Do you have your toddlers (12 months and up) clean up?

@nexis777 (134)
United States
January 27, 2007 5:58pm CST
At what age (or at all) have you had your kids start picking up their toys after themselves? Why specifically when you did?
2 people like this
3 responses
@Sissygrl (10912)
• Canada
28 Jan 07
my stepson learned early to clean up his stuff, i'm not sure how old he was when his mom first started him tidying, but i figure if you start good habits young, the better off they will be. We still have to tell him to clean up even though he's near 4 now, but he also knows what happens to his toys if he doenst clean up. (they get taken away) and he also knows (even though he plays dumb sometimes) where all the toys go. If he is doing a good job and cleaning instead of playing then we tend to help him so he doens't get discouraged. (he makes huge messes) lol.
2 people like this
@nexis777 (134)
• United States
28 Jan 07
I definitely agree, the younger you start them the better off they will be. It's all about establishing good habits young. My two year old has been putting his toys away for just about as long as I can remember. I think I started him about 15 monthsish. I think that's cool that you've set rules in place like the toys get taken away if he doesn't clean up. Good job! Thanks for the comment
@lifeiseasy (2292)
• United States
28 Jan 07
I am not sure the exact age I just have always encouraged my kids to pick up after themselves...with my 2 yr.old I would have to say around 18 months ...she likes to ..we make a game of it and she still does it now ...thank goodness..LOL
@nexis777 (134)
• United States
28 Jan 07
That's wonderful!! That sounds really similar to what I've done with my two year old too. He's awesome at going around and picking up all his toys right when I ask him too. Occasionally he does dawdle though, kind of playing with them or being slow about it. Any advice on that?
@cjthedog64 (1552)
• United States
28 Jan 07
DS is 13 months. He's not really capable of understanding how to clean up yet. We do pick up after he's done playing or when he makes too much of a mess with his toys. So he does know how things should look, and can find things after they've been put away because they are where they belong. He's starting to put things into his toy bins on his own, but usually ends up just dumping them out later. It's still a play thing, not a chore. As he gets older and more capable, we'll have him clean up as best he can. We learned with my stepchildren that you can't just start it when they're older. Their mom never made them do it themselves, and they still don't understand how to do it very well. And they're 12 and 15!
@nexis777 (134)
• United States
28 Jan 07
I've often heard, if they can take it out, they can put it back. At 13 months it does take a lot of effort to get that through to them. If you wait a couple more months and kind of make it a game as other posters have suggested, you'll have a champion cleaner on your hands. Yeah, starting it when they're older doesn't seem to work at all. They get used to having a Mommy slave, and that's a hard habit to break!