Baby Vacuum Cleaner :)

My daughter is the same way still at 17 months. She is not as bad at putting stuff in her mouth as she used to be. She would literally pick up a dog hair of the ground. We bought a cordless dustbuster and that is the best thing I have ever bought. I can quickly pick up any messes on thr floor or on the high chair. It is much quicker than getting the big vacuum out.

Sounds like you're doing everything you can. My youngest daughter was exactly like that. One time when she was about a year old, I set her down in Target so I could get the cart loose from all the other carts... I turned around to see her EATING A FRUIT LOOP OFF THE FLOOR OF TARGET!!! YUCK! She didn't die from it. Didn't even get sick! I couldn't believe it. But she also tended to put other things in her mouth, such as pennies, buttons, etc. So we just had to be very careful to keep those things well out of reach. Also it was hard to keep her big sister's toys out of her reach. We ended up putting Barbies and other toys with small parts, in our older daughter's room, and babyproofing her room from the outside.

I think all you can do is try your best to keep small choking hazard type items up high, and watch her carefully as much as possible. Eventually she will grow out of it. Make sure you know how to do the Heimlich maneuver, just in case she ever does choke on something.

Your post makes me giggle. :) Both my children were little vacuums too at that age. They found every piece of lint on the floor! I couldn't find a way to stop it, only to deal with it. (But the good news is that they don't do it forever, and it is actually a good skill for them to be able to pinch their fingers to pick up something small.) We just made sure we took our shoes off when we came in, and I vacuumed often (but you could also use a simple carpet sweeper). If you have a good day care, you shouldn't have to worry too much--it's a common thing and they should know to take precautions against it.

As a side note, once I knew my children could pick up such small things, I started letting them snack on Rice Krispies. It was great! They would sit in their high chair intently working at picking up and eating all the little krispies, and I got to cook dinner (or talk on the phone, or whatever) in peace. :)

Hi M. this id completely normal and all you can do is is kkep your floor clean and hope the daycare does too. There really isn't anything to stop her but she will be ok.

I totally understand what you are talking about, my 11 month old son's nickname is "Hoover"! He does the same thing and has since he has been able to crawl. Like the other posters said, just try to keep stuff clean as you can and provide lots of toys she can put in her mouth. I have a big problem with my son eating paper, he will literally rip pages out of books and magazines and chew on them. So I think it is just a thing we all have to go though. Good luck.

When I know I can't have a close eye on my 9 mo son, I put the pacifier in his mouth. He still picks everything up, but doesn't go in the mouth. Not a long term solution, but could get you through this stage. Good luck.

First off I love your title for your question. I knew exactly what you were talking about before I even opened it.

My daughter is the same way and to a certain degree all babies are like this. Putting things in their mouth is how they explore. The first thing we did was stop wearing our shoes in the house so that we weren’t tracking in as much stuff for her to go after. We converted our dining room into a play room for her. I have a gigantic blanket that I keep on the floor in there that she plays on and I try to shake it out every couple of days. I also keep a ton of stuff in there that is safe for her to chew on (she really likes wood toys so I’ve been getting more of those.) Its definitely helped but she still finds things, usually lint or paper.

Good luck,

A.

Hi M.!

Sorry to say that this is completely normal, at least it was in our home :o)

I gated off a semi-large area that my boys were allowed to have "freedom". This Area was my focus to keep clean. The rest of the house was cleaned when I could get to it.

They have so many things to make life easier now. Rechargable Vac's, Swifter's, etc....it doesn't always have to be the BIG vaccuum.

Keep her big brothers small toys out of reach. Lego's, etc...Those are brothers, and not to play with anyway.

Daycare's are usually pretty good about things like this, so I'm not sure if I would worry. But, if you think you need to say something, I'm sure the Provider would appreciate the "heads up"

Good Luck, M.!

:o) N.

My daughter used to do this all the time and with three cats in the house I started to worry she would get hair balls! :-) We started a game out of it - how many things could she bring to Momma. Now every time she picks something up off the floor she brings it to me and I make a big deal about it and thank her. She is so proud of herself that she keeps the floor clean on her own...without putting anything in her mouth!

Good luck.

Well what I did was put them in the high chair or walker, give them something to snack on or you can also give them their teething toys. And when they have to get out i would just block off the nice clean room for them. Don't worry too much, this phase will end...

This is a natural important developmental stage. Provide her with LOTS of things she CAN put in her mouth that are safe, appropriate and easy to clean. I've seen a chart of sorts that shows how children of this age are learning and orally is by far the largest area. It drives parents and adults insane but as much as you can, provide an environment where she can explore this way.

HI M.
I am a mother of 4 and I also have a home childcare to this is what we do in our house we get down on our belly's and look around at there height and we see every thing its really amazing what what they see and that should help you with your house cleaning I know it does with mine
BEST OF LUCK!!
D.

Dear M.,
All I can say is that little kids that age put everything in their mouths because it is just another way of exploring their world and the things around them. They have the 5 senses, and they learn a lot through their sense of taste and feeling different textures in their mouths.
My daughter went through a phase of searching for rocks and then sucking all the dirt off of them. She never swallowed them, just wanted to lick the dirt off. I was mortified. The pediatrician said not to worry...a little dirt wouldn't hurt her. I joke and say that until she was 3, she had a dirt dribble down her chin. She's 22 now and still has a thing for rock collecting, she just doesn't suck the dirt off anymore. Thank God.
Your baby is 9 months old, so all you can really do is make sure the carpet is as clean as possible. When she starts carpet picking tell her NO! and put her in her high chair with something she can eat. Cheerios or crackers or something. My other thought was, when she's not looking, make sure the carpet is clean, but put something down that tastes very bitter, like a little finger pinch of lime or ginger root. Try breaking up a couple of grapes into really small pieces and soak them overnight in tonic water. It's used for making mixed drinks. It's bitter and disgusting. Heck, throw a little vinegar in too. Neither of those things will harm her, but if she gets something bitter as opposed to the bland carpet fuzz, she may change her mind about wanting to eat everything off of the floor.
Just an idea.....

I think if she gets some really bad tasting stuff off of the floor, she will not think it's so fun.

That is such a nerve-wracking stage. I remember it well. My only advice is to make sure that all of your daughter's care-givers are trained in infant/child cpr, just in case. I also like the advice of sectioning off one room as a play area and focusing on keeping that area super clean. Much easier than trying to keep the whole house spotless.

Good luck.

A.