using couch as a trampoline

My oldest DD was never a climber so I am new to this. My twins climb the couch and try and go over the back, or use it as a trampoline or even try to walk right off it. They never listen to me and if I pull them down, they run right back to it. They won't do it if my husband is there or at daycare. Do I give up the battle and let them up there to fall and learn the hard way? I spent 30mins last night taking turns pulling them off, finally I had to put them bed.

 

Yep.. we put foam mats on the floor around the couch and taught them "sit down on your bum" but they still climb all over the place. I just try to be there when they're in a really dangerous position. They've had a few bad falls between them and now they're a lot more careful (and have better balance). It's terrifying.

 

LOVE IT!!! The joys of kids right?!

I actually don't like them to be on the couch without me there, so I result to pulling all the cushions off the couch onto the floor and we have a "body slamming" party! Then when I put the cushions back on the couch, they know play time is over. Maybe try that?

 

"Feet on the floor" and "We sit on the couch" are two rules in my house. Basically if they try to bounce on the couch, I tell them "we sit on the couch". If they continue to bounce, I ask them if they need help getting down. It may help for you to offer them an alternative place they can jump/bounce.

 

We had an old mattress in their bedroom at that age. (It was partly spare bed, partly trampoline.) It helps a lot, if you don't want them to climb/bounce on some particular thing, if there's somewhere else they CAN do it. So if ours jumped or climbed on the couch, we would say, "The couch is for sitting; the mattress is for jumping," and carry them back to their room. (Our house is only one story -- that helps too.)

Some friends of ours had a "nice couch" in the living room and a "jumping couch" in the family room.

If you don't have anywhere else for them to jump and you're not worried about them ruining the couch, I would just make it as safe as possible. They do need somewhere to blow off steam, especially in the winter.

 

I was pretty strict about no jumping on the couch even at that age. They had to sit on their bottoms or get off of it. This is because my sister fell off the back of a couch at 2 and broke her arm and I was worried about them doing the same

 

Yep, I don't let them jump on the couch. Take the cushions off or restrict. Repeat and be consistant!

 

It was cute the first few times but since they can get on it unsupervised it is now a "no no" in our house. I just keep telling them sit on your bums and if they don't listen, off they go. And yes, it can get very repetative

 

My son was always jumping on the couch and he did fall off and hit his head a few times, but he still didn't "learn" his lesson. One day i just told him he wasn't allowed on the couch if he was gonna jump and I spent a lot of time removing him from the couch. We always let him jump on the bed if we were there. However, this christmas we got him a small indoor trampoline which has been great. He gets to burn off his energy and he quit wanting to jump on the beds. He can jump on the trampoline without constant supervision as it isn't far off the ground like the beds are.

 

I think you could try the cushions on the floor and ignore and see if it gets boring. It could be one approach. We always mandated the couch is for sitting only and they got two warnings before losing the privilege for a few hours. It was hard at that age but the consistency worked eventually. Hang in there.

 

That was a battle I lost at around 15-18 months. At 17 months, below was my TS post I made about this!: I obviously have no advice!


I was going to do the EXACT same post the other week but decided it was pointless! My boys have been climbing for weeks now and nothing will work except putting my couches outside until they decide they are done with this phase! 
 
I did consistent time outs in their highchair. One day we did about 8 in just a few minutes. Each time they got down, they ran to the couch to jump. When that obviously was not working, I decided to slap their hand (I hated doing that---when I slapped one of their hands, the other one slapped his own hand to try it!). The first time did not work so I had to slap it harder and they continued to laugh (and their little hands were red ) . Now, I pretty much make sure I am by them at all times to just redirect. So all day, I am saying 'no couch' and getting them down. My sister says they are like bugs...knock them down and they jump right back up again! 
 
They listen to grandma and the babysitter. All they say is a gentle 'no couch' and they don't even make an attempt. With me and dh, they think it is the funniest game they have yet to take part it. They laugh like they cant even believe how fun this game of climbing is and when we tell them to get down, the laughter increases! So frustrating!

 

WOW!!! I love you! This is my everyday right now! Thank you for the post. Your children obviously made it through this phase, so maybe I should relax a bit. I have even thought of getting rid of the couches too!

 

i let my girls go to town. they're also allowed to jump on the beds. :blush: it just wasn't a battle i wanted to fight. honestly, they had a few falls (bruises, cut lips, etc) and learned to be careful. they actually almost never jump on the couch now. ardon:

like Jen, i kept an eye out for anything that seemed particularly precarious, but otherwise, i like teaching from the school of hard knocks. :good:

 

I decided that was a battle I didn't want to fight. At age 2, they don't jump on the couch anymore. They do like to jump on beds though, which I allow.

 

I also gave up the battle, my couch isn't very bouncy (overstuffed cushions and no springs), but they did/do like to climb up on it, run to the other side, and get down....repeat as desired. Then, they learned how to climb onto my recumbent exercise bike, step from the seat of it to the arm of the couch, climb across, get down....and repeat as desired. I did take the back cushions off the couch so it was super wide, less chance of them falling off of it, but after awhile they got good enough that now I leave the cushions on and let them go to down. They've fall off a few times, bumped heads and busted lips, but they also learned...like not to lean over the arm of the couch, and you can't slide off the edge face first! :lol:

I'm not thrilled about it, but they are MUCH better about sitting on the couch with us now than they used to be

 

same here Honestly, I just don't see it as that big of a deal. It's great exercise and great fun - but probably not as much fun for them as it is for kids that are forbidden to do it. I think the risk of injury is relatively small and similar to other things that are more commonly allowed. We don't have hard coffee tables, just soft ottomans - one leather and one upholstered. Their favorite thing to jump on is the u-shaped sectional. The only bed they are not allowed to jump on is DD1's and that is because it is a canopy and I do worry about them hitting their heads. They do know that they can not jump on couches in other homes or when Grandma or the babysitter are here (because they don't like it) or when they have a playdate over (so the other moms will come back )

 

I say jump away. I have bigger fish to fry in this house. I try to teach how to come down safely, but I can't say no to everything constantly, nor can I move the couch outside and sit on the floor.

I like the trampoline idea, may go with that!!

 

Thanks everyone for their input. My biggest fear is them falling and having broken bones and concussions but from what I have read, the risk is so minimal, so jump away little farts, jump away.

 

If you have an old crib mattress, they make great bouncing places!

 

Didn't read all the responses, but I didn't crack down on jumping on the couch and going over the arms when my 5 yo was a toddler and I regret it bigtime. I am still dealing with this problem on a daily basis. My advice is if you don't want them jumping on the couch when they are big kids, nip it in the bud now!

 

"the couch is for sitting on"

"chairs are for sitting on"

"no standing on that, sitting down please"

....a CONSTANT part of my daily vocab... when, oh when will they learn.