2 Year Old Climbing Out of Crib

My daughter is starting to have the same problem and my grandson won't be 2 until JULY - I am really afraid he will do it here too, and I only have a portable crib, which is even closer to the ground - I will be looking at these responses too.

I have 2 friends who tried the crib tents with great success. They aren't cheap, but both moms said worth every penny for the rest it gave the kids and themselves. One bought two since she had twins. All the kids seemed to feel calmed down, and actually liked them!
good luck
C.

You are right it is time for a big boy bed. The way I kept them in bed is to teach them to stay there. It usually took about a week. I would stand by the door waiting for them to come out and every time they came out I would just march him back into bed. Explaining it was time for bed and that he was to stay in bed. Yes, some evenings I would be standing there for 30 minutes. Of course, there were tears and screams. But I stuck to it, I didn't waiver and he stays in his bed no problem. If you do this and get through that week you will save yourself a whole lot of frustration in the future.

My daughter had the same issue. She bought a net that goes on the top of the crib that has a zipper you can open to take him out. Worked great for her.

I use a crib tent for my two year old monkey

If you are keeping him in the crib, we got the crib tent. It zips and they cannot get out. You can find it at walmart or babies r us. If you are moving to a bed, good luck. We just moved our son and havent slept since because he gets out every 20 minutes.

This is going to seem very mean but after trying eveything including sleeping on the floor with my little guy at night a friend of mine gave me a tent. I'm not sure exactly what it's called but it's like a tent you put on top of the crib and it zips shut and it's see thru. My sister in law used it on one of her boys and I thought it was really cruel untill I was desperate enough to try it. Coniencidently everyone I know who used one was with their 3rd child and all but one child was a girl. It did work with my little guy but he hated it so after only a few days I would leave it unzipped but threaten to zip it if he tried to get out. After a few weeks I was able to take it down and he no longer tried getting out of the crib however with my nephew my sister in law not only zipped it but also had to safety pin it closed. But after a few days the whole house was able to get a good night sleep. So I'm sure you'll have people tell you that not a good idea because it seems mean, but desperate times call for desperate measures. Best of luck!!!

We had the same issue with the climbing out of bed---when I found my daughter standing on top of the top rails reaching for the ceiling we knew it was time NOW to get a bed. She was just like your boy- in and out in and out-- and we were also very nervous about the transition. Funny thing ...once we got a big kid bed she never bounced in and out of bed at night. She went to bed and stayed there. We went straight to a twin bed. The toddler beds are in my opinion a waste of money since you can use them for such a short time. We made a really big deal out of getting "a big girl bed". Every night we reminded her that only big girls get big kid beds and big girls stay in their beds at night. We told her how proud we were of her every night---really laid it on thick! She was so proud she never tried to get out. We honestly never expected it to work!! My advice-- before freaking out and being sure it won't be a good move give it a try. Good luck!!!!

Dont worry I had the same problem with my son and my daughter. One thing that you can do (if you are at home during the day.)is try to keep your son occupied during the day at all times. This will require you to have a set schedule with him and you will have to follow it everyday without breaking that schedule. In this schedule you will have to wake him up early in the morning sometime between the hours of 7am-9am. Play games with him throughtout the day and hey educational television such as diego,The reading rainbow, or dora the explorer is a good way to keep him occupied while you take care of business around the house. Then between the hourse of 11am-1pm allow him to take a nap, but dont let him oversleep or he will stay up longer or wake up in the middle of the night. Let him take a nap for about two hours. (HINT: If you work during the day this is your chance to catch a couple of Z's on the couch too.)When he wakes up if you havent fed him lunch already let him eat and play with him some more. Since you have other children, let him play with his siblings, this will encourage him to not be a sociopath. When it becomes time to eat a snack allow him to do a productive activity such as coloring, painting, or even something simple as building something with blocks. At this point not only is he excercising his body but he is also excercising his mind. Now once it becomes about 6:30pm you might want to feed him dinner. And this is where it becomes crucial. He must eat until he is entirely full! Since he is a boy I recommend a dinner filled with starch such as rice or the ultimate favorite, MASHED POTATOES, and of course include vegetables. Spinach is always a good thing to help him digest the foods while he is asleep. At this point you may notice that he might be a little groggy and he may even have an attitude at that point. That will be your signal that he is sleepy. Give him a nice lavender bath I usually use the johnson and johnson lavender baby soap or you can use any other brand. (to be honest all brands pretty much work the same way.)By the tiome you have him dressed in his pajamas and read him a bedtime story he will be more than willing to go to sleep. Now if you are a working mom I have one simple suggesetion. Allow him to go to day care for a half a day. And just like my earlier suggestion this will allow him to be more sociable as well as preparing him for the life of a school boy. This suggestion would be more easier for the both of you because at his age daycares allow the children to play and expand their minds as well as keeping the children on schedule for eating, napping, and getting ready for the end of the day

I hope this helps believe me i had to learn quickly! Good luck!

I would consider a toddler bed. A child can get very hurt if he were to fall when climbing out of the crib. We went to a toddler be at age two.
If he is waking up he may not need a nap anymore so he will sleep through the night. Our son was totally done with naps by age 2. Just something to consider.

Best of Luck

When my son was about the same age, he was also a night wanderer. We put a gate in his doorway and left his bedroom door open. We could hear if he needed attention, but he could not wander. It worked very well and after several months he no longer needed the gate.

p.s. lower the mattress to the floor

I couldn't agree with Ella more. We moved our son to a toddler bed at about 2 1/2 and the first night was perfect. THEN he realized, "Hey I can get out whenever I want!" So, we started bedroom door duty. Hubby and I would take turns and as soon as his feet hit the floor to get out, we went in and silently put him back in bed. The first couple of nights were rough, but after about three nights he wouldn't get out of bed. He still won't.

Be warned, it will be TOUGH, but you need to stick to it. It may take an hour (I think it was like 45 min the first night for us). But, don't give up.

Good luck!

T.

I nannied for a family with a similar problem. The child was getting up and climbing out of her crib. Sometimes unnoticably, sometimes with a loud thud. It was scary to think she could really hurt herself doing this, not to mention the trouble she'd get into by the time we noticed she was out of her crib. They ended up doing a brilliant thing that totally solved the problem. They got one of those crib tents that zippers shut from the outside. It's totally safe because the mattress actually goes inside the tent and then you know your child is safe. It didn't traumatize her or anything, just made her a bit mad at first! Perhaps you could get use this to break him of his bad habit before transitioning him? Here is a link to the one they used, it's from the One Step Ahead Catalog.
http://www.onestepahead.com/catalog/product.jsp?productId...

I handled the situation the same way my mother did. The first time I tried to talk to my daughter and explain that we each had a room and we needed to stay in our bed at night...mommy was tired and she needed her sleep and so did she.

The second time I got very stern and rose my voice a little and told her she was not allowed out of her bed or her room until mommy came and got her (I have a monitor to listen) If the sun was not up then it was night-night time and she was supposed to stay in her bed.

The third time I got very stern, explained the whole deal again and then swatted her behind. I told her the next time she disobeyed then she would get a spanking.

She was to stay in her room and her bed until I said she was allowed to get up or the sun was up and then she could come straight to my room.

That worked and she's pretty good about it.

Karla I had the same problem with one of my twin girls.
I found it easier to put up a stair rail outside of their bedroom door, this way when she got out of her crib, she could't get outof the room wich forced her to stay there, maybe play a little, but eventually climb back in!It may work for you or not but it will give you a little piece of mind knowing that he can get out of his room. Hope it helps

Pick and chose what battles you will have with your kids. Make a big deal about his bed being a safe place for rest. Give him some sort of visual way (example paper chain, paperclip chain,small toys in a present bag)Reward him If he stays in his bed. Find some sort of way to promote safeplace and rest. Success in staying in bed throughout the night means he gets something special.Even if it's cuddle time with Mommy. Routine before bed helps too! I've raised four I've learned.

hi, try giving him a flashlight to hold.turn it on and show him that he can look at anything in the dark..

Hi K. yhis is shawnie ry letting him sleep with you for a week or so ,so he can get use to not getting out of bed and when you fel him instead of waking totally up you can grab him and make him go back to sleep, and of course shut your door so he wont be able to get out just in case youre a hard sleeper and maybe get a baby monitor to put in your girls room so you can here them

When we switched my son to his toddler bed it took some work. He loved his bed, but he also loved the game of getting out of bed about a million times a night. Don't get discouraged if he gets up over and over...one person said up to an hour? Sometimes it took us even longer, but he will learn eventually...we all did, didn't we? It may be stressful, but I took a tip from supernanny (call me a loser, but this seemed to work!) The first two times he got out of bed for the night, I would put him back in tell him I love him, and kiss him goodnight, but after that no more talking...I was still very loving and gentle with him, but no more conversation. This is what finally broke my little guy of his game...and I would stand at the door with it opened just a crack and as soon as he got up i would march him back in and put him back in bed. I know some people who have gated their kids in the room or shut the door so they couldn't get out, but first of all, I thought that sounded so mean, and second of all, this was a perfect opportunity to teach him the rules of night time, you know? The setup of our house allowed us to gate the hallway so he could only reach our room if he woke up. But anyway, good luck and let me know if I can help!

Definately get him out of the crib. My little boy was an adventurer at 17 months. He went to a mattress on the floor. We also put a gate in his doorway in case he wandered in the middle of the night. It takes a LOT OF HARD WORK getting them to stay in bed for the first few nights if not week. Be consistent, loving but firm. He will realize it isn't play time. Oh...I also took out all his toys in his room. He only had books. I wanted all temptation out of sight. good luck

This is what a friend of mine did and it worked. First, she moved her son to a toddler bed and put a baby gate on the bedroom door. Then he started climbibg over the baby gate. Their master bedroom was on the first floor and the kids' rooms were on the second floor, so she was afraid that he would also climb the baby gate at the top of the stairs and REALLY hurt himself. I know it sounds mean, but they turned his doorknob around backward and locked him in his room to keep him safe. Of course, they had a baby monitor to keep an ear out. They could hear him playing and then eventually fall asleep. In the morning, he would be asleep on the floor or halfway on the bed, but that was fine. He eventually learned to stay in his room on his own.

I agree with the previous posters. Time for the big boy bed. A lot of people love the toddler beds, however I couldn't imagine trying to transition my son again to a new bed once he outgrew the toddler bed, so I just went for the twin. He loves it, and now all I have to do is say night night bed time, and he climbs right in. I did put a couple pillows next to the bed for when he falls out, because we took away the safety rail. My son saw it as a challenge to climb over and actually hurt himself worse than he would have just rolling out. For night time wake ups, we keep the door shut, but keep the monitor in our room to hear what is going on. His room is totally baby proof, and sometimes he does get up and want to play. Our rule (as suggested by our ped) is lights out at 8:30 and you stay in your room. Whenever he decides to go to bed is his problem, but this is where he must be for the night with the lights out. We find him in the morning with books and extra stuffed animals in bed with him, but haven't had a problem with him wandering since starting that rule. He only gets out of bed about once a month, but Im not too concerned, because I was and still am the same. I've never really been able to stay asleep for the whole night, and sometimes need something like reading to get me back to sleep. I figure as long as he's in his room and knows it's night time, he'll figure out that sleeping is the best option especially with no lights on.