OT-What to do with 18 month old who is a climber?

[MinnieTink]

This is OT, but there seems to be an abundance of friendly advice on these boards! My 18 month old son climbed out of his crib on Monday, after nap time. He scraped his back a little, and fell down on his butt. He seems to have scared himself enough to not have tried it since. I know it is only a matter of time til the next try tho. I mentioned it to my pediatrician and she said she would get him in a toddler bed asap, and gate off his room at night. He still seems so baby-ish to me to be in a "big boy bed." I know every kid is different, but just wondering if any of you can give any advice about climbers, or if you could just tell me when and why your child got into a toddler bed. Thanks so much!

 

[1rockinmamato2]

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[Mouse House Mama]

We never used a toddler bed but all our kids were in regular beds by a year old. None of them liked being in the crib by that point.

 

[SandrainNC]

My little guy is a climber too. Luckily, he hasn't figured out that he can climb out of the crib yet. Thank goodness!

I would either get the crib tent or get him into a toddler bed right away if he is climbing out.

We are getting my son's room ready (more child safe) right now so that when the time comes for him to be in his daybed (his crib converts so that only one side is off) we are ready. We figure any day he is going to realize that he can get out.

Sandra

 

[Omma]

All of mine were in toddler beds by 15mos. Little mountain climbers! I tried the tent thing another poster recommended but my oldest dd figured out how to unzip it from the inside and then just had something else to get tangled in as she was climbing out.

While I felt they were really young to be out of cribs, we had friends who's ds broke his collar bone climbing out of his crib so I decided putting them in the toddler beds was a safer way to go.

 

[EC0323]

My DS was a bigtime climber. He climbed out at 15 months. We tried the tent route. It terrified him. He hated having something over his head. Once we realized the net was not going to work, it was off to a big boy bed for him. Though the gate thing did not work. Or rather I should say a single gate did not work. He climbed the gate. We tried several gates. Finally someone said to double gate him. (put one gate on top of the other in the doorway) Luckily it worked. But boy we felt bad. It did not last to long. Probably about 6 months? Then we would lay down with him until he fell asleep. By the time he was 2? he was a SOUND sleeper. Nothing woke up him until morning.

Good luck with your little climber!!

 

[puffkin]

We converted my son's crib to the toddler daybed at 20 months old. I am actually surprised it took him that long to get out....but he is a really good sleeper for us and wanted to be in the crib.

We bought a bed rail for the daybed so he can't roll out while sleeping, but he can easily get out if he wants to. The funny thing is that he won't get out of the bed until we open the door, then he hops right out.

We also keep his door closed at night (also helps keep the cat out of there) and have one of those doorknob covers on the inside so he can't escape at night.

Baby gates and crib tents would never hold him in....he would have them off in a heartbeat.

 

[laughinplace199]

I second the crib tent. In fact, I just put one on DS (17 mos) crib yesterday.

My first DS, who is now 6, climbed out of the crib at 19 mos. The pediatrician recommended a toddler bed, but I didn't want to put him in a bed - he still seemed like such a baby. So, I got the tent. I told him it was a camping tent and he loved it. He was actually sad at 2.5 yrs old when he got his big boy bed because the bed meant no more camping tent.

My youngest DS will be 17 mos tomorrow. He hasn't actually climbed out yet, but he's come close. He put his arms over the railing and tried to hoist himself up and leaned over to see what's on the floor (usually the pacifier or stuffed animal that he tossed out of the crib). I was afraid that he would topple out one of these days. I can't go the toddler bed route because the baby shares a room with DS6. I don't know how I could even begin to babyproof the room right now. There's Playmobil stuff, Legos, and all kinds of toys with small pieces. I'm much more comfortable knowing that he's safe in his crib with the tent on it.

Climbers are tough. DS almost climbed out of the Pack N Play yesterday. Luckily, I was standing right there to prevent him from getting out. After that, I went online and ordered a play yard tent for our WDW trip next month, since he'll be sleeping in the PNP at the hotel.

Good luck!

 

[dis75ney]

Ah...memories are flooding back as I type this...

DS, now 7, climbed out of his crib at the ripe old age of 11 months. Forget the fact that he hadn't learned to walk yet...I found him happily playing with his blocks on the floor one morning. Had to ask DH if he had put DS on the floor and then come back to bed...he shook his head and said "We've got a climber..." Next month, he was trying to climb to the top of the refrigerator...

We tried the bed tent, but little booger that DS was, learned how to unzip the thing and climb out after about two weeks of using it. This was also the time that he learned to walk, so imagine our surprise when we woke up one morning to find DS staring at us as if to say "Get up and play with me!" We gave up and got DS a toddler bed with rails and he was happy.

Guess this explains why my DS loves climbing rock walls now...

 

[SandrainNC]

DS, now 7, climbed out of his crib at the ripe old age of 11 months.

Oh my!!!

Sandra

 

[wlwilliams9]

We converted my DD's crib to a toddler daybed at 18 months old. She never climbed out of her bed, I just got in the mood to take the front of her crib off to see how she would like it and she jumped up on her bed and the rest is history. I actually tried to put the crib front back on and she wouldn't let me. She loves her big girl bed, it makes her proud. She has shown everybody that comes over. We put a gate up in the hallway so she can't get far or to the stairs.

 

[brennicksmom]

If your child can climb in or out of the crib, it is time to get a toddler or regular bed. It only takes one time for a child to fall on their head (they are top-heavy at that age) and get VERY injuured. I'd rather go thru a few tough nights of keeping them in bed than any time in a hospital.

My first son was in twin bed at 17 months, he started trying to climb out and my 2nd son was in twin bed at 15 months-it was the first time he slept thru the night. The crib was just to small for him.

 

[higgy66]

If your child can climb in or out of the crib, it is time to get a toddler or regular bed

I have to agree - In the UK they say that as soon as they climb out of their cot they're ready for a bed.

We had cot beds so they were small beds low to the floor and as unbelieveable as this sounds both DD's just went straight to bed and never bothered getting up and about.

Good luck

 

[Zeebs]

Cullen was in big bed at 18 months not because he was climbing but because I wanted cot for new baby. So we wanted to get Cullen use to bed before baby showed up. He is in a normal sized single bed with a bed rail on one side and the wall on the other. Because he has short legs however he can't get into his bed as it is too high so I had to buy a little step stool for him to use to climb into his bed. We gated his door which keeps him in his room. We open gate before we go to bed so he can come into our room in the morning when he gets up. He is pretty good most nights, think the first couple of nights we spent about 40 mins going back into his room and putting him back into bed now he is good as gold.

Kirsten

 

[bumbershoot]

LOL...we have a family bed, but my husband was in a crib as a baby. Until he climbed out.

At 9 months.

And then hid.





Crazy kid, born at 44 weeks gestation, holding his head up from birth on...and climbing out of cribs at 9 months.

Is it any wonder we figured a family bed is best?


Anyway, time for a bed of some kind for your kiddo.

 

[MNMickeyWorldMom]

My oldest was 22 months. I put him in the crib one night, and 2 seconds later, his leg was over the rail and I watched as he had hoisted himself over. I grabbed him right away, and he slept in his big bed that night and every night since. Luckily we had recently finished turning the other bedroom into his big-boy room. It was tough to keep him in his bed. We ended up putting a doorknob cover on the inside of his door so he couldn't get out at night. I know, it's aweful, but we really had no choice. He fell asleep on the floor many nights, and then we would move him to his bed before we went to bed. He's a great sleeper now.

My youngest is 17 months now, but he sleeps in a sleep sack, so I'm not sure if he'll be able to climb out with the sleep sack on. I guess we'll find out soon enough.

 

[DisneyCrazyX5]

First DS was in a big bed at 2.5 and we just put the springs and mattress on the floor. I did not have to worry about him falling out he was only 20 inches off of the floor.

Twin DS's - at 18 months one would climb our of his bed and climb in his brothers bed. We quickly went and bought toddlers beds. I would sit and and sing to them or read a book with a book light until they fell asleep so they would stay in bed. We put a gate on their door so they would not get out of their room and fall down the stairs.

 

[PrincessKsMom]

DD went into her big girl bed at 22 months also. I wasn't ready, but she sure was. Took her with us to order it and let her help pick out the bedding (actually showed her what I liked and she agreed) Once we picked out the bed, she didn't want to wait for it to be delivered and wanted to help daddy take the crib apart (brought out his tools and all!) Of course we used a bedrail until she was (gulp -- almost 6) because she'd fall out of the bed occasionally and then ask us why we took her out of bed and make her sleep on the floor.

 

[HappyDznyCamper]

OK, those of you with climbers, please please please, make sure you anchor all furniture that is taller than your kiddo to the wall(makeing sure you are in a wood stud or use a drywall anchor). A kindergartner in my area was killed last year when he tried to climb up a dresser where a TV was. The dresser tipped and the TV crushed him. So please make sure anything that can be pulled over is bolted to the wall

BTW when our kids learned to climb out(DD at15m and DS at 11m) we simply removed the crib rail, made sure the mattress was at its lowest setting and used a bed rail to prevent falls but not keep the kid trapped.