Alright, this is a dumb question

When do you start REALLY discouraging them from putting random stuff in their mouths?

When she was younger, it felt like a losing battle, so i just drew the line at “REALLY gross (shoes) or choking hazard (rocks)”. And since we were in a pandemic and not going out, we had control over most of her physical spaces. I really didn’t worry about it if she was licking, like, my toothpaste tube.

Now things are opening up, and she hasn’t grown out of the oral exploration phase on her own like i was secretly hoping she would, so I’m going to have help it along. Anyone still dealing with a mouth-oriented kiddo? How are you discouraging the “stuff goes immediately into mouth” tendency without the whole day turning into a string of “No, stop, or i take it away”?

Cold turkey “no more stuff in your mouth,” or gradually trying to phase it out?