My Daughter Just Might Be Spider-Man!...Help

Updated on September 17, 2008
M.B. asks from Sherman, IL
6 answers

Ok Moms, I'm out of ideas of what to do with my daughter (she will be 3 in Nov). If I turn my back for even a second she is climbing! She will stack things up or push things together just to see how high she can reach. I've tried to explain that she is scaring Mommy or that she could get hurt but it only gets me so far because she is 2-1/2. Our house is still very much baby-proofed but I was wondering what other families are doing with their climbers. THANKS!

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So What Happened?

Thanks Moms! It is always nice to hear you are not the only person with children doing things crazy and off the wall. For now we have increased our baby-proofing and spending A LOT of time outside. With her birthday just around the corner we will be looking for "safe" jumping options for the inside of our house to make the winter a little easier.

More Answers

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A.K.

answers from Chicago on

Hey fellow member of the T.D.M.C W.C. club (Toddlers Driving Mom Crazy with Climbing Club). Yeah, been there. My youngest was climbing everywhere. My dh and I were so sure that he was going to grow up to be a mountain climber. LOL Well, it did stop when he figured out he could get hurt by climbing up on the tv set to try and fit a vcr into a dvd player. I was going to the bathroom and tada, my Croching Joey Hidden poopie did this and fell on our dog. My baby cried a bit. But as soon as I kissed his toe (where he said it hurt) he was good as new and grabbing his books. He had no injuries, it just scared him. Now my dog has Post Traumatic Toddler Syndrome. He thinks now that when my son comes, he is going to fall on him.lol So he goes and hides.lol Anyway, it will be fine. Keep on her. He went right back to playing only he never did that again. He put two and two together and figured it was better to sit on the couch NEXT to the dog than ON TOP of the dog.lol Good Luck

2 moms found this helpful
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T.S.

answers from Peoria on

Take every day in stride and never turn your back. Seriously, my daughter is the same way (she just turned one and once after I ran into the kitchen to get her a cup I came back to find her sitting on top of the piano pouring my coffee over herself. Thank goodness it was cold!) Short of tying her down, there's no way to keep her from climbing, so I make sure that I always watch her and tell her no, but I also try to play lots of games on the floor and keep everything she wants within reach. Everything she wants but can't have has had to be relocated to another room. Good luck!

1 mom found this helpful
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J.W.

answers from Chicago on

My 19 month old loves to climb and jump. There are things I let him do (because it won't hurt as much if he falls), and things I definitely won't let him do (climbing on top of the coffee table or the end table or the kitchen table). He loves to jump off of the couch, climb his toy kitchen, climb over the back of the couch and lower himself to the floor, and climb up on top of my bed and jump on it. He also loves to climb up the stairs on his slide and jump from the platform to the floor, instead of sliding down. A lot of these things I just let him do because we have carpet and he can't really hurt himself. If he does hurt himself, he doesn't do that particular thing again. I just make sure he is as safe as possible, and if he hurts himself, oh well, it's a part of childhood. After I started letting him do some things, he didn't want to do them anymore. Maybe that will be true for your daughter, too. Good luck!

1 mom found this helpful
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A.T.

answers from Chicago on

Our now 5 year old was like yours---somedays I'm surprised she made it to 5. We caughte her climbing the refrigerator shelves one time. First off make sure she has some healthy safe places to climb--like a gymnastics class. Second, put everything she could need at her level as another Mom suggested. Third, if you haven't yet installed those things that tie furniture to the wall so it doesn't tip---do it. Fourth, if saying no doesn't reduce or stop behavior it is time for some time outs. Pick her up and remove her from the climbing situation and if she goes back to it she may need a short time out. Fifth, don't turn your back on her. Sixth, realize she will continue to be a climber--at 5 we caught our daughter trying to climb up on the half wall that rims our foyer--a good 15-20 foot drop. You need to be aware of any scraping sounds --dragging a chair over to climb; very quiet times--stacking stuff to climb or concentrating during a climb; open windows--easy ledge to pull up on.
As cute as the climbing can be at times, she can seriously be hurt. A tv could fall on her, a dresser. I know how scary it is--unfortunately, correcting and discipline is the only things that worked for us.

1 mom found this helpful
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E.P.

answers from Chicago on

I always thought my daughter was such a mover. Then my son came along three years later! When we moved into our new home - my son was two years old. We installed the slide locks at the top corner of the door. Days later, he teetered things on a chair and opened the door. He was my "little, climbing Houdini". He could figure out how to open any door. He also loved jumping from high places to see if he could land on his feet - sometimes yes...sometimes no! You just have to keep a close eye on her, give her areas where she can safely climb so she can enjoy that great skill (local park) and baby proofing is wonderful! Time-outs for my son, even for two minutes, eventually worked. Positive reinforcements, just being consistent....will eventually sink in. Helping her burn off some energy every day helps, even though they have so much more energy than we do! My son is 10 years old, now, and still very agile, methodical, mechanically inclined...and still has days of constant motion, only not as reckless. It was definitely a scary time of our lives because, there was a point that I remember crying to my husband, "I don't know how to keep our son alive until he is 3 years old!" All he did was climb, jump, ...practice climbing again (or by three years old, he loved disassembling/reassembling things.) One benefit - it was the slimmest I have EVER been in my life! Really...good luck and make sure you are getting free time for yourself, too.

1 mom found this helpful
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S.C.

answers from Chicago on

Great question MB! My son is 16 months and is doing this now too. Problem is, he's too young to completely understand what I'm saying to him and "no" doesn't mean much yet. I can't wait to see your responses! My son's new thing is climb up onto the couch and jump off. Scares the heck out of me and if I tell him "no" he keeps doing it and if I insist, he throws a little fit. He's a dare devil, tried and true.

1 mom found this helpful
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