He's Climbing Stairs -- and Causing Discord
Jonah took tentative steps about a month ago and now walks almost all the time. While the tales of non-stop-baby-chasing had me in fear, I actually haven't found a *huge* difference between Jonah-chasing before and after.
Until this week, when the child moved on to stairs.
Aside from the ones leading to our front and back doors, we only have one set of stairs in our house. They lead from the kitchen to our attic, where the guest room/Dan's office/bookshelves/entertainment area lies. Since the stairs are steep and the banister is shaky, we only really access the space when Jonah is asleep.
Until now. He loves the stairs and is offended at the suggestion that he can't climb them at will. Oh sure, he can't make it down, but why should that stop him from crawling up at record speed?
I know what you're thinking: put up a baby gate and be done with it. It probably makes sense, and Dan would agree with you, but I am a bit anti the whole gate thing. I think Jonah should learn how to go up and down and, if we set up a gate, how would this essential educational feat occur? And then there's the look. Not that I'd dream of judging others who make the (sensible) decision to put gates up, but I'd rather avoid them.
So far, there have been no tumbles or bumps, so we're okay. And, if there was ever a time to know them, I now fully understand the non-stop watching requirements inherent in parenthood...
posted by Libby @ 4:20 PM
2 Comments:
At 5:23 PM,
landismom said…
Well, I appreciate where you're coming from (in the not wanting to limit the learning arena). But I'd caution you to do the gate thing anyway. I'm stairs-cautious, because my daughter broke her leg when she was two on our stairs. And there's really nothing like going to the ER with your screaming two-year-old, and then finding out she can't have her leg casted for 24 hours.
And even the most cautious parents can still be surprised by the determination of toddlers. Case in point--myself. Last week, my 2-year-old son (who is completely competent at stair climbing up and down) decided to just jump face first down our stairs. Why? I don't know. Fortunately, I was standing on a lower stair, holding some laundry, whih I promptly dropped.
Obviously, YMMV. But one thing I know from my kids, is that they will inevitably figure out how to do something new just as I'm relaxing and thinking they are safe in their beds. Things like figuring out how to open their bedroom doors, going down the stairs and eating their big sister's Halloween candy.
At 6:49 PM,
Tammy said…
Ooh, if it's the look of baby gates you hate, a friend of mine has one that's made of mesh and rolls up like a blind when not in use. I'll find out where she got it.
I don't have a hard-and-fast opinion about gates. We'll probably end up getting one, cuz have you SEEN the melon on my kid? He's more than a little top-heavy. It's all too easy to picture him somersaulting head over keister down the stairs. And that's without even considering the booby traps the dog and cats will be laying for him.
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