Stopping a one year from hurting herself - how?

[buzzybee]

My dd, one year old next week, and walking for only 2 weeks, persistently climbs up on the concrete heart which has a very sharp edge and is quite slippery. I am petrified she will slip and try and stop her from going up there but she completely ignores both dh and me when we say "no - come away from ther" - just thinks its a great game. Short of finding some elaborate fireguard arrangement, any suggestions as to how I can get her to realise that is not a good place for her to play? She also loves standing up on the sofa, despite having had a nasty fall recently and loves to push the boundaries on this one too - I just have to hang on to her, but can't always be there...
Any tips??

I meant to say hearth, not heart! As in fireplace...

IMHO there are two ways if dealing with this. Either you set about child proofing your home with gates, fireguards etc or you educate your child to deal with the dangers as far as possible. Even if you child-proof accidents happen in the most unlikely places and there are no guarantees you will have everything covered - kids are pretty ingenious!

We have done a combination of both - gate on the kitchen to avert cooking accidents at least. Elsewhere we remove dd onto the floor when she climbs up with a firm "no", make no real fuss, offer a diversion and have taught her the safest way to climb back down. You do have to be consistent but still give them opportunites to learn to climb safely, such as on and off a chair to sit at a table. There will be bumps and falls along the way but hopefully with minimal impact.

The less fuss you can make of things like bouncing on the sofa or standing on the grate the quicker the novelty of getting to such places may pass. It is a difficult balance to strike between allowing them to explore whilst ensuring they learn to play safely.

hth