Twin Toddler Escaped Crib!

they are 2 maybe they are ready for toddler beds although i have no experiance with twins all my LO,s were in toddler beds when they were able to walk good and climb.
i agree with some of the moms that spoke of the bedtime routine and taking them back to thee bed as often as needed..
i dont agree with caging them like animals...

You could try crib tents. I have them on my twin's cribs...although I use them to keep the cat out of their cribs. I have heard of lots of people using them to keep their kids IN their cribs. Good luck!!

my daughter is in her "big girl bed" for the 3rd night in a row. we have both a crib and her "new bed" set up right now, and i just give her the choice. if she doesn't stay in her new bed she has to sleep in the crib. i can't believe how simple it's been...

with twins maybe you need to seperate them so they don't keep each other up? just until they get used to the idea of sleeping w/out a crib?

i too have twins born in july of 2006! lol! i bought them twins beds in march. i gated the door and baby proofed their room and took the toys out. they too were and still are good sleepers. for the first 4 days we let them explore their room during nap and bed time. at night they went to bed quickly though. to tired to explore. we let the exploring get out of the way. by the 5th day we did the super nanny trick. we would lay them down for their nap or night time and tell them sweet dreams, hugs and kisses. that whole deal. the 2nd time they got out of their beds we went in the room and told them it was nap time or night night and put them in their beds. the 3rd and there after times we just went in a put them in their beds and didnt say anything. the first couple days it took maybe 20 times, but by day 6 they were not getting out of their beds and fell asleep fast! i hope this helps!!

S.,
Uh oh!!Sounds like it's time for toddler beds! Gate at the door-good idea.

Good luck!
R.

Well, since they are not yet two, and a little young for a toddler bed (since they wouldn't stay in it anyway) - I am a big fan of the crib tent. They have them at Wal-Mart, Toys-R-Us, etc... It looks like a big tent, gives them plenty of space to stand, has mesh siding. It just gives them the ability to be in their crib without crawling out.

My nephew did the same thing at about the same age - and it was nice once we got the crib tent, he knew he couldn't get out, so it was back to being a great napper and good at bedtime.

Good Luck!
S.

I would get their cribs out of the rooms.
(You might have to put them in separate rooms if possible.
You are doing the right thing with the mattresses.
It will be a case of you returning them to their beds every time they get up, until they get the idea that you mean business.
I assume that you have a relaxing bedtime routine.
If not, establish one immediately.
You put them to bed the first time.
If they get up, you just say, "It's bedtime." and return them to bed.
Any further times you do NOT say anything, just calmly return to bed, as many times as it takes.
Either you or your husband can do this....just make sure you follow the routine.
No variations.
It might take a few nights because they will test you.
In the future, if they do it again, you follow the same routine.
I know you can do it.

boy i remember those days...we actually made new holes in the crib to lower my sons' mattress & took the bumper pad off so he couldn't use it for a boost. we made sure that we didn't lower the mattress enough for him to get his foot stuck under the side rail & the mattress. that worked until he was alittle over 3yrs & i got him into the routine of gettingme up as soon as he woke up after we put him in a toddler bed.good luck & god bless.

Our kids were in "real" beds by 15 mo. and 12 mo. Of course there is a transition; but, it doesn't take long. I don't have personal experience with the tent cribs but why do that and THEN do the real bed thing? :-D We just closed the door from hallway to the rest of the house - of course leaving our bedroom door open. I especially liked that advice from Kimberly W and Angela G ... I would encourage you to start now, and have this settled before your little sweetheart arrives!

Our twins did the same thing. We put them in toddler beds and when it's bed time, we put them in their beds tell them good night and if they get up, they get up, if they sleep on the floor, they sleep on the floor. Sometimes we have to go in lay down the law, but once they start getting out of the bed, there is no real way to get them to stay in it. Good luck!
K.

Oh what fun for you!!! That is me being silly, I hope you know that.
Time to let the rails down on the crib, double gate the door to their room and try to survive. This is normal, but really h*** o* the nerves.
Put them to bed, read a story, leave the room. Check on them about 5 minutes later, put them back to bed, and repeat the procedure.
I don't envy you this time.

If you can lower the mattresses down further into the cribs. There is a way to lower the mattresses down but I don't remember how to do it. It has been a while since I've had to use a crib. If that doesn't work then try getting toddler beds for them. They are actually old enough for tot beds now. Each time they get up just lay them back down and eventually they will get the point and stay in bed. Just make sure to baby proof the room and get anything out they may cause them harm. Eventually yes you may have to double gate the door if your one is trying to climb the gate. What my husband and I did when our kids used to climb gates was raise the gate up off the floor a little bit to make it highter but not enough to where they could crawl under it. They are at the age now where they are going to drive you crazy with climbing and whatever else they can do. Good luck.
D.

I am 31 and have been married for almost 12 yrs. My husband and I have 3 boys ages 10,7 and 4.

S.,
I have twin girls who were born in Feb 2006 - and thankfully they haven't even attempted to climb out yet (although they love climbing on everything else). I just wanted to thank you for posting this question, so we can have some ideas in store for when they do climb out. I wouldn't seperate them though - if your boys are like my girls, they would throw a fit if we put them in different rooms!!!

Good Luck!!

Hi S.,

I also have twin boys and SWEAR by the crib tents! Mine were around 2 when they started climbing out so we just popped those on top and that did the trick. It's all in how you present it. Tell them they are their "tents" or "forts" and they'll love them. And you will love the extra sleep they and you will get. Good luck!

Get them big boy beds & get your crib ready for baby #3.
Once they start climbing, it's just not safe to keep putting them in a crib.
You'll need to talk to them about staying in bed, in their room. Gate the door if you need to, but we just gate the stairs.
It's time. :O)
Good luck!

S.,

My daughter did this too when she was 18 months old. We did away the crib and bought her a big girl bed. After that bedtime became more of a routine. Bath time, reading books, etc. It will eventually work out, but you will have a transitional period where you will want to pull your hair out (at least we did).

Good luck and God bless,
Mel

My son (Aug 2006) did the same thing a couple months ago. So we had to move him to the toddler bed. I baby proofed his room, but after about 3 days of adjustment, he really doesn't get out of bed anymore, he just cries when he wakes up until I come and get him. My tip though is about the gates - a friend of mine told me to 'flip' the door handle around so that the lock is on the outside. It works great for us!

My son got out of his crib, too. We ended up buying a crib tent. You can get them off the internet. We googled crib tents and there are lots of sites to go to. It velcroes over most standard cribs and its hard to un velcro these pups to change crib sheets, so your little Indiana Jones' won't be able to escape. It also zips closed like a tent, and they can see out. As for escaping the pack and plays, my old neignbor used to have to turn their playpen upside down to curtail escaping, it worked for herLOL!!!

I feel very strong about it being time for BIG BOY beds. My daughter started climbing out of her crib at 15 months and was on a big mattress by 16 months. When I could afford the frame, the transition to a BIG GIRL's bed went smooth. Rarely had any problem with bedtime with her after that. I made a big deal about it being a BIG GIRL bed and she loved it. Yes, I think it may be time for BIG BOYS' beds. Youth beds come in all kinds of styles and colors. There wasn't hardly any when my daughter was young, so we put her on our old mattress near the floor until I could afford a bigger bed for her.

The crib tent is one of the best inventions yet. But I would like to warn against the double gating the door way. My freind did that with her son who was also a climber. Apparently better then given credit for he managed to climb both gates and fell as he went overthe top. Resulting in a broken ar and CPS getting involved. So just a little input on double gating. We thought it sounded smart but in the end it really wasn't. Lots of luck sounds like you have your hands full.

Our grandson was only 14 months old when he started to climb out of his crib. He used to go downstairs in the middle of the night while the family was asleep. Once they woke up to find cereal and flour all over the floor. My daughter-in-law asked their pediatrician what to do for his own safety and their peace of mind. She suggested putting a tent over the crib. It zips up and you can get it at Babiesrus. It was just like he was going camping and not at all like a cage. It was made out of mesh, so there was plenty of ventilation. It worked and he liked it. It was a great invention.

After he got older and they were able to explain to him that he needs to stay in his bed, until the rest of the family wakes up, they didn't need to zip it up anymore.
Good Luck!

I would put them in their room with big boy beds, a gate on their door, and some quiet toys. Childproof the room including anchoring the furniture if it isn't. After that, I'd just go downstairs and let bygones be bygones. If they aren't too loud, I wouldn't even try to put them back to bed. That's what I've done with my 2 boys and it is so much easier than fighting with them to stay in bed. I know it sounds lazy, but I get a peaceful evening, they have fun, and since they are up later than if I forced them in bed - I get a good nap out of them too. Good luck!

I feel your pain my daughter was 9 months when she climbed out and my doctor said once they do it once take them out because they will kepp doing it and you do not want them to get injured. My oldest still wakes up 3 times a night.
I put my daughter in a toddler bed...good luck

(((S.))) The fun is just beginning! =)

My twin boys started climbing out of their cribs at 15 months old. Eventually I put them in toddler beds, only had their beds and a small table in their room (along with blankie and a fav stuffed animal) and just shut the door and hoped for the best. That was 8 years ago, and we didn't have Mamasource for advice, so I never thought of double gating the door which would have probably been a lot better than shutting it! I would shut the door and wait for them to just fall out. (asleep) Sometimes they fell asleep in their beds, sometimes they fell asleep on the carpet, sometimes they fell asleep in the same bed together.... I didn't really worry about it as long as they fell asleep. Eventually as they get older, they'll stay on their mattress or beds (or venture to their brother's bed sometime in the night, which is always cute).... but I wouldn't stress about that too much for right now. One thing is for sure... with toddler twin boys, there is never going to be a "piece of cake" peaceful routine that goes just as planned like in the books. Twins are a different breed from singleton children... they just are. (even when they're 9 yrs old lol) My best advice to you would be to find a solution that keeps them safe (like making sure there's nothing in their room that they can get into and gating the door) and just ride it out. Eventually as they get older, it will get a bit easier.

Best of luck to you! Twins are a lot of fun, and you have many adventures in store for you! ;-)

p.s. I don't think that separating them (like the other woman suggested) would be a good idea. They need each other. =)