9 months old.....climbing everywhere......falling backwards and banging head

[swiperfox]

ds is 9 months old. Has learnt lately that he can 'climb' and now it's all he does. However, his balance is not superb yet and he has fallen back or sideways a few times and landed on his head as he obviously doesnt put his hands out.
Do they all do it a fair bit? I'm there behind him as much as i can be but i have to leave him sometimes and he's so bloody quick to pull himself up on the table, sofa, ANYTHING!!

I'm a bit worried about thesee bngs to his head though, they can't be doing him any good, but I dont know what to do to stop him.....

[Twiglett]

Yes they all fall a fair bit - doesn't seem to do them any harm - they're designed for it really

It would be a problem if they were falling off something, like stairs or couch onto hard floor but from baby height - no not really especially if on carpet

Nothing you can do will stop him - nor should you want to really

it gets worse when they learn to walk

In terms of concussion, whilst it doesn't normally happen but that doesn't mean it can't with a good old whack on a hard floor
if they cry its a good sign

if they go unconscious, floppy, or vomit then its worth checking out

[LIZS]

Yup, ds drove me mad - would climb the stairs when I was on the phone (stairgate had to be 3 steps up) pull himself up and then let go. tbh at that point I started going to more soft play and toddler groups as he'd always be pulling at my legs to get up or on the footstool or chair.

They do get better at it but as Twiglett says it all becomes more hazardous for a while when they can walk freely but don't look down and trip over steps, uneven paving etc.

[Nathanmum]

My ds currently has a bruise in the middle of his forehead & a small cut under his right eye - as well as various scrapes on knees & ankles. You can't possibly catch them every time (I know I still feel guilty afterwards though). He's almost 16 months, & has grown out of falling backwards, just tries to run faster than his feet can move!

[swiperfox]

thanks guys - it's reassuring to know they all do it... i'm just feeling incredibly guilty today as he's done it 3 times - straight backwards - it's such a sickening thud.

To be honest i think i'll prefer when he's walking and tripping - at least then he's a bit more likely to get his hands down instead of just landing smack on the back of his head!

[vess]

Is he crawling?

[swiperfox]

He's commando crawling and can now pull himself up to kneeling/standing and its then that he falls backwards

[vess]

Swiperfox - what is 'commando crawling'?

[swiperfox]

he's crawling on his belly pullinghimself around with his arms - like commandos crawling under a net lol
It's perfect for him as we've got floorboards so he just slides around - he gets onto his knees a bit more in the carpeted rooms but generally a commando!

[vess]

Wow! Haven't seen that before - sliding around on his tummy, how sweet!
My ds tried to pull himself up before he could crawl - which resulted into falling backwards and hurting himself. So I decided that his ballance and coordination aren't good enough for that, and that he really needs to crawl properly before standing. Apparently, crawling is very important for developping coordination and other skills, it's like the basics of movement... Anyway, I started puting him in the middle of the room, so he couldn't get to something to pull himself up - unless he crawled. And so he started doing that. Now, you can't do that, because he's good at moving already, but can you somehow encourage him to start using his legs as well when crawling? If he doesn't have a good enough control of his legs, he won't be able to balance properly. So maybe you can put him on the carpet a bit more, or put some rugs down? Or anything that encourages crawling and using both arms and legs? Some kind of 'crawling excercises'?
He'll pick it up really quickly, probably in a week or two. It took my ds about two weeks to master crawling, and after that he didn't fall and hurt himself anymore when pulling himself up.
good luck, hope he doesn't hurt himself anymore.

[Xzebra]

This is why DS (nearly 10 months) spends most of his time in a backpack, he can't fall over there.

[Catbert]

Ugh - just in this bit for development with DD2 and it all suddenly came flooding back to me how much I hated this part with DD1... Therefore my reasoning is, it does pass, and pretty quickly, as I had completely forgotten!

DD2 is 13 months, and has mastered crawling, and pulling to stand and cruising now, and has stopped falling backwards quite so much - but now the minx wants to climb anything she can - sofas, coffee tables, stairs etc but I cannot remember DD1 ever climbing quite so enthusiastically - so now I have the problem of falling OFF things - which is even worse! Mercy me... So I am desperately trying to teach her "turn around and come down backwards" (which is beginning to work, and for what it's worth - a very important thing to drum into them! Worked a treat with DD1) - so that at least steps and sofas become relatively safe again...