Climbing into Everything!!!

Maybe it is time to get her a bunk bed, we just got one and my 2 1/2 year old LOVES climbing up and down and up and down. He sleeps on the bottom though.

My daughter was and still is a climber, started at about 9 months old when I found her perched on the back of the toilet tank. It has been hard. I will never forget when my daughter was about 1 1/2, she climbed up our wood burning stove (which was NOT on) and was sitting on the mantle, which is a good 5 feet in the air. Yeah-tell me what kind of mom I felt like but it happens so fast.
My advice is to child/babyproof all you can. Strap the furniture to the wall. Gate the stairs, etc. But Provide her with opprotunities to climb where it is ok, like a playground or on a play structure in your house. I took my little one to Mc Donalds just to climb in the structure (followed by a good hand scrubbing and change of clothes). Giving her these opprotunities to climb really helped in the house. And continue to remind her that we can climb on this, but not on this. I remember setting up step stools and chairs and boxes, etc with pillows all around, because I couldn't afford something to climb on. Of course I just was right there, but it was like a mini play structure and it worked.
Today my now 3 year old daughter talks about climbing to the top of trees and on top of the giant playground play structures, "like the big kids." It scares me to death, but I just keep telling her what is appropriate climbing and what is not.
Best of luck to you.

Hi N.
I had a little climber too; she's now 14. We didn't worry too much about it, but she did NOT climb furniture which is VERY dangerous as she could pull the chest down on top of her. Is there a way you can secure the drawers? I know you can child-proof drawers and you definitely should. You might also consider bolting all heavy furniture to the wall.
We gave our daughter a lot of acceptable outlets for climbing both indoors (step stool) and out (swing set with lots of climbing apparatus). But I honestly don't know how easy it is to discipline this away. Good luck,

And to Naomi below: At 2 1.2, N.'s daughter is just too young for an official climbing gym/gear. Our family climbs and the gear is not meant for children that small, neither are the routes at the gyms. They'd be more likely to be able to start at 4-5 years old, but even then it's hard to train them to proper technique, etc.

Climbing is a normal part of her growth and development:) Give her something that she can climb:)

I wouldn't neccessarily try to stop the behavior as it is normal and this is her way of learning.

I would recommend making her room as safe as possible.

1) attach any furniture that might fall to the wall
2) remove any items she should not be playing with or that can injure or create a choking hazard.
3) re-direct her when she climbs on things that are dangerous (ie. up on the kitchen table, etc.)
4) baby proof the drawers and any doors that she should not open.

Eventually she will move onto other things, but it sounds like that is foremost in her mind right now so try to go with the flow and not fight it as much or it will just cause you more of a headache than need be.

Find a rock climbing facility (our university has one as does the elementary school), where she can learn to climb properly w/gear and be really challenged. I know she is young so you will have to go with her. This can be a healthy and rewarding exercise.

Then help her to see this is where we climb - this is where we sleep.

Don't discourage exercise. If you can't find the rock climbing facility and you have some room make one for her.

Rock climbing has many benefits as a sport. She maybe showing her natural ability. IF none of the above work, get her outside for more strenuous exercise in general...she maybe a budding athelet - encourage the proper use of her energy.

Good luck.

I know that the climbing behavior is extremely inconvenient now I would like to offer the example of my son who climbed on everthing. While he was tall but appropriate for his size, for his age he didn't talk yet, and many thought he was a bit "slow". Until he climbed. He could out climb everybody. (They were quite shocked.)

As he got older I saw that "climbing activity" about fourth grade turn into wide ranging academic interest and achievement. He was truly a scrambler for information and creativity by the time he reached 12th grade.

So I wouldn't try to stop her behavior, I would try to redirect it, say to a climbing gym in the back yard, gymnastics, things like that.

I think it is wonderful that she loves to climb! so many parents make their children (especially girls) afraid to climb by saying things like "don't do that, be careful, you'll get hurt" way too much. In addition to making things safe by bolting things to the wall etc, I would spend time with her exploring/discovering how things fall over (like by building towers with blocks, bricks, cushions etc), how to test something before putting all your weight on it, going to natural areas where you can do some climbing around rocks and trees, learning how to test for strength and learning her abilities and limits. Again I think it is wonderful that she climbs, I wish more parents would encourage climbing and take their children to natural places where they can really explore, learn balance etc. One other thing, if you are going to screw a bookcase to the wall, it could be helpful to show her first how easily it could topple, then involve her in the process of screwing it to the wall, explaining to her that other pieces of furniture may not be safe if they aren't attached to the wall. Same with a dresser, show her how it can move if you open a drawer and put weight on it. By the way, I fell off a dresser when I was about 4 and have always been afraid of heights, wondering if that is why..... if she does fall off of something, help her to learn from it and release any trauma or fear she may experience, and begin exploring again!

Hello N.-

I've worked with toddlers for 16+ years, and they can be a hand full. My best recommendation for you at this moment would be to remove all items she can climb in from the room and also secure book selves etc to the walls with anchors. Safety First offers many “child proofing” tools that can help with this project. They have a great website.

Next, set written rules for her, while most toddlers have a hard time remembering rules at specific moments, reviewing them often, like before bedtime, helps keep them in the back of her head. Then reward her when she spends naptime in bed.

Lastly, provide her with appropriate climbing options, like take her to the park daily or build a climbing "structure" out of couch cushions. If you catch her in the process of climbing on inappropriate items, without punishing, stop her and ask if that’s a good choice or a poor choice, then ask what would be a better item to climb on. This will create a thought process in her mind, (after a few times), and hopefully she’ll start thinking of that herself.

Also, children are visual creatures, so I use visual cues often for this age group. You could cut out picture of sad faces and tell her anything with a sad face she cannot climb on or she’ll hurt herself and have a sad face too. Similar to the Mr. Yuck stickers from 20+ years ago.

One last idea, when I was a Nanny, my 2 years old charge played at the top of a steep set of stairs, which worried me. One day I took a doll and we talked about the doll playing at the top of the stairs, but dolly slipped and fell, and we talked about how the dolly felt after she fell. The child was able to understand the consequences of playing in a dangerous place better, because of these visual cues.

Good Luck!

R. Magby