Fell Out of Crib

Both my kids were out of a crib by that age. My daughter just didn't like the crib so at 15 months old I moved her to a regular bed and she was fine. My son started climbing out around 14 months old. I was not prepared as I had intended to keep him in a crib much longer, since he was happy in the crib. Initially I just put the crib matress on the floor. He did fine too. I moved him to a regular twin bed at around 18 months with an extra long bed rail. I would say it is safest to transition to a bed of some sort. Even if you just put the crib mattress on the floor until you get a toddler or twin bed.

I put both of my kids in twin beds around 18 months old and never really had a problem with them getting out all the time until they were a bit older. IMO, no matter what age you move them to a regular bed, they are going to play the get out of bed game with you at some point. You just need to have a game plan ready for when it happens :) Try leaving the side rail off like you have for now with the bed rail up in it's place. That's what I did with my daughter to get her used to the idea of a regular bed. After about a week of no problems, I got her a twin bed and let her pick out her bed set to go with it.

Neither one of my kids were climbing out yet either.

Good luck!
S.

Since your daughter is already climbing out of the crib, it is definitely time for her to transition to a bed.

I have three kids and they were all transitioned to a bed between ages 1 and 2. They all did fine. I didn't use a toddler bed though. I put my kids directly into a twin sized bed with bed rails. They did get out of bed. That was to be expected. I placed a safety gate across their bedroom door so that if they did get out of bed, they could not get out of their room. I did not go in their rooms to put them back in bed when they got out of bed. I just let them play in their rooms until they fell asleep. When I was certain that they were asleep, then I would go into their rooms and place them back into bed. This method worked for me. Eventually, they stopped getting out of bed.

All of mine moved out of the crib by 18 months and did fine. I did what many have mentioned - put a twin boxspring and mattress on the floor (no bed initially). We placed it in a corner of the room (so two sides are along walls) and then put a bed rail along the long open side. We also made sure the room was safe and put a gate at the door so we knew they couldn't get hurt if they did get up to wander. We actually had very little trouble with them getting out of bed when we transitioned. I say go for it - I'm sure she'll do fine.

My dd was out of the crib by 12 months and into a bed. The crib just seemed small. She never fell out. We put a gate at her bedroom door so that she couldn't leave her room if she got up.

My son started sleeping with his sister when he was 12 months old. The bed is against the wall and he goes on that side, she is on the outside. That worked great until he turned 3 and she's ready for her own space (she is 7). He's in a toddler bed and he still falls out of that.

I think 18mos is a good age to be in a low bed. Just make sure he can't get out and walk down the stairs or hurt himself in any other way.

Good luck.

You can get a crib canopy. They are safe and would keep your little one contained. Or- you could begin training her to a toddler bed. It may take a lot of walking her back to bed, but she will get it eventually. Usually toddlers are super excited and overwhelmed by the freedom of a toddler bed, but it wears off eventually.

Best of luck!

I haven't read the other posts so I may be repeating, sorry.
I had my oldest and youngest into a full size bed at about your daughters age (just box spring and mattress no frame). We childproofed the room, put rails on the sides of the bed and took the crib out. Once you put her in the big girl bed she will most likely get out! Now she can explore her room freely. She will also come to the door and if it's open she will come out. I always closed my childrens doors all the way since birth. So, when I put them into the big beds that didn't change. Since they were so little they couldn't open the doors and finally fell asleep on the bedroom floor. I would go in after they were asleep and pick them up and put them back in bed! After a few days of that they learned to just fall asleep in their beds. Actually, I don't even think my youngest ever crawled out of her bed. I guess she just knew that everyone else in the house was sleeping in a big bed and now so was she!
Good luck!

I would get rid of the crib if she is able to climb out of it. My oldest was 15 months when we put her in a twin size bed without the frame and my youngest was 13 months when he went into the twin size bed without the frame. With both the first few nights they got out of bed a handful of times but finally got use to their new beds. good luck

We had to move my oldest out of his crib about that age because he could climb out of the crib and the pack and play and kept falling on his head too. We moved him into a toddler bed and the first night was hard going to bed, but after that he loved it! We made a big deal about moving to a "big" boy bed and he thought it was cool he had a new pillow (a very flat one, but new all the same).

The hardest was honestly when we went to visit my parents or my in-laws and he needed to sleep in a new place. At our house, we had a gate up at his door so his door wasn't closed, but he couldn't wander the house when we slept either.

They will get out and explore the room, but we made it childproof and the only items besides diapers and clothes my kids are allowed in their rooms are books. I left a basket of books and they would read for awhile, eventually going back to bed and falling asleep. The amount of time to go to sleep varied depending on how tired they were.

Good luck! I hope it works out well for you!

I would also get the canopy for now, it will keep her much safer and you much saner. ha ha!

I wish you luck with your little monkey!

I think that what you've done is excellent! I might even teach her how to safely get out of bed. Then you will have the challenge of dealing with what she is doing when she gets out of bed. You will face that one at some point anyway. Since she's started the process deal with it now.

See if what you did works. If it does not then she is going to have a toddler bed. Some kids are ready at this age and some are not.

We had to move our daughter to a bed when she was a year old, she could climb out of the crib so fast!

We placed the bed up against the wall. She did not try to get out of the bed at first but once she figured it out it took a few nights of walking her back to get her to stay,.

You're right, 18 mos. is in that mobile but not sensible stage and Mom's come in with this question at least once a week. You are not alone.
If your crib has four equal heighth corners, you can use the Crib Tent or Crib Tent II. (Take a look at www.kidproteq.com and use the coupon on mamapedia.). Unfortunately, at this time there is not a simple solution if you have a Sleigh Type Crib...We keep suggesting it to the industry manufacturers.
If not, this is what I recommend to moms. Put the baby's mattress on the floor with the things he/she loves. Baby proof the room. This means: no hanging wires, all other furniture fixed to walls, no furniture under the window, window secure (a screen is not a barrier), and secure closet door. If the baby can reach it, move it. Make sure there is a wall safe night light in the room and install a pressure mounted gate at the door. Yes, your baby will have run of the nursery, but you will know that he/she is safe. If Kidproteq can help in any way, let us know.

Our little monkey was the same way so we got a tent ...
https://www.totsinmind.com/
We preferred the original but I've heard good things about both. We also got one for our pack-n-play for road trips. This gives you time to determine when she's ready for a bed and make the preparations. When we knew it was time, we spent several weeks talking up the transition as something really special. We let our boys pick out a few things to personalize their "big boy beds" and they were so excited they never even thought about getting out of those beds ;)

My kids were about 18 months when i put them in a toddler bed. They loved it! They got to pick out their own bedding :) I used a gate at the door and baby proofed their room. She may fall asleep near the gate the first few nights... that doesn't last long though. Every time you hear her, just remind her to go back to bed. I am so closterphobic, i could not see tenting my kids. I know it probably would not bother them...but i would bother me :(

Like with any aged child you have to train them to stay in the toddler bed. When our so began climbing over the sides of his crib, like you have explained your daughter to be doing, we had to move him to the toddler bed. I held off for at least a week hoping he would stop with punishment but he didn't. We transitioned him to his toddler bed and every time he got out he got punished. Because I was consistent with punishment when he got out it didn't take long for him to learn that he was to stay put when I put him to bed or down for a nap. However, he did wake up in the night for a while crying because he wanted to go back into his crib and on several occasions he crawled back into his crib on his own. I of course did not punish him for this. I would first try calming him down and putting him back in the toddler bed. If he kept crying for his crib then I would put him into the crib and he would be fine. It just takes a while to train them and for them to get use to the new bed.

If you aren't ready to make the transition yet, they do make nets that go over the tops of cribs just for that very purpose. Good luck!

18 months seems too young to transition to a bed but that is just my opinion. Have you looked into getting a crib 'tent' for the top? I know you can find them at One Step Ahead but I'm sure there are other stores that carry them as well.

For the child's safety, she should stay in the crib for as long as possible. It doesn't matter if other parents said THEIR children did fine at a younger age. Each child is different and they lucked out. The longer a child is in their crib the easier the transition will be to a toddler bed.

Try a crib tent! Those are great. I've known many triplet parents who had to invest in 3 to keep their children in. Until then, put a gate up in the doorway because even if she can't reach the handle you'd be surprised what she will use to climb up on to open that door, uncluding her own blanket.

Child proof the room! Make it as if she had free reign in the room so if she is out of her crib she will be safe! No hard toys in the room, only soft because they can be thrown or she can fall on them without supervision. Strap dressers to the wall so they won't tip or better yet, put the dresser in a closet, hall or other room because drawers can be used as steps. Use straps or handle locks on closet doors. Make sure outlets are plugged and no lamps or anything plugged in the walls, unless furniture is in front of them blocking them. Long curtains and blind cords need to go. Get down and crawl around and think about every possible problem. And check online for safety items because those will help prompt ideas of safety.

If sleeping is a problem, you can use duct tape and black plast/brown paper bags to blacken the room. Doesn't have to be pretty, just functional.

Keep her in her clib for as long as possible! Use a crib tent! Use a gate! Child proof the room no matter what!

K. B
mom to 5 including triplets

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