Is your kid a climber?? How to keep them safe?

Tarina - posted on 12/07/2010 ( 3 moms have responded )

So my youngest son is turning 2 on the 23rd... We have always had trouble keeping him, well for lack of a better term, contained. Now, before anyone flames me for not letting him run free and explore... I do. I always did, until nap time, or bed time, or when I absolutely needed to do something that I needed to know he was safe for 15 minutes while I did it (ever just... need to take a shower like your life depends on it??) He started climbing out of his crib at about 16 months, so we moved him to a toddler bed for his safety (he had gotten himself out and stuck between the crib and a window lol... funny to see but scared us!) Even before he managed to get out of there, he was getting past his baby gates. He would push them, or pull them, until they came down, and when we got the mounted wall ones, he started climbing OVER his baby gates. We then moved them about 5 inches up off the ground, to make it alittle too high for him to get over. IT took him about 3 days before he tried squeezing under it. So we moved down to only 3 inches off the ground, and that worked until he realized if he grabbed the top and then let his feet go out from under him, he could pull it down. We tried no gates at this point... but then he would NEVER stay in his room, for naps, for bed, for anything, and we were getting no sleep. I should mention here that we also have two 4 month old twin girls now. So we bought a new door and cut it in half, put a locking handle on the bottom, with the lock on the outside, and the top swings free so we can see in, he can see out, but he is safe. Well... he was. Now, at 23 months, he climbs OVER his door. He enjoys playing independently, but he also enjoys exploring and climbing... he pulls out dresser drawers to use them as stairs to get up to the top. He stacks toys to make towers he can climb. He climbs up on chairs, tries to swing his leg up to get on the table... He falls constantly, and YES, we watch him, and we stop him when we can, and we yell when we're too far away dealing with one of the girls... I should also mention that he is not talking yet more than a couple mumbled half-words, so communicating with him is very difficult. He hears us, and understands us... but we cant ask him why hes climbing or anything... SOOOOO lol longwinded: but here is my question: HOW in the world do you keep your toddler safe when he just refuses to obey boundaries? I am very fearful for his safety when I have to devote my attention to something else, like making a bottle, or changing his sister, because he wont come stand by me, or play near me, while I do it, he runs off and gets into something or climbs something. We have hook and eye locks on all doors so he cannot get in them (he's been opening handles since 14 months), drawer locks on everything possible... but even the 2 inches those locks allow the drawer to open so an adult can unlock them is enough for him to use to climb up. HELP!!!