Hi Ladies, my daughter apparently tried to climb out of the crib for the first time today & my husband is concerned so I told him I would question what other parent's do to either prevent this or if there is a crib that is designed to not allow this.
We have a very nice crib that converts to a toddler bed & then a full size bed so we are not looking to get rid of this crib AND we are not looking to convert it just yet.
She is only 18 months & I am hoping to have her in the crib as long as possible as she does great in there otherwise plus I do not want her to have the easier option to get out of her bed at any time-if we were to convert it.
I do not think she is going to try to get out of the crib all the time but since she has just tried today, I figure we should prepare for the future when she probably will make it a habit. We have hardwood floors so we are concerned for her safety. The crib is already on it's lowest setting.
We do have a possible option to get a new crib & use the crib she is in now for her brother who will be born in May since we are planning on buying another crib anyhow since her's converts we will need an additional one regardless...SO if there is a crib option that is deeper or designed to prevent climbing out-we are interested in looking into it.
Thanks, ahead if time, for your sharing how you handle this situation.
Thanks for all of the input. She sleeps in a toddler sleep sack & can't get her leg up to climb out-when she tried to climb out yesterday my husband had just put her in there in the middle of the day to play & then left the room which she didn't like & wanted to follow so once I was reminded about the sleep sack on one of the posts my answer was there...until she really does start climbing out-if she figures how to do it in the sack. She doesn't spend enough time in there otherwise to even try to climb out. She isn't at the age where she fights going to bed so that is not an issue. I will not be converting until there is no other option-it would be more dangerous that way-cause she moves around a lot in the night & would for certain fall out in her sleep which would be less of a lesson learner cause she wouldn't understand the cause & effect that she does now when she does somthing to hurt herself. Apparently other than converting or a net there are not cribs designed to prevent climbing since no one mentioned this so I have my answer for now. Thanks!
Crib tents - the mesh tops another poster mentioned - are wonderful. My son is very tall, but wasn't ready to move out of the crib, so we got a tent. He loved it and it kept him in the crib until it was time to move him. He slept well in the crib & now sleeps well in his bed. They are expensive, but so worth it, as waking up to a thud of a toddler hitting the floor at 3 am is bad!
I personally would convert the crib to a toddler bed now and get her used to sleeping without the bars around her. Since you have the new baby coming in such a short time, it would seem to me this would be a good way to give her the idea that she's going to be the "big" sister. It would also help you be able to set things up so that if she does fall out of bed, she doesn't have as far to fall... therefore less chance of real injury. If a child is trying to climb out of the crib, I just think that shows it's time for a 'big girl' bed. Just my personal opinion for whatever it's worth.
A family I knew had these mesh tops for their twin's cribs and that worked well. They were worried too about them getting out and hurting themselves. They are opened by a big zipper.
We've kept both our kids (now almost 4 and 18 mos) in sleep sacks for a long time. Our older child started using regular blankets when we put her in a big-girl bed at age 2.5. They are great for inhibiting those legs from swinging over the crib, and they are also great peace of mind that they stay warm at night.
Oh, sorry. Just saw your updated reponse. Guess you already use a sleep sack! :-)
Greetings J.,
Let me say that as the mother of 5, a foster parent, and Grandmother of several sweeties-- They all climb out and then the race is on for the next 18 years or so in keeping track of them.
Our 1st child my nutty husband thought it cute to teach her how to get out and even provided a pile of safe things for her to land on- the man repented and didn't teach another child that trick again. We have funny stories of waking up to a child just standing there staring at you in the middle of the night from getting out of bed.
All that I can suggest is 1. kiss the child and put them back into bed 2. when they get out let them climb into bed with you or have a stack of blankets near your bed so they can "nest"3. look at toddler youth beds that have crib size mattress because once they learn to get out they learn to climb back in and that can be real tricky --but my 2 boys and 1 daughter all seemed to do it by 24 months so getting another crib may not be worth it. Good Luck and
keep enjoying the adventure of parenthood- it will have more twists and turns than any theme park ride but will be the greatest work you have ever done. Nana Glenda
Is your crib one with a higher back? We had the same issue with our daughter, She's very tall for her age and learned early on how to climb out. We tried the toddler bed, but she was so young that, she didn't deal well with the freedom of being able to get out at any point. She had a hard time getting to and staying asleep. Our crib was taller at the back, so I turned it around so that the shorter side faced the wall, and it bought us another 6 or 7 months that were MUCH appreciated. She immediately fell asleep when she knew she was contained and protected. If you don't have that option, I would definitely suggest the removable rail on the toddler bed, because they do tend to roll out ;-)
Good luck!
I too would wait to see if it becomes a habit. My daughter fell out of her crib about that age (enough to scare her, but not hurt her) and she never did it again. We kept her in there until she was 2 1/2. My other kids were in their crib until 3...just never figured out the climb out thing. Honestly I would try to keep her in there as long as you can, especially if she sleeps well in there. You don't want to mess with that with another baby on the way. I have had some friend have success with the crib tents. Also, I found putting some books/toys in the crib that can entertain her when she wakes before you can get there helpful as well.
Well this is what we did, not sure how popular it is with everyone, but it worked for me.
When my son turned 18 mths old, he's VERY tall for his age, so we put him in a twin bed, with side rails and put a gate on his door. He never once tried to get out of his "big boy" bed and the gate actually helped with keeping him coralled while getting him dressed, or after baths from doing the nakey run down the hall. His room was completely baby proofed (as much as I'd like to think, we all know it's never completely baby proofed), so it was nice to know he couldnt' get out of his room if he did decide to get out of bed.
He didnt actually figure out he could get out of his bed until AFTER his 3rd birthday when I took him out and showed him out to go to the bathroom by himself....it was like a light went off and he figured out that he'd been missing out on a lot of fun.
I would wait and see if she continues first. Sometimes they go with it and practice, other times they do it rarely. One of mine did this at 18 months. We got the expensive crib tent and she manipulated her little hands on the zipper and opened it anyway. If they can climb in & out, I think it is time for a toddler bed (or convert). It will take more on your & hubby's part to keep her in it for bed time, but like other parents I think now is the time since you are going to need the crib in May anyway. My twins figured out they could climb out around 20 months and we just converted at that point. They fall out of it occasionally but the drop is pretty short and they're learning how to sleep in big-girl beds. My middle girl was over 2 when we converted and she rarely climbed out.
Congrats on your new baby, enjoy.
D.
J.,
I say convert the crib or put her in a toddler bed if you plan on using that crib for her new baby brother. I suggest you do it now. The reason I say that is. If she is climbing out now why risk serious injury? My son was 22 months the first time he climbed out of his crib. I was shocked because his crib has very high railings on it then normal cribs. I acutally peeked in one time to see how he was doing it. If they do it once they will do it over and over. At 27 months my son threw a pillow over and tried to reach for it and i watched him as I was walking in to check on him flipped out in mid air over the front head first. I thought for sure he broke his neck. I still cry thinking about it. At that time I was 5 months prego. I decided to move him into a twin bed, day bed with a trumdle. We pulled it out at night so if he did fall out of bed he fell on the lower bed. The crib only converts to a double but we were going to use it for new baby. At that time he was going to a new school, potty training, his dad was gone every week for 4 days at a time for work, then a new baby to soon join us. That is a lot for a 2yr old. The last thing I wanted to do was take his crib away. So at 27 months we took the crib down and put it in the garage, 3 months before baby came. Out of sit out of mind. we didn's put it up till baby he was 4 months old.
Hope that helps. Its all a guessing came. I wish I put my 1st son in a bed earlier. Why take chances. We made a big deal out of getting my son into a "big boy" bed. We went and picked out new bedding and pillows, and a new stuff animal. We also put a baby gate up at his bedroom door so he could not wonder around the house when we tried to get him to stay in his bed.
He was so thrilled watching daddy put his old crib up for his new baby brother. He use to climb in it when his baby brother was 4 months old and would lay with him. We told him that he can't climb out of it. We had to get him so he doesn't teach his brother how to climb out when he got older. His baby brother is now 19 months and will climb everything in the house but out of his crib. PHEW!!! Im shocked he hasn't climbed out yet since he was walking at 7.5 months. We will convert the crib for him when he does climb out the first time.
Congrats on baby #2. Let the games begin.
SHAM, 40yrs old, with 2 amazing, funny little boys. 4yrs and 1yr. They truly take my breath away.
Congrats on the new addition, that's exciting.
My daughter "climbed" out once (actually fell out) and never tried it again (she's 2 1/2 and that happened at about 18 months). However, my niece kept doing it and they ended up putting her in a toddler bed at 18 months. My SIL read something recently that she wishes she had read before the transitioned her. Sleep sacks!!! They can't get their legs up to climb out. Also, as I'm sure you know, make sure the crib mattress is at it's lowest position.
Best of luck,
C.
It's time to convert to the toddler bed whether you are ready or not. Once she has shown the ability to climb out she can do it at will. Also, you have the perfect opportunity right now to teach her about her toddler bed and develop a routine right now where you make her see/feel that it is her special nest. Once your next baby comes along, you will not have the time or energy for this. I also strongly suggest purchasing a side safety rail which you can either order online or find at baby furniture stores. They slide under the mattress of a twin bed and make that transition must safer. When we converted our crib to the toddler bed, we put the mattress on the floor to ensure safety.
My son fell out once. After that he knew exactly how to climb in and out on his own. He loved his crib and slept in it till he was a little over 3 yrs old.
We have a crib tent and just love it. We bought the deluxe version from Amazon. We have very tall kids and they would learn to get out of the crib very early and we too have hardwood floors and this has handled the problem great. Now we have no worries about their safety.
