How to keep 15-month-old off furniture?
 

My barbarian son can climb things, and he is quite pleased with himself. His favorite thing to do is to climb into a chair and stand on it. Actually, his favorite thing to do is to climb a chair, then climb onto the table and stand on it, but we usually catch him before he goes that far.

I know that at his age, he lacks much in the way of impulse control, and reasoning with him is pretty much useless. We tell him to sit on his bottom, and he generally complies. But often it becomes a game for him. How many times can I stand on the chair?

When he stops listening, or if he is caught in the act, I tell him "No. We don'ty stand on furniture," and take him away from the fun. I pick him up and set him down in a corner away from everybody else. (He hates that, as he is very social)

Of course, he can walk right back over and start it up again.

Any tips from parents whose kids were climbers? My #1 son was civilized right out of the chute, so I didn't have to deal with this issue.

a watergun with a water vinegar mixture used to work when my cat jumped on the furniture :) A quick sprits he learned pretty quick.. (but then thee was that whole peeing on the carpet thing)

(and this is where you say, it's a beautiful thing that you will never have children) :D

Is he climbing dining room chairs, or more like family room chairs? If they're dining room chairs, keeping them pushed against the table, and if they're heavy, that'll help a little. Another suggestion might be to get some small kid sized plastic chairs. They'll be "his" chair, and that sense of ownership might keep him interested in the smaller chirs where there is less chance of serious injury, and off the bigger furniture. And don't underestimate those little youngins - they are aware and able to comprehend much more than most adults give them credit for.

My daughter loved climbing. She actually climbed from a chair, to the table to my bookshelf, across my bookshelf to the counter. That was while I went to the bathroom. I was shocked when I came out to see her just getting off the bookshelf to the counter and the telltale chair pulled out from the table told me what route she'd taken.

It was just the joy of a challenge usually. I pulled our couch cushions off the couch, let her stack them however she wanted and make "stairs" out of them and pillows and her little stool for the sink in the bathroom. It gave her the challenge she enjoyed and I didn't find her climbing the chairs as much. I also took two fo the chairs and pushed them between the table and the wall. Pretty much made that side of the table unusable unless you pulled the whole table and 2 chairs our. It reduced the numebr of chairs she could use. Then I put one chair in my bedroom and the other near my desk. She could climb on the chairs then but not to the table.

It was about that time that my in-laws got me one of those sqaurish plastic climbing things that you see out in peoples yards. It's got a slide on it and a small platform. That got her attentions really well until she'd gotten better at climbing. Then the only reason she ever climbed to the table after that was usually to get something that she'd spied that she wanted. I just kept the able and counters as empty as possible.

He's got stacking pillows. He's got his own little chairs and stool. He's REALLY strong, and slides chairs out from under the table, then climbs them. I keep the table clear.

*Sigh* The kid already has two scars on his head. I don't need him taking falls from higher elevations. Maybe I'll see if the local hospital can get me a bulk-rate on stitches.

Sounds like he takes after Dad :D

Sorry, no advice for you. Other than tie the kid down when you're not around watching him. But that'd probably be wrong...

wrap him in Bubble wrap?

He's a chip off the old block that's for sure- - Were you the adventurer when you were a tot? How'd your momma deal with you?

Would a 15 month old understand the concept of a play area that he's allowed to climb on, as opposed to real furniture? A Little Tykes jungle gym?

Enlist the older brother to help, to be a good example...

Here's a brainstorm - while he's up and running around and playing just make him wear one of those little bike helmets for kids. Might at least minimize the damage caused.
;) Good Luck.

ya know, as a parent myself, you have to let them be free to explore. You need to teach them "no, no" in a polite, yet stern manner-
yet children will want to explore but to let them know what could happen if they do something like climb. That is the best way they will learn. Don't be hard on them, they will do it no matter what, just keep your eye on them, find a distraction or encourage other areas or activities for them. Don't make them feel afraid or curious about it.

So screaming obscenities and beating him is right out?

Well... it is one method of parenting... but the shrink bills you'll be facing later on... you might want to consider alternate methods? :D

Pad the entire house?

Put him on a bungee cord?

Clavus..."So screaming obscenities and beating him is right out?"

[QUOTE=maleficent]Well... it is one method of parenting... but the shrink bills you'll be facing later on... you might want to consider alternate methods? :D
QUOTE]

You know maleficient...I don't know if you have any kids or not, and don't really care...but if you do, or did, and worry about the shrink bills because they got a spanking...they you need a spanking. Clavus was kidding I'm sure, and they don't need "screaming obscenities", but now and then they do need a spanking. In my book, if you can't do that then you don't have a hair on your ass, they know it, and it will cost lots more in the long run than a shrink.

Sorry...didn't mean to pick on you, but this whole fucking kids run the household shit really pisses me off. What are these people going to do when little Bradley gets fired because his boss didn't realize that he's "special"..piss on him, nobodys "special".

Whoa! Let's ease up on the lovely and talented maleficent. She also suggested padding the whole house and the use of bungee cords. Regardless of her position on spanking, I'm pretty sure maleficent does not have hair on her ass.

Above all else, a sense of humor is a must.

There is a time for spanking, but I think that it comes after the kids have developed some language and reasoning skills, and have impulse control. At this point, my littlest one doesn't have those things. I don't think spanking is the best method to teach him that we don't stand on furniture.

I still say tie him up :D

Duct tape! Tape him to a chair.
Duct tape works for everything.

linky
Check out use #3

Are you volunteering? : :lol:


Velcro might come in handy - stick him in a vecro suit, and put velcro on the seats of all the chairs, when he sits, he'll stay stuck...

Duct tape would work too, it's a lot cheaper.... and in later years, if he develops a sassy mouth, then you can use the same method to tape his mouth shut... :D

I have one of those 15 month old monkeys too!!!!
The only solution..remove all furniture from the house :)
Seriously, I have wondered the same thing...
I agree with Clavus on the spanking thing, I also have a 14 year old son and I did spank him when he was younger, not many times but a few...

I tried that on my son...no luck. now I just let him roam as much as he wants as long as it is safe. When he gets into trouble [or about to] I tell him no, explain why and then distract him with a toy or a treat...

General rule: for every no, give two yeses. What two things can he climb? "No Jr. you may not climb on the table. You may climb on the slide and you may climb onto your bed." (Or the step ladder, or the stole, etc.)

One favorite activity of my good friends active three year old is to climb the step ladder, jump off, run around and do it again. He can entertain himself for hours that way and it harms nothing.

Its called discipline!!! A little swat on the butt for misbehavior isn't going to turn your child into a serial killer. Be reasonable, be creative, use time outs... whatever... but for their own safety, do something other than think about it!!

No, you have to think like a sorcerer.... Force him to climb the sofa over and over all the time. Eventually it will become a chore he dreads being forced into (like going to church). Forcably telling him not to climb it makes climbing taboo, and kids love to do taboo things.

Hail Clavus!

I am dealing with the same thing with my second child of the same age as yours. She likes to push the chairs around so she can climb them to reach the bookshelves, television, computer, knife drawer, etc. I am certain she would attempt to initiate the auto self-destruct sequence of our house, if we had one. My first daughter would never do things like this. I usually stick her in the crib for a "time out" when she doesn't listen. It works for a while but certainly isn't the cure all you are looking for. Soon she will learn to climb out of that. When she really gets mad she tries to claw my eyes out. She is so cute when she tries to maim and disfigure. What I am really saying is I have no answers. I just hope to keep them alive long enough so they outlive me. I'm not sure exactly how long that is.

I am no help,
-GH

Thumb screws? Worked for me! *cries*

At that age. I really don't think that anything will work. Our two year old was, and still is, just like yours. He just likes to climb. Now granted, he does now limit it to standing in chairs, climbing over the back of the sofa. Which he has taken a few tumbles from. As much as we try to stop, discourage, distract him from these activities. It seems that he is learning on his own not to do something that will result in pain. Falling hurts.. and sometimes it takes little boys longer to learn this. Heck.. I'm 35 and I'm am still learning that.
I know it is nearly impossible to be there every second. I know this sounds weird. But this is something I have been thinking about for some time. (I still have this to go through with our 4 month old also.) We really only have 4 chairs that I really object to him standing on. Because of their height, and proximaty to dangerous things in the kitchen. Ok see if you can picture this. Have you ever seen the bird houses that have the large skirts on the to keep out the squirrels? It is a large piece of plastic that is tapered. The same idea of the dog collar that keeps them from scratching.What if something could be wrapped around the base of the chair and would be easily removed. Or better yet, put that on the kid. But reverse it. It could even be used to catch food. Yay.. no more sweeping up after them. Just turn them upside down over the trash can. Ok.. now that is just silly..

Try tickling. It's difficult to be destructive when you're giggling from too much tickling (I wonder if that would work in the middle-east?).

Time outs are okay but the one thing I would avoid is putting them in their crib for timeout. Children will learn to associate their bed with punishment. Find a special place for punishment unless you want them sleeping with you???:)

My 2 yr old once got up out of bed, went into the kitchen, snagged a potato, climbed up on a chair then the counter(potato in hand), grabbed a knife from the block, cut the potato in half and burned it up in the microwave. Then he went back to bed.

[QUOTE=PDOUBLEOP]Time outs are okay but the one thing I would avoid is putting them in their crib for timeout. Children will learn to associate their bed with punishment. Find a special place for punishment unless you want them sleeping with you???:)
QUOTE]

I totally agree.

So we have cut WAAAAY back on the climbing. Here's how:
Praise him when he climbs into a chair and sits on his bottom
Show stern disapproval when he climbs and stands. If he keeps standing, we take him away from everybody and put him down (kind of a time-out lite). If he does it again, we remove him from the room and put up the childgate. Oh, he HATES that.
Repeat ad nauseum.

Now if I can just get him to stop microwaving potatoes...

Toddler prison :(

Glad you seem to have found something that works! I wish it were that easy for me...haha My kids were taught about climbing at an early age, but not the kind I was going for...their nana used to let them climb on everything!!! Coffee table, lazy boy and the couch at her house were known as the "girls playground" and it has spread to everything that is elevated above the ground. At home we have been able to stop it on the couch, and have plenty of stuff outside for them to climb and jump off of (another thing nana taught them), so they get a chance to be nana's little monkeys. But it was pretty hard to teach them the difference from Nana's to home...

My mother used to put mouse-traps and plastic snakes on her furniture to keep the cats off. I don't know if that would work for toddlers though.

Think proactive. Give the little guy a chalenging climb in a controlled environment. Help him set up a little obstacle course. You can make sure that there is no real danger, but the appearance only. Watch him and praise him when he completes it. After he's done tell him that if he stays off today, you can go again tomorrow.

On the controlled environment level-my children(twins) were 'given' the family room. I bought a gate, had their toys in there and let them go nuts for a couple hours a day. They loved tearing all the cushions off the sofa and jumping on it. They would empty the huge toybox, flinging toys to every corner. They made a mess!!!!! But it was safe and away from the rest of the house and 10 minutes before the spouse walked in from work, I' d scoop it all up, put it all back and make it look easy. My daughter was a climber and it was she who would strip furniture bare to get on it and bounce. (she wrecked a rocking horse riding it so furiously). They learn, as you have demonstrated, what's ok to do by reinforcing and praising the good choices. They also need to explore more or less on their own. If something is not to their liking, they'll remember it. My son at about 2, bruised a tooth running through the livingroom and sliding headfirst into the wall....didn't do that much afterwards.

By controled environment, I basically meant you are there with them. That's the only sure advice I can give. I don't have miltiple kids to keep up with though. Best of luck.

encourage the climbing... cheer for him when he reaches the top. satisfy a sense of accomplishment then take him down and redirect his attention. He is a kid the world is a playground and there are far worse things he could do. Mine is part monkey... damn that wife!!!! eheheh... keep in mind that child psychologists are citing climbing as a sign of greater intelligence in toddlers.

l8r