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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

OP posts:
Are your children’s vaccines up to date?
Set a reminder
belgo · 19/08/2009 18:20

"you are a fuckwit and we know best"

yes that and

'my child is the same but did that younger and much more spectacularly'

TheLadyEvenstar · 19/08/2009 18:38

I don't mean I find it funny but he really does

Original poster
FrannyandZooey · 19/08/2009 18:54

oh thank god i just remembered, with a jolt, what i posted and thought "oh NO i bet they have all turned on me and i have been savaged and left for wild dogs to eat me"

i forgot you can (usually) all take it as well as give it out

belgo LOL!

OP posts:
foreverchanges · 19/08/2009 19:07

i got a baby dan play pen

big enough to walk in comfy enough to fall asleep in

by the age of 2 1/2 he could climb up kitchen cupboards to ceiling .............

Umlellala · 19/08/2009 19:31

belgo, isn't that what Mumsnet is for?

toothfairy999 · 19/08/2009 19:34

I don't understand why you would leave your toddler alone in a room anyway? Can't you stay in the room to ensure their safety?

Umlellala · 19/08/2009 19:35

you forgot 'and I am so much more neglectful laissez faire about my dc than you, hell, I don't even remember their names much less supervise what they do all day'

(guilty as charged)

Umlellala · 19/08/2009 19:36

Ha ha, amusing cross post... seems some people DO supervise their children

Sheeta · 19/08/2009 19:53

toothfairy - how?!

What do you expect people with more than one child do, cart both/all their kids around with them, room to room?

we just child-proofed our sitting room so it's effectively a giant play pen (though he still manages to injure himself even when I'm right there

RubyBlueberry · 19/08/2009 19:59

Take the cushions off the sofa and put them on the flor in front of it. This makes the sofa back taller and harder to climb, and you've also got some padding if he slips.
My DS was about 14m when he started climbing and has now graduated to taking everything out of the kitchen cupboards, but at least he's happy!!

foreverchanges · 19/08/2009 20:27

babydan playpen

NorbertDentressangle · 19/08/2009 20:37

lol!

Its always a massive shock having a climber after having a non-climber.

My first (DD) never climbed.

My second (DS) was a different matter.

The first time I turned my back for a second only to find him sitting in the middle of the dining room table I rather naively thought "eh, who on earth put DS on there?". Then I realised that, as it was only me and DS in the house, he'd got up there himself.

I used to pop him in his cot with a toy if I needed to go the loo. He didn't particularly like it but found it better than using the travel cot as a playpen as he'd scream the place down if I popped him in there .

MummyElk · 19/08/2009 20:40

FandL - sorry if you think I was calling you a fuckwit (i don't remember being that ambiguous but still, the joy of posting) what I was trying to say was - surely this is what they do? (hence pinktulip's often used first aid kit)

DD often uses the sofa to do exactly what your DS is doing and absolutely loves it - she's fallen bang off both the sill and the sofa and good god she actually survived. I haven't stopped her doing it because she'll be back up there the moment my back is turned. She's actually done herself far more damage tripping over the dog.

Good luck with the mattress. I hope he graduates onto something less worrying for you. And apologies if you misunderstand my good intentions again, I shall go back to my clumsy DD and leave you to it

MummyElk · 19/08/2009 20:40

sorry obviously i mean FandZ - pg brain and a long day

clemette · 19/08/2009 20:41

I have to say, I'm with toothfairy. DD would have screamed if I had left her in a room alone, DS would climb/throw things/cause mayhem until I came back. I got very good at cooking at night and reheating at mealtimes!! Toys in every room and "employing" his big sister to yell if he did anything if I had to go to the loo.
It passes - at 13 months DS would climb out of his highchair to stand on the table for a dance, now at 19 months he seems to have lost interest. I largely put this down to us pretending to ignore him when he did it.

NorbertDentressangle · 19/08/2009 21:02

We tried the "employing big sister to yell if he did anything" tactic, trouble was she would forget to keep an eye on him. On one occasion DS managed to eat a large chunk of the TV guide without her realising. I'd only nipped out of the room to make a a cup of tea

SpawnChorus · 20/08/2009 08:20

F&Z - DD was also a climber, and it was an absolute nightmare for about 18 months (sorry...not what you want to hear). I used to go to other people's houses and if I took my eye off the ball I'd find her perched on top of a fish tank, or perusing their top book shelves.

I Very Seriously considered getting DD to wear a crash helmet. The huge weekly forehead bruises were getting embarrassing. But the mattress is a much better idea.

Would he entertain being held in a sling/carrier (on your back) while you get on with cooking?

Just remember that there are MANY climbers and they have falls and they are almost always alright. Even after big scary falls. He will fall at some point and you will have heart failure for a few minutes and your hair will turn grey. But he will be fine.

Also, I think the more you let him get on with it now, while he's relatively small, the sooner he'll get bored of it. He'll probably have a couple of accidents which will deter him from being too risky in future. This is somethign I didn't realise with DD...I watched her too much and she had very few accidents in the early days, so she only started having falls when she was older and able to climb higher (therefore bigger bumps).

Sorry - this is a bit of an essay. I just remember that terrible heart-in-mouth sensation and the over-burdening sense of responsibility for keeping a loony toddler safe. Good luck with it all. You'll both be FINE.

SpawnChorus · 20/08/2009 08:22

Oh and make sure you have anything remotely sharp/poisonous/dangerous properly shut away. One of my A&E trips resulted from essential orange oil ingestion when DD managed to climb to the top of a book case and find my "safely stowed" aromatherapy kit. Gah.

lljkk · 20/08/2009 08:27

DC learnt to climb down off the bed backwards by 10 months.
DS (18m) is now climbing onto the piano stool and most the chairs, just have to pad everywhere out, hope for the best, lock the windows, have moved the dangerous stuff superhigh, nothing else I can do about it.

I wore DC1-3 in a backpack for things like cooking; I still resort to it for mowing the lawn with DC4 because the mower freaks him out. But otherwise he's on his own.

He's somewhere out in the garden as we speak...

sherby · 20/08/2009 08:42

Not sure on size of sofa but tip it forward when you have to leave the room and throw bean bags scatter cushions around.

Much smaller height to climb and makes a v good slide, heuristic no?

sockmonkey · 20/08/2009 09:15

DS2 was a climber... well he still is. He could get out of his cot, still in his growbag and make it to our room before he was one. One time he managed to get out of his cot and onto the windowsill while still in it... never figured out how he did that one.

Perhaps you could invent some kind of velcro suit to keep him rooted to one spot while you nip for a wee/do chores? It could also come in handy for those children who will not stay in bed.
I'll see you on Dragon's Den

Hope the matress works out well. Desperate times call for desperate measures!

FimbleHobbs · 20/08/2009 09:38

Mine were both climbers and I do sympathise. The what ifs can start to drive you mad as you work out that they could in theory climb onto x, shuffle onto y, reach up to z...before you know it your imagination has them fetching the car keys and driving off down the road having locked you in the understairs cupboard.

My biggest recommendations are to get all heavy furniture fixed to the wall (bookcases etc) - because if they try to climb up and pull it over onto themselves, that is really dangerous. Apart from that, try to ensure soft landings (Mattress idea is a good one) and train both children to come running for you when other child stuck/falling.

Mine are 4 and 2 now and it is so much easier, and lovely that they are confident and body-aware/coordinated (especially as I am sooooo clumsy, I am glad they didn't get that gene!). It is easier in the long run as they don't need help on things in the park, they climb the tree in the garden independently, life is so much more fun for them.

I promise this stage does not last forever and it is a 'useful' stage rather than some of the more pointless ones, iyswim. Also not to sound preachy but I had a friend with a DC in plaster for much of her first year and I always tried to remind myself that some people would give their eye tooth to have a child so mobile and capable.

Good luck

sincitylover · 20/08/2009 14:12

I always took it for granted that you have to supervise babies/toddlers all the time they are awake once they become mobile- tedious but true.

or strap them into buggy/put in playpen if you have one/put in highchair/cot if you really must do something

Have to save up other stuff to do at naptime.

The one time my exh wasn't supervising my ds1 he ran into internal wall and cut above his eye badly.

Of course they can still have accidents when you are with them.

I' m also surprised that people think you wouldn't be supervising them all the time. I was also worried about choking. And yes I have more than one child.

SpawnChorus · 20/08/2009 15:17

sincity - did you bind your children together Mine usually ambled off in diff directions to effect maximum exasperation. Anyway, it really isn't possible to supervise 100% of the time...e.g. if you have to get the phone or go to the loo or answer the door, and the really avid climbers can scale significant heights in only a minute or two.

Sheeta · 20/08/2009 17:06

gods - that wouldn't have been possible here! When DS was 1yo I looked after a friends DS who was the same age. They NEVER needed the same thing at the same time. I was always feeding one while the other was playing, or putting one down for a nap while the other was downstairs.

you do your best, but you can't split yourself in two!