| T.R | Title | User | Personal
Name | Date | Lines |
|---|
| 317.1 | try a gate... | MORO::NEWELL_JO | Jodi Newell - Irvine, Calif. | Fri Sep 07 1990 19:59 | 12 |
| Put a gate up in his doorway.
Our son climbed out of his crib at 15 months. We took the crib
down the next day, put a mattress on the floor and put a gate
up to insure he wouldn't be making any midnight raids in the
kitchen. I didn't like the idea of putting a gate up but after
several people here in notes suggested it, I decided to give it
a try. The gate solution as a way to keep your child safe
(if the room is childproof, of course) and instead of feeling
like I'm imprisoning him, I look at it as a huge crib.
Jodi-
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| 317.2 | Mine's a climber too | XCUSME::BARRY | | Fri Sep 07 1990 20:29 | 9 |
| I also have a climber. He's going to be 1 next week. Yesterday,
as I was putting clothes away in the bedroom, he climbed up on
the childs table/chairs, over the STOVE, and onto the kitchen
counter. Talk about me almost having a heart attack!! He's so
quick!! He'll probably start climbing out of the crib soon too.
I agree with the gate suggestion. Hopefully, mine wont start
getting out of the crib... He'll be bopping me on the head with
whatever toy he can get ahold of...
|
| 317.3 | hey there | MCIS2::WALTON | | Fri Sep 07 1990 20:46 | 6 |
| No suggestions, dear, I just wanted to say
"HI"
Me
|
| 317.4 | Few ideas | MAJORS::MANDALINCI | | Mon Sep 10 1990 11:31 | 35 |
| My son didn't climb on the counters, tables, etc at that age (although
he has discovered the fine art of pushing the chair to the counter and
climbing up that way now at 2.5) but he was determined to get out of
the crib when he was ready (18 months). The gate in the door didn't
work for us because he even climbed/flipped over that. Finally, we just
told him to come to our room first before he went down stairs.
Our bedroom door is at the top of the stairs so it would be pretty
difficult for him to get down the stairs without us hearing. Maybe try
that - he must get you first before he goes anywhere. Tell him to
gently tap your arm or something, not jump on you. It all starts now.
Whatever you do, don't put a gate at the top of the stairs now because
if he wants to go downstairs, he'll flip over it and tumble down the
stairs.
No solution, just start setting some rules about him getting up by
himself. We luckily have a little guy who either yells from his room "I
waked up" or comes into our doorway and stands there until we say
something. It may also be time to lock up the food but not at the risk
of him getting into worse things (like a tool chest, the garage, etc).
Do you still use a monitor? It may be time to start using it again if
you are a sound sleeper so you wake up as well and can "catch" him
before he does anything or at least be prepared for a pounce!!!
As for climbing on other things...you probably need rules about that
now. Try getting him step (we used our 2-step kitchen ladder where he
could hang on) so he can see what's up there. I used to get dinner
ready with my "helper" by my side. He was much happier seeing what was
going on and I was glad because he wasn't attached at the hip and could
participate.
Good luck,
Andrea
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| 317.5 | future gymnasts | TLE::RANDALL | living on another planet | Mon Sep 10 1990 14:44 | 39 |
| As the mother of a daughter who climbed out of her crib before she
could even walk well, and even navigated to the top of the
refrigerator before she was a year old (opened the door and used
the shelves as a ladder . . . ), there isn't much you can do to
physically stop your son. A child who climbs that well won't have
any trouble climbing over a gate and often looks at any such
attempts at restraint as a new challenge.
All I could do was try teach her how to climb safely and to lay
down some rules about when and where and why. I taught her to
climb down things backwards, for instance, and to make sure the
back of the chair was turned so that if she slipped, she wouldn't
bump the back and knock the chair out from under her. That kind
of stuff.
A gymnastics/body movement/dance class might help -- it might help
him vent his urges to climb, it will teach him some safer ways to
handle his body, and if he's got this ability, he might even be
good at it. Kat competed in gymnastics for several years and is
now a dancer.
I also imposed the "wake me up before you go anywhere" rule. If
it's too early, you can just firmly take him back to his bed and
put him there and tell him he can't get up until x time (until he
hears Mom in the shower, until the sun shines in his room, until
Dad comes to get him, whatever works for your house.) Have him
call you if he's not sure.
I left the side of Kat's crib lowered so she could get out without
falling.
When she was a little bit older, and could be trusted a little
more, I used to leave her bowl and Cheerios and stuff where she
could get at them. She'd get up and give herself breakfast by the
time she was two or so. And she ate more when she fed herself
than when I did it for her . . . but I'm digressing.
--bonnie
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| 317.6 | Two gates | HYSTER::DELISLE | | Wed Sep 12 1990 13:47 | 4 |
| Could also try putting up two gates, one above the other, if he starts
flipping over the one. Good time to start imposing "rulse", they have
to learn sometime. Luck to you.
|
| 317.7 | | RDVAX::COLLIER | Bruce Collier | Thu Sep 13 1990 20:27 | 12 |
| The early morning problem might be alleviated by keeping him up later
at night, so he sleeps later in the morning.
The more general problem of unsafe climbing will require (among other
things) his learning that falls can be painful. Some kids learn this
easily and quickly (perhaps too much so!), and some not; almost none
learn it by being told! Parental Responsibility actually calls for you
to allow painful falls; what you're supposed to try to discourage is
serious injury. If you don't believe me, look it up in the instruction
manual.
- Bruce
|
| 317.8 | State of the Art climbing | MSBCS::BEAUREGARD | | Mon Sep 17 1990 18:49 | 62 |
| All three of mine were/are climbers and 17 month old Seth has taken
Climbing to state-of-the-art and has proven to be quite a challenge to
keep him safe. About all I can add to what has been suggested is a
ditto to
enforce rules, such as returning the little wanderer back to bed ,
saying no when he or she pushes a chair up to the kitchen sink (to
climb into the sink...) and making sure the chair goes back to where it
belongs. Also - recheck the childproofing - you need to "upgrade" on
this because they can reach all kinds of things they couldn't just
yesterday. Here are some suggestions: keep your toaster and and other
countertop appliances unplugged. Check the inside of your toaster
before using if you suspect that your Climber was anyway near it.
If you have bunk beds you may want to keep them un-bunked. (Keeping the
ladder under the bottom bunk so the Climber can't climb to the top bunk
is fine, but the State-of-the-Art Climber will use the headboards or
footboards anyway.) Keep your countertops cleared of scissors, pens,
pencils, knives and other sharp objects. Do Not even leave the room or
area for a few seconds with these objects in reach
- for the Climber also is one
who is an Opportunist - a very Quick Opportunist - and will climb and
grab these objects as soon as your back is turned. "Keeping out of the
reach of children" when applied to the Climber means *locked up* and
out of sight. Something placed merely at unattainable (heh-heh)
heights or behind a closed and not safety latched cabinet door is of no
consequence to the Climber. Also watch for him/her to figure out that
pulling out drawers can get one to the top of a bureau. (Have to be
really careful here because he or she can also topple the bureau or
whatever on top of him/her!) The climber is also *Determined* - I've
learned to keep tempting objects out of sight because the climber will
try his darndest to get them. They also haven't much fear and think it
is tremendously funny to have Mom or Dad climb up to the top of a
playground slide to "rescue" them or pluck them from the slide ladder
(prying fingers loose) should said Mom or Dad be quick enough to get
them before they reach the top of the slide. (Of course if you go up
the
ladder you run the risk of having the Climber go down the slide while
you're trying to save him from killing himself.
I only open my windows to a max of 7 inches or so because to a
climber there is something fascinating about watching Mom run wild eyed
and hearing that My Baby is going to get Hurt screech while sitting on
a window sill and leaning against the screen.... And also be aware that
the Climber can figure out things like if I climb that chair I can
reach the top of the stereo, vcr, etc cabinet from which I can lower
myself down onto the TV from which I can reach the mantlepiece....or at
least try to....
I moved a chair away from the vcr cabinet once Seth was able to reach the
cabinet from the chair knowing what would have come next.
Anyways - they help to keep your weight down because behind (literally)
every climber there is an exasperated Mom or Dad trying to keep up with
him to get or keep him down...
Annette B.
p.s. But do I sense a certain amount of pride that seeps out of our
"complaints" about our climbers? Well ALL parents have braggin'
rights....
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