How to Teach Your Baby to Safely Get Off of a Couch or Bed

Health and safety for your child is probably one of the biggest concerns you have as a parent. Even with young babies, there are still things that you can teach them as a way to be safe.

If you have an almost 1-year-old, I’m sure you’re experiencing their constant movement. They’re probably squirming all over and never sit still.

You should actually avoid ever placing your baby on a couch, bed, or any higher surface, without your complete attention. However, if you must, it’s a good idea to teach them the proper way to get down from the couch or bed.

The trick is to teach your baby to turn feet first as they gently slide down. This way, they won’t dive head first onto the ground when they want to come off.

When You Can Start Teaching Your Baby

Once your baby is pulling himself up to standing on furniture and toys, you can teach them the safe way to get off of a bed or couch. This will probably be between 8 and 12 months.

You may think that your baby won’t understand or remember, but they really understand a lot more than you think at this point!

This was one of the first safety techniques that I taught my daughter around 10 months old and I was amazed that she picked it up right away. She immediately attempted to get off the couch feet first everytime.

How to Teach Your Baby to Get Off the Couch or Bed Safely

It’s a quite simple way to teach your baby to get off a higher surface on their own. With practice and repetition, they should attempt to use this technique all of the time.

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1. Make sure they are sturdy enough to stand on both feet while supported by furniture or a large object.
2. With them sitting on the couch, hold them at their waist as they attempt to get off the couch head first (as most babies will).
3. Don’t let them get down this way, but slowly turn them so that they face out FEET FIRST.
4. Let their feet slowly hang over the edge as they drop down.
5. Once their feet touch the floor you can let go and have them realize that they got down safely.
6. Repeat this a few times every time you are sitting on that couch.
7. Every time you do it, take less and less support away from their waist until you’re barely touching them. They will start turning themselves and get down on their own.

The key is practice and repetition in order to have your baby learn this technique. Babies are very skilled at picking things up quickly as long as they are taught correctly and many times consistently.

Do not allow your baby to do this on their own until you are completely confident that they will do it consistently.

Have you tried this strategy for getting your baby down safely from a couch or bed? Let us know if it worked for you in the comments below!