Baby climbs everything

[sharkstale]

Just posting here for traffic for quick responses.

My sons a complete monkey, not even a year old yet, walking and climbing everything. Doesn't stay still for a second.

We have a low coffee table and he climbs on it constantly which I'm worried could be dangerous if he falls off. It's got drawers (now emptied) which he opens and tries to stand in too. He's too young to understand/doesn't listen when I teach him not to yet. I'm wondering whether to get rid of it and get a new one he can't climb onto, but also wonder if it's normal to just buy new furniture because your baby climbs on it. I like the living room as it is so would prefer not to have to, but obviously my priority is making sure he stays safe.

My eldest wasn't a climber so never had this issue so not sure best way to deal with it.

Yabu - silly to buy new furniture for this reason

Yanbu - get a new one

In the primary years we had loads of paints and craft stuff in the house. How lovely & wholesome. But my DC would invariably spend 5 mins painting pictures, I’d nip to the loo or upstairs and in come back to two kids fully head to toe in paint having painted themselves as far more fun

Agreed on indoor climbing frame / other physical challenges and just making space for it. I was in a small flat with a climber during lockdown trying to work from home? Mentally scarred forever 😂

Tell him no/ redirect him? Isn’t that what all parents do? Or are you the first parent to have a baby who wants climb everything ?

Maybe your baby is the first baby ever to hear the word ‘no’ do let us know how that goes

Get lots of fluffy rugs in case he falls and NEVER TURN YOUR BACK ON HIM.

My youngest DC loved climbing. I took him to tumble tots and he absolutely adored the climbing frame part of the class. It also taught them how to go down backwards etc

It's normal! Move the table into another room for a few months until this stage is past.

No point buying a new one now as in a few months you'll be on to the graffitti artist stage.

Its normal to climb.

It's also OK to shout NO really forcefully and to redirect, or let the toddler learn by falling that a coffee table isn't for climbing on.

Does he get much opportunity to get out to play?

Doesn't really work with a headstrong 11 month old but thanks for your advice 🤣

Are you okay?

My first did tumble tots and loved it! I've just started looking into it for him too.

Hard agree with the posters stating your kid is either a climber or not. If asked with my first if she was a climber I would have enthusiastically agreed, oh yes, she climbs everything. Reader: she was not a climber. Enter child 2 😂

It's still normal, but I want to commiserate it's hard when their LIFES PURPOSE IS TO SCALE. My experience is that you limit them and slowly over time as their skills grow let them at it more and more as long as they can't seriously injure themselves.

(Disclaimer: We put the coffee table in the loft)

You have my sympathy. DS is eight now, I still call him monkey because of the climbing thing. It is a phase, it will pass, but tbh all you can do at this point is toddler proof as much as possible and watch him like a hawk.

So yes, I would relocate the coffee table for now, consider some nice tall baby gates, and try and make a space where you can put him down safely, where there are limited things he can fall off.

@sharkstale Yes, remove anything that’s obviously dangerous! No brainer really.

Plus, if he’s reasonably intelligent, he will begin to understand NO. It’s a quick way to interrupt dangerous behaviour and headstrong dc need to hear it and react to it to save themselves from falling etc. Do definitely introduce the concept of NO to him and mean it. Say it loudly so it interrupts his thought process. Tape up the drawers and move furniture around.

The dc I’ve known like this haven’t stopped - it’s not a phase! I’ve seen them trample on other dc on play equipment at playgroup, have no idea about other dc being around them, their attention span at school can be poor and then they go mad on scooters, skateboards and bikes. Usually have no concept of others as they like speed and danger. Always on A&E because they don’t learn and no one ever says NO.

So this can be a very long phase and I’d be looking into sport asap! He will need a healthy outlet for all this energy and ability as soon as it can be facilitated.

We ate standing up or sat on the floor for over a year because the kitchen and dining chairs were in the loft. It was less stressful than constantly removing our little climber from the worktops and windowsills.

Climbing is normal. Just buy something that safely contains him, ensure he’s always supervised and get out more often to try to break any association with climbing anything in particular in your house.

A climber is a climber as long as the phase lasts, I think, and if you take the easy things away, he will just climb something else. My daughter scaled the kitchen cupboards up to the worksurface at 11 months after we put everything else away and my neighbour’s twins were similar. We were just in the park in all weathers, once in the morning, once in the afternoon, until the phase passed. My second child never climbed anything, he had a very different focus to his exploring.

I just put lots of foam tiles down when ours was going through this stage and tried to teach him to go backwards to climb down off things. He might have taken a few bumps but we avoided any serious injuries, I wouldn't replace any furniture unless you actually want to but I would make sure anything breakable is secured and out of reach

We just put our coffee table in a different room for a few years then brought back in once past that stage!

Yes my DS was like this. Every piece of furniture was bolted to the wall and the coffee table lived in the garage for a while. He scaled the bookcase while I was in the loo and could get over stair gates.

He also climbed out of his cot at about 15m and so his bedroom was like a prison cell. Sparse with a child lock on the door!

Still loves climbing now he’s 10, but thankfully it’s more rock climbing sport now rather than the furniture. I can definitely see him being into extreme sports when he’s old enough.

Conversely my DD never really climbed a thing and would have to be regularly rescued at the playground.