Teaching 20 Month Old Not to Climb on Counters

Every time he climbs up there, tell him "No, do not climb onto the counters" and remove him immediately. Do this EVERY TIME he does it. He is perfectly capable of understanding you, he just wants to do it and will try to see if you will change your mind. Can you blame him? How fun would that be?

Be consistent about it and he will eventually figure out that you mean business. This situation is too dangerous to ignore and should be dealt with immediately.

Good luck! (I have a 20 month old as well and he tries to get away with this stuff too!!)

Give him something he can climb on! Seriously. Put a plastic climbing structure in the playroom or any safe place in your house. If you have hardwood floors, buy a rug to go under it. When he climbs inappropriately, remove him and put him on the climbing structure. This suggestion came from a Children's Behavioral Consultant extraordinaire! Not me.

I also like the dramatic response when he climbs up on something. You should also be sure that bureaus, armoires, tv stands, etc., are anchored to the wall should they tip over on him.

I personally feel like a 20 month old is fully cognizant and able to learn what is and is not appropriate. Whether or not they are choosing to listen is indicative of how much respect you are require of them to give to you. One way that I found to be very effective as demonstrated by my husband is to be VERY DRAMATIC with them in tone of voice and facial expressions when they are doing something that is dangerous. That can sometimes get them to pause long enough to consider things. And set up situations where they can fall a little so they know what you are talking about... cna be helpful too. Finally, I would repeatedly, positively phrase it - "Counters are for mommy's things. We don't touch mommy's things. We let them be. Shhh! Mommy's things are sleeping." And, then, if climbing is really his thing - provide him opportunities to practice this wonderful skill -somehwere else outside! etc. And remind him about this also - "We climb when we are outside." or "We climb only on our special tree or special play set." etc. Good luck!! I know how it is when you have super active and inquisitive kids!!!

Repeat, repeat, repeat. My 22 month old climbs everywhere. We keep removing her, telling her what is wrong with her actions, over and over and over again. She gets into my older kids' work and personal stuff. I cannot tell you how many times I have had to clean marker off of her because she got hold of a marker they left on the floor or dresser. It is very frustrating. But I did go through this with my older kids so I know it is a stage they go through. You can try to keep objects he uses to get up there but my daughter gets a chair or whatever she can stand on to get to what she wants. At this age, they are seeing what they are able to do themselves and many times it is not what we want them to do.

My son is like this too. I agree with the advice about picking him up and putting him down EVERY time. But I caution against being too dramatic about it. My son loves getting a rise out of me or my husband and when we were making a big deal about it, he enjoyed the attention and made a game out of it, doing it over and over and laughing about it. It was only til we made it super boring, saying just a few calm words and removing him again and again did he lose interest and stop. Good luck!

Just like with everything else with children, you have to be very consistent. Every time. When our son tried this, we told him "no, no we don't climb on counters" or tables or whatever he was climbing on at the time. Then we gently, but firmly removed him and set him on the floor. Make sure you use eye contact and get down to his level, so he knows you mean business. This was around the time we instituted time-outs, too. We would explain to him what he was doing that was wrong and told him to sit. He would always cry for a minute, then we would reiterate why he sat down and that his behavior was inappropraite. (The Supernanny method.) Of course, you have to use words he understands. Your son is testing you. Get ready. He is trying to find his boundaries right now and it's time to be firm and set them. Good luck!

Good luck trying to figure this out , I have a 19 month old who likes to climb on tables/counters/toilets etc. Anyway I have had to put safety gates across the kitchen doors so that she cannot get in , I keep the bathroom doors closed so she cannot get in those rooms either , that is working for now , until she learns how to open doors but I am hoping the novelty will have worn off by then!!