Climbing Toddler Woes

Ah, 16 months - so fun but SO exhausting! I think I was the MOST tired I've ever been at this stage!

Obviously, you need to verbally instruct your daughter when you remove her from these dangerous situations but the truth is, she's only 16 months and doesn't really "Get" danger. We'd always say something simple like, "No. Hurt baby" and just pull her away and try to distract her.

The real solution? WATCH HER CONSTANTLY!! You just have to be on your toes around these dangers. If you can, create one "danger free" zone - where you can sit and relax with her while she plays safely. You'll still need to supervise. It's just the age.

Oh, just a note - be sure you use the furniture latches to attach things like dressers to the wall. I always remember a pastor friend telling a story about a funeral he did for a little one who died climbing furniture that wasn't attached. He came home that day and anchored all his furniture. Not to be too scary but it's a preventable injury.

I promise this will pass faster than you can believe it. Enjoy her "little" years!!

M.

My 15-month old entered the climbing stage a couple of months ago and what seems to be the suggested approach worked for us. In the areas where he should have free reign, like his room and his play area, we removed anything he shouldn't climb on. Then we made sure he had several options for things he could climb on and really gave him a lot of positive reinforcement for playing with those toys. For the most part, it seems to work, and at least we've been able to teach him "please get down" for when he gets on something inappropriate.

Any way you can make it a fun game for them seems to work.

Hope that helps!

Hi M.,
Get a "toddler safe" set of climbing toys, then make everything else "off limits."

The word "no" works great.

Unlike what I keep seeing Mama's saying: children this age DO understand a firm "no," my children are living proof!

Don't underestimate your toddler.
T

I have found that bringing an outdoor climbing toy indoors, with foam mats underneath, has really helped me. Both of my children climbed everything and still do! Now they have moved to flipping off of everything, which is fun too! We just brought a Little Tikes climbing structure inside and put it in a "safe" zone. Every time they tried to climb something that they weren't supposed to, I would pick them up and say, "If you want to climb, you can play on here." Letting your little one play outdoors in the early morning or taking her to the play area at the mall might show her the appropriate places to climb and play. It just takes some patience and consistency and she will eventually learn.

Hi M.,
When my kids were young, we had a playroom next to the kitchen and there was an office in it as well. There were two entraces and we got large gates and sealed off the area. The kids had free range of the sealed off area and we child proofed the area so they didn't have things to climb on. Kids at that age don't understand, "No"....they just want to explore. I hope you have a room that you can seal off, take the furniture out until they grow out of the stage.
K.

M.,
I read your post because I have the same issues with my daughter. She is my first, so I am aware that I might be over the top with worry. I do try and let her fall when it's safe. I give her a warning like, "No, this is not safe" and take her off whatever she is climbing. If she chooses to go back and do it again, I try to let myself let her have the natural consequence of the fall (as long as it's not going to crack her head open or anything.) She's learned pretty quickly to listen to me because she doesn't like to fall and have a boo boo. She will start to do something and look at me now and say, "No." Sometime she then walks away from it, & sometimes she's still curious and trys it again. I give one reminder where I take her off the item & then let her fall if she chooses to go back. Good luck!

I've had several that have been climbers (and not very coordinated climbers at that!) and they somehow survived. I'm still not sure how it happened but they did! ;) My advice to you would be..."this too shall pass"! Toddlers are more resilient than we give them credit. I was soooooo careful with my first and protected her from everything and she is, to this day, the most cautious and fearful of all of my kids. My two boys and my last girl I pretty much let them explore at their own pace while mentally tying my hands behind my back so I didn't grab them every second...that means, letting them fall occasionally too. My daughter especially caught onto this learning concept fast because she learned that when mommy warned her "get down or you're gonna fall", that meant that if she didn't stop what she was doing, she was headed for an "ouchy"! Of course, I toddler proofed the best I could and was careful to watch them in areas where a fall may cause serious injury rather than just the typical bumps and bruises. But I think it is important to let them experience the force of gravity and the consequences of it once in awhile too! It's all part of the learning process...we have to fall sometimes so that we can learn that we can get up too.

I can't wait to see all the responses you get. My daughter is 19 months old & she has been a climber since she got the walking part down. We call her our lil monkey cuz she is so quick to climbing on top of things. She knows how to get up quietly so that we don't hear her. Then she yells "GET DOWN!" w/a big smile on her face, thinking she is funny. Everytime she climbs onto something we tell her in a stern tone "get down" or "sit down." So she knows better but still loves to do it & sometimes we do put here on a quick lil time out depending on what she was climbing cuz we are trying to teach her it's not ok to climb on everything.

My son wasn't like her. He was a calm toddler. We have to our eyes on her every second!

But I am excited to see what responses you get. So far I like the one of bringing an outdoor climbing toy inside for them. I think that is a good idea & we need to do that. Can't wait to tell my husband about that! =)