16 month old monkey on the couch=dangerous.

[francie024]

My DD is 16 months old and just grew tall enough to climb on top of the couch by herself. She is tickled by this and jumps all over it. This afternoon she fell off and hurt herself. No bumps or bruises...I think it mainly just scared her.

Will you please give me your experiences with this issue? I've tried keeping her off, and she is relentless. I've tried talking to her, saying "no" and not letting her crawl up (she throws a tantrum), but I have other things to do besides guarding the couch!!! Falling off did not teach her as she only climbed back up a few minutes later. I always try to redirect her, but once she has her mind set on something, it's not easy to distract her.

Should I get a kid sized couch? Will that even make a difference?? Please tell me about your experiences. I know this is probably a common issue with toddlers, but I'm clueless as to how to handle this.

[Evan&Anna's_Mom]

Originally Posted by francie024

My DD is 16 months old and just grew tall enough to climb on top of the couch by herself. She is tickled by this and jumps all over it. This afternoon she fell off and hurt herself. No bumps or bruises...I think it mainly just scared her.

For me, the real key is in your last sentence. She didn't, in fact, HURT herself. She may have scared herself but she wasn't actually injured, right? So, stop and take a look at how actually dangerous this is. Clearly if you have a glass coffee table with sharp corners near the couch, there is actual danger. But if is a couch surrounded by carpeted floor, honestly, how truly hurt could she get? My general rule of thumb was that if I couldn't realistically foresee an ER trip, maybe I should back off and let it be. Maybe even cover the area under the couch with cushions.

Of course, that assumes that this isn't a $1,000 couch that you want to preserve for eternity. Or that you can live with the risk -- since everyone has a different tolerance level. If you must stop this, can you block access to the couch? Could you remove the couch or keep her for getting into that room? Its much easier on everyone to prevent the activity through proactive steps than to stop it once it has started or to expect her to learn not to do it at this age.

[mom2grrls]

Can you remove the cushions? That would at least make it closer to the floor and you can put the cushions on the floor for padding

[francie024]

Here is my little rant.

Well, yesterday DD DID hurt herself. We have a hardwood floor in our living area. There were some toys near the couch (the couches are kind of tall because they are slightly elevated and have thick cushions). DD landed on one of the toys...on her butt. She did not hurt herself badly enough to warrant a doctors visit or ER visit, because she landed on her butt. Today, I change her diaper, and her butt is bruised up. I'm not too worried about the bruises, but wonder how bad it might be if she landed on her head, neck, or face. At that point, I could see some nasty injuries.

Our house is small, and the living area is our ONLY living area. It's also her playroom...we took the coffee table and put it against the wall. Of course today she climbed it and was dancing all over it. : ) Gooffy kid! Anyway, I think I am going to just take the cushions off and put them under the couches and if she falls, maybe it will be on the cushion. And hopefully, I can keep the toys out of the area.

I might just have to relocate the toys. Problem is, our house is small and the other rooms are not completely childproof. The tall dressers are not anchored into the wall and DD opens the drawers and tries to climb up the drawers like they are steps on a ladder!! The chest of drawers are light enough to be pulled down on top of her. DH won't anchor them into the wall, nor will he remove them. So I keep a baby gate up blocking the hallway during the day. Did I mention that there is also a chest of drawers near our dining area. THEY ARE EMPTY!!! They don't need to be there!! DH REFUSES to remove those also!! And I get to play drawer POLICE during the day.

Anyway, I will just put the cushions on the floor. Sorry for the rant. I just feel that our home could be more child proof as we have a little monkey on our hands. It's frustrating at times. Thanks for the tips! : )

[Susan Kunkel]

I have a climber. It took a lot of redirection and outside energy out time. He is now seven .He still climbs but now I know what he can climb safe. His brother was my couch climber . I said if you want to stand stand on the floor until I heard it in my sleep. Now that he is 5 no problems. It passed Like many things do. Susan

[HappyMommy2]

I have a climber too. She is almost two and has been at it for months. I stopped fighting it and just decided to teach her how to do it safely. She is going to do it no matter how much I get mad/annoyed or if I ignore it. So I just teach her to get up and down safely ... from her high chair, from her crib, from the table, all kinds of stairs, etc.

[bobandjess99]

Would your dh like to see the picture of my 18 month old in a full-leg cast for his fractured tibia and fibula?

[katiesk]

while your dh is looking at pictures...would he like to hear the story about one morning when i went to work and a little boy (in the shelter i worked at) was killed when he accidentally pulled the dresser on top of himself while standing in the bottom drawer? i'm sure he is not the only small child to have this happen and suffer serious injury or death.

much to my disbelief, our dresser is not anchored to the wall, but it is up the (gated) stairs and in a room that dd is not in unless we are there with her...not a good excuse. but if i had to constantly be trying to keep her from the dresser...i would go crazy.

i know what you mean. we have a pretty small house too, and the living room is the play area. it's tricky to keep things safe all of the time!

[francie024]

Yes!!

Please post the pics or send them to me. I will PM you an email to send them to if you are comfortable with that. I have been trying to talk DH into getting rid of that dresser, and he refuses. If it were not for that dresser, I would not be so paranoid about going to use the RR without DD. She does not play with the dresser often, but with my luck, I would be in the RR and she would try to climb on it and get a serious injury.

I have expressed NUMEROUS times that the house needs to be as child proof as possible. Our DD is sooooo active. Always moving...NEVER STOPS MOVING and literally behaves like a monkey. She is also a BIGTIME meddler. Ever since taking her to the indoor playground at chic fil a, she has gained even more confidence to be a daredevil. I really do not feel comfortable with taking any chances. We also have a book shelf in the living area. It's not very tall, but I am afraid that one day, DD will climb and it could be enough to pull it over. DH does not take these types of things as seriously as I do. He waits till the VERY LAST MINUTE to childproof anything. We only childproofed the cabinets in the bathroom a couple months ago!!!!

I have a mind to just call Purple Heart and have them come pick up the dresser!!! DH and I would have a fight for sure. He might even loose his temper. But DD's newest passion is climbing. So it would make me feel better. If DD was not a hyper monkey, I might feel differently. But she is climbing a lot and has NO FEAR. NO FEAR at all!

[francie024]

How horrible

Originally Posted by katiesk

while your dh is looking at pictures...would he like to hear the story about one morning when i went to work and a little boy (in the shelter i worked at) was killed when he accidentally pulled the dresser on top of himself while standing in the bottom drawer? i'm sure he is not the only small child to have this happen and suffer serious injury or death.

much to my disbelief, our dresser is not anchored to the wall, but it is up the (gated) stairs and in a room that dd is not in unless we are there with her...not a good excuse. but if i had to constantly be trying to keep her from the dresser...i would go crazy.

i know what you mean. we have a pretty small house too, and the living room is the play area. it's tricky to keep things safe all of the time!

So sad! Did this tragedy perhaps make it into the paper?? If so, do you know if the story is on the net? I guess these stories are probably easy to find. I am going to have to find one I let DH read it. Then he will really think I am crazy. And then we will FIGHT. But oh well, I would sleep better at night knowing that darn dresser was gone.

[katiesk]

Did this tragedy perhaps make it into the paper??

maybe. there was concern over much publicity due to confidentiality of the mom and child in the shelter. i'll look around and let you know. i'm sure there are other similar stories to be found as well.