Climbing

TJ1979 · January 2015

E has started climbing... heaven help us both! She has now decided that the ottoman/coffee table is the best seat in the house. (I probably messed up by allowing this behavior IF she is sitting calmly. If she's rolling around being crazy, down she must go.) She climbs up on the bathroom counter top to get her toothpaste, she climbs on her potty to get to her TP, she climbs on her sister's car to get on top of the speaker, for who knows what reason. She has been terrible about jumping on the couch (which she knows is a no-no, and gets corrected every time. Only to do it again a minute later, then a minute later, then 5 minutes later (because timeout.)) Monday night, I went to the kitchen to get a napkin during dinner, and came back to find her standing on the dining room table, feeding P a cheerio. And the nanny just texted me to let me know that she will probably have a bruise on her cheek from falling and hitting her cheek on the arm of the couch.

She just will not listen. I guess the not listening is indicative of a bigger problem. Or the fact that she's 2.5. But does anyone have any tips to nip climbing in the bud? Or to get her to listen? Or maybe just a sympathetic hug?

MAbride0808 · January 2015

No help just a hug from me. I am dealing with a similar thing, not climbing but pulling stuff down (pictures, magnets, speakers, movies, books). I'm thinking the not listening thing a 2 year old thing (at least that is what I'm hoping).

Mayzie15 · January 2015

@EmAzeem‌ - I could have have taken these photos myself of my son he does the exact same thing @ 16 months. He showboats for my husband more than anything. My daycare lady has no trouble getting him to sit for her - which is incredibly frustrating. He stands on our chairs, sofas, toys etc. Right now we have a BarcaLounger in our living room that for the past three days has been turned around so he can't climb on it - it looks ridiculous but works. We bought him a small lawn chair last summer and it's been in the garage because he only stands on it.

I do have a question for you ladies when did you start using timeouts for your children? I've tried but my son doesn't seem to understand or stay at all?

Mayzie15 · January 2015

Ducky719 said:
We started timeouts way early compared to others I've seen on the board. Sometime around 14-16 months? Nothing major. We make her sit anywhere we are at (no specific chair, not steps). Just an area she can't touch or play w anything. Its like the super nanny approach. We'd leave her for like, 20-30 seconds. Then we get down on her level, try to make eye contact and briefly tell her why there was a timeout, tell mommy sorry (that young we asked if she was sorry so she could say yes or no), and then we hugged. I'll usually tell her that i love her too.

Ok so not that you asked for all that...

I appreciate your explaining how you handle timeouts - it's very helpful. I can't get my son to sit still anywhere. I end up holding him and he screams - I don't think he understands the process yet

jesselayne8 · January 2015

Just a hug and maybe a glass of wine. DS has been climbing since he was 10 months maybe. I have lost count of the number of bloody lips and he has been to the ER for stitches. We bought an indoor climbing structure to help him get that energy out. For the most part I think climbers are independent problem solvers. They know what they want and they find away to get it. I pick and choose my battles with climbing and only intervene when things are unsafe like a hot stove or a wobbly chair etc.

Ruthie04 · January 2015

jesselayne8 said:
Just a hug and maybe a glass of wine. DS has been climbing since he was 10 months maybe. I have lost count of the number of bloody lips and he has been to the ER for stitches. We bought an indoor climbing structure to help him get that energy out. For the most part I think climbers are independent problem solvers. They know what they want and they find away to get it. I pick and choose my battles with climbing and only intervene when things are unsafe like a hot stove or a wobbly chair etc.

This exactly. They were climbing things and picking child locks before they were walking. And, jumping on the furniture was within weeks of walking. We have a bottom or belly policy for the ottoman (we just say "bottom or belly" and they will sit or get on their tummies) and got rid of coffee tables (DH and I both had stitches from toddler coffee table incidents, so we ditched them). And, we actually hid all the chairs for months. The kitchen table chairs came out when we ate and that's it. They were pushing them around and using them to climb on things. Now, they use each other to climb up on things, but are pretty respectful about the chairs.

As far as discipline, we just take them off the object when they don't listen. This evening, they were jumping on the ottoman, so I took them off, sat on it myself and wouldn't let them back on it. I do the same with the couch. I tell them they are not allowed to be on it until they show me they can follow rules. They usually agree to sit and stop jumping. But, when they do jump again, we do a 2 minute time out for not listening. With this pattern, they will do it for a couple days, stop for a month or so, then start back up again. I figure that's some progress, right?

TJ1979 · January 2015

Honestly the thought never crossed my mind to just let her climb. sometimes I get caught up on trying to make her be perfect. Plus I worry so much about her getting hurt.

Gregermis · January 2015

Can only offer a ((hug)).

Eve_Angelique · January 2015

Sympathetic hug! T is the same he climbs everything - he is constantly trying to drag a chair into the kitchen to climb the counters and short of leaving us with 0 chairs around the kitchen table I'm not sure what to do! I talk to him about being safe and listening to mommy etc. But I think its just a thing about being 2 and starting to explore the world a bit more and learning to be more independent.

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