bookcases remain
the mo, no" items. When touched
repeatedly the fingers are spanked
until they tingle. She'll now cover
every inch of your home as if it
were wonderful new fairyland.
For the first time she can feel all
those monstrous chests, tables,
cabinets, stoves, refrigerators, ETC.,
she has been gazing at so longingly.
I've filled one low desk drawer with
my children's blocks, beads, broken
toys, empty spools and they spend
hours looking through it and throw
ing them on to the floor.
II you have yard she can also
creep out there Will she get dirty
and won't she begin putting foreign
objects in her mouth? Lady, you
never knew there could be so much
dirt in such a small area, but I've
fhrNItnh fyTia
cheerfully looking forward to it
again Now at 16 and 80 months
my children can be put on an un-
rallied porch and play the entire
time I clean the house. Even at 8
months they crept on it and learned
to stop at the edge and at the
steps after two or three days of my
supervision. At 10 months they
were negotiating indoor and out
door steps. Naturally I held my
breath but knowing they must learn
I just let the gray hairs pop out
while they grew up"
think play pen might be USE
full to place them in after they're
cleaned up while awaiting company
or mother is making the final prep
arations to go bye-bye. but please
begin limiting the confinement to
one or two hours a day and I think
your other problems will vanish.
(Thanks to G. L. ~, Washington
Try to direct your babys new
found energy to constructive chan
nels. At feeding time give her a
spoon and a dish of potatoes or
some other food that is not too
juicy and let her feed herself. Show
her how to carry the spoon to her
mouth, but keep these lessons very
short and don't expect too much.
You'll find cat least I did that
while she is busy you can feed her
and in time she will learn to feed
herself. I hope you're the kind Of
mother who doesn't let cleaning UP
afterward bother you, because you
will have a mess, but once baby
gets interested it's worth the
trouble!
I let my son run free for an hour
or SO and then he would stay in
his play pen. 1t means an hour
of constant supervision but a baby
learns so much when given free
dom. Don't forget yours is getting
to an age now where everything
arouses her interest and only by
letting her explore will she learn.
Babies get bored with their sur
roundings and activities. A change
every hour or SO works wonders.
I change the baby constantly from
play pen (by himselO to high chair
in kitchen with me) to the floor
and freedom. I hope these sug-
gestions may be of some help.
Thanks to Mrs. A. B. W,
Arlington)
would like to assure Mrs r. B.
that her 8month-old daughter Is
acting like a normal rather than
problem child.
Realizing I am no child care au-
thority, / am raising my 18-month-
old son in accord with the general
ideas of the modern leading pedia-
tricians and psychologists, with
very heartening results. So, it is
their advice, along with my recon-
mendation that it works, that I am
passing along.
About the high chair behavior
6rst OF all. don't strap her down