Am I doing the wrong thing? 16 month old getting on the table.

[Mmmchocolatebuttons]

Toddler discovered she climb onto our dining room table when was about 11 months old. Since then, we've kept the chairs on top of the table to stop her getting up.

A couple of days ago, she managed to pull a chair off the table (thankfully it didn't land on her!) so now we're stacking them on top of each other so she can't reach them. I decided to try a new technique today because I'm honestly sick of getting chairs up and down all the time and feeling like I'm doing the closing shift in a restaurant.

I put the chairs down and just decided to get her down and say no every time she climbed up. Anyways, she's tried about 40 times now and has ended up hysterical.

Is she too young and redirection is the only way at this age?

Our downstairs is open plan so we can't just shut her out.

Tuck them under the table and use bungees to tie the opposite chairs together so she can't pull them out? Don't let her see you disconnecting them!

Tricky! Can you put a room divider up maybe? We had an open plan layout when my youngest was a toddler and that’s what we did so separated the living area from kitchen & dining area with a room divider safety gate

She's not too young to learn that she isn't allowed to do it, but she may well be a child who just doesn't care for the word 'no'. You're not doing the wrong thing. Either way is fine, it's just what your morale can handle! Is it easier to reinforce to the point where she gives up or put the chairs on the table?

A friend of mine had a playpen type thing which she used to store all her chairs - does not resolve the issue but at least keeps the table surface accessible….i really do not think that they are able to comprehend and retain the info that they are not allowed to climb on the table - it is too much fun. Alternatively is there anywhere else you can keep chairs and just take out whatever chair is actually needed at the time? Or get cheap folding chairs that hang high up when not in use?
it will pass (eventually)

We got a gate for this reason, also open plan downstairs which is a nightmare with a 1 year old. We got one of those mesh ones that pull and extend quite a lot.

Baby gate

@Sunshineclouds11 Is there an open plan baby gate?

Room dividers pull over too. Definitely not safe.

However neither is climbing on a table. For me, she would have to be told no and the chairs would be in a cupboard. I know it’s a faff but it’s better safe than sorry.

Oops missed the last bit of being open plan 🙈

Play pen - tell her no once and get her down, and if she does it again she has to play in the play pen.

Yeah the babydan style playpens that have multiple panels and one panel that's an actual gate. They're very handy for open plan living areas!

My eldest was affectionately nick named the mountain goat by her uncle. She would climb everything, baby group in village hall, lots of toys, she’d be trying to scale the stacked chars at the back!

I think you have to pick your hard here… because in my wxperience 16 month olds don’t care…

I just let my ds climb where he wanted unless it was dangerous tbh. DD isn’t quite as adventurous.

I’d let her climb I think and sit on the table. Hover so you can grab her if she’s moving too close to the edge but otherwise be neutral. You’ve accidentally made it a “thing” so it’s all she wants to do. Fake being chilled and unbothered by her on the table and she’ll lose interest.

Teach her to get up and down safely then she will be OK.

Ia with @Nosleepforthismum and @Geneticsbunny. Reach her how to get up and down safely and let her crack on. She'll get bored soon enough.

Babydan look like playpens to me. Not gates.

You can open them up so they're one long strip and use them to divide rooms. It's a very very standard thing to do and perfectly safe. They're designed to be used that way.

Thanks everyone! Lots of good suggestions! I'm going to look at the room dividers.

She's a very good climber and can get up and down safely. I'm just worried about the one time she can't and falls. It's a pretty big fall onto a hard floor.

Chairs went back on the table for now. I think the poster who said it's just too much fun for her is right!