Son Fell Out of Crib!

A friend of mine got a crib tent when her daughter started getting out. Her daughter hated it at first but got used to it.

I had to move my child into a toddler bed at 22 months after months of her climbing out. I wish I would have went with a crib tent instead! Believe me, it would have been soooooooooooooooooooo worth it!

Yes, you are lucky he didn't get hurt.

- Toddler bed, twin bed with 2 rails, crib or twin mattress on the floor.
- Make sure room is babyproofed - furniture attache dto walls, outlets covered, plastic trash bags removed, electrical cords out of reach , blind cords cut short or tied up high
- Trn door knob around or replace with "closet" knob so he can't lock you out
- Use a door handle cover or lever lock on inside of the door
- Hall night light and stair baby gate in case of escape
- Be strick about staying in bed. Odds are if you don't give him oprions, he will stay there.

Have fun. It is really not as bad as you think it will be.

My son is a handful! He fell out of his crib as well. I guess it scared him enough to not do it again for awhile. But he sure did, and does it very gracefully now. I was worried about him wandering about, so at first I put a gate on his door, he climbed over it. I put a child lock on his doorknob, he broke it off. Now, I turned his doorknob around so I could lock it from the outside. I only had to lock it a few times before he gave up and decided he couldnt get out and would go to bed. GOOD LUCK!

My daughter was 18 months old when we put her in a toddler bed for the same reason. She was climbing out & falling. Lowest setting too.

I don't know what other moms did to keep their kids in bed, especially this young but I bribed my daughter. Bribed her with fruit snacks. I told her if she stayed in bed, she could have a pack of fruit snacks in the morning. I would even lay them on her night stand (closed package of course) to remind her. If she got out of bed after a few reminders, I would take the fruit snacks off her night stand as "punishment." LOL! It worked like a charm! It only took a few nights.... week tops and she had it all figured out. After about 3 or so months of doing this, we phased out the fruit snacks & she now just stays in her own bed. Good luck!!

My son did the same thing at about 1 year, I still have NO idea how he managed to get his leg up and over the rail! The mattress was on the lowest setting as well. I took the side off the crib for a few weeks, but the crib just seemed a little unstable so I put the mattresses on the floor. He sometimes got up and came to our bed, but I don't think that is a big deal and would just let him sleep with us. Now he doesn't get up at all at night. I would rather have him climbing off of a low mattress if he feels the urge to get up at night then to have him fall 3+ ft to the floor each time he feels the urge to get up!

Time for a toddler bed? Maybe not. Some people use the crib tents, but they don't fit on every style crib and frankly I'm not a fan of the whole idea. Having said that 18 months is a little young to have "free reign" over his room unsupervised, so you may want to give the tent a try. If it doesn't work, then you will have to switch over.

Take a look at where his shoulders fall on the top of the crib rail. If he's "head-and-shoulders" over the edge then he's tall enough to get himself out anytime he wants. That's what our pediatrician recommended. He always recommends staying in the crib as long as possible for safety- a roaming toddler is a scary thought! Make sure that his room is not only child-proof but "escape proof"... gates outside his door so he can't get into the rest of the house, some way of making sure you hear him if he gets out (my MIL put a bell outside of my husband's room b/c he sleepwalked), nightlights in dark corners/hallways, etc.

My little on is older, but a shorty so we've been able to keep him in a crib longer. Yesterday he was bouncing around and my husband and I both agreed that it's time to switch it over.

We took the side railing off the crib for our two year old when she started climbing out multiple times a night. I wish we had tried a crib tent first. Six months in and we still struggle with her getting up a million times. The crib tent might not have worked, but we missed our chance :-(. We've also locked all the doors so she can only come from her room down the hall to us, but she's never even tried to go anywhere else. She only wants us when she is up, not to go play. I tried locking her door once but she made so much racket in there slamming drawers and kicking the wall that she woke her sister up several days in a row. I think it is a bit trial and error to figure out your kid. My eldest never climbed out, just climbed IN her sister's crib. Once we made the switch to toddler bed, she just stayed there. No idea why it was so much easier with her!

When my daughter got out of her's I heard a thud, and then her crying all the way to me. I think it scared her enough that she never tried it again. I think it is time to go to a toddler bed. If it didn't hurt him and he has realized he can get out, he will continue to do it and could possibly hurt himself. As far as containing him in bed, I suggest you get a book TO TRAIN UP A CHILD by Michael Pearle. I had a problem with my daughter crying everytime I layed her down. I would have to rock her sometimes for over 2 hours to make sure she was asleep so I could lay her down. After just a few days after reading this book, it stopped. And she is real good about staying in her bed and she is now almost 4.

My son fell out once, and it scared him so badly that he never did it again. Other kids think it's fun and turn it into a game.

I kept my son in his crib until nearly 3.5. It made the transition into a real bed 1000x easier... because by 3ish... they can actually *understand* a whole heckuva lot more.

BTW... If he's a climber... don't waste the money on a toddler bed. Just take the rail off or set the crib mattress (or twin or full) on the floor.

We lock our son in his room. And I know a lot of people that do exactly that.

Many people will tell you to just keep walking them back to bed, and that's just part of it. I think it depends on your kid. Ours kept us up (kept getting up) from 12:30-4:30...over and over. It was worse then when he was a newborn! So we reversed the handle on his bedroom door and lock him in from the outside.

We never left him to cry. We always went in and tucked him back in. But we needed to create an association with him. He's come to understand that a locked door means it's time for sleeping. Now, I hear him get up and try the door several times at night. And unless he's had a bad dream, he just gets back into bed and goes back to sleep.

It's worked beautifully.

Someone on this forum called me a lazy mother for doing this. And despite some other choice words that I might say about that, you have to do what works for your family and your kids.

I spent hours of anxiety attacks over this with my first son and put a pile of pillows on the floor so in case he fell out he would be padded as he fell. Then when that didn't happen I wasn't as worried with number two and he did fall out. So again I believe I put a little mattress or something there. I don't think it takes more than a couple of times for them to realize that it will hurt. Fortunately those little bodies are made for tumbles in a lot of ways. I'd put a gate up by his room however so he isn't wandering through the house at night.

Yep, our little monkey could climb out at 12 months.. It will take some work, but you can teach them to sleep on their beds.. Place his crib mattress on the floor in a corner or get a twin bed with a guard rail and place the bed in the corner..

Or see if he will now stay in his bed since he fell this time..

You can also keep the side rail lowered to gain some time in the crib. Yes, he can get out. Time for trying some of the suggestions here for that.

I suggest calmly putting him back to bed each time he gets out. He'll get the idea that he's to stay in bed. Put a gate over the door and shut and lock the door so he can't leave the room if that's what you want. Depends on your house's floor plan whether or not it's safe for him to leave the room.

In response to the comment about leaving bedroom doors open being more safe in case of a fire that just isn't true. My father was a fireman and I've seen and read about fires. It's safest for bedroom doors to be closed. A closed door keeps a fire and the fumes from a fire from spreading so easily into the bedrooms. If the door is open the person sleeping can be overcome by fumes before they hear a smoke alarm and if the smoke alarm is not near their room they can be overcome by smoke before they hear the smoke alarm. This is why it's recommended putting the smoke alarm outside a bedroom door and keeping the door shut. Please check with your local fire department to learn the best way to stay safe in case of a fire.

the general rule of thumb, if they are attempting to get out, it's a lot safer to fall out of a toddler or low twin bed so - it's time mom! don't sweat it, talk it up how he's such a big boy now (don't mention the falling out of bed part lol) that he gets to have a big boy bed. talk about how special it is and how only big boys get to have new beds. maybe throw in there, that big boys don't get out of their beds at night. but most importantly - when he tries to get out, put him back in. every time. don't argue, don't negotiate. just put him back in without saying anything. you already told him good night, so just go in without talking, put him back in, and walk back out. check out supernanny's method...it works! i would DEFINITELY suggest teaching your child to stay in bed, not tricking or forcing them to like some of the responses on here. our job as the mom is to train the child to do as they are supposed to do. and trust me, it's a lot easier to deal with a child who is used to doing as the are told, rather than thinking of new ways to force them to comply. congrats on having such a big boy! (there is also the possibility that he won't even get out of it - mine didnt ever fall out of the crib or try to escape, so when we got him the toddler bed, he didn't even realize he was able to get out himself lol. our issues with staying in bed started after a long period of illness where he was sleeping with us. woops!)

ps - don't freak out about him falling. a little upsetting, but it happens. it just means he's ready for a big boy bed.

Hi,

I put my children on full size futon beds - wide and low so if they did fall out of bed, the drop was short. I put a baby gate on the doorway so they couldn't get out. Nothing in the room that they can get hurt by.

We keep our bedroom doors open. That way if there is a fire in a bedroom, the smoke will be able to get out of the room to set off the smoke alarm. Do not shut a room door unless there is a smoke alarm in the room. Children sleep through smoke alarms. The parent needs to be able to hear the alarm, so it's best to leave bedroom doors open.

Good luck,
: ) M. D.

My son was about 15 months when he climbed out of his crib and fell on the rug. He cried and I hugged him and check for bumps bruises. We kept the side lowered after that. But that didn't stop him. After that first time, he figured out how to hold on when going over the railing so he'd land feet first. He loved the freedom. We'd hear the thump then pitter patter of his little feet. But he wanted nothing to do with a big bed yet (unless he snuck into ours with us). We got him use to sleeping in a traveling crib (for when we went to visit relatives). The first night we set it up in his room next to his usual crib and we settled him to sleep. Next morning I went to get him and found him sleeping in his usual crib. He could climb in and out at will. At 3 1/2 we switched to a twin bed and used side rails for a few years. We had to dismantle his crib and put it away so he couldn't use it. He didn't like it at first. But then he got to like that I could sit with him in bed for story time.

There are crib tents but my SIL opted for a crib mattress on the floor. Her daughter did it at 16 mos (she is 99th percentile in height and at not yet 5, she is the height of the 99th percentile for a 7 year old).

My mother transitioned me to a regular bed at 18 mos back about 30 years ago so it can be done. You never know....my daughter, when I transitioned her, NEVER got out of bed -- it was like once I tucked her in, she knew it was night or nap time. I am sure we were just lucky and our son (now 2) and the baby on the way will not be that easy :) ha!

Better to suffer a few sleepless nights getting him to sleep in a toddler bed or mattress on the floor than risk a serious head injury.

Best wishes!

My 8 month did this it was still on the high setting she leaned over to far plop out she went poor baby so the next day we put it to low setting & now that she is 20 months she is trying really hard to climb out hasn't yet but i'm going to transition her bed to the toddler soon can't keep them contained long.On keeping them in bed all mine just stayed when it was bedtime they never ran around played or anything they were put to bed & that was it.

Time for the bed because it's too dangerous to crip him now... and time for the training to make them stay in bed. Thats how mine started, once they climb out you are now at a new level...
I used to lay in bed with mine and read them a story and they usually fell asleep before I was finished, then you sneak out and hopefully you are lucky enough that he'll sleep through the night. If not, he'll pitter patter to your room in the middle of the night. I just let mine hop in bed with us on the nights that happened.