h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

How long does this charming phase last, and does anyone have any ideas for combatting it?

We have a *lot* of books, and when dropping on slippy wooden floors they're lethal - how's this for irony - I nearly killed myself yesterday skidding on a copy of the Darwin Awards!

Nailing chicken wire mesh to the bookshelves?

Or make putting them back on the shelves into another game (at least you get some help).

Or she'll get bored and will move onto some other activity such as throwing every darn single thing given onto the floor. (Any help on offer about this one? Dom's driving me mad, mad, mad with this!)



Anna

They do grow out of it! ...they grow into other just as annoying phases.. (were on swearing at arguing with me at the mo!) but they do grow out of the touching everything stage!

I think the only answer is time. Charlotte stopped a long time ago and Isobel is now on the 'emptying toy boxes all over the floor' stage. She sometimes seems to follow me around the house when I tidy up for the specific purpose of emptying boxes of lego or pencils onto any clear floorspace I create.

If you get her to help you put them back then you may find that she does that on her own occasionally, which means fewer books staying on the floor.

I found Isobel this morning putting away the crayons, all by herself, and when I told her how good she was Charlotte immediately started tidying up as well. It made such a nice change.

If the child is very young, then the only thing you can really do is to move the books to ensure that the child is safely away from anything that might hurt him/her and to ensure that your most valuable books are well out of the child's way ! My one-year old just loves doing the same with lego. Its enjoyable for her and she doesn't really understand the meaning of "no" as yet.

My three-year old son is currently busying himself with mixing the contents of all shampoos, gels, moisturisers and bubble-bath bottles together and pouring the lot down the sink any chance he gets, but since he is a bit older, at least I can talk to him. Not that it is helping much!

Woodpigeon

Thank you all. A RL friend has suggested jamming an extra book onto each shelf so that they are wedged tight to make them harder to get off - worrth a try, don't you think? I'll let you know if it works.

Other than this, putting things away is a great game at the moment - she's just not got the hang of bookshelves! She loves books though, so I don't want to put her off...

Bernadette - you must be 30+ weeks now - ! I suppose you'll just keep telling yourself that all that bending over picking up toys is great for antenatal fetal positioning...

...now next question: shoes: old advice is no 'real' shoes until walking. Current marketing by Clarks et al to sell 'cruisers' and 'pre-walkers'. The Kitten is currently wearing those soft 'bobux' or 'Shooshoos' type things, which are recieving a battering. She's crawling, cruising walls and furniture and beginning to stand alone, but definitely not walking - the soft shoes will wear through any day now - what do I do?

The only point of shoes is to prevent splinters and keep feet warm. I never used shoes indoors on either of my children, and I can't see me bothering with the next. They both got proper Clarks 'First Shoes' for outdoor use once they could walk, around ten months, but they only wore those in the street - they went barefoot on grass unless there were holly leaves or similar hazards. In the winter they just wore warm socks outdoors.

My sisters and I never wore shoes, except sandals to Church, unless it was frosty or snowing, and none of us has ever had any problems with our feet. One of my sisters learned to walk at eighteen months, another at four months and the rest of us by ten months.

I don't think shoes for babies do anything except cost the parents money.

33 weeks and counting- getting the house tidy is becoming seriously important since I plan to give birth here in 7 weeks .

We've got uneven, cold floors in the house, and gravelly bits outdoors, so even I - who spent most of my undergraduate years barefoot 24/7 - favour strong slippers, but I do like her barefoot as much as possible. I do feel that a lot of this stuff about pre-walkers is marketing hype (they advocate four changes of shoes between stiing up and walking!) so I'm glad to hear what you see about First Shoes...

I'm hoping to do the homebirth thing next time, so v. interested to hear your story. Friend of mine had a homebirth last year and said the house was tidier afterwards, as the midwives did such a good job tidying up. Sher had a nce comfy labour in the living room, but had to shuffle through to the dining room for the birth, as they wanted the oxygen in the same room, and couldn't use the lounge becaue of the pilot light! How are you settiung things up?

I had Isobel in our bedroom, which is the largest room in the house, and I plan to do the same this time. We put a television and DVD player in there and I spent the first couple of hours sitting in my rocking chair watching a film.

Apart from the obvious - it was a fifteen hour labour - it was a really pleasant experience, and being able to get straight into my own bed afterwards was bliss, not to mention Charlotte was able to come in straight away and see the new baby.

The midwives left the room immaculate afterwards. I didn't have to worry about anything, and neither did James. It almost looked as if I'd spent the night tidying up instead of having a baby.

As opposed to the hospital birth with Charlotte where I had to unpack all my hospital things and do a big wash, as soon as I got home.

....next time? Is this general, or have I missed something?

In general! I'm pretty sure there will be a next, but not yet please! I sorted through a box of newborn stuff for a friend yesterday, and not a twinge...and I'm still b/feeding and I think I'd like to give my body a bit of a break first. I met a woman at an NCT event recently who has had 6 children in 8 years (no multiple births) and she's effectiovely been breastfeeding *all* the time. Too much... she had 3 and 4 at home, but they've insisted on hospital for 5 and 6 - her muscles are beginning to give out

What film did you watch? How nosy of me...

btw jamming the books tightly onto the shelves has worked! Hurray for simply, cost-free solution!

I watched two films. I can't even remember what the first one was, but the second was Deep Blue Sea, (or whatever it was called), definitely not a good choice. Not exactly relaxing. We didn't get far with it though because we had to call the midwife and didn't want to carry on watching once she was there.

Cloviscat, am really pleased the jamming books on the shelves has worked, but you said that the Kitten has an interest in books (), so keep all but one shelf jammed, and then devote one shelf at the bottom to her books? I'm sure she has board books and cloth books in the millions by now, if she has her own shelf, she will not only learn about space and play and books, but also how nice it is to keep your space tidy.

Just a thought

Now *that* is a really good thought - I've been keeping her books in a row on the sofa, within reach for pre-sleep-feeding-reading () but it's now a row and a half, and she does keep pulling them off. The bootom shelf in question wuld befine, but I think I'll swap this swivel chair - the one I'm sitting on - for a dining chair for the moment. It's right next to the shelf, and I'm so afraid she'll trap her finger in it!

...But where am I going to put the bottom shelf books?

Bernadette's posting has got me thinking - what would be the best film to watch in the early stages of labour?

Use the book surplus as an excuse to get a new bookcase

As for films to watch during labour. Nothing that requires too much concentration, I hate to have to kep asking what plot points are. Soemthing that you know well, but always enjoy would be a good idea... For funny films I'd choose the Bill and Ted films ("Station!"), for general action the first and last in the Indiana Jones Trilogy. If I wanted to laugh my backside off so much that I couldn't think aboutt he pressure I'd watch some stand up, Alan Davies and Eddie Izzard are my current favourites