It’s so hard. I spent like an hour yesterday making sure everything not safe to put in her mouth was out of reach and she still managed to find paper and I had to fish it out of her mouth.
I keep thinking the next stage will be better and it is but I’m starting to think I’m just not cut out for the chaos of children but TOO LATE
We didn’t do too much crawling on the grass at that age. I had a playpen for outside. As soon as they could actually walk they focused on running into the street, also fun.
Ah see I want her to have exposure to nature like grass and flowers and dirt and sticks and sand, just not mouth exposure.
Ping @Bracken_Joy too because I know y’all spend lots of time outside
Yeah we still did tons of outside time before walking age, but we just had eyes on them at all times. It feels amazing that I can do my own thing this year and they will just play and do their own thing.
I can’t wait. I just want to be able to read a book nearby without fear she’s going to eat something poisonous, choke on something, fall in a bad way, or just scream that I’m not looking directly at her.
They still bug me every few minutes and make me crazy, but I don’t have to keep my eyes on them at all times! I can do other things!
Crawling baby is HARD for outside. Last Little League season was torture. Once they can walk it gets easier.
Book stage is probably coming? I definitely remember bringing books to playgrounds.
Ok another question, I’ve seen on social media like little backpacks with pillows behind kids heads so when they fall backwards they don’t knock their heads.
Are these a good idea or is there some developmental reason that they are bad?
I let my kids lick stuff outside including chew on sticks. Blah blah blah microbes and immune system. Just only in our backyard which we had tested for lead and various toxins through the state’s agricultural extension, and don’t use pesticides. Or in nature preserves / places with minimal human or agricultural runoff / less dense city parks.
You can use a picnic blanket if you don’t want her directly grabbing and licking things like acorns or pebbles. Then bring her things of a safe size/shape. Around 20 months was when Spore stopped needing arm’s length supervision, but it’s very individual.
I’m team “if it isn’t a choking hazard, isn’t trash, won’t have poo or is otherwise likely contaminated soil, enjoy”. My 6 month olds first “solids” was some grass and moss, lol. I do try to mediate quantity that’s actually swallowed, but I don’t stress on licking if it’s clean nature. 
hygiene hypothesis and all that.
ETA even with all that though you still have to hover like a MoFo with crawls. They do be trying to choke on stuff.
To me it seems like that would reduce head turning and peripheral vision so I’d be team no, but I also have carpet and play mats to where she won’t smash her head on hard ground all the time
B1 got to eat decomposing campsite leaves as his first forage when he made it off the blanket.
I’d say know your area and your backyard. I still fish stones out and stop running with sticks. I verbally reinforce not putting non food in the mouth. My backyard doesn’t have anything toxic. My local park they’d have to work hard to find anything toxic. So by a year I wasn’t hovering but was fishing stuff out. I cannot express how muddy they were 15 min ago and my nature tolerance is very high.
I haven’t seen one, so my only thought is… but why?
Sometimes I leave the bike helmets on if we bike to playing
Oh yes good point, be aware of toxic plants in your area and mindful of that. I forget that’s not like, a given for people to know. Most people know to avoid berries but there’s things like hydrangea kids shouldn’t chew on any part of the plant.
I recommend joining this group and learning the rules in case you ever need to use it, it’s good as someone with kids outside much. But they are very strict with the rules, it’s like formal poison control. Not a casual FB group. You learn a ton though too from following, but you can also unfollow and just be in in case of emergency.
We spent tons of time outside, but the amount of time in the grass was pretty limited in that particular timeframe. They eat enough of nature over the years. 
My rules-following 4 year old does not need constant supervision but demands constant attention so I’m still not there yet. “Mommy look at me! Mommy can you play with me. Mommy what is spider sense (plug in other question)”. Can’t read a book but can chat with other parents if we’re out and about.
Weirdly this is also Latte. She’s a Lot but she’s also very safe frankly. And not very destructive. But sure has zero capacity to be alone 
