How do I keep my 1.5 year old safe

[andanotherproblem]

My 1.5 year old DD is honestly wild, she doesn’t sit still for a second unless she’s strapped into her high chair or her pram. This in itself isn’t an issue. The issue I’m starting to face is climbing, she will attempt to climb anything and everything lately. Yesterday she climbed up the stairs gate, the day before her cot. How do I keep her safe I’m a nervous wreck at the minute.

Ahh my second is like this. Only he can also escape his high chair and pram straps like Houdini. The only place I can really keep him contained is his car seat. I think because he's my second I'm a bit more blase about it. I just find myself repeatedly picking him up and putting him back on the ground and reiterating that we don't climb because we can hurt ourselves. I tend to use distraction a lot. I also bought some indoor climbing toys because I figured he was going to climb anyway so I might as well try and find ways he can do it which are a little safer than just scaling the windowsills, dining table, worktops and stair gates and this has worked quite well. Does your DD sleep in a sleep bag? They're quite good for stopping them from climbing out the cot. Failing that I think the advice is to love them to a toddler bed once they start climbing. Other than that just some solidarity - it's just a developmental stage which they do grow out of eventually.

Yoi need fo take thr stair gate off now and nake sure she knows how to go down stairs safely like feet first on her tummy Likewise she should not be in a cot if she can climb out.

Yes she absolutely can escape her high chair and pram, I can just keep her sat there distracted for a while while watching her. She doesn’t sit still sleep in a sleeping bag luckily so that’s reassuring. Yes I’ve heard to move to a floor bed but I’m worried about her wardrobe/draws/windowsill even plug sockets at the minute everything is a danger, do I just empty her room completely and leave her bed just?

I don’t know how to possibly teach her to go downstairs safely at the minute, she can get down from the sofa safely but she’s so hyper and gets very excited she dives off headfirst sometimes

Sorry I meant she does still sleep in a sleeping bag

I was trying to stop the climbing and my DS nursery advised me to change my tactic and teach him safe climbing up and down instead. So we bought the Montessori indoor triangle climbing frame, outdoor climbing frame, and we spent a long time teaching him "we don't climb this, we climb this instead". And we taught him how to safely get down from things he manages to get up!

Honestly now he's 2.5 he is like a monkey, it's relentless, I don't even panic anymore 😅

Tumble Tots is a toddler group that's great for climbers too, very obstacle course meets gymnastics type vibes x

This worked well for my DD https://amzn.eu/d/hS7Ucso

Sorry I'm not the best to advise on sleep situations as my DS sleeps with me most of the night 🫠. But if she keeps her sleep bag on then she'll struggle to climb because they can't get their legs up high enough. She might work out how to take it off though and then I'd just go for a floor or toddler bed. My kids are pretty noisy when they wake up and they normally cry/shout out before they get out of bed. My DS starts the night on a floor bed - I lay with him until he goes to sleep and when he wakes up he cries out for me so doesn't really get upto any mischief and then he's in bed with me for the rest of the night after that. They do suss things out pretty quickly though. My DS is 20 months now and manages to climb things pretty safely with a bit more caution than what he did a few months ago. He's still a whirlwind but a slightly more cautious one now.

Yep stair gate down and into a toddler bed now as she is far more likely to hurt herself climbing over a stair gate or cot.
Maybe some kind of climbing frame or slide if you have space so she has somewhere to direct her climbing energy!

Agree with @sundaychairtree

You need to teach your DC to manage the stairs. She'll become less daft as the weeks go by.

You should get a toddler bed, or a mattress on the floor.

I feel your pain. I had a climber.
Make sure you have top tether straps on all bookshelves/ chests of drawers/ freestanding tvs etc so that they cannot be pulled over.

www.productsafety.gov.au/about-us/product-safety-news/news/toppling-furniture-lessons-from-toddler%E2%80%99s-tragic-death

Another option is fixing them to the wall. This includes furniture in her bedroom

Take the side off the cot, and fix furniture to the wall. Get some indoor climbing toys. UK plug sockets are child safe so you don’t need to worry about those!

this!

Get rid of the stairs gate and get rid of the cot.

Time to transition to a single bed - teach them to climb in and out safely. Teach them how to climb the stairs.
Give them lots of safe opportunity to climb - like soft play, or get a pikler triangle for home (supervised).

I don't know, just sending solidarity. My child is nearly 3. Still wild, still giving me heart attacks frequently. Only now cannot be contained due to really strong wee thumbs that can undo straps, including the seat belt in the car. Fucking nightmare.

But yes, we have not had stairgates, cots, anything like that, since she could climb.