Keeping my 14 month old from climbing on the kitchen table?

[PoetryLover]

Lately it's difficult to get anything done because 14 month old DS has taken to climbing on the kitchen table and standing on the chairs, etc. We've baby proofed, tethering heavy furniture to the wall. But I'm so scared DS is going to fall onto the hard tiled floor and seriously get hurt. he moves fast. All I have to do is turn my head for a few seconds to do anything.

I've tried giving him toys to play with, redirecting and distracting him.

What has worked for other people?

Thanks!

[DevaMajka]

I just let ds2 climb on the table. I figured from the get-go that it was going to be WAYYYY too much work to keep him off of it. For the first little bit, we had a "no standing on the table" rule, and we stood close-ish to  the table. It wasn't long that he was pretty safe up there on his own, so as long as he's not jumping on it, I don't worry about it.

Oh, we've always had a "you can't be on the table when someone is eating" rule.

I mostly follow the TCC thinking, that if left to their own devices, they'll figure out what's safe and what isn't. With ds2, he was a daredevil from a young age, so I let him do what his abilities would let him do, hoping that he would learn to be safe when he wasn't doing stuff dangerous enough to get seriously hurt. It seems to have worked out well.

Or, I've heard of people moving the chairs away from the table.

[LynnS6]

when my kids were that age, I had a small slide inside my house that I could redirect them to. That climbing urge is strong, and so it's much easier if you can prevent access (pull the chairs back from the table or push them under really far if he can't pull them out) and then redirect to something that's safer.

We also put a yoga mat at the bottom of the stairs to cushion the falls onto the slate. Each child fell once down the stairs (4-5 steps) and figured it out after that.

[DevaMajka]

oooh, yes. I forgot about doing that with ds1. Our table was a "computer desk" so we didn't let him up on the table. I was able to fit a little tykes picnic table in our living room, and redirected him to climb on that.

[thedenverduo]

My ds is 20 months and has been a serious climber since he could crawl.  Generally I just let him climb things with supervision, but our computer desk is off limits, so I just shut the door to that room.  I have been known to turn all the kitchen table chairs on their sides and lay them on the floor if I really don't want him up there.  I figure that once he is more verbal and cognitive we can start with the 'feet on the floor' redirection.

[guitarmama]

I've been thinking of putting some sort of climbing gym in the house.  Does that really work????  The dining room table has been my 5 yr old dd's last refuge for paining, playing with small toys, etc, but now ds is up there in a flash getting into her stuff.  I've got to do something!