OT - Toddler climbing out of crib!

[tjlovespooh]

It finally happened - my 22mo old climbed out of his crib today He's always been such a climber and I knew it was inevitable that this day would come but I really loathe the idea of switching to a toddler bed so soon. DS is not a good sleeper to start with and I'm concerned about how this transition will effect his ability to go to sleep and stay asleep (or at least stay in bed ). Then of course there's the whole safety issue of making sure he accidently get into trouble in his room (it's been baby-proofed, but he's a kid - they're programmed to get around those tricks, right). Or worse - what if he manages to figure out the door knob
Any advice from other vetran parents on how to make this transition as smooth as possible?
TIA

 

[everylastbreath]

We recently put my 2 year old GS (who lives with us) in a bed and transition was not as bad as anticipated. We had just returned from our trip to WDW and he was liking sleeping in a regular bed - our only trouble was that he was also liking sleeping with someone else too, which was our issue. We started by putting him in bed and someone sitting on the floor holding his hand for a few minutes until he started to fall asleep, and then leaving the room. I'm not going to say that ever night is a breeze putting him to bed (there is still some screaming) but we're working on it.

The safety issue you had, we put a gate in the hall right outside his room so the only way he can go if he get's up is into his mom's room. Even though the whole house is pretty much baby proofed, we don't want him wandering around in the middle of night. Good luck!

 

[squirrlygirl]

If you're not ready to transition him to a bed, they sell a crib tent that prevents them from crawling out. I've never used one, though. We've used a baby gate, a baby-proofed room, and a door-knob cover. 2 of my kids did fine, but one ended up sleeping in the playpen for a while because the crib was gone (thanks to dd showing up ) and nothing I did would keep him in bed.

Good luck!

 

[Princess Roo]

We were pleasantly surprised and our DS became a much BETTER sleeper when he went to his big-boy bed. For him, it was his reward for being potty-trained and we made a big deal about the bed and got him a Mickey comforter and everything. We actually moved him into a different room (baby sis will be taking the nursery) so we had the luxury of just putting toddler-safe things in there to start. You may want to toddler-proof the current room even more aggressively and move some things into another room of the house for a while until you see how he adjusts. We also put a gate across the doorway so that he can't get out into the rest of the house. Some of my friends that had younger climbers started with just a mattress on the floor so they didn't have to worry about falling, if that is a concern. We bought the soft bed rails for DS.

 

[2n2]

I just went through this last month with my 20mth old. I was not ready to move her to the toddler bed. She is a very light sleeper and her room is very close to the stairs. She opened the door as soon as she climbed out!! I went straight to baby's r us and got the crib tent. I love it!! It freaked her out at first and I actually cried zipping her up in it. Now we call it her tent and she does great!!! The peace of mind knowing she can't get out and hurt herself is priceless. She is my number four so have had a little experience with other options.

 

[Elmo888]

Crib tent. A friend of mine bought one for her toddler, and she said that the whole family sleeps much better now. Her toddler would climb out of the crib, open the door, and walk around the house before the tent.

 

[krisnab1]

Crib tent is a great idea. I'll have to remember that for the next one. Ours was a tough transition until we finally took the crib out of the room.

 

[flipflop]

Two of my three have crib tents. They have no issue sleeping with it at all. DH and I love it b/c we are simply not ready to have our three kids in beds yet. I know that time is coming soon but I am hoping to hold out until they are closer to 3.

 

[TheDizMom]

You could do what I did and just remove one side of the crib. It makes it like a toddler bed, but you don't have to spend money and they are close to the ground if they fall out and of course still have 3 sides to help keep them in more. I never had problems with mine coming out of their rooms, but they do have those knob covers to prevent kids from opening doors. As long as you have baby proofed his room if he decides to play he probably will only play with toys and not come to any harm. If you decide to stay in the crib please make sure it is well away from all walls on all sides. My sister's friend's child climbed out of his crib at nap time on the side of the crib next to the wall and hung himself. They didn't hear anything to indicate he was in trouble and by the time they found him it was too late. It can be a very dangerous situation, so I feel that once they have figured out how to climb out, it's time to get them out or at the very least remove one side of the crib to allow them to get in and out without hurting themselves.

 

[daisyduck123]

Any advice from other vetran parents on how to make this transition as smooth as possible?
TIA

DH & I moved our kids into big beds when they were each about 1yo.
They were young enough that it didn't phase them....they didn't even notice the difference & thus, we never had any issues with the big beds.

IMO, I would not bother with a "toddler" bed....kids outgrow them too quickly. We went straight to twin sized beds.

 

[arielsleepingbeauty]

It was my worst nightmare when my little one learned to crawl out at 17 months. THere was no way of keeping her in the crib. Instead of trying to keep her in her crib which she mihght have hurt herself trying to get out, we got a toddler bed. I got into a bad habit of staying with her until she would fall asleep and then sneak out. I eventually had no life because i would fall asleep too. When i decided to stop that bad habit, i moved out her bureau so she couldnt climb on it. I made sure that there were no toys that she could get hurt with. I made sure that I opened the windows from the top down so she couldnt fall out the window. I made a hole in her closet door in the middle and stuck a dowl in it to prevent it from opening. I then put up two gates because she was a climber. There was no way that one would keep her in. I also put a gate at the top of the stairs so in case she happened to knock the gate down I would be able to hear, yet get there in time in case she went for the gate at the stairs. I also kept my bathroom door shut with a safety lock on it. My children are 6 and 7 and till this day i always keep my bathroom doors shut out of habit.

 

[aprincess'smommy]

Three words....One Step Ahead. They have all the best safety stuff. I love their doorknob covers (the grey and white ones). The company actually tries to live up to their name and keep you "one step ahead" of the mini rocket scientists we all have living under our roofs. Also, you might want to put several different types of toys in his room to keep him busy when he wakes up. I would make sure he is in some sort of "big boy" bed as well to avoid mishaps.
Good luck!!!!!