4 Times Toddler Age Requirements Don't Mean a Thing

on January 22, 2012 at 7:00 AM

toddler age requirements
On Top of the WorldIf I had a dollar every time I shielded my daughter from age inappropriate things, I'd be a wealthy, wealthy, woman. After all, she was a toddler in New York City, and you can find inappropriate everywhere, and at any time of day. My son, however? Well, let's just say I've gotten a little lax the second time around.

First of all, he's the second child and is constantly exposed to older kid stuff. I can't divide the entire house into a "big kid" vs. "little kid" haven, so it all gets mixed up. At first I worried about what he might jump on top of, put inside his little mouth, or simply "see." But now I'm lightening up and realizing my older child probably would have been okay with a lot of restricted items as well. Which is why I'm no longer checking out the age requirements on every dang thing that crosses his toddler path.

If your kid is a second child, or just a badass, feel free to ignore the age requirements for the following as well.

LEGOS

We know you don't want to get sued, LEGOS, but honestly, my two-year-old can't keep his hands off your super fun blocks. And no, I'm talking about Duplos. He outgrew those at six months.

Movies

Yes, I know what PG means. I also know that ET is awesome, and my toddler LOVED it.

The Playground

My kid can scale any of those play structures with the label, "5 years and up," and I'm okay with that. Hovering below him when he hits the highest level, but totally okay.

Food

My daughter followed the following regimen: breast milk, formula, rice cereal, purees, and after I was 100% sure she would never, ever, choke -- solids. The boy skipped the cereal and started gnawing on apples straight away.

Do you always follow the age requirements?

About the author April Peveteaux

writes about anything that gets stuck in her craw. A mom of two in Los Angeles, she can't believe she practically lives in the country now after attempting to raise kids in Brooklyn.

Filed Under: fun & games, play, safety

Comments (16)

dez0717

on Jan 22, 2012 at 7:36 AM

Totally happend here with mine too. I have 2 boys and my younger one cannot keep his hands off my older boys toys and at rfirst I was starting to become a helicopter mom, but after awhile I saw that he was fine and now, he is my little adventurer.

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cecillesmommy

on Jan 22, 2012 at 8:04 AM

For the most part i did with Peanut, but when all of her cousins and playmates are older but at least 3 year, i relaxed a little.

Nonmember comment from Tonya

on Jan 22, 2012 at 8:09 AM

The same thing has occurred with my two, but it's a little sad. My youngest daughter has just grown up more quickly. Her interests are similar to her older sister's. She's face timing and texting on her iPad while her friends are playing with Little Pet Shop and watching Dora. :( I don't see how there's any way around that, though.

jagamama0710

on Jan 22, 2012 at 9:18 AM

Nope, I use common sense with things. :) I wasn't overly protective with my first though. I've parented them pretty much the same and they're still alive, healthy, and happy at 4 and 2 so I guess I'm doing ok!

MrsSimonsen

on Jan 22, 2012 at 9:34 AM

^^^^then don't buy a toddler an ipad. Wow.

SierraLynn

on Jan 22, 2012 at 10:22 AM

Wow, your toddler has an iPad? I don't even have an iPad.....

SLJoJo27

on Jan 22, 2012 at 10:27 AM

Umm... the guidelines are put in place so the companys don't get sued left and right when used by someone lacking common sense.

Nonmember comment from hs

on Jan 22, 2012 at 10:32 AM

I can't say too much abt the toddler with the ipad. I HAD an ipod but my toddler son basically confiscated it for all the games I had on there. We don't have internet for it so that's as far as he can go on it.

Regarding the articcle, I tried to follow age guidelines with my 3 year old but that only lasted a couple of months lol. Way too stressful. We went every where together from day one, I'd buy him toys I thought he would enjoy and I would (get this) actually sit with him and show him how to use it. If he didn't catch on, I'd put it away for a couple months then bring it back out and try it again. I was a lil cautious with food though. He had a tendency to choke so that kept me on edge. Other than, free-range here lol.

MommaGreenhalge

on Jan 22, 2012 at 2:28 PM

It depends. I do with food because we didn't start any kind of solids until they could pick up and chew soft cooked veggies. So our food progression was basically breastmilk, soft solids, slightly harder solids, cheerios (and other assorted crunchy things, of course). I was a lot more picky about candy and junk food with my oldest, but really only because he was a much pickier eater and I worried about his nutrition. My second will eat all of the good stuff without much argument, so he gets more junk than his brother did at that age.

Toys, it depends. My two year old is usually fine with those that say "not for children under three because of small parts" because he doesn't put EVERYTHING in his mouth anymore.

Playground equipment, if they can do it they can do it. I'm not going to let my two year old continue to try and play on a piece of equipment that frustrates him because it's too old, but if he can climb the monkey bars at three instead of five, he can go for it. As long as he's not getting trampled on, I'm not going to stop him.

Movies and TV are relative. TV is limited to PBS Kids, Nick, and Disney. And not all of the shows on Nick and Disney are allowed. Movies are limited to G and PG movies that DH and I have pre-approved.

Jespren

on Jan 22, 2012 at 3:14 PM

Yeah, age requirementsn *gaffaw*. I'm a pretty firm believer that if kids can do it, they probably should do it (physical stuff I mean). So when my 19 month old first climbed all the way up the playground latter to get to the high platform and thus the tall slide, I clapped. (Stayed within catching distance, I'm not stupid). As far as toys it's more of a 'how much will this hurt if thrown or used as a weapon?' Issue than anything else. If the two of them could cause noticiable bodily harm, then it's not a good toy. If not, they can play with it. (My 3 yr old loves 9+ action figures of super heroes). Movies are a one by one basis, there are pg movies he's not allowed to watch, and there are pg-13 ones he is. Just depends (like I said, loves super heroes!)