15 Month Old Climbing Out of Crib!! - Morris,IL

Mom son has always been cautious...so he never actually climbed out of the crib. I know he thought about it. But I have known parents who transition to a toddler bed this early. You could also buy a crib tent (I think they sell them at BRU...you could try to find a used one on-line) and it attaches to the top of the crib...so they can't climb out. Good luck.

TENT TENT TENT! Worked wonders for us. IMHO, 15 months is still too young for a toddler bed. Try a crib tent; BRU has them for about $79. Worth every penny!

If you're not comfortable with the big kid bed, yet, try out a mesh tent over the crib that you can order at www.onestepahead.com

Our son used to climb out of his crib and we were scared that he would hurt himself on the "drop" so we lowered the side and he could not figure out how to get out, since he was used to getting out by lifting himself up and over the side he could not figure out this new set up, at least for a few more weeks.

It's definitely time for her to go to a big girl bed. Start talking to her about it now and to encourage her select a couple of beds you'd be okay getting and get her opinion. Our second child started climbing out of the crib at fifteen months and we got lucky she didn't hurt herself. It wasn't until we heard her talking to her sister on the baby monitor that we realized what was happening. She said, "Hep me Jacrin, Hep me," ...then a big thud! We went to the store that afternoon!

Well, I am a married, 33 year old mother of four children, ages ranging from my oldest son (7), my identical twin girls (5), and my youngest daughter (3) who also lives in with 13 other children that we care for at a residential school! As you can see, I had all four kids in four years and parent a house full! The good news is, there is hope!!! I took my son out of his crib by 18 months and as I had more kids, I realized that was way too late! I found that it wasn't necessary to keep a kid in a crib so long. For one main reason, it hinders potty training when the little one cannot get in and out of the bed independently to use it or to get you to help them use it. I found that beginning potty training no later than 18 months was a good age for my kids and me. They understood me and I understood them enough for them to communicate the word, "potty". Also, the little ones usually are walking between 10 months and a year or so. They would like a little independence in walking around and getting in and out of their beds by then as well. I don't know, I just like to meet my kids where their capability levels are and their maturity levels are. My vote is to get a toddler bed or take off the front rail of the crib and let your little one start the whole big kid process of having a big kid bed. It will require a lot of training on your part for her to learn that bed time is not a game and bed time means to stay in your toddler bed until morning unless you have to use the potty. That part of the training is hard because all of my kids loved being able to get up at least 15 times being silly just because they could! It took me training them that it was unacceptable to do that and to set the boundaries with appropriate consequences so they would stop that behavior. In a couple of days that was over and bed time was business as usual. Stay encouraged, it can be done, and raising little ones is a true blessing and a real job all at the same time!

A. W.

You can get one of those tent things that cover the crib. You just zip her in at night! They are expensive but not as much as a toddler bed would be. We skipped the toddler bed with both of ours (an added expense we just did not have the money for). My oldest took a while - I think he was three before he moved from the crib to the big bed but the youngest was in a regular bed at two. You could put a twin mattress on the floor and gate her into her room if you are worried about her wandering the house at night. She may make a fuss if you close her door on her but if she can look out through the gate, she might just stay up and play instead of bothering you to come get her. And if she does bother you to come get her, ask her to get back into her bed (while standing in the hall), tell her it's bedtime and go back to your room. If your room is close enough to hers, after a while, don't even get up anymore -just holler from your room that it is bedtime and for her to go back to sleep. Once she realizes that her ploy is not working for her, she will nix calling you at all. You get your sleep and she gets to play. VOILA! =)

Good luck Mama!

T.,
I am currently using a crib tent which I bought at Burlington coat factory. I know they're available at babies r us as well. I used it with my 2 1/2 yo till he was about 2 and now my almost 20 mo is using it. Hope this helps.

Hi! I would suggest looking into a crib tent. They sell them all over, but Babies R Us has them for sure. They are nets that fit over the crib so your little one can't climb out.

If you've seen any of my previous posts on this topic, you'll see that I am an advocate of keeping babies in their cribs until they are 3. I know that safety is important, but even if a toddler bed will eliminate falls from a crib, it leaves children too much to their own devices. They can get up and walk around in the middle of the night, getting into big time trouble. Even if you think you have childproofed EVERYTHING, kids can get into the darndest things! Like toilet bowls! Or they can try their hand at climbing on other things that they shouldn't - just as dangerous as climbing out of the crib.

Check out the crib tents - I think they will solve your problem! : )

My daughter was exactly the same age when she climbed out of the crib and the pack n play. We could not believe it and hardly anyone else did, including her doctor. She is tall and did not acutally use anything other than upper body strength to get out. (We watched her from the hallway just to see how she did it) and she would grab onto the rail, lift her body just enough to throw her leg over the rail and scale down the outside of the crib. We tried the crib tent because the Dr. said it was way too early for a toddler bed and that lasted for less than one week because she was still trying to climb and I was afraid she would get tangled in the tent. (Please note that's my personal nuerosis and alot of my friends say the tent worked well for them.) We then bought a toddler bed and other than the obvious problem at first of her getting out of the bed at will, she slept all night-which she did not do in the crib. You're facing a bit of a battle no matter what, but we eventually tried "sleeping" on the floor next to her toddler bed and that worked for us. Good luck!

If you don't want to move her to a toddler bed yet, I'd go for a crib tent. You can find them at Babies R Us.

buy crib tents for both the pack and play and crib. They sell both on Amazon and they DO work. I have used them.

N.

Hi T.,

I can totally relate. Our 17 month just discovered the same. My husband, who is pretty handy put the mattress and box spring all the way on the floor and drilled additional holes to make it safe. The crib design we have makes this possible. I am not sure the design of your crib and I am not promoting this, but it worked and it is totally safe.

My second option was putting her mattress by iteslf on the floor and gating and closing the door. When we do get to this point, I will move all other furniture out, because it is pretty likely she will get up or roll off the matress in the middle fo the night. Toddler beds are also an option, howwever, I would recommend making the room as safe as possible. There have been way to many instances where children get hurt by climbing dressers and other furniture unsupervised.

Good luck.....I completley understand. Let me know what works for you.:)

My son was that age. We just removed one side railing on his crib, lowered the mattress to its lowest setting and had pillows on the floor in case he rolled off (he didn't). It took a little geting used to with him loving the independence so we gated his door and childproofed his room.

My daughter climbed out of her crib right after she learned to walk at 15-1/2 months. Personally, I feel 15 months is way too early for a toddler bed so we had gotten a crib tent which worked wonders. She loved it and would go to sleep right away. We used that until she was about 2-1/2 when she learned how to open up the tent and climb out and then is when we moved her to a queen size bed. Good luck!

It is definately not too early for a toddler bed. She could get seriously hurt climbing out of her crib (i'm not real keen on the crib tent idea...I've heard a lot of people use them, but i would just as soon move to the toddler bed ....weren't the tents originally manufactured to keep pets out and not children in???). My son was in a toddler bed at about 13 mos and is now (at 2 yrs) in a regular twin bed. We just child-proofed his room and gated the hall and bathroom so he could only get to our room...you could gate your daughter's room if you'd rather which is what we do in our new house. I actually like the idea of starting the toddler bed earlier rather than later. The longer you wait, the more you enter into that "power struggle" age where everything is a fight just to see who wins. At this age you might have a little bit of resistance but it will pass quickly and you will have one less battle to fight during that lovely argumentative stage :) Good Luck whatever you decide!

I am worried about this as well. Someone suggested that I use a crib "tent". They are made of mesh and completely fit over the crib so they can't climb out. It arches up, so they can still stand up in the crib. I don't have one yet, and I have only seen pictures, but it looks like a good option. At 15 months old, I think she is probably too young for a toddler bed. I hope this helps, and good luck!

My 2 year old started to climb out...we were not ready for him to be free for many reasons (our home is two stories and would require extensive and expensive baby proofing if he were not in the crib)...we got the Crib Tent by Cozy Tots..the regular one without the sides that go all the way down...it's GREAT and it's made of mesh and very safe....wonderful invention! DS is 29 months and he is happy in his crib...he even pulls the zipper closed at bedtime...we just keep the zipper pull on the outside so he can't undo it! Our DD stayed in her crib happily until age 3 1/2 then we converted her crib to a toddler bed...she wasn't in a rush so neither were we.

B.

I'd try a toddler bed or twin bed with rails. You might be suprised at how easy the transition is. My kids all moved to twin beds by age 2, even though they hadn't yet figured out how to climb out. I would be nervous of the crib once they start trying to climb out, because they can fall and break bones, get concusions, etc.

Time to transition to the toddler bed!!!

Don't wait for a broken arm or head injury to make the move. She can climb out. Period, that's all the proof you need that it's time. Use a baby gate at her door so she can't wander the house at night (sounds like she's crafty, so remove anything in her room at night that could be used as a step stool to climb over the baby gate). And speak to your pediatrician to find out what you need to do in her room to make it safe in the event that she does get up in the middle of the night or early in the morning.

My doc gave us some good advice about bolting furniture such as the dresser to the wall so it won't topple if our son for some reason tries to climb on it.

Hello. My son did the same thing. I was amazed to see it. He's very active and coordinated- road a two-wheeler at three years and is a "daredevil" at times. Anyway, I ended up buying a crib tent which zipped. He soon figureed that out and I ended up rigging it somehow so he couldn't unzip it from the inside. This worked for awhile and eventually, maybe three months or so later, I did put him in a toddler bed. Anyway, hope this helps.

Babies R Us sells crib tents that you attach to the top of your crib. It prevents them from climbing out, and allows you to keep your child in the crib for as long as you would like. We used it with our daughter, and it was great with one exception. It is very difficult to remove/replace the mattress when you need to change the sheets. You have to fit it through the opening of the tent (you can't take the tent off every time because it's too time consuming to put it on). Luckily, my daughter didn't have leaky diapers often.

My s-i-l put her son in a toddler bed at 18 mos because he was an early climber. She just made sure his room was totally safe including removing the changing table because he would climb on it, and she also put a gate on his door so he couldn't get out of his room at night. I think she also took all the toys out of there to make him less likely to want to get out of bed.

Hi T., We bought a toddler bed for my daughter after her 1st B-Day! The first night she loved it and did wonderful. The second night she fell on the floor. The third night she slept on the floor!! It took a week or so for her to get used to getting herself in and out of bed as she pleased. At first her dad was not happy with taking her out of the crib but she is fine now. We started to read her a story before bed and leave music on and always close her door. She knows that once we close the door it's bedtime. Sometimes she will just sit up for a while but she will fall asleep. Before I go to bed I always open her door so she can get out of her room when she wakes up! So far everything is working Great and she just turned 19 months old on the 9/05. She will come to us in the morning when she wakes up and the best part is that she doesn't have to Cry to get our attention, she just crawls into our bed when she's up!! Good Luck!!

Hi,
I have a girl 3 and a boy 18 mo. We moved my daughter to a "big girl bed" at only 14-15 mo. We knew this was going to be early, but we had another child on the way and I didn't want her to feel like the baby "stole" her bed. My son learned how to climb out of his crib as well around 16-17 mos. (I think with the help of his sister) We didn't know about a crib tent, so we decided time for his crib to change to a toddler bed before he gets hurt. Eventually you will have to teach your child to stay in his own bed anyway, so if you feel you are ready for the challenge it is probably a good time. Just make sure his room is child proof and use a gate or something if that makes you feel safer.
A.
P.S. Keep in mind if you decide to move him out of the crib your sleeping schedual may change. My children come into our room and wake us up between 6:30-7:00 each morning.

You're right..it will be uphill from here. Get her a single bed so she doesn't hurt herself and use a safety guard. When she gets up she'll be ready to start her day which will change your hours but you'll learn to sleep around it. When she sleeps, you'll sleep etc.

If you don't want to go the tent route and you're worried about rolling off the bed, you can put the mattress on the floor. It could be a challenge to keep her in bed at first, but just be consistent when taking her back to bed and keep the interaction at a minimum once she's "supposed" to be sleeping. Also, you may need baby gates to prevent unwanted roaming. Our daughter was 18 months (we transitioned due to the impending arrival of baby number 2) and we allowed her access to our room also.

Hi T.
My daughter was transitioned at 15.5 months. We got her the step 2 dream castle convertible bed. It is low to the ground and it will convert to a twin bed in the future.The sides are also higher with the crib mattress, which works as safety rails. I have not had a problem since the first night. My daughter now wakes in the morning gets out of bed and makes her way to my room! I love it!! Just make sure to childproof the room very well & go for it!!

I bought my son a crib tent. We made it sound really cool and he loves it. It keeps him in and gives me peace of mind so that I can sleep, too. I think it cost around $70 at Babies R Us.

Yep, time for a big girl bed. I keep the kids into the crib until they climb out and then it's over. My oldest, believe it or not (we didn't at first!!!!) was climbing out of the darn thing at 10 months. My middle one - 15 months and my youngest is about 18 months now and still hasn't attempted it thank god. But once they start climbing out, it's time to transition. My middle one went straight to a twin bed no problem. With my oldest, who was a challenge - she would get out of bed and empty all of her drawers on to the floor, sneak out of her room and try to make a grilled cheese, take everything off shelves/etc., - we pretty much emptied her room of everything and put a hook and eye on the closet door and put a mattress on the floor and locked her in there. It looked a little ghetto but it was for her protection. Not that you should need to do any of that, but, if you are concerned about falling out of the bed or whether to go to a toddler bed or a twin, the crib mattress on the floor with some pillows/blankets does the trick.
Good luck!

Hi T.,

My daughter (now 4) did the same thing when she was 18 months old. In fact, we put her down for a nap and when we went to check in on her she wasn't there...she was in another room playing! Anyway, we invested in a Crib Tent. At first, it looked so weird that we didn't want to use it. It is an actual white mesh tent that secures under the mattress and "tents over" the crib. One side has the "window" that you zip open and closed from the outside so that the baby has no access to it. Our daughter cried for three nights because she was freightened by it, but then had no problems at all. By the time we moved her to a bed (at 3) because we were expecting our second daughter, she would actually tell us "don't forget to zip me in". It really kept her safe. We knew that if we put her in a bed that early she would be up wandering around at night. I hope this helps. You can get the crib tent anywhere they sell baby stuff in stores and online. Hang in there, I know that it can be frustrating - my daughter climbed out 5 times in one night (that was the last night without the crib tent). Best of luck to you!

My daughter decided her first birthday was the perfect day to start climbing out of her crib. I double- and triple-checked that the whole house was baby-proofed, her bedroom even more times! I shut her bedroom door at night, then just dealt with it, day by day. Of course, we didn't have toddler beds in 1987 as far as I can recall, so I bought her a twin bed mattress and box springs and put them directly on the floor.

My daughter was young to when she learned to climb out of her bed. We just transitioned her into a toddler bed. The first two nights we put her crib mattress on the floor so that if she rolled out of bed she would not fall to far. It also gave her time to get use to the feeling of not have the crib bars up around her. After that we just made sure it had the sides up and that her baby monitor was on at night. In about a week she was sleeping tight in her new bed and was excited to be a big girl. She has always preferred her door closed at night. With the monitor on I can hear her open her door at night and then I can get up to be with her if she needs me.

My babies were moved to a toddler bed once they figured out how to climb out of the crib. My daughter was 18 months and my son was about the same age - or younger. The transition was a lot easier than I ever imagined. I just made sure that my children were not able to go into a bathroom without my knowing (or any other dangerous spot that they could wander to at night. Good luck.

I am a first time mom, so I don't have experience with going to a toddler bed: just a lot of other moms that said keep my son in the crib as long as possible...once in the toddler bed they can "pop up" whenever :) SO...we got a crib tent.
He is two now and actually loves it: he likes that its his little hide out :) It goes under the mattress and all the way up in a peak above the crib. You unzip to put them in and then zip it up. There is no way they can climb out of this thing! The only thing I will say is that even though the zipper is covered on the inside so that the kids can't reach it, my niece managed to figure out how to slip her fingers under the cover and get the zipper open! My son has not figured that out yet, though and he has been in it for over a year.
You can go to Amazon.com, Target.com, Walmart.com or any baby website and type in crib tent. I love it, great product!

T.,

Our son did the same thing... same age. We went out and bought a toddler bed at ikea and a nice gate for his bedroom door right away, essentially turning the entire room into a crib. Make sure it's child-proofed, too. At bedtime and naptime it took us about a month of hanging out next to his bed while he fell asleep... after that he figured out that he had to stay in bed and go to sleep and it was never a problem.
Before buying the bed, we talked to other parents who had purchased those over the crib tents... they all said not to bother because the kids could get out of those too... it was a temporary fix and they are very expensive. Even our son's doctor said to just put him in a bed. She told us that kids usually start transitioning to beds around 18 months, but our son was walking at 9 months so it was no surprise that he did this early too... I'm not sure why parents tend to wait so long to move kids to beds... I'm glad we tackled it early and got it over with before the terrible twos struck!

Hi T.,

Well, since your daughter can now climb out of her crib then it is "big bed" time. When I put my kids in the big bed then I would use a child gate at their bedroom door so they could not get out of the room. It is nothing to worry about but it is another mile stone.
Good luck and have fun.

J. J.

Im out of the norm here but I would suggest not going for a toddler bed, and going straight to a big girl bed(twin). making the transition is tough enough once...why put yourself or your daughter through it twice??? Plus Ive noticed it's kind of a waste of money unless you have a convertable crib. For my son we moved him to a matress on the floor at 13 months(when he climbed out of his crib), and then put the matress on the bed at 15mos. He never had a problem and the adjustment was awesome for all of us. He helped put the bed together, and has loved it since he got it. What was really great, for the first few months he didn't know he could get out with the safety rail up. He's now two and loves his big boy bed, he was even at a friends house who has a toddler bed and he told the other kid that it was a baby bed, and he had a big boy bed. Not nice, but i will admit I was kind of proud of him for making the distinction.

Any way you do it...it's time to KISS THE CRIB GOODBYE, for nothing more than the fact that it is now a safety issue. Kids tell you when they are ready to grow, not the other way around.....or else you will be battling for no good reason for a long time.

does your crib convert to a toddler bed? Once they work out the climbing route out, I don't think there is any other option but to go to a toddler bed or mattress on the floor. Good Luck. My 16 month old is also called Isabella :) she could climb out as she is a great climber but she hasn't thought of it yet (thank goodness).