How to set limits with 2-year-old?

[SollysMom]

A lot of people I know IRL have the attitude that gentle discipline = no discipline. I know this is not the case, but am having trouble setting limits with my 2-year-old. I don't even believe that spanking or time outs would necessarily help, if I were okay with them in the first place.

As he became a toddler and started getting into things, our way of setting limits was to move things out of his reach, so he was able to freely explore whatever he could get to. Well, now he's an expert climber and I need to learn a way to teach him some basic limits such as, he shouldn't climb on the dining room table, kitchen counter, etc. He just discovered how to climb on the peninsula in our kitchen (after we removed the stools that he first learned to climb on) and can now get to the laptop and all other sorts of forbidden fruits. I can say "no" and I can pick him up and put him back on the floor, but none of it deters him; he just climbs up again right away. Plus, now that I have another baby (4.5months old) I can't always supervise DS1 24/7. I'm absolutely stuck for how to instill basic limits.

Any help is greatly appreciated. TIA for any replies.

[SallyN]

Sorry, don't have anything other than repeat, repeat, repeat and repeat. At age 2, they still don't have that impulse control that stops them from doing something they want to do even if they *know* they're not supposed to.

Also... for times when you need to be tending to baby for a chunck of time (ie: nap or nursing) it's absolutely okay to restrict the toddler to a safe area. ie: completely climb-proof one room/area and set up some gates (you may need to get extra-high ones, or set them up a couple of inches off the floor so they're higher.)

[sparklefairy]

In addition to the other great suggestions, I was going to say make sure he has ample time to climb in appropriate places: the playground, trees (if that's okay with you), etc.

I was a "climber" as a kid and still remember the sheer joy and sense of accomplishment that came with scaling various heights. (It's a miracle my teeth didn't all rot considering how many times I was on the kitchen counters digging in cabinets for those bits of brown sugar that hardened into molten balls of sugary goodness!)

[bstandlee]

The other posters' suggestions were great. I'll add that I found with my DS (now almost 3) calmly telling him something was not ok and giving a brief description of why (the counter isn't for climbing on, it's not safe for you) and then physically removing him and offering him a safe alternative worked well (still lots of repetition needed though!). "Counters aren't for climbing on, but how about climbing on the couch?" (or another alternative). When he just wouldn't give up we blocked him off with baby gates (usually when I was cooking dinner) so we could ensure his safety and our sanity

I'll add too that I've been amazed at how many "phases" he's gone through that I didn't think he'd ever get through but all of a sudden one day I would realize he hadn't messed with the tv controls for several weeks after going through a phase of messing with them umpteen times a day and thinking he would never "get it" that they weren't ok for him to play with!

[SollysMom]

Thanks so much for the replies - your suggestions make a lot of sense. We did get a swingset this year so hopefully he can burn off energy OUTSIDE (though, our yard is not fenced in so I can't send him outside by himself) and not wreck shop in the house as much.