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Original poster

oh help PLEASE what do i do with a 1 year old who has learnt to climb on the sofa???

112 replies

FrannyandZooey · 18/08/2009 16:57

help major disaster here
i can't leave the room
well in fact i can't turn my back
he can't even stand - there's no way he's safe on the sofa
he then climbs on the window sill! about 3 foot up
help help help help help
he is fast
and CROSS when i take him down
it's a nightmare

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Original poster
FrannyandZooey · 18/08/2009 17:31

but the sofa back is as high as the window sill
i don't think moving it is the answer

play pen it is then
and no i don't leave babies to go down stairs on their own
seen a few nasty stair injuries during life

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Original poster
FrannyandZooey · 18/08/2009 17:33

oh and our house is totally open plan, so i can't leave him alone in the downstairs now -(yes moondog i would certainly leave a 1 year old alone while i eg went to the loo, in our own lounge)
life is going to be fun from now on
it's not just not leaving him alone, it's not doing any fricking thing because i have to be sitting next to him on the sofa while he buggers about all over tthe top of it

i just like a quiet life

OP posts:
PinkTulips · 18/08/2009 17:36

That's why you walk down backwards in front of them to catch them if they fall, by the age of 18 months they can do it reliably on their own, by 2 stairgates are taken down.

Kids need to learn how to do things safely by doing them imo

curlyredhead · 18/08/2009 17:36

Strap into highchair with some on-table toys while you are in kitchen?

I have two climbers here (dts are 14 months) - have been showing them how to climb down backwards since 9 months, they are now v good.

Wonderstuff · 18/08/2009 17:47

We have a climber, she is now 21 months and its much easier, I think it got better at around 18months.

I found I really couldn't get much done and became very jealous of my friends with more docile babies and clean houses.

I could do the washing up by strapping her in the highchair with some stuff from the kitchen which I would wash up as she threw them to the floor! I generally had to find ways of involving her in all household chores and only did the minimum. She is much easier and less stressful now. I think it is a case of bracing yourself and getting through it.

We also had to put the side of the cot down at around 18mo when she started getting close to being able to climb out.

skybright · 18/08/2009 17:51

I have a playpen and a fisherprice seat that can be used up to three which he can be strapped in so i can leave the room as my 18 month adores touching and climbing on everything that is heart attack inducing.

SomeoneElseHasTheNameTrinity · 18/08/2009 17:56

who said we leave our kids alone on the stairs

I was just using the stairs description so you could understand what I meant

and of course you could teach him the 'feet first' thing

BertieBotts · 18/08/2009 17:56

Interesting tips here about how to teach them to go backwards, I had tried with DS but he seems to prefer launching himself off things headfirst! Will try some more, I especially like the slide tip!

stleger · 18/08/2009 18:02

My ds climbed before he walked...but unlike his sisters has never had stitches. Weirdly we bought him a little chair and it took him ages before he realised he could get off it!

claireybee · 18/08/2009 18:18

DS is a climber, he learnt feet first pretty soon though (under a year old). Everytime he got up I turned him around and slid him down again. It took a couple of days but he hasn't tried to go head first since. I also taught him how to come down stairs as soon as he could climb them just in case he ever did get on them alone. I didn't leave him there to play though

Original poster
FrannyandZooey · 18/08/2009 18:45

i have that fisher price seat - he pulls it over so he dangles face down suspended from the seat
i would laugh but, well, you know

trinity there's no point saying teach them to come down backwards safely and then saying it's not ok to leave them alone doing it! either i can leave him on his own in the sitting room or i can't - at the moment i can't - which is going to be a complete bugger - as i say with open plan ness it's a mare - can you imagine him in a play pen the whole time i cook something
anyway dp and i seriously considering getting rid of the sofas for a while
he;s not old / sensible enough to be taught how to climb that high safely - he's a little daredevil - and he can't spend his life in a play pen while i cook / clean / wee / do stuff with ds1
so drastic measures might be needed

sorry to hear of all little ones getting injured btw and all the grey hairs they must have caused you!

OP posts:
Original poster
FrannyandZooey · 18/08/2009 18:47

p.s it isn't that he tries to get down headfirst
it's that he's pickling about like a fool and not giving a monkeys how high up he is
he'll fall by accident, not dive

OP posts:
belgo · 18/08/2009 18:50

My sympathies F&Z - ds is also a climber - even when I kneel down he starts clmbing on my calves and holding onto my shoulders. He climbed up 14 stairs at my parents' house last week when no -one was looking (he's 10 months and has just about taken his first steps). Part of me is proud of him, but mostly I'm just resigned to yet more grey hairs.

DD1 was exactly the same, and still a little monkey at playgrounds etc. She's knocked herself out a couple of times. So much to look forward to with ds!

belgo · 18/08/2009 18:50

And he climbs up the Tripp Trapp - that is annoying.

MyCatIsABiggerBastardThanYours · 18/08/2009 18:53

13mths - that's a luxury, my DD was climbing the bloody sofa at 4mths (if not earlier - I blanked the horror of it), crawled at 5mths, climbed the stairs at 6mths, walked at 8mths. I nearly went demented with worry (actually, did got demented).

Vigilence, soft carpet/scatter cushions and more vigilence is all I can say really.

Sorry, don't mean to belittle your worry by saying mine was worse - it wasn't, but there really isn't much you can do other than keep an eye on him and try and make it all a soft landing.

GOod luck

Original poster
FrannyandZooey · 18/08/2009 18:56

no that has helped actually MyCat!

belgo yes the fricking chairs - we took the foot bit off ds1's yesterday - which come to thinkof it is probably why he turned his attention to the sofa
ds2 still has the tray bit on his so it gets in the way thank god

this post very helpful!:
"We have a climber, she is now 21 months and its much easier, I think it got better at around 18months.

I found I really couldn't get much done and became very jealous of my friends with more docile babies and clean houses.

I could do the washing up by strapping her in the highchair with some stuff from the kitchen which I would wash up as she threw them to the floor! I generally had to find ways of involving her in all household chores and only did the minimum. She is much easier and less stressful now. I think it is a case of bracing yourself and getting through it."

thank you people

OP posts:
Original poster
FrannyandZooey · 18/08/2009 18:58

so

how do i make breakfast tomorrow? seriously
we haven't got a playpen

OP posts:
belgo · 18/08/2009 19:00

F&Z - yes I've always been jealous of parents with docile babies until recently. DD1 is such a good climber she can shimmy up a rope or pole, and can swing on the monkey bars, and because she is so good, she's very sure footed and rarely hurts herself. In fact when she was four she started climbing to the top of my four poster bed.

I never leave ds in a room on his own, I just can't, and no, I can't get any housework done either!

belgo · 18/08/2009 19:00

Make breakfast very very quickly

belgo · 18/08/2009 19:04

If you have carpets he's unlikely to hurt himself too much. The cushions at the base of the sofa is a good idea.

About a month ago I turned to see ds stood on a children's table, about a half a metre off the ground, he fell off it before I could get to him, rolling onto the tiled floor, picked himself up, gave me a wicked grin and crawled off. I just call him action man.

Wonderstuff · 18/08/2009 19:04

so lovely to be helpful (makes you feel the stress wasnt for nothing)

Highchair + food for brekkie? DD loves having a handful of cheerios to play with. Works for at least long enough to make a cuppa - drinking it is more tricky.

Original poster
FrannyandZooey · 18/08/2009 19:06

we've got laminate floor
how about i put a double mattress on the floor beneath the sofas? (they are at right angles so it would fill up most of the space)
he will then fall off the edge on to a load of pointy and hard things like ds's scooter, but it will improve his chances of surviving, i think
oh god i really can't supervise him all the time? can i? i mean i can't can i? [plaintive]

OP posts:
Pollyanna · 18/08/2009 19:07

yes, it does get easier. my ds who is now 16 months, can't stay off the table, but now he seems to know how to get off backwards (He did fall off once).

He also climbs up the trip trap chair, up the steps of the dds bunkbeds and along the back of any sofa. Oh and the trampoline, which I spotted him trying to get off (dangling on the edge).

I haven't had a climber before (he is my 5th) and it is very trying!

TheChewyToffeeMum · 18/08/2009 19:23

Have you got a travel cot you could use as a playpen for tomorrow?
Ours is permanently up in the sitting room so I can deposit my 10 month old climber in it when I need to go to the loo. He hates it but is better than unsupervised mountaineering.

popsycal · 18/08/2009 19:24

my 11 month old (who cant crawl) has learned to climb the stairs argh