A 12-Month Old Climber!!

Wow, identical situation! My oldest son who is now 5 1/2 was the same way. At 1 year he was climbing out of his crib(dangerous). I withstood this for approx 1 month. Then finally I believe before he was even 13 months I did go ahead and changed his bed into a toddler bed. He made a complet 360. No more climbing!! It may be worth a try to change the bed. It worked for me!

Try a crib tent. If you search online, you can find a better price. There is only one brand out there, with 2 different models. I like the one with open sides so we can pass toys through the crib bars. I have 3 1/2 year old twins. The boy was a climber. Both kids love their tents and even will zip themselves in. They are still in cribs and I get a great night sleep knowing they can't get out of bed!

My 14 month old has started climbing, too--out of her bouncy seat, out of her seat belt, everything. My best hint is...try putting her to sleep in a playpen with the soft, relatively "un-climbable" sides. I had to do that with my now 5 year old who was also a climber. Besides, it's closer to the floor, in case she makes it out! Good Luck!

Hello,

Our son was a huge climber. Our neighbors had the same problem, so we followed their advice. Basically, we tried to keep him from climbing, but we also made it as safe as possible. As our neighbor put it, if he fell and broke his arm (bad), but it would be much worse if he pulled something over on top of himself. We made sure to secure all of our heavy furniture to the walls (dressers, tv, shelves - you can buy little tabs that screw into the wall and then link to the furniture with plastic loops). Then, as he was actually able to climb out of his crib (about 15 months old...), we first tried a toddler bed, but it was a huge disaster. We finally settled on leaving the side of his crib down to make it easier for him to climb in and out, and would just shut his door at night. This way I knew that he was actually safer getting in and out than over the top of the railing, but he was still contained in his room. Even though I suspect he would climb out of his crib initially, we would find him in his bed in the morning. It sounds like a weird solution, but it was the only thing that worked for us. Hope that this helps!

K.

My daughter was a climber too. She would figure out how to push chairs (or whatever else she needed) to where she was trying to climb to. It was a little scary at times, but she survived. I told her "no" and redirected her as well as explaing that it was dangerous. Like mine, your daughter is a problem solver, which is a good thing. Think about how smart she is to be able do what she is doing at such a young age. My daughter is almost six and is great in school. She is good at reading and math. Make sure that her crib mattress is at the lowest setting, and keep a close eye on her (It sound like you already do). If you have a pool, make sure that there is nothing around the fence that she can use to climb on. Children like ours are the ones who get through pool fences. Also, watch when she gets tall enough to reach door handels. We had to put a latch up high on the doors to the outside to keep her from opening the door.
As far as the four year old not doing it.....he is not the same as her. I have two children, from the same parents and they are as different as you and I. Don't waste your time comparing them.

I have one climber!! Luckily only one of the three are climbers, I say are in the present tense for a reason!! The only hope I can give is that they get more skill as they get older so they fall less often. I would switch to a low bed of some sorts with a baby gate ot her door so she doesn't climb the stairs when youre sleeping. I had to put two gates in the boys doorway (one on top of the other) because he could climb one gate! I wish you luck and remeber that this too passes, onto higher things LOL! Once a climber always a climber, get her into activities to strengthen her body so that she can conquer all the new places she feels the need to be,

You might just have to give in and either purchase a toddler bed or (if your crib is a convertible) convert your crib to the toddler bed. My son was the same way and even with the mattress as low as it could go he still would get out during nap time and at night. He never fell, thank goodness but it still worried me. We bought a toddler bed, put it against the wall lengthwise then bought a long pillow and put it on the outside so he wouldn't just roll out of bed. (It might be helpful to put an extra pillow on the floor just in case she rolls around a lot, because sometimes they can make it over the pillow anyways!)That way if she gets up she can just hop down over the side. That worked for us so that's my suggestion to you! Hope this helps!

I have a 12 month old climber as well. She is currently not tall enough to boost out over the crib edge, but was up 4 steps on the step ladder the other day before I could even blink an eye. Anyway, I happened to see a tent like net device the fits over the top of cribs to supposedly keep climbers in. I haven't looked into it at all, as far as safety goes, but it might be something to check out. I don't even know where I saw it (sorry) but maybre try to google it.

I can relate! Our son was 18 months when he began climbing out of his crib every time I put him in it (unless he was already asleep). What a catch 22. I read a LOT of literature about the situation at that time and the general consensus was that children this young (under 2) cannot grasp the idea of imaginary boundaries (like the boundary on a bed - the idea of having to stay in your bed even though there is nothing keeping you in). They see an open side of the bed and get out. We ended up converting our crib to a toddler bed to avoid him hurting himself climbing out. I would not recommend what happened after that as it took until he was 2 1/2 to get him into his own bed all through the night...but...what we did was put him to sleep in his bed (yes, he did finally get the idea of going to sleep in the bed) and then would allow him to come in our bed when he woke at night (which he did every night). At 2 1/2 I simply decided (and had the energy) to take him back to his bed and tell him he cannot share our bed anymore. Took about 5 nights. 1st night we went back to his bed about 7 times....5 times the next night and only 1 or 2 times each of the next few nights. He is a great sleeper through the night in his own bed now (34 mos)! Of course you could try to do this sooner than I did! :) The only other option I had found was to buy one of those crib "tents" to keep the child in. We didn't like that idea, but perhaps we all would have had some better nights of sleep had we tried it. Good luck to you and your family!!!

My daughter climbed out of her crib when she was only 8 months old! I lowered the crib to the toddler size, left the rail on, and removed to crib padding, thats what she was using for a leg up. Try lifting the child gate, not enough to crawl under but it my deter the climb. Otherwise I have read that is healthy to let them climb things like furniture, it helps build muscle tone.

I have two really active boys who are both very good climbers. What I did was take the crib apart (it converted to a toddler bed) and let them sleep there (each on their own time, they are 4 years apart). I don't know your reasons not to let her stay in a toddler bed, but it worked for me. Well, not to the dot. It's hard to keep them there when you just want them to go to sleep, but I'd put them to bed and even if they didn't sleep, they had to stay quiet, with the light off. After about half an hour I'd go in and they'd be sleeping on the carpet. I put them in bed and in the morning they were back on the carpet. But my point is, it's better to have to deal with a child that doesn't stay in bed because there aren't restraining bars, than to deal with a broken leg or worse, because s/he climbed out of the crib.
We got to remember, there is more than one answer to every problem.
Good luck.

My daughters are not climbers. However, we share a home with my sister-in-law's family. Her son is now 14-months-old. He's been doing the exact same thing as your daughter. We've called him a monkey for a long time now. It seemed impossible, but he did climb out of his crib over a month ago and fell to the floor in the middle of the night. My sister-in-law asked everyone she knew what to do. Anyway, she ended up buying a crib tent from babies 'R Us. I always thought those were crazy ideas, but we need to keep our children safe, right? Tent is a mesh material and fits very nicely on the crib. It's really not bad. My 2-year-old daughter loves to play in his crib and have me close the tent. Anyway, look into it. It seems to have been the best solution.

I think it's great to talk to your daughter and she does understand almost all of it on one level or another.

Also, I never had to use child locks, or gates, or a crib tent for my daughters. But my nephew gets into absolutely everything. My daughter were alway quite safe, and had good judgement. My nephew, will climb on everything and fall off over and over again. My sister-in-law feels a little better now with a few gates and child locks. We help each other out with our children, especially when we need to go to the bathroom. But my nephew needed someone to watch him, to follow him, and to be ready to catch him falling at any moment. So I couldn't help her out as much with my 2 young daughters at the same time. Now I think we're all feeling a little better. At least we know he won't get into the soaps, or the brakeable things, and his climbing might be dettered by a gate.

Anyway, I don't understand first hand, because he's not my son. But I witness how exhausting these children are who are always on the go. It sounds like you're doing great with your daughter. Keep keeping her safe and keeping yourself sane! -R.

I would definitely recommend a crib tent. It is a mesh "tent" that attaches to your crib, so that your little one cannot climb out. You could call it her little castle or something. You can see through the mesh and she can see out, so you won't have to worry about her gettin' into trouble in there. Check it out at Babies-R-Us or Amazon.com! Good luck! :)

My son began climbing out of his crib - and because we were worried about the safety issue - we removed the crib and put the matress on the ground. It took a few times, but he quickly learned that he needs to lay on the bed for naps. However, he started opening the doors (testing his limits), so we had to lock the doors - until he figured that out. We finally went to IKEA to buy him a bed that was low to the ground. It sounds as if you are also ready for the transition from crib to bed!! They also sell barriers for the side of beds to keep your child from rolling out. I needed one for our 4 year old, but not for my son.

I would suggest taking her crib apart & putting the mattress on the floor.you can put either pillows on the outer edge or you may want to look into a safety 1st bed rail. I think talking to you kids like they understand is good, because I think they understand far more than we think. Patting her on the bottom & telling her No that if she continues to climb like that on the other furniture.Also incorrages her not to climb. However some kids are just born climbers. I have a 2 1/2 yr old grand son that thinks climbing & being on top of dressers or filing cabinets is where he should be. Good luck
PB

What i had to do with my daughter at that age was get ther a full size bed (our guest bed) and put on rails on two sides (with walls on the other 2 sides). Then we surrounded the rails with pillows. This helped her out and the bed was pretty low that if she did sneak throughh all that, she didn't have far to go down so she wouldn't hurt herself. I'd keep the monitor on high at night so you can hear her trying to climb out.

You can buy a crib tent that goes over the top of the crib. It's mesh, so you can see through it, and when she's ready to get out, you open it just like a regular tent. I agree that one year old is way too young to be in a toddler bed, but you don't want her to get hurt. I believe that you can buy the tents at Babies-R-Us. Good luck! :)

My second son was a climber, he was and is very tall and climbed onto the dining room table and would jump off. We had to put all of the chairs lying on the ground to keep him safe. He was also quite skilled at climbing out of bed (as was I) My mom used to tie my ankle to the crib to keep me from getting out of the crib. We decided not to go to that length and just moved him to a toddler bed. It makes it a bit more difficult to get them to go to sleep on their own and to keep them "in" bed in the morning, but the reality is, if they can climb out, they will. So why fight it. He is now 13, still likes to be in trees, on fences, on the roof, but we have worked on teaching him how to be safe rather than just forbidding him from getting "high". We use the motto "don't struggle dear, just float" So instead of working against his natural curiosity, we work with it.

My first son did not climb out of anything and neither did my third, it is just that child's personality, they are adventurous little souls. My second son swam before my first, rode a two wheeler before the first, would walk down slides, try to climb swing sets...jumped off the high dive first, jumped off a chair lift, goes up the stairs with hands and feet on the walls instead of the stairs, it is just his nature to challenge gravity. (and my first is not uncoordinated or quiet).

I am the mom of 3 boys and have lived to tell about it.

Hi A. -

I had 2 climbers, my oldest (daughter) and my middle (son). When they started climbing out of their cribs, I took that as a sign that they were ready for a regular or toddler bed. If they were going to climb (and possibly fall) I would rather it be from a height of 24"-30" than a height up to 48" (over the top of the crib). I bought one of those railings that fit between the mattress & box springs and that solved the possible accidental fall over night. As far as the other stuff, climbing on furniture and over baby gates, just keep an ice pack handy. Since children learn by experience, sometimes a fall is the only way they will understand what a safe activity is and what isn't.

M. M. Ernsberger

My son was the same way. It was exhausting! We just got done putting on the childsafe stuff through the house and before we put the drill away he had cabinets and doors open. He started climbing out of his crib and over the gate too. I found the best thing for me to do was move him early to a toddler bed with a rail. We had to get him to stay in his bed but he was getting out of the crib too so it was safer for him to get out of the toddler bed than the crib. We also put hook locks at the tops of the doors we didn't want him to get into. Including the doors leading outside. We moved all the dangerous stuff up out of bottom cabinets. Do your best to teach her how to use the stairs safely, I know it's early. I found that my son was better at getting the hang of these physical tasks. I mean he was climbing out of his crib right? Then all there was left was praying and waiting for this stage to pass with all our sanity intact. Good Luck and God Bless.
-K.

Two of my 3 kids were monkeys. My son was the worst. When he was 13 months I found him on top of the fridge! We tought him the safe way to climb off the couch and down the stairs (on your belly feet first, backing down). We had to say a lot of "no climbing, get down". He eventually out grew this stage now that he can talk more. He can ask for what he wants and not hunt it down. Enjoy that she is healthy and curious. You will just have to be patient and get through this phase. I had a dozen heart attacks daily during this phase.

Good luck.

I have a climber and he climbed out of his crib twice at around the same age. We tried everything including a big boys bed and his sleep habits got worse and worse. Finally my friend suggested a crib tent. I was desprite and would try anything!! Believe it or not the tent worked. It has been great. He doesn't even try to climb out of the crib. He is now almost 18 months and doing great. He is still a climber though and we have to watch him carefully. He likes to climb on the kitchen bar stools and on to the kitchen counter. This is still a struggle.

my son was a climber too. he could get into anything, plus he broke just about every child proffing item we bought. he would run full speed at baby gates and knock them down. luckily he has out grown all of this for the most part, but climbing out of the crib is scary. even though your daughter is only a year old you might consider the toddler bed. we ended up putting our son in one around the same age. it was hard to get him to stay it at first, but what ended up working for him was putting glow in the dark stars above his bed and turning on some music for him to fall asleep to. if not a toddler bed i know there is such a thing as a crib canopy. it's basically a mesh tent that goes on top of the crib to keep them from clibing out. i don't know where to get one though. you can probably find one on the internet. good luck!

I remember going thru this with one of my kids (I have 4). I think about when the climbing started we went to big boy/girl beds... I can however remember wishing that cribs came with lids! Ha! Ha! I think you are doing the best thing talking to her and telling her not to climb out. Perhaps you can get a toddler bed soon... Or just keep the side rail dropped so she wont have to climb out.

She sounds like a coordinated little girl! She'd probably enjoy Airborne Gymnastics!

CRIB TENT!! I know a couple of Mom's with climbers and the crib tent has been a life-saver. I believe you can buy one at Babies R Us. They are around 70.00.
Good luck!

As to the climbing out of the crib, you have two options. First purchase one of those tents for the top of the crib. This will prevent her from climbing out. The other option is a mattress on the floor. The second requires you to baby proof the entire room and put a baby gate at her door for nap and night time to prevent wandering. My son was a climber too so we purchased some climbing toys for the back yard and let him play out there as much as possible. This helped reduce the climbing in the house but still required constant vigilance so he didn't try to climb the bigger pieces of furniture. Good Luck!
M. B.

We changed our 18mo sleeping arrangement around 14 mos. due to her hatred of the crib and climbing ability. Despite my mom's compliants we have finally found a good use for our air matress, while it isn't the permanent sleeping arrangement it works. It allows her to get in and out of bed with no falling and saves the fighting over climbing those appealing bed safety rails needed for at least one side of a toddler bed at her age. It has worked great and allows her to be more of her own boss, and we can climb in the bed if it's a rough night till she asleep.

You could try a crib tent if you do not want to transition to toddler bed yet. This worked well for friends of ours. This is what I am talkig about: http://www.toysrus.com/product/index.jsp?productId=2404625

Good luck!
D.

I too had a climber. By your daughters age she was climbing the door jams. It is time to take her out of the crib. She is not going to stop climbing out. I removed everything from my daughters room that she could get injured on. Those things that I couldn't remove I put baby latches on. I put a luggage strap around the dresser. She could open the drawers enough that she could use them. I then taught her how to climb safely. I never helped her climb up things at the playground but I did stay with her and showed her how to get down safely. If she is agile enough, strong enough, and coordinated enough to get up on her own than she should be relatively safe. Give her the opportunity to climb as much as she wants. You will probably have to deal with bumps and bruises but not broken bones. My daughters upper body strength developed to the extent that she was a very good gymnast and swimmer. Her climbing phase lasted until she was about seven years old. First day of Kindergarten she shimmied up the light pole in the playground at school. Good luck in your endevors. Your daughter sounds like she will be a joy and a trial to be around. Also, many people probably have already told you that ALL children are different. Just because her brother didn't do something doesn't mean that she won't, and vise versa.

My 2nd child was a climber! I didn't put him in a crib, but had to watch him all the time. He would climb on anything. Fortunately, he had an older brother who liked to let me know when the baby was doing something he shouldn't. The best thing I can think of to tell you right now is create other distractions and interesting, safe places to climb. I also used pillows and blankets in places that might cushion a fall. Keep them around the house handy (for when you are making dinner and you see her climbing on the couch.. you can just run over and drop pillows and blankets around.) Eventually, they don't need to do it so much (not that the climbing ever goes away). I have a "Learning Tower" that is safe and mine loves to climb into it.. of course he has also used it to climb onto the countertop. You can put something she wants up where she will need to climb safely to get it. But you have to watch as best you can and know that if you've made your home as safe as you can, that's all you can do. They do fall, and luckily, children are resillient.

When my kids started trying to get out of the crib to the point they could get hurt, I took the railing off and made it a toddler bed or moved them into a low twin bed. I know it seems too soon, but it's better than your baby getting hurt. We just put a baby gate up in the bedroom doorway and taught them to stay in bed. I also put the kids in gymnastics. This way they have a place to climb on things that is safe. They have Mommy and Me class and free play where your child can crawl around and climb safely. 2 of my 3 are at "My Gym". If you're in Reno, it's on Keitzke. They are great and love letting your kids explore.

My 18 month old daughter was doing the same thing at 6 months (very strong and tall), I had to get a crib tent from babies r us online. I moved her into a toddler bed at 10 months or so. I had to take the crib out of her room completely because the problem went from climbing out to trying to climb in! It was difficult the first few weeks she wouldn't nap or go to sleep well because she wanted to play, but then she adapted and everything was back to normal. If you put her in a toddler bed, you'll want to remove everything that can be climbed on until she is used to having to go to bed. I put a toddler bed into her room and let her take naps on it before I took the crib away. Hope this helps!

I have 3 climbers of my own, 4, 3, & almost 2! We have done several things with them.

First (and most important) teach them a safe way to get down - "feet first, on your tummy" is our catch phrase. If they manage to get up onto something & can't get down (or are too afraid to try), teach them to call for you..."Mommy, Daddy, help me down please!"

Second, go on a "field trip" around your house & show her what she's allowed to climb on & what she shouldn't climb on. You need to be willing to let her climb on some things that are safe. Perhaps the couch & chairs that don't have wheels or swivels on them.

It's important to be consistent in your parenting. If you find her climbing on things you told her not to, have a predetermined consequence that you use each time. If she's climbing on something you haven't talked about, it's important not to punish her, but explain to her that it is dangerous & from now on she may not climb there.

Children are curious by nature - that's how they learn things! She is finding out what her body can do, finding out what's on the counter that she can't see, trying to look out the window, seeing how much she can get away with before you intervene, trying to get attention...

As far as the crib goes, as a neonatal nurse, I feel crib tents are not safe - it gives the child (and yourself) a false sense of security, and if she figures out how to get part of it off, it could be a safety hazard. When my 3 yo daughter started climbing out of her crib - around 14 months - we simply lowered her crib rail & taught her how & when to climb out by herself. By leaving her in the crib, we were confident she wouldn't roll out during naps or at night. Then, we allowed her specific circumstances where she could climb out. She was not allowed to climb out without asking first & waiting for our response. (If your little one isn't verbal yet, teach her to knock on the wall & wait for you to come into the room). Then, with you in sight, she's allowed to climb out.

This may not work for every family, but it definitely gave my husband & I peace of mind. Good luck!

They make crib netting for this very purpose - go to Babies R Us/ Toy R Us, and you'll find crib canopies that will keep her safe.

As far as the baby gate - you can double them up (higher) or get solid plastic ones that she can't climb. Stairs (we have them too) should be encouraged - so she learns and won't seriously hurt herself.

Good luck with your little MONKEY!

Really I know it sounds crazy to get rid of the crib for a 1 year old but honest if you don't you can count on a concussion or stiches in the near future. In my experience it is better to put her in a big kid bed and not the crib. My own mother seperated her twins for the first time when they were about 8 months old and they pulled the same stunt except it was from one crib to the other and it was over the tall end of the crib... that was also the last time they slept in a crib and it was strictly for their own safety and your sanity

A., my now 3 year old has always been quite a climber. Before he could actually walk on his own, he figured out how to move items (by crawling and pushing them) to the counter and climb up it. He even figured out how to layer it so he had "steps" if what he had grabbed was not tall enough! Needless to say, we were a bit panicked at this. At one point, I took all the chairs and locked them in a room, so we had to go get chairs to sit down to eat, but he wouldn't stop climbing them!!!

Anyway, for the crib I finally just put the side down on it. It is still up enough for her not to just roll out, but she can get out without seriously hurting herself. It worked for my son. The frustrating part is that it means you have to work on keeping the child in the room, because now they can get out.

There are also crib tents, but they never worked for my son. He figured out how to get them off. And, for me, I preferred that he learn it correctly the first time. This did mean that the room had to be thoroughly baby proofed.

As far as the rest of it, you just have to keep an eye. I found that nothing really worked, because he was bright enough to figure it out. Believe it or not, he even picked the lock into the bathroom after watching me do it! So climbing is most likely not going to be your last issue.

One thing that's important is to make sure you have shelves and other climbable high things strapped to the wall. We ended up putting my son's bureau into his closet and putting locks on the closet, because he climbed the shelves one day (it was safely attached to the wall, so didn't tilt) and got Vaseline down off shelves we had above the bureau. I won't describe THAT mess. :x

I'm trying to think of what else we did, but it was basically us fixing each problem as it came up, because he was often a step ahead of us. I still closed the gates, even though he could climb them, because it at least slowed him down until I could get there. I've heard of buying double the gates and stacking one on top of the other, as well, so that might be worth trying at stairs.

And I found a place that had neat foam toys for him to climb. Not letting the child climb at all is just going to frustrate them.

Good luck!

Hello! From one mother of a monkey to another, I would recommend getting something for her to climb on, like one of the Little Tykes play things that you can keep inside and let her do it, let her know where it is ok and where it isnt. Or, even just take the cushions off the sofa and pile them up and let her go at it. We quickly realized with our monkeys (twins) that we needed to help them perfect it because they were getting hurt in the process. As far as the bed, we got crib tents. There was one listed on craigs list the other day :) They worked wonders for our twins and we got about another year out of their cribs using the tents. I agree that 12 months is too young to move to a toddler bed, this is a stage and once the novelty of her new found talent wears off, she will settle down but in the mean time you need to keep her safe.

My twins are now almost 4 and they are still monkeys but are pretty talented now so we don't worry as much about the bumps and bruises. So, rest assured, this too shall pass :)

Oh, and I think you are totally right to talk to her as if she understands you, because she does! She may not have the ability to talk back but she does understand!

M.

I'd say a crib tent or a toddler bed. As a mother, you know safety is important!