Mams & Dads question

[Kfogg1991]

I know your pain mate, My son is 2 and he seems to be hell bent on killing himself haha

He jumps off the couch......he bounces on our bed and always falls off.....
(never hurting himself I need to add) 

its scary how fast they grow up man but just keep one eye on them and sometimes they have to fall and scrape there knee per say to learn not to do it again.
Since going to pre school he has come on so so much talking, saying please and thank you ext.

These are the years that are truly special and mean so much

[Teedy Kay]

3 hours ago, simonworden said:

Do they not make double height gates or anything these days to prevent little climbers? I'm worried if we stay out in Vietnam and have one about stairs as they're not wooden carpeted things here they are usually made of some type of stone which would smash a kids skull on each step. 

You can get taller gates, we had two of them, however to find them you strangely have to search for pet gates.

[Mr_Danger]

My lads been doing this shit since before he was one. The kids got an aptitude for mischief. He's 16 months now and whilst other parents are bragging about their kids perfectly formed words and sentences my lad is learning how to get the soap powder out of the washing machine mid cycle.

Baby gates he can't do yet but he is watching very closely at the mechanism when we come in and out.

[PunkStep]

What hope has that poor boy got when his lunatic father has probably been wearing shorts all week

[Mr_Danger]

They actually split when I was jumping in to the van yesterday like some terrible Doug Heffernan bit on King of Queens. 

[iMPACt!]

I've got twins who are about to turn two. Absolute mayhem. I'm dreading when they work out how to climb out of their cots. Currently their favourite game is to run about the couch and dive off face first. Especially when it's just me by myself watching them and I can't stop both at the same time. 

[MungoChutney]

There is a ton of evidence that indicates the cot and baby gate climbers are much more likely to be able to manage risk as they grow up.

I worked in frontline childcare (in Scotland) for the best part of 17 years and during that time there was a massive shift from encouraging risky play to everyone becoming risk averse. It's now done another 180 and the benefits of kids taking risks is embedded in legislation.

When my son was 18 months he could climb out the cot and so I  switched him to a toddler bed with a side panel. We lived in a flat at that time so no baby gates, including on the door to the kitchen. That was possible because we generally had 2 adults about and only one child. Stairs and bigger families can be different but in any situation that you think they can understand the risk it's better to let them manage at least part of the risk themselves rather than the adult doing it for them. A good example of this is putting corner guards on the sharp edge of a table. Very few toddlers could understand the possibility of tripping and catching their eye on that. However, other scenarios like places guarded  by baby gates can be easier to explain and comprehend. Basically as the parent you are the expert in your own kid. You know what they can and can't do so trust that judgement over anything anyone else, including me, tells you.