My DD is two weeks away from her first birthday and she just climbed onto her first big person chair. She has a chair of her own that she loves to climb on and sit on but she's always wanted more. How long until they learn cause and effect about standing on tall things and falling over hard? The child is apparently made of rubber so far but neither one of us likes it when she quickly goes from sitting nicely to standing up to falling over the arm faster than I can get across the room.

By Jewlz on Thursday, February 20, 2003 - 02:44 pm:

it goes fast like has she already done it ... my daughter climbed book cases at less than 13 months old ... and then once at 14 months old she was on top of it lookin down and screamed like someone was killin her and then when i got in there she laffed at me ... sighs i didnt take my eyes off her for but a second and thats all it takes ... u have to just be like a shadow and keep her world somewhat confined ... first we praise them for accomplishin this and then say oh no what was i thinking ... she just learned to climb and now she is going to the top of the refrigerator in a matter of seconds ... she just went around the cornor and u were right there getting the milk out ... didnt take my dd long at all ... i swear she has suction cups on the bottom of her hands and feet ... lol good luck

By Mechelle on Thursday, February 20, 2003 - 03:37 pm:

LOL Familyman.....

Just tell her gently "NO!"
When she climbs on something that you don't want her to.
And take her down, look her into the eyes when you are telling her no (try using a stern voice)

I go through this almost everyday LOL! I've got some little be monkeys here got one who likes to climb baby gates with BARE TOES!!!! OUCH!.

Eventually ( I hope ) she will stop Be presisitant Dad

By Joan on Thursday, February 20, 2003 - 04:05 pm:

My 3 and a half year old son still thinks he is made of rubber or that gravity does'nt exsist LOL I will leave the room and when I come back he will be standing on the arm of the chair, or trying to jump from the couch to the coffee table! I have told him to stop and explained to him that he could get hurt, but he just does'nt seem to care...He is my little monkey

Mara

By Trina on Thursday, February 20, 2003 - 04:34 pm:

I have a monkey, too! As a young toddler she was scaling the side of her 4 ft. tall dresser and climbing half way up our staircase on the outside of the banister. AWWW! Never a dull moment. A firm, "No!" and redirect, redirect, redirect. Now at 4.5 she still hasn't stopped. No surprise that she LOVES gymnastics!

By Tonya on Friday, February 21, 2003 - 08:27 am:

I hate to tell you this but Timmy is now almost 5 and has had 2 sets of stitches and still doesn't stop. Good luck!

By Karen55 on Friday, February 21, 2003 - 09:53 am:

All I can say is......watch out and be careful! When I was married to my X, my sisterinlaw and her family were in the processing of moving to another state and the movers had been at her house all day packing things up. Needless to say, it was quite hectic for her, and she had a 1 y/o son at the time. In a space of just a few seconds, he attempted to climb the bookcase, but since the books had been removed and packed it came down on top of him and broke his thigh bone, snapped it in half. The poor child was in a body cast for several months. Thankfully he healed just fine.

Another thing to watch for is kids trying to *fly*. I've known people whose kids jumped off top bunks to *fly* and were seriously injured.

By Autumn on Saturday, February 22, 2003 - 04:47 pm:

One of my pet peeves is parents who "baby" their children who have just fallen. NOT saying that anyone here indicates that they do or have, just putting that out there. When my children fell, especially if I had told them not to climb on... whatever, I just looked at them and said, "Yup. Ya fell, dincha?" Then I would comfort them as needed. Middle DD took a tumble down 15 stairs to land at the bottom when she was about 18 months old, and got up, looked at the stairs like, "WHYYYYYY would you do that to me???" and went about her merry way. Same child broke her arm (jumping off her top bunk, Karen) when she was six, and never cried about it at all. They all climb and jump, and not much discourages some. I think the best you can do, is decide how you're going to handle it. Decide when it really DOES need to be babied, and when it doesn't.