My 16 mos. old son recently discovered the "thrill" of flipping himself out of his crib. The mattress was already at its lowest setting so my husband and I immediately converted the crib into a daybed for his safety and our sanity. Since everything in his room is potentially fair game to his inquisitive/strong hands we have removed everything he could climb on except the changing table (which makes me nervous) and have used furniture straps on the furniture. My son is a babbler, not a talker yet -- he'll grab my hand and lead me to the pantry for a snack or frig for milk, etc. so how can I communicate to him about staying in bed - right now everything seems like a game to him. We put a safety door knob on the inside of his door since he likes to knock on his door to see who will answer...right now I get him to fall asleep by staying in his room on the floor and rubbing his back until he falls asleep...before, I would just put him in the crib awake since he has been able to self-sooth for months and he'd eventually fall asleep after a little babble of 5-10 minutes. I don't want him to be dependant on me to fall asleep. I am SO worried right now - my son is so energetic and has no regard for his body - any thoughts on channeling his energy? We play active games like 'follow the leader' and crawl around through a long tunnel, run really fast, clib stairs, go for walks, chase the dog, etc. I have a wonderful sitter who stays with him during the day who also does many indoor and outdoor activities with him. Any advice anyone can provide on how to help him with this transition would be GREATLY appreciated - he was on such a wonderful schedule before that kept the whole family, including Baby Anthony, VERY happy.
Thanks to the four great Moms who replied! Anthony now sleeps in his crib converted into a daybed with "crash pillows" on the floor for the rare tumble. He doesn;t even wake up when he falls out of bed! ha ha ha! The best thing was to get him out of that crib before he hurt himself. BTW - I took a long stuffed toy snake and put it under his fitted sheet as a "speed bump" - THAT HELPED A LOT!!!!!!
My daughter recently crawled out of the crib as well, but she only did it once. I think as long as we go get her as soon as she wakes up, she'll stay in it. They do make some type of netting thing that goes over the crib so they can't crawl out. I think they might be a little too young to be in a toddler bed yet. I was going to wait until about 2 years. Anyway, the net might be something you want to look into! Hope that helps!
Somthing that you said scared me. you should not have a safty dornob on the inside of his room. what if there is an emergency or a fire and he can't get out? on a childs room there should'nt even be a lock. and why are you in his room at night if he can self sooth? I really think your doing damage by doing that. if he does'nt fall sleep in his bed then let him sleep on the floor just don't let him out of the room until morning becuase by you staying in there he's thinking well my crib is gone but that's ok because i'm getting more attention from mom. DUH LOL don't do that. he'll learn and its only gonna get worse because he is going to be starting terrable 2's in about 2 months. I know they say 2's but with mine it was more like 18months-present and still going. LOL
Hello C.,
Your routine with your baby sound like my kids routine, when they where babies, well I still have one my 17 month old girl she is the best! I haven’t, had hard time with my girl. No once!!! i usually put her in bed and she fall slep by her own.
I read in BabyCenter recently in one of the emails they usually send me every month regarding my baby and they said that at the age of sixteen month or so they start changing their routine including naps. I have notice my daughter now want to take one nap instead of two. And also they get more independent at this age so just let’s be ready for our a little trouble makers.
The way you describe him sound to me like he is a big boy, with a lot of energy wow! if so why don’t you buy a toddler bed for him. My son used to have a race car toddler bed it was cute they are not big and they have some protection in the sides and they are very low, this way you can sleep at night and don’t worry. I know what you mean, I always think about one day my girl will learn how to climb out of her crib, but she is very a little even for her age, but still I always keep an eye on her.
PS . By the way what part of NY you guys caming from? We used to live in Long Island New York.
Miss all that!
Regards,
josie
Heis still pretty young, I didn't move my son out of his crib until he was almost 3. I never had the problem of him trying to get out of his crib though, but a friend of mine had a safety net tent over her son's crib that was designed to keep him in. You could try that. Otherwise your son understands you much more than you understand him. At his age he is learning a new word every 90 seconds. Even though he can't use them he knws them. Just lead him back to his bed without saying anything to him. Even if he cries lead him back to his bed. With my son we put a gate across his doorway and leave the door open it helped him feel connected to us while it still kept him confined. That may help.
