UPers Help: Baby trying to kill himself

[PaxMamma]

my nerves are totally shot. my 15 mo. old will not stop trying to climb everything in sight. i've babyproofed as much as possible, but i can't remove the couches or chairs. what we really need is a rubber house. he climbs up on top of things and dives off head first. i've tried teaching him to climb down, i've tried teaching him to stay off of the furniture, nothing has worked. we've already spent an evening in the ER for cracking the back of his skull open. two nights ago, he got a know on his forehead the size of a golf ball. i am constantly trying to keep him off of things and it is wearing me out. i'm so on edge all the time, worrying he's going to give himself brain damage or worse.

i'm totally UP, but i don'tknow what to do here. yesterday i resorted to telling him if he climbed on the couch, he would have to go in his hexagon. it's one of those fenced playard things. i feel terrible. i'm putting my baby in a cage. please give me GD ideas here. i can't hover over him all day. i have a 4 year old who needs a mom, i have to cook, clean, and god forbid - pee, without losing my child to a head injury.

i think i''ll xpost in toddlers, too.

[chfriend]

dd1 was a huge climber. We put that foam mat stuff down all over the house.

Could you do that? Also, I turned over some of the furniture until she got bigger. And she was always in the same room as me.

Is that realistic for you?

[MisaGoat]

Could he wear a helmet?

It sounds kinda crazy but if he has already cracked his skull and hasn't really learned to safely get down...

I don't know. I have a little climber too (and I am sure he will just figure out how to climb more in the next couple months). He got a big bruise on his forehead today.

Could you put him on your back while you do housework? Maybe go somewhere that it is acceptable for him to climb more?

[mamaduck]

A backpack for housework sounds like a good suggestion.

I agree also about putting some of the more treacherous furniture in storage for a while. We had a coffee table and several chairs put away for about a year.

Also -- having some climbing gear in the house might help. Maybe one of those little tykes cubes that are normally supposed to go outside? You could redirect him to that when he starts climbing dangerous things.

[rmzbm]

Originally Posted by mamaduck

Maybe one of those little tykes cubes that are normally supposed to go outside? You could redirect him to that when he starts climbing dangerous things.

Best advice I've heard all year! Really, worth repeating! We have some outdoor toys inside (including the cube) and my 16 month old DD LOVESSS it!

[PrennaMama]

Originally Posted by mamaduck

A backpack for housework sounds like a good suggestion.

I agree also about putting some of the more treacherous furniture in storage for a while. We had a coffee table and several chairs put away for about a year.

Also -- having some climbing gear in the house might help. Maybe one of those little tykes cubes that are normally supposed to go outside? You could redirect him to that when he starts climbing dangerous things.

Loved this one... and you could put the foam around it and make it an obstacle course for him.

We pushed all the furniture to the edges of the room and just made the main living room practically a gym. Mats, climbers, etc... Just keep on him ,and use verbage like "NOT safe." or "DANGER." when you redirect him from dangerous climbing... he'll start to get it.

[ElliesMomma]

ours is also 15 mo and a climber. she used to dive off the couch head first. a few months ago, we showed her how to climb down "the right way"-- belly against the furniture, feet first, slide down. we just manually helped her through the routine a few times, told her this is "the right way to get down" and praised her when she did it. this worked on the stairs too. sometimes, we have had to remind her, "what's the right way?" but she is now pretty reliable about going down off the furniture, even kitchen chairs, as well as the stairs.

[HarperRose]

Oh, mama! I have one of those, too! : He's 7 now and has seen stitches more than once.



I just kept on trying to keep him from certain death as much as I could. It wasn't easy! Especially w/ a younger sibling to keep an eye on. (He is 18 mos older than dd.)

ETA: We also had no coffee table for about a year and that was because he broke it last year at AGE 6 because he was being Spiderman. Oh, the table was glass. I do not recommend glass tables. ever. To anyone. For any reason.

I also wanted to say I like the suggestion of getting a climbing cube thingie. The gym I go to has a foam one that the little ones love! Don't know where it was purchased, though.

[PaxMamma]

i have totally considered getting a helmet for him, but he refuses to wear hats and would scream bloody murder if i made him wear it. we've gotten rid of all unnecessary furniture, but still have couches and dining room chairs. the biggest problem is we have wall-to-wall wood floors, which he split his head open on. the only exception is our family room which is in the basement, but the floor is concrete!!

i have one of those climber cubes outside, i could bring that in.

i've tried telling him "we sit on couches." i say it over and over, and everytime i do, he starts laughing and jumps up and down on the couch. he thinks it's hysterical whenever i tell him to do something. he did the same thing in the bathtub tonight.

i just can't afford any more cranio sachral treatments and i pray to god that someone doesn't call CPS on me for all of the bruises!

[mamaduck]

Okay -- how about putting the dining room chairs up ON the dining room table when they are not in use?

For the hardwood floors -- if you go to a carpet store and ask to look at remnents -- you can get a really good deal on some area rugs to put around the couches (and the playstructure, if you bring it in.) They bind the edges and everything.

[Kat_shoshin]

I admit when I read the initial post I read:

what we really need is a rubber HOSE

And I thought you were perhaps considering tying him up.

My kid is too young for my advice to help - but I anticipate that this is the kind of child he will be.

I will advise against putting dining room chairs on top of the table, however, as I can see him pulling them down on himself... but maybe tucking them all in and maybe wrapping them together somehow? To provide no seat to climb...

[WuWei]

We got one of these! http://www.shopping.com/xPO-Jump-O-L...ble-Jump-O-Gym

Saved my sanity! (We had to make room for it, but it was worth every penny! We even bought a second one after the cat punctured it, somewhere.)


Pat

[PrennaMama]

Actually, yeah, my SIL has one of those... they're great!

[chfriend]

That jump o lene this is fantastic. We punctured two...but well worth it. Between that and the foam pad covered floor we all survived with most of our brains still intact.

I hear you on the bruises. It's no better at 6.75 years, so I can't hold out any hope on that.

[WuWei]

Originally Posted by chfriend

I hear you on the bruises.

For bruises we use Arnica Montana 30c homeopathic pellets and cream, liberally!

Pat

[LynnS6]

We have slate at the bottom of our stairs -- we put down foam exercise mats for a couple of years while our kids were learning to go up and down. I would seriously put foam around the couch. You can also take the cushions off the couch and put them on the floor for him to jump on. It makes it lower to jump AND provides a cushion.

I know that it's considered 'coercive', but frankly, I helped our kids down when they were doing things that weren't safe. So, if I said "couches are for sitting" or "sit down" (more direct and better for a 15 mo, IMO), and they jumped and laughed, I'd go over and say "sit down." and help them sit down. If they stood up again, I would "if you stand, we're all done with the chair." (I didn't care if they stood on the couch, but I did on the chairs.) And then I would take them down. After 2 dozen times or so, they got the idea.

[TinkerBelle]

Originally Posted by dkeoshian

my nerves are totally shot. my 15 mo. old will not stop trying to climb everything in sight. i've babyproofed as much as possible, but i can't remove the couches or chairs. what we really need is a rubber house. he climbs up on top of things and dives off head first. i've tried teaching him to climb down, i've tried teaching him to stay off of the furniture, nothing has worked. we've already spent an evening in the ER for cracking the back of his skull open. two nights ago, he got a know on his forehead the size of a golf ball. i am constantly trying to keep him off of things and it is wearing me out. i'm so on edge all the time, worrying he's going to give himself brain damage or worse.

i'm totally UP, but i don'tknow what to do here. yesterday i resorted to telling him if he climbed on the couch, he would have to go in his hexagon. it's one of those fenced playard things. i feel terrible. i'm putting my baby in a cage. please give me GD ideas here. i can't hover over him all day. i have a 4 year old who needs a mom, i have to cook, clean, and god forbid - pee, without losing my child to a head injury.

i think i''ll xpost in toddlers, too.

The play yard should not be punishment and they are a good thing to have in a pinch, IMO. Especially for such an active child as yours. I mean, you wouldn't just leave him in there all day and night, for goodness' sake. He obviously is too young to understand not to climb. I used a playpen every so often when my youngest started trying to "kill" himself. He seemed to like it, I got a small break to regroup and all is well.

[neveryoumindthere]

my dd (20 months) is a climber...
after much frustration, I finally moved the dining room chairs under the table..literally turned them with the 'back' of the chairon the floor..sigh my dining room looks ugly but i was going NUTS keeping her off the (very high) table
I do need to get *something* for her to climb though in the house..

edited to add: we also have all our furniture pushed up against the walls,and no coffee table (just a couple end tables out of reach)

[chfriend]

With dd1 at that age we put our pointed cornered coffee table in the attic and used an old trunk to hold our drinks.

We just this month put it back in the living room.

[princesspennie]

I know what you are going through. I have a 22 month old climber:

I got rid of my bar stools that I used for my kitchen counter, I gave my dining table away (it was old and yucky anyway) I put my 4x4 wrought iron with granite tops coffee table in my bedroom in a corner.

Then I bought a jump o lene for my dining area, a toddler climber(step 2 kangaroo climber) and 2 large ottomans for in front of the couch for him to climb all over, also a play table for all his cars and stuff...he can climb on that and stand on it as it is very, very sturdy, I also leave his crib rail down so he can climb in and out as much as he wants during the day.

In other words I have made my entire apartment a big playroom with lots of stuff to climb and bounce and jump of of.

I do have to say, even with all that he still wants to climb on the end tables and play with the lamp..he climbs on my husbands $1500 sub woofer and tries to stand on it so he can get behind the TV and Audio rack...My husband is pretty AP/GD..but I know he would not be happy to see his equipment climbed all over...