My daughter, Sammi, is climbing on EVERYTHING. She is almost two, and she thinks it is a great big game. I didn't think it was too big of a deal until this morning. My husband and I woke up to the sound of a huge crash. Turns out Sammi decided to get up and climb on our diaper changing table...and it tipped over on top of her. She seems unscathed, this time. We can't get rid of the table because we have a younger baby that still needs it. Do you have any suggestions on what I can do?

Hi Daisy! Welcome to C'moms! [claploud] [balloons]

My kids weren't climbers, so I'm not probably the best to give advice. I have four kidlets. I brought them into what I was doing and regularly set them on counters where I was working, etc... I spent a lot of time lifting them up to adult level so they could see what they were missing and wouldn't feel as curious or left out. Took them through my pretty living room, which was off limits, and let them see and even gently touch mommy's pretties. For my kids this helped take away some of the mystery and the feeling that they were being left out of the adult world. Of course I'd tell them often, "Don't you try to climb up. Let mommy help you up." Like I said, though, mine weren't really into things. I hoped that was because I helped them explore safely with me, but I don't really know. [whatthink]

Blessings!

[lovesign]

Joy [welcomewave]

Well... I probably have bad advice on this one :oops: When my son started to do this, I just tried to teach him how to do it with out breaking/knocking over stuff... or getting hurt... I do NOT let him climb shelves... but I put his railing down on his crib so that the fall wouldn't be as far... made sure other furniture was close to the wall so it wouldn't tip, taught him to hold on to stuff... I let my kids play with doors from when they could get themselves to the door (crawling) :oops: :oops: :oops: they never get their fingers slammed in doors and they are 2 and 3 years old... I always figured if they did it to themselves (slam fingers) they will figure out how it works and chances are it won't be really hard if they do it to themselves.... I know, I'm weird... I just rather they figure out how to do stuff... of course with me supervising them till I feel comfortable with them doing it... we live near a LOT of stairs so they both learned very young to go up and down them, to be careful... but of course all kids are different too...

I really don't have much advice either because our DD is only 14 months, but I have heard of people screwing big furniture to the wall, maybe that would be an option for you with the changing table. If that's not an option, could you get rid of the changing table and use a bed or the floor to change your younger child. We have a changing table that we use, but we only use it really once during the evening after we give DD her bath. With the crib, do you think your DD is ready for a big girl bed? Maybe if she continues to climb out of her crib, you could get her a toddler bed or twin bed and put side rails on them. It's not like she's not getting out of her crib now, so maybe it would be less dangerous if she only had to climb out of her toddler bed instead of leap off of the crib.

I am totally just going with random ideas as I haven't had to deal with this yet.

I pray the Lord gives you wisdom on how to approach this situation.

Amber

Well, around here..climbing is not allowed.

They are told no. If they disobey, they get a swat. Easy as that.

Climbing is for *outside*

The only 'climbing' allowed inside is when they're old enough to get their own water from the sink. They are allowed to 'climb' the cabinet to reach it. And even that isn't quite 'climbing', it's grab a step stool, still can't reach, so lunge self atop counter then sit on the edge while reaching to sink faucet.

Our kids are not allowed to climb things either with a few exceptions. I did teach them how to climb up and down the stairs safely, since it was impossible to block them off entirely. Thay also now can stand on a chair if they want to watch me or need to reach something. Once they started climbing out of the crib we went a big kid bed with a detachable railing on the side. They are not allowed to climb furniture or shelves since it is very dangerous and also destructive to the furniture! :lol: I know they sell anchors to attach furniture to the wall, but we haven't ever had any.

If there's any way you can screw it to the wall, that would be my suggestion. We have a big bookcase that we did that with to make sure it didn't tip over.

I have a similiar problem, execpt I'm dealing with a 10 month old! :shock: Seriously.. he climbs everything.. he can get onto the kitchen table, dd's desk, the couches, the livingroom coffee table. I don't know how to get him to stop, he is too young to spank. I tell him no, but he just looks at me and smiles as he does his dance, lol. I have to keep the kitchen chairs up so he cant climb onto the table. I have to also keep dd's desk chair up.. if he fell off her desk it could hurt pretty bad because the floors in her room are hardwood. I can't keep him off the other furniture though. He hasn't had a fall yet.. he has amazing balance, lol. This may sound harsh but I tried scaring him by shaking the chair a bit so he would lose balance and then I planned on catching him and comforting him, thinking maybe he would be too scred to climb after that but that plan failed misserably.. he wouldn't budge, I couldn't get him to lose balance.. and he thought the chair moving was really funny.. so now he gets up on it and shakes it himself, lol! So, anyone been there? What advice do you ladies have for me?

I'm not trying to step on your Mommy toes at all Ashlee, but I honestly and truely belive a 10 month old is old enough to spank. Of course it's probably not wise to use more than your hand, but I started spanking DD around 8 or 9 months, mostly hand spanks, but a few bottom ones, and she knew what they were for. Babies are waaaay smarter than most people give them credit for, and if he smiles and dances after you tell him no, one: he knows that you are trying to correct him, and two, you are setting him up to know that even if you say no, there are no consequences for his disobedience. In your post you sounded very frustrated and somewhat scared of his behavior......sounds to me like everyone is ready for real discipline.

Again, I am just trying to encourage you, and answer your request for help, I am not trying to tell you how to raise your kids, so please don't think that. If you want some good verses, Hebrews 12: 1-12.....are good ones that shows God's command for us to discipline, and how it's not pleasant, but necessary for obedience to not only parents, but to God.

I recently have done a lot of "digging" into scripture about discipline....guess it's really on my mind right now! LOL

Amber

I'm not trying to step on your Mommy toes at all Ashlee, but I honestly and truely belive a 10 month old is old enough to spank.

Really? Well now I'm curious how many others start that early.. I will post a poll in General Parenting Topics so I don't hijack this post more then I already have. Thanks for the input Amber! :D