13 Month Old Climbs on Everything!!

My son didn't try much inappropriate climbing, but my friend's little boy would climb on EVERYTHING. A lot of the time he would do it while she was in another room. She once found him on top of their 5 foot book case. She decided to take him to the park and let him climb his heart out there. She also used this opporutity to teach him "elbow, elbow, knee, knee!" Everytime he would start climbing she'd say, in a playful voice, "Elbow, Elbow, Knee, Knee! Elbow, Elbow, Knee, Knee!" She kept doing it until he started saying it too. Then when they went home, he continued saying it as he tried to climb on things. She knew when she heard "aba, aba, nay, nay" it was time to find him, NOW! Then she'd take him down and distract him with a different activity.

If you can't stop him, you may at least be able to trick him in to telling you what he's doing. Hope it helps, -J

Both of my kids were monkeys. For the first one I practically padded the house and removed all furniture, then went to the playground and pee wee gymnastics. The second one, I did nothing, and she had bruises on her face for 2 months straight until she learned how to navigate the barstools and other various furnishings and is now leaping off of things without falling.

All I can say is, he needs an outlet, so establish some serious ground rules with consequences and make sure to give him his "monkey time" everyday. Then you can say "You can climb and jump at the playground after lunch but the couch is not for climbing, please put your feet on the floor" and say it EVERY SINGLE TIME.

All I can say is that he is a very NORMAL TYPICAL boy. But don let he do things you do not want him to do. Tell him we do not climb on the chairs or table...etc..

Have you tried taking your son to places where it is appropriate to climb, or making structures with pillows, couch cushions, or the like, for him to climb on? We tried Gymboree for a few sessions, they have a lot of cool equipment for kids to climb, jump & play on...parks are great...some kids will even pull out drawers & climb up them to get to the top of the dresser...just child-proof as much as you can, & try to provide your child with as many opportunities to safely climb & use his new skill.

I agree, be consistent & start showing him how to get down safely & ask him to stay off furniture & items that are not safe to climb on...or show him how to properly sit at the table (even tho he is little) & let him sit there once in a while to eat (even ifyou have to stack phone books for him to sit on)---my son LOVED this, and on "special occasions" (or whenever we deem it so) he can sit at the table in a "big" chair. It's fun for him, & shows him how to do something right, instead of being caught doing something wrong....

chances are, if he has something else to challenge him (new places to climb), he'll climb less on the places you don't want him...hang in there, things can change so quickly with little ones, just enjoy it, take pictures, push the living room furniture out of the way so he can play, & before you know it, he'll be on to whatever is next...

Once they start climbing, its the beginning of the end - LOL - he will climb everything conceivably possible, even if you don't think it IS possible. There is no way to keep him from testing his skills on everything, so the only thing you can do is remove him from a dangerous climbing situation and tell him "no, this is not for climbing, only (insert action here)". You will have to do this over and over and over a million times - and know that he will continue to climb everything wether you like it or not. Its just the way of the world - just be consistant, and eventually, he'll stop climbing those things in your home that are dangerous, but it may take a long time. My daughter is 17 months old, and climbed everything before she even walked - yesterday, she learned to climb out of her crib. THIS is going to be a challenge. LOL

Dear W.,

That is cute. Take him to the park a lot and make sure the park has great climbing equipment.He will find lots of nice friends there too.

C. N.

Our younger son, now almost 2 years, started climbing EVERYTHING at that same age. He'd get on the dining room table & dump the S/P shakers, climb on the end tables & shake the lamps! Our older son was not a climber so this really threw us for a loop. We got a gate (not very pretty) that blocked him from the dining room. When he did climb on something, we made no comment & quietly took him off whatever he was on top of. We tried not to make a big deal out of it so it would be less exciting for him. It was definately a phase for him. Exciting to him cuz he could do it & now some of the novelty has worn off. He still climbs things & is very agile but not as much or maybe we've just gotten used to it & make sure there's nothing dangerous in his reach. So, maybe try to bar him from the table somehow, make sure all dangerous/breakable items are out of his reach, & calmy take him down from whatever he is on. Hope this helps. Good luck!

be consistant!!!

every time your son climbs, tell him "chairs are for sitting, not standing" and then physically take him off the chair.

remember to let him sit in the chair during dinner time or/and have an activity at the table so that he can have time to practice that chairs are for sitting.

Dear W.:

The best advice I would have is calmly take him down from whatever he climbs on that is not allowed and tell him "no". It might take awhile, but it will work. When he gets a little older and if he is still climbing on things that are not appropriate for climbing, you can explain that you don't want him to get hurt, or tell him "those are not for climbing". Sometimes children do not know that they could get hurt from climbing on unsteady objects, that or they are just testing their limits. My son used to climb on everything when he was little too, he still tries to climb on the top of the couch when I am not looking, and he is almost 7 now! Another idea would be to get something for him to climb on in the back yard if you have one. If not, I am sure there is something out there that you can set up in your living room for him to climb around on. Take a lot of trips to the park too so that he can climb up and down stairs and eventually the ladders. This always helped me when my son got into one of his climbing moods. Just packed up a few things, and took him to the park and let him play for awhile. The best thing about taking him to the park is that he will take a nice nap later.

M. *~

Have you consistently tried time outs or spankings?