How do I stop my child from climbing on everything?

Monday, December 5th, 2011 2:32 pm | By Stephanie Woo

I took Brooke to an indoor playground the other day. She stared at the older kids as they went up and down the slide. I went to get something from the stroller and when I turned around, Brooke had climbed halfway up the stairs of the slide! I almost had a heart-attack but I did my best to stay calm and watched her get to the top. I helped her slide down and immediately, she went for the stairs again.

From that day on after we got home, she started climbing onto anything she could, including the weaning table. Somewhere in the middle of the meal, we would find her on top of the table with her knee in a bowl of rice!

Clearly, my little monkey was itching to climb. I knew I had to give her something to climb because if I didn’t, she would find something to climb onto anyway. Babies are like that, you cannot stop them because they NEED to do these things, whether it’s putting things in their mouth or climbing. If you don’t want them to do something, you need to redirect their energy and give them a version of it that they CAN do.

So I asked my nanny to clean the staircase in my building and I let her loose on the stairs. She went up and up. Super fast too. And then I would take her down and start again. Up and up again. Five flights in the morning. Then five flights in the afternoon. Then five flights the next morning. She would squeal and babble loudly all the way up and her laughter would echo through the hallway. She loved it.

We’ve continued climbing stairs everyday and I’m happy to report the table-climbing has stopped. Brooke is in better shape than ever and Mama is still catching up!

Read! Nap! Cook! How To Do It All With Twins Part II – Our Morning

Monday, November 28th, 2011 9:49 am | By Stephanie Woo

I spoke to a mom with a 10-month old who read Read! Nap! Cook! How to do it all with twins. “Can you give me more details?” she asked.

Short of creating a 2-hour video, I decided to keep a log of Brooke and Mackenzie’s morning activities and Mom/Dad’s morning activities so parents can get a sense of what it looks like at our house when the children are occupying themselves and mom is free to do her own thing.

As you’ll see, this morning, I spent 30 minutes in the bathroom, read for 30 minutes, went out to buy breakfast and ate it. Then I napped for 15 minutes until I got woken up by Verizon. Meanwhile, Brooke and Mackenzie were busy most of the morning and didn’t need my attention until 9:14am.

This log is taken on November 21, 2010. Brooke and Mackenzie are 11 ½ months. The log starts at 7am and ends at 9:20 am when my babysitter arrived.

The day starts at 7am when I open their bedroom door. They are already awake. I carry Mackenzie into the living room while Brooke crawls behind us. Daddy helps change diapers while I make milk. They drink milk.

Mom and Dad’s activities

7:20 Dad goes to meditate. I check on laundry and then go into the bathroom.

Brooke and Mackenzie’s activities

7:20 They crawl to toy shelf and start playing

 

7:24 I hear them in kitchen, opening and closing cabinets

 

7:32 I hear them in my room, banging on the blocks

7:47 I come out of bathroom to see where they are. Do a little tidying up in the room.

7:47 In their room, Brooke is opening the drawers and taking stuff out and Mackenzie is chewing on a button

7:52 I go to the kitchen to get a glass of water, sit down to read in living room (and take notes for this article you are reading)

 

7:58 I continue reading and writing without looking at them

7:58 Comes over to me. One plays with my iphone and the other looks at a book next to me

 

8:04 Picks up their morning bottle, drink some more, then drops it and crawls to toy shelf

 

8:05 Plays at toy shelf

8:08 Daddy comes back from meditation and goes to bathroom.

8:08 They crawl to hallway. Plays with musical toy hanging on the gate right outside the bathroom

8:12 Daddy comes out of bathroom, we chat, he makes coffee.

8:12 Back playing at toy shelf

8:16 Daddy cooks breakfast (I am still reading and writing)

8:16 Brooke goes to kitchen to find Daddy. M follows

8:22 Daddy is eating. I go out to buy breakfast

8:22 Pull up on Daddy to get bites of his food

8:34 I come home with breakfast. Sit down on couch to eat and continue reading my book. Daddy goes into bathroom

8:34 B and M playing by my file cabinet. They follow daddy to the bathroom

 

8:40 They come to me. I give them bites of my sandwich

8:46 Daddy in closet getting dressed to go to work

8:46 Mackenzie in closet with daddy. Brooke is on floor under the dining room table

8:50 Daddy leaves for work

 

8:55 I get in bed for a nap

8:55 B and M playing in hallway

9:10 Verizon knocks on door looking for our neighbor

9:10 Playing in their bedroom

9:13 I lie back down to continue my nap

 

 

9:14 Brooke calls to me wanting me to hold her. So I do. And then we all go into their bedroom to play

 9:20 Nanny arrives

 

Brooke and Mackenzie kept themselves busy from 7:20-9:14am and I had time to take care of everything I needed to. They know they are free to roam about the house. Since the house is baby-proofed, they cannot get into too much trouble even if I can’t see them. Occasionally I’ll find them chewing on a tissue or even a shoe they’ve gotten out of the closet, but I’m pretty relaxed about things like that. My father-in-law says that’s how he was with his kids. He calls it ‘Benign Neglect.’ Seeing how his four kids are all independent and responsible problem solvers, I’m convinced it works!

Getting their own food whenever they want

Friday, November 18th, 2011 7:29 pm | By Stephanie Woo

At 11-months, Brooke and Mackenzie’s favorite snack is the organic version of Cheerios. I keep it in the bottom drawer of the kitchen cabinet in an open ziploc bag. I did a demonstration for them one day: how to open the drawer, where the cereal is, etc.

Two weeks ago, one day, while I was cleaning the bedroom, I came out to find Mackenzie sitting here with the drawer opened, eating Cheerios out of the ziploc bag!

Apparently the cheerios in the ziploc bag did not keep her interest, because the next day, I found her here, ziploc bag intact, eating directly out of the cereal box! Since then, when I am cooking their meal in the kitchen, they will come for a little pre-dinner snack whenever they want. Even if it spoils their appetite a little bit, I think the freedom and confidence that comes from being able to get your own food whenever you want is much more important!

Update on Friday, November 25, 2011 at 11:51AM by Stephanie Woo

Two days later, we found Mackenzie eating a chocolate cookie she had found at the back of the drawer and wrangled out of the packaging we thought we had sealed tightly. She even gave one to Brooke. Note to self: Move all cookies and sweet cereal OUT of the bottom drawer!