16 Mo Old Fell Out of His Crib Today

I had the same issue at 16 mos and took the side off the crib. Luckily my crib was convertible and had a bedrail like a toddler bed, but you can get several bed rails from Wal-Mart that would do the trick. The best one looks like a bolster pillow and attaches to the mattress. With my first child we put a pallet on the floor for her to sleep on since I was pregnant with the second and was not going to convert the crib. We did it for a few weeks until we found a toddler bed.

You either need to let him scream with the crib tent on, put his crib matress on the floor and a gate at his door or scrape up the money for the toddler bed now. You don't want to end up at the ER during the middle of the night because he climbed out. My youngest was in a toddler bed at a year because I caught him with one leg over the top of the crib and I didn't want to chance a fall during the middle of the night.

I would let him try and use the tent and remove that crib bumper ASAP! I was advised that a crib bumper should be removed once a child can stand or pull themselves up. I have a 7 yr old boy and a 15 month old boy .My 7 yr old was climbing out of his crib at 18 months. So he moved to a toddler bed at that time. As soon as both our boys could stand we removed it so they could not use them to stand on.

I agree with Missy. I used a tent on my son's crib when he was able to climb out and the tent was a lifesaver for me. I don't know what I would've done without a tent! Good luck!

I would say use the tent and he will just have to get used to it. A few days of adjustment is much better than risking injury climbing out of the crib and/or running around the house alone at night.

Put the crib mattress on the floor in his room or wherever he sleeps. If he turns over or tumble, there's no where for him to fall. You can also lower the mattress if that's better for you

Since he doesn't like the tent I would suggest just turning it into a toddler bed as Cami suggested. We did that with my youngest daughter just recently and now she's sleeping in a twin bed.

Crib tents are dangerous... Didn't know this myself until I posted the same question. They can cause injury to toddlers who try to escape. They are made to keep cats out not babies in. Put the mattress on the floor or remove one bedrail and buy a toddler crib rail from walmart (make sure it is the one made for cribs and not beds). You can put a gate up at the door (outside of the actual door, so you can close the door at night and your toddler can open it but not get out and roam the house) and teach your son to say "mommy I'm awake" when he needs you in the morning....hopefully not at 3:00 am. Babyproof the room, remove excessive toys, and anything dangerous, closet included (or lock it) and put a bin of books in there if he does wake up early. Maybe he will stay busy before he calls for you.
My recent question: http://www.mamapedia.com/questions/18379059525211783169

The crib bumper needs to come out first. Not a good thing to have in there with a standing child. If he is still able to climb out then take the front rail off the crib. It will look kinda like a day bed. He won't have as far to the floor to get out and it will help in the transition to a twin bed too. I'm sure you can get a mesh bed rail to put on his crib this way to help keep him from falling out in his sleep.

IMO I say go to a twin bed instead of a toddler bed because it's just not cost effective. You have to buy bedding and the bed frame for a toddler bed and then in a few years you have to buy the whole bed and bedding for a twin and toddler sheets are just as expensive as twin bed sheets!

Good luck!
S.

We had a few weeks before we wanted to switch our son to his big boy bed due to company visiting so we took one side off of his crib and then put a bed railing on that side. He still had one side protected from the other crib railing (which was against the wall so he couldn't climb out on that side) and the other side was protected by the bed railing. It worked great because he was still low to the ground just in case he did some how fall, and we didn't have the fear of him crawling out. It also made the switch to the big boy seamless because he was use to the railing. Good luck.

When my 15 month old climbled out, the crib was put away and we put the crib mattress on the floor. He slept that way for a whole year at which point we put him in a regular bed with a bed rail. He did fine.

We took my son out of the crib at 13 mo. We placed his crib mattress on a large piece of plywood, cut to fit the twin be frame. We already had the frame. We then took him comforter and padded it around the mattress so that if he did roll out, he didn't hit the board and edge of the rails. He slept this way for 1.5 years before we put a twin mattress on the bed.
Yes, we did eventually put a bed rail on the mattress as well as the twin mattress.
There is no magical age at when to remove a child from the crib. Each child is different. Mine was 1 when I found him sitting on the dresser after climbing out of his crib! The crib was gone as soon as we could...within the month!
I would put the mattress on the floor, lacking a bedframe to put it in. Nothing wrong with sleeping on the floor-if he rolls out, it's only 6 inches down. I would not waste money on a toddler 'bed' they don't last that long.
Safety should always be first....he'll get use to sleeping out of the crib. And soon enough, you'll sleep better!
Good luck!