Author Topic: How do I keep him safe?  (Read 2940 times)

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Offline ZacsMumme

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How do I keep him safe?
« on: December 04, 2013, 23:19:11 pm »
During A time when T (14 mths) is constantly climbing everything...

Examples ...
He can get on the couch by himself now and proceeds to repeatedly try and either suicide off it backwards, dive into the cushions and bounces to the floor or climb up higher and fall off ::)

He gets onto a chair, tries to rock it over or climb onto the top of it.
Stands on the rocking horse and goes over the front of it
Up and down stairs over and over (can typically protect him from this though)
Attempts to pull everything down. Things Z never considered pullable

At the park he free falls face first down the slide and bounces :o

I 'try' to be there but I have two kids and things to do so I can't always be right, there...even when I am sometimes he still hurts himself.

So....leave him to it and hope he learns :( or just try to protect him. He laughs constantly when not crying about it and straight back to where he got hurt.

He is completely different to Z. No depth perception, no innate fear to caution. Apparently he is a cat with 9 lives ::)
***Sara***
https://www.facebook.com/tomiandroo


DS1 - Our sensitive soul. Silent reflux.

DS2 Our cheeky chipmunk. Reflux, MSPI.

Offline becj86

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Re: How do I keep him safe?
« Reply #1 on: December 05, 2013, 07:36:39 am »
I guess I was lucky with L in that he seems to have an inbuilt safety radar :P He knows what he can/can't do without hurting himself. We have done things like a mattress at the bottom of the couch so he could jump off. L went through phases of needing to 'hit' things with his whole body - sensory input type thing going on for him and when we did more physical play, it reduced - more tackling, hugs, massages, etc.

L goes down slides face-first (and has from about that age) and yeah, occasionally he will eat some bark chips but mostly he's fine and he's learnt to slow himself by sticking his feet into the sides of the slide.

I'm a stand back and comfort when he needs it kind of mum...

Offline skatty

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Re: How do I keep him safe?
« Reply #2 on: December 05, 2013, 08:08:59 am »
Sara I think you have to trust he is ok. I didn't really know any different apart from comparing to other LOs but Leorah was an incessant climber and dare devil but she never got hurt! She had amazing balance and skills from being tiny and her body needed to do all those things. She also liked very rough play with older kids and liked being pushed over and sat on etc in play  :P I made my house as safe as I possibly could but I could not Leorah proof it because she did things I could never have imagined she would do but she is still here, she never hurt herself badly and to this day she is an agile little monkey!
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Offline koe2moe

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Re: How do I keep him safe?
« Reply #3 on: December 05, 2013, 08:28:54 am »
What we did at that age was telling DS to come down feet first.  Actually DS was much younger when he wanted to climb down from the couch head first.  If T enjoys the thrill of falling, then best might be practice makes perfect.  Tell him to put cushions down first.. or lay a soft blanket on the floor first.  It is a great skill to master.  I am the kind of mom that just gasps and want to stop. 

DS does have 2 little girl friends who have no fear.  One literally goes to ER regularly that the people there know her by her name.  She doesn't seem to be aware of where her body is.  Do you think it is the case with T? 



Offline ZacsMumme

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Re: How do I keep him safe?
« Reply #4 on: December 05, 2013, 08:34:59 am »
The problem is he DOES get hurt... :-\ he doesn't seem to even consider or think about safety. And as soon as he calms down he's back at it ::) I'm terrified he will fall down our outdoor stairs and land on the concrete below even though we have a gate but if anyone ever left it open, he would end up at the bottom in seconds if he could get to it :o

t Does love rough play, and Z and him play it lots. I try to ware them out. They ware me out that's for sure! But it's things like him smacking the back of his neck or head on the coffee table when he throws himself of something I worry about YK? - can I teach anything at this age? - words like stop, hot, slowly just go in one ear...so he can smile at me and do it anyway.

Koe - I just saw your post...and yes! I think T just doesn't have any sense or awareness of what his body is doing sometimes. I mean I don't think it's a 'problem' as such, but at this age it's a nightmare!
***Sara***
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DS1 - Our sensitive soul. Silent reflux.

DS2 Our cheeky chipmunk. Reflux, MSPI.

Offline skatty

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Re: How do I keep him safe?
« Reply #5 on: December 05, 2013, 09:21:18 am »
I guess that is a bit different then because L never got hurt, I remember she would crawl along the back of the settee saying "carewall Rara" to herself  ;D

Maybe you could let him do the things he can do safely as much as he wants and then be very firm and say "dangerous" when he really is doing something unsafe. I am sorry to say it but when you have a kid like this you really do have to be switched on and in two places at once, while being able to do five things at once  :P
Katt






Offline koe2moe

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Re: How do I keep him safe?
« Reply #6 on: December 05, 2013, 09:25:10 am »
One thing very important, Sara.  Don't blame yourself if T gets hurt.  He is following his body/instinct to explore the world.  Falling is good as we learn best from mistakes.  I kept warning DS to be careful and DS has lots of fear for everything.  I'm working on building his confidence myself.  (reversing what I did).  We are doing our best. 

good idea from Katt.  Only warn him of danger when it is dangerous :P 



Offline skatty

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Re: How do I keep him safe?
« Reply #7 on: December 05, 2013, 09:29:20 am »
Have you asked for advice on the spirited thread? There may be some mums who have been through the same that have some ideas :)
Katt






Offline ~Emma~

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Re: How do I keep him safe?
« Reply #8 on: December 05, 2013, 09:44:34 am »
I feel ya! One of B's first words were 'afful Bodie' = careful Brodie!! We had said it to him so much he used to say it to himself whilst scaling things. He is still exactly the same and its been noted in school and in his gymnastics class that he has absolutely no fear and will try anything. I tend to let him to be honest.

 We have had many injuries. I don't know how many times he has fallen off the chair from swinging on it. Or tried to take his own weight to swing on something and crumpled to the floor. I just warn him that its not safe and let him get on with it (within reason). First time on the bars at gym he fell on his head and needed his head glued together again - his instructors and I were so upset but he wasn't bothered. Went back the next week and got right back on. 

 B now does gymnastics and is excelling. I am so proud of him and he has channelled a lot of his spirited 'climbiness' into that. He can scale up a doorway like spiderman, he can jump off the drawers on to the bed in a somersault. I still cringe every time but he needs to do it. Its innate, built in, part of him that I have learned to run with.

 I think within reason all you can do is let him explore the world. Fact is someone can break there leg going over on their ankle and someone else can be fine after falling from a galloping horse. I am not saying let him run wild but prepare yourself for the bumped heads and scratches etc and just keep him as safe as you can.


Offline ZacsMumme

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Re: How do I keep him safe?
« Reply #9 on: December 06, 2013, 18:53:48 pm »
Thank you ladies :-*

Koe has given me some ideas which I am going to try out on t :)

Emma - I think I do have to let go, I get kind of frustrated that the second I walk away he hurts himself but theni could be there for an hour waiting for him to try to prevent him from doing so and he is fine ::)

Luckily the couch novelty has worn off, this was the main one that was just driving me crazy!

***Sara***
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DS1 - Our sensitive soul. Silent reflux.

DS2 Our cheeky chipmunk. Reflux, MSPI.

Offline koe2moe

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Re: How do I keep him safe?
« Reply #10 on: December 06, 2013, 23:17:24 pm »
I forgot to tell that a friend's son started walking at 7mo.  He is super tiny and he climbs!  Their playhouse in hyena garden has a permanent dent on the roof as both boys (Second son is average size) just only use it for climbing!  I remember seeing him climb onto the couch to pull on a huge soft toy that was on the top shelf and he then climb onto the bookshelves above their fish tank and I almost couldn't breathe.  He is less than a year older than DS.  The older boy is really good at kapoeira now!! 



Offline clazzat

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Re: How do I keep him safe?
« Reply #11 on: December 08, 2013, 13:47:45 pm »
I have one who has no common sense and a desire to climb on everything, and I have come to the conclusion that he  is going to be safer if i let him explore his limits himself - I make sure that the consequences are not going to be too awful and then I step back and leave him to his learning. He is actually physically pretty competent, and I am fairly sure that is because he is defining his limits/boundaries himself, whereas m is more naturally cautious and I spent more time reining her in and she is less physically confident which I am not sure is a good thing.

And I have had 2 major injuries in the family and neither was from "dangerous" things - e fell off her bike and x pulled a drawer out onto his head and split it open, so accidents happen no matter what. The times when they have been doing dangerous/stupid things have led to bumps and bruises but nothing significant.

Offline speechie

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Re: How do I keep him safe?
« Reply #12 on: December 08, 2013, 17:29:31 pm »
Yep, Nick was like that too!! He would launch himself off of the top of things into space at times assuming I would catch him, he used to scare the pants off people at the playground, and I never really got to sit and chat with other moms until he was 3 yo, because he really did need supervision. Not hands on, but more helicopter to make sure he didn't plunge to his death! Sheesh. He is actually still superactive, but way more cautious, I guess his frontal lobes have kicked in or something!!
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Offline ZacsMumme

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Re: How do I keep him safe?
« Reply #13 on: December 08, 2013, 23:39:30 pm »
Interestingly enough the madness has just stopped..Yesterday he just stopped being ridiculous and now seems to have worked out how the couch, chairs, windows and slides all work :P he's in a developmental wonder week leap so maybe that's part of it?

He's still mad....but slightly less dangerous ;) thanks for the tips.

Cathie...I'm a helicopter mum too, not to make sure he is behaving but just incase he decides to free fall off the playground structure.
***Sara***
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DS1 - Our sensitive soul. Silent reflux.

DS2 Our cheeky chipmunk. Reflux, MSPI.

Offline speechie

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Re: How do I keep him safe?
« Reply #14 on: December 09, 2013, 00:00:02 am »

Cathie...I'm a helicopter mum too, not to make sure he is behaving but just incase he decides to free fall off the playground structure.
Yep!!
Cathie
                Nick spirited angel, born August 2, 2007