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Coping With Climbers
Keeping your climbing toddler safe
by Alessia Cowee
It starts first with one foot and then the other, that milestone of freedom, the doorway to adventures beyond the floor and furniture of cruising height. Walking? No. Climbing. The mere word is enough to strike terror into the hearts of experienced and inexperienced parents alike. Learn how to cope here!
The climbing child
Not all children are interested in climbing. Many toddlers are content to walk, then run, finding their self-expression and curiosity satisfied on safer ground. Others may begin their ascents far sooner than cruising or walking age. Still other children may not discover the yearning to scale obstacles until an older, bolder age.
New parental responsibilities
At any age, a child who climbs places him/herself in a dangerous, potentially fatal position. Parents of these pint-sized acrobats must remain vigilant, diligent, and resourceful: watchful of the climber in question, attentive in removing the child from heights, and creative in seeking solutions to frequent climbing hazards.
Michelle Pearson vividly recalls the day her son Sean, not yet two years old, was nowhere to be found. Michelle and her husband had no clue where the boy was, until he tapped his father on the shoulder and said, "Hi, Daddy." To their horror, Sean had climbed up a ladder and onto the roof where his father was working!
Nicholas, another champion climber at just under three, managed on one occasion, during naptime, to climb out of his window onto a small balcony; another time, he scaled a back fence to explore a neighbor's backyard -- one story below his own.
Signs that you may have a climber on your hands
So how do you know if your child is a climber, or just an active toddler? Here are a few things to look for:
Toddlers with a propensity to climb frequently stand on one foot when cruising.
Climbers are often also "peepers," standing on tiptoe with hands and arms extended to get a better view of their surroundings.
Climbing may be an inherited impulse; if you or your spouse were climbers, take early precautions.
Truths, Half-truths and Fiction
Here's a look at conventional wisdom and how it compares to reality.
Conventional wisdom: Early walkers will be climbers.
Fact: Walking age offers no predictability in regard to climbing.
Conventional wisdom: Fearless children will be climbers.
Fact: Each child is unique; some who climb are fearless, others harbor many fears, simply not of heights.
Conventional wisdom: A child who injures him/herself while climbing will learn to stop climbing.
Fact: This is a half-truth. An injury such as a broken elbow, may cause certain climbers to give up the habit, most climbers however, will go right up the nearest tree, cast and all!) Jerri Ledford's son fell from a fence and broke his arm. Jerri explains, "Later that same week, I looked out the back door and guess what? He was tightrope walking across the top bar of the fence! To get there, he had to climb into a tree and then drop over the fence."
Conventional wisdom: Firm discipline will curtail climbing.
Fact: Not true. Pediatrician Paul Wassermann explains that even spanking will not inhibit a child bent on climbing -- they will simply keep getting back up again.
Conventional wisdom: Young children are less prone to serious injury from a short fall.
Fact: This is true: children's frames are more flexible; their bones, not yet fully developed, are less brittle and more cartilaginous.
 Next page: How To Cope...
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About the author: Alessia Cowee is a freelance writer and an ePregnancy contributing editor. The mother of three, she makes her home in Chico, California. |
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