Sitting down...

[cannondalemr]

My son just turned 8mo old and about two weeks ago he realized that he can pull himself up on <I>everything. </I>Much to my dismay he has also realized that he can climb stairs quite well. That being said he refuses to try sitting down...worse yet he will pull himself up on my coffee table and then try to <I>walk away.</I> Obviously this doesnt usualy work out too well.

Does anyone have any tips or tricks on teaching an infant how to sit down.

Thanks

M

 

[musicmom]

Why are you trying to make him sit down? I think a little one needs to be mobile. Go buy a play yard and let him have his freedom.

 

[musicmom]

http://www.homedepot.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/ProductDisplay?storeId=10051&amp;productId=100476765&amp;langId=-1&amp;catalogId=10053&amp;ci_src=14110944&amp;ci_sku=100476765&amp;cm_mmc=1hd.com2froogle-_-product_feed-_-D25X-_-100476765[/URL]
These rock. I bought two to put together in the living room and made it huge. Then when they were bigger I took them apart and blocked off half the house to let them roam.

 

[cannondalemr]

I think that you have missundestood. I am not trying to keep him from being mobile, in fact I let him have run of the house(except for gates on the stairs). I dont like caging him up I just would like him to be safe in his discoveries.

 

[musicmom]

You don't have to "cage" him up. You can use these to block things. Put them around a table, tv.
You are the one that said make him sit down.

 

[Lissa]

We have gates by our stairs.

 

[musicmom]

If he's pulling himself up over one gate then put another gate on top of that one so it's higher.

 

[cannondalemr]

I agree that the infant surround is a good idea hwever he will just climb up the side of it and get stuck standing up.

 

[musicmom]

He'll learn to get down by himself. Stay close to him and let him experiment a bit.

 

[cannondalemr]

Again my goal is for him to be independant but safe....every child goes though a stage where they can pull themselves up but cannot sit back down. I am simply asking if there is anything that can make this easier on him.

M

 

[musicmom]

Just your patience dear

 

[Kaytee]

no there really is nothing. He will figure it out without a problem. Lots of falling on the bum but he will get it

 

[ljmahr]

I think this is why 8 months olds still wear diapers. They need the padding, lol. It is just something he will have to learn on his own. There isn't really an easy way to teach them that one. He will learn faster than you think.

 

[EHB]

I understand the fear that he will hurt himself. Stay close, but as others said, let him figure it out. We have stairs in our house too and much to everyone's dismay, we have never fenced them off. We preferred the children learned to use them and always closely supervised them as they did. We made sure they went up the same way they came down, feet first, facing the stairs.

Really, the extraordinary supervision that is required when they get mobile is exhausting and I understand your frustrations, but helping them to gain independence by learning what works and what doesn't is a worthy goal. If you've got a good bed time routine with him, the best thing you can do is make sure you are getting all the sleep you need so that you can get through this stage and move onto the next.

 

[cannondalemr]

Thank you for all your input. I have found life becomes much more active once a baby starts crawling and climbing! My concern is that I have stone floors in the areas that my son plays in the most and I can only cover so much of it with those foam play pads. Thank you for all your input.

On the plus side the last few nights he has been sleeping through the night again so I am well rested to chase and catch him during the day.

M

 

[Kaytee]

I have all stone tile floors in my house as well. I also have wood stairs that go upstairs and she learned to climb up and down those very early! Kids adapt to what they are used to so your kiddo will be fine

 

[musicmom]

We don't even have stairs and mine get hurt. lol A few years ago my daughter was running around the corner and my Golden ran around the other corner and she flipped over the dog and smashed her head onto the tile. I swear she caused minor brain damage.