Nom Nom Nom

Like many babies, Miss E loves to put things in her mouth. It's one of her favorite ways to explore the world. She especially likes brightly colored things. The bolder they are, the better they must taste.

This strong desire to taste everything makes reading a challenge. She watches me turn the pages, fascinated. Then her excitement builds and she urgently wants to put the corner in her mouth. And then the other corner. And the next.

Should I let her or shouldn't I?

I want reading to be an enjoyable experience and right now, this is one way she enjoys it. But if I let her, the book would be a sodden pulp in record time. What might be OK with her own books, wouldn't be with library books. But I don't want to tell her "No" constantly while trying to read to her. Plus, she is quite talented in getting desired objects into her mouth, despite my best efforts to thwart her.

I've come up with a solution that works a lot of the time. Perhaps experienced parents already knew this trick, but I was quite excited when it worked. It's amazingly simple. When we sit down to read, she gets a toy.

It might be her plastic giraffe or her teething ring. Sometimes it's her red bug. Lately she always has a death grip on a plastic ring or two. She "eats" the toy and watches me turn the pages of the book. Sometimes she bangs her ring on the page to show she likes it. It still takes some coaxing sometimes, but she is less likely to drop the toy to try to eat the book.

There are other solutions too, such as reading fabric books, or indestructibles. Putting her down on the floor with her toys as I read aloud works too.

When we hit this phase, I was beginning to worry that we wouldn't be able to cuddle and read together. Now, it's a fun experience again for both of us.