Help Escapee from Pack N Play

Hi, I would either strap my son (when he was younger) in his highchair with a dvd or take him in the shower with me. I put one of the shower mats so he would not slip and slide all over. (I use that when I give my kids baths also). Now with my daughter, she is 20 months, I leave the door open and she and my son, 3 1/2, play in the living room together.

I'm amazed that a child this age has been willing to be in any kind of bed/play pen! Most kids won't do it after about 9-12 months! You've been very lucky! Will she watch a video?

I got a harness at Home Depot, I think.

None of my 4 daughters has ever used any kind of playpen. I usually brought my toddlers in the bathroom with me and talked to them unless they would watch a kiddie show on TV. Talk to her and explain how it's going to work. Keep her nearby with her books or video or whatever. Keep the bathroom door open if she's not in there. You can work with her on this. Be sweet but firm about the boundaries. It may not be perfect the first time or two. Praise her when she does well.

I learned to shower at night once the kids were in bed many years ago - a lot less hassle - and as a grandma, I still find this the best plan. I just spray my hair with wather in the morning to re-do it.

Hi TS,
I know what you mean. I've raised 6 kids.
My best advice is put her in the shower with you with toys to play with. This helps her get used to water on her head and you bathe her at the same time. My kids loved it. 2 have gone on to be State Qualifiers in swimming and the others just love to swim for fun. They are not afraid of water etc.
Good Luck!!
from JR,

My daughter is 22 months as well and I take a shower everyday with on the loose on my house, in the beginning she tried to get into things but she knows what she should and should not get into, and she is very active as well, I put a little rocking chair in my bathroom and she likes to come in there and play while Im showering, an idea would be get a little box of fun mommy things for her to play with like makeup brushes a little toothbrush for her, something that can occupy her. you can lock her in the bathroom with you or even wait till her nap to shower, I refused to let my daughter dictate when I shower, she does really well
good luck

Do you have a door between the bedroom and bathroom? If so, bring her in the bathroom with you, put some interesting toys on the floor, close the door, and hurry! I too, had this issue and there isn't any easy solution if there isn't another person to watch her at that time. If not, make one room 'safe' and put a baby gate in the doorframe. Best of luck to you... Mommies SHOULD be able to shower!

I've gone to taking my showers at night. I'm not crazy about it personally, but it does give me the time I need without worrying or feeling rushed to get in and out! It just works out the best for us.

TS,

I have 5 boys and what I did with one of them was put them right in the bathroom with me when I showered. He could get over most any obstacle (baby gates, play pens, cribs, everything).

I took out anything from the lower cabinets that could harm him, and put my towels, washcloths etc there.I kept a lower drawer full of toys for just when I was showering, and he could only play with those toys when he was in the bathroom with me. We would also talk and I would sing songs to him. I could also keep peeking out from behind the shower curtain to make sure he was ok.

I know its a pain to have to do this, but its much better than worrying if they are ok, and also much easier than cleaning up some huge mess because they "escaped" and got into stuff.

Have you tried a pressure gate and gating her in her room? That's what we did when our daughter was big enough to get out of bed on her own but young enough that we didn't want her out wandering on her own. Just make sure that the things that you leave out in her room are appropriate for her to play with and are things that she can't hurt herself with (or use as a step ladder to climb over the gate). That might mean taking a few things out or putting them away in the closet where she can't get to them.

My mom did this with my younger brothers (youngest is 22 now), and for a couple of them she had to move the dresser into the closet and make sure the closet doors were closed or they would use the drawers as steps to climb to the top of the dresser.

J.

I usually take my shower at night while my son is asleep (he's 2 years old and very active). If I have to take one while he's awake, I put the baby gate up in front of his doorway and give him some toys to play with.

shower at night after she is asleep and have your stuff for the getting ready in the morning already set out

Does your bathroom door open inward or outward? If in, the only thing I would suggest is locking her in the bathroom with you - if she can figure out the lock on the knob, put one of those door stoppers/locks up high. These things are plates that you lift and flip to lock the door - we have one on our basement because my son figured out our french door handles as soon as he could reach them.....plus it's good security at night.

K

TS -

I don't know if you work out of the home or are stay at home. If you need to leave the house, you will have to wake up before she does, otherwise if you're just at home wait until she takes her afternoon nap. Otherwise, it is just not safe for her to be roaming around the house or your room.

dana

Baby proof your bathroom and keep her in there with you. Play peek-a-boo with the shower curtain and give her toys to play with till you are ready to get out. I did this will all 3 of my kids and it worked just fine and they were always within my sight. Sometimes I would just take them right into the shower with me. My children were taking showers on their own by 4 years old.

bring her in the bathroom with you!

I always took the girls into the bathroom with me when they reached that point. It was easy to hear what they were doing and I knew they weren't getting into trouble. Of course, I always made sure that the bathroom was safe for them.

They make tents that fit over pack n plays. I have a girlfriend that swears by hers! Go to http://www.onestepahead.com/catalog/product.jsp?productId... to check them out.

Oh I remember the days!! When I had just one, I would bring her in the shower with me...that all ended when the other two arrived pretty close together. I used to get up earlier than my three to have my "me" time in the morning. I would get up early, shower, get ready for the day, read the paper, have some coffee and THEN get the troops up. It was much easier than trying to get ready for whatever the day brings with 3 toddlers under foot. Or on the other end of the day...you could take your shower after she goes to bed.

i have a baby gate across there bedroom doorway. and there room is baby proof, with books and sum toys. i also put on a movie in there room while i jump in the shower. you also have to learn to be a fast washer in the shower.:) good luck to you

One thing you may want to consider doing is taking a shower before she gets up from bed; maybe even put a toddler gate across her doorway while you shower keeping her confined to a safe space. I've trained my 3 year old son that when wakes up in his bed in the morning, he asks me if he can come out of bed because he knows I may be 2 floors down doing laundry or in the bathroom. This has worked out great for me. It gets easier as they get older, so hang in there!:)

MC

I have a set of triplets that are now 6. I hate to say this but you are going to now have to get up earlier and get ready before she is up and out. lol I actually had to double up on the gates in their doorway, one on top of the other. They were in toddler beds at 20 months because of climbing out of their cribs.

Do you have anything else that she is strapped into? Like a highchair?

S.

The octagonal gates you can form into whatever shape you want work wonders. You can also take them apart and quarden off areas of the house you don't want her to get into. They cost a bit ($50 for a 6-piece set) but are well worth it!! They can play and walk in there and not feel so enclosed. And I don't think she could climb out of them.

Sounds just like my son! I use to put my now 6 year old in his highchair while I showered. I'd put him in front of the TV (I know, bad mom, I let my kids watch tv)he'd watch baby enstein or noggin on cable and play with a pile of toys. He couldn't get the belt off so he'd stay put.

When my son started doing that I would strap him in his high chair with a movie playing on the TV, give him some snacks and get my cleaning done or take a quick shower. He loved it!! Good luck!

I just take my two year old daughter in the shower with me. Or I have also been known to put her in the bvathroom with me and play with her toys in there while i interact with her, or have her read her books to me in the bathroom. As far as the escape artist thing my daughter learned how to escape from her crib in 2 attempts. She learned how to scale the side of that thing in 2.5 seconds. SO we decided that she was ready for a less confining bed and we put up the transitional bed up for her instead. It is amazing how are children seem to know what is best for them in areas of growing on and growing on to bigger and better things. like when they learn to walk it is certainly not because of anything we as parents do or don't do, it is all based on when they are ready. I believe that to be true in our daughter's case about the crib. mabey your daughter is crying out for freedom as well. Just a few suggestions hope they helped.
mom27

I used a fisher price infant to toddler rocking chair to contain my daughter.

it has a pretty good seat belt and she couldnt get out.

I just kept it in the bathroom so I could take a shower.

I sometimes put her in the shower with me.

Get up before her and be ready ahead of time.

Hi,
I have mine nine months apart (wasn't planned) but I find it really helpful that when they are asleep during nap times or at night before I go to bed is when I take my showers or bath. Try it! you might find it easier for you......have a good day!

I understand to well. My whole house is one large baby gate. my son started getting out of his crib and pack n play at 9 months. so we put a gate around the fireplace and gated the liveing room and took everything out he could hurt himself on. or so we thought seems like he finds something like the wall or jumping off the couch. but gates is all I can say...

Put her in the shower with you. My kids love that.

my daughters high chair has a "seat belt" on it, so see if yours does and if you put the tray back on it there isn't really a way to unbuckle it on their own. a baby einstien dvd and her high chair gives me 20 min of time to get ready in the morning.

lock your bedroom door anything that notsafe should be put up bring baby in the bathroom with you with afew toy shower and play peekaboo or put in the shower floor and both get clean at once

I have 2 and am expecting my 3rd any day now. What I do is one of the 3 following things:

Preferrably, I get up when my husband goes to work and take a shower before the kids get up. If I don't do that, I take it when they take their nap in the afternoon. However, my near 3 year old son seems to be giving up his nap so that may not be an option for me much longer! The third option is waiting until my husband is home and/or the kids are in bed.

I wouldn't suggest leaving her strapped into a high chair if she's not in the bathroom with you as, at her age and with her obvious skills of escape, she'll be trying to get out of the high chair too and may end up seriously hurting herself. I wouldn't give her snacks (unless maybe the ones that dissolve in their mouth) as she could easily start to choke and you wouldn't know it. I once left my son eating lunch (he was over 2 1/2 years old at the time) while I ran out into the yard to show a worker something and when I came back in he was terrified and had obviously choked on his food as he had half chewed, watery food all over his plate that he had coughed up. I've never felt so horrible and I'll never leave them eating unattended again!

God speed! I'm sure you'll find something that works well for both you and your daughter.

my daughter would het her shower with me, she would sit on the tub floor and play with her toys, while I showered.