When do they learn to climb down on their own?

LOL! Ohhh honey I feel for you! My son was a climber and your life is just never the same once your child reaches the climbing stage. You are a nervous wreck 24/7. However, eventually you realize “ he’s a boy” and you panic a little less, but you certainly still panic.

My son started climbing at 10 months. Boxes, couches, chairs, stairs, etc. He’d flip laundry baskets to stand on top of it. When my sister moved it was like a dangerous playground for him because he just crawled from box to box to box.

People always told me, “Oh once he gets hurt he’ll learn his lesson” Ya think?! Cuz my son got a fat lip from climbing the couch and was gushing blood, bawling his eyes out, and crawled right back to where he fell from. So, just because they fall does NOT mean they’ll learn from it.

The good thing is that my son is a major toughie. Other parents panic when he falls, I just sit there and tell him to brush off and get back up. You get used to it after a while….

So basically, I have no advice for you, just some sympathy. Been there, done that with the climber. If you could put a helmet on him, I’d say go for it. All you can do is keep your eyes on him the best you can and make the things he climbs as “safe” as you can. And just try to limit his climbing to one area or one space. I know, MUCH easier said than done….

Good luck! :)

It took my son about a month after he started climbing and several falls - luckily a fall from a couch doesn't do much harm. I just put some pillows and soft things around that area to cushion the blow and once he fell a couple times, he figured it out on his own. You could put some of those "take apart puzzle type mats" like they have at day care in that area for a while - you can construct them in the shape you need to and add on if necessary. It will cushion the fall, but still scare him into learning how to do it himself. The falling is the motivator for most kids.

My daughter is 19 months, and goes up stairs, but not down. She's a pro at climbing down from the couches, has been since about 14 months, but she is now climbing onto the kitchen tables or up the cabinets to my countertop, and she's just not tall enough to get down. They will fall a lot, lol, I joke I'm going to change her name to grace. We also encourage her to shake it off when she does get a minor bump. Wait until they start practicing running, my brat ran full speed into the doorjamb and bumped the front of her head, then fell backwars 2 hours later and bumped the back of her head on a different doorjamb, lol. So my average guess is about 3-4 months after they learn to climb something, they learn how to climb down, although I'm sure if varies with the child, level of activity, age, etc.(My daughter is the size of an average 3 year old already, and her estimated adult height is 6'2", lol.) She climbs or walks up stairs all day, but won't step down them at all. As to you being a nervous wreck, wait about 6 months, and you won't flinch so bad or hover quite as much, lol, you'll be used to it, somewhat. There are still times I flinch and jump, but most times she gets her legs under her before she hits the floor. Try not to flinch soo bad, it can encourage them to avoid basic risk taking adventures, like jumping on a pillow or going down a slide, which in turn creates even more clinginess as they get older and scared about the enviroment around them. Good luck!

my daughter will be a year old in 2 weeks and has actually learned to climb down and not up! granted she climbs on things she shouldn't and falls, but as for our couch and recliners, she hasn't even tried. I think she's too busy getting into other stuff.... but anyways, he will learn eventually, just keep showing him how to do it, and move him threw the motions. That what we did with our daughter to get her to climb down. She still falls sometimes, but not as often.