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Parenting

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Original poster

How on earth can I stop 2 year old ds climbing on to top bunk?

17 replies

Wallace · 20/07/2008 21:37

ds1 and ds2 share a room and they have bunkbeds.

ds2 (almost 2) keeps on climbing on the top bunk. We tried taking a rung out of the ladder. It worked for a little while...

Now we have taken the ladder away and he still can climb up. The bunkbed is a bit like this

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ChipButty · 20/07/2008 21:41

Barbed wire?!!!

Seriously - good luck with this one!

mrsruffallo · 20/07/2008 21:42

I am interested in this too!!
I suppose the only solution is to teach them to be safe if up top, if that is your worry

fourlittlefeet · 20/07/2008 21:43

teach them how to climb down safely?

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Purplepillow · 20/07/2008 21:43

Have you got the room to seperate the bunkbeds? That would stop him climbing.

fourlittlefeet · 20/07/2008 21:44

plastic/board round the upper rails so they can't grip it?

Original poster

Wallace · 20/07/2008 21:45

I have been thinking barbed wire might be the way to go

Of course I am worried about him falling, but also I feel sorry for ds1. It is his space, and he has made it so nice with pictures which ds2 sometimes rips off the wall

OP posts:

fourlittlefeet · 20/07/2008 21:47

can you make ds2's space more intersting?

OverMyDeadBody · 20/07/2008 21:49

I'd say if he's capable enough to climb up then he's safe doing so. Maybe it sounds crazy but I do believe, if children are given space to explore their own boundaries, they will stay within their boundaries of what they are actually capable of.

Og course accidents could still happen, but he's unlikely to intentionally hurl himself off the top bunk if he's allowed to explore his own limits is he?

Original poster

Wallace · 20/07/2008 21:49

Ooh, a board might work. For a couple of days at least

Dh did suggest seperating them, but then ds1 would get no peace.

OP posts:

OverMyDeadBody · 20/07/2008 21:51

oh, just read the ripping of DS2's pictures off the wall.

I guess, it comes down to respecting his older brother's space which I guess is a bit hard for a 2 yr old to grasp straight away. Could you make his space extra special just for him and have the same rule that DS1 isn't allowed on the bottom bunk and make a big deal uot of this? So modelling the behavious you want from him?

juuule · 20/07/2008 21:56

Take all the rungs out. Ds1 can climb up the beds to get to his.

lizinthesticks · 21/07/2008 07:08

OP said the ladder had been taken away though. shrugs

Original poster

Wallace · 21/07/2008 07:54

Sometimes he seems to understand that he isn't allowed up. He puts his serious face on and says "Not climb on ds1's bed"

Then the temptation proves to much!

OMDB - I will give that a try. He hasn't got any pictures up because I just presumed they would get torn down, but it is worth trying I will also put a board or something at the end of the bed so he can't grab on

OP posts:

kid · 21/07/2008 07:59

I don't think you can stop him from climbing up tbh, once he knows he can do it, then he will want to carry on.
Like someone else suggested, you might be better to just show him how to do it safely. I'd probably put some pillows under the ladder just incase of a crash landing!

ummadam · 21/07/2008 12:16

"I'd say if he's capable enough to climb up then he's safe doing so."

I'm afraid I don't have any suggestions and agree that he will probably keep doing so whatever you do - boys will be boys etc.

but... (and this is a big but) having treated a 3year old with a skull fracture. I would disagree with OMDB I'm afraid. Accidents will happen and it is a long way to fall.

Could you separate them and put up a room divider (and keep the rule that neither crosses it unless invited whcih will continue to be a useful rule as they get older).

HonoriaGlossop · 21/07/2008 12:51

Maybe you could swap bedrooms for a while? give the kids the bigger room, seperate the bunk beds so they each have a normal bed and then you can swap back again once the littlie has reached the age of reason?!

cory · 22/07/2008 16:59

OverMyDeadBody on Sun 20-Jul-08 21:49:13
"I'd say if he's capable enough to climb up then he's safe doing so. Maybe it sounds crazy but I do believe, if children are given space to explore their own boundaries, they will stay within their boundaries of what they are actually capable of."

I take it you have never sat over an unconscious child in hospital then?

I don't believe in this idea that accidents won't happen if they are capable of climbing up onto something. That is no guarantee they can't fall down, particularly if they start playing and forget where they are. Dd nearly died from falling off a climbing frame which she had been fine climbing up and had been playing on for an hour perfectly well.

I had a friend whose Mum (in the medical profession) had been called out to a toddler who had climbed up on his brother's bunk bed in the middle of the night and somehow got his head stuck while falling. He was dead from strangulation when my friend's Mum arrived, but it could equally well have happened from a skull fracture.

I would separate the beds.

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