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LucyP
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| Posted: Jan 01 2008 at 2:20pm | IP Logged
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Ladies, I am interested in what you do when you have an older child (but still not responsible - mine is just 4)and a baby. We have our son's playmobil packed up and barely out, and have denied him access to Lego as opposed to Duplo, and then I thought, "if God blesses us with more children, we will little ones about for a long time (please please please God) and so what do we do?"
Dh thinks mothers of large families must keep the children segregated by age in different rooms (bless!) or just never let the older children have smaller toys, and I am assuming you either hope for the best or just police the situation.
Specifically, do you keep choking hazard toys packed away, or how do you store them, and how do you let the older children have access to them?
Silly really, but we have a hang up on this issue!
Thanks, Lucy
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Mackfam
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| Posted: Jan 01 2008 at 3:38pm | IP Logged
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Lucy,
We generally keep the choking hazards (legos, tiny Playmobil pieces, marbles) in the big kid's rooms allowing the safer, softer toys out in the living areas of the house for "community play." At some point the tiny toys begin to migrate down and into the collection. The more children you have, the easier it gets to police these types of things. Really. At some point, tattling and informing becomes an art form, and my older dd could spot a marble a mile away and quickly remove it. I call on the little one's guardian angel frequently. I'm sorry to say that there is no segregating. The kids are each other's best friends, every now and then they play alone, but rarely. The more you have, the easier this gets in my opinion. 
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Jen Mackintosh
Wife to Rob, mom to dd 19 , ds 16, ds 11, dd 8, and dd 3
Wildflowers and Marbles
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marianne
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| Posted: Jan 01 2008 at 3:40pm | IP Logged
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We have no legos or playmobile whatsoever for this reason. My dh is a doctor who has seen so many choking cases that he is justifiably paranoid. I am sad for my older boys who would LOVE legos - and DO love them at friends' houses- but we just don't take the risk here.
I am also always getting rid of choking hazards as they come in the house, like tiny bouncy balls, ect...There are always choking hazards, like coins, or grapes, or lots of other things, but I try to eliminate as many as I can, because I just can't keep a very close eye on my baby 100% of the time.
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teachingmyown
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| Posted: Jan 03 2008 at 3:05pm | IP Logged
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We keep the legos and such up in one of the bedrooms where toddlers are never allowed. The older kids play up there together and the babies stay on the main level. We don't have an issue of the toys migrating down to the main level. However, we are blessed with enough room to make this happen. It is harder in a smaller house. We lived in a little rambler before moving here and it was more difficult to keep babies and small toys segregated. But a mix of vigilance and helpful guardian angels got us through those years.
One other thought though, I would wait until your oldest child is capable of really taking responsibility for his toys. Otherwise, it is just another thing for you to worry about. A four year old can have just as much fun with non-choking hazard toys and you can relax! No need to feel guilty, yet.
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Molly
wife to Court & mom to ds '91, dd '96, ds '97, dds '99, '01, '03, '06, and dss '07 and 01/20/11
Remembering Today
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CAgirl4God
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| Posted: Jan 03 2008 at 10:47pm | IP Logged
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we also keep small pieced toys in closed boxes on the toy shelves in rooms.
our youngest is now three... and PTL she isn't into putting things in her mouth...just her thumb lol
but when she was born and up until recently... if she was down for a name or not around.. then they kids could bring out a certain amount of said toy to the livingroom to play. but we always had a joint effort pick up when done to make sure everything was up.
we have been lucky though.
we have one boy and three girls. so I was always able to keep those kinds of toys in my ds room. the girls just asked me to go in a play with them in that room.
like i said. right now it isn't a problem for us.
good luck
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4Real Forums : Mothering and Family Life
Topic: big kid toys with a baby around?
