Two Year Old Dare Devil

Teach her how to scoot down the stairs safely. As a mother of 2 dare-devil boys, I have found that showing them 'safer' options to some of their antics has helped.

Have YOU tried going down the stairs with your eyes closed? It's educational! But make it a game for both of you to play. That way you're there to catch her if she misses. (Can she catch you if you miss?)

You may have to come up with some more games you both can play, too. Is there a gymnastics center near you? Maybe she's too young to be enrolled, but perhaps the instructor would give you some ideas of things your daughter could do at home that will satisfy both her athletic fancies and your desire to keep her in one piece.

I have a granddaughter who's like that. The higher or the faster she goes, the better she likes it, and yes, she helps the local economy by visiting the emergency room periodically for stitches. This girl was born with a heart problem and was at Children's Hospital the first two months of her life; it was uncertain whether she would be able to survive at all. Now she studies tae kwon do, rides around on her bike like a maniac, and is an absolute joy when her parents aren't pulling their hair out. :^)

I actually encouraged my son to go down the stairs with his eyes closed (holding onto the handrail), and to slide on his bum down the stairs with his eyes closed (great spatial awareness training with both activites), as well as to jump from 1/2/3 steps up onto the "landing" (becomes a more appropriate description).

Partly, because such kinds of activities build awareness... and partly because we live in rainy old Seattle, where one can't go to the park because it's soaking wet more days than not. So we turned our home into a playground.

I just taught my son to *always* ask permission first. And also that different people have different rules. So "no" needs to be respected. In our house it was fine to leap over the couch. In my mum's, nope. Both houses were fine for leaping off the stairs, but not at my cousins. Wild ideas were GREAT in our house, they just needed permission & observation. If he did "x" without asking, then he lost it for the rest of the day (and I was shameless about "You COULD be doing ________ right now. :( But no worries! As long as you ASK tomorrow, it'll be great fun! I know you can remember! :) :) :)"

During the few ideas that go "No's" we always went over "why". And for the "yes" answers to new things we would also go over possibilities of that might happen. To make sure he understood.

My daughter was a dare devil from an infant. She started trying to jump off the bed before she could even walk. Then after starting to walk early at 8 months it just got worse! lol No broken bones yet but so far we have had 6 ER trips! She is just fearless, extremely naturally athletic, and physically active.

In a hope to find something for her to focus some of her physical energy on we started her in gymnastics. That seemed to help alliviate some of the literal wall climbing at home. No ER trips since we started a few months ago.

Maybe your daughter could start some kind of activity like that?
We also started letting her ride her bike outside as often as we can, even if it just for a few minutes at a time. When it is not nice outside I let her walk on the treadmill with me.

Finding some safer physical activitiesthat you can monitor her on or do with her will help burn some of the energy so she doesn't feel the need to be more adventurous at other times.

Maybe she's just playing because she's feeling a little couped up? One of my children was very active, very tempted to push the limits. I enrolled her in a Gymboree class and asked them if we could put her in the next level above her age group. She was taller, faster and more agile than many kids her age and was getting frustrated "waiting" for them to hesitantly walk across a balance beam or climb a little ramp.

As soon as we got her in the right class, she was challenged, excited and understood that there was a time and place for her to get her energy out and try new things. I also liked that they had open gym hours where we could go and play in addition to her regular class time.

Once I had more than one child, we switched over to the local YMCA. She was older and was able to attend their "child care" while I got some exercise. The bigger kid child care area included a climbing gym, rock climbing wall, etc. She never felt like she was "stuck" in the child care because she was too busy having fun with other kids and playing in their activity area. I also put her in some classes that kept her challenged like swimming, gymnastics, etc. We mixed it up a lot to keep her interest. The "coaches" all understood that she needed to be pushed a little more, because if she got bored, she'd get disruptive. It was great!!! She got worn out and I had a "normal" kid when we got home. She was definitely a lot more manageable at home after days we went to class.

I hope this helps you.

BTW - I also learned that there's usually a "bad" day of the week. For us, it's Mondays. We usually see family and have birthday parties on the weekends. So Mondays my kids are off their schedules, tired, etc. Mondays were our "down day" to recover from the weekend. I made it a point to have some library videos so we could relax that day. Then Tuesday was "class day".

I hope these ideas help you with your daughter. It sounds like she's just feeling a little couped up and trying to "make" some fun at home.

If all else fails, take her on a walk, let her pick flowers along the way, go to the park to play on their equipment. TRY TO WEAR HER OUT! Not to the point of exhaustion, but make her walk, don't always push her in a stroller or push car. You may still have some "nice weather" so perhaps you can save the classes for when winter comes and you're all feeling REALLY couped up.

that would be the best
the gates untill she understands
she is on the vurge of trying new things lol
good luck to you

Supervise her closely and keep talking. Take whatever precautions you need to and don't trust her to be sensible. She's not. My oldest was like this. Parachuted off the garage with a sheet. It didn't work but fortunately she wasn't really hurt. She's an ER doctor in a major hospital now. They are the "cowboys of modern medicine" and thrive on excitement. Maybe you have one in the making too!

that would be the best
the gates untill she understands
she is on the vurge of trying new things lol
good luck to you

To bad our kids can't meet - they would love each other!

I try to let my (2 & 3 y/o) children push their limits, so long as they aren't going to get really, really hurt. For example, if they might fall six feet onto concrete I'll say no. If they might fall six feet onto soft playground material or squishy grass I'll let them continue their activity. They may get hurt still, but not split skull kind of hurt. I don't have stairs in my house, but relatives do. I don't let them test their limits on wooden or tile stairs, but will on a smaller flight of carpet stairs. That's just what I feel comfortable with, with my children. I guess by letting them do most anything that seems safe to me, I feel more confident that they understand why and respect it when I say no.
Also, when they are testing themselves I will say "_____, be careful. Watch your feet. Focus on your body so you don't get hurt." They know what that means, because they've slipped, fallen, bumped and bruised many times before. A lot of times when they do get hurt they aren't paying attention to their body as much as they need to, considering what they are doing. So they will put extra attention on what they are doing but still get to do it. Then it becomes a mental lesson in really being aware of where their body is at, as well a physical lesson and game. We still use a lot of band aids and arnica in our house - but we also get to have a lot of fun. I think, as Mama's of our kids, we know our kids limits pretty darn well. So my only suggestion is follow your gut and let your kid explore and dare devil as much as you possibly can feel comfortable with.