When to take side rail off crib?

[CaleCakes]

DS is currently 15 months old. He has not slept in his crib since he was 7 months old. We co-sleep, it is just easier- he is a snuggler and sleeps better with us. But now that he is getting older he is much more squirmy and seems to be all over the bed. Usually it doesn't bother DH and I but just last night I woke up at 3am because I didn't feel him next to me. He was at the end of the bed! It was scary. I was so afraid he was going to fall off the bed. Of course when I moved him he woke up and was up for over an hour.
So I think it's time to try and get him back in his own bed. I know it won't be easy, but I wonder if i take the side rail off and put one of those mesh rails up it will be easier. The mattress is so low and the side is so high that when I lower him in he wakes up. The crib is a convertible bed that is meant to go from crib to day bed to full size. I would also put a gate at his bedroom door so in case he got out of bed he wouldn't go wandering. I am sure I'd hear him on the monitor any way.
Does anyone have any advise or an opinion on this? Is he to young to have the crib rail off? I know for sure I do not want to just put him in the crib and let him cry it out. That isn't the right move for us.

 

[Lilacs4Me]

There's really no wrong or right - why don't you try both and see how it works?

 

[NHdisneylover]

I agree---you do what works for you. I had a climber and was afraid that when they tried to climb over they'd fall and get hurt, so moved them into a toddler bed around 12 months---with just a low side rail to keep from falling out by accident in their sleep.

 

[poosiegirl]

This won't be the easiest thing to do, but if you're ready for him to sleep in his own bed than this is what I would do. I would leave the big rail on the crib for now. I would be putting him to bed (in the crib) while he was still awake. I'm not an expert in child development, but I have two kids (now 8 and 5) and sleep for them and us is important. We would put our kids to bed when they were drowsy but still awake. They had a bed time routine: snuggling in the rocking chair, reading a story, rocking quietly for a couple minutes. But we tried to get them to fall asleep on their own. There were a couple of bumps and a few rough nights at the beginning but they are great sleepers now. They are also capable of falling back asleep without waking us if they wake up in the middle of the night (barring bad dreams, not feeling good, etc).

In our house everything seems to go smoother during the day when everyone sleeps at night!

 

[Poohforyou]

I'd start by putting his crib mattress on the floor in your room and going from there.

We didn't co-sleep but dd found her way into our bed many a night.

We stayed consistent and just kept putting her back in her bed.

Good luck. It'll take time and patience but you'll get through it.

 

[mjkacmom]

If you put him on the crib when he is asleep, he won't sleep through. My kids slept in the crib from day one, and I'd put them down drowsy, not asleep. I also got them hooked on a pacifier right away, and then restricted it to the crib for naps and sleep. They looked forward to nap time, popped in the binky, and were out.

I think 15 months is too young for freedom to roam. My 3 oldest were in cribs until almost 4, my twins until 2, only because they climbed out.

Transitioning from co-sleeping to alone sleeping won't be easy - I had a friend who finally succeeded when her DD was 7!

 

[Magpie]

We co-slept and never purchased a crib.

And yes - at about the same age, we wanted to move our firstborn to her own sleeping space, for exactly the same reasons!

Here's what we did...

Put a mattress down on the floor in her room.

Put a baby gate in the door of her room.

In the evening, I'd read to her on the mattress until she was drowsy and/or asleep. When it was time for us to go to bed, I'd move the gate across the hall, so if she got up in the night and needed us, she could walk across the hall to our bed. (The set up of our house fortunately permitted this.)

When she was about two, she got a "real bed" (a child's single, very close to the floor). Shortly after that, her little brother moved into the bed with her (because he wasn't any more fun to sleep with at 15 months, than she'd been!). They shared a bed until they were about 3 and almost-five years old, when I got them a bunk bed.

It worked out just fine! We got to enjoy all the benefits of co-sleeping, and none of the "worst case scenarios" our friends had predicted ever came to pass ("They'll never learn to sleep on their own!" "You'll have a hard time training them to sleep independently!" "They'll be in your bed until they're 12!").

 

[mom2rtk]

We never moved them out of a crib with rails until they started climbing out. Life always got harder once they could be mobile at night.

 

[CaleCakes]

Thank you all for your input. I have read so much literature on this and there are many schools of thought. I know that it was my mistake from the beginning putting him in his bed when he was fully asleep and not when he was just drowsy. But here we are and I can only go forward. We definitely have a routine. He is used to bath, book, sippy cup, snuggling and he falls right to sleep as long as he is holding on to me (usually has to hold my face). It certainly is adorable and is one of my favorite times of the day.

I'd start by putting his crib mattress on the floor in your room and going from there.

We didn't co-sleep but dd found her way into our bed many a night.

We stayed consistent and just kept putting her back in her bed.

Good luck. It'll take time and patience but you'll get through it.

We co-slept and never purchased a crib.

And yes - at about the same age, we wanted to move our firstborn to her own sleeping space, for exactly the same reasons!

Here's what we did...

Put a mattress down on the floor in her room.

Put a baby gate in the door of her room.

In the evening, I'd read to her on the mattress until she was drowsy and/or asleep. When it was time for us to go to bed, I'd move the gate across the hall, so if she got up in the night and needed us, she could walk across the hall to our bed. (The set up of our house fortunately permitted this.)

When she was about two, she got a "real bed" (a child's single, very close to the floor). Shortly after that, her little brother moved into the bed with her (because he wasn't any more fun to sleep with at 15 months, than she'd been!). They shared a bed until they were about 3 and almost-five years old, when I got them a bunk bed.

It worked out just fine! We got to enjoy all the benefits of co-sleeping, and none of the "worst case scenarios" our friends had predicted ever came to pass ("They'll never learn to sleep on their own!" "You'll have a hard time training them to sleep independently!" "They'll be in your bed until they're 12!").

I really like these ideas.

If you put him on the crib when he is asleep, he won't sleep through. My kids slept in the crib from day one, and I'd put them down drowsy, not asleep. I also got them hooked on a pacifier right away, and then restricted it to the crib for naps and sleep. They looked forward to nap time, popped in the binky, and were out.

I think 15 months is too young for freedom to roam. My 3 oldest were in cribs until almost 4, my twins until 2, only because they climbed out.

Transitioning from co-sleeping to alone sleeping won't be easy - I had a friend who finally succeeded when her DD was 7!

I agree and I admit this was my mistake from 5 weeks when he started sleeping in the crib.

 

[Gracie09]

We converted to beds when our girls climbed out of their cribs. The way our upstairs was configured, we had a solid gate at the top of the steps (attached to the wall and the railing not a pressure gate) and would close their door at night. If they got out the only place they could go was the hallway and our room.

 

[Pooh2]

Our twin boys were about 2 1/2 when one started pole vaulting into his brother's crib instead of napping. So we switched to twin beds.

 

[BLAZEY]

DD now 7 slept in our room in the bassinet until 2 weeks old when DH went back to work. She then moved to her crib in her own room down the hall. At 2 we converted her crib to a toddler bed. At 3.5 we converted the toddler bed to a Full size bed which she still is sleeping in. She slept through the night at 1 month old and before she did it consistently she would wake up, get a diaper change, nurse and i would be back to bed within 20-30. Exception being while sick.

 

[BadgerGirl84]

I would be in no rush to move a 15 month old from a crib to a regular bed. The room would have to be baby-proofed to the max--I would just feel uneasy about a 15 month old walking around their room in the middle of the night. If the baby crawls out of the crib (the reason most switch a younger toddler to a bed) you can actually take out the metal support for the mattress and put the mattress directly on the floor in the crib to make it even lower.

 

[scrapquitler]

DS is currently 15 months old. He has not slept in his crib since he was 7 months old. We co-sleep, it is just easier- he is a snuggler and sleeps better with us. But now that he is getting older he is much more squirmy and seems to be all over the bed. Usually it doesn't bother DH and I but just last night I woke up at 3am because I didn't feel him next to me. He was at the end of the bed! It was scary. I was so afraid he was going to fall off the bed. Of course when I moved him he woke up and was up for over an hour.
So I think it's time to try and get him back in his own bed. I know it won't be easy, but I wonder if i take the side rail off and put one of those mesh rails up it will be easier. The mattress is so low and the side is so high that when I lower him in he wakes up. The crib is a convertible bed that is meant to go from crib to day bed to full size. I would also put a gate at his bedroom door so in case he got out of bed he wouldn't go wandering. I am sure I'd hear him on the monitor any way.
Does anyone have any advise or an opinion on this? Is he to young to have the crib rail off? I know for sure I do not want to just put him in the crib and let him cry it out. That isn't the right move for us.

Once my kids started climbing out of the crib, we moved them to a toddler bed that had built in bed rails on the sides. I was too worried about them climbing out, and I figured that if I just took the side rail off, they'd fall out while rolling over while they were sleeping.

 

[North of Mouse]

If you put him on the crib when he is asleep, he won't sleep through. My kids slept in the crib from day one, and I'd put them down drowsy, not asleep. I also got them hooked on a pacifier right away, and then restricted it to the crib for naps and sleep. They looked forward to nap time, popped in the binky, and were out.

I think 15 months is too young for freedom to roam. My 3 oldest were in cribs until almost 4, my twins until 2, only because they climbed out.

Transitioning from co-sleeping to alone sleeping won't be easy - I had a friend who finally succeeded when her DD was 7!

I agree! Start them out that way and it's so easy. We never had any problems with any of our three - they were all in cribs until 2 - 2 1/2 yrs. Dh & I valued our alone time and bedtimes were set times for them for the most part, and the kiddies were always ready. It was their routine - bath time, snuggle/story time, then beddie bye.

 

[Cannot_Wait_4Disney]

You take the crib rail down as soon as they can climb over the rail. At that point it becomes counter productive.

 

[tcufrog]

My older son didn't show any desire to climb out of the crib so he stayed in there till I was pregnant with his brother (they're almost 4 years apart). When little brother was 1 1/2 though I caught him piling his pillow and stuffed animals up in his crib so that he could hike his leg over the side of his crib and try to climb out. It was a drop sided crib with the side in the top position so that was pretty high up. That very day we got rid of the crib and moved big brother's bed into little brother's room. Big brother got a bunk bed in exchange for losing his bed all of a sudden. We put a railing on little brother's bed and locked him in his room at night after we caught him trying to roam.

 

[BadgerGirl84]

I agree! Start them out that way and it's so easy. We never had any problems with any of our three - they were all in cribs until 2 - 2 1/2 yrs. Dh & I valued our alone time and bedtimes were set times for them for the most part, and the kiddies were always ready. It was their routine - bath time, snuggle/story time, then beddie bye.

Yessss. This is our style, too. Baby is in the bassinet until 10-12 weeks then right to the crib. I actually do sleep in the nursery on a twin bed until 6 months or so just to make night wakings/feedings easier and for peace of mind for myself. But then, sianara kiddo! We've never had our kids sleep in our beds and our oldest didn't get moved out of her crib until nearly 3. We both value some peace and quiet and adult time in the evenings and our kids have slept fabulously in their own rooms.